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Session 1 – SLAVES Some Lame Assassins Violate Everyone's Sunday Circus, outside the city of Sharn; The Kobold's Knuckle Derek (Nako), Robby PI (Fang), Lea (Shava), Zoso (Sorin), David (Fen), Nick (Haligan), Malcolm (Milo) The group begins it's adventure at their work place and secret headquarters, the circus. The crowd is huge – the biggest one they've seen in a while. They are done performing for the night and happily go to join the crowd, have some more or less good food and look forward to some possible extra coin at the end of the day. It seems that Lady Luck really is on their side today, as they observe six people leaving the main tent to go to talk to the ringmaster. The group may be able to look forward to some more extra coin. While Nako leaves to wait next to ringmaster's tent, Shava watches the crowd go with Fang on her shoulders. The goblin eventually spots a competitive group of assassins with false dragon marks and points them out to the rest. After some debating Fang eventually tries to listen in on them. They seem to be looking for someone. Just as Haligan decides to approach them the group is given a note not to engage their rivals. These two are to be watched only. Sorin decides to address one of the people lingering around and notices another dragonmark on a human man. The blood hunter fails to subtly deceive him and is told that 'they already got the info they were looking for'. Due to their orders he has no other choice but to let the man leave. Meanwhile Haligan is told by the Ringmaster that the group was here for him and he remembers that he has indeed worked with them before. The rogue actually owes them a favor, but the boss didn't want any trouble and pointed them to another random person in the crowd. Furthermore - the Ringmaster indeed wants to see them for a job. While making their way to the tent the group runs into a more experienced group who scoffs at them. It's hard being the new guys. Upon entering the tent they are given an elimination contract. A so-called White Masked Gambler needs to be taken out for kidnapping people for the slave trade. He was last seen at The Kobold's Knuckle, a well known Gambler's Den in the lower areas of Sharn. They are to make this as discrete as possible. This is the first time the group is being trusted with a big mission. Sorin immediately proposes that Shava baits the man with her cleavage. She gets mad. So Fang offers up to disguise himself as a hot woman and bait the man with his cleavage. They make their way to the casino and arrive at about midnight. The goblin changes his mind and disguises himself as an old man instead, visiting the casino with his pet-slave Nako. They spot the target and half of them sit down at the bar to discuss how to further go about this. All the alcohol seems to have been just bought up by a half-orc named Dorn who invites them to drink with him. Apparently he recently worked with a group called The Horizon Company to bring down a politician in stonerift, where he got blown up. Upon seeing the groups confusion he informs them that he's a Paladin whose God brings him back to life over and over again. Even more confused they leave him to his drink to figure out what the rest has been doing. The others have spend their time buying a room for possible later usage and once the target gets pointed out to them immediately approach the table he's been playing at. Fang offers Nako up for 'services'. Three men, including the White Masked Gambler, show interest and join them in the previously bought room for an auction. During the procedure, however, one of the men puts down a huge sack of gold Fang just can't resist. Upon seeing this blatant greed the target leaves. They try to bait him into joining their high-stakes private game, but fail to get his interest and have to watch him join another game in the main room. Meanwhile Sorin tries to get Fen's name erased from the receptionist's book by spilling his drink on her. His deception fails once again and she calls the guards. The blood hunter has to leave, so Milo and Shava join him outside to possibly wait for the target to leave later as well. The rest of the group gambles with the masked man and learns about a slave fighting ring. Haligan promptly gets invited to join and decides to use Fang, without the disguise, as his slave. Once they get down there Fang waits until the White Masked Gambler throws his fighter down into the pen, then proceeds to stab the target. He dies instantly. They move on to the goblinfighter and kill him as well to leave no witnesses, then leave the scene of the crime and the casino as quickly as possible. Outside Shava has lost to Milo twice despite of them playing her favorite game, dragonchess. The group finally unites and returns home. They report back to the ringmaster, get paid and pick out their next job, a protection contract for Sherlock Gnomes. Tl;dr: The group tries to whore each other out and almost fails their contract, but manages to get the deed done. (by Lea)

