The newly formed party made their way back across the hall from the torture chamber. As they poked their heads in, they discovered that they were not the only ones taken prisoner in this strange place. Among the chamber’s cell’s they found a human female, Jessy, and a dwarf male, Thoruk, both of whom had been apprehended just outside of Alfield as well. The benevolent nature of the party made its first appearance here as they all agreed that they couldn’t leave Jessy and Thoruk to suffer at the twisted hands of the sepulcher’s masters.
Utilizing their combined wit, the party devised a plan to traverse the darkened hallways safely and potentially get everyone out alive. Conan, Triple J and Soren disguised themselves as cultists while Endrin and the other two played the roles of bound prisoners being escorted. Eager to find an exit, the party set forth deeper into halls. Conan and Triple J took the lead, stealthily examining rooms as they went, carefully avoiding all traps and conflict with the other cultists.
After uncovering cultist bedchambers and a mess hall, the party found themselves in a small library off to the side of a large set of double doors marking the end of the hallway. They took a moment to catch their breath and to have a look around. Endrin uncovered a faint magical barrier across the book shelves during his investigation. Unable to resist the temptation of prospective knowledge, the inquisitive gnome poked his staff across the arcane threshold, triggering the release of toxic gas into the small chamber. Unable to resist the effects, Endrin and Soren both fell unconscious on the floor.
The seasoned duo, Conan and Triple J, remained unscathed and pulled the others out of the gas and into the hallway prior. Luckily, both Endrin and Soren were revived easily thanks to Conan’s stern hand and a little splash of water. The commotion caused by the party did not go unnoticed however. A cultist emerged from the mess hall and questioned the party with great suspicion, raising an eyebrow at Conan’s mention of a goddess and a queen. Not waiting for his response, Conan, Triple J, and Endrin all did their best to silence him immediately, Endrin’s staff splintering from the impact with the cultist. Hurriedly the party retreated with the fresh corpse back into the library. Now noticing that the arcane barrier covering the shelves had dissipated, Endrin snatched as many books as his small arms could carry. Much to his dismay, all three tomes were written in deep speech.
With growing angst at their situation, the party set off once more. Triple J poked his head out into the hallway first and made eye contact with two more cultists who were now examining the blood stained stone floor remaining from the slain cultist just moments prior. The naturally charismatic half-elf preyed on the suspicions of the cultists and persuaded them to embark on a wild goose chase for the intruders in another section of the sepulcher. Securing another moment of safety, the party plotted their next move.
The thought of what lay beyond the double doors at the end of the hallway enticed them, and Triple J was once again tasked with the investigation. Poking his head in, Triple J caught glimpse of a chantry within which several cultists bowed, worshiping the statue of a giant decrepit hand with an eye firmly embedded in the palm. There was one cultist atop an elevated altar seemingly reciting tenants as part of an unholy sermon, the tenants being echoed by the gathering of cultists. After receiving Triple J’s report, the party concluded that the exit they so desperately sought lay in a different section of the subterranean structure.
As they turned to leave, they were confronted once more by the returning cultists. Still trusting of Triple J, the cultists instructed the party to escort their “prisoners” down to Eagon below. The party acted on this new lead and headed down a previously unexplored passageway. Turning the corner, they heard a source-less growling coming from somewhere down the hall. Recalling a childhood story of a young wizard, Triple J began to recite a lullaby which served to sooth the growling entity. Triple J continued his song as the others attempted to creep past, but it proved fruitless as Conan tripped and cursed, wakening the slumbering creature. A large black dog with multiple rows of teeth, its fur consisting of the very shadows themselves, materialized from the dimly lit corner of the hallway. Reacting quickly, Conan went palms up and slowly extended an arm to the beast. As he came within striking distance of the shadowy pup, Conan shot his arm up under the beast’s jaw and proceeded to scrunch the shadowy fur of its chin and coo it back into submission.
