A vast, writhing, creature, veiled behind a wall of clouded ice, invaded the minds of FCG as they entered the chamber. All party members, save for Triple J and Artaema, found themselves ensnared in the entity’s mental assault and could do nothing but stare blankly. Perplexed and worried, Triple J and Artaema spent a few moments investigating their friends, the Badescarred, and the mass of tentacles behind the ice. The sense of urgency heightened, as the Bladescarred warrior suddenly screamed and began to bleed profusely from all facial orifices before falling dead on the ground. Triple J played a panicked tune, hoping to rouse his allies from their stupor, and succeeded in restoring Eris’ mental fortitude. As the remaining members of FCG continued to have their minds and memories ravaged by the alien creature, Eris, Triple J, and Artaema tried all that they could to free them. Triple J continued bow away while Eris and Artaema blasted the cloudy icy wall with radiant and necrotic energy. Ultimately, a large burst from Eris caused the wall to crack which sent the alien entity retreating back into the mists behind it, thus freeing the rest of the party. FCG took a moment to gather their wits and to ponder the madness that had just befallen them before heading deeper into the caves.
The jagged narrow tunnels eventually deposited the party in a large cavern, its icy walls as reflective as mirrors. The party was not greeted with their own reflections however, but instead with those of the figures who had helped shape them into the people they are today. FCG saw the faces of, Shadowdancer Xavier Emberstone, Conan ||, Soren, Archmage Trent Ikathon, and The Bright Queen Leylas Kryn, to name a few. Nyx was particularly disturbed by the reflection of the shocked face of a seemingly dead halfling, and vowed to reveal some of her secrets should FCG ever escape this icy cave. Swallowing their emotions and musings, FCG re-focused and pressed onwards into an adjacent chamber.
Within a small, dead end, cavern, the party encountered a large, smooth, green cube, seemingly immune to the frosty conditions. Triple J was in the midst of giving it a hard look when Malcolm strode right up and poked it with his sword. As the blade sank into the cube, a multitude of lashing appendages burst forth from the cube as it suddenly came to life, revealing its true nature as a mimic. The monstrosity battered Malcolm with its tentacles as FCG sprang into action. The mimic spat, and lashed a bit, dealing a good bit of damage before finally succumbing to the overwhelming might of the party. As the sounds of battle faded, they were quickly replaced by those of a snarling dog, echoing through the tunnels. FCG forsook their cautious approach and hurried back away from the dead end, passing another cavern full of Aeorian debris as they traveled.
Continuing at a gradual decline, FCG eventually arrived at the small grove of trees that Triple J had spotted earlier with his Arcane Eye. Quickly, FCG noticed two other tunnels leading away from the grove along with the massive chasm at the grove’s southeastern edge. The party first directed their attention towards the trees, which seemed to be clinging to life despite the inhospitable environment as well as protected by a faint arcane aura. At the base of one of these trees, the FCG discovered a most gruesome sight, the corpse of a recently slain fey entity, a Dryad. Still in fear of being chased, FCG spent little time on the deceased woman and headed towards the chasm.
Malcolm and Endrin led the approach. As the two rounded the corner of one of the garden’s stone walls, they heard the sound of a rope being cut and looked up just in time to avoid being crushed by a falling tree. A volley of arrows followed quickly, piercing Malcolm’s armor and revealing two Bladescarred archers up in a nearby tree. The fighter scrambled up the tree, unhindered by darkness, and engaged the archers head on. Nyx struck both archers with a nasty twin-spelled chaos bolt, and Endrin followed up with a bolt of flame. Eris proceeded to grant the party Bahamut’s blessing while Triple J took advantage of the wild magic invisibility and snuck around to flank the archers. The archers loosed arrows down at the party but could not evade Malcolm and Triple J. Malcolm leapt from tree to tree after one, while Triple J eventually caught up to the other and slammed her down through the ancient stone wall upon which she perched, killing her outright with spiritual might. The final archer managed to limp away from Malcolm as the fighter began to bleed out from his multitude of arrow piercings, but could not evade Artaema’s chill touch.
Just as the battle seemed won, a cloud of mist entered the grove and took shape, morphing into a bloodied hyena behind Eris. The paladin stared down the grizzly entity with utmost confidence and smote the beast with all of her might. Healed, Malcolm rejoined the fray only to be immediately clawed and knocked unconscious once more. Endrin dealt the finishing blow to the beast as he ripped out the center of its chest with concentrated gravity. The beast reverted back through a number of forms before finally disintegrating into a pile of ash and expiring. As the dust settled, the grove grew quite and FCG felt some small manner of peace wash over them. Triple J set up the dome and FCG took a much needed long rest.
When the party awoke, Triple J discovered many footprints denoting a pacing individual along the chasm’s edge. Peering over the edge, FCG discovered that the vast chasm was filled with a pinkish-grey fog as far as even the darkvision eye could see. Endrin volunteered to scout out the chasm and took flight out over it, well hidden by Triple J’s invisibility spell. Skirting above the fog, Endrin eventually encountered a massive wall at the far end of the chasm. The wizard deduced that the chasm, and cavern below, was potentially large enough to house an entire city and reported his findings to the group. Their destination plain before them, FCG all took flight down through the necromantic fog, eventually landing amongst a shrouded subterranean forest, Aeor’s Ars Ward.
