#88: Fire in the sky

 

Fire in the Sky

Leaving behind the reservoir and the shattered floodgates, the party made their way away from the scene of their victory. Water continued to pour into the terraces below, flooding fields throughout the plantation valley. Alarm bells rang across Spinewater as overseers and laborers scrambled to respond to the disruption. Amid the confusion, the party noticed several prisoners using the chaos as cover to escape into the aqueduct.

Seeking a place to recover, the group found an abandoned tool shed on a ridge overlooking the flooded terraces. There they settled in for a long rest and began preparing for the next stage of their pursuit.

During the respite, both Samm and Perra attempted to locate Virex through magical scrying. Samm employed the crystal ball he had recovered long ago, while Perra relied upon his own divine gift. Their first efforts failed, but persistence paid off. Eventually, the magical sensor found its mark.

The vision revealed Virex accompanied by Sahram, the Marid who had escaped from the battle at the reservoir. The pair traveled across a lake in a simple rowboat. Visible in the distance were the familiar spires of Virex's stronghold, convincing the party that the lake lay somewhere west of the plantation. The two conspirators spoke openly as they traveled. Their plans were clear: they intended to reach a fortified position on the far side of the lake and await further instructions.

More importantly, the conversation revealed the name of the true power behind the Yuan-ti hierarchy. Virex and Sahram referred repeatedly to their master by several titles: Ssarith-Ka, The First Coil, and Lord of the Whispering Temple.

While the others rested, Engie devoted his time to crafting a new magical servant, completing the construction of a Homunculus.

The night passed uneventfully until the final watch. Near dawn, Engie heard an unfamiliar sound outside the shed. Looking out, he discovered a large airship hovering overhead, apparently conducting a patrol over the plantation.

Activating a Ring of Invisibility, Engie took flight toward the vessel to investigate.

Unfortunately, the airship had already noticed the shed.

A Helmed Horror was dispatched from the ship to investigate the structure below. Lenny and Tsk emerged from hiding and immediately engaged the construct. As Engie climbed toward the vessel, he gained a clear view of the forces aboard: two powerful evokers, two additional Helmed Horrors, a Pit Master, a Mind Whisperer, a Nightmare Speaker, and three Yuan-ti Purebloods manning a ballista.

Battle erupted across both ground and sky.

One evoker unleashed devastating magic from above, striking the battlefield with Chain Lightning and poisonous clouds. The second acted as a battlefield commander, teleporting Yuan-ti reinforcements into the fight one at a time while the remaining Helmed Horrors descended to engage the party directly.

Meanwhile, Engie reached the top of the airship. Using Heat Metal, he weakened critical structural components and tore open a rupture in the vessel's upper surface. The damage caused the ship to shudder violently and begin an uncontrolled descent.

Below, the party systematically defeated the Yuan-ti reinforcements as they arrived. The Pit Master, Nightmare Speaker, Mind Whisperer, and Helmed Horrors were overcome one after another despite fierce resistance.

As the crippled vessel lurched lower toward the terraces, Engie swung down from above and delivered a devastating Fireball into the gondola, engulfing the Pureblood crew operating the ballista. Nearby, his newly-created Homunculus struck the final blow against one of the evokers, who had already been badly wounded by Tsk's attacks.

The second evoker vanished amidst the chaos and destruction. Whether by teleportation, invisibility, or simple luck, his fate remains unknown.

With its crew dead or scattered and its structure fatally compromised, the airship crashed into the flooded terraces below. The surviving Purebloods perished in the wreckage.

As the smoke cleared, the party stood victorious once again. Yet the revelation of Ssarith-Ka's name, the escape of both Sahram and the remaining evoker, and the looming presence of the Whispering Temple made one thing abundantly clear:

The true enemy still waits deeper within the Veil.

#88 - Flooding the Valley

After reaching the aqueduct, the party took time to recover, making camp and taking a long rest within sight of their objective. During the rest, Engie noticed something unusual in the flowing water—shifting clouds of different hues moving beneath the surface. He correctly deduced that these were water elementals, though they showed no immediate hostility.

At dusk, the party climbed onto the upper level of the aqueduct and began their approach toward the plantation. As they moved deeper along the structure, they observed more of these strange currents within the channel—elementals moving with purpose through the controlled flow.

Eventually, one such current overtook them from behind. The water surged forward, then rose and took shape, forming into a figure: a water nymph who introduced herself as Ilyra Reedwhisper. She questioned their intentions, noting that most who walk this path are trying to escape the plantation—not enter it.

