Session 2

General Summary

The party headed down the underground hallway. Feng and Cyras stopped to examine the statues, finding that they all depicted non-human aspects of Aru. Meanwhile, Slint, Mrek, and Belle headed down the hall to examine the pit. One statue suddenly came to life, attacking with surprise, as two tentacles erupted from the pit (including one Belle had already put an arrow in up top). Mrek was nearly petrified by the living statue, but happened to be wildshaping as the stone took over his body, so he shook it off. Belle was nearly petrified as well but broke free at the last moment.   With the monsters defeated, the party began to head into the pit when another earthquake shook the hall. Two doors on the other side of the pit swung open. One of them revealed Gaius and Quintus trying to escape from a collapsing mausoleum. Both were trapped in the falling rubble; Quintus was killed instantly but Gaius lay dying under the wreckage.   Mrek, Feng, and Cyras ran to help Gaius as Belle and Slint descended into the pit, with Slint carving a huge gash in the fleshy pit wall on his way down. At first, Gaius simply insisted that Mrek take some samples of blood and tentacle goo and give them to Lady Tiberia. The elf also told Cyras that greed made him a proper Aniaran elf, saying, "Take what is yours, and what is not yours, take that too and make it yours." Mrek wouldn't let the Aniaran die; the three cleared away enough rubble to bring Gaius into the hallway, barely alive.   In the pit, Belle and Slint found a few inches of brackish sea water, flesh walls partially petrified, and a sphincter that could no longer close. The rest of the party arrived and they headed through the sphincter and down a long, spiraling tract or artery that ended at another sphincter, this one opening and closing rhythmically. It led into a chamber of flesh, bone, and stone where a tentacle and an acid-spraying sac defended a brain the size of a cow. The brain was easily killed by a sliding slash to the brain stem by Belle. When it died, the entire organism shut down immediately... and the island began to sink.   The party fled to the surface, but Slint stopped on the way to take a sample of the brain stem and retrieve four holy artifacts from the reliquary and apse of the church. Mrek also found a single potion in the sacristy; the other two potions from the box were missing. Back above ground, Cyras tried to signal Gaius's airship, but they didn't see him. So the party and Gaius, now unconscious and barely alive, ran for the beach where the Emblyn, Wenna, Branoc, Lieutenant Scrivener, and Pip waited with the rowboat. Most of this group wanted to leave, but Wenna insisted they wait until the last possible moment for the adventurers who had earlier saved her life.   Belle got the boat and rowers ready, and the rest of the party reached the beach just in time to shove off as the island sank beneath the waves. It had not closed off the harbor entirely, but came close enough that travel in and out would be complicated by the massive wreck just beneath the surface.   Back on the mainland, Belle retired to the Ruddy Fishwife as the rest of the party brought Gaius to the church of Aru in the market square. There a terrified acolyte brought Bishop Akerlind, who gave Gaius a drink of holy water from a silver bowl, which seemed to send him into a healthy unconsciousness. The Bishop then spoke with the party in her office. She was sorrowed to learn that none of the monks on the Holy Island survived, but was pleased that the party had rescued the four church relics. She granted the party free use of the church archives, promised Mrek that she would write to Lady Tiberia on his behalf, and gave the party 42gp each.   The next morning, Captain Graves of the Exonian Merchant Marine ship Truculent woke the party. He thanked them, Cyras particularly, for saving his ship from burning in the harbor the day before. He then asked a series of questions about the duel between Lieutenant Railsford and the Quedran officer. The answers he received darkened his brow, and he gave the impression that Railsford was in serious trouble. The party made sure to put in a good word for Scrivener and Pip before the captain left.   Finally, the party decided how to spend the next week as they rested from their adventure. Belle discovered an underground pit-fighting circuit where sailors from around the world gathered in an abandoned warehouse by the docks to test their strength. At first they laughed at the short, slender woman, but when she won two of her three bouts (Strength and Constitution) she began to earn their respect. She brought Slint the next night, and he only won a drinking contest, but the sailors were pleased to tussle with a lizardman. Both Belle and Slint were defeated in the Dexterity contest by a particularly nimble foretopman from one of the local ships.   Feng spent the week researching the namzaqu in the church archives. He learned two pieces of lore... Cyras performed on the streets with Ludwig and did some odd jobs for the city guard, making a good name for himself among the working people of the city and earning 25gp. Mrek tried to carouse with the merchant class on his way up the social ladder, but they didn't care for him and he didn't much like them, either.

Rewards Granted

• 42gp each for the church relics
• Mrek: unknown potion from sacristy
• Cyras: 25gp from work
• Belle: 100gp from pit fighting
• Slint: 50gp from pit fighting
• Ludwig: 25gp from work?
• chunk of brain stem