(Continued from Session 027)
When the fiery creatures noticed Whipp's noise, they ran toward the far tunnel, with Kestyn following. No one else followed, and the fiery humanoids didn't seem aggressive right away. They did begin moving closer and gesturing, though, so Kiiv moved up toward one, indicating non-aggression with a thumbs up and slow speech. Kestyn and Whipp now also moved back to be closer to the rest of the party.
Gulden cast a spell so they could understand him and said that we would gladly leave in peace if they would let us. They seemed to understand and agree, and they moved back away from the party. At this point, Gulden cast another spell so that he could understand their speech. Their language seemed very rudimentary and unsubtle, but they seemed to be asking why we were sneaking. Gulden explained that we had met many dangerous creatures previously and that we were just being cautious.
At this point, the fiery humanoids said that they were very hungry and that their ritual of placing metal weapons into the fire elemental were "pretend food" for it. Feeling bad about invading their home, the group offered them torches, which they promptly and happily incinerated.
Kiiv asked to exchange weapons with one of the humanoids, perhaps thinking it might be stronger than his own. Whipp traded torches, a dagger, and a handaxe for a battleaxe, which they then gave to Kiiv. The battleaxe did seem somewhat sharper than a normal axe, but it would never do as much damage as Kiiv's huge greataxe, so he kept his regular weapon.
The fire creatures indicated that this was not their real home and that they were somehow brought here suddenly, perhaps through some kind of teleportation spell. Enna and Orla realized that they are probably from the plane of fire or some other similar non-Material plane, which would make it impossible for the party to get them home. Feeling bad leaving them here to starve, the group promised them more food if they followed, though it might be a long time. They agreed and followed, even the fire elemental.
The group began going down the far tunnel, but the fire creatures said that it was "wet and cold, and goes down," which seemed both dangerous for them and the wrong direction for the party. So everyone backtracks back through the crevice Kestyn and Morro had found, arriving back into the main tunnel system. Continuing on, the group traveled for several days without meeting any enemies or dangers. Kestyn felt bad eating in front of them, so he always gave them torches when he ate rations. Still, he was very suspicious and skeptical about them, not trusting them fully.
Marday, Packday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday passed without any sign of an exit to the tunnels. On Tuesday, with rations (and wood) dwindling, the group finally came to a similar closed and sealed door. Enna read the Dwarvish riddle, which said "Aeon values many things, but he values this the most." The party attempted many guesses, from "gold," to "Heliosynth," to "his second son" to "Yathno." Enna finally thought of "friendship," and the door opened onto a familiar looking large room. The party encouraged the fire creatures to eat all of the rotting and ruined wooden furniture.
Kestyn and Morro found another door leading up and climbed the stairs, checking for traps all along the way. Unfortunately, they missed one near the top, and the top stair gave way. Kestyn managed to leap to the doorway and hang on, while Morro leaned back to avoid falling in. Eventually, they and everyone else exit the door out into a mountain range. Expecting to see Barston, the group was shocked when Enna declared it to be her home nation of Shaitam.
With no clear idea of what to do with the fire creatures, Gulden encourages them to eat the dried wood on the ground, but not to eat all the living trees here, promising more food soon. Meanwhile, Enna found berries and Morro found several very large eggs.
The group slept in the Tiny Hut for the first time in many days and woke up on Wednesday to the sounds of Kiiv shouting an alarm about flying enemies. Three large flying creatures with multiple heads attacked the group. The fiery humanoids and fire elemental helped, and Gulden's timely use of Tasha's Hideous Laughter, along with Enna's use of Call Lightning, did a large amount of damage. Having seen two of its allies killed, the last one fled. The group made 4 days of jerky out of the creatures, which everyone willingly took now that they were out of regular food (even Kestyn).
Party Experience Before Session: 108,170XP
Experience Earned:
Party Experience After Session: 117,270XP
Needed For Level 7: 7 * 23,000XP = 161,000XP