Session 14: Chasing the Monolith

Umber Hulk's Burrow

Summary

Ryltar T'sarran, the Drow Lookout

The party reappeared in the ruins of Ironjaw's Mirth, nausea from planar travel leaving Diedric, Octavius, and Shadespine reeling. Grateful for his rescue, Shadespine chose to seek out a Rashemi Berserker Lodge, roaring his farewell as he vanished toward Lake Mulsantir. That night, while soaring north on their Carpet of Flying, Smokescale requested to be unsummoned, seeking to show Unit 137 the true nature of Baator. When they returned, the modron spoke of a lost paradise, a time when the Nine Hells had been a bastion of order against the demons he despised. Meanwhile, the Mimir revealed the Monolith of Stars was a fragment of an ice moon, shattered onto Toril in the Tearfall, an ancient war's final reckoning.

By dawn, the party reached Urlingwood, where Octavius's scrying confirmed the Monolith was gone, its resting place now a field of goblinoid corpses. Survivors pointed them underground, where ogres had fled with their prize. Following the trail, the party descended into the earth, navigating a massive tunnel dug by an Umber Hulk, until the path abruptly ended—collapsed by design. Lilia warned against disturbing the ground, as the creatures could sense tremors, but rather than excavate for weeks, she shifted into a starry badger and burrowed through in minutes.

Emerging on the other side, she found herself face-to-face with a drow lookout—Ryltar T'sarran. He laughed at the sight of the celestial badger, tossing her a mushroom, which she ate without hesitation. Reporting back in badger form, Lilia briefed the party, who prepared to squeeze through the tunnel and meet whatever lay ahead in the depths of the Underdark.

XP Award

• 200 XP for freeing Shadespine
• 800 XP for discovering the origin of the Monolith of Stars
• 200 XP for Lilia's expertise on tracking and Umber Hulks
• Total: 1200 XP
• Current XP: 16180 XP -> 17380 XP (Level 6)
• (Required for next level: 23000 XP)

Things That Happened

Farewell at Ironjaw's Mirth

• Date: 14th of Tarsakh (The Claw of the Storms, April), evening, 1372 DR
• Diedric, Octavius, and Shadespine succumbed to summoning sickness, retching.
• Shadespine thanked the party for saving him, asking where he should go.
• The party offered him two options -- to try to join a Rashemi Berserker Lodge or to go to Galdren in the Rebel Estate.
• Shadespine chose the former, and before leaving, asked Octavius his name.
  • Octavius: 🩸🪶 [vine boom]
• Shadespine leapt away with a roar, following the eastern edge of Lake Mulsantir toward Lirensk.

A Fork In The Flight

• Smokescale asked for permission to be unsummoned so he could show Unit 137 that Baator was more than the spawning pits.
  • The party agreed, planning to resummon them in eight hours. Smokescale warned that death was permanent for them in Baator as they descended into brimstone... mostly to pike them.
• Now in-flight north on their Carpet of Flying, the party deliberated their choices through the night.
• At first, they thought to assist Lilia with rescuing her kidnapped coven sister, but decided it would be best to first check on the Grove of Stars since their battle.
• Lilia asked about the Mimir, and asked it about the Monolith of Stars.

The Monolith's Origins

• In Faerun's ancient past, during the Days of Thunder, the batrachi were losing a battle against the titans.
• In desperation, they performed a ritual to unleash imprisoned primordials.
• In response, Asgorath, the World Shaper, hurled an ice moon at the planet, in an event known as the Tearfall.
• This reshaped continents, created what is known today as the Sea of Stars, and ultimately drove the batrachi to extinction due to climate change.
• The Monolith of Stars is a fragment of that ice moon.
• Lore origin: [Batrachi's History]

Taking the Red Eye

• Flying through the night like a band of degenerates, the party watched Lake Mulsantir appear behind them.
• Diedric demonstrated his ability to fly using Selune's grace.
• Smokescale and Unit 137 were resummoned.
• Unit 137 spoke of Baator once having been a paradise, how it's key to planar stability, and how demons are his mortal enemy.
• Octavius tinkered with his weave-attuned sextant, noting that the nearest leyline was in the Endless Wastes to the east.
• The party passed over Tir, Taporan, and a network of small rivers over the Rashemi heartlands.
• Date: 15th of Tarsakh (The Claw of the Storms, April), early afternoon, 1372 DR
• In the early afternoon, the party had arrived over Urlingwood.
• Octavius channeled a scrying spell, observing the Monolith being gone, piles of dead goblinoids, wounded being tended to, and the grove no longer being in perpetual twilight.
• The party landed, spotting Thenn, the charmed red wizard guard, wounded next to a dead ogre, being cared for by his future wife Haga.
• The party asked which way the ogres took the Monolith. One of the three sisters (the other two were on patrol) pointed the direction, saying they dare not follow them below.
  • The goblinoid incursion bypassed Urlingwood's wards by going underground.
  • The sister confirmed she would send word to Galdren.
• Deliberating, and considering the ogres had a 24 hour lead on the adventurers, they chose to continue the pursuit.

Into the Underdark

• The party followed their trail on their carpet. Lilia spotted the entrance.
• A large 8 foot hole, dug by a beast Lilia identified as an Umber Hulk, led into the earth.
• Diedric granted Lilia and Glenn darkvision to start, but as the flight went on, they experienced complete darkness and rushing wind.
• They heard water dripping and saw roots overhead.
• Two hours into the flight, the tunnel ended, having intentionally been collapsed.
• Lilia warned the party to avoid touching the ground, as Umber Hulks could sense tremors.
• It looked like it would take a full team of workers a long time to excavat--

They Didn't Hear No Bell

• Lilia animorphed into a starry badger (with [Lavarandar's Lantern] marked on her body) and began furiously digging through the DM's roadblock.
• In just a few minutes, she popped out the other end, only for a surprised drow lookout (Ryltar T'sarran) to spot her.
• She did her best badger impression, which earned a laugh from the drow. He tossed her a mushroom, which she ate.
• Octavius asked for a status report via the message spell.
• Lilia the badger returned to the party, speaking in badger form about what she saw. She began widening the tunnel.
• The party deliberated on how to handle the man, and engaged in extreme caving by entering the tunnel one at a time.

Maps

• Nothing worth uploading a map for. (Honestly just being lazy until someone tells me they miss the maps, especially since we have them physically.)

NPCs Encountered (or mentioned)

• Ryltar T'sarran, the Drow Lookout

Memes

• Nick: "Choosing this name is a big decision."
  • DM: "Yep, intentionally so--"
  • Nick: "Shut up"
• Viran, the evaded githyanki, resembling Cricket from IASIP by the end of his journey

DM Thoughts

• Despite the lack of combat, the players embraced their agency in this scenario and were creative.