Legacies of Exera: Session 21

 

We return to the Firetop Crusaders continuing their exploration of the mines and the natural (maybe) connected cave system known as the tendril. After sometime the party comes across a small room of the side that possesses a glowing golden statue holding a rather large ruby it its claws. The party still weary from their last dance with traps almost decides to leave the room be but Gareth then using his telekinesis to lift the ruby up and float it over the where the party is standing. As the ruby gets closer to Enama, the light of from Enama’s belt winks out and Gareth stops the movement to help problem solve the situation. It was decided that it may be the rubies fault, so Gareth then floats the ruby away and the light form Enama’s belt turns back on. It was quickly deducted that the ruby must have some type of way to negate magic and Gareth ends up burying  the ruby in hopes that it can be retrieved on the way back - if the party passes this way again. 

The exploration continues and it is not long before the party ends up at the bottom of the staircase that opens up into a large room that is covered with floor to ceiling spiderwebs. As the party continues forward with caution, Shadowgrumble grumbles once again and warns A’anri that there are giant spider like creatures hiding in the adjacent hallway and the party prepares for an ambush. The spider creatures charge out of hiding and end up grappling Harl and A’anri in an attempt to drag them out of the room. Claren is able to act quickly and literally disarm the spidery appendages holding on Harl and A’anri. It does not take long before the party is able to regain the upper hand and turn the spider creatures into a mess of spindly limbs and goo. 

With some mine bits and claw marks, the party makes it to the other end of the room and into the far hallway. The party quickly finds themselves at the entrance of  another room that is covered in spiderwebs and Helestina states very matter of factly she is not being anybodies lunch as she raises her hands and catches the thick webs on fire which quickly cause the entire room to burst into flames as loud screams meet the parties ears which place everyone on a greater edge. As the flames die down and the party explores the area, they find numerous charred dwarf bodies and it is surmised that these deurgar overheard the commotion from earlier and decided to attempt an ambush of their own. Harl kicks one of the charred bodies over as he asks if anyone has had dwarf jerky before and Gareth responds with an applauded look. Harl laughs and waves everyone forward. 

After some time, the party finds themselves in area that has a spiral staircase leading down as well as what appears to be a hallway off into the distance. Before the party even has a chance to discuss a plan of action there are loud commands shouted out in the dwarves language and Gareth shouts back in turn. This conversation goes on for sometime before screams and sounds of battle erupt from down the hallway. The party rushes into the find a group of duergar being attacked by zombies and the party helps dispatch the zombies, fighting alongside then duergar before Harl turns his spear on the closest duergar as he chants an prayer about impure souls. The other duergar instantly recognize the obvious betrayal and attack the party which only ends in their swift demise. 

After the end of the the final duergar, there was some heated discussion and accusations about Harl’s actions but Harl stood there with his arms folded and repeated, their souls were impure and they would turn on us as soon as they realized we killed their fellows. It took sometime for Gareth and Claren to calm down but eventually, everyone resided to the thought process of it was a decision, maybe not the best one but what is done is done. 

The party soon finds themselves heading down the spiral staircase