Enola Yarn – blogpost 37

Now that we’re done inside the building of House Freth, we decide to scout the area outside. We’ve seen goblins in a cage that might come from level two (where the big market is). Valentine didn’t see any guards outside so we approach the goblins with the intent of freeing them. The door of the cage is locked. Calyx tries to open the door and we talk to them. The goblins crawl towards us – making me do a step backward – and cry: “Help us. Help us please!” They all seem very starved-looking, and it’s making me sad. Farryn doesn’t want to help them, but Valentine and I are already looking for rations. Farryn asks the goblins how to get to the next level. They tell us about a giant mechanical worm – Trobiant, that made a tunnel down there. They’re still begging for food and to let them out. Valentine gives two portions of rations to the goblins, and Calyx starts to give out goodberries. Next, Calyx opens up the cage door, releasing the goblins. We look at the goblins run off for a second and then see Troglodtyte children working in the field, some giant spiders, Drow, and a Minotaur in the back of the field. As we approach the Troglodyte children, we see they are working on a field that is covered with mushrooms. The kids are overseen by Drow. Also, some dead Drow is spread across the fields. Together with Calyx, I think about what this can be, and we conclude the mushrooms are food for the Drow, and the dead Drow are food for the mushrooms and spores.

In the meantime, Smoke finds some Drow in another room next to the mushroom field and waves at them. They don’t respond at all and don’t wave at Valentine as well. Probably, these Drow are still under my control. To test this, I wave as well. They wave back. Smoke is a bit annoyed: he is used to creatures recognizing him for his royal blood and finds it odd that they didn’t greet him.

In another room, we find small beds. We don’t stay there long and continue our way. We find a big door in the east of the castle, what seems like the proper entrance. As we open the door, I see a black smudge hasten itself alongside me, running out of the castle, into the darkness. Smoke apparently couldn’t resist running off again – as he normally does. I forgot how fast he is. A couple of seconds later, we hear many bat-like screeches. We hasten to get to Smoke and enter a piece of the cavern that is totally covered in shit. Oh man, this is super gross. Luckily, nothing really happened to Smoke, but the surprise was enough to let him wait for us.

Then, Calyx, Farryn, and Smoke hear something and start to peruse the sound. I cannot hear anything, and start to wonder if I’m getting old or have hearing problems. Stealthily, we follow the noise but see Drow and an iron spider making webs. We don’t engage and sneak past them.

We notice that the path is declining, could this be the way down to level 13? We walk through a tunnel and find an open cavern with some sort of bridge over a trench. Smoke climbs out of the trench and checks both sides of the cavern from on top of the bridge. Together with Valentine’s new powers (looking through walls) we know there is a big pile of metal and a lot of metal-based creatures around it. We talk a bit about our plan to get to the pile and then we all hear the noise again. A gigantic, metal worm slides through the trenches. We all press against the wall not to attract any attention. Luckily, the worm crosses our path and does not approach us.

We decide to get out of the trenches, also to avoid any other run-ins with the worm, and climb onto the ridge. After I fall off the wall once, Smoke helps me climb up using his two immovable rods. When I look up, I cannot see the ceiling of the cavern, only flying mechanical creatures. We see some talking Hobgoblins and Quadrones walking around, tinkering.

We walk further and then, Valentine stops us. She sees flying mechanical insects with stingers, rust monsters, and a pile of what looks like inventions they’re working on. “INVENTIONS?!” exclaims Farryn? He and Grond start running towards the pile, but Valentine and I make a stop sign with our mage hands. Luckily, Grond stops and Farryn descends. He agrees that his impulse was stupid and says to Grond: “Go and blend in.” Grond walks off, and I think this is a better plan. Grond is made of metal as well, so he might get away without being noticed. He returns with something in his beak: a small telescope. Farryn is way too interested to leave now and walk away, so he walks up to the pile with Grond. Calyx and Smoke follow him, but Valentine and I stay behind.

I shoot two mechanical Wasps from the sky with a well-aimed firebolt, and Calyx wares them off with a bottle that causes multiple tiny explosions. Farryn is attacked by rust monsters and I can see one of his tridents go to dust. Apart from me burning my finger on a firebolt, this battle is going smoothly: the front line is avoiding most of the attacks, and my sis and I are at a safe distance helping them out.

After the battle, only Calyx is badly injured. He is stung by a Wasp and is poisoned. Luckily, Farryn can help and after he removes the poison from the wound, he turns around and runs to the pile of inventions. He jumps when he reaches the pile and starts frantically searching for inventions that he’s interested in. It is like seeing a kid in a candy store, that is how excited Farryn is right now.

Farryn finds a couple of things: a 12 sided box, something that looks like a sextant, and a couple of attached rings. To make sure we can investigate all the items safely, I create a tiny hut. Everyone is investigating the items Farryn found, except for Valentine. She is totally absent for ten minutes, totally in the zone. She moans a couple of times, and I nudge her. What the hell is she doing?! She doesn’t react to anything, so I stop trying to get her attention.