The Age of Worms / The Zenith Trajectory pt. 16 / Fos the 23rd, 3593 CE / 12-5-21

In the depths of Bhal-Hamatugn, Not by Choice has been sent on a vile errand. In their quest to find the missing dwarven Adventurer, Zenith Splintershield, they encountered the black dragon, Dhorlot the Fecund, who took their companion Harrov hostage and demanded they go to fetch his harem of brood mothers as recompense for destroying the off-spring he previously fathered with unlucky ulat-kini females. Now Not by Choice must send more victims to a potentially grisly fate if they wish to see their companion alive again. What they do not realize is that Harrov is already dead, and the dragon fled, after receiving a terrible wound from the dwarf. As Not by Choice enters the watery chamber holding Dhorlot's harem, they find four ulat-kini women, who stare at the newcomers nervously. Lulu speaks undercommon to the females, and rudimentary conversation is started in which the harem agree to effectively sacrifice themselves to the dragon in the belief that it will make them heroes to their people, a belief that is born out in the mummified corpses the party previously came across in Bhal-Hamatugn. Not by Choice leads the ulat-kini females back to Dhorlot's chamber, but are horrified to discover the grisly aftermath of Harrov's battle with the beast. Dhorlot is nowhere to be found, having escaped using a tunnel leading up, seemingly to the surface. Even as Sarous nudges the corpse of his fallen creator, the ulat-kini brood mothers despair that they will not be able to fulfill their destiny as vessels for Dhorlot's vile offspring, until Lulu attempts to calm their fears, playing to their religious fanaticism. She asks them about a phrase that she heard them utter, one which they previously heard from the ferryman who chartered them across an underground lake to the dark temple; the Smoking Eye. One of the females agrees to show Lulu to this "smoking eye," and takes the party back into the main temple, and seemingly towards the entrance of Bhal-Hamatugn, until she touches a previously unseen symbol of an eye carved into the door frame of the temple's entrance, and a platform descends. Not by Choice boards, and they are taken once more to the top level of the temple complex, but this time to a set of double doors to which they previously did not have access. The hallway beyond leads to two more rooms, one of which is overgrown with purple mushrooms which Lulu and Uriah both agree are left well enough alone. The next leads to an antechamber. As the party crosses, hoping are near the end of their quest, the ulat-kini assasin who struck at Kade the night before, attacks from the shadows of the ceiling which he clings to with a pair of magic slippers. His dagger finds its mark, and Nari is almost overcome with its poison. As the party swings into action, Nari counters by casting a spell of hideous laughter upon the assailant, leaving him vulnerable for the rest of the party to disable him. As Lulu swings open the last set of doors, she sets eyes upon the object of their quest, the dwarf Zenith Splintershield, guarded by more ulat-kini priests, who upon seeing the party, utters a prophecy of doom from his place atop the ulat-kini's throne.