The Age of Worms / Hall of Harsh Reflections pt. 7 / Eire the 1st through the 2nd, 3592 CE / 6-9-19

General Summary

The party enters the Cold Forge, where they encounter the propietor, Crusty Patten. They quickly surmise something is amiss when they realize that Crusty is completely unaware of Los's presence, as well as being unable to detect the vials Rikit shows him still stamped with the seal of House Deshokar. After providing the smith a commission to create a metal vial for Rikit, the party confers outside the shop, determining that it is drow and drow-related artifacts that Crusty seems incapable of perceiving. Deciding to use this to their advantage, Los sneaks back inside, reporting back after several minutes to Rikit and Lulu that there is a trap door in the floor of Crusty's private quarters, just past the main shop. Rikit, anxious to complete the ritual that will grant him a new tumor-familiar, suggests coming back the next day. Lulu, seeing the benefit of additional rest and recovery, and knowing that Ophedes put no deadline on their stay at the Arcanum of the Seekers, agrees. The trio head back, where Rikit and Lulu bargain with a Seeker-acolyte named Isil for some teeth to be included in Rikit's monstrous experiment in life-giving. Isil agrees that such a ritual is something that her master Ophedes will be interested in viewing. Lulu on the other hand wants no part of it, and goes back out amongst the townfolk to gather intel on the Cold Forge's proprietor. She learns from several other artisans that Crusty used to be a more sociable type, drinking with them at the pubs after hours, but for the last several months has mostly just kept to himself. Meanwhile, back at the Arcanum, Rikit prepares the ritual in the guest room that Ophedes has granted them while Los observes, until they are interrupted by visitors. Isil brings them Ophedes, who trades Rikit several alligator teeth in exchange for an opportunity to observe his bizarre experiment. Ophedes also invites a high wizard of the Seeker order into the party's room for the purpose of viewing the ritual. The wizard, who Ophedes introduces as Vuldagan, is none other then Telakin, the greater-doppelganger leader of the gang who kidnapped the party and now holds them in a devil's bargain to dispose of Zyrxog, the mysterious patron who has the doppelgangers under his thumb. Telakin has covered Zyrxog's mark with makeup, but Rikit and Los both immediately recognize him nonetheless, with Los stating so in no uncertain terms. Not wishing to put the agreement at risk, and also impatient to begin his ritual. Rikit distracts Los by impugning her ability to distinguish one surface dweller from another, while Telakin recalls aloud that the party recently fought doppelgangers, and commands Ophedes to begin an investigation into possible doppelganger infiltration in Kedesh. Without further ado, Rikit begins his horrifying procedure to create a new living tumor, which quickly drives Los from the room. As the ritual will take up to 8 hours, the three Seekers in attendance agree to take shifts observing and recording notes. Lulu returns from her expedition and has an uncomfortable confrontation with Valdagan/Telakin. The creation of the new tumor is a success, and the next day the party returns to the Cold Forge to further investigate the mysterious trap door. They are confronted by a doppelganger posing as the elf Ilya Starmane, who demands that Lulu reverse the effects of the plague that she has spread among the gang, but the party chooses the better part of valor, disappearing from sight with the help of invisibility potions, sneaking past Crusty Patten into the Cold Forge. When they descend through the trapdoor, they discover that it leads to the city's sewers. However, Los spots tracks left by boots that have walked through a particular kind of luminescent lichen found only in the Everlasting Night, which allows them to track whoever has been using the hatch in the Cold Forge. Along the way they are attacked by a pair of gricks which have made the sewers their home, but after slaying one of the disgusting worms and driving off the other, they eventually find the source of the lichen, as they descend to the lowest part of the sewers and find a cave opening leading to a chamber filled with mushrooms and yellow mold. After Los is badly affected by the spores from the yellow mold, the party attempts to burn some of it away with fire, until Lulu gets an intuition that the mushrooms might be a kind of antidote. Her instincts prove correct, as consuming the mushrooms allows the party to run through the chamber with no further affects from the mold, only to discover to their dismay that the larger mushroom is in fact a shrieker, as it begins emitting an ear-splitting screech that echoes through the caverns.

Character(s) interacted with

Lulu Victry, Rikit Bhang, Loscivia Cantri, Crusty Patten, Ophedes Ruperil, Isil Tekrete, Telakin (as Valdagan), doppelganger (as Ilya Starmane), 2 gricks, various city folk

Report Date

10 Jun 2019