Session 17 – The Lost City – Acid baths, Wine, and an Owlbear
General Summary
After dispatching with the Zargonian priest and his hobgoblin guards, the team finds a diary upon the priest’s person. Reading it they learn his name is Darius and he had a twin brother named Demetrius who was a an elder in the cult of Usamigaras. Demetrius had vowed to destroy the cult of Zargon, but Darius had him assassinated. The rest of the book is Darius’ rantings about Zargon, but they are able to learn that heavy drug use is apparently a tenant of Zargonian faith.
After Darius’ death, the now clearly drugged commoners in the other rooms return to what they were doing previously. They pay no mind to the party even when they openly take money and gems from the gambling tables.
Going back through the temple, they enter a large entryway where they spot what they believe at first to be a dead body in a far corner. But upon further inspection they find that it is their guard and guide from Gor Dranas, Gikhesh , the Half-Orc Echo Knight. Bringing him back to consciousness and healing his wound he shares that he was set upon by the drow known as Mothalden who was also a part of their expedition. Apparently, he chose to ally himself with a contingent of goblins in the service of Zargon and stabbed Gikhesh in the back.
The party, now augmented by Gikhesh continues their exploration. They find a room filled with bubbling acid but with a stone box in the center. Gunkyn , with the aid of a spider climb spell from Sylbella makes it onto the box and picks the lock but it begins to sink into the acid. He has only just enough time to retrieve a pair of scrolls and a few handfuls of the silver coins within before having to make a jump across the acid to the entrance – a leap not completely successful as he is slightly burned by the bubbling liquid.
They then find a room filled with bottles and casks of wine – and a drunken, voraciously hungry owlbear! Unfortunately for the creature, it does not last long and the group uses its carcass to block the door so that they can take a needed long rest.
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