When we last left the party, they had found the treasured earth node along with a bunch of duergar…both living and already killed. Having defeated hordes of cockroaches, both small and giant, they had decided to retreat back to the safety of Cagair Keep before investigating the earth node more. Heading back through the main level of Migdhal Yar, they spotted one of the dworcs lying face-down, dead. An all too familiar cackling laughter was heard as an also all too familiar green glow could be seen approaching.
This recap is from Muse. RJ and Craig were both missing. Bridgett made a guest appearance and played Dench while Thomas played Adran. My GM comments, as usual, are in [brackets and italics].
There are potential spoilers below for the module, The Sinister Spire.
Just as we entered the fortress, we find one of the dworcs laying dead on the floor before us and a familiar and unwelcome green glow and cackle coming from down the hallway.
We move towards the sound except for Rory who heads towards the great hall to try and circle around behind it.
We suddenly see a shot of green light as the skull goes shooting down the cross corridor in the opposite direction of us all, including Rory.
Rory, having seen nothing, turns around to head back. As she turns the corner, she sees the green glow heading towards her. She turns and runs. The rest of the party is caught unawares and is struck by a ball of green fire, and Skarr goes down, having not yet been able to heal from the ordeal below.
We begin to attack and finally {after several irritatingly bad rolls, lol} Meri is able to kill it and proceeds to smash it to pieces in the hopes that this time it stays dead.
Adran and Verrak try to recall anything about the creature and how to keep it from returning, but they can’t quite remember.
For lack of any better options, both Skarr and Meri say a prayer to their respective gods to try and keep it from returning. Skarr also takes some of the fragments and places them in his pouch in the hopes that should our prayers not work, perhaps the fragments being separated would do the trick.
With the skull once again neutralized, a search begins for Berguk and the other missing dworc. Rory spends quite a bit of time searching for the hidden door when suddenly, Skarr’s pouch bursts into flames and the skull is back! As luck would have it, Verrak was in the area and able to cast shield and block the flame attack. We are able to quickly take it down again, and Skarr, irritated by its persistence, gathers the pieces and throws them over the edge of the bridge. The others have had no luck finding Berguk and so we head back to the keep for some much needed rest and healing, hoping that perhaps Berguk had retreated to the keep as well. [And hoping that if the skull “regenerates” again that it will head off somewhere else rather than come back to Migdhal Yar.]
Upon returning, it is discovered Berguk has not returned and Adran takes great pains to not let anyone know of his disappearance.
The party disperses to rest while Verrak studies Caill’s notes and makes a discovery regarding the node.
Any arcane spellcaster can attune to the node by spending a long rest in touch with the node. This enables the spellcaster the ability to then use a 2nd level spell to activate the node. Caill’s notes indicate that he feels that while the node is attuned to one specific location/node, he feels the potential is there for the node to be used for many other things, it just requires further study.
The next morning, Adran sends Dench to fetch Lokka. It is the morning of the 17th. He informs Lokka that Berguk is missing, and tells her of the node and our plans to enter it and retrieve the stolen Dwarven relic.
He then instructs her that should we not return in 6 months, that she is to assume charge of the keep. He also tells her that no one is to know about either the node, nor the disappearance of Berguk and should Berguk return, he is not to be told of the relic.
[Adran also wrote a letter indicating that Lokka was, for all intents and purposes, the Lord of Cagair Keep while he was “away” pursuing other activities.]
After a brief conversation with Berguk’s son regarding money, we descend once more beneath the keep.
As we enter the keep, once more we are greeted by green light and cackling laughter. After defeating the skull, AGAIN!, we finally have a stroke of genius (thank you DM) and lock the skull fragments up in a room and marking on the outside of the door, a warning to not open the door.
It is at this time that Berguk and the other missing dworc find us, indicating that the fortress was not quite as safe as Adran had led them to believe and that they had hidden in the temple.
Adran entreats Berguk to show him and Verrak how to open the secret panel, which he does. Berguk also tells Adran and Verrak about a hidden shrine that is accessed through the temple but he will only show Verrak.
[There really isn’t a separate temple and then hidden shrine…just a hidden shrine.]
Adran sends the dworcs back to the surface and once they are on their way, Verrak shows everyone else how to open the secret door to the temple, but not the shrine.
