11th Session- The Jord Escape
General Summary
26th-27th of Melora's Gift, 1436
Late Night Revelations
After the tensions that cropped up in the relative safety of Scarlet's tower were able to die down, most everyone settled for the night. In the sitting room, Phuc Her sat studying his Book of Shadows throughout the night. Around him, the soldier Kobolds had all fallen asleep in a pile. Searcher Surko was leaning against the ottoman, making hissing snores. Niks had curled up by himself on the floor. Taking up the armchairs by the fireplace, Phuc Her's intense rumination on the pages caused an expansion in his mind as new eldritch knowledge revealed itself. Further, without the others awake to distract him with their nonsense, he was able to think back to the Druidic runes that had briefly studied in the circle the previous day. The circle had left an impression on him and, with his connection to Obad-Hai, he could suddenly make out the words and names that had eluded him before. And for some reason one particular name that he now understood mysteriously stuck out in his beyond all the others: Amberthane. He silently took this new understanding as a sign that Obad-Hai was guiding him towards the path of becoming a full Druid himself. Elsewhere, and perhaps unsurprisingly, Lapis and Udoud fell asleep within their shared tub on the lowest floor. Within the observatory on the top floor, Sasimay had passed out on the bed watching Scarlet fastidiously working on a thesis paper based on the erotic novel Lapis had given her to read. The erotic novel had set her mind rolling with analyses on the mechanics of interpersonal relations and she had dived headlong into her stack of blank sheets and full inkwell at her desk. By the early morning hours she had already managed to expertly scribe twenty pages of her scholarly observations on the nature of romance. With the body of the paper finished, Scarlet propped her head up to rest a few hours. She resolved to put the finishing touches and conclusion paragraphs down first thing after waking up.Rude Wakeup Call
With dim dawn light seeping through the narrow arrow loops, Phuc Her set aside his tome and checked the weather for the day. It would be yet another overcast day with wind and light snow. As he sighed, Admiral slumped in his armchair and bumped himself out of his sleep. It took him a moment to remember where he was, quietly looking around the room until he noticed Phuc Her getting up. The groggy Tabaxi stretched, asking if it was morning and if everyone else was up, to which Phuc Her responded that is was morning but no one else was up as far as he was aware. Admiral asked for more time to sleep and quickly nodded back off in the chair as Phuc Her climbed the ladder to the top floor. Upstairs, he casually walked to the bed where Sasimay had collapsed and violently shook her awake. Upset by the unceremonious alarm, she pushed the Half-Elf aside once he revealed there was nothing wrong other than facing another day in Jord. Phuc Her left Sasimay to wake her sister and went back to his seat in the lounge, having no intention of going downstairs with the unmentionable views likely to present there. Collecting herself, Sasimay left her sister alone for a while longer after seeing that she had probably been apparently working throughout the night. She found everyone on the middle floor apart from Phuc Her still out cold. Struck with a cruel idea, she couldn't help but take out her cooking pans and banging them together. The racket caused both Admiral and Wisp to shoot out of their armchairs. Admiral got to his feet, standing ready for a fight and hissing. Wisp, having been so folding up in his sleep, went straight as a board, levitating for an instant before falling down and hitting his head on the side table. All the Kobolds started a chorus of growls to Sasimay's clanking. The muffled impacts of people hitting the floor overhead made Lapis and Udoud stir in their bathtub. Realizing that everyone else must be up, Lapis wrapped a towel around her waist and went up the ladder to ask what the ruckus was, only to face the groans of everyone present reacting to her toplessness right after the pain of metal banging in their ears. Going back downstairs, Udoud was stepping out of the privy from washing up and dressing and excused himself upstairs after playfully groping his new mate's breasts. She chastised him and enforced that getting access to her "goodies" was a privilege that required her permission before going to the changing room to finish drying off her fur and getting back into her normal attire.Really, What is Love?