Through their conversation, the party learned that Virex, though powerful, is not the true master of Spinewater. He serves a greater authority tied to the Whispering Temple, a place that lies deeper within the Veil and can only be reached by magic or airship. Ilyra spoke of this distant power with unease, hinting at an ancient and dangerous presence behind the Yuan-ti hierarchy.

Once convinced that the party opposed Virex, Ilyra revealed her own conflict. She resents the unnatural control imposed on the waters of Spinewater. She explained that a Marid named Sahram serves Virex, commanding the water elementals and maintaining the system that sustains the plantation. As long as Sahram controls the flow, Spinewater endures. If he were defeated, the system could collapse.

With this knowledge, the party pressed forward.

They soon reached the point where the aqueduct empties into a reservoir feeding the plantation below. Floodgates regulated the water, operated under the watch of Yuan-ti guards. The party quickly devised a plan: Perra and Engie would sabotage the floodgates, while Samm and Tsk drew the defenders’ attention.

The assault began, and the reservoir erupted into chaos. Sahram himself rose from the depths, accompanied by powerful water elementals, water myrmidons, and Yuan-ti defenders. The battle was intense, with the environment itself becoming part of the struggle.

Despite heavy resistance, the party gained the upper hand. Perra unleashed a roar of fear that disrupted the defenders and broke their coordination. Under mounting pressure, Sahram chose not to fall—he fled the battlefield through magic, abandoning the fight.

With the defenders defeated, Perra and Engie completed their objective. The floodgates were thrown open and sabotaged, preventing them from being closed again.

As the session ended, water surged unchecked into the plantation valley below. 

#87 - Road to the aqueduct

 Before the escaped prisoners scattered into the hills at the end of the previous session, one of them pulled Perra aside and explained how they had managed to flee the plantation. Pointing to the horizon in the northeast, he described a landmark visible from nearly anywhere in the region: the tallest mountain at the very edge of the Spinewater Skyhold. Just west of that peak lies a small valley leading to another cluster of mountains. Beyond those mountains, he explained, sits a large reservoir built by Virex and the Yuan-ti to serve as the permanent water supply for the plantation. Water is carried across the valley by an aqueduct that feeds into the reservoir.

The prisoners had not known about the structure at first. But after a recent earthquake, several of them were forced to perform repair work on the aqueduct. Once they realized what it was, they seized the opportunity. Slipping across the reservoir at night, they used the aqueduct itself as a narrow bridge across the valley and escaped through the wilderness beyond the walls.

Meanwhile, Tsk had remained behind on the Skyhold of Cairn Oruna to assist the slaves freed from Virex’s temple there. With that task completed, the high priest of the temple of Bahamut arranged to teleport him to Perra’s location, reuniting the druid with the rest of the party.

Armed with the knowledge of the aqueduct’s location, the party set out toward the northeast, hoping to use it as a covert route into the Spinewater plantation.

The journey was not quiet for long. Along the way they encountered a mounted Yuan-ti patrol: two Pit Masters and two Nightmare Speakers, each riding an armored triceratops. Leading them was a high-ranking Yuan-ti Pureblood cleric.

The battle that followed was fierce and costly. Recognizing the threat posed by the cleric, the party focused their attacks on her first. Once she fell, the momentum shifted steadily in their favor. Still, the triceratops proved terrifying opponents, goring Perra and Samm multiple times and leaving several members of the party badly wounded before the fight was finally brought under control.

With the Yuan-ti riders defeated, the party managed to calm the trained dinosaurs rather than killing them, eventually bringing the massive beasts under their control.

After a short rest to tend their wounds, the party mounted the triceratops and continued their journey northeast. Before long they reached a point where the ancient aqueduct could be seen stretching across the valley ahead—the same structure the escaped prisoners had used to slip beyond the walls of Spinewater.

Their path into the plantation now lies within reach.

#86: Spinewater

 In the aftermath of the battle within Virex’s temple, the party found themselves surrounded not by guards or cultists, but by the meek and malnourished servants the Yuan-ti wizard had kept enslaved. These survivors emerged cautiously once the fighting had ended, uncertain whether freedom was real.

Among them was an elderly man named Hollis Reed. Hollis revealed that Virex had not fled blindly—he was almost certainly retreating to a Skyhold called Spinewater. He described it as a harsh place of jungle and mountains, where Virex maintained a fortified stronghold overlooking a vast, walled plantation. There, enslaved workers toiled in terraced rice fields under the constant cruelty of Yuan-ti overseers. Hollis was certain that Spinewater served as one of Virex’s operational bases, and that it tied directly into the same Yuan-ti power structure connected to the Whispering Temple the party sought.

