[Alliance] Session Sixteen
Gil is showing no concern on his face as a Gurubashi troll gestures with his spear. “You gonna come with us, mon.” He calmly follows after, and the rest of the group follows suit.
A forest troll then approaches, and she holds a hand out towards Uther. A couple others approach as well. A few of the party take the hands.
“....your weapons, mon.”
Gil blinks. “Oh! Right!”
They hand over their weapons. Uther’s weapon is humming a great deal.
Vittoria: “And what do you need my fucking weapon for?”
Troll: “So you don’t use it on us, mon.”
Zap: “I promise, Vittoria, if things go wrong you have my permission to tie a rope around my waist and use me as a ball and chain.”
After some more reluctance, she hands over her sword. The rest of the group’s weapons are also taken, and they fan out around them and start to usher them forward.
Another troll had approached Rai. He looks down at the small troll with his arms crossed, and then spits on him. “I thought your sister told ya not to come back, Rai’fon.”
Rai makes himself as small as possible, and the other troll turns back away.
They lead the party deeper into the Hinterlands, and the woods start to break into more open space. The ocean is now visible, though the land ends into a sheer cliff down into the water. The trolls find a small path that seems to be cleared through the hills, and they lead the party down to a secondary plateau closer to the sea. They continue for several more minutes, and in the distance, nestled between the high cliffs and the low cliffs, is a village. It is made up of a menagerie of different-styled huts. There are some made with the lumber of the area, but others are constructed differently to reflect the variety of trolls living together.
As the group gets closer, the party sees an abundance of trolls that peek out of their hovels and emerge to meet the strange group. Their weapons are not far away from them as they are clearly cautious, but they are not acting outright aggressive. Like the hunting party, there is a mixture of sand, forest, jungle, and ice trolls.
However, none look very old. Very few are over the age of 30.
As they enter the village, the trolls mutter to each other in Zandali - a mixture of curses and inquiries. They are clearly not happy.
They approach as a central building, and Rai looks at it and swallows hard.
Gil: “Not so good to be back home, then?”
Rai just looks at him.
Gil: “Not dead yet!”
Rai: “Not dead yet, mon. Guess that’s something.”
Vel is very, very, *very* clearly not happy, but she is showing a great deal of self-restraint.
They are shown in to meet with the chieftain.
One of the trolls: “I’d be lying if I said I hope it goes well, mon.”
Zap: “Well, we appreciate your honesty!”
As soon as they enter the hut, a spear buries itself inches away from Rai as soon as he ducks in. Before them is a relatively young troll woman. She is wearing a witch doctor’s mask, and the troll outside had mentioned her name was Zulfi’jin.
Gil: “I assume you’re Zulfi’jin, then?”
She ignores Gil completely, but focuses on Rai: “So it’s not good enough fer you yo come back, mon, but you bring outsiders too. Elves no less. You better have a good reason for this, Rai’fon, or it won’t be the outsiders feeding the fish tonight.”
Then she addresses Gil. “That be right, mon. I suggest ye start talking before I decide to stop listen.”
Uther: “Well, first of all, you have our deepest gratitude for not terminating us on sight.”
Zulfi’jin: “It took all our willpower, mon.”
Uther: “I hope you have more. I am prince Uther of Lordaeron, and we are here to discuss a mutual enemy. I feel like you may know of whom I speak.”
Zulfi’jin confirms.
Uther: “It doesn’t need to be stated, but if he is not stopped none of us will survive. I have at my disposal armies. Vast armies.”
Zulfi’jin: “I know about your armies.”
Uther: “Yes, and you are well aware of the destruction they can wreak when pointed in the appropriate direction. I want to know the direction of Zalazane so I can point them toward him.”
She looks at the party for a moment, her expression unreadable. She tilts her head slightly to the right. “And what makes you think I would tell ye where he is, even if I knew.”
Uther: “Well, quite frankly, because you can’t kill him, but maybe we can. And let me be clear, I do not doubt your people’s martial prowess or your tenacity, but what I doubt are your numbers. Zalazane is a threat to every living thing. No matter how much you may hate me, my companions, my people, if you don’t help us, there won’t be anyone left to hate. Not even you.”
Zulfi’jin: “if we all gonan die anyways, mon, then why would I do it holding hands with the people that got us here.”
