Wrath of the Flesh Eaters - Part 2

Written by Chrundle_the_Great

General Summary

Overview

After investigating Piper's Ferry, the party discovers a grim truth: by rousing the Flesh Eaters, the Poisoned Cup aim to seize the resource-rich town, while Kapital and the Horned Society march to a needless war. However, Maximus cannot contain the enraged townsfolk forever, and he urges finding the Flesh Eaters as soon as possible.
Sending missives to the Caves of Chaos. Mizzryn remains to help defend the town, while Suture rides into the swamps to meet the guild's reinforcements: Azrael. Seriously, just him.
Will the party stop the Flesh Eaters in time? And will Suture live up to Azrael's high expectations?

Hell or High Water

As Suture rode into swamps to the south, he was ambushed by Flesh Eaters and a bugbear of the Poisoned Cup. Sending his horse to safety, Suture leapt behind cover and quickly opened fire, but he knew his back was against the wall. As the attackers bore down on him, suddenly, the air smelled like brimstone.
Quiet as death, and just as deadly, Azrael emerged from the bugbear's shadow. Fearful, Suture fired, but Azrael was unfazed, even by a bullet whizzing inches from his face. He literally sliced the bugbear in two, and the stunned lizardfolk retreated into the dense forest. After being formally introduced to one another, Azrael pointed out tracks in the mud, gesturing for Suture to follow.

Village of the Green Gazers

As the pair trudged through muddy water, they soon happened upon a grisly sight. Flayed lizardfolk corpses, carved and devoured like the poor farmer at the White Sparrow Farm, hung from the gnarled branches of a pair of yew trees. On closer inspection, Suture gasped when he recognized them as elder yews, which were storied for their natural healing. Without skipping a beat, the doctor carefully tried to harvest a cutting of the bark, knowing that it would make for powerful curatives against unnatural ailments.
Meanwhile, Azrael inspected the eaten corpses, finding the symbols of Malar the Beastlord and Kostchtchie, the Demon Prince of Wrath. Recalling what he knew of both, Azrael believed the Flesh Eaters had defaced the tree and corpses as a political statement, aiming to seed fear in neighbouring lizardfolk tribes.
Following the tracks, the duo stumbled upon the peaceful village of the Green Gazers. Realizing the escaping Flesh Eaters knew they would follow, Azrael suggested interviewing the villagers to locate the Flesh Eaters and their lair. His menacing arms and armor caused some commotion, and Elder Ourathe, their leader and medicine man, had to intervene. Initially distrustful, he was swayed by Suture's calmer demeanor and his reasons for taking a cutting of the elder yew, which "can only be taken with pure intentions."
After some discussion, Elder Ourathe agreed to lead the pair to the Flesh Eaters, in exchange for a formal peace agreement between Kapital and his people. Azrael was hesitant to make the deal, but Ourathe would unwavering, so the illrigger agreed to the treaty, and the pair followed him to the Hall of the Devourer.

