“Let us be hoping there be less dying from Odium’s cooking at lunchtime,” Kildo scoffed at the tiefling who was clearing the breakfast table.
“It was only by Belial’s blessings that Aerisi Kalinoth is alive.”
“Ye blind as well as being daft tiefling? It be Rigga the Earth Mother that be bring her back to life,” Kildo lambasted.
“Agree to disagree.”
“Woit!?”
“Enough you two,” Kai stated coming between the dwarf and the tiefling. “Johnny One-Bags, get a mob and bucket and clean up the blood. Odium finish clearing the table and prepare lunch for Copperlocks. Guo Gan, what do you recall Aerisi was telling us before she flew away?”
Eyes turning up in thought Guo Gan said, “She was talking that one of the cultist leaders came from Scarlet Peeks with an important station. Another was an extremely old person and by extremely old, I mean exceeding a normal, natural lifespan, who went by Akinoth. It was then when she was about to name the last person when she was struck down.”
“That’s what I recall too,” Kai said looking towards Scarlet Peeks pondering in thought.
* * *
"Permission to be coming aboard,” the voice of Copperlocks called up. Two female dwarfs rowed her from the docks to the Sea Ghost.
“Granted,” Kai called down as the three dwarven miners climbed up the rope ladder.
“This is Frejord and Ionia,” Copperlocks introduced her fellow female miners. “Thank ye fer the invite for lunch on yer boat, or be it a ship?”
“You can call it a boat,” Kai said and led Copperlocks and her dwarven miners to the table, which was set out with soup and sandwiches. Odium stood a respectable distance away.
After some small talk around the repairs on Scarlet Peeks and discussing similarities between life on a boat and in a mine, Kai asked, “Back at the Broken Swords Tavern it seemed there might be more to what is occurring.”
“Ah yes me mine. I be glad ye be inviting us out to yer boat, if fer nothing else some relative privacy, as ye can’t be too careful about who might be listening to about what I about to be saying,” Copperlocks began and then looking around the ship continued. “When ye were last in town, I be hiring one of them groups of adventures, the Bear Brigade to investigate a door we be coming across when we be exploring a new silver vein.”
“Was it dwarven make?” Kildo asked.
“Nay, it be pretty old, but it not be of dwarven design.”
“Could it be to the dragon’s lair?” Kai asked.
“Nay, the dragon saw the last of its terrorizing days many years ago by a group of adventures. However, don’t be mentioning it to the dwarven legionnaires. That be inviting a whole mess of trouble and questions by them that I don’t be having the time for,” Copperlocks informed.
“Did anyone open the door?” Guo Gan asked.
“Aye, beyond the door it was well finished and led to a long dark tunnel.
“That seems weird. How far down were you digging?” Guo Gan asked.
“It was down quite a ways, but I not be sure how deep. The door be completely covered with rocks, so we not be sure what be going on,” Copperlocks answered.
Leaning back in his chair, Kai said, “I’m assuming that doesn’t happen very often?”
“Nay, it be very unusual and doesn’t happen that frequently. We didn’t want to go explore the ancient tunnel as that what adventures be fer. We all be about the mines, so we be hiring the Bear Brigade to take a gander,” Copperlocks replied. “However, they be gone three weeks, so I be a little worried, so it be seeming ye be a little less green when I last be seeing ye, so I be wanting to see if ye be interested in going down and be finding out what be happening to them?”
“Is the door still open?” Kai asked.
“Nay, we be keeping it closed and have a couple of me miners watch the tunnel leading to it just in case the Bear Brigade be coming back,” Copperlocks explained.
Scomatch then asked, “So, what are we going to be paid to explore beyond the door? Are there any magical rings involved?”
“I be offering the same as I be fer the Bear Brigade, ye keep what ye kill,” Copperlocks replied.
“Humph,” Scomatch frowned as he folded his arms across his chest hard.
Glancing at the halfling wizard, Kai said, “We’ll have to discuss this with our crew.”
“Of course.”
The party moved to the situation room and closed the door.
“Me first impression be nay,” Kildo said. “Them miner be digging too deep and they need to be facing their consequences, likely bad ones.”
