Episode 8: Seven Years (or They're Trying to Bring Down the Mountain!)
Welcome back to The Great Maw.
We’ve a fair group for this episode today, with almost the entire group present. Ladyhawk, Redshirt, Yohan and LaPD all return, as Mathlynn, Aella and Uday and Aracaeda respectively. We also have Sins taking up Elenthrus once more, and Dev, with his new character Lleyne. Despite all the hopes of the Seekers, the sun has not risen by the third day. Every hour, the bell tolls in the encampment, denoting both dawn and dusk, midday and midnight as the timekeepers reckon it to be. They have no real way of knowing, but they hold to their ritual anyway, providing some kind of routine and order to the daily lives of the Seekers living within the walls.
Word from the Seekers on the other isles of the Westrand tells a similar story. No one is any closer to what has caused the phenomenon.
It has been three days since our group of Seekers returned, battered and wounded, from the Sirok Delta. Aella has recovered from her injuries well enough, and while her limping occasionally opens up barely healed wounds, her indomitable constitution means she’s well and truly able to handle it. Both Whylith and Angus however, are still critically wounded and remain laid up in the infirmary.
In their absence, Captain Stenglein has attached two more Seekers to the strike force, Elenthrus, an experienced Feartarbh scout, and Lleyne, a newly-arrived Woodsman archer from the Gwyrai Forest.
“If this lake spirit is truly behind this, we must go out and at least make contact with it.” – Elenthrus.
“With Angus wounded however we may not have anyone able to communicate with it.” – Aella.
“We still have a caster, no?” – Uday, gesturing towards the silent Mathlynn.
“Treating with spirits is quite different from my kind of magic. I may have no luck.” – Mathlynn.
“But a daemon should be able to talk to a spirit. Summon a daemon and have it translate.” – Lleyne, to the flinches of everyone present.
On the whole Black Magic has a pretty thoroughly deserved reputation around the world for being a pretty reprehensible act. Where the unlearned peasantry may well believe that daemons are, by dint of their very being, evil, and that Black Magic is the result of unholy pacts with them, the far-more common truth, as can be discerned by those who study such things, is potentially even more horrific.
Daemons themselves are not exactly evil by their nature, although the Otherworld is almost like the ocean of our world, but a nightmarish version of such. Just about everything there is a predator of some sort, but unlike our oceans, almost every daemonic entity, has some modicum of sentience and intelligence. This means that each more powerful entity must be more cunning and ruthless than the last to have any hope of preying upon, and subsequently avoiding the predations, of their peers.
With this in mind, Black Magic involves forcibly holding a sentient entity captive and painfully draining it of its life essence to provide you power. While pacts with powerful daemons can, and do, happen with some regularity, providing great power to the recipient, these rituals are far rarer than the basic act which the majority of Black Magic casters perform.
As a whole, Black Magic is generally frowned upon, and due to the inherent dangers involved, those who practise it are often openly persecuted by many societies across the world. In an organisation such as the Seekers however, who must take all the volunteers they can, it is usually seen as a ‘necessary evil’ in one’s allies, something which one should turn a blind eye to and pretend they don’t see.
“Yeah I can’t see that being a good idea. Like at all.” – Mathlynn, shaking her head after getting past the initial shock.
“So what can we do if we can’t talk to the lake spirit?” – Uday, starting to get frustrated.
“We could blow up this new rift forming in the delta.” – Lleyne, to the astonishment of Mathlynn.
“By the Flame, that is a terrible idea. Last we saw it was growing already, and if it is indeed like the Firescar, it will continue doing so indefinitely. It doesn’t need us to help it along.” – Mathlynn.
“Have we ever looked into just what is causing these rifts to grow the way they are?” – Uday.
“Yes, we determined that it is a ritual the Krona sorcerers are performing, and they’re using those orange crystals to channel the power.” – Mathlynn.
