Session 11 - Harmonious Hunters Alight

After taking a moment to decompress at the park, the Harmonious Hunters decides to return to Greenhall and check out the armory Sila had mentioned. Just before they leave, Filtar comes running up to the group out of breath. He complains that he had no idea where the group had gone and thus would not have been able to sufficiently protect Vordia if anything were to happen. The party caught him up on their achievements with Emerald Scent and informed him of their next plans. Filtar also requests that they at least inform him or leave a letter for if they are to leave.

With that, the party heads back to Greenhall. They are met once more by Capitoline Flashlyte, who brings them into the armory. They learn Capitoline has a twin brother, Palatine, by the time they reach the armory. It is set up almost like an ice skate rental, and a horribly sluggish, ancient lady sits at the reception. She clearly hates her job, but explains the system nonetheless. In order to rent an item from the armory, she requests a temporary trade of something of sentimental value roughly equivalent to the price they would have to pay to part with such an item compared to the monetary price of the item they wish to rent. Upon debates all around, Vordia ends up being the only one who gets anything, renting some studded leather armor for six months in exchange for her earrings she had had since she was little. The receptionist deems this acceptable, and the whole party--including Capitoline--scoot out of there as fast as they can.

As they leave, Capitoline says that a courier was sent but a few minutes prior to their arrival to drop off their licenses at the Whispering Woad. Thus, everyone but Patch makes a return there. In the meantime, Patch heads back down to the Silver Skillet to investigate into what Gaelen had to offer as far as knowledge on automata go. Once they arrived, they got a glass of water and revealed an almost super-soaker like valve where they poured the glass.

Back at the Whispering Woad, Vordia, Toni, Gab, Onika, and Filtar meet an illustrious halfling bartender where Artiatiaana typically resides. He tells them he has two packages for them. The first contains all of the team's Maius Hunter Licenses. The second contains a letter uniquely addressed by their dragonborn "friend" Araz. He tells them that the Gaelen gang has a job to offer the Hunters and that one of them knows how to reach the gang. He claims wanting to talk to them about apologies and concerns. With this knowledge, they meet up with Patch at the Silver Skillet. Though, Filtar mentions that he had picked up some contract work that he needed to do in order to keep the whole party afloat if they were to be staying at taverns.

Once the rest of the party joins Patch at the Skillet, they knock on the bookcase as instructed by Patch's contact Jalir. He meets them and brings the group down into the underground tunnel network that is Gaelen's apparent lair. The atmosphere is extremely focused and business-oriented. Off in various side-tunnels, the group notices mechanical parts being worked on. One in particular seems to house similar automata parts to Patch. They come to a central war room where a short-haired girl gives them their mission in exchange for information. She is quite brutish and direct, even chastising Jalir and Onika in the briefing. Onika is told to stay and help research while the Hunters were on the mission, stating that "we shouldn't have to rely on you Graviturgists". The party is reluctant to part with Onika in the middle of gang territory, but they oblige. Instead, Patch, Vordia, Toni, and Gab are joined by two of the gang's own: a fighter sort in a peculiar hat named Justin and a similarly brutish ranger named Alexa.

The party travels North of Saile, ascending into the mountains for about a day and a half. During their camp one night, Justin comes up to Patch during their watch and removes their hat, altering their form to the familiar white dragonborn Araz. He asks Patch if they can get himself and the Hunters away from Alexa for a moment to talk at some point. Patch agrees and the two continue their watches.

At the second day, the group comes to the mouth of a cave they were searching for. The mission described that they were to slay an ice worm Maius that was hiding near Saile in the Doline Cliffs. To get to its lair, the party would have to traverse a dangerous cave that had been reported to be home to at least one dangerous entity, but they were not sure what.

With this information, the group tries to stealth through the cave. Vordia being the only among them with darkvision, the whole group relies a lot on her and Alexa to move through. As they move, they keep hearing eerie noises that confirm they are not alone in this cave. Additionally, they find themselves walking among massive footprints. In trying to avoid whatever beast lurks in these caves, they end up walking straight into the cavern it lingered within. Face to face with a massive abominable yeti, the group breaks into a sprint to try and find the other exit of the cave. The monster gives chase and the Hunters rush into a slim corridor it cannot fit through. This leads them to a smaller chamber with two other paths branching off to the North and South. The North path reveals nothing from where they are, and the South path reveals a glint of light, yet is accompanied by another gurgling sound. At this point, the party hears rumbling overhead as the ceiling begins to crack, monstrous roars piercing the wall. The yeti had climbed on top of them. Quickly debating which path to take, Vordia takes initiative and runs South. She sees the exit, but once the chamber opens up she sees a massive clawed hand swiping at her as a second abominable yeti makes its presence known. She runs as far as she can, but is bleeding profusely. The rest of the party follows, Gab being second to last. The other yeti drops down to join its partner just as Gab pulls Vordia through the exit. Alexa insisted on running in last, and her decision led to her shortened fate. She attempts to create confusion with a cloud of mist, but trips on her way through it. Reacting, both yetis rush her in the haze and all Vordia and Gab can see are loose shapes and blood flying out toward them.

The adrenaline pumping, the party finds themselves at the base of a jagged vertical shaft. The remaining of them deftly use teamwork to ascend, landing themselves in a brief tunnel at the cave's second opening. The group collapses in relief at the sight of safety, but Gab swears he can see some icy scales ever so gently glistening in the distant clearing.