Caves of Chaos – Alas poor Madagantos As told by Invictus Sanctimonius Lautanus, The Ocean’s Wrath As Persana wills it, so shall it be! I continue on the great task set me by Holy Persana, to
retrieve the Eternal Song of Wind and Wave.
My previous foray into the West Marches found no evidence of the Eternal Song, so
I’ve joined with a group heading on a different quest. They’re seeking out the Caves of Chaos, a
warren of evil humanoids that need to be curtailed. My companions are as follows: Item the first. Dex a
clever rogue well versed in stealth and tricks. More importantly a familiar
face, for we had defeated the Kenku bandits together. I was most pleased to have this excellent
fellow with me again. Item the second. Madagantos a dragonborn warrior determined
to prove himself worthy. It transpired
he was a relative of Snax, another link with my previous quest! Item the third. Brehen.
A fellow paladin, though he’s a Yuan Ti, a race I’m not very familiar
with. He looks a little fragile for heavy fighting but I can’t fault his
willingness. Item the fourth. Petra. A well dispositioned Owlin, much blessed by
the gods of knowledge. Item the fifth. Sythaeryn.
A capable forest elf and ranger, I’m pleased to have him on our side. We headed North, making good speed though while in the swamps
we came across a raised section with many nests filled with eggs. When we investigated we were attacked by two
cockatrices, dangerous birds that can paralyse with a peck of their beak. We outnumbered them, however, and defeated
them though Brehen was nearly turned to stone before the gods saved him from
that fate. That night as we made camp we were attacked by eight
stirges. Early on we looked to be overwhelmed
but they proved easy to kill and soon the tide was turned, Praise Persana! The following day we headed North East and finished the day
about six miles short of the Barrow Downs.
Nothing troubled us this day. Day the third. In
driving rain we continued North East. My
companions were suffering but I found the rain refreshing, it was so thick I
could almost pretend I was swimming in the deeps of my homeland. Once we were in the Barrow Downs we noticed
the ground was littered with the wreckage of ancient battles, this was a
haunted place. That night as rested we were attacked to two foul
undead. At first they seemed a small
threat for Madagantos struck one down with a single blow. The other, however, was more wiley and it
struck Dex unconscious while he slept his tent and began to drag him away into
the darkness! Worse, the corpse struck down by Madagantos rose again. The sight was so horrific that most of our
group were struck with terror, running off into the night. To my eternal shame I was one of those
affected and I contributed little to what was to come except to be struck unconscious
by the beast that took Dex. I don’t recollect much of the battle apart from calling on
deep reserves of my faith to will myself back to consciousness for long enough
to heal the mortal wound dealt me by the undead. I was grieved to learn that Madagantos had
died. He was our bravest warrior but in
his attempt to rally his body for one last attack he over exerted himself and his
heart gave out. For the second quest in
a row, tragedy had struck our party. Were
it not for the bravery of Petra and her Sacred Flame would have all perished
in this benighted place.
Wracked with grief we didn’t think to secure Madagantos’ body
and during the night it disappeared. I
can’t bring myself to speculate what took it away… In the morning we dug a cairn for our fallen
warrior and as we did so a strange elf calling herself Mystana sought to join
our group. She seemed insensitive to our
grief, talking instead of ‘art’ and ‘music’ as if that was all that
mattered. Still we were grateful for the
addition to our ranks given the peril of our surroundings. Day the fourth. We
continued doggedly on our quest, though my exhaustion slowed our progress. I
found our new companion somewhat irreverent, especially when I overheard her
sing a fragment of a new song she was composing: Madagantos, Madagantos He died but I don’t give a toss… With the dark approaching we spied a barrow to the North
North West and a cottage in a small forest to the South West. Still disheartened by our loss, we pushed
ourselves to reach the promised shelter of the hut. It proved a wise decision for it was inhabited
by a kindly fellow called Herman and his wife Katrina. Herman informed us the Caves of Chaos were 50
miles away. At our current pace of
travel that meant four days march, too far for us to contemplate. Herman provided food and we rested in his forest, pleased to
have a safe night’s rest. In the morning
his disposition had soured and we were quick to leave. Day the fifth. Our
original quest for the Caves of Chaos was effectively over, so we decided to
explore a barrow to see if we could unearth at least a small store of treasure. We trudged in the direction of the one we’d
seen the previous day. We reached it at
dusk but were disappointed to find it had already been looted. Determined to make some good on our adventure
we decided to seek out another barrow, this one to the South of Herman’s abode.
We spent that night in the looted barrow and were not disturbed. Day the sixth. Another day of hard slogging through the Barrow Downs. Persana give me the strength to overcome my
crippling exhaustion. Day the seventh. We reached the barrow to the South before midday and this one
looked undisturbed. The entrance was
completely buried but fortunately Petra had a pick and shovel to speed the
work. It was still many hours of digging
before we cleared the entrance. Inside
we found some sarcophagi but were attacked by pallid looking centipedes before
we could explore. The creatures bite carried some sort of venom but we made
short work of them. In the burrows we
collected various coins and grave good which greatly lifted Dex’s spirits. Sadly no hint or sign of the Eternal
Song. We turned our backs on the Barrow Downs and made our long way
back to Hope.
As Persana wills it, so it shall be!