“Of course, the crystals. We need to find out more about them. Where they’re from, what they are. If we can just get our hands on one, with the help of our casters I might be able to reverse engineer it and make something that can at least halt the growth, if not close the rifts entirely.” – Uday, thoughtful.
“That’s a huge goal.” – Elenthrus, sceptical.
“I’ve devoted my life to science. Always aim higher than you believe you can reach. Regardless, it’s the best idea I have.” – Uday, matter-of-fact.
“So we’re just going to randomly hunt down things?” – Sins.
“Randomly hunt down things with staves, yes, and if one of the big fighter types can try to grapple the bastard before PG blows him up with a Miscast, that’d be great.” – Yohan.
“I don’t know how to grapple.” – Redshirt.
“Everyone can grapple. No, wait, I don’t know how to either, but I assume we can figure it out as we go.” – Yohan, to general laughter.“While this is a worthy goal, it doesn’t solve our problem with the sun.” – Aracaeda.
“No, that is true. I would be willing to try and communicate with the spirit in the lake if everyone feels that’s our best chance.” – Mathlynn.
“I feel like everyone’s forgetting how it tried to kill us last time we were there.” – Aella, who of course would recall that quite readily, as she was quite badly injured.
“That said, according to Angus, it didn’t mean to. It was just harvesting and we happened to be in the area. I’m willing to give it a try.” – Mathlynn, shrugging.
“Okay, so we go to the lake and we keep the crystal collection business open as a side-quest of sorts. A ‘collect 15 Orange Crystals and turn them in to progress to the next quest,’ kind of thing, yeah?” – Yohan.“You know how you said you wanted to know where these crystals came from? Wasn’t the fortress up in the mountains built upon mines?” – Elenthrus, deep in thought.
“Aye, that sounds familiar.” – Mathlynn, nodding.
“I daresay that there’s a substantial tunnel system running beneath that fortress. It may well be worth looking at if you wish to find the origin of those crystals.” – Elenthrus, turning to Uday.
“The lake is on the way to the mountains really. Hopefully we can deal with the creature in there on the way.” – Uday.
* * *
The Seekers set out for the mountains, taking the southern route through the marshes of the Sirok Delta, or at least, that was the intention. In truth however, the Sirok Delta has more or less ceased to exist. Now, what was once a swampy morass is now just a gigantic flaming pit, akin to the Firescar which divides the island. The tributary rivers and streams have all dried up, as has the ground around the pit. The only consolation is the fact that the Krona have not re-settled.
After several hours, the Seekers decide to make camp to rest, with no way of really knowing just how much time has passed.
The marsh-lights are not spotted, but all the Seekers feel uneasy in the warm night air, as if they are being watched…
* * *
The Seekers find themselves in the lands surrounding the great lake, in which the primordial spirit dwells. The grass is extremely long, the entire plain verdant and teeming with plant-life, the ground underfoot difficult to traverse. Unable to see ahead, they spend hours searching the plain, picking through the ridiculously tall grass, re-treading the same ground many times over, trying to make it to the village near the lake.
Eventually they must stop and rest, and so they set up camp. It is only then that they realise something is wrong…
A sense of lethargy overcomes all of them and they are far more exhausted than they should be. Lines have appeared on faces that they shouldn’t have, growth ridges on horns that weren’t there mere hours ago.
“According to my horns, I should be almost thirty years old…” – Elenthrus, troubled.
“And I’m over forty… What’s happened?” – Aella.
All around the camp, the Seekers are astounded to see that they’ve aged dramatically over the course of the day. Over five years each as they reckon it, though not as many as ten.
“We have not wandered around this plain for five years. Something else is behind this.” – Elenthrus, swiftly cutting away his shaggy fur where it has grown too long.
“I recall Angus saying that the thing in the lake bleeds power and life, but I think I understand why now. It bleeds out, speeding the growth of everything growing around it so it can pull in a greater harvest. Slowly growing more and more powerful with every harvest, an indefinite process. Fascinating…” – Mathlynn, half to herself.
