Session 23: Presterwick Gorge

General Summary

The Sleeping Bear

7th of Wintercrest 22nd year of the Second Era
Zuko returned to the party to describe what he had seen. Taking stock of their situation, the party decided to put the horses and Kaylee (as she was wearing noisy armor) in the Wizard's Door storage room while the rest of the party sneaked past the hibernating bear.
They passed the bear without waking it, and a short way later released Kaylee and the horses. Another mile ahead they exited the cave about half way into the depth of the gorge, and first headed up river to find the stash mentioned in the letter to the dead traveler near the bear. In a deep flat cove near the waterfall, they found a rock that seemed to be made out of volcanic glass; nothing else in the gorge looked like this. Under the rock was a large coin purse filled with 500 gold pieces.

The Fae Realm

The party then proceeded down the river towards their destination. Following a narrow set of stairs carved into the rock next to several short water falls, they saw a front of thick fog, lavender in color and sparkling. Realizing that they wouldn't be able to outrun it, they braced themselves and let it pass over them. When it was clear, the world around them had changed. The overcast sky was now bright gold, as if made of evening sunlight. The empty winter trees hanging over the gorge were now full of leaves, made of unnatural colors like gold, blue and purple. The murky fresh water river was now crystal clear and vibrant blue.
The party proceeded down river, relieved to see that geographically, the gorge was unchanged. They encountered a half elf woman in commoners clothes, asking them if they came from Presterwick. They explained that they were searching for the settlement themselves. She became frustrated, explaining that she had been looking for it for a few days, and seemed to keep getting turned around. She said that she was a caretaker for an elderly woman that descended from a family that was wealthy before the Great Migration. During that time a halfling thief made off with a family heirloom, and the woman always dreamed of going out to find it. She saved all her life but never got the chance to go. The caretaker thought it would be easy enough to slip into the woods and hunt down the heirloom so the woman could pass her saving to her grandchildren rather than rewarding it to some group of adventurers; but at this point she was prepared to give up. The party agreed to keep an eye out for the heirloom, described as a leather bound metal box. She marked their map of Frielos Province with the location of the elderly woman's shack and used a magic ring to return home.
Zuko told the party that he noticed the woman seemed to be telling what she believed to be the truth, but there were signs she may be under a very advanced charm spell. They decided to be extra weary when they reach the village and decide what to do with the request then. They reached a point where the river split around a rock formation as tall as the gorge itself, and chose to go left, as it was the path with a consistent bank on one side. An hour passed and Zuko realized that that they should has seen the rivers converge already. Malcolm drew a line in the sand and gravel and proceeded forward until they came across the line again. Reversing course, they found themselves at the line again. Malcolm had the party wait while he continued East, and found the world around them began to stretch, and he felt like he was tethered to them by an elastic cord. The party split up and ran in opposite directions, and the loop snapped, putting them at the point where the rivers converged.
A couple miles later, Zuko and his horse went airborne. Thankfully they had tied the horses together, and Kaylee was able to pull him back. They experimented with the area and discovered a 40 foot zone where gravity was essentially inverse. Lighter objects fell as expected, while heavier objects experienced no gravity. Filling saddle bags with gravel from the banks allowed the horses to slowly walk across.
Another 2 miles passed and the gorge closed up in front of them. Zuko tried to tell the party that the dead end wasn't on the map, but his voice came out as bubbles that squeaked when they pop. They examined the water and saw that it rushed under the stone, possibly to the other side. Malcolm tried to prank Zuko by shoving his head into the water, but the water resisted his face like solid rock. Kaylee walked out into the water and found that she could stand on the surface. She mimed asking for the Wizard's Door and Meara's Earring of Whisper, then took off her armor and clothing, storing it in the room before slipping into the water and under the rock. She reported from the other side that there was plenty of room to swim through, but it seems the water was similar to the reverse gravity area they passed through before. The horses and everyone's clothes went into the door and they swam under the rock, finding the other side of the gorge opened up significantly.
They found a patch of woods to the north side of the gorge and searched it for anything dangerous. Satisfied that it was relatively safe, they set up camp for a long rest.
to be continued... Session 24/25: Abandoned Burrows 

Report Date

22 Apr 2020