S20.5 In Deep

General Summary

Keth:

Keth spends some time reading from his mother's book that night. After a while, he comes across a passage about warding oneself against certain types of creatures, which gives him an idea for a new spell that he'll spend the rest of the night trying to figure out.

DM:

This would be in a poem about a warrior who enters a barrow of a certain type of animal (a dragon maybe)...there are poetic references to gestures and phrases and using a focus, and how that animal/dragon was unable to harm him as he rescued a poor commoner and saved them....blah blah blah There are some interesting marks and folds in the paper...and as you monkey with it...you find a way to fold the paper in a few ways that bring the words and strange marks together to weave what are clearly magical phrases and words...
...right there on the page, after folding once way, are lists of magical runes and words, and then unfolding and refolding another way, instructions for proper gestures and articulation...and then another way still shows appropriate components or foci to be used...AMAZING!

Wolfaen:

Cradling the stone, with a huge smile I whisper "way to go Raiya". Thank you Keth, this means a lot. I promise not to use it without one of you present, and any messages I'll pass along. Hey Eethyl, can you identify what this helm is, please?

Eethyl:

"I should be able to. I will need some time though. When we are back at town and I have some time maybe." the crypt under Phandalin. "Well what's the plan everyone? I'm not sure how much we can help down here. You all have any thoughts? I mean I can get us down there. I just don't know if that's a good idea."

Damaia:

Damaia shrugs. “Block it for now come back when we have more info”

Keth:

"Would you be able to get us back out? I'm a little worried about going down there without any idea of what this place is."

Eethyl:

"Uh...no. We would have to get back up here and figure out how to open these. I'm not sure that is a great idea...though it would be pretty cool to see the city."
"Given time and tools I could get these gates open I bet. Provided something worse than those last three didn't interrupt"
"Maybe a really really long rope...But keep in mind that fog causes things to decay. I would assume the rope we tied to the pillar up there wont last more than a ten day but then again you need to hold weight also and I didn't experiment with that and our heaviest member is likely a 4 gnome rock in weight so we would need to account for that and if we tried a long rope all the way down to the city you would have to account for the weight of the ropes upon each other even more so compounded and we assume the rate of decay is the same down here as above oh I wonder if the small ravine acts as a consolidation point that would be interesting we should lo.........Sorry. No I don't have a way back up"

Keth:

"Yeah, I don't like the idea of going down without an exit strategy." He pauses for a moment, thinking. "Can any of you send a familiar to scout? It would be nice to have at least some idea of what's down there."

Flicker:

"I can call an owl to scout; it's a fast flyer and can see in the dark, but I can't tell how far down that is. It'd have to get there, look around, and come back to report within 2 hours. I think it could do it but I'm not sure." She turns to Damaia "Or if we block things off, should we block off the entrance to this place, or all the entrances to the crevasse, or all the entrances to the manor in general? How far away are we keeping people?"

Damaia:

Damaia shrugs “I doubt the towns people are lining up to come here. Just block the opening to this area. They have a safer place to go than the manor.”

Flicker:

Flicker thinks for a bit. "Those gray jerks might move in. I'd feel uneasy about them exploring this place before us, but you're right; sealing the opening should be enough."

Keth:

"Well, I think that's worth trying, but it's up to you. Either way, Damaia's right and we should try to block off the opening we made. I think that should be enough, you can't really see into the crevasse anyway and doing any more might be suspicious." "Maybe we could try telling people about the noxious gas in the manor to keep them away? Or would that just draw more attention to it?"

Eethyl:

"Most certainly draw more attention. This has been buried here for generations. I don't see why we couldn't close it. I do think it will need to be dealt with though. While the soil may be a most effective filter this necromancy magic will certainly seep through the land itself."

Eethyl:

Eethyl seems to think for a longer minute than normal. "You know...it's a wonder it hasn't become an issue sooner. I'm curious if the cultists haven't done something to stir up issue. That or they were responding to a greater power at work"

Flicker:

Flicker, looking over the edge trying to figure out if her familiar would have time to explore and report back, jumps back a bit with a new idea.
"Oh! Maybe...Hey guys, if we wanted to learn more about this place, now or later after we seal it up and ask around, maybe we could send a friend?" She grabs her motley bag and holds it up, looking at Damaia. "Do you know what sort of creatures might be summoned from this thing? There seems to be no rhyme or reason as far as I can tell....anything that could fly, or squeeze between the metal gates? If it had a look around and was able to come back, I'd perform my ritual and speak with it about what it saw. Then we'd have all day instead of just a couple hours."

Damaia:

“Yeah there really isn’t. It’s the luck of the draw but I do believe there are smaller and flying animals that can be summoned from it.”

