As the clawing and grunting of the Unknown gets ever closer, Mornington casts Dissonant Whispers. The face of the first quaggoth enters the light of his Lantern of Judgement, and the creature's head fills with cursed whispers. Fear grips it, and it starts back down the wall, fleeing from the Bard's deft casting. Edward, without his magic, feels his usefulness is greatly diminished and tries to distance himself from the approaching enemy. He quaffs his last Potion of Climbing, and makes his way ever higher, giving Mornington and Crom much needed room on the rocky shelf.
The quaggoth Shaman, down in the basin, sweeps its staff around in great circles as magical light forms around it. He conjures forth a magical projectile shaped just like the tooth that adorns the staff's head. It fires up toward the cavern wall and imbeds itself into Crom's thigh as he shouts in pain. He feels a sensation flow through him, familiar yet invasive, as a rage fills his body. But it is not his own, he feels his control slip away, he knows not friend from foe. He raises his Shadow Maul high in the air and strikes Mornington at his side. Mornington turns, greatly wounded, and sees no sign of his companion behind the eyes of the hulking killer that now confronts him.
Amarion utilises his shortbow to attack the distant foes in the cavern, two quaggoth are up the wall, their powerful arms carrying them at speed, one flees in the undergrowth below, and the Shaman keeps his distance with his strange magic. Amarion can see that Crom has succumbed to this magic, as a glowing tooth juts from his thigh. There is not enough space for the elf to make it across and help the poor nobleman. Edward makes it to the next platform up, he starts shouting, trying to distract the quaggoth that now claw out at both Mornington and Crom. One starts toward Edward but stops positioned above the platform that hosts Crom and Mornington.
Mornington has no room to back away and Crom's rage is lashing out in all directions, he swipes at a quaggoth but then swings at Mornington and connects with a great thud. Mornington goes down, unconscious and barely breathing. Amarion sees this happen and Misty Steps over to the central platform to revive Mornington, but must first watch for the barbarians moves. The unbound barbarian and the paladin of the ancients clash as Amarion wrestles the tooth out of Crom's thigh and the effects subside. Amarion channels the healing powers of Eloranos and Mornington's eyes flicker open as the two warriors stand over him. The 30ft drop seems ever more daunting now with no room for them all to stand, so Mornington remains prone for the time being, tucked close to the wall.
Edward climbs once more to get above the quaggoth that flank his comrades. He sees the one positioned above the others let go of the wall as it drops into a leaping attack. Amarion raises his shield, Crom his arms, and they throw the great biped away from the wall as it falls, a panicked scream descends followed by a great thud that echoes in the chasm basin. Mornington repeats his trick of whispers as he sends the returning quaggoth back down the wall a second time, compelled by his spell. Edward, now in position above one of the quaggoth, holds out his mace and drops it, the mace falls gaining speed before it collides with the quaggoths head, a series of pained shouts follow.
A quaggoth claws a wound in Crom's back, who responds by leaping from the platform, grappling the creature as it struggles to grip the wall. They tussle as the quaggoth tries to shake Crom loose, Crom swings his Shadow Maul, but connects with the wall instead, reverberations spread up his arm and he drops the weapon into the darkness below. The struggle continues before ending with the quaggoth losing its grip, and they too fall into darkness.
Mornington, back on his feet, utters words of encouragement to his fellow adventurers, inspiring them to defeat their foes. Neither Mornington, Edward, or Amarion can see Crom, so Amarion carefully climbs down the wall to find him. He sees the Shaman moving towards some entangled bodies on the basin floor, the Shaman strikes down with his staff, and it is met by the Shadow Maul. Crom rises, the corpse of a quaggoth rolling off his shoulders like a great cloak, and the two enter a frenzied melee. Two quaggoth corpses litter the floor, the Shaman is locked in combat with Crom and the remaining one climbs the wall to meet Mornington, who draws his Briney Blade. Edward, still inspired by the words of his noble friend, reaches for the last remnant of a weapon in his possession, a crowbar. Edward lets go of his grip on the wall, falling from a height of 60ft, his crowbar held at either end. The crowbar catches the neck of the quaggoth below him as it is ripped from the wall, the warlock and the monstrous humanoid tumble through the air. Amarion hears a shout from above and quickly backs up as the two collide with the floor. Quaggoth guts burst outward in a gruesome display, Edwards fall cushioned by his felled opponent.
