Entering the Exeter

Session 45

 * Google Document (12-31-21)

During the first week of our preparations, Jorah also purchases five potions of healing with the funds provided by the emperor, which he distributes to Ashara and Reides. One day, Kain also gathers all of us and takes us to a bar in Falas to discuss our options with the Everburn Longsword. He says that we may be able to seal the blade along with the evil if we gather all the abyssal crests. That would be the most difficult way of dealing with it. Kain suggests that submerging the sword in an anti-magic field, like the one in the emperor’s palace, would disrupt the blade’s ability to summon a lieutenant of Alzrius. Kain admits that he’s not an expert in demonic magic, though. We’re also a little concerned about someone taking the sword out of the palace, especially considering that there’s a mole inside the palace. Kain promises that he would keep a direct watch on the sword if we leave it with him. He has an alternative idea, though. If the sword were sent to a different plane, it would be very difficult to track or retrieve. Some mages are able to create their own small demiplanes, which would be almost impossible to access except by the mage who created it. Ashara asks if we could use the bag of holding for that, but the rest of the party has decided to actually use it to hold items, like Reides’s backup spellbook. Also, we’ve now learned from experience that the bag of holding isn’t exactly secure when dealing with demons and mages. If we had a sheath for the sword that would block the sword’s flame, however, the bag might be a good temporary transport method for it. Making a sheath that sufficiently suppresses the flames would take time, though. Ashara points out the sheath might be less of an issue if they had an adamantine. Kain raises an eyebrow at her. He recommends heading for Atemcester if we want to pursue creating a demiplane, since he’s not well-versed in planar magic. His forte is defensive and trapping spells, which is why he thinks he could create a safe place for the sword in Falas. If anyone tried to get to it, they would at least get a face full of magic. Ashara is worried that we’re being forced into handing the sword over to the emperor, but Kain assures her the decision is ultimately ours and Eurystheos isn’t that kind of ruler. Ashara accepts this in the end, but she has seen people thrown in chains for less. Kain recommends that we give this task to a mage we trust, considering that the creator of the demiplane would still have fairly easy access to the sword. Unfortunately, Jorah doesn’t really know any mages from his time in Atemcester. He suggests tossing it in the ocean to rust, but Reides points out again that he has a god who would very strongly object to that. Jorah accepts this, and we end up deciding to get a sheath from Kain to suppress the flames for now so we can keep it in the bag of holding on our travels. We admit that we’d all feel more comfortable with the sword destroyed than sealed away though, especially after our Tyrian experience. Kain tells us that Atemcester would be a good bet for destroying the sword too, but if we find the right dwarf in the Exeter, we might be able to have it destroyed there too. He doesn’t know anyone specific, but the dwarves there tend to be very skilled at both making and breaking magical artifacts. He says he’ll get to work on the magical sheath, and we go our separate ways. Before returning to Port Valor, Kilwin tries to find a merchant willing to take a letter to Vila’s Watch. Since the werewolf issue is over and Vila’s Watch is open again, it’s not hard to find someone already heading that way.

Also during the first week, Jorah takes our new horse, the carriage, and the owl that Reides requested back to Port Valor. We name the new horse Cricket. Jorah has no idea what the owl is for! Reides takes the owl and goes to see Dillan. He’s playing fetch with Pepega (who has been staying with him this whole time) outside the temple. He looks like he’s doing much better than he was when we first met him. Reides greets them, and Pepega flies to him. Reides tells Dillan that he could be a professional owl trainer if he keeps at it and thanks him for making Pepega so strong for him. He reveals the birdcage he was hiding behind his back. Inside, there’s a tiny brown owl. Dillan asks if that’s Pepega’s family. Reides says he is, even though they’re not related by blood. Reides doesn’t think that’s important to being family, though. He also says that the new owl wanted to meet Dillan! Dillan asks what his name is, and Reides introduces him as Monka! Reides hands Monka’s cage to Dillan, and Dillan holds it tightly. He’s really happy to meet him! Reides tells Dillan that he has to look after Monka. It’s a responsibility, but Reides thinks Dillan is up to it! Dillan is really excited! He admits that he was worried about Pepega leaving when Reides eventually has to go back on the road. She’s been with him since so soon after it happened, and Dillan thinks she helped him get through it a little bit. Reides thanks Dillan in turn for keeping Pepega safe for him. Reides still leaves Pepega with Dillan for the rest of the time he spends researching in Falas, so that she can continue keeping Dillan company and get to know her new little brother. Pepega feels a little threatened by the introduction of another cute little owl, but like her summoner with the new wizard, she’ll power through and get to know him first.

One night during the first week, Kilwin casts Sending to send a message to Slumberjack. He tells them that he hasn’t given up and that they’re going to meet again, when the party will bring them back. They’re friends! He waits for a response until eventually, he realizes that one isn’t coming. He sighs and goes back to what he was doing.

On a day near the beginning of the second week, Kilwin is near the Temple of Alethus when he’s startled by Kain suddenly appearing next to him, along with a small group of people in white and red robes. He tells Kilwin that the idea of recruiting more priests and clerics turned out to be a good one, because these people jumped at the chance to help. One of the priests in particular runs up to Kilwin and takes his hands. It’s Kima, who Kilwin met at the Temple of Alethus in Falas. She’s glad to see him again and is here to help with this burden. She can’t imagine what Kilwin’s been going through this past week. Kilwin admits it’s been very difficult for him to process! He thinks it’s worse for the people whose souls were taken or who have lost someone directly, but it’s still been a lot to process. When Kima says that Alethus has given him a heavy load to carry, Kilwin can’t bring himself to disagree. He feels fortunate that he doesn’t have to carry it alone anymore, though. Kima promises that she and her fellow priests from Falas will keep the bodies preserved after Kilwin has to move on with the rest of the party. He thanks them and admits he was worried what would happen to the bodies after he left.

