Land of the Lost: Session 13 Report
General Summary
After narrowly making it out of the column with most of their lives, the party and their allies quickly realized that they would need to find a place to shelter for the night. The creatures that had pursued them only stopped when they entered the sunlight. With the last of the Three Suns about to set, they will need to act quick if they are going to survive the night.
While searching for a suitable structure to barricade themselves in, the party spots a hooded figure standing just out of range of their ranged weapons, watching them. Perry, excited to make a new friend, rushes up to try and shake their hand. The figure runs off with surprising speed, appearing at another location in the rubble. Again, Perry tries to go and make a new friend but is unable to catch them. A third time, Perry begins to run, but is caught by Jack. Ahgythah calls out to the figure, asking their intent. The figure responds by offering a place for the party to take refuge for the night in exchange for some "sustenance", The party is obviously suspicious and pushes the figure for clarification.
The figure removed its hood, revealing it to be one of the deepfolk they had eradicated from column. The figure introduced herself as an outcast and that she held no resentment towards them from eradicating her people. She explained that she had a falling out and was ostracized when her clan entertained the dark arts of the mage that taught them how to animate corpses as a nearly unlimited supply of blood. On that note, she did explain that she had not eaten well in some time and requested to feed on at least two members of the party in exchange for shelter.
Without another option, they agreed and followed her to a relatively undamaged cellar with a think mechanical door that she used magic lock and unlock. They closed the door and sealed it behind them as The Light of the last sun flickered out.
The cellar was large enough to house the group comfortably. The party noticed a chest in the corner and their host was quick to offer its contents in exchange for more blood. Additionally, Serqet requested to know how she usee magic to lock and unlock the door to the cellar. Their host offered to tell her secrets in exchange for more blood.
The party tried to divide the blood as evenly as they can between them, but Jack and Perry offered to be drawn from twice to help meet her demand. Most of the characters were unaffected, but a few passed out from the process. In the end, their host was satisfied and gave the party two unidentified potions, a bow made of two spines, a damaged magical device, and knowledge of how to use magic to interact with the cellar's door. With the transaction complete, the host retired for the night, telling the party that she will be leaving the Lost Labyrinth at first light.
The following morning, the party hurried back to Sanctum, bringing with them the news of the Unseen living within the column and that this was likely a threat that even Sanctum, as fortified as it is, may not be able to survive. This caused panic as the members of the Lost Hope argued over whether they should focus on reinforcing their defenses, flee the Lost Labyrinth, or escort Ton and her new, bigger, and better explosive into the pillar to bring it down and cut of the Unseen's entry point. The party did their best to persuade as many as possible to fight, winning over a sizable force.
The following morning, the party set out with thirty-nine other warriors, including a few of the Dryn from Lexgate Valley. They managed to fit into the large cellar the party had taken refuge in two nights before, though it is barely large enough to house them all. However, this does allow them to rest just outside of the pillar without having to content with the Unseen.
At first light, they rose and cautiously entered the pillar. At first, there seemed to be no sign of the Unseen, even as they ventured into the dungeon beneath the pillar. This quickly changed when the group entered the main hall of the dungeon. They were attacked from front and cut off off from retreat by more, trapping them. The Unseen were deadly, striking hard and fast and taking numerous hits before going down. Their only weakness seemed to be The Light of the torches as it signed their flesh, weakened their attacks, and reduced their ability to defend themselves. Those that held torches were targeted first with the first goal of the Unseen being to snuff out The Light.
It quickly became clear that the party and their allies would not win a war of attrition against the Unseen, so the focused on pushing ahead, using as many torches as they could to distract and repel the Unseen. Serqet's cart, which was equipped with a bright light, proved effective for clearing a path as it shining directional light sent the Unseen skittering away.
Running out of time and with many having already fallen, the party finally made it to the pit the descended deep into the earth. Perry lifted Serqet's cart onto his shoulders and shown its light down the pit, preventing any more Unseen from rising from the depths. It looked like the Unseen had partially dug through the ceiling of the dungeon for easier access to the pillar's main floor above. Realizing that fighting back through the dungeon would be the end of them all, Ahgythah and Jack worked together to launch Perry upward with his shield, damaging the ceiling enough to collapse it. Most of the debris fell down the pit, making it easy for the party and whatever remained of their allies to escape.
Ton had set a five-minute fuse on the bomb, giving the group little time to get clear of the pillar and whatever destruction might follow. After getting as far away as they could within that time, the Lost Labyrinth reverberated with a deafening blast and fire erupted from every opening of the pillar. Then, for a moment, everything was silent before the foundation beneath the pillar gave way. Large sections of the surrounding area crumbled as both the floor and ceiling for the labyrinth around the pillar crumbled, resulting in a enormous mound of earth and stone where it once stood. Whatever Unseen had risen up from the depths were undoubtedly killed and it was unlikely they would be able to dig through so much debris to hunt on the Lost Labyrinth again.
Taking account of the survivors, they realized that twenty of their number had perished, five among them being Dryn from Lexgate Valley. Of those that remained, many were wounded and nearly all had gained a very deep and real fear of the depths of the earth and what lurks within it's darkness.
Comments