2023/07/05

Last time in the Iron Kingdoms: Spiritual Jaunt

The party was able to secure a couple of weeks worth of rest since the boatman killings, and during that time business continued as normal. This came to an end when a group of miners went missing in the tunnels that were being expanded underneath Five Fingers. The mining had reached an older section of the tunnels, which dated back to the Orgoth occupation, and the concern was that the digging had awoken something in the tunnels. As the potential for something horrible to be lurking down there was fairly high the mining crew wasn't keen to send more miners down into what could be a death trap. There was no signs of cave in, and the crew did have safety equipment to warn them from toxic gas and other hazards of mining. So the assumption was that something else was down there.

With their mission set, the party began gearing up for an expedition down into the tunnels, taking a couple days of food and water in the event that it was necessary. As they descended into the tunnels they began hearing the caws of crows, which was rather strange as very few birds should be this deep in the tunnels. The journey was further weirded as Charlotte and Xavier were passed by a lanky man wearing a longcoat and a top hat, carrying a shovel. As they passed the man tipped his top hat to the party and continued on turning a corner and leaving sight. The rest of the party didn't see the person though, and while they believed that Charlotte and Xavier did see the man, they weren't sure what to make of it. As the party approached the area where the miners were supposed to be working, the cawing of crows grew louder and was accompanied by the sounds of metal on metal. Eventually they came to a chamber that was consistent with the other Orgoth ruin that they had been in. Screaming faces adorned the walls, and the ceiling was a constellation of stars. The floor in the chamber had splotches of semi fresh blood on it, so the party figured that they had found the right place to begin the search for the miners. The initial search turned up few leads however, as it seemed that the miners were attacked and dragged somewhere before just disappearing. As they were searching however, six humanoid crows with bladed hands stepped out of the shadows and attacked the party.

While it was clear that the crows would have been too much for civilians, the party was cut from a different cloth and was able to defeat the creatures, who dissipated back into the shadows. During the fight however one crow that Hector cast mind maze on ended up walking headfirst into a wall repeatedly and caused the wall to collapse. On the other side was another chamber, with a glowing blue orb in the center. The orb was about three feet in diameter and was hovering about a foot and a half off the ground. Hector could tell that the orb was putting off a significant power, though neither he nor Abe were able to identify it. As the party was turning to go report this new development, there was a flash of light and when the party could see again they were in a strange forest.

The forest was dark and the sky was a strange mirror like thing, reflecting what was beneath in distorted ways. Abe after a little thought came to the conclusion that they were in the wilds of Urcaen, the spirit world. This raised more questions however, such as why there was a portal to the spirit world in Five Finger's basement. The party didn't have the answers to that, and more disconcertingly, there was no portal back near them. Though such a portal would explain the disappearance of the miners and where they might have gone. Now all there was to do was to find the missing miners and figure out a way home. The party began searching the nearby area for the miners and after traveling a distance that didn't quite line up with their steps taken heard screams off in the distance.

The party leapt into action and rushed to the screams. Once there they found the mining crew, being attacked by a dinosaur and a tree of all things. With no time to ponder the specifics of what was going on, a fight for the miner's lives began. The party was able to rescue all but one of the miners, which caught a bad hit from one of the tree's limbs and went down coughing up blood. The rest were able to get behind the party which with no more friendlies in the line of fire were able to unleash their full destructive power against the creatures. Abe finished the fight by jumping into the maw of the tree and activating his ring of retribution blowing up the tree from the inside. With the surviving miners rescued the party held a small funeral for Albert the dead miner. And began pondering how to get back to Five Fingers.