24 Eleasis 2993

It’s a hot, dry day as Axle, Fenpenny, Fernweh, Grexes, and Huzzah! set out from Gosterwick towards Arden Vul. Passing the Tower of Madness and arriving at the Tears of Arden, they begin to trek up the Long Stair, and Fen considers Xcision’s exploits on the open palm of the colossal statue of Arden. At his suggestions, Grexes makes use of his climbing abilities to make his way down to the palm. He and Axle are able to determine that there are seams in the arm that, were they indicative of some sort of rotation or movement, might allow the arm to reach as high as the top of the plateau. Neither offerings nor command words like “arise” seem to trigger any effect, though. Finally, with Grexes about to climb up, Fenpenny’s exasperation reaches a tipping point and he tells Grexes to simply say “Arden“. And that, it turns out, suffices to set the arm in motion. The rest of the party members join Grexes and over the course of five minutes or so reach the top of the plateau. After disembarking and waiting several minutes the hand remains in its place, but from the cliff’s edge Fenpenny is able to set it in motion again with the name “Arden.”

Having saved an hour of stair climbing, the group makes their way to the Plaza of the Priests of Thoth and the basement entrance they’d discovered the previous ten-day. Along the way Fen waves to the guards stationed in the watch tower near the Sign of the Broken Head. The stairs descending into the basement appear just as well disguised as the group had left them, so they head down, trying to decide exactly how to deal with the carrion crawler that so viciously attacked them last time. Axle sends out Mr. Beaks, his new homunculus, and is able to determine that the creature is back in the room where they’d previously encountered it. The group makes preparations, and then Axle uses his magical tinkering to create sounds that draw the carrion crawler out, where it is not only squeezed in the tight passage but also further slowed by difficult terrain created by Fernweh’s newfound sorcerer abilities. Disadvantaged in this way, the carrion crawler soon succumbs to the group’s attacks. Soon thereafter 5 giant centipedes come up on the group from behind, but Huzzah! wipes them all out in one blow!

In the crawler’s nest the group finds:

• chainmail
• a longsword
• a pouch with 37sp, 18gp, and a map of 9 rooms with obscure annotations

The group explores further east, finding an orange-tiled room with a pool filled with foul-smelling sludge – the same stirge-stopping substance somebody had soaked several sticks in. There is also a corpse in the corner wearing robes and carrying a scroll of detect magic, a vial of oil, and 75gp of gold dust. From the pool of sludge Huzzah! pulls out a key, and Fernweh memorizes its shape so he can reproduce it (temporarily) with prestidigitation.

Leaving that room, Grexes opens another door to a room with a pedestal and statues of the three wise monkeys, one on the pedestal and one above each door. Whenever anything enters the room, the monkeys immediately animate and try to attack. Grexes, however, is able to use his grappling hook from outside the room to pull the monkeys above each door down, smashing them on the floor. The one on the pedestal is dragged from its perch out of the room and then destroyed. Axle’s investigation of the pedestal reveals nothing of interest. The dead man in the room has:

• leather armor
• a gold ring with a silver knot that Huzzah! recognizes as a Sortian knot.
• 2lb platinum ingot worth 500gp
• a short sword
• a bone scroll case with identify, gust of wind, and Basil’s torch treatment

The next door Grexes finds is in far better condition, with light spilling beneath it and the sound of a fire crackling coming from behind it. Grexes knocks, and the door is opened by Lankios, an elderly, barefoot man with white hair who welcomes the group and invites them in. After introductions, the man appears startled when Fenpenny refers to the party as members of the 3rd Cohort, and he shares that he had been part of the same expedition to Arden Vul as the original 3rd Cohort and the Sheepshead Rangers, some 250 years ago. He tells his story, and it quickly becomes clear that this very, very old human is not in possession of all of his faculties. He is often overwhelmed with emotion, swinging wildly from one to another as his addled mind spins these feelings along with his thoughts and memories into a tale filled with turns of phrase straddling the line between poetic and non-sensical. After much conversation, the group is able to learn the following:

• Lankios was in Arden Vul as part of the expedition to retake the city and the halls
• He was in love with a woman named Guivrel
• He insisted he was cursed and could not leave without Guivrel’s judgement
• She is near the gates to the Midnight Road on level 5
• Lankios and Guivrel were part of a love triangle with K
• Lankios, Guivrel, and K were all part of the leadership of the expedition
• Lankios refers to K as having betrayed him
• Lankios was one of very few to survive the attack on the Troll Theign
• The stairs the group found the other day led to level three.
• The “privy” is dangerous because it has an entrance to the fifth level.
• Guivrel is on the fifth level.
• There is a secret door in the room with the stirges. It leads to a chamber with another secret door which leads to the treasury.

After checking with Lankios, the group herds the stirges out of the room with the nest and investigates, finding:

• 231 gp
• 347 sp
• a cone of incense that has magical properties
• a baculus staff with a Sortian knot
• leather bound adventuring notes with the following entries and gaps between entries
  We have located the Obsidian Gate, but it is barred and we lack the proper key. We heard the drums, and retreated to the Chamber of Life. [gap] Gregor felt we should brave the precincts of the Dead but Otto insisted that we try again at the Obsidian Gates. A terrible hopping demon emerged from the caves near the Sundered Span and drove us back. [gap] Gog lent us aid, but at a steep price. Jasmine suggested we try the Chasm again. [gap] We followed his lead, and found the entrance to the Drowned Canyon, but it proved too formidable. Again we retreated, but the way was blocked. Gregor died fighting the slimy ones near the Troll Lift. We buried him in a tomb beside two other fallen heroes, a certain Kaitor and [gap] Otto led us back to the chasm, but the fire took his spell book. We began climbing. Otto fell at once. [gap] Jasmine heard the howls of the white ones. They fear the light, but our supplies were limited. [gap] Jasmine fell. I am alone. But I know the way out! Ha ha ha.

They bring all their loot back to the inn, arriving around 2pm.