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[talesfromtheabyss]

This is the End

The party is attempting to carry out Vizeran's plan, but they are taking the risk that it doesn't need to happen in Menzoberranzan, but can happen anywhere based on the word of Grin who is accompanying the party. They make their way south in search of a contained space, possibly with water, where they can start the ritual and keep the last demon lord contained.

As they travel, Kelkoa is once again aware that Grin is conflicted about something and really doesn't want to share. After a little Detect Thoughts and intuition, the party finally learns that Grin's concern is that there is a chance that the ritual will require the party to make a sacrifice and that sacrifice must be a non-evil, sentient creature. Grin's concern is that since he is the least connected with the party, they are likely to choose him.

After much debate and discussion about Revivify, Resurrection, and other spells to get around the death requirement, Kelkoa finally speaks up. He declares that he cannot allow anyone else to die for this cause. It is the most honorable thing he can do and, if it is necessary, he will hand over the amulet that controls his Shield Guardian and lay down his life for this moment. The party is saddened by this, but stops discussing it until they get closer.

Soon they hear the yipping of gnolls again behind them. They hunker down and wait for the gnolls to pass by. While they do, they wait and the party must decide to go back and lose time or wait them out. Despite a disagreement amongst the gnolls, they eventually move on and the party continues.

Finally, they reach a suitable cavern. It has several large stalagmites, a murky pond and only a couple of exits. So, they make plans about where to hang out and watch the battle royale and how they will attack the remaining demon lord when the time comes. Finally, they place the Dark Heart in the center of the cavern and let Vizeran know via Sending that the time has come. He simply replies that the ritual may take several hours, but to be ready.

Grin is greatly relieved that no sacrifice is necessary and starts to pace the cavern to walk off his nervous energy while the party waits for something to happen. After an hour or so, the party sees Grin begin to cast a spell. He turns to the party and simply says, "I'm sorry". He steps through a portal and disappears. He has fled the coming battle and the party must deal with the final steps alone.

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When the demon lords arrive there are some recognized faces and some that are not. Yeenoghu, they've seen before. Baphomet, they've heard about. Orcus, they only know from legend. Demogorgon, they will never forget. And a disturbingly handsome one named Graz'zt.

(Note: at the point in the game, the players are allowed to take control of one demon lord and fight out the final battle)

Yeenoghu and Baphomet are sworn enemies and head toward each other immediately. Orcus takes advantage and attacks Baphomet quickly. Graz'zt takes advantage of his ability to teleport to hit and run. Demogorgon heads toward the battle as they all attempt to avoid his gaze.

Baphomet cannot fight off more than one at a time and soon succumbs to the damage. Yeenoghu is not far behind. Graz'zt keeps his distance while Demogorgon and Orcus go toe-to-toe for a few rounds until Orcus is finally defeated and his wand drops. Graz'zt keeps his distance, but cannot do much damage. Demogorgon is simply attempting to get within reach.

Finally, Demogorgon is able to grapple Graz'zt with his tentacles and maintains contact despite Graz'zt teleporting. He doesn't last long in a straight up fight and soon Demogorgon raises his heads and roars in victory. Without much delay he heads directly for the party who had been hiding in a Tiny Hut around a stalagmite.

With tail whips and tentacles, Demogorgon does great damage to Kelkoa, Ashin, and the Guardian. But, the party does not back down. They continue to lay on the damage until Killak delivers the killing blow from behind and the final demon lord is banished back to the Abyss! The plan has worked!

In the aftermath, the party travels to Blingdenstone to deliver the good news and encourage their friends to keep up the restoration of their town. A Sending message to Stool and the myconids learns that they are well on their way to re-establishing a grove to live in. A return to Gauntlgrym brings great celebration and rewards for the entire party as well as solemn prayers for those they have lost in the effort.

Philis and Kelkoa agree to stay on with King Bruneor to re-establish the city and continue to make incursions into the Underdark. Philis wants to learn more. Kelkoa wants to keep searching for the remainder of his people.

Ashin is so happy to have met these friends, learned where he has come from, and wants to know more. He will return to his monastery... for a time. But, he will surely continue to learn more about himself and his adopted home.

Xenophrane returns to his temple, but has plans to retire now and share his knowledge while continuing to meditate on his failings.

Killak, the Banisher of the Demogorgon, returns to his people with an even greater story to tell than what he intended.

[talesfromtheabyss]

Blaze of Glory

Having barely survived a fight with Juiblex, but cheered by not only defeating him, but saving Auramycos from infection, the party returned to Araj.

Vizeran had finished the construction of the Dark Heart, a five pound black rock that would act as a talisman at the center of the final ritual to draw the demon lords together. Vizeran's plan is to pull all of them to the same location (much like they were pulled from The Abyss to this plane) where their mutual hatred should cause them to fight. The hope is that they will fight until they are dispatched back to The Abyss and that only one, weakened lord would remain. It would then be the party's job to finish that last one off and rid the Underdark and this plane of them all.

Vizeran has two remaining requests: The party must head to Menzoberranzan and gain entrance to the Sorcere where they can find Gromph's Grimoire. The book he used to perform the original summoning ritual. Vizeran will need it to perform this similar ritual. Furthermore, Vizern tells the party with grim determination that the Dark Heart must be placed somewhere in Menzoberranzan for the ritual to work correctly (since that's where the demon lords entered the plane to begin with). He said the best chance for success is to leave it in the Sorcere itself.

Grin Ousstyl offers to guide the party via a safe and secret path to the Drow city. The party accepts and begins a twelve day journey via path Vizeran has shaped from stone over many, many years. There is no danger, but the party becomes aware that Grin is distracted and troubled by something he claims is just his sadness that his childhood home will have to suffer so greatly to solve this problem.

They all reach the end of the and make their way out of a secret door in the Westrift and find themselves in the neighborhood of West Wall. The party decides to simply head for the Bazaar in hopes of finding a contact with the secretive Council of Spiders. Vizeran has sent word ahead with this group to assist the party if they can. As the party moves quickly through West Wall, they begin to hear odd clicking sounds that sound like rocks and sticks being knocked together. As they move from street to street, the clicking increases in rate and number of sources. Finally, the party notices young Drow bouncing from roof to roof and gradually gathering numbers as they move through the area. As they finally leave the neighborhood, the collection of youth seem to stop at an imaginary boundary taunting them with the noisemakers. But, they do no more.

As the party enters the Bazaar, they realize that much of it has been heavily damaged and flattened. Grin explains that this is the result of the Demogorgon. Several merchants are moving about attempting to clean up and re-open, but it is a depressing scene. The party soon realizes that those working are keeping their eyes down as they are being watched by several patrols of town guards to prevent looting. One patrol spots the unusual party and comes over to ask their business. Grin claims he is leading you all to one of the main houses in an effort to fulfill a job they have. The guards seem skeptical, but let everyone go.

Grin decides it would be good to head towards Duthcloim, just east of the Bazaar, to find a pub and inn more friendly to outsiders. He seems to get turned around in this district, but does finally find an inn he is looking for. As they wandered, though, the party realized they are being followed by a Drow attempting to stay out of sight.

At the inn, Grin finally reveals that he is conflicted about the part of the plan to place the Dark Heart in Menzoberranzan. He has followed much of Vizeran's preparations and believes that the location of the Dark Heart is irrelevant. Having seen his hometown again, he is now resolved to not let the party place the talisman here. Whatever it takes he wants to place it elsewhere.

After much posturing within the spy in the inn, the party finally learns that their follower is a representative of Bregan D'Aerthe. Once he learns that you are attempting to send the demon lords back to where they came from, he believes his leader would want to talk to them. Agreeing to meet, the party is led to a safe house back in West Wall, but surrounded by several guards. Later that day, they are taken to a large, but run down house back in the west of town where they meet Jarlaxle who is an unusually chipper and suave Drow wearing an eyepatch and large hat. He confirms the party's claim that they are attempting to rid the world of the demon lords. Once he learns that they need to get into Sorcere (the Drow wizard school), he agrees to put the party in touch with the Council of Spiders who will have a way for them to sneak in. As the party leaves, he gives a deep bow and with a smile says, "Thank you for visiting House Do'Urden"

The party eventually meets up with a member of the Council who gives them a password to disable the wards for an hour within Sorcere and scrolls of greater invisibility so they can get inside. Combined with a casting of "Pass Without a Trace", the party makes its way into Gromph's private chambers without much difficulty.

Through a series of events involving a four-armed statue coming to life, a secret door with a dark void beyond, Philis becoming entrapped in a diamond, and a desk with bottomless drawers, the party is able to access Gromph's inner sanctum. At this point Grin and Killak are stuck in an outer room, Philis is entrapped, and Kelkoa, Ashin, and Xen have to face the unexpected sight of a Drow priestess stuck in a magic circle in this inner sanctum.

Once those three realize where Philis is, they find her diamond jail and carry it with them. The priestess claims that she can help release their friend if they just break the circle and free her. Against their better sense, they do release her and she immediately attacks. While the party fights valiantly (briefly fearing that the are fighting Lolth herself), the priestess is killed and returns to her natural form which looks something like a lump of yellow mud... with eyes. But, the room does contain the grimoire and the party grabs it and runs.

As they exit Sorcere and move quickly through the Bazaar they hear a commotion coming from the direction they need to go. Soon, they hear a mad voice screaming above the general hubbub of the crowd. Through the crowd they can only see a non-Drow creature running as fast as it can with some kind of orange necklace above its head. They see several Drow guards racing behind. As this creature stops and begins to rant some awfully racist (against the Drow) things and claiming that it is this city and this race's fault that the demon lords are here at all, the party finally sees who it is. A filthy, crazed Anar is holding the necklace of fireballs over her head and is clearly planning to blow herself and much of the bazaar up.

As she finishes her rant and moves to throw the necklace, Kelkoa attempts to disable her. Anar is hit in the wrist, but holds on to the necklace. Another shot from the party delays her a bit more, but finally they realize that there's no stopping her. Worse, even if they do talk her down, they will be drawing attention to themselves and putting the entire plan at risk. So, with a lump in their throat, they let Anar complete her mission. She disappears in an intense fireball that seems to explode repeatedly. They party makes its way back to the secret tunnel in the commotion.