Flicker:

"Hmm...so if we go that route maybe keep the unlucky ones from drawing" Flicker side eyes Fortune(Shale) for a second, then sighs and speaks to Keth. "Well at least we have options. What's our move? Head out and seal up? Get my familiar going over the edge or one of the rat familiars through the gate? Draw a ball? It makes me uneasy just standing here....this place feels weird. Like, like we're not suppose to be here," she shifts from one foot to another and glances around some more. "If Eethyl(Chris) is right about something new being stirred up the town might be in trouble."

Fortune:

Fortune gives you an equivalent side eye and kind of frowns.
He turns to stare up at the statue again and mumbles to himself under his breath.
"You ain't gotta worry, lady luck, I know you'll find yer way back to me again."

Keth:

Keth spends a minute lost in thought, looking over the edge of the cliff down at the city. "I mean, I do really want to know if there are a bunch of ghosts or liches or lizard-people down there, but..." he sighs and turns away. "Maybe it's best if we don't stir things up any further without a way to get down. The town has been safe this long and, honestly, I don't think anything we could learn from an owl would change what we need to do." He gives one more glance towards the city before shaking his head and stepping away. "I say that we give one last look at the portcullis and this chamber for anything we missed, then go and try to block off the entrance."

Eethyl:

"The items that they were gathering and shipping off up there. I wonder where they got them. Did they have a way down here? Did whatever they are dealing in come from here?"

Keth:

"I mean, I'd guess that Glasstaff got the necropolis shards from down here, but that's based solely on them both being connected to necromantic magic and this place feeling necropolisy. Without knowing more about what they are or what Uluran Mortis is using them for..." he shrugs

Eethyl:

"If they got them from down here I just figured there would have been a way down. Unless they were in the ravine intself and the hole was opened during excavation."

Keth:

"Yeah, that's possible. Or maybe that small opening was enough. Glasstaff is a wizard, he can probably turn himself into a spider or teleport or travel on the ethereal plane or something. We could try looking for some other entrances but... this is a really big area." He spends a minute scanning the top of the cavern. "That actually might be a better way to use your owl, Flicker."

Flicker:

While Eethyl and Keth were talking, Flicker was distracted by the unnatural properties of the cold fire and necrotic water. She went around performing a set of experiments, none of which yielded any useful information. She did note the fire grew slightly brighter when she put a lit torch to the flames, but is overall lost when it comes to this place.
"Hm? Call an owl to look where?"

Keth:

"Like to fly around the top of the cavern looking for any more entrances"

Flicker:

"Oh sure! How far up do you think that is? Is that the plan right now or is that something to do the next time we come back here? I need to shift to climb out of here safely so we only have one 2 hour block for surveillance; let's be sure before we start anything. "

Eethyl:

Eethyl shrugs and grins "we can always come back again and scout further. I'm jealous. You will see what few eyes have seen in many years. Check first for a way to open the portcullis then maybe see if there is a way down once through?"

DM:

Shadowy whispers stir up again from beyond the portcullis to the north (where they came through before). The adventurers get on guard again, preparing for another fight. Keth draws Talon again. Eethyl(Chris) prepares to cast his armor spell. Flicker's readied hand ignites with a small ball of flame. Wolfaen loads his hand-crossbow. Fortune(Shale) rebuckles and tightens his arm straps.
They all wait with reflexes tense for a moment. The ghostly braziers flare up just enough to be noticeable...and then they return to normal as quickly....
...the whispers die down. Everything becomes deathly quiet again.

Fortune:

With an elegant, profound touch that often eludes the gold tiefling, Fortune breaks the silence.
"Sheit's haunted, y-all."

Flicker:

"Aw sugar beets," Flicker keeps the flame in her hand and starts backing towards the stairs.

Eethyl:

"relax you all. Spirits here are just like you and me. Well close. Some of them might be tormented this long down here. I'm sure it would be pretty hard to contemplate choices of a short life for such a long time down here. And I would suspect many didn't presume this would be where their spirit ended up for such a time." shrug "what's really awesome is how good the place looks. I wonder if it was in the upper dark or a diety cast the place here with devine power?"

Flicker:

Flicker stares at Eethyl for a moment. "Wh---just like you and me? There were just 3 ghostly rust buckets that looked ready to kill us!" she looks over to where the suits of armor stand behind the portcullis. "But..tormented?...Do you think there'd be a way to get them out of here?" Flicker quickly turns back to Eethyl to clarify "the spirits, not the suits. Leave the gear where it lies. If Fortune's onto something I wouldn't want to bring some haunted accursed item topside."

DM:

There is a low sub-base rumbling...a quake of some sort...and it isn't Wolfaen attacking a stirge...

Flicker:

Flicker reflexively throws her flame. "Gah!"
Looking around, "Where'd that come from? Was that down there or is Phandalin being raized by a dragon right now?" she tilts her head back and strains her eyes upwards as if she'd be able to see anything.