Uther: “Because if you help me, no one has to die. We can stop him.”
“You think you can stop him?”
Uther: “I know I can.”
Zulfi’jin: “Typical human. Thinks he can do anything just because he says he can.”
Uther: “It’s actually an efficient system. If I’m right, I maintain 100% accuracy, but if I’m wrong, I won’t be around to hear anyone tell me how wrong I was.”
Gil: “On the converse, you stand to gain either way.”
Zulfi’jin: “And why is that little elf-man?”
Gil: “Well, you either get to be right, or we take out one of your greatest threats.”
:Well unfortunately I’m gonna have to disappoint ya. I don’t know where Zalazane is.”
Uther: “I’m not so foolish to hope you were privvy to his whereabouts, but surely you may have a thread of information. Sites of great significance to your culture. Even a place he might be.”
Zulfi’jin: “He could be anywhere, mon, but I know he has people in the Hinterlands. They trying to look fer us. They always be tryin.”
Gil: “And what if we could get rid of them?”
Zulfi’jin: “Then that be your prerogative, mon.”
Zap: “Hey there. You wouldn’t happen to know how you travel through graves, would ya?”
Zulfi’jin: “No. That not be something we be learning, mon. That be something he be learning.”
Zap: “Well. That’s out. Guess shaking down those Zalazane trolls is our best bet.”
Gil: “Well. There are some here.”
Zulfi’jin: “That they are. They are probably digging around one of the crypts. There be a lot of dead trolls, mon. I don’t need to remind ye about that, do I?”
Vel starts to say something, but she catches herself. Both Gil and Uther glanced at her.
Zulfi’jin: “Alright. Say you track down this Zalazane, then what?”
Gil: “We either kill him or die trying. But as a bonus, if we survive, your tribe is safe - which took a lot of convincing.”
Zulfi’jin: “So you expect me to just believe ya?”
Uther: “I would like to know what your alternative is.”
The chieftain’s hesitation and body language seems to reveal she doesn’t have any form of plan, or really any answer.
Uther: “I will, with all due respect, put this as simply as I can. Your options are to aid us, or wait here in these mountains until he comes for you. That is it. On one hand, you have a small hope of staving off that tide, and we don’t need to discuss the other. From one leader to another, nothing means more to me than the safety and prosperity of my people. Whatever old hatreds may be, I will always act in their best interest. Will you do the same?”
Zulfi’jin turns around for a moment, and she steps back to the far side of the hut. She reaches down and grabs a peculiar-looking weapon: a blade about three-fourths the size of her, and a singular grip in the middle with a blade on either side. She spins it for a second, and then walks back toward the group.
She lifts the weapon and thrusts it into the ground.
It’s a begrudging gesture of “we’re going to put the weapons aside for a second.”
She removes her mask, and there are a number of scars on her face. She tosses the mask aside, and her eyes hone in on Rai before going back to Uther.
Zulfi’jin: “My fool of a brother robbed me of any choice otherwise. If I say no, well then we need to find somewhere else to live anyways, mon. Can’t be having elves knowing where we live, even if they say they ain’t trying to kill us.. But I t’ink the phrase ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend’ is one I heard a long time ago. I wouldn’t go that far, but maybe we can be a help to each other.”
Uther: “I’m please to hear you say that, Zulfi’jin.”
Zulfi’jin: “The tribe in the Hinterlands. There was a few. The Wildbranches. They, all of them, joined Zalazane one way or another. They control enough of the Hinterlands that we be having to hide down here, mon. Just about all that we have left. All that they had left.”
Uther: “Well, I suppose that’s as good a lead as any. Can you tell us where to find them?”
Zulfi’jin: “I know that the elves try to have a presence out here. Same for the dwarves. Even after the wars, these are still troll lands. No doubt the only reason you didn’t see any on your way in was because of Rak.”
Gil: “We saw signs of them.”
Zulfi’jin: “Not surprised, mon.”
Gil: “He’s a strange one.”
Zulfi’jin: “Not in no small part that you brough him back to us that I’m talking to ya right now.” She crouches for a second. “So’s dat the only reason you came down here. Hoping I had the answers. Hoping that I can point you in the direction of the betrayer. Is that all?”
Gil: “Well we had an intense meeting with the leaders of Silvermoon before we came.”
Zulfi’jin: “That sounds awful. No offense.”