As the party is walking back, Philis is finally able to dispel the magic of her prison and is released, destroying an enormous diamond. They also discuss how they might follow through with the ritual without placing the Dark Heart in the city.

When they return to Vizeran and explain that they must place the Dark Heart elsewhere, he is having none of it. He is glad that the party has retrieved the grimoire, but insists that they return to place the talisman somewhere in the city...anywhere. The party leaves, but working with Grin they decide to head south towards the Darklake instead and look for a battlefield of their choosing and place the Talisman there. To avoid tipping Vizeran that they've gone a different direction, they know they must get to where they want to be in twelve days or fewer.

So, they leave without being absolutely sure that the ritual will even work in a different location and having no idea exactly where they are headed. Vizeran's carefully arranged ritual to rid the Underdark of the demon lords is now depending on the party and a plan they are making up as they go.

[talesfromtheabyss]

The Fetid Wedding

The last day through barren, quiet terrain left the party time to think. They thought about being on a Demon Lord's short list. They thought about their missing friends. They thought about the disturbing images Philis described that morning. This needed to end.

Upon arriving at Araj, Vizeran is glad to see that all of the items he requested are procured. He is relatively sure that the goristro heart is still in reasonable shape to be used despite the time since it was removed from the body. He tells the party that the plan is being working on the talisman he needs to craft while the party heads to Menzoberranzan to retrieve Gromph's grimoire. The party will get one reasonable night's sleep and decent food before heading out again.

During the night, though, Ashin, Kelkoa, Xen, and Philis all have a joint dream that they remember clearly upon waking. Basidia tells the party that Zuggtmoy is attempting to "wed" Araumycos and he is afraid that she will corrupt the largest living organism on this plane and establish a new domain that will mean rot and decay for everyone. He proposes a plan whereby he will help the party mentally connect with Araumycos and help it fight back and, hopefully, foil her plan. The party needs to travel to where Araumycos is (back the way they came, of course) and meet Basidia there.

Vizeran is disappointed that the trip to Menzoberranzan will have to wait, but feels it is important to prevent Zuggtmoy from establishing a foothold that would make it impossible to send her back to the Abyss. He even provides a party teleport to get the party close.

Within a day they come to a cave where the acoustics allow them to hear a large mob of gnolls heading their way. They party uses Pass Without Trace and their cloaks to hide amongst the stalagmites and hope the mob passes them. While several walk right past various party members, none detect the party. A few stop to examine tracks a few hundred yards after they've passed the party, but the party simply leaves the other direction avoiding a lengthy and dangerous fight. 

At an oddly formed intersection with twin stalagmites, the party encounters four two-headed trolls that take some time to defeat due to their regeneration. But, with the help of a well-placed wall of fire by Killak and an acrobatic run up a stalagmite and over the fire by Ashin, they are able to finish them off.

Soon after, they march into the domain of Araumycos and caves and tunnels covered in fungi that is spongy and sometimes won't hold a person's weight.

As they move further in, they spot a parade of myconids that seem to be infected with Zuggtmoy's spores and several spore servant creatures following them. The party keeps their distance and follows them until they lose them in a series of switchbacks. In one of these, Xen steps into a soft spot and needs Ashin's help to escape the fungal equivalent of quicksand.

Finally, they get to a larger chamber where they are met by Basidia and his guards. He shares rapport spores with the party that will allow them to connect with the mind of Araumycos when they get closer to the center of the creature. Just as they are parting ways, two black puddings ooze up from the fungus beneath them. The myconid soldiers hustle Basidia out and ask the party to hold off the oozes. The party does defeat one, but discovers that these particular oozes are regenerating. They successfully dispose of one and leave before the second can reform and follow.

Further in, they realize what Basidia meant about Araumycos not realizing that they were there to help and how his natural defenses might be a problem. Two tentacled creatures formed from the fungus around the party emerge and attack. Again, the party is able to defeat them, but when the second explodes in a cloud of spores, the entire party collapses into a sleep-like trance. They find themselves on a different plane where they seem to float and there is no horizon.

Basidia tells them that "it begins" and the party is aware that the ceremony is starting. They are drawn to a distant rock that turns out to be a small mountain-sized skull. Inside the skull they can see a fungal mass in the shape of a brain. As they get close to the skull, Zuggtmoy takes notice and is about to attack when she is distracted by Juiblex!

The party is drawn to the back of the brain and sees a black growth spreading. Araumycos finally awakens and tells the party to cut out the infection before it destroys him. Fighting flailing tentacles Ashin uses a chopping motion and Kelkoa cuts with Dawnbringer to rid the creature of its infection. The party wakes up again and realizes that the fight between Zuggtmoy and Juiblex is just a few hundred yards away.

As they peek around the corner, they witness the disgusting image of Juiblex slurping up Zuggtmoy and turning his attention to the party. This is a Demon Lord, but he has been in a fight already. So, they go for it and hope to dispatch another Lord while they can.

The fight is long and brutal as Juiblex constantly attacks with oozy tentacles and ejects blobs of acid on those around him. The shield guardian is nearly destroyed. Ashin needs repeated healing while he does whatever damage he can. Philis and Killak drop their biggest spells over and over. Xen keeps everyone conscious and fires Guiding Bolts to provide advantage to those who are dealing the damage. Juiblex finally dissipates and disappears just as everyone is on their last legs. It was not how they planned to help and nobody would have walked into a room with two Demon Lords, but when the adrenaline faded, two of the Lords had been sent back to the Abyss!

Now, to deal with the rest of them.

[talesfromtheabyss]

Travelogue

The trip back to Araj after the unexpected teleportation was not uneventful. This is a recording of what happened...

Once the party got away from the Drow slavers of Velkynvelve, Philis quickly used a sending spell to contact Vizeran to let him know where they were and that they would need some help finding their way back to his tower. His reply seems annoyed, but within a few minutes a piece of parchment begins to float down from the ceiling to the floor in front of Philis. When the party examines the parchment, they find it to be a small section of a map that will help them get back.

They party decides to make for the most direct route to Araj, but avoiding The Darklake. After more than two tendays, the party finally begins heading west and around the tip of the lake. While Mantol Derith might provide some rest and Blingdenstone certainly would, they are worried about explaining their strange cargo and for whom they are fetching it. Either of those towns will only be used if necessary.

Despite their attempts to avoid contact, they do run into a few svirfneblin patrols. One patrol consists of a few deep gnomes that remember them from their heroic stand against the Pudding King. An especially chatty gnome named Duknuck seems to love reliving key moments of the battle (although the stories have obviously grown in the interim). While talking to Kelkoa and Killak, he tells an exaggerated war story about Lonehunter that Kelkoa doesn’t bother to correct. Let the little guy have his fun. It’s the comment he makes in passing that makes most of the party snap their heads around. “It’s too bad he had to leave. Looks like you could still use his help!”

There is no way that Duknuck would know that Lonehunter left with Anar. In fact, it now strikes the party odd that he hadn’t asked about them. Xen asks, “Have you seen him since the battle?”

“Sure. We spotted him not far from here a month ago. He was acting a little strangely, but just said that he had to leave the party for reasons he couldn’t share. He sure did seem sad. He refused our invitation back to Blingdenstone. We didn’t see that elf girl, though. Are you sure she was with him?”

While the party stared at each other with shock and sadness, Duknuck asked one last question, “What happened to them anyway?"

Pondering the meaning of what they heard about Lonehunter, the party marches on. Vizeran is waiting and the demon lords aren’t.

While they still need to go to Menzoberranzan at some point, they’d rather drop off the items from the shopping list first. The demon heart is starting to dry out and decay. At least it stopped smelling quite so bad. But, does that mean it might not work?

At the end of a particularly long hike, the party is surprised to hear dog-like yipping again. They immediately recognize it as the sound of hyenas and gnolls, just the same as they’d heard when they acquired that heart. The shield guardian barely has time to stash the heart before the pack is upon them. As they flood the narrow cavern the party found itself in, Kelkoa notices two things immediately. First, they aren’t surprised to see the party. Second, there’s no tactics here. Just sheer numbers. The gnolls don’t even break stride as they throw themselves into the maelstrom that is Dawnbringer in Kelkoa’s hand. The guardian sweeps away two at a time as one after another tries to crawl up its back. Ashin knocks one prone just as the guardian steps backwards and unknowingly crushes its head.

Dawnbringer flashes. Ashin is a blur. Xen is sniping with bolts of radiant light. Philis lines up several with a lightning bolt and picks off another with magic missiles. Killak manages to stem the chaos by summoning wolf spiders who slow down the flood. For a moment, the flood seems to have no end.

No matter how many die, though, they were all saying the variations of the same things when they got close to anyone and they were speaking in Common so everyone could understand them…

“Yeenoghu knows what you did!” “Yeenoghu will avenge his cackle!” “You are the prey of Yeenoghu, now!" “Yeenoghu is on the hunt!"

When the battle finally abates, the bodies seem to cover every inch of ground. Kelkoa shudders to realize that if they’d fought with organization, the party would have likely lost. While Xen circulates to heal those who were hurt, Killak silently dismisses his summoned minions. The guardian picks up the demon heart. Even Ashin seems to be deep in thought. Nobody speaks. Everyone knows what to do. Everyone knows they must move on.

But, nobody leaves that cave without being deeply disturbed by what they’ve had to do and what they heard while they did it.

Weary, worried, and ready to sleep somewhere without wondering what’s going to sneak up on you, the party closes in on Araj. About two days out, the terrain gets rockier, but the activity is less. Fewer of even the small critters are seen around and the only noise is the odd trickle of water. It’s odd, but welcome.

That night is almost disturbingly quiet and Xen has a hard time sleeping. Kelkoa and Ashin have no trouble resting in spartan circumstances. Killak is worried that the isolation might be getting to his new friends just like it did to him. Philis sleeps… but not well.

The next morning Philis reports having bizarre dreams about a tall, spidery humanoid covered in fungus and lichen. She variously observed this creature causing an expanding growth of fungi or felt like she was falling into deep, boggy fungal growth. It reminded her of the Garden of Welcome and was distracting for the next day of the walk.

This needs to end and end quickly. This invasion is beginning to affect everyone everywhere. Everyone is getting the itch to see the sun again. But, the work is not done.

