Session 170

General Summary

• Roamer, having read Jahdzan's journal, roughly recounted the tale so far:
• Jahdzan was arranged to marry someone from the Stonechild family, which would have increased the Goldfleece family's status significantly.
• Being a bit of a passionate fellow, Jahdzan instead kept sneaking off with Maedia Widelove, eventually getting her pregnant.
• To keep this quiet, others in Goldfleece arranged to have Maedia and her unborn child assassinated, assuming that she must have brainwashed Jahdzan.
• For unknown reasons, Jahdzan kept hearing whispers that Maedia is still alive, so he journeyed to the Bleeding Mines in search of her.
• It sounds like he had followed the same path that the party did, and though he somehow survived on his own, he did receive several ailments along the way, to the point where although his body has deteriorated tremendously, he can still "feel his true love's warm embrace".
• Roamer confirmed that his Jahdzan disguise has been very useful in surviving this floor, claiming that nothing seems to bother him.
• The party gave Roamer and Kiirni the sigil sequence to the forward base camp's teleportation circle and a bit of spending money, and then they parted ways.
• Just past the "Maze of Echoes" was a cavern filled with neutral wax elementals and an angry parasite-infected behir. They fought it, and though they killed it — causing a very loud thunderous boom at the end of its life — Theran took some heavy hits from it after ignoring Dwardazik's suggestion to retreat.
• For reasons that would later become clear, the damage from the attacks caused Theran's armor to start bleeding red sand.
• The next room had a large orrery, clearly intended to trap Pendel just like the other rooms seemed designed to trap the others.
• There was a gear puzzle inside and a telescope that offered scrying opportunities — Dwardazik tried to scry on Annu, only getting as close as The Albatross.
• Solving the gear puzzle yielded some nice armor for Marvin and some keys that they used to escape once Maedia closed the doors behind them.
• Inside the room, time had passed rapidly; Dazki later worked out that roughly one full day had passed while they were inside.
• The party took a short rest, and Theran "came clean" — in the most roundabout way possible — that he might be a warlock, his patron might be the Red Desert, and it could have happened because the Red Desert thought that the rest of the party weren't doing enough to resolve the incoming calamity quickly enough.
• Theran insists that he's been coy about this for so long because his only regret is that it would put the party at risk from the bounty hunters who are after him.

Full Recap

Bottled Up Hostilities

Dwardazik: OK, the pathway's open, let's just make our way through —   Roamer: No, no... I would like to apologize for my hasty and deceptive behavior. I think walking through any space is dangerous while we still wish to harm each other greatly.   Marvin: What's this "we" you're talking about?   Theran: Shh... don't interrupt him.   Dazki: All right. I, for one, accept your apology. And I'm sorry for frustration and hasty decisions that have come from me over the past half-hour or so.   Dwardazik: As long as we're going to be stuck together, we might as well work together. But that doesn't mean I'm going to trust you to not do your own thing!   Roamer: No, I mean, even the most mortal of enemies should work together towards this common goal. You said the world was at stake? I'm more than willing to admit my inadequacies at cooperating with you.   Marvin: Listen, Roamer, I really appreciate the effort, but we're not "mortal enemies". I know you're not directly comparing us to mortal enemies, but I don't think it's even comparable.   Kiirni is staring very directly and very aggressively at Dwardazik, and Dwardazik stares back.   Roamer, motioning to his Jahdzan disguise: And we have shared interest in this princely fellow.   Dazki: Oh? What interest do you have in him?   Roamer: If you agree to hear me out — and not absolutely interrupt me with something incredibly painful — I can tell you what I know, and then that'll go a long way in showing that maybe I shouldn't be wiped from the face of the earth? I know we'll never trust each other, but... a temporary truce towards violence, and I will we will do the same.

They agree, after clearing up a slight mixup on Dwardazik's part, and Roamer straightens up to read from Jahdzan's journal, which he has found.

