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PREVIOUSLY - CAMPAIGN DIARIES 13 - ESCAPE FROM CHAOS
Day 43 - Morning Near Conyberry
Day 43 - Morning Near Conyberry
During the stroll from their hidden camp to the Triboar Trail, Immeral Nailo, wizard of the Owlbear League examines more of the papers he had gathered from the quarters of Lucern in the Caves of Chaos, and he shares his findings with the team.
"There is a lot of garbage in these papers, but there is also some frightening information," he begins. "The cult in the caves was apparently worshipping the Elemental Forces of evil. That is the glue that bound those strange creatures together. They were gathering resources to construct four elemental weapons, and they apparently finished. These weapons are needed, and it's not clear why, to call forth some beings called the Elemental Princes. It suggests that a new age will begin when these Princes can leave the elemental planes and come to our world of Toril. Gods know what the new age actually means. Unfortunately we are late and the weapons have already been ferried on to a secret contact in Red Larch, but I can't make out who. It sounds at the very least, that the arrival of these princes will bring great change, and given they are admittedly of evil bent, this change cannot be good for the people of the Sumber Hills where Red Larch is. We must hurry to Red Larch and see if we can stop this catastrophe. It is also the place where Sister Garaele is soon to next travel to in her journeys as a cleric."
"Are you sure you don't just want to save your non-girlfriend?" Nowhere interrupts. "We have not even cleared out the caves and we made a promise to meet Brek at the circle of stones, which we are late for, while we chaperone the weak."
Orryn breaks in... "Before we let this fester into an argument which we can't afford, let's vote on which path to follow."
The League votes on which path to follow, head to Red Larch to investigate the missing weapons, or back to the Shattered Circle and the passages beneath and find a place for the chitine to live. The vote goes with Nowhere and the chitine and Immeral acquiesces, making it clear that Red Larch needs to be visited soon.
As the group approaches the road, they see off in the distance a group of men riding horses, close to Conyberry. The horsemen spot the party, and the dozen start to gallop closer. The former prisoners gather behind the Owlbear League, even behind Lady D, their owlbear, and they prepare for a fight. It becomes clear though, that the horsemen do not have weapons drawn, and a commanding figure rides at the lead and when close, greats the group.
"Greetings friends. I am Sir Isteval of Daggerford. I understand that there is an unusual party of adventurers out of Phandalin that is seeking to clear a band of thuggish orcs from this area. Given the passivity of your owlbear companion, I take it you are that League?"
Nowhere is quiet, without a quick reply for the first time in a while. K'ronk speaks instead, "We are that party, what are your intentions sir?"
One of the former prisoners, Finn, the portly merchant, speaks up from behind the crowd. "I can attest to the honor of Sir Isteval, he is famous across the Sword Coast and afar. A knight of renown, he is known for his tireless work defending the wild north from predatory orcs and other filthy creatures."
Nowhere's complexion seems to grow even redder, her eyes never leaving the mounted knight.
"You are most kind sir. Mr. Edermath informed me of your quest. My men and I had heard rumor that orcs were preying on the innocent on the road from Triboar to Phandalin, just the sort leisure activity my men and I like to investigate - to pass the time as it were." His men chortle. "Unfortunately, it seems you have beat us to the hunt. How may we be of assistance?" Sir Isteval asks while in secret to all but Atlas, Sir Isteval flashes the sign for the Order of the Gauntlet, indicating his dedication to the order.
K'ronk continues. "These folk that we rescued could use escort back to Phandalin. We have other matters to attend to, and need to make haste."
"It would be our pleasure, have you no steeds to lend them?" Isteval asks. "The journey is 3 days on foot."
K'ronk replies, "We do not, we are walkers by nature, and the prisoners were a surprise."
"Understood good men and ladies. We will have them safe in Phandalin before you know it. Volunteers for some walking men? These good folks look like they could use the travel on horse better than you young lads." To a man, all unmount their horses except Sir Isteval, and he smiles with pride. "Were you able to end the threat from the orcs permanently?" he asks.
Immeral stammers a bit and confirms the orcs are gone, embarrassed that the leader, Lucern escaped - as did the orc leader.
Isteval continues a bit mystically. "I understand there may be even greater threats stirring in the area. I assume your work continues in that direction." K'ronk nods in agreement. He considers for a moment, then adds in great seriousness, "find out what you can. It is important to all in the west."
"Heed one warning. If any of you fall, do not leave them behind for the forces of darkness. Bring them back to the light, to Phandalin, even if they no longer pass a breath."
His smile then returns and his eyes catch on Nowhere. His smile grows a tad greater and he bids them all farewell, and the swordsmen and women lead the horses and their exhausted rides back to Phandalin.
Orryn says "You can breathe now Nowhere," and indeed Nowhere lets out a breath that seemed to have been caught in her chest for some time.