[I don’t think that Verrak ever shared anything about the location of the hidden shrine or how to access it. Adran (and Verrak?) was shown how to open the secret door to access the stairway between the main level and the upper level and that was shown to everyone.]
After a discussion on what to do next, head to the node or explore the other tunnel, we decide to save our resources and choose the prudent path. We make our way back to the node and while Adran and Verrak attune themselves to the node, the rest of the party heals and rests for the coming adventure.
After the attunement is complete, Adran opens a portal. Verrak and Meri go first, followed by the rest of the party in pairs, with Adran coming through last.
We exit into a small cave where we find two crystal nodes forming an arch of sorts. There is an exit tunnel in front of us that we can hear water running from it. Entering the tunnel we come upon a waterfall covering the mouth of the tunnel. Meri tries to use her shield to break the fall of the water, but the water is much too deep. She does notice an edge leading out of the tunnel.
Skarr (or Rory, i totally forgot which) exits the tunnel via the ledge and takes a look around. It is an enormous cavern with a road and a river running through it, one way leading to a lit city looking area, the other way towards a somewhat less interesting scenery. Skarr spots a duergar with a covered wagon being led by two large lizards.
[The river flowed into a massive body of water that also kind of dominated the space of the place.]
Skarr returns and fills us in. We again make the prudent decision to have Adran and Verrak attune to the crystal in case we need to make a hasty retreat. Rory and Meri will stand watch while they attune.
Morning comes and we discuss our options. There is great concern for our ability to travel this area being surface dwellers and because we have several elven party members and a dwarf.
We decide to send Skarr and Dench out to scout out any travelers for questioning since as half orcs, they have the highest probability of not being attacked. As they look for the all clear, a traveler is spotted approaching and the two quickly make their way outside to intercept him.
The trader calls out a greeting to them, welcoming them to the Great Grotto and introduces himself as Bruthwol Coalhauler, a trader of goods, and tries to engage them in conversation.
As neither Dench nor Skarr are social butterflies, the complexities of discreetly questioning a trader for information are not their forte. Thankfully they are able to garner some information and Skarr wisely opts not to “hit it with the hammer”
We learn that the city in the distance is called Pedestal and it is not safe at all. It was once a drow city that fell to a plague and in the years since, several factions have been fighting for control of the city. The three factions are, House Dusklorn, the Inheritors, and the Assassin’s Guild. Bruthwol recommends, when asked about a good place to stay, that they should stick to the Dripstone Inn, which is 3 blocks north of the southern gate. He himself can be found in the eastern part of the city at the bazaar. The road leading away from the city leads towards several small villages and outcroppings where Bruthwol does business with the inhabitants.
The two half orcs, mindful of their two female companions who will need to be hidden somehow engage the trader in a discussion of wares and if he has cloth for purchase.
Indeed he does, but the fabric is well out of the price range their gold pieces can buy. In a stroke of inspiration, Skarr pulls out the drow coins he has been carrying and asks the trader, “what can I purchase with these?” The trader checks the coins and then gleefully hands over two very large bolts of fine silk fabric. As Dench and Skarr look on a bit confused, not really having meant to purchase such a large quantity of fabric, the trader gathers up his belongings and bids them farewell with the parting words…”Be careful crossing the ocean bridge.”
[That’s where we ended things for the night. The party has a whole new (under)world ahead of them to explore but will they even survive long enough to make it to this city called Pedestal. đŸ˜‰
Beer Log: Using our hit, miss, crit, and fumble rating scale, below is what we sampled this session.
- Proof Hello Dolly: Our local brewery’s porter treated with cocoa, coconut, and butterscotch. Prior batches were way too sweet and butterscotchy for my tastes but this batch got the treatment right. A real solid hit.
- Rekordling Passionfruit Hard Cider: As I mentioned when we last had one of the Rekordlings, I’m not a huge cider fan but, also like last time, this was good. It was even better than the mixed berry one and a hit.
- Base Camp S’more Stout: I was hoping for a LOT more from this one. You know, something kind of like a s’more but all I got was a bit of smokiness. It wasn’t a bad beer…a pretty pedestrian stout…but if you’re going to call your beer a s’more stout, it needs more to it. A miss for me.
- Alpine Nelson: If you like IPAs and you’ve never had the Alpine Nelson, do yourself a favor and go find it!!! This is one my favorite IPAs ever! The combination of the floral, citrus aroma and flavor with the rye is remarkable. A total crit!
