Rude Welcome To The Underdark (Session 69)

Summary

The group, battered and relying on healing potions, descended a dark, uneven tunnel into a dimly lit cavern illuminated by bioluminescent fungi. Kipp's infravision detected no life, but reptilian footprints led down massive stairs to a vast passageway with bones, desiccated remains, a small waterfall, and louder water sounds. They proceeded east, with Kipp and Brandy leading.

Two Grell ambushed from above, paralyzing Oglesby and Elenor with tentacles and lifting them. The group reacted: Brandy shot one Grell, Audra grabbed Oglesby's feet, pulling it down a little before it started lifting them both up. Pyreece anchored Audra by grabbing hold of her while Brandy killed that Grell. This caused Oglesby and Audra to tumble into the water. Audra got her fotting and pulled Oglesby out onto the shore line.

Kipp attempted to stop the Grell from leaving with Elenor. He jumped up and grabbed Elenor, hacking at the Grell while Pyreece anchored him. The Grell attacked Kipp. A third Grell dropped down and hit Brandy but she saved and avoided paralyzation. She killed it with her short sword while Audra was shooting at the Grell holding Elenor. Once Brandy killed hers, she shot the one on Elenor. Elenor fell unconscious from ongoing damage. The group killed her Grell, pulled everyone to shore, stabilized Elenor, and gave her a potions to revive her again. They healed Oglesby and Elenor enough to continue on their way once the poison wore off. Kipp and Brandy also drank some doses of healing.

Advancing east, they found a large mass of spiderwebs. Kipp burned webs with a torch, as the rest followed. They heard a voice speaking to them from the dark. The voice said, "Step into my parlor. Markessa said she might be followed and would reward me, if I killed you, of course, A tribute to the power of the elemental eye. Cut their hearts out, my pretties!". She let out a shrill whistled and a couple of giant sword spiders attacked with others joining the fight as they went.

They were attacked with Magic Missiles from the darkness where the voice came from. The fungi lit the area enough that Kipp could see a Drider hiding up there. Kipp took a hit from one of the sword spiders with it's favorite attack of jumping from a short distance and landing with all of it's sword like legs on the target. Elenor cast Improved Invisibility on Ogelsby to give him the ability to backstab at will. Audra and Pyreece jumped on the one on Kipp while Brandy started pelting another one with arrows. Once the killed the first spider, Kipp took off after Miranda, the Drider. The others finished off the other two spiders below.

Before they could continue on to Miranda, she cast a fireball and hit Audra and Pyreece. Fortunately for the party, they were the two members of the group with rings of fire resistance. Audra took 9 damage and Pyreece only took 4. (I recalculated, this is right). They worked their way up stairs to help with the Drider. The Drider recognized tht this battle was not going her way and whislted for more backup. Kipp and Elenor took her down but just as Kipp fell. Audra took the brunt of this new spider but they finished it off quickly. Pyreece stabilized Kipp and then they searched Miranda for stuff.

Loot from Miranda: Elven chainmail +1 (to Kipp, AC -1), longsword +2 (backup), longbow +1 (bag for backup), 20 arrows +1 (to Brandy), Devon's shield +1 (to Oglesby), Markessa's ring +2 (to Oglesby, AC -2), wand of magic missiles (12 charges to Elenor), ring +1 (to the bag). Note from Markessa included in the stuff retrieved from Miranda.

Miranda,

We will be moving inventory through your chambers shortly. This is not a delivery for you but for Sudderham. Be sure the way is clear to the lost caverns and we will seek the portal. Jalynlimar knows the demon guardians and can guide us safely. You are to stand down by order of myself, Mordrammo, and Eclavdra.

Be on the alert as there may be pursuit from a small group of adventurers. Do with them what you will. If you dispose of them, send word and you will be richly rewarded.

Markessa

They rested in Leomund's tiny hut in a chamber to the the west. Pyreece used all her healing spells. The group, still battered, headed east following reptilian tracks. The tunnel opened to chamber with black fissure pit emitting hissing, shrieks, curses. Three Gibbering Mouthers emerged, chanting hypnotically ("see the colors"), blindness grips the air as pseudopods lashed out.