[talesfromtheabyss]

A Twist of the Maze

The party had resigned itself to following a little troupe of modrons as they led the way to the cave of statues and The Orderer that the party hoped would fill out their shopping list and perhaps give and edge to the good guys in the fight for the Underdark. While crossing an intersection, the trailing party members (Xen and Ashin) hear a very quickly approach gallop from a giant creature. Before either knows what happens, a huge demonic minotaur bull rushed Ashin and launched him twenty feet where he landed nearly dead and thoroughly unconscious. The rest of the party immediately recognize this creature as a goristro demon (based on how Vizeran had described it). It was doing enormous damage to Kelkoa and his Guardian and did not seem to slow much after their attacks. They needed its heart, but might die trying to take it. While Kelkoa went toe-to-toe, Xen was able to revive Ashin. At one point, the demon attempted to leave, but Kelkoa prevented it from doing so. After dealing more massive damage, Ashin had a chance to slow it down and the party decided to let it leave before it wiped them out. They then heard the noise of a much larger herd of creatures and hid around the corner of their original path to observe.

While watching from hiding, they hear a cacophony of yipping and screaming "Yeenoghu!". Soon, they see dozens of gnolls and hyenas race after the demon led by Yeenoghu, himself, the demon lord. The party follows and witnesses Yeenoghu kill the goristro and watch as hyenas feast on the body and turn into gnolls! While deciding how to get the heart of the dead goristro, Yeenoghu rallies the majority of the group and heads off. The party decides to attack the remaining gnolls and are able to handle them relatively well with everyone doing their job along with some badgers summoned by Killak. Finally, they are able to carve the heart of this demon out and lash it to the guardian's back since it is proportionally enormous and weighs over 100 pounds. They discover two more items on their list are to be had here, too! The blood of a demon lord is on the horns of the goristro. Timmasks are growing in the footprints the goristro left on the way in. Not wishing to wait around for Yeenoghu or his horde to return, they head back to the intersection where they were originally attacked.

The modrons were waiting and lead the party onward to the cave of statues. Upon finding the cave, the party quickly identifies eight winged humanoid statues in various bizarre poses amongst a dense forest of stalagmites. The figures appear downcast, terrified, hiding, and one even clawing at its own face. Touching any of them caused a strange reaction that ranged from hearing a gentle encouragement to an attempt to charm the person or causing psychic damage. One, though, offered to answer one question about the future. Through deduction and clever questions, the party learns that chipping off feathers from these statues will suffice for the requirement of angel feathers. They also learn that repairing the maze engine is not critical to their success over the invasion of demon lords.

Feeling like they had gathered everything on the list, Xenophrane wanted to forego marching onward to the Orderer and get back to the business of following through with Vizeran. The rest of the party... disagreed. They wanted to see this machine and hoped by fixing it they might use it against the demon lords. A long discussion occurred with Xen finally agreeing to go on to the engine, but under protest.

When they finally enter the large chamber where this device is supposed to be, the party only sees a chasm in the distance with a ugly, boar-faced, winged demon blocking the way. Trying to prevent another toe-to-toe battle that they might lose, Xen decides to march out directly and claim that the party are all servants of the Horned King (Baphomet). The creature surveys them all to decide if they are telling the truth and Ashin has difficulty pulling it off. Being already skeptical, the demon attacks and starts doing serious damage right away. While the party remains upright, they find fighting him to be quite difficult as he can teleport and has other unpleasant abilities. The party narrowly escapes a much more difficult fight when Xen realizes the demon is attempting to summon more demons and fails. Soon after, the party is able to finally put him down.

When they approach the 100 ft deep chasm, they realize that the bottom is flowing magma and the giant maze engine is wedged forty feet down from the edge. Philis featherfalls down and activates the engine based on direction from the modrons. Whereupon it begins to act quite strangely. She retreats back to the chasm edge with the rest of the party to observe its convolutions. They start to spot small, flying magma creatures coming up from below that explode when killed. They seem to keep coming as the engine grinds and sputters. It starts to throw off colorful sparks and expel slimy goo. Killak uses a wind wall to prevent the magma creatures from reaching the party, but they start to collect into a larger group the the party doesn't want to fight too many at once. Philis activates the Instant Fortress and Killak lowers the wall. They party dispatches the rest of the magma creatures as they all watch from inside the fortress to see what the engine will do next.

At one point it shifts and drops ten feet closer to the magma. Lightning started to arc across the metal bands encasing the engine. Next, it started to play calliope music. Finally, a very bright, white flash briefly blinded the entire party. When the light faded, they realized they had been teleported elsewhere.

The party found themselves fully equipped, but without their modron friends or their Instant Fortress. Furthermore, they were in a prison... a prison that Kelkoa, Xen, and Philis recognized. They quickly realized that they were back in the very same slaver's cell where they had first met in Velkynvelve. Philis quickly used sending to communicate with the modrons. While they were fine, the party was disappointed to hear that the maze engine had continued to shift and rattle itself right into the magma after they teleported away.

While Xen uttered a well-earned, "I told you so", the party fought their way out of the cell and out of the slaver's camp without much trouble. They simply wanted to get away from the Drow and plan their return to Araj.

The good news is that the party still had the ingredients Vizeran had required. The bad news was that they were elsewhere in the Underdark with only a vague idea of how to get back to Araj and return the acquired items.

[talesfromtheabyss]

Into the Labyrinth

After resting up from beating a Behir, the party moved forward towards the Labyrinth with only the help of a mostly-working duodrone who knew which direction "The Orderer" is. They moved on.

The next unusual encounter was finding a 30 foot tower made of a dark metal in a large cavern perched near the edge of a deep chasm. The location was bizarre and there was no clear way to enter the tower. However, when Kelkoa attempted to climb the tower, the four gargoyles perched at the top attacked. They swooped and swiped as best they could. Ashin attempted to run up the wall of the tower and leap at one, but only managed to misjudge and jump past the beast and land on his feet carefully. Killak allowed Kelkoa to throw him at another and he, too, only managed to do minor damage. During the fight, Philis blinked inside the tower and saw bones and moldy clothes on the ground floor. She quickly exited when should couldn't open the door from the inside. Xen landed a couple of spells. The fight carried on and eventually the party defeated the creatures.

Philis decided to blink in again and try the ladder to the second floor. There she discovered two shadow demons and had to use her potion of gaseous form to escape. Finally, using an Identify spell, the party discovered that the whole tower was actually a rare magic item called Daern's Instant Fortress. Knowing the command words, they were able to open the doors, deal with the creatures inside, and reduce the fortress to a 1 inch block. A handy piece of safety equipment, indeed!

The party moved on and came to a doorway with piles of heads of gnolls and other humanoids. Here they met Gash, a beaten and abused gnoll who offered to lead them through the Spiral of the Horned King. The party agreed to use him as a guide, but they quickly learned that he was actually supposed to lead them to an ambush. As the party showed him mercy and offered to protect him, he told them everything and attempted to lead them through as best he could. While he was able to avoid many traps, the ambush of minotaurs did still occur, but with a little more preparation.

While a few of them landed some hefty shots, the party held on and defeated the team of bloodthirsty beasts with the one great loss of the shield guardian apparently shutting down completely. Gash was very grateful that the party was able to defeat his previous masters and agreed to lead them to the only other smudge of civilization he knew inside the Labyrinth. The party couldn't move the guardian, so simply set an alarm on it and moved on towards both some possible support and The Orderer.

After one night, the alarm went off and a few hours later, the guardian appeared at the camp. Whatever had happened had only lasted several hours and the party was glad to have it back! A few days later, the party discovered the shantytown camp known as the Filthriddens. Unfortunately, they also learned that due to a recent attack by Yeenoghu (the demon lord of gnolls) against the minotaurs that regularly raided the camp, a cult had formed. A human named Grisha who had witnessed the attack declared himself the leader and protector of the camp via allegiance to their new Lord Yeenoghu. The party played nice, but agreed to not stay in the camp for the night while they considered his offer of joining their cause. Gash was quite disturbed that non-gnolls would be following Yeenoghu so passionately.

They party decided to return and cleanse this small outpost of the evil it was now producing. Using their new instant tower to block a room of undead, they defeated Grisha relatively quickly and made quick work of the others in the camp that attempted to avenge him. Then they allowed the undead to enter the ground floor of the tower where Xen was able to disintegrate all but one. Kelkoa finished him off quickly. While Philis felt conflicted about killing the poor souls who had been forced into a cult, the rest of the party felt it was their duty to cleanse the obvious evil festering here. Regardless, the camp was now empty and the party moved on.

Soon, they heard the sound of marching feet and, after crawling through some small passages, found a small troop of modrons marching along. They caught up and learned that they had been separated from the Great March and were attempting to rejoin it and return home. While the leader (a tridrone) was speaking optimistically (through the duodrone who had developed a way to communicate with the party), it was clear that the group was breaking down and had been at it for some time. He spoke of The Orderer and while he knew where it was, he warned the party away because it was malfunctioning. He also knew about a cave of statues. He agreed to lead the party to The Order if he wished and would take the duodrone into his troop while he sought out the Great March.

So, off they marched. A party that now knew that a demon lord was close by, a reality-altering device was within reach, but malfunctioning, and still seeking angels and the heart of a demon. Oh, and they were following the lead of a small troop of mechanical beings from a different plane in desperate need of a tune up.

Never mind the maze filled with minotaurs they would have to navigate on the way out.

[talesfromtheabyss]

Out of the Oblivium

The party was on the verge of entering the Vast Oblivium when we last left them and the story picks up where they decide how to enter in. After much deliberation, the party decides that the beholder and his followers must be aware of their presence so they just decide to walk in directly.

They meet Shedrak of the Eyes, a robed human with eyes tattooed across his bald scalp. He welcomes the party to Karazikar's Maw and asks what their business is. After attempting to flatter Shedrak about their desire to seek wisdom from Karazikar, it becomes clear that they'll have to offer something more. The finally settle on telling Shedrak that they intend to sell the Arrakocra slave they have to him. They are led to up several ladders and bridges until they reach near the top of the Maw and see Karazikar himself.

