The Age of Worms / A Gathering of Winds pt. 6 / Kith the 3rd, 3593 CE / 1-29-23

Not By Choice is engaged in battle with servants of the Wind Dukes of Aqaa, left to guard the tomb of their greatest general, Icosiel. The metallic inevitable guardian leads to ice golems against the party and their companion, the wayward sage Allustan Neff. Attempting to once more diffuse the situation, Nataliya uses her powers of deception to convince the inevitable that they are there at the Wind Dukes bidding, and that he should aid them in gaining access to the inner tomb of Icosiel. The inevitable falls for the deception, and reveals to the party that the true tomb lies withing the pit of falling water that most of them narrowly avoided being washed into minutes before. As the rest of Not by Choice prepares to make the descent and fallow the inevitable into the so-called "Falling River." However, Nataliya hangs back, determined to discover what the inevitable was guarding in the icy chamber. Opening a door at the far end of the corridor, she discovers a room filled with freezing icy water. Inhabiting the form of one of the inactive ice golems to protect against the cold, she enters the room and communes with the spirit of Sionsiar, an elemental oracle of the Wind Duke's empire, which now resides in this chamber. The oracle, sensing that Nataliya may have a part to play in stopping the onset of the Age of Worms, grants the psychic a boon, temporarily heightening her mental abilities. Meanwhile the rest of the party has made their way through various methods down the falling river to arrive at the antechamber of the True Tomb of Icosiel. At the far end of the chamber are massive double doors inscribed with powerful ancient runes. Idra discovers that due to her chaotic nature, she is unable to enter the chamber, but as the others investigate, the inevitable declares that the way is blocked until the Seal of Law can be returned to its proper spot in the middle of the doors. Putting their heads together, Not by Choice conjectures that it could be the tomb raider, Moreto, whom Flycatcher tasked them with slaying, who is behind the theft. As Moreto is a denizen of a kingdom deep within the Everlasting Night, the party concludes that he probably approached the True Tomb from below rather than above, and if they wish to catch him, they will have to descend further down the Falling River.