Determined to pursue Virex and sever his connection to the Temple, the party learned one final secret from Hollis: a hidden teleport sigil. Hollis had been part of a quiet escape network—an underground railroad of sorts—used to smuggle enslaved people out of Spinewater. The sigil on the Spinewater side was deliberately placed deep in dangerous wilderness, far from patrols, where dinosaurs roamed freely. It was the only way to avoid Yuan-ti detection.

The party chose to use the sigil immediately. Tsk stayed behind to help organize and protect the freed slaves in Cairn Oruna, while the rest of the group stepped through the teleport.

They arrived in Spinewater amid chaos.

A herd of dinosaurs was already in motion, chasing a group of escaped prisoners through the jungle. Three tyrannosauruses thundered through the trees, accompanied by packs of deinonychus and velociraptors. The party intervened without hesitation. Perra banished one of the tyrannosauruses outright, while Engie incinerated a cluster of velociraptors with a well-placed fireball. The remaining beasts were dispatched quickly, though not without cost—Lenny was grievously injured, bitten and lifted into the jaws of a tyrannosaurus before the creature was slain.

In the aftermath, the freed prisoners warned that the danger was far from over. Yuan-ti patrols were already hunting for escapees in the area.

Anticipating pursuit, Engie erected a secure shelter using Mordenkainen’s Private Sanctum, preparing a deadly contingency: a Wall of Fire to punish any attackers who found them. That precaution proved wise. Later in the night, a Yuan-ti patrol discovered the hidden refuge—three Abominations, two Pit Masters, and two Nightmare Speakers advanced on the sanctum.

When the attack came, Engie unleashed the prepared Wall of Fire, badly burning the Pit Masters and Nightmare Speakers as they attempted to breach the boundary. A brief but brutal fight followed, ending in decisive victory for the party. With the patrol destroyed, the prisoners were given time to flee into the hills, where they hoped to find safer ground beyond Yuan-ti reach.

Before departing, one of the escapees shared vital information with Perra: the route they had used to flee the plantation itself. With Spinewater now before them, and Virex somewhere beyond its walls, the party may have found a way to enter the Skyhold unnoticed.

The hunt continues.

#85: Cairn Oruna

 

Session Summary: Arrival at the Astral Archipelago

Zhaerin of Limnark guided the party deeper into the Astral Sea, explaining that their destination lay ahead—his home city of Cairn Oruna, a place that stood at the threshold between worlds. At first, the Astra Archipelago appeared only as a faint blue dot in the distance. Over several days of travel through the void, that dot grew into something vast and impossible: a pale blue ring in space, like a colossal donut of sky and cloud.

As they drew closer, Zhaerin explained what little he knew of the phenomenon. At the center of the ring lay a massive vortex, spiraling endlessly inward, and within it existed a mysterious construct known as the Seal. Even Zhaerin’s understanding was vague—only that the Seal was ancient, powerful, and dangerous.

While departing the region near the vortex and setting course for Cairn Oruna, the party became aware that they were being followed. The pursuing vessel soon made contact, first speaking telepathically to Tsk, the Thri-Kreen druid, and then to the entire group. Its commander revealed himself as an Aurumach, a being tasked with observing and preserving cosmic balance. He spoke at length about the folly of attempting to destroy evil outright, hinting that such actions inevitably give rise to other evils in response.

Upon arrival in Cairn Oruna, the party met the Aurumach face to face. He was accompanied by a polite but unsettling assistant named Mr. Thorn and several heavily armed, dwarf-like guards. After settling into a large inn near the port, the Aurumach elaborated further on the origins of the Seal, the vortex, and the Veil that divided astral space from the breathable sky of the Archipelago.

The Aurumach revealed that the source of the Eye of Igurze lay somewhere deep within the Veil, at a place called the Whispering Temple. While he lacked specific knowledge of the Temple itself, he did know of a local mage named Virex, whose activities were connected to it and whose presence had brought no small amount of trouble to Cairn Oruna. In his characteristically passive-aggressive manner, the Aurumach suggested that defeating Virex would be “helpful to the balance,” and might also provide clues leading toward the Whispering Temple.