“So essentially it slowly bleeds off say twenty percent of its power into everything growing around it, infusing it with life until it reaps the harvest, reclaiming substantially more power than it put in? Is that how it works?” – Uday, following Mathlynn’s theory.
“It seems like it, yes.” – Mathlynn, nodding.
“So we’ve been flooded with life in preparation for the slaughter? That sounds like a crap deal.” – Elenthrus.
“We can’t stay here and rest then. We need to find this lake and get out of here.” – Aracaeda, to general sounds of agreement.
The Seekers break camp and head north, hoping to stumble across the lake in the dark.
* * *
The lake appears serene, untouched by the devastation which has hit the rest of the island. Around the lake, flowers and tall grass blooms.
“I don’t think it is long before the next harvest. We must move quickly.” – Elenthrus.
“The lake is calm and placid.”
“Nope! I’m staying away from the lake. It’s always a trap.” – Yohan.
“True. Always a trap.” – Sins, echoing the sentiment.
“Last time I touched a lake in any game a kraken came out of it.” – Yohan.
“Hell, last time I ran a game with a lake in it I’m pretty sure a kraken came out. Come to think of it, I think you were the one who touched it…” – To Yohan.“The spirit is in this lake, no?” – Lleyne, on edge, arrow nocked and ready on his bowstring.
“Yes, it should be here. Unless it has left, but Angus made it seem like it wasn’t going anywhere.” – Mathlynn, not really paying attention.
“We should never have come here. Every moment we stay here, the more danger we’re in. She can’t even communicate with it anyway!” – Lleyne.
“I agree. The longer we’re here the weaker we get.” – Uday, nodding.
“If we leave now without trying to communicate with it though, we’ll just have to go through this entire process again. We’re already here, might as well give Mathlynn a chance to get through to it.” – Aracaeda, impassioned.
“If we go on to the mountains we need to come back through this territory anyway, no?” – Uday.
“No, we can go round, though that means finding our way around the new rift in the delta, or cutting through the Gibel Forest.” – Aella, who doesn’t seem too pleased with either option.
“Around the rift. That forest is death.” – Elenthrus.
“Quiet, all of you. What I’m about to do might be very dangerous. I need some peace to concentrate.” – Mathlynn, readying herself.
“Dangerous? Okay then.” – Elenthrus, who promptly turns around and walks away.
With a surge of will, Mathlynn pulls a daemon into the material world, granting it corporeal, if insubstantial, form and orders it into the lake. It panics at the idea, but Maebh’s command compels it into obedience. She can feel the effect the life-infused water has on the unnatural being, both pleasure and pain at once, before the connection is promptly snuffed out, taking with it a not inconsiderable amount of Mathlynn’s vitality.
The necromancer falls back with a shocked gasp. Daemons cannot exactly die…
But this one just did.
“Another.” – Ladyhawk, preparing to roll.
“Yes, keep sending them in until you piss it off and something comes out!” – LaPD.
“Initiative guys.”
“Oh no.” – LD.
“Run away!” – Ladyhawk.“Please tell me we are rolling Initiative because a massive pile of gold came flying out of the river and now I have money to buy my hoes.” – LaPD.
“You wrote hoes on your sheet of things you wanted didn’t you?” – Yohan.
“That is correct.” – LaPD.
“He’s just going to give you a heap of farming implements.” – Yohan.
“I wish you hadn’t said that. That is exactly what I was going to do.”
“You knew exactly what kind of hoes I wanted!” – LaPD, indignant.
“Even if you had put bitches, you would have just gotten a heap of female dogs.” – Redshirt.
“I shall put down, ‘a lot of promiscuous females’ then. See what that gets me.” – LaPD.
“Ducks. Lots of ducks.” – Sins.
“What the hell man? Why ducks?” – Ladyhawk.
