Beyond the Eyes of the Iron Gods: An Iron Gods Adventure Path (Inactive)

Game Master Terquem

For the record, correct me if I have made a mistake, John, Unbolath, and Azariah, have been blinded by the creature, while Ritmush believes he has been blinded as well, but we will let that play out as it naturally will. Kleora, and Stella are not blinded.

Yeah I'm waiting for someone with a torch to come by so Ritmush can become miraculously better. Also it does sound like you have that correct.

Ritmush brows knit as he looks in the direction of those talking " Uh, wouln' tha mean our fancy fish gill magic runs out? Ah' mean ah'd likely be alright buh' somea' you wear clunky armor an' stuff. Got ah' idea as tah how that thing works? Be great if weh' coul' jam it inta' a pot an' poin' it ah things we don' want seein' us." The scruffy human suggests with not a lick of sarcasm.

Because that sounds perfectly safe and unlikely to backfire. Ritmush's brain is a strange place.

"I'm blind," Azariah muttered, feeling frustrated and helpless.

Stella's halo glowed softly as she would touch Azariah's hands and guided her next to Unbolath.

"It is okay. It is only temporary. We have quite a while on the water breathing magic. Your sight may be gone but you have other senses. Your hearing and sense of touch and smell. Calm and listen. Make sure nothing is coming up to us. My perception is good but I can miss things because I rely on my sight."

She grabs Ritmush and brings him over also. "Come on right here is safe." Looking back at the creature she would bit her lip.

Now was a dilemma. Kill it now or worry about her new companions getting blinded again.

"Ritmush, I couldn't hold onto that thing to use it in such a way and it has nasty claws and probably bites. So no, I wouldn't use it to do such things."

Breathing softly, Azariah exhaled, fighting to keep herself calm. "Thank you. I just...don't like feeling helpless. I know some spells that would help, but didn't prepare any today, and it's...frustrating. Especially since it means we either go with half of us blind or wait here and waste time others might not have."

" Yeah strong lady ya' shoul' listen tah' shiny, she seem's tah be good ah' tha whole givin' advice thin."
Ritmush follows along, glancing up at Stella and giving her a grin.
" Than's shiny lady, an ah suppos yer righ' on tha' blind-y lizard thing. We ough' be puttin' it outta its misery an such." Ritmush states look over to the corpse
A beat passing as ritmush blinks and in a distant place a tumbleweed rolls past a dusty trail.
" Ah' can see now?" Ritmush half asks half states looking at his own fingers
" Yep, all nine an' a half still there"

" Uhh.. surprise I'm better?" The human finishes awkwardly very obviously confused.

Kleora considered the issue of the creature they'd just knocked out with some concern. It didn't seem right to kill it when it was helpless, that smacked too much of murder to her. She also couldn't countenance the risk of letting it live to cause them problems later on, problems they may not be able to deal with when they were weakened. Her voice was sad as she spoke, "I'm sorry to say it but I think we need to put this creature down, the risk of leaving it behind us is too great." She looked at the rest of the group then and asked with a hint of hope, "Unless, of course, someone knows if we can reason with it? If that's the case then the danger it poses isn't as great."

Stella would look at Kleora and then the creature. "I don't think we could reason with it. I will do it."

She would draw the rapier at her side and would move up to the creature studying it to figure out how to end its life as painlessly as possible and does so. The look on her face one of determination. If these people were going to help her get back to her own city and save it then she needed to protect them.

Once it was done she would clean the rapier and re-sheath it. Moving to Ritmush she would look at him and asks.

"That was quick. Maybe you didn't see much of the light. You didn't yell until the end. Unless you have magical goggles that protect you."

Kleora had a feeling that this was a hard thing for the lovely woman to do and felt for her. She wanted to show her support and, once the creature was dealt with, she put her arms around Stella and hugged her a moment to show her support.

Torch, in the Caves Below the Hill
Day 2, turn 65

With a trepidation born of inexperience in such things, and a heart that knows that life is never something that should be wasted callously, Stella approaches the dangerous looking creature on the ground. She can see it is badly wounded, and perhaps it will not ever recover. With a steady hand and a resolved born out of her desire to prevent further injuries to her friends or even the good people of the village above her, Stella ends the creature’s life as mercifully as she can.

