Session 2: Frosty Receptions
General Summary
Session nr.2 29/12/2021
Wednesday, 29 December 2021
20:05
It is early in the morning. Lucién awakens and meets up with Guy. Together they get ready, Guy mentioning they should take it easy as they have no clue what to expect on their travel. He has heard stories of the north, stories that can cause one to worry. With that they make their way towards the city gate where they were meant to meet with Dust, Guy grabbing a wine bottle on his way out. Dust is already at the entrance, drawing a sketch of the Anrar monster they fought the day before. They meet up. After Guy and Lucién make figures in the snow to pass the time, Guy becomes impatient and suggests they go over to a tavern to drink while they wait. He pays Marcine, who was on guard duty at the time, some gold and instructs her to come get them when their allies arrive, and so they head off. In the tavern they chat a little, Guy sharing stories of his sea adventures back in Goldland. Lucien tries to get a story out of Dust, and he succeeds. Dust speaks of a story when he was in the north, he brings up how his friends killed a bunch of Brjalao.
Ruyi wakes up, slouched in her chair. She sees Alistair hungover in his own seat, with Silvio on his own bed and Yfirge face first on the floor. Alistair sees Ruyi still has his sunglasses, but fails to grab them out of sheer hungoverness. Silvio finally gets up as well and opens the curtains, borderline flash banging everyone in the room. Yfirge and Silvio vomit for a moment while Ruyi realises they were supposed to meet with the rest at the entrance... Three hours ago. She rushes downstairs to find Haarin, who was downstairs waiting for her all this time. Alistair follows her too, and she tries to give him back his glasses but he insists she keeps them. She thanks Garrund and Ashana for their hospitality, and together with Haarin dashes off to her stay so she can get ready for the trip. Back upstairs Yfirge apologises for vomiting, and says he's never felt this way before. Silvio says it's alright and he'll take care of it. With that, Yfirge too heads downstairs and manages to sneak his way out despite how hungover he is. On his way out however, he accidentally slams the door shut.
Back in the tavern the conversation continues. "you see a lot of people killing eachother being a merchant?" Dust asks. Guy scoffs, as Lucién explains there's a lot of backstabbing. Dust brings up guns, mentioning he hopes those dont get popular in Kinnorath. Lucien explains they're quite useful and have changed the pace of battle. Guy suggests that if they get back to gold, they should get some guns from Lucien's dad. Curious, Dust asks why Guy and Lucién travel together. Guy explains he owes Lucién's dad a lot (not money) and now works as a bodyguard, but he prefers to consider himself a friend. "Guy is to me what he needs to be at the time" Lucién explains. They then ask the monk why he's alone, and if he has anyplace he needs to go. Dust refers to the list they'll get from the mayor, but both continue to probe him for answers. Dust then says he simply goes where the world takes him. Guy relates, saying he used to be the same. Time goes by, slowly. Lucien makes a lion out of a candle's flame. Dust shows off how he can throw a dagger through a rat in the corner, which turns out to be the pet rat of the tavern, Scribbles. After 10 minutes, Dust gets up to find his dagger, as the rest are performing a funeral for the rat. Marcine finally comes in, claims one of their friends has finally arrived, also shes off shift at this point. She takes their table as Lucien buys her an ale, and they get out.
At the gate is Silvio. His mother had taken over the "vomit cleaning duty". Lucién slowly claps. "I didn't know Snowcake had different time zones!" Silvio looks down defeated. Lucien asks if they've at least had fun. Silvio brings up a floor hug. Lucien has no idea what it was. Guy explains the concept, saying he did it once too. Silvio has brought the list of towns they need to visit. He hands it over to Dust, as Silvio explains the others are also getting ready. Dust knows very much about the surrounding area, and so he knows the list. However the first one, the laboratory, is a new one for them. Silvio explains its where he gets his items, and it appears Lucién needs to meet up with a professor there.