“She asked for promiscuous females, but never specifies the species. Therefore, ducks.” – Sins.
“Were they horny ducks?” – LaPD.
“Hopefully.” – Sins.
“You know, I’d still be satisfied with that.” – LaPD.
“They’d also send you the bill.” – Sins, cause it wouldn’t be a tangent without Sins making a pun.
The upper half of a gigantic beast rises at least fourteen feet from the still water of the lake. Its flesh seems to be made of dead wood and rock, covered in moss and underwater plants. Built along humanoid lines, its great bark-like face splits into a fang-filled maw, which gives voice to a thunderous gurgling roar. A massive, clawed limb reaches out towards the Seekers, the other hand grabbing the bank of the lake to steady itself as it ponderously pulls itself from the centre of the lake.
“Okay, tag-team. In comes Maebh.” – Ladyhawk.
“How big is the hand reaching towards us?” – LaPD.
“portugaling huge. Each clawed finger is about as long as you are tall.”
“Right, how fast can I run?” – LaPD.
“Okay, so we’re running, leaving Ladyhawk behind to die.” – Redshirt.
“Seconded.” – Sins.
“I’m not leaving Ladyhawk to die.” – LaPD.
“Aww thanks.” – Ladyhawk.
“Correction then, we leave both of them behind to die.” – Dev.
“Actually I have no intention of hanging around either.” – Ladyhawk.“Run!” – Mathlynn.
The Seekers leg it, swiftly leaving the lake and the terrible guardian behind…
* * *
As far as they can tell it is four days later when the Seekers finally arrive in the foothills of the northern mountains, each of them approximately seven years older than when they set out from the encampment on the eastern edge of the island, except Mathlynn, who has aged almost ten years. It seems her momentary connection to the primordial through the daemon she summoned took a heavy toll.
Before them stretches a vast floodplain, the heat of the mountains not abated since they were last in this place.
For Aella, even the distant sight of the ruined fortress within which she fell into one of the rifts brings back a feeling a dread. She shrugs the feeling off, but draws one of her blades, just to be safe…
* * *
The fires which consumed the place when Mathlynn rigged it for explosion have long since died, which should not be surprising, if it weren’t for the seeming fact that every fire on this godsforsaken island seems to burn for much longer than it has any right to do so. Thankfully there is no sign of any Krona presence.
“I see no mines.” – Aella, looking around.
“True enough, but there are caverns beneath this whole fortress. There must be a way in somewhere.” – Mathlynn.
“Unless you blew up the entrance when you destroyed the rest of the fortress.” – Aella, under her breath.
The sharp-eared Dunscarth pretends not to hear.
“I’ve found something.” – Lleyne, calling out from the cliff-face behind the ruined fort.
The rest of the Seekers rush over, and see a crevice, snaking its face up the solid rock of the cliff-face, leading into the mountain itself.
“That must be it. We’ll never get the cart in there.” – Uday, who has spent the last four days building a second golem and enhancing both the first and the ballistas.
“Let’s set up camp and try to get some rest. We’ll head into the mines in a few hours.” – Elenthrus, taking charge.
* * *
Aracaeda takes point, halfswording her greatsword to account for the cramped conditions. Behind her, Elenthrus, having far more difficulty than the relatively slightly-built Dunscarth and her excellent low-light vision. Next, Mathlynn and Uday, who has told Gholeg to mind the cart outside the crevice while the Seekers explore. Lleyne and Aella, weapons unsuited for the tight conditions of tunnel fighting, make up the rear.
It is with relief that the tunnel widens into a cavernous expanse, the walls of which bear evidence of substantial working where they’ve been steadily chipped away. Left where they fell are the corpses of captives, equipped with whatever implements were at hand which could be used to dig at the rock. They are predominantly Jeleni and Midlanders, though there are also three Invarrian amongst them.
