Log7th Sea: The Search for Salvation-2012/03/29-Jason-1

Game log for the 2012/03/29 session of 7th Sea: The Search for Salvation, as taken by Jason

Benito, Léon, and Claude continue to talk with the Canoness, while Nikolai plays with the orphans and Felix tries to set a new world record for longest stalk-out. Benito asks about travelling in safety, and she advises him that camping at night can be OK with the proper precautions, but travelling at night never makes good sense. She also tells them they can get food and sleep in the stables, which are at least safe.

They go to make camp and try to get the backstory from Felix. When they find their Eisen companion, he's covered in sweat, shirtless despite the cool weather, and practicing the Drexel Gerbeck stance with fanatical energy. When Léon finally gets his attention, he admits only to needing practice. When they ask, he grumbles about the food, but eventually relates the story of Felix and Mia. They, in turn, fill Felix in on the remaining information provided by the Canoness.

After Felix walks off to get some water and rinse himself down, Léon and Claude agree that Felix got a raw deal. Felix admins that he's just not cool with all this. We bed down, and Benito watches the mountains to see if he can spot anything cool and supernatural. Around 10 at night, there's a notable ground tremor. A few minutes later, a nun comes to check on us. Benito asks if everyone inside is OK, and she says yes, but perhaps we should come see what happened. Felix asks if there's any danger, and she says she doesn't know. Hmmmm.

She leads us into the monastery, through a great many tunnels. She shows us that the quake opened a previously hidden tunnel, and they don't know what might be at the other end. Léon and Claude agree to carry lanterns, freeing Benito and Felix to use both hands for their weapons. Claude leads the way, followed by Felix, then Benito, and finally Léon.

This seems to be a natural tunnel, and it reeks of sulfur. Benito begins trying to memorize our track, and a lantern left on in the storeroom where the tunnel enters the monastery will help us find our way home. We decide to adhere to the "always go left" stratgey for mazes, and the tunnel begins to narrow on us. Eventually we find that the left fork leads into cold water. Claude realizes that there's some sort of light shining off the water. We have to turn around and try again, still adhering to an "always turn left" philosophy. We come to a T-intersection and, turning left, guess from the acoustics that we've entered a cavern of sorts. The walls feel oily, which makes it unpleasant to hug them closely, and at one point Léon slips and falls. Felix suggests that we stop and listen, and all we hear is water droplets, coming from ahead and to the right. We hear nothing else. We begin to approach the sound of the water drops, and eventually Claude tells us we've come to it. The water seems muddy and it also begins to get fairly deep as Claude explores. It's about forty-five feet across, four feet wide, and it never gets more than chest deep on Felix or Claude. The ford also takes a definite turn, meaning that by the time Felix and Claude cross over, Léon and Benito can no longer see them.

Benito, being of modest height, has to make something of a production out of crossing the ford. As he wades through, he feels something brush his side. That does wonders for his nerves, and of course the water is up to his neck... this is not Benito's favorite day ever. The chill also wearies us all. We empty our boots, wring out our shirts, and endeavour to maintain our equipment.

This new room seems to be another largish chamber, although the top of the cave looms only seven feet high. With the stalagmites and stalactices, we have to navigate very carefully. We follow the left wall and then find ourselves moving into a tunnel. In this smaller passage, the sound of the dripping water is louder, and the slime on the walls thicker, and eventually we come to more water. This time the water very quickly comes up to Claude's knees, the bottom gets slipper, and he finds himself unable to touch the bottom in front of him with his rapier. We decide to turn back, continuing to hug the left wall. We enter another tunnel, but this time we see light, which resolves to an orange glow at the end of the tunnel. We shutter our lanterns to take a better look at it, but we still see only a steady orange glow. As we exit the tunnel into the cavern, there's a geodesic dome of red-orange light, twelve feet across, sitting in the middle of the cavern, looking like it might be made of glass. Benito recalls that a few years back, in the fashion season of Montaigne, a Syrneth amber-colored material became very popular. Aside from the glow, this material looks very similar. To the left of the dome, the cavern slopes down into water. The dome sits about thirty feet away, and we can barely make out that there's something beyond it in the cavern. Eventually get close enough to see that about thirty feet beyond the dome, there are steps carved into the stone, leading up. Each step is about eighteen inches tall and three feet deep. Benito takes a close look at them and discovers they are made out of tiles, inscribed with weaving horizontal lines. Tapping with his knife suggests that the steps are made of stone. As Benito climbs them, he sees that the lines on the tiles begin to flow upwards, and Felix sees a platform on top of the stairs, supporting a sarcophagus. The lid holds writing in an unfamiliar script, and the bowls looked scorched. Benito notices that the flame of his lantern has been deflected, and then realizes that there's a breeze coming from under the lid of the sarcophagus. We can't lift it, even enough to slide it, but when we all line up on one side and shove, we manage to shove it... right off, whence it falls and shatters. Inside the sarcophagus, we find a stairwell down. Also, the shattering lid makes a tremendous boom, waking up the local bats. We hear something from down the stairs... and it might be voices.

