Session 63 - Combing the Teeth
General Summary
12 Sov'van
A couple of hours after midnight in the early morning hours of the 12th, the worm they were riding had refused to go nearer…the ground becoming too rocky. Judging the distance as about 5 miles to the foothills and recognizing the issue, Jilken performed a final dance to thank the creature, the others slipped off the side and back down onto the sands with now practiced ease. Now as dawn begins to lighten the sky the party gazes up at the thin peaks of the Teeth. As the party made a temporary camp, Janora took a few minutes to call up the Giant Raven. Tear set about making some tea as a short discussion began about the best way to search. Janora confirmed, "I can take both Tear and Helenwye up with me, but what it is it that I'm looking for?" Jilken shrugged, "Ideally some sort of hidden city or civilization in the mountains somewhere. Beyond that, I guess check out anything interesting." Denye nodded, pulling out her notebook and reading out her notes on what they had seen in the vision from the Legend Lore spell. "There was sky in the vision of the abandoned city," she said, "but it may still be magically hidden from above, you might also try looking for this cave at the head of a switchback path." Nodding, Ranunkel suggested, "I can talk to the stone so if we can get close, I might just be able to ask for directions." Ell looked up, surprised, and asked, "What kind of range does that have?" "Not that far, unfortunately," said the dwarf, "only within 60 ft or so, and the rock doesn't know all that much." "Okay," muttered Janora, "then we'll start with a high flyover and see what we can see. This isn't the largest mountain range that I've seen but it will take some time and we aren't going to be able look in every nook and cranny. Next question, how are we going to be able to communicate if we find anything? The earrings have range, but not that kinda range." "I will be watching through Helenwye's eyes," offered Denye, "and I can get a general sense of her directions so we should be able to follow you if you find anything worth exploring further." Vellikar offered, "I could WildShape into a bird as well and go hunting as well, I just can't do it all day." Ell shook his head, "That could be super useful to get us up to anything Janora finds. I would save it for that." Grinning, he added, "assuming you can carry some of us." Denye nodded, "I can cast Fly on some of us, but I can't get everyone and it won't last even as long as your shape change." With a plan in place and as the sky brightened from the pinks and reds of sunrise, Janrora mounted up on the Raven and settled Tear and Helenwye up before her. With much flapping of wing and a large dust cloud, the giant bird lifted off in to the air with a caw. Denye settled down into a trance position on her bedroll and warned, "I'm going to be deaf and blind here, while I do this. If you need me, you'll have to shake my shoulder or something to get my attention." "I'll keep an eye on you," offered Vellikar. "That sounds like a good idea," said Jilken nodded, looking around, "this spot is fairly safe and you should be fine until we need to move. I'm going to go scout around and see what I can see. Maybe there is a Voxis hunting party nearby and I can get some information." Ranunkel shrugged, "I'm going to stay here too. There are other ways to commune with the stone, maybe I'll learn something interesting." Jilken left the group and shouldering a waterskin, went hiking northward toward the coast, staying within the foothills and scanning the mountains on one side and desert on the other. She didn't run into any people, but she did managed to bag a half-dozen rock hares. About the time she was going to turn around and head back, she had gotten far enough that the ocean was visible on the horizon. Catching sight of movement in the sky overhead, Jilken looked up and caught sight of two pairs of gryphons, each pair carrying a large basket below them. From the direction of their flight, it was likely that they were coming from Djedbura and inroute to White Gryphon. Grinning broadly, Jilken stood and watched the majestic creatures until they were out of sight. They had been flying too high to get a good look, but even from the ground, the massive wingspan and the large leonine body were apparent. Shaking herself and dreaming of getting to see such a creature up close, the Aiel headed back toward her friends.The flying team settled out at about 7000 ft. and began moving into a search pattern over the mountains. The sight of the thick and colorful jungle on the far side of the mountains raised Janora's spirits and she vowed that they would visit....reasoning that it was similar enough to a forest to work with her spell. The morning passed without any luck, only spotting birds or animals among the crags, but a little after noon, Tear called out, "Miss Janora, I see something there on that stone shelf. Doesn't it look like a worked stone wall?" Janora thought so as well and directed the raven to circle down and get a better look. It was indeed a stone wall, expertly crafted and merging into the natural stone. It was covered in a mural depicting dwarves standing at attention and split by a pair of large double door, one hanging off it's hinges. The remains of a low stone wall marked the edge of the small stone shelf. Janora called Helenwye over and made sure the small pseudodragon got an eyeful of the crumbling wall and asked, "This looks interesting. I don't recall anything about dwarves in this hidden city, but we might want to check this out." Denye couldn't speak through her familiar, but she was able to get the lizard to fly a couple of quick up and down flits to simulate a nod. Helenwye flew up to get a better look at the surrounding area as Janora and Tear landed and began to scout the area. Tear wanted to go look inside, but Janora insisted that they wait for the others. The witch managed to distract him by showing the goblin some interesting plants. That got Tear's attention and they spent the afternoon discussing plants and various uses and as the sun set, Janora cast Tiny Hut and the pair settled in to wait for the others.