Gil: “None taken. It was awful. Part of that reason was to bring this war to an end where we can all live.”
Zulfi’jin scoffs. “Guess that’s more amenable now that there isn’t many of us left. Don’t have to share as much of your pretty little forests.”
Gil: “If you choose to perceive it that way.”
“How else would I?”
“As an opportunity to no longer have to fight constantly.”
“That sounds like the words of someone who don’t have to fight constantly.”
Uther states that his goal is to make it so that no one has to fight constantly.
Zulfi’jin: “Good luck, mon. You're going to need more than your Light and all the Loa to try that.”
Zap pipes in that that’s why Uther has a dwarf.
Gil says that they had taken the first step at that meeting.
Zulfi’jin: “Well I guess we have to hope that you’re not getting tricked. Otherwise we might not be the only ones in for something. You know what happens when someone speaks out against the majority? You end up hiding on the side of a cliff. I hope you find a nice cliff if this goes the wrong way for ya, little elf-man.”
Gil: “I choose to think everyone else is just as tired of fighting as we are.”
Zulfi’jin: “You must not know your own people very well, mon.”
Gil: “Grudges take two.”
Zulfi’jin: “That they do.”
Uther: “Well, if we have your aid, I’m loathe to waste anymore time. We should strike now.”
Zulfi’jin: “I suppose you should. I suppose you’re hoping my people can help ya.”
Gil: “I assumed you would not, actually.”
Zulfi’jin: “Color me surprised.”
Gil: “I can hope for things, but doesn’t mean I’m an idiot.”
Zap coughs, and she smiles at the cough.
Uther asks if they have a location, and Zulfi’jin said the closest ones were Jintha'alor.
She explains that it’s a city built on catacombs. If there was something down there, they’d find it.
Zap asked what the best way to get in without being detected, and she said to go quickly. The forest trolls know the terrain, and Zalazane has many working for them.
Zap asks if Rai could show them the way.
“I don’t think he can do anything for ye. But you’re still gonna take him with ya. As far as I’m concerned him being with ya is a test to see if ya can overcome more challenging circumstances, mon.
Gil mentions he was with them since Quel’Thalas.
She comments that maybe they had something to them, then.
Gil says she doesn’t have much faith in her brother, and she counters that he betrayed his people, got their father killed, and so-forth all to save his mother.
Zap suggests they leave quickly and that’s a story they could share later, however, Gil mentions they probably won’t find them again.
Zap says he hopes they do as he’s curious about the food.
Zulfi’jin: “Ever taste elf before?”
After some banter between Gil and Zap, Gil asks Zulfi’jin about the Hungering Hex. She asks why, and he says he needs to remove it.
It isn’t that simple.
“That’s bad mojo. Real bad mojo. In order to get rid of something like that it takes mind, body, and spirit. Unless ya be doing all three, ya ain’t gonna get rid of it, mon. Woe befallen anyone who be unfortunate enough to get befallen with something like that.”
Zap: “Well what would you do?”
“For starters, I’d die. Rather take me own life than go through something like that.”
Gil: “But if you were to remove it.”
“Like I said. Mind, body, and spirit. They all gotta be one, mon. That’s all I can say. It always differs, mon. Ain’t no two hexes the same, just as no two hexers the same.”
Gil: “So each hex has it’s own way to remove it. How do you figure it out?” “A lot of guessing. Or you consult someone that knows more than I do. Unlikely as Zalazane has almost every witchdoctor.”
She makes eye contact with Vel. She knows.
Uther asks if they can slow it down or change the focus of the hex.
Zulfi’jin: “Ya gotta be smarter than the hex.”
Uther: “How smart is the hex?”
“How smart is the hexxer?”
Uther: “I don’t suppose killing the hexxer would be a reasonable solution?”
“It’s a good first step.”
Gil: “Do you know how the betrayer came back?”
Zulfi’jin says she was wondering that as well. She didn’t think the Loa would bring him back, and she didn’t think Zalazane did it by himself. “I don’t know how he came back, but I know he didn’t do it alone.”
Gil: “So it’s not magic trolls have used before.”
“Not quite like that, mon.”
Gil asks what they should do after dealing with the nearby trolls, and she recommends taking the fight to Zalazane himself. He likely wouldn’t take an action like that lying down. They are probably looking for something.