The text itself is rather dull and bloated. On the surface, it seems to be nothing more than a poorly written series of poems and prose. Posturing from a pompous prince. Nothing more than musing from a lovesick child. But the beauty and genius of this particular piece is hidden underneath all of this, frankly, terrible assemblage of sentences. (He closes the journal with a dramatic flourish and tosses it to the side onto the ground.) So, rather than reading from his manuscript, I will tell you the tragic tale cloaked beneath all of the prince's bluster!   Jahdzan Goldfleece-Stonechild. A mild-mannered and creative lad, destined to be a great lord. A man whose marriage would join his family to the ornery but powerful Stonechild clan. A careful but lucrative arrangement that would bring both prosperity and protection. But Jahdzan is not a man of careful plots. He is a man of passion, and his heart leads him to love over luxury.   But those passionate embraces in many a secluded, torchlit corridor lead to tragedy. This is not a 'happily ever after' sort of tale. For Maedia Widelove — a dwarven maiden of ill stock, shunned for her manipulative and cruel nature by many — was the sparkling gem in the eye of our prince, and within her now was brewing an adulterous child. A bastard whose very presence sought to ruin every bit of careful planning. Gone would be the protection. Gone, the prosperity! Gone, the reputation of the Goldfleece clan! ... ... ...that is, ... if anyone ever found out.   The Goldfleece family acted with the same precision that they craft their noble dealings. In the dismal darkness, they make dealings with shadows. Deadly deals. Believing their golden son to be brainwashed by this witch, what choice did they have? And with a cold and cruel thrust of a poisoned blade into the guts of Maedia, the problem was decidedly solved. Two cullings for the price of one.   Now, this was an obvious devastation to our prince. And if we weren't in dire straits and almost dying right now, I would ask you to try to meditate and think upon how he must have felt. The betrayal, the loss, like one's heart being torn asunder. One's insides, scrambled and twisted. An emotional pain almost as bad as a wound from a poisoned blade.   Our prince, for a bit, is unreachable. Inconsolable. Collapsing within himself into a pit of inescapable depression. He dwells in endless loops about the cruelty of the world and whether or not he should play his part in it. But echoes breach even the darkest of caverns. Echoes of hope, like light leaking from above. She. Is. Alive. It echoes. She. Is. Alive. And needs you! Perhaps trapped in another distant hole, perhaps in physical peril — once again, mirroring metaphorically his own.   It isn't even a choice! No person makes a choice here. Every part of his body is pulled to this very possibility. To once again feel the embrace of love and acceptance. He shaves off his beard! He denounces his past life, and he sets forth towards the beckoning rumors, to the strange mines that we now find ourselves adrift within.   It becomes clear, within the nuance of these writings, that Jahdzan has a passionate obsession, almost to the point of disease. But as he travels, his body too seems to become host to many an ailment. These diseases, these parasites don't slow him down. If anything, they seem to strengthen his resolve! He swears, even as he deteriorates, that he can feel his true love's warm embrace. He hears her soothing words of encouragement. He hardly sleeps, wishing and hoping that he is not too late. He pleads to whatever dark forces are listening that Maedia will forgive him. That they can spend the rest of their life together, deep within their shared love.   I do not know, listeners, if this tale ends in tragedy or triumph. I know we all wish for passion and devotion to win out. For luck and acceptance to clear the dark plague swirling about these star-crossed lovers. But I think we must fear the worst. For anyone toiling away for hopes in the future — or dwelling on the pains of the past — will be, forever, truly lost in the present.   And our dear prince is truly lost.   (Roamer goes to close the book, realizing that the book is still on the floor next to him.)   Roamer: And, to be honest, this form has been key in surviving these chambers. Things just seem to not bother me!   Theran: Well, of course not! You're her love interest, she's not going to hurt you.   Marvin: Yeah, why would anyone ever have a reason to hurt you?   Theran: And if you can somehow get Kiirni to look like an axebeak, that would help you out too.   Dwardazik: ...are we going to try to disguise ourselves as Jahdzan and Argon?   Theran: An axebeak is a bit advanced for me...   Roamer: Well, I told my tale. Is there anything you could tell me?   Marvin: I don't think I could ever compete with that performance!   Dazki: I dunno, I think you're pretty darn good, Marvin...   Marvin: Dazki! I can't believe you'd insult Roamer's performance like that! He's a legend among bards!   Roamer: Oh, I'm not insulted! He's a simple folk, he's fine. He still has hard feeling against me!   Marvin: I do come from simple beginnings —   Roamer: No, not you. You're great.   Dazki: Yeah. "Simple". Thanks. I really appreciate that compliment.   Dwardazik: OK. That was quite a tale. Impressive you were able to recite it so well.   Roamer: I am a natural performer. It's one of the few talents I have. One of the many talents I don't have is surviving large blows to the head! So if we could avoid that from now on...   Dwardazik: And if we could also avoid any backstabbing, I think we'll be fine.   Theran: Listen, Dwardazik. He's smart enough not to mess with us. You don't need to worry. Trust me.   Dwardazik: I trust you, that's not the problem.   Theran: Then trusts the me that trusts in him.   Roamer: We do need to get the fuck out of here.   Dwardazik: Can we at least set some ground rules, so we can ever-so-slightly work together? And then we can fucking leave each other once we're out of this place?   Kiirni rolls her eyes so heavily that the helmet goes with it.   Dwardazik: Look, if we're not going to be fighting, and we're going to be going in the same direction, then we might as well at least find some way that we're not going to stab each other?

