Entry 2 - The Mask of a Dead God

In which the crew of the Starchaser meets the mysterious Vornos and returns to Amaranth with their unconscious captain and the keystone shard of the Tethys Surge. Pandemonium is promoted to captain and the crew investigates the mysterious ruins in the northern sinkhole.
 
As the last of the hated Malthracion foe fled into the forest, we rushed to our captain's side. The combined power of Teleos and myself proved insufficient to dispel the deathly pallor upon him. Or, perhaps it was that my faith was not strong enough to bring Valeria's grace to a fallen champion. Captain Brougha was healed in body and yet remained unconscious.
 
As we hauled Brougha and the Keystone shard through the forest, it became clear that the shadowy figure with the porcelain mask was watching us once more. The being, Vornos, spoke a language we could understand and so was evidently not Malthracion, but their strange appearance left us suspicious. Teleos and Korrall could sense that Vornos gave off a pale reflection of the feel of an undead and a sorrowful connection to some kind of divine force not of our pantheon. Vornos claimed that the Captain had been anticipating his own death for some time, in his writings and actions. We or Brougha had somehow defied fate and changed things, and now Brougha was dead in spirit. While we refused to give Brougha to Vornos, they did not attempt to stop us. In the distance, the Malthracion airship lifted off trailing smoke - our enemy still survived but we had struck them a blow. As we approached the Starchaser to see it guarded by the familiar figures of Grayling and the crew, Vornos told us that if we used magic to contact them, they would do their best to respond.
 
The crew were understandably distraught at the Captain’s state - until we knew more, we told them it was a sleeping curse that the Malthracions had cast upon him. I wish we hadn’t had to lie to them, but trying to explain when we didn’t know what was going on ourselves would have caused panic and instability.
 
With the Keystone shard lashed to the mast by Meena, we set off back towards Amaranth. We made Brougha as comfortable as we could in his cabin. To our surprise, the walls were scrawled with strange diagrams in red and blue ink, and stranger symbols - a language none of us could understand. One central piece was clearer, with connected points and words that made no sense to us. We also found an envelope with our names upon it.
 
Captain Brougha’s letter explained that he had visions that compelled him to record strange writings on the walls, the portents of a great calamity in our futures. Our choices, he said, would forge a path through. He saw each of us in his visions before our first meetings and recruited us for this reason. Believing that we would only read this letter when he was dead, he had left letters of recommendation for each of us in a drawer, to be delivered to the Admiralty when we decided who would be the new captain. Above all, he wanted us to keep our crew safe.
 
With heavy hearts, we took a vote to decide the new captain. Pandemonium took the post, though it was a close-run thing between her, Korrall and Perdun. Perdun took on the role of First Mate and Korrall and he split the duties of Navigator between them.
 
The foreboding red sky of the next morning was thankfully not an omen, as we had plain sailing until we reached the walls of Amaranth at sunset. Along the way, analysis of the staff we recovered from the kenku spellcaster from the Malthracion forces revealed that it held a soul within, used to power some dark magic. I cannot say why, but I am convinced that the soul was that of an aasimar. It was probably just my imagination, but either way, such sorcery sent a chill down my spine. Teleos believes that it is dedicated to the Malthracion God of Nightmares. The strange lantern wielded by the blasphemous channeller we fought seemed to hate us - when held by any one of us, it burned with a vindictive heat.
 
As we arrived into port at Amaranth, the dock workers awaiting the return of the Tethys Surge was a sobering sight - a reminder that any of us may not return. We reported to the Admiralty to see Admiral Serene, whom I had not yet had the honour of meeting, and showed her Captain Brougha’s recommendation for Pandemonium. While she was not entirely pleased with the matter, having someone already lined up to replace Captain Brougha when he retired, she agreed to bring this to her fellow Admirals.
 
Since we knew we must set forth again the next day, we spent our night in Amaranth productively. I was directed by members of my church to Melora, a priest of Somnus. When I asked about the porcelain-masked figure we encountered, she told me that the shroud and mask were regalia of those who followed the god of Death who held the position before Somnus. A god who is himself dead. Melora wished to speak with Vornus should we encounter them again, but also described the followers of the dead god as ‘half dead’ and recommended we treat them as any undead. When I mentioned this to Perdun, he recalled that figures in this garb were also bidding for the part of a snake puzzle box that Captain Brougha was seeking when Perdun met him. A strange coincidence indeed - unless Vornus’ talk of fate was more than an embellishment.
 