Kemmis finds Yfirge wandering the streets, and takes him with him back to their quarters. Yfirge explains (drunk) how hes being hired by the mayor. Kemmis gives him a little lunch with good berries, along with a cute scarf. Meanwhile Ruyi is at her place deciding which clothing she should take with her on the journey. Haarin is standing near, growing impatient. After taking forever to get ready, she walks out the door with a whole lot of bags filled with brushes, clothing, make-up, you name it. Haarin has to carry most of it though. Eventually she arrives at the entrance, and stops for a moment when she sees the rest. She asks Haarin if they should make up an excuse for why they are late. "with respect, it shows on your face" Haarin replies, referring to her hungover state. He then says Silvio probably already told them. She walks up to them and stands still, silent. Everyone slowly turns to her. A judgemental scratch from Dusts pencil is heard. "was getting on time too difficult, princess?" Lucien says. Ruyi explains it wasnt her plan and that she's usually early, but she simply had too much to drink. "Honesty is the best policy. I hope forgiveness can be given". She bows. Guy brings up how they're still waiting for the lizardfolk.
Ruyi: "Ah yes, he made the funniest joke yesterday, would you all like to hear it?"
Lucién, Dust and Guy: "Not really."
Ruyi, her voice now a lot more quiet, pulls out a few bracelets. She has made friendship bracelets for everyone, and hands them out one for one. She starts with Lucién who offers his arm. She wishes to explain it but he cuts her off. He says he would like the pink one. Ruyi whispers under her breath how she wanted to keep that one for herself, but wishing to become better friends she gives it to him anyway. Lucién then turns around to Guy. "oh Guy, guess what I got you." "Put that on me and I'll feed you to your own dogs" Guy replies. Lucién laughs it off, and turns back to Ruyi, taking an extra bracelet to give to Guy as Ruyi is too scared to do it herself. Next Silvio gets one since they are now "late buddies". She tells Silvio she's a little scared to approach Dust, who is still scribbling away at his drawing. Silvio assures her it'll be okay, but when she goes up to Dust to hand one over, he refuses. Looking over he notices Silvio staring him down, and then gives in.
Yfirge finally arrives, now wearing his new scarf over his cloak. Ruyi walks up to him to give him a bracelet as well and asks him to offer his hand. He does, but when he shows his hand it's revealed he once again is holding his knife. Ruyi asks to hold it, and ties the bracelet to the hilt of the knife. The team has finally assembled, many hours after they were initially supposed to leave. Dust looks over at Ruyi's suitcases. "Those are some large bags, filled with lots of food I'd imagine. We'll need it for the journey". Ruyi's eyes dart a bit. Lucién then approaches Guy to ask if the professor might mind them barging into the lab unannounced. Dust overhears them and asks if they are affiliated with the one who lives at the laboratory. Lucién explains it's a business thing, and that he was once a client of his father's. Dust asks if it's going to be a violent visit. "I hope it doesn't get to that" Lucién replies.
The moment they leave the gates of Snowcake, something odd occurs. Yfirge dissapears completely from their view. Yfirge finds himself exactly where he was before, however there is no one in sight. A thick fog begins to surround him, as in the distance he can see a figure. It looks like a woman in a long robe, but upon closer inspection her skin has been stretched out and is paper thin. Her eye sockets are hollow, only darkness can be seen. Her jaw is unhinged, as if broken off. She begins to slowly move towards Yfirge. He attempts to run into the fog, but bumps into an something soft and invisible. A horrid screech is heard, one that is all too familiar to him. He feels the ring around his finger heat up. The woman is now very close and is speeding up. In a last ditch effort, he pulls back his hand with the ring and swings at the woman. Once again the screech is heard. Just before the ring can make contact with her, Yfirge is back to the real world, having just missed punting Ruyi in the face. The invisible thing he bumped into was her. Despite disappearing in front of everyone, it seems he was still physically "there", just invisible himself. The rest looks on in confusion, Haarin ready to pull his blade to defend Ruyi. Ruyi asked what happened, as Yfirge is panting in a panic. Silvio runs over and covers him in a blanket. Yfirge explains he saw something resembling a woman, but doesn't elaborate on it. He looks at his ring and mumbles something in draconic, which Haarin understood.
