The Mouth of Doom: Session 42

General Summary

Jarvis Loves Orb

The inn room was lovely, well appointed with a large bed that would have been big enough for a couple of the Wrenjers but for the entire group, it was rather snug and that was before Zetwuzadi resummoned their bear companion. Erukoesk now smelled like tilled earth and verdant moisture, brought back as a fey bear instead of the celestial they had once been. The first day of the Miha found the Wrenjers completing their first night in the underdark. They had not been attacked in the middle of their rest and they seemed to have gained a friend or at least met someone who enjoyed their conversation. Those of the Wrenjers who were not accustomed to sleeping in such tight quarters, had a tough night but were still able to have a restful sleep. They spent some time, during their morning rituals, to discuss which path to take. It seemed like that the area described as the giant vampires could be the easiest route but they should avoid the chaotic light in case they have to slay the Spiker and one of them become the Spiker.
Their conversation continued with them discussing what they knew about vampires. They are nearly impossible to slay unless their resting place was found. Vampires are strong and have magical abilities that make them even more dangerous. Te’Leyuura voiced that the plantoids might be easier as Urovok explained that they only attack if they are provoked but it seemed that the majority wished to explore the giant vampires. In any case, the tunnels might connect. The Wrenjers head back to the main room of the Last One Inn for food and to chat with the highly charismatic roachman. When they walked through the side door they noticed that Urovok had started to unlock the doors, opening up for the day.
In the quiet of the morning, they asked Urovok a couple more questions. The first was about which coin they preferred and the roachman barkeep explained that if they came upon a large amount of surfacer coin, it might cause concern. Zetwuzadi turns her back to Urovok, very smooth, and starts signing to the group about which coin they should offer. Taking point, Ansible offers the coin she had taken from the petrified chest to Urovok for inspection. The barkeep examined the coin, explained that it was an ancient mintage but had maintained its weight and lucky for them it wasn’t cursed. Zetwuzadi asked if Urovok had noticed the nonverbal communication and the barkeep nodded, before continuing their explanation about coins of Tsar. The coins were sought after and kept. Those that had them protected them and often cursed them for potential thieves. There was a legend, a long time ago, that magic users in Tsar cursed their most powerful possessions for if anyone tried to take them their items would be unmade and would be harmed by any future coin and valuable that they would come upon.
Te’Leyuura asked Urovok for more information about the Chaotic Light as they were confused if the giant vampire area led to the danger. There are two ways to head into the dungeon of graves. One is at the gate and the other is through the chaotic light but as explained by Urovok it was off of the giant vampires and would not need to be traversed unless they wished too. They are warned that the inn is frequently visited by servants of the Master from the dungeon. The Last One Inn is busier on even days and warned not to start a fight in the inn as they do not want to be forced to pick sides. As of right now, Urovok believed he was not strong enough to fight the servants of the Master. One of the Wrenjers asked which direction the servants often traveled from but they had come from all three before late. The servants of the Master have not traveled from the Menders Ward in a while. With a change in conversation, Te’Leyuura complemented the unique purple wood that decorated the mainroom. Urovok illuminated that the purple wood is natural to the underdark but this particular wood was cultivated in a large cavern that is so wide that it was hard to see across the area.
As the Wrenjers finished their food, Urovok shared another useful tidbit. Master Banth, the magic user that had been enjoying his meal with his student accompanied by his flesh golem, was a transmuter of some renown of the remnants of Tsar. Banth and his powers had earned him a position as a Champion of one of the levels of the dungeon. He is powerful enough that his presence in the area holds the Brume at bay. What they know of his powers is that they transmute different creatures together, trying to overlap species not caring what happened to the creatures involved. They should expect that flesh golem would be more powerful as were other creatures made this way by a master of his craft. Urovok told them that the one thing about Gylidd Syn Aethri that there is constantly a peace unlike the nonstop apocalypses that have claimed people he had known. If the Master’s power grows, then people like Banth will transmog the future. They continued that Master Banth could be found underneath the upper temple.
Urovok wished them luck as the charismatic roachman turned to check the inn room. Before they had left, Urovok had marked on Te’Leyuura’s map how long the tunnels should take in hours. With this knowledge they head northeast, heading toward the giant vampires. They travel the same uniformed halls for six hours. The cavern angled sharply and opened into a larger room. They could hear what sounded like drops of water hitting various sizes of water reverberating off the cavern walls. Artem scouted first and quickly called the others forward. Most of the floor was flat except some of the areas where some condensation had collected into small pools. Across the cavern were patches of mycelium and directly ahead of them there was a rather large statue. The 40 foot tall stone statue looked to depict a female vampire with a 10 foot jug held on her head. The stone is darker than what they had traveled through and around the vampire’s neck was a necklace of skulls. They don’t see or hear anything else in the cavern.
They approach the giant statue. The style of stone, attire of the vampire and the necklace of the skulls indicate that this effigy had the same imagery of ancient giants around the Northern Racchis Range that were focused on necromancy. This is a remnant of an old necromancy vampiric giant culture that had been transported here. Jarvis climbed the statue to get a look in the jug. At the bottom was a very large sapphire and in its current state it was worth five thousand gold. Jarvis and his familiar, Sorin, leaned to get a closer look at the sapphire and became enchanted by the giant gem. They are entranced, and settle in bones. Ansible flew up with a piton and rope to help others potentially climb. Leofric flew up to the top of the giant statue, making sure not to look into the jug. They channeled the twilight, trying to break the charm on Jarvis but the gem had the artificer locked down.
The beauty and the magic layered so perfectly in the gem that Jarvis was entranced. With Leofric not able to help at the moment, Zetwuzadi climbed up and tried to offer her aura to help but all it did was make Jarvis feel more comfortable. They then threw a bag at Jarvis and explained that they could bring the gem with them. But why would they need to go anywhere with the gem when they had everything they needed right here? Thinking that it could be connected to vision, Anisble cast darkness on their stone and dropped it in the jug but with the bag nearby it was only obvious that Jarvis needed to put the darkness in the bag to regain the beautiful sight of the sapphire. Thinking about it, giants are a magical race and they tend to infuse their everyday items with magic and with this particular group of giants being vampires that are based around domination, the idea that this gem would be perfect to placate their food source and they could come by at their leisure. More experiments would be needed to work out how to counteract the magic. As the paladin went to climb the statue again, Te’Leyuura pointed out that it wouldn’t do anything. They needed to time it just right within the next hour, that Zetwuzadi and Leofric would need to be present near their friend.
They spent the next hour resting near the statue while Jarvis continued to stare at the gem. As the time approached, Ansible was manacled and attached to a rope as they flew into the air, looking like a rather interesting warlock balloon. With their ghostly gaze, they could see the duo staring intently at the sapphire but it did not affect her and a spell scroll hidden under some bones. Sorin broke the enchantment and rushed out of the stone jug. At the top of the second hour, most of the Wrenjers are at the top of the statue with only Te’Leyuura and Artem down at the base. Oktofrik is dropped on Jarvis to give him help while both Zetwuzadi’s aura and Leofric’s Twilight wash over Jarvis. The artificer was aware of how much time they had wasted sitting amongst the bones. In his frustration, Jarvis used his bag to scoop the gem and scroll up. As the gem entered the bag a voice resonated throughout the area. The statue was now magical with evocation welling up from within. Artem and Te’Leyuura tell them to drop the gem back in but as Jarvis goes to grab it out of the bag he decides against it. They all decide to use the water tunnel to hide in. The pools were explored during one of the rests by the familiars.
As soon as Artem’s ears broke the surface of the underwater tunnel, they could hear a hiss. Using his ranger abilities he was able to negotiate their hiding in the cave with the giant snake. Milky white eyes greeted the Wrenjers as they emerged from the water. They could see that the snake was laying on eggs and seemed apprehensive of the new occupants, especially the bear but Artem was able to calm the snake. Vibrations could be felt by the snake and they explained to the rogue that the death dealers were coming and as Artem moved to keep watch in the water the snake thought they would be spotted and bring death to them but they were comforted by the rogue’s words. Before they dipped into the water, Te’Leyuura made Artem invisible.
From their position in the water they could see a contingent of 20 goblins wearing heavy armor. Sometime in the last hour the wailing voice of the statue stopped but in its wake the servants of the Master had come to investigate. Another contingent of zombies come running in on warhorses but they just run through the area. The goblins sweep the area making their way west. As they approached, Artem fell back but reemerged when goblins had made their way to the statue. There were cracks across the statue. Artem could hear and understand that they were discussing the statue and had wondered why someone had disturbed it and what they had taken from it. Whomever had done it mustn't be too far off, they send some to keep searching the tunnels while the rest magically recall, assumingly to Greznek.

