S3E2 the raiders of the lost valtara

General Summary

Week of downtime: Dream does some public opinion polling about the refugees and start a PR campaign for the Miraxian refugees. It seems to be influential and impactful. She convinced some other influential people that peace is the way to go, and that mentality is spreading through the city. Still not a majority, but at least there are discussions. She gives their info to Da'Har to keep in touch with. She also sends an update to Kakerlake, who says that things are stabilizing. The Duke triangulates the location of the lost city using his magical compass. Theo sets Da'Har up for success. She gets a pair of sending stones so that he can keep in touch with Da'Har and Lt. Spern. She also explores the city to get familiar with it. Da'Har is talking to a lot of military Simic scientists who are very interested in his tentacles and the hybrid project. Lt. Spern also seems to take a liking to him. Kraterellin goes to speak to the Selesnyans, Sarotina the dryad, and the loxodon Steve. She recognizes the fungus but says that they're all slightly different than they appear in nature. She casts speak with plants. She says that it is a parasite and Kraterellin is the host, but it seems to be symbiotic, and wants to grow, but thinks that they can grow together. She says that it seems more intelligent than a plant, but has the same desires to grow and thrive. She offers to make a potion that could rid him of the fungus, but it will take a few weeks.
the king comes out to speak and tamper down the woes and worries of the citizens. he seems to be on our side about working with the refugees, while his council does not.
The Duke charters us travel towards the lost city. Meddetkal, a merfolk man, is hired to charter us out on our sea serpent. They're genetically altered to have holes and motors in them so that they're fast and smooth. His name is Deep Trapper and he's precious. It's an 8 hour trip through the wreckage. The Duke casts water breathing on us while we travel.
As we're traveling northeast, Meddetkal shouts "BELOW" and two Category 2 Krasis jump out of the water and start attacking Deep Trapper. We're able to expel them. Meddetkal says he's never seen them before, but he figures that they were escaped simic experiments. Dream recognizes them from a bestiary report.
Theo decides to ride on the side of Deep Trapper while they travel so that they're not surprised by below again. She sees underwater villages and mining colonies that have been abandoned and destroyed because of the ooze. There's a lot of big scary creatures swimming and looming around in the darkness. The underwater cities up north that are still in tact are also dealing with a refugee crisis, even on a bigger scale than below.
Valtara REFRESHER
Since the Duke has been there before, we can get to the Valley of Valtara without issue. There is an empty lakebed and flat land where the lake used to be. Nothing grows other than some light brush and grass. There aren't even animals that live here. It's just slightly larger than Blue Diamond. Using the Duke's device (ALUHR), it shows us that something is here, but we see nothing. He casts detect magic, and the whole valley is covered in guildpact magic. But the device is pinging a specific location, so Dream and the Duke both cast Dispel Magic at the same time. They feel magic pushing back on them. It almost takes a physical form that pushes back against them as they try to dispel it. It meets their hands, latches onto their arms, and is slowly pulling them through. The Duke shouts to grab on, so Theo and Kraterellin grab ahold and get sucked through.
Huge city, but silent. 10th District level city, but from 5k years ago. This small town probably housed thousands. It's all in ruins, overgrown. Utter silence. The sun is overhead. The city is devoid of life. The ALUHR and the detect magic can no longer sense the guildpact magic. We're on a streetcorner above a spiring tower, in a courtyard. The Duke can tell that it was once being fortified and defended. The building we're in front of looks semi like an Izzet lab.
Kraterellin investigates the plants, and they seem to have been hundreds of years old, not thousands of years old.
We start by investigating the building we're in front of. The doors seem to be made of Mizzium, but inert, devoid of it's magical properties. It doesn't even seem to have the ability to conduct magic. The door isn't trapped, but certainly seems sealed and locked. The Duke casts knock to open the door. It creaks open. Theo goes in in her gaseous form, sees a drone, and backs out. She tells the party that there was a flying robot inside. We all hide, and then a minute later, three drones come out and start searching around. They are pinging magic that does still conduct magic.

Report Date

30 Apr 2024