Hours later, the party is ready to descend again. During the rest Nabiros and Zeek had spliced 300 feet of rope together to aid the descent, securing it to a piton at the crest of the waterfall. Vasco flying, Maeron and Zeek with rings of feather falling, Nabiros and Yldar on the rope, the party descends down the 175 feet to where Zeek had been eyed by the crabs. Vasco flies around the subterranean caverns for a moment to scout out passages other than through the lake or down the second waterfall, and is brushed by a familiar wind and then rattled to the bone by an even more familiar sound. Three magnificent Wind Warriors magnetically float out of one of the passages and clang their twin ancient longswords together with a sonic blast. Shortly, three more appear from below, precisely firing a crossbow, the others joining their brothers-in-arms with sonic blasts. Yldar and Zeek take the plunge into the lake to put themselves in more defensible position, while Maeron and Nabiros wrap themselves tightly to the rope with hopes to do battle suspended above the blood red waters. The underground chamber fills with the deafening force of the ancient Wind Warriors otherwise silent defence of their general burial complex. Crackling and searing magic from Maeron and Vasco reply in their defence, Yldar letting precise arrows piece through the timeless Wind Warrior armour. Nabiros and Maeron are soon engaged at close range by the Wind Warrors who deftly work to dislodge and dispatch them from their rope perch. With Maeron, they nearly succeed, after plummeting into the lake, they bring her to her knees on a rocky precipice of the lake below. Zeek and Yldar step forward while Maeron recovers, while Nabiros now flanked by two floating tomb defenders, remarkably withstands an extended parley. Finally, after a long battle, the elemental force that animates the Wind Warriors is dispatched, their armour and fantastic swords crumbling to an ancient dust lost to the rushing waters of the lake below. The party had taken a lot of damage, and was weary from the battle.
Vasco, invisible and flying, continues to scout down the waterfall. He sees held up in a small outcrop a halfling adventurer, stranded but sustained by ioun stones buzzing around his head. Vasco reports this and the overall contour of the waterfall below to the party, who agree to meet with the halfling. As it turns out, Tout is an 8th level bard who had been captured by a noble but terrible ghoul named Moreto some months ago. He was adventuring with his party in the underdark when he was taken captive by some plotting, well spoken, charming, lantern carrying ghouls. The rest of his party was brutally dispatched but he was dragged along with them through various horrors of the underdark. He was surprised that they spoke occasionally of their deity the Lord of Rot and Shadow and their nation deep within the underdark called the White Kingdom. Perhaps he was meant to learn this special lore and pass on his bardic knowledge another day. There was gossip being passed around by one of the ghouls Moreto, about the arrogance and irrelevance of some other noble ghoul from the White Kingdom. He was clearly planning something big. Moreto had recently been travelling with only a small entourage of terrible, commanded undead, and was moving quickly with the halfling bard through the underdark. Moreto had stranded him here, flippantly promising to return but had not in quite some time. Tout and Moreto had been travelling up the River of Blood when Tout tumbled and amulet of feather-falling which unluckily tore off his neck. The only reason he is alive is that his ioun stones keep him nourished, but he has been unable to pass through the water below and winds above. He has healed him self and is, other than being amulet-less, was fully charged. He was more than happy to help the party find Moreto and ultimately escape his extended tour of the underdark back to the surface world.
The party explores a side tunnel before descending the river much further. The channel leads to a set of stairs and a secret door. The door, which is unlocked and un-trapped, lead to another set of 50' tall, adamantine plated stone doors which are inscribed with ancient Wind Duke runes indicating this is the final resting place of General Icosiol, who is best not disturbed, and his enemies best left sleeping. Not being able to open the door by any conventional means, the party continues down the River of Blood, seeking Moreto and the Seal of Law that he has stolen. Perhaps this is an element of the key.
Arranging ropes and rings, and recovering Tout’s amulet of feather falling from a basin of water below, the party continues down. Battered by the rushing waters, drenched by the spray and mist, the rope gets slippery and several of the party loose their grip and tumble down. Maeron falls nearly 200 feet and barely survives with her life. Yldar and Nabiros also fall, but with less life threatening consequences. The River of Blood finally levels out in chamber glowing with an odd, green, almost starry light. There they find the noble Moreto, with arms open, welcoming and greeting them, thanking them for having rescued Tout from his awkward perch.