The party attempts to learn more from him about the surrounding area while telepathically considering their options on how to get the beholder alone so they might have chance to kill him. Karazikar arrogantly demands what the party knows about the Maze Engine and where it might be. He attempts to imply he knows and he's testing them, but he eagerly wants to know where it is.

Finally, the party agrees to seek it out for him, but he attempts to charm each of the members in succession. As they resist his charm ray, they choose to act as if it succeeded. Ashin is not very convincing and Derendil does not react well by attempting to rush the beholder directly. Karazikar hits him with a disintegration ray, but does not kill him.

Making the decision to put Derendil out of his misery and seal the deception the Karazikar, Kelkoa throws daggers at Derendil finishing him off. This is quite distressing to the rest of the party, although they understand why Kelkoa did it.

Nonetheless, the party is unable to maintain the deception and a fight begins with Karazikar shooting various eye rays, Shedrak throwing fireballs, and the party fighting back. Xen discovers the anti-magic field the beholder projects. Kelkoa pulls off a crazy throw of his hooked spear which he chases as he throws it. But, most importantly, Ashin leaps at the creature and successfully grabs one eye stalk. This allows Ashin to stun the creature and gives his friends free shots without retaliation.

Philis successfully englobes Shedrak and Xen attempts to throw him into the abyss below. However, as he passes through the beholder's anti-magic field, the globe dissipates. As he falls further, Shedrak is able to fly away to continue the fight.

Kelkoa and Ashin slowly damage Karazikar and he floats down to the bridge they are on where the final blow is delivered. Shedrak is also finished by the party and the battle is won. While Kelkoa gouges out the central eye, the rest of the party learn of the slaves and how they were kept by the tyrannical beholder. Most amazingly, the party recognizes Jimjar as one of the slaves, but he recognizes none of them and appears younger. But, he does claim to know a way back to civilization and can lead the slaves himself. They begin preparations.

The party also learns about a mechanical creature that the beholder was keeping prisoner as well as where his treasure chamber was. The party uses a combination of Killak's ability to transform into flying creatures, Philis's tiny size, and rope to shuttle down the enormous treasure and a few magical items that were distributed amongst the party.

The prisoner is a duodrone that is suffering some kind of malfunction or madness. Xen is able to restore it somewhat and it is able to explain that it got lost during the last Great March and is desperate to find the rest of his group. It offers to go with the party and show them where the Orderer is in the Labyrinth. It is dubbed Beep Boop and travels with the party which heads back to Araj to deliver the worm egg and the beholder eye to Vizeran. There they get directions to the Labyrinth which is much further south, but does give the party time to check in on Blingdenstone which is doing well as they clean up after the ooze invasion and the party finds that the truce between the deep gnomes and Goldwhisker clan of wererats is continuing on.

On their way to the Labyrinth, though, the party stumbles upon a Behir which none had encountered before. After a shot of a lightning breath weapon and watching it attempt to swallow a party member, the combined efforts of the team (including Killak's animal friends) brought him down. This included knocking him off the wall by a wall-running Ashin.

This left the party a long way from safety, nearing the Labyrinth and still urgently in need of several items for Vizeran to be able to complete the ritual to bring the demon lords together.

[talesfromtheabyss]

Drawing by Elise Webb. Awesome rendering!

[talesfromtheabyss]

Dancing With Worms

When we last left the party, the old Drow wizard Vizeran had convinced them that he knew how to expel the demon lords from the Underdark, but he needed them to collect some rare items for him first. He directed them towards the nearby Wormwrithings and the Vast Oblivium in hopes of finding a Purple Worm egg and the central eye of a Beholder.

Unfortunately, the trip did not start out well. One morning the party woke to find Lonehunter and Anar missing. The footprints were easy enough to follow, but they quickly lost them in a crossing worm tunnel. Philis tried to communicate with both of them via Sending and got some distressing messages. Anar didn't know why Lonehunter had taken her and left. Lonehunter was confused and distressed, but seemed convinced that he had to get himself and Anar away from the party before they hurt them. While the party pursued them, they stumbled upon a large cavern where a bunch of lizard-like creatures were in the midst of a standoff.

Philis spent the ten minutes to cast a spell so she could understand what they were yelling at each other about. It turned out to be a fight between the leader and his right hand man (lizard?) concerning the possession of a magical sword. At the moment, the leader had the sort and the lieutenant had the leader's mate. Finally, the lieutenant dragged the mate into the dividing stream and demanded the leader fight him then and there and the rest of his supporters attacked.

Kelkoa thought this would be an opportune time to try to save the mate and fired an arrow at the challenger. Everyone in the cavern realized they were under attack by outsiders and immediately banded together to fight them off. Unfortunately (for them), they were no match for the party who quickly wiped them out. This included the reserve force waiting in the nearby caverns. As the party considered what this mean for their missing friends, they heard yelling from a nearby cave.

This led them to a pit that had some sorry looking captives and a bird-man. They let the captives out (the Drow left immediately) and the remaining Dwarves were sent with the scouts that had accompanied the party back to the surface with an update for King Bruenor. The bird-man was (oddly) unable to fly and seemed to be a Druid of some sort on a quest for his community. He also seemed a few cards short of a full deck. Xenophrane was able to restore the encroaching insanity and Killak decided to join with the party for no reason other than it was safer to be with a group than alone.

As the party retraced their steps and mourned the loss of their friends, they knew they still needed to find the items necessary to complete the plan. As they headed deeper into the Wormwrithings they happened to stumble upon a small cave-in where an adolescent Drow was lost, believing her mother to be dead. Since the party meant her no harm, she was willing to go with them until they were able to set her on a path back to her hometown of Menzoberranzan. Helpfully, she had been trained by her mother to go on egg retrieval quests (this being her first when they got separated) so she knew quite a bit about Purple Worm nurseries. The party discovered they were close when a nearby tremor caused them to fall into an older cavern. A little investigating found a deep chasm with a dead adventurer (and a handy Ring of Free Action). But, then the tremors started again. This time, they heard a worm going through the next room over and creating a new tunnel into a much larger space. They had found the nursery!

Now, they had to figure out how to extract an egg from the clusters suspended high in the air. The first attempt involved Ashin standing atop the Shield Guardian and starting to cut an egg free. But, while they did this, they again heard tremors. When the worm entered the space it immediately headed towards the one cutting at the eggs. The party dispersed. Kelkoa, Ashin, and the Guardian tried to fight the worm straight up. Philis and Xenophrane kept their distance. Killak summoned some wolf spiders to swarm the worm and to attempt to extract an egg themselves (although their pincers were unable to break into the hardened worm saliva used to encase the eggs).

The spiders and the party were able to do some damage to the worm before it finally swallowed Kelkoa. Fortunately for him, damage from Dawnbringer and the rest of the party still outside, brought the worm down and he was able to crawl out. 

The party went back to extracting an egg when a party of Drow walked out in a menacing formation. But, it turned out to be the mother and rest of the party that had been separated from the young Drow. They were happy to reunite and the leader, Zhora Hallen, promises to repay the debt of saving her daughter however she can. Immediately, the party suggests that they may need help in the future getting into Menzoberranzan. She agrees to help in the future on the condition that the party is not asking her to engage in treason or otherwise undermining her city. The party has a chit to call in later.

When the tremors start again, they notice that the Drow simply stand still. The party does the same and realize that the worm cannot sense them, so it moves through the room making another tunnel. The Drow have retrieved the eggs they came for and leave. Kelkoa and Ashin decide to investigate the new tunnel and find what must be some kind of warning system. A room filled with more of the hardened worm goo starts to hum loudly with every little noise. And, the tremors start again. This time, the worm goes by and the party can only watch it pass. Having had enough, the party finds and exit.

They continue on to find the Vast Oblivium with a three-foot diameter egg that should prove awkward in future encounters.

They come across a large open space that goes down about a hundred feet. Using an Arcane eye, the party discovers a large chasm surrounded by smaller, vertical shafts and all connected with ramshackle bridges and rope ladders. Inside, they see a variety of ragged, run down individuals of a variety of races. The one that stands out is a bald human with robes and a staff with tattoos of eyes on his head. The eye also catches a glimpse of a Beholder high overhead.

Soon, the bald human seems to be gathering a few others and heading towards the entrance that Philis used with the Arcane Eye and is waiting. So, the party now needs to figure out what's going on with this cult? work party? slave pit? being run by a Beholder and how to separate him from his eye. Before heading in, they do decide to hide the egg and hope nobody finds it.

[talesfromtheabyss]

High Wire Act

As the party continued their journey to Gravenhollow and the library there, they came upon a particularly awkward room. Three tall pillars in a space with a floor below the party's level and the sound of something unpleasant flying and moving around. Fighting with flying, leather-winged demons with a stunning screech was no picnic. Some flying leaps (successful by Kelkoa, not so much by Lonehunter), some timely attacks by Ashin, Anar, and Philis, and some epic sniping by Xenophrane made for a rather epic fight.

It ended with Anar polymorphing one of the demons into a toad and Lonehunter holding on to it. He finished the fight by raging at the frog, killing it, and killing the demon that was restored. The fight also saw Derendil become enraged and run off until the party could calm him down and move on.

The trail took the party on to Gravenhallow where they met a friendly basilisk, the three keepers of the library and a variety of characters from the future and the past. They were able to research what was happening in the Underdark and gain more knowledge about what led the demon lords to this plane. Two very interesting interactions with a keeper led Ashin to learning about his heritage and where he is from and learning that Derendil may not be what he is claiming.

Furthermore, the party met with Vizeran, an old Drow mage who believes he has a plan for ridding the Underdark of the demon lords (and regaining influence in his hometown of Menzoberranzan). To make this happen, he gives the party a rather long list of items he will need for the ritual. It will cause the party to search through the Wormwrithings, the Labyrinth, and Menzoberranzan. The search begins in earnest next. They feel confidence they can accomplish the seemingly impossible tasks as the party has learned well how to work together and, as long as they stick together, things will go their way...

[talesfromtheabyss]

On the Road with a Ring

Upon getting the ring that would guide the party to Gravenhollow, they restocked, stayed the night in Mantol-Derith, and left the way they came to get the journey started. They knew the general direction, but had no idea how far away the library was or how treacherous the trip might be.

