Upon A Darklake

The morning finds the group well rested in the kuo-toa village of Sloobludop. They have slept in simple mud and reed huts but at least they felt safe amid the odd kuo-toa. The high priest of The Sea Mother, "Ploop" ask H if he is still willing to pose as a sacrifice to the Deep Father, whom his daughter is now high priestess to. H is willing but he must first have a cigarette, or something that is akin to one soon. A kuo-toa is sent out to retrieve several weeds which the kuo-toa offer to H. The weed is foul smelling but when rolled and fashioned into a cigarette H finds the flavor not unpleasant. In fact, he feels much stronger and faster than he normally and is charged with a sense of well being.

"Ploop" escorts H through the village until they approach the shrine of the Deep Father, a stark contrast to the statue of the Sea Mother. This altar is several sea creatures, two manta rays and an octopus bound together to create some horrific hybrid. It is pinned down with stakes and offerings of blood are poured over its body. Numerous kuo-toa begin to emerge in front of the altar and several lay flat on the ground and then on top of each other until a small mound of kuo-toa is created.

A kuo-toa puffed out with indignant pride strides out and up on top of the mound of kuo-toa. "Ploop" begins to address her but without the aid of Stool the exchange is lost on those in the group near enough to hear. H confidently strides forward until he is at the foot of the kuo-toa mound. There he pulls out his guns with a flourish and fires twice at the priestess. Recoiling back but not killed she begins to chant spells which try to work their way into H's mind. Resisting the priestess's spell, H fires again and Thokk who has been watching from a slight distance now joins in and throws his axe at the kuo-toa priestess. He misses the first time but summons his weapon back to his hands and throws again. This time the axe finds purchase and the priestess is knocked back. She begins to chant a new spell.

Soon the waters at the shore begin to rapidly recede back into the depths of Darklake, exposing the timbers of the docks and the muddy bottom below. Most of the kuo-toa now are chanting and dancing round the shrine in alternating circles. The group can no longer distinguish between the kuo-toa following the Sea Mother or those of the Deep Father. Perhaps it doesn't matter. There rises a huge noise of rushing water and a monstrous below of rage from somewhere out in the inky blackness of the Darklake.

Each of the group is trying to fend off multiple kuo-toa as they now jump and bite at the group in retaliation against the attack on their priestess. Karis moves to one side of the foul shrine and casts a spell and summons a plague of locusts. The locusts swarm a huge area eating into the flesh of anything in its wake, friend and foe alike. Thokk and H are able to retreat out of the swarm but not before sustaining a huge amount of damage to themselves.  Azalea is not so fortunate, she falls as the wave of insects chew enough of her flesh until she falls unconscious.

The Demon Rampage

It is then that the receeded water returns in a small tsunami. The six foot wave that rushes back into the village washes up the dead bodies, including that of Azalea but the other kuo-toa are able to swim to safety. Azalea regains consciousness, covered in dead kuo-toa and looking up into the face of Karis who has just healed her. Everyone then looks towards Darklake as they all hear the sounds of massive foot falls in the water approaching the shore.  Whatever it is that is approaching is too far out to be seen in the black of the Underdark so Thokk sends off a fireball in the direction of the sound. The fireball does not find any target but as it flies off into the distance it illuminates a vision of horror that is approaching them.

Lit by the brief and fiery blast of the fireball spell, everyone sees the massive figure of a two headed demon with long tentacle arms. Towering over the village the creature begins to kill and destroy everything in its path. The kuo-toa are mass of confused activity. Some run to their perceived god only to be picked up and tossed tens of feet to their death or ripped apart between its many tentacles. Karis screams to Sarith, the drow, asking what is it. Sarith yells back that, from its appearance it seems like it is the demon Demogorgon from legends of old. The scene before them is so frighteningly beyond anything his imagination can conceive, Thokk, stares up at the demon and begins to giggle then laugh, uncontrollably.

The group does not debate. They run.

They begin to run and Karis performs a ritual, raising dozens of kuo-toa to aid the group as the undead army runs ahead of the group to act as a shield. Azalea is forced to push Thokk along as all he can do is continue to stare at the demon and laugh. As they run to the only exit they know, the one they had entered the village from, they pass the small inlet where the kuo-toa boats are moored. Eldith is already jumping into one and begins to paddle furiously out towards Darklake, away from the demon. H sees this and runs and jumps into her already moving boat. The others, seeing the boat leaving also board boats. Thokk and Azalea, who is carrying Stool grab one boat and begin paddling. Karis, Bupido and Sarith jump into another. Karis's kuo-toa undead army enter the water and begin pushing the boat, following the others.

They steer their boats in the direction that takes them the farthest away from the onslaught as fast as possible. It is not long before the sounds dwindle and they are surrounded by the darkness. Darklake is not perturbed by any winds or movement where they are so the surface is black glass smooth. They cannot tell north from south. There are no prevailing winds. There are only the tiny points of light from distant growths of glowing fungus growing on the ceiling of the enormous cavern, reminding the surface dwellers of stars in their night sky.