The group huddles in close to the western wall, near the passage up toward the cave filled with stalactites, and waits to see if the blindness will clear. Tense moments pass but slowly the each of those who had been blinded by the flash begins to see small dark spots appear in front of their eyes, and then gradually those spots grow and the blindness disappears completely.

You all find yourselves standing in a large cave, with a source of brackish water to the north, and the dim soft glow of a twitching fire beetle, and Stella's halo illuminating the area in shadows.

There is a ten foot wide passageway in the south of the cave wall, near the west, and it extends into darkness beyond.

Torch, in the Caves Below the Hill
Day 2, turn 71 (12 turns remain of your water breathing ability)

As John begins to recover his vision he stands and says, "That was one of the scariest things that has ever happened to me. Do we want to investigate this water while we can still breath in it or do we want to head south?" as he points to the passage?

"I can look at the water real quick but I think we should head south. I think the curve might connect back up to where we were."

Stella said before standing and once everyone was ready to move she would walk to the water looking into it. She wished she knew the magic to purify such things.

With a nod of acknowledgement Kleora waited as Stella went into the water to check it. Once Stella had returned the sorceress asked her, "So what did you see in there? Anything we should investigate?" As she awaited a reply she began casting a quick little spell and caused the water from Stella's clothing and gear slough off to the ground.

Torch, in the Caves Below the Hill

Day 2, turn 71 (12 turns remain of your water breathing ability)

Stella can see, in the faint light of her halo, that the water here is a dirty, oily, and a murky brownish-green color. She is about to turn away from the pond when something in the water, just below the surface, catches her eye. She bends down to take a closer look thinking it is a sack, or something made from leather and then she sees a human hand, half eaten, the flesh swaying in the mild current of the water where it still clings to the bones.

Stella screams.

John and Kleora run to her side, with Azariah close behind them. Stella spins away from the gruesome discovery just as Kleora comes up behind her and two come face to face in the shadows.

John keeps his weapon aimed at the water and Azariah steps to the side of him facing the opposite direction, watching the long passageway to the south. John calls for help and Ritmush and Unbolath arrive coming to the side of the pond cautiously. Working together they retrieve a dwarven corpse from the water. It is a horrific sight. The body has been eaten away by sharp teeth in places, without any regard for removing the poor individual’s armor, studded leather, or garments. The exposure to the greasy water has caused the corpse to bloat and putrefy. There are no weapons, but on the belt of the body hangs a small silver holy symbol, in the shape of an adjustable pipe wrench.

There is a pouch on the belt as well and it contains 42 gold coins, and two small, sealed, copper vials.

While The others keep a watch on the murky waters, Unbolath and Ritmush lay out the only valuables that can be recovered. It is only then that Azariah notices something is wrong. She is the first to notice that the quiet ranger, the woman called Portia, is gone.

"What the..." Looking around slowly, Azariah frowned. "Where did Portia go?" She glanced at the others and frowned, wondering what could have happened, and worried it was for the worse.

Perception: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8

Realizing that Stella was horribly upset as she came running back, but seeing no sign of immediate threat, Kleora through her arms around the aasimar and held her close as she said, "What is it? What's wrong?" she let her hands stroke the other woman's back comfortingly as she tried to calm Stella down.

John looks around and says, "I don't know where she went. Let me see if I can find her though. It won't be easy." John then starts scanning the ground trying to track her.

Survival: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (18) + 7 = 25

"I don't suppose anyone knows who this might be."

John stops looking for tracks for a moment when Unbolath speaks and see if he recognizes the body. He then continues his looking for tracks.

Kn: Local: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (20) + 5 = 25

Stella took deep breaths as she felt Mary comforting her.

Now it wasn't as bad as seeing her previous teacher disemboweled and .....

Stella murmured a rhyme in her head over and over again to get both images down in the depths of her mind.

In the far days, when every day was long,
Fear was upon me and the fear was strong,
Ere I had learned the recompense of song.

Nothing of hatred will about him cling:
Silent - how silent - but his heart will sing
Always of little children and the Spring.