Danger averted once more, the weary band continued their exploration of the foul halls, examining each room one by one. Among the rooms they uncovered a pen of undead thralls, from which Endrin dissuaded the bloodthirsty Conan from engaging. They also discovered a room full of decapitated corpses hanging from their feet, blood draining into buckets. Disgusted, the party emptied the buckets hoping to foil any plan the cultists may have had for the blood. Finally, at the end of the hallway, the party discovered an unlit staircase spiraling below. Reluctantly, the party descended further.
Carefully inspecting each stair for traps, the party reached the bottom where they were met with a jagged walkway traversing an open chasm and a black iron gate on the other side. Endrin concluded that falling into the chasm would be a bad idea. The other side of the gate was encompassed by a wide black pit as well with no apparent crossing and another large double door on the other side. This time, Endrin’s curiosity proved useful as the gnome, braced by Conan, took a step out over the center of the void. Where there should have been nothing, Endrin felt his foot connect with solid stone. Probing with his globules of light, Endrin traced the invisible bridge to the point where it ended halfway across the chasm. As the gnome made his way as far as he could, a voiced echoed from the deep, propositioning the party with the phrase, “Learn all you can and keep hidden that which you know.”
Unable to discern the intent behind the shadowy clue, the party began seeking other means by which to cross the chasm. These means included but were not limited to, Conan attempting to fashion a grappling hook from rope and a scimitar, and lowering Triple J down into the chasm. Irritated with the lack of success, Triple J decided to get right to the heart of the situation and forced open the door across the chasm with his mage hand.
Deep violet light came flooding into the chasm as the door opened, silhouetting three figures in the chamber beyond, one seemingly floating in the air in front of a roaring violet flame, another reciting an incantation in deep speech with a booming voice. Displeased with the interruption, the floating figure vanished into the flame, snuffing it out simultaneously, and the other ended his incantation, allowing the third figure to drop lifelessly to the ground. Endrin acted first, engaging the mysterious figure with a psychic assault.
The battle raged as spells were flung across the chasm, the head cultist ducking in and out of cover while the party was stuck out over the middle of the void below. With the situation looking dire, Conan decided that a head on attack was their best chance for success. Sensing his new ally’s intentions, Endrin prepared a gust spell as Conan took stride, and then flight across the empty chasm below. As the warrior reached the apex of his leap, Endrin propelled him with a torrent of air, enabling Conan to reach the other side safely. Much to the party’s dismay, Conan was smote down immediately upon arrival as the cult leader inflicted necrotic wounds all across Conan’s body.
Frantic to save the fallen fighter, the rest of the party readied themselves to leap as well. Aided by Endrin’s gust, both Soren and Triple J were able to safely reach the other side. Before leaping however, Triple J tossed a rope to Endrin, knowing full well that the gnomes’ stumpy legs would not be able to make the jump. Taking the hint, Endrin tied the rope around himself, and putting all of his trust in the gothy half-elf, made the ultimate leap of faith. Triple J was smart enough not to rely on his own strength, often a matter of suspect, to hoist Endrin up and drank a mysterious concoction just before Endrin leaped. The half-elf’s formerly slender frame bulged with the strength of a giant just in time to hoist Endrin up to safety. Not wanting to waste a single second of his now swol form, Triple J hulk smashed the back of the cultist’s head with his own, causing the cultist’s skull to cave in, thus ending the encounter.
Soren used his restorative ointment to revive Conan, while Triple J pondered how to get Jessy and Thoruk across, both of whom were still stranded on the other side of the chasm. Recalling the recited verses from the sermon he had witnessed earlier, Triple J uttered a few of them out into the chasm. As the correct words were spoken, a stone bridge materialized across the black pit and Jessy and Thoruk were able to cross safely.
Still without a clear means of escape, Conan and Triple J feverishly began investigating the room. As Triple J reached his hands inside the now dormant hearth where the violet flame once stood, he suddenly disappeared from the chamber. Conan, Endrin, and the rest of the party followed in pursuit. One by one as they approached the hearth, they all found themselves in the cellar of a ruined structure, moonlight pouring in from the staircase leading up and out. They all breathed a well earned sigh of relief, the fresh air of Wildemount filling their lungs once more.