Jilken had just returned when Denye suddenly spoke up, "They found something, a dwarven outpost from the looks of things. Looks abandoned and Janora wants to know if we want to meet her to check it out. I still can't hear you, but put a hand on my left shoulder if we should head in that direction and on my right if you think we should not investigate." Ranunkel looked excited at the mention of dwarves but didn't say anything at first. Ell and Vellikar looked interested as well, but Jilken shook her head and said, "I don't recall anything about dwarves related to the legend of Token'eska." Seeing Ranunkel's face fall, Ell said, "Doesn't mean we won't learn something. Even if there is no one left, maybe we'll find a clue or something." That seemed persuasive and Vellikar laid a hand on Denye's left shoulder. It was another 30-40 minutes before Denye came back to herself, lifting her wings and mantling her feathers. Blinking, she looked around and said, "They are about halfway up a cliff face, only about 25 miles or so away by the crow flies." Standing up she added, "but from what we saw we're going to have to circle around that peak," pointing up at the mountain peak just to the south of their current position. Jilken nodded and looked up to the sky, "We've got another 5-6 hours of sunlight left in the day, we should start moving." The fire was doused in a few moments and the ground team headed off to find a way up to the others. Between Jilken and Ranunkel's knowledge, they found a likely looking passage and made good time, finding a trail that lead up the backside of the peak. There were a few spots where Vellikar had to turn into a giant eagle and ferry the party up for one dead-end or another. But as the sun was setting Ranunkel found a lovely little valley with a clear mountain lake. Berry bushes surrounded the lake and as the party entered a flock of firebirds took to the wing, scattering false sparks into the darkening sky. Without Janora to cast Tiny Hut, Denye pulled out her Ring of Homesteading and invited the others up to sleep on the floor and cast Alarm around the base of the ladder. The invisible ladder let up to a small stone room filled with workbenches and a few shelves as well a cot in one corner. Ranunkel and Ell were both very interesting in Denye's gem-growth experiments and they spent a couple of hours discussing the details. It was a bit of a tight fit with all five, but eventually everyone settled down and began their long rest. Feeling confident and secure in Denye's alarm spell they did not set watch. At about 2 or 3 in the morning, the sounds of soft singing drifted in from the open windows, lilting yet also haunting. Denye and Ranunkel were so soundly asleep that they heard nothing. Vellikar tossed a few times, but eventually fell back asleep. Both Ell and Jilken on the other hand, apparently sleepwalking, climbed down the ladder and began moving in the direction of lake. Three figures stood near the shore of the lake, pale elven women dressed in clinging white dresses and long black hair that covered their faces and pooled in the water at their feet. Without thought, both stepped up to the edge of the lake as the hair of the lead figured whipped up and tried to wrap itself around both Ell and Jilken. The Aiel instinctually dodged the attack and snapped back to herself, but Ell got caught up by the whipping locks and came to himself as the hair squeezed the breath out of the young man. One of the other drowned maidens moved up and threw herself at Jilken, slashing with sharp claws. The warrior was able to block both strikes to the face, but several claw marks had punctured her forearm. The maiden holding Ell pulled the young man near and she slashed twice at him as well, leaving claw marks along his left ribcage. Shaking her head Jilken looked around for the first time really assessing the situation. Turning her attention back to the foe in front of her, the Aiel struck out at the maiden, hitting her in the chest. Jilken tried to repeat it with a second blow, but she grounded the sparking spear tip in the lake. The third maiden rushed at Ell but before she got there, Ell managed to get one hand on the Rod of Passage and cast Dimension Door. In a swirl of dark shadows both the warlock and the maiden vanished, reappearing near the entrance to the valley. Ell had been hopeful that removing her from the water would weaken the creature, but sadly she seemed unaffected. With an annoyed tone to his voice, the young man yelled, "Will you people wake up, we have a situation here." Vellikar heard the shouting and sat up just in time to see the maiden lash out twice at Jilken out the window. Shouting and kicking the other to wake, he scrambled for the ladder as the maiden engaged with Ell took more slashes at the young man. Jilken grunted in response and returned a pair of heavy strikes against the now bloody maiden, black blood staining the water that flowed and dripped off the undead creature. The third maiden snuck