9th Session- The Jord Escape
General Summary
24th of Melora's Gift, 1436
Not Bad for a First Landing
Having sailed through the night under the piloting skills of Phuc Her, the morning sun met the airship and everyone else awakened in short order to a clear sky and the mountains ahead. Their course had deviated a bit to the west, but a quick scanning of the horizon revealed that they had mostly kept their northerly course. It also wasn't long before they realized that the fuel keeping them aloft was running out and the party would be forced to land and resupply or face the prospect of falling out of the sky. Euphoria eagerly looked over the side to see what lay below only to immediately dizzy from the height. While she recovered everyone else looked over the sides to the terrain. Through the fog, they were able to see three potential landing sites ahead: a town, an open glade in the woods, and a gap in the mountains to the east. Unsure of how much farther they could get, Niks was asked to calculate fuel consumption, which he quickly began scribbling on the empty spaces around the margins of his airship plan while the others talked. There was much debate over what would be the best option, but landing directly in the town would be very risky if they ended up facing hostiles like those of Oberth's town. Also, the deviation in course had put them, as best they could tell, very close to the marked route Jordish zeppelins regularly crossed. That meant it would be especially dangerous to land somewhere in the open where they might be spied overhead. Careening into the gap in the mountains and abandoning the airship in what seemed to be the start of a pass also had little appeal when they were in need of more supplies anyway. That left the opening in the woods as the best option for cover. From there they would scout the town to see if it was safe, get what they could, and move on. As everyone else held on for safety, Phuc Her brought in the sails to slow the airship down and began the frightening process of trying to vent the remaining hot air from the balloon to bring them to a landing. His first pull on the ropes sent everyone lurching as the ship plunged about thirty feet in a matter of seconds. The second descent was slightly more controlled and the ground approached quickly as they dropped below the bank of fog in the valley. By the last venting, Phuc Her had gained a feel for how the process should feel and was able to bring them into the edge of the gap in the trees, bows bending and breaking to make room for them. As the group released a collective breath of relief, Niks suddenly announced that the answer to how far they could get on their remaining fuel was "Here".The Mysterious Circle
Now safely landed, Euphoria was first to fling herself over and embrace the ground. The others followed suit and began to look for branches to hide the deflating airship from the sky. The trees, despite being in the foothills of the mountains, were surprisingly lush and green. The snow the party had seen over most of their travels seemed to have almost no hold here. Nearby, they found standing stones to indicate that this clearing was actually an ancient druid circle. Everyone began to consider that the nearby village might be inhabited by druids that maintained the circle for worship. Scarlet used her prestidigitation to make the ship match the color of the foliage while Lapis attempted to chop a tree down with her bare hands. The tree, however fought back, biting into her hand and sending her reeling. After seeing that, Sasimay tried to bring the tree down herself by using her flaming sword. This proved more effective but everyone else debated whether it was the best idea to risk burning down trees that may still be under the protection of druids. Regardless, Sasimay continued until the tree finally retaliated by catching fire and she hurriedly poured some of her honey supply on the tree to put it out. Phuc Her had rolled his eyes at the discord this caused and walked into the woods to gather limbs quietly on his own. Meanwhile, Scarlet, after changing the color of the airship and balloon to a green matching most of the surroundings, became engrossed in studying the engraved runes. Udoud, Admiral, Wisp, and Rav returned with bundles of branches to help obscure the ship. By this point the balloon had deflated and it became much easier to obscure. A constant, unnatural sound caught their attention. Looking up, the party heard a Jordish airship approaching from the north and all instantly dove for cover. Tense minutes past as the rumbling of the airship's engines grew louder. They quietly mused on what they would do if the ship stopped overhead and discovered them. Would they try to take the ship somehow? The worries seemed to be unfounded, however, as gradually the sound of the ship faded south. Lapis curiously peered out to see if anything looked suspicious and as far as she could tell, everything seemed to be operating normally and within another minute she signaled everyone that it was safe. Their sense of relative safety rattled, Sasimay and Lapis both decided to split from the rest of the party and go in different directions so that they could scout for supplies and be off again as soon as possible. Lapis went west to check the village covertly. She discovered a disused and overgrown trail to follow, but lost it about midway through her journey. Trying to remain stealthy also slowed her progress slightly, but after about 25 minutes, Lapis found herself looking through the tree trunks at the old village of Therdren. Disappointingly, the place seemed a wreck with no sign of any recent