Session 29: History Revealed

General Summary

In their latest adventure, the party delved back into the Winding Passes, seeking out information about the fiendish operations happening within the mountain. They followed the path back through Meepo's home and set up a spot for reconnaissance at the mouth of the tunnel. 
Within the heart of the mountain, the Cult of Arrozus has established this base in the ruins of an ancient keep. ifig used Kite to scout out the area, located six floors below where the party came in from, a massive inner courtyard outfitted as a military camp. Here, hundreds of humanoids gathered, seemingly waiting for something even as groups patrolled in and out of the cavern. There were all manner of creatures, with cambions seemingly at the top of the pecking order. Humans, imps, and hell hounds all gathered in wait within the keep. 
ifig located a caved in tunnel on their level and another tunnel acting as a spiral staircase to the other floors. She changed Kite from a bat into a rat, and Kite made her way to the ground level, finding the camp buzzing with activity, though most notably, she gathered that the cambions were frustrated about the confusing network of tunnels within the Winding Passes. They seem to be searching for a route back to Alliance, and are having little luck.
ifig relayed this information to the rest of the party as Adaline and Aspen scoured the floors below, watching as patrols went through each of the floors. The party then devised a plan to ambush one of the patrols for more information. Kite was killed on the ground floor, though ifig is not certain how or why it happened.
Adaline spotted a human and a hell hound exiting a tunnel on their floor, likely patrolling in their direction, and together, the party devised a plan to ambush them. With a distraction from ifig, some fancy spellcasting from Trystan to lure the patrol in their direction, and a silencing spell from Adaline to keep things quiet, the ambush went off without a hitch...well, almost.
The party was able to kill the hell hound and dispatch the human, slicing at the tendons in his legs. But as they woke him up to question him, the party quickly realized that this human was little more than a teenage boy...and he was scared.
Through a fitful of tears, he told the party more about what they knew: the cambions were indeed looking for a way through the Winding Passes to Alliance, but they were coming up short. According to the boy, he had joined the cult to get money for his mother and brother who were still living in the city, and that the cult had promised them greater riches than the original Valley Raiders had. He did not elaborate the situation with his family, but he explained that there was discord between the cult and the Valley Raiders, and that the cult had been kicked out of Alliance--and they were looking for a way back in. 
He grew confused and upset as the party pointed out that he was part of a cult that had done some pretty horrible things, including leading to the death of Meepo's tribe. He stated that he wanted to go home to his mother, and the party went off to the side to gather their thoughts on what they should do with the boy. 
ifig remained with the boy to talk with him about making amends for the mistake he'd made in joining the cult, and the boy seemed at least a bit receptive to what she had to say. Meanwhile, the rest of the party was at odds whether to bring the boy with them back to Lire, leave him for the next patrol to find, or to kill him. Meepo was upset that the boy was part of the cult that ruined his life, while Adaline was concerned leaving him behind. He was, after all, only a boy. Trystan, on the other hand, didn't see what all the fuss was about. 
The party seemed to decide to leave the boy behind with false information, and all seemed to be according to the plan as they returned to ifig and the boy. However, at a miscommunication between Adaline--who wanted to have one more conversation with the boy before they left him--and Trystan, the boy was left unconscious instead, and without Adaline able to reach a conclusion with the boy. ifig, confused by what the hell was happening, picked the boy up and made the decision that he was coming back to Lire with them. And so, the party set off for the village, no one in any agreement about the situation with the boy.
In Lire, they found Immil who allowed the party to bring the boy to her home to rest. Meepo, a flurry of emotions and frustrations with the day and with Immil's attitude toward the fiends in the Winding Passes, stormed out and went on his own to his home. He checked on the place where he'd left his family, and eventually returned to Klildesh's home.
ifig remained with the boy as he rested, and the rest of the party went back to Klildesh's, concluding that they would leave for Alliance in the morning to warn them about the cult in the Winding Passes and that there were allegedly three other camps within the mountains. Adaline sent one last message to Fela to tell her the information they had found out, and with that, the party rested for the evening.

Missions/Quests Completed

The party went back into the Winding Passes to do some more reconnaissance on the operations within the mountain. They discovered there were two other camps in the Winding Passes and that they were looking for a way back inside Alliance, though they were having troubles finding the correct path. They informed Fela with this information who said that they would bring it to the attention of the leader of Alliance during their negotiations.

Character(s) interacted with

Sandor (Cultist of Arrozus) - A confused teenage boy ambushed by the party who had joined the Cult of Arrozus in order to help his mother who he left behind in Alliance. It is still unclear his situation (and the party does not even know his name), but ifig seems to have taken him under her wing in hopes of helping him find redemption for his actions.
Previous Contacts

• Immil Valriel
• Fela

Campaign

The Guardians of Fragmentia

Protagonists

Meepo Loreword

Chaotic Good? Evil? Kobold (Haunted One)
Sorcerer Wild Magic 3

19 / 19 HP

STR
7

DEX
13

CON
14

INT
13

WIS
14

CHA
16

Aspen

Report Date

22 Sep 2021

Primary Location

The Winding Passes

Secondary Location

Lire