Catch Of The Day

They row for what seems hours. Eldith who has done all the rowing in the boat she shares with H, finally gives out and sits down. She complains that they don't even know where they are going. It looks the same in every direction. Black.

The others in the group slow and converse. Each gives where they think they should go but it is limited to what destinations they know of and who can get them there. Sarith, the drow, believes they should return Stool to his home back in Neverlight Grove. Stool happily supports this idea but H says that perhaps Stool should accompany the group a little longer. Without Stool, most of them are unable to communicate with most of the inhabitants of the Underdark. Stool shrinks back down in visible disappointment. Bupido says that he can get them to Gracklstugh, the duergar city. There they can obtain weapons and perhaps other necessary items. The weapons idea sells it to the group and they ask Bupido to head them towards Gracklstugh. Bupido sits down to meditate upon the direction of their destination.

While waiting the others take stock of what they have. They have a few weapons, including some drow poisoned bolts, which Karis takes to surreptitiously adding to H's water that she hands him. Fortunately for H his constitution is healthy enough to ward off the poison, leaving him oddly tingly. Some of the kuo-toa who are now pushing the boats have nets tied to their reed belts, which H and Thokk take to removing. H is able to attack a net to one of his bolts with rope he has. Thokk uses his net and rope to fish. He tosses his newly fashioned fishing net over the side of the boat.

It is not long before Thokk feels the pull of his net and he begins to pull it back into the boat. It takes all of his massive strength to pull but when he finishes pulling his catch back into the boat he sees a massive manta-ray like creature with sharp teeth and a barbed flailing tail. He tries to hammer it to death but it is trashing in the boat enough to rock it, leaving Thokk to uselessly flail his axe.

Suddenly the boat is rocked violently from other similar creatures in the water. The water is teaming with them and Stool, who is sitting in a makeshift sling across Azalea's back is tossed overboard. Stool screams in everyone's mind as he is attacked by the ixitxachtil in the water. Karis sends all of his undead kuo-toa to the aid of Stool. They form a mass of bodies around Stool and lift him up and out of the water, guiding him back into the boat where Karis sits. The churning water, alive with the creatures ripping apart the bodies of the animated kuo-toa.

The creatures then begin to attack the boat with their fellow within it. The jolts against the boat are enough to eject first Thokk, then Azalea as he pulls the boat askew re-entering it. They finally are able to work together to manage re-entering the boat with no one being tossed out into the dangerous waters.

With their few remaining kuo-toa pushing the boats, the group moves swiftly on.

Against The Current

They continue on, this time Eldith forcing H to do his part of the rowing. H happily takes up the job and begins to loudly sing maritime songs. He continues, even after the insistence of stopping from Karis, until some hours later, Thokk yells at him to stop. He hears something. Once the group is silent, most of them can hear it. The sound of water rushing. The water around their boats begins to form waves and chop and they are moving at a faster speed.

Karis moves his few kuo-toa around the the front of the boat where they push back halting the progress of the boat. H, seeing this grabs his hand crossbow, fitting with his rope and net, securing one end to his boat and shoots the bolt into Karis's boat. His boat is now moored to Karis's. Azalea and Thokk's boat continues to gain speed. Stool waves goodbye to the others as he speeds away towards the falls.

Karis sends off both a shower of dancing lights and his sprite to scout ahead. She reports back that it is a waterfall of about 50-60 feet, no rocks can be seen below. Azalea and Thokk paddle madly but their progress continues towards the falls. Finally, Azalea is able to stick her oar into something below the boat and she is able to anchor her side of the boat. Thokk follows suit. They sit their anchored but stuck as the groups shout back and forth to each other, trying to find a way out of this mess.

Azalea and Thokk finally come to an agreement. They lift their oars and prepare themselves. The boat quickly picks up speed and they are flung out and over the falls. Thokk jumps as far as he can away from the boat and falls. Azalea and Stool brace themselves within the boat. Each lands hard and hurtful but they survive.

Yelling up to the others that they are all right, the rest of the party decides to follow the same action. H and Eldith are next over the falls. They surface hurt but alive. Bupido, Karis and Sarith prepare themselves next. Karis casts fly on herself and sails gracefully over the fall while Sarith casts levitate and slowly descends back into the boat. Bupido, still in his position, standing at the prow of the boat, simply continues to stand in that position, trusting in his powers to see him over the falls. At the bottom, still in the boat he stands again, incredibly damaged but does not show any signs of pain to the others. Though he is bleeding from his ears eyes and nose.

A Warm Duergar Welcome

Not long after, Thokk has to quiet H again. This time they hear another boat approaching. Sending dancing lights and the sprite again, Karis gets a vision of several dour looking grey duergar in a boat before a spear ends the life of the sprite. They hail the duergar and after some poor attempts of persuasion, convince the duergar of their intentions to visit Gracklstugh, for means of purchasing supplies. Soon after they begin to see the glow of the fires and furnaces of Gracklstugh. The smoke from furnaces and smelting is harsh. Both H and Thokk find it hard to breath and exert themselves.

