The Age of Worms / The Zenith Trajectory pt. 12/ Fos the 22nd, 3593 CE / 9-19-21

General Summary

The adventuring group Not By Choice have been tasked by Ironlord Davked Splintershield and Ophelia Knowlern, proprietess of the exclusive Cusp of Sunrise, to find Davked's son, an Adventurer named Zenith who ventured 10 years ago into the Everlasting Night and has not been seen since. Not By Choice hopes that the ancient ulat-kini temple of Bhal-Hamatugn that they have stumbled upon may give them clues to Zenith's location, but so far it was been an arduous battle through ranks of guards and priests as they have plumbed the temple's depths. Now Lulu and Milton step cautiously into an antechamber, following sounds of death and despair. They find the fallen angel Aushanna standing over two bodies, one dead and one soon to join him. Aushanna was an angel from hell summoned by the ulat-kini's dark idol, until Nari freed her by destroying the unholy artifact. Now the vengeful angel seeks out those who held her spirit captive showing no mercy. As Lulu and Milton observe, she places a flaming arrow between the eyes of the ulat-kini high priest. Aushanna vows mercy upon Nari and her companions for freeing her from the idol's compulsions, but the party cower before her might, knowing that the capricious angel's graces may be short-lived. After finishing off the last of the ulat-kini priesthood, Aushanna flies away to parts unknown. Meanwhile, Not By Choice is investigate the priest's quarters, finding clay pots with arcane symbols upon them. While the sorceress Nari dispels the symbol in order to gain access to the treasure within, the former Baalite Milton takes a different tack, with brute force proving a poor choice when the glyph on his pot's lid is activated, bombarding him with sonic force. Nonetheless, Milton revels in the baubles that he finds within the now destroyed pot. Nari heals the gnome Cherrit, one of two prisoners the party found trapped with Bhal-Hamatugn, who shows his gratitude by sharing some intriguing details of the fae-realm known as The Hedge, and vowing to aid the party with his own spell-casting. Still searching for the missing Zenith, Milton recalls some stairs leading down from the prison block, and party proceeds back there to investigate further. In the murky sub-level, Milton finds a torture chamber partially submerged in water. As the party carefully crosses the watery room, Uriah is suddenly grabbed from below by some unseen foe and pulled under the water. Attempting another magical gambit, Nari once again draws upon her inner strength and creates a magical pit to drain the water from the room. Doing so reveals their assailant, an undead ulat-kini whose unnerving eyes can paralyze its opponents. As multiple party members fall victim to the creature's terrifying gaze, it continues to grapple with Uriah, digging its claws into the hapless ratfolk's throat and using its negative energy to draw out Uriah's very life force. As the party begins to regain their senses, they press the attack on the creature, even as the bloody Uriah collapses to the ground, unconscious and possibly dying.

Rewards Granted

+1 mithril full plate, scroll of bear's endurance, scroll of cure moderate wounds, displacer beast mantle

Character(s) interacted with

Lulu Victry, Nari Ashida, Milton Butters, Harrov Runerider, Uriah Skran, Kade, Jozu, Sarous, Aushanna, Cherrit, White Eyes, Mang-Mietho (ulat-kini priest), duergar slave, ulat-kini undead guardian

Report Date

20 Sep 2021

Primary Location

Bhal-Hamatugn

Secondary Location

The Everlasting Night