By the time Lapis rejoined, everyone apart from Scarlet was in the lounge. Given her natural resistance, Sasimay decided to take it upon herself to cook some her sweet potatoes as breakfast by holding them over the flames of the fireplace in her bare hands. As the Genasi made portions and distributed them, Lapis checked in on her ailing brother and former partner-in-crime looking worse for wear. Admiral was frustrated by an emerging migraine after the surprise wake-up combined with the levels of danger he hadn't had to face so directly in half a decade. Meanwhile, Wisp was verging on delirious and probably concussed as he was nursing a large lump on his head and seeing eight fingers on one hand. Lapis offered to heal Wisp, but he voiced his lack of faith in her lackluster abilities for healing. Sasimay finished cooking her initial batch of sweet potatoes and began to distribute them to everyone. Going up to Scarlet's room, she found her sister passed out at her desk, quill still in hand. Giving Scarlet a light nudge to wake up, the younger Swayson stirred. Scarlet immediately went back to writting, finishing off the last few lines of the page she had been working on. Sasimay asked what was so important that Scarlet had spent the whole night writing. Scarlet picked up the copy of The Emerald Veil and offered it back to Sasimay, saying that she had written a treatise on love and placing the page she had just finished onto a stack of papers and flipping them over. It was indeed a thick work; nearly two dozen pages. Sasimay was wide-eyed. Firstly that Scarlet had actually taken the time to write about intense emotion and physical romance like Lapis had asked of her, but second that she had gotten so much done in just the span of one night. Taking the collection of pages, Sasimay tried to read a few of the passages but it was speaking from an incredibly technical standpoint, lacking any sense of emotional attachment. Not all that surprising coming from her sister, Sasimay had to admit. As the pair were about to come downstairs to the lounge, suddenly Lapis appeared to tell them that once breakfast was done, they would start their trek up the mountain. Scarlet eagerly took back her thesis and offered it up to the Tabaxi. While Lapis looked over the pages with as much perplexity and amazement as Sasimay, Scarlet explained that she had been forced to condense her observations down in order to finish within one night. Not to mention that her sources had been limited to the one novel and a scant few tomes she had on biology and romantic philosophy. Lapis, in exasperation, congratulated Scarlet on being so thorough even with limited resources at hand, but the important thing, she said, was whether all the research had helped her to understand physical attraction and romance. Scarlet admitted that she did understand it more than before, however she still had no personal experience with them. Lapis replied that it was at least a start and the feelings would come when she met the right person.Tower Tribulations
Suddenly, the tower was rattled by staggered impacts. Everyone was immediately scrambling to the closest arrow loops for a view of their assailants. Peeking outside the narrow windows, no one could make much out, but more boulders continued to fly towards them from beyond the cover of a ridge below. Poofing Cassima outside, Scarlet looked through the eyes of the owl, flying out in a wide circle to find that a group of five mountain trolls was flanking all sides and lobbing the improvised projectiles at them. Scarlet relayed this information to the others and came back into her body with Lapis shaking her for more answers. Sasimay swatted the Tabaxi away and the three hastily moved to the lounge where everyone else was grouped. As the tower continued to shudder from the onslaught, everyone argued over how to handle it. Of course, there was the diplomatic option. The party called out to the trolls, asking what they wanted. One of the trolls bellowed back that they had been tricked out of their meal the previous day and they did not appreciate it. There had been no dragon, no scent of dragon, but plenty of scent from Kobolds and other meaty things. They had followed that trail overnight and found the party conveniently all packed together and they would feed the trolls for weeks. Yes, diplomacy... not useful when the other side is made of base, carnivorous brutes. Facing off against five mountain trolls with them backed into a corner against a ledge did not bode well. The Kobolds provided numbers, but they were also the in the party needed when they reached the Broken Citadel. If they were lost in the fight then negotiating would become much harder. They would have to drive off or distract the trolls in order to have even the slightest chance of a getaway. Phuc Her pointed out that blocking their view would be easy enough, but getting past their sense of smell would be harder. It had already undone them before. Udoud pointed out that they could somehow use the contents of the privy to block their scent. Lapis excitedly agreed that it was a good plan and even thanked Udoud for his assumed contribution towards the "material" that would help obscure them. As the party quickly moved to set the plan in motion, the stonework of the tower seemed to grow more unstable due to the heavy impacts bombarding it from outside. Emptying out the privy turned out to be too cumbersome a task to do on the run, so when the tower door was finally opened, Phuc Her cast a fog cloud around the base while Lapis created a duplicate as a distraction. One by one, everyone ducked away in turns for the start of the trail curving up the mountain. The trolls, however, could see through the ruse pretty quickly as the duplicate made no prints in the snow nor a scent on the wind. They began to charge forward and close in on the stragglers. Searcher Surko began firing off eldritch blasts from both hands in quick succession as a defensive screen for everyone heading to the trail even though it only bought a few moments while the trolls avoided the shots. Phuc Her called up roots and vines to entangle the trolls and buy even more time. The natural strength of the trolls worked against the party. Half of the trolls were still after them and as they moved out of range to keep spells active, the trolls would be able to resume the chase.The Mountainside Chase
