With the Combative Companions back in Lestryhonia the party sets their sites to Jotun's Tomb. After all, there were still plenty of rooms to explore and with the party gone for so long there would hopefully be more regenerative serum from the tomb's fountain. Before they head out however, they decide to pay a visit to everyone's favorite froggy boy, Hurass. They haven't seen him in over a month after all, and there's something clearly fishy going on with Zaba's influence, so, it may be best to see if he's okay.
He's not okay.
At the very least he's speaking...semi-coherently, but he's begin talking of the age of frog and "the eating of the men like locusts". All incredibly unsettling, but it's not like they were just going to kill Hurass over some crazy talk, so they leave him be, and head off to the tomb.
Despite a close encounter with a ghostly man inhabiting a sarcophagus they had passed, the party is able to successfully return to the second floor and bottle three whole doses of the serum they've nicknamed "banana water". Already they were starting off on the right foot, so the party continued, taking a nearby stairway to descend into the third level of the Tomb. There, a pair of ghastly Jotun Spawn they've faced on multiple occasions are found at the bottom of the stairs, but thankfully the pair were at rest, and did not hear the CeeCee's approach. With the ring of Kordis, Randon possesses one of the monsters, and with their combined forced, kill the other before it can even act against them. So, they have a newly conscripted pawn. The monster, who went by the name of Oiram, could barely speak, but could understand the party well enough to follow instructions. So, if the spawn could understand them, and is likely familiar with the environment, maybe it could help them out.
Halthor tells the spawn, "We're looking for anything of value. Can you guide us to something you think we may like?"
And apparently, this worked. Kind of. The party had hoped that it would take them to a nearby room with something worth taking, but as the monster completely ignored the third floor and began guiding them an entire level deeper, it became apparent that it may be guiding them to something far more valuable, in a far, FAR more dangerous location. And yet they didn't stop Oiram from guiding them.
Eventually this led them to a glowing line across a passageway. It all seemed incredibly sketchy, but after asking Oiram if it was safe, it had told them that it had crossed the line before and was fine, which sounds reassuring if you don't think about it, but doesn't answer nearly as much as it could have. Regardless, Randon allows Oiram to continue, and the moment it tries to cross the line, the spawn collapses and its spirit erupts from its body. Oiram's ghost then began cackling as it disappeared into the darkness of the northern halls past the line, disobedient to the orders of Randon to return.
Unsure of what happened Krok sticks his finger past the line and promptly collapses to the ground as well, turning into a phantom. On top of that, he doesn't know how to return to his body, he physically cannot interact with anything, he can't even explore the hallways because he can't see in the darkness. To make matters worse, they begin hearing footsteps approaching from the stairs.
Surprise, the Jotun's spawn they killed isn't actually dead. It had its eyes gouged out, and throat torn open, but nope. Not dead. With the spawn they had controlled decapitated just in case, the party directs their attention back onto the monster. It promptly rips off Sain's arm, but that's okay. Banana water gave him a new arm, so they could do it again...actually he's dead now. Fuck. Sain is slain and Kanut "the widest Lantern Bitch of all" is rendered mute as the creature slashes at his vocal chords, before the Jotun spawn is finally slain. With a dose of banana water however, Kanut is able to speak once more. With their guide through the fourth floor dead, the party decide to head back to the second floor and explore the area a bit before leaving. After passing through a sound canceling room, they quickly find a sarcophagus with a corpse in jewelry and two urns filled with silver, and after taking the entire urns, they decide this would be a good stopping point for the day, take the jewelry, and drag the massive urns with them out of the complex. They shall return another day after licking their wounds.
Session 26 Downtime Events
Upon their return to Lestryhonia, Matthias, Krok, and Kanut sought to disappear their wealth by purchasing of hundreds of drinks of mead and wine. The trio engage in libations and met a another trio who shared their wealth with them. The leader of the trio with a bulbous red nose, introduced himself Bardolph and his companions as Nym and Ancient Pistol. He continued recounting the source of their recent wealth as he and his servants came across a slain nobleman and relieved him of his jewelery as he had no further need of it. The trio listened in rapt attention as Krok belted out how he and his companions delved deep into the Jotun's Tomb with frequent slurred corrections from Kanut and Matthias. In their drunken stupor both trios uttered an oath to join together to plunder riches.
Halthor and Randon sought out the advice of various sages within Lestryhonia. They learned that the ray-guns from Nergal could not be replenished of charges and that the warm amulet could not be evoked. As they traveled back to the eruption, a duo of muscle-bound men approached them. They introduced themselves as members of the Brotherhood of Strangulation. They said they knew of them as accomplished explorers and tossed forward a bag of silver. They said that in return for a map of the river that runs to the City of Rind in the Haunted Woods of Barbagia.
Bodhi again entered the dark domain of the Dyspatur cult but he was denied of another retainer. They claimed that the man-price on Kaligula would need to be paid before they would offer another of their member to perish.
The weather during their stay in Lestryhonia was tumultuous changing from storms to heatwaves to cold winds but at the dawn of day 22 of fall month 1, it ceased with the sky clearing.
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