If they can get what he’s looking for, they may be able to find out where he’s at.
Gil then mentions someone is trying to gather the blades that summoned Hakkar. However, he doesn’t know why, but one blade was found up by Quel’Thalas. It cut open a portal, and “things” came out.
Vel pipes up just to say “demons.”
Zulfi’jin acknowledges an appreciation of being told, however, she once again says they need to leave as she needs to start moving her people as well.
She ends with a look at Rai. “Try not to let him get killed.”
Uther: “We will do our best.”
Gil: “If we wanted to get a message to you, how would we do it?”
Zulfi’jin: “I’d rather ya didn’t. Ya saw what Rak did, ya? Do something like that. Get creative. We’ll find it.”
The group goes to leave, and she follows. She announces to her people that they are moving again.
The group’s weapons are returned. However, as they go to give Uther back his humming greatsword, they just drop it on the ground. They are so done with that.
As everyone rearms, Tess sees something out of the corner of her eye up on the ridge. A troll.
He has skeleton arms.
Tess tries to get the attention of someone. Gil notices. “Hey, Gil, the cliffs above us… if I remember right…. I think Zalazane is up there.”
Gil looks up. It is, in fact, Zalazane.
There is a small torrent of dwarven swears. “Uther. He’s here.”
Uther: “Where?”
Gil: “On the cliffs.”
Zalazane: “You’re right about one thing, Zulfi’jin. It would be a shame if ya got found out here, wouldn’t it? It’s a good thing I had such a nice guide to show me the way.”
Uther looks at Rai. He rapidly shakes his head. “It wasn’t me. I swear. I didn’t do nothing.”
A few other figures emerge on the clifftop. Every ten feet there are undead troll necrolytes.
“It ain’t that hard to figure out, mon. I really thought that was going to ring a bell.”
He throws something down at the group, and a ring finger falls in front of Vel. It’s a ring finger. Not as slender as a female elf’s, but slender.
It’s likely Arator’s.
“Consider that an appetizer.”
Vel hurls off a spell, and Gil fires, but the blows miss.
“Here’s some entertainment with your appetizer. I’m not such an ungracious host.”
He drops a chain, and something green thumps to the ground as the ground shakes. A dire troll emerges, but the ground continues to shake.
Ashwynn runs forward as Zulfi’jin and the other trolls start to pick up their weapons and try to take care of the guys on the ridge. Vittoria also runs in and performs a pincer maneuver with Ashwynn, and they cut deep into the huge troll.
Uther then runs in, but the troll brushes the blade aside.
Gil fires at one of the trolls on the cliff, but misses.
Rai blesses several members of the party, and Vel hurls a Chromatic Orb of the fire element at one of the casters. It is completely ineffective.
The land rumbles, and it starts to collapse into the sea.
The berseker tries to attack Uther and Vittoria, but misses.
Tess tries to go worgen, but fails, and she instead starts to try and climb up the side of the cliff.
Zap hurries over to the cliff and fires his grappling hook up by Tess as he starts to hoist himself up.
They continue to climb. Tess takes a pot shot at one of the casters, but it doesn’t break concentration.
Gil fires an arrow, and he knocks one of the casters out of concentration. However, he seems to have resisted some of the damage. He staggers and rips the arrow free, then tries to start casting again.
Vittoria and Uther continue to double team the berserker. Uther smites.
Vel suddenly vanishes in a flurry of snow and then reappears clinging to Zap’s rope. She scurries up another fifteen feet, and then fires a surge of bright, crackling blue energy at another one of the casters. He too drops concentration, and Vel smirks.
The berseker tries to hit Uther, but its claw bounces off of Uther’s magical shield.
Rai steps out from behind his protection and starts to concentrate for a second. “Here goes NOTHING!” he shouts as he hurls a mote of fire at the berserker (it’s a CRIT) and it connects. The berserker's healing factor shuts down momentarily.
More of the land starts to erode as the berserker roars and starts to charge at the individual that hit it with fire. However, Vittoria, Elissa, and Uther all nail the berserker as it runs by. Uther cuts its achilles’ tendon as it runs by, and it falls on its face as Uther jumps up and runs his sword through the troll’s skull.
Rai looks absolutely relieved.
Meanwhile, Rak has picked up two more enemy trolls and is just beating them against the ground.
