Session 46 & 47

General Summary

26th and 27th of Wealsun, year 595 - Level 16 (low summer -- week of Richfest, the midsummer festival, in 1 day)
The next day, the party gathers and prepares for the journey into Limbo. They hear their new companions ask Kat'chka, the thri-kreen warrior, to stay behind and deal with the henchmen. The party asks Lief and William to make sure Maggie gets back home to Tilldale safely. Once ready, they join the followers of Tiamat in the ritual that will use power from the Vortex to send them to Limbo.
Fortunately, Nalreeth the warlock, had prepared them for the disorienting effects of Limbo, where nothing and everything exists in a realm of chaos. Once transported, they quickly confirm that the air they breathe must come from the power of their own will, and movement likewise is an exertion of thought. With less trouble than expected, however, the party moves on in their goal to find Oorlid the Githzerai monk.
After some travel in the ever-changing and shifting realm, they come to a mass of floating stone islands that look very much like a destroyed castle or stone building. They head that way, hoping for a break and solid surface to walk on, when they're attacked by several abominations known and black and blue slaad. The battle is long and exhausting, and brings the entire party close to expending their resources, when others arrive and help bring down the slaad. They are several halfling fighters, clearly skilled and experienced in fighting both in this strange environment and against these creatures.
The leader of them, a youthful but rugged halfling named Finton, tells them because of the halfling in their group, they came to help when they saw it was needed. They don't encounter others of their kind in Limbo, hardly ever at all, and would like to bring them back to their village. The party agrees, and Finton leads them through the chaos to a giant island of grass-topped rock, certainly the size of a small village. And on top of the island, the largest tree (short of Yggdrasil) any of them have seen. But aside from that, there seems to be no other features or objects. Until Finton leads them in a specific direction of approach, which only then reveals nestled in the rocks and cracks and tall grass, the doors and windows, herb lattices, flowers, and gardens, of a carefully and skillfully hidden village.
Finton tells the party this halfling village of Barnstable was ripped from the world a hundred or so years ago by wild magic gone awry from some kind of nearby wizard's battle. The survivors of the transportation quickly learned how to solidify their island of soil, keep it wrapped in air, and protect it from the effects of the chaos around them.
He also informs the party, once told of their quest, that the village enjoys a good relationship with the Githzerai of Limbo, and if anyone knows where Oorlid might be found, it is the village elder, Zalric Gamwich. He brings the party to a large concealed door with the image of a half-submerged anchor engraved in silver on it, and says, "Welcome to The Floating Anchor. The only halfling inn in Limbo!"
(Nalreeth had let the party know earlier about "guidons" in Limbo -- obelisks with swirling silver writing on them. They seem to naturally appear in various places throughout Limbo, their source unknown. When concentrated on for an hour or so, they become etched in the persons mind and can be used as a beacon for a traveler to concentrate on and return to. The halfling of Barnstable appear to have removed the guidon that appeared on their island, and used its material to make the door to this inn, tuning the door into a guidon but only for those who evidently have been allowed to come near.)
Through the door they meet another halfling who politely yet sternly inform the party there are no weapons allowed inside and they must be checked. After some making-sure they are safely locked up, even the paladin, Hazzaakaz, agrees to the precaution, and they are led inside. The main room is extremely large but quite low-ceilinged. There are several halfling enjoying drink and food and conversation, who all stop to look at the newcomers, and slowly return to their business, but not hiding their continued watchful eyes. The party notice that, quite oddly, most of the halfling here have the look of people who have seen fighting. Scars and wounds, especially on the older villagers. In fact one particular table of elders who are drinking and smoking and playing some kind of game with tiles, look downright veterans of war.
Finton leads them to a table by the central hearth -- a large round fireplace open on all sides, but instead of burning wood, some kind of red-hot stone sits in the middle, providing the room's warmth and heat for the large kettle above it. Food and drink are brought at Finton's behest, and once everyone is settled, he goes to speak to one of the elder halfling in the corner. After some quiet words, he comes back and says Zalric would like to speak with Toby and Wally, and only them. They agree and cross the room to meet with the village elder.
