Previously: Chapter 92: As Above, So Below
Seeking Information
The party decides to go seek out the scholar Zeerith mentioned, Daerindril Myrret, with her giving them directions of where his house can be found. Penny decides to cast a renewed seeming-spell on the party so that they don’t have to worry about it running out in the middle of a crowd. Skulking through the streets, the party make their way to the northeastern side of the city, finding a small house between a couple of larger extravagant buildings. Thistlethorn carefully goes up to the door, knocking on it. Some very careful footfalls can be heard from within, as the door carefully creaks open, revealing a short blue-eyed drow looking out at them.
Daerindril asks what they want, and when the party tells him that Zeerith told them to seek him out, he quickly shuts the door, opening it fully, looking out on the street to see if anyone is watching, then grabbing a hold of Thistlethorn’s lapel, pulling her within. The rest of the party quickly follows after her, as Daerindril shuts the door, locking it securely before turning to the party. The house seems to be lined with bookshelves, containing thousands of books, both bound and unbound, with notes and writings littering the floor.
The drow suddenly grabs a sword from next to the door, pointing it firmly at Thistlethorn, demanding to know who they are, as he can tell they’re wearing an illusion, and their accent is not from around here. It seems he is worried that it is a test of some sort from Nezznar, but Relic is fast to assure him that they are opposed to Nezznar, and means to bring him down, along with his god. Daerindril cannot believe what he is hearing, and immediately goes over to hug Relic.
Daerindril wants to know why the party came to him, with them explaining that whatever they need to defeat the Forgotten One can be found near the Old Stone. Daerindril gets the point, asking the party if they need guidance about how to access it, which they confirm, but they don’t want to tell him too much, giving him plausible deniability.
He tells the party that the Old Stone is supposed to give answers and guidance for those who seek it, but their quest must be worthy by the head priestess, Eryndra, and they must pass a test of endurance, as well as offer a blood sacrifice to be allowed to seek the guidance of the stone. He tells them that he himself underwent the search for guidance, wanting to find knowledge, so that he could become useful, and not seen as an outcast, as those born with the curse of the blue eyes often find themselves to be.
Kal wants to know where the Old Stone came from, so Daerindril explains that Xar'theris was a city plagued with war, and was nearly exterminated and abandoned. When the city was reclaimed after the Betrayal, the Old Stone was discovered in a deep hole. Some believe it is where the Forgotten One ascended, others believe it to be a remnant of his will, or something else entirely. In either case, it emanates whispers, which some can find guidance and answers from, so the drow, when the city was reclaimed and repopulated after the betrayal, built a temple on top of it, guiding those that desire it. Daerindril tells them that people have to go through the trial first because too much exposure to the stone turns some people mad, but the party assures him that it should not be a problem, as they have no intention of staying there long enough to be affected.
The party brainstorms with Daerindril what they should do and say, and comes up with the idea of them all being cousins traveling from Narvethis, seeking a way to destroy their enemies, which technically isn’t a lie, but it’s still deception by omission. Penny takes a moment to cast a sending to Valthrae, asking where she is from, but she mentions a different city entirely, Xiltharen, far to the south. The party seems pretty prepared to leave, but decides to rest a bit, to prepare properly for whatever is found within the Old Stone. Before they leave, they ask Daerindril for any information they should no, and he tells them no to speak common, not to look at the guards, and to address Eryndra as the Keeper of the Old Stone, Our Guide, The Holy One etc. He also teaches them “yes” and “no” in undercommon, in case they need to answer.
Daerindril leads the party out the back door, into a quiet backstreet. They decide to go back to the tavern to rest, Relic offering to summon the magnificent mansion so that they can properly relax, instead of being cramped in the small room. The others think this is a great idea. When they return to the tavern the city is beginning to wake up, and the innkeeper tells them that they will have to pay for another night if they wish to stay. Penny offers her three gold, saying they will be staying for a few days, which the innkeeper logs in her ledger. When they get to their room, Relic opens the mansion, and they all step inside to recuperate.