John begins following Portia’s foot prints, which seem to head back through the cave of stalagmites and stalactites, but soon the tracks become mixed in with the tracks of the group as they came this way. It is clear to him, that she returned to where the group first entered these caves.

When he hears a question about the body, he leaves off the search for Portia and moves close to the body that floats in the water.

As Kleora comforts Stella, she can feel the woman’s chest rise and fall and her breath on her shoulder as if the young stranger is murmuring a chant of some kind to herself.

John looks up from the body, "I don't know his name, but he's a troublemaker like the woman we found earlier. There may be more of them down here. There was a group of them in town causing trouble to travelers. It looks like Portia left. Shall we continue on then."

Azariah nodded, and started to head for the cave entrance. "How did so many people get down here without anyone noticing?"

Kleora continued to hold Stella as long as needed, one hand gently stroking the aasimar's hair as she did and murmuring quietly to try and soothe the lovely woman. "Shh, it's alright Stella, I'm here for you. There's no need to fear."

Collecting herself she would raise her head and nods.

"Thank you Kleora, it has been a rough couple of days. Seeing....such things is still new to me. I know we will see more but I haven't dulled to the horror of it."

Looking back at the others.""Then we bring both bodies back for burial when we leave. They should get proper rest at least."

As Stella finished collecting herself and thank Kleora, the human woman gave her a quick squeeze and leaned her face in a bit closer fora brief moment before releasing the other woman. She looked almost embarrassed as she turned away and, "You're welcome Stella, I'm glad I could help." Stepping away from Stella slightly the sorceress' arms wrapped across her middle as she said, "I agree, we should bring them all back when we are ready to leave this place."

It is a grisly task, pulling the dwarven corpse out of the murky water, as bits and pieces of the rotting flesh fall off in clumps and move slowly westward in the subtle currents.

When everyone is ready to move on, Azariah wonders out loud how it is that so many people made it down here without anyone knowing.

And then she recalls that the dwarven woman, Dolga, mentioned that the way in was recently made known to her by the missing councilman, and that it was possible others already knew the way, but word about it must have been a closely guarded secret.

In all the excitement, hardly anyone notices when Ritmush pockets the two small copper vials that were found on the body of the dead dwarf.

John takes one quick look around, nods to Unbolath, and leads the others southward along the next available path.

It is a fairly straight tunnel, and it is about ten feet wide.

John stays behind and to the side of Unbolath to make sure he has a clear shot at anything that tries to attack them.

Unbolath heads down the tunnel, scanning with his darkvision where able, and also inspecting the ground looking for tracks or other clues that will help them unravel what has happened down here.

perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (4) + 9 = 13

Taking slow deep breaths she would scan ahead and listens carefully as they move. Her mind racing on what else could be down here and what dangers they should expect ahead.

Perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (17) + 9 = 26

Intuition: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (11) + 5 = 16

Keeping close to Stella, Kleora too kept her eyes open for trouble. they'd already seen enough down here for her to not trust anything they came across.

Perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (6) + 9 = 15
Intuition: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (20) + 3 = 23

Torch, in the Caves Below the Hill

Day 2, turn 71 (12 turns remain of your water breathing ability)

Moving to down the tunnel, which seems to have a slight downward slope here, the party tries to remain as quiet as possible.

Ritmush taps Azariah on the shoulder (as the two seem to be lagging a bit behind) and whispers to her

I’ll be right behind you, don’t wait for me. I’m just going to check on Portia, make sure she is alright. Here take these goggles, they may come in handy

I cannot reach Movin, and at this point I am simply going to assume he is taking a step back in this adventure. Azariah can have the goggles if she wants them, or she can pass them along to another character.

Ahead, Unbolath and John are the first to see a side tunnel on the right, about the same in width as this tunnel, but it is crowded with poorly made wooden boxes (they look as if they were made from scraps scavenged from the village above), as well as piles of what appears to be very strange rope, bits of odd materials that could be wood or metal, and a small stack of apples.

Suddenly a strange humanoid stands up from behind one of the boxes, raising its hands in the air.

The figure you see looks gaunt, has grayish skin, and short fine, black hair. With it’s hands raised it speaks in the common tongue of Torch

Wait, I’m unarmed, and I am no threat to you. My name is Luepel and I come from a dark world far below these caves. Please don’t kill me.

