Episode 61: A Dangerous Descent

The treasure cache of the Dragonborn empire is tantalizingly close. But to get to it, the Heroes of Bingle must descend into a secret chasm hundreds of feet deep, full of enormous bats and monster eggs. With the party already split, will they be able to survive all of the threats that lurk so far underground?

#### **DM/GM Intro**

*It started as a simple dungeon run…*

*These five adventurers could never have imagined then that banding together would eventually lead them on a perilous journey back through time.  But powerful magic has transported this team 22 years into the past, and placed them into bodies that are not their own, living borrowed lives in a time before many of them were even born.*

*Here, they are sellswords - mercenaries, working for a pirate of land and sea - a notorious buccaneer named Whitebeard who seeks the treasure cache of the Shaxen Gao empire.  They learned of this treasure when they captured a Triton named Cho’Ran, fleeing for his life across a desert island.  Wanted by the Dragonborn dynasty for having a child in secret with a princess of the royal family, Cho’Ran offered the whereabouts of the mysterious cache of riches and magical items in exchange for his life. But Whitebeard betrayed Cho’Ran, selling him out to the Shaxen Gao, who sent their assassin monks to pay the bounty and collect their princess.*

*When the deal went bad, Cho’Ran was slain, but the team found a way to communicate with him beyond the grave. He told them that the Shaxen Gao themselves were scared of the treasure.  That they employed the Tritons to secure it for them, and that it was hidden underneath the city of Kingdon, in a place the Tritons called The Mantle.  Cho’Ran told them to seek out the Triton king and queen there, Uchalass’Voy and Uchalass’Wei.*

*So Whitebeard sailed his ship to the Realm of Latlan and together he and the team made their way inland to the great walled city of Kingdon.  What they found was a ruin - building after building destroyed from above.  Rubble overrun by scavengers and insects subsisting on the remains of a once vibrant city.*

*In the center of town, a large, buzzing hive, built from debris and mud and mucus shaped over the top of a simple brick well.  The team battled the creatures that hovered and crawled around it.  Fahima encircled the hive with a massive wall of fire, and the team blasted and battered the bugs with all manner of attacks, while fending off the sharp-quilled scavengers who ran at them from the alleyways.*

*When the hive eventually exploded, an enormous queen emerged, flittering and ready to strike.  But no sooner did her stinger extend than Uggo lept upon her back, driving her into the ground, and providing opportunity for Siv to skewer her with his rapier and short sword.*

*In the aftermath of that fight, the team discovered that the well was no ordinary water reserve.  Instead of a bucket and pulley, it had a rope ladder, which led deep into the ground.  Descending into the darkness, they found that it opened into an enormous cavern with waterfalls cascading hundreds of feet below.  Sound echoed across the rock platforms all around them, as they each climbed down the ladder into the unknown.*

*Lily rode Whitebeard’s back, gripping his whiskers and helping him navigate in the darkness.  James cast Fly on Siv and Uggo, who picked up Fahima and Lily and stepped off the ledge and out into open air.  But as they flew toward the bottom of the chasm, large winged bats assaulted them, screeching and biting with deadly intent.  Uggo managed to rocket himself and his companions 120 feet closer to the bottom, but Siv succumbed to a poisonous bite, which caused him to go rigid and plummet to a rock platform much higher up.*

*Hearing the trouble, Meep illuminated the area, allowing James to target the bats with his Eldritch blasts, while Uggo deposited Fahima and Lily to soar back up and help fend off the fanged creatures.*

*As Fahima and Lily waited below, they began to notice their surroundings.  To Fahima’s left, large, bulbous eggs, clustered in the corner of a rocky crevice, began to crack.  Hanging above Lily, gripping the underside of the stone outcropping, a strange, multi-legged monster skittered closer.*

*Then it reared back on sharp, spindly legs… and pounced.*