Bupido is able to navigate them up to some secluded docks where the group hides their damaged but valuable boats behind some rocks away from the more trafficked docks. Once entering the open part of the city, they see several shops and smiths. As they move through these quarters, following Bupido, they loose sight of the deep gnome and cannot find him again.

H is able to find a duergar who is willing to let him forge a new firearm in return for teaching the duergar the craft and a 150 gold pieces. Leaving H behind to forge his weapon, the others find refuge in what passes for an inn, here in the duergar city, which allows non-duergar to enter.

They've arrived in a city full of evil dark dwarves. Is this much better than life with the drow?

The Great Escape

The adventurers are forced into their menial tasks yet again. After being fed their usual bowls of slop, the prisoners are separated and are taken to their various jobs.

Grimm, along with the orc Ront, is made to raise and lower the large basket that the drow are using to transport food supplies and other things up to their living quarters up near the top of the cavern. The drow enjoy watching the puny human try to pull at the large winch as they begin to heap heavy rocks into the basket just to watch the two prisoners work harder. After hours of this grueling work, Grimm has had enough and an evil thought creeps into his mind.

The two quaggoths, whose job it usually is to work the winch, are hunched over near the edge of the cavern watching  the two prisoners work. Grimm rushes one of the quaggoths as the demon within him takes over. Now with the demon, Tallstag, in control he is able to match the strength of the quaggoth and is able to grab him and force him to the edge. With a huge push, the quaggoth is thrown over the edge. The quaggoth struggles to catch hold of one of the many spider webs just below the ledge but is unable to. His horrified screams fade as he tumbles out of sight into the inky blackness below, until all that can be heard is the constant roar of the waterfall.

The drow are quick to respond. They each fire upon Grimm and he falls unconscious. The drow drag his limp body off but not back to the prisoner's cave that they have been living in. His fate resides elsewhere now.

When the other prisoners are finally returned to their prisoner's quarters they notice that Grimm is no longer with them. They shout at the drow demanding to know his whereabouts but the angry looking drow do not answer. The prisoners begin to scheme again. They will wait to see if Azalea's female drow friend will return. And return she does.

Not long after the sounds of activity within the cavern begin to quiet, Faeryl, the female drow enamored with Azalea, gives a quiet 'psst' at the caves door. When it fails to get a response, she does so again louder and louder until Azalea finally awakens.

As Azalea approaches the door, H slinks in the shadows nearby. Faeryl opens the door and reaches for Azalea but Azalea instead pulls her inside the cave. Confused but not frightened, Faeryl begins to question Azalea but H jumping from the shadows grabs Faeryl around the neck using his found metal bar. With the metal bar across her neck he forces Faeryl deeper into the cave. But not before she begins to shout for help.

Karis, uses one of the drow's poisoned crossbow bolts to stab the drow, trying for the eye but succeeding in stabbing her in the face. Faeryl falls unconscious. With the sounds of the struggle in the cave silenced, the prisoners can hear the sounds of many drow approaching the door. Several quaggoths and drow burst into the room, they see H with one of their own drow upon the floor, using her body as a shield with the metal bar to her neck. They demand the return of their companion, Grimm. The lead drow introduces himself as Jorlan, he has a large portion of his face scarred and burnt. He sends two drow out to retrieve Grimm.

When Grimm is returned to them the standoff resumes with yelling on both sides. It might have continued for sometime like that if not for at that moment the two twin deep gnomes, Topsy and Turvy begin to shake and groan. They begin transforming in front of everyone. Moments later, two werewolves stand where the two odd deep gnomes once stood and they begin to attack, drow, quaggoths and fellow prisoners alike. In the confused attack, Karis is bitten.

As the battle begins, many of the prisoners begin to edge their way towards the still open door at the end of the cave. Finally, with much of the drow and quaggoths occupied with attacking and defending against the werewolves most of the prisoners make it outside the cave with their jailers still within. The group works quickly to close and lock the door, locking the drow, quaggoths and leaving Ront, the orc, to be attacked and ripped apart by the quaggoths. Azalea looks inside as she is trying to break the key off inside the lock to further prevent the drow from escaping the cave. Inside she sees the quaggoth looking, self-proclaimed cursed elf prince, Derendil, sitting in the corner scared to move. He shouts that he will wait here until they return for him. That is the last they ever see of Derendil.

Across the bridge leading to one of the stalactites used by the drow, are several more drow coming in response to the battle. H is able to drop one of the drow and use it as a body shield while Karis and Grimm begin to slash at the bridge's spiderthread ropes, until the bridge becomes unsecured on their side. The group is trapped between the drow and quaggoths trapped in the cave and several more still coming from further down the cavern but unable, at the moment to cross the gap to get to the prisoners.