Keth:

Keth starts to slowly back towards the entrance. "Guys... Maybe we should get out of here."

DM:

The rumble gets very loud somewhere above and perhaps back down the hall that you came down.... ...and a cloud of dust billows into the room from the balcony above...

Flicker:

Flicker Druidcrafts a gust of wind in the space around her to keep some of the dust at bay "I second that motion! Lead the way"

Eethyl:

"Well I don't figure much else would have caused a collapse besides our disturbing the crevice. Looks like forward we go!"

Flicker:

Waving the remaining dust in the air away, Flicker moves her hand left and right, drawing a crude outline of an owl in the air as she says aloud "Come back."
The Owl familiar reappears nearby and she looks at it for a few seconds silently before it takes off.
"Forward? We don't even know which way forward is, or how to get there. You might be right that us disturbing the crevice has caused problems, so I want to see if it's safe to go back the way we came in. When the owl reports back, then we can choose to head to Phandalin before things get worse down here, or send it to learn what's out there," she nods her head to the edge of the balcony, referencing the city below.
"Wolf, would your new friend be able to go through the gates and look for a lever or something to open things up for us?"
Soon after Flicker finishes speaking to Wolfaen , the owl returns and lands nearby.
Moments later Flicker freezes. ".....Jackrabbits....."
The owl takes off again, tasked with surveying the surrounding unknown areas.
Sighing heavily, Flicker keeps her eyes on the ground in front of her. "The way back isn't an option anymore. It's just...gone. Like it was never there..." She looks at Keth worriedly, then to Eethyl. "Okay E, which way is Forward?"

Eethyl:

Eethyls eyebrows raise a bit as he smiles. "Exciting though isn't it? I'll admit I'm a bit nervous. If it looks like it was never there then that reminds me of the feywild crossings. Maybe we slipped into the shadow realm through a crossing point? I have never been there. That would be fascinating" He looks over the edge once more "Well, once Wolfaen scouts through the bars we will likely need to feather fall I guess. I don't know what tools we have for these portcullis." he says rubbing his chin. "That or Flicker goes through with her wild shape to open them."

Flicker:

Flicker crosses her arms, thinking. "I WAS going to save my transformation to be able to crawl up and out of that 80 foot drop....but with it gone like this I guess if the rat can't find or muscle a way for us to get through, I might as well give it ago." She walks towards the southerly portcullis, trying to keep her distance while looking through the gate.

Eethyl:

"You can have Wolfaen send his rat first"

Flicker:

"That's the idea. I don't want to be by myself on the other side of that thing unless I absolutely have to."

Eethyl:

Eethyl chuckles and walks over to flicker and pats her on the arm looking up at her worried features "Take a breath. Relax. The forest above is beautiful yes. And comforting. But this..." I say gesturing "while it may hold danger...it is a pale echo of a beauty that was before. We can only observe the imprint of that beauty here now. The story of the spirits and the work of a people of a greater time perhaps here is amazing. And this..." he says gesturing at the rock above and below "can actually be safer and sustain life just as well as above. Honestly the forest has just as much danger, if not more, than below." he says with his nose scrunched up and brows coming down. "you aren't alone down here. And I don't expect we will find our end here upon times conclusion" he says smiling again.

Flicker:

Briefly, Flicker feels more at ease as Eethyl pats her arm. This is followed immediately by her looking at him as if he has two heads.
"I don't know if you've noticed," she gestures towards her own eyes and Wolf's goggles, "but Humans aren't made for this. I can handle the dangers of the forest. I don't get lost in the forest. I don't get stuck in the forest. Up is down here." Flicker puts her hands on her hips, shifting her weight from one foot to another. "And danger or not, there's no beauty in lingering dead. Life sustaining as some elements down here may be," she extends a hand towards the necrotic water and cold flames "there's ugly in the unnatural."
She drops her hand and looks back towards the metal gate. "though....it is nice not to be alone."

Eethyl:

"You have to wonder if we did go through a crossing point and ended up in the shadow realm... I mean, Maybe these spirits do belong here and this is natural here"
"Death is a natural thing on Toril after all. And more so in some distant realms I would imagine. The elves for example are reborn repeatedly of the same soul. Maybe something like this is where their being is held between lifetimes" he sighs heavy
"But yes it all may just be the work of evil. In that case we just made it a little brighter being here"
"Best way to deal with evil and death is to bring new life afterall. And if it's a place of sorrow then maybe we can help"

DM:

