The Age of Worms / Flood Season pt. 18 / Galen the 26th, 3592 CE / 2-7-21

Not By Choice battles to finish off the forces of giant spiders and ettercaps that have infested the southern caves of the Ulat-Kini ruins, even as Doctor Marrow quickly treats her companions for venomous bites. Soon the ettercaps are all dead the remaining spiders have retreated to guard their clutch of eggs. The party decides to forego continuing the conflict, instead collecting the cache of treasures from the harpoon spider's den and making their way back to Skaven Umbermead's study, where Lulu hopes to uncover the Vexnian's cipher, despite his final warning to watch out for a snake. They find the study just as they had left it when earlier the ill-fated Skaven had left with them to retrieve his Wand of Sacred Water, which Scrimshander now holds for safekeeping. Though Skaven's cat Pywakit has taken a liking to Lulu (but not Nari, much to the animal-loving sorcerer's dismay), his pet air elemental seems ambivalent to Not By Choice's presence, blocking the doorway to Skaven's bedroom until Lulu is able to communicate to the creature that Skaven is dead, at which point, freed from its bondage, the air elemental escapes to parts unknown. In the bedroom, Lulu locates a secret compartment in the halfling's book shelf which holds the cipher. The "snake" turns out to be a sepia snake sigil spell, which the forewarned oracle is able to avoid being trapped by. As Lulu busies herself translating Skaven's documents, the rest of the party discusses next steps. They are one wand shy of what the Jedite priestess Jenya Urikas had told them would be necessary to abate the flood waters which threaten Cauldron, but retrieving the wands will put them once more in conflict with the necromancer Tarkilar's worm-infested zombies. Little do they realize that Lulu has received a message from her goddess: the worms must be destroyed...