Session 2 – GHOST Good Heavens Our Situation's Tough Circus, outside the city of Sharn; Cogs of Sharn; Upper City Derek (Nako), Robby PI (Fang), Lea (Shava), Zoso (Sorin), David (Fen), Malcolm (Milo) But even though their week had been remarkable they quickly made their way to bed. There was a Gnome to protect tomorrow after all. A Gnome, who – apparently – was an important ally with many enemies, no wish for protection and a target on his back. The next day they start their mission by checking out his last known whereabouts, the Cogs of Sharn, and are met with distrust. Milo eventually approaches some children who claim to know where Sherlock Gnomes is. They are promised coin and lead the group into a back alley, where they promptly steal Milo's purse. Meanwhile Shava and Sorin keep watch and the Elf notices her companion talking to a 'Talley', but there is nobody there. They let the children go, but only because Milo asks them to. While searching through the Cogs the group runs into two guards beating an older human. When they can't get any information from them concerning Sherlock Gnomes, Fang tries to steal their gold. The guard notices and chops Fang's hand off in one swift motion. Suddenly, the mood changes. They let Fang go and Nako tries to resolve the tension, but fails. Sorin steps in to speak the only language they seem to understand – money. Apparently Sherlock got himself captured while investigating a local gang, which barely helps the group, but they don't want to push the issue any further. They have to deal with their own issues anyway, as Fen tries to take Fang's hand and eat it, but the Goblin manages to protect it. After searching the slums further they are approached by a man who wants to sell them a crystal ball for five gold. While the group is suspicious of the man, they buy it after watching a quick demonstration. They do try to their luck at the market, but quickly realize, after a tip from a stall owner, that the guards they had previously talked to were indeed no guards at all. Using their newest purchase - the crystal ball - they scry on the 'guards' and watch them have a drink with the old man they had previously beaten. Nako tracks them down and eventually leads them to a warehouse, where Milo climbs up to the third story windows to see families with children as well as the old man inside. It seems to be a homeless shelter. Sorin enters the shelter, walks straight up to the old man and proceeds to take him to the door where the rest is waiting. The man explains that he did it for money, 'People like to pay guards to stop beating me'. Even though he did it to buy food for his family and grandchildren, the group threatens to beat him up. When all they get out of him is the fact that there is no local gang holding the gnome, Sorin actually starts to hit him. They beat him thoroughly until Shava brings up the scrying orb and the group remembers that their original plan was to have the guards or the old man use it to find Sherlock Gnomes. They can see him strolling through the Upper City. Fang slaps three homeless children in the face with his severed hand, Sorin throws a gold coin into the room, which the people start fighting over, stabbing each other to get it, and they leave the old man unconscious in the alleyway. The group reaches the upper city at night. They quickly find their target and he agrees to let them follow him, to protect him, but he refuses to come with them. They discuss just kidnapping him, but don't. Eventually Fang dresses up as Sherlock Gnomes to confuse possible assassins and the group follows him around. The longer they walk with him the more they realize why his job can be so dangerous. A guard that was patrolling next to them mysteriously disappears and the Gnome's target appears to be quite dangerous as well. His current target is a Half-Elven woman only known as the 'Ghost'. She has red eyes peeking out of a white mask with a red crescent on it and is apparently quite the talented assassin. To top it all off she furthermore understands all languages, has experienced bloodlust and posses psychic powers. Soon after the group had reached Sherlock Gnomes' final contact, the man stated that he was 'sorry to do this to you, Gnomes', and they were attacked by ten assassins. Nine face the group in the courtyard and one had managed to sneak up on Milo on the roof. The fight seems to go south at first and it looks bad for the group. Fen goes unconscious, Milo gets hit with multiple crossbow bolts and Shava almost falls as well - but eventually they get the upper hand. One man attempts to escape, barely alive, but Fen catches up to him. They take the final contact and the last living assassin alive to bring them back for questioning and say goodbye to Sherlock Gnomes. He thanks them and notes that he will travel to Trollenport next. After a quick discussion they decide on their next mission. It ends up being an artificer named Beregar. Tl;dr Fang loses his hand, the group probably killed a lot of homeless people and they almost die themselves protecting Sherlock Gnomes. GM's Note: I felt like this really underplayed what they did to the old man so in an effort to show just how bad the situation was I will recount it in further detail. After the group got the information out of the man Sorrin said " WHERE IS HE " and punched the old man in the face twice, drawing blood and leading the man to cry. They all kept torturing the man by literally beating him to death even though he kept crying out that he had no clue where Sherlock Gnomes was at. Faced with no information one person mentioned that they should instead grab one of the old man's grandchildren and beat them to death until the old man gave them the info, thankfully this was the point that Shava reminded them of the original plan being much less brutal. As the group found Gnomes's location and opened the door they found children outside crying, having heard the whole torture of their grandpa and were promptly slapped by a goblin hand and forced to watch as Fen brought his ax down on the old man's neck, drawing blood and threatening but not killing him. (by Lea)