Roamer quickly concedes that neither he nor Kiirni really has any specific reason to stay with the party, and that they are just trying to get away from the rest of the world. The party catches Roamer up on what they've been doing so far, and they ask him how he got in here.

Roamer: This temple is part of a series of tunnels and passageways. A well-kept secret, one of the few ways left to smuggle between the tribes on the outside of The Wall™ and the tribes on the inside. All of the convenient ones have been conveniently dismantled. But now I don't know really where the exit is, so...   Dazki: Honestly, I'm not sure if we'd be able to go back directly from the way we came. Pathways have sort of teleported and moved us around, so I don't know that there is a direct path out of here.   Roamer: I don't need a super direct path...   Dwardazik: The teleportation from the eye into that one section that was flooded is of greater concern to me.   Dazki: That's the one I had in mind, most specifically.   Dwardazik: I wonder if we could find the pathway that these two came in from?   Roamer: Oh, that's long gone, brother.   Dazki: OK, do you have — ...eh, if you had teleportation magic, you probably would have teleported out of here already. Unless you need an object from a location that you can teleport to?   Roamer: That's what I'm missin', brother. Just give me something to teleport to. Give me a circle. I'm sure Kiirni can figure it out from there.   Kiirni doesn't look nearly as confident as Roamer does, as he says this.

Dazki's idea: they can call ahead using the Sending Stone and then give the sigil sequence for the teleportation circle at the forward base camp. As long as Roamer doesn't look like Jahdzan, it should be fine. Roamer and Kiirni agree to this, though Kiirni will need to change an attunement before she can cast Teleport again, so it's going to take a while. The two agree to stay back while the rest of the party presses forward — though they do convince the party to give them some gold to help them travel once they get to the other side.

In 'er Ear?

Outside the "Maze of Echoes", people appear normal once again, but voices and other sounds are amplified even further. They pass some elementals spreading wax along the walls (not immediately hostile), and they continue around a spiral-like structure that leads to a behir that's scratching compulsively at some wall. Dwardazik (Unarmed Attack 31) picks up a wax elemental that approaches him, and he throws it in the direction of the behir to distract it.