Gil takes another shot at one of the eroders, but he seems to maintain concentration.
Vel hurls another chromatic orb, but this time it was successful as she utilized thunder.
Vittoria says that she can’t hit the casters, but she knows Uther can. She gives him a few buffs as Ashwynn runs to start climbing up the side of the cliff.
Zap climbs up more and takes aim.
Zap: “You want mojo? How’s this for mojo!”
He fires off a shot of his discombobulation ray and it’s successful.
Tess closes the distance and blows the head off of the most hurt eroder, and its body tumbles off the cliff.
Rai, meanwhile, continues to cower.
Uther imbues a rock with magic and hurls it at one of the eroders. It connects, but he holds his concentration.
Vel hurls another chromatic orb, and Gil fires at the same troll. However, it maintains concentration. Tess finishes closing the distance, but misses her attack. Zap comes from behind and blasts the troll in the face, and he drops his concentration.
Uther chucks another stone. It connects.
The troll slips and loses his footing, and it plummets to the ground.
The other eroder locks eyes on Zap and rushes at him. However, Zap sidestepped and he runs off the side of the cliff.
Only about 55% of the land was eroded out, fortunately. However, that was about 30% of the huts, so the Darkspear lost some people and some things.
Zulfi’Jin storms toward the party, and she looks clearly irritated. “And I suspect the reason he found us was because of you too.”
Uther: “I’m afraid so.”
“We can’t just seem to cut a break, can we?”
Gil: “You and just about everyone else on the continent.”
Zulfi’jin: “We lost a lot of good people. The warriors, they’re fine. Those who were hidin’... they weren’t able to escape in time. And so the Darkspear Tribe gets smaller and smaller.”
Gil says they are going to stop them, and Zulfi’jin says she hopes he is right.
At the very least, they know he is in there area. However, he is also going to be ready for them.
Uther: “It wasn’t our intention to put your people in danger.”
“They have been danger since before you were around. There ain’t no point in putting blame on one group or the other. You brought down that dire troll just the same.”
“We’ve troubled you enough. We’ll take our leave.”
“Just a warning: the tomb. It gonna be full of traps. He’s gonna be ready for ya, and ya can bet the kings of old have put all sorts of things in. Ya got a big group there. The more people you bring, the more likely he can use it against ya.”
Uther: “Thank you for the warning. Come friends, we’ve tarried here enough.”
Gil: “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry about your people.”
“Yeah. I’m sorry too.”
Ashwynn: “She has a good point. Perhaps it’s not wise for all of us to go. Besides, I dare say they could use some additional assistance. Perhaps some of us should stay here to help. Help them get out of here, tend to their wounded, make sure they’re alright. Then whoever stays can catch up with the rest.”
Zap: “I feel, while that has a basis in logic, I don’t know if they want our succour.”
Gil: “They may have to accept it. They’ve been dealt a serious blow.”
One of the older troll women is near the side of the cliff, and she is wailing.
They discuss who should stay. Gil suggests Elissa as she can heal, but Elissa is hesitant to stay alone. Uther asks Ashwynn if she could “protect his vassal” and she reluctantly agrees. Uther gives Ashwynn a big plate-on-plate clanking hug.
Uther: “Stay safe, sister.” Ashwynn: “Says the one who is plunging into troll catacombs ridden with traps and who knows what else.” Uther: “Someone had to take after father.”
They finish bidding the two of them farewell. Vel summons Arkha’din and gestures at Elissa.
Elissa: “Wait, really?” Vel: “Consider it a means to… keep you updated. You’ll know our status, anyway.”
Elissa runs up and gives Vel a hug. Vel awkwardly… hugs… back…. Awkwardly.
Elissa waves them off dramatically and calls for Zap to feed Colonel Nutters for her.
They set off.
They get to the city without much issue. The dilapidated stones rises into the sky, and it almost seems to be built into the mountain. As the sun sets, the shadows play across the tiered structures and ruins.
However, there are no skeletons, no trolls, no nothing. Gil tries to sense the presence of humanoids, but any he senses are not above ground.
They are likely waiting to spring a trap.
One of the entrances looms before them. As they step in, the green stone emanates a scent of death and decay. Every 20 or so feet, a torch is dimly lit and spreading across the caverns. Zap and Uther take point.
