Chapter 2.0, Chauria's Crystal Plot, What Actually Happened

General Summary

Branwen finished her paperwork with Lyth, the others got back from getting some Ray Pearls and getting Fulcrum's Longsword enchantment started. They watched the fireworks from the last day of the festival in Sofmyre. Hugo got a letter from his mother. After that, the party went to bed, having a bit of a pissing match to see who was hurt the most, and finally the next day showed up.
Branwen, Del, and Fulcrum got up first, they decided to go meet Hugo at his apartment again, but this time they also brought him a bagel and coffee. They talked a little bit about what they needed to do that day and then headed out to go get Fulcrum's new longsword. Afterwards, they went to see Farja to tell her to stop going to the General affairs building so much. They decided to get Twin Papers and use Gusgus sometimes instead.
That's when they got called by Lyth to come to the general affairs building. They went there and saw Lyth waiting for them at the front door. She greeted them and led them to the Officer's room for special quests. They met Officer Micheal, Kish the prick, and Briana. Micheal said they couldn't join the quest because they now got a quest to go investigate the Macha thief. Fulcrum got glared at by Micheal quite a bit, but he couldn't remember exactly where he had seen him before. He was familiar, but that's it. They got the mission briefing, which was to go to a new Chaurian mine and be bodyguards for Syla Dreyt and Kol as they help investigate/research the new crystal they found in there. Nobody had any questions, and Micheal's group left. Just before leaving, he nudged Hugo and told him while looking at Fulcrum, "Be careful of that one". He was confused, but Fulcrum didn't seem to try and answer his question. Instead, he asked Lyth (once the group was gone) if Micheal was part of any expeditions for Thinsilver Forest before. She told him, that yes likely.
After that, they went back to Hugo's apartment for Hugo to get changed into his armor. Branwen decided to leave Gusgus behind with Dol to try and keep her company for the time being. They set off and met Syla and Kol at the Sofmyre southern gate. Then off they went for the Chaurian Mine. About 3 hours after they left, Kol took Del aside and asked him about the Macha Doctor incident and what he thought about that in general. Del answered to his best ability.
After that, Syla pointed out a few Mycoid in the forest and told them that it would be better if they got rid of them since they are close to Sofmyre, but they could also try and bypass them since they aren't so close that it's an immediate issue. She also told them that's likely all the mycoids since the bigger ones are tending to the Mycoid Min, and that Mycoid Mins are never left alone. Del asked Branwen what she thinks, and she said that it would be better if they got rid of them now. Fulcrum was up for a fight as always, and Hugo reluctantly decided to help out. They then dispatched the Mycoid fairly well without incident.
They stopped at a check point and needed to rest there as the day was almost over. They went back on the road the next day and arrived at the mine entrance. They were greeted by guards that let them through after going through proper papers and walked down fairly far into the mine. They met Chriss the II who is a stickler about his "Crystal Worms" and kind of met Hotl, the main miner of the place. They learned a bit more about the worms through Chris the II, and then a few hours passed while the others did their work. Hotl wanted Syla to come see something, then Syla made the rest of the group come with her since it was a little detached from the main area. They thought they could do something with a patch of crystal and sent Syla away with a guard to Fetch Chriss. While Hotl went out of the little hole, the earth starting moving and a bunch of Crystal Feelers (Glowy Worms) bust out of the walls and ceilings. There was a cave in and the party got separated from everyone else, having to go deeper into the mine. They are now exploring the mine and fought off a couple of Crystal Feelers already. They found a panic room and did a short rest from the fights they had.
They continued onward, Hugo feeling a little odd but otherwise pretty good. The went deeper up into the cave and encountered a small blocked off area full of the same talismans again. The also found a big obsidian type of boulder with a passage on it.
"A phrase need be carved into the stone. The words echo throughout the cavern. Spoken by bats' eyes. Something the earth feels, but can never truly see."
