The Age of Worms / A Gathering of Winds pt. 4 / Kith the 3rd, 3593 CE / 1-1-23

Not By Choice has plumbed the depths of the legendary Tomb of Icosiel in search of the wayward sage, Allustan Neff. As Nataliya prepares to open another door leading south from an eerily quiet split level chamber, the black floor of the chamber rises up, revealing itself to be an ooze of monstrous size. Meanwhile, in the smoky chamber inhabited by the belkers, Lulu has just deciphered runes detailing the Battle of Pell, an ancient conflict between the Wind Dukes of Aqaa and the Queen of Chaos. As the pseudopods rise up to strike at Nataliya, the drow nimbly dodges the creature and exits back the way she came, as the others, hearing the sound of battle, rush into the southern corridor to join her. A quick correspondence with the salamander noble Antyress reveals that this not a creature of chaos they are dealing with (and therefore of no use to Antyress's quest to be free of his eternal servitude) but is in fact Bwimb, a Para-General from the Plane of Ooze, tasked like Antyress with eternally defending Icosiel's Tomb. Nataliya, who has some familiarity with the oozes which occupy the Everlasting Night, is surprised to be able to identify rudimentary intelligence in Bwimb and uses it to her advantage in her psychic attacks against the monstrosity. Lulu's brother Taavi also charges into the fray, and after being grappled and nearly digested by the creature's pseudopods, discovers the better part of valor. In fact as Bwimb pushes inevitably forward, the majority of Not By Choice finds themselves retreating to the Howling Gallery, leaving Nataliya in single combat with the great ooze. But safety anywhere in Icosiel's Tomb is an illusion, as the light sources in the Howling Gallery are supernaturally dimmed, and the shadowy form of a monstrous spider suddenly leaps from the shadows, snatching Taavi before disappearing with him into supernatural darkness, which dissipates to reveal nothing but a solid stone wall where they both stood a second before. Fearing further losses, the rest of the party retreats further back through the Black Seal, and once more into the relative quiet of the Whispering Cairn, where a bloated Essster lies, digesting her meal. Meanwhile Nataliya has defeated Bwimb by temporarily disabling his mind, though the massive ooze will recover over time. Nataliya takes advantage his comatose state to gather a sample of black ooze for later study, as well as performing on her flute solo as a way to build further goodwill with the belker. After debating the relative merits of switching their search for Allustan to the Whispering Cairn, the rest of the party decides that they must face the challenges of Icosiel's Tomb if they wish to recover either the sage or Lulu's brother, and pass once more through the Black Seal, where they find and confer with Nataliya. Upon hearing that the creature which took Taavi was a spider made of shadow, Nataliya, having an affinity for spiders because of her goddess, calls out to parlay with the monster. The shadow spider, which seems to have both the ability to generate shadows and walk through them, calls out from a dark corner, inviting the party to her "parlor." Further consultation with the belkers reveals that this shadow spider goes by many names, such as Walker Across the Threshold, and that she can be found in a chamber below the Silent Gallery. With the threat of Bwimb ended, the party passes through the split level gallery without incident, exiting south and discovering a ramp which leads deeper down into the depths of the tomb. The journey downward ends in a chamber bathed in dim light and laced with webs of shadow. The stealthy shadow spider, who identifies herself as Flycatcher among other names, has observed their approach and initially takes offense at the party's lack of proper deference until Nataliya smooths things over. Flycatcher asks the purpose of Not by Choice's presence in the tomb, and offers to return Taavi in exchange for the head of her enemy, a so-called "true ghoul" from the White Kingdom called the "Moreto, the Marquis of Rivers." Moreto is also a tomb raider, and for whatever reason Flycatcher finds the ghoul more of a threat than the members of Not by Choice. When asked about Allustan, Flycatcher reveals that she did see him, despite his invisibility spell, and that she suspects he didn't make it much further past her chamber. The party agrees to Flycatcher's terms and moves on in the direction she indicated, past a room set up as a shrine to Icosiel with a priceless gold idol that the party is wise enough not to touch, and then discovering a large chamber that crackles with electricity. It contains a spike jutting from the ceiling that seems to be powering a large orb of magical force and shooting lightning bolts at anything which enters the room. And there at the center of the orb is the suspended form of Allustan Neff. After some investigation the party is able to disable the magical trap and free the wizard. Once he recovers, he explains that he came to Icosiel's Tomb to seek another fragment of the legendary Rod of Law as well as elucidating on its history and connection to the Wind Dukes. Though he is saddened to hear of the death of his former-friend Eligos, the news only further emboldens Allustan to seek out the Rod fragment as a possible defense against the Age of Worms. Having still found no sign of the Moreto, the party agrees to press on with Allustan and continue their search of the Tomb.