around and lashed out at the Aiel, wrapping Jilken in her hair before bringing a claw up to rake across the elf's face. Judging that Ell was the most injured, Vellikar held out a hand at the maiden attacking him and cast Create/Destroy Water, drying the maiden out and causing her hair to wilt and loosen the young man. As it turned to look at him, the druid gulped in surprise and vanished. As Ell stepped free of the grasping tendrils and backed away, the drowned maiden lashed out, cutting him once more with her sharp claws. Now back in his right mind, Ell lashed out in return with a Hellish Rebuke of bright blue flames as the other maiden caught Jilken across the thigh. Ranunkel finally pushed himself up and dropping down the ladder took in the scene. Lifting his staff he sent a bolt of lightning into two of the drowned maidens and with a pair of quick strokes finished off the creature she had been fighting. As it vanished in a puff of purple and With a grin she turned to the other that had her tangled in the hair and said, "You're next!" Denye followed the dwarf by the simple expedience of jumping out the hole and gliding to the ground. Yawning, the wizard conjured a Flaming Sphere and threw it the undead creature's back, plunging it into the water, knocking the maiden to the ground and boiling the water around it. The maiden pushed herself to her feet and screamed and swung one arm at Jilken. She missed but spinning to point through at Denye, her hair whipping around and wrapped around the wizard, lifting her off the ground. Vellikar pointed at the maiden who now had two of his friends caught in her hair and uttered a few words. the druid reappeared as a Wall of Thorns wrapped itself around the undead woman, the vines tangling themselves all through it's hair and hiding the undead creature from sight. Ell looked back and forth between the two drowned maidens and fired off a couple of Eldritch Blasts at one who had been attacking him, throwing her against the wall of the cliff where she burst apart in black and purple sparks. Ranunkel called up a dome of stone to surround the remaining maiden, forming up around the vines and trapped hair. Muffled screaming can be heard coming from inside as the grasping locks went limp releasing both Denye and Jilken. The Aiel jumped up on top of the dome and called, "Well done Ranunkel, now can you open a smallish hole so and I'll finish it off. Denye directed the Flaming Sphere up as well and as Ranunkel opened a 1 ft circle in the top, the wizard sent the fireball into the dome, both to give Jilken light and to burn the undead creature out. Within another moment or two it was over and quiet once more. As Jilken hopped down she asked, "What where those things?" "Clearly undead," began Denye, "but beyond that I've never seen such a thing." Ell chuckled, "Janora's going to be pissed that she missed this." Rubbing his head, he headed in the direction of the ladder, adding, "I'm going back to sleep." That seemed like a good plan and rest of the party settled back down to finish out their long rest.
13 Sov'van
Janora and Tear had spent a quiet night in the Tiny Hut and the next morning, went flying some more to see if they could see anything else, leaving Helenwye to wait for the others. Not finding anything they returned to the ruins around noon and the others caught up a couple of hours later. Everyone was quite interested in the dwarven ruin and spent some time examining the carvings and the broken door. None of the party could recall any stories of dwarven settlements in the Teeth and it seemed any identifying marks had been destroyed over the years. Ranunkel spent a few moments examining the broken door and shook his head, "I hate to see broken work like this." Pulling out his tools he began to fix the stonework and Vellikar stopped and offered a Mending spell or two to the cause. As they were working, the others began to look around inside. What they found was a large room with the rubble of broken stone furniture and a central fireplace, long empty. Glancing around, both Janora and Jilken noted the scattered dwarven bones and one or two rusted weapons. The walls were worked with geometric pattern and doors at the back of the room led off to the left and right, but nothing in the way of script. After checking for traps, Janora opened the right door and found a corridor that appeared empty. About halfway down, the witch was attacked by a strange bony insect creature. Four long legs ended in sharp points as did the bony skull. Several more popped out of holes, chittering angrily and attacked the party, with more swarming in from other rooms. Vellikar slammed some against the ceiling with pillars of stone while Ell called up a Sickening Radiance and Denye blocked the group coming up behind with a Storm Sphere. The party was starting to make some headway in smashing the creature when an even larger bug burst out of the wall.
Report Date
30 Dec 2022
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