S11E12 - The Boy Who Wouldn’t Speak

The session opens aboard the multi-purpose boat the heroes chartered. Paco agrees to take them all the way to Zoqoi for 3,200 gp. The heroes do not have that money yet, but they have a plan: rob pirates, check job boards, and hope it will add up to what they need.

Paco tells them the next stop is Skeldharbor. They will need two days there to properly repair the damage Xul’gath did to the ship.

That afternoon, Nemo spots another instance of Augur, Pietro’s cat, hissing at the ship’s rail. He checks the area. Nothing.

That night, Jinu and Nemo talk about what is coming for him. Jinu shares what he knows about the creatures. Asmodeus, Lord of the Nine Hells, will reach for Nemo through words and contracts. Graz’zt, the Abyssal prince of pleasure, will reach through pleasure and temptation. On hearing this, Nemo is less worried about himself than about the collateral damage to Jinu and the rest of the party.

The next day, the party comes across a small boat where a halfling appears to be fishing. But he is not fishing. When asked, he informs them that he’s waiting for the siren he loves to come back to him. Ike assumes this means one of the naked young women who were dancing near the Wicked Whiskey Wharf, but his friends correct him.

That night, Ike hears the demonic voice again. He asks how to become complete and full, and the voice gives the same answer: once Ike has the special dagger, he should eat Nemo’s heart. Later, Ike tries to persuade Nemo that this is a good idea. Nemo explains to his puppet friend that no, it will not work. Replacing Ike’s heart with Little Sebastian’s heart will not work either.

That same night, Nemo tries again to contact the soul inside him through the meditation exercises Jinu recommended. This time, the voice answers. She claims to be Tiamat’s sister, and she names the ancient black dragon the party believes has awakened: Ganaram. She does not explain why a demon lord and a devil lord are after Nemo, or how she ended up in the book he accidentally released her from.

After a brief stop in a nearby forest to gather supplies, the party reaches Skeldharbor two days later.

While Paco and his crew resupply and repair the hull, the party goes to the inn to find paying work. The rumor board is crowded: a black dragon flying north, damaged fishing boats, an upcoming festival, someone trying to marry the daughter of a goliath legend named Krariak, and an accident involving Lennie, the guardmaster’s adopted son. There are rewards for the fishing boats and for helping Lennie. The party starts with the little boy’s quest.

They meet their patron, Sister Helka, at the temple of Valkur where the muscular assassin nun is finishing a workout. She tells them that Lennie disappeared three days ago and was found a day later in the forest, silent and traumatized. When Nemo and Brand go see him, the boy screams at the paladin until he’s taken out. Then Nemo, through a series of yes-or-no questions, with the boy answering through slight head movements, gathers that two people, one of them a paladin, did some sort of ritual in an abandoned chapel.

Early that evening, the party heads to the abandoned chapel.

When they arrive at the derelict but still beautiful white-walled chapel dedicated to Valkur, they scout the area but find no one there. Very carefully, they pick locks and get Lyra, in black cat form, into the chapel. They find scorched paper, heavy dust and signs of nature reclaiming the building, and indications of a recent ritual with sigils that remind them of the pentagram that Gray, their paladin friend who abandoned them weeks ago, left the day he disappeared. There are also black stairs descending to a lower level, covered in magical darkness that seductively grabs at their hands and arms when they touch it. Nemo decides to go inside.

After crossing the darkness, Nemo is teleported to a large cavern. A cliff drops away behind him. Ahead, a chamber has been carved into black stone. Inside, an insectoid creature rests beside an empty pedestal, and beyond it, a decorative granite slab bearing an inscription partially obscures a second room. In the background, a deep mechanical rumble moves through the floor.

The creature notices Nemo and combat begins. Soto is next crossing through the veil of darkness, charging the hardy monster. The rest of the party follows, just in time to get hit by a poisonous cloud of gas spewed by the monster.

On the next turn, Soto and Brand take massive damage, and Brand falls unconscious. Nemo drags him out of the cloud. Then Soto gets hold of the insect, hauls it to the cliff, and throws it over the edge. Seconds later, a wet smash from below confirms the problem is solved.

The heroes move into the next room. Nemo discovers six pressure plates which, if triggered, would probably have burned them alive, judging by the six scorched corpses hanging on the walls. They skirt the plates and reach the stairs at the far end.

The session ends as the heroes reach the dungeon’s second level, where the mechanical noise is louder.