Combat Summary

• The distraction worked: the behir spent its first round of combat taking out the wax elemental.
• Dwardazik immediately ran back and whispered to the other party members to retreat, insisting that they should fight it further back in the narrow passageway instead of out in the open.
• On Dwardazik's recommendation, Dazki and Marvin moved somewhat back, but Theran actually stepped forward a bit, trying a "Stardust Pew-Pew" (and missing).
• The behir ran right up to Theran and hit him hard, grappling him and almost knocking him unconscious right away.
• Marvin's Bigby's Hand forced the behir's jaw to stop clamping down on Theran, with such strength that the jaw broke. As he is freed, Theran's armor begins to "bleed" profusely — but it isn't blood that leaks out; rather, it's a surge of red sand.
• Theran used an "Ultimate Sneeze-Stopper" spell to cure the behir's infestation, which seemed to do some good work: it squirmed around, hundreds of tiny worms spewed out from it, and Theran was able to retreat back as far as his legs could carry him, so Dwardazik stepped in front to shield him from further attacks.
• The behir moved much more slowly after Theran's "Ultimate Sneeze-Stopper", so it couldn't get in anything more than a passing swipe at the big purple hand.
• Theran tried to run away to get to safety, but its bite attack barely had a long enough reach to hit him as he did, so Dwardazik used the ability of his Pariah's Shield to let him take the damage instead.
• Dwardazik finished off the behir at the same time that it unleashed a massive lightning breath attack at him and Marvin. The sheer force of it created a massive thunderous booming sound that made the cavern shake violently and momentarily deafened everyone, even damaging Dazki.

Theran heals them up. Dazki is able to stop the "bleeding" on Theran's armor — though he still doesn't know what's going on with the red sand, other than (Turmoil 17) that it isn't Turmoil. They explore the rest of this room, seeing several more wax elementals, a dead-end to the north, an open passageway to the south, a blocked passageway to the west, and another crystal to the southwest. Dwardazik touches the crystal, and "Jahdzan" and "Argon" appear.

I can't take the noises anymore. We have to leave. We have to leave. We have to leave...   He holds a handful of strange worm-like entities and walks through the wall of worms.   We have to leave...

Orrery? Yarrery! No Wai!

The passageway to the south leads to a circular room with an orrery in the middle, a telescope on one of the sides, a conspicuous book in the south, and various items scattered throughout.   Dwardazik looks through the telescope (Arcana 19) and — desiring to scry upon Annu Adabra — he sees a fuzzy picture of The Albatross almost come into focus, though it doesn't zoom in far enough to see what Annu might be doing inside. Theran tries to scry on "Fogwalker", (Arcana 6) seeing nothing at all that's remotely useful.   As they spend time in the orrery room, they start to notice that time is passing much more quickly than normal, so they pick up the pace. There is a gear puzzle inscribed on the conspicuous book, which they solve by a combination of pulling levers and turning a crank in either direction. The primary reward is a Studded Leather Armor of Acid Resistance, which can also have its elemental resistance changed to something else after a long rest (Marvin will take it). For the two spots of the gear puzzle that correspond to keys, small jewelry boxes appear with bronze keys inside that immediately try to fly away upon opening the boxes — Theran and Marvin alternately use Mage Hand and "Spooky Action at a Distance" to catch them before they can fly too far. The keys have small gears where the loop for a keyring would have been, which (Investigation 30) look like they would fit into certain slots in the central orrery.   As Dazki checks this, the exit door slams shut:

Voice: I'm sorry for the loud noise, I hope it didn't disrupt any of your research. But you did say yourself that you deserve to be locked up, never to see the light of day again, so this is great for both of us!   Dazki, almost bored: No, none of us said that. You're confusing us with someone else. Please open the door.   Voice: I can't fall for your tricks. You'll get mad at me.   Dazki: I'll get mad at you either way, so why not just do what I say? I'll be less mad.   No reply.   Marvin: Ma'am, we aren't who you think we are. Could we introduce ourselves? My name's Marvin. What's your name?

Dazki grabs the keys from Marvin and Theran and (Tinker's Tools 17) he wedges the gear-like ends into the orrery, which jerks and grinds uncomfortably, causing the door to evaporate. They all start to get very hungry, so Theran creates some goodberries; Dazki agrees, but he insists that they wait until after leaving the area.

Voice: No, wait! I'm sure you could do a better job! I'm sorry about the whole imprisoning thing before, I thought that's what you wanted!   Dazki: Look, it's good enough, right? We can go.   Dwardazik: I think we're gonna leave. Too much of a good thing's not good for ya.

