After resting for the night, the party gathers their belongings and begins their trek through the valley towards the river. After about a day they reach the edge, but have no way to cross. Gaia and Miryks take to the skies to scout out a crossing, with Gaia spotting several settlements to the south, while Miryks finds an old wooden bridge to the north.
Raenerys takes another look in the decoded book they got from Thoralf, examining the map to the Elder Brain chamber. There is a reference to Riverside Crossing, a small settlement, which a passerby confirms is just a few hours north of where they are currently. The party wonders if they should try to head to the Elder Brain, as they might have a chance to stop Legion from absorbing it, seeing as the disappearances in Starfall Basin aren't as time sensitive. Quill agrees with the others, so they decide to make their way north for the time being.
When they finally arrive, late at night, the town has already mostly closed down, with only a lodging house and a tavern showing any kind of activity. They take the first option as the tavern seems filled to the brim, dropping off their belongings by their beds after haggling with the owner, then head to the tavern to get some supper. After ordering their meal and drinks after snatching a table that just became available, Gaia overhears someone mentioning a cult of some sort. She mentions it to the others, and they all look over at a nearby table where two drows are talking to a human and an orc. Ranerys decides to take her meal over to the drows after the human and the orc walks away, looking annoyed. She asks if she can join them, sitting down with them, even after they tell her no.
The two drows are suspicious at first, and when she asks them about the cult she overheard, they are reluctant to divulge any information, but when she mentions the name Nezznar, they loosen their tongues. The pair introduces themselves as Hazzek and Ulvira, who are hunting what they call the Cult of the Spider, on their way to Starfall Basin to investigate some cult activity there. Apparently there have been some episodes with people going missing, livestock acting weird and other curiosities.
Ulvira takes out a small vial of blood, telling her that they encountered some cultists previously, managing to get some blood from them that they can use to track them when they’re close enough, indicating that she is a blood hunter. They’ve apparently been delayed however, as there is a beast that terrorizes people on the road south, turning them to stone. They want to kill it in order to get a reward to fund their mission, as they don’t have a benefactor. Raenery’s asks who would be mad enough to try to resurrect the Spider, and learns that most people in the cult are humans and elves, which surprises her, but whoever is behind it doesn’t seem to care who joins, as long as they get what they want.
Hazzek becomes interested in Raenerys’ background, asking if they have ever met before. She tells them that her family name is Goldleaf, a name she got from her adopted elven family. Hazzek asks about her eyes, but she has no good explanation, telling him they’ve always been like this, white instead of red or blue. He tries to analyze her, but seems satisfied in the end. They ask Raenerys to join them, but she declines, having more pressing matters at hand, but hopes they will meet again. They tell her they will head south in two days.
Returning to the others, she spots a face in the window with the distinctive smile on it, indicating that Legion is watching them. She then tells the party about the conversation, and the beast on the road south. They wonder what it might be, figuring it’s either a basilisk or a gorgon, which terrifies Miryks, who does not want to meet one, but the others are positive they can take it out if needed. Finishing up their meal, they look over at Hazzek and Ulvira, but they don’t seem to be watching them, so they don’t seem to be deceiving them. They head back to the lodging house, getting some rest for the night, but Raenerys has a hard time, surrounded by bodily noises and snoring.
𐡸
The party is awoken the next day by people getting ready to depart, washing themselves in the river and drying themselves off near the hearth. It’s a rainy day outside, and Quill dreads the prospect of leaving the warm bed, but the others convinces her that it is time to leave. Before departing, they shop around for some more potions to have on hand, as well as some varik leaves, which Raenerys manages to haggle down to give them an extra potion. They then get on their horses, and head west, following Thoralf’s map.
After a couple of days of travel, they reach a campsite where some more travelers are resting. Quill and Miryks take interest in a group of halflings, humans and elves that seem to be traveling together. They’re headed for Starfall Basin, but are convinced to take a detour in Goldenworth for a while, as there is danger on the road and disappearances. They share some information about the continent, as they’re from Te’awa. The Ghal’dum mountains lie east of it, several hundreds of miles, so if the party wants to check it out, they have a long journey ahead of them. Quill is allowed to copy a rudimentary world map from the group, filling in some points of interest on it, giving them something to go from when deciding where to travel.
The next morning the party heads north, towards a nearby mountain pass which is supposedly where the Elder Brain chamber can be found. In the late afternoon, they stand face to face with a forest blocking their path. Gaia takes to the skies, seeing a fog drift down from the mountains into the woods, giving the whole place an eerie vibe. Walking around will take too long, so they decide to go through it. They decide to play it safe, leaving their horses behind, writing a note to put with one of them that they are spoken for. The party heads into the forest, hoping to make it through before nightfall.
After about an hour of walking, with Gaia in front, followed by Quill and Miryks, Raenerys leading the flank, the feeling of being watched seems to grow stronger. They seem to spot movement in the corner of their eyes, but when they turn, nothing is there. Quill decides to take out her book to sketch the area, and as she does, notices that a person is standing there in the distance. An elderly drow woman, who kinda looks like Raenerys, is staring back at them. She waves to the party, causing Raenerys to start to walk towards her, but Gaia grabs her hand, pulling her back. Raenerys didn’t even realize what was happening, so thanks Gaia for the help.
