Session 55: Fire in the Whole

General Summary

17-18 Misuthar 836PD   As recounted by Simeon   ….Deep in a cave of the Cinder Scar the unbroken survey their situation.   A dead fire giant, four elementals and a retrieved magical box containing a resonance stone – all the local portals now closed.   It’s hot in here…   The giant’s body has plate armour and large sword, but we are in no position to scavenge these items, regardless of their value. For now survival take priority. Beyond that investigation, or delivery of the resonance stone to Allura for detailed analysis urgent as well. After such a fight many are battered, and much of our magical energies spent. We know there were Cinder Slags wondering aimlessly about outside. Should they be roused and enter the cave we would be trapped and sore pressed.   A collective decision to exit and find somewhere to raise Leomunds Tiny Hut is agreed upon. Calling upon the Moonweaver Simeon gathers further magical energies and cast pass without trace.   Cautiously the party moves through the lava tubes to the exit, all the while suffering from the heat, and inevitable debilitations following the adrenaline surge of holding defense of the material plane. Rapidly we find our energies further sapped.   Finally, cautiously, reaching the entrance Tarathiel bolsters us all with illusions of the party members sneaking south from the entrance. This is sufficient to draw the Cinder Slags away, not exactly brightest sparks they concentrate on pummelling phantasms while we ourselves slip north.   Having gained some distance a quick sending from Zeni alerts Allura, who is keen to see the item we have retrieved. Ennesa skirts the farthest observations of Meritt’s fortress, and finds for us a suitable campsite. Zeni grants us all the respite of Leomund’s tiny hut. Sadly this is but a brief hour to compose ourselves. We had noticed the box holding the resonance stone was getting warmer, and now the heat it generates increased. Lord Raphael with all solemnity draws Frostweaver and lays it close, the sword guarding all our fates in a new fashion. We move at a fast pace to town, thankful for the boots Orlando is using, and sad that we must slow Sabali – however still in our debilitated state we must hold close together.   As we approach town the mundane limitations of normal commerce impinge – at least three wagons and a queue of traders, travellers and merchants mean entry to the town will be slowed. We feel the pressure of an ever-hotter element and Frostweaver’s constant battle of condensation. Sabali’s attempts to entertain and distract the mass of people entering town may have kept eyes from their possible fate, but did little to clear a path into the town. Despite our magical limitations Zeni sends again to Allura to inform her of our status – we have no desire to bring a bomb into a crowded flow of unprotected flesh - a mass of vulnerable citizens with no immediate refuge from their fate should a portal open inside the walls.   Arcanist extraordinaire, Allura teleports herself to join us, and our combined minds bend to task of taming the stone. With few spells available from the Unbroken Alura wins us all an hour, by surrounding herself, the stone and Frostweaver in an anti-magic shell. Now at least we can safely carry out some mundane examinations.   With close study we note the box holding the stone has a hairline crack in the lid. The runes inside are clearly depleted and the stone itself is a tracery of cracks and fissures. Orlando works to mend the box. Allura studying the stone pronounces it not of Elven, Dwarven or Gnomish construction, we must assume that humans made this. Orlando detects some aura of residium about this.   With time in the anti-magic area running out Sabali races off in search of Gilmore for more magical support. Simeon draws away as well, seeking guidance from the Moonweaver. Divination by ritual being all that remains of the more potent magics he uses. Asked “How can we, at this time, render this resonance stone safe” the comforting voice of the night answers only that “the time for danger has surely come, lock breaker's toys cannot be undone”. All right – somehow we must contain the energies trigged, trapped, warped and suppressed for so long. Allura pronounces that the energies are no longer shaped as they originally were – that a portal to some plane other than that of Fire was originally intended, but now? Our fear now is that the end will be explosive, of unknown power.   With magical means failing us, we resort to brute physical force, sadly despite Simeon still carrying a mace there is none among the Unbroken with sinews to wield it effectively, and the stone remains unimpressed by blunt force trauma. How we miss Ceridwen – always….   We are now attracting crowds, curious of our activities, and Simeon shows once again why preaching is not the path he took. Ignored by the bystanders it is left to Enessa and Ussi to discourage too close attentions   Fortunately where muscles and magic fail we can always rely on Orlando’s mastery of the black powder. A single shot from Bayou and the stone itself is shattered. In the anti-magic shell this leaves but fragments of a once mighty magic item. Then, with all the caution of a toddler in a sandpit, Raphael and Tarathiel proceed to toss the items beyond the radius of safety, and watch the pretty bangs… who said Sabali was the reckless one? Now at least the bystanders are treated to a firework display, and while the two attendants take some damage, all the rest of creation is protected from whatever the nefarious purpose of this stone was intended for. A sense of dread hits on the thought of what devastation a stone would cause if it was whole.   Sabali returns without Gilmore, and Allura leads us into the city and to her tower, our passage eased by her reputation. In the magical environment of Allura’s home, with opening doors and drinks served by unseen servants, Zeni briefs Allura on the findings from her arcane eye, and of our suspicions of Meritt. Alura describes Merit as a social climber, but our experience is that he may be actively in league with the forces opening rifts, or possibly be turned, much like the Shade temple was. Raphael suggests searching his study, and Allura ponders his sponsors, and whether we may have tipped our hand already. Enessa and others hypothesises further – we all feel we should investigate as a matter of urgency, given what has happened in our recent past.   At this point Palmer Cook arrived, and we brief him, seeking appropriate political cover for actions against Meritt. Palmer Cook assures us we have such cover, and also reveals that the nickname “Lock Breaker” may refer to a powerful member of the Clasp or possibly the Myriad. He leaves to follow this lead, and check for large amounts of residuum which may have been acquired to make the resonance stones. We are assured he will arrange appropriate papers to cover our activities investigating Meritt. We are told Meritt has a “good military mind”, which only increases the suspicions of those whose opinion of hierarchical command structures is, shall we say, mixed. Thus Enessa and Simeon share a look of grim suspicion.   We know well what happens when we rattle a cage, so the unbroken snatch the sleep they desperately need, and then head out at 1 am to revisit Meritt’s tower. Arriving close by in the dark at perhaps two in the morning Simeon covers the party with pass without trace, Raphael casts fly on Sabali and Enessa, to enter the tower via the pigeon loft, Zeni then casts invisibility on herself, Sabali and Enessa, and Tarathiel casts the same on herself, Simeon and Orlando. The party are ferried by flyers to the roof, and not discovered, though some noise has the guards on alert… down the spiral stairs we go… Enessa, Sabali, Raphael, Simeon, Orlando, Tarathiel and Zeni. We have heard three voices, and Sartis stands guard at the bottom of the stairs. We can hear they know we are aware of Meritt’s likely complicity in evil of this place, and deduce evidence is being removed, or destroyed. So, needs must, we assault at once   In darkness and invisible we attempt to force the room. A confused scrum occurs at the foot of the stairs, with various party members tripping over each other, eventually it is left to Orlando to shot Sartis and knock him prone, Lord Raphael forces the room and casts hold person on all three, but the unknown tiefling and Sartis shrug off the magic. Meritt is not so strong of will, and is frozen in the back. Simeon casts silence in the room, as the enemy seek to release their own magics…   still it seems the cauldron is bubbling….