session 16

Book Bound¶

We collectively agreed to accept an enormous sum—25,000 gold pieces—in exchange for granting access to a mysterious and possibly cursed book we had acquired – the Astranomicon. Over the next couple of days, Zerrenia Azhar, the former head of the cult of Hodos, whom we’d met, visited with us at our inn, the Hidden Muse, helping us decipher the book’s contents. The book had a strange and beguiling effect, enchanting anyone who would attempt to read its pages. Despite Zerrenia’s cautions, Gwen and Gloopwing were drawn in and became obsessed with its contents. Each for different reasons. Gwen was just extremely curious and wanted to unravel the puzzle of the book. Gloopwing became interested when she realized that one of the languages used in the Astranomicon resembled the language she discovered in the caverns in which she was born. We couldn’t understand the meaning of this ‘draconic’ language, but it was clearly significant that it appeared in both places.

We discovered that the book contained knowledge connected to Wildspace, referred to as ‘the nether’ in one of the book passages, and methods of navigating this mysterious realm. It also revealed a new method of spellcasting—through formulae—that allowed anyone to perform magical spells, introducing us to six new spells that seemed particularly ominous, except for one intriguing recipe for brewing wildspace mead.

As we delved into the mysteries of the book, we were also aware that time was pressing us to act on a clue left by the fallen criminal upstart, Pyrrhos Agni. We shifted our focus to explore a network of undercity sewers and tunnels, rumored to be the site of a clandestine exchange involving kidnapped individuals. Our progress was slow as we deliberated over our approach, but Gwens persistent questioning of passers-by finally led to a break when we realized that the number ‘6’ in Pyrrhos’s notebook referred to a berth in the undercity commerce market. We pinpointed the location of the exchange but were then caught up in devising a plan to free the captives. At this juncture, Saros, the apparent new head of the Hodos cult, appeared with his followers, intent on securing the captives, who were locked in a large crate. Stigs cleverly reached out to Zerrenia using a magical message, urging her to summon help. We then attempted to delay Saros, feigning ineptitude and drunkenness to block his progress. The session reached a climax with a tense standoff: Gwen faced a threatening blade, Saros was thwarted in his escape attempt, restrained by Ryalith, and a confrontational moment loomed for Stigs, Karel, and Gloopwing, with another of the cultists approaching them.