Quill then hears the voice of her twin sister behind her, telling her that she has an interesting story to tell. She too begins to walk towards the voice, but is once again stopped by the others. Raenerys takes out a rope from her bag, telling everyone to tie themselves together so that nobody wanders off without warning. Just as they have tied themselves together, Gaia spots Max, lying gravely wounded by a tree, begging for Gaia’s help. It takes the combined effort of the rest of the party to hold her back, as they realize that it is an illusion.
Just after that, Miryks notices that her own grandmother is standing nearby, beckoning for her to come closer. The rest of the party also sees her, and Miryks walking closer, but Gaia manages to spot the truth behind the visage. A massive, deerlike creature stands behind the woman, with its head being attached to the back of Miryks’ grandmother. Realizing that it is a trap to lure them in, Gaia takes her falchion and stabs Miryks’ grandmother, much to Miryk’s shock. This does however reveal the truth to the others, who springs into action.
The being is terrifyingly large, and suddenly bites down, swallowing Gaia in retribution, quickly followed by Miryks, whose ropes are severed. Raenerys and Quill fights back against the creature, causing it to regurgitate their companions, and then, when it realizes that the group might be too much for it to deal with, tries to hide away, but Quill uses a spell to reveal it, allowing the party to finish it off. As Gaia rams her falchion into its mouth, it crumbles into moss and dirt. The feeling of being watched disappears, so the party decides to beeline towards the forest edge before more beings find them.
Just as they reach the edge, the feeling reappears, so they start to run, hearing massive hooves from behind. They throw themselves out of the forest, and turn to find a pair of white dots looking back at them, which then retreats back into the forest. They realize that whatever this being is, it cannot venture beyond the woods, so they decide to head into the mountain pass and make camp away from it, just in case.
𐡸
The next morning the party wastes no time, gathering their belongings again, and head into the mountains, following the directions from the map. After a couple of hours they see it. The crooked mountain top that looks like a hook. They have found it. Nearby, a large boulder hides the entrance to a cave, with several footprints leading inside. They debate amongst themselves what they should do, before Miryks takes matters into her own hand, turning herself into a little mouse, and ventures inside while the party waits for her at the entrance.
Immediately inside she can find remnants of where people have been staying for at least a week. Several piles of refuse from food, empty waterskins and several piles of excrement where people have relieved themselves. The cave leads down to a natural staircase leading deep down into the darkness, so Miryks decides to follow it down below.
Darkness envelops her, and she cannot see anything, making her way deeper and deeper into the mountain. Suddenly, there is a light ahead, and she can see the distinctive double doors with the markings Thoralf described. One of the doors is slightly ajar. She decides to risk it, peeking inside.
Inside, a massive chamber, with several massive pillars holding up the roof surrounding a large skull like statue, missing the top of the skull. The skull seems to be filled with some type of liquid, and the “mouth” of the skull has several dark masses coming from it like tentacles. Near the walls are hundreds of sets of clothes just laying there. She then spots movement, and realizes that several mind-flayers are rummaging around the clothes. One of them, the closest one, suddenly stops rummaging, and looks up, straight at the entrance, where Miryks is hiding. She makes a run for it.
Miryks beastforms into a bird, making her way quickly up the tunnel and away from the danger, emerging to the others to tell them what she found. They discuss whether they should get a closer look, and if she saw any sign of the elder brain, but before she gets a chance to answer, they all feel a probing sensation in their minds. One of the mind flayers are making their way up the stairs, looking for the intruders.
The party makes haste, running away as fast as they can, seeing as these are too dangerous to face at the moment. Just as they are about to make their way out of sight, Gaia turns back, and sees a mind flayer calmly emerging from the opening, and just stands there. She takes a risk, and turns back. Raenerys reluctantly stops running as well, but Miryks and Quill continue, getting away.
Gaia calmly makes her way towards the mind flayer, who suddenly enters her mind with a terrifying voice.
“WHY HAVE YOU COME?”
Gaia tells the mind flayer that they have come to stop a being from taking over the elder brain and by extension, the local mind flayer hive. The mind flayer looks back at her, tilting its head, then tells her.
“WE ARE ALREADY HERE.”
Their fears are confirmed, as she realizes that she is speaking to Legion, who has already taken over the elder brain. Legion tells them that they are not wanted here, and should leave. Gaia, realizing that there is nothing they can do, agrees, and so she and Raenerys take their leave, returning to the others as the legion flayer returns to the entrance.
Dejected by the revelation that they are too late, they decide to make their way back to the horses, hoping to find more answers in Starfall Basin. They take the long way around the forest so as to not disturb the being that lies within, reuniting with their mounts, and then head back towards Riverside Crossing, after Quill marks the area as dangerous on a nearby boulder.
They decide to contact Elara through the speaking orb, updating her on the situation, and confirming that Legion has acquired the Elder Brain. They tell her about their encounter in the forest, learning that the thing they fought is a minor forest deity called Moder, and that they should consider themselves lucky to have made it out. She also tells them that she and the rest of the archmages have spoken with Thervan, and come to the conclusion that Legion is a bigger threat than they thought, and although Thervan’s methods have been careless, considering that the invisible stalker killed several innocents, they understand why he felt the need to go so far, but promises that in the future they will consider other options first. Both Elara and the party agree to share information with each other as soon as they learn anything.
After a couple of days of travel, they make their way back to Riverside Crossing, continuing southwards toward Starfall Basin.