Near the end of the second week, Ashara finds Kain to discuss pod materials. He’s in the same library as her and Reides, trying to research the Everburn Longsword and the abyssal crests. She unloads her stack of relevant parchments on top of the books he already has open. She admits that she had no idea that adamantium was so rare on this continent. Kain says it’s that rare throughout the entire world. She’s discovered that the amount of adamantium needed could be greatly reduced by using potions of healing instead of water in the preparation process. Special restorative adamantine would allow more of the pod to be built with lesser materials. Someone could cast Gentle Repose through the pod to fake a connection to the astral plane, which would last for up to a month. Some of the other alternate materials include gorgon essence to induce stasis through partial petrification and metal from a fallen star. It would still take months to build one, so the priests are still the better option for now. Kain admits that, while it’s not going to be easy, this version of the schematic at least seems possible to actually build. Options and time might be running out, but Kain promises to try to get one running. Ashara, looking uncomfortable, also writes Kain a note indicating a location near present-day Bastion, where the remains of her pod still are, just describing it as a prototype. She warns him that it’s dangerous and the people there are mean. Kain is pretty sure he can handle mean people! Ashara warns him about the bandits, bugs, and sand too. She warns him to be careful and also not to tell people what he finds in the ruins. If he does, she’ll know and find him. She also tells him not to take any of the bodies because the world doesn’t need anymore warforged. Kain has never heard of warforged, so Ashara explains them. Kain warns Ashara that between gathering the new pod materials and rooting out the mole in Falas’s court, he won’t really be able to assist us directly with much else. Ashara would love to accompany Kain on a return trip to the ruins at some point, though, after this situation is under control.

On one of his visits to Port Valor, Reides tells Kilwin he has a question for him. First, he asks how Kilwin is doing! Kilwin admits he’s not great! He is glad to have help at this point, though. Reides isn’t doing so great either. He tells Kilwin that he has a friend from Port Valor who he’s concerned about. He asks if Kilwin has found any dragonborn among the dead. Sadly, Kilwin did find one dragonborn. He asks Reides what color their scales were. Reides describes them as a very tall bronze dragonborn with metal rings pierced on their brow and horns. They ran a piercing and tattoo shop. Kilwin breaks the news that they do match the description of the dragonborn he found, although they’re currently under the effects of Gentle Repose. Reides is upset, although he’s glad to hear that his friend’s body was recovered. He tells Kilwin that his friend’s name was Needle. He’s not that surprised, though, since he didn’t think Needle would’ve ever abandoned Port Valor. Being a dragonborn is tough, and Needle wasn’t the type to run away with their tail between their legs. Kilwin asks if Reides wants to see them, but he doesn’t because he thinks it would just make him sad. He’s relieved, though, that if nothing else, he’ll be able to send them off how they would’ve wanted. He will have to research dragonborn funeral customs at some point, though. Reides lets Kilwin know to ask if he needs anything and Reides will try to help, even if it’s just a hug or something. Kilwin admits that a hug sounds very nice right, and they give each other a tight hug.

At the end of the second week, we reconvene in Port Valor. Kilwin is a little reluctant to talk about his weeks, but he does let everyone know that other priests did arrive to help out and take over for him. Ashara admits she’s sad to leave, even if that’s strange. It’s the longest she’s stayed in a single place since waking up. Jorah jokes around about it, but admits he gets it too. He’s mostly been on the move for the past seven years. Ashara asks what you do when you lose that sense of stability. Jorah’s suggestions are drinking or, more seriously, trying to find it again. Reides thinks that it helps to keep moving. Ashara asks if any of us wonder why this is happening to us. She does, although she acknowledges that we’ve all been dealing with this for much longer. We all agree that we’re overwhelmed, and Ashara is a little comforted that she’s not alone. Ashara is very excited to ride in a carriage, though! There’s enough room in the carriage for all of us to ride with one person driving the horses. There’s only room for two people to sleep comfortably inside though. We could technically sleep in shifts and keep moving overnight, but the horses need rest and so does Jorah, who expects to be doing most of the driving because he has the most experience with horses. Ashara thanks us for our hospitality again, and we thank her for coming along and helping out! She and Reides enjoyed their time in the library, although Ashara might not recover emotionally from an incident where she almost dropped a heavy book on Reides, killing him instantly. They also discuss a bread encyclopedia that Ashara found. She loves bread, and she loves writing about knowledge, but she cannot imagine having that many things to say on a subject or enough time to write it all down. Reides agrees that surfacers are a delight. They agree to try making bread together at some point. Ashara can even make the bread glow with Faerie Fire! She adds glowing bread to her journal’s list of things she’d like to research.

Jorah thinks his research was unimpressive, although he shows off that he manages to learn some working Abyssal. It’s a little rough since he was only able to practice with a few Falas locals who were fluent, but he should be able to converse with some demons now, preferably with a crossbow aimed at them. Everyone thinks that learning a new language is very impressive! Jorah is uncomfortable with the praise. He asks Reides what the owl and fishing tackle were for. Reides says important things! He thinks that he might be able to fish more effectively by grabbing the fish with his hands, but he wants to try it this way! He might be able to get us some food. Jorah thought it might’ve been for use in a spell. Reides asks if Kilwin knows how to fish, but he’s never done it before either. Ashara isn’t familiar with fishing gear at all, so Reides runs her through the basics. He mentions that the bait is appealing to both fish and hungry tritons. Jorah hopes Reides isn’t speaking from experience. Reides clarifies that he’s only been fished up once, and it was in a net and on purpose. He has stolen bait before as a snack. Jorah says to pretend he never asked. He thinks he loses a little bit of sanity each time he learns something new about Reides, and he doesn’t have that much sanity left at this point. Kilwin chuckles a bit at this exchange.

