Participants: Armalon, Agromash, Zesh, Lily
Locations: Dragon's Tail, City of Srasthadra, Watchers' Holy Lands, Clay Pit, Desert of Rydess
Loose ends: extremely cold cave; the eyes within the Silent Forest (solved), Dragon spotted; clay mines; Serpentfolk of Srasthadra
Short summary:
A group decided to explore the northern and western reaches of the Watchers' Island. They passed along the Dragon's Tail mountains, finding a mysterious cold cave and a clay mine, made a detour to the Silent Forest as they wandered around the Holy Lands of the Watchers' Tribe, and ended up discovering the underground City of Srasthadra, where they unsealed the great gates and encountered traps and aggressively territorial Serpentfolk, who chased them out.
Full report: Armalon
This is Armalon.
We decided to go treasure hunting with a couple of lads.
The first day passed. We reached the mountains to the west of the Kobold Village.
We found a cave on the mountains. Something is wrong there. As we delved deeper the cold was extreme. Even those with winter clothes could not continue without freezing to death.
We decided to mark the cave and move on.
The journey was long. It took us around a week to pass around the Silent Forest. Dark eyes were watching us from the inside. I was torn between going in to hunt for treasure, or skipping it. I ended up agreeing with the rest that it was probably not worth it.
So we kept on. One day as we were moving on with the two carts the one behind the other, everything seemed normal. Two giant boulders were on the path. As we approached them, they came to life and ambushed us. The fight was pretty tricky, it didn’t go well at first. I felt the anger burn in me and before I realized it, both of them were nothing but rubble.
After some investigation it turns out that those creatures sometimes pick minerals along with stone and dirt to form their bodies. Apparently we found a Lapis Lazuli. We brought it back with us.
Agromash is great both for healing, swinging with his mighty scythe as well as delving into magics. He was of great help throughout the journey.
Apparently we ran into a clay mine. Seems it has been used in the past, but looks abandoned at the moment. We will mark the location. Clay may be useful in the future. Took a few samples to bring back.
We moved on while searching the open fields, swamps, deserts, rocks. We searched a lot.
At one point we thought to keep going onwards to the West.
I saw one of those marvelous things. A Unknown was flying over the far away mountains. My experience tells me he wasn’t one of the Ancient ones, or a great Wyrm. I would feel it.
He was not a Drake though. Perhaps an Elder or an Adult? I will have to check on that in the future.
No matter what, my companions are afraid of these mighty creatures, so we turned north and then to the east, moving around the great mountain called Dragon's Tail.
Lily was sure there was something north, all I could see is the never-ending ocean. But I am willing to go with her in her search for the unknown, or perhaps, the known.
The last day of our Journey we found an opening leading downwards. Similar to a cave. Old glyphs were on the outside. We are not climbers. The drop down is around fifty feet. Me and Agromash didn’t have much problem going down. Thanks to Zesh's kits, he is a handy little fellow.
The other two followed barely. Inside we found more markings. They were clearer now.
Lily is very useful for this. Apart from marking everything along the journey on our map, she knew this language. Aklo she called it I think? Ancient Unknown language. We went on and found a stone gate. The stone gate was big, ten by ten feet. It had an inscription on it which Lily translated for us.
“THIS IS THE GREAT CITY OF SRASTHADRA. OUTSIDERS AND HERETICS SHALL BE HUNTED AND KILLED WITHOUT MERCY” |
I was sure I could move it just by strength but Agromash wanted to help and ended up hindering me. My rage took over so I just smashed that thing right open.
Zesh was going on ahead to scout. Thankfully he offered or we would have died. He found a lot of traps, mainly some stairs. Those stairs were enchanted. It seems you had to follow a pattern or else you could fall and meet your end. Things did not go so well for us. Even when I tied Zesh’s rope on myself, the little guy pulled me down when he fell. Caution is necessary in these steps.
Look for the pattern.
Something small like a rock does not trigger the trap.
The steps have small grooves in them, intentionally designed to cause the bricks to slip loose when enough pressure is applied.
The irregular arrangement of sconces on the walls was mighty curious at first until we figured out that there is a safe route down. By walking in a direct line from sconce to sconce along the walls, you should be safe to pass this trap. Make a wrong step and the fall will instantly break your neck.
After we made a few wrong steps, Zesh and I had fallen on a lower tier of the steps but we were good enough. As we were waiting Lily decided to send her pet cat Splat, to scout ahead.
After a few seconds I see Splat running back afraid and… Well Splat happened.
He was stepped on by a serpent-like creature. The Unknown crushed it under him leaving nothing but the most gruesome sight. Then another one was running next to him and both were coming for us.
Little fools, I care not for such sights, but I considered the cat a member of my group.
Retribution was swift for the one that crushed the cat. I wanted his death to be as gruesome as the act he performed.
With a kick on his belly that forced him on his knees, I grabbed his head before cutting it. When I saw him eye to eye before the head was gone, I saw the fear in him as he knew what awaited him after angering me. The head was gone and I threw it at his friend’s feet. I wanted him to know he was next. After a few exchanges of blows with the group, he realized what was coming and started running.
Filthy serpent creatures are fast, and he managed to reach the gate at the end of the corridor. Zesh tried to pull some extreme acrobatic which didn’t go well for him. Agromash was there to keep him alive.
I chased the serpent up to the gate with Lily behind me. There was nothing I could do as the serpent rushed over the roofs of the buildings and was lost into a corner.
Lily drew the general image of the city as we saw it from the gate, along with the big symbol that was on, the now open, door.
We decided to get out, considering how many people were wounded. I took Zesh on my hands after I vowed to return and finish the one that got away. As we reached the entrance, I climbed up first and pulled, a now tied and unconscious Zesh, up to safety. Agromash was next. Him and Lily were trying to block the path with the leftover rumble of the gate I broke.
Before Lily could climb she saw three more Serpentfolk approach, one was probably the horned one that escaped. She had to recall to save her life, ending our adventure.
Turns out the creatures cannot go outside their city. Either due to a curse, or because they hate the sunlight.
I activated Zesh’s recaller sending him home.
When me and Agromash tried to recall, we found a few gifts in front of the horses. Turns out they were bound to each and every one of us. Each gift contained a lump of coal, each depicting a mockery on us. Nevertheless they seem to have some magic aura and I would not anger the gods. I will keep it until I find its purpose.
A good journey with a lot of mapping came to an end. Next time we will be more prepared.