They leave back to the room they just came from.   Dazki immediately pulls out the sending stone and sends a message: "Ran into time anomaly. How long since our last report?". The reply: "Evening has fallen since last report. Total elapsed time from entry is 3 days. Survivors received but vanished shortly after.". This suggests that they were in the orrery area for about 1 full day.   Theran clears the blockage, releasing small worms that work their way into all but Dazki, which caused those affected to start to only hear the sound of a very catchy musical tune. Theran casts "Ultimate Sneeze-Stopper" on himself and then the other two. They all go to the "Maze of Echoes" to take a short rest — but Theran, clearly flustered by something, makes two wrong turns along the way.   They all take a short rest, during which Theran hesitantly starts a conversation:

Theran: So, Dazki... when you're hiding something, it's best to pretend that there isn't anything to hide at all. So, when someone has a bounty on their head, you don't mention the bounty in front of people. If they don't know anything, then they don't know. And if they do, then they don't have confirmation that you do know.   Dwardazik: That was my bad, I thought they were calling you out and trying to get information on you.   Dazki: We all slipped up a little bit there.   Theran: You can still pretend like nothing is there. And a lot of times, that bamboozles people enough that they just... forget.   Dazki: Yeah, like I said, we all slipped up a little there.   Theran: But sometimes, you can't pretend like nothing is wrong. And sometimes, you know that... ... (sigh). There are things I might want to tell you guys, but if you can't convincingly say that you don't know anything — if people were to, say, come after you with truth-telling magic — like, being hanged is the least of your worries... we're talking about possible torture... I didn't do anything wrong, but that... they're not gonna see it that way...   Dwardazik: What could you possibly have done that people would want to try to torture us to figure it out? I've already got a bounty on me.   Theran: It's not like mine.   Dwardazik: I'm sure.   Dazki: Well, what is yours? None of us are going to turn you in or anything like that.   Theran: I know, but if they catch us, I don't want you guys to suffer for decisions I've made. I don't regret any of the decisions I've made, except for the fact that they put you in danger.   Dazki: Well, we're already in danger. So, as far as I'm concerned, choices have already been made. Doesn't matter.   Dwardazik: When you're ready to tell me, I'll be ready to listen. I don't fear any of these people. Anyone who could try to torture me? I'm like a stone. I'm unyielding.   Dazki: Trust me, Dwardazik, they have ways. I've seen... ... ...you will break. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, maybe not next month. And they will not let you out until you do. I have no doubts about that.   Dwardazik: Hmmph.   Dazki: My assumption is that we're already in that deep, just from Theran being here. So, I would rather have all of the information than be kept in the dark about stuff.   Dwardazik: He's saving the entire world with us. Anything that he's done in the past that could be considered "evil", or whatever people would want to torture for, is moot.   Dazki: It doesn't cancel out like that. And besides, they would have to believe what's happening. I imagine most people would not. After all, "there is no Turmoil in Exignis!", that's what everybody knows to be true.   Theran: So here's how we're going to do this. You can't necessarily say that you don't know anything, but you can say that Theran asked a couple of questions, you answered me but you didn't tell me anything you weren't certain I already knew, and you don't think I took any weird action based on the answers you gave me.   Dwardazik: Hold up. If this information is so dangerous, then how come you didn't tell us about this back before we were setting out?   Dazki: It's OK. We all make decisions like that occasionally.   Theran: I thought maybe I could kinda keep this underground until you guys weren't involved anymore.   Dwardazik: So, is it becoming an issue now?   Theran: Yes. Because I can't have you guys making any bad assumptions. And I can't let you guys not have a convincing story to tell in front of the inquisitors.   Dazki: Wait, the inquisitors are involved? What did you do?!   Theran: I, probably, ...they, ...they probably aren't involved, they probably don't have to... ALL RIGHT. We're doing this, OK? I'm going to ask questions. You're going to answer them. You're not going to tell me any information I don't already know.   Dazki: OK...   Theran: What have you guys been doing to help the Red Desert so far?   