Following the ring led them back the way they entered Mantol-Derith, but then soon had them heading west. The sense was that it was going to be a long trip. The foreboding only increased on the night that Philis set an Alarm at either end of the camp and woke the entire party to muster a defense against… a lone fire beetle. Now jumpy and missing a night’s sleep, the party moved on.

The ring had been giving mental suggestions to Philis the entire journey until a point where the party came upon a fork in the cavern and the ring led them to the rock face between the two passages. Confused, Xenophrane tried breaking the rock (to no avail). Next they tried moving around one passage only to find the ring pointing back the way they came. Then, the tried moving down the other passage and found that the two passages connected in a larger cavern and they started to hear a thumping and grinding sound only to see a stone giant in a rage charging right at the party! Philis attempted to reason with the giant, but he wasn’t communicating and the party had to fight him for their own safety. Dead, the party found a Bag of Holding, but no other clue as to why the giant was behaving that way other than the general madness that seems to have seized large portions of the Underdark.

Following the giant’s path through the rock (literally), they discovered a room with a large pool at one edge and pools of blood on the floor near the water. As the scouts investigated, the party was set upon by four chuul. A significant fight broke out and the party was successful despite some grappling and near drownings in the process.

Following the path further back reveal large circular tunnels in the rock that seem to have been carved by some giant creature. The party decided they’d rather not meet up with this creature and moved back to where the ring had been giving confusing directions. With the giant defeated, it once again gave clear guidance further west.

Many (boring) days later, the party arrived late to a battle. They found four Drow and their riding lizards dead and being eaten by black puddings. The puddings took immediate notice to creatures that were still moving and engaged. They were relatively quickly dealt with despite Lonehunter’s continued insistence to cleave the puddings into smaller ones until they could no longer split. Pilfering the bodies of these dead Drow did turn up a magic dagger that might be of use later on.

During the journey over the next several days, the party continued to walk by passages that connected with more of those large circular tunnels they’d seen earlier. Something was making those passages and it wasn’t small. Luckily, the ring hadn’t led them into those passages… yet.

Despite the aggressive creatures of the Underdark and the madness that consumed otherwise peaceful inhabitants, the unknown is still the most unsettling. One morning, as camp was breaking, the party realized that Griswala (one of the dwarf scouts) was missing. Her pack and riding lizard were still where she’d left them, but she was simply gone. Lonehunter spoke with the animals to see what they knew and discovered that she had simply awoken in the night and walked out of camp.

The party searched several directions and alternate passageways with no luck. Griswala was gone and there were no leads and nothing to do, but carry on. From the discomfort of the unexplained, to the maddening drone in the distance. The Underdark continued to challenge the sanity of the whole party.

The party heard a loud, painful droning sound as they approached a large cavern. When they finally could see inside, they saw what appeared to be a procession of large bug-like demons moving from a crack in the floor, up the walls, through a crack in the ceiling. There were never more than a couple in the room at once, but they just kept coming.

Finally, the party decided to simply make a run for it and let Anar use Wall of Fire to block the exit. Half of the party made it to the other side, but Lonehunter and Xenophrane both lost consciousness due to the persistent drone. Using his shield guardian, Kelkoa moved back to try to drag them to the exit. He fought them off and the entire party did get through the exit. A few of the demons saw this entire event and pursued them even through the fire! As they poked their long noses (proboscises?) through the wall, the party was able to attack and drive them back. When they seemed to stop pursuing, the party simply took off and put as much distance between them and the march-of-the-demons as possible

After a few more days, the path started narrowing into smaller tunnels until they came upon parallel tunnels with a door between. Walking into this smaller cavern structure they came upon two carrion crawlers and heard the voice of someone out of sight. This person was warning the creature that if they didn’t leave, he would have no choice but to fight back and he said, “I’m not sure I’ll come back from that”.

The party was able to defeat the crawlers as they came around the corner only to be shocked and surprised to find Derendil! This fellow prisoner who had helped make the escape of Velkenvelve possible. But, he had gone over the edge during the fight and the party had assumed he was dead! In the midst of this grinding journey of boredom and mortal threat, they found a friend long thought lost!

Derendil shared that he feared his transformation to a quaggoth was slowly erasing this mind. He was able to defend himself, but found it harder and harder to regain clarity after each battle. He worried that if he didn’t find a way to reverse the curse soon, he would be lost forever.

Not having any idea where he was, though, he felt it best to join the party on their way to the Library at Gravenhollow with a hope that he might learn how to reverse his curse or, at least, how to return to his kingdom.

[talesfromtheabyss]

Sanctuary in Turmoil

After dealing with some annoying Drow on the way to Mantol-Derith, the party continued on to a point where the guide was at the end of his line and told the party to move on through another mile or so until the next guide would pick them up. The party moved through a narrow passage and had to deal with a group of darkmantles that made fighting difficult while completely in the dark. After some educated guesses, Kelkoa and Lonehunter were able to get the upper hand while the dwarven scouts and the smaller party members were able to fend off the critters long enough to kill them. With that the party found their new scout and moved on through the Underdark for five more days and nights.

Finally, they came to a large undeground rift which led to a hidden pathway carved into the rift edge. At the top of the path was a secret door that opened with the word "im'yat". This led into a tunnel in the side of the rift wall. The tunnel came to a junction that went to the north and continued to the east, but the guide stopped and spoke another word "belaern" to the wall to the south and it opened. That led into what turned out to be the large cavernous area known as Mantol-Derith. The party walked in via a 50' deep trench where traders bring their wares and are lifted up via magic-assisted platforms on either side of the trench. When the guide leads the party to the top edge, they see a beautiful little settlement that's suddenly in chaos as enlarged Duergar are chasing two Svirfneblin. Seeing people in danger (especially people like their deep gnome friends), the party jumps into action. The Zhentarim guide is panicked by what he's seeing and heads to the southwest corner of the settlement.

Crossing the bridges over the trench, the party engages the two Duergar and kills them and then begins to question the two Svirfneblin that were running and a third they spot hiding in the abandoned and knocked over market stalls of the Duergar and Svirfneblin. The two that were running tell them that the Duergar had broken the agreed-upon peace of Mantol-Derith and attacked the Svirfneblin warehouse apparently intending to kill them all looking for something. Worse, they had kidnapped their negotiator, Yantha Coaxrock, earlier that day for unknown reasons. As far as they're concerned, the Duergar have gone crazy.

The third gnome is named Peebles and admits he's not from Mantol-Derith, but he came looking for a beholder he heard was in the area. he's also carrying a leather bag that he'd rather not talk about. Ashin is able to detect the thoughts of Peebles and realizes that he is actually here to hunt the beholder for reasons Ashin cannot discern. The party is very suspicious of Peebles, but leave him be.

Soon the party realizes that more Duergar are chipping away at the door to the deep gnome warehouse and they go to attack them as well. They soon realize that there were several more waiting invisibly that now attack the party all together. While the Duergar get some hits in, they are eventually killed and the current leader of the deep gnomes lets the party in and is very grateful. Gabble Dripskillet is not able to fill in any more of the story, but is a close friend of Yantha and would very much like to see her returned. From the safety of the Svirfneblin warehouse, Philis uses her Arcane Eye to scope out the Duergar warehouse and see what they're doing with Yantha. On the way, she also scopes out Peebles' bag only to discover it contains some knives, thread, a needle, some barrelstalk flesh, and a canteen. They also discover that many other Svirfneblin had been slaughtered before the party had arrived (assuaging some of the guilt over killing so many Duergar so quickly).

They discover Yantha is being interrogated by two Duergar in a back room while the other Duergar merchants have been gathered and huddled into their warehouse. The party decides they need to save Yantha and march over. Not realizing there are more Duergar guards hiding invisibly, the party ends up fighting eight more and killing them before entering the warehouse. The merchants don't want a fight, but do believe their negotiator has a point and request the party at least listen to their side of the story.

The Duergar claim that one of their merchants, Krimgol Muzgardt, had a black gemstone that was stolen by the Svirfneblin mage. When the mage refused to return the gemstone, the chief negotiator for the Duergar, Ghuldur Flagonfist, sent his guards to capture Yantha and bring her back for questioning. The Svirfneblin attempted to free the mage, but that led to the first of several armed confrontations which led to the force the party had intercepted which was going to try to wipe out the Svirfneblin!

After hearing all this the party is sympathetic, but still feels the need to save Yantha from being fed to a Xorn as the Arcane Eye had seen. They break into the room and immediately Philis casts a Resilient Sphere around Yantha, which cuts the rope and then the sphere bounces on the ground while the Xorn eyes her (and her gem-encrusted robe) hungrily. Lonehunter steps around Flagonfist and grabs the rope while Kelkoa puts Muzgardt on the ground. The party then takes over negotiations.

Separating the parties, they realized that Yantha is lying about where the gemstone is but detecting her thoughts exposes that she literally cannot tell the truth about what's going on. The thoughts of Muzgardt reveal that he's telling the truth about taking the gemstone to Yantha to be appraised and her choosing to not give it back, but there's something unhealthy about his perceived value of this gemstone. He's unwilling to trade it for anything and desperately wants it back.

Realizing that Yantha is suffering from kind of mental condition, Kelkoa uses Dawnbringer to cast Lesser Restoration which gives Yantha a moment of clarity when she says, "I'm so sorry!" But, she then returns to denying knowing where the gemostone is and that the Drow must have bewitched her in some way. Xenophrane then goes to a corner and prays to Pelor for the ability to restore this woman's sanity permanently. It costs him several spell slots, but he is able to do so and a weight is lifted off her shoulders. She then tells the true story about how she gave the gemstone to her assistant, Flink Thunderbonk, but she has no idea what happened to it after that. She also realizes that simply touching the stone seems to be mentally damaging to anyone. Via a Sending spell, she learns that Flink is hiding outside the Drow warehouse and is afraid that he'll be seen and attacked, but avoids any questions about the whereabouts of the gemstone. The party convinces a skeptical Flagonfist that they'll take Yantha back to her warehouse, but will return the gemstone as soon as they find it.