Feeling vulnerable without any ablative shields, Mathlynn raises seven of the best preserved corpses to serve her in death.
To Uday’s practiced eye, the tell-tale gleam of gems in the rock is enticing. Taking out his own, expertly forged pickaxe, he prepares to swing.
Two more tunnels extend from the cavern, one to the north and the other to the west. Lleyne goes to the western tunnel and immediately draws back his arrow.
“There’s something down here.” – Lleyne, readying himself for combat.
“Uday! No noise. We’re not alone.” – Aella, grabbing the intent Bruin’s wrist before he impacts the wall.
“There’s a foul smell from down here too.” – Elenthrus, gesturing to the northern tunnel.
“Probably more corpses.” – Mathlynn, dismissive.
“Let’s find out what’s making the noise then.” – Aracaeda, hefting her sword and about to set off down the tunnel.
“Hold a moment, let me go first.” – Elenthrus, which earns him a disbelieving look from the Dunscarth.
The Feartarbh’s black pelt quickly merges into the darkness and he disappears from their view.
* * *
A few minutes of careful exploration brings Elenthrus to another widened cavern. What looks almost like a well dominates the centre of the cave, around which stand seven Krona, six marauders armed with a mix of primitive weapons and a single hulking overseer with a thick, barbed whip.
Around the cave, around a dozen captives are working, either on the ground or up on rickety scaffolding. One slightly built Jeleni, an old man, dusty and malnourished, prises an orange gemstone free from the rock wall and is immediately set upon by three of the marauders, who viciously beat him, take the stone and hand it to the overseer, who reverently drops it down the well.
The Jeleni does not move.
“Same mix of races amongst the captives as before?” – Yohan.
“Yes, but there’s a single Northmann as well.”
“Right, we free them and take any survivors back to camp with us, have them join our ranks.” – Yohan.
“Even if they aren’t survivors, I can still add them to our ranks.” – Ladyhawk.Having seen enough, Elenthrus returns to the rest of the Seekers.
* * *
Aracaeda rushes into the cavern, cleaving the overseer in half with a single blow.
“Okay Sins, Elenthrus is up.”
“I’ll sneak in behind the overseer.” – Sins.
“The overseer was just bisected.”
“Excellent. He’ll never notice me then.” – Sins.Elenthrus stalks across the cavern, pitch-black fur invisible in the shadows, massive knives flash and a Krona marauder falls to the ground, having been silently disembowelled. Beside him, Aella charges into a knot of marauders, putting two of them down with finality. The third takes a heavy arrow in the chest from Lleyne’s bow and is about to strike at Aella when an ear-splitting scream reverberates around the cavern.
The bainsidhe scream emanating from the levitating Mathlynn is enough to blow the eardrums of everyone present, rupturing blood vessels and causing intense pain. Unfortunately, five of the captives lined up against the wall are just about bodily blown apart by the sonic attack, as is the marauder shot by Lleyne.
The awful sound is cut off abruptly and Mathlynn crumples to the ground like a marionette with its strings cut, dark blood pouring from her mouth and nose.
Seeing the Dunscarth fall, Uday charges into the room and stands over her, throwing his hatchet at the nearest Krona and missing something awful. Unperturbed, he grasps his smithing hammer tightly, ready to swing at either of the remaining marauders. Around him stand Mathlynn’s horde of patchworks, but without her consciousness, they are unable to do anything but obey her last command to them, namely to protect her from the Krona.
Aracaeda and one of the marauders trade blows until she is able to take its head off. Beside her, Elenthrus finishes off the last Krona, and silence descends on the cavern.
“Is there any leader amongst you?” – Lleyne, searching the faces of the surviving captives.
There’s general muttering and shaking of heads. The Northmann points at the body of the fallen elderly Jeleni, beaten to death just minutes ago.
“Anyone who wants passage to a safe haven, go outside now and wait by the cart. Don’t mind the golem, as long as you show it no hostility it will leave you be.” – Uday.
