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Caravan Stairs
Caravan Stairs
After their rest, the party ventured forth again. It seemed to them that their quarry was not to be found in the temple. But Saruki had provided them with some valuable intelligence. They left the priests' quarters travelling west. They came to a closed door and pushed it open. The walls of this chamber were carved with stone friezes. They depicted dwarven merchants leading trains of mules or giant lizards burdened with heavy packs through immense caverns. In the center of the chamber, a wide stairway lead down into darkness. At the top of the stairs stood a hunched, insectoid creature with a pitchfork. When the group came into the room, Kahntun flashed the symbol of the water cult.
Suddenly, a buzzing voice entered each of their heads. "What do you serve?" it asked.
Drawing on the knowledge she had collected from Saruki, LiKi responded "we serve Olhydra."
"What lies below?" the buzzing voice demanded.
"The Fane of the Eye!" Leopold exuberantly returned.
"What are you?" the mezzoloth guardian prodded.
"Bearers of the surge!" Alexander smugly replied, confident in the reliability of the intel they had extracted from the water priestess.
Apparently that confidence was misplaced as the buggy barricade rejoined, "Incorrect. Impostors must be destroyed." Although they won the fight, this little fiend posed a more complicated challenge than our group had anticipated. Here are some highlights:
- The mezzoloth cast cloud kill then retreated to a dark corner of the room;
- Alexander, Kahntun, and Leopold resisted the noxious fumes, then Leopold cast dispel magic to remove this magical stink;
- LiKi landed a few firebolts;
- As Kahntun and Alexander closed in with drawn swords, the mezzoloth suddenly vanished into a magical darkness;
- Alexander took a stab in the dark but only managed to stab Kahntun . . . twice . . . for 13 hps of damage! (rolling with disadvantage, he managed to roll a critical fail on each of his attacks);
- Kahntun backed out and prepared an attack;
- LiKi disguised her voice as Saruki's with a minor illusion spell, then demanded the mezzoloth leave of its attack; the mezzoloth seemed confused for a moment, then asked "what are you?"
- When LiKi was once again incapable of coming up with the correct answer, combat resumed;
- Leopold dispelled the magical darkness;
- The mezzoloth teleported 60 feet away, appearing in the doorway that LiKi was standing just beyond;
- Leopold viciously mocked the monster, shaking its confidence, and causing it to frantically cast another darkness spell;
- LiKi countered this spell before it could go off;
- Kahntun and Alexander chopped up the creature, delivering grievous wounds;
- LiKi polished it off with a firebolt.
Leopold's quick thinking dispelling these spells saved the group a lot of grief . . . but unfortunately, not all the grief as Kahntun ended up on the receiving end of Alexander's flailing sword strikes in the magical darkness.
After the fight, the Temple above and below grumbled with a low, menacing rumble. They assumed that their presence was now very well-known. But nevertheless, Leopold was eager to delve deeper! "Well, it's down we go!" he cheerily ventured.
"Are you crazy?" Kahntun acerbically replied. "We don't know what's down there!" Alexander and Kahntun exchanged a look.
"Yeah, we should get back to civilization and see what has happened since we've been down here. We should find out more about what awaits us in this Fane of the Eye. Red Larch seems as good a place as any."
Leopold continued to assert his arguments, but in the end, the paladin and the fighter convinced him to leave off. LiKi wondered at his sudden desire and insistence to travel deeper into this creepy place.
They traveled quickly back through the dungeon, retracing their steps. When they arrived at Starry Lake, their boats were gone! However, several rotted wooden skiffs were drawn up on the rocky shore. Not willing to risk the three mile swim through the dark, creepy stream up to Rivergard Keep, Alexander assessed what he had to work with. He came to the conclusion that given an hour, maybe two, he could render two of the skiffs usable. It was at this point that an idea struck Kahntun. "Remember that tunnel we encountered in the other temple? What if this passage to the west leads us there?"
LiKi agreed. "It makes sense. Tyer-Besil was a city. It seems like these temples are just repurposed districts."
"And that would lead us back to the Sighing Valley, putting us close to the road to Red Larch" Alexander added. As they were discussing their next course of action, Leopold looked longingly across the lake toward where they had come from a short while ago. Suddenly he saw the water coming to life. "Look out!" he shouted to Alexander, but it was too late! Alex was now firmly in the clutches of a giant octopus that had stealthily crept up to the water's edge. In the clutches of this monster, our folk hero gasped for air even as he was being dragged under water and pulled away from the shore by this slithering monster.
This grasping creature seemed more of a nuisance than serious threat. Had LiKi been in reach, however, things might have gone disastrously. They may have had to scour the depths of the lake for a drowned gnome.
Here's what happened:
- LiKi peppered the sea beast with firebolts;
- Leopold landed three stinging magic missiles;
- Alexander was able to flex and bust out of the octopus' slimy clutches; he sunk to the bottom and started struggling up a steep slope toward the shore;
- the octopus positioned itself to block Alexander's retreat, putting it in range of Kahntun's punishing longsword attacks;
- When Alexander finally reached the shore, he drew his sword, soaking wet and heaving for breath; fury was in his eyes as he skewered his wriggling adversary with his flaming sword;
- the heroes considered butchering the giant octopus for meat, but thought better of it; they were eager to be far from this place, on the road to a warm fire and a cold beer at the Inn of the Swinging Sword in Red Larch.
As they suspected, the mile-long tunnel to the west did in fact lead to the Temple of Howling Wind. An ominous windy wailing haunted the giant shelf of this section of the ancient underground city.
In no time at all they were in the Sighing Valley. Leopold glanced up at Feathergale Spire, hoping to catch a glimpse of his aarakocran allies. He saw two wheeling through the sky far above.
The group then skirted the wilds between the Cairn Road and Larch Path. They kept to forests and lowlands, hoping to pass through the area uninterrupted. A day or so into their travels, they noticed an eerie silence permeated the wilds. They couldn't think of the last time they heard, much less saw another living creature. Odd orange clouds hung overhead in the overcast sky. There was a heavy sense of anticipation lingering in the air. But, nevertheless, they arrived in Red Larch about a day and a half later without anything of note taking place.
The land around the Sumber Hills was curiously desolate.
TL;DR
TL;DR
- Saruki had betrayed the party, giving them a false password.
- They destroyed a mezzoloth that protected an ancient stairway that lead down to the Fane of the Eye.
- Leopold was eager to travel downward, but his companions convinced him that they would return another time.
- They worked their way back to the shore of Starry Lake.
- Alexander was yanked into the lake by a giant octopus, but he escaped and they slaughtered the beast.
- They made their way back to Red Larch without incident.
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