Session XVII - Infiltration Day
10th-12th of Tororima, 560 AL
Deliberating on whether to aid the invasion or infiltrate the Sonapailes, the party returns to Kirasum. She tells them that the factory strike force is a dangerous mission that should not be undertaken lightly. Flint shows her his cloaking magic, casting pass without trace. She is impressed but ultimately leaves it to the party to decide which avenue to pursue.
They decide to join her strike force for the infiltration. Kirasum expresses reservations but eventually relents. She tells them to meet her at dawn the next day. She is going to take down the Dial's protective barrier that disallows teleportation and intraplanar communication. After that, she will come to retrieve them for the mission.
The party makes their final preparations in town, buying various supplies. Flint, in particular, scores a huge bundle of Wolfweed from a goblin dealer in the Bubbles for a cheap price. Cornelius takes the time to give Tarog'Thul a profuse thanks, giving him some platinum in exchange for his hospitality. The orc innkeeper appreciates his gesture.
At dawn on the next day, the sky itself seems to crack open with a golden fissure above them. The people of Attjandi scream and panic. Kirasum steps into their room through a newly created portal. The Dial's protective enchantments have been removed. The party goes with her and they enter an entirely different plane.
A strange dark castle's banquet hall looks over them after being teleported by Kira. The castle's massive cathedral windows look out over a mountain cliffside into a desolate red waste shrouded in perpetual red smoke. Bright veins of lava rivers split the wasteland, glowing in the ominous red storm outside. Four other figures surround the long table, eating or idling: a firbolg woman in light armor devouring a fowl, an unnaturally tall and long-limbed red tiefling with no horns and burning fiery eyes, an elderly gnomish mage with two undead minions and black sclera, and Dragon Hightide, the usually opulent drow Dial Priest Lord that helped the party enter Thrahin. Most of them seem eager to get on with the mission.
After some deliberation and voting, it is decided that Kirasum will accompany the party as the "Skulking" team, as opposed to the "Disguise" team that will encompass the rest of them. The party's team will be teleported into the Sonapailes tunnel system by Kirasum; the only accurate destination that she has within the factory. The disguise team will transform or cloak themselves and head through the Grand Gate: the main entrance to the factory. Their goal is to shut down the operation of the Sonapailes. It is unknown if it is possible to deactivate the golems already in operation, but their production can certainly be stopped. Kirasum mentions that the golems have a Dial Shard core that has an energy reserve that would likely continue to function regardless of the factory's destruction. As a final brief, Kirasum assigns codenames to all of the members of the expedition.
After the explanation, Kirasum tells them that they will leave early tomorrow. Empty rooms are upstairs for resting. Melinoe and Flint immediately begin to explore the castle. Astra and Cornelius head outside of the castle, exiting through an atrium window to explore the grounds below the tall mountain cliff. Cornelius heads toward the nearest lava river some 1000 feet away, the storm of red dust outside growing fierce. He finds a rivulet of lava and dunks the fire staff Herod into it. The staff's voice rings clear: he is halfway recharged. As they are in the plane of smoke, he can function with some normalcy. Satisfied, Cornelius is lifted back up the cliffside by Astra. The storm batters them, however, and Astra drops the sorcerer. Thankfully, he casts feather fall and they recover and reach the castle once more.
Melinoe immediately finds a secret switch embedded in a castle wall above the dining hall. She presses it and the wall swings around, bearing her into a secret passageway. She follows a staircase down that leads into what appears the be a crematorium. Burn marks adorn body-sized plinths with scattered dusty bone traces about their surfaces. Deeper within, a staircase leads Melinoe ever downwards. She reaches a large door with two stone gargoyles flanking it from above. When she reveals herself, they scream at her, one demanding a "blood price" and the other a "bone price". The door does not open when Melinoe tries it, and there is no keyhole. Giving it some thought, Melinoe cuts herself to bleed a significant amount into the floor in front of the door. The "blood" gargoyle utters a grinding sound and its eyes glow a dark ruddy red. After some deliberation and attempts to use the cremated bones, Melinoe realizes that she must use her own. She steels herself and cuts off the middle toe of her left foot. The gargoyle's eyes glow a similar fallow color and the door swings open.
Inside, she finds an ornate tomb with a single body resting within. Cathedral glass behind it lets in an eerie red light as she observes the body. It is an old -- but not ancient -- skeleton of a tiefling. It wears an immaculately preserved set of midnight blue studded leather armor and carries a staff of black metal with an onyx gem in its tip. Powerful magical items. Melinoe pries them from the body and gets hit with a blast of necromantic energy for her efforts. She endures, her aasimar blood protecting her. The items claimed, she exits the tomb and heads back up into the castle.