Ashara is about to go to sleep before we set out in the morning, but Reides wants to share the results of his research. Ashara meditates instead of actually sleeping anyway, so she perks right up. She also has information she’d like to share. In his studies, Reides found some notes on the spell Water Breathing, which he has now learned. It lasts for 24 hours, so he’ll be able to refresh that at reasonable intervals when we’re in Aquos. He also learned about some magical items called the Cloak of the Manta Ray, which bestows water-breathing and easy underwater movement on its wearer, and the Helm of Underwater Action, which allows the wearer to move like a triton underwater. If we don’t find items like that, the rest of us might have a hard time moving around in Aquos, even if we can breathe. There’s a chance we could get something like it in Atemcester, though! He also learned that sufficiently powerful demons are able to gain dominion over their own realms of power. These demons are called demon lords. Alzrius is one such demon lord, called the Lord of Infernal Light. Although scholars disagree on the subject, its realm is generally believed to be called Conflagratum. Ashara brings the rest of us up to speed on the pod situation with the same information she gave Kain. We all turn in for the night.

We pack up the carriage and leave Port Valor. While Jorah considers hunting and foraging to keep our food supplies stocked, Kilwin tells him that he has it handled. After the first day of travel, he begins to cast Create Food and Water daily to feed the part. The food he creates looks very tasty and resembles the cooking of Mother Honora from Cowersby, but sadly tastes like absolutely nothing. Reides thinks it adds to the charm, though.

It takes us 16 days to travel to Quadroad. The trip is uneventful, and any travelers we encounter are heading away from Port Valor. There’s not many signs of life until we spot the familiar dust cloud of Quadroad on the fourth day of Green Harvest. Jorah and Reides take a moment to secure their coin pouches. Amelia may have left Quadroad and found a more honest way of sustaining her brother and friends, but the trauma she inflicted remains. We stock up on supplies. Reides looks for a sturdier spellbook, but doesn’t find one. He’s not honestly expecting to find what he’s looking for until we reach Atemcester though. Ashara spends 4 silver on a sunhat with a veil, to keep herself in the shade for the rest of the summer. While he’s shopping for some basic supplies, a shopkeep strikes up a conversation with Jorah. He asks where Jorah is heading, and Jorah tells him that we’re heading west to Hommlin. He also mentions that we’re coming down from Port Valor. The shopkeeper thinks that what happened in Port Valor is a tragedy, but seems to blame the emperor for how she’s been running things. He tells Jorah that if he’s planning to go through the Exeter, he should be careful heading through Gutsnake Gorge. Jorah’s not familiar with the gorge- he’s from out west, but he traveled to the Falasian Empire by boat. The shopkeeper has just heard news of travelers being run out, even killed. He recommends that Jorah keep his wits about himself. Jorah thanks him for the advice!

We leave Quadroad and head west. On the way to the Exeter, the paths start to get rougher and head uphill. We enter some thick woods that eventually give way to an amazing sight- the Spine of the World, possibly the tallest mountain range in all of Alethustria. The Exeter is on the tallest of these mountains, obstructed from view by the clouds. Eventually, the path starts to level out and head down into a gorge. This is Gutsnake Gorge, and the monotony of the stone walls is broken up by faces carved into them. Jorah tells the rest of us about the shopkeeper’s warning. None of us like that! We decide we want to try to sneak through, but we’re going to prepare to be attacked anyway. Reides casts Mage Armor on himself in advance, while Jorah puts the barding on Gin. Kilwin climbs to the front of the carriage to help Jorah keep watch, so Jorah has to move his loaded crossbow out of the way. Jorah also tries to cast Pass Without Trace on us to at least cover the carriage’s tracks, even if it can’t completely muffle the sound of the wheels. We keep going, and nothing happens at first, but the faces carved into the walls keep staring, almost as if they’re following us with their gazes. It’s very unsettling! Reides thinks it over, but nothing about Gutsnake Gorge has ever really come up in his research, so he doesn’t know the significance of the faces.

We travel for another hour when we begin to see a new type of stonework. These are free-standing, full-body statues of people in various poses. Jorah takes a look and notices that they have an incredible artistry to them, almost life-like. The statues are in some strange poses, though. Some are covering their faces, and others seem to be running in fear. Ashara, having recently researched gorgons in connection with the stasis pod, knows of at least one creature that can turn people to stone. We all hear a sound that sounds like heavy breathing. Then we hear a deep voice wondering aloud what it seems. It tells someone named Gordask that their next meal has arrived. On the ridge of the canyon, we see a creature that looks familiar to most of us. The last troll we encountered, however, didn’t have four arms. There’s also a big lizard-like creature with eight legs, which appears to be sniffing the air. Reides and Ashara get out of the carriage, and we get ready to fight.

