Session 22

The surviving members of the party stood against the wall of the foundry, gathering themselves while they had a windbreak. The sandstorm could not be felt where they were, so Trance - of course - lit her pipe and shakily inhaled. She did not offer to share with Alarac, as she usually would.

Helena leaned against the wall, taking deep breaths and steadying herself. She discussed the group's next moves with Mischief, Umi, and Alarac. It was decided they would continue toward the mountain and find shelter before nightfall.

As they trudged through the buffeting sands, Trance trailed in the rear. None of the ruins they passed appeared to offer substantial shelter. It was only as they came upon the foot of the Mountain that they saw a domed building built into the rock that they found a place for suitable respite. They shook themselves free of sand as they entered, and Umi cast dancing lights to investigate the area. It was a relatively empty space with carved stone benches and a large pool of cool, dark water. It appeared to have been an eatery and recreational space, in its heyday.

Trance went to wash off the soot and sand, and decided to strip down to her tunic and swim. Seeing the tabaxi disappear beneath the water caused Umi concern, so she came over to keep an eye on her (what good she could do without knowing how to swim, we'll never know).

Trance resurfaced to Umi's relief, and she beckoned Mischief and Helena over to wash their wounds. Alarac brooded nearby.

Helena, now washed and somewhat mended, set about organizing camp. She asked for a volunteer to find firewood out in the surrounding ruins. When no one spoke up, Trance sighed heavily and got out of the pool. She got dressed and began shuffling out the doorway without a word. Helena bit Alarac to go with her and make sure she didn't do anything drastic.

They luckily found a pile of old wood half-buried in sand, and lugged armloads back to camp.

Trance was caked in sand by the time they got out of the storm. She grumbled in Tabaxi as she deposited the firewood, and went back to bathe a second time. Helena had already arranged rubble in a campfire ring, and she set about lighting it. Dinner was had; Trance did not eat. She sat on a nearby stone bench and gazed into the fire dismally. They gave her the first watch alone, and went to sleep in their bedrolls around the fire.

When it was time for second watch, Trance nudged Helena and Umi with her foot to wake then, then curled up on bare floor, not bothering to unroll any bedding. Umi offered her own bedroll, but Trance ignored her.

During Mischeif's and Alarac's watch, Helena, Mischief, and Trance began to feel crippling pain. The water they had bathed in had apparently been contaminated by parasites. It was lucky than no one drank it, but the three still suffered. Alarac went to each of them, offering to lay on hands. Helena and Mischief insisted they were fine, as the pain was passing, but Trance yowled in agony, writhing on the stone floor. As Alarac reached down to heal her, she mindlessly lashed out at him with her claws. They scraped harmlessly against his hard scales, and he placed a large hand to her stomach, casting his spell. Her writhing ceased, and she slipped into relieved sleep.

The next day, the party packed up camp and continued their trek to the top of the plateau. The path led up the steep face of the cliff, winding back and forth at sharp angles. It was slow going, with the driving wind and biting sand. As they climbed, they came upon interesting carved reliefs in the stone. The first depicted the city they had traveled through, but whole and thriving. The mountain loomed over the bustling port town like a guardian.

The next panel depicted the same city, but this time it was in flames. Enemy ships surrounded, spears brandished.

In the third panel, some massive humanoid towered over the mountain, casting some kind of spell from its massive hands at the invaders. Its face had been chipped away. None of these carvings looked familiar to Helena or Umi, the resident historian and scholar of religion.

Soon, the party began to see skulls littered around the path. No other bones, just skulls. Human, beastrace, animal, piled and lined and scattered everywhere. Helena remarked that Sylas would have loved to look through the skulls, even at the risk of snakes. They puzzled over the way they had been arranged. Was it mass sacrifice? An offering? A warning? Trance kicked one of the skulls off the edge of the path, watching it tumble and shatter. She said they looked like trophies, the way they were stacked and displayed. No one had a better explanation. They continued on their way.

As they went, they saw larger and larger skulls among the normal-sized ones. Eventually, one was so large that it blocked their path. It looked like a massive hybrid of dragon and triceratops, about eight feet high at the frill. Trance went over to it, using the metal end of her scabbard to jab at the bone to see if it would crack. She was thinking they could go through the eye sockets and break out the back.

However, her action woke the creature living in the skull, and a massive hermit crab began to emerge. This startled Trance into stumbling and falling, frozen in shock.

The now fifteen foot monster clacked its claws, and smaller hermit crabs poked out from some of the larger skulls. One of the smaller ones scuttled at Helena, slashing at her with its pincers.

The massive crab launched itself, crashing down on the party. Trance managed to scrabble out of the way, but it hit Alarac and Helena. Helena, now supine beneath the towering decapod, managed to roll away down a short distance of cliff to the previous switchback. She called out orders, rallying her crew. Trance, now shaken from her stupor, drew her jeweled saber, and lunged, snarling, clawing at her arms to feed the blade her sacrifice. It cracked the stony shell, causing sticky blue blood to trickle. While it was distracted, Umi hurled an ice ball at it, knocking it prone.

Helena struggled to her feet, but brandished her harpoon as Mischief and Guncat fired on the gargantuan crab. Alarac brought his broadsword down on one of the smaller crabs, bloodying it as well. The large crab spewed wet sand at Umi and Trance. The cat evaded it for the most part, but it struck Umi harshly. Trance clawed at her own neck, activating her saber and cracking more of its shell with her devastating blows. She was heedless of the pain, but her strength was beginning to waver with bloodloss.

The rest of the party fended off the smaller crabs, peppering them with bullets and ice. Alarac slashed away, bisecting chitinous limbs. As the smaller ones retreated, the party charged the big crab. Before they could reach it, Trance had leapt at the crab, saber raised... and it caught her in a massive pincer. Muffled crunching was heard; Trance screamed. Then, it dropped her limp body, stepping over it to advance on the rest of the group.

Umi and Mischief assaulted it with lead and icicles until it stopped moving, legs curling up as it lay on its side... unfortunately still in the road.

Helena rushed to Trance's body, hastily pulling a health potion from Trance's bandolier and forcing the liquid down Trance's throat. She sputtered and gagged, but came around.

Helena ensured that Trance was stabilized, gently helped her upright... then slapped the shit out of her.

"What were you thinking?! Sylas didn't die protecting us so you could kill yourself at the first opportunity!"

Trance mumbled, "You don't tell me what to do..."

"The hell I don't! That's literally my role as captain!"

Trance had no retort. She merely pulled away, sheathing her bloody saber.

The party took a collective breath, looking at the big dead roadblock in their path.