The party devises a plan where some of the party will distract the Drow negotiator sitting outside the warehouse while Anar attempts to blend in to the fungi garden and use an Invisibility-loaded spell stone to help get Flink out. The warehouse proper seems to be guarded by two female warriors and a half dozen (or so) gargoyles perched high above. The party walks up and meets one Zilchyn "Zilch" Q'Leptin. He seems to be a Drow merchant or mage, but has suffered acid scarring on the left side of his face. He explains that he is not the chief negotiator, but Sirak Mazelor is. And she has left to talk to the Zhentarim about the recent spate of violence on the other side of the trench. He seems very amenable, but hard to read and wonders what's going on. He claims not to know why the Duergar and Svirfneblin have started fighting, but the plan is for the Drow to simply stay safe. The merchant trading area on the west side of the trench is also abandoned, but does not seem to have suffered any destruction, yet.

While this happens, Anar finds Flink and turns him invisible. Flink, however, panics and starts babbling about what's going on. Anar is able to calm him down and shuffle him out, but the Drow hear them. The guards are curious, but do not leave their posts. Zilch simply smiles and it's clear he knows what the party is up to. They take Flink back to his warehouse and begin to debrief him. They get a little more of the story. He confirms the Muzgardt brough the gemstone to Yantha to be appraised and that she refused to return it (although he doesn't know why). Yantha offered some gold instead, and an argument ensued. When Muzgardt finally left, Yantha entrusted the gemstone to Flink. He just KNEW that Yantha would want him to trade the gemstone for the components of an Invisibilty spell and went to the Drow to do so. But, before he could do that, a gargoyle snatched the gemstone from him. He's convinced Yantha will punish him for losing the stone. He had been spying on the gargoyles until he found the one that took the stone, but he hadn't seen it while watching the Drow warehouse. The party returns Flink to Yantha's care who is coherent enough to forgive him and attempt to care for him.

The party decides that it needs to know whether or not this stone is now within the Drow's enclave, so they head back to visit Zilch and take him up on his offer to give them a tour of the Drow warehouse. The guards and gargoyles are skeptical, but they do allow the party in as long as they are accompanied by Zilch. They find many Drow merchants waiting quietly, but not terribly interested in helping the party with any information about a pilfering gargoyle or whether one is missing. Furthemore, the party realizes that Zilch is treated as something of an outcast by his own people here. There's more to his story...

Finally, knowing that Sirak was going to negotiate with the Zhentarim, they decide to head to that area and see what's up. It doesn't hurt that meeting with the Zhentarim was the point of their visit to Mantol-Derith to being with. As they approach, they see Sirak and three other Drow waiting under a pavilion tent outside the Zhentarim warehouse. There is a table of food and drink set out that they are ignoring. They also spy a single gargoyle perched high above watching the pavilion (even though he can't see inside). The party decides to wait to see what happens. They also happen to notice Pebbles a little further off, also waiting and watching.

When the negotiator for the Zhentarim finally heads out, he is accompanied by a scarred beholder that is missing four of its eyestalks and six guards that are generously called "muscle". Both the Zhentarim negotiator and Sirak seem to be smiling and ready to talk when one of the Drow leaps forward and attacks the beholder cutting it deeply. The other Drow immediately engage to defend themselves while the Zhentarim guards attack thinking that they are defending their party. The party decides to intervene to avoid further bloodshed and begin to break up the fighting. The Zhentarim negotiator is hiding. The beholder has retreated and the others are being held apart by Kelkoa, Lonehunter, and threats from Philis and Anar. The initial Drow attacker, realizing that she may not get to finish the job, cuts her way through the pavilion tarp and attemps to escape. Ashin dashes to follow her and finds the gargoyle attacking him. Hearing a struggle, Xenophrane follows him.

Ashin is able to disable the gargoyle quickly and catch up to the fleeing Drow. Xen helps him restrain her and bring her back to the other Drow. Sirak is upset by the fight, but confused by one of her compatriots attacking the beholder. As the restrained Drow is patted down, the party discovers a large black gemstone. Careful not to touch it, they give it to Sirak and explain what they now believe is some kind of curse attached to the stone that will make anyone who touches it crazy. Sirak is grateful, but demands that they retain control of this dangerous stone which the party allows.

The Zhentarim negotiator realizes that the party is the group he's been told to wait for. He introduces himself as Ghazrim DuLoc and once the fight is over, he begins arguing with the beholder that the party now discovers is named Lorthuun. At first the party is surprised to hear these two arguing, but then they restrain their chuckles when it becomes clear that they're arguing like an old married couple. They've clearly been doing this for years. Once the Drow head back to their side of the settlement, Ghazrim invites the party into their warehouse. It is full of several freestanding storage lockers. He offers the party food (surface food!) and rest, but most importantly, he offers them a gold ring with a star ruby in it. He claims this ring is a magical compass that will lead the wearer along the safest, shortest path to Gravenhollow. The party rests in the Zhentarim warehouse for the night planning their next move.

[talesfromtheabyss]

Recruited

After resolving the Dusk Queen the party was ready to regroup and resupply before they made an effort to raise the alarm about the growing problem in the Underdark. They made their way back to Waterdeep and were able to reconnect with their identities and history. Xenophrane found a temple of Pelor and recharged his spiritual batteries. Philis reconnected with her old professors at school (and took the advice of leaving the Shadow Grimoire with them for further study and less opportunity for damage). Ashin was able to connect with another member of his order and get a message sent back to the particular monastery where he had grown up. Despite his desire to see the other brothers, he had developed a bond with this party and vowed to continue on until the evil he had witnessed was defeated. Lonehunter and Kelkoa went looking for some armor upgrades that would help Lonehunter resist more damage as the danger increased.

While in Waterdeep, they do make contact with an over-the-top dresser who seems to be inflating his personal adventure stories by the name of Floon Blagmaar. Once Floon hears the party's story, he is intrigued and wants to make a connection for them with the Open Lord of Waterdeep (who he claims to know). The party decides to wait until the meeting is arranged.

But, the next day, they receive a message from King Bruenor Battlehammer of Gauntlgrym. He had not only heard the of the party's exploits, but had other reports of the evil uprising in the Underdark. He believed something should be done and invited the party to share what they knew at a gathering in his city. So, the party decides to give up on Floon and go meet with this King who seems a more serious sort and might have the actual pull to get something organized.

The city is impressive, but it is only a meeting place. Representatives of all the organizations of Faerun are there to make a plan. One awkward aspect is that Bruenor knows that the unsavory Zhentarim have control of the pathways to Mantol-Derith, a trading center for all races in the Underdark. Any expedition would need their support to get to a center of information quickly.

Philis is invited to a secret meeting with the Zhentarim representative where she agrees to offer her support for any future expedition as long as the Zhentarim get an equal share of anything brought back from that incursion. Philis agrees believing that the party will likely be the ones making that trek.

During a banquet with the other representatives, a dwarf starts screaming, "For the Faceless Lord!" and stabs Sir Lanniver Strayl, the representative of the Order of the Gauntlet. Kelkoa had just finished swapping war stories with the old warrior. The party quickly subdued the attacker and healed Strayl. But, it only reinforced the need to do something soon, even for the representatives that previously weren't convinced the issues with the Underdark needed to be dealt with immediately.

Later, Bruenor reveals his plans to the party. He wants a team to travel to Mantol-Derith and meet with a Zhentarim agent named Ghazrim DuLoc who is supposed to have a map to Gravenhollow. Bruenor's hope is that the legendary center of knowledge built by the Stone Giants will have some answers for what's going on in the Underdark. So, the mission is to get to Gravenhollow, learn what's going on in the Underdark and, hopefully, how to stop it. And, if more planning is necessary, return with that knowledge to Bruenor.

The party agrees and some of the other groups agree to help. Lord Zelraun Roaringhorn takes kindly to Kelkoa's attempts to beat him at chess and the mission they're going on. He offers the control of a Shield Guardian for the duration of the expedition. Sir Lanniver offers a +1 warhammer to Xenophrane. Morista Malkin of the Emerald Enclave offers some scouts from her organization and riding lizards for the entire party. At the request of the party, Lord Eravien Haund of the Lord's Alliance agrees to send soliders to Blingdenstone to help the deep gnomes reinforce and defend their town as it seems to be one of the few outposts of sanity.

Finally, the party is off with a Zhentarim guide to enter the Undedark and begin the long trek to Mantol-Derith. Not long after re-entering the Underdark, the party deals with a hunting party of well-trained Drow. They are reminded of how dangerous life is down there and how their mission won't be any easier than their earlier escape.

Onward to Mantol-Derith and, hopefully, to Gravenhollow.

[talesfromtheabyss]

Ending the Dusk

We pick up the story after a cliffhanger. The party had just encountered a large, black dragon-like creature guarding one of the mirror shards in an underground well. They later learned it was probably the Dusk Queen's trusty mount, but there was no negotiating with him. He immediately attacked with a breath weapon that produced a ball of black, cold mist. He stayed airborne until Kelkoa succeeded in goading him which caused him to attack and stay on the ground. Further attacks from the rest of the party wore him down until Ashin was able to do some significant damage and Lonehunter managed the killing blow.

Some light looting followed and the party found the mirror shard, a Bead of Force, and a slightly rusted Mace of Disruption with the name "Nanroc" faintly carved (and a bit of gold). They moved on to the next clearing in the forest that they knew about and were faced with a much larger task.

They saw a very large reptilian creature lying dead next to a huge mount of smooth stones. Surrounding the create were a band of bugbears being led some something nobody had seen before. A much larger bugbear-like creature, but with leathery wings. Since this band of creatures seemed to be taking a rest, eating, cleaning weapons, and carving up the dead thing, the party planned. They took their time to set up a pincer move where the spell casters would hit the bugbears hard while Lonehunter also used a Fireball spell stone to hopefully soften them up. When Philis finally started the fight, they did just that. A lightning bolt and two fireballs did much damage and thinned the enemies quickly. Kelkoa and Lonehunter moved in and engaged those who were left standing including the larger beast. Ashin engaged a bit later and dropped some of the remaining bugbears. Before they even knew what hit them, the entire band was wiped out and the party scored a Ring of Protection from the apparent leader.

This led to a long rest and a long discussion: They came to a realization that they had to plan for what would happen when they found the fifth shard?

Would the Dusk Queen appear at that moment? Would the shards be taken from their control? Would they be prepared for the fight to come? The debate between meeting the Queen with all five shards or leaving one hidden to avoid them being taken from them went on for some time. The party finally decided to just head for the fifth shard and it turned out to be quite informative.

