Session 31: Wild Gator Chase

Grombrin establishes a trade route with the Namos thieves’ guild. His contact conveys a message from someone harboured by the guild, evidently Shula, saying that they owe her a third disguise amulet. Joe responds that if she comes looking for it, he’ll gladly hold her underwater again. Joe also gets an answer from Lokreth, saying he is indeed in the Ashen Archive. Vojta messages the Ashen Archive to confirm that their visitor is likely Lokreth in disguise, and that they should harbour him until they return. As the group prepares to leave, a passing lizardfolk warns them that there is a black dragon in the swamp.

They set out north and find a small island with some ruins on it. They study the ruins but find nothing useful at first. Arran then finds a patch of loose earth, indicating that something is buried there. He tastes some of the dirt, which turns slimy in his mouth and immediately causes him breathing problems. He acutely notes that the dirt is poisonous. Vojta magically excavates the dirt, and they find a decomposed lizardfolk carcass, covered in mucous. Vojta recognises it as the result of the slimy doom disease, which Arran has probably now contracted. Grombrin uses his magic to cure Arran, while Vojta reburies the corpse.

Vica notices that there are creatures moving around underwater, circling the island, so she urges the group to hurry up and try something. Arran tries praying to Turagh in celestial, which causes glowing sigils to appear on the ruins. When Arran mentions the celestial queens in his prayer, the disembodied skull of the lizardfolk corpse springs out of the ground. It floats around to inspect the group, before diving back into the dirt. A masked phantom then appears, who explains that he is the spirit of a dead priest, who remains after death to protect this sacred place. Arran says that they are looking for the tower of Turagh. The spirit explains that this place used to be a temple for Saralya and the celestial queens a few centuries ago, but that there is no tower here. He says that there is another temple of Saralya in the southern swamp. It could be called a tower, though it has sunk into the mud over time.

The group leaves the spirit in peace and returns southward on their raft. Along the way, Joe asks Arran for help in learning how to move around in medium armour. They also notice a large object moving through the mud some distance away, and they angle their course away from it. Back in Namos, Arran gets another map from the bonecarver, which they use to explore the southern swamp. Without any known location, they don’t find anything that looks like a temple, though Vojta spots a group of oni surrounding a bonfire in the distance. The group heads back to Namos to rest.

Overnight, Vojta prepares a new spell to aid their search, and Joe practices forging Ruthstin’s handwriting, in preparation for his smear campaign. In the morning, they realise that three of them had strange dreams. Vica dreamt of a temple becoming abandoned and deteriorating. Vojta dreamt that he was a priest whose church was falling apart because its members were losing faith. Grombrin dreamt of a stone statue fighting a dragon, and the dragon spewing black mud that corroded the statue.

The group heads back south, and passes the abandoned camp of the oni. Vojta casts Commune with Nature, briefly becoming one with the surrounding territory. Some distance away, he senses a submerged building, which is full of extraplanar influence. They navigate to its location, but they don’t see anything. Vojta uses a water breathing spell on everyone, and they head into the gross bog water. Grombrin automatically sinks to the bottom, while the rest swim down.

Because of the dirty water, the party doesn’t have great vision on the bottom of the swamp. Vojta casts Commune with Nature again and gets pointed in the right direction of the location. The party swimmingly walk over there and encounter a vast emptiness. The group is confused because the location was supposed to be right here. Vica casts Detect Magic and senses nothing nearby except her companions.

Vica briefly steps into the ethereal plane, and sees a stone igloo there. She enters it, and sees a latch on the ground. She returns and describes this. Everyone tries to enter this area, but Arran notices that some magic is tricking them into curving around it while thinking that they are heading right towards it. Arran resists this magic and feels around on the ground for the latch, but can’t find it. Vojta magically excavates the mud beneath him, but it reveals nothing.

Arran suggests communing here. He tells the others to join him, but the illusion renders them incapable of getting within ten feet of him. Arran initiates a prayer on his own. He goes into a trance, and the blessed individuals see a divine aura enveloping him. While waiting, the others clear out a bunch of mud until they reach the bedrock. Grombrin transmutes it into a stone hut, and Joe enchants the water to be less gross. They hang out there until Arran wakes up. Arran then explains that Turagh told him that this was an old temple, and that the current one is now in the Lifeless Valley.

The group climbs back onto the raft. Grombrin is too heavy to swim, so Joe pulls him out of the water with Bigby’s Hand. They return to Namos, and ask whether the elders have made a decision. The elders agree to join the alliance, on the condition that they call it the Namos Alliance. They pull out a long contract that legally ensures that it will be called that for any and all purposes. It has to be signed in dragon blood with a platinum pen. Joe, Grombrin, and Arran sign it, soul-binding them to the contract, meaning they will die if the contract is not honoured. Once outside, Arran suggests calling the alliance the Negotiated Accord of a Makeshift Organisation of Suth Alliance, which abbreviates to NAMOS.

The group discusses whether to investigate the issue of the black dragon in the swamp, but they decide to prioritise finding the tower and extending the alliance to Um’akuh. When the group returns to the inn, they see Suvulaan there. Arran, Joe, and Vojta avoid her for being untrustworthy, but Grombrin and Vica speak to her. Suvulaan explains that she’s here to transport some magical items. She asks why the group is here, and Vica lies that they’re on their way to Volon. She avoids giving any more information. When Vica leaves to rest, Suvulaan questions Grombrin, and they spend an absurdly long time discussing Moradhin and its forges.