After being generally stumped, they moved on deeper in and Fulcrum felt something up ahead but nobody could see what it was. After carefully approaching, the perceived threat, Del took some dirt and threw it in the air, making some dirt float. They then engaged in combat against some Clear Slimes and took care of them fairly easily. Onward they moved and found themselves more Crystal Feelers. They also noticed them and went straight for em. They engaged and dealt with them fairly well, as Hugo decided to give the two other boys some good poses. Continuing, they found a huge crystal that connected the ceiling and floor together. Otherwise it was nothing of interest and they moved on until they found a door. Opening it, they saw a big man-made room with bookshelves, scrolls, tables, chests, a big statue, and some smaller Pillars with bats on them facing different directions. Del examined the big statue and felt a strange gaze from it. He also examined the table full of scrolls and found an interesting map of Ozoris with a mark on it, west of the Chaurian mine. There was a note that said "powerful crystal item here?" Branwen went straight for the chest and it was locked. She used her stick to pry the lock open and the statue started to move. They engaged in battle with a Mine Construct and Branwen essentially melted the thing down with acid, but not before Fulcrum got a solid hit on the statue's core. They defeated it and examined their findings finally. They found a healing potion, 10 GC, a vial of purple liquid, a key, and a letter. The letter said:
"Everything's about ready. Those crystal worms are ready to be released at any time now. I have all the paperwork done. Officially, it'll be just an accident. You'll get your gems. Just make sure you're careful with the research and documents I did, or else the deal's off and I turn us both in."
After that they checked out a different door the to south of the room and found it was locked. The main door couldn't be locked, but they at least closed it. They then decided to take a long rest in the three beds that were in that room.
When everyone woke up, Hugo had given birth to a Mycoid Min, about 1 foot tall. After some decent amount of time of thinking what to do with it, they decided to keep it for now and give it to the monster research team back in Sofmyre. Then they decided to make their way to the locked South door and have Branwen unlock it with the key they found. They went inside and found a dead end with some supplies and more acid talismans on the walls. There was also a chest and inside the chest was 2 full bank stones, mining supplies, a couple of uncharged acid talismans, 3 jades, 5 lapis lazulies, 1 onyx, and 2 tourmalines. There was also a rolled up scroll in here. It's sealed with brown wax that has an insignia on it (Chauria insignia). The parchment itself seemed new, and in very good condition. They could faintly sense some magic running through it. There was also a piece of rock slab with a picture of what seems to be two people holding the small piece of crystal embedded into the slab. It's faint, but they can also see some lines coming out from where the crystal is and continue to the edges of the slab. There are carvings in the slab in Primordial. It says: "A great element we created, so that we may finally live in peace. Our kind may remember us from the shore, but won't ever lay sight again. For those who are lost, simply cower from underwater beginning West. The great ones that guard and swirl don't touch those who cower. It may be dark, but don't lose your way. The long path won't lead you astray."
They put the scroll and slab away and went into the big room again to try and figure out the mine's riddle. After noticing the bats they started looking around where they all seemed to be looking and found a hidden slit beneath one of the carpets. The opened it up, found a map of the entire mine and Del just couldn't take it. He handed the map to Fulcrum and the party continued on ahead. They encountered more Crystal Feelers due to them having had a long rest. They struggled a bit, but came out on top in the end. They made their way to the obsidian slab and Fulcrum tried to clap his hands together and say "Open Sesame!" but nothing happened. Del said the words, but also gave the slab a bit of magic and then it started working. They got lifted up out of the mine and finally got outside again. Hugo and Del took some time to find out where they were and found a road after following some tracks. They went North to try and go back to Sofmyre. They got stopped by a checkpoint and asked if others had been through here recently, and the guards (after showing their documentation) told them that yes there had been. They continued on and met a group of four Silverleaf soldiers that told them they were on their way to help clear the rubble from the cave. They got escorted back to Sofmyre and could finally debrief, get payed, and rest properly.
In the debrief, they handed over the scroll, the documents about the cave in, the bank stones, mining supplies, and acid talismans.
The following day they were told that they would be taken off from duty for a while to let them properly recuperate from the incident. The party relaxed and had their own little adventures individually. Hugo took care of his little Mycoid for a couple of days, before he decided it might be best to give it to the monster research team in the Pale Druids. He cried a lot, though a few of the Pale Druids in that division seemed empathetic to his situation.
Fulcrum in the following days decided to do some research on the stone slab they found. After a whole day in the library, he was able to uncover some decent clues about it. He determined there might be something worth looking into at a rough location, maybe another type of cave to go to. There was an island long ago that was off the coast that people could see, but now it's surrounded by a type of fog that when people enter, nobody seems to come back out of. Maybe they need to go underwater somehow, but not sure how the cave seems to be connected.
After nearly 3 and half weeks of rest, that party was finally told they could take on quests again, though only low-ranking ones to try and ease them back into handling steady work. They decided to first go to the General Affairs building and look at the quest board. They found two quests they could do. One about some Dream Eaters, and another about Forgotten Ones. They decided to do the Forgotten Ones and went off to their destination. After a bit of sneaking around they came upon the camp and the monsters. They dispatched them fairly quickly and promptly started to try and loot the place. They couldn't find much since other Sofmyre soldiers had already searched the place, but they did find a few things. They ended with them saying a couple of words to the makeshift graves that were done for the bandits near the camp.