The party met two nymphs in a dark pool who were curious what their goals were. After some vague questions and answers, the nymphs were finally convinced that the party wanted to stop the Dusk Queen, too. They were relieved and offered help as long as the party promised the Dusk Queen would never discover their advocacy of her downfall. They also let the party know that the shards were rumored to work as a weapon against the Queen when wielded together. They granted the party the final shard, a scroll of Lesser Restoration, and a healing potion and wished them luck.

Through some fumbling testing and Detect Magic spells, Philis realized that forming the shards together into a kind of trident and bound with wire would give them the most power. The combined pieces allowed them to cast a high level Sacred Flame a few times a day. They planned to save that weapon for a key moment in the battle. Philis guarded the piece carefully.

The party made their way back to the tower and announced that they had returned with all five shards. Since that didn't open the door, they attempted to knock, push the door with the shards, burned the door, but to no avail. Finally, Philis used Dispel Magic to remove whatever incantation kept it locked and the party was able to enter. They find a broken down and dilapidated throne room with a broken mirror and a shattered chandelier in the middle. They also heard the voice of the Dusk Queen asking them to leave the shards on the throne.

Philis attempted to use an illusion to fool the Queen, but she was not convinced and asked again more firmly. The party refused to actually let the shards out of their hands so the Queen turned on them and started attacking mercilessly. At the same time a skeleton in some serious black plate armor appeared from the shadows and started attacking Lonehunter. The fight was on.

While the Queen attacked from high above and invisibly, the party focused on what they could see which was the dark knight in front of them. He proved difficult to hit and Kelkoa succeeded in throwing Dawnbringer across the room during a fumbled attack. Lonehunter raged, the casters attacked at a distance, and finally Ashin was close enough to land several blows. As the party finally dispatched the knight (and the panther he called to his side), the Queen's invisibility was failing. It was enough for Philis to Dispel the Queen's Fly spell and caused her to fall to the ground. While that didn't incapacitate her, it did make her a much easier target.

Despite Kelkoa being distracted by some serious psychological warfare, the rest of the party piled on with some a fairly serious smackdown being dealt by Ashin once again. When the dust settled, the party gathered some impressive magic items: Another Ring of Protection, a +1 Glaive of Rotting (it does necrotic damage), a Ring of Featherfall, and a Handy Haversack.

Some further inspection turned up a dark leathery book found under the throne. But, soon after the book is discovered, the tower starts to shake. The party escapes, but the tower collapses into a heap of rubble. It's time to go.

Upon leaving, they stop at the Elven village and meet with Longleaf again. He's fascinated to hear their story and finds himself having some heavy deja vu. Eventually, they all realize that he was told a story during his childhood that matches exactly what the party has just accomplished. They find this very strange, but everyone is just glad that the Queen seems to have been dealt with and will not return.

The party travels back to Mirabar to give a similar update to Frunios who is delighted with their success and very relieved that the Queen is no longer the imminent threat he thought she was. He is convinced that they moved through some kind of time window that moved them back in time to succeed in their task sometime in the past. A strange event indeed, but a good outcome nonetheless.

Frunios, however, is a bit disturbed at the book Philis is carrying and offers to keep it safe for her if she doesn't wish to take the risks. She refuses and begins to study it in her room. The book begins to communicate with her and ask why it should reveal it's secrets to her. She responds by attempting to tear a page out. That results in a rather large ward going off and knocking her unconscious and doing significant damage to her room at the inn. Xen does restore her to health, but she realizes that she won't be able to overpower this book by will alone.

Not having any immediate mission, the party also decides that they need to make their way to Waterdeep in an effort to drum up support for some kind of defense or attack into the Underdark to deal with this rise of Demon lords they were experiencing. To the best of their knowledge, there are some who believe their story and find it to be an urgent risk. But, nobody with the power to organize a large force or to convince the controlling organizations of Faerun has jumped on board. They will make their case in person.

[talesfromtheabyss]

Entering the Dusk

The plan was clear. The party wanted to round up Ashin and a volunteer to play the part of the mayor of Mirabar in a charade to get as many party members as possible near the dragon Skurge and to simply kill him and rid the town of this threat. Fortunately, Ashin was happy to rejoin his friends and delay his efforts to reconnect with his order when the party had a chance to head to Neverwinter later on.

Also fortunately, they found a relatively experienced bard, named Frank, who was happy to join in the effort to protect his town. He would play the part of the mayor and try to get the party close to Skurge before he realized it was all a set up. So, off they went. When they passed through the camp of the lizardfolk, nothing had changed. Either the entire group had been killed off, or the remnants left. When they met up with kobold that called himself the attendant to Skurge, he was surprised to see new party folk and asked about the bard. Frank pulled off a convincing show of being the clueless mayor going to negotiate a truce with a black dragon. Even the kobold thought he was a bit dense and waved them all on.

While the party was about to enter Skurge's presence, they noticed a blocked passage that Philis sent an Arcane Eye down. It was clogged with giant spiders and webs and would have provided a flanking access to Skurge, but they decided against it. So, into his presence they went. Skurge demanded the coins again, as he did before. The party had to hand wave through some spares they didn't have, but he seemed to buy it (or did he?). He also wanted to hear what the mayor had to say and, again, it's not clear if he was convinced or was simply playing along. He flew forward to inspect the new folk and ask where Philis was (riding in Kelkoa's backpack) and seemed skeptical of the whole situation. Then he returned to his hoard and asked to have the mayor brought forward.

Suspecting an ambush the party tried to spread out while not LOOKING like they were spreading out. But, due to the existence of some pits (one of which the bard fell into), they had to line up somewhat. When it finally looked like the fight was inevitable, Anar let loose with a fireball. Skurge immediately shot back with his acid breath while the water in the cave reached out and tried to grab Anar and DID grab Xenophrane. Skurge also flew up to avoid the melee fighters that he recognized would do some damage.

Kelkoa moved behind Skurge and successful goaded him to focus his attacks despite taking damage from other players. Skurge was unable to do much damage, but the casters kept dealing big damage. While Kelkoa was swarmed by piercing insects, Skurge eventually flew to take some swipes at Anar that had landed a second fireball. But that also meant he was on the ground. Seeing his opening, Ashin sped to the beast and successfully knocked him prone. Xenophrane finished him off and the beast was dead! After a little light looting (and some more interesting coins), the party headed back to town to inform the real mayor that the threat was ended.

In town, the mayor is most grateful and lets the party know that they are welcome to stay in Mirabar for as long as they like and he'll continue to find tasks for them if they so desire. He's not so worried about the Dusk Queen, however, so doesn't give much thought to that rumor. Frunios, on the other hand, is very agitated about the party investigating the Dusk Queen. He's deeply concerned about what it would mean if she had actually returned and strongly encourages the party to seek out that part of the kingdom to know for sure.

It's a long trek, but they eventually make their way along the forest's edge to an elven village where the party asks about the Dusk Queen. The folks they first meet don't seem to know much, but they point you to an older elf named Longleaf. He knows a bit more, but only from family stories. He has some of the same coins the party had, but his had been handed down from his grandparents. He gave more shape to the stories Frunios told about a mysterious fey witch who ruled with an iron fist and moments of deep mercy. He knew she used a magic mirror to help rule her kingdom, but she disappeared when it was broken by her lover, the Sun King. The party heads inward.

The party crossed some unseen threshold to a section of the forest where the sky seems to always be the color of an hour after sunset. They first met a tree creature that seemed to be weeping black sap and strongly encouraged the party to go find the mirror shards. He even had a poem to describe where each piece could be found. He then hurried them along

The party came across a large tree with skeletons hanging from it and the mirror shard deeply embedded near the top. Despite the efforts of the Unseen Servant and Philis herself, the shard refused to loosen. Ashin decided to try and after having no luck simply yanking it from the tree, he was able to wiggle it out. But, at that moment the party was set upon by wraith-like creatures. Magic fists and radiant damage did well while the party wondered what would have happened if Anar had been successful in polymorphing an incorporeal creature. During the cleanup, Xenophrane discovered a Ring of the Ram that will no doubt be useful in the future to whomever is wearing it.

The party backtracked a bit to find a bog with some standing stones and an altar in the middle with another shard. But, this one was guarded by a Spirit Naga that attempted to convince the party to help collect the pieces so they could share the power. Not believing her, Ashin made a running leap to start the fight. She responded by escaping through a portal and attacking the party with a lightning bolt from behind. She then disappeared into the bog to hide. Xenophrane would have none of it. He used Control Water to simply empty the bog and expose the Naga on her belly. The party made short work of her after that and Philis picked up the shard.

Moving back past the tree, the party found what appeared to be the Queen's tower with a very magical door and no other obvious way in. They decide to move on and encounter a ethereal woman who claims to be the Queen herself and promises great rewards if the party returns all the mirror shards. She also leaves a veiled threat hanging as the outcome if they don't.

Moving on the party finds a dark pit that has a darkness that consumes light and a slippery set of old stairs carved into the pit's edge. Xenophrane falls off, but the rest of the party finds their way down to a ledge that's overlooking a roiling cloud that appears to be some kind of abyss. A less lucky slip might have been the end of the person falling. However, they also find a cave entrance nearby and enter there. Inside, they spot a raised stone wall with stairs to the edge. Climbing the stairs reveals a pool with a mirror shard at the bottom.

Ashin uses Mage Hand to retrieve the shard, but as soon as he breaks the surface of the water, the party is challenged by a large black dragon-like creature that claims to be a servant of the Queen. And he attacks...

[talesfromtheabyss]

A Sketchy Thicket, Skurge, and the Dusk Queen

The party dove into the swampy thickets and encountered another hit-and-run party of creatures that threw javelins from a distance and moved further into the swamp. The party worked to smoke them out and get some hits and eventually did take down several lizardfolk that only had one distinguishing mark: They all wore a black band or sash around one arm. The party chased them across a river and over a bridge where they were ambushed from beneath (but a long range shot brought down those trying to escape).

They also encountered a boar's head hanging from a tree in a clearing. While Kelkoa inspecting the head, Anar walked nearby triggering a pit trap in the ground. Kelkoa fell in. Anar did not, but this is when more lizard folk decided to attack from the trees. Again, the party took some damage, but eventually dealt with the enemies, extracted Kelkoa from the pit and moved on.