Inside the cave, Artem relayed what they witnessed and heard. They all wonder how they were able to travel so fast. It could have been magically assisted or, as Te’Leyuura pointed out, that they could have been on their way as Urovok stated that the Inn does get rather busy on certain days. They discussed if they should ambush the scouts or hide in the chaotic light tunnel but before they fall back for rest they investigate the rest of the cavern. Ansible dried each one of the Wrenjers as they stepped out of the water. This way they left less tracks. Before they departed the cave, the snake thanked Artem for keeping their promise of not attacking them. The area near the far tunnel had unique blue mushrooms growing out of rich detritus. Artem jumped across quietly, keeping their personal light dimmed and landing on soft ground. But as they land on the other side of the small stream, five piercers release from the ceiling and fall. Artem is pierced by four of them, dealing nearly fatal damage. As the tabaxi landed on the ground they suspected that underneath the blue mycelium were dead bodies feeding the mushrooms. Bloody red eyes open on the creatures and they slowly start to move with Artem’s body. But the Wrenjers attack, with Te’Leyuura expertly sculpting fire around her friend. The others follow suit with Zetwuzadi leaping across the stream and finishing off three of them. Ansibles flies over and heals Artem off the ground. One of the piercers grabbed part of a dead piercer and stood their ground. Both Leofric and Jarvis missed. Artem slowly crawled over to the remaining piercer but missed as well. The last creature also dodged out of the firebolt the wizard had sent their way but it couldn’t dodge Zetwuzadi. With the battle completed, they gather what they could of the toasty mushrooms and small sack that had belonged to another traveler.

Report Date

31 Jul 2021