2023/07/12

Last time in the Iron Kingdoms: A great hunt

The party was still in Urcaen and was now looking for a way to return to their own world. After defeating the beast and the tree that was attacking the lost miners, the party took some time to rest and try and come up with a plan for what was next. As they were thinking, the party heard what sounded like someone approaching through the underbrush and prepared for a possible attack. What came out of the foliage nobody was prepared for however, as someone who looked a lot like Shakes greeted the party and told them that it wasn't safe for them here. Charlotte was suspicious of the Shakes lookalike though and began questioning both his motives as well as the nature of where he was offering to lead them. Shakes told the party that his patron had in interest in making sure that the party made it back to Five Fingers and he knew of a way that could make that happen. There was a grove not too far that was connected to Caen's leylines and with the right catalyst could potentially get the party and the miners home. The catalyst was the difficult part of that plan however, one or two people could get by with almost anything, though to transport 10 people plus a warjack something more potent was needed. Shakes proposed the blood of Kalimat, a great serpent that was a child of the Devourer Wurm.

Charlotte wanted to know more about Shakes's new benefactor in Urcaen. Shakes tried to share as much as he could, though was unable to share his patron's name, with that instead coming out as a cacophony of crow calls. Shakes told the party that his patron had a settlement nearby that served as a place of respite for those outside of the God's domains. Shakes assured the party that it was safe, saying that the crows guard the location, which only slightly reassured them. Shakes ended the conversation saying that the journey to the settlement would be a difficult one, and it would be best if they left now to stay ahead of any predators. On the way there the party was beset by nightmarish visions in the woods, accompanied by the feeling that they were being observed. One of the visions took the form of Hector's bear form, though was lacking the usual intelligence, rather a mindless beast. When Abe saw the bear, he took off into the forest, shouting that the beast had followed them to Urcaen and he would put a stop to it.

As the party watched Abe dash off, they realized that Abe had likely put himself in a precarious position, and they should find him as soon as possible. Shakes gave them the advice that they should keep Abe in their minds as they go looking for him, which should allow them to find him faster, hopefully before anything finds him. With Abe, he quickly caught up to the bear and quickly dispatched it with a good swing of his hammer. It was at this point that he realized that he no longer could see the party and that the woods were twisting and changing in unfamiliar way. As Abe tried to make his way back to the party, he ended up finding them, or rather their corpses, dead on the ground. The party's dead bodies were a shock to Abe, though he was able to rationally notice some inconsistencies with the bodies. Charlotte had been “killed” by multiple bullet wounds, though Abe hadn't heard any gunshots, other minor flaws could be found around the rest of the party, and while the bodies didn't disappear, the sting of the sight was lessened.

Eventually the party found Abe, who was rather reserved after his experience, and they continued on to Shake's settlement. The village was a small affair, really just a dozen or so tents in a clearing, though the area was guarded by a whole murder of crows in the trees. The crows were slightly unsettling, though the area did seem safer than the wilderness that they had just come from. Shakes offered the party some meager supplies, apologizing for the lack of bounty for the living in Urcaen. After some rest and recuperation, the party settled down for the night, with Shakes saying that they would talk more in the morning about Kalimat.

In the morning, the party awoke and met with Shakes to discuss Kalimat. They were told that Kalimat had been last seen around Menoth's domain within Urcaen. The beast was prowling around the lesser fortified areas of the God of Man's lands. Not being strong enough to assault the city of man at the center, Kalimat preyed upon the less faithful who appear further away from salvation. Shakes also warned the party that Kalimat was know as the Father of 10,000 venoms and the party should be careful as a result. The party then set out from the settlement, and after a little bit of travel while keeping Kalimat in their minds came upon signs that a great serpent had traveled through the area. The party followed the path of destruction and eventually came upon Kalimat. Kalimat proved worthy of the tales about it, letting loose a tremendous shout at the party. The Father of 10,000 venoms moniker referred to swarms of scorpions that resided within Kalimat's body, something that Xavier and Kitten found out when they cut Kalimat's skin and they were covered in the swarms. Abe cleared the scorpions with his ring of retribution, though Kalimat tried to gain some space against the party by slamming the ground, battering the party with debris and the shockwave to knock them away. Dmitriv was able to maintain his footing and defeated Kalimat in return.

With Kalimat defeated, the party collected up some of its blood, and made their way back to the settlement to gather up the miners. With everything in place, the party arrived at the grove. As the ritual to connect them to Caen's leylines was being performed Shakes said his goodbyes to the party. After everything was set up the party and the miners waded into the grove and with a flash were returned to Caen. When the party could see again, they found themselves in Laryana's lab. With a little thought the party realized that the ritual was tapping into the leylines and the Convergence temple was built on top of those leylines, so it made sense that this is where they would pop out. Laryana appeared rather quickly to see what was going on and was surprised to see the party, commenting that the party had just entered the tunnels a couple hours ago from what she knew. The party shared their findings that there was a portal to Urcaen in the tunnels. Laryana was surprised by this revelation, and didn't really have an explanation for that. The party said that they would give a full report to the high captains the next day, as they could use some rest after their ordeal.

The next day Hector awoke to find that his hand of glory had delivered a unasked for prophecy to him. The prophecy was unique in that it was written in a language that Hector didn't know. After the party briefed the high captains, they went about looking to get the prophecy translated. Laryana was able to identify the language as Old Ictherian, the progenitor language to many of the modern languages of Immoren. Laryana was able to get a dictionary to translate the prophecy. After a little work the message was revealed to the party as such:

Hark 'O night. Bringest forth swift judgement.

Fingers twist, changing to heed their fate.

Wants flow forth, called to defy His law.

Hark Dreamer. As fromst thou lies abate.

This prophecy concerned the party, who went to various people around Five Fingers to try and determine the meaning behind the verse. The party also asked High Prelate Tieri about any divinities that patronized crows, and were met with one that Isabel told them was known as the Old Witch of the Woods, though Isabel didn't know too much about the worship of such a entity. Finally as the party was running out of ideas, Kita spoke up with a potential place to look for more answers. Back during Kita's time with her cult she had heard rumors of a secret Thamarite library that held all sorts of arcane and forbidden knowledge. Kita didn't know where or if such a place existed, though if it did she thought that it would be a good place for the party to continue the search.