After some time has gone by, Yfirge and Dust begin looking for medicinal herbs along the pathway. Curious about his new scarf, Ruyi approaches the lizardfolk as he's searching in the bushes. She attempts to strike up a conversation, but it gets awkward quite quickly and she leaves him alone. Yfirge looks at Dust to ask if he's done something wrong, but Dust just raises his shoulders as he plucks a plant from the ground. Silvio, who saw it happen, walks over to Ruyi to ask if she had her eye on Yfirge's scarf. She confirms, and they begin to chat about Ruyi's hobbies of making charms, plushies, etc. She offers to make Silvio a plushie, a scarf as well as a charm for his gun. Silvio tells her he once read about a very colourful bird called a parrot, and would like a plushie of that. Ruyi would be happy to, and begins to think about which colours she'll need to craft it. She'll be making a nice purple scarf for him too. Silvio says she needn't hurry as the cold doesn't bother him that much, him being a silver dragonborn and all. Ruyi tells him if he is even in Tharkos, she can introduce him to her pet bird Chip. She also adds how she is happy he wants a pendant for his rifle, noting he is the only one who appreciates her hobbies.
Eventually, guy spots a man wearing full armour in an open clearing in the forest. There's a few cobwebs around. The man smiles and waves, almost like he recognises the party. His face then turns to borderline fear, and he looks like he's about to run away. Then, his eyes become a deep Red. His veins start swelling up. He puts on his helmet, then says "Foul demons, I shall rid you from this world!" and points at the party. Dust attempts to persuade him, but the man continues to claim he can't understand his language, despite him speaking common. Dust runs up to the man and punts him twice in the chin, while Silvio attempts to say "friends" in every language he knows. It doesnt work though, and combat officially begins. As Yfirge tries to go around, he notices a large monster in the trees. He calls this out to the rest, and ruyi attacks it. The creature turns out to be a large and spider-like. Unfortunately, behind them another similar monster appears and fires a sticky web at them. Guy fights it off quite well, but is unable to fully protect Lucién. As he's about to go down though, he begins to give off heat, followed by a large explosion of fire which hurts everyone around him. Afterwards, Lucién stands again. They take care of the spider monsters, as Dust, Haarin and Yfirge take down the man.
After the fight, Ruyi asks Lucien if hes alright, considering he exploded. "It appears you exploded all over us" Silvio says mockingly. Ruyi doesnt understand the joke. Dust and Yfirge remove the man's helmet, the earlier vein swelling and red eyes having dissapeared. Dust wonders if the man could have been cursed, Yfirge noting that he has seen diseases and poison's having similar effects, though not as temporary as in this man's case. Ruyi walks up, adding in how these spider monsters don't normally hunt like this at all, and that something is clearly amiss. She then brings up how they shouldn't have killed the man, instead option to restrain him first and foremost. She demonstrates how by using Dust as an example, holding him with his arms to his back with surprisingly little effort. She's goes a bit overboard though as Haarin comes in to get her to stop. She then researches the body, as Yfirge runs over to some bushes he was hiding in before to find some more herbs. Ruyi finds a token of Suuth'Kallos, a picture of a young girl and two gold pieces, which Lucién takes happily. He gets judgemental looks from Haarin and Yfirge, who just came back. They bury the man and Yfirge says a prayer in Draconic about the man returning to the soils of the mountain.
They rest up a little as the battle had worn them down somewhat. Yfirge shows the herbs and berries he found to Dust, while Ruyi is sitting to the side, knitting away at the parrot plushie. As she is working on the head, she suddenly gets a cold snowball thrown right in her face, causing her to make an error, creating a big hole in the plushie's head. She looks around angrily, noticing Guy whistling sarcastically to the side. He then points towards Lucién, saying he did it. Ruyi gets up and walks over to Guy, stating that she's aware that he doesn't like her all that much, but she would appreciate it if he wasn't so mean to her. Guy shrugs and said he simply found it funny. Ruyi disagrees, and walks back to her spot, dropping the now ruined plushie on the ground. She walks past Lucién and gives him an annoyed look, which confuses Lucién even more. Guy picks up the broken plushie and keeps it. Ruyi calls out to Silvio, who was stuck daydreaming. She then says "never mind", and sits back down, restarting her progress from the ground up. Silvio walks over to Lucien, saying his own shirt was ruined due to his explosion. Lucién offers to pay for the damages, but Silvio remembers he can mend it. Lucien apologises again.
