c02s04e15 - Wall of Dread Day 200 As the Maw of Kazarak continued to smolder with plumes of sickly yellow char and singed spores, the team took a long rest to put the manta and her crew back in operational conditions.. there were still 100 dead, but in time they would be reclaimed. Although the fires have died down in the Maw of Kazarak, the violent winds still flowed without waver. the team readies to explore the tunnel of wind-- but fall back when a blue storm surges from the Monument of Evil. Lightning crackled through the clouds, forming rifts between the chained electrical pulses leading from the Ether back to the Prime plains of Darguun -- fields of grain whipped wildly in the supernatural storm as the remnant poison pollen shifts phase across the prime terrain. THX quickly surmises this is the Same Storm that brought the ships through to the ether some 3 days ago... and is now being literally piped through Kazarak Chasm. The poisonous pollen of madness drifts across the vibrant fields of grain. The flocks of imps already starting to gather again about the monument clear far from the event. Inciting a Miracle; THX succeeds his % roll and ends the storm once the team has crossed through.. cutting off about half the pollen from infesting Darguun Prime side, spilling off into the void of the Nether. Now or Never-- the team orders the fleet through the storm back to the prime, into the pollen-rich skies of Darguun. Preferring to focus on the finite-- THX and Rogar wait for the storm to finish traveling through the chasm before they descend into the depths themselves. As the team proceeds deeper, the tunnel becomes more and more narrow, forcing the winds to accelerate, fighting every step, the shrieks of the wind forcing the most horrid, shameful, disappointing moments of their lives through their mind in the dreadful gales. The tunnel reduces to 40 feet when it levels far underground. the tunnel is interrupted by a large iron plate blocking progress. 50 feet across a ravine .. the tunnel opens into a 200 foot wide 50 foot across chasm that plummets to unknown depths of darkness and rises so high that faint haze of light can be seen distantly above. Howling wind shoots up the chasm -- across from the tunnel a wind foil 50 feet across bends the wind towards the team still in the tunnel. above the wind foil is a 100 foot wide, 50 foot tall iron plate facing the tunnel exit. 4 warforged ball turret seige cannons are implanted into the metal plate facing the chasm and the tunnel towards the heroes. lurking along the walls to get closer, the turrets all sweep a slow patern of sentry watching, looking for any significant targets to fire upon as the foil beneath redirects the wind into the tunnel; moving forward continues to be a struggle against the heavy wind and the whispers of disappointing memories still tug at everyone's attention... THX identifies that the plate is actually a closed drawbridge that would not only span the cavern to the tunnel when dropped, but would also cut off the wind altogether. the plan is to disable the turrets, find a way to open the drawbridge and proceed further in.. but Eduardo fails to "influence" the docents controlling the turrets, and Rogar turns the projecting barrel of the cannons into slag-- which sets off a klaxon somewhere inside; no doubt alerting whatever lies beyond that the team has arrived. THX and Rogar decide to back off and reassess their next move.... <end of session> Day 200 1/3 to level 17