The only way visible to the prisoners are the rocky stairs carved into the side of the cavern leading up. They run up the stairs to find and empty cave, which is obviously used to house the quaggoths. The cave is foul smelling with rotting fungus caps and other such refuse for beds and food. Outside the cave is a small outpost with a door. Opening the door they find two drow who are quickly overcome. One of the drow they toss over the edge and the other is used for information. They learn that most of their weapons would be stored in the first stalactite while their more arcane items would be housed in the temple, which is further down the cavern.

The group returns back down to the landing just outside the prisoner's cave. Karis looks in to see what has progressed only to see a large quaggoth face just inside the door, who , in a rough guttural speech asks for them to open the door.

The rest of the prisoners are anxious to find escape and Shuushar, the fat kuo-toa, offers the strategy of jumping down to the webs and then down to the water, which is hopefully below them. Shuushar, still in a panic to leave before they all get shot and then tortured is the first to jump. He is able to grab hold of the webs and then drops into the darkness below. The party waits to hear the result of the fall until they hear a faint shout from below that he has made it. Injured but not dead.

H, who is not ready to depart without looking for his prized weapons, jumps for the webs below and then begins to make his way over to the stalactite. As he his climbing his way up the stalactite, Karis follows behind, jumping down to the webs below, missing the first layer of webs but is able to grab on to the second, and last layer before the empty space below.

Inside the stalactite H and Karis encounter a few drow which they fend off and Karis jumps down into a chamber below them and finds much of their gear. As she tosses up various weapons back up to H, several more drow approach from further down the cavern. Some of them cast a cloud of darkness that descends upon the group inside the stalactite but Karis is able to cast daylight which wards off the darkness. As the door holding back the drow bursts in a shower of splinters and lightning, H and Karis decide to make a run for it. As they approach the door they see Azalea who has arrived to come to their aid. As H runs and jumps to the webs below, Karis is hit by a crossbow bolt and is aided by Azalea to jump to the webs below.

Seeing the group fleeing to the webs, the remaining prisoners on the other side, still on the prisoner's cave landing, make their jumps to the webs. Eldith, the dwarf jumps to the webs and hangs there until she finds the courage to finally let go and drops into the darkness. Sarith, the drow prisoner jumps ably to the webs then lets go. H makes his jump down missing the spiderwebs altogether but is able to survive the fall into the small lake below. Bupido, the very odd derro, simply walks off the edge, arms folded across his chest with his feet together plummets at an incredible speed but survives the fall into the water. Azalea, who had Stool under her arm joins the rest at the edge of the water as everyone climbs to the muddy shore.

They notice that Eldith is not among them. Grimm jumps back into the water to search and eventually come back carrying the dead body of the drwarf. Karis begins the ritual for healing the group but as she does so the newly escaped prisoners hear the clacking of the winch. The sound of more drow coming down to the cavern floor in pursuit.

As soon as the ritual is complete and the party as healed as they can get, they see the drow approaching out of the darkness. There are only a few ways to go: through the drow to the other side of the cavern; away from the drow towards the other end of the cavern; or a small opening in the cavern which is the closest exit they can see. They run for the opening.

Karis provides a wall of green fire blocking their escape but it will last only so long. Grimm tells the others to run on. He will hold off the drow for as long as he can. Perhaps in penance for his murderous crimes, of which he has no memories of but suspects there is something evilly wrong with himself, he will give his life to aid the others in their escape. He allows the evil to over take him as his nails grow into claws and he knows no more as a human ever again.

The others run and eventually come to a large cave riddled with stalagmites and stalactites. H uses the opportunity to find a hiding spot as he is unable to see in the dark. The others spread out doing their best to hide. Soon enough several drow begin to move through the cave trying to track the escapees. One of them moves on through a passage but the others remain. A fight in the darkness ensues until the group is free once again and begins to move at a fast pace following Shuushar to his home, Slooblupdop. There he promises that they can get supplies and boats to travel using Darklake as it is the most efficient means of travelling the Underdark.

Travelling takes days and often Shuushar back tracks and seems lost at times. When the group is tired they rest and Stool, the myconid sprout, runs out and collects up safe fungus for the group to eat. Once when H grumbles about not being able to see where he is going, Stool runs off and returns with a clump of fungi, which when touch begins to lightly glow. H, fascinated by this constructs a makeshift torch using the fungi. When the group sleeps they are often disturbed by unfamiliar sounds and are unsettled and find it hard to relax.

During one days travel, they hear calls for help from a voice in the distance. Karis uses dancing lights to light up the area of a vast cave. There in the distance seems to stand the ancient ruins of a temple system that is perhaps thousands of years old. They continue to hear the pleas for help but the group quickly moves on, not trusting to their instincts and thinking mostly of their own preservation.

One one of the nights during a restless sleep the group is awakened by screams within their minds as Stool is screaming in pain and horror as a black oozing creature begins to cover him. Karis awakens and quickly grabs the sprout before he can become enveloped within the ooze. The others wake to find two other black oozes encroaching on their sleeping spot. They find that their metal weapons begin to deteriorate when they strike the oozes.

