The Tortle and the Scare

"The Emperor must have very high hopes for this new weaponry to devote such resources to it."

-from the journal of Jakob Curspex, foreman of the Vergess facility

Stories Around the Fire

The tortle introduced himself to the party as Flinder Stoneback, a druid and hermit living in the woods. He revealed that he had run across Folsten and Thørn earlier that day and had saved them from the ravager, but the effort had expended most of his energy and so wished to share their fire. The party invited him to share their meal, and Flinder offered hallucinogenic spices to season the food with. Flinder revealed that he was familiar with the location of Vergess and would be willing to guide them there in exchange for a story, as it had been years since he had heard a tale from anyone but himself. Together, the party recounted to him a Räsgardic fairy tale called Frederick's Big Leap. Flinder thanked them for humoring him and agreed to be their guide, but warned them that the abandoned town exuded a strange energy and that they should be cautious.

At Lethe's questioning Flinder revealed that he was also aware of the Planespire, but that it was over a week's journey to the northeast. He said that he had been there before, but was not eager to return; the last time he was there he experienced vivid visions and hallucinations, and that all of the magical energy in the vicinity seemed to be being pulled towards the spire.
Before going to sleep, Precision noticed Flinder seeming to have a conversation with Pancake. Flinder revealed that he possessed the ability to speak to animals, and offered to temporarily grant Precision the ability to talk to Pancake. To her delight, she was able to have a conversation with him and learned that he was happy to be traveling with them. Precision asked if he was ready to grow up, and after Pancake responded affirmatively she loosed the arcane binds keeping him a baby that Percival‌ had put on him. The two chatted away until the spell faded, and eventually everyone went to bed.

Flinder Stoneback

Exploring Vergess

The next day presented an uninterrupted travel, and guided by Flinder the party arrived in the overgrown ruins of Vergess by mid-afternoon. While mostly reclaimed by the forest, Lethe was able to tell from the village's size that it would have originally been built for roughly two-hundred people. The party split up to investigate the town. Erevan stumbled across the remnants of a garrison and was able to loot a finely-crafted chain shirt which he passed on to Precision. Lethe came across the enchanted hut of an Eloqui detachment that had been assigned here, and within uncovered one of the cordomancer's spellbook as well as notes for a new, untested spell Stay of Execution.
Aberchak uncovered the home of the factory's foreman Jakob Curspex, and within it found his journal. Through reading it, Aberchak learned that the factory had originally been constructed to mine and process a blackrock vein discovered belowground, in the hopes of constructing a new weapon to turn the tide of the Second Mitican War. The initial vein ran out and the miners were forced to dig deeper, eventually reaching a depth of six miles below the surface before discovering a new deposit. Over the course of the journal though, strange discrepancies began to arise. Facts didn't add up, the number of miners seemed to be consistently less every time it was listed, individuals were mentioned and then seemingly forgotten later on. Eventually Curspex referred to himself as having been sent to the village by himself before no more entries were listed. Aberchak took this information to the others.
Meanwhile while Precision was investigating, she saw a glowing blue-white dot of light floating in the treeline. As she looked around her, she noticed several more that began to drift slowly towards her. One hit her with a bolt of arcane lightning and she called out for the others. When the others arrived, they found Precision surrounded by the lights which all flared simultaneously and instantly dropped Precision to unconsciousness. Lethe was able to tell these creatures were some form of undead as the party and Flinder fought hard against these lights. During battle two of Lethe's skeletons fell before the lights were dispatched, and once Precision was stabilized the party took a few moments to recover from their wounds.

Into the Mines

After recovering, the party headed into the facility. Flinder agreed to stay in the village and wait for them with Pancake. The party entered the facility and found a massive stockpile of blackrock and flashdust; Aberchak, being familiar with the material, warned the party (Erevan in particular) not to use any fire or the entire place could explode. Pushing further inward to the factory floor, Precision was the first to notice a massive insectoid beast on the far ceiling that seemingly was eating the metal girders, leaving rusted wreckage in its wake. The party initiated combat with it and found many of their weapons to be ineffective against the creature, as most metal rusted when it came close to it. In the end, Erevan was able to slay the beast with Magic Missile, but not before Precision's axehammer received major damage from the creature. Lethe was able to fix it with the mending spell, but was unable to fix the similarly disintegrated weapons of several of his skeletons.
Going down a level the party uncovered the destroyed remains of what was once dormitories, rusted into nothingness by the creature. In the center they found a nest of large eggs belonging to the beast, and after some debate chose to destroy them. Little else of note was on this level and so they proceeded down to the next level where they found an entrance to the mine proper. A set of rails led down into the mineshaft with a few carts still lying around. Precision, Erevan, and Aberchak got in the first cart while Lethe and two of his skeletons got in the second cart (the other two were tasked with pushing it). The slops was gentle at first but gradually became steeper, and the carts quickly built up speed. The carts traveled downwards for nearly a half-hour before hitting a large rock and derailing. Most of the party received nasty cuts and scrapes from the impact, and two of Lethe's skeletons exploded into a pile of bones. After gathering them up, the party pressed onwards for four or five hours of travel through an endless mine before bedding down for the night beneath Lethe's tiny hut.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

"The Tortle and the Scare"

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Previous Chapter: Lost in the Woods

Next Chapter: A Friend Forgotten

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Ingame Date: 28-29^th of Rainseed, 1855
Real-Life Date: February 7, 2021
Protagonists:

• Precision
• Lethe Argie
• Erevan
• Aberchak Haverdak

Featured NPCs:

• Flinder Stoneback

Locations:

• Ernleb Forest
• Vergess
• Vergess Blackrock Mine