Codename: Sleeping Alley, Report the Twentieth

General Summary

We met the Alley Sleepers in the fallen torch of danger, waking up to another morning in The Snakeghost after a tumultuous encounter with the vengeful Tolse Honorarrow. Our heroes decided that it was no use putting their objective off any longer--it was time to seek out the Wormhole.

The Perils of the Snakeghost

To get to the mythic Wormhole, though, the Sleepers would have to navigate the myriad dangers of the desert itself. These dangers manifested yet again with the tolling of a dolorous bell. These etheral chimes sought desperately to lead our adventurers astray, but all resisted that doom charm. Rieta, perhaps eager to map another location, almost gave in, however, and took some damage.
As if that wasn't enough, our heroes also encountered a band of fleeing goblins being pursued by kobolds mounted on ostriches. After some further investigation, it seems that these kobolds are part of a Kinhall gang called The Lowbrand. Always "eager to make friends" Hama vu Ivory Bee destroyed the goblins (who were opportunistic thieves and apparently chose the wrong target in the kobolds) and insisted that the kobolds honor that assistance, because "help for help." Snake, the de facto leader of this kobold group, agreed. The help that the kobolds rendered was adept desert survival skills and assistance in navigating to the relatively unknown territory of the Wormhole.
That knowledge was useful indeed, as the kobolds helped the gang dig in for the night--literally digging holes in the desert to sleep--and allowed Hama to be ever watchful during the fraught desert darkness, which was a good thing as he saw some mean lookin' cyclopes eager to ambush a helplessly sleeping party. Hama turned the tables on those one-eyed creatures and our explorers vanquished these foes without too much effort (which was good, because they hit hard).
The next morning, the Sleepers set off again, destined to reach the Wormhole sometime during the day. Before that, however, they came across remains of a trading caravan. Searching the debris revealed a magic vest, which, upon equipping, changes color in accordance with the wearer's mood. Certainly, this is an item for Svo'Kool, as it will help the rest of the party interpret his mercurial moods more effectively.
The colors of that vest would soon be put to the test, as the Wormhole appeared before our brave heroes.

Mysteries of the Wormhole

Having fulfilled their "help for help" bargain, the kobolds hightailed it out of there, presumably back to Kinhall. That left the Sleepers facing down a foreboding looking fortress carved out of desert rock. The place had an eerie feel to it, simultaneously ancient and dormant, but also teeming with electric danger and that inescapable feeling of being watched.
Cursory inspections would reveal the Wormhole to be a kind of standard fortress/castle/hall. But further investigation exhibited the presence of burning malicious glyphs present throughout the confines. Interpreting those glyphs, however, would have to wait as Aletha of the Flintclaw's investigations uncovered a giant mimic (as well as two smaller mimics) and that demanded the crew's immediate attention. That was dealt with and these glyphs could be examined further.

Wormhole Glyphs

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Svo'Kool seemed to be the only one capable of interacting with these strange sigils. The Sleepers found, at first, three glyphs:

• THE WORM SEETHES BOUNDLESS
• WOE BETIDES THE FAILED WORLD
• THE TONGUE IS WRITTEN IN BLOOD

What to do with these weird writings? Well, there's a door that seems desperate to interact with this information, entreating Svo to "SPEAK, WORM." So, speak he did. But, unfortunately, he was missing a glyph, and so, a Howler appeared. The Sleepers combat prowess proved once again competent and a forth sigil was revealed in the broken maw of the destroyed Howler. This one read:

• SWALLOW AND BURN UNTIL ALL IS CONSUMED

Okay! That should be all of them. Each of these glyphs had one word emphasized, and speaking them out in the right order would create a not-great sounding phrase: WOE TONGUE BOUNDLESS SWALLOW. Creepy! But it opened the door. A semi-intact throne room was behind that door, and the Sleepers wasted no time in quickly exploring and finding a magic door with a staircase leading down into the Wormhole. They decided to delve deeper.

The Wormspeaker

Waiting for them was a chamber adored with a disconcerting light. A figure made entirely of black worms and worm-like things appeared before them, enshrined in a summoning circle. It claimed it was The Wormspeaker. Oh shit! Svo tried to parlay with the figure, but apparently it was more interested in violence. After The Wormspeaker made a bunch of statements--with one of them being WE ARE ASCENDANT--a brutal battle commenced. This horrible monstrosities tentacles and burrowing worms caused a fair amount of consternation, but, again, the Sleepers were victorious. The Wormspeaker's body began to dissipate, with worms--and worm-like creatures--either fading into nothingness or slithering away through hidden cracks in the Wormhole. Left behind was a naked, shivering man.
And that's where we left it. We'll see what this naked man means for the Sleepers during our next session.

Character(s) interacted with

Snake, kobold desert scout of the Lowbrand
The Wormspeaker, mouthpiece of The Worm

Report Date

21 Feb 2021

Primary Location

The Snakeghost