Together, the survivors shuffle out of the cave.
Once they leave, the bloodied Mathlynn sets to her task of raising the corpses of the fallen from the previous battle, adding seven new patchworks to her horde as Uday takes up his pickaxe again, and with a nod from Aella, starts mining for himself.
“Strength Check to determine how successful you are.”
“05 under Strength 55.” – Yohan.
“Nice. Critical Hit.” – Laughing.
“Critical Mine.” – Yohan.Uday swiftly gathers up a small bag of the gems, his own expertise and superior equipment enabling him to gather more gems in ten minutes than the Krona’s captives would have managed in a whole week. The Bruin notices that unlike the gems he has seen in action on the battlefield, these are not illuminated by their own inner light. It would seem these ones are dormant.
“I think we need to check out this well…” – Uday, taking his bag of gems and carefully putting them in his backpack.
The artificer strides to the edge of the well and peers down.
At first all he can see is just a bottomless black pit, but the longer he looks the more he thinks he can see something glistening in the depths.
“Can I climb down there?” – LaPD.
“You think you can see something wet and slimy down there.”
“Ooh, can I not climb down there?” – LaPD.* * *
“Okay, this is going to sound crazy, but I think I’ve figured it out. The thing causing the Firescar and the rifts and everything is a creature in and of itself, yes? We’ve seen its tendril at work, digging. So it isn’t some kind of magical effect and it certainly isn’t natural. It is a living organism. I think that whatever it is, it is charging these crystals up and then gifting them back to the Krona, who are using it like a beacon to draw to where it needs to be. I haven’t figured out why it needs the beacon yet, but presumably it does.” – Uday, who has gathered the Seekers together.
“That’s a pretty good assumption. I remember Angus saying they were packed full of corrupted spirit magic.” – Mathlynn, nodding.
“Why does it need a beacon though? That must be important?” – Aella, leaning up against the rock wall.
“Not necessarily. We can go along with the assumption that it needs it and see where that takes us. For instance, we know that wherever the Krona use these crystals, rifts open up. We also know that whatever is making these rifts is a very powerful entity, is that right?” – Elenthrus, beside her, turning to Mathlynn.
“Yes, I remember feeling it when we saw it in the rift which opened it the delta. It felt massive, like how Angus described communicating with the primordial in the lake.” – Mathlynn, thoughtful.
“So we need to see what’s down there then. Properly.” – Aracaeda.
“I have lots of rope, some oil, cloth and a flint and steel. We can turn one of your patchworks into a torch and lower it down if you have no objections?” – Uday to Mathlynn, producing the items from his pack.
Wordlessly, Mathlynn directs one of the risen Krona to kneel before the Bruin, who swiftly starts wrapping the creature’s head in cloth and dousing it in oil. They tie its legs together, light the oil-drenched rags and have Aella, Elenthrus and the rest of Mathlynn’s patchworks gently lower it down the well.
Those not busy holding the rope look down the well and see a fleshy mass far below. Uday’s rope ended way before the patchwork hit the bottom of the pit, but the flickering firelight is enough to see that the flesh is writhing over itself. Mathlynn is unpleasantly reminded of the brains of the Krona themselves.
“I think it’s like a spawning pit or something.” – Mathlynn, disgusted.
The Dunscarth’s eyes glow a cold white, and the risen horde around her starts to twitch with barely restrained power. Her eyes close and her breathing accelerates as she is momentarily granted a vision of a monstrous hell-scape, but with a great effort, she wrenches her perception back to reality, her mind scarred even further.
Seeing this, Uday heads back to his cart, where he finds only a single rescued slave, a slightly-built Jeleni man. The others it would seem, have taken the opportunity to run as far away as they can, and not a few have absconded with scrap metal from the Bruin’s stash.
“If I find them, I will kill them.” – Ladyhawk.
“No don’t kill them, it’s fine. They’ve taken nothing I would miss.” – Yohan.
