Session IX
The cast:
- Greg, a Barbarian
- Krombopulos Michael (“KM”), an Elvish Ranger
- Brother Pele, a Mage
- Dayman, a PaladinCrispin, a Zaharan Ruinguard
- Maximore, a Thrassian Abomination
The Black Mires stretched around the party. Somewhere in their depths were the Frog God's three treasures. But how might their locations be ascertained? Dayman and KM had decided that the Mires were more frightening than they had initially seemed, and both were quite reluctant to just go gallivanting off in the hopes of stumbling upon a giant basket. It was decided that Cyfaraun would be returned to. There a sage could be hired to pore over the legends and lore of the region. Perhaps he might discover useful clues. The party left the Black Mires, traveling as carefully as they could. Their remarkable luck endured, and they encountered no malign presences in the Mires. [Despite covering 21 hexes of the Mires, they had no chance encounters at all.]
The sage would need a month to do his research, so the adventures again returned to the buried temple. On this foray, they ventured into a previously unexplored section of the temple, a section they believed was inhabited by a band of hobgoblins. Yet instead of hobgoblins, they came upon piles and piles of goblin corpses, all of whom had been cleanly decapitated. The rot that had set into these corpses suggested they had been dead for quite some time. Deep in the goblin territory, the adventurers also found a large slanted well. Stabilized by his wings, Maximore crept down it. It descended for almost sixty feet; below it, as far as his torchlight extended, was a great pool of what could appeared to be blood. Sprouting from the center of the pool was a vast, tumorous growth covered in pink, fleshy tendrils that flitted through the air. After a moment, one of them darted toward Maximore and attempted to grab him. Luckily, he dodged out the way and made a hasty retreat.
The Thrassian related what he had seen to his friends, all of whom were horrified and disgusted. Dayman in fact felt the need to vomit profusely. Surely this pool must be connected in some way to The Lady and the temple's resurgent power. Yet the well seemed a poor venue through which an attack on the temple's lower floor might be launched, so the adventurers continued to move through the goblin territory. Whoever had killed all the goblins had left evidence of significant time spent looking for the goblins' treasure, yet they had not been completely successful: KM's elvish senses detected a hidden slot in a wall filled with gold and gems that the adventurers gleefully took.
North of the goblins' quarter were the long sought hobgoblins. First contact was made in a rather amusing manner: Temporarily quenching his lantern, KM cracked open a door and peered inside. All he saw was darkness, so he uncovered his light. The lantern revealed four hobgoblins who had been calmly watching his (supposedly) stealthy actions the entire time. Yet these beastmen seemed fatigued and mildly wounded, and battle was not joined. Instead, the party learned from the hobgoblins that the body of red liquid Maximore had seen was known as the “birthing pool”. Even these beastmen felt the need for hushed voices when talking about the pool and its contents.
The party thanked the hobgoblins for their time, closed the door, and then debated amongst themselves whether to attack their new friends. Dayman counseled against this treachery, yet his was the only voice of dissent. Greg and Maximore in particular repeatedly stated their desire to engage in excessive ultraviolence. Wounded as they were, the hobgoblins proved little match for the party, even when six more reinforcements showed up. As before, KM showed himself poorly disposed toward the idea of ammo conservation; he and Greg both exhausted their stashes of arrows in mere tens of seconds.
Yet as the assault continued, Maximore heard a cold voice in his head whisper “You are strong, and your friends are weak. Subdue them and bring them below to the Stone.” To the adventurers' horror, their Thrassian friend suddenly leapt at Dayman and savagely mauled him. Only a quick sleep spell by Crispin saved the paladin from being torn to pieces. With the Thrassian unconscious, Crispin was the next adventurer to feel the alien presence intruding on his mind. Yet he proved to be made of sterner stuff than his companion had been, and he easily resisted its commands. Unsure of what was menacing them, the adventurers began to withdraw, when suddenly a massive spider dropped from the ceiling and sank its fangs into Dayman. Already weakened, the paladin collapsed. Utterly terrified, the adventurers frantically attacked the beast, which proved less threatening than expected. Pele's summoned berserkers quickly tore it to shreds with their massive axes.
Unfortunately, closer examination of Dayman revealed that Maximore's brutal attack had lamed both of his legs. He would need time to heal as well as a divine restoration. So the adventurers withdrew from their temple, and continued their improbable string of luck by making it out of the Viaspen without encountering anything. They waited in Türos Tem until the worst of Dayman's wounds had healed, and then they traveled to Cyfaraun. There the paladin's legs were restored; in exchange, he was gifted a supernaturally insatiable appetite. While waiting for Dayman to recover from his restoration, Pele and KM met with the sage they had hired. The sage claimed to have learned the rough location of all three of the frog god's items.
- One could be found in a pool somewhere along the Mirimen river
- One lay in a labyrinth sacred to a forgotten god of weather. The labyrinth was somewhere in the southernmost reaches of the Mire, and was probably cursed.
- One was surrounded by a vast amount of undead energy. (The adventurers guessed that referred to the necromancer's island of animated flesh.)
Even armed with this knowledge, the adventurers were still unsure if they were ready to return to the Black Mires. As always, they fiercely debated their next course of action.
Mortal Wounds Count:
- Dayman, legs lamed by a possessed Maximore (later restored)
Tampering With Mortality Count:
- Dayman, bottomless hunger