Ashara casts Hunger of Hadar at the top of the ridge, which opens a tear into the void. Light doesn’t penetrate the void, obstructing the troll and basilisk from view. They take both cold damage from the void and acid damage from the milky tentacles within, brushing against them. Strange shapes move in and out of the area. Kilwin bestows the blessing of Alethus on his companions. Jorah aims his crossbow at the cloud of darkness and fires a shot at the basilisk as it emerges and slides down the slope. Unfortunately, he misses. The four-armed troll also slides down the slope and comes up to Jorah and Kilwin. The wounds he sustained from Hunger of Hadar are already starting to stitch up. The basilisk turns its gaze on Reides and he feels his body stiffen, but nothing takes hold. He backs up and warns the rest of us that the lizard turned the people to stone and to keep away from it. He then casts Mind Whip on the troll, hurting him and restricting his actions for a bit. Ashara hits the troll with Burning Hands and the troll’s regeneration immediately stops. Kilwin summons his spiritual weapon to hit the lizard. Jorah starts to feel himself locking up and turning to stone, but the stone chips quickly fall away. He manages to land some shots with his heavy crossbow. Undeterred, the basilisk continues to slither toward us. The troll bites Kilwin, making him lose focus on Bless, and lashes out with all four of his arms, but only manages to hit with one. Reides fries the troll and basilisk with Lightning Bolt. The basilisk gazes at Ashara, but she wills the stone off herself. She doesn’t look good in gray! She stabs the basilisk with her dagger, which she has magically lit aflame. The fire jumps off the basilisk in the form of a woman and leaps gracefully onto the troll, who explodes into fire and dies. The basilisk gazes at Kilwin, who feels the effect spreading up his body. His legs turn completely to stone before the stone reaches upward. He recasts Bless, but on himself this time, along with Jorah and Ashara because they’re the closest to the basilisk. The stone continues creeping up Jorah chooses not to avert his gaze from the basilisk, trusting in Kilwin and Alethus’s blessing to protect him and fires a crossbow bolt in between its eyes.

Reides is about to take a look at the basilisk’s corpse when he realizes that Kilwin hasn’t stopped turning to stone with the creature’s death. He figures out that if there’s some way to assist Kilwin in resisting the petrification, that would be good, but none of us have anything other than Kilwin’s Bless. Reides tries kicking at the stone, but Kilwin doesn’t feel anything. Kilwin actually wishes he could feel himself being kicked this time! Ashara suggests breaking off the stone, but Kilwin clarifies that his legs have become the stone and he would really like to keep his legs. Ashara reaches into Kilwin’s mind to give him some words of encouragement. In a last ditch effort, Kilwin tries casting Remove Curse on himself, but the petrification isn’t technically a curse. The stone begins to creep up Kilwin’s throat, making it difficult to breathe. It continues making its way up, approaching his eyes. Kilwin looks up at the light and the last light he sees is the light of Alethus. He concentrates as hard as he can and frees himself from the stone.

Ashara picks up one of the stone flakes that came off of Kilwin and makes it glow red with Faerie Fire. She names it Rocky 2 and gives it to Kilwin to comfort him. He thanks her and puts it in her backpack. We wonder if there’s anything we can do for the people here. Kilwin is aware that powerful clerics can reverse petrification, but his magic isn’t that strong at this point. Ashara tries to contact Kain about it, but he’s in the middle of fighting a gorgon and can’t really talk or help. Ashara is very worried and wants to find and help him, but the rest of the party tries to assure her that Kain can handle himself. Jorah points out that the rest of the party is familiar with a cleric who’s much closer to Gutsnake Gorge than wherever Kain is- Pandora from the Temple of Cysebelle in Quadroad. Kilwin and Reides agree to keep her in mind, but we might be able to get help faster by heading to the Exeter and asking in person, due to travel times. Ashara thinks we could convince them if they’re not willing to help. Reides extracts the basilisk’s eyes to study them, while Jorah searches the troll’s effects and finds 50 gp and 200 sp. Kilwin is having a moment and asks to ride inside the carriage now, so Reides sits up front to keep Jorah company. He writes what he learned in his journal as we move on.

We stop to camp for a night before we reach our next destination. Kilwin says some extra prayers and thanks to Alethus that night. The road turns directly toward the face of the Exeter. It’s an extremely tall mountain, with clouds forming a vortex near the top. There’s enormous stone gates with extensive engravings, depicting scenes from dwarven history and folklore. There’s also a small stone building next to the gate. The path leads directly to the gate, but there’s also a pile of dirt formed from people stepping over to the building. The carvings on the gate depict a number of tales, including that of Audha Wyrmaxe, a great dwarven hero of the era when dragons ruled over Lyvernus. She was born clanless, but forged her own clan and worked with Emperor Lyvernia to drive away the dragons. The gates also depict the Tale of the First Dwarven Ancestor Mountain. Even before the dragons arrived on Lyvernus for the first time, the dwarves would entomb their deceased heroes in mountains that were in tune with their souls. Audha Wyrmaxe, for example, is now housed in the Exeter’s peak. There are also tents, both large and small, set up across the ridge. People are milling about, including some jugglers and other performing types. It appears to be some kind of traveling troupe, but they’re just going about day-to-day stuff for now. Reides wants to see them! Jorah keeps watch over the carriage while Reides and Kilwin approach.

As they see that new people have arrived at the Exeter’s gates, people perk up and start to talk amongst themselves. The troupe includes a wide variety of people, including humans, tieflings, elves, and half-elves. Some of them rush past us to investigate the gorge. The first person Reides can find to talk to is a red tiefling, who’s excitedly talking with a dwarf. He has large horns that spiral back to the back of his head. He asks us if they might be able to go home now, since we’re the first new people any of them have seen in two weeks. We explain that we cleared out the troll and basilisk, so Gutsnake Gorge should be safe again. The tiefling and dwarf are very happy to hear this! They’ve been stuck here since they heard that the gorge was unsafe. They do have a medic with them, but they can’t do anything about the petrified people. The tiefling says that you’re lucky enough to get an arm sewn back on if you lose it. The circus is a rough life! Ashara approaches and asks if their medic is just bad at their job. The tiefling clarifies that they’re simply a mundane healer. The troupe’s travels would have taken them through the Exeter on their way back to Atemcester, but it was closed because of something that happened up north. He doesn’t quite remember where, but he knows it was a port town, and recognizes Port Valor when we prompt him. We do have a writ of passage from the emperor, but we’re not sure if that will get us through the gates. Reides asks if he can see the tiefling perform, and he agrees to do some juggling for us. The dwarf gets his juggling sticks for him and juggles three to demonstrate how they work. The dwarf adds in a fourth and fifth stick before tossing them over to the tiefling without warning. The tiefling calls him a scamp, but catches the sticks and continues juggling them without missing a beat. As the dwarf leaves, the tiefling says that he hates when the dwarf does that, but finishes his act and takes a bow. Reides and Kilwin applaud! Reides asks the troupe’s name, and the tiefling says that they’re the Flying Otters. We love it! The tiefling agrees that otters are the cutest. The ringmaster never explained to him why they’re named that, but he thinks sometimes you don’t need to know! He walks away with his tail happily swishing behind him. We return to the carriage, where Reides informs Jorah that he missed a very cool juggling performance.