The Old Stone
The party makes sure to do a heroes’ feast before sleeping, with Relic also casting mind blank on himself to prepare for the inevitable attacks on their minds during the trial. They also decide that Relic should do most of the talking, with him casting telepathic bond and borrowed knowledge, so that he can blend better in with the language. They move over to the temple, and see the city in a new light, with children running around playing, people out doing errands and working. It seems so normal, and yet so foreign.
Outside the temple there is a queue that has formed of people trying to get in. Kal casts tongues on herself so that she can understand what is being said, and to translate to Penny. Penny gives Relic a bardic inspiration just in case. The people in front of them are seeking guidance, but a couple who are turned away was merely seeking shelter from the temple. When Relic gets to the front of the queue, he convinces the guards that his quest is just, and is let inside to plead their case to Eryndra.
The temple is fairly big, with people waiting for their turns, praying or being guided by the local priests. There is a large wooden sculpture of Vuthul in the center of the temple, with a drow woman in fine robes sitting on a throne towards the back of the temple. There is a small queue in front of the throne, so the party realises that it is most likely Eryndra.
The party wanders over to Eryndra, putting themselves in the queue. They can feel that the requests of those in front of them doesn’t seem fully devoted, almost half-measured. They all get sent away, as Eryndra doesn’t seem convinced by their pleas. As Relic reaches the front, he showers her with compliments and titles, begging for guidance on how to defeat their enemies.
Eryndra seems to analyze Relic and the party for a moment, but seems convinced, as she stands up, gesturing for them to follow, as she leads them to a massive steel door to the back of the temple. Within they see several pillows being placed on the hardwood floor, as Eryndra gestures for them to each take a seat, as she sits herself in the middle. She tells the party that she will now test their endurance, to see if they are strong enough to resist the voices of the Old Stone.
The entire party, apart from Relic, finds themselves in darkness, as if isolated from the rest of the world. A weak flurry of whispers begins to make themselves known. Kal tries to understand what they are saying, but only gets bits and pieces from her tongue-spell, saying “you will fail” and “you will die”. It becomes too much for Penny, who succumbs to the voices, but luckily, the heroes’ feast strengthens her resolve, allowing her to not be harmed by the effect. The darkness fades away, and they see each other again. Eryndra gives a pitiful look at Penny, and then says “you may continue if you wish, but be warned, one of your party seems to be more susceptible than most…” before rising and walk over to a large stone door on the opposite side of the entrance.
To open the door, the party has to give a blood sacrifice. Kal steps forward, making sure to turn away from Eryndra as she cuts her palm, smearing it on top of the hundreds of smears of blood from previous drow who have seeked out the wisdom of the Old Stone. It opens, and Eryndra tells the party to take their time, but not too much time, before she departs, leaving the party to enter the chamber themselves.
Within, they see a spiraling pathway going down a 100 feet deep hole, where a massive stone lies at the bottom, perfectly circular, with a smooth top and rough edges. Thistlethorn feels the wayfinder pulling her along the path, indicating that they are heading in the right direction. As they descend, they begin to hear the whispers of the Old Stone, too many to discern anything being said. Relic feels nothing, thanks to his mind blank.
When they reach the bottom they immediately begin to search the stone for clues, and Relic calls for the others to join him, as he has found an indent that is perfectly shaped to house the wayfinder. Thistlethorn takes it off, placing it on the opening, and at first thinks nothing is happening. Then the stone begins to lift itself up into the air. Beneath, another stone is seen, and when the top stone has reached 10 feet into the air, the wayfinder drops out. Thistlethorn puts it back on, and can feel that their destination is down below.
The entire party links hands, as they step onto the hidden stone together. Immediately the top stone begins to descend, causing the party to panic for a split second, before they realize that they are also descending, until the Old Stone covers the perfectly spherical shaft leading down into the depths. There is no light, so Kal uses the light cantrip on a pebble, as suddenly, four glowing lights come out of the walls of the shaft, emerging as humanoid figures, that attack the party.
