#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.