2nd Session- The Jord Escape
General Summary
18th of Melora's Gift, 1436
Into the Dark
Finding themselves in the start of a cave system with the Cell Master nowhere in sight, the party ventured forward to see several paths branching off from their landing spot. The group also found no need immediate need for torches due to glowing crystals lining portions of the tunnels, allowing them to explore until they found an open area. Judging from the numerous bodies, old food, and broken supplies piled in a pool of congealed blood the party realized they were apparently directly below the grate in the center of the cell block they had just escaped. While the group searched for anything of use, calls for help suddenly reached them from narrow paths in the far wall of the chamber.The Last Guard
After a moment, they realized that this voice was coming from a surviving guard that Euphoria had pushed through the opening of an oubliette above. The guard had a broken leg and was unable to escape due to the severity of the wound. While the rest of the group was fine with abandoning the guard, Bron, to his fate, Euphoria began a dialogue in the hopes that saving the guard might help them later. Phuc Her used a healing spell to lessen the guard's pain, though the broken leg remained. Bron admitted that he had no knowledge of the caves or hopes that anyone was even looking for him, but agreed despite his unease. While Bron dragged himself towards a slightly wider path through the rocks, Euphoria prepared to jump a chasm that separated the larger chamber from the tunnel. Moving through the rock formations Euphoria found a makeshift box with some copper and silver coins and a small bottle half full with liquid. Pocketing the contents, Euphoria leapt the gap with ease and shimmied along a ledge to reach the injured Dwarf. Next she used her reclaimed Immovable Rod to give the injured Bron extra support to cross the gap. However, Bron quickly began to lose his balance due to the pain of his broken leg. Euphoria moved to shove the Dwarf to get him over the last length of the gap only to send him flailing. The Dwarf fell screaming down the open chasm beyond the group's sight. In the wake of this, after Euphoria rejoined the others, she claimed that at least she had attempt to do the right thing. Scarlet, meanwhile, quietly looked to her sister and the pair shared a laugh as she showed off a page of her spell book containing Feather Fall, which she had purposely neglected to mention she had.The First Rest
Reconciling the outcome of the incident with the Dwarf guard, the party found a tunnel that opened into a secure alcove. Inside they found what seemed to be an old campsite with a corpse on a hammock and a long dead campfire with a small store of old food nearby. Deciding to take a long rest there for the night, the group picked their resting spots while Scarlet set her owl familiar at the entrance. Phuc Her found and added an old knife and a few copper coins to his inventory.Spiders and Crawlers
After eight uneventful and restful hours, the group set out again, heading deeper into the caves. They discovered that one path had caved in. Thinking Khulmas might be behind it and trying to block them, they found themselves with only a long path that curved into the dark. Going that way the group found a few large spider carcasses which set them on edge. Phuc Her and Euphoria cautiously scouted ahead and found the path eventually reached a fork. Looking to their left revealed the webbed den of a living Giant Spider. There were a few cocooned victims within the den, but none looked like the Dwarf Khulmas, so the group decided to ignore the spider as they had thus far gone unnoticed by the arachnid. The wall in front of them in the fork also had a Dwarven-built pipe poking through the rock that went off to the right alongside the other path available to them. The muffled sound of flowing water caught their attention and the party went after the sound. Following the pipe brought the group to its outlet, and yet another fork in the caverns. The water exiting the pipe flowed out into an underground stream that terraced down and into the darkness of one path. The party quickly decided against it though and went with the drier alternative. This tunnel doubled back slightly near the direction they had come from before. A few curves later in the path and the party found the other side of the cave in from earlier and a corpse that had been crushed by the large rocks. The group, through the help of Euphoria, found that the path had collapsed due to a fault in the stone and happened a long time ago given the desiccated body. Euphoria made a silent prayer for the body and the group continued. Growing more eager to get out of the caves, Phuc Her and Sasimay advanced around the next curve in the cave. Just as they were about to pick their next direction, everyone suddenly began to hear the sounds of struggle and strange chittering. Following it revealed a large open cavern containing nearly half a dozen juvenile Carrion Crawlers swarming a