The voice is shaky, but you cannot tell anything else about this creature.

Only a local of Torch, or Garicadia for that matter, or someone who study other planes, would have a chance of identifying this creature. If you are from Torch, or from other parts of Garicadia, you know this creature type on a Knowledge Dungeoneering Skill Check, DC 20, or if you have Knowledge Planes, DC 20.

Azariah glanced at the others. "I'm sorry, I don't seem to be familiar with you...I'm Azariah Seriah, also from Torch. Can you tell us about yourself and why you're down here?"

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (19) + 7 = 26

John makes sure his weapon isn't pointing at the creature but keeps it ready and lets the others do the talking.

Unbolath stands to the side, but ready in case of something unexpected.

Kleora was at first concerned about this individual, she'd not seen anyone who looked like that before. She was quickly distracted, however, by what she saw on the wall. She added to Azariah's quaetion, [b]"and what can you tell us about the artwork on the wall there?"

Stella's eyes scan around them as she stares at the creature. Dark world from under these caves...

Knowledge Dungeon: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8

For the life of her she couldn't think of any such creature and so she watched the exchanged keeping an eye out around them.

As the group spreads out along the wide passageway, the strange grey skinned creature becomes visibly shaken, and raises its hands higher in the air.

When Azariah speaks, the humanoid tilts its head to the side, and replies.

My name is Luepel Adaa, and I am from a place far below these caves, in the place your kind calls the Darklands, but we call it Nar Voth. My people, we are called Cootaam, came here after a war broke out at our home, we escaped almost being captured by the Veeg Dathka, if you know them then you know why we had to flee.

The creature moves slowly out from behind the hiding place, and when you see the shape of the creature you begin to think that it is female, but you cannot be sure. It continues to hold its hands high in the air.

Many weeks ago, a stranger came through here and spoke to our leader, and then moved on deeper into the caves. We were give some things we needed to begin living here, but we agreed to act as guards for the stranger. Soon many others, like you, came through here, we fought them off, at first, but then a group, not larger than yours, came and killed our leader along with my mate, and his sister. We are very few now, and we cannot guard the way the stranger went any more. I can take you to Sef, she is our new leader and she can tell you more, but please, don’t kill us, we mean you no harm.

When she finishes, Kleora points to the wall and asks about the crude pictures

The three legged one we call Edag Omot, it is a creature that can be found to the east, the other is a Nienbagaf, a skeleton in your language, but it has four arms, and its head is strange, none of us has ever seen anything like it, and Yadriss, my sister, has been to the surface, to Torch, and she did not see anything like it there either.

Fingering the goggles Ritmush had given her, Azariah bit her lip. "I'm afraid I'm not familiar with those creatures," Azariah replied, glancing at the others to see if they had any ideas. She didn't like the sound of skeletons - her scythe would be less than effective when shattering bone was called for - but then, it would serve if her God will it. "But I'm sure we can talk. We're looking for one of the previous groups that came through, specifically a man named Khonnir Baine. Was he one of the people who came through, do you know?"

Luepel answers Azariah’s question
No, I do not know that name. If he came through here in the past month, he was either one of the groups that passed by us, or he was with the group that we attacked, and… the grey skinned humanoid lower’s its head, and says quietly either we killed him, or he and his group defeated us. That group, went beyond the wall, and has not returned.

"Khonnir may have been the first one as I believe he was by himself. Let's go see their leader and see if we can pick up his trail." John says to the others as he walks toward Lupel, his musket pointing at the ground.

Luepel moves out cautiously from her hiding place, keeping her hands in the air, and moves to lead the group southeast.

Soon the group comes to what appears to be a large cavern. Ahead of you, the floor droops about ten feet, in a steep but manageable descent toward the cavern floor. Without a strong light source it is impossible to tell exactly how large the cavern might be.

You come upon three small huts on the cavern floor, and two more of the strange grey creatures are sitting on the floor here. They quickly rise to their feet, also putting their hands in the air when you arrive. Luepel says nothing but only gives the other two a cold stone like stare.
She leads you past the huts, and then turns left, going north, following a narrow tunnel which leads to a single hut tucked into the back of a small dead end cave.

