Session 8

September 20, 2019 (Happy Birthday, Duncan!)

Saltmarsh 8: Inside Deep Throat

The warlock Kayle follows and then joins the party, and they enter the mine in search of missing dwarves. A magical force separates the party and wipes their memories. Dora and Kayle are left behind as the party progresses through the cavern.

Synopsis
The caravan pulls out of Saltmarsh, and travels for several hours before stopping for a break in the early afternoon. They continue travelling. Emmett smokes in the cart, Dora moves upwind of him. The 25-person caravan stops to make camp for the night, a few fires are built, one of them featuring a dwarf named Snarag Brittlebranch. He notices the distinctly non-dwarven party, and inquires about them to another dwarf Gleason, who doesn't know them, but does share his drink.

The dwarves begin singing a lamentation of a black dragon named Ashardala attacking their hometown. Emmett roughly translates the song for the party, and they draw the similarity from Ashardala and Ashardalon, the dragon that desolated the area around the Citadel. Vel sends Emmett over to another fire to get more details, but not Snarag's because he has gone to bed. Emmett learns that the hometown attacked by Ashardala was in the Sulhaut Mountains, that Ashardala was motivated by the town's supply of a magical gemstone called Augurite, and that Stanni and Starek possess some of said Augurite. Gleason heads in for the night, and Emmett reports back to the party, and shares the new information.

Vel shares more information about the proposed smuggling job: the job takes place entirely in Saltmarsh, should only be one trip, and the payload is so high because they're paying for secrecy. She reiterates that smuggling is a legitimate business. Malcolm disagrees, while Dora strikes a middle ground, not arguing the legitimacy, rather that the rest of the party has no knowledge of smuggling. Their conversation annoys Snarag, who shushes them from across the campsite.

Vel and Malcolm take the first night shift. In the distance, they notice a lantern light on the second floor of a building, a few kilometres ahead. Vel explains that the building is an abandoned house, which has gained a reputation of being haunted, but is actually an outpost for smugglers. It's the meeting place for the smuggling job. Malcolm says he doesn't want Vel to get hurt during the job. Vel asks Malcolm why he didn't simply return to Oakhurst, and he tells her of his recent dreams, and that he believes Lathander wants him in Saltmarsh. It turns out that Vel has been saying Lathander wrong this whole time. Vel asks if Malcolm is special to Lathander or just opportune. He says he doesn't know, but needs to learn about Procan at the festival. Vel says that she's never been to the festival, because of the heightened presence of religious people. Saltmarsh only has the one temple to Procan but the other gods in the pantheon have shrines and their own festivals. There's not many clerics in town either, and even fewer life clerics. Vel wants to take the job offer because she needs to money for the trident in the market, priced out of her reach at 410 gold. Malcolm offers to loan her the money, but she declines, and goes to bed. They wake Emmett and Dora for the next shift. Snarag sleeps through the night.

In the morning, Vel sits next to Malcolm as he prays. Snarag notices the party, but does not approach them. The caravan hits the road again. Emmett continues to smoke, Malcolm catches Vel cheating at their game of go fish, Dora watches the scenery from Bastille's eyes as he flies above. Bastille notices the haunted house, Dora narrates what he sees, and comes to when Emmett blows smoke at her. Vel informs the party about the house being a front, and Dora encourages her for giving more information.

Emmett and Malcolm continue teaching each other Draconic and Dwarvish insults, while Vel and Dora spy on the other carts. Vel notices Snarag watching them, and goes to throw a ball bearing at him. Dora recommends flipping him off instead, which she does, and the entire cart is put off by this. Dora and Vel try to play it off as Vel flipping off the owner of the haunted house.

That afternoon, one of the wheels on the second cart breaks, causing the dwarves in that cart to move into the the first, Snarag's cart, and the third into the party's cart. In the shuffle, Snarag chooses not to move to the third cart, because Kyle doesn't want to play with us. Snarag eyes them, looking for specific symbols on their person, but doesn't find any that interest him.

Another dwarf asks the party if they know about the cave in. He's on his way to work in the mines, having previously found a gem that gives him the power to know when people are lying. The party decides to test this. Vel tells two truths: that she has two brothers and hates fishing, and one lie: that she's from Saltmarsh. The party learns more about the dragon that attacked the dwarves' hometown. Vel expresses more guilt about Meepo's death, but Malcolm affirms that his death was not her fault, and has the dwarf verify that he's not lying. Dora gives Bastille over to Vel to keep her busy.

The party arrives at the mine: a stone fortress with a large gate, and a sign, that reads The Shafted Caverns, in dwarvish. Inside, the fortress is pretty busy for nighttime. A royal guard wearing Keoland colours walks up, calling for Emmett, and shows the party to their quarters, followed by Snarag. Some of the dwarves are dressed in common clothes, but some wear only leather strapping. In the distance, a large wooden structure has steam pouring out of it, causing the warm, humid temperature. The party makes themselves at home in their quarters, grateful to be off the cart, and then heads to the mess hall to eat.