Session 3 – CRAP, SHIT - Circus Rejects Almost Perish, Slavery Happens In Time Circus, outside the city of Sharn; Upper City of Sharn; Underdark Derek (Nako), Robby PI (Fang), Lea (Shava), David (Fen), Nick (Haligan), Malcolm (Milo) As the group makes it's way to the ringleader's tent, it was glad that the next job would simply be: Figure out why Beregar, the world's best artificer, is here. If they played it right, they wouldn't have to get themselves into danger again, and perhaps, PERHAPS, there would be no more limbs lost. Upon entering the tent, however, the group was faced with their ringleader and Beregar chatting about old times. Insisting they still technically did their job and found him, their boss decided to humor them and still pay the group. Knowing that Beregar is a master of his craft, Fang and Milo attempt make a deal with him to create an artificial hand for the Goblin's stump. It would cost 1000gp. The group decides to accompany him into town, of course, only against payment. The artificial hand is of the table. Their first stop is a magical shop, filled with the old spellbooks of wizards who gave them up for other people's usage. Fang approaches the front desk and tries to barter with the clerk for two spells, which would turn his severed hand into his familiar. He fails, so the group has to pay 98gp. They could also finish a job for him, either face a demi-lich or a necromancer with a book the owner desires, but choose to pay the gold. Shortly thereafter they watch Beregar pay with sack of money that makes some of them question their life choices. They inspect the scrolls outside and realize that they can't really use them. They are in Draconic, which only Shava can read, but none of them are spellcasters and the second one has to be read by the Goblin himself. Beregar promises to help later, but some of the group still feel like they may have wasted their money. Once they reach the Artificer's contact in the city they are greeted by a gorgeous elven woman. She has a dragonmark ring, identifying her as a noble. Lady Graacalis offers them tea and biscuits, but Fen, Haligan and Shava refuse. Apparently she called Beregar here to have him create so called 'robot-people', but he refuses vehemently and looks disgusted at the very idea. He considers making any more of his children an evil deed. After trying to stand up to leave Beregar begins to sway and eventually falls, but Shava catches him. He is unconscious. The elven woman gets up and starts talking about some friends of hers, just as Milo, Fang and Nako can feel themselves lose almost all control over their bodies. Haligan tries to approach the noble woman to talk things out, but he gets hit with a poison dart and falls to the ground as well. While Shava and Fen catch her interest, it is not enough. She drops a liquid down the Gnoll's throat and applies the same to the Sea Elf's skin. The other four are given the option to become slaves. Fang agrees immediately and Milo follows him, Haligan and Nako follow suit after being told that 'It is too late for their two friends', realizing that slavery may be the only way to survive. They are carried away by a group of Drow, so is Beregar. Shava sees Fen convulse in the corner of the room and watches his legs grow, his hands shrink and his claws get longer and longer. She can see and feel herself bloat up, but eventually her height catches up. Just before she passes out a giant eyeball appears on of her left, disproportionately larger shoulder. The rest of the group are dropped into the sewers and carried past Lava down deeper and deeper into the unknown. Tl;dr The easy job of finding Beregar turns into a horrible spectacle, turning Shava and Fen into monsters and getting the rest captured by Drow. (by Lea)

Session 4 - ONCE AGAIN? - Okay, New Characters Established - Anyone Got An Idea Now? Drow Slave Camp Derek (KahVen Tharashk), Robby PI (Thorum), Lea (Pockets), David (Okhar), Nick (Haligan), Malcolm (Angus) Day 1 Haligan finds himself in a cell, with no one but Beregar left to know. On his groups travel through the Underdark people got picked off, one by one by the creatures of the giant, dark caves. During a fight against a giant purple worm he watched Fang and Milo escape. The Goblin got hit by a crossbow bolt running. They didn't try to save him and he wasn't sure they would make it - the Drow were convinced they wouldn't. Nako had never entered the Underdark and was most likely sold of as someone's pleasure slave. The last member of his group, Sorin, seemed to go crazy over time, talking to himself and eventually attacked their captors, an assault he didn't survive. Once him and Beregar arrived they were led to a Drow priestess, who told them: "Accept your fate, learn to obey, and you may survive." Apparently she rules the place. The holding area is a small cave, containing multiple inmates whose hands and legs are bound with chains as well as a huge mount of glowing moss. Throughout day one he learns that there are more than 20 Drow here, the slaves get