“I have two Insanity Points now, anything can happen.” – Ladyhawk.The corpses disappear down the well, charged with Mathlynn’s explosive power. Once they are all down in the pit, she sets them to burrowing, to force them deeper into the morass. And then they detonate as one. A foul stench wafts from the depths, forcing the Seekers to retreat back to the cart to rejoin Uday. They can feel and hear the sounds of crumbling stone beneath them after the explosion, but it seems that the upper levels will remain intact.
“Who are you and where do you come from?” – Uday, to the rescued slave.
“I am called Pecaros and I come from the fishing village on the shore of Istnoc Lake.” – The old Jeleni.
“Do you know what lies down the other passage?” – Uday.
“No, I have never been down it, but I have heard terrifying sounds and there always seems to be a foul stench emanating from within.” – Pecaros.
“Well my friend, if you feel you would be best served by heading out on your own feel free to take anything you wish from the cart. Otherwise, you may stay here and wait for us and we will take you back to our camp when we return.” – Uday, making an offer to the old man.
“No I have seen what comes of striking out on your own. I will stay here and wait for you. I imagine travelling with you would be my safest way home.” – Pecaros.
“Very well. This is Gholeg. He will protect you.” – Uday, introducing Pecaros to the hulking golem.
Pecaros doesn’t exactly look at ease, no doubt due in part to the somewhat unsettling aura the golems possess, but the Seekers take some solace in the knowledge that he should be safe until their return.
* * *
“That’s portugaling gross.” – Aracaeda.
Someway down the passage, the walls widen and reveal a steep cliff. The torches of the Seekers are barely enough to penetrate the gloom, allowing the Seekers to see what lies far below.
A festering wasteland of stinking, rotting flesh, the scraps of countless corpses piled high for almost a mile.
“Oh no.” – Aella, dry-heaving.
“Is that… Oh God, it is.” – Lleyne, horrified.
“It’s
moving.” – Aracaeda.
And indeed, the entire mass is fairly writhing with movement, innumerable clutches of Krona slowly swimming through the gore.
“We need to burn this whole place down.” – Mathlynn.
“No we can’t. Not yet. We don’t know what effect blowing the armadillo out of the place may have. Besides, it already smells absolutely horrible, but it’ll smell ten times worse if we set it on fire.” – Uday, shaking his head.
“No, this is a travesty. Everybody get out, I’m going to blow it up.” – Mathlynn, already beginning to harness her power.
Seeing the stubborn look on the necromancer’s face, the other Seekers start running.
* * *
Ears ringing with the sheer power unleashed by the Dunscarth, the Seekers leave the mines, Pecaros in tow. Having imbued the entire fleshy mass with power, Mathlynn just about blew the mountain in half. The effort really took a toll on her, deafened and throat bleeding from the unearthly scream which tore out of her when she released the power. Uday clutches a pouch of the precious orange gemstones tightly, the spoils of their mission.
“Now, do we take the northern route and go through the forest, or go south past the lake?” – Elenthrus.
“Or go round the lake and cut through the delta?” – Aracaeda.
“Or, fourth option, we build a boat and just sail back to camp.” – Dev.
“What would you build a boat from?”
“The cart?” – Yohan.
“Dev, we have a fifth option actually. We live here now.” – Sins.“I believe the delta would be the safest route.” – Mathlynn, throwing her support behind her sister.
“Last we saw the delta, it was on fire and swiftly being consumed by another rift.” – Uday.
“Still safer than the forest of death.” – Mathlynn.
“And I don’t want to risk the creature in the lake again.” – Aella.
“Okay then, we go through the delta. I will scout ahead.” – Lleyne, who gathers his equipment and sets off to the south.
* * *
The rift which they were so concerned about is largely dead. It has consumed a great segment of the delta, but it appears to have stopped its growth some time ago, just a blackened, rocky pit in the middle of what was a marshland. The flames have died.