The stairs down dogleg, reach a landing, dogleg again, and we begin to see another glow. The sound that might be chanting gets louder, and the sulfur smell grows stronger. We feel a hot wind in our faces, which grows ever warmer as we descend. Whereas the cave seemed natural, these walls show signs of artifice. We see a doorway with a doorframe lined with the same glowing amber material as the dome. Past the doorway, we see a hallway going left or right, but not ahead. We hold our pattern and step left. Once we turn, we realize the stairway was built into a sort of column, and now we're at the back of it. Benito takes the rear spot and begins watching carefully behind us.

We enter a new cavern and realize the dome above is merely the top of an enormous glowing pillar, providing so much light it takes time for our eyes to adjust. At the far end of this hundred fifty foot cavern, we see a dozen or so dark-robed figures, chanting. Felix asks if anyone recognizes the chanting, but they don't. The floor here is smooth (though the walls look natural) and as we approach, we see a brass brazier facing away from us, filled with burning material, illuminating some sort of placque on the walls.

Benito knows, as the rest of us do not, that El Fuego Ardento mages hang out around here, and the whole vibe really fits with their whole fire worship thing. He tips us off to our mortal danger.

As we discuss options, they stop chanting, a brief tremor runs through the cavern, and the chanting picks up again. We discuss options and decide that three of us will hide while Benito approaches the mysterious figures to gain information about them. We hide, and he calls out for food and drink for a traveller. One of the figures turns, and he sees it wears a mask looking like some sort of fire demon. It then shouts, in Castillian, "they've found us!" They all draw weapons. It shall now be, as it has so many times in the past, on. It is on like dope on Chong.

Felix and Léon charge out to back Benito up, and Benito fires his two pistols, killing one attacker. Felix sets to await their charge, slits open the chest of the first attacker, and shoves his zweihander deep into the skull of the second. Léon, not to be outdone, runs his man through, and Claude takes care of his man neatly. As they finish their charge, two attack Benito, three Felix, one Claude, and one Léon. Benito takes a slash across the shoulder, Felix a notable flesh wound, and Claude a nasty cut. Counterattacking, Benito kills two opponents, Léon one, and Felix one. The cultist in front of him manages to evade Felix's defense and his attempt to parry and sinks a dagger deep into his shounder, tearing up his deltoid and effectively crippling him. Benito, sick of all this crap, whirls through the fight to attack all three, and manages to skewer all three to death. Even Felix, academy trained and worldly, stares with astonishment at that.

We search and find writing in many places, but none of us can decipher it. Their weapons show no maker's mark or any other clue as to their origins. We go to investigate the tunnel to the left of the tablet, and it leads to an actual lake of lava. Mmm, fire. We decide not to hang around that area. We check the tunel to the right of the tablet, and it leads out into the open air. There's a single horse there, with the leftovers of lunch, a bedroll, and a pistol. Felix loots the pistol. The horseshoes bear a mark from Malaca.

Benito tries to figure out whether we could get home overland, but we don't know the mountains. He then tries a little first aid on himself, but doesn't really have the materials or training. We realize that the water running out of the chamber of the dome would make a useful navigation channel, but we'd have to swim underwater and lose our lanterns. Léon decides to blood a lantern so he can swim underwater and then pull it through to him with Porté, thus avoiding any risk of dousing the lantern. Now Felix knows Léon is a Porté sorceror, but Felix is cool about that stuff. Léon and Claude both swim the underwater channel, and Léon brings the lantern through. Wha-pow! Benito and Felix hear a terrible screaming sound as Porté magic tears asunder the fabric of space and time, and Léon pulls the lantern through. Felix then tries to make the dive, and while he has a moment of terror when his zweihander catches on the rocks underwater, he manages to wriggle loose, and Benito follows through. In twenty minutes, we're back in the storeroom. Benito decides that to cover any traces of Léon's sorcery, he'll go back into the cave and wash the blood off the lantern.

Evidence eliminated, we return to the storeroom, and the nuns admit us without rancor. They offer to tend our wounds. Of course, Mia turns up, to disapprove of Felix's entire existence. They have excellent doctors in their hospital, and both Benito, Claude, and Felix will be doing fine by the next day.

We walk out of the hospital and Nikolai asks us what he missed.