After an hour of rest, they continue their travels towards the laboratory. They eventually arrive, and Lucién orders Guy to knock on the door. The door opens with a hiss, as two futuristic looking guards reveal themselves. The part is led in, the room being almost completely metallic. Lucién speaks with the receptionist, claiming he is here for an appointment with the professor. "Ah, doctor Hasnar" she replies, and motions them towards a waiting room. After waiting for a decent while, a door opens revealing a tall man wearing a metal mouth mask, two tubes emerging from it and going into a rectangular metal box on his back. Lucién gets up and shakes hands with the doctor. "It is nice to see you getting more recognition for yourself, young Velisk" the doctor says. Ruyi is standing behind Lucién, and seems to recognise the doctor's voice. The doctor looks at her for a second, then turns back to Lucién. They talk a little more about his father, until Dust asks the doctor if he has had any trouble with the tribal attacks. The doctor claims they've made attempts to attack his lab, but he's more than capable dealing with it himself.
Lucién asks if there's anything he can do for the doctor, and the doctor says that he indeed can. He leaves for a moment, then comes back with a small box, decorated with a red ribbon. Lucién snaps his fingers, and Guy walks over to take it. Doctor Hasnar claims its a gift from him to Lucién's dad. "I promise I shall bring it to my father". Doctor Hasnar's expression is impossible to read. "May you follow your brother's steps" he says. He then turns to the rest of the party. "You are the ones who defended Snowcake?" he says calmly. "Yes we are!" Silvio says excitedly. Though Silvio has come here before, he's never truly had a conversation with the doctor. The doctor gives him parts he no longer uses, as he wishes to assist younger aspiring inventors. Ruyi still unsure if she truly knows the doctor, walks up and introduces herself. "We have already met, though you were smaller then" Hasnar replies. Ruyi, unable to keep the conversation going, awkwardly moves herself back to the party. Hasnar looks to Yfirge and Dust. "Yfirge" the lizardfolk says, though Dust keeps his mouth shut. The doctor says he must be going now, and again tells Lucién to make sure that gift reaches his parents. With that he goes back into the doorway he came from, and the party begins making their way out.
As they leave the lab behind them, they continue their journey to their next destination. Lucién slows his pace to walk alongside Ruyi. "You know, he likes the plushie you made" referencing the ruined plushie Guy picked up hours earlier. Ruyi scoffs a bit, as Lucién picks up his pace again and slaps Guy on the back. Guy whispers to Lucién, asking him to see what's in the box. Lucién refuses, telling him "We won't open it here for it would tarnish our image". After a few seconds, he says "...we'll open it once we're alone". Haarin, who was walking behind Ruyi, puts his hand on her shoulder. He tells her she shouldn't let the Goldians bully her, and she should tell him if they ever bother her too much. Ruyi then asks Haarin if he's alright, noticing his facial expression. After some more poking, Haarin explains he had a bad feeling about that Doctor Hasnar. He remembers Ruyi's father met up with him in the past, but it was while Haarin was away. Ruyi looks worried. "I hope it wasnt a bad discussion" she says. Haarin looks down for a second. "I hope it wasnt either". It gets awkward again for a few seconds as Ruyi once again makes an odd remark to try to lighten the mood, and Haarin walks a few more feet away from her. He's not saved from the awkwardness though, as Silvio is now walking close by him. "So, what did you and my dad talk about?" the dragonborn says, attempting to strike up conversation. "Not much, just stories from the past, funny encounters they've had." Silvio smiles. "That's cool, my dad never talked much to me about his past." Haarin awkwardly scratches the back of his head and attempts to terminate the conversation. Meanwhile Ruyi approaches Yfirge, and they talk about stuffed animals. Yfirge would like to learn how to make one, and Ruyi says she can teach him next time they set up camp.