weakened Cell Master Khulmas. As the Dwarf managed to struggle free momentarily and lunge into a small recess, the Crawlers became aware of the party and charged at them. In the following fight Sasimay was in the center of the fray, using her pike to stab at a Crawler on the ceiling above her and surrounded on all sides as more attacked her companions. Phuc Her was close by, keeping the Crawlers from outflanking the group. He also caught sight of one Crawler that had gone after the Cell Master into the recessed alcove. Euphoria used her Cloak of Useful Items to summon a pair of mastiffs to help and managed to kill one of the creatures by punching straight through its eye socket and shocking it to death. Scarlet held back, waiting for the right moment to strike and sent her owl to unsettle some of the creatures. One of the mastiffs was quickly killed, but the damage and distraction it caused a Crawler gave Sasimay the opportunity to finish it off while another was sent scurrying back. Once there was little risk to her friends, Scarlet made her move to strike, casting a Fireball that exploded into the cavern. This finished all the remaining Crawlers in the open area, leaving only charred carcasses. Euphoria, Phuc Her, and the surviving mastiff quickly jumped to the defense of Khulmas, who had collapsed against the cave wall. The Crawler seemingly realized the odds were now against it and made to flee for a pit in the center of the cavern while being severely wounded along the way.Khulmas and... The Master
Everyone crowded into the alcove to see what had become of the man that had so harshly greeted them when they first arrived. Upon quick examination the group found him on the brink of death, struggling with the paralyzing poison from countless Crawler wounds. Khulmas, through unmoving jaws, still claimed no regrets for anything that he'd done and ominously glanced over to Sasimay as he said, "at least I'm rid of it" with his dying breath. The confusion of the group at this statement increased tenfold when suddenly Sasimay began behaving, wide-eyed, as though she were in some unspoken conversation. Sasimay, much to the dismay of everyone, claimed she was now found in telepathic contact with some dark being. When Sasimay asked for the sword she had taken from Khulmas and given her sister, Scarlet became especially uneasy and started a ritual to Detect Magic. Meanwhile, the voice in Sasimay's head began to encourage her to "complete the link" with the sword, claiming that she was now the weapon's "Bearer" and promised freedom for the group through its use. Sasimay was unwilling to follow anything the voice said, but ventured to ask about how Khulmas had obtained the weapon. The devil revealed that many years ago Khulmas had been an adventurer. Further, that the Dwarf had gained enemies that struck at his home and family while he was away. In raging grief, Khulmas had sought the help of gods to no avail, leading him to seek other means in desperation. The voice, calling itself Derzeth, had provided Khulmas with the sword as a tool of revenge. Once Khulmas had taken care of those responsible for his family, however, the Dwarf had ignored the call of the sword's creator. Khulmas had resigned himself to staying in the Fortress of Jord to keep power of the sword restrained while he did what he thought was right to keep criminals locked away. All the while, the dark power of the weapon had tainted the guards of the cell block the longer they stayed. Upon relaying this information to the group, Phuc Her remembered that Khulmas Brightsmelt had indeed once been a renowned adventurer and sword master, but tales of his life had suddenly stopped decades ago. Scarlet took this information and only grew more upset, especially after her ritual revealed incredible darkness, and even made a move to destroy the sword, but Sasimay stopped her on the urging to the voice. When Sasimay questioned what she would have to do, Derzeth manifested an Infernal Contract on her body. Both sisters argued over what to do while Derzeth countered their options within Sasimay's mind. The sisters' sudden fight over the sword caused Euphoria to separate the pair with her Immovable Rod. In the end, Derzeth claimed that it was their best ally in this place and, regardless, Sasimay was bound to the contract. Scarlet reluctantly gave the sword to Sasimay. Though still unsure about using it, she did utilize Derzeth's advice to find the exit of the caves. Taking a ladder leading up to daylight and light snowfall on a cool breeze, the group had officially escaped the Great Fortress of Jord.Rewards Granted
Euphoria: Mastiff, coins, half full bottle of liquid
Phuc Her: Coins, rusted knife
Scarlet Swayson:
Sasimay Swayson: Hellforged Blade
Missions/Quests Completed
The party traversed the caverns below the fortress and have reached the surface of the island of Jord. The group also witnessed the death of Cell Master Khulmas, leading Sasimay to become the new Bearer of a special Hellforged Blade.
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