As we approach the gate, a voice calls out from the building, telling us that the Exeter is closed to outsiders and we should head north to Davenport and get a ship if we need to go farther west. Inside the building, there’s a dwarven warrior seated at a small desk. Kilwin tells him that we have good reason to come to the Exeter and shows him the writ of passage from the emperor. The dwarven guard examines it and admits that our credentials are good, but a town being wiped off the map isn’t an everyday occurrence, so the higher-ups are apprehensive about letting anyone in. He does have an idea for us, though. A noble could grant us passage into the Exeter, but we would have to do the noble a favor first. We admit we have to know what the favor is first, and the guard agrees that’s very fair. We can always say no! To the north, there’s an abandoned dwarven hold where something sinister is going on. There’s been strange happenings in the countryside, and a flesh golem attacked in some mines near Hwen. Jorah has heard of flesh golems and knows that they’re generally frowned upon in Atemcester. None of us, guard included, know what a flesh golem could be doing out there and none of us like it. A foreman of the mine saw a strange figure going in and approached it. He touched it before realizing it was made of cold, clammy flesh. He ran away and came back with a wizard from town. They found the golem in the mines again, and the wizard loosed a fire spell at it. The golem turned on the mage and smashed him to pieces, left the foreman alone, and walked away, strange scraps of metal in tow. The noble currently responsible for handling the flesh golem situation is named Orrin Stormshield. Since he’s both a dwarf and nobility, he should have the pull to get us into the Exeter, and the guard thinks that he’ll be willing if we do this for him. Kilwin thinks this might be worth looking into regardless of if it gets us into the Exeter, and Reides agrees that a flesh golem on the loose sounds bad. However, Reides knows how nobles are and that we’re just going to be doing Stormshield’s dirty work. The guard agrees that Stormshield is absolutely going to take the credit for this. Unfortunately, since the actual settlement of the Exeter is another ten days up the mountain, the guard isn’t able to introduce us directly to Stormshield or get a guarantee from him that he’ll let us in. However, he’s confident that Orrin Stormshield is a man of his word and will get us into the Exeter. Accomplishing whatever we hope to do there, however, will be up to us. Reides finally asks the guard his name, and he introduces himself as Korbo Sunderhill. We also introduce ourselves to him. Korbo is sympathetic, but points out that we don’t really have any pull in the Exeter, since it’s so isolationist, so we’ll simply have to trust Orrin Stormshield. Jorah points out that we have the most up-to-date information on the situation in Port Valor, so we could help the rulers of the Exeter figure out how to secure themselves against something like what happened there. Korbo personally thinks that’s a good point, but also says that Jorah’s assuming the rulers of the Exeter even want that information. Ashara gets mad and says that closed doors aren’t going to help anyone here. She accuses the leaders of the Exeter of being selfish. Jorah tries to defend Korbo, who seems to just be doing his best here. Reides want to prioritize the petrified people in Gutsnake Gorge and tells Korbo about them, in hopes that someone from the Exeter will help. Ashara claims that one of the petrified people was a dwarf to try to convince Korbo that it’s the Exeter’s problem too, even though she didn’t examine any of the statues closely enough to know this. Korbo doesn’t want anyone to be stuck petrified, though, and promises to send word back to the main city. Reides also shows Korbo the basilisk’s eyeballs. Korbo is a little creeped out! We decide that we should probably cast Sending to Pandora anyway, just in case no one from the Exeter agrees to come out and help. Despite Korbo’s assurances that the nobles of the Exeter are people of their word (if nothing else), Ashara asks if there’s any reward for taking care of the flesh golem other than (non-guaranteed) passage into the Exeter. Korbo says that we’re free to take whatever we like from the dwarven hold. Ashara is reluctant to steal anything, but Korbo says that no dwarves have lived in the hold for a long time and, while they may return to it someday, none of the objects there have had owners for a very long time. It wouldn’t be considered stealing if we took them, since the dwarves don’t really own them anymore. The main issue is that the dwarves can’t have a flesh golem have its way on old dwarven stomping grounds. It’s a matter of pride! The prevailing theory is that the flesh golem is the work of some kind of mad mage, and Korbo is inclined to agree. If we destroy the golem and kill this mage, we can bring back the mage’s spellcasting focus as proof that we finished the job. Korbo tells us that there’s a side path behind his guardpost. If we follow it north for a day or two, we should reach the hold, which is called Kahzdurga. Kilwin and Jorah recognize that the name translates to “Iron Mountain Hold.” Beyond that, though, Jorah knows nothing about it.

Session 46

 * Google Document (1-7-22)

With our new destination in mind, we start the journey two days north toward Hwen and Kahzdurga. The path narrows too much for the horses and carriage to travel not much past the guardhouse, so we leave them at the guardhouse with Korbo. Reides also leaves Pepega behind to watch over the carriage and horses.

On the way, Kilwin asks if Jorah had anything fun he liked to do in Atemcester when he lived there. Jorah says that he stayed away from the actual city as much as he could, but the woods around Atemcester are wonderful and the weather is never too cold. Kilwin thinks that sounds nice, although that’s clearly not the answer he was hoping for. Jorah is curious why he asked. Kilwin admits that’s been thinking since almost being turned into a statue on top of everything else that’s been going on lately, and he’s realized that he hasn’t exactly been having a lot of fun lately. He doesn’t think it’s a priority, but he’d like to have a fun evening at some point if there’s a chance for it. He was mostly just curious! Jorah thinks he understands, but admits he’s not really the person to ask.