“I say we go. Those Bear Brigades might have magic items on them and are free for the taking,” Scomatch added.
“I might be inclined to agree with Kildo,” Kai said.
“Good lad,” Kildo nodded to the paladin’s logic.
“However, the alternative is assaulting the Spiral directly and I’d prefer to have Aerisi Kalinoth’s assistance to sneak us in. Unfortunately, I suspect she’ll keep her head down low for a while, so it might be worth exploring the mine. After all, we’re adventures. It’s what we do,” Kai finished glancing toward Kildo.
“It’s agreed. We help Copperlocks. Besides, it’s always good to have a powerful member on the town’s council owing you a favor,” Guo Gan concluded.
Emerging from the situation room as the rest followed, Kai announced to Copperlocks. “We’re in!”
“Excellent. Come when ye be ready as ye be knowing where the mountain be,” Copperlocks glanced over her shoulder. In the distance, the white plume mountain’s tip touched the clouds as it rose from the middle of the island of Scarlet Peeks surrounded by rugged hills and forested areas.
* * *
The following morning, Kildo awoke and headed to the main deck. The crew was busy rushing to and fro, as Scomatch, in his mirror reflective goggles, stood on the upper deck with his arms folded. He held a large stick in his hands.
“Scomatch you are not the captain! Kai will be back soon,” Guo Gan called up to the halfling.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Kai is the captain. He’ll be back soon. Blah, blah, blah!” Scomatch mocked. Johnny One-Bags was mopping the deck with a bucket of vinegar to help remove the mildew when he accidentally knocked it over spilling the contents across the deck. In an instant, Scomatch advanced on him with his stick raised.
“Scomatch what are you doing!?” Guo Gan called out intercepting the halfling.
“I’m asserting myself,” Scomatch said and threw the stick at Johnny One-Bags. “Respect my Authoritah!”
“No hitting the crew,” Guo Gan warned. “They are just normal people that deserve our respect. Many had nowhere to go, so we give them a home and a honest living.”
“Oh, gods, there the monk goes again!” Scomatch lamented as he left.
Kai’s head poked up over the railing. As he climbed back on board, he had three long bows strapped across his front. He approached Guo Gan and Kildo.
“What are the bows for?” Guo Gan asked.
“Just a precaution if the Feathergale Society attacks while we are gone,” Kai replied and he brought them from over his head. “Here you go Imago, you’re a ranger you can use a bow.”
“Thanks captain, but I already have one you see,” Imago said.
“Odium, can you use a bow?” Kai asked.
“No, my power comes from Belial himself.”
“Alright, who on this ship can use a bow!?” Kai bellowed in frustration across the deck.
“Chutney Vic, the orc Cragear, and Duarte the former crewmember of the Howling Hatred raised their hands.
Kai handed out the three bows and said, “I want you all to stand back and stand by. Keep someone on watch at all times. I want everyone on active duty.”
“He said doody,” Rukh Glitterstone giggled.
Kildo then commented to Guo Gan, “No arrows?”
Snorting, Guo Gan replied, “He’s an idiot, but he’s a caring idiot.”
* * *
Kai, Guo Gan, Scomatch, and Kildo gathered their equipment and made their way from the Sea Ghost and through the town of Scarlet Peeks where repairs were still underway. By early afternoon, they had arrived at the mine entrance.
“Thank ye fer showing up. We greatly appreciate it,” Copperlocks said as she and a couple of dwarven miners in traditional miner garb greeted them.
“Where is this door?” Kai asked.
“Follow me,” Copperlocks motioned and led them through various tunnels, which quickly turned into a maze. They passed several mining crews who stopped their work to watch the party pass. A few of them passed small pouches of coins amongst themselves as if a bet had just been settled or new wagers were taking place. Following Copperlocks deeper into the mine, they approached two dwarfs who appeared to be guarding a tunnel, as, in addition to their picks, they were armed with short swords.
Pointing south, Copperlocks said, “The door be down there. There be no other turn-offs, so ye be finding it easily enough. When ye be done with finding out what be going on, be returning and let us know.”