Dazki: We have been searching for the aspects of Turmoil, and we have been trying to thwart their plans as well as — especially — stop what we now is the plan to collide the two planes in order to (it sounds like) get Mirage Prime a place that he (or it) can exist and take domain over.   Theran: All right. And, have you made significant progress in making that situation better?   Dazki: Debatable.   Theran: Is it possible it thought you weren't doing enough?   Dazki: Yes.   Theran: Is it possible it thought there had to be someone who could do more?   Dazki: I cannot presume to know the thought process of creatures from other dimensions that seem to be much more wise and intelligent and knowing.   Theran: All right... (he takes several deep breaths to compose himself)... OK. So, obviously, there are things that my parents don't want me to know about, because they're evil or taboo or uncouth or something. But if I'm going to be a fully functioning member of that kind of family, I need to know some of this stuff, right? So, can one of you guys actually explain to me what a warlock is?   Dazki: Oh, yeah. So, a warlock is a person who makes a deal with an otherworldly entity — not necessarily always evil, they can be sometimes angels or fey, just some type of magic, powerful, otherworldly creature — and, in exchange for an oath of fealty, the powerful otherworldly entity will grant power to the individual.   Theran: That's all the questions I have.   Dazki: Got it.   Dwardazik: So. That's an odd question to ask. I suppose you're implying something, that you're not going to say. But, why is that such a... terrible thing? Does it matter...?   Theran: My family is made of clerics...   Dazki: Yeah, but again, there are warlocks who make pacts with angels, or with other powerful divine entities from other planes. But I can understand how they would look down upon something like that.   Theran: Even if it's a warlock to the celestial, or to someone else that's (supposedly) unerringly "good", it's still considered bad. Because "it's not through the church", "how do you know that the entity is who they say they are?", "you could easily just be misled", "it's not regulated"... they still look down on it, even if it isn't something completely wild.   Dazki: I get it. All right. Well, that certainly explains a few things. So, is everybody good here?   Marvin: I'm good.   Theran: I feel like my heart is beating out of my chest right now...   Dazki: It's OK. You're going to make it through this. We're going to make it through this. It's going to be OK. Right, Dwardazik? We got this.   Dwardazik: We will overcome any hurdle that we face. Together. That's the only way that we'll be able to succeed.   Marvin: Damn right we will!   Dazki: And you're just as much a part of this team as the rest of us, Theran, OK? So we have your back.   Theran: And, Dwardazik, I hope this can at least explain why I emphasize so much with your situation?   Dwardazik: I... if I understand what you're trying to say (without saying it), ... I understand. But I think I'll have to talk with Marvin and Dazki, to make sure I'm on the same page with your critical, dangerous situation.   Dazki: I mean, ...it... if you want, I would agree with that. I think from Theran's perspective, it would be best if we weren't all completely on the same page. Is that right, Theran?   Theran: Yeah.   Dwardazik: Oh, that's fine.   Dazki: But, I think that information should be disseminated honestly and truthfully, and if you ask, I won't hide it from you.   Theran: You guys are fine to talk about stuff amongst yourselves, you just need to be able to spin it under a Zone of Truth spell later. Like, "you talked about it, you discussed the idea, but you weren't able to conclude anything specific", or some other vague language like that.   Dazki: It was irrelevant, I did not care, so I did not look into it any further.   Theran: ...yeah. Because at this point, your only defense is "how could I have possibly known anything?". Hopefully, this doesn't even come up at all, and we save the day, and everything just kinda goes back to normal. But, if we get caught before something like that happens, you need to have a good legal defense.   Dazki: Do you really want it to go back to normal?   Theran: No, but I also really don't want to get tortured and burned alive! So there's that!   Dwardazik: If anyone's gonna get burned alive, it's gonna be me.   Marvin: It's not gonna happen!   Dazki: It's not gonna happen to anybody. Let's not compete to see who's gonna die first.   Theran: ...somebody already won that contest...   Dazki: If you want to do that, there's a big toothy pit there, right behind us.   Dwardazik, looking at the pit: Hmm... ...I could survive it.   Dazki: Let's not see if that's true. All right, let's get going through the blockage, whatever that may be.