Gaping Maw of Sound #32

The Gaping Maw of Sound began their search for the next piece of the Sword of Tyr by deciding on heading to Wilder, where they were told it could be found. Rock stayed behind with the exhausted Pegasi, and Sydney came with the group in case they got a gig on the way.

Oby tried dispelling the box Kit carried of its magics so they could see what was inside, but was rebuffed and harmed when the spell wasn't powerful enough.

The group found the rot to be widespread and devastating on the local landscape of the Kindred Isle. Trees, fields, and even streams were infected with the rot, causing everything to be warped with a green and black contamination.

In the middle of a large swathe of rot they found a Loxodon (elephant kindred) named Havyn. She explained she was trying to commune with the island as she had done all her life, but the rot had changed her relationship with the land she called home.

• After getting to know each other, Havyn invited the Gaping Maw of Sound back to her home away from home, a small cottage in a copse of trees riddled with rot.

The group ate and drank only to discover that Havyn had poisoned the drink with rot, showing that she herself was infected with the rot, and it often made her do terrible things. She didn't want to hurt them, but the rot made her do it.

• Havyn inadvertently revealed how the group could possibly counteract the rot by glancing at a cabinet, and when the group moved it away, they found a tunnel leading down to an underground spring illuminated by moonlight.

  • However, this spring was surrounded by rot, and small creatures created by the rot were congregating around the pool, seemingly ready to do something to it.