Lost Remembrance Report

The Sons solidified their plans to approach the walls of the Silent Spring prison. Kaziel offered to sing a song that would make them harder to see but he would have to stay behind. After considering a few other options, the Sons agreed to this plan, telling Kaziel to hide further down the tunnel with the mounts. The party prepared to make their run for the walls, hoping to find a moment when the guard was low and grapple their way up the wall. As they started to move, there was a horrific sound behind them.    A colossal serpent with fire blazing in its mouth moved into the cavern. It began feasting on the horrific flying rays that had been dining on the corpses left in the cave. The guards on the walls immediately panicked, firing upon the giant snake. Sensing their opportunity, the Sons raced toward the wall and shot their grapples. They climbed up the wall with little difficulty. Upon the walls, the guards were so distracted by the monster at the gate that they did not even notice the strangers sneaking past.    As they entered the prison, the Sons realized that this was less a fortress than a city built into the sides of an ancient crater that spiraled deeper into the earth. Crumbling buildings of untold age had been reclaimed and repurposed, full of tens of thousands of prisoners, slaves, and guards, formed a labyrinth of stone. The air was choked with fine crystal dust so the Sons immediately covered their faces to stave off the corruption.    With little idea where to start looking for the Vizier, they began moving through the streets, keeping to the shadows as best they could. Here and there, they caught fragments of conversation; the Matriarch was seen, the prince had come to check on the progress of the mines, the Tujaar Alrabie were unhappy with production. Soon, Vaas found a smaller guard outpost and watched as a young, emaciated Ziin slave served the wardens drinks. Most of them were cruel, testing Vaas's self-control, but at least one showed a hint of kindness. As the Ziin boy left the room, Vaas stopped him and tried to get information from him. The boy was surprised to see him and did not know anything about the Vizier, but he did tell Vaas of someone called "Old Nan" who might be able to help.    Keeping the Old Nan in mind, the Sons decided to try and find some documentation, hoping the Vizier would be recorded in the prison records. They spotted a few buildings that seemed better kept and decided to look there. On the way to these buildings, however, they came across a large chamber where workers were being hung by the hundreds. The room was full of guards and a strange masked warrior clad in white armor. This sinister figure mentioned that the prisoners had not met their quotas and would therefore be made an example to the others. The Sons watched in horror, unable to overcome the numbers in the chamber to save the workers. They did notice, however, a vein of arcane crystal that pulsed blood red on one of the walls. This crystal, Sawbones indicated, had been corrupted by the amount of blood spilled in this room and could be very unstable. It could also cause a plague of undead if it were to explode. Keeping score of this, the Sons moved on.    They found a smaller hall lined with pillars where the bodies of several guards and one of the white-clad warriors lay slain. The culprits did not notice the Sons as they escaped through a false wall. The Sons decided to investigate the scene and take the armor to better blend in to the prison. As Vaas investigated the wall the rebels had gone through, his ancient helmet activated. It displayed a message before his eyes, asking if he wanted to track the "primary target and send out the beacon." Believing it to mean the Vizier, he said yes.    There was an intense pulse that emanated from Vaas's armor. Suddenly there were shouts and screams in the pit. The massive gate at the bottom of the crater began to activate, spinning and churning up the earth, killing anyone near it with a storm of arcane energy. The Sons quickly made their way through the false wall, following the beacon on Vaas's helm, not knowing who they truly were following.    The Sons burst forth into a chamber full of children, women, and the older workers. Their disguises did them little favors here as the leaders of this group were immediately on the defense. It took some convincing to prove they were not there to attack the workers. The leaders of the rebels included a winged woman with pitch-black skin and burning green eyes, she called herself the Matriarch. The other was somewhat like an ellar but not. She had grey skin with pink markings, one purple eye and one blue. She was called Wynn.    Wynn, panic-stricken, confronted Vaas. She told them he had called the Hunters to this world and if they came through the gate the entire realm would be doomed. Insisting that he had no idea who or what his ancestors had been hunting, Vaas convinced Wynn that he was not her enemy. The Sons managed to tell them who they were looking for, and a woman named Elsbeth brought the sickly Vizier out to them. They all determined they had to do something about the gate, which pulsed again and threatened to tear the entire prison down. Elsbeth convinced Vaas to allow her to break his helm to stop the beacon. But the gate still needed to be dealt with.      The Sons made their way to the pit, desperately trying to reach the gate. They convinced any guards to allow them to pass, though they were much distracted by the horrific demons coming through the gate. As they reached the nearest side of the gate, Wynn prepared to close it. She said she needed to be protected so she could concentrate and that she would need some of Vaas's blood to close it for good. At that moment, an ember shot from the gate and landed on the cliff near the party. It coalesced into a spiked demon.    The Sons rushed to fight the monster, hoping to give Wynn time to work. The demon was powerful, however, and even their combined strength was nearly not enough. Vaas suffered terrible wounds as the demon grabbed him and battered his brothers and sisters in arms with his body. Sigfried and Aurelia did their best to batter the monster, trying to free Vaas. Wriothesley wielded his fiery blade, Myr sunk several arrows into the beast's thick hide, and Sawbones struck it with the flaming spear. In the pit below, an army of guards was slowly being slaughtered by more and more demons. And all the while, the horned shadow came closer and closer in the gate.    Finally, with great effort, Wynn reached out her hand to Vaas and with his blood, she slammed the gate shut.      All the guards and demons that had been fighting were gone, turned to dust by the gate. The Sons immediately turned to their wounds as Wynn thanked them for their help. She said she owed them a favor and asked what they would want. Assuming the workers had made it out during the battle with Elsbeth and the Matriarch, the Sons asked to be taken to where Kaziel waited with the mounts.    Now all together with Kaziel in the Silent Paths once again, the Sons tend to their wounds. Wynn says she will travel with them for a short time and answer any questions they might have.