Session Thirty Summary (Graveyard of Empires: After the Fall)
Session 30, February 3 2021
Introduction
We continue at 9:30AM on the 21st of Tenrilden with the party having reached the underground river flowing from Lungmold's village. Unfortunately, Dirtcrust's raft has disappeared and moving against the deep and treacherous flow of the waterway will be dangerous ...
Larry's Summary
We discover that the bank ends and it won't be safe or easy to travel the river without a boat.
A dead miconian is found on the bank and is an elder from Lungmold & Dirtcrust's village. His body is translucent and we see tentacled blobs moving around inside the body.
Velkin sends the spider to scout ahead and it soon returns letting us know it saw nothing to help us.
Velkin climbed over the river and brought ropes.
The spider acted odd, then fell down and burst open and 5 baby carrion crawlers came out. Velkin managed to light the spider on fire but the 5 carrion crawlers paralyzed him and started feeding on him.
the rest of the party crossed the river and helped knock crawlers into the fire, but both Rallion and Oskar were both paralyzed. After the crawlers were dispatched and we recovered, Velkin noticed several holes in his skin.
We made it to Malgrim, the gnomes built a wall with stairs, that we climbed up about 150 feet. A well fortified gate was there. It cost 200 gp to enter. (Rallion paid this fee.)
We went into the dwarven mine tunnel and thanks to the bioluminescent plants, we no longer needed the lantern. We finally came to the main gate, and it cost another 200 gp to enter. (Rallion paid this fee.)
We saw a notice board area, mostly about bounties. We saw nothing about us. A group of drow were going away from us, and had not seen us.
A young gnome guide, "Billy" whom Velkin spoke to in thieves' cant took us to a gnome alchemist. We used her fear of snakes to get a good deal, thanks to her fear of Oskar. We got healing potions, ingredients for Kauri to make more sleep poison for Velkin, and cure disease potions, and a purgative to help Velkin avoid death by carrion crawler eggs. We also learned that two weeks ago that drow are here looking for us. (Rallion paid for it - 5,200 gp.)
Billy guided us to avoid the drow. The alchemist recognized us, but thanks to Lungmold reading her thoughts and her fear of Oskar, we hope to stay momentarily safe.
Rallion used the scepter to heal Borthan, but he ran in fear.
Entry in Velkin's Scrolls
Tenrilden 21
9:30am
We look up and downriver a ways to see if there’s a raft or something we can use to go upriver without going through Vilgram. We don’t find anything, however we do find a decaying Mycelian that is identified as an elder from our fungoid acquaintances settlement. There are a handful of 6” tentacle faced things under it’s skin. We’re not real sure what they are so we back off. I send our 8 legged friend to scout past the dead body and it finds nothing useful or threatening.
We go back to the fault passageway and cross the river. I climb across and bring Spidey along to watch my back. I secure a couple lines and notice the spider is acting a little off… he collapses and a number of the creatures that entrapped him erupt from his body. I’m paralyzed by their sticky tentacles and they proceed to feed or inject eggs or something while the rest of the party cross and eventually defeat the creatures. Not without the Lizardman and Rallion also being immobilized. We recover from the palatalization quickly, gather our ropes and head out. I’m wondering if I’m harboring some of those Crawler eggs waiting to hatch out and do to me what the Spider and the Mycelian experienced. Lambertus says he can take care of things later, with Magic I’m supposing.
The willingness of these beings to assist and help one another without coercion, fear, or domination is …. new. It makes one wonder about such things on a larger scale…. Maybe I’ll have time to contemplate further at some point...
Lungmold guides us around some Shrieking Mushrooms.
About 2:40pm we reach the base of the stairs to Malgrim. I change my green gem to red. We’re assuming word of a party of our general composition has reached ears and eyes in Malgrim we’d rather avoid. Hopefully the ruse will buy a little time.
Mailcon of Clan Ragathi is the captain of the guard at the top of the stairs and collects our toll and we gather some information on Malgrim. A DVL with a yellow hat recruiting for something sitting near the Rift in the Underside.
Another toll to enter Malgrim gather more information on Malgrim’s layout, and a few noteables then and we make our way to the Marketplace. There is a group, the Higaki Guard offering a bounty on Silence Agents. There is a great automaton that is frozen in place with vendors setting up shop after making a hole in it’s metal skin. A large wall covered in posters and bills with job offers, bounties etc. Thankfully we don’t see anything resembling our party.
A drow priestess and her party make their way through the crowd toward the Embassy, thankfully not noticing us.
A young thief offers his guidance through the city. I make my shared affiliation known to him and we come to agreement for his services as a guide and avoiding any Drow. He tells us a bit more about the goings on here. Cizik Igna, Rumors etc.
We pass a group of gnomes bantering on about how magic is gone here too…
Billy guides us first to Grisel to do some shopping and with his help we make use of her fear of reptiles (thanks to Oskar) and some benign haggling and acquire healing elixers, some ingredients, spiritcasting tea, a purgative for my Crawler issue and some more tea for Oskar.
She catches that we’re the ones the Drow are looking for through a slip on my part. However she’s no friend to the Drow and won’t tell if not asked about her encounter with us. She also tells us of a Magic User name of Jax, a conjoined twin who was asking around about stone magic…
We heal ourselves up some and Rallion moves away with Borthan, I’m assuming to use the scepter again and Borthan flees…. What the hell!!?