#43 Passage Along the Styx

General Summary

After investigation, the Adventurers move onto the suspended platform revealed by the map puzzle and pull the level. They begin to descend, first slowly, then very rapidly into a massive cavern. After several minutes they slow down and find themselves in a room along a brackish grey/green river, which they presume to be the Styx.
After narrowing avoiding a large worm like creature, they encounter a skiff with 4 drow and a bound dueregar passing down the river. Aelen Moongrove makes mental contact with the dueregar, but the dueregar dismisses his voice as the work of "Spider Magic". Tia Tsukiko sends the Dwarf a message, which he is more responsive to, but the boat travels past before the party takes any further action.
A few minutes later another boat, piloted by a Black Abishai, comes down the river, and the party calls for it to stop. After some hesitation, they agree to travel with the Black Abishai and his pink skinned companions. His name is Zarax’vuum and he claims he is guiding on the Styx because he failed an assassination mission. He tells them the trip to the Unquenchable Flame will take 7 to 8 days.
While the rest of the party is negotiating, Tia takes off after the initial skiff. After several minutes of running she catches up to it, and dimension doors onboard. The elves immediately attack her, and are briefly able to grapple her to the ground. However, she fights them off and is eventually able to dimension door to the shore with the dwarf. She hurriedly gives him directions to the shaft they used to get down, and rushes off, barely giving him time to thank her.
Meanwhile, the rest of the party and Zarax'Vuum have boarded his ship and are also heading down the river. They pick up Tia, and a heated argument ensues between Tia and Korradin Xerthall about working as a team vs individual moral responsibility. After a few minutes Aelen is able to broker some peace between them, and the party continues down the river.
They travel uneventfully for two more days, however during their second "night", a hook horror comes across their camp. They alert Zarax, who is able to sneak up and strike a blow to stun the creature before they all rush to the boats as several more hook horrors appear. The hook horrors follow briefly but soon lose interest as the boat continues down the Styx.

Report Date

21 Nov 2022