Night falls, and the party begins building their camp next to the road. Dust sits down at the roots of a large tree, Guy sitting nearby. Silvio walks over to him and sits down, as he begins to make small talk. He asks about Dust's past, but the monk says he'd rather not share. Still, Silvio continues to chat, thanking the monk for all his help. He brings up Dust's clothing, and Dust tells him he sows them himself. Silvio offers him his own clothes if his get destroyed, but Dust declines, saying it's most likely far too large for him. Guy, annoyed by the awkward one-sided conversation, walks away towards Lucién. While Ruyi is teaching Yfirge how to knit stuffed animals, Lucién and Guy crouch down, pulling out the box Hasnar gave them. Lucién looks around to make sure no one sees, then carefully undoes the ribbon. He opens the box to see a large gem. They don't really know what it is, but Lucién recalls his mother wearing a gem similar to this one. They close the box, and Lucién makes sure to tie up the ribbon the same way it was before. He puts it away, and he and Guy share some wine. Haarin approaches Lucién for a moment, and points over to Dust. "Sorry but, is that how I sound?" he asks. Lucien looks between the both of them, then says "youre a bit more social I guess".
As Silvio gets up to walk towards his tent, he notices some sparkles falling from the sky. He looks up, and sees a creature he had never seen before. The rest now notice it too, and above them flies a creature with a moth's head, a snake-like body and mantis-like wings. It glides gracefully, leaving a trail of dust. Silvio recalls one of the few stories his father did share, the story of a large creature that flew over him and coated him in dust, which makes him feel far more powerful and capable the day after. Ruyi senses this stuff is indeed real magic. . "The child of Suuth'Kallos" Yfirge says under his breath, remembering the legend of a creature that spreads its love across the lands. After it has flown over, Ruyi continues her lesson, with Yfirge lost in thought. Did you catch all that?" she says. "No" Yfirge replies almost immediatly. Ruyi begins to repeat, but he instead brings up what happened to him when they left Snowcake. After explaining what he saw, Ruyi check up on him to see if he is cursed, or at least magically afflicted in any way. He seems to be completely fine, but Ruyi tells him if he ever feels like something is wrong, he can come to her for help. Yfirge thanks her, and they continue their plush making until the time has come to sleep.
Hours later, everyone is fast asleep except for Ruyi, who is on guard duty. Dust too is simply meditating under the same tree he's been sitting at since they got there. Ruyi climbs her way up a tree, and sits there for some time. After hours of silence, she hears something resembling a scream, though not an aggressive one. She spots Guy exiting his tent for a bathroom break, and believes its time to swap. After a few minutes, she climbs down and looks for him. She taps him on his back, but he was still busy with his leak. Awkward as ever, Ruyi shares quickly that she'd like to change guard duty and then rushes off to her own tent, accidentally stumbling against Lucién tent, kicking his face and waking him up. She apologises and runs into her own tent to rest. Guy, now done with his toilet break, walks back to his tent, grabs his wine bottle, and walks over to Dust. He sits down in front of the meditating monk, and places a glass of wine in front of him. Dust opens one eye, and thanks him. Together they guard the night, drinking wine and sitting silently.
The next morning, Lucién is warming up his rations with his fire magic. He looks over to Dust, and asks him why he isn't eating anything. Dust says he doesn't have any rations, and usually lives off of what he can hunt in the wild. Lucién gives him one of his own rations, and Dust shares he actually knows how to cook. Curious, both Guy and Lucién give him their own share, as Dust cooks them up very nicely. After everyone has had breakfast, they take another look at the map and the list. Craneshill is their next destination. Yfirge has been there a few weeks ago with Kemmis, and shares there was a group of thugs that was causing some trouble, however he has forgotten their name. Silvio shares he used to eat ice cream there with his brother Argento at this amazing ice cream place. "The one your mother mentioned?" Yfirge asks. Silvio nods. They begin to pack up their things and continue their journey. On their way they run into two merchants, Boss and Tim (Boss isn't really his name). Ruyi bus some more yarn for her plushies, and they decide to move together to Craneshill.
At the gate, they are greeted by a very nervous little man. He claims he needs their names, as the Frostbite, the group Yfirge mentioned, now run the place. Guy messes with the guy by giving a false name, and Dust messes it up on purpose as well. After making it through, they part ways with the merchants and discuss their next move; either ice cream, or finding a place to stay. The majority votes for the ice cream, and so they go. On their way Ruyi gives Silvio the parrot plushie she finally finished, and he shows it off. Dust tells him to keep his weapon away, as they are already gaining attention from the people walking past them. The group notices most of them are indeed thugs. After some more walking, they reach Impala's ice cream parlour. Silvio gets passion fruit, Guy gets rum & raisin, Dust tiramisu, Ruyi chocolate and vanilla, Haarin just vanilla, Lucien banana and white chocolate, and Yfirge gets strawberry and dark chocolate. As they eat, they discuss what to do next. The plan is to find and meet the Frostbite leader, pretending to be mercenaries.