Zalric is indeed scarred and grizzled more than most. A battle-hardened halfling, something unknown to the pair. Zalric begins friendly enough, to the party's halfling. His accent is unusual, and he confirms for Wally that he and Barnstable were ripped from the Kingdom of Keoland when he was but a lad, and is likely now the oldest living original villager. He asks many questions of Toby and Wally, especially about the company they keep: the tall folk, who according to Zalric will likely lead them to harm. (He uses the ancient halfling word for themselveles, "Hobil" which translates as "the people," and the rare nickname "hobbit" which comes from it.) When he learns of their quest, he make disparaging comments in particular about quests for gods that use people like them as nothing but pawns and fodder, and invite Toby and Wally to join them in living in Barnstable. Toby in particular shows offense to Zalric's questions and enlists help from Malex who, in rather respectful deference to Zalric's age and experience, meets his challenges with calls to courage, service, and sacrifice, and duty. During the exchange, Wally in particular gleans that Zalric is not what he seems, and his gruff and offensive, bigoted even, performance belies a fierce intelligence and keen observation, and is clearly intending to goad the party into reactions for him to judge.
Evidently mollified, Zalric drops the challenging demeanor, complements Toby on his honesty and courage, and Wally on his spirit of the Hobil, and presents them with an acorn, telling them that this acorn comes from the companion to the great oak that sits above them, a tree that grows at the Githzerai monastery at which they will find Oorlid. Concentrate on the acorn, and it will guide them to him, and allow them entrance. In the meantime, the party is welcome to spend a long rest on their village island before they depart. He tells them, in great seriousness, “I fear, whatever trials and foes you have faced to find yourselves here, pale in comparison to what you have yet to face. There is much ahead of you that you cannot comprehend.” Dismissing the pair, he shares a few words in quiet with Finton.
After much food and drink are had (including a rather unique mead made from honey and fungus (from which much of their protein comes), that in actuality is not bad at all), Irina follows the inn's mistress into the back where she offers to wash dishes in exchange for their food and drink. (As in this village, there is no currency, as there is no need for it. All trade is done on barter or gift, and goods and services are provided to those that need and from those who can.) First suspicious, but then convinced of Irina's sincerity, the mistress from that point on treats Irina with as much friendliness as she had Wally and Toby (not to say she does not treat the others kindly, she does, but more so the halfling of the group, and then Irina).
As they leave the inn to prepare for sleep, collecting their weapons, Finton presents gifts for Toby and Wally from Zalric: For Toby, a Shield of Walking Cover, and for Wally, a short crossbow similar to what their rescuers earlier had used, called Crosstitch.
During their rearming at the inn, Toby took advantage of the distraction to secretly pass the acorn into Malex's pouch for safety's sake, suspecting possible theft in the night that, fortunately, did not come. So the next "morning" after rest as they gathered to depart, following some awkward moments as everyone waited for Toby to lead them on, he collected the acorn from his surprised mentor and began to lead the group in the direction he feels it pull him. But as they depart, Finton imparts a last bit of advice: “Beware the Chaos Beasts! Never ever let one touch you, or you will become one of them! They do not always attack creatures they come upon, they are, as the name implies, chaotic and unknowable. Give them a wide berth, but if one comes for you -- flee! For it is what even we do when one is near."
They travel for several hours (or so it feels to them, with nothing to mark the passage of time), until the voice of a man could be heard, calling for help. As it's not far off their intended travel, they approach the sound to investigate, and discover a human trapped in a mancatcher and chains, being dragged by a few strange and intimidating creatures, toward a whirling olive-colored portal. Hazzaakaz recognizes them as "Carceri Sentinels," and Nalreeth informs the party the portal goes to Carceri, the "prison plane." (She reminds them that Limbo is filled with portals from most of the various planes, and it is their plan to find one that will take them to Avernus once they have the Egg.)
The man yells and cries for rescue, claiming he has been unjustly imprisoned, that he has committed no crimes and only has followed his god's will. As the party plan to move in, Hazzaakaz cautions them against it, to not get involved, as clearly it is the will of the gods that this soul be imprisoned and it is not for them to interfere. Regardless, the party moves up and challenges the Sentinels who only hiss at them warningly as they continue to drag their prisoner. Irina, using Infernal speech, gets their attention and demands their purpose. One responds, "He escapes. We capture and return him. We not care his crimes. We retrieve and return. Do not interfere." Malex, however, asks the man what he has done, who informs them he has only ever been a good follower of his god, Kurell, and surely his incarceration must be a mistake. He did escape Carceri, yes, but because he knows Kurell has a palace here in Limbo, and he hoped to appeal to him directly. Wally (or Malex? or both?) recognizes the deity's name, and know him to be an archon of jealousy, thievery, and neer-do-wells, from far out in the Eastlands. Malex makes the call to allow the Sentinels to leave with their prisoner, and as they disappear through the portal, the man shouts: "My name is Alaton! I have a family in Maraven! Let them know I love them!" and they are gone. Hazzaakaz comments that they did the right thing, letting the law be served as it was intended, and they return to the path of the acorn.