As the fight raged on, one of the oozes begins to shimmer and then dissolve as a wall of clear, almost invisible gel begins to envelope it. A human fighter appears beside it, not seeming to worry that he is standing right beside a huge gelatinous cube. Quickly the adventurers are able to overcome the black ooze with the aid of their two new companions.

The gelatinous cube begins to ask them a barrage of curious questions. Gelatinous cubes, not usually known for their conversation takes the group by surprise but the human, Thokk, whom it has been following for the past few days simply says that it found him and has been following, and aiding, him,

Not long after, Shuushar becomes excited during their travels, He smells home. Soon the others can hear the sound of lapping water and the air becomes more humid. At once they exit one of the caves and enter a vast open area with a vast body of black water lapping at the land near them an a village of simple mud huts ahead.

The village is protected by a vast net system surrounding the village. The group approaches the net near an entrance where several kuo-toa stand guard. These little creatures jump and skitter around and call for assistance. The group patiently awaits, Thokk playing music for the quickly growing audience of kuo-toa, all of them flapping their arms against their legs in appreciation.

Soon a village elder, denoted by his robes approaches the gate, introduces himself as Ploopploopeen, "Ploop" and after a bit of formalities allows the group to enter. They are taken through the village towards a central shrine to their Sea Mother. It is a statue that resembles a woman with a lobster face with large crawfish claws. It is made from the real creatures that are now beginning to rot. The smell is not made any better by the numerous offerings of food from the Darklake which is laid at the feet of the statue.

The group is told by "Ploop" they are to stay for a feast in their honor and the next day they shall receive supplies and boats to carry them upon Darklake. Their discussion is cut short by noise of conflict outside the hut. Exiting the hut they see a large faction of kuo-toa which are fighting other kuo-toa. Some are chanting honors to the Sea Mother while others, more violent, are shouting the dangers of not worshiping the Deep Father. A female kuo-toa stands on a rise of other kuo-toa, each laying down to form a makeshift dais, she shouts that if all of the kuo-toa do not worship the Deep Father, they will begin to kill anyone who follows the Sea Mother.

It is then that "Ploop" quietly addresses the group. "Ploop", who is high priest to the Sea Mother, wants the group to kill that high priestess of the Deep Father. It his daughter, Bloppblippood, "Blopp".

Will they please kill his daughter.

MetaGame Spoiler Inside

(DM Note: What the hell was Gary Gygax on when he came up with the Kuo-Toa back in the seventies.

A Rude Awakening

Several adventurers awaken to find themselves inside a dark and dank cave. Exit is blocked by a massive wooden door with only a small opening, which contains several bars of iron. Outside is pitch black with only the sound of a massive waterfall nearby.

Inside the cave they are not alone. Assembled are an eclectic mixture of creatures. As the group moves around the cave they meet each of the creatures.

• Jimjar. A deep gnome who constantly talks and is constantly trying to engage others in wagers he can not pay or collect on. He quickly begins to annoy the newcomers.
• Eldeth Feldrun. A female dwarf. She is motherly and kind. She wants nothing but to return to her family back in Gauntlgrym. She does not get along with the "dark dwellers" in the cave but is kind to the new arrivals.
• Ront. A massive orc who blusters about fighting and courage but is quickly disparaged by Eldeth to whom he defers.
• Derendil...or Prince Derendil to be more precise. He is appearance is that of a quaggoth but he claims that a cursed spell is upon him and in reality he is a high elf. A prince of the kingdom of Nelrindenvane. He is refined and polite. He detest his "beastly" appearance.
• Topsy & Turvy. Brother and sister deep gnomes. Topsy speaks but Turvy never speaks to the others. They converse in whispers and seem not to trust anyone else.
• Shuushar. A fat kuo-toa. He claims that he can direct everyone to his village, Sloobludop. There they shall be welcomed and since it is on the shores of Darklake, from there they can travel most anywhere else. That is, after they escape their current situation.
• Sarith Kzekarit. A drow who is sullen and keeps to himself far from the others. When confronted he admits he is imprisoned as punishment to the crime of murdering another drow of his house. He will be taken to Menzoberranzan to be sacrificed for his crime. He also admits he doesn't remember actually killing anyone.
• Stool. A young myconid. He gives of spores which allow everyone to be able to communicate regardless of their native language. He is scared and only speaks of returning home to Neverlight Grove.

The others inform the new arrivals that they are fed once a day and are forced to work. The food is near rotten and the work either menial or grotesque. When the food arrives the adventurers look at the horrid state of the food and forgo the horrid meal. The ones who have been imprisoned here longer rush to the food and begin eating. Eldeth, the dwarf, is the only one who still tries to remove the worst parts of the rot off the food. Some  of the newcomers try to summon their magic, but upon reaching for the threads of the weave they find that they cannot perform any sort of magic. H's hands often go to his sides but his guns are not there.

