Session 18: Down the Drain

The party attempts to flee from the necromancer and his allies, but find themselves caught at a dead end; a caved in tunnel at the far end of an old bridge across a watery chasm. Kerani's bird friend convinces Fork to blow a horn, causing the entire place to collapse, flooding the party down some tunnels, whereupon they do some divided exploration, before joining back together at a massive, subterranean boneyard.

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The End of the Road

Vita leads the way down the tunnel with her Light spell, as the party flees down a long tunnel from the room of their last encounter. Kerani, exhausted from her attempts to manipulate the undead in the last battle, is being carried by Brian. Some time later, without any breaks or splits in their path, the party finds themselves crossing an old stone bridge, in a cavern of unfathomable amounts of downward rushing water, full of holes and other signs of disrepair. Crossing it successfully, they find the exit out blocked by a cave-in. Tilly tries to contact Iskandar again, to no avail. As Fork works at clearing the blockage, Brian and Tilly explore the cavern looking for an alternative escape route. But they don't have much time to try.   Maldwyn's growl alerts the party of the presence of their pursuers. The strange hooded figure expresses his enjoyment of the chase, while the reptilian creature probes the thorns that Vita had put in their way. Encouraged by Kerani's hummingbird, Fork blew a horn that he pulled from her belt, which caused the cavern to begin collapsing. The bridge went first, and everyone but Tilly and Brian fell into the rushing water. Tilly, concerned for Maldwyn, dove in after, while Brian found a drier route behind a waterfall.  

Split Ends

Washing up at various subterranean beaches, the party was split. Fork found himself with Tilly, while Bulgey found himself with Kerani, Vita with Maldwyn, and Brian pacing down kyber crystal lined tunnels with Kerani's pet hummingbird.   Tilly, separated from Maldwyn was driven with a focus that Fork had never seen before. He was hardly able to get a word in edgewise, let alone sneak around, as Tilly was only interested in finding her corgi companion, calling out for him frequently. Besides a brief scare regarding some cocooned undead that they managed easily, they encountered some remains of what appeared to be long dead miners; collecting a pair of strange stones, and a set of goggles that seemed to give Fork the same degree of sight in the dark that Tilly had naturally. As Fork held one of the stones, he swore he heard Vita's voice, insisting she and others were lost within the tunnels. After responding however, there was no indication that they were actually talking.   Bulgey and Kerani were focused immediately on finding the others; although Bulgey was less receptive of Kerani's inquisitive nature than some other members of the party. They seemed to develop a bit of understanding over time however, and they come across a journal of a dead traveler that hints towards some nearby oddities, recovering a magic lantern in the process.   Brian wandered the tunnels for nearly an hour, Vita's light spell on him nearly having run out, when he comes across a cavern, and a rustle of wings. The skeletal remains of numerous people, and a large bird of sorts, acted as the centerpiece of this grisly scene. Finding a magic gem of sorts, and small metallic rod, Brian found within himself renewed vigor, flying forward at speed to find the others.   Vita and Maldwyn were found first by Brian in the corner of a large cavern, as the others emerged from other tunnels to see the light Vita had active. Regrouping and looking around, they found themselves in a immeasurably large cavern, full of giant skeletons of dragons, giants, and other massive beasts. Vita confirmed that she'd found a stone similar to Fork's, and that she had indeed exchanged messages over them, suggesting their capability. In need of a rest, the party considered making camp, but Kerani expressed a feeling of doom and undeath, should they stay. And so the party followed her directions, and moved down a previously unexplored side tunnel. As this new tunnel opens up some ways further, the party finds themselves in a room with a strangely obscured light source up above, and a large stairwell of bone and silver in front of them. At the top, a statue of bone. Kerani, more familiar with this than the party, expresses that they may have found the city of Shae Tirias Tolai, the city of silver and bone. A city that used to reside in the sky before being attacked by the giants, never to be heard from again.