The Underdark War

The Party: Kona, Dacien, Lagûn, Centurion

In the time since the last adventure, Kona and Dacien had each found themselves in the role of teacher to a new student. Kona received an unexpected disciple in Lagûn, one of the locathah that had been rescued from the Stranger’s ice fortress.

Rescued from the Ice Anomaly and enslavement in the mines, Lagûn hasn’t forgotten his rescuers and his second chance at life. Rather than returning to his home in the depths, Lagûn remained on the sanctuary engine Sirenshell until he could meet Kona again.

Inspired to follow Kona’s personal brand of Shark Cult devotion, Lagûn seeks to emulate a romanticized vision of a balance restoring knight-errant. Though Kona is not so sure, he has taken to teaching Lagûn some swordplay and philosophy. Bravely exploring the strange surface world, the locathah’s displays of faith sometimes surprise even himself, as well as his would-be mentor.

Dacien, meanwhile, had been putting together plans to start an Academy dedicated to the Caliber. The efforts had generated modest interest, with at least one perspective student, but in his preparations, Dacien stumbled upon a different kind of servant: a magically animated suit of armor called Centurion.

Dacien looked over the “priceless trove” of artifacts he had acquired from the dubious dealer Brammos had referred to him. A pile of worn and rusted knick-knacks lay at his feet: cups, bowls, letter openers, farming tools, most of which he doubted were even of Empire make.

Not what he had paid for. Certainly nothing that could help him furnish the new Academy he had under construction.

Vowing to have a moment of reckoning with the merchant, Dacien began repacking the items, when he noticed something odd: the wooden tool handles seemed to ring with a metallic character. And it was the ring of strong, true metal.

Impossible. The disintegrating effects of Ember Core fallout were known to affect virtually all materials, all but the ancient alloys used to forge the Greater House heirlooms—

The hilt of his family sword began shaking violently in its scabbard. Dacien grabbed at it, but pulled back almost immediately; he stared in disbelief as blood streamed down his palm onto the ruby Ember nested in the pommel of his sword.

The crystal flared angrily, casting a baleful crimson light over the aged tools. Slowly, then feverishly, each piece began vibrating in time with his sword, building to a pulsing, pounding, delirious hum. Images of twisting metal forms, melding and reforming, assaulted Dacien’s vision as he reeled about.

Then the tremors ceased.

Gone was the heap of rust on the ground. In its stead, stood a burnished suit of battle armor, suspended in the air, as if by some incorporeal wearer. Behind the faceless helm, Dacien thought he heard faint echoes of the cacophony from before. Yet now it resonated within him.

A wordless, anguished cry...for vengeance.

While unexpected, the new members of Lanternwurm would become part of the adventuring party, joining Kona and Dacien on their next assignment.

The time had come for Lanterwurm to make good on the commitments it had made during the Quiet Year to help combat the growing threat of the Communion of the First Flame. The tumultuous change in the engine’s leadership and the hesitation of the community had hindered Lanternwurm’s ability to contribute to the plans that they had formulated with Master Crow to assault Cinder Castle, the First Flame’s stronghold, via a hidden path through the Underdark.

Still not widely explored by surface-dwellers, the Underdark exists as a vast network of caverns deep underground. When the Planar Catastrophe cast so many into chaos, the most marginalized populations were affected even more so. Many of the so-called “monstrous” races (orcs, kobolds, and goblins) were forced underground, along with anyone unable to find a place in the new order of sanctuary engines. They settled in among native Underdark dwellers like the grey dwarves.

While their influence was still not obviously felt in the overworld, the Communion of the First Flame had not been idle and were massively expanding operations throughout the Underdark. Their campaign had been one of subtlety and deception. Through propaganda and intimidation, they convinced many of the populace of the Underdark to join or support them. They claimed to offer miracles of medicine, and they did indeed hold secrets of life-renewing through flame. But those aware of their deeds suspected an underlying goal of domination, power, and eternal life for a select few.