Not long after, several drow accompanied by a number of huge muscled creatures, the quaggoth. These quaggoth are similar in appearance to the prisoner, Derendil, but where he speaks haughtily an refined these brutes do little more than grunt and growl, following the orders of the drow. They remove several of the prisoners on work detail. 

Grim repeatedly questions the drow as to why they have been brought here and other such demands. These are met with a beating with a whip and a few of the drow fire upon him with their hand crossbows. Grim quickly falls unconscious from the poisonous bolts. Retrieving their bolts and several prisoners the drow and quaggoths leave the room. H takes a few moments to take a chicken bone and immerse it into the wounds to try and retrieve as much of the drow poison as possible without drawing any attention. H is given the job of emptying chamber pots and tossing them over the railings and into the dark abyss of the massive cavern they are in. H uses the opportunity to observe the stalactite that some of the drow soldiers occupy. Their rooms are carved into the huge stalactites and travel between is via bridges strung between. Several feet below is a vast network of spider webs and below that is a vast darkness.

Azlalea uses her time to befriend a female drow,Faeryl, who has caught her eye. She is able to convince the drow of her friendly intentions and later that night when the prisoners are returned to their prison Azalea is awakened by Faeryl for a late night tryst. Azalea is escorted across various bridges past the great waterfall of the cavern and into a soldier's barracks. Inside the barracks she sees numerous sleeping drow soldiers and their weapons. Content to enjoy the company of Faeryl and use her time to gather information, Azalea spends the night in the arms of Faeryl.

That evening when Faeryl, returns to the cave to retrieve Azalea, Karis uses her skills at stealth to sneak out along with the two lovers and follows at a safe distance exploring the cavern and system of bridges as she goes along. When Faeryl returns Azalea to the prisoner's cave Karis finds herself locked out of the cave.

Jimjar. RIP.

The next day upon talking to the rest of the prisoners, Jimjar begins to annoy the others. So much so that the others begin talking about killing him. Without much warning, something takes a hold of Grimm and he in a insane fury rushes Jimjar, twists his neck and kills him. In retaliation for killing one of the valuable slaves, the drow enter the cell and one of the drow males, Jorlan begins to lash Grimm and some  of the other drow shoot him with their hand crossbows. Dropped to the ground Grimm nearly passes out but in the end only feigns unconsciousness. In the attack, Karis uses the opportunity to slip back into the cave. The drow retreat out of the cave. Some begin to question Grimm as to the reason for his fatal outburst against Jimjar. Grimm claims to have no memory of this. There is no food this day.

The next day, when food arrives in the same fashion as the day before the newcomers take to eating voraciously. The tasks for the day are assigned as before with new prisoners chosen for the grueling and demeaning jobs. H, during his assigned labor, finds a short piece of steel from a table and is able to slip it away from sight. 

Azalea being escorted, by her lover Faeryl, across a bridge feigns tripping and running into another drow female guard and expertly removes the key from the drow's belt. Unfortunately, Faerys notices and becomes jealous. She throws Azalea back in the prisoner's cave and is gone.

When H returns and the planning begins he asks if anyone else has anything that they have been able to secretly obtain as makeshift weapons. Azalea produces the key. Eldeth holds up a small piece of sharpened flint with a knowing smile. Ront holds up his two fists with pride. Eldeth sneers.

As H begins to grind his metal bar against the stone floor trying to sharpen it to a point, everyone begins to plan together for their escape.  They debate as to what would be the best time for their jailbreak. The two sibling deep gnomes, Topsy and Turvy, enthusiastically say it should be tonight. It has been close to a month since they have been imprisoned. When asked why it has to be tonight the deep gnomes become silent. H and Karis question them harder until they let it be known that they perhaps suffer a condition that my be related to Grimm's. When the entire group is pressing upon them, Topsy accidentally admits that the two of them suffer from lycanthropy, more specifically, they are werewolves. 

And they're pretty certain that it has been just about a month and....well.... 

The Rise Of Tiamat

After returning to Boareskyr Bridge and the tent tavern, Bolo's Tentside Inn, the group meets back up with Ward, a member of The Order Of The Obsidian Dagger. After some nighttime revelry, drinking and a bar fight, or two, with H taking the  brunt of the damage, they discover that Ward has had the White Dragon Mask all along.  Unfortunately for Ward, he cannot remember acquiring the mask or why he has taken it in the first place. His Order's dagger brooch on his overcoat is melted and twisted. Perhaps whatever Ward has d been cursed.

An Oath Breaker

The group tries to recall the lore that surrounds the Order Of The Obsidian Dagger but much of what happens is secret, known only to those within the Order themselves. Smallfang does recall hearing his father speak of an oath taken upon becoming a member of the Order but doesn't recall ever hearing the consequences of breaking the oath.

No matter. The group now has the White Dragon Mask and spend the evening experimenting with it. As it slowly gives up some of its arcane secrets, H begins to pick bar fights and ends up on the losing side of a fight. Fortunately, H had the good sense to bet on the bruiser of an opponent. After being picked up off the ground he looks to collect on his earnings. Trying to save the honor of their group Yethaniel and Smallfang challenge the same bar bruiser and end up finishing their battle.

