Session 26 – Up from History

Written by KoshcheiBessmertnyi

General Summary

A cloaked woman arrives at the Temple of Luthic. She is a human, Dafna, the mother of Enkidu and Agni. After greeting her lost son and asking about his life, she relates that she was a weaver in the workshop next to the spider pasture, and that Clofoel Lhingril wanted to present one of her creations to the party in order to answer several outstanding questions. She hands the folded shawl to Enkidu, who unrolls it.
The tapestry is initially a bit nondescript, grayish-yellow with stylized, circular web-patterns laid out as interlinked white circles. Soon, the sounds of harp strings rise up from the fabric, and, a red thread appears, setting the designs into motion. The strummed song sounds like a lullaby Miletus remembers from home, though its subject matter was simply a typical love song of a young male scholar looking for his blonde paramour. Soon, a colorful image comes into focus, of a dark-haired, copper-skinned female elf, harp in hand, traveling to a landscaped tree, or perhaps a stone tower, book and harp in hand, and then serenading a light-haired elf who stood atop that structure. As she sang to him, the androgynous blond acquires increasingly masculine characteristics. Then, a silver-haired female, with a moon diadem, appears beside him. The dark-haired singer below closes her book, throws down her harp, shouts out accusations, and storms off. Left alone, the moon-aspected elf calls some servitors, apparently elven, but also fae, and gnomish, to her, and sends them forth with an assignment. The servitors came to a steppe pyramid, and where met by a welcome party of other elves. An argument ensues, and one of the visitors strikes down one of the hosts. Flames burst through the earth, and appeared to enter the visitors’ bodies, twisting them, and transforming their visages into hideous masks. The dark-haired queen again goes forth to the tower, now without book or harp, and reads out a litany of accusations. The blond and silver-haired elves on their balcony at first look downcast. When she concludes, the blond utters a pronouncement. The transformed, hideous servitors fall to their knees, but something appeared to be drawn out of them, and they cry out in pain. When the ritual is finished, the blond king turns to the dark-haired queen, and orders her hence. She slinks away, beaten down by the elements, and finds her way to a cave, where she is comforted by a bearded stranger. After he leaves, she is approached by one of the transformed, chastised servitors. Wearing a wide-brimmed hat pulled over his eyes, and carrying a spear, he makes his way to the cave, and offers his hand to her. She then reemerges, leading a troupe of elves, while he joins her, leading a troupe of the transformed chastised. The combined forces approach the tree-tower. On the balcony, the blond and silver-haired royals are joined by another elf – a brown-haired female that looks (to Glitterstem) almost exactly like the Sybil. The trio brandish rings on their fingers, and begin to utter terrible spells. Their followers join battle with the arrivals. Storms rise, lightning peals, volcanoes erupt. The dark-haired queen responds by brandishing her own ring. Chasms open, the land shakes, and began to sink. Towers fall, and the three royals, along with their followers, rush to three ships, and sail away. The dark-haired queen and her allies fall into an abyss.
The red thread comes to a stop, and turns grey, while the rest of the tapestry return to its original form. Enkidu folds it up and puts it into his pack, while Theobald remarks that this was the story of the war that destroyed Aman from the dark elves’ perspective. Dafna gets ready to leave, and tells Enkidu that she and Agni will see him again, soon. He is a bit taken aback, but she says that various preparations must be made, and that sneaking out of the city will be more difficult with two extra people anyway. She asks Enkidu where she should tell Lhingril he will be waiting for them, and after consulting with his party members, everyone agrees that the meeting should take place by the cave entrance next to the waterfall. At this, she bids her son farewell, and leaves.
The noise on the street has all but died down, and it is time to make preparations to leave. Theobald and Glitterstem cast protective spells, and turn the whole group, including the mongrel baby, invisible. The gnome takes the mongrel baby, feeds him, and soothes him, while Miletus takes him and climbs into one of the refuse bins. A sack of flour is loaded with the gnome, and one also with the elf. The baby falls asleep, and soon, the refuse haulers show up. The process of departure from the city takes longer than expected. Inside the bins, the adventurers become visible, and grow increasingly nervous. Soon, it seems that the sleigh reaches the gate, but, after a few words are exchanged, the sleigh appears to proceed on its way with no incident. In less than a half hour, it arrives at the mongrel encampment, and the four members of the Company of the Horse-Pelican, along with the baby, are released from their malodorous prisons.
Meriadar and his whole clan are happy to see their allies return safely, and bearing sacks of flour, as well as a new life. The well and food purified by Glitterstem appear to be fine, as does Goltur, who is reunited with his master. When the party relates the story of how it acquired the flour, Meriadar’s demeanor changes, and he voices concern about possible reprisals against the Folk by the Guardians. Theobald tries to reassure him that Lhingril was working on his own, and will not reveal the mongrels’ actions in helping the party sneak into Xibalba, but the warren elder remains doubtful. He allows the party to rest up in the encampment until leaving the next day, though he insists they should stay in the tunnels. Before everyone retires, Theobald begins to teach his companions a code he is developing.
As the city grows brighter, the Company departs for the tower. Fortune follows them this time around, as their progress is relatively speedy and untroubled, while Enkidu and Goltur, aided by Glitterstem, find plentiful nourishment. The party breaks to sleep within a mile of the troll cave, but the rest period passes uneventfully. The following day, as they approach the tower, they begin to plan for their ascent. Though the beacon has been turned off, it seems clear that there is illumination in the tower, and that it is still inhabited, possibly contrary to what Lhingril had said. On the other hand, they were given the equipment needed for their progress up in the form of the climbing mushrooms (an additional, green mushroom, is identified by Glitterstem as being a diminution or growth mushroom, though he is not certain which it is). The party moots the idea of climbing the tower and chopping its way to the shaft, though the idea is discarded owing to Miletus’ previous negative experience. During a lunch break less than a mile away from the tower, as Theobald considers sneaking into the back door and looking for ways to chop through the elevator cabin, Glitterstem spies a kobold hiding behind a pod. Miletus runs him down, and returns him to the group for questioning. In draconic, the kobold claims to be from Oxmyx’s cave, and says he was sent down by his leader to investigate the lay of the land since the adventurers left. He adds that he was expelled from the tower by the Ingoeth, who would not allow him to return, and that he is simply searching for food. After consultation, the party releases him, so he can go about his business.
An hour goes by, and suddenly, the party is set upon by a troop of Ingoeth. They appear to be the ones Miletus saw on the way to Xibalba, but they are joined by a two-headed dog. The elves are armed with paddles with sharp inset obsidian stones, as well as javelin throwers. An elven woman leads the troop, and directs it to attack. She shrouds the group in a cloud of darkness, making it hard for those inside to break out without tripping over roots and falling on their face. Several of her companions surround the darkness, and keep everyone inside pinned by throwing in javelins. Only Goltur and Glitterstem in dire wolf form manage to escape the darkness. They engage the dog, the leader, and two of her male companions, while Enkidu, Theobald, and Miletus struggle to make it out, and only occasionally fire out an arrow or an arcane missile. When the leader is brought down by the wolf, the darkness temporarily dissipates, but one of her companions reforms it. Goltur fights valiantly, but is eventually brought down by a vicious bite from the dog, though the Ingoeth have to keep pulling people back to help fight the beasts. Ultimately, the creator of the second darkness is also brought down, and everyone trapped inside exits. The dog is felled by Glitterstem, and escaping Ingoeth are brought down by missiles from Miletus and Theobald. To all appearances, none have successfully fled.

Report Date

12 Mar 2016