This is where the session ended!

Please start the recorder!

Exp: 2833 + 283 = 3116

Detail

When we left off last time, the group was going to head down that ramp into darkness. Nothing had changed. Audra had 31 out of 60 hit points. Kipp had 24 out of 59. Elenor had 14 out of 35. They were all in bad shape. Oglesby was at about 60% for both of his. They were living on healing potions and coffee. One potion for Elenor brought her up to 22.

This tunnel descended into utter darkness, and the stone beneath their feet was uneven with treacherous footing. As they followed the passage downward, the air was cool but stale. After about 30 minutes of steady decline, the passage opened to a yawning dimly lit cavern, easily 100 feet across and dropping away into a luminescent chamber. Here and there throughout the chamber, the stone was covered with carpets of bioluminescent fungi. The fungi were the cavern's only light source. They pulsed with a soft otherworldly light in hues of violet, azure, and electric blue, reflecting off the crystalline formations and casting shifting patterns of illumination and deep shadow across the cave floor.

Kipp looked around with infravision but saw nothing living. There was a very distant hissing sound. It smelled like dirt. Kipp moved up and started to see several footprints in the dust where it was not stony. There were big reptilian footprints appearing to go down the stairs. The stairs were pretty massive. Kipp went down the steps, staying to the side away from the green stuff. Audra stayed out of the way. Oglesby stayed in the shadowy area and came to the side to look around. The crystalline was a weird natural source of light produced by the energy of the fungus, reflecting off all the crystal in the room.

Kipp walked over a small ledge that was two or three feet high and looked down that way. Kipp turned around and scanned the room through the fungus to see if anything was hiding. Infravision showed nothing moving or any heat signatures. Oglesby hid in the shadows and climbed down into the chamber. Elenor came down. Audra came down and crossed over to look toward the east. Brandy stayed up top to provide overwatch. Up a rise and a little ways ahead, Kipp spied another opening in the floor ahead. There was a staircase leading down and some more fungi. He motioned to Brandy that there were stairs down but an opening to the west.

Oglesby went around the corner and looked in the darkness. It ended only a short distance ahead. The only way forward was down. There were reptilian footprints going down the stairs. Looking down the stairs, the light blocked vision into impenetrable blackness. The hissing sound was louder. It could be water. Kipp skirted down the stairs in the shadows. From there, it got pretty dark, probably 40 more feet down. The stairs themselves were pitch black. Kipp continued down another 20 feet.

As they came down, they saw a vast passageway with jagged rocks and more glowing fungi clinging to surfaces, almost hypnotic like distant ghostly stars dangerously out of place. There were discarded bone fragments and desiccated remains scattered along the route, a grisly trail. Oglesby stayed in the shadows and came to the corner. The noise was louder and sounded like water, with dampness confirming it. The path was pebbly rock. The tracks mostly went east-west, with a little toward the water to the south, but the bulk went the other way. Brandy came down and stayed up on the steps a bit. There was a small waterfall from the west room wall. The water was clear but dark with powerful eddies, its depth unknowable.

The sound from the waterfall was a constant rush filling the cavern, making hushed conversation nearly impossible. There were some ledges, but the water's current was strong. They went east. Kipp and Brandy took the lead, Audra and Pyreece took the middle with Oglesby and Elenor bringing up the rear. The fungus lit the area well leaving little shadows to hide in.

Suddenly, tentacles dropped down in front of Oglesby, trying to latch on. Two tentacles hit Oglesby. He made one save versus paralysis with a +4 bonus but failed the other and was paralyzed for 14 rounds. Two tentacles hit Elenor. Elenor failed one save and was paralyzed for 17 rounds. The tentacles latched on and started lifting them up and floating away. The grotesque brain-like masses had tentacles lashing out like whips, coiling around Oglesby and Elenor with barbs sinking into their flesh and a numbing chill spreading through their limbs. There were beaks on them and viscous slime dripping.

