Session 27

### Summary

The Amber Order scrambles to flee the tunnels in the Unscaled Peaks; Mavka and her doppelganger, Zund, reached an uneasy peace while they were trapped underground. Once free, the Amber Order started working with Kendrick.

## Setting

### Locations

Isaldul, the Unscaled Peaks, Kendrick's Camp

Helio felt a blade pierce between his ribs, and the world went dark.

Elsewhere in the tunnels, Caeli, Gossamer, and Karaa froze as a huge burrowing worm passed in front of them, tunneling into the mountain. The horses were spooked, but Karaa calmed them. The three of them decided to follow its trail, descending into the depths of the mountain. They decided that they would try to find Helio and Mavka, and if they ran into Kendrick, Pix, and the doppelganger, that they wouldn't immediately resort to violence.

Mavka sent a message to her doppelganger, asking what she had done with the relic. The doppelganger merely taunted her in response. Mavka cast Pass Without Trace; her two conjured wolves disappeared into nothingness, and she began creeping forward along the tunnel. She saw a glowing white light in the distance ahead, and a figure vaguely silhouetted by the light. She followed it for several minutes, but it never looked back at her.

Helio awoke, still underground. He was bound with rope, and could hear Pix and Kendrick whispering to each-other, but couldn't make out what they were saying. He tried to break the rope, but was unable to do so. His struggle alerted his captors that he was awake, and though he tried to converse with them, they distrusted him because of the obsidian ring on his finger.

Down the tunnel, Mavka continued following the light, passing an intersecting tunnel but continuing forward. Eventually, the light came to a stop, and she called out to it hesitantly. When she broke the silence, she heard rapid footsteps behind her. Mavka heard her own voice in her ears as she was grappled and a knife was pressed to her throat: "Give me one good reason I shouldn't kill you right now."

Caeli, Gossamer, and Karaa tried to pinpoint the locations of anyone else in the tunnels. Gossamer could sense the doppelganger somewhere above them, but they didn't know where anyone else was. They ran into Relidyr, who talked with them for some time. Gossamer asked Karaa if she had something on her mind, and Karaa suggested casting Dimension Door to get Gossamer and Caeli up to the doppelganger, but they were hesitant to leave her with Relidyr and the horses.

Mavka struggled to retain consciousness as her throat was pressed between the grasp of her doppelganger and her blade. Almost gasping for breath, but not quite willing to give her doppelganger the satisfaction, she managed to get a few sentences out: "Listen, your identity isn’t something you can kill or steal or take. It’s something you have to create for yourself. We may share the same face, but that doesn’t mean we have to live in each-other's shadows. As much as you hate me, I envy your relatively clean slate. Do you really want to start your life like this?"

She felt the pressure on her throat ease. Mavka turned to see that her doppelganger was wearing purple and black. Her arms were bandaged to cover bloody bite marks, and Mavka felt a twinge of guilt. She offered her hand to the doppelganger and asked what she could call her. The doppelganger shook Mavka's hand, and said her name was **Zund**. When Mavka asked what they should do now, Zund told Mavka to walk ahead of her while they looked for the others of their respective parties.

In the tunnels below them, Karaa cast dimension door and shoved Gossamer and Caeli through, against their will. They fell into the tunnel where Mavka and Zund were walking. There was a very loud commotion. After a lot of yelling, there was a sudden rumbling beneath them. Gossamer tackled Caeli away as Mavka pulled Zund from the rumbling earth and the worm crashed through the tunnels between them. They heard it crest the mountain and screech before heading back down somewhere else.

Zund and Mavka were stuck on the wrong side of the tunnel, separated from Gossamer and Caeli by a ten-foot wide hole. Zund said she would only go over at the same time as Mavka, because she didn't trust Gossamer and Caeli. In order to reduce the weight and avoid falling to their deaths, Mavka wildshaped into a poisonous sea snake, and coiled around Zund's arm. Zund cleared the gap with ease. The four of them began walking.

Helio tried to get Kendrick and Pix to talk, to little avail. Eventually, Zund led Mavka, Gossamer, and Caeli to Kendrick, Pix, and Helio.

The two groups conversed for a little while. Kendrick's Crew wanted nothing to do with Helio as long as he was wearing the obsidian ring, but working together would be the best way out of the tunnels. Helio eventually agreed to let Pix cut his finger off, which she did with too much enthusiasm. Mavka bandaged Helio's hand afterward.

Meanwhile, Gossamer got to talking with Kendrick. She mentioned that she had the journal of one of the Sons of Vestige, Niperro, and Kendrick expressed his interest in it. He was able to read the date that Gossamer had thought was important. Kendrick told her that it was the **Talgrex Moon** in the Yovell Empire, a holiday celebrated every several hundred years, said to hold lots of power derived from star and planet alignment.

Eventually the party made it out of the mountain. Wanting some direction and access to the knowledge that Kendrick possessed, Gossamer managed to come to an arrangement with him; they would help him collect information, and in exchange he would show them what he'd done with the orb that Zund had stolen.

Kendrick led them to the top of the mountain. There was purple billowy smoke at the top of the mountain, dome-shaped crevasse with a rift at the bottom, a camp, and some strange circular symbols. Mavka asked Kendrick and Zund if they made the rift with the orb, and it appeared that they had. Kendrick said that after the group got some rest, they would use one of the teleportation circles to go to Yovell.

Mavka cast message to try to talk with Karaa, to no avail, and then to Relidyr, who said that there was an accident and he got separated from her. She woke Gossamer and asked to borrow the hags' eyes, and saw Karaa burying three horses on a mountainside. She was anxious to find Karaa, and Gossamer volunteered to come with her, but so did Zund. Gossamer elected to stay behind to watch Helio and Caeli, so it was just Mavka and Zund, much to Mavka's dismay.

They found Karaa on the mountainside, surrounded by sleeping giants. She was resting her hand on one of them, but Mavka cast Message to warn her, and they escaped safely and made it back to Kendrick's camp. Mavka told her what had happened on the way.