The Moaning Cave of the Howling Pass
Party:♦ Alvana (deva avenger)
♦ Barrus (bugbear rogue)
♦ Sergo (half elf warlord)
♦ Rhakka (tiefling warlock)
♦ Oshul (longtooth shifter warden)
♦ Elessar (goliath barbarian)
♦ Hadarai (eladrin swordmage)
The eladrin was hot-dropped among us in The Howling Pass, a tall fellow, with silver hair, fully equipped for battle, who bore a simple smile and told us he was an officer in the Gloaming Guard, a lieutenant, sent by the High King to aid us.
Oshul told us that up ahead we would face the Weeping Willow Waterfall, which was very treacherous, and that beyond it, we’d come upon an enemy tribe. However, he realized that there may be a cave which could lead us directly to his tribe’s territory, although it was tainted by the Shadowfell. On the way to the cave, the weather changed suddenly and we sought shelter, but still had to endure the elements somewhat. We then found the cave, which seemed dug by a remoraz, but at least half of it was a natural formation. We lit a sunrod and travelled in bright illumination until we reached a large chamber, lit by poisonous, luminescent fungi. Rhakka and Hadarai sense an otherworldly rift in the middle of the room, and tossed the sunrod near it so that it would become visible to the rest of us. The two then approached the rift to seal it, by channeling arcane energy at it, but something goes wrong and otherworldly creatures step through it: Fowl Spawns. These were mutant humanoids, perverted forms of humans and goblins, who had become immune to fear. The portal, a far-realm anomaly turned Elessar’s leg into a tentacle as he walked by it to engage the brute spawn. Throughout the combat, both Hadarai and Oshul tried to close the rift, to prevent other creatures from escaping through it, but failed. The portal turned into a sphere and detonated, dealing damage to all of us, and to the cave itself, which would fall in a matter of seconds. We ran down one of the passageways, and soon we find we need to crawl.
We come to a place where we can hear a well or perhaps an underwater lake. Hadarai dropped into the water, with all of our party supporting him on ropes, knotted together. As an underground mountain lake, we knew it had to have a draining spot somewhere, as for the lake itself it could hold any creatures, from a remoraz to small fish.
Suddenly, a gaping maw approached Hadarai, a flesh-eating shark. Within seconds, in which Hadarai moved back to the surface of the lake, a large Kraken appeared to attack. Alvana dropped on the rope next to Hadarai, on top of the Kraken, and used her keenest powers against what she perceived as a terrible threat to her and her group. Luckily, Sergo managed to avoid the thick of this particular battle by using diplomacy to convince the kraken that we simply sought passage through his lake, and we were not after the treasure he guarded. The kraken spoke in a booming ancient voice and led us to a small current which took us to the edge of a small lake, The Lake of the Frozen Spirits. Here we rested, Alvana and Oshul recovering from their illness, though Barrus remained infected.
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In Oshul’s tribe, which had moved into a stronghold in the mountains and reinforced their position, all but Barrus were welcomed. Barrus was also taken care of, and healed of his disease, but due to his connection to the Bloodied Bite, the Shaman of the Golden Fang asked that he be treated with caution.
Here Alvana and Rhakka had a chance to sit down and discuss things once more. Rhakka felt some doubt towards her having found out that she had been a follower of Bane, as in the old Tiefling Empire, once, one of the houses, who worshipped Bane, started conquering the others and led them with an iron fist. Eventually their expansion was stifled, and since there was a decree that Bane would never be worshipped on Yiluma-Orod on tiefling lands. Despite this, cults survived to this day.
Most notably, during their discussion, Alvana has a flash of the Khitomer Battle, which took place 100 years after the formation of the Tiefling Empire, where her band of tiefling mercenaries fought wave upon wave of dragonborn, seeing herself lobbing off one soldier following another. It is a vivid, pleasant memory, a moment of glory for her, and her eyes glow red as she remembers it. Rhakka is slightly disturbed by her smile as she explains that it was a glorious day, and from their talk concludes that it is a very good thing indeed that Alvana now worships Ioun, and cautiously, they seem to decide to trust each other. Alvana realizes that she must have had several lifetimes as a follower of Bane, at least two as Lady Clarick. Alvana also concludes condescendingly, regarding Rhakka, that despite the power he wields, he’s quite young and naïve, and consequently, he urgently needs to free himself from his devilish pacts.
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| Colored sketch of Alvana, first concept which defined her looks |
Oshul is told to see his father, who dies in his presence from a disease similar to what plagues The Elven King. The Shaman mentions to him that, although it’s too late for his father, the disease may be potentially cured with the aid of Black Lotus, a powerful poisonous plant that grows “where darkness has touched the earth”. He also tells Oshul that he needs to pass the test of blood, and he goes, alone, into the Spirit Forest. There he encounters a great white bear, with red eyes. This was Pakkun, the Great Spirit Bear. He fights it fiercely, but when a tree falls and the bear is caught under it, Oshul aids him. Pakkun then declares that Oshul is fit to lead the tribe, demonstrating ferocity when it is needed, and mercy when it is due. Upon his return from the forest, Oshul accepts his childhood friend, Barrus, into the tribe.
The Shaman tells Barrus that he is the one who bears the sigil of authority in his tribe, being the older brother, but that he should tread carefully as an envoy of The Shadow, a powerful half-orc woman, lingers in the tribe and keeps it under The Shadow’s control.
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