Another one of the creatures is here. This one looks a great deal like Luepel, being about the same height and having the same build.
The leader of these few people greats you with arms raised as well. She wears a patch over her right eye, and she has several scars on her left shoulder.

It was only a matter of time before more of your kind arrived. I surrender, myself and my people are yours to make your slaves. We do not wish to die here.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Azariah looked at the woman. "We have no desire to make slaves of your people." At least, she didn't, and she would fight any other who did. "Clearly some of the people from my town have been violent towards you, but I assure you we are only interested in finding a friend lost to us. We mean you and your people no harm."

"Sef, can you tell us of the one who hired you to protect them? I am not one to take slaves but I am willing to talk about being companions or even allies. The fact someone has been here a month does bother me slightly. They may be the reason the torch went out."

Looking at them she would refresh her halo again.

With the sudden discovery of people living down here Kleora found herself taken aback. She'd never expected anyone to be living in here yet here they were. Even more disturbing was the part of herself that seemed pleased at the prospect of slaves. That these people would subjugate themselves to her felt only right. Her companion's reactions, particularly Azariah's brought her to her senses though and she nodded in agreement with the two women, "They're right, we're not her to harm you, nor to enslave you. We simply want to find a man who's lost down here as Azariah said."

This one eyed stranger seems to slump, and look relieved, before saying to the floor, I, I give you my thanks. My name is Sef, and the others are Luepel, Brath and Yardriss. We are all that remain of a larger group of our kind. I wish you luck in finding your missing friend, and in return for your promise not to harm us I will tell you what I know. If there is a way for you to tell your kind above here that we seek to stay here in peace and are willing to work for supplies, food, and fair trade, I will try to pay you.

She listens to Azariah, Stella, and Kleora as the three ask questions, but keeps her eyes fixed on John all the while, and then raises her hands shaking her head, and says, I did not met the one who hire our clan to defend this passage, that was done by my friend, and our former leader, Pekupel. I saw this person though, and I would say that it was a female of your kind, with strange hair and armor. She did not speak to me, but passed me by and I felt that she was a powerful wizard of some kind. She lead a group of diverse humanoids. There were humans, orcs, and rat folk in her company and they went north through those passages and has not returned. Pekupel told me that the strange woman was looking for these

She says as she reaches for a small bag on a rock next to her, and that I should keep them safe to give them to her if she returned. I offer them to you now, as a payment for our safety.

I want to warn you, that the way north is guarded by a tribe of gremlins, despicable creatures determined to steal everything we can find to claim for our own. I was up that way once, and there is a door there, like the door that is at the far end of this cavern, but when I saw that door the last time it was open, while the door here seems to be held shut fast by a lock we cannot defeat. A few weeks ago that door was easily opened and we tried exploring the strange ruin beyond, some sort of cathedral I suppose left here by our ancestors in the time before they migrated deeper into the world. It is a foul place now, overrun with creatures that we cannot talk with, and strange undead horrors. It must be under a curse, I do not know for sure.

She looks tired, turns to her left and right, and says, I can offer you the camp we have as a place to rest, if you need it, and if you hope to explore further, looking for your lost friend, we will watch for your return and pray that you do.

Assuming one of you takes the bag, you open it to find what appear to be durable playing cards, colored black with a brown stripe. There are five of them and they are all identical, their function or purpose is impossible to determine by simply looking at them

Stella would step forward to take the bag and look inside. Lifting one up she would examine it carefully and casts detect magic to see if there happens to be magic within it.

"Thank you very much and I am grateful for your help. We will do what we can to talk to those above on your behalf." She steps back her halo light playing upon the card as she wondered what it did.

Intuition: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (20) + 5 = 25

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (16) + 7 = 23

John smiles at Sef and rests his musket on the ground butt first so it points in the air. "As we said we mean you no harm. If I have to use this down here you will hear it a long way off though."

Thank you, the leader of the Skelks bows.

Sef takes a step toward John and points at the weapon.

I've never seen a weapon like that. How does it make such a loud noise?

John smiles at Sef and pulls out his powder horn. "You see there is some of this in there and when you fire it the powder explodes and the bullet comes out the end. The explosion is loud." He then carefully pours the powder he poured out back into his powder horn.