Kilwin also finds a note that got wedged into his journal somewhere in the past few weeks. It’s a goodbye letter from Slumberjack. It states that their guide told them they didn’t fit in with the party and would receive an invitation to join them soon. They felt that their guide might have a point, and they also needed to do this to learn more about their purpose, mentioning that their mother told them that their nature was a gift, but they feel it’s more of a curse. They apologize for leaving like they plan to, but ask him not to look for them or mourn them. They ask Kilwin to share their well wishes with the rest of the party and to look out for himself more, since they worry he’ll act too selflessly without them there to corrupt him and get hurt. They also tell him that they hope they can return and teach him Celestial. Kilwin shares the letter with the others, who reflect on it. Kilwin is upset that Slumberjack wrote that only something twisted could accept them, when they had friends who accepted them in the party. Still, he’s relieved Ashara thinks this means that Slumberjack’s earlier lack of response to Kilwin’s attempt to contact them was an attempt to keep him safe.

The path gets harder up the mountain, and we get a nice view of the Severan Wood below, where the trees grasp toward the sky. The weather gets worse as we ascend, with gray and unforgiving sleet. We find a small cave off the cliffside path to rest in for the night. While we’re setting up camp, Kilwin finds a small green stone that glows slightly. It seems like some kind of naturally occurring ore. No one in the party knows exactly what it is, but Jorah recognizes it as the same stone used in the construction of the bases of mages’ floating towers, and there’s a big one in the bottom of the Tower of the Eight. The rest of us are amazed by floating towers. Reides thinks it’s frustrating that none of us can float naturally on the surface, since it’s easy to move up while swimming underwater. Kilwin thinks we should keep it because it might be valuable, if nothing else. Jorah and Ashara are a little skeptical of the weird magic rock, so Kilwin offers to keep it in his alms box to keep it away from everything else. He’s reluctant to put it in the bag of holding, since we don’t know exactly what it is and the Everburn Longsword is in there.

We set off for Kahzdurga the next morning. It continues to get colder as we climb. Around noon, we see a break in the rock wall to our left and spot some masonry through the ridge. There’s a stone platform with stairs leading to a wooden door, flanked by a pair of dwarven statues with battle hammers and braziers that are still lit, despite their age. We collect ourselves before Kilwin opens the door. The walls and floors inside have stone tiling, and the floors are very grungy. The ceilings are about ten feet high. Kilwin also hears a metallic scraping sound from nearby, probably just around the corner. He thinks he hears about six entities making the noise. He warns the others, and Reides casts Mage Armor on himself, and Ashara sets up Dancing Lights. Kilwin walks a bit further in to let his friends inside and is faced with six suits of animated armor.

Ashara casts Ice Knife, which misses one of the armors but explodes in the middle of them. They approach the party menacingly and attack Kilwin, Jorah, and Ashara. Jorah suggests using the entrance to bottleneck them, since we’re outnumbered and tries to attack with Quickbrand, but misses. Reides casts Shatter on the armors, sculpting it around Kilwin and Jorah. A sudden loud noise erupts, which the armors seem especially susceptible to since they’re made of metal. Suddenly, most of them aren’t looking very good. Ashara casts Burning Hands, destroying two of the armors, and goes outside. Kilwin and Jorah continues to get punched by armors, but Jorah guts one with Quickbrand in response. Reides kills another with Ray of Frost before stepping out. Kilwin steps back to block the doorway, dodging a swing from one of the armors on the way. Ashara continues running away from the hold, frightened by her first real taste of combat. The rest of the party finishes clearing out the armors, and Reides follows Ashara to make sure she’s okay. He catches up with her and she says she’s okay, but she feels a bit silly now. For a moment, she thought the animated armors were warforged. Reides assures her that it’s okay and that the armors were pretty scary. Ashara admits that the safest place is probably behind Kilwin, and Reides admits he agrees! He points out that she has her friends to support her, so we can do this!

Ashara and Reides re-enter Kahzdurga, and Reides asks if Kilwin is okay. Kilwin (who actually doesn’t look great) says he’s fine and asks how Ashara is doing. She says she’s fine now and apologizes for running. Kilwin asks Jorah (who is looking even worse than Kilwin) if he needs some help, but Jorah says that he can handle it himself and casts Cure Wounds on himself. Reides asks if there’s special metals involved in the creation of the warforged. Ashara explains that when the council discussed creating the warforged, she was one of the few objectors. She didn’t feel it was right to enslave sentient creatures. When the warforged project was greenlit, she distanced herself from that type of magic. Jorah points out that the animated armors were made using a similar type of magic as the helmed horror, but they’re weaker. None of us like that! Ashara identifies the school of magic as either enchantment or conjuration, since necromancy wouldn’t be responsible for animating non-organic objects. Ashara recommends leaving the rock from the small cave behind, since it might be used to track us, but Kilwin points out that we have a vague idea of what it does, and we’re all carrying a lot of larger magical items that could be used to hypothetically sense us. The sound from Reides’s Shatter spell probably also alerted anyone else nearby to our presence. We decide to try to move stealthily anyway, but the rock stays in the alms box.