The party defends themselves valiantly against the apparitions, finding them to be resistant to pretty much everything but force. Relic is uncomfortable with not having a place to retreat to, but does his best to fight back using his spells, as Thistlethorn uses her thorn whip on them, and Penny fires with Harmony after filling the stone with grass using the Wand of Wonder. Kal gets in a few strikes as well with Stormseeker, and they manage to get a few of them, but more and more emerges from the walls as they delve deeper into the underdark.
At a weak moment, one of the bodies manages to possess Kal, who starts to attack Thistlethorn, getting in a couple of hits, before Penny uses a countercharm to try to force the apparitions out of Kal. She is successful, and the party manages to stop any further possessions. As light begins to appear at the edges of the shaft, the party realizes that they must be close to their destination, and when they reach the bottom they see an opening, and the apparitions disappear.
The Old Drow
Their destination seems impossible. An infinite space appears in front of them, with a small piece of land jutting out from the shaft, leading to what appears to be a teleportation circle. Pillars, rubble and old bones float around in the void showing that a beautiful temple once stood here, and it feels almost like there are two forces pushing against each other, with too much space being crammed into a small area. Kal goes over to the edge, picking up a passing skull, casting speak with dead on it, wanting to know what happened.
The skull replies that “they” tried to stop the ascension, but they held them back. Kal wants to know the name of Vuthul, but he does not know it. When asked about Nezznar’s daughter, the skull didn’t realize that she was ever here. He does not know her name either. Looking over at the teleportation circle, Kal asks where it leads, but the skull didn’t realize there was one there. With the last question, the skull stops talking, and Kal lets it drift away.
Relic sees that the teleportation circle is only half finished, so he uses the other half that they found in the pyramid to complete it. Nothing happens. Penny sees the frustration, as Relic is about to cast the teleportation circle spell, telling him and the rest that they should take a break, as she takes out the coffee pot. Thistlethorn thinks this is a good idea as they can use some time to heal. Bozuuth loves the places Penny brings him to, as he fills up with delicious coffee. After a short rest and some healing, Thistlethorn feels the wayfinder pulse, as if prompting her to step forward. Once again, the party locks hands together, as they all step onto the circle as one.
Immediately, a sense of disorientation flows over the party, even Relic. Their heads are pounding, as if someone has tried to force too much brain into too small of a skull, and their vision is blurred. After a few seconds to adjust, their vision comes to, and the pain dissipates. Around them, they see what appears to be where the rest of the temple went, with them being on a floating island in the middle of an infinite space, no discernible landmarks or star patterns are visible. Relic assumes they’re somewhere in the astral plane, or at least adjacent to it. On one of the floating islands high above them they see a large pillar of liquid smoke flowing out of something, and five drow bodies are scattered around, looking extremely well preserved.
On a throne on the opposite side of the island they’re on, there sits an old, bald drow. She wears fine robes, and has the symbol of Vuthul around her neck. She stirs, opening her eyes, and looks at the party, speaking to them in common.
“You’re too late! You cannot stop it now!”
Confused, the party asks what she is talking about, with her clarifying that “he” has already ascended, and that they are too late. She laughs. But the party just looks at her confused, telling her that they know, and that he was defeated, but that was almost 2500 years ago.
The old drow, Zylyra, looks shocked at this, saying that she was told to keep "it" safe, glancing up at the island with the column of liquid smoke, but that was only minutes ago for her. The party tries to ask if she knows Vuthul’s name before he ascended, but she is surprised when she finds herself unable to recall it. They ask her why she helped out with the ascension, but she is merely another fanatic, devoted to Vuthul because she wants the other gods to die so that the natural order of decay might reign. Relic dislikes this notion, saying that decay goes against the balance of life, but Relic tries to argue that death, not decay, is natural. She scoffs at him and the party, saying that they know not what they speak of, and they have fallen for the dogma of those who oppose her god. Kal asks if she knows the name of Nezznar’s daughter, as she confirms he was here and helped out with her, but she declines to give it to them. Kal tells her that she will get the name or die trying, with Zylyra saying that she can help with that last part, as she spreads out her arms, and the drow corpses littered around them begin to animate.
Next: Chapter 94: The Blade