Rising from the Abyss (Mini-Series)

## Introduction Blurb

Locals speak of a tear in the earth, an impossible scar between the Yngitiir Mountains into which an unaware adventurer could fall for years and never touch the bottom. News arrives, occasionally, of a colony of dwarves who have inhabited this treacherous ravine as if in direct defiance of gravity (and reasonable safety standards). But recently, stones have begun to roll up here. Dirt has formed fists. Creatures of earth, of slate and gravel and gem, have clawed out of this *Everfalling Pit* - and if the dwarves won't hold the pit's creatures to the pit, it becomes our problem.

It becomes *your* problem, if you'll take up this daring adventure to find and stop the source of these creatures, brave heroes. Will you trek to this magnificently treacherous gap in the world and show these monsters whose land this really is? Who knows, maybe you'll get to keep some of those gem bits as your fair payment, eh?

## Player Characters

* Florian (she/her, though she appears and present rather masculine-ly) is a joyful bard with fine clothing and an even finer lute. She's human and pretty dang average-looking, with light brown skin spattered with freckles and medium-length hair pulled up into a ponytail, which she then hides, partially, beneath a stylish cap. Upon first look, she doesn't seem to have a care in the world!
* Liu Huang (Huang is his first name) is a large and intimidating Panda Folk adorned in the garb of a General of his people. Appointed general by his father the emperor, he wishes to do nothing more than bring glory to both his father and the empire. His black and white face is covered with shear determination and fierceness. He has worked hard to gain his position and despise those who believe it was just given to him.
* Vitus Thraemon is skinny, and gangly, he wears green robes with silver arcane signs. really it just looks like chicken scratch and means little to anyone other than Vitus. He wears a clasic wizards hat that is grey with green polkadots. He carries a staff that looks like a branch that Vitus then scorched and carved a name in. *Stafford.* He wears swirly spectacle though he does not need them and is human.

## Recap

##### Session One: Tremors

Three people travel through the Sliver, a treacherous pass through the Yngitiir Mountains that offers just enough safety to allow some through the mountain range. The three now stand in what was once an oasis, but is now a destroyed, unstable mess of a place. The earth is churned and uneven, the lake is now a mud pool, even the cavernous roof overhead seems fractured. Suddenly, the earth begins to tremble beneath and around them, sending stalactites crashing to the ground next to them. They eventually escape with some bruises and a twisted ankle.

Moving on, they find a settlement made of rough-hewn stone blocks; none of them have ever heard of it, which is odd considering how remarkable its presence in the mountains is. Talking to the singular guard outside, they learn that someone named Roquette built the town single-handedly with magic. The town, Flickering Hope, is cold, gray, and full of despairing people. Florian, being a bard, plays a happy tune to raise their spirits and their health, but it gains the attention of some sentient boulders.

##### Session Two: The Rolling Stones

The three travelers in the town of Flickering Hope stand off against the Galeb Duhr, living boulders which are most commonly summoned as mages' guards against physical threats. They fight against the monsters, finding magic much more effective than martial attacks. Roquette sees Vitus' magic and runs outside, trying to help in the battle but doing more harm than good. Still, Huang stops the monsters in their tracks as Vitus blasts them with magic, his damage being boosted by Florian. After the battle, they learn that Roquette gained her power over stone only recently, since the earth began shaking and monsters started appearing. She begs them to save the townspeople from the phenomenon that's causing all this, and being heroes in heart, they agree.

The next morning, they set off, leaving the Sliver and climbing up the mountains themselves. It's a hard trek, with the harsh conditions and frequent earthquakes. One night, the tremors are worse than ever - they're near the epicenter. The quake leaves fissures in the earth and throughout the mountain. When Vitus detects magic and looks down into a fissure, he sees a faint pulsing of earthen magic coming from the north. They follow that direction and the next day find themselves at the edge of a valley. Carved through the center of the valley is a massive ravine which, oddly enough, seems to have some sort of structure clinging to the side. As they make their way down into the valley, a dust devil - a sentient, swirling mix of air and earth - attacks them from behind. They fail to beat it as easily as they beat the boulders earlier so they make a run for the ravine. The dust devil catches them, but they think they hear a war cry in the distance.

