Chapter 15: Session 01

[Chapter 15: Deliverance]

Hitting upon the idea of finding an air stone to help Rin overcome his issues with enclosed spaces, Mitu, Slip, and Rin get the aid of Vernir Guide of the Waywinders to bounce them from marker to marker. At each locale they search for the remnants of node stones and shards, and indeed, four days into searching, they find a small elemental shard. Unfortunately, it is an earth shard.

At waywinder stones located in more civilized regions, they also ask around about gifted smiths, hoping to uncover other persons capable of working Eog. They find two promising candidates, but only one has the blood of Greymalken -- an Oranian Braggol woman named Rowena with a sharp tongue and biting sense of humor.

Meanwhile, Soreiss and Tarsus work on a gateway between Larka City and Sandstone Canton (formerly Sandstone Keep). Although it is more limited than any of them had hoped (no more than four persons at a time may pass), it will have to suffice in the interim.

Arrangements are made in Sandstone Canton for Gorvalyk to carry the 20lbs of Eog from there back to Larka City, since the Eog has limited affects on his air powers. However, the larger issue of transporting it to the glass continent remains. Soreiss realize that he can solve several issues at once if he can make contact with Sable and successfully solicit the immortal's aid. After a brief communication with Lugh, Soreiss locates a small supply of "dream juice", Lugh's dream enhancement potion. He takes several doses over the next few nights, and eventually finds Sable in the Ymorphus, sailing the Sea of Despair. The immortal's aid is secured, and in a few days time he will arrive to not only carry the Eog from Larka City to Turwinton, but to ferry the traveling Kuzani settlers from New Colony and Paxis to Sandstone Canton.

But before the immortal arrives in Larka, Mitu, Rin, and Slip return after Vernir reports an immediate emergency that demands his attention. Rin takes a day to rest, but then is teleported to the region of Northern Kesh to scout out Shrewsborn for any clue about the nature of this package the Syments are charging Soreiss to deliver.

The next two days in Larka City are spent in training and study, ending when Sable arrives. Mitu has Sable take a side stop to pick up the Braggoli smith who agreed that she would meet the other Eog crafters, but seems reluctant to work without substantial pay. The woman seems to take a liking to Slip -- who seems tiny next to her -- and upon reaching Turwinton, she seems ever more reluctant to include herself in the plan. Only after Arius is asked to help smooth things over with her, she agrees to help for a period of one month, after which there needs to be further negotiation.

Meanwhile, in Shrewsborn, Rin notes some strangeness -- Owl warns him of slight Darkroad taint somewhere below the town. The strength of it leads Rin to assume there are Daemok there... somewhere. On his second evening there, Rin finds a young burglar who uses magic to aid in his chosen profession. Rin interrogates the man about areas under the town and any subterranean access. He learns of some old mines a short distance into the hills, but realizes quickly that the mines are clean. There must be another way under the town.

The next morning, Slip, Soreiss, Mitu, and Lorin (one of the Bronze Bull Sergeants) arrive in Shrewsborn. They investigate the mines further, and all come to agree with Rin's assessment. Slip dowses an underground waterway that passes under Shrewsborn, moving right beneath the fountain at the town center. They all agree, the fountain must be the key.

Slip shifts himself into a watery form and slides down below the fountain and into the subterranean waterway. He notes something odd moving toward him against the current, but by the time he realizes the danger, he is already seriously injured. The oddity is a daemok taken the form of a large watery serpent which nearly severs Slips leg as it attaches itself to him like a giant lamprey. Slip, weak and rapidly being drained of blood, manages to get himself up the water stream into the fountain above the surface. However, the daemok -- a Demon of Hunger -- still feeds, and Slip soon finds himself unconscious and mortally wounded.

Mitu, Rin, and Soreiss struggle to free Slip from the daemok, while Lorin attempts to support the fallen elementalist. Oddly, Slip begins to float, and both Soreies and Rin note that someone in a nearby tavern just cast a spell of levitation. Managing to cut Slip free (and forcing the Daemok to recoil back into the waters below), Mitu heals his companion -- at great cost to his own health. Rin crosses the town plaza, and drags the spellcaster -- the same burglar he'd met earlier -- out into the plaza. He informs the burglar that he's just been drafted.

Slip dowses the waterflow, and outside of town, Mitu smashes a hole in the ground with "nutbuster", his enchanted tetsubo. With an accessway into the waters, the PCs know the demon is aware of their intention, and mockingly, the PCs attempt to taunt the demon(s) out into the open. However, there is no response. The PCs seize the opportunity to rest before venturing into the waterway.

And indeed, they needed that moment of respite, for they find far more than anticipated in the hollows beneath Shrewsborn. A taunting exchange reveals that these daemok -- indeed, more than one -- serve the "True" Master, revealed to be the Archdemon and Dark God, Calimus. Also hinted at is a bit of strife among the daemok of The Scar, where many of them have fallen in line under the Dark God Xakros, ostensibly still the god of Pax.

Instead of waterbodied hunger demons, they find a variety of types -- war and pain most notably, but even a Lasher, the masters of the Demon Ogres, stands among them. After a protracted battle (and the need for supplies and reinforcements, as Lorin uses an Arcane Token Charm to send a message to Kestra of the Bulls -- which she responds to in person, joining the fight)the party winds their path forward to an open chamber.

Within the final chamber is a massive War Daemok standing enthralled, swaying even, to the faint song being hummed by an old woman with a sword who is trapped in a massive crystalline cage of sorts. The woman is the Talmoril, the chosen of Mevonn and spiritual leader of the organized Phoenix Cults, and while she seems unharmed, everything is not as it seems. Another daemok is in the room, invisible, it mocks the party, laughing even as it comments that it has lost the day. Identified as the infamous Imp of Calimus, it departs, abandoning the War Demon to the party.

Entering the chamber itself seems to warp the various magics active within -- eldritch force (most notable Arcane magic) most dramatically. Soon, they realize that the source is the strange crystal cage, which upon closer examination strongly resembles several large tentacles intertwining and converging at the base. Soreiss suspects he knows what it is -- the Warpstone, a lost artifact created in the last days of the 4th Prophecy when the Darkweaver returned to Mt. Thanir and was ignorantly assaulted by Gore, the Lord of the Syments. The Warpstone is what remains of Gore's right arm, crystallized, when it reached forth (and failed) to bind the Darkweaver. The Warpstone is pure Chaos given shape and mass.

Mitu lifts the Warpstone and frees the Talmoril, who is relieved. Between information from her, and from the now captive War Demon (who seems listless, drained, and ultimately devoid of aggression), they learn that until a few years ago, the Daemok in the scar had possession of the Warpstone, which they had kept hidden from others using the Gem of Doxinaru. However, with the theft of the Gem (by Domaourin Redmask, a master thief met years prior in Flatrock just after the theft), the Warpstone became visible. These demons managed to steal the Warpstone itself, using it to hold the Talmoril for (as yet) an unrevealed reason.

However, the party remains at a loss regarding two main concerns. Is the Talmoril or the Warpstone the package mentioned by Stefan Aldroth, and what should they do with the Daemok of War?

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[Jolt Code: 1B,3C,2CB,1S]