activity judging from what she could see. The village square also had a verdantly green tree that stood out like those surrounding the circle in the woods. Even with no sign of people around, she guessed that someone had to have been around recently to preserve the place so well. She doubled back so that she could gather the others for a scouring trip of anything useful. Meanwhile, Sasimay had ventured to the east and see if there was anything worthy of their time in the mountains. After trekking through the forest for three quarters of an hour, she finally reached the open foothills. Scanning the slopes, she was able to make out that there was a trail leading up into a pass that rose up and beyond her sight. It also looked like the trail had tracks disturbing the layer of snow, though she couldn't make out what had made the prints from the distance.The Village
While Scarlet remained behind studying the standing stones of the circle, Lapis led the rest of the party through the overgrown trail towards the village, only detouring momentarily to make an army of small snow-dicks along one side while the others rushed to catch up. Once again, Sasimay knocked over many of them, claiming it was at least unwise to leave evidence of their passing if something should end up following them. The pair bickered back and forth until the woods began to thin once again at the outskirts. Sure enough, the place still seemed long abandoned. Above, they noticed that Scarlet had apparently dispatched her owl familiar to watch over them. While Phuc Her and Sasimay went wide around the edge of the village, Lapis ducked into one old cottage and found the interior surprisingly preserved despite the delapidation. Lapis searched through the home but there was very little that would be useful. The cupboards were long empty of food. The kitchen implements were crumbling with rust. But moving into the sitting area she found a broken couch in somewhat decent condition. She decided to strip the padding and upholstery to use as kindling. Sasimay and Phuc Her finally began to venture into the village square proper and began their own scan of the buildings for anything useful. It was a strange place the more they looked around. The tree in the center of the square was incredibly, unnaturally green as the trees bordering the druid circle had been. And all the buildings, though hundreds of years old and damaged from the last Jordish Civil War, were in an amazing state of preservation. It was as though someone had set to task specifically keeping the place from decaying. But there was no sign of any activity around. No signs that anything had been disturbed. Without Scarlet at their side, the party couldn't tell if the seeming pause in time about the place was actually magical or just the result of painstaking care. Regardless, the task had to continue and Sasimay was the first to duck into what seemed to have been an old shop at one time, adjoined to the former owner's home. The shop seemed to be bare of anything useful, but venturing into the old pantry cabinets of the home, Sasimay found something utterly intriguing, a clump of black powder inside an old canister. Opening the canister nearly sent her reeling. It wasn't food, not anymore at any rate, but perhaps it might prove useful sometime later. She sealed and bagged the jar.Hungry Homes
Phuc Her, meanwhile, was a little more reserved in his approach to any of the buildings. He kept on lookout until the two ladies had both entered the square again before inspecting one of the ancient homes. The one he decided to enter appeared slightly worse, but with closed shutters and door still closed on its hinges. He approached, moving onto the stoop of the front door when the house began to shake. As it happened, as he was under the covered stoop moving to open the door, all too late realizing that the house was in fact a large mimic- a house hunter! A mouth revealed itself within the doorframe while pseudopod tentacles ensnared the unlucky Half-Elf. Instantly the others panicked. Spurred on by this surprise attack, another, smaller building began to move in on the group. Lapis created an illusory copy of herself, hoping to create a distraction, but to no avail. The creatures were well aware of where the meat was. While the copy scrambled away in vain, Lapis herself climbed up the tree in the square for safety, yelling up to Casiman flying overhead to tell Scarlet the party was under attack. Sasimay drew out her hellforged blade, invoking the word to bring the sword to life with flames as she charged forward. Lapis attempted to call out to the house hunters for a truce, but the tentacles continued to do their work on Phuc Her, bringing him closer to being swallowed. He fought to break free without success, firing off eldritch blasts into the thing in hopes of weakening it. Sasimay mentally asked Derzeth if it would be possible to banish such a large thing to the Nine Hells using her blade. The devil was intrigued, but unsure and invited her to test the limits of what their bond could accomplish. It was in the very next moment that Phuc Her suddenly found himself swallowed and fighting the crushing inner walls trying to begin digesting him. Sasimay held her sword high and cleaved downwards, attempting to goad the thing into expelling her companion. With her flurry of strikes chipping away at the hard natural armor of the house hunter, she finally found a soft spot to drive home. In a cry of pain and rage, the house hunter spat out Phuc Her, who was quickly on his feet and moving to a safe distance from the tentacles he now had firsthand experience with. The smaller