Session 86 - Consequences
Wednesday 4th June 2025
In-game timeline: Alturiak 7 - Alturiak 7
Following Solveig’s rescue from the giant spider, the healthier members of the party decide to split up. Sanada remains with the exhausted druid in the “common room” and spends her time investigating the nearby locked room. Using her shadow step ability to slip through the keyhole, she manages to gain entry. Inside, she finds several locked chests. Lacking keys or other tools, she resorts to brute force—methodically smashing the chests open with her fists. Though this takes time, she eventually succeeds, recovering some useful loot. However, nothing appears immediately relevant to the party’s current predicament.
Meanwhile, Solveig waits outside with their prisoner, the bound and hooded cleric Drake. Given Solveig’s recent transformation—from a calm, nature-loving druid to something far more unstable—the wisdom of leaving a helpless prisoner in their care is… questionable. That concern proves justified. When the party later decides to move on quickly, Solveig—without hesitation or apparent remorse—slits Drake’s throat. The rest of the group is understandably shocked.
Prior to this, Alwaith and Faith, being the least injured, press forward through the sewers in search of Thalios, the suspected leader of the cult. They eventually come to a locked door but, unable to open it, backtrack to an earlier passage. This leads them into a dark chamber that appears to have served as a torture room. Shackled to a table lies the body of a half-elf.
As they prepare to leave, Faith notices that the figure is still alive, though unconscious. Using divine magic, the cleric revives him. They learn that the half-elf is Hallion, a member of the Council of the Veil. Unfortunately, Alwaith and Faith struggle to convince him of their good intentions—particularly when they can’t remember the name of the Council’s leader. Over time, however, they earn enough trust for Hallion to reveal that he had infiltrated the cult, but was discovered and tortured for information.
Hallion also reveals that many cultists were recently dispatched elsewhere, leaving only a handful behind. Thalios remained, however, and Hallion points out that the locked door from earlier leads to Thalios' quarters. More alarmingly, he warns of a plan to poison the city’s water supply—a plan he fears may already be underway, thanks to the party’s noisy entrance into the sewers.
Gripped by urgency, the group returns Hallion to the common room, where Sanada has just emerged with her hard-earned loot. Hallion recalls a restricted area he was never allowed to enter, which he suspects is related to the poisoning plan. The party insists he lead them there immediately. With Hallion weakened by his wounds and Solveig sluggish from exhaustion, progress is slow—and at this point, Solveig coldly and casually kills Drake. As the cultists bleeds out, he looks to Faith, who previously promised to spare his life, and utters two final words - "You. Lied.". None of the rest of the party are impressed at Solveig's action.
Hurrying through the sewers, the party arrives at a door near the temple complex. Previously sealed shut, it now stands slightly ajar. A flexible pipe snakes from the room into the large water channel, disgorging a steady stream of purple liquid. As it hits the water, it loses its colour—vanishing from sight. Alwaith shudders in recognition; the fluid resembles the same substance Belak was extracting from the Gulthias Tree months ago.
Faith and Sanada quickly attempt to reroute the pipe, redirecting the toxic fluid into the sewage channel. Concerned about how much has already entered the fresh water supply, Alwaith sends his raven, Grizelda, with an urgent message to the Council.
Alwaith and Faith then press onward toward the room’s entrance, with Sanada, Solveig, and Hallion close behind. Pushing open the door, Alwaith finds a large humanoid figure standing guard inside—completely constructed from metal and gears. As he and Faith draw their weapons, they spot another figure lurking in the shadows: a wild-eyed half-orc with a drawn weapon, clearly ready for battle…