Session 07
General Summary
Nex Pervenio continued their explorations, seeking dwarf prisoners and a cult summoner.
As they headed up a passage they heard a great commotion up ahead from a firelit chamber. This
room had suffered from some great subsidence. The floor had collapsed in a series of layers
separated by steep slopes of rubble, with Nex Pervenio at the deepest point. Two dwarfs occupied
the highest point, hurling rocks and debris at a group of cultists below them, accompanied by
insults and taunts. The cultists were arguing what they should do, one advocating simply killing
the dwarfs while another cautioned that Lareth would want to question them, yet another wanted
to inform "the master" only to be told the master should not be disturbed.
This diversion allowed Nex Pervenio to set themselves ready for a fight. Shinobi nimbly
scampered up to the next tier of level ground and tucked himself in a corner before Dash loosed a
volley of arrows. Of course that attracted the cultists attention, who abandoned the dwarfs in
favour of targets they could actually reach. They hastily sped down the steep slopes and threw
themselves into combat, their weapons wreathed in magical flames. Meanwhile the dwarfs
maintained a hail of rocks as best they could. The cultists fought fiercely but were simply no
match and were soon defeated. One was captured alive for questioning.
By now the dwarfs had clambered down from their vantage point. It was Joseph Bugman himself,
accompanied by his nephew Franz. They were sole survivors of their regiment, captured after a
fierce battle. They told an odd tale of being set free by a couple of very stealthy drow who had
departed mysteriously thereafter. The route out was blocked by cultists and fiery hounds so the
dwarfs had climbed up, hoping they might find a way to tunnel out to the surface, when they were
spotted by more cultists. They were relieved to have been rescued and headed for safety, leaving
further exploration to Nex Pervenio.
When the dwarfs had left, the prisoner was questioned none too gently. He said that Lareth was
elsewhere in the temple ruins, working on the Abyssal Gate. He described his master as
summoning powerful allies from other planes, and that he could be found up a further
passageway. Argus put him out of his misery.
They crept cautiously down the next tunnel, reaching a huge, natural chamber lit by fiery pools of
magma, shimmering with heat. Stalagmites broke the floor and provided shadowy recesses.
Towards the back was a tiefling, like Lareth, but presumably the summoner. The chamber was
seemingly devoid of other foes. Shinobi crept forward behind the cover of a large stalagmite while
his companions lurked in the darkness at the entrance.
Once again the battle began with a volley of arrows from Dash, protecting the advance of his
companions. The summoner blasted Shinobi with dark magics before dropping back into cover.
The gladiators advanced on him determinedly but were shocked to see the lava pools bubble, with
fiery elementals emerging and blasting balls of magma at them. At the same time, two of the
stalagmites were revealed to be earthen elementals which hurled slabs of rock at their foes and
covered the immediate area in broken stones. This would be more complicated than it first
appeared!
Shinobi and Argus maintained the pressure on the summoner while Mika moved to try and shield
Valun from the earth elementals and Dash began peppering the fire elementals with arrows, while
keeping his distance. Mika summoned a mass of thorny vines to entwine the summoner, which
kept him from using his more powerful ranged attacks. The earth elementals did their best to slow
their foes with their rock showers, especially when they could harm multiple foes together. The
fire elementals seemed to focus on Valun, his healing magics having attracted unwanted attention.
In fact, much of Valun's healing powers were needed for himself and he soon found himself
injured and low on resources, instead doing his best to keep out of harm's way.
Mika and Dash added their ranged firepower to Argus and Shinobi's melee attacks on the
summoner and soon he was defeated. With the most dangerous foe out of the way, the elementals
became more of an annoyance than anything, especially the blasts of rock. Soon enough all were
dealt with.
Time to question this summoner...
It was time to question the captured summoner. Unlike previous cult prisoners, he was remarkably
lucid and calm. He was also notably informative.
His name is Amonon. He's a tiefling from Maelbrathyr, like Lareth, and has worked with him for a
long time. Maelbrathyr is a fallen tiefling city, which used to be on the surface thousands of years
ago when the tiefling Empire ruled, but which collapsed down an abyss into the shallow
Underdark, where it now lies mostly in ruins. It can be reached from Forgehome, a dwarven
settlement. The Scorpions have headed there to negotiate slaver contracts and to seek out drow
assassins...
Lareth is elsewhere in the temple ruins, in a large underground chamber, using forbidden magic
rituals to try and open up the Abyssal Gate. The planar boundaries are naturally thin in this area,
due to a combination of leyline-like effects and also due to a history of evil magics used in the
vicinity. It seems Lareth seeks a source of allies and powerful servants, having become dissatisfied
with the quality of the bandits and humanoids which have formed the bulk of his forces to date.
Lareth is in charge of cult activities in the surface world. His mission is to destroy Rodinia, or
more specifically, the priesthood of Erathis who are dismissed as puppets and servants of the
drow. "The real power is below, the surface world is as nothing in comparison." There are other,
more powerful, factions of the cult deep in the Underdark, close to where the hated drow may be
found.
Nex Pervenio had uncovered further evidence of connections between the drow and the priesthood
of Erathis. But best tred lightly and keep quiet that they have this information. Now it was time to
retreat back to the camp, taking their prisoner with them. He was handed over to Sister Columba
for further questioning.
The two Bugmans had made it safely back to camp too. Shinobi wandered over to chat to the
grizzled mercenary and ask him various Underdark-related questions. Bugman agreed it was
unusual behaviour for some drow to have freed him and his nephew. In fact their sheer presence
on the surface is unusual in of itself. However, he does know that the cult of Elemental Evil hate
and fear the drow and have been fighting against them for a long time. So in that context it seems
the drow were here to oppose the cult, on the assumption that weakening the cult means they offer
less threat to the drow.
His visits to the drow and the yuan-ti were part of general Underdark wanderings. Despite their
danger and alien nature, they're not automatically hostile and if certain precautions are taken,
certain behaviours observed, they can be visited safely, for example the drow city has a Ghetto of
Foreigners. In fact he was employed by drow to make the trip to the yuan-ti city of Anathema - it
used to be a drow city before it fell into ruin and was taken over by yuan-ti. Bugman reminded
Shinobi that he's pretty elderly even for a dwarf. He visited those dangerous places a long time
ago when he was much younger and stronger. He didn't say but hinted that he had suffered some
debilitating illness or horrific magical attack on his travels. Suffice to say he's nowhere near as
powerful as he used to be. Hence nowadays reduced to working on the surface rather than in the
Underdark.
Time to get a good night's rest ahead of a serious assault on the cultists, which might finally see
the end of Lareth?!
Report Date
10 Apr 2024
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