Dagwoodech: Created page with "{{Infobox expedition log | title = Cave Oddity | date = 6/18/2026 | storyteller = Tire | tier_of_play = Master | player_characters = Sanguine, Swaying Petals, Rowyn Lloch, Vliegen the Windborne | rewards = 275exp 3250gp, Rock-Braced rune | result = Success | author = Dag | downtime_days = 10 }} Associates are tasked with rescuing captured spies from a hryngar prison. == Log == '''From the desk of Signifer Sanguine, Vicarius of the Orde..."

2026-07-08T00:09:01Z

Created page with "{{Infobox expedition log | title = Cave Oddity | date = 6/18/2026 | storyteller = Tire | tier_of_play = Master | player_characters = Sanguine, Swaying Petals, Rowyn Lloch, Vliegen the Windborne | rewards = 275exp 3250gp, Rock-Braced rune | result = Success | author = Dag | downtime_days = 10 }} Associates are tasked with rescuing captured spies from a hryngar prison. == Log == '''From the desk of Signifer Sanguine, Vicarius of the Orde..."

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{{Infobox expedition log
| title = Cave Oddity
| date = 6/18/2026
| storyteller = Tire
| tier_of_play = Master
| player_characters = [[Sanguine]], [[Swaying Petals]], [[Rowyn Lloch]], [[Vliegen the Windborne]]
| rewards = 275exp 3250gp, Rock-Braced rune
| result = Success
| author = [[User:dagwoodech|Dag]]
| downtime_days = 10
}}
Associates are tasked with rescuing captured spies from a hryngar prison.
== Log ==
'''From the desk of Signifer Sanguine, Vicarius of the Order of the Gate of Desperate Hope.'''

Once more I have delved into the cavernous depths beyond the Crossroads, and once more I am cursed to call the heretic Rowyn Loch a companion. Accompanying me as well was Vliegen, the husband of a Contract Devil, and Swaying Petals, a disciple of Sarenrae. We made an odd party, but each would prove their value in time.

At the Crossroads, we convened with “Sir Galahad”, with whom I had brief conversation on a previous excursion. There had been, as he said, an increase in warmongering by the hryngar (a culture of dwarves native to the Darklands) against the other cave-dwellers, as they claimed to seek “that which was stolen”. The knight himself did not know what was stolen, and brushed off any suggestion to parley with the hryngar to find out- they don’t speak any language known to the surface, so it would be pointless, he said. Of course, this reasoning does not hold. Beyond the fact that in our party alone we possessed several methods of bridging the divide of language, there remained the question of how exactly the hryngar had communicated their desire to reclaim that which was stolen in the first place, without sharing any language.

Despite this strange conversation arousing suspicion in myself (and, regrettably, the heretic), there was yet more to discuss. Some scouts of his, another cave-dwelling people called the Munavri, had not returned from an information gathering mission at the hryngar base. Our task was to retrieve them, or at least the information they sought.

The knight provided knowledge of a specific hryngar enemy, a warrior with strength that could only come from Hell itself. The warrior wears a suit of armor made of a high quality metal unknown to those who have seen it, and whenever he falls, he rises again. It appears that whatever devil has contracted with him will not allow him to die before fulfilling his side, whatever that may be. Furthermore, the devil seems to be personally involved with the warrior, beyond granting him power. Those who have seen the warrior fall and rise again liken it to a puppet being pulled up by its strings. Though unlikely to be outright possession, it seems the devil themself is the one bringing the warrior back, rather than the power of the pact between them.

Destroying the contract is out of the question. Killing the devil sustaining it, while in poor taste, is theoretically possible- but I see no world in which a devil contracted with an undying warrior would show themselves on the material plane.

A brief mention was made of the life force sustaining the warrior potentially being connected to that of the hryngar people. Of course, if that were true, a massacre would be needed to sufficiently weaken him.

Our journey through the twisting tunnels was made significantly easier through the use of magic, and we took note of a large cavern with many troops near the hryngar base, which we did not investigate further.

Previous Associates had marked the path to the prison, which was our logical first stop to find captured enemies of the hryngar. Indeed, we barely needed to step inside before finding one of the scouts, a munavri woman. She confirmed that their party had found the answers they sought, but she was the only one who had not been slain or enslaved. Curious.

Before we could leave with our quarry, two hryngar emerged to attempt to stop us. One wore the regalia of a Paravicar of the Order of the Rack, and the other cast divine spells. The self-styled Hellknight dared claim I had no authority and refused to heel. After a brief skirmish between the parties, I left his head in the entryway for his subordinates to find.
A brief investigation of the area found another captured cave-dweller, a caligni, who also did not speak the common tongue. Though he was not a part of our mission, we freed him as well.

In addition to the hryngar god, Droskar, we also found evidence that these hryngar worship Geryon, the Lord of the Fifth. Fitting, that he is often worshiped by blasphemers.

We recovered belongings taken from the Associates that had previously been imprisoned by the hryngar, along with some metal from a storage room, and retreated with the munavri and caligni. Once I determined we could safely rest, I cast Translate on the party to gain the munavri’s insight.

She spoke of ‘The King Below’, a bogeyman of the Darklands, who claimed to be destined to conquer all peoples before being sealed away. It was said that three falling stars would prophesize his right to rule “all above and below”.

The army of hryngar claims to fight in the name of the King Below, but the devil-bound warrior claims to serve him directly.

Furthermore, the hryngar had created new, more powerful creatures from the bodies of cavern trolls, weapons that were “stronger, more pliable and dangerous,” could burrow through stone, and shrieked like nothing the munavri had ever heard. Along with these enhancements, the hryngar had seemingly extracted any remaining free will from the trolls, and only military leaders are able to command them.

Though the munavri did see other Hellknights among the hryngar, fortunately they appeared to be merely allied with the army, rather than embedded within it. Still, we must be vigilant for any Hellknight order that diverts from the Measure and the Chain.

Traveling further, I was able to discern that someone was following us. With no way to avoid conflict, we found a defensible position and prepared for the incoming fight. An armored hryngar, presumably the devil-bound warrior, was our stalker, and he made no attempt at conversation. Amidst the fight, a beast rose from the earth, surrounded by a damaging aura. It spent most of the fight targeting Swaying Petals, even striking her from a distance, behind solid cave wall. Standing adjacent to the target of these strikes seemed to be no different from being targeted myself, and I kept my distance from Swaying Petals. An Erinyes joined the fight at my command, outranging the warrior and avoiding the attention of the beast.

The beast was slain, and the warrior attempted to flee, badly wounded. The Erinyes slowed him with her rope, but a Dimension Door spell allowed him to escape judgement- perhaps another gift from his benefactor.

An examination of the felled beast- now called a Warden- confirmed that this was one of the weapons developed by the hryngar. Additionally, the flesh was dead long before we slew it. The head had no brain or eyes, and seemed to be artificial or from another creature entirely. It was determined, given the state of the thing, that energy from the Void could be particularly effective at harming it, advancing its decay.

Once the warrior retreated with his tail between his legs, there were no further incidents to report. I would advise future parties to exercise caution in traversing the Darklands, as it was not determined how he was able to track us, and those caught unawares may be vulnerable to ambush.

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