Session 13: Red Valley Mines

General Summary

58th of Varmalev 21 2E
After killing the twelfth of the Torch Spiders , the party waited for another wave that never came. Zuko enlisted Meara 's help in cutting open the fluid sacks of some of the spiders and neutralizing the substance from explosive and unstable to a strong ignitable acid.
The party then proceeded west to find the guard, that greeted them when they arrived. They found him and several other guards creating a bucket chain to try and put out one of the burning buildings that wasn't beyond saving. The civilians of the town emerged and shoved the guards aside to form their own bucket chain. The guard that greeted them was the Captain of the Guard, Mikkel Rise, and was pleasantly surprised to see them alive. He thanked them for the help and apologized that the local inn was in ashes, before offering to let them stay in the barracks.
The party followed Mikkel to the barracks and shared a toast to the town as they all tried to recover from the ordeal. Malcolm inquired why the citizens were so hostile towards the guards, and Mikkel explained that the citizens of Red Valley were particularly distrusting of the empire. Even when Palhas was a kingdom rather than a province of the empire, and perhaps before it was even a kingdom, the town had a unique independence because the mines were collectively owned by the citizens that lived and worked there. When Palhas surrendered to the empire, the imperials attempted to assert more control over the town (and failed). As such, the Cerulean Guard were seen as occupiers and outsiders. Mikkel said he and the other guards lamented this because they consider Red Valley their home and care about the people. The guards and their captain had a private discussion and then offered the party 10 silver pieces from their own salary for each of the the spiders they killed, but each member of the party in turn declined the payment, saying they were only there to help. Mikkel was nearly overwhelmed by the humility and charity of undertaking such a dangerous task for free.
Mikkel asked Meara if his knowledge of Torch Spiders was incorrect, as he didn't think they ever lived this far north. Meara assured him that he was correct; Torch Spiders were exclusively tropical creatures. She also pointed out that the young spiders they fought in town were unlikely the last of them. Their mother and more of her must be in the mine. The party explained that they intend to eliminate the mother spider and asked if the guards had any idea of where the infestation was originating. Mikkel admitted he had a theory using a combination of the common distances between the missing and dead miners, as well as alternate routes between the various sections of the mines that he could narrow it down to one location: Mine 82. He explained the best route to reach the mine and promised to give them a list of other routes in case they needed another way out.
Before retiring for the night, Mikkel pointed out that the group, if they had a Tabaxi with them would have reminded him of another group of adventurers the Captain in Elta had advised would be heading towards Palhas City and recommended he seek them out to investigate the deaths and disappearances. Malcolm dismissed it as a coincidence, pointing out that there was no Tabaxi with them. Mikkel said he was grateful for his fortune that a similarly talented group happened to come in their hour of need.
Zuko later asked Malcolm why he didn't admit that they were the same group, and Malcolm reminded him that he himself was a fugitive in Rum Lin and was last seen traveling with Octavia. He was worried that not only the good deeds of the group but their criminal history had reached Mikkel as well. The party prepared for the next day of fighting and went to bed.
59th of Varmalev 21 2E
When the party awoke the next morning they found the barracks and seemingly the town deserted. They followed a distant commotion north and found the guards defending a makeshift fence from a near riot by the townsfolk. Mikkel had decided to close the mines in the interest of public safety, but all the workers could focus on was an imperial keeping them from their livelihood.
Malcolm fired a shot in the air causing the crowd to go silent and part the way for him. He explained the dangers that await them somewhere in the mines, and that Mikkel is making the right choice on their behalf. When a citizen asked who they were, he declared the party as The Regulators, and explained that they were going to clear the mine so the miners could return to work in relative safety. When asked who asked them to come, Mikkel interjected and said that he had hired them. He admitted that the empire was neglecting them in not sending help, and he took it upon himself to pay someone who could eliminate the threat to the town and its people. He begged the miners to take one day to mourn and rebuild while the spiders were dealt with.
The miners reluctantly returned to town, and Mikkel handed over the list of alternate routes through the mines, wishing them luck. The party proceeded into the dark mines, where Meara began igniting the the oil lanterns on the wall with her Huntsmen magic. Many of the signs within the mines were missing and the party had to find their way through deduction. They faced several hazards along the way including an aging wooden floor over a collapsed tunnel which Alaric fell through with minor injuries. When they approached mined 82 the entrance was covered in spider webs, and they carefully cut their way through, sneaking into the mine. They managed to spot the mother on the ceiling and had the element of surprise when they attacked. They focused on hitting the creature's eyes to blind it, but Malcolm was heavily injured before finally killing it, and Zuko took the brunt of the attacks from young spider that were in the mine with her. Meara and Zuko killed off the young spiders and the threat was eliminated. Searching through the mine, Zuko discovered a barrel full of lamp fuel, and Malcolm found a set of large crates while looking for any surviving miners in the webs.
Inside one of the crates was half a dozen opened egg sacks. On the outside of the box was a shipping label which Meara used an old herbalist trick to uncover information that had worn away from the paper. According to the label, and confirmed by Zuko when checking the old Vestige manifests, the containers had been brought from Anilles in Rum Lin to Palhas City by none other than than their airship, The Vestige. Zuko said that a matching shipment was in their "legitimate" manifest meaning that to their knowledge the shipment was a legal job. though the contents were clearly hidden even from them. According to both the manifest and the shipping label, the delivery was paid for by the Temple of the Black Star. Hidden in a watermark that would have been invisible even when the label was made, was the symbol from Emmet (Jesper Forsyth)'s amulet confirming that the recently banned religion, and Jesper are connected.
The party gathered the mother spider's corpse and the barrel of lantern fuel into an abandoned cart and made their way back out of the mines.
to be continued.... @session

Report Date

03 Nov 2019