Ragnorra Session 39

Start: 1 pm, Sunday, Flamerule (July) 25, 1396

The surprise attack against the orcs worked as planned. They were caught off guard, and dispatched handily and rather easily.

Soon after the orcs were defeated, a rumbling was heard from deeper within the cave. Njala relayed that her people said this creature was worshipped by the orcs as an avatar of Gruumsh. The warchief seemed to be another individual entirely.

The creature loudly scraped its way through the tunnels, dragging its armored belly along the cavern floor. It lumbered into view. It was a serpentine humanoid, the size of a semi-quadrupedal ogre, moving like a silverback gorilla with a scorpion's tail. Vix identified it as a particularly old Asabi, a creation of the Sarrukh, and slaves to the Phaerrim. Upon this pronouncement, Cassius remembered the Phaerrim are partially responsible for the fall of Netheril. They are monstrous aberrations, imprisoned under the high ice by a magical field called the Sharn Wall.

Oddly enough, the three of them seemed rather uncomfortably close to where this Sharn Wall is supposed to be.

They did battle with the Asabi, and were victorious. The party directed the prisoners to arm themselves with the orcs equipment. They searched the belongings of the fallen, and the cavern.

Vix found several pools of acid, and took a flask of it for herself.

Ronja searched through the orcs belongings and found some coin, which she distributed to the tribespeople. They seemed confused and did not know what to do with the coin, but accepted it anyway.

The Asabi wore adamantine scale mail, and wielded a greataxe Vix identified as being inscribed with "For the executioner" in Loross.

The three of them decided to leave Omen and Monty with the tribespeople, and explained to them the undead posed no threat to them, and were there for their safety.

Cassius, Ronja, and Vix decided to explore deeper into the cave. Shortly, they found the walls of the cave were coated with a gritty and vaguely sharp blue residue. Making a mental note of this oddity, they continued deeper into the tunnel.

At the end of the tunnel, they found an expansive cavern covered in the same substance. Ronja noted there was no trace of organic life inside the cave, despite the comparatively hospitable temperatures to the arctic conditions outside.

At the end of the path before them was a towering beam of bright, cold, blue light. It brightly illuminated the cavern. On the platform in front of this bright object were four shoddily build cages. Three of the cages were occupied with the tribeswomen taken as 'concubines' previously described by the tribe. In the midst of the bright light there lied a skeleton, which Vix determined was a human female. That left just one woman unaccounted for.

Ronja studied the beam of light. She quickly determined it to be a rift in the Sharnwall. She was unsure of the precise parameters of this, although a 'fissure' like this may allow creatures to pass, periodically. In short, something seemed to be lacking in the delicate protections keeping the Phaerrim imprisoned.

Cassius experimented with the beam of light. He dismantled each of the shoddy locks, and sliced off a bar from one of the cells, for experimentation. He swung the bar at the beam, and it was nearly knocked out of his hand. Additionally, the ubiquitous blue residue coated the end of the bar. He noted the force could be overcome, but would be incredibly difficult.

The skeleton was covered in the same dust. It was embedded so deeply, the skeleton itself seemed to have a crystalline aspect to it. Vix studied it, collected a sample, and collected the skeleton.

Ronja noticed overwhelming magic coming from the wall. Shortly after, the immense beam of light flickered briefly. It appeared to lapse, briefly. During this lapse, Cassius noticed, very faintly, tracks on the otherwise polished stone floor inside the beam of light. Perhaps this was where the Asabi came from. But why, and how?

Satisfied for now, the party requisitioned some of the tribesmen to bring the unconscious women with them. They did so, and returned to the cave lobby. They revived and questioned them. One of them, who seemed very happy to see Njala, named Sydri, spoke with Njala. Njala appeared very surprised at what she told her.

The party questioned Njala. Njala relayed to the party she was the final woman they were looking for. This initially confused the three. Njala went on to describe that Sydri told her of the night she couldn't remember. The orcs raided the tribe in their ice cave, and slew most of the village. She, and the others, were among those captured. They were all brought to this village. At some point, the women were inspected by a purple hued man individually, and Njala was separated from the rest of them. At the time, they did not know Njala was taken very far away, and held for a nefarious purpose.

But what did this all really mean? Did the cult orchestrate this seemingly unlikely orc city on the edge of a glacier? What did they want with these specific women? Could their designs go deeper? Perhaps the location wasn't a coincidence. Perhaps the fissure in the Sharnwall was no accident after all. What could the cult possibly want with the Phaerrim? The party had no answers, but for the time being, they resolved to take a short rest, and prepare themselves for an assault on the orc city.

Demiplane ETA in hours: 166

Montgomery and Omen must feed in 72 hours.

XP: 4,300

End: 2 pm, Sunday, Flamerule (July) 25, 1396