¶ Second Expedition to The Abyss
After a failed venture into the depths of The Burrows and the death of the 21 descending travelers, including Zell, The Cartographer, another party seeks to conquer the depths beneath The Church of Her.
¶ Return to The Burrow
Understanding the extreme risk of a journey into the underworld below The Church of Her and the death of all those who attempted the First Expedition, a greater number band together for this second attempt.
25 emboldened souls gathered to conquer to the depths below:
- Strigario, The Unknown
- Hedrick
- Purge
- Rage
- Pandira
- Turen Naur
- MathIsNotMyStrength
- Lucius "The Blind"
- Artist Formally Known As Moby
- Johny Deep Hole
- Prince Dripp Freedrick-Wulf
- Torinn Yarjerit
- Faila Pisacar
- Mervin
- Loki
- Negal the Loner
- Based Apostate
- Liam McMullen
- Blinded By The Light
- Eldon Hilltopple
- Zell's Corpse
- Alcina Wormfury
- Osbert Buckley
- The Nameless Mercenary
- Portia Underbough
¶ Once More, Under
As the 25 heroes descend into The Burrow, they feel confident they will not repeat the mistakes of their predecessors.
More cautious than their priors, they avoid interaction with the denizens of the marketplace through the entrance of The Burrow for fear of being stabbed, and instead venture to explore the space until they once again recognize a familiar hooded figure who they follow into a darkened pathway beyond the shop stalls.
Guided by torchlight, the travelers come to a gruesome shrine that had previously expelled noxious gas that slowly killed a majority of those who came before. Instead of lighting it, they choose to follow their dwindling torch through the darkness, to a staircase ahead, but Alcina Wormfury is quick to tumble off a broken step to her death, dragging Loki and Torinn Yarjeit with her.
Realizing they difficulty navigating the stairway in the dark, they light the beacon and brace for the poison gasses to come. As the chamber illuminates, the travelers come face to face with a serpentine abomination. Atop its twisted coils are the heads of their fallen friends who ventured below previously, including Zell, the Cartographer himself.
Choosing to stay and fight, to slay the beast and put the souls to rest, the travelers draw arms and engage t he creature. The Nameless Mercenary and Osbert Buckley fall to the beast in the process, but the survivors are victorious. They take a moment to respect the dead, and claim a spear for their troubles.
Before they have much time to mourn, the sound of gasses leaking from the lit beacon alert them to the danger they knew would come. Quickly running up the stairs, all but Blinded by the Light escape the immediate toxicity.
Confronted with the sealed door with a passcode puzzle, the travelers are already aware of the answer from their priors and quickly utter "SNAKE" to gain entrance to the paths beyond, and away from the gasses.
As they cross the threshold they find a book, The Severynakkoris which details the defining traits of those who worship The Nameless Serpent and follow Wormlord Kuul. They keep it with them, and carry onward as they catch glimpse of the hooded figure scurrying some distance away.
¶ Into The Depths
For the first time, The Lost Pilgrim has made it through the perils of The Burrow and reached The Depths below.
It is a wide, desolate, and cavernous space. The travelers walk for a very long time past ruined shrines and cave formations. The expanse carries them for a long distance, and they lose sight of the hooded figure before coming to a dilapidated temple of sorts, and a figure standing in its doorway.
They approach the stranger, who reveals himself to be one of the very few who live so deep. When he asks why they have come, the travelers say they wish to worship The Nameless Serpent which delights the apostle. Though, he issues a stark warning that of all those who seek to gaze upon its face, very few manage to survive the forces of The Void.
He continues, telling the travelers that his relationship with The Void transformed him as he became Keeper of The Nameless Void. He gives the travelers a tome, and ushers them unto a passageway to The Abyss itself, welcoming them to die and be reborn in the embrace of The Nameless Serpent.
¶ Madness of The Abyss
Past the Keeper of The Nameless Void, the travelers find themselves in a narrowing tunnel lined with metallic scales. The reflection within them begins to grow stronger and as The Lost Pilgrim gazes into it, a multitude of faces begins to emerge. An amalgam of the entire Pilgrim, shifting and morphing between its thousands of unique appearances.
As the mesmer of the reflection intensifies and The Lost Pilgrim becomes more and more enraptured by its showing, a madness creeps. The reflection becomes reality and the faces twist as The Lost Pilgrim begins a crisis of identity, battling its notion of self when faced with the stark reality of its composition. The travelers within The Abyss begin to violently turn on one another, and blood is spilled.
Half of the remaining kill. Half of the remaining die.
The Lost Pilgrim is ripped in two.
Liam McMullen, Eldon Hilltopple, Falia Pisacar, Johny Deep Hole, Purge, Artist Formerly Known as Moby, Based Apostle, MathIsNotMyStrength, and Negal the Loner are killed by their friends before there is any sense of order found.
As the madness rages on, one of the travelers opens the tome the Keeper of The Nameless Void had given them, and cross-referencing The Severynakkoris, are able to unravel the secret numerological incantations that quell The Abyss.
It is satisfied, but not before Rage is also slain.
¶ Return of The Beast
As the fervor of the madness fades away, The Lost Pilgrim find themselves in darkness. The depths of The Abyss surround them, and the hooded figure reemerges within their view.
Slowly he steps forward and reveals himself to be Molosh, the Outcast.
A fierce battle ensues, and Molosh slays Tauren Naur, Zell's Corpse, Strigario, the Unknown, Lucius "The Blind, Prince Dripp Freedrick-Wulf, and Portia Underbough before finally being slain by the last two standing fighters.
Hedrick, and Mervin thrust the found spear into Molosh's eye and he is killed.
¶ Left in Darkness
As their battle draws to a close, Hedrick, and Mervin find themselves left in the depths, unsure of what awaits them.
All those who ventured received a Nameless Scale Fragment after their loss.