After some more travel, a new sound is heard, also a voice, but somewhat twisted and unusual. They stop to allow it to come closer, and they make out this inhuman voice calling, "Tabitha! Tabitha! Where is my Tabitha!" However, the voice scrapes the insides of the listeners' minds, deeply affecting Wally and Malex, but Toby even more so, filling him with intense fear. They consider what to do, and the voice calls again, closer, causing Toby to want to flee the area. Then, they see what is creating the mockery of a human sound, and it is a horrific mass of ever-changing eyes and teeth and claws, creating a sight that would certainly drive a lesser-experienced person mad. As it is, Toby and Ssavaran flee what is clearly a chaos beast that Finton warned them of, and the party follows after.
Before long, it is clear they cannot outrun this denizen of chaos, and its maddening call is threatening to continue to wear them down until there may be nothing left of their mind or spirit, so another plan must be made. Wally decides he can teleport the group back to the portal of Carceri, as it was recent enough it's still clear in his mind. It is risky, but then, perhaps not as risky as facing this terrifying creature. Wally casts the spell, and they find themselves safely back to the floating cube with the olive portal. They take a moment to rest and regroup, then plot a course back to where the acorn leads them giving the chaos beast a very wide avoidance.
And it works, they eventually come to a region of Limbo that actually appears to have a sky they can recognize, blue and pleasant with gentle clouds . . . and a collection of floating stone islands with a giant oak tree sitting behind a temple-like area with a statue of a Githzerai in what Irina recognizes as a meditative pose of self-control. This is clearly their destination, and as they approach, a Githzerai woman greets them with a smile, and informs them that the temple is open to all who come with peaceful intent. The party approaches the statue and notice a few others, mostly Githzerai, a couple humans, a halfling, all either in quiet conversation or positions of meditation. They ask their greeter to see Oorlid, but she tells them she does not know that name. They ask to see the monastery, but she says there is none here -- all that is here is what they see. The party is left confused, and the followers of Tiamat begin to speak among themselves, casting suspicious glances at Toby.
Meanwhile, Irina meditates, and before long is able to sense the presence of more than meets the eye -- there is indeed something beyond the tree. She magically blinds and deafens herself to explore what is beyond her senses, and does see the form of what must be a monastery beyond the tree. She tries to fly beyond, but still can see no way to pierce the veil that must be there. And finally, attempts a dimension door spell to try to break through where the seen and unseen meet, but to no avail. Wally in his own way also tries to go beyond the tree, but is nearly whisked away into chaos before he remembers to will himself back to the floating temple island.
But the surreptitious discussion begins to turn into an argument, with Nalreeth in particular accusing Toby of misleading them and that this must somehow be part of their plan to get the Egg for themselves to awaken "their pitiful god of weakness, Bahamut." As words become heated, the Githzerai greeter sternly asks them to leave the temple proper as their angry energy is not welcome there. They all return to the entry-place across the floating bridge, and Hazzaakaz even trying to keep the peace even as she too suspects deception and trickery. But eventually Toby is convinced that Hazzaakaz would give the acorn back if she is allowed to see for herself what it has to "say." Toby hands it to the paladin, who concentrates, and with no small amount of chagrin, hands it back and declares there is no deception here -- she can feel this is indeed the intended destination. She apologizes and is able to eke out a grudging apology from the warlock.

Rewards Granted

• Toby: Shield of Walking Cover: https://www.dndbeyond.com/magic-items/3033028-shield-of-walking-cover

• Wally: Crosstitch https://www.dndbeyond.com/magic-items/3032703-crosstitch-crossbow-light-3

Character(s) interacted with

• Hazzaakaz, female paladin of Tiamat
• Mystaan Nalreeth, (female Warlock of Tiamat, black-scaled with all white eyes)
• Qyxpahrgh Daar (red-scaled cleric of Tiamat)
• Norixius Ssavaran (male desert Ranger and brass-scaled)
• Finton, scout and guardian of Barnstable
• Zalric Gamwich, elder of Barstable
• mistress of the The Floating Anchor: "The only halfling inn in Limbo"
• the welcoming Githzerai woman

Report Date

18 May 2021