Into the Hills, Under the Sea? (29/08)

Looking out from Port Ffirst amongst the sea a little salvaged ship is bobbing along the waves. Inside a weary group of adventurers are half awake as they look onwards, with the occasional glance over their shoulders at the active volcano spewing lava behind them. Amongst them a soggy BB is rapidly scribbling in a leather bound journal as a magpie uses its wings to shield the book from the sea spray.





This story is going to be extra extra long, even just remembering the sequence of events that occured gives me a headache. I’m just glad I brought this damn book with me to Ernetta’s so I can write it all down now.

So, talking of Ernetta, I received a letter the other day from her explaining that the book and map we found in that snake cave temple were actually pretty significant, that there was a risk in knowing this sort of information, but to visit her and help make better sense of it all. At the mention of risk I legged it over to her shop, afraid of what she meant by it. On my way through Daring Heights I was persistently mentally hailed by Serpentine to slow down but I had to refuse her. If she knew where I was going, she could meet me there! (If I stopped I wouldn’t start again, these legs are not used to long distance running that’s for sure). At Ernetta’s I’m escorted to her office upstairs where she reiterates what she said in her letter, that the book from the chest is a journal of sorts that talks about a Yuan-Ti clan planning to escape their confinement and attack the zealots from the east.

At this point Serpentine does actually show up with Pieni and Traavor in tow, I did genuinely think she was bluffing about what she knew of the situation. Ernetta didn’t seem even mildly surprised by their presence, even had the perfect amount of chairs for everyone in her office (is that a powerful wizard thing? Is it a spell??).

Ernetta’s main concern that she voiced to our group was that this journal and another book she has come into contact with from another client point towards an ancient powerful artifact these Yian-Ti had, that someone might be seeking it for their own gain. Who that someone is she wasn’t sure of, same was said for what this artifact actually was. So we agreed to go back to where the chest and journal originally came from and search for further information as we didn’t manage to fully investigate last time.

So back to New Hillborrow we went, guess I should call it home now. We asked around for any snake related insights in town, with no results, so at the crack of dawn we were back in front of that weird stone semi-circle on the outskirts. We wanted to gain access like before, just hopefully without receiving the damage (and condescending unknown voice). I tried to identify what the middle stone was imbued with, turns out it contains strong teleportation magic, really wasn’t what I was expecting.

So in an attempt to open the entrance Serpentine went all in with a blast of green flames on the middle stone, I tried a swarm of bugs on another, Traavor smacked a dead squirrel on the last one (does he just carry dead squirrels around??). Sadly the snake Pieni summoned to help us just kinda went up in flames. Another all out green flame blast seemed to do the trick as the voice from before made another appearance, but this time it seemed pleased that we had ‘paid the price’ and once again transformed the middle stone into a cobra with a gaping mouth for the tunnel entrance.

So in we went, the layout seemed unchanged, with the inactivated traps and junction still there, so we quickly arrived at the cavern where we had fought before. This place had changed though. As we entered we all had to immediately hug the wall as a long wind storm was preventing us from entering further. At this point Traavor threw a dead squirrel into the whipping winds, to no effect (I think it was the same one as before, poor thing). Serpentine did manage to confirm through her familiar Monty that the winds didn’t fill the whole cavern, so we pushed through to the other side, finding the same cavern from before. We tried to go exploring deeper, but before we could make much progress that same voice appeared in our heads.

The voice seemed interested in our presence, recognising those of us who had been before. It even gave me it’s name, which turns out to be Loth. When I asked if they knew who was buried in the cavern Loth kinda let slip that they were dead but not buried there, but before they could say more they were interrupted by an almost automated version of themself. This version kept repeating that we were trespassing and summoned the creatures we had fought before, but these dogs seemed even bigger and the whip boys even whipp-er. There was even a wraith this time who really had it out for me, she absolutely destroyed me! It wasn’t all bad because as I was backing away from her I discovered another room at the back of the cavern. Once we had collected ourselves we went inside to find more sarcophagi, including one right at the end. This one was different as it had been twisted into a stone throne upon which Loth sat, she had the torso of an elf but the bottom half of a serpent and every inch of her was grey. Before I could ask her anything a fiery figure appeared from a flaming pentagram the floor and vapourised her (because of course they blooming do). Spouting off something about how Loth had ‘failed them’ and they disappeared as well. Leaving us all very confused in this very strange room.

I walked over to the stone throne but as I did I felt wetness and rumbling under my feet, looking down I could see the room was filling with water! So I ran over and scooped up what I could find and legged it out of there. The others were already running towards the wind wall, the water now at our knees, and dived through the powerful winds into the corridor beyond. By the time we got to the junction with the blocked doorway we were already fully submerged and kinda panicking (I was definitely panicking). As we passed the junction we all heard a responding pop from the blocked doorway as more salt water explodes from the rubble. We hedged our bets on this getting us out and swam for it as quick as possible. This next bit is still confusing to me, but we shot out from a geyser onto the island of an active volcano! Looking around we found a recently abandoned town, but luckily someone had left behind a workable boat, so we left as quick as possible.

And that’s where we are now, on that little boat slowly making our way to Port Ffirst. I’ve managed to look at what I scooped up in that room. Some normal diamonds but also some not normal ones? Two of them have sleeping people imprisoned inside them, and I certainly am not strong enough to get them out. A broken tablet with a language I cannot read etched into it (perhaps it might explain who the diamond people are). And quite the snake themed amulet, which unsurprisingly Serpentine took an interest in.

When I get back to land I guess I should bring this information to Ernetta, there’s so many questions I have. I didn’t think my curiosity about the temple behind New Hillborrow would get me so involved in this tangled snake business.



Much Love,

BB



Shortly after BB finishes writing in her book the little boat eventually lands in Port Ffirst. The adventurers disembark, stretching out their stiff muscles, and continue on foot into the town. BB waves the others off in the direction of the nearest tavern and departs from the group to seek Ernetta. Upon arriving she swings open the door saying “You’ll never guess what happened to us”.