2025/05/30: Horrors Under Snake Mountain Part 2
General Summary
Buzz, Et-Kehri, Terana, Othar, Union
Before the party, inside the Old One cave, was a 700-900 foot deep chasm. The width across was about a third that. Statues and carvings could be seen on the far side of the vast chasm. Some were knights and angels and the like, others were more serpentine. The ages varied; apparently these were built by a series of civilizations. Hundreds or thousands of snakes were slithering all over the room, including a four-foot-wide giant snake that was spotted climbing on the ceiling.
The decaying bone remains of enormous snakes reached across the chasm down below, the ends petrified into the stone walls. They were so big that it was entirely possible they were all from the same snake.
A portal opened next to Malakai. Fighting was heard on the other side, Malakai's name was called, and he dove in. Egwin got tossed back out. Kelsey jumped into the portal before it could close. Apparently something was attacking the Ragnarok and really wanted Egwin dead. It was up to the party to keep Egwin safe in the interim. (Apparently the dungeon was less dangerous than whatever was attacking the ship!)
The party opted to pull back and dump the abomination corpses on the altar to buy time and maybe get a blessing.
Union prayed at the altar. The party received a Periapt of Pacification in return. It makes creatures and beings around the wearer less hostile.
The party's new quest from the altar was to return with a giant snake, alive.
The party headed back to the cave. They passed many non-giant snakes of all shapes and sizes and colors moving away from the cave, though none tried to attack, possibly due to the periapt. Then a giant white lion came charging down the path toward the party. With the Eye of True Motive, Othar detected that the lion wasn't trying to attack them as it came on: It was coming to ask for help.
The lion skidded to a stop, roared (loud enough to vibrate Egwin six inches backward), and then reported to Terana that its partner was in trouble and desperately needed help. The party set off, Egwin riding a giant stag beetle that Et-Kehri summoned. Othar, with Saveon's help, opted to just repeatedly combat-teleport to keep up with the party.
The group arrived to see a group of hydras attacking something. When Terana verified that the hydras were mindless (and thus probably summoned) and dove into the melee, she identified a cube of force at the center of the scrum, with a glimpse of an elven cloak inside. Union phase-shifted into the cube to evacuate the target while the rest of the team engaged in battle.
With victory, the party rescued a shadowy elf with a lot of camo gear. Clearly some kind of elven commando. He informed the party that he was on a mission to place several rods of power that should contain the invasion of snakes. The party opted to help him out. On the way, they also came across four satyrs who also wanted to kill whatever was messing with nature in the region. That encounter almost became a fight, but the periapt defused it, and Terana recruited the satyrs to help with the real problem.
With the rods placed, the party teleported to a new area and met an elven team. Two elven assassins so covered in gear they were unidentifiable. Also an elven lord with a big sword, a warhorse, and intricate armor. Like Lucius Malfoy if he was an elf. Also a couple spellcasters. The casters seemed to be helping with something involving nature magic. A female elf with bright white hair and several longswords was watching over them. Finally, two Alvidarians, one in full armor with a bastard sword, the other eight feet tall with an oversized lance. The elven lord turned out to be the lord of House Avanthus.
The ritual they were working on would apparently block teleportation for the next day or so. No easy evacuation for the villains responsible for all this.
The party and their new elven allies headed for the dungeon. The group ran across some serpentine ogres on the way, and the allied party eagerly charged them. The Alvidarians were clearly a couple; they were flirting as they fought.
Apparently the Alvidarian woman is Ruby's sister in law.
In the midst of all this, a man with a gold mane of hair flew in invisibly and then polymorphed into something visible. He's an ancient gold dragon who's the mount for the Fist of Ranthael's husband. He joined the effort.
A (replacement) Lycran for Meridan was also in the group. He's inexperienced, but he's working on it. Galen. ~40 years old, which is very young compared to most lycrans. He's here to get some of these evil wizards out of Meridan.
Thinking as a villain, Othar suspected that the swarm of monsters were a panic response, a defensive measure meant to slow down the attackers the villain knew were coming. Many of these riled creatures may be other factions or old defenses that the Animus Society mage set off, not things she specifically set up.
Et-Kehri communed with the shadows to get some information about the dungeon. Whispered Secrets results:
The allied party headed down while the player party headed up to look for the key.
Terana communed with nature to try to get more information. It turned out the Old One blood in the area was making everything strange and also was madness-inducing for the diviner. It was fortunate that Terana was immune to madness.
Othar used magic sight to see what magic channels were down here. There were wisps of magic going everywhere, but the cavern below was a cauldron of dark magic and strangeness. Strangely, it wasn't necromantic. Still dangerous, though.
As the session ended, the party reached the entrance to the upper dungeon via a ladder made of metal made of light. (Et-Kehri had some issues with both endurance and staying on the ladder, but at least he had a feather fall cloak to make falling much less of an emergency!)
Rewards Granted
2 xp
Character(s) interacted with
Head of House Avanthus, Egwin, Galen, Ruby's sister-in-law, Ruby's sister-in-law's husband, various elven commandos and mages
Notes
Othar is 110 ft. long. 155 ft. wingspan.
