Funny name here

Session 20

Mint frees Welter from his chains; he brings us to the entrance with giant stones blocking the way with scribbles on the stones. “These look pretty ancient; pre-Calamity” Some are Drow; some are Abyssal; something about a winged shape (possibly celestial). All of this is in front of a big metal door with lock on it. We try picking the lock, but nothing happens at all. The door won't open.

Briya finishes ritually casting detect magic to see if there's something we can do. She finds abjuration in a few places, as well as a body somewhere. There's movement above our heads and suddenly two whitish-blue spiders attack.

After clearing them away, as well as the two missing wives who arrived mid-battle, we turn back to the main orc who was restrained the whole time and he says he wants to live. Prophet claims otherwise. Maltheo cuts the orc loose and says to run away and never come back. And to fear the great mercenaries:

The Librarians

^{(The group has a name!)}

An investigation revealed a key, and Briya's survival skills get her a “phase spider poison pouch” from one of the animal corpses. We catch up with Welter and he decides to join us now that we have a key to open the mines. This is after Prophet inspires us for some extra health. Mint tries to tame a worg but gets bitten, but, also gains favor.

Maltheo finds a necklace with beast fangs hanging from it; gives a faint magical aura. Brings it to Prophet and discovers it’s an “Amulet of Fangs” that requires a blood sacrifice to grant dark vision, gives advantage on wisdom (perception) checks that involve sight or smell, gives poison resistance for 1 hour and prevents being poisoned.

Moving to the basement of the hut: There's a shape of a woman, abstractly, on the wall made from plants and leaves. Two books: a journal without any text and the other is some sort of prayer book titled “Prayers to Xalicas”. Embossed with one large wing and hand-engraved. The symbol is almost identical to the one on the wall upstairs. It has two bookmarks, saving the Ritual of the Dawn and the Ritual of Dusk. We try the rituals a few times, and finally get the dawn ritual correct, when Briya discovers that a small white & gold wing-shaped pendant appears glowing in the blank book. Briya puts on the pendant, and her pupils seem lit up from inside. Suddenly she can read Celestial, and some rock faces reveal symbols glowing upon them as well as on tracks on the ground. The ones on the rocks just say to "Follow the path of Xalicas".

Briya spells Xalicas by stepping on those characters in order. The surface of the wall glows white, and then a greenish hue; everyone is blinded for a moment as the light glows, and grows, over us all. We appear where we started, but have been put into a sort of “greenish realm” but superimposed. We enter the suddenly-now-open cave, and then: cliffhanger!