Session 8: Ancient Memories

Faced with torrential rains, the party sought shelter which they found in a long abandoned barn. As they dried off, rested, and eventually, slept, Jane couldn’t help but to notice the faint sounds of crying in the pitch black night. The others eventually did too, and as they looked outside onto the overgrown fields outside they saw a hovering, slender, transparent figure. Jane alone approached the spirit, and struck up a conversation with it. She soon realised that this was the daughter of a freedom fighter from the Age of Dragons. Her mother seemed to have found out about the imminent betrayal that would result in the Slaughter of the Crag, and was on her way to warn the forces of Cothshold. But she never arrived. Jane managed to calm the spirit and make her submit to the pull of Styx. The process, however, took a heavy emotional toll on Jane. 

Later that same night the party finally got the chance to question and discuss the nature of Jane, who explained as best as she could how her reincarnations functioned. They also discussed what knowledge she possessed and what she had missed during her time of isolation. Geneviève in particular quizzed her on Frankonian history, to which Jane retorted with some sultry detail regarding the origins of the Frankling House. These discussions also took up most of the following day, which was spent on the road to Dur’Khazun. Yet another day later, they finally arrived at the dwarven fortress-town.

Upon arrival they headed over to the towns most famous inn. The Emberflask Tavern. An establishment that housed its own brewery, and was famously run by Dorra Emberbrew. She was an ostentatious woman, with broad shoulders and an operatic voice. When she had served the party, who couldn’t help but to try the titular homebrewed Emberbrews, they all decided to take the rest of the day off. Zalia disappeared somewhere to look for an old friend, but the rest took some baths that Dorra had offered to provide. During these baths Jane opened up about her hatred for Dur’Khazun to Geneviève, which stemmed back to the dwarves betrayal of the people of Cothshold during the Slaughter of the Crag. She admitted to it being a bit petty, as those dwarves had been dead for centuries, but her feelings persisted nonetheless.

Zalia, who had in reality gotten a new name in her book, went to the home of Dorian Flintfeller. The book had deemed him a sodomite of children and thus Zalia was to end him. Which she did. After strangling the man with her spiked chain, she changed her form and headed up to the Resting Pick Inn, where she stayed the night. Something the rest of the party stayed blissfully unaware of. When the all awoke the next day, Zalia was waiting for them back at the Emberflask. Together they went to see a runesmith who might be able to enhance their weapons. He offered to create new, magical weapons for Geneviève and Jane, and they agreed to return another time.

The quest awaited, as they headed over to meet with the robust Captain Brynja Goldmark of the Veinwatch. She sent a scout along with them to guide them through the tunnels, where they would find the oozes that had caused the dwarves so much trouble. The scout was a mute named Jörg, nicknamed the Slimehater, who had had his tongue burnt away by a purple ooze. With their guide they easily navigated themselves amongst the dwarven passages, until they found the wreckage of a caravan. After a short investigation they concluded that this was a recent attack. The ooze was near. They continued onward and found a large gelatinous cube with a living humanoid inside. They charged to save whomever was trapped inside the monster.