“I don’t like this.” – Aracaeda, quietly.
“I’m impressed with how quickly LaPD has picked the game up.” – Ladyhawk.
“Let’s be honest, not trusting anything PG tells us is not only safe behaviour in game, but also how we should all aspire to live our lives.” – Sins.
“I both resent and resemble that remark.”The Seekers continue on their way, and other than a brief moment where Pecaros sees what has become of his home in the fishing village on the shore of the lake, the journey is quite uneventful, and so it is that they find themselves returning to the Seekers’ encampment, accompanied by Pecaros. The liberated slave is taken somewhere safe and they are debriefed upon arrival by Captain Stenglein.
“So, what’s happening?” – Stenglein, gesturing towards the still black sky.
“Oh right, the mission.” – Yohan, laughing.“Trying to make the sun rise again is not exactly an easy task.” – Mathlynn, wearily.
“Did you speak with the creature in the lake?” – Stenglein.
“We tried to, but it sent a guardian of some kind to attack us. We escaped and chose to go to the mountains in the north, hoping to find the mines. We were successful, and rescued some of the slaves the Krona were using to mine their gemstones.” – Elenthrus, summing up the experience.
“I managed to collect these. Unlike the ones we’ve seen on the battlefield, these seem to be dormant. My guess is they need to be charged with some kind of magic.” – Uday, pulling forth his pouch of stones.
“I assume you did not return the way you went?” – Stenglein.
“Past the primordial’s lake? No, of course not.” – Mathlynn.
“We cut south, through the delta.” – Aracaeda.
“And what of the new rift?” – Stenglein, latching on to whatever small pieces of information she can.
“The flames have died and the growth has ceased.” – Elenthrus.
“I see. We have but a few options ahead of us then. I will get everyone I can to begin researching these gemstones you have brought Uday. I would appreciate if you aided them where you can.” – Stenglein.
“Of course. Please excuse me, I need to eat. Have your men fetch me. I’ll be in my quarters when they are ready to begin.” – Uday, who immediately leaves the command tent to obtain some food.
“How healed is Angus?” – Dev.
“Ah, he’s not well. It’s been like two to three weeks since he copped a giant stone maul and then a rock to the head. He’s in no shape to go adventuring.”
“How have his studies been progressing then?” – Dev.
“Tell me how much you’d feel like doing coursework if you’ve been smacked in the head with a rock.”“The rest of you, recuperate, gather your resources and stay ready for action. We need to be ready to strike out again at a moment’s notice. I am curious about this rift which has died in the delta. I feel there is more there which we could stand to find out. Alternatively, we have this business with the spirit in the lake, and more reports of Krona activity with warbands massing in the west.” – Captain Stenglein.
“I fear that to have any chance of speaking to the spirit in the lake, we need Angus, or even Florian if she can be found. My own efforts were unsuccessful.” – Mathlynn.
“We have not heard from Florian in some time now. Presumably she has fallen, but we may never know. If you feel that you are incapable of communicating with the creature however, then we must wait for Angus. I worry we may be forced to wait a long time.” – Captain Stenglein.
"What then of these warbands in the west?" - Lleyne.
"We shall see." - Stenglein, dismissing the Seekers.
And we left it there…
The Wrap-Up:
Another good session, good enough that it convinced Yohan and Redshirt, who had been playing all day, to stay for another session. We see here just how scary a well played Necromancer can be, in addition to the many and varied ways a creative Artificer can screw with you. Yohan’s creations only get more impressive and elaborate as time goes on.
Poor Dev has had some horrid luck with his characters. First he ends up with Angus being unable to actually build enough power to get his spells off with any regularity. Now he has Lleyne, who is statistically a worse archer than Uday’s golems…
Poor Dev.
Anyway, this ought to do it for now. Episode 9 is incoming, and includes one of LaPD’s finest musical works.
Farewell,