house hunter moved to close the gap and pin the majority of the party when the next banishing strike from Sasimay suddenly sent the larger creature into a flaming warp in reality that devoured it within moments. Moments after this, Scarlet dashed into the midst of the group with spells at the ready to join the fray. But now that it was well outnumbered by the more maneuverable party, the tide had turned against the remaining house hunter. And suddenly this smaller entity lost the will to fight, telepathically crying out in broken Common to them for taking away what it called the "Old One". With the combat stalled, the party cautiously asked the house hunter why it had attacked and what it was doing in that place specifically. It took a while for the house hunter to relay answers, but eventually the party came to understand that they pair had been magically transported there by their "master" and told to watch the village. They would be allowed to feast on any that intruded. Lapis asked who this master was, but the house hunter couldn't describe or name the being that had brought them to there. It had been the Old One that had protected it and been able to speak with their master. When Lapis asked if its master was close by, the house hunter told them all that it could feel that presence in the distance, towards the mountain pass Sasimay had scouted earlier. Curiosity peaked, the group decided that they would check out that location before leaving the area to see if this master was an overt danger to them or just some crazy hermit. Unfortunately, the juvenile house hunter told them that it was helpless alone. Offering it what food they had was pointless as it was such a large creature. Between Lapis and Phuc Her, they could confirm that, indeed, house hunters were surprisingly pack hunters and the young relied on the more mature of their kind for their meals. Lapis stepped forward and, with a touch of pity, reached out and issued a magical command: die.Avalanche!
Leaving the village with a new objective, the party stopped by the landing spot in the druid circle and relayed to their friends what had happened and why they would be checking out the mountain pass after all. Admiral and Wisp weren't overly pleased with this idea, but agreed that at the very least they could begin re-inflating the balloon so that when the party returned they would be able to immediately lift off. Lapis, partly contrite and partly seeing the humor of the situation of having literally killed a house, walked over to the standing stones and engraved a memorial for the house hunter within the druid circle. Right after, the four were off and moving into the woods again. With Sasimay leading the way by following her trail from before, they arrived at the foothills of the mountain range with just over a hour of daylight left. The fire Genasi pointed out the seeming pathway she had noticed before and the group decided to follow it up. There were definitely footprints in the snow as they ascended, distorted by repeated melts and freezes with passing days. They couldn't tell how old they were, but there were multiple sets that seemed to be from booted feet and bare feet, both humanoid and otherwise. There was no sure way of knowing what they could be walking into, but they were at least partially hopeful that they might run into one of the Kobold passages Niks had mentioned ran throughout the range for them to move more safely. Better yet, maybe they'd meet more Kobolds as well, though they'd have to get creative without Niks there to vouch for them. The group advanced to a wide gap of two rock faces sloped with a field of snow in between. There were no more tracks to follow here and the group began to consider turning back to lift off with the day waning. But Phuc Her noticed plumes of what looked like smoke billowing up from a ledge above them on the northern rock face. Lapis easily climbed the fifteen foot height and investigated. The smoke was actually steam, which made sense given the volcanic activity they'd already seen on the island. There were small gaps in the rock releasing the steam along with a larger opening that looked to be the start of a cave. Relaying what she found, the other below told her to come down so that they could head back. She agreed, but decided to have a bit of fun before doing so. She stood boldly at the edge of the small cliff and suddenly yelled out, yodeling the start of an old Asadan tribal tune. Suddenly, a loud cracking sound echoed out. All four looked anxiously up the higher reaches as a distant portion of snow began to fall. That small shelf started a thundering cascade of more and more snow rushing down the pass directly towards them. With only moments to act, Sasimay pulled herself and Scarlet into an small alcove within the ledge for shelter. Lapis ran into the dark cave opening and dove in headlong. Phuc Her, who had been hanging back from the group a bit, tried to reach the ledge and shelter as the Swaysons had. But the wall of white hit him with a tremendous force before he could secure himself. The Half-Elf was dislodged and pushed down the pass, saved from being overwhelmed only by the fact that he had grown up in a mountainous region and knew to try to stay up by swimming with the snow. He was covered over, but thankfully as the avalanche came to an end. Phuc Her dug himself out of his snowy cocoon and lumbered his way back to the Swaysons looking a bit worse for wear. The Swaysons also had to dig a bit to free themselves from the snow built up around their alcove, greatly aided by their fiery nature. With the three of them together again they carefully called