On their way through the city, Yfirge notices they are being followed by two people. Yfirge shares this with the party, and Dust comes up with a plan to pincer them in an alleyway. Lucién yells out "It's time to enact the plan", pulling everyone's attention on him. This allows Yfirge and Dust to borderline dissapear into the crowds and shadows. The rest continue walking, entering a small alleyway. Outside the two followers wait for a minute, then walk in. Yfirge and Dust coming in behind them. Once cornered, the two turn out to be a lot less threatening than initially thought. They ask the party if they are with the Frostbite, and the party says no. One of the two, a hobgoblin, then looks at Silvio. He asks him if he knows who Argento is. Silvio says yes, and the hobgoblin tells the party to follow him so they can meet with him. He brings the party to a tavern, and uses a secret knock on the door with the number 7 on it. Dust chuckles at this. The door opens, and on the other side Argento sits.
Silvio and his brother hug, and Argento asks his little brother what he's doing here. Silvio explains their quest, and Argento mentions he was told about their battle in Snowcake by a messenger, a goblin named Gresk. This messenger however, was killed by the Frostbite. He continues to tell the party how he's leading a resistance and has been able to stay hidden from the thugs, however with all the guards dead he can't fight back. The party wishes to assist him, and he gladly takes their help. Apparently the mines under the town were renovated two years ago, however now it is used by the Frostbite as a base of operations. The person above ground isn't truly in charge, the leader is down there. He asks the party to take out that underground camp. With their operator down, he could gain the advantage on the surface. He adds however, that he has recently gotten a leg injury, and would need someone to assist him above ground as well. Guy stays behind to help on the surface, and so the rest makes their way to the underground.
Once they've entered the Craneshill Mines, they are greeted by a group of six thugs surrounding a baby Shrieker, a bat-like monster with a single eye and 4 ears. Yfirge and Ruyi both recall that if aggravated, these can be aggressive. Especially the babies, as they have special cries that only their mother can hear. When that happens, the whole pack comes in to ravage whatever is assaulting it. The thugs turn around, and begin to attack. The party fights back, careful to avoid the baby. They win, and the baby crawls up to the party. It apparently has a strange item around its neck, a rock with a spiral pattern. Dust takes it, and puts it around his neck. He then gives the baby to Silvio. They continue on through the dungeon, Dust leading with dark vision, followed by Haarin and Yfirge. Lastly are Silvio and Ruyi, who are both holding Lucién's hand to "protect" him. As they move from room to room, getting ambushed over and over again, they find more and more rocks with the same pattern. At one point Silvio gives the shrieker baby a bullet shell to chew on, but the baby chews a bit too hard, making it about to cry. Silvio calms it down just in time.
After clearing another room, they are met with a locked door. To the side are some cupboards, inside are sundials. Looting one of the bodies, they find a note:
"Ok you weasley fucks don't lose this one this time coz if ye forget the code IT'S THE LAST FUKKIN COPY OF DA NOTE WE'VE GOT LEFT, so if ya lose this note, go fuck yerself I guess. "Allow the light to open the path ahead. One is allied to four, two has always hated three, four cares for five evermore, three is a narcissist and five lives only for two.""
After some discussion (And Ruyi breaking one of the dials, then fixing it) Dust eventually manages to solve it with a torch, spinning it around each dial until he hears a click. They find another spiral rock too. They enter a dark hallway, Yfirge disables a trap, and then they get ambushed in the next room. Defeating them, they explore some of the exits the room has. Yfirge goes upstairs, and after dodging a barrel rolling down the steps, he finds a room with a single chest. He chooses not to open it, and instead walks down to tell the group the boss isn't there. Dust checks the trapdoor and finds a dug out cave with a small creature scuttling around in the dark. They close the trapdoor and Yfirge pushes a large box on it. They then decide to take a rest for an hour. While resting, Yfirge finds yet another spiral stone, and hands it to dust. Silvio asks Ruyi if she has a spare plushie, which she does. She hands over a polar bear plushie, and Silvio gives it to the bat, whom he has now nicknamed Chewy, since he was chewing on people's hair earlier. When they realise the boss isnt anywhere around here, they decide to turn back and check every room they didn't go to. Reaching what seems to be a smithy, they bust open the door, Dust using his bow to fend off some of the thugs when Ruyi fires off a fireball, killing off most of them. "I could have done that too you know" Lucién says. With the enemies down, they find themselves some new weapons and another spiral stone. Yfirge is handed a new short sword, Silvio gets some smiting tools, and Dust gets a new sword as well, though he put it away for the time being, wishing to rely on his old weapons instead.
