Last we left our heroes, they were picking up the pieces of a dragon vs airship battle, the death and resurrection of a companion, and the revelation of King Baldus’ backstory. As Ryker smooths things over with Syrin and hands off responsibility for the king’s protection, Dorza also decides to stay; the King is going to need all the help he’s going to get and maybe she can steer him in a better direction.
Wander casts sending to the dragon Skatha who informs them that the Onacs have been killed, Preymonger orcs killed and scattered, and the machine is still active. He is grievously injured and will meet them along the Savage River.
Heading decided, the crew say their goodbyes and take to the air. There’s enough time in the journey for a long rest, so that is what they do. In the morning over breakfast, as the clerics are comparing spell lists for the day, Arunak suggests “why not just teleport into Skulldrinker’s Cave?” reminding everyone of Randar’s teleportation circle in the sanctum. Havayla pipes up that she can find the path and a strategy is decided.
At the rendezvous with Skatha, Yevin, Nathan, Ryker, and Arunak fly, float, and fall off the ship to meet him. Skatha describes the battle and how Mordramoth defied orders to flee, instead sneaking inside the cave to disable the machine. But during the discussion he is overtaken by Skulldrinker, who proclaims a deal for the Derailers: He is going to win, they cannot stop him. But if they come now and surrender, he’ll allow them all to live as subjects in his new world. Ryker, Yevin, and Wander will be taken as his own champion puppets, everyone else can live as they please, but without their amulets of protection.
Aș Skulldrinker finishes his monolog, Skatha’s neck twists unnaturally and the dragon falls, dead. Yevin and Arunak flee up to the ship, retrieving Wander, who is able to revive him. They gift Skatha with an amulet of protection against divination and location, and leave him to rest. Wander contacts Mordramoth and informs him that help is on the way, please cause as much trouble as he can in 4 hours when they get there.
Altering their heading to the north based on Havayla’s direction, the Derailers head for the forest that breathes. Thanks to Ryker’s keen perception, they find a crevice that leads down directly to the lake where they defeated the hydra before discovering Ragnar’s sanctum. A little sprinkle of pixie dust (thanks to their feywildian friends Pan and Trii) and the troop once again float, fly, and fall down into the depths.
Greeting the guardian flumphs and taking a couple moments to use the scrytable, the team rushes to the teleportation circle and teleports into a small round cave. The surprised orc guard is unceremoniously dispatched and the crew whispers back and forth about what to do. A voice calls out from the hemet asking what happened. Arunak, the only orc speaker attempts a reply (everything’s fine here, situation normal… how are you?) ss Nathan and Wander magically disguise themselves as orcs and move to the front of the tunnel to scout.
At end of the tunnel they see a small platoon of orcs, two wolves, The Butcher, and a tent made of tanned skins. An orc is heading towards them and after failing to convince him that everything is fine, Wander taps into his mind and suggests that he report back that nothing is wrong, the orc just dropped his spear. They continue to push forward as the team holds back in the tunnel, when Wander is found out by the two wolves. As the wolves move in to attack, she casts silence on the tent and The Butcher, and combat begins.
Chaos breaks out. An invisible Yevin takes to the sky, while invisible Arunak moves forward into the cavern. Havayla casts firestorm on the area of the tent, catching and killing multiple orcs, lighting the tent on fire, and burning The Butcher. Ryker eviscerates one of the wolves before disappearing into shadow. Nathan engages incoming orcs. Wander summons her spiritual weapon, a large tome, and The Butcher turns to attack.
Skuldrinker steps out from the flaming tent and rages noiselessly at the chaos. As his forces are struck down, he steps out of the magical silence and attempts to flee, only to be pulled back by Yevin’s counter spell. Arunak invisibly strikes him from behind, attempting to stun, but is unable to make the blow stick. Skulldrinker summons a bone-devil and misty-steps to the switchback stone steps leading to the upper tomb where his machinery awaits.
Meanwhile, The Butcher is ringed in powerful and painful moonlight by Havayla while the rest of the crew dispatches the other orcs and wolf. He steps forward, picks up Wander, and decides that he’s hungry. A couple bites off her shoulder trigger his healing ability as everyone looks on in momentary horror, before continuing their attacks. Skulldrinker beguiles Yevin to “look at me” which causes Yevin to be stunned, unable to take any action.
And that is where we stopped for the night, mid-combat with the last two big bads and a bone-devil. Will the Derailers be able to stop Skulldrinker? We’ll find out next time…