While trying to go back to Sofmyre, they encountered what seemed to be like some sort of creature with a dice for a head. They were all on guard as this thing started speaking to them. It asked the party if they were tired of the way things were in terms of how Macha were treated. The party agreed, though it kept going. It said it wanted to recruit them to its cause. Doing so would mean getting rid of people who didn't agree with the new status quo, whether by rehabilitation, or by force. Ultimately the group decided to not join and then the dice being named Alea called forth some Horror Crabs on the party. After an odd battle, Alea escaped and that party survived. They discussed whether or not they should keep this information to themselves. They decided yes, due to the fact that the Silverleaf Army might take that as an excuse to incite panic or other undesirable things. They went back to Sofmyre, got their reward after being turned around a bit by logistics, went to bed, went back to the general affairs building in the morning for more quests, but ended up empty. Then they went to see Shana for enchantment quests and decide to try and get some Pyre Gems in the Sea Mountains. After some prep work of getting some rings, rations, and spells, they made their way towards the mountains.
They had to stop about a little more than halfway to them for nightfall. They set up a tent for Hugo and Branwen while Fulcrum and Del essentially kept watch. While on watch, Fulcrum managed to hear something rustling in one of the trees. He told Del to be alert, but Del couldn't hear anything. Fulcrum decided to go check it out and was able to see a Flying Maple eating sap from the tree. He was able to catch it and somehow make it calm down. He went to show Del and Del decided to go get more sap from the same tree the creature was found in. After getting sap and the creature eating some of it, Fulcrum tried to pet it, but scared it off, Fulcrum accidentally ripping a small part of its tail trying to catch it again.
The next morning at daybreak, Hugo and Branwen were cranky to have been woken up pretty early. They eventually got up and everyone packed up and made their way to the mountains once again. They arrived in a few hours and spotted a cave entrance. They headed towards it and finally went inside. After navigating the cavern a bit, they came upon an opening with a lot of lava in it. They saw some lava mouth creatures and met some black humanoid with four arms, 'holding' a sword and lantern full of ash. Instead of a face, it had a glowing light inside its head. After fighting a fairly brutal battle, Fulcrum almost died again, but was saved by Del and his magic. After a few more steam vents being dispersed, the party managed to make it to the other side of the cavern all alive, though some fairly wounded. They pressed on and found some Barsms. They fought them, and dealt with them fairly well. They started looking around and found 3 Pyre Gems in total. After that, they left the hills, and made their way back to Sofmyre. After another day and a half of travel, they made it back in one piece.
They went back to Shana and got three things enchanted. A robe for Branwen, a crossbow for Fulcrum, and a rapier for Hugo. They then went downstairs to Troy to buy a crossbow for Hugo, and then Fulcrum commissioned him for special spiked gloves (will take a week to complete). Then they went home. Hugo got a another letter from his mother about things in general. The rest of the party got stopped by two brothers in the slum streets. One essentially had a heart attack and was on the ground. Del managed to keep him alive and bring him back up. They wanted to reward him, but he said to keep whatever reward they offered. Everyone went to bed.
The next morning, Fulcrum let Branwen sleep in a bit (8am) and then they all went to go get Hugo. Hugo was having none of that and didn't want to come out. He let Dol handle it to tell them they weren't welcome and should come back later. Branwen decided that maybe she wants to break into the house through the window. After hearing that, Hugo reluctantly got up and went to the front door. After a slight confrontation, they made up and got ready to go out for the day (after cleaning Del's Saux Stone). They went to the marketplace where they got croissants and met Vess there. She told Fulcrum about a book he might be interested in because of the research he was doing a couple of days before. The book just got checked in again the day before. So after that, they finished eating and went to the library. Vess guided them, and Fulcrum started to feel something in a direction. A type of pull towards something. He stopped, followed it a bit and Vess said it was the creature section. He soon lost the feeling and couldn't get it back. After that, Vess led him the rest of the way and found the book for him. The Fairy Tale children's book showed him a few more details about the artifact and the slab. It's named "The Spirit Furantur", and the cave he knew was important but not why, was now revealed that it's important because it's likely the entrance to the island itself. He took out a map he had, circled the area he had found before and rambled on by himself for a bit.

Report Date

15 Aug 2021