37. Dungeons and maybe also Dragons?? Report

General Summary

14th Nymm, 998 YK  

Party 1

• Terfel Glas, Warden , Kalshana , Geth and Singe went to speak to Ekhaas.
• They got Ekhaas to cooperate, and she told them lots of things.
• Marg was one of Taruuzh's apprentices, and was trying to imitate one of Taruuzh's inventions.
• Ekhaas explained what a Grieving Tree is, a Dhakaani execution device, and how the modern goblinoids emulate them by breaking a victim's limbs and then tying them to a tree.
• Ekhaas tells the story of the Battle of the Moths, providing context around the Binding Stones. Marg's invention was a poor imitation of the true Binding Stones.
• Ekhaas states that they always thought some Binding Stones had survived the Battle of the Moths. It was believed that solving Taruuzh's riddle would lead you to them, but none have ever solved it.
• They ask if Ekhaas will help them, if they can get her free. She thinks about it, and agrees providing the binding stones are returned to the Kech Volaar.
• Geth suggests he can stay behind, to make sure Ekhaas isn't tortured before they've spoken to Tzaryan Rrac.
• Singe kicks off, stating that he doesn't trust Geth. It comes out that Geth abandoned his post at Narath, and this resulted in the Aundairian agents getting into the city and opening the gates. Singe blames Geth for all of the deaths that took place.
• Geth agrees, stating that it's true. This leaves everyone a bit speechless.
• Singe storms off, and the others follow shortly afterwards.
• The others get lost in the underbelly of Tzaryan Keep and are found by Tzaryan, who offers to escort them to dinner.
• Dax' Athla , by the ruins, notices some birds. That's nice.
• The General intercepts the group, and states that Ekhaas is gone from the dungeon.
• Warden asks if Geth was gone too, and the General is like "Geth was there?? Not anymore"
• Singe mentions that Geth was left behind to stop Lor from starting on Ekhaas before they spoke to Tzaryan
• Tzaryan is angry that Lor was already down there, he hadn't given the order to have Ekhaas tortured. He'll be whipped for this!
• Singe starts yelling about Geth running away again.
• Tzaryan silences everyone, and states that this will be discussed after dinner like civilised folk.
• Tzaryan opens the gates to the courtyard and surprise, Dah'mir.
• Kalshana immediately succumbs to Dah'mirs presence and switches sides.
• Dah'mir asks that they nicely surrender. Hruucan smoulders.
• They don't surrender, of course. Terfel tries to convince Tzaryan to pick a side.
• Tzaryan states that Dah'mir's gift was more valuable, but he'll permit none of his guests to die under his roof. As long as no one dies, he'll allow them to work this out amongst themselves.
• They work it out amongst themselves, Terfel is unconscious and the others surrender.
• Vennet and Kelarth arrive. Vennet is weird. Dah'mir instructs Kelarth to use his dragonmark to locate the others.
• He does, and they're below the keep. Dah'mir knows they're in the caves, which Tzaryan doesn't think exist. Dah'mir flies ahead and goes to the ruins.
• Dax sees the dragon and hides. He digs the tunnel open, and enters the ruin. She waits.
• The others arrive, Singe being held by the General, an ogre carrying Terfel and another one holding Warden.
• Singe yells some abuse at Tzaryan, and gets the crap beaten out of him by Vennet for it.
• The General tells Vennet to step off, these are his prisoners and he's responsible for their care.
• Vennet says something snide and the General turns the ogres on him.
• Tzaryan intervenes and the three have a discussion.
• Singe and Warden try to convince Kelarth that he's in a real bad situation here, they're gonna kill him.
• They get clapped by an ogre for speaking.
• Tzaryan states that the General's concerns are noted, but for the moment he trusts Dah'mir to stick to their agreement.
• The party enters the ruins, Dax hides in the secret tunnel with Breek.
• Singe has a moment of realisation that actually he misses Geth and wishes he were here. The General punches him and storms off. Whoops.

Party 2

• Ekhaas bursts into the guest suite, where Ashi, Dandra, Medala and Natrac are waiting. She has Geth's sword.
• They go!
• Ekhaas explains that Dah'mir is here, Vennet too. Geth is in the dungeon being tortured right now! Ekhaas can't take Lor on her own, so she went to get help.
• They go down to the dungeon and rescue Geth. Lor didn't stand a chance.
• Ekhaas reunites Geth with his sword.
• Ekhaas knows a secret way in and out of the keep, and has been using it for years. She leads them to it, and they descend into a natural chasm beneath the keep.
• Ekhaas explains that their friends are probably dead so they should just leave.
• They aren't having that, they're going to rescue the others!
• Ekhaas leads them into the caves. They're covered in cave paintings, left here by ancient goblins from before the Dhakaani empire.
• They make their way through the caves, and enter one with a painting of the night sky on the ceiling. This cavern is colder than the others, and there's no draft.
• There is a sigh, which Ekhaas swears has never happened before.
• The sigh comes back, and says words! It's an ancient dialect of goblin, Ekhaas barely understands it.
• Geth understands it though, it said "Wrath returns. Has the time Aryd foresaw come so soon?"