Jorah checks the doors in the corridor to our right and finds that they’re both closed but unlocked. There’s also a set of large double doors to the left, which Jorah and Reides would prefer to avoid because there’s more likely to be something big through there, and we’d like to avoid that for now. Jorah opens the right door, but it’s dark inside so he can’t see. Reides tells him it’s just a little closet. Jorah prepares to get a torch out, but Kilwin casts Light on himself so he doesn’t need to. Jorah finds a small chest inside the closet and opens it. It just has dust and cobwebs inside. Jorah realizes he should’ve predicted this, since this place is already inhabited, but he’s mad about it nevertheless. Behind the left door, there’s a corridor leading to more doors. We follow another corridor with more doors branching out from the left side of this corridor, but after a while, we realize we’re just going to the double doors that we decided to avoid for now, so we turn back to the main corridor. Jorah leads the way! A bit farther down, there’s an open door on our right. There’s a lot of bookshelves in this room, along with a lot of books scattered across the floor. They seem to be various arcane writings about reanimation, in relation to the creation of flesh golems, and metallic materials, related to a project that requires a lot of them. Ashara takes the notes about metals in hopes that they’ll be helpful in engineering stasis pods, but unfortunately, she soon realizes that this person was working with fairly mundane materials. We all end up searching the library for clues as to what’s going on here. Ashara finds a scroll she can’t read, but Kilwin and Jorah both can. It’s a spell scroll for Find Traps. We discuss how it might be useful in here, and Jorah ends up holding onto it. Jorah finds another scroll under the desk, and he ends up being the only one who can’t read it. It’s a spell scroll for Continual Flame. While Reides could technically try to transcribe it into his spellbook, it’s a pretty niche spell so Kilwin just holds onto the scroll for now. Kilwin hears a faint rustling sound from above and finds another scroll wedged into a ceiling tile. He manages to jump and grab it, and passes it around. Only Reides can read it, and it turns out to be a scroll for a spell called Rope Trick, which allows someone to use a rope to create a temporary extradimensional hiding place elevated off the ground. We all stare at the ceiling a little bit and hope that no one is up there spying on us. Kilwin gives the ceiling a little wave. Reides reads through some of the arcane musings in the library. It involves a list of body parts needed to construct a flesh golem. None of us like that! Jorah’s met necromancers before, but none of them are exactly around to ask about ethical flesh golem creation. Ashara questions how Jorah knows any necromancers, since there were supporters of slavery in the Vrinian Empire, but they drew the line at necromancy. Jorah says you just meet a lot of different people as a bounty hunter. Ashara wonders how someone gets into bounty hunting. Jorah explains that if you’re lucky, you have a contact that gets you into the business, and if you’re unlucky, you end up bound and gagged by a criminal organization and forced to work for them. Kilwin, concerned, asks if Jorah is lucky or unlucky. Jorah says he’s lucky! His worst bounty hunting stories are about not getting paid and needing to track down his clients until they do.

We return to the corridor and, following Jorah’s maze-solving technique, follow a path to the right. As we continue down the corridor, Jorah’s foot hits a raised tile and dust starts falling from the ceiling. He rushes forward, a pillar crashes down from the ceiling where he was standing, only clipping the back of his leg. The pillar goes back up, and Jorah now notices the cracks in the floor around the raised tile. Kilwin casts Light on the raised tile so we can all see it, and carefully steps around it to heal Jorah. Reides and Ashara also gingerly make their way around the raised floor tile as we press on. Jorah is okay to keep leading the way. Through the next door, there’s a random dead end to our right and more corridor to our left. Jorah spends about 10 minutes checking the dead for anything of interest, but finds nothing. The rest of the party waits for him politely. Nervous about traps, Reides opens the next door with Mage Hand. It’s safe! Behind the door is a room with lots of cages, collars and torture devices. There’s also three pillars in front of a place where the room narrows and there’s some thick curtains. There’s also a desk with some documents on them. Ashara is interested in the documents, and Reides offers to grab them with Mage Hand. Jorah looks behind the curtain and finds coils of copper wire. He has no idea what it does. Reides and Ashara examine the diagram that was on the desk and discern that it’s some kind of water purification device. It’s fairly sophisticated, but Ashara has seen much better. Reides figures that we could probably sell this, if nothing else. Neither Reides nor Ashara understands the writing on the diagram, but when Reides shows it to Kilwin, he immediately identifies it as Dwarvish. It’s just instructions for building the machine!

There’s another set of double doors that we agree to ignore, but we go through another door to more corridors. Jorah continues to lead the way. We find a storage room with rubble, some crates, and a barrel. Jorah opens the barrel and finds rotten fish inside. He’s not sure what he was expecting. To the south, there’s another door that leads to the same room as the double doors. There’s a mechanical whirring noise coming from inside. None of us are exactly eager to run into peril, but Kilwin suggests we take a peek inside anyway. Ashara has hated this so far, and she’s reluctant to go in. There’s no enemies in the room, though, just a large mechanical device in the middle of the water flowing on the other side of the room. The mechanism is spinning, emitting a humming noise and some sparks. There’s a large sapphire at the top of the machine. The water is fairly shallow, three feet at its deepest. Reides looks in the water for fish, but there doesn’t appear to be any. Ashara offers to stick her warforged arm into the water to test it out, but Reides uses his Mage Hand instead. Nothing happens. Without any idea what this machine does or anything else in the room, the only point of interest in the room is the sapphire. Kilwin is worried that taking it would break the machine and possibly cause something very bad, though, so he thinks we should leave it there. It’s just not worth it! The rest of the party agrees, and we move on.

