Session 3: Marathon in the Underdark Report
General Summary
The party finished a short rest after defeating the group of deep gnomes who had ambushed them. The adventurers discusses what their next move would be, although some were injured they decided to press on to investigate the city of Shalva, and gather information on the Temporal Plague and the Deep Gnome Connection to the slaughtered farmstead beyond the portal within the underdark.
As they approached the city of Temples and pyramids, traveling single file perilously on a ledge, Jazbet sees movement and upon casting dancing lights, witnesses dozens of shapes skirting away at the edges of the light.
The party makes it to a steep drop off due a to a rockslide, and approach their first skill challenge. There lies a forty foot chasm to the other end of the ledge, the party must work together and attempt to cross the chasm within one minute before the slippery and difficult terrain make matters worse. Ezriel throws a javelin and rope but forgets to tie it off, the rope goes tumbling into the deep expanse below, but Aera Oos deftly flies and snatches it before it is lost forever. Continuing to fly to the other side and securing a javelin into a rocky surface, the Aaracockra ties it off securely. The party ties off both ends and begins to traverse across the chasm. Ezriel and Aera Oos have no issue, but Jazbet’s hand gives way and he falls into the dark below. Aera-Oos flies after him but is unable to catch him, Ezriel swings off the rope and narrowly misses him before landing into a wall.
Jazbet crashes down with a sickening thud, as the monsters in the dark swarm after him. Aera-Oos cuts its hand and with their blood their weapon is aflame, the beasts in the dark scatter away. Upon being healed by a botion, Jazbet suffers a broken arm and leg which binded incorrectly during the healing.
The party makes their way up and over, approaching a lone campfire, accompanied by the sound of whimpering.
A gnome prisoner locked within, crying and incoherent. Jazbet picks the lock, wraps his wondrous cloak of endure elements around the gnome. The party feeds him (Ezriel bickered with him). The Gnome was Quippipax Bagsquabble, a Mage who claimed to specialize in the creation of cheese, in search of a culture found only inside the body of the dead dragon which made up the city of Shalva. His goal was to produce Dragon cheese for the Margrave he served. He claimed to have been captured by the Deep Gnomes the party had encountered before.
The party used insight on the gnome to see if he was leaving our details, he seemed to be telling the truth, as far as he knew. As they continued on their journey, they traveled further from the temples and pyramids, Quippipax saying that those pyramids were Deepvale, not the city of Shalva.
As they neared, it turned out Shalva was a city carved into the body of massive dragon, a great glowing, green ichor pouring out its mouth. The Dragon was 15 stories tall, whole houses, resteraunts and shops found within. Abandoned except for the scores of beasts that completely surrounded the party of not for the light. The Dragon had been slayed by a lance from one of the original Paladins of the world, Herbwarden Ramowa.As they journeyed, Logreth prayed to his dragon ancestor, where he spoke words which sounded ominous: “Skin to Leather
Bones to rock
Scales to tile
Blood to faith”
Upon being asked about what he said, he did not recall. We continued on to the Tower of Silence, Also known as Nazarum. We entered the tower and in doing so, Quippipax broke formation and ran to a wooden staff. Upon finding it, he caster teleport and threw a vial which broke and formed into a massive stone demon.
The party fought the demon, Logreth and Ezriel wrecked it while Jazbet was almost killed in a single blow. Upon defeating it we looted around and found a lot of stuff worth decent money and a master craft mace but nothing magic. We ascended the tower in desperation to find a way out, at reaching the top of the cathedral sized structure, there was a door with a lock too advanced and intricate for Jazbet to pick. Logreth and Ezriel tried a crowbar and instead released a poison which forced the party to get out of the area.
Attempting to take a long rest in one of the many abandoned houses, Aera Oos spotted the creatures that have been surrounding them were growing bolder and attempting to tunnel underneath the house. The party had to move, it was only a short rest.
.
The beasts surrounding them grew bolder and got closer and closer now that they had grown used to the party, Ezriel threw a torch at the shadowy mass and in doing so had illuminated at least 40 other shapes surrounding them, albino dog like creatures with white milky eyes and claws strong enough to crawl on walls. They began closing in, probing the defenses of the party, Aera Oos threw alchemists fire and set a dozen or so ablaze, Jazbet shouted to run and the party sprinted. The beasts chirped and used echolocation and the sound of dozens turned into hundreds, then thousands from all around them. The party was being attacked and using dancing lights and thrown torches to pave a path. We were being swarmed but Aera Oos produced a firecracker and saved the day by misdirecting their echolocation, while we were making our way over the chasm and sprinting in a mad marathon back through the portal we entered which we thought would return us to the farm stead. Instead the panicked, dirty and injured party had instead found ourselves in the midst of a banquet hosted by Lord Xaxatharth, enjoying tea and crumpets with the social elite of Magdaburg.
The wizard excused his guests and listened to a frustrated party demand answers, and explain what they themselves had experienced. Xaxatharth referee to Quippipax as an “It”, a being who sought items of power who had many names, foremost of which was Ashurbanipal. The Temporal plague the party had been investigating was somehow a tool or related to this creature.
And the party had freed him from his prison
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