This midsummer morning, our party came upon a pathetic quartet of destitute dwarven miners. Brick spoke with their leader, a sturdy fellow with a womanish voice, calling themself Darna Drakemace. While Brick convinced these outcasts to seek their fortunes northward, Jorad skillfully lifted a bag of electrum off their carts as they passed, as if Lady Doom herself guided his subtle hand!
In the afternoon, we found remnants of ancient dwellings carved into the narrow sandstone canyons. This was once a legendary site of divination. Two stone colossi stand in a ruined courtyard with broken buildings, before a forty foot high carved stone edifice, with a ladder leading upwards.
As we passed the statues, their stony blockheads turned to us and a booming voice rang out, asking if we sought wisdom or knowledge. I spoke aloud, saying I sought wisdom, and I heard Gunx, Tegan, and Jorad speak the same. Tolarin was still senseless, strapped to his hound, and Brick had wandered southward, to investigate the ruins. Jorad and I followed Gunx up the ladder, while Tegan waited below for Brick.
The alcove at the top of the ladder had a weak illusion of grandeur clinging to it, barely concealing the looted ruins beneath. A large stone door before us was slightly ajar, recently forced, it seemed. Gunx and Jorad could not budge it, but by the power of Lady Doom, I pushed it easily aside. We passed through a wide hall lined with statues of cowled wizards, and as a voice of warning sounded in our heads, we cautiously avoided looking at the dark hooded faces.
Next, we came to a vaulted chamber, with a door marked ‘safe’ to the left, a sloping passage to the right, and a set of bulging double doors straight ahead. The floor mosaic, depicting a knight battling a chimera beneath a sun, was some sort of magical trap: the chimeric tiles lifted themselves off the ground, and attacked! Our fellowship assembled, and after a fierce fight, the chimera lay shattered in a heap of tiles.
Behind the door marked ‘safe’ was a round chamber with a well at its centre, the floor covered in red mushrooms. Here, we found the camp supplies of a dozen men, presumably Dannak’s entourage.
Brick opened the bulging double doors, and was nearly crushed when a mountain of rocky debris came crashing into the room. Jorad was following Gunx down the sloping passage, when the mosaic’s sun opened like a trapdoor, and from beneath it, rose a magically animated ball of bones, which then went hurtling after Jorad. The warlock was struck, and entangled, by the ball of bones, and was sent tumbling down the passageway, stopping with a crash at the end of the hall.
We all joined Jorad, finding ourselves in a grand chamber, decorated with tapestries and smelling of incense. A whisper of warning in my mind told me to adopt the supplicating posture of the ancient Mystrylans, as I passed through this chamber, into a ruined former library, occupied by a spectral librarian. She introduced herself as Ilda, and claimed she was the master librarian of Diderius. Ilda begged us to help find a missing tome, titled “Transubstantiality Across Potentialities.”
Moving on, we came to a majestic throne room. On the throne sat a statue of a man with a flowing white beard and a purple toga, and at his feet rested a bowl filled with coins and jewelry. A voice rang out, asking for tribute to be furnished. I tossed a gold coin into the bowl. So did Tegan, while Gunx donated one of his healing potions. Jorad tossed in a precious pearl, Tolarin offered a fine amethyst, and Brick gave a set of bone dice.
From this room, a set of stairs went downwards. We followed Tegan down, and came to a hall with five viciously bearded devils seated at a table. Tegan could sense their contempt for his elvish blood, but the devils greeted me courteously in the Infernal tongue, telling me that they had been commanded by Dannak to guard this room. They spoke of treasure behind a door marked ‘DANGER’ to the south, but the door was spiked shut.
We carried on through another door to the north, which led to a cavernous room with a large, dry ceremonial basin at one end, and double doors to the north and south. The floor was littered with the signs of an ambush from the northern doors: arrows, javelins, and the bodies of Dannak’s henchmen lay scattered on the floor. Our fortunes grew with their misfortune, praise Beshaba, as Jorad and Tegan looted the bodies for coinage, while the rest of our party investigated the basin. The southern doors bulged menacingly, so I opened the northern doors.
