#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.