Session 21
From 4th Edition
Alien Danger Dungeon
Our heroes deliver the chalice to Lord Wimpington only to discover that he needs more magical items to complete the ritual, which will cure Edwin's parents. They figure out quick that they're getting the run-around and seek out a different path, tracking Wimpington Jr back to the last place he was seen.
Packing up their supplies, The Five set off towards Amn, but quickly find themselves halted at the Cloud Peaks by an armed contingent of guards who claim to be enforcing an Amnish quarantine on the entire Sword Coast. They also meet a traveling merchant, hired by the Laranga Brothers to ship supplies to their mining camp somewhere in the eastern reaches of the mountains. Apparently, operations have stalled, and the brothers are requesting help from adventurers in the region. Checking their map, The Five find out that they've set up camp at almost the precise spot that Wimpington Jr was last seen alive.
The party didn't look a gift coincidence in the mouth and set off immediately towards the mine. When they arrive, they discover that the Laranaga Brothers have an extensive operation underway, searching for pre-Spellplague artifacts. They had planned on unearthing an ancient dwarven fortress deep under the mountain, but they've discovered a strange barrier in the way and need the help of a skilled team of adventurers to find a way through.
Getting right to work, the party dives in, only to find a large alien fortress, apparently built by the same bird creatures they rescued from the Sultan's prison back in Session 16. They also find the Green Cloaks, who've managed to get themselves trapped and need the party's help to escape. After killing a few white bird robots (and almost getting infected with white head spheres) the group manages to get them free and open up a path into the inner chamber and the ancient dwarven fortress. However, the Green Cloaks, being idiots, manage to get themselves incinerated at the last minute, leaving The Five to explore the inner chamber alone.
Inside they find another headless giant, as well as a third symbol. Using the head-entering ritual they learned in the desert, the party enters the beast.
| Inside the Beast |
|---|
| Once again, the ritual pulls you through the opening of the beast's head, and you find yourselves somewhere strange. The inside of this beast is just as vast as the first you found, though it's considerably different in composition. You're standing in a sea of rolling hills that stretch as far as the eye can see in every direction. Green grass covers every inch of the land, though can see no signs of other plants such as flowers or trees. The sky is clear blue, and there's not a cloud in sight. The space also seems to be missing a sun, though the land is lit as though it were noon-time.
Not far in front of you, you can see the remains of what must have been a grand temple. It now lies in ruin; little more than a pile of rocks. On one side, you can see a cracked path leading into its skeletal bulk. The mark you saw outside is repeated inside and appears once again to be the chief form of decoration here. Even in the darkness of the temple, you can still feel grass beneath your feet, as green and lush as it was outside. Delving inward, you find yourselves in a cavernous chamber that reminds you of the central chamber in the floating temple you explored earlier, though if at one time there were passageways leaving this room, other than the way you came, they've long since disappeared into the collapsing skeleton of the building. In the center of this chamber someone has constructed an impromptu shelter out of some of the rubble. A thin elderly man sits in front of a fire pit, filled with glowing embers letting off wisps of thin purple smoke. He's sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed, and it looks like he's meditating. A tall wispy woman with flowing black hair is tending to him. After getting a little closer, you can see that the elderly man is indeed Wimpington Jr., who has been haunting you for the past month. You've never seen the woman before, and you are alarmed to find that her eyes are glassy white, and she wears an entirely neutral expression on her face. Neither reacts as you approach. "What?" The man's eyes flash open in alarm. His are bright and sparkling, in stark contrast to his partner, who seems almost frozen now that Wimpington has awakened. "You're here at last. But oh, in what a condition." He seems disappointed as he looks over you. "We cannot talk. Nothing would be said, and nothing would be heard. You must first free yourselves from the beast. Go, and find its heart." With a flourish, the man hold his hand high, summoning into view the image of a red orb about the size of a fist. As you gaze upon it, you find that is form is frighteningly familiar, though you're sure you've never seen it before. You feel as though a small portion of a veil that you didn't even know was there has been lifted in your mind. "Bring it back to me, and we will be able to speak. For now, it is all I can do is show it to you. You must use this narrow window of freedom to track it down and retrieve it. The beast hides deep under the ground not far from my dearly departed son's residence. Go now. I have done everything for you that I can." |
