Theldek goes to the rear of the vehicle to begin looking into repairs accompanied by Thokk. The others move about the cavern keeping close to the vehicle and the torch. Sarafina moves towards one of the large columns. As she moves around the column she comes face to floating face of a beholder. It floats far above the small halfling and she freezes in fear. Gotrek turns round to see her predicament and runs towards them. As he approaches Gotrek shoves Sarafina aside behind the column and swings his battle axe at the the beholder.
The Scientist
6,150 XP
The beholder explodes in a shower of yellow-green spores showering down upon the dwarf. Sarafina fortunately is shielded by the column. Gotrek is covered in poisonous spores but fortunately the dwarf is hardened against poisons. As the group looks around for more threats, they hear a voice, somewhere high up in the chamber. It welcomes them and is overjoyed that it will have new subjects for his investigations. With that several torches begin to light up around the room. With each new torch the group sees, frozen in ice, creatures of all sorts displayed in various states of autopsy. Some displaying their internal organs, others show carefully flayed musculature. Each of their faces show agony, as if they were 'investigated' while still alive.
Thokk, meanwhile has been assisting Theldek in getting the vehicle up and running again. He continues to hand Theldek the items he needs until the vehicle begins to hum with magical life once more. Theldek yells to whoever is in the cockpit that the machines wands should now work but he still has to fix the tunnel bore before they are able to leave. Thokk hears the commotion coming from in front of the vehicle and runs out to see if he can help.
Thokk runs to the middle of the room, as central as he can from each of the creatures and sends off a volley of magic missiles to each of the floating creatures. As each magic missile hits its target the gas spore explodes in a plume of poisonous spores. Thankfully Thokk has rendered each one useless while still far enough away from everyone that they pose no threat.
The real beholder then descends from its vantage point near the ceiling yelling at the group for killing his companions. He begins to tell them of his intellect and how he will discover that magic is just a form of science that no one, as of yet, has figured out. He will use their bodies to find out how, through science, the natural world works. He turns his gaze towards the closest creature to him, Gotrek and fires a ray from one of his eye stalks. Gotrek stops as his body begins to turn to stone.
Yeava, standing in front of the control panel of the vehicle sees all the switches pulsate with magical light and ponders which switches to throw for only a second before she grabs the bunch of four switches in front of her and flicks them. A burst of magical energy blasts from 3 of the wands in front of the vehicle, the fourth just sputters ineffectually. One of the magic wand energies flies out towards the beholder but fades to nothing as the beholder turns its huge middle eye to stare directly at the blast. Unfortunately, Thokk does not have the same ability and falls unconscious as the ray hits him.
The retreat is working well but Theldek points out that the tunneling bore is still not running. Thokk offers to run out and behind the vehicle and fix it. As he makes his way to the back of the machine he looks into it's engine and is confounded by the myriad of moving and glowing parts. He fortunately has been paying attention whenever he has been with Theldek fixing the machine. He grabs a tool and jams it into where he thinks it goes and pushes. The tunneling bore stirs to life. Thokk returns to the cabin inside.
Their retreat is going well but Gotrek is still outside. He yells that he will cover their escape and turns to battle the beholder. It does not last long. The others are gone as the beholder freezes Gotrek and immediately begins peeling, layer by careful layer, his flesh from his body. A new addition to the beholder's grizzly science project.
The party moves through the rock, making their way upwards towards the surface. Thokk has taken his place behind Theldek as they pilot through the rock. The others are cramped into the cargo hold below. It is noisy and bumpy but not for too long.
Soon, there is the all too familiar loss of drilling noise and immediately after a sickening shift as the vehicle begins to tilt downwards. They have hit another pocket of empty space. The group below are able to brace themselves sufficiently, but above Thokk as jarred forward. There is a lot of switches and levers in the cockpit. As Thokk is tossed forwards he grabs for purchase. He grabs a lever and pulls it forward with him. There is a loud banging sound and then the vehicle abruptly stops its forward tilt. Everything is still.
They get everyone out the back hatch, crawling along the now quiet engine. When everyone is out standing behind the vehicle, they see that the vehicle is being held by a steel wire anchored into the tunnel ceiling with a barbed bolt. Thokk quickly takes credit for the ingenious move which has perhaps saved them all.
Yeava climbs under the vehicle and move as forward as she can in order to find out what their options are. She finds a small hole to peer out of. All she sees is the inky blackness of empty underground space. She tosses out a lit torch and watches it fall and land on something about a hundred feet down.
The group discusses what they should do next but Thokk solves it by walking up to the anchor tethering the vehicle and cuts it with his axe. The vehicle begins tipping once more and then falls out and into the dark abyss. They wait to hear the crash to determine how far down the cavern goes. They wait for a long time until they hear what they think may be the faint noise of the crash, far far below. They combine their ropes, with Sarafina mending them seamlessly together to fashion a rope two hundred feet long. Yeava is the first to go down the rope. Sarafina has applied the spell light to the end of the rope so Yeava can see clearly when she alights upon a small ledge about 70 feet below the tunnel they were in.
