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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Imaculata" data-source="post: 6812961" data-attributes="member: 6801286">Escape from the Eternal Depths!Last time the party was stuck in the realm where dead sailors go when they die. They were witness to the horrible entity known as Hydra, who has taken hold of this realm. This was an important moment, because up to this point they had no concept of exactly who or what Hydra was. Some really important stuff happened during this session, which I'll get to in a second. But it was also a great excuse for a ton of exposition regarding the gods, and the three evil entities that have dominated the session up to this point: Hydra, Airen and Teehlyian'tara (I'm surprised I always manage to spell that one correctly). The ObeliskThe players decided to revisit the Obelisk on their way back to the portal to the mortal realm. Numerous new foes had just appeared all over the dark city, and so it was important to quickly get their friend Urunthu Khan and his bodyguard Ryp out of there, via the safest route possible. The servants of Hydra seemed unable to get close to some of the buildings infused with magical dwarven runes. The ancient Oarsmen seemed to have some arcane knowledge that allowed them to keep Hydra at bay. So when they revisit the Obelisk, I tell them that it resonates whenever they are near. The players all decide to touch the obelisk, which activates it. The runes light up, and all nearby Hydra creates recoil in terror. This raises an important question. Does this obelisk also exist in their world? More on this question in our next session.Meeting with Belet SeriThrough a bit of obvious railroading on my part (I do apologize, but it was needed at this point) I had an npc take them safely to visit the Clocktower, to meet with Belet Seri. It was about time they talked to someone that could answer all their big divine questions. Belet Seri is the scribe of the Underworld, and she is the assistant to the god of death. But He no longer rules the Eternal Depths, because he was swamped with work. A long time ago He decided to share his various sub-realms with other lesser deities, such as The Lady of the Waves. This good protector of sailors, was unfortunately not ready for the assault of three evil powers. Belet Seri explains to them how of the three evils, Teehlyian'tara is different from the other two. She corrupts, festers and rots, deteriorating the defenses that allowed Hydra to conquer the realm in the first place. Teehlyian'tara has no physical body, she is literally split across all her vermin servants. So like a pest, she can never be eradicated for good, but she can also never be a serious threat to the world. But she enables other evils to do great harm, which is perhaps far worse. How Airen fits into all this is as of yet unclear. The Goddess of Chaos used to be a harvest god, which is a complex story that I'll leave out for now. But perhaps the most important information was that Hydra is not really a god. To mere mortals it can be hard to tell the difference between one godly being and the next. But none of them are alike, and Hydra is nothing near to a god.... but still quite dangerous. She explains how Avenna, the powerful goddess of the sun once did battle with Airen, which she won but it also weakened her, thus causing 30 years of darkness on the world. Now that these three evils which include Airen have aligned against this one lesser deity (The Lady of the Waves), it is no surprise that Hydra could easily conquer the Eternal Depths. All this was important to explain that The Lady of the Waves is no push over, but to also explain to the players what they are up against. We are talking a Cthulhu-like being of such frightful power that they have no hope of ever defeating it directly. Belet Seri also explains how the Oarsmen used to be tall powerful men of great wisdom, but due to a curse from Hydra they began to forget, and were cursed with their small stature. Still, the power of the ancient Oarsmen persists to this day, and the players may be able to turn this to their favor. The players brilliantly consider the idea that perhaps they could use the dwarven runes to manifest a version of their own base of operations within the Eternal Depths. This would give them a perfect point to strike from against Hydra. This is something that even I as a DM had not thought of. But it immediately changes my ideas for the future plot. <- So I just want to point out that this is why I call my campaign a sandbox. It is NOT a railroady adventure in the slightest. The plot is constantly in motion, due to the actions of the players.Belet Seri also explains how Hydra is able to influence the mortal realm in a limited capacity, because his followers use dark magic to open a rift that allows him to enter. Hydra hides this rift with a dark cloud, which is often called The Harrowing in local beliefs (a sign of the end times). They do this from some unknown base of operations. If the players are able to take down this base of operations (if they can find it first), they can stop Hydra from sending minions to the mortal realm completely.The condition of Urunthu KhanFinally Belet Seri also explains that their friend Urunthu Khan cannot be returned to life by her. Only the God of Death can make that call, and until he does, both him and Ryp they are neither living nor dead. Still, despite this fact, he should travel with them , because he clearly has some work left to do. So how will they explain this to their crew, or to the highly superstitious Kooghans when they return him to Abyscus? (island of the Kooghans)Escape from the DepthsThe players make a very close escape through the portal, back to Vertesaux. They take on two deadly Ocularons, which permanently steal the eyes of their victims after a successful grapple. These things are scary, and I purposefully gave them a CR encounter that was overtuned according to their level. I wanted them to feel like they might just die, and it was a close call. Thanks to clever use of a Ring of the Ram, they were able to knock one of the Ocularons through the portal, so the city guard could duke it out with the thing instead. So now they only had one Ocularon to deal with, but this still almost cost them one of their party members. Lets just say they were very VERY lucky!</blockquote>

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