Session 34: In hot pursuit

The Littleton Legends and their newly acquired companions erupt out from the tunnel into a vast expanse of darkness, sprinting full speed on an obsidian bridge-like vein, barely large enough for two people to fit side by side. Behind them, the pale skinned elves are already beginning to recover from the skirmish in the armory. Throughout the cavern, more guards are drawn to the party’s light source, some of them arming crossbows to fire from adjacent veins of obsidian, while others rush to intercept the party, jumping onto their bridge from above. From below, a fast-paced chitter betrays the presence of a monstrous spider with a human torso and head, scuttling upside-down beneath the party. The chase is on.

Almost immediately, the monstrous spider is neutralized by a fit a hideous laughter that sends it spiraling downward. Meanwhile, the guards emerging from behind the party find themselves face to face with Aaler’s guardian angel, its brilliant lunar might sending them sprawling off the bridge on either side. Jerky and Galprath lead the charge, slashing through any guard foolish enough to stand in their path. As they run, they spot a nearby vein leading into a tunnel on wall far ahead: an end to this seemingly infinite underground cavern. The Littleton Legends make a litteral leap of faith from their own bridge onto the one that may lead them to safety. Shed barely manages to hop across using his one good leg and falls prone in the process, face to face with Arfo who clings for dear life to the slick obsidian stone. Arfo's feet, which failed him when he needed them the most, now dangle above the void. He sends a pleading look to Shed as he slips downward… but the monk ignores him and turns away, pushing himself to his feet and accepting Faerendale’s helping shoulder as they dash forward towards the tunnel entrance ahead. Isaya’s watery sphere clears the remaining path on the bridge, shoving everything in its way off the platform and into the depths. As they enter this new tunnel, their pursuers skid to a halt. Shed hears them whisper in a foreign tongue “Mustn’t we follow them?” “No… we have explicit orders from the females not to enter this area of the cave, the high priestess will deal with them”. He doesn’t bother to translate this exchange for his companions.

After a quick breather, the group continues onward, Galprath leading far ahead to scout. Every minute, Faerendale plucks a piece of copper embroidering from his tunic and casts message to check in with him. Galprath follows the tunnel to a large room with a gargantuan gaping hole in its center. In front of the hole, the party’s gear has been displayed along with many neat stacks of gold coins. A raspy voice pierces the darkness “I see the prisoner has escaped his cell, very clever one indeed… are you alone?”. Galprath responds but cannot quite suppress a shake in his voice as he lies to the seemingly bodiless entity. Galprath buys time for his companions to catch up by continuing to converse with this strange voice, and strangely enough, it offers him what seems to be a fantastic deal: “Take what is yours from this offering and leave, I have no personal quarrel with you, and my arrangement with the Earth Shaker does not explicitly force me to kill you.” Galprath accepts, and begins collecting the group’s items, but in the shadows behind him a storm is brewing… Sabynn, whose connection to Elune has been severed for weeks, receives a message from her goddess in the form of a divine urge to slay the creature in the room beyond. She asks Aaler for guidance in this matter, and despite his usual inclination to seek out peaceful solutions in every situation, he grants her his support. As a unit, they charge into the room, casting divine light throughout the chamber and revealing a mesh of obsidian veins criss-crossing upwards in lieu of a ceiling. The creature lurks there, it’s giant spider-like form barely visible behind the shadows of the stony web.

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