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Message: <blockquote data-quote="WayneLigon" data-source="post: 1294278" data-attributes="member: 3649">Episode 7: The Mother of Shadows  The party consists of…Vorz, male Litorian Totem Warrior (Wolf)1/Litorian2Sellik, male Verrik Mage Blade2, Verrick 1Kyran, female Verrik Iron Witch2Mont Nuyen, male Human Unbound Unfettered3Alayah, female Loresong Faen Greenbond3Na-Vilarus, male Giant Giant1, Champion of Magic1 Rizz, male kobold Expert1Thirdmonth 12Descending once more into the complex, they find it much changed. The boarding house above has been emptied of tenants and guards stand at the entrances; below, in the river tunnels, the place is being cleaned and cleared out. The smuggler goods have disappeared, and guards now stand at the river entrance and also in the witchery site; two witches are also present there to study the phenomena. A large grate has been placed over the largest hole, which is moved aside as the adventurers return. Meanwhile, Sellik and Na-Vilarus has been treading water for several hours now and are beginning to wear down. Sellik casts up his rope and uses a cantrip to move the rope up into the darkness above him, hoping it will catch. Something catches it, and he hangs on as the rope is pulled up, jerking him clear of the water. The rapid ascent stops when he becomes lodged in some huge spider webs, which also resist his attempts to burn them. Moving about, becomes more and more stuck, the strong webbing almost as thick as ropes. Finally he stops struggling, and cannot even draw his blade to use more magic. The party descends into the more natural twisting tunnels, avoiding the scraped-off webbing that lines the tunnels from the passage of the huge thing they fought earlier. Cautiously they move up, and find the passage splits into three; one huge tunnel and two smaller ones. Tracks, booted and lizard-like, lead down one of the smaller tunnels, while the other appears to have been abandoned for decades. They move down the large passage, and fight terrible shadowspiders that form out of the darkness. Vorz takes a direct hit from one, and it's freezing venom numbs much of his powerful frame, weakening him considerably. Still, the group presses on and they call for the lost companions. Sellik hears them and tries to call back to them. They companions listen, and something speaks to them out of the darkness but their keen ears can tell it is not Sellik, though it sounds much like him. Wary, the adventurers press on into the darkness, finally finding the smaller tunnel where they heard the real Sellik. They rig up ropes so they can lower down and cut Sellik free, then draw up the Giant and Rizz. Re-united, the party retreats to the houseboat to rest and recover. Days pass as they drink and throw a party for the other river folk. Sellik receives his fine blade and attunes it as his athame. The others make merry.Thirdmonth 16Having rested and recovered from their encounter with the shadowspiders, they group again presses on into the remains of the river tunnels, moving back to the large tunnel they ignored before. There, they are ambushed by wolf spiders, cleverly hidden under covers made of webbing and rubbed with stone dust to conceal them. They wipe out the smaller spiders, then turn their attention to the lizard tracks before they dare the large hole. They slaughter an entire covey of troglodytes, through the battle is fierce. Finally, though, they are ready to dare the large tunnel. They follow it's twisting passage until it opens out into a large natural cavern lit by strange fungi. They hear odd singing fill the air, singing of despair and darkness and feeding and hopelessness. Mont raises his voice against the piping tune, his strong singing voice filling the cavern with a merry and very bawdy drinking song. Here, they are again attacked by the shadowspiders, and while the rest of the party fights them Vorz and Mont move to the center of the cavern, demanding that the singer show herself. Which she does, as a titanic spider descends from the cathedral-like strands of black webbing that fills the upper parts of the cavern. It lands and sprays webbing at Vorz, who dodges out of the way; he turns to see stone crumble and hiss as the acidic webs drape over a rock outcropping. They lay to with sword and daggers, dodging here and too as the tremendous spider tries to bite and sting and web them up. The battle with the shadows is going well, as the inky black things can't seem to lay tooth or claw on the group. Gradually, blades take care of the shadowy threat and the rest turn to help Vorz and Mont. Arrows are fired and spears flung at the tremendous thing, which sprays more acidic webbing, and tries to poison Vorz. Finally, Vorz and Mont leap atop the thing, clinging to the spiky hairs of the monsters back and stabbing it over and over. Piping hideously, the tremendous female spider scrapes Mont off and flings him to the ground just as Vorz reverses his huge dire greatsword and drives it right through the spider's central thorax, killing it. Panting, the heroes explore the dark webbing, taking down the hundreds of wrapped things that dot the cavern area. They also discover many hundreds of concealed passages, small alcoves burned into the living stone via acid, and holding the crushed remains of previous victims. Within the crown of the cavern, at the oldest part of the webs, they find ancient remains; some of the bodies have been here almost a thousand years! They recover a body bearing a silver spear, a ring that Mont recognizes as bearing the Ducal Seal from the old human kingdoms long before the dramojh made war on them. Bearing this artifact, the party ascends and the caverns are sealed off once more.They go to Ia-Ka and bring her the mummified body. She ID's it on sight by the heraldry, and urges them to present this find to the Queen. They get cleaned up and bring Eana and Conn along as they go to meet Queen Andralorna; they are the last of her visitors that night. She receives the gifting of the remains and the ring with eager anticipation; they can see the wheels turning as she considers the implications of having a signet ring from the last legitimate human ruler of this area. She blesses their enterprise, and indicates she has heard of them through the Stewards reports to her of activity in the city. Leaving the Queen's presence, they meet with her chief advisor, Nashtri. They return to the houseboat to find it has been attacked! The newly-hired guards however, have beaten back the attack and sent one of their own to track down the attackers. He fails, and the party posts a reward for any information leading to the arrest of these people. They make more warning devices for the boat, and stay up late making plans. Thirdmonth 17Ia-Ka comes to visit, bearing news from Nastri that the Queen would like for them to journey to the watchtowers in the southern mountains and destroy the invaders who inhabit them. Mont bargains Eana into a position within the castle staff, using her bookkeeping skills to watch over the grain accounting that will be coming as spring moves on. The group trades for horses and makes ready to ride for Wealstone, the closest city to the mountain fortresses. Wealstone nominally owns fealty to Runestone, but the Count of Wealstone has been running the area as an independent region since the wars have died down. They give Conn the command of the barge, and set up means for he and Eana to keep in contact with each other. Vorz meets with Tel-Morn the smith and has a late dinner with him; they discuss many things over wine and good food. The next day, the party sets out overland, towards the southern mountains and whatever strange things dwell there….</blockquote>

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