Master Crow had also been occupied, busy stamping out the First Flame’s activities within The Locks, and was unable to put his full attention toward a full war campaign in the Underdark. As a result, the effort fell to a small, rag-tag group, patched together from a contingent of Master Crow’s forces, a handful of Lanternwurm’s fighters, and the Spindrift Rangers, who, recognizing the growing threat of the First Flame on the ecology of the Channel, had thrown in their support.

Constantly under-staffed and under-resources, the loose coalition had been forced into a position of waging a guerilla war against the First Flame as Cinder Castle has become all but unapproachable at present. They had colloquially known as the Aurora Force among the troops because of their use of a local Underdark planar phenomenon for limited teleportation. First discovered by the Rangers, these auroras appeared as shimmering, iridescent fields of light that (with the right talismans) could allow a short jump to another location. The technology could be unpredictable and was limited in the number of people that could be transported, but it enabled the Aurora Force to conduct small targeted operations against the First Flame.

This was the situation that Kona and Dacien walked into (accompanied by Lagûn and Centurion) as they were deployed by Lanternwurm to help support the campaign however they could. They were introduced to Sister Goldfinch, a lieutenant of Master Crow, and Tongar Sureclaw, one of the Spindrift Rangers. These two had become the de facto lead representatives of their factions, and welcomed the party as Lanternwurm’s forces had been lacking a clear counterpart.

They were to help direct where Aurora Forces troops would be deployed across the three local areas of the Underdark:

• The Root Roads: A labyrinthine web of narrow tunnels that covered a large portion of the nearby area.

• The Blue Marshes: An underground marsh covered in giant, blue, glowing toadstools and other various fungi.

• Orkfal and the Clockwork Ruins: an area of small scattered ruins that seem to trace back to the Clockwork Empire. Previously abandoned, now mostly taken up by a diaspora of orcs, humans, grey dwarves, and goblinoids. The largest settlement is a ruined city now known as Orkfal (its original name lost long ago).

On top of their help in marshalling forces, Sister Goldfinch and Tongar hoped that the party would themselves also form a squad for some of the highest priority operations. While they couldn’t be everywhere at once, selecting the right operations would be critical to undermining the First Flame and buy more time to formulate a more decisive way to end the war.

Operation 1

The first operation had the party being dropped into the Blue Marshes through the aurora. They were to open relations with a group of myconids and convince them to support the Aurora Force against the First Flame. Tongar accompanied the group to help act as a guide.

The party travelled a ways deeper into the marsh, avoiding the deeper pools of water that dotted the landscape. They arrived at a large forest of giant blue mushrooms where the myconids made their home. Large, misshapen fungal structures acted as the homes and buildings of the myconids.

Each vision was related to the idea of strength. Dacien saw a vision of military might, a column of old empire soldiers working in perfect formation. King Aina understood the warlock’s impulse, but made clear that strength of arms was not typically the myconids’ way. Kona offered a vision of strength through balance which resonated with the myconids, but his telling of the story of his background and beliefs was complicated for the king to understand. By the end of the ritual, the king was hesitant to join an alliance.

He offered a further test, this time of physical skill, of the strength to act on one’s vision. He led the party to a kind of obstacle course of toadstools, where myconids were leaping from mushroom to mushroom. Centurion attempted the trial with some direction from Dacien and succeeded, but her slow, methodical jumping did little to impress the crowd. Kona took his turn and this time, the king and his people were duly impressed by the grace and speed with which the paladin was able to complete the run. Kona even used a burst of misty step to teleport and add a flourish to the performance.

Swayed by the skills of this final feat, King Aina agreed to a temporary partnership, recognizing the benefits of pushing back the First Flame. He made no promises for after the First Flame had been dealt with, but the operation was successful for the moment.

Meanwhile, the war was going well for the Aurora Force. It seemed that the addition of the party’s expertise gave them the edge necessary to push back the First Flame on all fronts.

