Session 3: Deeper We Go

Monday, Oct. 19th, 2020 6pm-9:30pm

General Summary

Continuing from where the party previously left off, they made their way deeper into the caverns beneath Raven's Crest's well. As they traveled, they located what appeared to be some sort of research facility, as well as a delightful little trio of Intellect Devourers, discovering something akin to an autopsy room. While Emyr took the autopsy journal within, the rest proceeded on to the next room. This room turned out to be some sort of holding area, containing large cages packed together against the Northern portion of the room. Inside, the cages contained a mismatched of long-dead corpses, some of which seemed to have vines growing through and out of them, dangling from the walls and into the flesh prisons. Investigating the vines lead them to discovering that the vines were integrating with the deceased's spinal columns, as well as that these vines were definitely not only unnatural but related in some way to the roots that locked them into the town's area. Eldin, meanwhile, investigated in his own way, poking one of the vines with a spear. This lead to the corpse rising by the strength of the vines attached to it. With the party rapidly peeling out of the cage and slamming the door shut, the party was left attempting to tie the cage shut, since there was no lock available for use. To the South, they noticed a locked room attached was locked. After a brief encounter with the ever-curious (and quickly electrocuted to death) Intellect Devourers, Slab was faced with a mental intrusion that knocked him with some psychic damage. Afterwards, Lavug managed to pick the lock for the room, leading them to a small storage room. The room appeared to contain the belongings of the laboratory's victims, including some handcrafted wooden-bead jewelry, some abandoned weaponry, worn clothing, and 25 gold pieces.
Duul has loaded in and unpaused the game.
When Emyr made his way down the hallway, he found a discarded leather-bound journal written by one Coprix, who the party gathered was the student in question that Lodun sent them to find. It appears that when that student arrived here, Raven's Crest was already abandoned. The most recent journal entry was from a month prior to the party's arrival.
Backtracking to the side room attached to the Remnant Lab, Slab kicked down the door, leading them to a small office space. Inside, a corpse could be found in the desk chair, donned in a lab coat. By the appearance of the skull and the pistol still in his hand, the party was able to conclude that the man had taken his own life. Nearby, a poetic, signed* suicidal note could be found. While this occurred, Emyr and Duul took a closer look at the dragon statues in the call, discovering that they could not make out the information on them. Deciding to check for traps, they retrieved a dead rat from another room and throw it across the hallway. This had no effect, but stepping forward activated a pressure plate that triggered a fire trap, singing Emyr. Avoiding the next pressure plate got them by safely, though not without a mental intrusion. "Are you here to join The Collective?" Going into the room, they start to notice a large eye intimately connected to the local root system. Realizing that this eye is what attacked him, Duul used Hellish Rebuke in retaliation.
Combat begins.
After a lot of ranged weaponry, including some arrows, an on-point dart, and a javelin, spells, and a lot of blows, the Remnant Eye was eventually defeated. During the fight, it attempted to raise two zombies from the dead, but shortly after it was defeated, and both corpses immediately dropped to the ground. Upon its death, all of the unnatural roots and vines immediately shriveled up and died, and the party was plagued by a sudden, shared vision from the Eye.

• In the vision, they saw a land on fire, thrown into chaos. Off in the distance could be seen a huge, lumbering figure causing damage with a giant eye in the sky looming over it all.

Afterwards, Eldin poured out a flask of oil to use to scoop up and store some of the leftover eye goop. With the eye destroyed and the roots dispersed, they discovered a passage behind it, leading them back to the surface of Raven's Crest. Once free, Ghozun healed his brother, and they discovered that Chompsky obeyed them wonderfully, bounding towards them and having not eaten the horses --- even a nibble.
The eye creature --- the Nothic, known now to be Coprix --- climbed out of the well to meet and speak with them. Before they left the town, Lavug took several research journals from the office. Coprix requested to join them on their way back to Lodun's manor, to which they agreed, however reluctantly.

* Corpse's name TBD

Report Date

19 Oct 2020