After scouting though the river valley for many hours, Mar’Khabazza and Magnus return to where they left Ravenna Feldspar in order to rest, eat, and re-equip. This time it is Magnus and Ravenna who head out to explore the valley this time striking out along the eastern rim.
Heading to the north and east, Ravenna and Magnus move through the forest thickets and among the foliage and downed branches they detect a small hole in the ground from which floats a faint wisp of humid, stale air that condenses into mist in the cold air.
Deeming this an alternate entrance into a Sudaar cave complex they fetch mar’Khabazza and work out a method of descending into the darkness using ropes and Magnus’ small bullseye lantern. The descent is cramped and treacherous but the troupe navigates it successfully to end up on the shelf overlooking a pitch black cavern. Moving carefully and quietly through the darkness
Exploring the complex reveals five survivors of the raid on Merchant Salanar:
A quiet man named Harin, a brother and sister from the Empire, Watal and Myrsel of Juir, a caravan guard named Mowen, and Arlin a twelve year old girl whose parents were coming to seek their fortune in the Jewel Cities but were slain in the attack on the caravan. They are weak, terrified and have not seen daylight in the three weeks since the attack that liberated Revanna.
The survivors are terrified and quietly explain while crouched in the tiny light of Magnus’ lantern. Originally there were a dozen or so of them, but over the last weeks the Sudaar would come with their sinister-looking shaman to take a captive away, who would never be seen again. After some debate it is decided that the captives are too weak to climb up the chimney so they must explore the cave to find an exit.
The troupe decides to set an ambush, attempting to ensnare anything they can into a killground that they establish by the cramped entrance to the cavern. Magnus gives his flintlock to Harin the Gunner (a caravan guard and a self-professed good shot) to volley shots. The survivors begin to make noise to draw attention.
Three orcs arrive who are quickly dealt with: Ravenna and Magnus proving deadly with climbing baw and bastard sword. Next comes two animated corpses – survivors of the caravan attack slain in ritual sacrefice – and a warrior and the shaman. The shaman casts a stunning spell at Ravenna and mar’Khabazza is knocked unconscious but is spared more grievous harm as Ravenna and mar’Khabazza press the attack. After the moment is won, the survivors toot the sudaar for anything helpful and Magnus nurses the merchant back to health.
With no more foes forthcoming, Ravenna and Magnus scout the way forward with mar’Khabazza leading the survivors. By chance they come across a dark chapel dedicated to some pagan god, the main feature is a sharpened and polished stalagmite upon which victims are impaled. At the back of the chapel lies the inner sanctum of the shaman, a rough cavern with a raised platform, upon which is a crude mattress of leaves and twigs, as well as boxes and baskets. They contain a full set of priest regalia to the unknown god, an onyx chalice, a series of sheets of vellum pressed together between two pieces of slate and bound together with leather thongs, two sacrificial daggers of silver and onyx, a bag of money looted from the merchant caravan, a small stonee of some strange matte grey material that causes Revanna’s hand and arm to feel coated in heavy slime when toughed with bare skin, and a polished metallic box, dented and smashed open, that matches the description of the metal box propvided by the demon-helmeted creature from Opal.
Revanna opens the box, revealing a fist-sized perfectly clear crystal the size of a man’s fist expertly carved into a perfect heart. The heart is set into black velvet padding in the box.
Mission apparently accomplished, the troupe and the five survivors continue to search and grope in the darkness for their way out, sneaking and listening for any threat. As they make their way in the darkness, they hear the echoing sounds of a skirmish for down a tunnel and a grass-cross orc flees into the mine, blundering into mar’Khabazza. There is a brief scuffle and a flash of Rasp and Thorn and the Sudaar falls dead. Following in the direction from where the Sudaar came leads them to the entrance where two of chainmail-clad orcs attack. In a feat of agility mar’Khabazza performs a tumbling roll into their midst, slaying one fome behind while Magnus slays the other.
Then at last they are back outside, standing blinking in the nighttime sun.
The troupe immediately retreats back to Feldspar with the five survivors. Once with the horse they readjust gear and rebalance provisions, with Magnus attempting to nurse the survivors back from the brink.
May 20, 7761
Harin dies while the group camps in the gloomy hours of the arctic sun.
Facing a four day march to the Great Road, the seven members of the group split up the remaining provisions and tighten their belts. For four days they walk through the forest, following the trail that the Sudaar blazed northwards. The survivors of Merchant Salanar’s Caravan struggle while Magnus attempts to hunt game to bolster their food supply ,eventually bagging a healthy buck that bolsters their meager food supply.
The air is warming and sky overhead alternates between a broken sky and short rain showers. On the second day of the trek back to the Great Road, the sun rises from below the horizon for the final time. The midnight sun has arrived and will remain until late summer.
May 24, 7761
On the fourth day of their trek, the troupe and the four survivors reach the Great Road.
The group turns left and begins walking east towards the edge of the unnamed forest and back to Opal. The Road looks churned and well used in places as the spring thaw opens the road for traffic from the Empire. They are soon overtaken by an eight wagon convoy of merchants heading to Opal and mar’Khabazza negotiates passage on one of the wagons for the seven of them after being rejected outright by the caravan master, Tovros.
It is an easy trip back through the Mulpara Range to the crossroads, and three days of nursing the survivors back to health until the merchant caravan halts at the Merchant’s Guild to register their wares and offload passengers. Here the survivors of Merchant Salanar’s caravan bid the troupe farewell, seeking shelter and respite within the guild hall before looking for employment.
Without delay, the troupe heads through Opal directly to the Duergar Keep. Knocking on the door they are met by a creature identifiable by its basalt helmet fashioned into the shape of a ram. It stands in the squat doorway, unmoving, when Ravenna produces the box but instead turns to head back inside.
At long last the creature with the red jasper demon-head helmet appears face all but invisible behind the narrow-slitted mask..
Ravenna proffers the box and the creature readily accepts it. Noticing that it has been broken open it says, “Is it that you know what is inside?”
“Yes” says Revanna.
The helmeted head nods and offers the two gold balls as payment, holding them out. Instead of taking them, Revanna holds out her hand expectantly. The creature simply drops the two gold orbs into the mud, spins on its heel and takes the box inside the keep.
“A strange thing,” thinks Magnus. “These people lie when there is no need, and tell the truth when they should have lied.”