Algernon zips back and forth scurrying past the portcullis, past armored statues...or perhaps they are suits of full Eladrin plate armor with the dead inside (in one form or another), stood at attention along the floor. The ceiling is so high here he cannot see it. Stairs down. Big boulders on each side. So cold here. And those rocks are so round! Can't scurry up those, would want to find a hole or crack between them or something. Those are really really big. Whew and a lot of them. The walls also vanishing at some point. When did that happen? Maybe while I was hopping down stairs. He scuttles to the edge carefully, hesitantly, to have a look. It is a long way down to lots more large boulders below. At the end of this descending trail, bridge, road in the sky, whatever this is...there is a a metal gate to a building of some sort. His thoughts are getting kinda robotic as he is getting out of range almost. The images are staticky and fading in and out. But he zips up to it and smells around. Interesting. This smells different. Like nicer. Not decrepit. Not stale. There is a soft glow on the other side of the gate in the warmer room. He picks up the scent of paper and ink. Algernon is almost fulltilt at the very limits of ranged communication. Through the static Wolfaen hears and creaky, old voice speaking Common. "Oh, hellow theer little one. What are you doing here? Ah, a familiar spirit you are. That makes more sense. So where is your person? Up in the temple? Ah I see. Locked? Can't open? Trapped? Oh my. You are quite dramatic for a little rat. That is cute. OK. OK. One second what I put this pen away. I hate it when the ink dries on the tip. I'm coming. I'm coming. No. No. It's not that long a way back. My old bones. They don't do stairs, so no stairs for me."

DM:

Then, up on the balcony the party hears a loud swoosh of air and flames, and clinking chains, coming from beyond the balcony as a feathery blurring shadow speeds across the opening of the balcony. There are trails of fire in that winged shadow and chains clanking within it. In a flash it has swooshed out of sight. W H O . D A R E S . E N T E R . T H E ., N E C R O I P O L I S Y O U . D O . N O T . B E L O N G . H E R E

Flicker:

"Figs." She glares at Eethyl and quickly angrily whispers "that doesn't sound like a cry for help" Flicker grips her quarterstaff and clears her throat with a cough and a 'het' as she recasts shillelagh before raising her voice. "Our mistake! if you could point us in a safe and non-lethal direction we'll be on our way and very obliged!" she calls out and begins to shuffle closer to Keth

Fortune:

Fortune breaks for the way we came in at a dead sprint.

DM:

Landing on the balcony, he keeps his wings spread, chains swirling around him, and an excited grin lurking behind the flamberge he wields...even crouched in a muscly battle posture as he is, it is clear he stands well over 9 feet tall when upright.

I N D E E D . A . T R A G E D Y Y O U . C A N N O T . B E . A L L O W E D . T O . L E A V E . N O W A N D . I N . A . C I T Y . O F . T H E . D E A D . Y O U . A L S O . C A N N O T . B E . A L L O W E D . T O . R E M A I N . A L I V E

DM:

"I hate stairs...I told you that, didn't it? These old bones. Bah! But your friends are there? And what did you say? A big winged flying thing? What do you mean the wolf is going the thunderwave? Is that some kind of euphemism? Well, OK, let's go. I am sure we can get that to open for them. Come on..."

Eethyl:

"Well..." Ethyl says looking to the man "we could jump but he will surely follow"

Eethyl:

"NOW WAIT just a minute there!" I call out raising my voice to be clearly heard "Your master would be none too please to find out you dispatched the messenger without checking who they were. We were meant to come here actually, though I venture we aren't the first that you have seen of late down here and that's why you are all upset and in a hurry to dispatch the supposed justice you lack context to understand?"

DM:

T H E R E . A R E . N O . M E S S E N G E R S . H E R E T H E R E . A R E . N O . L I V I N G . T O . D E L I V E R . M E S S A G E S . T O T H E . D E A D . D O . N O T . N E E D . M E S S A G E S A N D . W H Y . D O . Y O U . A S S U M E . I . H A V E . A . M A S T E R , G N O M E E V E R Y . D I R E C T I O N . I S . A . D E A D . E N D . F O R . T H E . L I V I N G . I N . T H I S . N E C R O P O L I S

Eethyl:

"You really are so full of yourself as to assume you aren't under the influence of the gods here? As if you were the first creator himself? That is what blinds your kind I swear." I say wagging a finger at him "You really assume to have the highest power here? Honestly you think your self and power even here above that of Corellon Larethian or the other high gods?"

DM:

I N . T H I S . P L A C E . I . A M . M A S T E R N O N E . O F . Y O U . P O S E . A N Y . T H R E A T T H E S E . A R E . Y O U R . F I N A L . M O M E N T S A N D . I . S H A L L . E N J O Y . T H E M I . S U S P E C T . Y O U . W I L L . N O T B U T . W E . C A N . T A L K . O F . T H A T . L A T E R . I F . I . G R O W . B O R E D

DM:

Flicker:

As they're speaking, Flicker somewhat quietly calls behind her, "hey! - " and notices that both tieflings are no longer in the room

Campaign

Legacy in Leilon! Campaign

Protagonists

wolfaen the red

Eethyl Benzoin

Report Date

29 Apr 2022