The party started running up the switch-back ledges as fast as the could without risking their safety. Using every spell they could muster, they placed traps along the path so that the trolls would be forced to slow down. The trolls were in a blind fury by this point and it seemed that no matter what they intended to run the party down and devour them, even if just for spite. Running alongside everyone else Searcher Surko told them that they would have to keep this pace or be run down. Further, that it would still take hours moving upwards to reach the Broken Citadel. Hearing that, Lapis put her feline agility into action by sprinting ahead of everyone as she had already used all the spells she had available. Phuc Her was bringing up the rear, still conjuring up vines and entangling roots to snare the chasing trolls. The distance gained by slowing them down never seemed to last though as the sounds of roars would pick up within minutes. When everyone had a gained a bit of a lead over the trolls several ridges below, the party found that Lapis had collapsed over a rock and was panting in exhaustion. Even worse, running up the snowy terrain with just the cloth wraps around them had left her paws numb and verging on frostbite. Sasimay used her natural flaming warmth to thaw them out and unintentionally causing Lapis to cry out in pain as her frozen nerves began firing again. Casting some healing spells where they were needed, the party took the briefest of respites. Lapis asked again if there were any alternative that would get them out of the elements, but again Surko gestured up the mountain side. There was no faster way but the one they were on. Going safer would mean going back and around the base of the mountain. The party sighed in resignation, steeling themselves to go back into their brisk pace up just as the roaring sounds of the trolls began to rise over the strong winds below them again.
Down Below the Ground
A detachment of Kobold soldiers was formed into columns around the party, even their Kobold searcher allies that had helped them to reach the Citadel. It made several of them nervous to see that their friends might be in just as much danger in this situation as they were quietly led down into the former Dwarven city below the Broken Citadel. The massive former magma chamber had once formed an irregular dome over an expansive city, now abandoned and moldering away. Moving steadily downwards they walked through old streets, passing homes and shops. Lapis tried to grab an old necklace from an abandoned stall, only for the guard beside her to swat her hand away. At the base of the city the cold forges and craft shops for metalworking abutted directly to the entrances of the city's ancient mines. They were escorted onwards, into the tangled honeycomb of tunnels. They began to encounter even more Kobolds now, making them pause and doubletake at the first strangers ever to be seen this deep in their territory. Surko at one point indicated a tunnel, saying that had they not been blocked by the collapse that would have been their way back. The party had no time to linger on the opening he pointed out as they were pushed to continue on. Lapis ventured to ask where they were being taken and Surko quietly replied that they were being taken to to the Kobold city of Morhid's Roost. He had no idea how the situation would go from there. No outsiders had been to the city in living memory or beyond so far as he was aware. After traveling for an unknown number of hours through the winding tunnels the party was finally allowed a break, pushed into an alcove to be guarded while the soldiers watched them in rotating pairs roughly every half hour. While most of the group attempted to get what rest they could Lapis tried to interact with every pair to see if she could garner any additional information about what their situation was looking like. Did they have a decent chance of getting out of this? Did coming with other Kobolds count as a benefit in their favor? She asked several pairs and got no response. Eventually she just started to greet the guards in a friendly manner and leave it at that while taking what rest she could.The City and The Chief
When the group was finally escorted into a vast open space that was who-ever-knew deep into the earth, they found the area to be a surprisingly well ordered pint-sized city made to suit a sizeable population of Kobolds. Bioluminescent plants and algae made the area bright enough that they could see multiple tiers of small huts stacked atop each other. It was almost as if this city had been partially modelled after the abandoned Dwarven one above. The party being led through the streets caused quite the commotion among the citizens, who actually rushed to the streets and blocked the path of the guards holding them. The press of the crowd was so great, in fact, their escort was eventually forced to backtrack and take an alternate route through the city's network of narrow streets and bridges until the were placed within a small gatehouse building while the commander in charge of their guards was ushered in along with Searcher Surko and Niks. The gatehouse was against one of the rockfaces that formed a wall of the great chamber they were in. But the wall had been carved out with huge pillars