Sieving Mysteries From the Debris

Discovery, Exploration

The Iron Wolves delve into the Cosyen Debris, recover a Sarcophagus, take a prisoner, and break through layers with Captain Pogenath

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The voyage between Yarguel and the Cosyen Debris lasted from 1st to 9th of First Harvest. Gregor informed the party of this locale as it was one of the few regions of the archipelago he was familiar with based on his Continental training. The landmass was less island and more wreckage. Cosyen used to be a penisula on the continent above that collapsed into the ocean. Cosyen comes from the name of the kingdom that ruled. Now, the Debris is home to scavengers, treasure hunters, and opportunists digging and seiving for their fortune. First wave regrowth, fast growing plants have greatly retaken the broken and piled terrain but not enough nutrient rich soil has formed yet for later more vibrant and varied life.
The companions spent their downtime continuing their meditations and trainings. Lyle in the search of Physalia, Gregor in meditation, Zeran in his Lockpicking practice, now while focused on his spectral arms trying to multitask them, and Kain making up for the lesser sailors by fully mastering sailing as well as starting to practice the giant tongue with Gregor. Daniel spent their time continueing work on developing their lucid dreaming spell.
   

9th of First Harvest

  Arriving to the Cosyen Debris, the initial contact went quite easily. Lyle sent out Atohi on the approach to bring back information for planning. Following Lyle's instructions on what to look for the, the hawk formed spirit had only seen a single notable location. A mile or two inland from the northern point of the debris as an excavation site. No homes, not defenses, no guiards. The workers were digging out a flooded mine, streams of water cutting through the terrain. Pogenath sailed around the island but forced the party to swim to shore. Clambering and climbing up the piled stones of the island, Lyle called on his contact with nature to ensure a stealthy entrance.
  The minors present where a race of gulping, hissing fish people. The excreted slime throught their skin and work amid the flooded waters. A few cranes where set up to aid in the removal of larger boulders but no other structures existed. The party used a copse of trees to get nearly on top of the minors before the battle began.
  What ensued was more of a natural disaster than a battle. Despite Lyle beginning to conjure a spirit and Gregor running out in challenge, Kain went for an indirect approach. The cannibal used his telekinetic powers to dislodge a small pile of rocks and fate was on his side. The collapse that ensued swepte away a quarter of the battlefield, crashing through enemies and nearly taking out friends. Zeran and Gregor slide down the mudslide to get to the survivors. One tried to us a grappling pole ment to aid in the excavation on Gregor but the last thing he needed was to keep the giant next to him. Lyle plunged downward in crocodilian form. The remainder of the fight was short with three of creatures being knocked out for questioning.
  Daniel attempted to aid with questioning via their tongues incantation but the prisoners were less than helpful. The information they willingly gave up was limited to the leaders being beneath, search for the glory of the Bunolsid, if the adventurers stay they will be killed, all that sort of stuff. Lyle did dive down to the base of the pitt o find a partially collapsed tunnel into darkness that Kain had almost snuffed out.
  Returning to the surface and to Human form, Lyle informed the party. The party new that they would have to continue beneath though they took a moment to ready themselves, allowing Lyle to Rest. Lyle blessed everyone with the ability to breath underwater. The druid took the form of an octopus to help guide the darkness blind Gregor while Kain and Zeran took the lead. While Kain's supernatural sight guided him, Zeran tapped into a new part of his spiritual form to create visor that enhanced his vision. The underwater party bobbed beneathe the waves and slowly entered into the cave. Not more than 60 ft in, a surge of action occurred as more kuo-toa had laid in wait along with a scion leader, it's form more humanoid but it's face split in half by and extended predatorial maw. While the Iron Wolves had rested, those beneath had prepared.
  Zeran rushed foreward with his sword out for underwater fighting to be quickly encircled and needing to take a defensive posture. Kain moved in to aid over his shoulder but that is where the effective planning ended. Gregor was completely unable to see in the dark and therefore unable to effectively do anything after he realized stuff had started. Lyle retook his human form, crushing over Gregors head as he conjured animal companions to find that now neither he north the giant seahorses could see in the dark. A sonic screech came from the scion's mawing stunning Lyle and his summons. Finally, Gregor incanted a light spell to clow through the area allowing the whole party at least sight if not manueverability.
  Gregor moved in as Zeran pulled back. The automoton had taken the brunt of the battle while the party acclimated to the hazards of water and darkness. Now Gregor and Kain finished off the watery troupe... at least mostly. One heavily wounded kuo-toa swam off through the darkness, doubling back from a side tunnnel to be heard by the tongues enchantment to screech a report. "Our First line has failed to hold them. Prepare!"