The party began to travel down the long tunnel. It extended a way before in the distance it could be seen opening into a larger complex.
“Be getting out one of yer lint critters to lead the way,” Kildo instructed.
“I’m not a cruel wizard that just throws their familiars into the meat grinder…” Guo Gan started to say and paused before continuing. “But what’s the use of having a grey bag of tricks, if you aren’t going to use it.” The monk then reached in and pulled out a ball of lint and placed it on the ground. It formed into a honey badger, which looked more like a skunk. It had a stocky, flattened body with short, strong legs with long claws. Its hair was thick and coarse, mostly black with a wide gray-white stripe that stretched across its back from the top of the head to the tip of the tail.
“I’m going to call you HR Hufflestuff,” Guo Gan said and then scratching the top of his head said, “Who’s a good badger? Who’s a good badger?”
Continuing and approaching the cavern, Kai called out, “Hello there!”
There was no reply. Approaching cautiously, the tunnel exited into an 80’ by 120’ rough cavern area. The floor was covered in a thick layer of dust. It had a stale smell like the air hadn’t reached this far down in a hundred or more years. In the middle were the remains of a large campfire with five bedrolls around it. There were footprints in the immediate area with a set of five pairs heading east towards a massive stone double door. It was old with ancient decorative stone pieces along its length. A rock frame surrounded it.
Kildo walked up and his eyes traced around the door. “Dwarves ain’t be carving it.”
“How do you know?” Kai asked.
“It be too tall.”
Rolling his eyes, Kai gave it a push. Dust fell from the frame as the stone grounded on stone. It led into a straight tunnel. A strong wind blew, but not from the opening. It was behind them. Turning, the dirt on the ground began to swirl like a dust-devil and began to form into eight creatures, like a cross between a small, wing imp with the head of a mosquito with a long thin proboscis, all sculpted out of two elements, earth, and air. They were dust mephits. They had rough gray skin, which seemed to produce dust and grit constantly as they flew with their wispy wings.
Guo Gan instantly sprang towards the nearest. Smashing with his quarterstaff in quick succession, the mephit exploded in a cloud of dust. The monk was instantly blinded as the grit and grime blew into his eyes.
Scomatch wound up and threw a pea-sized ball of flame towards a grouping of six of the dust mephits. A massive fireball erupted in their midst. Each evaporated in a flash of conflagration.
Kai advanced on the last dust mephit. The imp-like creature dodged the paladin’s first attack. Turning his glaive sideways, he swatted it with the flat side of the blade, like a fly.
The dust mephit rose into the air and inhaled. It exhaled a 15’ cone of grey, gritty dirt. Heroically, Kai jumped in front to take the full blast, protecting Guo Gan’s badger HR Hufflestuff. The creature then dove and slashed Kai with its sharp claws.
Seven more dust mephit formed and pulled themselves free from the ground and rose. They flittered towards the party.
Fumbling for their waterskin, Kai and Guo Gan poured some of its contents across their faces attempting to wash the irritant from their eyes.
Kildo began casting, spirit guardians. A low, rhythmic pulsing began to emanate from the ground. A white light came from cracks in the ground. Fog rolled out approximately 15’ from the cleric. Small wisps of air arched out. Longer tendrils began to form and race about, almost playfully among the party. However, as three dust mephit darted towards the cleric, the spirit guardians formed into spears and skewered the creatures. Each detonated into a puff of dirt.
A wave of thunderous force swept through the dust mephits pushing them each back 10’ as Scomatch clapped his hands together casting, Thunderwave.
Recovering from being blinded, Kai saw the dust mephits starting to recover from being knocked back. In a sweeping motion, his glaive cut one into. Another darted in glaive town and was also swiftly cut down, as both halves dispersed into harmless dust.
Winding up his green quarterstaff like a bat, he smashed the end into a dust mephit and it disintegrated into a cloud of grime.
The last creature of earth and air darted straight at Kildo, like an angry wasp. It was skewered by several spirit guardian tendrils ending it.
Ensuring there wasn’t another wave of dust mephits forming, the party continued to move east. Traveling down the straight corridor 70’ they came across two similar stone doors heading north and south, which were partially open.
