After months of currying favours with various professors, doctors, sages, scribes, and other scholars, I finally found an opportunity to make my move. Strata want to go investigate a liferock he has heard tell of on the far side of the Caucavic Mountains, and it is far enough out of the way that the academics of Throal have yet to catalogue the creatures living in that region since the times before the scourge. Who knows what biological riches may be uncovered after so long, as animals grow without Namegiver interference and seek shelter from the Horrors?
Most importantly, it seems to have stayed below the notice of everyone else that such riches are there to explore. The liferock, called Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah, was not well known even before the scourge which explains why nobody noticed the golden opportunity of a powerful group of adepts going out that way. Truth be told, I might have missed the opportunity myself had I not been approached by Strata for assistance. Joining us as well were Calina and R'edtarian, which made for a well-balanced group capable of dealing with a variety of challenges. We also had along with us a Purifier who preferred not to be mentioned in detail for reasons of their own, as the destination was known to be quite polluted by horror taint.
We made our way up to Sosanopa and along the Serpent until we were south of a pass between the Scythan and Caucavic Mountain ranges. From there we went north through the pass, and followed the edge of the mountains until we reached our destination a little over halfway down the range I would say. The place looked blasted and withered, more than I had ever seen in any other place. The vegetation was withered and dying, mold and mildew, fungus, moss, and lichens all slick with rot, creating a most sour and foul stench. The only wildlife remaining were warped and twisted insects, such as could feed on the rot. I have included some catalogues of them here, but they were not the primary subject of my studies in the region (although as the window was closing, I still made a few notes). Also of note was an outcropping of crystal growing on the top of the liferock as if it were some sort of parasite.
After consultation with a local Air Elemental (which noted just how foul the air was as well, I might add), we found that no spirits were known to live in the area or have knowledge of what had changed the liferock to a den of corruption. The small stream which fell down a high cliff into the valley housing the liferock was known to be poisoned as it approached the liferock, becoming fully toxic some 300 yards or so from the liferock as the crow flies. Also of note, the spirit mentioned that it had seen from afar some creatures patrolling the area.
We would later find these to be Obsidimen transformed into horror constructs filled with rage toward all magicians. A pair of rockworms which seemed less altered by the corruption joined them in attacking us, though thankfully they were unable to cause much harm. The horror constructs (the Purifier indicated they seemed to be some variety of Ehrlgren) were much more capable of causing harm, and Calina and I took a few days to recover from their assault while the Purifier worked at cleansing their corpses and burning them. I was also able to spend some time cataloguing the local wildlife, much to my satisfaction. Strata kept a few gems which seemed part of the process of corrupting them in hopes of tracking the horror that created them, though I think he probably destroyed them later. I advised him that this seemed an unwise thing to keep close, but he seemed insistent; I kept my distance.
Our next step was to bring our little expedition to the liferock itself. Strata expressed a desire to go inside and see what he could find; this also sounded unwise, but Calina and I provided what protective spells we could and sent him in. No sooner had he disappeared into the stone (which I was surprised to find even worked) than a number of other Ehrlgren (of different abilities than the earlier ones; see attached notes) crawled out of the ruins of the stone and launched an assault on the three of us above (the Purifier had gone to the edge of the destroyed lands and was trying to do what they could at the time). Fortunately, the Ehrlgren were poorly suited to face R'edtarian, who tore into them with great ferocity. They seemed quite resistant to my spells, and too mindless to be weakened by taunting, so it was very fortunate we had him with us.
While we were busy above, Strata found some sort of crystal horror below. These horrors are known to be particularly difficult for magicians to deal with I am told, but in any case it was far enough away (and buried in stone) and could not reach us. It did not seem to be particularly able to harm Strata with all the protections layered upon him, so it seems our spells were not wasted. Also still inside were a pair of Ehrlgren, which also were not very effective against Strata.
In the end, the Gauntlet and Warrior prevailed while us magicians played second fiddle. Still, the protective magics we supplied did their work well; neither R'edtarian nor Strata seemed overly injured at the end of the fight (as for myself and Calina, we were doing less well). It seems that the liferock was in fact not fully consumed yet, and still had a spark of life in it (as well as a few Obsidimen inside dreaming troubled dreams). Strata sent for help from Gannagroth, and in the meanwhile I stuck around and guarded the Purifier while conducting the in-depth study of the local animals that I had come to do in the first place. It would have been nice to have a few assistants, but I believe I have gathered enough to present to my fellows. Calina stayed around as well, and seemed to be interested in the purification process. She seemed to be interested in learning Elementalism. Meanwhile, Strata joined the Brothers of Stone at some point. I'm not sure when it happened; he was probably in the liferock at the time, I suppose.Statistics:Posted by Sharkforce — Sat Dec 18, 2021 5:20 am
]]>