The mess hall holds hundreds of dwarves, most in common clothing, with food spread across long wooden tables. Emmett sits down next to some other dwarves, and makes suggestive conversation with him. The party notices that Snarag appears to be talking to himself. Dora tries to read his lips, but he's speaking in Abyssal. Vel throws a ball bearing at him, and upon taking damage, Snarag turns into a human man carry a large sword. Malcolm sits down directly across from him. Dora reads their lips from their table.

His real name is Kayle. Malcolm asks why Kayle has been following them, and Kayle explains that he's trying to hunt down some people, and thought the party might be trustworthy. Kayle produces a piece of fabric with a regional symbol that the party doesn't recognize. Kayle is pursuing the people who murdered his family, friends, and fiance. He also has a sword that drinks blood, it's alive in a sense, and beyond this world. He got it from making a deal with a former underling of Hadar, the Dark Hunger. Kayle gets the power to seek revenge, and in return must feed his victims' blood to his sword. He also has a lead that the disappearances in mines are somehow involved in a trafficking ring, led by an illusionist, possibly the same one from Vitaelius' smuggling job. Kayle calls his sword Randall. Malcolm decides that Kayle can join them in the mine, so long as he doesn't do anything Lathander would object to. All the while, Vel is panicked that Kayle is looking to kill her brother. Dora attempts to calm her by rotating Bastille throw a medley of small animals to pet.

Back in their quarters, Vel worries for Vitaelius' life, and Emmett and Dora try to calm her. Kayle knocks on the party's quarters, and tries to introduce himself to the party properly, but Malcolm doesn't let him in. Having roused suspicion with his talking sword, Kayle sleeps outside.In the morning, Malcolm says an extra prayer to Lathander for the party, giving them extra health. The royal guard and another dwarf comes to escort the party to the mine. They show the party a map of the mine, including where they'll be descending in the main shaft, and where the miners went missing. A small demolition team will be joining them. He also explains the scant uniform: the mine has run into a natural hot spring, which is filling the shaft with steam. He recommends shedding any heavy layers of clothing.

Kayle joins the party, and as they enter the Shafted Mines, it's already warm. Two burly gentlemen operate the Mine's lift, Malcolm names them Siegfried and Roy. Malcolm casts Light, Vel hides from Kayle, and everyone buckles in for a long ride down.

The shaft rises in temperature the farther down the go, to the point where Malcolm takes a point of exhaustion from the heat. Vel and Kayle use Shape Water and Prestidigitation to cool him. Malcolm takes off his armour, revealing both his scarred chest, and his tattoos; two on his forearms and a black bird on his right shoulder. Vel inquires about it, and Malcolm says he got it to commemorate his time in the army. This prompts the question of age: Malcolm is 42, Vel is a spry 36, and Dora is 127. Vel doesn't know how long she's going to live, while Malcolm is confident he's halfway through his life. One of the dwarves on the demolition team uses an ear cone to hear. Dora shows her mangled ear to him, and they bond.

The party reaches the bottom of the shaft, where a system of rail carts takes them to the tunnel they need to investigate. At the end of the tunnel is a stone wall, and Kayle can tell that magic was cast here recently. Malcom casts Detect Magic and finds that illusion magic was cast on the other side of the wall. The demolition team steps up, and uses a practiced system of chalk lines drawn between charges. Malcolm casts Silence to protect them from the sound of the blast. The magic causes the wall to crumble to pieces, and the other dwarves start clearing the rubble. Another wall is blown down, this one making less progress than the first. Malcolm is able to detect ancient magic in the area.

Suddenly, Vel and Dora lose their memories of the past 24 hours,and the last thing they remember was being on the carts, passing the haunted house. Neither of them know who Kayle is, and reintroduce themselves. Alarmed, Malcolm begins writing down everything that happened in the passed day in Dora's poetry book, and instructs Bastille, who is not affected by the spell due to being a fey creature, to get them to read it should this happen again. Vel notices Malcolm's tattoo and asks about it again.

Kayle asks the dwarves if anyone else has lost their memories, and learns that yes, the initial rescue team also lost their memory. Malcolm casts Goodberry in case things get worse, and questions if they should keep going. The party decides to press on.

Now at the end of the tunnel, a cavern opens up. Dora sends in Bastille to survey the room. It's a circular room with a stone pillar in the middle, and small pools of water on the floor dripping from the ceiling. Vel checks for traps and finds none. In case his memory gets wiped, Emmett discloses that he had a dream about Procan. An exclamation from Malcolm, at Kayle's joke, causes Vel to wonder if he's ever had sex before. Dora knows explicitly specifically that he has, at least once.