Due to the sound of the water, the others did not hear what had happened but with natural danger sense, the others did see their friends being pulled away. They saw the Grell lifting them upward and floating away. They turned to engage, rolling initiative. The Grell were about 13 feet off the ground. Brandy used her bow on the one on Kipp and hit for 8 damage. Audra ran back and shifted to her sword and shield. Then she decided to grab Oglesby's feet and tried to rip him out of the Grell's grasp. She yanked and pulled the Grell down a bit but it did not release, and it started lifting her up too, though slowly. She held on tight.

Pyreece grabbed hold of Audra's waist and pulled. Her weight was still not enough to stop it but did slow it quite a bit. Brandy fired at and hit it, killing it. Everyone attached to the Grell tumbled forward. Oglesby and Audra went into the water. The Grell tumbled down to the water as well. It was about two feet deep at this point.

Kipp ran and jumped, wrapping himself around Elenor as the Grell holding her was moving pretty quickly downstream. He pulled out his sword and started trying to hack at it but it kept floating downstream. Pyreece ran and jumped up grabbing Kipp around the waist. The Grell slowed quite a bit but with it's additional tentacles, it began attacking Kipp. Behind them all, another Grell attacked Brandy. Everyone was so focused ahead that no one saw. Fortunately Brandy made her saves and was not paralyzed. She dropped her bow and drew her short sword and attacked it. Audra got Oglesby back to the shore and safe before drawing her bow to shoot at the Grell carrying Elenor.

Elenor had continued taking damage each round and neared death, falling unconscious. Brandy finished off her Grell and began pushing the mass off of her. She grabbed her bow to fire on the Grell carrying Elenor. The quickly finished it off and it fell. Everyone landed in the water. Pyreece was closest to the shoreline and grabbed some rock to stop them from floating downstream. She held tight to Kipp who was still holding Elenor. He was using a sidestroke to try and pull Elenor to safety. Brandy threw a rope out to help. They worked to get back onto the shore pulling Elenor to safety. Pyreece bandaged Elenor with healing proficiency, stabilizing her. They got a potion in her for 6 points. They dragged everybody back up. That's when they saw the carcass of the other Grell that Brandy had taken care of.

They drank potions. Kipp drank a full potion. Elenor was at 16 and had two portions. Brandy healed for 11. Everybody kept their eyes up. Kipp looked down the way, checking the ceiling crevices for more Grell. There were bunches of bones, commonplace and old. He moved up and peeked around. The ground was stony but the tracks went this way. He saw spider webs. He lit a torch and burned the webs away, clearing a wide swath up to 30 feet high. The webs thickened in the chamber ahead. Thick webs draped the ceiling 30 feet overhead. They seemed to vibrate, or it was a trick of the pulsing fungi light. To the south was a large staircase opening to more webs. To the east, more webs and a tunnel continuing east. Kipp burned the side and half the wall.

A voice echoed from the eerie recess: "Step into my parlor. Markessa said she might be followed and would reward me, if I killed you, of course, A tribute to the power of the elemental eye. Cut their hearts out, my pretties!" A shrill whistle sounded, and sword spiders emerged from the webs, their chitinous arms sharpened into long blades. They leaped. The sword spiders were massive, about 10 feet with legs, looking menacing. They rolled initiative.

The sword spiders climbed out across the webs up to 8 feet and leaped down. One dropped on Kipp and made six attacks, dealing 13 points of stabbing damage. Audra took the straightest route through the burned webs and attacked one but missed. Elenor cast improved invisibility on Oglesby for 11 rounds. Pyreece moved in to attack as well, hitting one for 5 damage. Kipp struck the spider for enough damage to kill it and it's future prodigy. Oglesby, invisible, shot with his short bow at one for damage. Brandy shot with her bow at one for 8 damage. Four balls of energy flew toward Kipp for 13 damage. From the darkness, Kipp saw a Drider named Miranda on a ledge. Oglesby shot one of the spiders again for 7 damage. Brandy shot again for 8 damage.

