Session 20 - Into the Redoubt

General Summary

The adventurers have just escaped the Pokawa outpost, freeing three prisoners- dwarven herbalist Rolf Fallack, gnomish spice-trader Sindri Welber, and his older sister Fablen Welber- who reward the adventurers with a map leading to stashed treasure that they were on their way to collect.   The freed prisoners return to Akuma City, while the adventurers take a rest on a beach before going the rest of the way to Neltem Mountain, where they will supposedly find Jandro. After a dangerous and tense mountain climb, involving a rope climb that nearly resulted in Geoffrey's death/serious injury. They soon discover the doorway into a massive and terrifying complex with an unknown purpose.   Within, they meet a complex automaton named Axel who greets them into the place, and they make their way through four dangerous challenge which come close to killing them- one where they fight a Clockwork Hound, one where they must climb to reach a key to get out of a slowly heating room, one where they must change someone's appearance to match the strange warped reflection in a magic mirror and one where they must feed a bronze statue all of their food before the room fills with poison gas.   Exhausted and damaged by the four rooms, they stumble on, ready to face what awaits on the next floor down.