#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.