Meanwhile, Flint tails Dargon Hightide to his room on the uppermost penthouse floor. He sees into the Dial priest's room: a massive bag of holding overflowing with gold, a collection of other extra-dimensional luggage, and the egg of a blue dragon sitting on the drow's bedside table. Dargon notices Flint despite his attempt to hide in the shadows. The pair strike up a conversation and Flint offers him Wolfweed. The drow eagerly accepts the offer but proceeds to choke on the low-quality herb. Flint inquires about the tiefling with the burning eyes. Dargon tells him that the man is a demigod. Judging by the appearance, he's affiliated with Synedda, Skanda, or even the dragon god Thrakr. The burning eyes reveal his warlike heritage. Strattora, meanwhile, attempts to exorcise the curse from her lightning staff. As she channels her energy into the rod, she sees flashes of memories from various individuals. A Zivil colonial soldier is overwhelmed by cultists in the plane of water. A vanguard infantryman is killed by the royal guard of Quirrach. The last moments of a dozen different fallen soldiers of Zivilon; vestiges of the Unnumbered Fallen. With a burst of energy, Strattora is hammered by necrotic damage. As the dust settles, the staff has been successfully cleansed. The party meets up and discusses their findings, commiserating over Melinoe's lost appendage. They bandage her, attune to the new items, and settle down to rest. Flint steals away for a conversation with the "Dreadbane" demigod, whose room is just below theirs. Cornelius joins him. The tiefling greets them coolly and tells them that he is not of Synedda's breed but Skanda's -- the "Blood Mother" and the great goddess of war. For him, his lineage is a burden. He expresses that many people wish for the fate that Flint is forced to accept: an eternity in the Golden Palace. The demigod advises about the followers of Synedda: she doesn't have many demigod children, but her wife sired full gods -- Korimos and Tuir among them. The great gods of civilization are revered in every world. Their followers may be sympathetic to Flint's plight. On the topic of their followers, he adds that Synedda used to count the Nornod people as prominent followers, but after they overthrew the rule of an avatar of hers, they began to worship the Grovekeeper instead. The "Dreadbane" demigod finishes by telling Flint that it is strange for Synedda to be so fervently pursuing him: his mother, Skanda, believes that Synedda's fire was tempered with her ancient marriage to Meliae, goddess of banquets and hospitality. With much to think about, Flint and Cornelius head back to their party's room for the night. A restful, undisturbed sleep leads to a red dawn in the mountainside castle. The party heads downstairs to discover the rest of the infiltration party awaiting them already. The party gathers around Kirasum as the other half of the infiltrators gather around the necrotic gnome. Kirasum and the gnome both chant teleportation spells, absorbing their respective groups into transportive energies. The world around the party turns black as they emerge in a dark, dank cave. They have arrived in the Sonapailes.
| Individual | Codename |
|---|---|
| Fire-eyed tiefling | Dreadbane |
| Firbolg woman | Whisper |
| Gnomish necromancer | Oblivion |
| Fleshy undead minion | Glibness |
| Skeletal undead minion | Silence |
| Dargon Hightide | Transmuter |
| Strattora Acari | Stormchaser |
| Flint | Oathkeeper |
| Astra Whöm | Wingbeat |
| Cornelius Magellanic | Flamestaff |
| Melinoe Erinyes | Deathcaller |
After the explanation, Kirasum tells them that they will leave early tomorrow. Empty rooms are upstairs for resting. Melinoe and Flint immediately begin to explore the castle. Astra and Cornelius head outside of the castle, exiting through an atrium window to explore the grounds below the tall mountain cliff. Cornelius heads toward the nearest lava river some 1000 feet away, the storm of red dust outside growing fierce. He finds a rivulet of lava and dunks the fire staff Herod into it. The staff's voice rings clear: he is halfway recharged. As they are in the plane of smoke, he can function with some normalcy. Satisfied, Cornelius is lifted back up the cliffside by Astra. The storm batters them, however, and Astra drops the sorcerer. Thankfully, he casts feather fall and they recover and reach the castle once more.
Meanwhile, Flint tails Dargon Hightide to his room on the uppermost penthouse floor. He sees into the Dial priest's room: a massive bag of holding overflowing with gold, a collection of other extra-dimensional luggage, and the egg of a blue dragon sitting on the drow's bedside table. Dargon notices Flint despite his attempt to hide in the shadows. The pair strike up a conversation and Flint offers him Wolfweed. The drow eagerly accepts the offer but proceeds to choke on the low-quality herb. Flint inquires about the tiefling with the burning eyes. Dargon tells him that the man is a demigod. Judging by the appearance, he's affiliated with Synedda, Skanda, or even the dragon god Thrakr. The burning eyes reveal his warlike heritage. Strattora, meanwhile, attempts to exorcise the curse from her lightning staff. As she channels her energy into the rod, she sees flashes of memories from various individuals. A Zivil colonial soldier is overwhelmed by cultists in the plane of water. A vanguard infantryman is killed by the royal guard of Quirrach. The last moments of a dozen different fallen soldiers of Zivilon; vestiges of the Unnumbered Fallen. With a burst of energy, Strattora is hammered by necrotic damage. As the dust settles, the staff has been successfully cleansed. The party meets up and discusses their findings, commiserating over Melinoe's lost appendage. They bandage her, attune to the new items, and settle down to rest. Flint steals away for a conversation with the "Dreadbane" demigod, whose room is just below theirs. Cornelius joins him. The tiefling greets them coolly and tells them that he is not of Synedda's breed but Skanda's -- the "Blood Mother" and the great goddess of war. For him, his lineage is a burden. He expresses that many people wish for the fate that Flint is forced to accept: an eternity in the Golden Palace. The demigod advises about the followers of Synedda: she doesn't have many demigod children, but her wife sired full gods -- Korimos and Tuir among them. The great gods of civilization are revered in every world. Their followers may be sympathetic to Flint's plight. On the topic of their followers, he adds that Synedda used to count the Nornod people as prominent followers, but after they overthrew the rule of an avatar of hers, they began to worship the Grovekeeper instead. The "Dreadbane" demigod finishes by telling Flint that it is strange for Synedda to be so fervently pursuing him: his mother, Skanda, believes that Synedda's fire was tempered with her ancient marriage to Meliae, goddess of banquets and hospitality. With much to think about, Flint and Cornelius head back to their party's room for the night. A restful, undisturbed sleep leads to a red dawn in the mountainside castle. The party heads downstairs to discover the rest of the infiltration party awaiting them already. The party gathers around Kirasum as the other half of the infiltrators gather around the necrotic gnome. Kirasum and the gnome both chant teleportation spells, absorbing their respective groups into transportive energies. The world around the party turns black as they emerge in a dark, dank cave. They have arrived in the Sonapailes.
