DIDx9

TL;DR

The highlights of the session were:

• The group made their way out of The Maw, which led right to Panebrenthen Crevice. They then hiked through the grotto towards Rikhevlovir to warn the Deepfolk.
• Along the way to Rikhevlovir, the party overheard some Marshals patrolling a passage close to the city talking about the Commandant of Dolenna's Marshals "schmoozing" with the city treasurer, a man named "Debin", which the Marshal seemed to think was odd.
• The group spoke with Nylin in Rikhevlovir and agreed to help her defend her village from the Marshals. She provided them four talismans, two of each; one of which would liquefy rock and then solidify it again; and one which would create a spiky rock trap in a narrow passage. The group decided to try to negotiate with the Marshals approaching first, believing that if they could convince them that they were being deceived, they could avoid violence. They decided to take Junyall to act as the Deepfolk's representative.

Full Summary

As Zero joined the rest of the party in the cavern, they used their Steps of Night to lift Rainer to the ledge where Scarf lay waiting. Then, they lowered a rope to help pull Shein and Toban up. Looking up the tunnel, they saw a gradual frost forming on the slope that became ice. Not having enough climbing gear for everyone, Zero decided to grab Rainer and a rope and fly up the passage, barely making it to the top where it leveled out when their flight expired. They used the rope to pull Shein, Scarf, and Toban to the top. Turning around, they followed the icy passage to an opening into a larger cavern where they could see stalactites tentatively hanging from the ceiling and pillars of ice thin at the center connecting ceiling to floor. Ahead, there was a large body of water separating them from the other side, where they could see another tunnel leading onward. Despite there being icy platforms scattered across the water, Zero didn't want to deal with any more rust and decided to perform a ritual to allow the group to walk on water, using it to cross the pond. Upon reaching the other side, they trekked down the opposing tunnel for a while before the ice began to thaw and give way to solid rock again. However, they began to smell something musty, and the air became humid as they started to see moss and lichen growing all around them. Coming to another large open cavern, they could see nearly every surface was covered in moss and lichen. Not far into the cavern, Zero nearly fell into a hole covered in lichen that led to a stagnant pool of water, but managed to prostrate themselves across the hole, and the party helps them to their feet. The smell of the water was offensive to the senses, and they took careful steps around it to the other side, where they saw that the ceiling descended uncomfortably low to the ground just above a chasm with thin natural rock bridges stretching across it, with a few areas connected to the ceiling via columns of rock. One by one, the group made their way across, with Scarf narrowly avoiding a fall, while Rainer used Misty Step to reach the other side. Zero also struggled to get across, narrowly avoiding causing a rock bridge to collapse under their weight, and crossing just in time. The ceiling then descended further to the point they needed to crawl through a short cramped tunnel before emerging to a passage leading onward. After walking for quite some time, they eventually saw a blue glow coming from ahead, and after rounding a corner, saw a veritable forest of large glowing blue mushrooms that looked strangely familiar. Zero walked forward through the mushrooms, with nothing happening, leading the rest to believe it was safe, so they followed suit. As the rest of the group began to pass underneath them, the mushrooms shuddered and expelled a cloud of spores that several of the group were able to resist; but Toban was not so fortunate, clutching his face and screaming in agony. Emerging from the forest of mushrooms, Zero inspected his eyes, finding them swollen and reddened, with yellowish spores lining his eyes, which looked bloodshot. Toban claimed he could barely see, and despite Zero's medical intervention, it seemed to only alleviate the pain, not the symptoms. They helped him onward and realized as they passed through a narrow path that they had been here before as they laid eyes on the rotting carcass of the Fomorian they had killed two days prior. Proceeding through the next passage and emerging into Panebrenthen Crevice, they climbed to the top of the hole and passed through the crevice back into the grotto.

The party hiked a roundabout route to get to Rikhevlovir, during which fortunately Toban's eyes recovered. Along the way, they came upon a small group of Marshals from Dolenna chatting, patrolling the tunnels. While one of the Marshals lamented his boring posting, he made a comment about how he had seen the Commandant "schmoozing" with the treasurer, a man named "Debin", which seemed to irk the other man, who told him to mind his business. Shein used Pass Without Trace to allow the group to slip past the patrol unnoticed, and they continued along the familiar path to where they had first encountered Junyall. When they eventually found the passage where they were ambushed, they found a few of Rikhevlovir's stalkers guarding the passage leading to the village. Initially on guard with weapons drawn, one of the stalkers recognized the group and asked what they were doing there. After explaining themselves, he moved to escort them to Rikhevlovir to speak with Nylin.

When the party arrived in Rikhevlovir, they were taken to Nylin's home, where she greeted them. They explained what they had learned, about the Marshals planning to raid Rikhevlovir for their alleged attacks on the Delvers, and that they had discovered the mercenary group Holis Ditani was responsible. Nylin seemed to be ready to prepare for battle, asking the group if they would help her prepare her defenses, offering to prepare some talismans for them. She gave them some which would allow them to set traps that would liquefy the rock as the Marshals walked over it and then solidify it, trapping them; as well as another which would create spikes along a narrow passage to block movement through it. The party agreed to help, but seemed to want to try diplomacy, saying that they believed the Marshals were simply deceived, and maybe if they brought someone from Rikhevlovir along to parlay, they could convince the Marshals of the mercenary group's involvement. Nylin seemed skeptical and wanted to prepare defenses anyway, as if they were taken by surprise without help, they would surely be eradicated. She said that she would bring her people to a sanctuary built into the rock facing in the southern region of the village and seal them inside with her magic, and said that Junyall would accompany them to try to talk with the Marshals. Asked about what the mercenaries could possibly stand to benefit from attacking them, Nylin suggested that it was most likely resources, as they had access to metals from deeper within the Deephollow that the surface dwellers could not yet reach. Jogging his memory, Rainer handed over the Petrasteel, which Nylin was most grateful for, having not expected him to actually procure it for her. The party briefly suggested collapsing one of the two major passages leading to the village so they could not be flanked, but Nylin was concerned this could trap them, but mentioned having a small sample of a material called Petroxite that was contained within a Mutine canister which kept it pressurized, and that if they were to breach the canister's containment, it would explode violently; though the party was hesitant, not wanting to resort to such measures unless it was a last resort. After handing off the talismans and calling Junyall so she could accompany them, the party departed Rikhevlovir heading along the north passage towards the surface, hoping to intercept the Marshal's strike force.