Dora enters the cavern first, but when she turns back to talk to the party there's now a rock wall behind them. She stares down the wall, where the entrance was. The party on the other side of the wall can see her right through the entrance, but Dora can't hear the party speaking to her. Malcolm ties a rope around his waist and tells Emmett to pull him back if anything bad happens. He steps through, and ends up in a completely different room, a deeper room with lake in it. Malcolm steps up to the lake, and notices a movement in the water, and draws his shield. A slimy tadpole shaped mass emerges from the water. Malcolm pulls on the rope for Emmett to drag him out, and he's pulled back into the tunnel.

Dora begins to panic, and lashes out the stonewall with her sword. Malcolm absolves to go in again, and this time Kayle also ties himself to Emmett and goes in. Kayle loses his memory but does wind up in Dora's room. She ascertains that he's lost his memory, and Randall the sword fills in Kayle's memory. He informs Dora that Emmett and Vel are safe in the tunnel, but he doesn't know where Malcolm went. This does not calm Dora. Kayle vaguely remembers being tied, and Dora pats him down aggressively to find that rope. She tries to cast Message but does not get a response. She instructs Bastille to go throw the wall, where she believes the party is, and he goes straight through. The other dwarves in with them are on the first day, and have never seen this happen.

Malcolm goes through, keeps his memory, and winds up in a study, with a desk holding several objects: a book titled The Secret of the Philosopher's Stone, and several golden objects: a human skull, an apple, a rose, 5 small weights, a stack of gold coins, and a wizard's spellbook. He takes the books, the apple and the rose. He inspects the door, which is made of an otherworldly blackness, and making a sloshing noise that makes him uncomfortable. He goes through the door.

Meanwhile, Dora finds the rope tied around Kayle, and pulls hard on it. Kayle and Dora are pulled into the tunnel, while the rest of the part waits. Dora throws her arms around the closest people to her; one each around Emmett and Malcolm. Kayle reintroduces himself to the party, and they learn of his talking sword. Now reunited, they strategize their next move. Malcolm gives Vel the golden rose, which prompts Kayle to ask Dora if Malcolm and Vel are a thing, and she responds no.

The party resolves to go through the cavern entrance, all at once, holding hands, so as not to get separated. Malcolm updates his entry in poetry book. The dwarves, Stani and Starek will anchor the group as they go through, and pull them back in 10 minutes. Malcolm casts Bless on himself, Vel, and Emmett.

Emmett goes straight through and can see clearly through the entrance, though his memory is wiped. Dora returns to the room she was in before, and her memory is also wiped. Vel is with Emmett, and keeps her memory. Malcolm and Kayle are with Dora, and keep their memories. Each party member can feel the hands of the people they were holding, even if they can't see each other.

Malcolm instructs Dora to read from the poetry book, catching her up on recent events. Vel looks around the room checking for traps. An arrow is shot at her, and she panics. Malcolm feels her squeeze his hand in distress and relays the danger to Dora and Kayle. Vel needs to fire a crossbow bolt at the adversary, but can't without letting go of someone's hand, she lets go of Dora. The arrow goes through the wall. Emmett runs through the wall, falling through, and letting go of Malcolm's hand. 4 skeletons with crossbows emerge, firing at Vel, with 2 of them hitting her. Vel yanks on Malcolm's hand, and draws her rapier. Malcolm feels a ripple around his hand, and he is pulled into the other room.

Emmett, Malcolm, and Vel defeat the skeletons, and loot their bodies, finding each one has a rib dipped in gold, as well as there is a grey and black river stone that makes Vel feel lucky. The three of them progress to another room, while Dora watches heartbroken as her friends go on without her.

Featured Characters
Emmett

Velaeria

Malcolm

Theadora

Kayle

NPCs
Gleason

Stani Augurite

Starek Augurite

Dan the Royal Guard

Siegfried

Roy

Quotations
"Session starts with an epic threeway" -Marcus

"For better or worse, we are intertwined in your wellbeing." -Malcolm, to Vel

“Tell me about the ghosts…of Saltmarsh.” -Erynn, about the Haunted House

"I call him Randall" -Kayle, about Randall, the Defiler

"Are they a thing?"-Kayle, to Dora, after witnessing Malcolm give a gold rose to Vel

“A boy gives a girl a solid gold flower and she gives him a moist handjob. In Saltmarsh, that means they’re married.” -Marcus & Erynn

Trivia

 * Session Length: 5:30:29
 * This session covers 3 days in universe, the party has now known each other for 15 days
 * Continue Count: 5
 * Dick Joke Count: 112
 * Winners: Duncan 17, Erynn 31, Marcus 34
 * Chat Names:
 * Duncan: Continue...(x33)
 * Alie: Moist Handjob
 * Marcus: Sloppy Hole
 * Erynn: Deep Throat Week
 * Zach: Rocks Off
 * This is the first episode to feature an absent player, one player controlling two player characters, and the first appearance of Kayle
 * Malcolm is the only character to not lose his memory in the mine