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 Session 8:  Empty Ruins and Dinner Parties 9/19/21

Grange 8: Seeing nothing else to do and with many of the group away from the keep, Squish, Elairiel, and I head back to the Old Woods to check the temple.  After teleporting to our usual spot, we first go to Rasp’s lair to look for any evidence of what happened.  The place was completely torn up, tree and all.   We spot troll footprints but don’t see any sign that they were still in the area.  The only thing I find in the ruined treehouse was a vial of thick purple liquid (purple worm venom) which I gave to Squish.

We went back to the Temple and found the anti-magic field was still in place.  The bodies of the cultists that we dispatched were still there but there were five more bodies as well.  These showed signs of major blunt force trauma as their cause of death.  Possibly, the trolls were at work here as well

The portal into Zehir was gone so we entered the temple.  The rough-hewn passages were silent and deserted.  In a holding cell area, I recovered a score of mushrooms.  When I get a chance, I will study them to find out if they have any useful properties.   In another room, we find a firbolg pelt rug on the floor and firbolg heads on the wall.  We collected these with the intent to burn them later.  (Unfortunately, Squish had different ideas.)  We also took box full of mushroom “flour” that had a magic trap which was inactive due to the anti-magic field.  Beyond a doorway that would have been sealed by magic, there was another room that showed evidence of a ritual: darkened circle on the floor, braziers along the walls and a pair of statues of a Fiend and an Angel each missing one of their hands.  In an alcove we find a sinister-looking book written in an ancient dialect of Infernal.  I could only make out the words “all mage” and “ritual”. 

We leave the temple and after collecting the heads of the dead bodies for our bounty, we head toward Estoria.  As soon as we leave the anti-magic field, the box blows up, sending spores all over the place.  Luckily none of us inhaled enough to make us ill.   After that, I noticed the ritual book tucked into my coat was shaking.  I pulled it out and saw that it is also glowing intensely.  After emptying Squish’s Backpack of Holding, we placed the book inside for safety. 

Upon arriving at Estoria, we saw that the city construction was completed.  Massive walls surrounded a city full of buildings, houses, factories, and temples.  However, it was completely deserted.  Not a single person wandered the streets.  No smoke curled up from the chimneys.  We wandered through the empty streets and made our way to the central district.  Inside the walls there, the buildings were melted into slag, like acid had been dumped into the bowl like structure. Maybe the fountain of acid we had seen inside Zehir had been channeled here? 

Frustration, confusion and anger overwhelmed me and I called out to Duvin. (in an unusually vulgar way at that) She appeared next to us, looking slightly older than the last time we had seen her.  (Maybe because the month had changed?)  She told us that the city residents had fled after the rain of acid but it was probably for the best since the city would have been large enough to share the fate of Redorn.  She also told us that the peace accord was off and the nations would soon be at war, yet again.  I am starting to think that time inside the bowels of Zehir may have run differently than the outside world.

She then asked about the book that we had in our possession.  I considered trying to lie and ask “what book?” but I thought against it.  She took the book and explained what it was used for.  The All Mage Ritual fused celestial, infernal and arcane power into the recipient, granting them a tremendous boost in spell-casting ability.  I remembered that the statue of Boiria at the temple entrance had mismatched hands.  Duvin seemed worried that her “sister” had done the ritual but was angrier that a portion of land was completely unusable because the magic drained from the area is permanent.  I don’t know what this will hold for the future.

Duvin left and we went back home to find Morchid and the others there.  Squish gave him one of the firbolg pelts and convinced Morchid to wear it like a coat.  I tried to explain just how absolutely awful it was but the two of them could see nothing wrong with it.  Every time I look at him wearing that, it makes me want to vomit.  I kept the other pelt and the firbolg heads and will burn them later.

Grange 9 (maybe?): This morning, we discussed what we would do next.  Xopa, Dool, and Isaac didn’t join us but I’m certain that they will agree with what we decided.  We needed more information so I sent an invitation to Vos-trin for dinner.  Later that same day, while we were working around the keep, he showed up with a knock at the door.  I really should have set a specific date for the meeting because I had to scramble to make something for dinner.  Squish and Elairiel helped as well, and Morchid’s Butler did an amazing job finishing up.  The dinner was quite good.

Afterwards, we discussed his past and present dealings with the witches and the situation in and around Vorin.  The others seemed bored by all the talking so they went to off to make dessert.  I tried not to be overly concerned about the state of the kitchen while continuing our conversation.  I learned that Vos-trin was aware of the conditions for the “culling” of cities.  He keeps a strict population control on the city of no more than 500 people.  When Vorin is at this limit, he turns away any potential immigrants. In this sense, the permafrost caused by the neighboring has been somewhat of a blessing.  No one wants to live in such a cold environment.

Sometime later, the others brought in dessert.  Elairiel’s cheesecake was actually pretty good.  Morchid’s was a nightmare that appeared to be a wheel of cheese topped with some kind of “cream” that he found in Dool’s room.  I will not speculate about the ingredients any further but I did not attempt to eat it.  Vos-trin avoided both offerings which does make me respect his wisdom.

Once dessert was completed, I expressed my frustration that we had a bounty given to us by the people of Estoria and now they were gone with no way to turn in our quest or to find any new missions.  Vos-trin offered us a number of jobs that he knew of:  1) People going missing in Xanderia 2) Help needed on the coast near the Redorn ruins 3) Frost Giants menacing the fishing village of Buit.  4) A group of Minotaurs causing trouble on Great Steppes east of Loria.

After he left, we discussed the jobs and decided to help the coastal dwellers/refugees of Redorn.  We will leave in the morning and hopefully be able to do something good that doesn’t involve confrontation with any god-like beings.

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