Finally, in an open swampy area, the party noticed significant movement in the next collection of bushes and thickets. Rather than trying to fight them head on, Kelkoa walks out and tries to parley. The leader, a significantly bigger and nastier looking lizardman eventually identifies himself as the Hand of Skurge. Kelkoa asks to skip the fight and just get an audience with their leader. The Hand laughs and points out that they're only fighting about how the party will arrive in Skurge's presence. Armed or not.

Kelkoa then offers to settle this in one-on-one combat to which the Hand agrees. As the fight starts, the rest of the lizard folk move into view so the party can see them all. They spot several more lizardfolk warriors, a couple of robed lizardfolk (which they guess are healers or casters of some kind). The party waits while the duel begins.

Kelkoa wins initiative and does phenomenal damage against the Hand, but does not drop him. The Hand gets two attacks with his trident and is no slouch himself. Kelkoa takes some hits and the Hand seems reinvigorated. About this time, the party notices several crocodiles heading their way. Unsure if the lizardfolk are cheating or they're just in for some bad luck, they fight back and take out the crocs in short order.

The duelists get another round in beating on each other and neither falls. At this point, both Xenophrane and Kelkoa notice that their armor is heating up and their only move is to get out of the armor as fast as possible. They take some damage, but do succeed in getting it off before more damage is done. But, that leaves them vulnerable to further attack. But, now they are sure the lizardfolk are cheating and everybody piles into the fight. While most of the lizardfolk warriors are dealt with quickly and one caster is taken down, the other disappears under the water and the Hand continues to put up a fight. Kelkoa finishes off the Hand and the last caster pops up behind Philis (riding in her new animal shell canoe) and attacks and capsizes her. The party polishes off that caster, too. Surviving the large fight, the party loots the bodies for anything of value and find several silver coins in a pouch the Hand had. They showed some kind of lizard/dragon creature with a weapon. They also find a relatively new, black dragon scale in his possession.

Wanting to figure out who Skurge is they move on through the battlefield to find the camp where these folk were staying. While it's nothing much, they did seem much more organized and planned than a typical lizardfolk community that is normally just worried about food. Moving into the rocky hills behind the swamp they come upon a small tent with a fire burning and discover a tiny kobold dressed in black that seems to be surprised, but unafraid of the party. He asks whether they have the coins they need to seek a presence with Skurge. Philis shows him all of their coins and he points out the silver ones as those they need to be granted a presence. The others he is surprised to see and says something about not seeing them in a long time and about the Dusk Queen. He send the party along to a cave entrance not far away.

The party decides that with only three coins they'll pick Kelkoa, Xenophrane, and Philis to enter the cave while Anar and Lonehunter wait outside.

After entering the cave, being tricked into falling into a pit, and some over-the-top threats, the party realized that Skurge is an adolescent black dragon. While he appears to be of adult size, his treasure hoard is not sizable and seems to be made largely of copper and silver. He seems to be attempting to establish an area of control that will allow him to start terrorizing and controlling the nearby towns, including Mirabar from whence the party recently came.

In exchange for their lives, Skurge agrees to allow the party to serve him by creating terror in his name and bringing back the mayor of Mirabar alive. They have no doubt that he doesn't mean to let the mayor live and that his death won't be quick. Talking quickly, Kelkoa, Xen, and Philis leave the cave and the whole party makes their way back to Mirabar quickly where they share they whole story with their contact.

The plan is to round up Ashin (who spent this time looking for members of his brotherhood in town) and find a local warrior willing to masquerade as the mayor so the whole party can take him back and hopefully deal with Skurge once and for all.

While in town, their contact also suggests the party meet with the local arcane historian, which they do. On the edge of town, in a run down little two story house/tower combo, they meet Frunios Waveharp. This little old human man with a long white beard and a wizard's hat that seems too big for his head is a fast-talking, absent-minded student of arcana and history. He is thrilled to be talking to another young wizard and (to be honest) any new folks at all. He is very excited to hear the party's story and to study the coins Philis has been collecting. When the party mentions the Dusk Queen, it rings a bell and he is both excited and worried at the same time.

Frunios finds a book high on a shelf that reminds him more of the story, which he shares with the party. The coins, he believes, would grant one passage into the Shadow Forest which was the domain of the Dusk Queen many, many years ago. She was said to be from the fey realm of the Winter Court. Legend says she was a true theurge, able to wield both arcane and divine magic. The story goes that she had a magic mirror created that helped her rule her land (often with an iron fist and mercilessly, but she was known to act with fantastic gratitude and mercy at times), but that her lover, the Sun King, broke the mirror when he feared she had become addicted to the power. She disappeared and the legend fades there.

Frunios comes to the conclusion that the appearance of these coins (combined with the disruption you all have reported from the Underdark) must mean that the Dusk Queen is returning. He's positive that this means dire consequences for civilization above ground and expects that you all will have to mount an expedition to find out what the truth is and to prevent her return, if the legends are true.

So the party plans to deal with Skurge first while Frunios organizes some information in case they decide to pursue the Dusk Queen.

[talesfromtheabyss]

Kings of the Hills

The party had successfully broken up a Necromancer's attempt to raise an undead army in Lurkwood Forest and found some odd coins that Philis had seen in a dream recently. They then followed the road, hoping to get to Mirabar. As the road headed through some hills, they were ambushed by some orcs. They successfully fought them off, but the shaman-type orc happened to have another coin in his pouch that matched a different coin that she dreamed about. The copper one. One orc escaped, so they decided to track him to see what they were up to.

This led them to an orc camp further in the hills, but they were surprised to find a fight already underway. The orcs (including an oversized war chief) had Lonehunter and Anar surrounded! 

Seeing their friends in trouble, the party sprinted into the fray and helped turn the tide. Despite their ability to knock them back, the war chief was able to grapple Kelkoa and dragged him off into the tent. When Lonehunter followed, they were surprised to see the tent empty other than the sleeping mats and various filthy cloaks and wrappings. Lonehunter started flipping tables until he found a rough tunnel under the tent that the chief must have taken. While Lonehunter and Xenophrane followed the kidnapper, the rest of the party moved past the tent to see what they could. 

Finally, Anar spotted the war chief moving at a good clip with Kelkoa under his arm (seemingly unconscious). Ashin, moving like the wind, sprinted to catch up with the orc as the orc seemed to be moving towards another gully between two hills in the distance.

But, before anyone could get close enough, Philis finally crested the hill behind the tent and let loose a long-distance magic missile that dropped the war chief. The party caught up, healed Kelkoa up and carried him back to the orc camp where they stayed for the night. After much discussion in the morning, the party headed off to see where the orcs were taking Kelkoa.

In this gully, they found a muddy pit that was being used as a camp by more than one hill giant. The only one they could see at the moment was asleep (or passed out) on his back, in the mud. They decided to set up a camouflage tiny hut and watch the camp. They soon see another giant drag in a large pig or boar and begin eating it on the spot. Eventually the other one wakes up and starts to steal some of the animal from the other. While they try to eat and fight at the same time, they eventually eat it all and wonder where to find more. As they both walk out past the party's hut, Lonehunter can understand what they're saying and it boils down to something like, "Where are those things we told to bring us food? They need to bring us more food!". So, the party concludes that the giants have been intimidating the orcs into collecting food for them which is why the orcs had looked bedraggled, even for orcs.

Xenophrane had seen enough and wanted to leave but Philis was convinced they needed to deal with the giants. So, they decide to go for a little trickery. They party heads off to hunt another boar, which they find and Kelkoa and Anar kill. They then pack this boar with many, many pygmywort mushrooms from the Underdark in the hopes that it will cause the giants to shrink to a more manageable size. They leave the boar out for the giants to see, which one finally does. He drags it back to his camp where, again, he's fighting with another giant over who gets to eat the boar. While they eat it, one does indeed shrink a bit causing the other to start laughing at him.

At this point, the party attempts a stealthy run in hopes of getting a surprise attack on the giants. Anar led off with a ring of fire that hurt them both badly and a follow on lightning bolt also wore one down. The battle then went in rounds of heavy spells, Xenophrane marking giants to give his tanks advantage, and Kelkoa and Lonehunter doing serious damage. The giants were able to do some serious damage of their own by clubbing the fighters and throwing rocks at the healers and casters. But, by focusing on one giant at a time, the party was able to kill them quickly and never let themselves get surrounded or pinned in.

During one key point of the fight, when the casters were generally trying to keep their distance, Philis made an epic move that either spoke to her courage or insanity. She ran close to a giant to unleash a spell and hoped her earlier casting of blink would allow her to be un-hittable during the next turn. She landed the spell, but did not phase. She was now a sitting duck.

Kelkoa’s turn came first and he decided to put everything into an all-out attack to finish off this giant before it had a chance to hurt the gnome. Using his action surge to do extra attacks, he finished off the giant with three hefty hits. This saved his teammate, but may have given her undue confidence in that move. 

Once it was complete, the party did find one more copper coin in a mud hut, leave the source of the silver coins a bit of a mystery, but this particular encounter complete. The party then made their way back to the road and on to Mirabar.

They were able to secure a meeting with a emissary to the Mayor of the town where they told a very convincing story of all their time in the Underdark as well as their more recent encounters with evil moving into civilization. He promised to get the word out to other towns and to let other leaders know where to find you as the party hoped to end up in Waterdeep soon.

While telling the stories of the Lurkwood Forest and the giants in the hills, the emissary related another rumor he'd been hearing about lizardfolk pushing further south from the marshes between the Spine of the World and the road to Luskan. The party decided that this must be the group related to the silver coin Philis had seen in her dream, so they stocked up, rested up, and headed toward Luskan looking for where this lizardfolk rumor might be coming from.

They soon found an area near the delta where two rivers joined up before heading to the ocean and could tell there was some unusual traffic along the marsh here and eventually came up to a spot where the thickets were getting bigger and the party suddenly felt like they weren't alone. Philis spoke to a nearby tree that confirmed that some lizard-y creatures came through this area yesterday, but couldn't speak to what was on the other side of the clearing now.

The party decided to head into the spooky thickets which is where the story will pick up next time!