Burning Witch Adventurers Session #93- Life Under the Eye of Terror

Here is a copy of letter written by the retainer Lirazil to the magic-user Phasmo recapping the session passed on by their player Ben L.:

Phasmo,

While you were gone to the Transcendental Congress, I traveled with a party into the Complex. We were: 

Nita (Level 1 Mycilian)

Vuff (Level 1 Kobold)

Lirazel (Level 2 Elf)

Armun Drum (Level 1 Cleric, Hireling) 

Drone 7 (Level 1 Fighter, Hireling)

We decided to head to the caverns on level 1, hoping to break new ground, and maybe rendezvous with kobolds. I thought you would be interested to know that the Water flowing out is stronger than it has ever been. Over the pit from whence the water flows, cages now hang by chains—the dismal work of the Eye of Terror. In one cage there was a prisoner, a mutant, wearing blue streaks of paint. He identified himself as Stynos, one of the children of Paroma.

 He informed the party that the state of the mutants is wretched under the Eye of Terror—something we have seen ourselves on prior visits. They are forced to work their yeast fields and trees, but give the food to the Eye of Terror, while they starve. The Eye of Terror has installed a petty tyrant over them, a mutant by the name of Attik. The source of his power is his ogre lieutenant. He lives north of where the mutant children sleep, below the yeast fields. 

The party decided to free Stynos. His gift from Transmorgrapha allows him to move things with his mind—a useful talent. Freed, he agreed to lead the party to the caverns where they were headed, and perhaps on to the seat of the vile Attik. On the way, Synos informed the party of the magical and holy value of a fluid that trickles from the cave wall in a certain place. The party collected 2 pints of the red fluid, which I think you may find of interest. We passed through the magnetic caverns, and into a blue cavern. There we encountered some beardless brothers, with skin the hue of stone. They were collecting mushrooms—the sole sustenance of their people under the harsh yoke of the Eye of Terror. They too are starving and, we learned, sadly bereft of new tools. 

We then moved onto a junction. To one side Synos advised us that there was a cave of giant bats, rich with guano. To the other side was a beautiful cave. Vuff’s keen ears picked up some conversation from that direction. Moving in we found some brothers sitting on a break from collecting guano. They allowed us to retrieve some guano, although they indicated how the supplies were dwindling because of the brick furnaces of the Eye of Terror. We asked to borrow their tools, but they indicated how faithless the adventurers have been in their time here. They emphasized that we have caused much harm, and they made a plea to us to treat this place better: “to make the complex the best it could be” as they said. Perhaps most intriguingly, we learned that the room that previously housed a dragon [room 3] houses a dragon once again! The brothers seemed, if anything, more frightened of this dragon than the previous one. 

Leaving her magic hammer as collateral, we borrowed the tools of the brothers and quietly collected a sack of guano, managing not to disturb the bats in the process. 

On the way out, we encountered 5 blue vatspawn soldiers of the Eye of Terror. My sorceries put them to sleep. We decided to bring two with us out of the complex and delivered them to Hate Pit. Stynos accompanied us as well. 

Phasmo, all of this has made my soul uneasy. We have done many things in the complex and the honest words of the brothers shamed me. I feel that we must take up arms against the Eye of Terror, as we once planned so many months ago. It is clear that its agents are widespread. To move against it will not be simple, but an arduous task with many steps. I am headed for a brief visit to the Twilight Shores for the solstice. Send for me there when you get back.

Yours,

Lirazel 

Another perspective on the session is provided by Nita's player Curtis:

The party paid a tax of 20gp at the Iron Gate. On their walk back along the beach from the cliff-side dungeon entrance, Voff caught smell of sweat mixed with that of ozone. Scanning the cliffs, Lirazel spotted a figure turning away from the party and disappearing into the brush above.*

*I made respective roles for the party members. Both Lirazel and Voff got "1"s on a d6, resulting in them spotting someone trailing the party on their way back to Orm.

Treasure

• Two pints of a red crystalizing liquid used in alchemy and other magic-using endeavors worth 200gp (taxed for 20gp at the Iron Gate)
• a sack of guano worth 75gp (has uses as fuel and fertilizer as well as alchemy and magic)
• a small sample of phosphorescent moss (it would take a Building an Institution downtime to set up a moss farm under the guidance of Synos for this amount to expand beyond this small quantity)

Experience Points

• 275xp from treasure
• Multi-eyes Vat Spawn soldiers of the Eye of Terror slept 5 x 15xp (3 killed, 2 taken to surface)
• The mutant Synos rescued 50xp

Player Character Cut

• 63gp 7sp 5cp ea. if the red liquid and guano are sold (31gp 8s 7cp ea. to Armunn Drum and Drone No. 7)
• 133xp ea. (66xp to Armunn Drum)

Write-ups, art, and maps turned in as session reports earn PC Level x 100xp. Let me know of any downtime actions anyone would like to take.

A portrait of Voff by his player Rob A.