They explore the remaining tunnel near the room with the brown mold, and come to a fork.
One fork goes back up to the temple, connecting to the hall near Nellie’s Narthex.
The other continues on for an hour, gently sloping down, leading to a triple junction. There’s a sign in a language no one understands. Aurelia gets a tracing of the sign for future investigation.
They also find a pouch hidden among some rocks, with three vials and a scroll inside. The potions appear to be potions of greater healing, but the scroll appears to be a letter written in the same unknown language as the signs.
Rather than explore the Underdark further, they return to Nellie’s Narthex. Nellie offers to translate the signs and the letter. It appears the cache of potions was meant for someone named Brillum. The signs read “Ecuvisite” and “Heiyetish”. Ecuvisite is a trading post of Duergar, and Heiyetish is a reclusive settlement of blind fish-people.
They introduce Ethan and Gertrude to the rest of the former prisoners, then spend the night at Nellie’s Narthex.
Thursday, December 20, 652 AU
They identify the pin they found yesterday as a clockwork amulet.
Everyone but Aurelia puts on the robes and amulets of Neesha, then they open the door to the Trial of the Full Moon.
They fight several oozes and solve a puzzle to open a portcullis to the next room.
In the next room, they meet a lunar dragon named Razai, who opens a portal to the surface of the moon, where he gives Valya Neesha’s mark.
While on the moon, Valya sees some red smudge in the sky she doesn’t recognize.
Using the mark, Valya opens the door to the Trial of the Blood Moon. In this trial, they fight will-o’-wisps while crossing a balance beam over a pit of churning metal gears. In the next room, a horde of zombies protects the obelisk that powers the forbiddence spell. Whatever this room was supposed to contain, Tharruk has replaced it to protect his obelisk.
After defeating the zombies, one comes back to life and tells them that to pass this trial they have to promise to go on a quest for Neesha: A relic of Neesha was taken from an old temple in the west and currently resides in Dazg Bok. The party must retrieve it and return it to its rightful place.
They destroy the obelisk, and return to the main room. Before they can enter the final trial chamber, they’re ambushed by Azzox, trying to take advantage of their weakened state. They defeat Azzox.
The Trial of the Eclipse, they try to figure out how to open a locked door at the end of a freezing hallway while fighting a bodak. In the chamber beyond, Valya sacrifices her hand to Neesha in a sacrificial fire.
Realizing they don’t have time to rest, they return to Nellie’s Narthex and consider bargaining with her for power, but ultimately decline when Nellie asks for Valspira’s orb in return.
Instead, they make a deal with Valspira, who agrees to bring them back to full health (plus temporary HP) and serve them for one year in exchange for releasing her from her orb. ❦