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| Lorthnu'un of the Golden Chalice |
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| Aybrel Arn the Merchant |
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| Dwarf Warlock Cultist of Lorthnu'un |
3/5 Departure for Kal Zinan with the Crescent Moon & war galley Indefatigable under Corvin Vorzin to return Ironmaster Bronn.
11/5 A sudden gale causes the ships to seek coastal shelter. Overnight at a Kalay fishing township.
18/5 Arrival at the river up to Kal Zinan, leave the Indefatigable.
19/5 Arrival at Kal Zinan Houses of Waiting
20/5 Meet with the Council of Masters, later same day attack Lorthnu'uun cultists and rescue kidnapped female merchant Aybrel Arn.
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| Troglodyte Slaves of the Golden Chalice |
The Slaves of the Golden Chalice - Aeshma
Having safely returned to Quodeth with the rescued Ironmaster Bronn our thoughts turn to returning him to Kal-Zinan. Vorstag plans to take full advantage on the commercial opportunities presented by a return trip and once more speaks with Princess Jania Sedarnel with an offer to once again act as her trading agent to the Dwarf city. She agrees and provides 20,000gp with which to purchase trade goods.
Zerda meets with Queen Deyane and they declare their mutual love but the Queen draws back from making any formal arrangement as she is afraid that it would put Zerda in danger from her political opponents. As the Queen’s birthday is only three weeks away, Zerda has to decide whether to delay leaving for Kal Zinan or leave as planned and miss the event. Bearing in mind the Queen’s concerns, he decides to leave on schedule but presents her with the gift of a Ring of Mind Shielding to help protect her.
We meet with General Irmal Urugan to discuss the situation with Marg. There is little appetite amongst the Quodethi for a direct attack on Marg – the suggestion instead is to attack the Margish slave trade. Zerda is to carry a proposal to the dwarves that the Quodethi fleet will transport the dwarvish legions to the Isle of Woe to dislodge the Margish slavers there and take the island over as a Quodethi trading post with the Dwarves as preferential trading partners.
The night before our scheduled departure Randall of the Seven Knives meets with Vorstag to pass on a warning that pirates commanded by Trizel Black Moon are planning to attack the Autumn Moon on her return from Kal Zinan to steal her cargo. He is asked to pay protection money to prevent this from happening. Initially he refuses, convinced that he and his allies will be able to defeat any pirates. Aeshma argues against his recklessness pointing out that a pirate ship is likely to carry a couple of hundred raiders, not to mention the risk that Autumn Moon could be sunk at which point no one gets any money. In the end he meets again with Randall and a payment of 1500gp is agreed.
We leave Quodeth with the Autumn Moon sailing in company with the Quodethi war galley Indefatigable commanded by Corvin Vorzin. About six days from Kal Zinan we are hit by a gale and the two ships are forced to take refuge behind Mossbeard Island to ride out the storm. The villagers of Ur-Dragh say that they have seen Giantish ships heading to the Giants’ Graveyard which is said to lie beyond Nimoth. Listening to their descriptions, Vorstag decides they are probably Hill Giants.
Once the storm has cleared we continue and arrive safely at the estuary of the Swiftice River. The party along with Aeshma’s guards transfer to the Autumn Moon to ascend the locks. We are welcomed to Kal Zinan and bidden to the Houses of Waiting. All the gossip at the inn concerns a string of a recent attack on a merchant caravan where the men were killed but all the women carried off by troglodyte raiders. Zerda recalls from his reading that the Great Old One Lorthu’un of the Golden Chalice whose cult has recently arisen in Kal Zinan favours women as sacrifices.
Not long afterwards we meet the Council of Kal Zinan and as promised are given Ironmaster Bronn’s weight in gold as a reward: 12,000gp. Speaking with the dwarves after the official ceremony we hear that Aybrel Arn, Vorstag and Finnris’ business contact from their previous visit, has been kidnapped by dwarf cultists. We are asked to rescue her and are given a platoon of the Silver Shields to assist our efforts. Vorstag tries to push ahead with his agenda to establish a trade deal between Quodeth and Kal Zinan, but it is suggested that we need to prove ourselves to the dwarves first before a worthwhile trade deal can be brokered.
Before leaving on the mission Aeshma arranges with Tarm to enchant a steel shield for her which will be collected later. Zerda finally manages to upgrade his armour to a dwarf steel cuirass.
We descend into the lava caves beneath Kal Zinan where dwarf patrols had previously spotted troglodytes. The air quickly warms up and the dwarves warn us that the magma must be seeping. Only a few more minutes pass before the troglodytes launch their ambush. Aeshma and Vorstag spot them easily, but Zerda and Finnris are caught unawares. The troglodytes are surrounded by a sickly green glow that weakens and poisons their enemies – a malady which Aeshma falls victim to. As a temporary measure to allow her to continue the mission she takes some antitoxin, but its palliative effects will not last long.
A bit further on we reach the caves where the cult is based. From the chanting it seems we have at least an hour before the ritual is complete so we allow ourselves a few minutes to recover from the fight with the troglodyte patrol. Moving forwards we can see a quartet of dwarven warlocks surrounding an altar on which is bound Aybrel Arn. The Golden Chalice of Lorthu’un stands on a nearby dais and beyond it a shimmering image of the Old One is gradually coalescing as Lorthu’un is summoned into the world. More troglodytes stand guard nearby.
Determined to take full advantage of our stealthy approach Vorstag moves up to strike the nearest warlock before any plan of attack can be agreed upon. As a result the party end up split between the lava caves as we focus on pushing as many of the troglodytes as we can into the bubbling magma pools. Vorstag works his way through the warlocks with his usual efficiency; Zerda uses his Grease spell to great effect; Finnris bull-rushes troglodyte after troglodyte into the magma with the Spear of Asura while Aeshma achieves the same result with her shield.
Eventually we stand victorious and the summoning is averted. As for the Golden Chalice, we do not know how it can be destroyed so we settle for putting it beyond use for a few centuries at least by dropping it into a magma pool. With that done we start the climb out of mines and back to Kal Zinan.
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