Event:4713/04/30 Exploring Olah-Kakanket

Overnight, Tamerak Elenark, a male centaur, introduces himself to Onica. He's from Iobaria and researches history of Iobarian centaurs among this group. If we can bring him clues about ancient centaurs or other ancient civilizations, he will give her a magic headband. In the morning, we set out for Olah-Kakanket. We travel from F27 to G27 to H27 to I27. We arrive in the evening.

On 5/1, we set out looking for Olah-Kakanket. We find a wall of warnings bordering the valley. The valley is about 6 miles across, and Every 50/60 feet, a post with a bone/skull on it marks the warning wall. A strange feeling of oppression grows as we ride through the valley. We start to see gravestones about a mile past the wall. There are 6-10' tall steles marking graves baring Cyclops writing, which seems to be names. Cyclopse empire predated Azlant - Age of Legend. History says they were brutish, tribal creatures that were happy to eat whatever they encountered. Moto notices a stone staircase carved into the mountains, but can't see where it goes or how to get to it. We eventually see a crack in the Tors of Levenies containing the start of a 15' wide stone staircase. Onica spots tracks of a large lumbering humanoid and unshod hoofprints. Heading up the staircase, we encounter an undead cyclops and a Soul Eater. We dispatch them and head up the trail. At the top, we find a huge waterfall with a pond and an island in the middle, which all matches the Vordakai's Island story. Grikk notices a protected beach access to the island. We make our way to the water and use our folding boat to cross. Onica turns into an air elemental and flies over, scouting. Landing, we see centaur prints, humanoid boot prints, and presumably more cyclops prints. The island is basically a 100' pillar. There's a cleft allowing entrance across from our beach landing. Onica flies up and sees an overlook 60' up, and the smoke at the top isn't typical fire smoke. She returns and we go in. Pictograph artwork in bas-relief decorate the hall. Past an arch, we find a broken amphora with the bracelet we're looking for. We take it. Then we we loot the remainder of the amphora in niches. There's a broken wall in the hallway from something breaking out... Going through the broken wall, we enter a diamond-shaped chamber with 3 passages leading off of it. We find a secret door behind a bier and proceed into a natural chamber with a 60' pond. Sunken stairs are in the pond, and a passage on the other side. Onica becomes a water elemental and checks out the stairs, leading to an encounter with an Elasmosaurus and then another undead cyclops. Across the pond, we find a passage that ends flooded and leads out into the outside lake. We sleep in the tunnel.

The next day, 5/2, we return to the room with the flooded stairs. Onica casts water breathing, and we make our way through the flooded passage. On the other side, we find a small room with art of cyclopes fighting centaurs. We proceed through a set of brass doors into a room with 12 cyclops statues wearing helmets and 4 wearing full armor. We take some things. Searching, we find a secret passage on one wall. Opening it, portcullises close on both doors and the room begins to flood! Grikk lifts the portcullis and we make our way to stairs leading up beyond the room. They take us to a room with pillars carved into fiends and friezes on oppose walls depicting a shadowy man on a boat on a long river with a procession of animal-headed figures along the banks. The shadowy figure is clearly meant to be Charon, one of the horsemen of the apocalypse, a daemon (knowledge: planes). Onica drinks a Potion of Detect Evil, and sees a minor evil aura on the door to the north. There are 3 shrines in the room, 2 in the north and 1 in the south. The southern one is simple, carved from stone, and holds an oil lamp. The northern ones also hold lamps in addition to cups with dark residue. Opening the northern door soaks the room in a cold wave that does massive damage. We heal up and head to the next room. The corridor continues north, with a door to the west. We head north. Mist in next room coalesces into a Piscodaemon. It asks, "In whose name do you dare to intrude on the sanctum of Charon?" Roland intimates "Vordakai". Daemon asks, "What is the will of the mistress?" Roland says, "To assess the security of the sanctum." Daemon says, "By the will of Charon," and settles into a crouch, letting us pass. Next room looks like a prison. Xamanthe is shackled in a corner. Onica gets her moving with a Freedom of Movement spell. She relates her tale of getting captured by undead cyclopes. She has only vague memories since then. A skeleton with a glowing gem eye visited her and said it would return when all will was driven out of her. Attempting to sneak her out, the Piscodaemon notices us, and we have a painful fight. The group decides (against Roland's wishes) to head back to the cave. In the drowning room, we encounter a pair of zombie cyclopes trying to remove the water. We slay them and make our way back to our safe cave. There, Kessler summons a knowledgeable Azata that helps us identify that Xamanthe's paralysis is caused by a Lich! We rest for the night...