Here, we found the crypt of Diderius. The chamber was decorated with frescoes depicting the lost gods of Netheril and Anauria. Small sarcophagi stood upright in each corner, and a large sarcophagus rested atop a dais in the centre of the room. I mounted the dais and approached the large sarcophagus, when a voice spoke, telling of Dannak’s capture by yuan-ti. A portal in the north wall suddenly opened, with the voice warning us that this was the way to peril.
Brick led the way, followed by Gunx and Tolarin, and encountered a small group of lizardfolk defenders. I fired Magic Missiles at the enemies, and wild magic surged within me, nearly altering my very form. Tegan and Jorad then joined the fight, looking battered and quite dusty for some reason. Soon, we were victorious, and the last standing lizardman surrendered. We now noticed the climate of this chamber was, unlike the rest of the bone dry complex, remarkably humid, and the surfaces were slick with slimy moss. Steep stairs led down toward a slanting bridge over a mysterious abyss.
Brick, Gunx, and Tolarin went down first, and came under attack from a half dozen lizardfolk, backed by a pair of yuan-ti, on the far end of the bridge. Gunx lost his footing, but caught hold of the edge of the bridge. While Brick fired arrows, Tegan and Jorad came down and cast spells, killing the lizardfolk. Tolarin nimbly charged across the bridge, as Brick took out a yuan-ti with a well aimed shot. Jorad stepped forward, but slipped off the bridge, into the abyss. I saved his life with a Feather Fall spell before taking a Misty Step across the bridge to pursue the last fleeing yuan-ti.
Tolarin killed this foe, but more enemies appeared from a side corridor: another group of lizard folk, and more yuan-ti, including a hulking abomination much larger than the others. Tegan slid stylishly across the bridge to join the fight, while Gunx dropped into the abyss to assist Jorad. Tolarin became confused, muddled by spellcraft no doubt, and pounded at Brick’s armour with his little fists. As Tegan cast Shatter again and again, I picked off the wounded with my Vampiric Touch.
Tolarin snapped out of his confusion, and joined by his brother Gunx, the pair attacked the yuan-ti abomination with fury, but Tolarin was struck by a hail of arrows and fell to the ground. Our party pressed forward, cutting down our adversaries, but then Brick fell too. I stabilized Tolarin’s injuries, then killed the last yuan-ti with a perfectly aimed firebolt. With potions and spells, we revitalized our party and continued forward.
Tolarin led us to a large chamber, and descended into it down a ladder, where he promptly became entranced by more yuan-ti magic. Gunx leapt down to defend his brother, and faced off against another yuan-ti abomination. Tegan played a Countercharm melody to nullify the yuan-ti witchcraft, while Brick slid down the ladder to join the fray. From above, I lit up the abomination with a Guiding Bolt, and Jorad cast his Eldritch Blast. The battle raged on, but eventually we were victorious.
Climbing out of this chamber via another ladder, Tegan led our party to a door, and as he opened it, a foul miasma billowed forth. Inside, a lizardfolk slave begged for mercy, offered up his hoard of coinage, and allowed us to take brief refuge in his refuse-strewn den, before giving us further directions to find his masters and their hostage, Dannak. Moving on, we came to another chamber, occupied by three more lizardfolk, and another yuan-ti. Tolarin and I quickly slew the yuan-ti, and assured the lizardfolk that they were now free to leave, which they did. Inside this room, we found more treasure: a wealth of coins, and a flask of poison.
Finally, we came to a temple chamber, with serpentine statues lit by guttering green flames. Tegan led the way, playing his Countercharm song, and Brick charged ahead, attacking an abomination with his trusty axe. Gunx and Tolarin joined Brick’s assault, while Jorad cast Synaptic Static at a pair of freakish malisons in the middle of the room. I turned invisible, and headed for the back of the room, where three yuan-ti purebloods stood. The one in the middle, presumably their leader, held a knife to Dannak’s neck. Undeterred, we pressed the attack, and as the foes fell, their leader slit Dannak’s throat. Tegan healed the wound before it was too late, and I pulled Dannak to safety as the rest of our fellowship finished off these viperous villains.
The battle over, Jorad spotted a secret door, and behind that we found a cache of coins, jewels, and a pair of magic scrolls. Exhausted, we finally decided to rest for the night in this secret chamber. Blessed Beshaba, thank you for making this a Long Night to remember, klaatu barada nicto amen.