Zap: “I don’t know how much you have fighting underground, but it’s tight. Enemies use that to their advantage. You have big weapons. Keep it tight, and stick to thrusts.”
Zap is able to tell, as a general layout, the least deep areas of troll architecture are usually the less important troll chambers. Deeper insides are the more miraculous things such as burial sites of tribal leaders to almost “VIP suites” for the living. Embalming of the dead is a common practice. Likewise, there are probably places filled with treasures. This early inside, there would likely be places used for visitation or rituals.
Zap: “Zalazane is most likely looking for something deeper in. Something entombed with royalty or something.”
He peeks around a corner, and the corridor bends and heads south again. However, he cautiously proceeds toward the next hall. It too, turns south.
Vel suggests they start to leave a trail, but they decide to do so if things start to get more labyrinthine.
They turn down the hall and they see a bunch of murals depicting trolls and marauading elves. However, Zap doubles back and examines the rubble of a cavern collapse. Vel helps him find a hole that he can deploy Baron Buzz Buzz through.
Zap: “Good job, Vel, we’ll make a dwarf out of you yet!”
As he scurries in, he eventually finds his way into a large room. There are statues sitting in insets, and in front of them there are small wooden bowls. Some have offerings of stone or bones. There are also weapons, equipment, and items of war. As he skitters around, something in the center of the room catches his eye. It’s a bent dagger laying on the ground.
Near it seems to be a farstrider - not alive.
There is talking.
There are four figures crouching, and there are sounds of chewing and eating. A bone skitters across the ground and clinks over to their left. Three of the figures are trolls, one is a gnoll.
What they are consuming may have been bodies.
However, they don’t seem to notice the bug.
One is wrapped in a series of strange clothes. It was likely embalmed. He seems to have the same body type as the sand trolls. There is a living forest troll, and undead necrolyte, and the gnoll seems to be of the same clan the party had previously dealt with.
He recalls the bug and explains what he saw. They then press on.
Down the corridor, they were able to locate a door that seemed to lead into the room that had Zap had seen. He confirms that is it. However, there is another hallway branching off, and there is another corridor.continuing on.
Vittoria commented that she wanted to see first-hand what a Farstrider can do.
Zap crept forward first to check for traps, and he didn’t seem to find any.
They take up positions, and then attack. Uther sets off a firebolt at the mummy, and it is immediately set ablaze, but it doesn’t seem to be readily affected by it. Tess fires a shot with her pistol, but the shot goes wide.
Rai regulates his heartbeat as he concentrates and there is the sound of drumbeats as he uses war drums.
Vel hurls a sphere of cold at the mummy, and it connects. It seems to actually be affected by cold, and Gil follows up with an arrow. It blows through the mummy and digs into the troll berserker behind it. The hole in the mummy starts to pour sand as it spins around.
Gil: “Ha! Vittoria, was that a good enough shot for you?” Vittoria: “Not bad, Gil!”
Gil fires another arrow at the mummy, and it is promptly put down.
Necrolyte: “Ooooh, boys. It looks like we’re going to have some more fun tonight.”
The necrolyte takes a step back and hurls a bolt of inky blackness at Tess that plunges right in her chest.
Zap creeps over to the nearby door, and he hears a rhythmic metal noise from beyond it. “ShWnk. ShWnk. ShWnk.”
The gnoll pack lord darts forward, blood and viscera dripping from its maw. Rai ducks behind Vittoria to try and get in range of Tess to heal her. Unfortunately, he is unable to do so, and he hurls some fire at the gnoll. It’s surprisingly effective, and the gnoll is ignited.
The berserker rushes forward with his axe in hand, and Uther reaches out and touches Tess. She is wrapped with a warm light as he heals her. Tess quickly gulps down the bitter draught of a healing potion and fires at the berseker with her gun. The shrapnel blinds him as she darts back to safety.
Vittoria smiles and runs forward, but she misses as she strikes at the troll berserker.
Vel, meanwhile, edges along the edge of the fight and hurls an orb of thunderous energy at the necrolyte to get it’s focus off the rest of the party. It is also blinded.
Gil embeds an arrow deep in the troll berserker.
Uther, meanwhile, goes to back up Vittoria and cleaves straight through the gnoll’s armor. The gnoll recklessly attacks Uther while he is caught on fire, but he misses entirely.
Zap fires a scattergun shot into the troll berserker as Rai goes and heals Tess.