Farther down the hall, there’s a bridge over the water that’s flowing into the room with the mechanism before a part of the hall that’s flanked by three statues of humanoid figures standing their hands clasped in front of them. We all hate the statues! Jorah takes the lead again, checking the floor and ceiling for signs of more traps. He doesn’t see any and makes it over the bridge and past the first statue without issue. Just as he begins to relax, the second statue reaches out as he passes and attempts to grab him. He dodges out of the way. Ashara hates this! Kilwin approaches it and sees some ball bearings in the joints of the statue’s arms. He tries to attack its shoulder with his mace and manages to scrape them up a bit. He takes a deep breath and steps in front of the statue. Nothing happens! He asks Jorah if he’d rather give Kilwin a turn leading the group, but Jorah says he’s fine. He crosses in front of the last statue, which appears to just be a normal statue. Kilwin follows, with Reides behind him reluctantly, and Ashara behind him even more reluctantly. As Jorah reaches the next corridor, he notices a door to the south that closes as he comes into view. We figure the mage we’re after is probably that way, so we may as well end this. Ashara thinks we should leave and forget about the dwarves. The rest of the party assures her that we have her back. If she’s injured, Kilwin will heal her! Jorah points out that he’s been setting off all the traps in the place, so she has nothing to worry about as long as she keeps letting him go first. Kilwin asks if he’s sure about continuing to do that, but he’s determined to be a human Find Traps spell today. Ashara still doesn’t like it, but agrees to keep going. She curses the dwarves under her breath, though, and the elves for good measure. She says if she dies in this place, she’s coming back as a revenant. Reides asks her to please not say that word.

Jorah moves toward the closed door and about halfway down, the floor splits open under him and he begins to fall. Reides casts Featherfall to slow his fall, and Jorah manages to catch himself and get to the other side of the gap, which is filled with spikes. We are all freaked! Jorah, out of breath, points out that Ashara is still no danger! He’s got this for her! The gap in the floor is fortunately small enough that we’re all able to long jump over it. Reides is very nervous about it, because he’s not the most athletic, but Jorah promises to wait on the other side to catch him. He lets out a little yelp as he successfully clears the pit trap. Jorah opens the door to the south, while keeping his crossbow pointed at it. Inside, there’s whirring and humming noises, along with a frail man and long, matted hair and a beard. He’s hunched over a table. Jorah can also see some large, grotesque feet on the edge of a platform to his left. The mage says he won’t let us take Hylos or Master, and the fight begins.

Kilwin enters the room and sees the flesh golem lying down on a table on the east side of the room. He backs away from it to let someone else in, and the golem flails at him but misses. Kilwin casts Shield of Faith on himself, and then hits the flesh golem with Sacred Flame and asks the mage what on earth is going on here. Ashara attempts to cast Crown of Madness on the mage, but he shakes it off. Jorah strikes at the flesh golem with Quickbrand and his crossbow. The flesh is rotting and stinky. The crossbow also isn’t as effective as Jorah would expect. Reides casts Mind Whip on the golem, psychically restraining it. An orb in a corner of the room sparks with arcane energy and flashes at two other orbs in the room. They send out electrical impulses, zapping Kilwin, Jorah, and Reides. The golem, limited in what it can do, attempts to swing out at Jorah without moving, but misses. The mage already has Mage Armor cast, since he apparently heard our fight with the animated armors. He begins to channel a lot of energy, which Reides attempts to counterspell, but the mage unfortunately counterspells Reides’s counterspell. The mage successfully casts Fireball, which Reides manages to avoid, but the rest of us are hit with the full force of. Ashara is barely still standing. Kilwin channels divinity on the party to try to keep us alive. Ashara casts Mind Whip on the mage and the golem, successfully restraining the golem, but not the mage. After getting hit with a fireball, Jorah decides to revert to his usual strategy and changes his focus to the mage. He casts Hunter’s Mark on him and drops his crossbow so he can wield Quickbrand with two hands. Jorah lays into the mage, the dwarven blade resonating with the hold, and the mage barely survives. Reides casts some magic missiles into the room, hitting the golem. The mage shields, however. The golem continues to flail wildly from the slab, successfully hitting Jorah in the stomach one time. The mage attempts to calm the golem, who is thrashing around, addressing him as Hylos. The flesh golem actually does calm down, and the mage assures him that he won’t forget him or Master. Kilwin casts Mass Healing Word to fortify the party. He’s confused and weirdly touched by the mage’s display of affection for the flesh golem. He tells the mage that he’d like it if he could explain what’s going on here, but he’s not sure his friends will give the mage that chance. Ashara confirms that she has no intentions of waiting for an explanation. She casts Mind Whip on the mage and golem, which melts into the mage’s brain. He calls out for Hylos and Master as he dies. Hylos convulses on his slab and stops moving. The orbs around the room let out one more spark, zapping everyone inside, before they all shatter simultaneously.

Ashara apologizes to Kilwin but points out that we all saw what this mage did. Kilwin agrees it was probably for the best and isn’t upset with her, but still couldn’t bring himself to do it in the moment. Ashara sets about examining the mage’s body for useful items. She finds his spellbook, which is frayed and tattered, which she gives to Reides. It has a few spells he doesn’t know yet, so he’ll hold onto it to study later. There’s also a workbench with a locked drawer. Everyone looks to Jorah, and while he admits he looks like he’d be the roguish sort, he’s actually not and he doesn’t usually carry thieves’ tools. Still, Reides lends Jorah his own waist knife so Jorah can try to jimmy the lock open. He tries and something clicks, but it doesn’t open. He broke it! Reides retrieves the mage’s arcane focus, a small crystal. Reides still wants to break the lock open, and Jorah has an idea. Reides offers to help however he can! They both grab some metal objects and push on the lock from both sides. The pressure eventually cracks the lock open. Inside the drawer, there’s a wand. Reides casts Identify on the rod, while Kilwin begins to cast Gentle Repose on the mage (who is slumped against the wall) and the golem (who’s been reduced to lumps of flesh in the corner). Reides determines the wand is a Wand of Binding, which allows the user to cast spells that bind people or monsters. He gives it to Ashara. A treasure reward for the trials of adventuring! We decide to take a short rest in the room and tend to our wounds, making sure to keep an eye on the door.