Zhaerin, who overheard this exchange, confirmed that he had heard of Virex—a reclusive mage rumored to operate from a fortified temple. Whispers around the city spoke of smuggling and slaving tied to the site, though its occupants were rarely, if ever, seen.

Seeking further guidance, the party visited a temple dedicated to the dragon god Bahamut, to whom Perra is devoted. In exchange for a generous donation, the temple’s priests cast Greater Restoration on Samm, restoring the intelligence he had lost in the previous session. When asked how else they might serve, the priests independently named Virex as a source of great evil in the city, stating that his defeat would earn the party the favor of Bahamut.

With confirmation from multiple sources, the party moved to gather intelligence. Tsk summoned invisible sprites to scout Virex’s temple. The sprites discovered a prison holding several enslaved captives, Virex’s inner chambers guarded by massive scorpion-like constructs, and an unsettling number of snakes throughout the complex.

The party then approached Virex’s stronghold. While Perra attempted to engage the outer guards in conversation, the rest of the group tried to infiltrate quietly under the cover of Pass without Trace. The attempt faltered when Engie stumbled, alerting the guards. Surprisingly, rather than attacking, the guards welcomed the party inside, claiming that Virex was willing to treat with them. Perra stated—somewhat truthfully—that they sought a powerful artifact known as the Eye of Igurze. The guards, openly arrogant, insisted that Virex had nothing to fear from them.

Negotiations quickly collapsed into violence. Virex revealed himself as a powerful mage protected by two massive scorpion constructs. The “human” guards proved to be anything but—snakes throughout the chamber transformed into Yuan-ti defenders, including three broodguards, a Malison with serpents for arms, and another with a serpentine lower body. Virex shielded himself with a Globe of Invulnerability, frustrating several of the party’s attacks, particularly Engie’s.

Despite this, the battle swiftly turned in the party’s favor. Under heavy pressure—much of it from Tsk’s relentless archery—Virex was brought to the brink of defeat. At that moment, rather than fall, the mage vanished from the battlefield, escaping an otherwise decisive end.

The confrontation left the party victorious, but with new questions: where had Virex gone, what secrets still lay within his temple, and how directly his actions tied into the Whispering Temple waiting deep within the Veil.

Image of Cairn Oruna, outside the veil.

Image of Cairn Oruna, inside the veil.

#84 - Exploring the Shrike Ship

 

Aftermath of the Boarding

Following the fierce battle aboard the galleon, the crew took time to rest and recover. During the lull, their Thri-Kreen companion “Tik”, who had been hibernating below decks, emerged to rejoin the group.

As the Mind Flayer’s psychic influence faded, the three enslaved Gith began to awaken. Two of them immediately turned on one another in a violent brawl, forcing the party to intervene.

• Zhaerin of Limnark, a Githzerai, regained enough composure to speak. Once a pilot on a Githzerai vessel from a region known as the Astral Archipelago, he explained that his ship had clashed with Illithid raiders commanded by a relic-hunting Mind Flayer named Xyvolar. Xyvolar had been pursuing the silver thread toward the party’s home world, seeking a mysterious artifact at its end. Zhaerin hailed from Cairn Oruna, one of the Archipelago’s drifting fragments.

• Voryn Tal’ith, a Githyanki corsair, shared his own story. His warband had raided a rumored Illithid stronghold within the Archipelago called T’vasken’s Maw. The assault failed, and both he and his crewmate Korr’ith Vann were captured.

• Korr’ith Vann, the third captive, has not recovered his mind. His thoughts remain shattered—an empty vessel of psychic residue.

From these survivors, the heroes learned that Mind Flayer domination of Gith is exceedingly rare, for their race is naturally resistant to psionic control. Xyvolar must therefore possess a powerful relic or ancient magic that enables his enslavement of them.

---

Exploring the Captured Shrike

The party explored the captured Shrike raider, finding its lower deck built like a grotesque organism. Veins of pulsating resin ran along the walls, giving the impression that the ship itself was alive and wired into its master’s mind.

In the Mind Flayer’s quarters, they found smooth black resin doors and a chamber of chilling serenity: a hovering bone chair suspended by unseen force above a shallow pool of silvery fluid, a psionic reflection basin for communion and meditation. Etched symbols covered the walls, shifting subtly when observed—maps, diagrams, perhaps even faces. A faint, oily scent lingered, and a low psychic hum pressed at the skulls of those who lingered too long.

