2023-12-13 The Fariel Columns Lurkers
Player Characters
- Alystin
- Balasar
- Malivette
- Tarhun
- Hyacinth
Summary
The PCs began in Umethrynn. They purchased some common trinkets from a traveling Zenith Industries saleswoman.
They marched west up the underground road. Once they reached the Fariel Columns, they branched off north and walked among the colossal pillars. The ceiling gradually rose hundreds of feet high, well beyond their vision.
They camped in a tiny hut. Hyacinth's horse and Alystin's lion and bear stayed outside, where cloakers swooped about. Alystin shooed away a cloaker that tried to attack the animals.
Alystin's imp narrowly avoided a huge spiderweb while leading the party the next day. They burned the web away just as driders, draegloths, and drow mages attacked. After defeating them, the party looted gold and a spelltail blowgun.
They rested a short ways away from the light and sound of the battle. Alystin's lion tracked the ambushers' trail for a while, but lost it upon encountering more huge webs.
They slept another night in a hollow column that Malivette found.
While traveling the next day, they heard a telepathic voice. Alystin recognized it as the soft voice of a flumph. They were able to locate it and set it right side up from being prone.
The flumph, whose name was the concept of an iridescent blue mushroom hanging from the ceiling, thanked them and told them the direction to head in to find the evil people. It told them that many of the members of its cloister had been captured by the evil people living in a village to the northwest, and that the flumphs might have to relocate their home soon.
Alystin named it Mumph. Mumph drew a mushroom in Alystin's autograph book, and led the party to a hidden cache containing a +3 whip and a potion of superior healing. It then left to rejoin its cloister, and the PCs continued on.
They rested the next night in another hollow alcove.
They met a group of drow and duergar from the "Coterie", who wanted to dismember them and use their organs and appendages to grow stronger. During the fight, Hyacinth was infected by their needle weapons and grew irritating sores that granted her resistance to acid damage. The PCs killed the enemies and captured one drow, who told them where they would find the "Fariel Evolvery".
Hyacinth and Alystin tested the spare fluids on their animal companions to learn more of the random mutagenic effects.
They continued for a couple of hours before seeing green and orange lights ahead.
They approached the ruins of a walled mazefolk village. The damaged village was full of illuminated mist, and voices and silhouettes moved about within.
Alystin scouted the camp with his imp, and saw many mutated underdark races hanging about. Some gossiped, some gambled, and some shared stories.
Balasar applied disguises to Alystin and Hyacinth, making them resemble mutated drow who were part of the Coterie. They applied smells and item effects to exaggerate the look and fit in, then entered while the others began to disguise themselves.
Alystin split off to socialize and play with some gamblers. He learne that the leader of this place was named Arachnavox, and that the members of the Carnabrex Coterie feared him. Arachnavox was the master of mutating and evolving them to make them stronger, and resided within the large hall at the back of the road, where orange lights shone through the cracks. Alystin won two hook horror hooks in a game of cards, to the annoyance of the salty gamblers.
Tarhun, Balasar, and Mal traveled into the village. The two dragonborn convinced bystanders they had slain dragons to collect the scales they wore.
The PCs reconvened in front of the main building with its orange glow. A fomorian grunted at them, and opened the door when they stated intent to enter and evolve.
Hyacinth and Alystin spoke to Arachnavox, a spider dragon. He offered them the chance to grow and merge with their companions, or fasten blades to their arms, or grow other powerful mutations. They played along with the offer until the dragon demanded a tribute of orange crystals (or Alystin's brown bear). Mal, seeing that the meeting wasn't going anywhere, conjured his ashmare and drew his lance to fight.
They fought the spider dragon and some of its mutant minions: the fomorian, two vampiric mind flayers, and three brain jars that could cast spells. Balasar sculpted fireball to free the party from Arachnavox's web breath. Tarhun kept the fomorian stunned, and Malivette stabbed the mind flayers to death. Alystin forgot he was wearing a cloak of arachnida and got caught in webs multiple times, though he did pelt the dragon with scorching rays and eldritch blasts. Hyacinth struck the dragon with four critical hits over the course of the fight, once from the ground and twice while barely still standing. In the end, they slayed the dragon and all its minions except the fomorian, who surrendered.
Hyacinth's bravery and defiance was rewarded with the final upgrade to her Corrupted Avenger.
The PCs told the fomorian to guard outside to stop the approaching villagers, which it did, buying them time to loot the place.
Alystin and Hyacinth collected inky black scales from Arachnavox.
Tarhun pried the four orange primal crystals from the central obelisk that Arachnavox had used to "evolve" members of the Carnabrex Coterie. He found two more in back storage, as well as a crude map showing where the Primary Evolvery was. The path to reach it from the Fariel Evolvery required passage through the Labyrinth, and was located in the next clockwise exit of the Labyrinth.
Hyacinth picked up twelve mutagenic potions, each with a different effect from the fluids encountered during the earlier fight.
They found a robe of eyes in the back, as well as a hefty hoard of gold paid in tribute to Arachnavox.
They found ancient mazefolk text on a wall out back, with a draegloth using it as a scratching post. They killed it and translated the message, but the text was scrambled and hard to read due to the Coterie's goons' damage.
They teleported home with a pile of extra syringes. They knew the fluids wouldn't last more than a few days.
Balasar tried injecting himself with different random mutagenic effects to see what other effects and deformities they could cause. He didn't like any that he ended up with, and removed them all.
Documents found
Entry for WorldEmber 2023
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