Session 69: Ascending the Spire

General Summary

Session Commenced: The 11th day of Cyt, 1622 TER (Day 528 of the campaign)
Session Concluded: The 12th day of Cyt, 1622 TER (Day 529 of the campaign)

As the nausea from the teleportation abated, the Wildcards found themselves high up on a ridge of sand dunes deep within the desert. Quickly moving into cover to find shelter from eyes above, the group began debating their next steps. While a number of plans were considered, eventually Gemris persuaded the group to walk and talk as they began navigating their way towards the rocky spire in the distance.
After some time traveling through gullies and ravines, Skulk heard voices scouting ahead. Set up in a blind overlooking a shallow gully, someone was berating lizardfolk about loyalty. Skulk managed to sneak up onto the ridge, moving silently towards the lookout post. As he approached he made out two lizardfolk keeping watch over the gully, commanded by two figures of unclear origin - similar in form to lizardfolk but broader, with an unmistakable blue sheen to their bronzed scales and what looked to be vestigial wings on their back.
Returning to the rest of the party, Skulk relayed his findings and they began working together to try and sneak past the lookout. Gemris used her Staff of the Woodlands to cover their tracks and they moved quietly from rock to rock. Scouting ahead, Phaes, Skulk and Gemris came across a third lizardfolk posted among the rocks, and working together, Phaes and Skulk managed to take it down silently. The entire party were almost past the small encampment when one of the lizardfolk noticed that their companion was missing from their post. A moment later Morthak was spotted, and a fight broke out.
The lizardfolk went down easily, as did the other figures, but as they did so, they seemed to petrify into blue crystals, before releasing a burst of lightning. A short time later, each of the figures dissolved into sapphire coloured dust.
One remaining lizardfolk was caught alive, but unconscious. Sofia used her magic to punch through the creature's mental defenses, all but killing it without the intervention of Skulk's prayers to the Raven Queen. Probing the creature's mind, Sofia was able to discern that Zitonai, the Burnished Huntress, would alight from the top of the spire each day at noon, taking wing before landing at a point within the ruins surrounding the spire and accepting tribute from the lizardfolk.
Skulk sent the lizardfolk to the Raven Queen and the party again debated their next course of action. Some within the group wondered whether they could turn the lizardfolk to their advantage, as it seemed clear they served Zitonai out of little more than fear. Ultimately, though, it was decided that involving the lizardfolk would add the possiblity of unexpected complications, and the Wildcards hid the bodies of the guards before again setting out towards the spire.
As the shadows lengthened into dusk, the party finally found themselves within proximity of the edifice. Waiting for night to fall, they enacted their plan - Morthak used her magic to transform Gemris into a giant owl, and she flew them one or two at a time to the top of the spire on silent wings, finding a sheltered outcrop where they could weather the night and wait for their opportunity. Camouflaged under a magical dome lit with gently moving constellations summoned by Gemris, the party slept until daybreak, when they huddled into the shadows afforded by the Staff of the Woodlands and prepared for battle. As the sun reached its zenith they heard the shriek of dragoncall as Zitonai quit the spire and glided down to the ground below.
The Wildcards broke from cover and began a fast climb around the spire to the entrance to Zitonai's lair. Led by Skulk and Morthak, the party managed to reach the lip of the entrance with few incidents and dragging themselves up they discovered a large domed cavern. At the northern end a massive stone plaque inscribed with runes in celestial and dedicated to Selyne, the goddess of the moon and of protection, was cracked, and from the crack a trickle of water was pouring. It had pooled in a shaft in the center of the cavern, overflowed it, and was running down a second shaft to the south. Smelling of offal and salt, Syr Galindann briefly contemplated tasting it, but the searing icy pain when he dipped his hand into the water dissuaded him.
Within the cavern were two bodies, and the wildcards searched them quickly while Gemris kept a lookout for the dragon below. One one such body they found a magical silver amulet set with a mother of pearl circle, and as Sofia began casting a spell to discern the nature of this artifact, the water began to surge slightly - as tentacles began whipping out of the water and a large, misshapen, aquatic being of some sort emerged and began attacking the Wildcards...

Report Date

17 Nov 2021