The Cascade

Cultural event

The Path of Nightshade decide to go to The Cascade and find a dungeon in its depts with a couple more survivors trapped in the cages.

The Path of Nightshade decide to go to the Cascade (sunken tower) and Moz conjures two giant octopuses for everyone to ride through the waters. The architecture is unfamiliar, it’s only part of the fortress that it came from like a smaller piece of a greater whole. The tower seems to have been reshaped; all the windows have been pinched closed to prevent water from entering. At the top the party finds a locked trapdoor. Gilly checks for traps and opens the lock. It’s dry inside but as they open the door, a little water sloshes in. Inside, the walls of the top floor room have runes and murals depict The Devourer. On the floor giant clams clustered in one part of the room, large enough to swallow Gilly. The clams go on alert as they come within 90 feet. Two spectral beings rise out of the clams and charge the party. One attacks Gilly, then slinks into the shadows to hide. Bobushio takes some damage from one that also tries to fade and retreat a little, and Thuniel gets it.   One clam opens and a ichorous tongue-type goo slithers out. Thuniel is nearest and almost gets dominated by the goo. Bobushio gets one mesmerized, and sends ISAC out with the straps to try to bind up the clams, and he gets one of them. Moz casts Moonbeam on one of the clams. Thuniel kills the mesmerized shadow demon, then backs out of range while shooting the other one. Gilly and Bobushio get powerful hits in on the closed clam, then ISAC manages to strap close the other clam with the binders he took from The Sunken Temple. Moz burns a clam and Thuniel kills the other shadow demon.   The party smashes the clams, and lose the two pairs of straps. Moz and Thuniel collect clamshell to turn into skis, shields, etc. Underneath the clams there is another door. In the rubble, Thuniel finds an infernal pearl, a deep reddish purple, they don’t know what it does yet.   The water in this room seems to be rising a bit, so they decide to camp atop the tower. During Thuniel’s watch, the Swordctopus comes out of the water to take care of these intruders or find where the other octopus went. It appears to have a feathery flourish off its head and opposable thumbs for its four sword limbs. Thuniel offers it a plus one cutlass, and it accepts her offering, bows to her and discards it other rusty old sword into the sea then happily leaves.   After the rest The party journeys down another level. Numerous rooms with bars and cages litter the walls. This dungeon seems to house hundreds of people. It seems most of the rooms are empty or have only the skeletal remains of it previous tenants lying on the floor. Inside one cell there is a man with a dark beard alive. He introduces himself as John Farmer. Thuniel asks how he got in there. He says he was with his friend, but this place swallowed him up and captured him here. There are bars and but no door on the cell. ISAC can Vortex Warp him out of the cell, so Bobushio tries and it works. John Farmer says he and his friend fled from Pakili right after the ship crashed. His friend went to the Lonely Tower and made the camp. She made it seem haunted to keep people out. They started reading the countless books in the tower, to try to figure out what’s going on here. John reveals he summoned his familiar, they got swallowed up and he was spit out here. He does not know if they are safe he only knows they are still on the plane his name is Cackle.   John was part of Pakili’s crew for four or five months. He says that since he has been in the cavern maybe thirty or forty days. He says that he’s been in this dungeon four or five days. His magic doesn’t work, but ours seems to be working fine. The only thing he can do is keep Cackle sustained, but he can’t unsummon him or resummon him.   He then reveals he’s not the only one in this dungeon. There’s a guy down the hall that keeps yelling. He says his name is Oz Sindarin and he doesn’t deserve to be here. Together they head down the tunnel to see the entitled jerk who is yelling. Thuniel recognizes him as a fixture from Blightfen’s underbelly, but she never quite knew what he did. He seemed present in a lot of circles but was always in an secondary role. He is bald and hunched elf that speaks like a non-noble elf. He uses a cane to support his overly plump frame.   The water is magically filling. John Farmer leaves the tower to go look for Cackle. Thuniel asks if they want to let Oz out or pick him up on the way back. She remembers Oz was around the big events in Blightfen and close to many noble families, but he wasn’t necessarily in charge of anything. He intermingled with many families and gangs.   Bobushio tells him to shut up, and then asks why we should let him out while reading his thoughts. He has information about this place and about Blightfen (Thuniel’s family). He doesn’t currently have any ill-will toward any of us, but he will prioritize his own survival. He came here from Blightfen.   Thuniel and Bobushio know what kind of person this guy is. Thuniel figures that he knows how to manipulate and he uses his bad looks to his advantage, but he is really intelligent. He’s got a bit of an “I’ll show them” mentality. He has no special ill-will toward any of the families (though he thinks that he hates them all of them the same).   