Tess thanks him. He stammers that it isn’t a problem.
The necrolye holds out a hand and fires another shadowbolt, this time at Vittoria, but she manages to duck behind her shield to negate half the damage.
Tess lunges at the berserker with her rapier, and then whirls around and stabs the gnoll as the berserker falls to the ground.
Vel fires an orb of crackling, icy energy at the necrolye, but he raises a hand and absorbs the cold damage.
Vittoria steps forward and comes around to Tess.
Vittoria: “Sorry about breaking formation there, us ladies need to stick together.”
Tess gets 5 temporary hit points! Ding ding!
Zap shoots the blackpaw dead.
However, the necrolyte fires another shadowbolt at Vittoria and it passes right through her shield. She drops from the hit, but the necrolyte looks pretty much spent.
However, when Gil fires an arrow, he narrowly misses.
Rai quickly navigates around Uther to get to Vittoria, and Uther flings a magical stone at the necrolyte. It connects. Tess and Vel continue the assault.
Meanwhile, Zap stabilizes Vittoria.
Gil fires at the necrolyte and misses.
The necrolyte’s hand glows with a sickly green energy as he reaches for Uther, but he just brushes the hand aside.
Tess runs up behind Uther and runs the necrolyte through with her rapier. It was super effective, and he crumbles.
Rai goes to continue healing Vittoria. Her eyes snap open and she smiles when she sees Zap, but then her smile wavers when she sees Rai. “Well, thanks for that I guess.”
Zap: “Don’t worry, he’s the nurse.”
Vittoria laughs.
Gil goes over to the door, and he pushes against it. It’s effectively a wooden gate. It starts to lift, but gets stuck halfway. Vittoria and Uther deadlift it up, and the gate disappears into the ceiling.
Meanwhile, Zap peers into the other arch, and he sees the source of the noise: giant metasl pendulums that are shinking in and out of the walls.
Gil’s hallway, however, goes nowhere.
Tess suggests throwing the corpses into the pendulum to clog them up.
Vel and Gil go around and collect anything of use from the bodies. Gil gets the hawk-tag from the farstrider, and sees a message scrawled in the ground next to him in Thalassian.
“Death comes on silent wings.”
Zap goes further down one of the halls, and there are disturbed sarcophagi and another cave in.
After some discussion, Zap uses his Decanter of Endless Water in conjunction with Vel’s shape water to free the first trap and disable it. However, the second trap was not disabled.
Zap sends Baron Buzz Buzz to scope out up ahead, and before he gets sliced in half, he sees a lever.
Vel ritual-casts unseen servant to go and pull that lever. As it does, a scyther just erupts from the wall through the unseen servant.
Good thing a person didn’t pull it.
But the traps stop.
They continue on, and they come a fork in the path. The walls are littered with sarcophagi and crypts. They leave the choice up to Uther.
Uther: “Well, one thing Muradin would say, if it’s not the right way, it’s the wrong way. Lets go right.”
Gil offers to peer down the other path first. It’s moving downward, almost. He creeps further, and it seems the path is built into the very environment. As he looks closer, the stone almost seems as if it can be moved.
As soon as Gil comes to that realization, he steps off of it, and it drops into a slide.
As the party catches up, Gil ties a rope around his waist and hands the other end to Uther as he slides down. About 50 feet down, the rope ends, just in time to keep him from slamming into a wall of bloodied spikes. However, he also sees a pressure plate. He dexterously manages to press it, and the trap corrects itself.
He steps off the pressure point, and the trap goes back to as it was. He calls for Uther to pull him back up, he goes back and fetches a body, goes back down, and then deposits a body on the pressure plate.
It’s deactivated. For now.
They continue along the path, and the stone door at the end opens automatically (strangely). As they step into the large room they are greeted with a curious sight. It’s lined with more of the inlaid coffins and sarcophagi. However, between all of those things there are perfectly carved spirals in a nearly hypnotic pattern in the stone. It goes up toward the ceiling.
It goes straight through the sarcophagi. At the very northern corner, there are three steps that lead to a small dais. There is a chest there, and it is open. Lying in front of it is a human corpse.
Gil: “Rai? What is the spiral mean to your people?”
Rai: “I dunno. I’ve never seen anything like it before.”
Vel is staring at it, trying to make sense.
