Expedition 53: Saving the Ironwood

### Summary

We aim to find a fiend in the Mageline that is draining the life from the Ironwood tree, and make our way to the Eye Cloak Tannery. The fiend spills a vat of Everglow when it is banished, turning the entire tannery into a mass of gibbering flesh, and we escape with our lives.

### Detailed Writeup

Our trip into the Felwood begins smoothly, Marzipan’s first casting of Commune with Nature is uneventful, but does not reveal any useful information. The party continues to another location to make another attempt, but runs into trouble. 8 blink wolves ambush us during the middle of the ritual. The beasts’ pack tactics prove formidable and a few members are badly injured, but with clever use of spells and feats of strength we fell four of the canines and the rest of the pack flees into the woods. Those that are capable give chase and are able to hunt down two more. All told Marzipan is responsible for three wolves, although only two heads recovered for the bounty, Arha for two, and Calliope for 1.

After the battle we mend our wounds, and Marzipan finishes the second ritual casting. This time he’s alerted to a structure nearby with a very faint fiendish presence. He also feels a much more significant elemental presence toward the center of the Felwood, but that is an expedition for another day. The party heads toward the structure but has great difficulty locating it through the dense trees and foliage of the forest. There’s a surprisingly easy riddle lock on the entrance to the stone structure and the door reveals a tunnel dropping straight down 600 feet. The party begins climbing down with Tolyr going first. He unfortunately finds a trapped rung and gets a blast of fire for his trouble causing him to lose his grip and begin free falling. The rest of us jump off and take advantage of Feather Fall to reach the bottom.

At the bottom we find ourselves in a 10x10 tunnel running North/South. Knowing the vague direction of the fiendish presence we begin to head South. We soon come upon a door to our left. It appears locked but has no visible mechanism to unlock it. Uzmir detects an evocation aura on the door, and a necromancy aura within the room beyond. Calliope very carefully wedges her tools into a gap near the handle and the door springs to life, playing a message in Stonetongue and after a few seconds begins to open. With no one able to understand the message Uzmir and Tolyr begin rituals casting Comprehend Languages, but the door begins closing before they finish. Arha, Calliope, & Marzipan rush in before the door shuts, but Tolyr and Uzmir opt to continue their rituals.

Inside the room The trio come upon a decaying woman, the source of the necromancy aura. The woman begins speaking in Stonetongue, but when asked if she speaks Common she obliges. The woman, designated as The Innkeeper, informs them that they're in a rest area within the Mageline, and also apologizes for a lack of non-rotted supplies. The Innkeeper is exceptionally helpful and gives us a primer on the paper currency of the Eastern Empire (denominations in increasing value are pebble, dot, bars, beams, homes, forts, castles, walls, empires), the former name of the Felwood (Mythhollow Wood), and sells us a map of the Mageline. We soon exhaust the help she’s able to provide beyond a safe resting place and continue on with our mission.

We eventually come to another puzzle door. This one inscribed with “Eye Cloak Tannery” above a door with a mechanism unlocked by ice. Beyond we see the remnants of a huge production floor, desiccated and mummified workers little the area. Mounds of amorphous flesh, reminiscent of the creature that attacked the Stormbreak tournament, are also scattered about between the conveyor belts and machinery. We continue forward through this cavernous room reaching another small puzzle door on the far side. This one requiring a few gemstones we recovered from one of the mummified workers. And as the door opens we are greeted by our quarry, the Shadow Demon summoned previously, ready and waiting for us with its claw clenching shut a vat of Everglow.

The demon gives us the option to turn back and avoid a difficult fight, but we refuse. Just before the fiend can let go of the hose, Tolyr banishes it to a separate plane. The hose falling and Everglow spraying rapidly on to the floor. Arha rushes to gain control of the hose, but the pressure is too great. Uzmir hoping to limit the Everglows spread shuts the door, but leaves Tolyr on the outside of the room. Calliope tries to control the Hose with a casting of Rope Trick, but fails, Marzipan hoping to keep the Everglow from affecting the group casting Waterwalking. Uzmir grabs Calliope and Dimesion Doors just outside of the room. Calliope tosses a rope through a small hole in the door and casts Rope Trick again, waiting for Arha to grab it. Tolyr Dimension Doors back into the room, unfortunately into a pile of reforming Gibbering flesh. Arha with the boost provided by Marzipan’s goddess gains control of the hose and uses the Rope Trick to pump the fluid into another dimension. Marzipan clambers into Tolyr’s Bag of Holding, and holds his breath. Tolyr then grabs Arha and teleports to the entrance to the tannery. Uzmir and Calliope run for their lives to escape the coalescing Gibbering Mouthers but just yards away from safety find themselves at a dead end. Tolyr is able to teleport in and out to rescue them and the party closes the door behind them.

Having had enough of exploring the Mageline for one day the group heads back up the ladder, avoiding the trapped rung and makes it to the surface just after nightfall. Marzipan leads the way back to Vrall, just skirting past an enormous white elk, and finding a large chunk of amber along the way. The adventures return home with their goal accomplished and new found respect for the dangers of the fallen Eastern Empire.