Deeper within, in the cargo hold, the group confronted four Intellect Devourers and a Mindwitness—a beholder twisted into Illithid service. They destroyed the creatures swiftly, though Samm suffered severe psychic trauma, left comatose by the devourers’ attack.

---

Repair and Recovery

Over the next two days, Engee, the party’s Artificer, crafted a magical headband that restored Samm’s mind. The crew split their complement between vessels, leaving Zhaerin to pilot the captured Shrike while Captain Hurst maintained command of the galleon. Together, they resumed their course along the silver thread.

---

Ambush in the Astral Sea

Not long into the journey, the convoy encountered a massive Astral Aboleth accompanied by two Astral Remorhaz. The ensuing battle raged through open void. The heroes destroyed both remorhaz, forcing the Aboleth to retreat.

Before vanishing into the silver mists, the creature projected a parting thought into their minds — a cold promise:

“You will find me again… when the sea remembers your fear.”

The party suspects that this was not the Aboleth’s full strength — merely a warning of the power waiting farther along the thread.

---

Current Status

• Two operational ships: the Galleon (Captain Hurst) and the Shrike (Zhaerin).

• Samm recovered, now wearing Engee’s crafted psionic headband.

• Voryn Tal’ith and Zhaerin of Limnark remain aboard, their mutual hatred a constant source of tension.  Korr'ith as well, though he is not a functioning crew member.

• The Silver Thread continues ahead toward the Astral Archipelago, and perhaps toward Xyvolar himself.

#83 - The Space Galleon and ambush

 

Session Summary — Voyage Beyond the Silver Thread

Attending:

• Perra (Bill)

• Samm (Stan)

• Engee (Chase)

• Lenny (John)

• Brian was absent

---

Mission Brief

Under the direction of Merl, the party departed aboard a space galleon to trace the silver thread across the Astral Sea — a path believed to lead toward the source of the Eye of Igurze.

The vessel was placed under the command of Captain Hurst, a Giff pilot. The galleon carries: three forward-mounted ballistas and a mangonel along the main deck.  

---

The Ambush

While navigating the shifting psychic currents of the Astral Sea, the galleon came under attack by two Shrike-class raiders of Illithid design.

• One closed the distance to engage in boarding maneuvers.

• The other hung back, circling the fight and observing — likely under orders to record the engagement or await reinforcement.

The opening minutes saw a tense ship-to-ship exchange:
The party manned the siege engines, loosing volleys from the ballistas and mangonel as the Shrike darted through the silvery void. 

When the Shrike drew alongside, the boarding assault began.

---

The Boarding Battle

A Mind Flayer Arcanist led a strike team of psionically enslaved and aberrant allies:

• 1 Mind Flayer Arcanist (CR 8, 3,900 XP)

• 1 Astral Otyugh (CR 5, 1,800 XP)

• 1 Stone Golem (CR 10, 5,900 XP)

• 1 Stone Giant (CR 7, 2,900 XP — teleported from the second Shrike mid-battle)

• 3 Enslaved Gith Warriors (CR 5 each, 1,800 XP total)

The boarding action was brutal and chaotic, spanning both decks of the galleon as psychic assaults rippled through its hull.

Early in the battle, the Mind Flayer Arcanist teleported the Astral Otyugh onto the galleon to reinforce its troops — but the creature was already wounded by Engee’s earlier strikes during the pursuit. It fell quickly once confronted by multiple opponents on deck.

The Stone Golem pressed steadily forward across the main deck, shrugging off spells and ballista bolts as it drove the front line back. Above, the Mind Flayer Arcanist directed his enslaved Gith warriors, their synchronized attacks driven by his psionic commands.

The Stone Giant, arriving mid-battle via teleportation from the second Shrike, nearly turned the tide — until Lenny engaged it directly, keeping the massive foe occupied and ultimately defeating it through sheer endurance and timing.

---

Aftermath

Once the heroes began to gain the upper hand, the Mind Flayer Arcanist disengaged, teleporting back to the circling Shrike.
That ship immediately broke formation and retreated into the mists of the Astral Sea.

The Otyugh, Golem, and Giant were slain.
Three enslaved Gith warriors were captured alive — their psionic bonds fractured but not yet entirely broken.

The battle left the galleon scarred but intact, its crew exhausted yet victorious.

---

Closing Scene

The three captured Gith now await interrogation — potential allies or dangerous liabilities, depending on how much of their minds remain their own.

Session Two will open aboard the still and silent galleon, its crew tending wounds while the stars ripple in the distance — the silver thread still gleaming faintly ahead.