  Hearing the kuo-toa mook call out to those enemies deeper in the caves, the Iron Wolves Pressed on. Gregor and Kain climbed up onto the backs of the giant seahorses to sped down the submerged corridor on Lyle's orders. Kain Reached out to snag Daniel tugging them along with a brief transitional moment of Daniel finding their own mount. Zeran took up the back unmounted in defense. He had already taken the brunt at the beginning an now used his heightened darkvision to buttress the party.
  Getting up to a hairpin turn, Gregor dismounted to move in on another of the Scions flanked by the wounded Kuo-toa and a fresh one to take the fight to them, but he also brought the light with him. Kain, Daniel, and Zeran struggled forward through the cramped conditions, some in the dark, all in tight quarters. The Scion let out another mindrending screech to really only effect the seahorses clogging the tunnel. Lyle dismissed the Seahorse Cavalry to make room. The druid morphed into reef shark and sped through the tunnel to join up with Gregor.
  As the warriors dealt with the scion and the kuo-toa, a fell voice echoed down the tunnel demanding the intruders kneel to it's power. Kain's mind was overcome by the decree and he began to go fetal in the waters. No sooner did this happen then the dark voice continued to call on the powers of the deep that filled the tight u-turn of the cave with tentacles that grabbed, restrained, and crushed those that got caught in the area. Gregor and Lyle fought their way forward, breaking free of the tentacles to push on toward the unseen priest of the Bunolsid. As they did so, they once again left their friends in the dark.
  Kain's fetal form was wrapped in the wallborn tentacles leaving him exposed for the kuo-toa's wrath. Wrath that could not puncture tentacle and armor. The Man slowl fought to right himself thoough tentacles continued to cling. He fought the laboring fish man, heavily handicapped but would eventually win out. Behind him, a more tumultous series of events played out.
  Zeran had pressed himself against the back wall when he had first gotten into the crowded area. When the tentacles sprung up he was barely beyond their grasp. In front of him though, Daniel was in the center of danger zone. The man and machine fought and struggled agains the tentacles in unison. Zeran astral arms reached in to free the wizard for the tentacles to grab him again. It remained a solid fight to break free, to no be crushed under the strain of the hundred different grasping appendages. Working together, the two managed to get the wizard to safety.
  As the conjured threat behind played out, Gregor and Lyle pursued the Bunolsid priest deeper down the cave. Gregor had grabbed a kuo-toa spear to better be able to fight in this environment and the reef shark did just fine as the two harrassed the aquatice priest. The foe looked most human in comparison to his underlings though he had fleshy tentacles hanging from either side of his face and aquatic adaptations to face, neck, and limbs. The duo eventually broke the priests concentration on his deep hunger dweomer but not before their companions had freed themselves.
  Despite closing in on the spell caster, he was just as dangerous at close quarters if not more so. His hands rippled energy outward in shockwaves and while Lyle managed to dip and dive away for a moment, the priest managed to get ahold of the insolent, treacherous shark form and blast it off of the man with two thunderous shockwaves. Lyle conjured rose thorns, the power of the land, to weild against the Bunolsid priest and together with the divine might of Gregor, the two brought the Priest under.
  After the party checked in on each other, they had a few tasks before them. Kain bound and gagged the priest for later questioning. The companions picked their way through the far end of the tunnel the priest had come from. The tunnel ended at a broken, constructed wall that lead into a damaged chamber. Sediment filled the floor, pillars holding the ceiling were cracked or entirely fallen, and a sarcophagus was positioned at the far side of the chamber. Other possible entrances were long collapsed the the party entering through a broken wall. Kain's analysis through his archeological expertise revealed a number of things: This room was a burial chamber of honor, certainly from the kingdom of Cosyen before it's literal fall. Additionally, the work on the sarcophagus, walls, and pillars would have been exquisitely done before their erosion. Despite Zhalvazho being a continent of limit metalwork, the there was no way this chamber was built without it. Not only metal, but expertly made tools with fine materials.
  Sifting through the sediment themselves as well as conjured crabs, the companions found a number of things. First, they found thousands of silver toruses, solid round rings. Some were scatter freely though many were bound onto knotted cords in bundles. Broken pottery was found with slurry or stains of previous incense that had been housed or burned in them. Finally, a plaque was found near the tomb that was etched into by the clawmarks of the Cosyen's feline claw-writing form.
  Gregor and Daniel returned to the surface, the giant to hang the priest with the other captives and the wizard to use their spelltome to decipher the plaque. Daniel discovered the Plaque to read:
  Kion Sunkith
Champion of the Idle Guard
Servant of Cosyen
Glorious End 77th Cycle of
Emna Flintclaw
  After confirming the plague to not be magical, the two returned under the waters to rejoin the group after Kain had finished a fishy meal. Daniel confirmed the tomb to also not have magic upon it before Kain move in to peak inside the lid. With everyone else standing far back, the archealogist managed to break the seal at a extremly acut angle to peer in. Within he saw a robed warrior with twin khopeshes in an inverted cross over the torso, cowl pulled up and a eyeless, mouthless mask over the face. Both the blades and the mask had a powdery orange texture to them. Before moving any further with the investigating, Gregor saddle on up for his divine sense to recognize the entity within had an undead presence. The lid was slid back shut and plans forward were made.
  Instead of dealing with the presence, they would be giftwrapping the tomb and all evidence inside for the the Vice Admiral Dellore. It would take a number of hours but Lyle would take the form of an aquaticaly enchanted giant badger to modify the exploratory cave system to allow Gregor and clean route out with the sarcophagus. From there, they would bind the stone restingplace shut, Daniel would utilize their energy reserves to enlarge the already behomoth of a man, and he would walk the tomb out.
  While Lyle worked on his architectural project, Gregor and Zeran went above water to speak with the priest. Gregor revived the monstrous folk to begin negotiation. They spoke of opposing sides. The priest was disgusted with the land dwellers presence and pollution. Gregor played a middle ground willing to give fault to the Phaloxil military. Gregor learned that the Bunolsid, despite showing great disdain and hatred for Kion Sunkith and the Idle Guard, was not here specifically for him. They needed the poison that they knew would be in the crypt. Gregor attempted to build bridges, gain information, and work towards greater negotiations, but at one slip of a tongue things turned fast. Gregor referenced the Bunolsid wanting the poisons to use against the land dwellers. At that the priest exploded, figurative and literally. It shouted and slurred that the landdwellers where the ones using the poisons. They were the ones that had disgraced the waters and who had poisoned their god. With that, the priest conjured shockwaves again through his hands to blast way the bindings but his hands went with. Gregor tended to the wounds to prevent undesired death but left it at that. He did release the captured Kuo-Toa, recognizing that they would know very little in comparison to the priest.
  Eventually, Lyle's work was done, and the metaphysical energy that Daniel channeled through Gregor gave the man the ability to take his time, assure footing, are retry angles at his leisure without disturbing the occupant. Getting to the surface, one of the construction site carts was used to get the coffin towards the coast. Lyle used Atohi to find a smoother route to the coast and Daniel signaled Pogenath for extraction. Carrifully navigating toward the coast, Lyle picked up the job of enlarging Gregor for the final descent while Daniel gifted the giant with flight to not only deal with the climb but also the open water to get the sarcophagus aboard the ship. The package was secured and the prisoner confined.
  The party then began their voyage back to Dawnbringer Command which lasted from the 10th to 22nd of First Harvest. A single night of the journey had weather bad enough to chance disturbance of the parcel but nothing came of it. Along the way, Lyle located a guardian shark to better consolidate his relationship with the reef shark spirit. Zeran Mastered his mechanical manipulation skills and began to fully focus his study on his grappling scrolls. After kain's feasting and prior mastery of sailing, he spent this entire voyage recentering on himself and his psionic manipulations. Daniel's studies and research on the their arcane project continued. Of note, though, Gregor had two break throughs
  First and foremost, the time he spent in prayer and Zeran led mediations finally consolidated on a reliable breakthrough. It took effort and could be used for small amounts of time but he was now able to call upon a divine arm to radiate in place of his missing one. Beyond himself, though, Gregor found time to begin mending bridges with Captain Pogenath. Nothing stretching or able to hold weight, but at least foundations. Gregor spoke of his time serving continental in Zhalvazho. In what he did, and more importantly, why had to leave.
  In return, Pogenath spoke of the turmoil he was in and the reason for the contempt he had for the Iron Wolves and it's source. They had been instrumental in having Ira Doga released as if he had done nothing wrong. Doga had been responsible for many hardships in his village and Pogenath had joined the Phaloxil military to try to right that, to prevent and undo such things happening to others. And now Pogenath was serving in Zhalvazho against the Bunolsid, against people fighting against outside landweller presence, against some of the very things that had happened to the triton's village. By all rights, Pogenath should be on the Bunolsid's side.
  The days continued on and eventually, the vessel pulled back around Noymil Refuge and into Dawnbringer Command.