What's Worse Than A Dragon? An Insane Dragon.

In the morning, the group is off, headed towards Waterdeep and the council. Along the way the group encounters two dragons. The dragons do not immediately attack, so the adventurers hold their weapons cautiously and wait. It would be folly to take on more than they can handle. The dragons converse, and Smallfang is able to catch portions of their discussion. It would seem that the female dragon, is in search of a replacement for her pet "wizard". Upon her back the group is able to make out a corpse that is lashed and secured to a saddle. It is dressed in wizards robes but it has been long dead. The other dragon tries to placate the other but is forced to attack when the insane dragon begins to advance upon Yethaniel, as she has decided to take the elf for a replacement. Dead or alive.

The battle is one sided. H, still riding his horse drawn wagon, along with his passenger, Arno, are both struck with fear and unable to do anything but flee. H drives his cart hard and fast away from the battle. Ward, the amnesic member of the Order, has also run. This leaves only Smallfang and Yethaniel to fight the dragons. It does not go well for Smallfang and he is frozen with the dragon's Ice Breath.

Yethaniel decides to reanimate the corpse upon the back of the insane dragon. As it comes to life and begins to try and free itself from the saddle, the dragon upon which it is lashed is surprised at first. Surprise turns to joy as she begins to fly and yell to her companion about the return of her "wizard". The other dragon takes the moment to convince the other that all is well again and that they should continue their journey towards The Well. With the dragons departure, the group returns back together and they revive Smallfang.

An Army On The March

Not long after, they meet up with the cobbled together army making its way towards The Well Of The Dragons. They intend to stop the cult from summoning the dragon god, Tiamat. The group is assigned the task of infiltrating, along with 3 other teams, inside the mountain and gain access to the ritual and stop it if they can. The remainder of the army will occupy the formidable forces gathered around the mountain in defense. The group takes the remainder of the day collecting what they can in preparation for the battle.

H recruits several mages and clerics to craft several dozen bullets that have been blessed or enchanted with radiant damage or fire damage. Smallfang, after his brush with death from the dragons, has decided to scavenge the army for healing potions and a cleric to accompany them into the mountain.

The next morning before sunrise, the army marches towards their goal. The Well Of The Demons. The land surround the ancient volcano is scorched and  desolate. There is nothing to provide cover for defense or stealth, so the army marches boldly up to the marauding hoards of cultists, several dozen bearded devils summoned from the second layer of Hell, more than a few giants and dozens of dragons filling the sky.

The group makes their way to the south side of the mountain unnoticed by the enemy. They look for and find the little used entrance way into the mountain, that the dwarf cultist, Varram, had spoken of. As they make their way inside the mountain, using a narrow tunnel, the spirit of a long dead cultist, now a wraith, emerges from the sides of the tunnel cutting the party in half as it decimates the acolytes accompanying the group. The fight is awkward in such close quarters and much of the damage the party inflicts is ineffectual against such a creature. But eventually, they overcome the wraith and continue to move further into the mountain.

The Well Of The Dragons

They emerge into the ancient caldera, the empty mouth of the now dormant volcano, and look down into a deep and disturbing pit, filled with the dead bodies that the cult has used and then disposed of. Beyond the pit, the caldera is littered with hundreds of thousand bones. Smallfang inspects some and tells the others that they are walking upon thousands of years worth of bones from various dragons. In the center of the caldera is a towering citadel, made from the bones such as the ones under the groups feet. Within that citadel should be the cultists and the ritual being performed. That is their destination.

Yethaniel and her acolytes are thrilled to see such a collection of useful bodies that they can resurrect. As the group moves cautiously around the pit, Yethaniel and her clan begin the ritual to reanimate the multitude of dead, but something is wrong. The magic is not working. These bodies have been sacrificed, their souls and spirit energy have been pulled away into Hell. The clan is unable to use these bodies in the battle.

Several knights who have been waiting impatiently, finally charge towards the citadel around what they think of is the back, and begin to pull apart some of the bones which make up a wall. Once they have worked away enough of an entrance they charge through. The group who isn't ready to enter, hear the battle cries of the knights which quickly turn to death throw screams as they quickly succumb to the enemy.

When the screams subside, the rest of the group debates as to what they should do. Call in for reinforcements? Enter the citadel from the front? Look for the still sounding Draakhorn?

Finally, it is the roar of a giant dragon from within the citadel that breaks the debate. It is Tiamat and she is finally trying to emerge from Avernus. The group decision is made. They must act now. They move cautiously and stealthily through the breach in the back wall. Inside they see a massive citadel with 5 towers around a central tower which reaches hundreds of feet high. At the base of each tower are at least a couple of mages performing a ritual around a cauldron. At each ritual, a cultist is wearing a dragon mask, except for the one on the far opposite side of the citadel. There, because of the lack of the White Dragon Mask they are performing sacrifices of young dragons.