Elenor prepared to cast a spell. Kipp ran to attack Miranda. Miranda cast fireball. Audra failed the save and was set to take 17 damage. Pyreece made the save. With rings of fire resistance, Audra actually only took 9 damage after adjustments, and Pyreece took half damage of 4. Kipp ran up to Miranda on the 10-foot ledge. A sword spider attacked Brandy with six sword arms, hitting for 3 damage. A sword spider attacked Pyreece for 20 damage. Elenor magic missiled Miranda for 14 damage. Brandy attacked the one on her, hitting twice for 10 and 7 damage, killing it. Audra attacked the one on Pyreece for 9 damage. Pyreece missed it. Oglesby backstabbed that one but missed. Audra swung again for 15 damage. It went down.

Next round, Oglesby backstabbed the spider for 23 damage. Kipp jumped up onto the platform and attacked Mirranda with 21 and 11 to hit for 26 damage. Miranda whistled and stabbed Kipp for 6 damage which caused him to collapse. Fortunately he saved against the potential poison damage. Elenor magic missiled Miranda for 15 damage. Miranda collapsed. Audra and Pyreece rushed to help Kipp. Brandy took overwatch. Another sword spider came out of the passage way from the east. Brandy fired on it doing 11 damage.

Pyreece bandaged Kipp stabilizing him. The sword spider moved closer and then jumped to land with all blade legs on Audra. He hit her for 4 points of damage. Brandy fired on it again for anotehr 8 points of damage. The sword spider attacked Audra with two attacks but missed. Elenor magic missiled the sword spider for 17 damage, killing it. They searched Miranda and found Elven chainmail, a nice long sword, long bow, and two quivers of arrows, one plain and one special, with a coating on the weapons. They also found a folded piece of paper.

They went into a dark chamber to the west and cast Leomund's tiny hut, blending it into the surrounding area. Elenor cast detect magic and identify on items: Devon's shield +1, Markessa's ring of protection +2, wand of magic missiles with 12 charges, Elven chainmail +1, Mirranda's long sword +2, long bow +1, 20 arrows +1. They distributed: arrows to Brandy, long sword +2 to store as a backup, Elven chain +1 to Kipp (AC -1), shield +1 to Oglesby, ring +2 to Oglesby (AC -2), ring +1 to kitty.

Elenor turned over the note they'd found on Miranda beforing laying down to rest. The note read, as follows.

Miranda,

We will be moving inventory through your chambers shortly. This is not a delivery for you but for Sudderham. Be sure the way is clear to the lost caverns and we will seek the portal. Jalynlimar knows the demon guardians and can guide us safely. You are to stand down by order of myself, Mordrammo, and Eclavdra.

Be on the alert as there may be pursuit from a small group of adventurers. Do with them what you will. If you dispose of them, send word and you will be richly rewarded.

Markessa

They thought they were on the right path, with the river and slave grips. The reptilian tracks led east through the northeast opening. After resting, Pyreece used all of her healing spells. They were still in bad shape but ahead they went. As they proceeded east carefully, the tunnel continued to look the same. They kept watch on the ceiling in case more of those tentical beast or spiders were hidden up there. They didn't see anything. Kipp took the lead and proceeded down the path. The rest followed with Brandy close behind. The passage opened to a large chamber with a sprawling fissure filled with complete blackness. There were unnerving sounds from the pit: hissing, gurgling, cracking rocks, occasional shrieks. Wet squelches and rising cacophony of overlapping voices: gibberish pleas, mad cackles, guttural curses in a dozen tongues.

Suddenly, pseudopods slapped upon the pit wall. From the sludge, Gibbering Mouthers hauled themselves up, amorphous blobs of quivering flesh studded with dozens of rolling eyes and drooling mouths. Colors shifted across their hides like oil on water: pink, green, bruise purple. As the mouths chanted in hypnotic unison, see the colors, see the colors. Blindness gripped the air and the first pseudopod lashed out.

This is where the session ended!

Please start the recorder!

Exp: 2833 + 283 = 3116