SOTDL CAMPAIGN DIARY: SESSION 6 – INTO THE SINKHOLE, L3, 05/21/19

The Cast:

·         Brother Aron: Human priest of the New God

·         Calista: Ferren rogue

·         Perry Flaxseed: Halfing Hunter

·         Nikolai Petrechko: Human Veteran

After fighting a horde of small monsters that had emerged from the sinkhole, the group spends the rest of the day selling items and shopping for new equipment.  They hear that the Autarch of Kem was hiring bands of monster hunters to go into the sinkhole to find and destroy whatever evil was summoning forth these creatures.  The group spend the night considering their options.  They expected to get rewarded for returning Lord Kornwall, only to find that his family is broke, and all they got for their trouble was a deed to a worthless property hundreds of miles away.

The following day they decide to risk the Sinkhole.  They find that the city had built an elevator and had already lowered the first group of monster hunters into the hole.  After signing several contracts, the group entered the sinkhole.  About halfway down they encounter a strange mist which blocks their sight of the surface.  At the bottom of the sinkhole they find an enormous side passage leading deeper into the earth.

After a few hundred yards the group finds a gigantic cavern filled with red crystals that seem to amplify magical energies.  They also find the first party that entered the sinkhole; all dead.  A creature feasting on one of the party attacks but the heroes manage to kill it without alerting the other monsters deeper in the cave.  They collects few crystals and quietly continue into the cave.  The find a huge summoning circle burned into the cavern floor with the symbol of Ragnora in the center.  At the rear of the cave they find two huge statues depicting the two aspects of the Mother; an alluring one and a horrific one.  They continue into a smaller tunnel and emerge again in a large cavern that has a lake and three structures.

Calista attempts to sneak in but a screaming monster spots her and begins shrieking loudly.  The group attack & kill it quickly, but not before alerting the troglodytes in the smaller two structures.  The troglodytes attack but the heroes fight them to the death and continue on to the bridge that spans the lake to the third structure.  Careful not to fall into the lake that was infested with monstrous worm similar to those encountered in NorEgrets, the group cross the bridge and enter the circular structure.  

Within they find a troglodyte Dark Speaker in the midst of a summoning ritual, and his guard; a monstrous muttering maw.  The troglodyte stops the ritual to cast spells, but the heroes killed him and turned their attentions to the maw, killing it shortly after.    They spend time studying the circular temple, filled with wall paintings of the time of the Witch-King Ashrakal.  It told the tale of the witch-king’s defeat and the subsequent withdrawal of his subjects into the depths of Urth where they prayed to the Dark Gods for guidance.  Their prayers were answered with centuries of exile within the dark caverns.  This cave was discovered and this temple dedicated to the World Mother’s evil aspect, Ragnora, the Mother of Monsters. The summoning chamber was built but the troglodytes had to flee the cave due to a nearby gnome colony that didn’t want the troglodytes in their territory.  A prophesy is written upon the wall foretelling the Rise of Ragnora from her imprisonment upon the fabled lands of Ys.

Having found the source of the monster attacks, the group take their proof and begin their return to the surface.

End of session.