up to Lapis. No answer returned. Phuc Her was almost ready to leave her to whatever mess she'd gotten herself into, then reconsidered with the two Genasi when they questioned what Admiral might say if they returned without her. The snow had built up so that the gap to the ledge wasn't very far off anymore. In short order they were able to scale the shortened cliff and inspect the cave that Lapis had leapt into. Peering in, the three discovered that beyond the darkness just inside the threshold was no cave at all, but a pit that extended nearly straight down. With no sign of Lapis and no reply to their calls, they could only guess that she had fallen to the bottom and was unable to speak. The hole looked to go deeper than any of their magics could touch to heal or retrieve her. There was only one thing to do, though none of them were all that eager at the prospect: they would have to go down.Deep in the Lair
Jumping down to retrieve the incapacitated Lapis, the party discovered that the bottom of the chasm was, in fact, the entrance to a tunnel leading deeper into the mountain with the Tabaxi prone just outside it. Giving her touch of minor healing magic, Phuc Her was still in a cross mood and eager to head back. Lapis, however, had other plans. Likely in the throws of a concussion, she was still intensely delirious from the knot on her head and brushed past everyone, ambling deeper into the cave tunnel. The party reluctantly followed her into the gradually descending path until it opened into a wider chamber. Columns of natural light appeared through the ceiling and illuminated steam rising from several hotspring pools before them. Lapis enthusiastically stripped and entered the nearest pool, immersing herself in the soothing hot water while the others looked around. The open space was rather large, with pillars of rock and bends in the walls that made Phuc Her and Sasimay nervous. Scarlet hung back at the end of the exploration, ready to use her magic if a sudden enemy should appear. Scanning the surroundings Sasimay noticed a cleft in the rock face. Curiosity got the better of them, especially Lapis, who leapt out of her hotspring pool to check out the gap in the rock. It was a smartly hidden. A quick curve just inside served as the start of a narrow path, barely wide enough for a single person to squeeze in. Naturally, they all squirm their way into the passage, nudging their way along until they found another turn in rock. This turn, however, widened out into what could almost have been a carved hallway. There was even light beyond, deeper down the tunnel. They advanced, too late noticing the faint arcane sigil marking the floor that they had already crossed. Instantly they all jumped back, waiting for the other shoe to drop as flames erupted or a lightning bolt arc towards them. Scarlet was nudged to the forefront. She examined the marks in the ground, trying to detect any magic present. The sigil had already been triggered. No magical aura emanated from it anymore and no effect was making itself known in the area. Scarlet mused that perhaps a silent alarm had been triggered and it was very possible someone was aware of their presence. A pity, but there was nothing for it now. They advanced. The hall opened and forked; to the left and straight ahead they found two more sigils. Carefully surpassing the left tunnel led a few steps up and revealed a bedroom. Bed and wardrobe of finely carved wood. Lapis inspected the wardrobe and found it to be full of nice clothes for someone of Dwarven stature. But nothing with an indication of who it all belonged to. They walked further down the straight path and a few steps down revealed a supply room full of barrels and crates. What secret place had they discovered? Still no sign of the who and why. But another set of stairs opened up to their right. At their base, the room grew high and wide open. But this was by no means an ordinary cave. There was a full study, lined with stocked library shelves of books and scrolls, cabinets, a desk and armchair with papers scattered all about the floor. Further out was a long table spread with more books and magical tools. But most telling of all, there was a transportation circle, a faint glow dissipating. Scarlet was impressed as transportation magic was a level of study she herself had not yet achieved. Lapis, meanwhile, glanced down at some of the papers and was shocked to find that they were letters and notes in all manner of languages and codes. Some she could read and others not. Regardless, many of them all bore the same simple signature: "E". So, they had found the lair of the mysterious figure that had been behind the tower Admiral had been living in as a pawn. And seemingly this was far from the only scheme that "E" was orchestrating. It wasn't long before Lapis found what looked my a ledger written in Common detailing the workings of the criminal underworld in Asada. Notations revealed that much of the crime organizations' activities were actually selectively directed and staged; robbing one hand to feed the other. There was even correspondence for Lapis' boss, Mr. Glass. She hastily made copies of all she could to use for later. Sasimay, meanwhile, had ventured to the long work table, scanning the spread before her. The Genasi found what looked like a coded journal, calling Lapis over. Lapis scanned the contents and recognized that this was one of the hardest variety of codes to break. It required a keyword to decipher the encryption that changed with every entry. Without the keyword it would be a long time before she'd be able to read any of it. Much longer than they were willing to spend in this place. Sasimay also pointed out what looked to be an offhand note that had been scrawled on a scrap of paper. Looking at it, the party found what appeared to be the most dangerous: notes about plans going well. Notes that the world was distracted with the war. No one was aware of the courses at work in the shadows everywhere. In Asada, especially, things were moving as expected. Soon, it said, "the Salvation" was nearing its goal. It all sounded incredibly ominous. Phuc Her called out to everyone, telling them that it was time they left. They had no idea how long "E" would stay gone. Looking around though, the rest of them deduced that the mess of papers scattered everywhere was perhaps a sign that "E" had been startled by the avalanche and scrambled to safety via the portal.Hasty Departure
