Sanguine Sunrise #12: The First Descent

General Summary

The group wait for Luthrin to awake and speak to him of their plans with Rastra as well as discussing issues with Grimace and Luthrin having problems with their items. They search around and manage to find a person who can identify what those issues are after learning that Finn is a number of cities away. They find a party of adventurers who have rented out the cloak tower within the city and find their wizard can do so. However, she doesn't have a lot of experience with performing magic, and due to the occupation of Grimace and Luthrin possibly making them competitors, she asks for a fairly high price. She says that instead she could task them with finding plants that grow in the Underdark. They decide to just accomplish an identify on Grimace's weapon, and learn that it has an evil spirit within it that can either be exorcised in some way or simply uncurse Grimace. 
Skek uncurses Grimace and people begin doing their own things. Skek begins researching the bugs in the sewers. Grimace begins fighting in the Lest arena again without his cursed weapon holding him back. Luthrin begins working with the local Zhentarim network. In the midst of their work, Midwinter approaches and they are welcomed to a Conglomerate by Gubrash the tavern keep. They eat, drink and speak, and when Luthrin mentions going back to the necromancer to banish away the entity that has possessed his chains. Kiwi becomes very upset and argues against him, but when Luthrin remains persistent in this plan, Kiwi gets up and walks away.
The group then heads out and takes a ride with Guy Wylde in his carriage as he explains to them that they are now Seekers within the Lemobax Conglomerate, a mercenary network that collects information. Their leader is none other than the infamous, Broker, who cuts out deals for his or her underlings to complete. He introduces them to the Guild of Luck and the Guild of Eyes as well during this time. This welcome ends with Wylde telling the group that his carriage has some strange properties that allow it to both sink and float when placed in water, allowing it passage to many places throughout this city.
During Midwinter, the three who left Guy Wylde's carriage smoke some of the drugs Luthrin picked up. After this, they all went to the Guild of Coin in the Armorer and meet an up and coming tattoo artist. He explains that he will do their tattoos for free for the practice and exposure and the three all get tattoos. Skek gets a tree down his arm. Grimace gets writing that says a copyrighted name along with the faces of the three of them. Finally, Luthrin gets a flower on his hand with a snake eye within it.
The group then continues doing their own things after finding a large hive with many shattered eggs. They find a giant hole that descends into the earth in this hive, that seems to just go deeper and deeper. In the month of staying within the city, Skek explores down that hole and finds it leads to a large cave with a large river that runs into a fantastical fungal forest. He immediately steps away from here as he does not wish to explore alone.
Additionally, during this month, Skek found out these bugs are called Kruthiks and they seemingly are attracted to sources of heat, and they produce chemicals upon death that warn the living. Skek also spends this time gambling and losing money. Grimace fights in the arena and re-enters the second tier before retiring to train his dog named Pep. Luthrin begins robbing people with his time and learning strange information. He learns of Heamnathuun an elder evil killed by some golden aspect, servant, or form of Bahamut, the Platinum Dragon.
The group then all descend into the cave that Skek found and begin exploring. In the river, they find multiple bodies alongside it chained together. They then notice as living creatures of the same species come out with pails to collect water while they're chained to a duergar with a weapon. This duergar explains that the master of the forest would want to see them and he has to bring them to the master. The group very reluctantly agrees and goes with the slaves. As they wander through the forest they see that the fungus are covered in blood like someone painted it with their entire arms. They also see limbs of kruthiks and heads pinned against the trees and other body parts of various creatures.
Finally, the group arrives in a center of the forest, and they see a large twisted giant laying back against the head of a mushroom. Between his fingers, he held a small kruthik and stared at it. He then brought it to his mouth and bit off its head with a sickening crunch. The giant then slowly lumbered to its feat, the mushroom rising into the air without his weight upon it, and he looked mischievously at the group.

Rewards Granted

Potion from the hive
Locations of Guild of Luck and Guild of Eyes

Missions/Quests Completed

Uncursed Grimace.

Character(s) interacted with

The Bastion of Hope
Gubrash, the eyes
Guy Wylde, the Hunter
The Duergar slave

Report Date

03 Aug 2020

Primary Location

Aldreivetur