“There’s a plaque embedded in the floor between the two accesses, but I can’t read it,” Kai said.
“Out of the way, I be speaking the Emperor’s Dwarfish,” Kildo stated and pushed his way to the front. Bending down he traced the runes with his finger. “Interesting, I can’t read it.”
“Here I can do it,” Scomatch said and he sat cross-legged in front of the plaque and began casting, Comprehend Languages. The halfling studied it for about eleven minutes.
“Search ye far or search ye near. You’ll find no trace of what you hold dear. Unless you following the path that’s clear. For the weapons abide with me – Ahotep”
“Anything else?” Kai asked.
“Nope. That’s it,” Scomatch confirmed dusting off his hands and rising.
“Footprints continue east. I suspect the Bear Brigade opened both doors, peeked in, and decided to continue,” Guo Gan said and pointed with his quarterstaff.
“Alright, we continue east,” Kai indicated.
The corridor continued for another 50’ before coming to another stone door. The tracks let in. Pushing the door open to a 50’ by 50’ room, which was empty except for a door on the opposite side and two items. The first was a large 20’ boulder in the middle of the room, which seemed until recently would have fit nicely in a 20’ hole in the ceiling. The second was a body under said rock. It was the remains of one of the Bear Brigades. He had a name tag on his chest, Griff Manfang.
“There be nothing I can be doing for the lad,” Kildo stated bending down and muttering a blessing to Rigga the Earthmother.
“The footprints continue eastwards,” Guo Gan said pointing to the eastern door.
Continuing, it immediately opened into another 50’ by 50’ room with two sets of doors, one north and the other continuing east. There were also two items of interest. A 10’ stone statue of what appeared to be a human wizard with thick, braided chin hair going down past the length of his neck. A tall helm donned his head with wings on the side. Dressed in wrappings that may have been robes he held a rod-like weapon in his right hand with a hooked wand in his left.
“Ahotep,” Scomatch said as he lowered his goggles and examined the word on a plaque on the base.
Peering around the statue, two charred bodies came into the light, which was in front of the eastern exit to the room.
Cautiously approaching, Guo Gan bent down and examined the name tags on their vest, which somehow escaped the blast of flame. “Slab Mcoy and Scruff Chestington. Two more of the Bear Brigades.”
“Slab Chestington,” Kai murmured to himself. “I like that name.”
Guo Gan examined the northern exit and then stood to the side of the eastern door where the two Bear Brigade members fell. “They definitely triggered a trap, but it’s been rendered useless. The last two member’s trail continued eastwards.”
“We should be heading north,” Kildo said. “The words be saying ‘follow the path that’s clear’.”
“While I don’t disagree, I think we need to try to find the last members of the Bear Brigade first,” Kai replied. “We can always come back and go through the northern door.”
Scomatch then added, “Besides, they’ll trigger any traps ahead of us and if they’ll all dead and they have magic, we can’t let it be lost to this mountain.”
Kildo couldn’t argue that point. They could be in trouble and need their help or at the very least their fate would be known. Giving the two fallen members a benediction, he gripped his warhammer and shield a little tighter and followed the group eastwards.
A short 30’ corridor ended in another door. Guo Gan motioned to the group a trap had been disarmed. The tracks continued through. Pushing the door, it opened to a massive room where the majority was obscured in darkness. Numerous boulders of various sizes rested on the ground. There wasn’t a lot of dust, but there was lots of blood, enough for two people. Not 10’ in was a body, which was dismembered and torn apart. Miraculously, the name tag was untouched. It read Bjorn Burrcoat.
The room was deathly quiet, but a heavy presence was felt. Something was in here. The party readied their weapons and quietly entered the room. Stepping softly and carefully, Kildo felt a slight breeze brush his beard. The dwarf locked gazes with Guo Gan who also seemed to notice the disturbance in the air. The two looked up.