Lapis also pointed out that they had no real idea what "E" was up to, it might well be something beneficial. She overtly called out to the empty space just in case something was scrying upon them. She proposed that "E" should return, that they were capable individuals, and could very likely ensure the success of the plans at work. The only response was silence. Sasimay and Phuc Her quickly reprimanded her for making the offer, reminding her that this same individual had essentially enslaved her brother for years and also promised reprisals if they interfered in the plans at work. Those facts in her head again, Lapis reluctantly agreed that they should leave. Heading back to the stairs, the others found that Scarlet was still hanging around the desk. There were spells here. Powerful formulae that would take her a long time to learn on her own or an untold amount of gold to purchase and transcribe. The tempatation was strong. In fact, Sasimay urged her to take some of the scrolls for their own benefit. But Scarlet carefully replaced all she had picked up. Even if it took longer, it was better not to take them. There was every likelihood they were within a scry spell. And if not "E" would certainly notice missing scrolls and have the connection to scry upon them, and the party's movements by extension. Moving back up the tunnels, retracing their steps and once again avoiding the sigils in the floor, the party squirmed through the narrow passage again. Lapis gathered what pieces of clothes she had left behind at the pool in her eagerness to inspect the tunnel. They all met at the base of the cavern, expecting that they would have to scale a sheer face or use magic to ascend. To their surprise, they found that there were carved hand and footholds going all the way to the top, only apparent now that they were looking upwards. From the top looking down it had appeared to be just an ordinary pit. Clearly this place was very old and important to "E", but there was no more time to dwell on these ideas. By the time they reached the top and found the open sky again, the sun had set and the stars were beginning to make themselves known. But that wasn't all. from their vantage point on the mountainside, they could see another airship approaching along the same course the one that morning had. Time was up and they had to get back. With the balloon inflated it could be easier to see even with some cover from the trees of the grove. They scrambled down the mountainside as quickly as they could and darted their way through the ever-darkening woods. They rushed back to their small airship hoping with all they had that the Dwarves passing overhead would overlook them again. Reaching the ancient druid circle they found their companions huddled under the boat portion with the flames obscured. They all hunkered down and waited. The vessel drew near and all too soon passed by without any pause. Both groups waited out the hum of the Dwarven engines until they were barely a whisper on the wind. With the coast clear, Admiral demanded to know where they had been. All of them had expected to be long gone by now and not hiding for dear life. Lapis merely bypassed him and ordered all of them to load themselves onto their ship right that instant. There would be time to talk about what they had seen within the mountain later. In short order, all loaded aboard and restocked with enough supplies to see them through a few more days, the party cast off the lines anchoring them to the ground, rising up into the night sky and catching wind in their sails to push them further north towards their goal.Rewards Granted
Party: The party successfully obtained more fuel and provisions to continue travel in their small airship.
Lapis: Copies of notes and letters made by "E", obtained from his hidden refuge. Many are in code which she hopes to crack.
Phuc Her: N/A
Sasimay Swayson: A jar of noxious black powder that may once have been food.
Scarlet Swayson: N/A
Missions/Quests Completed
Days survived in Jord: 7
Character(s) interacted with
"E"- Indirectly, the party drove "E" from his hidden mountain refuge when Lapis caused an avalanche.
Juvenile House Hunter- Though not able to communicate very well, even telepathically, this young monstrosity proved to be a useful source of information to the party, leading them to finding out more about the machinations of "E". Lapis mercy killed it by magically commanding it to die.
Ancient House Hunter- The older of the pair of monstrosities guarding Therdren, this house hunter was very old and nearly starving, trying to provide for the juvenile before itself. It was so desperate to take a meal that it attacked Phuc Her in a near-blind frenzy when he got too close. Sasimay, amazingly, was able to banish it to the Nine Hells.
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