Hello, Everyone!
Last time, after talking to Dynatos Perres and finding out what happened to Paulina and her party, we had a Zaga (a liquid Heroes’ Feast) and headed towards the dragon's lair.
At the entrance, Bruno sent a message to Nurvureem and found out that she was ‘not done’ with his sister, which filled our adventurers' hearts with dread.
The smell of acid hit Mary's senses the moment she stepped into the cave. Distant ritualistic singing sounded throughout, interrupted by scattered screams of pain and despair. Above all that noise, Nurvureem’s laughter rose, almost like purring, filling Mary’s heart with staggering fear.
The cave began with a narrow tunnel, damp and hot, sloping down and down into the unknown. A small stream trickled inside, making the walls and floor hard to traverse. Mary slipped and almost broke her neck trying to climb down, so Bruno had to get out a knotted rope to secure their way below.
While he was busy with that, Aurum sat on the ground, cross-legged, and started playing with the magical lens he used to do his Clairvoyance spell. Dohos perched on his shoulder, telling him where exactly to send his sensor in order to get the full picture of what was happening, and the bard closed his eyes, transferring his senses there.
“Nuri is in a big cavern,” he said. “There are cultists chanting around her, sounds like some kind of a ritual. She’s getting bigger and more monstrous than ever before. I think the cultists are doing that. We should hurry.”
“Alright,” Mary said, her voice quivering a little. “Bruno, what’s the plan?”
They made their way down the tunnel, Dohos flying ahead of the group, croaking directions and helping them avoid the traps. At one point, there was a pit, more than a hundred feet deep, filled with some kind of spores and the sound of rushing water at the bottom. After that, there was an offset tunnel which led to the biggest gelatinous cube they could imagine. All of that, they managed to avoid because of their guide.
About half an hour after, the tunnel showed signs that it was soon opening into a cavern. The screams and Nurvureem’s laughter were so loud now, they almost drowned out every thought Mary tried having. The chanting was more audible, too. Multiple voices, repeating phrases that made her blood curdle. ‘Azazel's guilt’... ‘Yeenoghu's hunger’... ’The Demogorgon's madness’... At certain chants, the ground shook. At others, Mary’s head grew lighter. Others still, made her stomach churn and she could hardly stop herself from vomiting. She could feel the veil between the worlds getting thinner here, like it had been worn out by the chanting. Were they summoning something? Transferring power from the Abyss?
Mary and her companions formed a circle. They all looked like her, but somehow she was able to discern who each of the others was. She hoped with her whole heart that this wouldn’t be the last time she saw them.
They drank the potions of acid resistance they’d bought in Bytopia, and Mary sent them each a Message in order to keep an open connection if they needed to communicate anything urgent. Then, it was time to go.
Agatha led the group. She was way faster and stealthier than the others. At the very entrance of the cavern, however, something flashed and sent a pulse of arcane energy through her. She doubled over, hissing in pain, and when she stood upright, her right arm had blackened and all the fur there had fallen off.
“Careful!” the tabaxi whispered, pointing at a glyph drawn in the wall. “The place is trapped!” After that, she slinked into the cavern, alone.
Mary couldn't see the others anymore. They had all dispersed to find better ways into the cavern. She approached the glyph and studied it carefully. Soon, she sighed in relief. There was no more magic left in the symbol. It had been a one-time trap.
Nurvureem’s lair was wide, but not as wide as her other cavern under Belfast. The ceiling rose nearly fifty feet up, supported by natural columns coming all the way down to the floor. Puddles and pools of acid were scattered on the floor, making any advancement difficult and perilous. Cages full of people--the missing citizens of Pamagos--hung from the ceiling and the walls. White-masked cultists in black leather armour chanted on rised platforms around the center of the cavern.
And there… was Nurvureem. She'd grown huge, a lot bigger than she'd been last time. Strings of fire danced over her dragon form, flames erupted from her eyes and mouth. She was transforming. Above her, dangling on a long chain from the ceiling, was a tiefling woman. Mary knew her. It was Jared’s companion, the red one. Her ankle had been pierced by a hook and her blood was trickling down her body and onto Nurvureem’s open mouth.
But that wasn’t the worst thing. There were people, strapped to the dragon’s body: one under each wing, two on her throat, one on each side of her chest. She was making sure that anyone attempting to come after her would hesitate to hit the most vulnerable spots for fear of killing the innocents.
Mary thought she saw a familiar face under Nurvureem’s right wing. It was Sherry, Mr. Steel’s halfling assistant.
Her heart ached for the woman.
And then it ached even more.
In the dragon’s mouth, chewed like a candy, was Paulina.
Sooo, this was ‘the lay on the land’. The cavern, the cultists, the dragon… The innocents.
😢 Paulina… 😢
See you next time for some more Nurvureem cruelty, as well as the beginning of this fateful fight.
Take care and be well!
(Also, here's a link to the Chapter Guide, the Glossaries (Part 1 and Part 2)
and the Map for the series. You're welcome!)
An important disclaimer: Mary Windfiddle's story is my notes from a D&D game turned into a narrative. All the worldbuilding and NPC encounters belong to our DM, and all the actions of the other main characters (Aurum, Bruno and Agatha) belong to my co-players. My contribution to the story is only everything Mary-related (actions, reactions, inner thoughts), as well as the writing itself.