Crom having now hurt the Shaman severely, causes it to retreat from the bout. But he fears it could warn others deep in the chasm. He sprints after it, and a few bloody hacks later, the carnage is over.
The party, only just arisen, must rest once more. They gather, patch their wounds, and trade some items. Mornington casts a series of spells into the Ring of Spell Storing, passing it to Edward. Crom starts to scout the perimeter of the basin they inhabit, looking for the way forward. First light is coming, and a pale blue is slowly filtering down, casting the place in a dim light. Crom finds a large cave opening that widens into a larger complex within, this must be where the quaggoth came from, and where they must journey next.
Edward feels a burning sensation on his leg, he quickly rifles through his pocket to find what is causing it. It is his Pearl of Power, now enhanced by his Patron, it had become warm upon its first use after this upgrade, but now is searing hot. Edward, wanting any power he can get without asking for it, sees if the item will still work for him. He saps its power and feels the ability to cast a single spell return to his senses. However, a dark red mist begins to spill from the pearl as it's heat diminishes. Coagulating into a small cloud upon the floor, it begins to take a form. The mist subsides and a winged membrane covers an orb no larger than one of their backpacks. Wings unfurl and a small red-skinned humanoid wheezes, coughs, laughs and turns to the party. It has small horns, a barbed tail, and two bat-like wings, a curled smile plastered to its face. "Hello to you brother. Hello... Edward".
Confused and alarmed, a series of questions must be answered, hands on hilts all the while. Before them stands an imp who goes by the name Brogmim. He is a servant of Edward's Patron Xarturas and is greatly pleased to meet Edward. He will aid the party if he can, and is fascinated to learn of their world. The party try to have a word in private but the imp shows that it can turn invisible. Amarion disgusted by the creature focuses his holy symbol and sends Brogmim scrambling away for a couple of minutes for them to chat. They do not trust him, but could use the extra help, especially if he can impart knowledge beyond the party's expertise.
They make way for the cave that leads deeper into the mountain. A rat crawls up Edward's leg, through his clothes, and onto his shoulder. He sees it has red eyes and calls it out as Brogmim in disguise. It is, and the imp transforms into its original form, "you got me". They joke about preferring him as a normal creature from their world, so Brogmim transforms into a large spider upon Edwards shoulder, instantly cutting his laughter short. Mornington commands his lantern to transform into a bullseye lantern, its mithril plates shift in a satisfying motion as it focuses its light into a cone that reaches far ahead. Something reflects back deep in the cavern system and they head towards it. As they approach they begin to hear distant barks and cries of more quaggoth, quite a number of quaggoth, as it echoes through the tunnels.
Before them is a very large obsidian block, connected to the floor and ceiling, with a doorless archway at its front. Surrounding the block are several neat piles of bones with a quaggoth skull placed atop each. There are also worn rudimentary tools placed carefully alongside the bones in what appears to be some kind of funeral rite. While looking over these, Mornington investigates further and walks around the block. In one section there are many claw marks on the floor showing anger at a defilement of the monument. A short sentence has been painted upon the obsidian, a sentence written in elvish. The white ink reads "REMNANTS OF THE OLD EMPIRE?". The party think back to their recent encounters. The scroll from Folas Carna was given to them by an unnamed hooded figure, she said to Alloria Mialeth that it pertained to what she discovered. The party realise that when Alloria was exiled, she must have found this Obsidian structure, made the long journey back to Anlyth and confided this information to Folas, who must have lifted her state of exile for her great discovery. That's why he sent the party here, this could lead to... another Element Stone.
A rock clatters across the floor near the party and the sounds of screaming quaggoth are close. The party look each other in the eye and enter the archway at the front of the obsidian structure. Inside is a perfect staircase that descends, spiralling against the four walls within, no carving marks, perfected construction from the Dargean Empire. They run down the stairs, the sounds of the quaggoth fading into the distance, they clearly revere this structure and will not follow the party inside due to their beliefs.
The stairs go down and down, deep into the earth. They descend until the stairway opens up into a cave too large for the lantern's light to reach its edges. But something twinkles in the distance. The party approach, only so far as to see what it is. Crystals jut from the ground, reflecting and refracting the spotlight of the lantern, and nestled among them, is a large carved stone...
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