[Aurora Force: 3 wins, First Flame: 0 wins]

Operation 2

The next operation saw the party tasked with escorting a small transport of a magical resource that the Aurora Force would be able to put to good use. The protected wagon holding the supplies was imbued with an enchantment which would keep it in motion along the planned route. They would need to fend off any threats as the transport made its way through the Root Roads.

Centurion was able to use her defensive techniques to fend off some of the creatures. Kona’s quick work with his rapier took down a couple of the raptors. The brass hart struck Dacien with a charge of its antlers, but he was able to recover and answered with blasts of eldritch energy and shots from his pistol. Excited for his first adventure, Lagûn jumped into the fray alongside Dacien, but was decidedly less effective with the swings of his training weapon. However, he was able to draw on his healing magics to help sustain the group, conjuring healing spirits that looked like small schools of fish circling the air.

Soon the transport was only a short distance away from tunnels secured by the Aurora Force. The party continued to fight off the metal creatures, even as more of them appeared out of the shadows of the Root Roads. In the end, despite some damage sustained by the transport vehicle, the party was able to destroy the attacking creatures and deliver the supplies.

Meanwhile, the Aurora Force was still holding its own in the war, though not quite as successfully as earlier. In particular, they had lost some ground to the First Flame in Orkfal as the cult strengthened its grip on the people.

[Aurora Force: 2 wins, First Flame: 1 win]

Operation 3

The next operation had the party interrupting a First Flame ritual by destroying the artifact at the center of it. The Aurora Force had received late-game intel that cultists were about to complete the ritual to create a direct line of communication to the fire god Garyx. The party used the aurora to drop in close to the shrine where the ritual was being conducted.

At first taking a stealthy approach, Lagûn cast a spell to mask the movements of the party and keep them hidden from enemy detection. They stalked into the shrine, keeping to the shadows near the entrance. Inside, they saw a group of First Flame cultists chanting at the foot of a massive bonfire in the final stages of the ritual. Each cultist wore a mask and held a bladed chain wrapped around their waist. The fire seemed magical in nature, burning in multiple colors, and the adventurers surmised that the fire itself was the artifact that they had been sent to destroy.

After directing Centurion to hold the attackers off, Dacien cast a globe of darkness over the battle to disorient the cultists. A couple of the magma creatures rushed the warlock and burned him with their fiery touch.

Kona stepped forward to take on some of the maga creatures, leaping over one of the fire pits to land blows with his rapier. With a smite of his divine power, he destroyed one of them, but was surprised when it exploded in a splash of magma, burning at his skin.

Thrashing about in the globe of darkness, the cultists wielded their bladed chains and struck Centurion, tangling the construct up and restraining her movement.

In the midst of battle, Lagûn crept closer to the fire, still hidden. Realising some kind of providence at play, he began casting a spell that would normally hold little benefit in a fight, but seemed tailored to this moment. With a wave of his hand, gallons of water began falling as rain inside the shrine onto the holy fire. It sputtered angrily but was soon extinguished.

In the confusion of the darkness, many of the cultists did not even realize their ritual had failed. One that had seen the holy fire put out became distraught and unleashed a spout of flame from his mouth against the group in anger. However, the cultist knew they were beaten.

As the party destroyed more of the magma creatures, Dacien channeled his faith into projecting a magical aura of fear causing a few of the cultists to flee. Their mission accomplished, the party called upon the aurora to make a jump back to base camp.

Meanwhile, the war was taking a turn for the worse for the Aurora Force. The Communion pushed further into the Blue Marshes and made some popular gains in Orkfal.

[Aurora Force: 1 win, First Flame: 2 wins]

Overall, the war was going in the Aurora Force’s favor. The presence of the adventurers had clearly made a difference. However, the war was far from over and unless the Aurora Force could reveal some key advantage, it seemed like they had little hope to maintain the fight in the long term.