Several Days, 623 HK: Wherein the fevers pass and contact is made with the Dari slaves. Following some convalescence, the group leaves the ruined mill and moves upstream along a near river. Their movements are stalled however when strange jungle denizens emerge from the forest to devour them.

Continued from Last Stand of the Dari.

Day 1, 623

The young Dīad climbed from the corridor shaft to see if their situation had changed. While above, he busied himself gathering fruit from the newly grown tree and watching the slaves and their baboon masters in the fields around city. It had been days since he’d seen a patrol. All seemed returned to normal.

In the last couple days the group below had managed to quietly tend to their wounds in the first of the barricaded subterranean bedchambers. Abràkus had displayed amazing recovery which he attributed to his encounter in the tomb of the Dari queen; he was however sweating buckets though he dismissed all concerns that he too might be coming down with the fever.

Day 2, 623

Day 3, 623

On the third day, Dīad and Abràkus wandered to the beginning of the corridor to see if they could find some way to open the door. There was none. They listened for some time, but heard no movement on the far side.

Later that same day, Dīad returned to the mill ruins to observe the fields and distant city walls. Concealed by the thick foliage of the fruit tree, he sat on a branch for some way to contact the Dari slaves. After hours of watching he climbed back down. Reaching the bottom he was startled to find a young woman emerging from the bushes near the ruined mill. He called forward Gaston who was able to speak a broken version of the Dari tongue. After a brief conversation it became obvious that the woman didn’t know the answers they were looking for, but did agree to bring an older woman to the mill that would be able to help them.

That night they returned to the corridor entrance and waited until the bars were slid aside and the ‘impassable’ door creaked open. They were met by an older Dari woman who talked at length with them about the city and the surrounding Dari villages. Of most interest to the group were mention of five chapels. The woman explained that when the ‘artifacts’ were installed into each of the chapels, the Queen would awaken and lead her people against their baboon oppressors. The old woman made mention of a Dari temple to the north of city where a number of women were preparing for the restoration of that place. During the course of their conversation however it was revealed to the woman that the group had removed a phallus from the coastal village and that the ‘artifact’ was likely in the hands of the baboons. This alarmed the old woman greatly. The group was equally relieved to discover that the women did not seem interested in ‘converting’ them by force. The old woman made passing mention that many other men had been reported throughout the countryside and that there may be other chances to restore the chapels.

When shown the map, the woman was able to translate the name of the village of Irdànya Nyad, the tomb of the Queen, and the city of Dirynayna Dyada. She also gave a name to the baboon race, which she called the Torgor Gonth. She agreed that the baboons had been acting strangely even since the group had arrived in the city but could offer no explanation as to why. She also knew nothing of the fate of Vaska Merid’s zombie and could report only that the storm that came with him had done great damage to the city. With their meeting done, the old woman withdrew and closed and bolted the secret door before returning into the undercity.

Day 4, 623

After one more day of resting, the group emerged from the corridor shaft and headed north along the river’s shore under cover of night. In the late pre-dawn hours they were alarmed to hear swift and destructive motion in the jungle understory. Dīad fled up into a tree as the others drew their weapons and waited to see what was closing. Gaston wielded the iron dagger Dīad had given him and Ōded the strange magic blade that had been found in the Princess’ chambers. Through the darkness of early morning, trees moved and shuddered as the ground rose up before them. Dirt and rocks flew as the giant worm’s head thrust into the air, its head opening into a toothy maw as it snapped hungrily at the group. Ōded hacked and hacked at the plated worm’s hide, finding it difficult to bury the heavy blade into the worm. Gaston stabbed with his iron dagger. As a second of the voracious blind monsters closed on the party, Abràkus ran and grabbed for a shore tree limb but fumbled and fell headlong into the churning black waters. Unable to swim, Abràkus was quickly carried down river and soon pulled under.

On the shore, Gaston found his own tree to climb while Ōded fled down the shore with the giant worm plowing through the vine covered ground in pursuit. From his perch, Dīad tried to use his powers to wrestle and annoy the worms with limited success. After much running, Ōded found a suitable tree with low branches and scurried up. The worms seemed unable or unwilling to persue into the water and confused by prey that disappeared into the trees. Eventually both of the monsters returned to find other prey in the dark jungle, giving the party a chance to regroup as the dawn was first peeking over the eastern mountain ridge. Abràkus, having been swept to the river’s bottom at the base of a large rock had managed to extract himself from the river by pulling himself out using roots and stones in the riverbed wall.

Continued in The Long Dark Road.

Characters

• Abràkus = 2 CPs
• Dīad = 2 CPs
• Gaston = 2 CPs
• Ōded = 2 CPs

Played 03 Feb 2006