Bounty Hunters - Session 27

CAVE CAVE CAVE

• They make their way through the rest of the very, very chilly room without incident.
• Wandering onward, the wind that has been blowing gently through the cavern becomes more forceful.
• They pass through a cave full of stalagmites that all seem distressingly human, as if the erosion of the wind were intentionally carving them into those shapes.
  • People get whispered at, and everyone swears they're not the ones doing it. Clearly something fucky is going on.
• The find the source of the wind: A chasm, deep enough that they can't see a bottom. A very thin shelf to one side could serve as a treacherous walkway across it, but they do not attempt this (at least, not yet).
• Moving onward, they find a room of mushrooms. Enough of them are glowing to suffuse the room with a soft light. Beyond it is a small pond of clear water, similarly luminescent.
  • Madrin investigates for a bit. Whip moves forward to investigate the pond, and the rest mill about.
    • She finds six mushrooms that evidently have magical properties, and has enough time to make a few sketches.
• At the same time, Whip has found, in the middle of the pond, a small island with an upraised casket. At the base is an inscription in an alphabet he recognizes as Dwarven (but, alas, can no longer read without the belt). It's covered in a yellowish vegetation.
  • He attempts to climb and is immediately assaulted by a cloud of dust that sends him into a fit of coughing.
  • The rest of the party rushes to his aid, but he waves them off, and recovers quickly. The poisonous dust, however, does not seem to be the only thing they have disturbed...

Axe Demon!

• ...as the air fills with a song in a language alien to the ears of everyone who isn't Joana. Its deep, basso rumblings come from somewhere behind them.
  • The group takes up positions. The voice is joined by two more, lighter, voices in harmony. A green, sickly cloud fills up the entrance to the cavern, leaving no gap. A sphere of darkness follows it, hiding it from view.
  • Elian takes the form of a giant octopus and begins lurking in the water. Whip rushes to the far side, probing the darkness and intending to force whatever is coming to pick a direction. Everyone else gives the darkness a berth and readies their attacks.
  • Whip's spider-sense tingles and he moves to dodge, but still takes a solid hit from the creature that shimmers into being beside him. It is a massive biped, with thick armored skin, massive tusks, and a formidably large axe held in equally formidable claws glistening. The creature swipes with that claw while Whip recovers, he has regained enough of his wits enough to throw up a shield and block it.
  • He recognizes it as a demon from some old wives' tale, but beyond that has no clue other than that it is almost as terrifying as the Roc, only much, much closer to hand.

• • The carriers of the smaller voices scuttle in behind, but are not close enough to join the fight.

• • The party unleashes attacks, but seem to do very little. Whip seems unable to land a solid finishing blow, glancing off thick skin and bony, plated arms. Spells seem to bounce off of it with a fraction of their efficacy.
  • Everyone retreats, tactically. The creature teleports to keep up, and hits like a truck, but seems unwilling to go into the water, which the party is able to use to their advantage, between Whip's cloak, Joana's magic and an Elian-octo-bus to ferry Bern, while Madrin takes the long way around.

• • The smaller demons continue to lag behind, but support with more castings of darkness. They also throw up another sickly cloud as the fight reaches the other side of the lake. Bern and Madrin land some hits at range, the rest use hit-and-run attacks at melee.
  • The big demon hurts Joana significantly and knocks Elian out of octopus form with ease, but has begun to show signs of fatigue. Sensing an opening, Elian brings stalagmites smashing upward from the ground. They connect with something vital, and the demon goes still, before bubbling away into nothingness. The smaller demons vanish with their leader, and the singing stops.
• The party takes five. They head back to the island, and decipher its text while resting.
  • Joana offers the song's translation. The rest of the party feels like they were honestly better of without knowing.
  • [INSERT SOMETHING ABOUT A DEAD DWARF HERE]
  • Whip idly suggests some light grave-robbing, but a strong reaction from Bern and even stronger one from Madrin causes him to drop the subject. They press on.
• Continuing into the cave they were being herded into, they notice the walls are unnaturally smooth, just in time to meet the cause!

• • Whip starts hacking, but is brought short when his very special dagger corrodes on contact. He swears and pulls out a steel one, and will get all the way through that and into another before the beast is dead. As icing on the cake, every hit covers him in stinging acid for his trouble.
  • The rest of the party has no such trouble, and the threat is dispatched with relatively little fanfare. Bern offers Whip her moon-touched dagger and gives him a detailed description of what will happen if he loses it, which Whip accepts with gruff assent.
• Hitting a dead end, the party backtracks. They're still unwilling to risk the chasm, so they move west, where almost immediately they run into a scene of carnage:

Two humans, an unfamiliar bird-like humanoid (upside down and defeathered), and a purple-skinned elf-like creature hang suspended from hooks connected to chains. Blood pools on the floor beneath them. Beetles scurry along the floor, walls, and down the chains and onto the victims, which faintly struggle, rasp, and moan as a breeze turns them around and around before breathing their last with the expiration of their captor. Debris, including tattered clothing and broken weapons, is scattered against the walls.

• Session ends as the party takes in this fresh horror before them.