Chapter 5 B: The Earth Below
The Andalbrass Mines
This maze of tunnels was once a mine used by the dwarves of andalbrass, and seems to have once doubled as catacombs. Their was clearly at one point a cave-in by the entrance from Andalbrass Temple, but it's been haphazardly re-opened. Tools, supplies, and digging implements still litter the ground.The Cultists of Erkath:
The mines are infested with the scions of a strange cult- one that takes a skewed view of the myth of Erkath - a great and ancient deity referenced obliquely in a handful of ancient texts who supposedly dreamed up the world. They are human-supremacist, and obsessed with "shedding their skin" and assuming "humanity's true form"... or "awakening" from Erkath's dream. This is the group that the Gardener has been using, after a fashion, to free himself. (rather, he, too, is being used by the Tol'Trautha, but that's another story). They believe he is a scion or emanation of Erkath, here to right the shape of the world. The cult is mad, and has grown more craven since their long bargain with the Gardener. Each of the faithful now carry a shard of an Abbadon seed embedded in their chest, and some are occasionally consumed by it. These wretched, writhing things are honored by the cult as "Ascendant Ones", and given positions of power - their mad, wet gibbering "interpreted" by the cult's leaders. Others remove their own skin as a show of faith, kept alive by reagents and some magic. Their pain is ecstatic to them, and though they can barely speak through tattered lips, they are considered holy martyrs by the cult This sect of the cult is led by a man named Bishop Oteph, and the branch in charge of breaking this seal are under the leadership of one Father Mennoth. Mennoth is a cruel and impulsive man, led purely by power and a heft sense of narcissism. He came to the cult as a means to attain magical might, and sees those around him as pawns. He speaks a hefty religious rhetoric, but believes in very little of it himself. Notably, he does not carry a true abbadon shard in his heart- the crystal there affixed is a magical illusion. He is, essentially, a charlatan in somewhat over his head, but his ego does not allow him to believe he is not in control of the situation. The Maledict Hand is a tall, slender warrior. She seems to be injured, currently. She speaks very little, and with a strange accent. She is always covered head-to-toe in golden armor. Mennoth knows very little about her, but Bishop Oteph decreed cryptically that she would oversee his operation.The First Day
The characters discover the cult, and Ren successfully cons the cultists and Father Mennoth in to believing that she is a scion of the Gardener. Calling herself "the Spade", she is led by Mennoth to the Seal Chamber, and there she sees the Maledict Hand and a massive Kyton (Kaiee-ton) who controls the chains that are tearing at the seal, slowly pulling it apart.The Second Day
Ren makes a gesture in Bonnie's direction just as Bonnie is struck by the collapsing tunnel, and there is a sudden wave of eerie silence in the tunnels - the rushing of the waters, the toppling of rocks, and the murmerations of the cultists suddenly struck from hearing in a disorienting blanket of noiselessness. In the stillness that follows, you all spring in to action, freeing your small companion from the rubble, and clearing a passage through the top of the stones. A moment later, sound suddenly returns to the passage. You can hear father mennoth speaking in an angry hiss, and you all fall suddenly still. "so what, oh great Spade, ever happened to the man I sent with you? hmm?" "Fascinating. I've spoken with the Bishop, and it is strange... he never made any mention of you." "You are no scion of the Gardener. You know nothing of Erkath. I do not know how you came by the information you did, but I'm afraid your ruse ends here, fool. Fortunately for you, though, you have the honor of bearing witness to our Great Work before you die. Spirit! Continue! Rip the seal asunder!" Battle ensues. The seal has 65 hit points and takes 4d6 damage every round the Kyton maintains concentration. (The characters wiped the goddamn floor with everyone)
Parent Plot
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