so that it formed a recessed colonnade with a portico at their crown. The design was simple, but of such a grand scale that it was awe-inspiring. None of the party had expected such engineering skill. While the guards kept them sequestered in the gatehouse, the party was able to talk about their plan once they were brought before someone in power, as it seemed would soon be the case. Fighting was out of the question. While they were reluctantly certain that they could deal with the Kobolds, none of them were very eager to go that route. They all eventually agreed that would be an absolute last resort, but they were all hopeful that their companions would speak on their behalf. After all, all they wanted was to pass through and cause as little disturbance as possible. After waiting for nearly an hour, finally the doors were opened and they were ordered to enter. After a short tunnel, the party found themselves in what appeared to be a primitive throne room. Surko was gone while Niks was still present, but their small companion seemed nervous as he stood before two figures. One was seated upon a makeshift throne, clad in armor made of bones and decorated with beads and feathers that complimented his earthy scales and golden eyes. The other was more severe, dressed in dark patchwork robes that contrasted against bright purple scales and red eyes, garishly decorated with stringed pieces of gold coins. The apparent chief gestured for them all to take places around the fire where pelts and blankets had been arranged before his throne. Introducing himself as Getru, the chief indicated the robed figure to be his ritual-master, called Snalbe. He went on to explain that Niks had spoken on the group's behalf, as had Surko, and even the commander that had brought them to the city, Kot. They had all claimed that the party were allies worthy of making a request and of course they knew what the request was because Niks had admitted that he revealed how Inner Jord was connected to the mainland through the Underdark that could be accessed from Kobold territory. Snalbe claimed that the party should be detained indefinitely as they knew too much, but the chief dismissed the idea. Still, he pointed out that if the fact his people sat on an entrance connecting the island to the world were to get out then the prisoners of Jord would mass on them just as surely as the Dwarves would wage war on them to destroy the tunnels and protect their franchise on an inescapable prison for the worst the world could offer. He demanded to know what assurances they could make to assure him they would never reveal how they escaped. The answer was surprisingly very simple. If they were to admit how they escaped then that would also mean revealing they were convicts in the first place; not a fact that any of them would ever be eager to reveal. Getru agreed though the concern for his people still weighed heavily on him, but he couldn't reasonably expect to keep them prisoner forever either. He would have to let them leave. Snalbe hissed that such poor leadership would be punished soon enough. Getru became angry and asserted that he was the chief and would rule as he saw fit, even ordering the ritual-master to leave his presence while "sending the other". As Snalbe reluctantly bowed and left, the party questioned who this "other" might be for a few minutes, until, from the tunnel leading off into the dark, Rav suddenly appeared. Niks immediately rushed to his brother and embraced him while the others were relieved that Niks had been right in his belief that Rav would be restored. But the reunion was tapered off as the chief addressed the two. For revealing one of the greatest secrets of their city and jeopardizing the safety of their people, the chief revealed that they would have to choose a punishment; they could either be exiled together or imprisoned for the rest of their lives, separately. The two Kobolds were immediately torn. Niks had fought so hard to be reunited with his brother, but now they would either be kept apart or forced away from everything they had ever known. The party interjected to say that such punishment was too harsh given that they had already promised they would never reveal what they had learned, but Getru held firm. He told them that regardless of everything else, the brothers had violated a cardinal rule for maintaining the safety of their people and so the pair would have to make a choice. Considering this, the party decided to offer the pair a place traveling alongside them. Niks was eager to accept this idea and see more of the world and all the gadgets it might offer. Rav, on the other hand was more dubious and his meek nature made him want to stay, even if it meant being a prisoner. As the pair became emotionally divided, Lapis stepped forward to Rav and said that he would be welcome with them. Even though he hadn't been able to travel with them like Niks had, surely he could see that they had looked out for his brother and would do the same for him. This claim fell through for Rav, though, as he had been killed while in their company the first time. He retreated into himself a bit more. To everyone's surprise, Udoud stepped forward next and said that he was sorry for what had happened to him, but said that it would not be repeated. He admitted that hadn't known what to think of the group when he came back to himself. All the same, he had his sanity back because of these crazy people and was even in love with one of them now. If his own people wouldn't have him, then the Bad Luck Blizkrieg was the best alternative because at least he would be with his brother. Rav looked back to Niks, standing confident and eager beside the party and nodding his agreement to the Gnolls words and suddenly found an inner strength as he agreed to leave with them.Do All Swaysons Have Head-Voices?
