C1E24: A Plan, Revised
Having announced their arrival, the FGC begins exploring the depths of the Fane of the Cloaked Serpent.
As the dust settles following their furious encounter, the Freaky Grey Company catches their collective breath. The ease their way deeper into the bowels of hte building, exploring a long colonnade. Its walls are adorned with intrecate carvings that are thrown into relief by the flickering blue-green light. Each wall depicts a seemingly independent scene.
On the north wall: A regal looking malison wearing an inlaid crown that features a beautiful black opal at its center. behind him, an army of yuan ti; in front of him, a door to another world, where a human man looms. He has six arms and a gargantuan serpentine head, fanged and frilled in aggression. Stylized shadows surround the figure.
Ferric recognizes this quickly as a depiction of the Cloaked Serpent, Zehir. Zehir is one of the Betrayer Gods, an evil lord of poisons, assassins, and darkness. Most of the Cloaked Serpent’s worshipers were annihilated during the Calamity, but some speak in whispers of those suspended in self-induced stasis, waiting to be unleashed into the world once more. The less blessed are hunted for sport by the servants of Lolth and Torog.
On the south wall: A roughly triangular carving surrounds a snakelike figure – even more snakelike than a Yuan-Ti, who stands, eyes closed, arms crossed on its muscular chest. In one hand it holds a five-headed whip. Khorka's whip. Behind it is a legion of similar figures, stretching into infinity, all in an unmoving pose. At the apex of the triangle is a circular emblem with five sinuous, serpentine forms that emerge like the curved arms of a sun, ending in snake heads.
Snow manages to stop Khoraka from attempting to pry the opal out of the carving, as she forcibly directs his gaze to the hundreds of tiny holes that riddle the walls.
As the party contemplates the imagery, the room around them seems to shudder as a sonrous gong sounds from deeper within the yuan-ti lair. The snake that escaped has announced their presence.
Ferric sends a Message to Phelan, who heard the alarm sounded and warns them the rest of the "fane" did as well. He urges the party to move quickly, and mentions there's another entrance to this stronghold from the ruined city. He is being held off of the distillery to the southwest of their location (hey, he knows his friends – and they go in through the front door).
The group exits the building the way they came, cautiously beginning to make their way around the western side of the arcing facade, trying to reset and catch their breath as they go.
Leading the way, Snow finds a cratered portion of the wall and identifies three larger than average snakes that are guarding the door. Snow alerts her friends before sneaking past the guards and through the entrance.
Khoraka transforms into a malison and tries to bluster his way past the guards, but he's not fooling anyone. Another foiled social moment, and another fight. Ferric casts silence, which makes the sound of the battle and keeps the guards from using any spells. Meanwhile, Erash fades into mist and floats above the fray.
Ignorant of the battle behind her, Snow explores ever deeper into the caverns. She stealthily creeps past a wide subterranean river and reaches the end of one tunnel, where she finds a group of slaves with an overseer and a young boy, who appear to be widening the tunnel. Phelan is not among them. Backing out to the river, she finds a locked door.
Snow eventually returns to the surface only to find Khoraka in the coils of one of the guards. She joins the fray. With cavalry, the FGC wins the day. The group continues back into the fane.
Examining the door once more, Snow detects slow shuffling beyond it. She detects a cleverly concealed poison trap on the door and picks the lock. A quick glance inside reveals five shuffling undead and one Yuan-ti, seemingly in charge. Erash fireballs the room as they close the door. When the smoke clears, Khoraka questions and executes the pureblood left hanging on to life by a breath inside. This is the venom distillery.
Another locked door. Snow picks another lock – no trap this time. The door swings open to reveal a worn and weary Phelan, chained to a workbench, surrounded by low light and bits of worked brass that he is slotting in to a strange circular contraption. There is a blueprint pinned to the wall in front of him...