Chapter 32: The Shrine of Bound Earth

What Came Before

The heros ventured into the basement vaults of House Azrinae only to find themselves lost in a twisting, magic-warped dungeon. In truth, they were inside the Crimson Bowl of Charavin, a magical artifact that could be used to summon demons, but also served as a gateway to a demon-tainted pocket dimension carved off from the Abyss. Inside, possibilities presented themselves: a glimpse of an Empire of the North made possible by discovery of an long-lost Sky Citadel, a deck of many things, and the promise of the knowledge needed to save the world ... and the power to make it possible.

The last possibility was seized, and the heroes found themselves transported to the Land of Black Blood, a titanic vault located deep below the surface of Golarion. The knowledge granted was this: the drow had crafted five earthfall glyphs that would be bring an asteroid crashing down into the planet. These glyphs were controlled by a central master glyph; destroying the lesser ones would make the greater one vulnerable to attack. In addition the heroes found themselves strangely empowered with new knowledge and blessed with new magic items. It was as though the gods themselves had intervened to save the world.

The Adventure

The heroes surveyed the vast vault and soon realized it was larger than any cave they'd ever seen -- it spanned hundreds of miles. (see Chapter 31, Interlude 17: The Land of Black Blood. They were perched in a large, 60x60 room carved into a cliff; searching the rest of the cliff faced revealed other such "apartments". They heard moaning coming from an apartment below them and sent Thyur to investigate. The dwarf dropped down, supported a a hefty length of silk rope, and discovered the apartment's sole occupent: a man singed black by fire who was talking to himself about "them". When Thyur told the man he was there, the half-crazed adventurer raised a crossbow and began demanding that Thoyr prove he wasn't dead. Or more specifically, undead. The dwarf managed to tease out that the man -- who was actually a half-elf -- was the only survivor of an adventuring expedition sent by the Pathfinders to investigate the Land of Black Blood. The others had been slain by a coven of vampires; he'd only escaped when the party's mage cast a devastating delayed blast fireball that blew him out of one of the nearby apartments. The half-elf survived the fall thanks to boots of flying.

The adventurers name was Zanril Loresong and he was a chronicler of the Pathfinder Society. He was ecstatic to meet the heroes, and explained his crew had come here seeking knowledge and found only horror. He proceeded to warn them of the many dangers of the Land of Black Blood, starting with the blood itself ("Don't drink it. Unless you're a necromancer, in which case it'll hurt you but make your spells more powerful") to Moldering Emperor, a terrible mutated neothelid (a massive worm with a head full of tentacles) infected with all manner of fungus. This foul creature hunted the "Hanging Forest", a miles-wide forest comprised of super-sized mushrooms and other fungi.

Zanril -- "Call me Zan. And I'm not a bard." -- provided them with a rough map of the area gleaned from Pathfinder records and intelligence gathered on the trip down from the surface. Of particular note was the "Shrine of Bound Earth", which was rumored to be home to a genie. The creature was allegedly from the Plane of Earth, and styled itself the defender of the Land of Black Blood ("but based on how awful things are here, I can't say she's doing a very good job," Zan said.

The heroes decided that facing down a coven of a dozen-odd vampires wasn't a great idea, decided to seek out the shrine instead. They spent a day travelling to it, and once there discovered it was under attack by a six drow. They leapt to the aid of the the genie, helping her defeat the attackers. She explained her name was Haiten Bhaq and that she was indeed a genie. The drow had attempted to convert her to their cause and asked her to guard one of the glyphs. She refused, and has suffered almost daily attacks by the drow and their allies ever since. She explained that the drow had bragged about opening the vault roof of the vault to the sky with their earthfall scheme; the concept of damaging the Darklands to such an extent horrified her. She decided to join cause with the heroes and told the players where they might be able to find one of the glyphs: in the northern portion of the Hanging Forest there is an immense mushroom that once served as the shrine of a bat god. she believes it has been co-opted by the drow for use with one of their earthfall glyphs.

The heroes rested at the Shrine of Bound Earth, then headed out for the Hanging Forest. On the way there they were attacked by a flock of five vrocks. The creatures attacked in force; one teleported next to the cleric Carila, three appeared 80 feet over the group and began a dance of ruin, while their leader remained on high and began casting a spell. After overcoming their shock, the heroes reacted. The monk Jheru took a massive leap into the sky and attacked the lead vrock, grappling him and preventing the demon from completing its spell. Down below the heroes ganged up on the earthbound vrock, attempting to slay it until Carila banished the creature.

The three dancing vrocks finished their gyrations and unleashed a wave of electrical energy that fried the dwarven warrior Jorm, but had no effect on the rest of the heroes. Meanwhile Jheru continued his battle with the grappled vrock, first trying to kill it with a quivering palm, then stunning it repeatedly with blows from his fist. He was able to ride the startled creature to the ground, jumping free at the last moment as it slammed into the earth with full force. The rest of the adventurers were then able to kill the demon easily. It's three followers, seeing their brother banished and their leader slain, fled the fight.

Treasure

• Buckler of St. Elania, holy warrior of Desna (Buckler +2, Defiance (+2 to AC vs. Demons, grants DR 2/- vs Demons)
• Periapt of wound closure
• Arcane Scroll, Sleet storm
• Dust of tracelessness
• Divine Scroll, Spike growth {3rd/5th}
• Potion of Neutralize poison {3rd/5th}
• Potion of Darkness {2nd/3rd}

Experience

Active XP: 15,200

• Jheru
• Skender
• Thyur
• Jorm

Inactive XP: 7,600

• Cutheric
• Gavin
• Emeryon Star-seeker
• Maturin