Ep 38: "The Undermyst"

The morning started early for Primeheart, who had stayed at the Brell Estate and turned in early. He awakened in the middle of the night and made his way out to a project he had slowly been working on. It was a pathway, bordered by stone monuments to the fallen Brell family members. Each monument had a hollow and within was a bowl of water with a lotus flower. Candles, lit by Primeheart, revealed the names on the monuments. At the end of the path was the monument to Nathan’s parents, with an elven maple watching over it. Primeheart sat at the base of the tree and spent the next 8 hours casting Plant Growth. It  invigorated the land within a half-mile and, at the end of the duration, a field of orchids spanning the rainbow spectrum bloomed on the estate.

Later that morning, Nathan scoured his library and the Arasys library for any mention of The Vessel, but came up short. Mari prepared clothing fit for an adventure. Pesk worked on a special project, a leather bag for Mezri made with the leathers he gifted to her.Finkoo worked on Oisin’s thieves’ tools.

In the book that morning, was a message for the party to gather and meet Zreet at one of the safehouses. Their mission was to enter the Undermyst, a series of caverns behind the waterfall, and take on a sea hag to retrieve her cauldron. Zreet told them that the wood and sea elf village below Cinderhaven, known as Mistvale, was only a “castle wall” to protect the Undermyst. The true community of sea elves was in the caverns beneath and they paid tribute to the Leviathan as a guardian

She warned them that within the caverns there was a heavy fey influence and to only kill those who attacked them first. She also gave them a list of things not to do:

                                               Do not:

• Follow lights or sounds

• Go through overgrown areas in which you cannot see the other side.

• Agree to anything said to you.

• Take anything except what the hag has.

• Leave anything behind.

The party made its way to Bilgeport, the small community at the base of the cliff, and  looked for options to get to the waterfall. Renting a rowboat was easy, but had a cost of 1 gold piece. Ultimately, Pesk cast Water Walking on everyone and they walked across the surfacer to the waterfall. As they begin walking, they noticed a massive shadow pass beneath and head towards the falls. It may have been the Leviathan.

They found the Undermyst lush and overgrown, even though it was out of direct sunlight. A strange haze encompassed the ceiling and made it bright. The walls vanished into the growth and the party found themselves in what appeared to be another world with the haze acting like a magical sky. They continued on and began making their way through a patch of large onions. They encountered a small, plant-like humanoid with an onion-like head and a leaf sword. Pesk cast Tongues to talk to it, learning it was an Alliumite named Allium. She also learned the hag was named Zephora. It offered a large onion, but they remembered Zreet’s warnings and refused.

Over a hill, spiky antlers appeared, followed by a large humanoid form with a caribou head and claws. Oisin caught up and joined the party at that point, having scouted the area. The horned creature talked to Pesk, pointing out that there was an oasis with fresh water, honeycombs, and easy prey nearby. Pesk refused and it walked off, wiping most of the party’s memory. It then made its way back and the conversation started over again.

Nathan, having read a lot about strange creatures recently, recognized it as an Ijiraq, a man hunter. It walked off again, just to come back after wiping the memories of most of the party. Nathan and Primeheart both remembered it this time and talked it down, causing it to turn into a ghost-like form and a battle ensued. Its claws were poisonous, it turned invisible, and then turned into a giant ape. The group won and continued on.

Further in, the party came upon a small man with a tie and a cap selling things. He said his name was Encoat. The party refused him and his trades politely. He offered magical items, but no one took him up on the offer.

The group got to a cave with Mushrooms covering the floor and a pit was in the center with a pool of water. Pesk approached the water and the hag tried to drag her in, but she resisted. Pesk jumped into the water to attack the hag and was transported to a mirror plane within the pool. Pesk stepped out of the water and into the mirror plane. Behind her the water froze, trapping her with the hag.

The rest of the group saw the water freeze behind Pesk, and approached the pool to look for a way in. Lichen began to form around it and, as Finkoo stepped in it, it aged him 10 years. As the hag approached, Pesk reached out and channeled Stomiir’s divine power, sundering the creature in one hit with a bright flash. The party broke the ice on one side while Pesk tried at the other and eventually they created an opening. They found the cauldron and Pesk also found dolls of people, but left them in this strange space and made her way out.

The party left unhindered and made their way back to Cinderhaven. Zreet approached them and was happy to see they had acquired the cauldron. She told them the cauldron would be used, combined with other items, to cure vampirism.