Narrative

Day 55 began at the Magstein / Grimcrag bridge side. On waking, Dotharl dreamed he was inside a glass dome with a plush carpet. He approached the glass and saw a piercing blue eye pressed against it, with skin rather than scales and lace-like white hair. It knocked on the dome, but no one was there. A woman with bright green eyes and an arm around his shoulders woke and helped him. She did not know who she was to him and was too close to her friend to be asleep. The notes say the friend hurt her, that friends warned the party not to continue, and that this was the party’s only warning. Her brother hated the party, and she had a new friend, perhaps Envy.

Morgana tried to talk to No-Hurt. It had spread everywhere and had killed things. The party had not found a llamia in the army. They decided to blow up the doors. Morgana scouted ahead and found the doors closed with many arrow slits; she was shot and hit.

Many attackers waited in the walls. As the party approached the door, the wind grew louder. They sent wagons in with a shield wall. Invar heard a drum reverberating through his feet, along with scraping and grinding. Perodita flew up from the bridge with black ichor coming from her chest. The party damaged her, and she fled. The dwarven army killed the llamia and ratmen. The black dragon sister was nowhere to be seen, and the bridge was damaged.

Invar remembered that Blackthorn had not been allowed to free his friend because it was a trick. Bridged allowed it because it was for a trap and she found it funny. Wrath, a black dragonborn, appeared. He was busy fighting green dragons, Perodita’s children. He said the basilisk was currently a piece of coal at Coalmont Rally; crushing it would teleport the party to Infestus. Wrath gave the party memories and offered more. The city had been taken over during the last month through gradual removal of infrastructure, but the occupiers seemed to turn on each other when Perodita attacked the previous day. The party took a long rest, planning to leave the dwarf army at Grimcrag and teleport to Magstein to attack Perodita in her cavern.

Geldrin asked Bridged whether Perodita was still travelling. A sleepy cockroach appeared and said Perodita was asleep, that she had not rested well because she was in pain and could not fix it. The dwarves stayed at Grimcrag to recover. Perodita was about thirteen hours away, depending on her sleep. The party used the rift blade to teleport to Magstein and went to find the High Priest at Papa Marmaru. Guards tried to stop them, but when Invar and Geldrin got through, the High Priest called off the guards, who stopped as one in an odd manner.

The High Priest was no longer the High Priest, but one of the gods: Mericok. Greater Restoration revealed a large smoke sphere with spidery legs and a human-like face that wanted Papa Marmaru. Invar offered Papa Marmaru his goblet. Papa Marmaru asked whether Invar wanted this to happen and, in a raspy voice, warned not to trust Mericok. Marmaru had chosen to be there and looked after the dwarves, so he should be left to it. The party searched for explosives.

The party prepared a trap in two small passages where Perodita would need to pull in her wings. Explosives were arranged to crush her midpoint, with Wall of Force to stop her moving forward. The party made a hide, blasted holes in the ceiling, set an alarm in the second choke point, and used Pass without Trace. After twenty-seven hours the alarm went off. Forty-five minutes later, echoes grew louder, and Perodita stumbled and crashed into a wall. She saw the hide, realised something was wrong, and attacked before the party could run away, catching them with her breath weapon. The party trapped her in the tunnel and killed her with Walls of Fire.

Noxia essence flowed out of Perodita. Most things seemed to heal it, but the party managed to kill it, leaving a small puddle under the menstruum. Perodita was dead. They moved the ooze from Noxia into a barrel. Perodita’s wounds looked old, covered in injuries that had never healed. They found gold coins in her belly scales, many types and ages, totalling 7,000 gp. Geldrin sensed that the blood in the tower had been an experiment.

The party went to the Crusty Beard to rest at 23:00. The town was mostly quiet, but the pub was busy with common craftsmen, bakers, and others. It had a strange hair wall and a memorial to dead dwarves who had drunk there. The city had been strange over the last few years: the council did not meet, the militia was poor, and theft was common. Two guards wearing faceplates entered; the bar went quiet. They drank half their drinks and left without paying. The party overheard mutterings about people worrying that the guards were nearby and bad at their jobs. The party went to bed at 02:00.

People, Factions, and Places Mentioned

People and name-like figures mentioned include Dotharl, the green-eyed woman in the dream, her friend, her brother, Envy?, Morgana, No-Hurt, Invar, Perodita, Blackthorn, Bridged, Wrath, Infestus, Geldrin, the High Priest, Mericok, Papa Marmaru, Noxia, and the faceplate guards.

Groups and factions mentioned include the party, the dwarven army, llamia, ratmen, green dragons / Perodita’s children, city occupiers, dwarves at Grimcrag, gods, and Magstein townsfolk.

Places mentioned include the Magstein / Grimcrag bridge side, the glass dome in Dotharl’s dream, Grimcrag, Coalmont Rally, Infestus’s location by teleport, Magstein, Papa Marmaru, Perodita’s cavern and narrow passages, the tower, and the Crusty Beard.

Items, Rewards, and Resources

Items and resources mentioned include the closed doors and arrow slits, wagons and shield wall, basilisk as a piece of coal, rift blade, Papa Marmaru’s goblet, explosives, Wall of Force, alarm, Pass without Trace, Walls of Fire, barrel of Noxia ooze, menstruum, 7,000 gp from Perodita’s belly scales, the Crusty Beard memorial and hair wall, and the faceplate guards’ armour.

Strategic resources and plans include leaving the dwarf army to recover at Grimcrag, using Bridged for information through a cockroach messenger, trapping Perodita in confined passages, and delaying future decisions until after rest in Magstein.

Clues, Mysteries, and Open Threads

Dotharl’s dome dream, blue eye, lace-white-haired figure, green-eyed woman, her injured friend, her hostile brother, and possible connection to Envy remain unresolved warnings.

No-Hurt has spread everywhere and killed things, but its full nature and relationship to the infestation or corruption remain unclear.

Wrath’s claim that the basilisk could teleport the party to Infestus, his conflict with green dragons, and his offer of memories remain active leverage.

Mericok’s possession or replacement of the High Priest, the smoke sphere with spidery legs, and Papa Marmaru’s warning not to trust Mericok are major divine/dwarven corruption clues.

Perodita’s Noxia essence, old unhealed wounds, and the tower-blood experiment suggest Perodita was being used, sustained, or modified by Noxia-linked magic.

The barrel of Noxia ooze remains a dangerous recovered resource.

Magstein’s inactive council, poor militia, theft, faceplate guards, and unpaid intimidation show the city remains unstable after Perodita’s death.