03/25/2026
The Belligerents met with Venga and heard his joyous thanks for freeing him from the influence of the demonic egg he had swallowed. He claimed he was planning a route through the mountains already, but wanted to repay the favor, and so began tunneling southward to connect the ocean with the runoff rivers leading towards Jawhara.
Along the way, a woman kenku dropped from one of the oozes that the kobolds used to sleep in, but she seemed unable to remember how she'd gotten there or even her name.
Calling her Birdie, the kobolds begged the group to take her because she was apparently problematically addicted to the goop that came from Venga. The Belligerents agreed to bring the drug-addled Kenku along.
At long last, the group big goodbye to Farns and Venga as they emerged into daylight once more, having shortcutted by going through the Silsiluma Mountains.
Before leaving, however, Farns gave the group several of the abyssal eggs the kobolds had apparently gathered thinking them shiny black rocks. Knowing what they were now, they didn't want to keep them in the tunnels.
They claimed they found the eggs as the tunnels were dug, so they must have been buried in the mountains.
The Belligerents sailed Naukar's barge southward, all the while Vainya's need to feed increasing.
One evening, Vainya was able to catch Birdie standing over Flapjack, apparently having slept walked during the night, and she held a knife in her hands. Birdie awakened and seemed disturbed by the event, which set Vainya's mind at ease.
Along the bank of the lake near the Soul Sin Hills, the group found a cadre of warriors of unknown origins awaiting them.