As the audience with the chief was winding down from there, Scarlet, seemingly staring blankly into the void up to that point, piped up to speak to the Kobold leader. She addressed him, asking for permission to allow the party to linger in Morhid's resting place before moving on. As they would have to pass through the area regardless in they were to leave inner Jord, Chief Getru thought little of the request. All the same he asked why they would need to do such a thing, to which Scarlet replied that it was a request from "Mymmassed". The name immediately garnered a response from the chief. He dismissed them, pointing them down the path Rav had emerged from. Walking down a winding series of tunnels, questioning Scarlet all the while as they went, the party was both relieved and concerned that someone had somehow stepped in on their behalf somehow. Lapis suspected that "E" was somehow behind it, but Scarlet explained that the voice was feminine and offering assistance. Before this could be questioned much further, the tunnel opened to an expansive domed cavern. The central floor of the open space had been prepared for a ritual, an arcane circle scrawled large in paint across the stone floor with torches planted all around. And, most impressively of all, just to the side, there was the massive skeleton of a dragon partially buried under rubble along with the skeletal remains of several humanoids. The Kobolds in tow behaved reverently towards the enormous bones. These were the remains of Morhid, the Ancient Dragon and true ruler of the Kobolds under the Broken Citadel. But the pause at this revelation wouldn't last long as Scarlet informed them all that they needed to continue just a bit farther according the the voice still speaking to her. They entered and new tunnel and Scarlet led them to a room that forked off to the left. A gentle, feminine voice greeted them all as a shape came into view. It was humanoid and pale of skin, with an ethereal glow that made discerning facial features difficult. The face was fine, the lips delicate, the faintest outline of a doll-like nose, but the light was brightest where the eyes would've been and thusly there seemed to be none as they party took the figure in more fully. She was dressed in surprisingly nice clothes given the locale; robes of blue wool with buckskin trimmings and fur linings. Immediately, everyone was on edge at this strange sight and turn of events. The figure smiled, apologizing for the mystery, but speaking to Scarlet had seemed the best way to get the party free of Chief Getru. The party asked if she was the Mymmassed that the younger Genasi had spoken of. One can only imagine the wide eyes in that cavern room when she admitted that she was indeed Mymmassed, but also the daughter of Morhid, and she wanted their help to save the world from her resurrection.Rewards Granted
Party: The party gained access to the tunnels leading to the Underdark from Morhid's Roost. They also collectively managed to convince Niks and the resurrected Rav to stay with them.
Lapis: An insightful, if overly technical, twenty page thesis about love written by Scarlet.
Phuc Her: Started his path towards becoming a Druid.
Sasimay Swayson: N/A
Scarlet Swayson: N/A
Missions/Quests Completed
Days survived in Jord: 10
Reached the Broken Citadel.
Made a deal for passage out of Inner Jord through the Underdark tunnels with Chief Getru of Morhid's Roost.
Character(s) interacted with
Mountain Trolls: Angry about being tricked by the party the previous day, the trolls tracked down the party in larger numbers, looking to capture and consume them all.
Searcher Surko: Worked with the party to evade the Mountain Trolls and guided them safely to the Broken Citadel.
Commander Kot: While not interacting with them directly, he and his detachment of men escorted the party, under guard, through the maze of tunnels to the Kobold city of Morhid's Roost.
Chief Getru: The leader of the Kobold civilization in control of the Broken Citadel and king of Morhid's Roost.
Rav: Resurrected by Snalbe as both a reward and punishment for Niks. Once reunited, the Kobold brothers decided to accept exile and join the party rather than be imprisoned apart.
Ritual Master Snalbe: Seemingly the second-in-command of the Kobold city, Snalbe is working towards the resurrection of Morhid. In doing so, he believes his Mistress is likely to favor him as the new leader.
Mymmassed: Daughter of Morhid the Ancient Dragon, Mymmassed appears to the party in an ethereal humanoid body and entreats them to help her save the world.
Related Reports
10th Session- The Jord Escape
12th Session- The Jord Escape
Comments