Chasing the Dragon - One Small, Valuable Thing

The Myste-Hass Calender

17/10/22

Corvus, Danny, George and Ethane 'Ice Flint' Ogolig are drawn to the Rising Dragon Inn, met by Madam Jao. They have some green tea, then the world shifts.

There is another knock at the door, outside appears to be dark, and a little kobold arrives.

Billy Whistle Branch has put forth a contract for some mercenaries to help him. He's an archaeologist, and he needs a find to be escorted back to town. The dig site is called The Titan Screams. The directions suggest to follow the caverns east to the spider ledges, then south where the roots of earth breath.

Hwendall the kobold will be our tracker.

The group signs the contracts, with a little difficulty in some cases, whilst Madam Jao reads Covus's tea leaves and advises him not to jump in without thinking.

The town is fairly busy, loud with mechanical thrumming. Many of the people are wearing orange work gear. Everything has been erected on a swamp. The group heads to a boat which sets off east.

On their journey, they see the dark world teeming with life. The great Spider Ledges is particularly unpleasant, sticky underfoot with trailing webs. This is the territory of elvish spider farms.

Moving on, the group finds a cavern where tree roots are protruding from the rock. Corvus spots more game trails and sense it is safer. The group rests, taking watch throughout the freezing night.

The next morning, the adventurers press on, arriving at the dig sight. The ground is rocky, spanned with wooden bridges and there appears to be no one near, despite the infrastructure for high activity. The chasm spans over a gigantic skull.

Wendall is being paid 50gp to guide us.

The group meets Billy Whistle Branch who says that the other dwarven miners have left. They were contractors who have moved on.

The archaeologist says that Peridot used elemental chains, magical crystals, to lock up the titans which once ruled before the prime deities. But, the titans escaped and rebelled. Billy Whistle Branch found the final of five chain links - the elemental crystals.

These crystals are red hot pieces of glass. The first was found three years ago, the last just a couple of days before.

Serene, a fellow archaeologist, emerges when called. But, she is acting odd, then takes the shard from Billy and leaps off the edge. Meanwhile, snake creatures appear fire arrows wreathed in tiny snakes. Ice Flint rages and runs in, combat erupting.

Magma chases Seline, her skin turning white, her hair dark, as she plummets down. When the creature reaches one hundred foot, its forced not to continue.

Billy Whistle Branch and Seline have been together for five years, two years as lovers.

Billy Whistle Branch found the final crystal yesterday, and he messaged her with a sending stone to tell her about the find.

Corvus saw the remains of a romantic night, then noted some blood, where he discovered the corpse of Seline, confirming the other woman had been someone else.

Apparently, it takes two days to get the clerics here.

Billy Whistle Branch says that they get down by drinking feather potions.

Billy Whistle Branch offers the group twice as much gold, and Corvus offers Wendall another a 50gp.

The group takes a short rest, whilst George scouts the area, noting that there has been a fair amount of movement - slither marks from snakes.

After the group rests, Billy Whistle Branch retrieves the feather potions. Corvus mixes the potions up.

Billy Whistle Branch says that down at the bottom is the proper underdark - magical darkness.

The group jumps, taking their potions. At the bottom, they find a fresh hole that has been made. This level is around the level of the knee-caps of the titan.

As the group are moving along the narrow corridor, a breath of wind rushes down the corridor and extinguishes all the torches. A strange, breathy laugh is heard, and George thinks he sees a recognisable face in the wind. Then, Danny trips on some spikes on the ground that stab into his foot. When they light the torches again, wind keeps putting out the flame. They are forced to navigate via Magma's telepathic guidance, to a turn.

They pass around the corner, to catch sight of an unholy ziggurat.

There is a rumbling from beneath the stone structure, and an almost inaudible piercing noise. The woman atop is the white-skinned lady who had pretended to be Seline, she's staring into the magical fire before her.

Snakes erupt from holes in the back wall and through the doors beneath the ziggurat.

The woman uses Royal Court Ring of Ice which is permanently affixed to George, commanding him to kneel.

Every attack against the woman freezes that item.

As Ice Flint gets up to the top of the ziggurat, he sees that the woman has put the shards inside a bucket of heated magma. He uses his frozen warhammer to hook the bucket, raining her with molten metal and the liquefied parts of the melted shards.

Corvus goes up with the beetle-hide case which Billy Whistle Branch had been keeping the shards before.

Ice Flint picks up the dead woman's dagger and cuts off the ring from her finger.

The temple is covered in iconography of an ancient, esoteric nature. Though the woman was using the space to melt the shards, it seems that the space was intended for some other ritualistic purpose.

Chained beneath, is a giant snake which Danny sees is sat upon a pile of gold and gems.

It looks as though there is only way in and one way out. But, Corvus is convinced that there was another exit to the chamber which has been covered by rock fall caused by earthquakes.

Meanwhile, messing with the ritualistic areas causes mass earthquakes and shaking. The group dashes for the exit. However, George weakens the chains of the titan boa, releasing the snake as the walls begin to collapse.

The rest of the group runs for the narrow path, heading up towards the original dig sight.