Session 36 - The Tunnel

[avisarr]

Session 36 - The Tunnel

The party visited Saramuthak and obtained the necessary antidote. The antidote was actually two separate elixirs that needed to be mixed just prior to consumption. One dose would protect the imbiber from the Scourge disease for one day. The antidote can not be pre-mixed. Also, it cannot be exposed to any intense magical fields or it would be destroyed. Casting magic upon a person under the influence of the antidote would neutralize the antidote in their system. Therefore, the party could not dope up on antidote and then fly or teleport into the Desolation. This would neutralize the antidote and leave them vulnerable to the Scourge. Curative magic would not spoil the antidote, but spells like fly or teleport would. This was, in my humble opinion, a rather ingenious way to force the party to journey through the Desolation by conventional, non-magical means.

Once they had finalized all preparations, the party then went back to the Hole in the Wall bar and into the thieves' guild underground lair.

They were taken, by windowless wagon, to a village near Garreon's Wall. Here they were accompanied by four hulking guards in super heavy combat armor (stolen Wall armor) who were armed with Dragonmaw Cannons.

The wagon entered a building, judging by the sounds. The party could hear the ringing of a blacksmith's hammer and the roar of bellows. They were then blindfolded and led through a building and down a flight of stairs deep into the earth. They passed through a couple of large heavy iron doors.

There they were unblindfolded. The party found themselves in a large round chamber underground. The first chamber in the tunnel. The four guards escorting them took them through the tunnel, one section at a time. The tunnel sections were separated by huge iron doors. The walls and ceiling of the tunnel itself were covered in heavy lead plating. Every hundreds yards or so they went through another set of heavy iron doors. Each door was unlocked and the guards carefully opened the door with their Cannons ready to fire.

After about 2 miles underground, the lead lining on the walls and ceiling stop. The tunnel continued for another mile. Nasty little armored cockroaches were the first sign of life the party saw under the Desolation. The tiny creatures scurred away.

The last door was covered in dusty and cobwebs. Most people, it seemed, changed their minds before they ever got to this door. The final door was old. It was even heavier and looked sturdier than the previous doors. Glyphs of power and sigils of strength etched into its surface glowed and hummed softly.

The guards told the party that from that point on, they went alone. The guards would go no further. The players passed through the door. Beyond the last door there was a long 300 foot tunnel which gently slows upwards. It ended in a very heavy stone door on wheels which had to be cranked open.

Before opening the last door, the party stopped and consumed their antidote.

Beyond the stone door, there was a round stone chamber. There were three skeletons there with shredded armor and broken bones. One had a crushed skull. Literring the room were broken weapons, a shattered shield, bits and pieces of wood and leather. Also, there were bits and pieces of beetle shell, a severed claw, a talon, a horn. Smeared in dried blood on the wall are a few chaddamarian letters – Ugita, who had been studying a bit of the Chaddamarian language, was able to make out the letters... It read: "Save yourselves..."

The round stone room had deep gouges in the wall. And scratches. Thousands of them. [these had been made by horde creatures in frenzy].

In the ceiling there was a large vertical shaft. Sunlight was pouring in. Iron rungs embedded in the stone form a crude ladder up the shaft.

That's when the party discovered something was at the top of the shaft, looking down and sniffing around the lip of the opening. It was a large quadruped. Vaguely canine, but much bigger and with an heavy bone jaw. It dripped saliva down onto the players as they climbed up the rungs. The saliva was acidic and burned through their armor.

The players launched a volley of spells and arrows up as the fighters rush to join battle. That's when the party discovered that there were TWO of these immense canines. A fierce battle exploded at the top of the shaft. Although the players managed to kill both creatures, the acidic saliva damaged both weapons and armor. The players performed minor curative magic to heal their wounds.