An 8’ tall creature, appearing as a cross between a vulture and a human swooped past. Its body was twisted and gnarly with a long neck and limbs covered in small gray feathers. The body gave the resemblance of being female but it was difficult to determine. Slime oozed from beneath its wings, spreading a film over thick coats of black and gray feathers. It stunk of rot and carrion. The bestial appearance was magnified by long talons and a vulture-like head with wide collars of pinfeathers stabbing outwards like curved needles. Long, pointed talons sank into the hard stone, cracking the floor. Turning its head towards the party, its eyes portrayed a keen, predatory intelligence. It was a demon of the abyss, a Vrock.
“I be knowing what to do with ye,” Kildo stated stepping up and clapping his hands together and cast, Banishment. There was a long note of wobbling noise that increased in pitch and then a ‘chirp’ as the vrock winked out of existence. Snorting, the dwarf commented, “I be here to chew bubble gum and banish demons. It be appearing that I’m out of both now.”
A piercing screech came from the shadows. Another vrock birthed from the darkness. Slightly taller and heavier, its feathers were pitch-black and skin red with a more male-like appearance.
Kai threw out his glaive. It snagged on the vrock’s feathers and didn’t appear to do any visible harm. However, the paladin called up his divine energy and smote it with radiant damage. Several black quills were blown off.
Enraged, the vrock emitted a horrific shriek. Sound waves were visible traveling through the air, as both Kai and Guo Gan were dazed by the blast. The demon swooped in and slashed with its talons striking Kai. Its beak then smashed into the paladin’s breastplate, but it held, protecting the triton’s chest.
“How about these tunes!” Scomatch called out as he threw a chromatic orb, which cracked with thunder around the male vrock.
Fortunate to be out of the enraged vrock’s range, Kildo knew he had to keep concentrating on his banishment spell. He could already feel the female demon fight against his will. While the dwarf was stronger, he knew the slightest distraction could bring the creature back. Running west out into the corridor he turned and cast, Guardian of Faith. A large spectral guardian appeared next to the vrock. The manifestation comprised of a war hammer and shield with the blazing ankh symbol of Rigga the Mother Goddess. The guardian did a sweeping motion as the magical weapon blasted into the demon. He then commanded a spiritual weapon into existence next to the creature. The blue, spectral war hammer bashed into its back.
Reacting to the cleric’s attacks, the vrock began to violently shake its wings. It unleashed a raincloud of toxic spores around itself in a defensive manner. Kai and Guo Gan covered their faces from breathing in the poison. The vrock’s eyes pin-pointed towards Guo Gan and rose up and charged, slashing violently with its claws and beak, striking the monk.
In retaliation, Guo Gan smashed his green quarterstaff, Qiekamis’ into the demon three times. The last blow bashed into its beak with an audible ‘crack’. A fissure formed along the length of the vrock’s mouth, stunning the creature.
Following up on Guo Gan’s devastating attacks, Kai drew his magical longsword and charged in. He leaped into an incredible flesh-splitting lunge with his longsword. The tip bit into the vrock’s chest and sank deep. The demon howled in pain as the blade’s length glowed with radiant damage, it then blasted a hole clean through the back of the creature. The demon fell sideways, its massive weight crashing hard to the ground, causing dust to drop from the ceiling.
Kildo seeing the vrock fall, could feel the banished demon’s fight against his will and made promises of great wealth in gems and jewels if allowed to return. Kildo could see them. Glinting and shiny to a fault, but were all cheaply made. Besides, demons are all ‘lying liars that lie’ and never to be trusted. Realizing the dwarf couldn’t be tempted, the struggle then began to fade and lessen to nothing. It was not going to return to this world and would remain in the abyss. Re-entering the massive room the party began to explore. They found several corpses entombed around the room, but he didn’t get any sense they were undead. Numerous boulders had fallen from the ceiling. While some fell, by the gaps above, others appeared to have been put there on purpose with no clear indication. The last member of the Bear Brigade was nowhere to be found but assumed it was the vrock’s last meal.
Studying the complex, Kai said, “There is more to this place than a pair of demons. Something most sinister has been unearthed.”
Shaking his head in disappointment, Kildo added, “The dwarves dug too deep.”
06/24/2022 – Treasure
· Party 2 – Demons 0
· Welcome to White Plume Mountain
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