Bobushio tells Thuniel that Oz hates her family, so what does she want to do with him. Thuniel tries to give him a jellyfish, but they appear to be dead. Thuniel then offers to let him out if he tells her what he know about who means ill to her family and how and why. Bobushio senses a chain in Oz’s mind. It’s a mental defense to prevent having his mind read.   Thuniel keeps pushing and he says that anyone who talks about that or gets involved ends up wiped out. She asks why her family, and he reacts to “Family” Bobushio tries to sweet talk him.   He knows Bobushio and calls him terror of the seas, and he says Bobushio has been a “thorn in our side.” Oz says if we let him out, he will tell us more than he has ever told anyone else; he will tell Thuniel where to go to find out about the contract.   Bobushio demands collateral before we get him out. Oz says that we need to promise to get him back to Blightfen. He reveals he was swallowed up in darkness from Blightfen. Oz says that he is the only one who knows about her family. Bobushio plays hardball refusing to get him out, until he coughs up the info. He tells us the person Thuniel is looking for has a mouse named Bailey and lives in Blightfen and are not aristocratic, but have more influence than the families. Maybe a guild or mafia. Thuniel has Bobushio get him out of the cage, but does so without warning and he topples over, then he gives us a sending stone to contact him. He tells Gilly that he owes her a favor for being nice. “Errybuddy knows Oz Sindarin; ask the right people and they’ll know how to find me.”   The water rises, and Gilly can no longer touch the ground. Bobushio rigs up a standing backpack for her. They search through hundreds of cells and find many skeletons of people who have died. Many different races and types of creatures have died here. Moz reminds us that sacrifices to The Devourer look like this once the sacrifice is complete. Something has been constantly going, making repeated sacrifices to appease The Devourer. Thuniel recalls from the chapter that The Devourer drowned Hrothbert before taking his ability to reproduce.   After a search they find a door, but there’s no obvious way to open it. It seems like the way ahead is barred. Gilly offers it blood, but it exhausts her to do so. When anyone but Gilly tries to go through, the way shuts, so they all have to sacrifice and gain some exhaustion.   In the next chamber, the walls form around to cater to the party. On the back wall is a giant face with a long beard made of kelp. The face is asleep until they all arrive and the room changes, then it wakes up. It has salty eyes and looks both surprised to see us and bored. It introduces itself as the “Custodian” guarding the treasures within. Thuniel tries to bribe it with an entertaining story. But he gets into our heads and sees that we have already seen a tome and we know what’s inside. They get the sense that this guardian is not something The Tower would put here if they were trying to hide the book. Or rather, the wizards did put it here, but the presence of the book has made something more happen, so that the Custodian “Pearl-Keeper” has become something different.   We have to be able to answer the three questions. We get Gilderoy out, and it occurs that Gilderoy and the Custodian are the same magic. He asks them 3 riddles.   What Foe is this? Murders you when it surrounds you, but you die when it is gone. Water   At dawn a king arose wearing a white gold crown, waged war, then died, a thousand kings followed him. A wave   Three men share a house. One full of folly, but most loved. Next strove hard and provided. Last spent all day in bed and feared to leave the house. Life lived in a body.     Custodian tells them that we don’t wish to use the tome for ill, and they have keen minds. Be warned that anyone who uses the book will be consumed. A path opens and the Custodian says there’s one thing left to prove. On the rock pedestal is a moldy, gnarly book made of pressed seaweed, fishbones. Moz casts Water breathing.   As they approach, a huge wave of water washes over us and it and washes it away. Bobushio tries to Vortex warp it but the spell doesn’t work. They are rushing down a large rugged tunnel. Thuniel has nothing to leap off, so she grabs Bobushio and tries to jump off his shoulders. Bobushio tries to vortex warp ahead of it, but the book washes out of his hands. Moz turns into a dolphin, but can’t quite get there. Gilly shouts to ISAC to get her in front, but she misses the book as well. Now the entire tube is filled with water and the book tumbles over a waterfall. Moz shoots out and is in a vast open cavern, but no view of the bottom. Gilly clocks where the book is going and tries to fall that direction.   Free-falling into an abyss of darkness the party can see Gilly. Moz feels like this is another plane rich with vegetation. Thuniel attempts to control her fall by bracing her skirts wide and steering. Moz follows suit as a dolphin, and Bobushio activates his boots while ISAC paints a net to try to catch everyone. When that doesn’t work, Bobushio is able to get a rope to Gilly.   Moz drops the dolphin shape and summons three giant owls to carry the party. Thuniel manages to get aboard an owl. Moz misses her first try, but Bobushio vortex warps her onto an owl. Gilly can still see the book and she tries to get the owl to dive after it, but cannot catch up.   Thuniel shoots the book with an arrow and then Moz uses Locate Object to track the arrow. We encounter water after another minute and see a giant river in a huge wild jungle. It is completely raw nature. This seems like the Lamannia - The Twilight Forest. This is the manifest zone closest to Astrafell.