Immeral states "I want to get this over with quickly. Back to the stones."
They hurriedly march for several hours back to the excavation site where Nowhere left Brek the chitine and promised to return. They find him not far from the hole in the ground, face up to the sky, his innards ripped from his belly, entrails pointed in different directions. Blood everywhere, the poor creature looks like it was torn apart, and partially eaten, but by what is not clear. There are no pawprints and no creatures about. Not even birds fly nearby.
Upset by the visage, Nowhere does not even turn her powerful tracking skills to use, she merely turns to the excavated entrance to whatever lies beneath, and marches forward - then down. The others follow.
The descent is long down a strait narrow stair that plunges far into darkness in the deep earth. The air is musty and the corners have dust and cobwebs, but the center of the passage has been cleared by the passage of chitine and maybe others. They finally reach a landing and look back up to the pinpoint of light the entrance now provides, comforted they can all see in the dark. They turn down another flight into the depths. After a long trod downward, hundreds of feet perhaps, a glow emerges from below, and before long they come to the end of the stairs. A room opens before them, but it is filled with a strange pale blue mist that glows with a magical light. They cannot see far, only a few feet in any direction. The fog seems to absorb sound and they hear nothing through the mist.
The decide to follow the walls to the right and quickly activate a trap. A pit opens in the floor just to the right of the stair and Nowhere and Dain deftly escape a fall onto spikes below. They use their discovery to find other traps in the floor too, and they hold closely together as they start to navigate the mists. They don't get far, as they hear a scream from behind them and Orryn is attacked.
A small chitine, smaller that Brek and with only two arms stabs at Orryn with a war cry and a dagger in his hand. He is quickly wrestled to the ground and the league uses one of the only words of chitine they know to communicate. "Brek" Immeral says. The chitine boy stops struggling and repeats the name and starts talking. Immeral uses a spell to comprehend languages and learns that the young being is Brek's brother Awa. Immeral tries to communicate through signs, and although it is limited and slow going, he gets the point across that they need to speak to Ulwyn. That they can help. Awa agrees to take them to Ulwyn and after traveling just a few yards and down a few passages, they meet with other chitine. They are startled, but Awa communicates they are sent by Brek and need to speak to Ulwyn. Guards come and escort them to a room where they are asked to lay down their weapons in the presence of their leader. The League complies, and Ulwyn is soon ushered in.
She is a hideous site, hairless besides her head, with similar mandibles than those of the hair chitine they have seen. She speaks to them in common, but broken, and twisted from her distorted mouth. "What can you tell me of Brek, human-creatures?"
Nowhere replies. "Brek is gone ma'am. We found him dead by the hole in the stones."
Ulwyn asks, "do you know what killed him?"
Nowhere returns, "no. But there were no creatures about, so it might have come down here. I talked to Brek last night. He told us of your troubles, he said you are looking for a place to go - somewhere safe, that some chitines had become bad, and that you needed help."
"Brek was looking for a safe place." Ulwyn says. "The upper world is strange to us, dangerous. My people used to live in peace, deep below, but now evil has come to the chitine world. Our leader Caullum was digging in the world below, and he released something evil and never returned. That evil grows and is poisoning the chitine - they are not bad, they are sick with whatever he released. They fight when they used to work together, they are quick to anger and greed. I think they will all be dead soon, dead or poisoned with bad magic."
Nowhere speaks, "I don't know of any place that close that is safe. There are woods a few miles away, past Conyberry, an abandoned town."
"If we had to travel that far, we would, but to start out with absolutely nothing to rebuild a home would be frightening for my people," Ulwyn shares.
Then Immeral has an idea. "Ulwyn, there are caves near here, protected in a canyon. There are creatures we have battled there, evil creatures, but some still remain. This would be a safe place for you and your people, but we would have to drive them out. If you have warriors who could help, we could lead them to drive out the creatures there."
"I am not sure that we want to start a new home with a battle, even with our few brave warriors" Ulwyn states. "Plus, whatever we decide, the evil below will grow. It has been growing, even my own people are starting to be affected. It may even reach human-kind towns if left to grow."
The group considers this, especially in the context of a red wizard tooling about. "If we were to go below and try to fight this evil, would you help us?" Nowhere asks.
Ulwyn looks to the largest warrior in the room, one that is human-sized among his smaller peers. He stands with a large shield and sword made of unusual material, like strings of metal melted together. "Vald would go with you. He is our greatest warrior, and can try to lead you to the lower chambers where Callum went. It is not a safe journey though, the lower chitine are openly attacking us if we try to go below."
"We will try our best to find out what has happened to your people." Nowhere assures Ulwyn.
Vald speaks up. "I need minute." He steps out of the room and returns shortly after with a simple pack. "We go now" he demands, and the party is on its way.
NEXT - VALD LEADS THE WAY
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