Session 31 - Frozen Faces

This is the 31st session of the game Ashes

Summary
At the beginning of the session, the party had officially arrived in Rust Port and made their way towards the two figures who they saw at the port. The figures were a goliath man named Silt, and a teenage human who was just called Boy. Between the docks and eventually a tavern the Patrons asked many questions to Silt and learned a bit about the town's history leading up to today.

Since Silt had been in Rust Port, the better part of 6 years, people have been going missing. He explained that at the time the city of Obsidian, which was under siege for a time, had fallen. With the Blackdale military losing such an important stronghold in the North and subsequently pulling out the region, a town like Rust Port would likely be under the control of the invading Kingdom forces. This caused the people of Rust Port to panic, as any city or town under siege can crumble the will of the people, especially those willing to fight. When people in Rust Port began to go missing, many had thought that people were joining the Blackdale military, being captured by the invading Kingdom forces, or trying to escape the war as a whole. It wasn't until much later that Silt and the many others of Rust Port realized that their people were being kidnapped by an unknown force and taken to the nearby Hollow Hole Cliffs. With people being taken, a storm would usually follow, and it wasn't until later that Silt realized that with the storms came the Visitor, a mysterious woman in a violet-colored porcelain mask who was responsible for taking people into the caves and the people never being seen again.

The party then decided to send the owl Shawn Hooose to go and investigate the ship. Looking through Shawn's eyes Acaelus noticed that among the people aboard the ship was a man with lizard-like eyes, and scales around them. He was able to confirm that the man appeared to be a Yuan-Ti, a race of humanoid snake-like people who worship snake-like demonic gods. Acaelus realizes that their situation has become far more dire than initially realized. The party discussed their options and in favor of going out to the ship, decided to head to the cave where people went missing.

When the party arrived at the mouth of the cave entrance they notice a series of odd bluish-colored script on the ground that was illegible to all except Acaelus. It was a coded message left behind by his grandfather. While Acaelus spent the time uncovering the lost message of his grandfather, Emeran determined that the dirt around the cave entrance was dirt. Themus was able to figure out that a large animal of some kind reopened the cave.

The message that Acaelus's grandfather left him can be read here:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZYLrPy7IZnZHSvu1-9nLlw9ShY1SpgxiccyxH4WPjPE/edit?usp=sharing

After reading the message Acaelus told the group what it said, with tears in his eyes. It was a message left behind for either Nilan, Acaelus's mother Virdiana, or Acaelus himself, as they would be the only ones to read the coded message. He mentioned that the Junaguage Arcanis was at fault for many of the things that occurred at Rust Port and that they could not be trusted. It mentioned that a member of the Arcanis that came with Vanden to Rust Port named Strauss had decided to start working with an unnamed woman, causing the Arcanis members to split between Vanden and Strauss, causing the death of all but Vanden. Vanden and the others found something within the cave that was worth keeping buried in Vanden's eyes. Acaelus took this time to warn the party about creatures within the cave that might be able to turn them to stone.

Seeing now that what Vanden buried had been reopened, the party made their descent into the cave. The party came upon a split in the paths and Themus used a coin flip to determine the right way to go. The party entered a chamber with four holes in the ground filled with a viscusy, almost mucus-like, liquid in them. After lighting up the room they discovered several bodies at the bottoms of each of these colored pools. Emeran was able to determine that they were all undead creatures. The party decided not to fuck with any of it.

As the party continued they discovered a horrifying scene. A collage of petrified villages fused together in the chambers and walls of the next room. They were all locked in positions of agonizing screams, and while some were missing eyes, or were only torsos, all of them had a large hole in their chests.

Pressing on ahead the party came upon a laboratory filled with small glowing crystals, each of which was bearing the color associated with each of the Gods. They saw a collection of Yuan-Ti in the other end of the room, as well as what turned out to be a large Medusa beast and another Medusa who was working in the lab. The party attacked the Medusa's and Yuan-Ti. Emeran and Themus both nearly turned to stone during the fight, but the party was able to fight off the enemy creatures and survive.