Blood-Starved Cult

Azrael and Suture came upon a sinister cave's entrance with two huge statues of glaive-wielding lizardfolk on either side. Instinctively, Azrael melded into shadow to scout ahead.
He had never encountered someone else hiding in the shadows before.
Suture watched, horrified, as the shadow of a glaive pierced Azrael's form. Soon, lizardfolk sling-users lined a nearby ledge and rained down hell with their bolts. Reminded of a good ol' Amber Kingdom shootout, the gun-toting doctor crouched behind one of the massive stone statues, while Azrael's shadowy counterpart awakened the other.
Suddenly, Suture's faithful horse, Nellie, returned with the reinforcements. Arming sword swinging and white-hot, Mizzryn dueled the stone behemoth, giving Suture time to respond to the sling-users in kind; escaping from his brawl in the shadows, Azrael cleaved through the others and plunged the Fang of Telcezalco into his hidden foe: a sorceror of Shadow and Stone.
Grievously wounded, the sorceror remained unnaturally calm, even as his bones melted to provide him the mental clarity to carry a conversation. He spoke of the Poisoned Cup eradicating his tribe's magic-users, forcing those who survived to become elite sorcerous assassins. Although Azrael was inclined to kill him, Mizzryn convinced him to spare his life and even offered him shelter in the Caves of Chaos. The sorceror looked forward to thwarting the Poisoned Cup's plans.
Unfortunately, Azrael then revoked his healing, and the sorceror succumbed to his wounds and fell over, dead.
Infuriated, Suture questioned Azrael's competence, but Mizzryn defused the argument before it spilled over into violence. As was the case with many of the deaths in the Borderlands, this one was unnecessary, and the party could only hope to prevent those of any surviving prisoners taken by the Flesh Eaters.
As the party pressed forward, the cavern opened up into a vast corpse-littered swamp. The air stank of ichor and buzzed with angry hordes of fat-bellied flies. Suddenly, a fearful lizardfolk rose from the swamps and shouted, his wide eyes fixed on the party, "They're everywhere! And they hunger!"
Seconds later, an alligator devoured him whole.
Worrying for the well-being of the cult's prisoners, the party rushed across the swamp, bounding across rickety wooden bridges and keeping the hungry beasts at bay with lead and sword. Splattered with mud and blood, the party escaped the perilous cavern and finally entered the cult leader's chamber.
A central bone totem, carved with screaming skulls, stood at the room's center. Cauldrons of green flame filled the air with a pernicious, eye-watering fog. Wooden cages, trapping dying and dead prisoners, swung from the rafters. Lastly, a robed figure pointed its gnarled yew staff at the party and ordered its brutish guards to attack.

Throne Room of the Deceiver

The thick-necked guards attacked with an animalistic ferocity. While Mizzryn shielded herself against her powerful slashes, Azrael had his eyes set on the cult leader, who seemed to bubble into the very stone. As the party worked together to fell the frenzied guards, a brackish maelstrom engulfed the entire room, and the cult leader reappeared—as a monstrous alligator.
Its yellow teeth tore through Azrael's armor, and the illrigger fell into the swirling swampwater rapids. While Mizzryn wrestled with the beast, Suture, always watchful for potential patients, injected the hell-knight with enough stimulants to put him back into the fight. Azrael's invoked his archdevil's authority to mind screech, hoping to incapacitate the morphed cult leader. As with many times before, he grinned as the creature fell into a stupor.
Then, he too fell to his knees as his patron's power rived his mind.
Noticing Suture's lead bullets plinking off the alligator's hide, Mizzryn armed herself with a silver speartip, myteriously forged when she slew a wererat. In kind, Suture improvised and stuffed silver coins into his shotgun; the lycanthrope stood no chance and fell to their combined effort.
After freeing what prisoners still lived, the party investigated the chamber and finally pieced together the puzzle of the Poisoned Cup's involvement with the Flesh Eaters. The cult leader was actually a bugbear and one of the Zealot's soldiers; he was so committed to his deception that he willingly contracted lycanthropy to appeal to the Flesh Eaters, many of whom worshipped the Beastlord. Finally, the manipulator Goldface had narrowly escaped, taking many of the cult's relics with him.
With the Flesh Eaters no more, the people of Piper's Ferry were at last convinced to stay their hand, but the damage was done. As the party aided Elder Ourathe and the Green Gazers in moving into the cleared-out Hall of the Devourer, they considered just how formidable a foe the Poisoned Cup were.
Perhaps it was time for Kapital to consolidate their efforts and establish more long-term goals. Something needed to be done if they wanted to survive in the lawless Borderlands.

Rewards Granted

Gifted by the Green Gazers

1 x Cutting of Elder Yew

Looted from the Flesh Eaters

Bracers of the Cult Leader
Staff of Withering
Kostchtchie's Claw

Report Date

28 Apr 2023

Primary Location

Hall of the Devourer

Related Characters

• Azrael
• Mizzryn Ironheart
• Suture