##### Session Three: Don't Look Down

The three travelers are surrounded by the dust devil but manage to escape before helping two guards from the ravine kill it. One guard is suspicious of the outsiders, but the other welcomes them into their settlement: a dwarven city built into the two sides of the bottomless ravine *Ewigegrube*. According to the dwarven guards, the people on the north side of the ravine have closed off contact with the south side (which the guards are on now). Since then, more and more monsters have come up out of the abyss. Vitus sees that the north-siders are giddy and don't seem concerned, while Huang sees a portrait of one of his people's enemies from centuries ago. The guards also explain a process to get down the ravine fast: you drop a glow stone then jump a few seconds later, trusting some mages with Feather Fall to slow you down then reel you in at the bottom of the settlement.

Recognizing that they'll need to get across the ravine to solve the mystery, the group thinks of how to cross. Vitus recalls some inventive techniques used by an old monster hunter and decides to build a hang-glider. They borrow materials from the south-siders and while the finished product is a bit raggedy, it should do the job probably hopefully. Florian, unfortunately not being a big fan of heights, decides to stay behind while Vitus and Huang get across and activate the bridge so she can follow. Vitus and Huang take off - and Florian notices two monstrous gargoyles flying up towards them.

##### Session Four: A Long Way Down

When Vitus realizes the gargoyles will catch the glider before it reaches the north side of the ravine, he has Huang shift the weight of the glider to catapult him forward, landing him a few levels down the ravine. With the glider being a bit lighter now, Huang manages to also reach the ravine - a bit off target himself, but not too terrible. Florian, from the south side, looses a few arrows at the gargoyles to distract and harm them, drawing the ire of one of them. Vitus turns invisible and manages to start sending a drawbridge across to Florian while Huang grapples with the remaining gargoyle, crashing through multiple platforms before he manages to kill the beast. Florian herself slips out from under the attacking gargoyle and runs across the drawbridge with Vitus' help. North-side guards hold the bard and the wizard at sword-point but Huang is approached by an elder who says the panda-folk's arrival was prophesied.

##### Session Five: An Outsider Problem

Brought before the ruler of the north-side, Xandar, the travelers see that the north-siders are reveling in wealth and prosperity, unconcerned about monsters and earthquakes. Florian is naturally charming and gets Xandar on their side, with the ruler offering to throw a party for their arrival. First, though, the elder Ellion pulls them away to tell them of a prophecy. Apparently, Huntun the Bun - a leader of the rabbit-folk enemy empire to Huang's home empire - appeared in the ravine five hundred years before and saved them from an incursion of shadowy monsters from the depths. Huntun also foretold that a warrior of black and white would arrive, crashing and destroying, and change the fate of the settlement. Asking further questions, the travelers learn that since Xandar brought news of a new cave of bountiful riches, the north-siders have raided their own vaults and stores in preparation for their new fancy lifestyles. This marked the beginning of the incursion of monsters and earthquakes as well.

After a nice, comfortable rest, the travelers go down to meet with Xandar again and find him feasting and partying indeed. Florian takes the stage with a wonderful show and Vitus makes some magical pyrotechnics to step up the entertainment. With the party bumping, Huang goes on investigative duties and learns that Xandar is prone to giving out big favors to those he likes. With Xandar pleased, Florian manages to secure one of those favors - she says she could write an epic song about Xandar's glory and his cave of riches, if only she could see it. He agrees to allow them down there, so they throw some glow rocks and jump!

##### Session Six: The Cave of Wonders

With a bit of difficulty due to Xandar's stupidity, the travelers manage to land in the entrance cave way down the ravine. It seems different here, more earthen than before. Some magmins, creatures of magma and obsidian, appear and scare Vitus with their fire, but Florian plays them a song and they seem to like it! The travelers dance away and get to the next cave. Inside, they find a skeleton in Bun armor - but Vitus looks more closely and sees it's an illusion over a real dwarven skeleton. He warns the others of illusions but it's too late, as Florian is already in the cave of riches reaching out for a magnificent sword. It's just stone and Florian gets grabbed by a spiked tentacle from the ceiling before being teleported to a different part of the cave.

Florian knows that this type of ambushing creature doesn't do well in direct combat, so the three travelers go on the offensive. They bloody it quickly, causing it to flee and disguise itself, but Vitus is still able to find it. They kill the monster causing the illusions of riches in the cave, but accidentally crack the cave ceiling and start it crumbling. All the rocks that rain down are living and start crawling and rolling up the side of the ravine. Having found the source of the rock monsters, the travelers work together on a magic ritual to shape the stone around the cave and block it up so no more monsters escape.

A week later, back at the top of the ravine settlement, they explain what happened. Xandar is deposed, the north-siders have to beg the south-siders for help since they used up so many of their resources in preparation for the new riches they'd receive, and Flickering Hope is saved.