Hovering high above all of the rituals is a huge portal which opens up into Avernus, first layer of Hell. There they can see Tiamat struggling to come through to this side of the portal. Above the portal is Severin, the dragon cult's leader. The fight is long and arduous. Severin continuously harasses the group with his fire chains and fire bolts while cultists and drakes pour into the citadel in waves. There is even discussion on how to retreat from this battle. To live to fight another day.

The Rise Of Tiamat

As the group continues to fight, Tiamat is able to pull herself through the portal. The group notices that Tiamat's white head is lolling limply and is useless. The group finally hits upon a strategy whereby they try and destroy each of the cauldrons in the towers, thus disturbing the ritual. They cannot interrupt each ritual fast enough to avoid massive amounts of damage from Tiamat's remaining heads. As each cauldron falls or is destroyed, the corresponding head on Tiamat falls limp.

It is not long after, that all of the rituals in each of the towers is disturbed and the portal begins to pull a weakened and limp Tiamat back through the portal. As Tiamat thrashes and resists being pulled back into Hell, she grabs on the Severin. As they are both being pulled back through the portal, H takes aim at the head of Severin and fires. The cultist who has been the driving force behind all of the groups woes is finally killed.

Some of the group moves quickly to retrieve as many dragon masks as they can and leave the citadel. As the group is trying to decide their next course of action, the citadel begins to crumble and fall back beneath the sea of dragon bones from whence it emerged. Smallfang, who continues to hear the blaring sound of the Draakhorn, decides to chase after the last few fleeing cultists. With Arno upon his back, the two ride out on his summoned war steed and chase after the cultists. Smallfang must pause though trying to track them through the branching tunnels in the mountain. Down one tunnel he hears the blast of the Draakorn even louder. The Draakhorn must be down this tunnel. But he pursues the cultists long enough to know which direction they are headed. But he cannot take them on all, even with the aid of Arno. He returns to the group. Along the way he notices the dragon battle in the skies carries on.

The others in the meantime have been trying to discern what they can from their newly acquired dragon masks. Yethaniel decides to have his demon imp familiar try on the mask to see what will happen. The imp tries on the mask and is delighted to have an item of such power given to him. He immediately goes invisible and flees. Yethaniel telepathically speaks to him, implores him, threatens him, cajoles him , lies to him to try and have the imp return the mask. It is of little use. The imp has decided that the dragon mask is his way of getting a promotion in hell. No longer satisfied with being the peon of hell he is going to use it as leverage one way or another.

MetaGame Spoiler Inside

(DM Note: Some intense reference searching by at least a couple of us came up with the fact that the demon imp familiar would have the ability to bugger off and not have to be summoned back. Hope this is okay.....cause it was funny!)

The Sounding Of The Draakhorn

Returning to the group, they decide to investigate and try to stop the sounding of the Draakhorn. Entering the massive cavern where the sound is coming from, Arno is blasted, by the force of the sound, off of the steed. Within the dark cavern they find an Air Elemental who has been continuously sounding the horn. They attack but find attacking an air elemental more difficult than perhaps they bargained for. The group is able to distract the air elemental long enough for him to stop blowing through the Draakorn. The ceasing of the sound brings a crashing down of silence almost as forceful as the sound itself. Past where the air shimmered hazily with the sound of the Draakhorn, now stands an Stone Golem, there to protect the air elemental.

The battle finds many of the group hit into unconsciousness as the acolytes of Yethaniel running from person to person riving them. Finally both air and stone monsters are vanquished and the group investigates the caves further. H is the first to come upon a massive treasure hoard of coins. The group works hard at trying to figure out how best to remove as much of the treasure before the rest of the army arrives. H gives orders to bring his carriage into the cave but when it arrives it also brings Onthar and other members of the army.

Onthar gives orders that no more treasure is to be removed. This has been taken from the people of the Sword Coast and it must be returned to the people. A little spoils of war is to be granted but the plundering is to stop. H moves further into the caves and finds another hoard. He quickly scans the mountainous treasure hoard and his eyes alight on a piece of cloth. He pulls out a cloak with dozens of patches covering it.  He dons it and walks back to the others.

Experimentally, he pulls off one of the patches and a solid iron door appears which cuts off the others who are in another part of the cave. The ones behind the door believe they have set off a trap but H simply turns the key that is in his side of the door, unlocks it and opens the door.

Heroes Return

The group finally is able to return to Waterdeep heralded has heroes. There is a massive feast and party which lasts until the sun begins to warm the air once again. H has drunkenly regaled his audience of his many stories and skills. Arno is asleep upon the table, comfortable within his Leomiund's hut. It is left to Yethaniel and Smallfang, who have decided to drink only water in order to stay alert, to protect the others.

Unfortunately, they fail.

MetaGame Spoiler Inside

(DM Note: Good news: Level Up! Bad News: You're all screwed.