The two pieces of the puzzle box that Brougha and Perdun united were not enough - Korrall discovered that this form of snake should have a hood behind its head and indeed, it seemed that there were places where such a thing could attach. Beyond the sound of liquid within the box, we could not gain any idea of what was inside it. However, the serpentine ruins were likely to yield more results, and so we resolved to mount an expedition as soon as possible.
 
A priest of Luna was able to confirm to us that the lantern we took from the Malthracions was a holy symbol of the god Helios, the head of the Malthracion pantheon, and the foul betrayer of Luna. They were once close, but no more. Korrall broke the lantern down into residuum to ensure that its blasphemy would not infect our city.
 
I returned to the monastery for the night, where everyone was very pleased to see me. I miss it often, but my place is with the Starchaser. That is what Captain Brougha wanted.
 
The next day, Admiral Serene laid out the conditions for Pandemonium’s captaincy:

• We were not to stray over the Battlefield without the Admiralty’s express permission - nowhere the sea would have been.


• We were not to travel more than a week out from the city so we could return within a week if summoned.


• We must earn 20 commendations before the end of Heath.

 
The Admiral made it clear that if these conditions were not met, Pandemonium would not be allowed to remain as captain. She may even be removed from the Starchaser entirely. It seems that we are set upon our course and must make the best of it.
 
We returned to the Starchaser in haste to seek out our next adventure. The Admiral had informed us that Melody, the ship’s Loremaster, would know best what Captain Brougha’s intentions had been for the Starchaser and her crew.

• The captain had intended to chase further parts of the snake box by travelling to the serpent ruins to the northern horizon in the desert. (1 commendation)


• He wished to investigate the melted metal structures behind the mountains to the east, but the journey is treacherous in storms. (1 commendation)


• The Mercy, another Keyship, has been trying to contact the Merfolk of the Inland Sea to the west of the city to send supplies. (1 commendation)


• There are reports of strange emanations from the forest near Heroes' Ridge. Potentially a fruitful voyage, for there is rumoured to be a great deal of treasure in the area, but it may involve tangling with the undead or spirits that supposedly walk there. (4 commendations)

 
We decided to travel to the Inland Sea on the logic that the half-buried structures in the sinkhole were on the way. The morning's blazing heat gave way to spring rains, for which we were all immensely thankful.
 
The sinkhole was 200 ft across by 40 ft deep, but thanks to Pan’s keen sight and Kyan’s daring scouting abilities, we discovered a smaller entrance in the forest to one side, a partially-collapsed door with a gilded archway bearing snake carvings. Arcane investigation revealed that an acidic alchemical substance or arcane spell was used to melt one of the doors off its hinges from the outside. A bar across the back of the door indicates that it was closed up from within. They barred themselves in - or wanted to keep something out.
 
Korrall identified a footprint, humanoid, with five toes, but the imprint of scales, something that was a great puzzle to us - we believed the snake people to all be dead. After following a sloped path down into the structure, Perdun found a plaster facade hiding a secret path. We emerged from an earthen tunnel into the bottom of the sinkhole and saw before us a structure covered in mud. Even with a thick coating of filth, our eyes could catch the gleam of gold at the corners and the shape of a door. The tracks continued from a different tunnel towards the structure - and then we heard the sound of earth moving on the other side of the door. Perdun knocked and heard the answering slap of a hand. We unearthed the door and found ourselves in an antechamber in the style of the serpent ruins. Korrall spotted signs of the other explorer - muddy handprints on the wall, footprints running away. We had no time to debate our approach, however, as a crash sounded from further in. A slough of mud filled one room. I summoned a mote of Valeria and sent it into the morass to protect whoever might be inside while we dug, following Meena’s instructions on how best to avoid causing further collapse.
 
Finally, as our strength began to desert us, an impossible figure emerged from the mud - a scaly face with a blindfold over their eyes, and snakes emerging from their head. A member of the serpentfolk.
 
Commendations from the Admiralty: 2