While dividing the loot from Melazmera's hoard, the party hears a mournful keening coming from mouth of the cave. Investigating, they discover Xhotl on the beach below, standing guard over the unconscious bodies of Lor and Nor. How the brave velociraptor escaped from the barge-- and how she rescued her friends-- is a story the party may never know. Once Lor and Nor are revived, they have no memory of what transpired. With Xhotl's help, the companions are able to load up all of the coins from the hoard and return to Alushinyrra via teleport . They spend a cycle in town, healing and buying magic items, then prepare to return to the lair. After they rest, Malak is surprised to discover that he has taken on the aspects of a blue dragon: he has cobalt scales, lightning breath, and his massive sword is now named Stormbringer . The party teleports back to the cave, only to appear in the middle of a patrol of demoniac and hezrou guards. Nor summons a massive blade barrier for cover, while the rest of the party engages the foes in combat. After a few minutes, all of the guards have either been slain or chased away. The heroes continue their exploration of the massive cavern. In one corner, they find a huge sinkhole filled with rubble and mud. They attempt to fly over it, but as they are passing overhead, tentacles erupt from the rubble and attack! The tentacles belong to an Abyssal harvester, the same being which attacked Malak and Elaryan through the qlippoth stone. It quickly grabs Lor, Nor, and Arthas from their mounts and begins to crush them to death. The party counterattacks, hacking at the tentacles, draining with life leech, and directing the blade barrier over their gargantuan foe. After a few rounds of this punishment, the harvester drops Arthas and Nor, then plane shifts away, bringing Lor with it. Nor casts divination to determine where his clone has been taken while the rest of the party regroups. After ten minutes of prayer, he reveals what he has learned: Lor has been brought to Jeharlu, home of the Demon Lord Cyth-V’sug. Jeharlu is an immense realm composed entirely of an immense parasitic fungus. Cyth-V’sug dwells at its heart, an immense monstrosity that appears as a tangled mass of fungal tubers, tentacles, and grasping claws. Nor explains that this foul creature had previously tried to form an alliance with him, but the halfling had refused... now it appears that the Prince of the Blasted Heath has his revenge! Nor is eager to rescue his brother, but the rest of the party feels that it would be too much of a distraction. They resolve to seek him out once they are done clearing the mine. For now, they press onward, exploring the huge shaft that drops down in the center of the main cavern. The shaft descends a thousand feet before opening up into some side tunnels. As the heroes enter this area, they are attacked by a gang of kalavakus demons that guard the entrance to the mines. The part makes short work of these evil creatures, but not before one of them gores Elaryan, causing the sorcerer to fall to his death. Once the kalavakuses are all defeated, the rest of the party descends to he bottom of the shaft to retrieve the body of Elaryan. Malak takes the body and teleports back to the shrine of Noctivula in Alushinyrra, where the succubus priestesses resurrect him. As life returns to the sorcerer's body, he is transformed, shedding his mushroom body for his original, elven form. The demonesses explain that their Mistress finds this form more pleasing. Malak, who wakes up a different color every day, decides to roll with it. Once Elaryan has been raised and restored, Malak offers to teleport him back to the Nahydrian crystal mine. The two heroes hold hands and Malak chants the words of the spell, holding an image of the mine in his head. As he is finishing the incantation, however, something feels wrong. The world slips sideways and the two companions jump... Everyone who played gains 30,000 XP
