Session 41: The Island of the Hidden Scales

General Summary

Before they took the time to rest for a few hours, the party decided to give the temple one final attempt. So they sent Nakor and Jeanne back to scout the area whilst Conn and Um tended to their wounds. As they waited the prince and the agent noticed a Yuan-ti monster returning from the jungle. Meanwhile, Conn had to endure the three-year-old Um's incessant singing. When Conn had had enough and they felt well-rested again it was already, they went to meet up with the others, leaving Rochpir to watch the camp. When the group had reconvened, they began to scout the area around the temple.   With the aid of Conn's magical wand they managed to find a hidden entrance to the temple underneath an illusionary rock. This tunnel, however, turned out to be caved in. Thus, they waited for midnight in the hopes that Um would grow up and then entered the temple through the main entrance for the third time, with Um now being 83 years old. Inside they found a Yuan-ti six-headed monster sleeping in the first chamber, next to it laid two large snakes. The party tried to sneak by but were spotted by one of the large snakes. They tried to dispatch of it quickly but noticed that it seemed to be made of stone. It made a loud noise and roused the others from their sleep. They now found themselves in a fight once again. Even though they managed to kill the two stone snakes, and successfully polymorphed the monster into a little girl. But when they noticed another Yuan-ti monster in the next room over, they ran out of the temple and took the girl with them.   When they reached the camp, they sent the little girl far up in the air with one of Rochpir's creations, like they had done earlier that day when they polymorphed a monster into a boy, where it then dropped the beast to its death. As the party rowed back to the ship they could see the monster falling in the distance. When they returned to the Swift Mermaid, they swiftly went to bed. The next day they finally decided to leave the temple behind and head to their actual destination, and hopefully stop at the ancient yuan-ti island along the way.   They travelled south along the coast for several days with little hindrance. One night they spotted a glowing, ghostly ship. Fearful of the tales of spirits, they opted to ignore it and make the mermaid dive. Some days later, just as the coast turned back westward they passed by a huge whale cow and her calf. Some days later, seven days since they first entered the Yuan-ti temple, they had finally reached the ancient outpost that Jeanne hoped would be abandoned. The party, with um being 36 years old, decided to explore it on their own, ahead of the crew.    After making landfall at an old, rotting dock, they made their way up the path towards the fortress they had spotted on top of a hill on the island. When they came within sight of the fortress gate, they noticed it being guarded by Yuan-ti. As they discussed how to proceed, they noticed a new ship reaching the dock behind them. The group hid in the jungle, and later spied a caravan being led from the docks and up to the ship. It was chained up people being forced by Blue Scales, the guards they had met in Ashdrabad. They overheard these men talk about how this was the last shipment of prisoners, and they also heard some Yuan-ti who were with them say that they had no idea what was in store.    The party retreated along the jungle back to the dock, where they noticed that the mermaid was nowhere to be seen. Jeanne decided to infiltrate the Blue Scales crew that had stayed behind with the ship. She disguised herself as one of them and came running back from the fort, and convinced the crew of the Yuan-ti's betrayal. The captain ordered that they were to leave as soon as possible. When Jeanne wished for them to bombard the fortress. She was told that the Yuan-ti had control over a massive sea-serpent and that it could wipe them out in a heartbeat.    That's when Nakor had had enough. He stepped out and spoke in his angry angelic voice, as a brandished the rod of rulership that he had taken from the dragon hoard north of Harasan. He commanded the crew to go back and fight the Yuan-ti. To free the people they had brought to atone for their sins. The crew was convinced and they began the attack. The party quickly made a plan. That Nakor, Jeanne and Um would invisibly try and find the people along with the captain. Meanwhile, Conn would join the Blue Scales and summon his ancestors to fight the snakemen.    As all but Conn were led into the fort, the Blue Scales spread out, and then Um gave the signal. The fight began as Conn's horn sounded over the fort. Nakor, Jeanne and Um managed to sneak with the captain all the way to the inner sanctum. There they found themselves in a large hall, with prisoners chained to the sides. On far edge of the hall was an altar where a thin man performed ritualistic sacrifices. Next to him was an unusually large Yuan-ti Malison, and on the other side Thervania. There were also two Yuan-ti abominations. When the man noticed the sounds of fighting above, he told the abominations to leave and guard the door so that he could finish the ritual. The party made the Blue Scales that had led them to leave as well. They were now alone with these three beings.    The man who turned out to be the Lord of the Hidden Scales Yuan-ti, told Thervania to check out what was happening. She left through a secret pathway and when she reached the fighting and saw Conn, she turned tail. But Conn, who had spotted her, made pursuit. He managed to see her flee through a hidden door and made it back to the large hall. The Lord welcomed him and introduced himself as Lord Ssedalkin Wroth. He and Conn began to discuss what they were up to and came to the conclusion that a fight was unavoidable, as Lord Ssedalkin saw it necessary to sacrifice these people to save his own by summoning a forgotten god, and Conn was unable to abide. The killbarrian drew his flaming sword and charged. The rest of the party took the cue and joined the fray.