Session 046: Beneath the Roots
General Summary
We begin as the North Wind awake in the Verdant Quarter and head towards their trial. They meet the distinctive dwarven elder at the entrance to the Roots and are scandalized when she says that the other "bitches" didn't want to get up so early. The elder gives them a clay amulet carved with minute runes and four symbols: a flower, a fire, a snowflake, and a leaf. She cautions the group to be careful not to damage the roots or the Motherheart too badly, saying that they'll have to answer for it afterwards if they do. The elder says they'll come looking for their corpses in a couple days.
The party throws themselves down a hole and attract the attention of the rumored root guardians. They face off against the infected creatures, but are able to move forward with no issue.
The group comes to a fork in the path for Aphid to commune with nature. Feels the sickness of the earth around them. Feels the roots stretching up from the Motherheart below and to the left somewhat. Feels the presence of extra-planar material all around them, in the grubs that move through the caverns, in the infection plaguing the root guardians, and specifically in a gaping wound around the corner of the tunnel. They go down the tunnel to find a tear in reality.
Through the tear, they can see a barren landscape, shapes moving in the distance, spires jutting out of the earth. The tear appears to bisect one of the spires and they can see miniscule tunnels from which grubs are emerging. Talasea considers the space; what comes to mind is a book called Other Worlds by a man who claimed to have ended up in another reality and writes of his journey back home and the things he saw. One of the descriptions was similar to this landscape. He died insisting it was real, and he died with the world believing him insane.
Talasea wriggles to the front of the group to inspect the tear and discovers tracks of planar residue being left by the grubs.
Mohr brings out the amulet and tries her best to activate it. She has everyone link hands and steps close to the tear... but nothing seems to happen. Zenith has an idea and takes the amulet. He spends a charge of his divine power to satisfy game mechanics and the amulet lights up. One by one, the party instinctively calls to mind that which is divine:
Nature- plants, says Aphid. Stars, says Talasea. Laying in the sand with the ever-shifting visage of the Summer Goddess, says Zenith. Music - what it's like to have a song inside of you, says Jack. Being safe, wrapped in a blanket in front of a fire, says Mohr.
Zenith feels resistance keeping the portal open, but is bolstered by the energy flowing from his friends. He pushes back against it and crack seals itself as though it were never there.
The party continues down the tunnel, spiraling ever further down into the earth. They do their best to stay stealthy, but hear the creaking and rustling of beings moving just beyond their vision, always around the next corner.
They come to an open cavern and are face to face with the Motherheart.
Mohr sees movement around them, always at the corner of her eye.
Aphid reaches out to the Spring Goddess and receives a faint reply.
I'm here, Aphid, the Goddess whispers. You're looking at my heart. Step carefully, for someone else has carved something into it. And you are h u n t e d.
The group steps into the room to try to investigate further and are confronted by a great floating beast. The Sluagh Heart barks out words the party cannot understand, a sickly light beaming from its central eye and similar glows beaming from the vines that writhe at its sides.
North Wind fight for their lives as root-like limbs grasp at their legs and the Sluagh Heart rains damage upon them from where it looms above them. Just as Zenith, Aphid as an owl, and Talasea begin to close in on the creature, it backs into a fissure in reality and emerges from another on the other side of the cavern.
The battle is far from over. Can North Wind survive long enough to finish their trial?
The party throws themselves down a hole and attract the attention of the rumored root guardians. They face off against the infected creatures, but are able to move forward with no issue.
The group comes to a fork in the path for Aphid to commune with nature. Feels the sickness of the earth around them. Feels the roots stretching up from the Motherheart below and to the left somewhat. Feels the presence of extra-planar material all around them, in the grubs that move through the caverns, in the infection plaguing the root guardians, and specifically in a gaping wound around the corner of the tunnel. They go down the tunnel to find a tear in reality.
Through the tear, they can see a barren landscape, shapes moving in the distance, spires jutting out of the earth. The tear appears to bisect one of the spires and they can see miniscule tunnels from which grubs are emerging. Talasea considers the space; what comes to mind is a book called Other Worlds by a man who claimed to have ended up in another reality and writes of his journey back home and the things he saw. One of the descriptions was similar to this landscape. He died insisting it was real, and he died with the world believing him insane.
Talasea wriggles to the front of the group to inspect the tear and discovers tracks of planar residue being left by the grubs.
Mohr brings out the amulet and tries her best to activate it. She has everyone link hands and steps close to the tear... but nothing seems to happen. Zenith has an idea and takes the amulet. He spends a charge of his divine power to satisfy game mechanics and the amulet lights up. One by one, the party instinctively calls to mind that which is divine:
Nature- plants, says Aphid. Stars, says Talasea. Laying in the sand with the ever-shifting visage of the Summer Goddess, says Zenith. Music - what it's like to have a song inside of you, says Jack. Being safe, wrapped in a blanket in front of a fire, says Mohr.
Zenith feels resistance keeping the portal open, but is bolstered by the energy flowing from his friends. He pushes back against it and crack seals itself as though it were never there.
The party continues down the tunnel, spiraling ever further down into the earth. They do their best to stay stealthy, but hear the creaking and rustling of beings moving just beyond their vision, always around the next corner.
They come to an open cavern and are face to face with the Motherheart.
Mohr sees movement around them, always at the corner of her eye.
Aphid reaches out to the Spring Goddess and receives a faint reply.
I'm here, Aphid, the Goddess whispers. You're looking at my heart. Step carefully, for someone else has carved something into it. And you are h u n t e d.
The group steps into the room to try to investigate further and are confronted by a great floating beast. The Sluagh Heart barks out words the party cannot understand, a sickly light beaming from its central eye and similar glows beaming from the vines that writhe at its sides.
North Wind fight for their lives as root-like limbs grasp at their legs and the Sluagh Heart rains damage upon them from where it looms above them. Just as Zenith, Aphid as an owl, and Talasea begin to close in on the creature, it backs into a fissure in reality and emerges from another on the other side of the cavern.
The battle is far from over. Can North Wind survive long enough to finish their trial?
Report Date
30 Jul 2023
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