Saltstone Treasures

General Summary

As everyone finds themselves stuck in the Saltstone Mines, Craig and Pimwrick go to explore. They soon come back with word of strange fish-men further down, and Coleth catches a glimpse of a figure hiding nearby. The players decide to continue downwards carefully, but don't manage to be silent - the fish-men, or Sahuagin, attack them. They make quick work of them, and then encounter a strange pirate girl who names herself Vice. Vice tells them she's searching for treasure further down, following a map she won while gambling. The party decides to follow her, as they have no way of navigating themselves. A strange bang in the distance eventually drives them forwards, Vice hurrying them along. After hours of confused walking through the caves, trying to figure out where to go, they eventually find a cave with spiders. Cutting through the webs, they find a glowing lake, and Vice is happy because that's on her map. They dive into the lake, finding an underwater passageway. Some of the party members apprehensive at first, but Vice is a skilled swimmer and uses a rope to get people to come with her. On the other side, Arviel gets worried about her freezing feet and they spend some time resting. They continue through an upwards path straight up. Heading up a slippery slope, two strange squidlike flying creatures drop from the ceiling, almost killing Arviel and sending a few party members sliding down. Eventually, they manage without too many issues, and they get to the room upstairs. This room is a strange sight, a lake with a strange faceless statue fills half of it. Pimwrick senses a great evil coming from the water. After some deliberation, they decide to go upstairs, where they find the bodies they were looking for. Their heads are missing, however, and the pendant is as well. Burning the body of who they presume to be MIkeah's sister, they head onwards. A strange eye symbol keeps reappearing. Norin and Vice find a round table covered in documents. Vice reads a letter in gnomish to the rest of the group, and it seems this place was the base for an organization called the Eclipsed Eye. Barradock reads the line 'the mourning sun weeps' in dwarvish, and thinks long and hard on what it could mean. With a serious thirst for treasure and a mention of a powerful artifact, Vice and Norin rush to the lake. Vice swims confidently, finding a locked door. Barradock and Craig swim with her, and Barradock uses the phrase to open the door, disturbing the water. Vice grabs the glowing blue artifact in the center of the next room as Pimwrick begins to sense great danger in the water, seemingly warned by the statue. A horrifying undead creature appears, but with everyone's teamwork, they manage to defeat it under the water. Vice and Norin then find the room with the missing heads, as well as a bunch of gold pieces and the pendant. Grabbing everything they can, they head back out. Taking a short rest, Pimwrick prays and now finds a stronger connection to the earth. He feels he is a step closer to finding what he's looking for. The group discusses what to do, eventually deciding to head back out. As they emerge from the glowing water, a pepperbox cocks and a man in Trident Clasp uniform steps out menacingly. From the other entrance, more men appear, blocking all exits. Royce, the first guy, recognizes Vice, then tells everyone to give up their weapons and come with them - they're working with a pirate. Barradock steps forwards and starts lying to Royce, telling him if he gives him the gun he'll shoot the pirate himself. Royce decides it would be amusing to see and hands the dwarf his pepperbox. The gnome behind Barradock looks nervous and readies some kind of spell. As Barradock puts the pepperbox to Vice's forehead, there's a moment of fear in the pirate's eyes before Barradock turns the gun and shoots the ceiling. Rocks start to fall as the gnomish wizard shoots off a lightning bolt. Barradock shoves Vice aside and takes the brunt of the bolt, burning his insides and instantly killing him. Enraged, the party springs into action. After Pimwrick hits the gnome with a vicious smite attack, Norin swings his axe recklessly and almost chops the gnome in half. Royce takes his pepperbox and opens fire, dealing high damage and causing the party much panic. He smashes Vice's leg with one shot. Vice calls out to some entity, begging to bring back her friend, and a horrifying voice rings through the room. Thanks to some outside influence, they manage to escape, and they watch Royce abandon his men and run away through the other exit. Mourning Barradock's death and last words, the group sleeps and then heads upwards. They find their way out, where a storm rages, and give Barradock a funeral by setting him out to see on Vice's rowboat and shooting a flaming arrow at it. Norin feels a connection to the power of the storm and roars as the light disappears in the waves. Heading back to the Warmbrew Inn in silence, Vice says goodbye and walks away with the artifact. The rest enters the inn, talking only briefly to Mikeah and taking their reward. They go to sleep, as Norin spends his time outside in the rain.