We took a quick breather before moving on. Oris Honeyflower and Aggma seemed pretty beat up by the elementals and ooze. We treated wounds, took stock of our gear, refocused and energized. The door beyond was open, with large and shallow stairs. They seemed to be built to be large, rather than steep. Into the city we go.
The walls here were painted once, but they've long since peeled and been destroyed. It's not surprise that they've gotten mostly destroyed. Signs of water, and people had been here before us. This walk seemed to go on forever. To the point of losing track of the passage of time. Just the sound of footsteps, and only sparse conversation so we can stay alert and ready. At the foot of the stairs there was language inscribed on slabs, same as the ones we found in the ruins near Tilley. We can't read it and Oris pointed out that we probably should have gotten some way to translate them given we knew that there was probably going to be more.
There was the remains of a camp at the foot of the doors. Somewhat recent. Within the year, but hard to place beyond that. They had sigils and markings showing them to have been issued by the Thasslian military. Not sure if we'd run into Isott Caine, or the Stormfarers, or just some mookish soldiers with a shitty assignment. There were four sleeping bags. So we should keep an eye out.
Inside the doors there was the city proper. This wasn't carved out, this cave system existed and they adapted it to be habitable. Complete with laid stone streets that sprawled out. Built into natural tunnels, or constructed up by quarried stone. It's a ramshackle settlement. Large enough for thousands. Though this place is dark the ceiling is covered with wisps, lichen, or perhaps riddled with minerals. It vaguely resembles a starry sky at night. Not wholly dark and unpleasant. There is light here, though more of a distant hope than a encompassing thing.
We found a blacksmith-style building. They seemed to be filled with molds in which they created things from Larysine. We decided I should use the crystal ball to see if Isott was around, but it failed immediately. I tried to use it on Fionna Martainn who seems to still be conscripted and in the military, not in the middle of the hells or another plane with my sister so I dismissed it. I don't care to be a voyeur on an old friend, just wanted to know if she's what we had waiting ahead of us.
((OOC my brain is wandering. I missed a lot. Ratyn spotted a portal that was deactivated, something seemed to move near it. Something about a person who had their flesh turn into stone maybe? Ugghh my brain is the worst.))
Part of a building looked to be turned into flesh that dropped rather than caved in. Flesh crawled over the place. Four insets into the portal. My mind was reeling. We were trying to figure out how to activate it, Larysine didn't seem to do the trick this time. No idea what could work.
((OOC took a break here, hopefully brain works better after))
Oris decided to call out and startle anyone who might be keeping watch for us. We entered a bathhouse and saw art denoting willing sacrifices, hailed as heroes, giving their life forces into a Larysine dagger which was then used to give that energy to nobility and royalty. So they built a society off of this, to live theoretically forever. We did find a person who died here clutching a small glass pyramid. ((OOC Kankolion Pyramid, IC we don't know that)) that seem to fit into the slots of the portal.
10 little horrifying monstrosities came at us. ((OOC: Abyssal chickens)) and we decided it was time to leave. We ran off and I used Sleep on them to put the two that heard us out of commission for a while as we tried to make our way out. However, we reached a dead-end with a 15-foot ravine that seemed unending. There was another pyramid embedded into vines on the side of the ravine, I flew over to grab it as the others made their way across. Along the way we found another embedded into a wall that Sett managed to break out. We decided to leave this place altogether as something from the Hells started to pour out and affect everything.
On our way at the stairs a devil flew over us and stopped us in our tracks, wanting to drag us to hell to fight in the arenas. Oris immediately stopped it by having the ground entangle it with earth, and I shot it with an arrow. It seemed unbothered and yelled out conversationally in a language I don't understand. So we continued our flight out of there.