The Web Runners
4,600 XP
Scanning around the cavern is vast with no bottom or opposite side within sight, save for a network of spidery webs attached to the ledge and leading out into the darkness. Yeava looks back to the cliff-side of the ledge and notice many crevices and possible tunnels. She ties the lit end of the rope to one of her arrows and fires it into the largest crevice. It finds purchase and she hears a surprised sound and then a stupid sounding chuckle. She stealthily moves forward towards the crevice.
Sarafina decides to follow Yeava, in case she needs help. After shakily descending the rope she watches as Yeava peers into the crevice using her mirror. Yeava sees two goblins, scrawny and with their faces painted with garish yellow streaks, smoking something fowl smelling. She decides the forward approach is best. She pulls herself up and into the crevice and introduces herself and asks if the goblins know of a way out of the Underdark.
The goblins, Yuk Yuk and Spiderbait, say that they will help the group, for a price. They negotiate but they are quickly sidetracked and end up bargaining against themselves. They will take the group for a few silver, to Blingdenstone, or at least close to it. They aren't allowed back there. They tell the group that they will have to traverse the webbing that crosses over to the other side of the abyss.
The two goblins prepare as the rest of the group descends down to the ledge. Theldek has decided not to accompany the group that has destroyed his best work. He detaches the rope and tosses it down after the last of them has descended. The goblins tell the group to apply "drek" to their hands and feet, so they don't stick to the webbing.
A few ask what "drek" is as the approach the softly mounded grey pile of "drek". The two goblins giggle and chuckle but do not explain. The group reluctantly dreks-up. The goblins jump on one of the web strands and surf it out, crouched and arms extended looking like they have done this for fun more than a few times.
Meta Game Spoiler
Yeava, Sarafina and Azalea, with Stool lashed to her, head out after the goblins trying emulate the goblins actions. Yeava and Azalea fall more than a few times barely able to grasp the web before plummeting into the abyss below. Thokk, with Eldith close behind, simply grasp onto the web and, hand over hand, begin crossing laboriously slow.
The goblins spot something wrapped up in webbing, struggling within the strands up ahead and head off in that direction. Before they are able to get to the creature trapped in the webs, the creature frees itself and pulls itself out of the web. Artemis, the winged elf jumps out over the abyss and flies out of reach. At the same time Azalea and Sarafina fall off the webs once again. They are able to grab hold of the strand before falling down into the abyss. Both see something fly quickly by below them.
Two vrocks fly out and attack the group. Yeava is hit and is just able to grab hold of the web strand. Hanging upside down she uses some of her rope to create a type of truss to hold her to the web as she sits in a rope sling sliding down along the web strand. While sliding along she is able to fire off arrows at the vrocks.
Sarafina's arms pinwheel in panic as she plummets towards her death. Seeing this Artemis flies down at full speed and is able to catch the halfling. Artemis flies Sarafina over to the other side of the cavern and drops her off on the opposite ledge. The fight is too far out over the gorge and Sarafina tries desperately to help but cannot see whats happening. She can only hear the screams of the vrocks and wait. Yeava is able to kill one of the vrocks using her arrows while sliding along the web strand in her sling.
Eventually the group approaches close enough to the far side and Sarafina can see one vrock still harassing the group. She fires her crossbow and kills the creature. One by one they climb off of the web strands to stand on the ledge waiting for quite sometime for Thokk and Eldith to finally make their way to the ledge.
On To Blingdenstone
The distraught goblin is able to point them in the right direction to Blingdestone. The group makes their way along until eventually arriving at a well secured and guarded entrance to Blingdenstone. The city of the deep gnomes. There is a wide set of stone steps rising up several feet before being blocked by a set of massive stone doors. The group ascends the stairs and call out.
Two small slots open up along each side of the doors. Enough to rain spells and arrows at any intruders. The deep gnomes tell the group they must prove their trustworthiness before being allowed into the city. They offer the group a few missions that are currently important to them. But the group will have none of it. They are so close to getting home and they are not going to be stopped by a stupid stone door and some svirfneblin.
Thokk tosses a gem he has taken from the crystal tomb into the opening and ducks down. Hoping for a usefull spell that the gem has absorbed he is rewarded with sounds of an explosion and fire along with the sounds of screams from the burning deep gnomes. Seeing this, Artemis, launches an ice storm spell into the other slot and there is soon silence in the Underdark, save for the sounds of the rest of the group hammering away at the stone door with all they have. Spells and weapons alike.
Azalea pauses a moment, and asks aloud that if they are still the good guys.
Meta Game Spoiler
Soon the door crumbles before them. They look to each side of the door to inspect the destruction they have wrought. Sarafina approaches one of the newly dead deep gnomes and revives him with just enough life to act as a guide and a hostage as they move through the city.
Little eyes everywhere dark behind cover as the group angrily moves through the city. The goal of getting to the surface so close at hand. They are finally brought to an ancient set of steps behind a set of ancient stone doors. The group tosses the svirfneblin aside and begin the long climb out of the Underdark.
Finally, they reach the surface, climbing out and into bright sunlight.
They have escape the Underdark.
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