session 30

On The Road Again¶

We awoke after our long rest to an urgent message from Sibyl Eudocia, conveyed to us by Stigs:

“Astranomicon taken. Zerrenia suspected. Shatha burns, but leaders escaped. Cult building gate. May be start of invasion. Find and stop at any cost.”

The grim news set the tone for the day (though only Stigs knew the full message – he left out the parts cocnerning Zerrenia and the Astranomicon). We quickly gathered our belongings and discussed our next move, knowing that the temple of Hodos awaited us with its dangers and trials.

As we made our way north along the Zath Khaar, the underdesert’s ancient highway, the tension was palpable. The sun blazed overhead, casting eerie shadows on the sands. On the second night, we set up camp in a stone chamber off the main highway. The darkness seemed alive, whispering with faint signs of movement. Stigs awoke in the early hours to the distant sound of voices echoing down a passage away from the highway, but he chose to press on towards the temple.

The following day, we encountered a group of Sil diggers, formidable lizard-like beings with glistening scales and sharp claws, who appeared to be widening the Zath Khaar. By a stroke of luck, their foreman mistook us for cultists lagging behind the main caravan, which had recently passed through. We played along with this misunderstanding and hastened our pace to catch up with the caravan.

Stigs scouted ahead, silently navigating the shadows above to observe the caravan’s destination. The temple’s entrance loomed just ahead, an ancient structure carved into stone and perched over a deep chasm. We planned to approach the caravan from behind quietly, with Stigs moving along the ceiling. Unfortunately, Gloopwing lost control of her mount and charged headlong towards the caravan. Her bold cry, “For the love of Hodos!” caught the attention of two trailing acolytes. She managed to convince them that she was a compatriot of Saros’s and had narrowly escaped the Dyarchy’s clutches. Stigs supported her story, acting as her worried bodyguard and willing sacrifice for the cult.

Invisible, Gwen and Ryalith followed the cultists and us into the temple. The air grew colder as we descended the sunken staircases, their steps slick with age and darkness. The faint light ahead promised both danger and answers. We couldn’t shake the feeling that we were being watched, the unseen overseers ready to sacrifice Stigs for their unknown purposes.

As we moved deeper into the temple, we prepared ourselves for the trials ahead, knowing that every step brought us closer to uncovering the cult’s plans and stopping the invasion at any cost.