Session 0022 - Aftermath

Roster

List of characters who's player was in attendance

Player characters who's player is attending the game start with 1 Hero Point, and can get more during the session.

Absent

List of characters who's player was absent

Player characters for missing players do not start the session with a hero point, and can not get any more during the session.

004-Rocinante: Luke
005-Saferous: Chance

Session Log

In the aftermath of the fight with the fire elementals and the retrieval of the schemas, the party contemplate what they should do next.
They close up the retractable dome and lower the crucible then return to the main rotation room where Failin waits. Once there everyone settles in for the next couple of hours to rest and heal up. This is the time required by Alicia to use her cure ability to restore everyone to full health.
During that time, Rocinante identifies the scroll they found in the transparent chest and determines that it is a scroll of resist energy.
While they rest up, the group plan on what to do next. Sarroxtíoð asks Failin if he has any skill picking locks, and their guide reluctantly admits that he might have a shot at picking a lock. They offer him 30 silver pieces if he can pick the lock to a door near this rotation chamber and he agrees.
The party also plan do get the dire wolf Rorsa and her pack out of the complex. It is decided that they can use the furniture in the complex and possibly rig up something with the chains lifting the crucible to help her and the wolves climb outside.
After finishing their rest, the brown key is used to open the doorway to the north that leads to the locked door. It remains damaged from the attempt to force it open it by Eriana. Failin examines the door and attempts to open it using an obvious set of fine picks and tools he had stuffed in his jacket.
He makes a couple of attempts and fails, then curses that the lock is damaged. On his third attempt he ends up breaking his picks and declares that he does not have any others so they're out of luck. Alicia offers to pay him an extra 3 silver pieces to replace the broken picks, which Failin appreciates.
Still determined to open the door, Sarroxtíoð and Eriana have another go at trying to force it open with their crowbars. After a few failed attempts the door remained closed. Ferdinand also gives it a try with help from Sarroxtíoð but he can't budge it either.
Sarroxtíoð suggests they use the mining picks they picked up earlier from the quarry to pick away at the stone wall around the door so they can get better leverage to force it open. The walls are a foot thick of hard rock and the steel doors are three inches thick.
With time on their hands, both Sarroxtíoð and Eriana take turns hacking away at the stone wall with the picks. After a couple of hours of effort they manage to pick a small hole around the edge of the door that provides better leverage for their crowbars.
It takes a couple of concerted efforts by Sarroxtíoð and Eriana working together, but they finally succeed and force the door open enough to push their way past it.
There is a single room beyond that is clearly a storeroom. There are boxes and crates stacked up inside and the stone walls are lined with shelves filled with supplies.
Everyone spreads out and begins to conduct a thorough search of the room. They find shelves full of dried and well preserved food, skins full of water and wine, and a variety of mundane supplies including clothing, bed rolls, rope, and the like.
They also find a box containing 7 vials with liquid and a scroll. It was hoped that they would find the missing keys, but no keys of any kind are found in the storeroom. A bit of time was also spent looking for secret or concealed doors, but they find nothing.
Rocinante spends some time to confirm that all of the vials radiate magic, as does the scroll.
From here the party returns to the main rotator room and open the passage to Rorsa so they can tell her about their plan to get them out of the complex. Rorsa is warry, but seems pleased with the idea to be outside again.
There are 10 adult wolves and Rorsa to get out, and the rotator rooms and hallways are not big enough for all of them. The decision is made to take Rorsa first to show her the way out then make several trips to lead the rest of the pack to the large chamber. At the same time they begin to move furniture and boxes from the storeroom to help build a ladder of sorts to climb up out through the retractable skylight.
It takes a few hours to set up the path up to the skylight all of this, and in the process they discover that when the crucible is raised up it slowly begins to cool. It seems some form of magic is heating it when it is down on the floor. With the skylight fully retracted and the crucible cooled the room cools down significantly and becomes much more bearable.
After all this effort it gets late and darkness descends on the Mournlands. They close the skylight and camp out for the night, resolving to leave in the morning.
The night passes quietly and in the morning they open the skylight and prepare to leave. Rorsa and the wolves are directly out first with Sarroxtíoð being the first party member out with them. As the last party members climb up and outside they discuss the idea of having one person go back inside and close the skylight from the inside then come out through the hatchway the same way they came into the complex.
Before they can put that plan into action, however, a number of figures step out of the shadows in the rocky outcrops around the skylight.
"Well done, adventurers," calls a voice from the shadows of a rocky outcropping as a dozen solders with loaded crossbows emerge along with four undead zombies, a female spellcaster some party members recognize from the quarry camp they attacked. The zombies look like recently deceased Emerald Claw cultists. There is another female who steps out of the shadows - a stern woman wearing chainmail with a longsword and steel shield in hand.
The party can not see the person speaking from the shadows, and he continues: "It is futile to fight us. Give me the third schema, and I will let you live. Oppose us, and I will take it from your corpses, and then raise your bodies to serve me."
Eriana begins to return threats, but he is cut off by Ferdinand who loudly calls out "Wait! Here, take it!" He pulls out one of the diamond shaped schemas and tosses it passed the line of solders into the shadows. During this exchange Rorsa is clearly agitated, her teeth bared as she lets out a low growl. All of the wolves in her pack are similarly alarmed and agitated.
There is a pause as the woman in chainmail steps over, picks up the schema up and moves back into the shadows. A moment later the voice is heard again, "A wise decision. You have the gratitude of Garrow and the Order. Kaela, with me - and you four, with us." Four of the armed soldiers step back into the shadows.
No longer holding back, Eriana yells out curses promising to kill each of them and bragging that she was responsible for killing the others.
After a moment the voice calls back from farther away, "Kill them! Mallora, do NOT fail me again!" This is followed by a low rumble and humming noise as a floating barge begins to lift up off the ground behind the rock outcropping and rapidly move away from them.