Next they enter a room with a chest. After checking it for traps, Dust opens it to find a single piece of copper. Next, the wall to their right breaks open and a bunch of thugs come running out. It is yet another ambush. Dust tells the group to keep one alive, and after drop kicking one unconcious, they are able to take down the rest using team tactics, while Silvio and Lucién sit in the back petting Chewy. Ruyi pushed one enemy away from her, which is caught by Yfirge who snaps his neck, then cuts it open. Dust notices a crack in the wall and slams it open, revealing a chest containing gloves, gold, potions and a wand. The gloves and gold are given to Silvio, and the wand to Lucien. Haarin heals up Ruyi using the ailment he still had on him. It hurts her, but she feels a lot better afterwards. Her yelp scares Chewy, and Silvio and chewy give an angry stare at her, as she stares back at them. She then hugs Haarin as a thanks. Dust determines the potions are healing potions. Another stone is found as well, which makes five. The guy who was left alive is questioned, and he tells them pretty much what they already know. He claims the boss is located in these mines, but that's all he knows. Dust chooses to let him live, and so Yfirge lets go of the man.
They make their way back to the room they rested in, and after Dust checks the upstairs chest (It contained another copper, and the stairs crumbled away underneath him) They move the box aside and enter the trap door. Down in the dark they see the creature again, Ruyi recognizing it as a Quasit, tiny demonic creatures. She begins talking to it in abyssal, asking it why he's here. The Quasit, named Quill, tells her he doesn't actually know. She asks Quill to show them the way ahead, and so he does, though he warns them of "the trembles". Then, Chewy begins to sniff the air and motion towards another way in the cavern. Silvio and Dust bring him inside, and they find a large shrieker family asleep. Silvio puts Chewy down, who then crawls over to his mother. Silvio waves at him, holding back tears. Chewy waves back at him. The mother, as thanks, drops them another rock with the spiral on them. They walk back to the party, and upon seeing the rock Quill notes he saw one in a puddle ahead. They go there first, and Yfirge dives in to grab it. This now makes seven spiral rocks.
They continue deeper into the cave and find a graveyard. There, one of the tombstones has seven identical holes on the front. Dust places each of the spiral stones inside, and the top of the tombstone opens up, revealing a tiny box with a golden ribbon on top. "May it serve you better than me" the text reads. Dust takes the box out and opens it, only to find a smooth rounded stone. He puts it back in the box, stating he has no idea what it is. Yfirge says he can hold onto it for the time being, and so Dust hands over the box. Finally, they reach a more open room. Inside are a few more thugs, along with a taller individual holding a scythe. Not wasting any time, the conflict begins. Dust focusses all of his attention on the man with the scythe, who after taking a few hits, attempts to flee into the hall behind him. As the battle goes on, the ground tremors become stronger and stronger. Quill runs back, claiming he wishes to be no part of this. Then, out from underneath the spellcasters in the back, an unusually giant Ankheg appears, which attacks the party. Dust manages to stun lock and defeat the man with the scythe, only to find his allies at the verge of defeat by the giant monster. It is able to take down Yfirge, followed by both Dust and Haarin. It grabs Lucién, who once again begins to blow and explode. Despite it doing some nice damage, the monster does not loosen its grip. Ruyi is able to wear it down, after which Silvio manages to shoot it in the head, killing it. Lucién walks over to Dust, grabs the health potion they picked up earlier and heals him. Next, they use some of the ailment Haarin had to get Yfirge back up. Running out, they stabilise Haarin, and continue their way deeper into the cave.
Report Date
05 Jan 2022
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