fed mushroom goop once a day and one Orc inmate bullies the new arrivals out of getting their food. Day 2 During the day small groups of slaves are brought across a bridge held up with cobwebs and stones, lowered down using a basketsystem and eventually lead to the actual workcamp. Haligan's group is forced to pick up boxes filled with rocks and stack them; he does what he's supposed to do, but lets a box hit the ground to see what's inside. All that tumbles out are rocks and the Rogue gets whipped and taunted while picking them up. Day 4 Angus and Thorum arrive together and immediately clash with the Orc. Soon they are approached by a dwarf woman called Eldeth and find that all three of them served in the army that freed Gauntlgrym. She shows them a rock and an iron bar they may use to aid them in breaking out. They are introduced to Shuushar the Awakened, a Kua Toa who claims that he has transcended his people's intelligence and states that he is a pacifist. Noticing that they speak Common Haligan approaches and joins them in creating a plan. Seconds later they get to know a deep gnome who constantly wants to bet with everyone - over gold no one actually has though. The gambler, JimJar, lets them know that he's been there the third longest, with the Drow and his 'mushroom pal' being here longer. They are also told that you get taken to the Drow city after thirty days, and JimJar has already been here for fourteen. Since that group is guarded by thirty Drow, the breakout needs to happen beforehand. Day 5 After some more aggression between Angus and the Orc the Dwarf throws feces at him only to immediately get strangled by the other inmate. The Drow guards immediately interfere and shoot both of them with poison bolts. While Thorum tries to help his unconscious brother out he watches the Myconid release spores into the air. They talk telepathically and after he promises Stool that he will help him get back to Neverlight Grove he begins to dance and release more spores. The Dwarf also finds out that the Drow he's with is accused of murder. Meanwhile Haligan pulls out the bolt and attempts to hide it in the moss, but is warned that the moss can make you go mad. They discuss using it on the Orc, and while they decide not to, a Derro puts it into his mouth. During feeding time Angus gets covered in moss-spores after punching the orc in the stomach. Day 6 The next day the Orc is acting strange, a little calmer, but that is it. While Angus begins to feel paranoid, Thorum waves the two new arrivals over - Okhar and KahVen - and lets them in on the plan to break out. When the slaves are brought their mushroom goop once again the Orc gets angry, but this time he's begun foaming at the mouth. The Drow guards pull him out and throw him onto the web. At first nothing seems to happen, but then he gets wrapped into a cocoon by six giant spiders. Angus eventually figures out that JimJar whispered to him at night, although he has nightmares filled with endless mazes, oily tentacles, wounds bursting open and crawling masses of maggots and insects. Day 7 Last but not least a Kender gets thrown into the cell and is immediately approached by a Quagoth who starts talking to her in elvish. Since she doesn't speak it, but KahVen does, the creature leaves her standing and instead lets the human know that this isn't in his real body. Apparently he was trapped by an evil wizard and is a prince in reality. He promises to reward them for returning him to his lands and is willing to fight, although he doesn't like Stool, the Myconid allegedly murdered someone on patrol. While the group decides to approach the twin deep gnomes to see if they could be of help, Pockets finds she accidentally stole the Gate key. Seconds later the guards notice that it's gone. Eldeth claims to have the key, but can't hand it over since she doesn't actually posses it and gets pulled out. Angus attacks, and while the inmates try to diffuse the situation, he eventually gets taken out and thrown into the web. Despite of the groups best efforts the Drow leave Eldeth to the spiders as well. Now they have one to three days to get out if they want to leave with the two dwarves. Tl;dr Everyone gets captured and used as a slave in a Drow camp. While the group begins to plan their getaway the guards notice the missing Gate Key and feed Angus and Eldeth to the spiders. (by Lea)

Session 5 - FUCK DOORS - Finding Unconscious Companions, Khyber's Demons, Overcoming Oppressors, Running for Survival Drow Slave Camp Derek (KahVen Tharashk), Robby PI (Thorum), Lea (Pockets), David (Okhar), Malcolm (Angus) The moment the Drow are gone Pockets begins to make her way around the room, trying to gather as much information as possible to save the two Dwarves she - more or less - got killed. Well, is getting killed. With the knowledge she has she knows that they have no more than one to three days. Beregar, the elderly human man, has figured out that the moss dampens magic - including the magic that keeps everyone from using spells. Currently he is working on making the key to the gate out of glass, using his magic to heat up the sand. Pockets chooses not to tell him that she had the gate key for him to duplicate literally seconds ago and instead moves on to the topic of making a key for the manacles. While Beregar says that he could technically do that, it would take a long time. Furthermore - the shackles are easily lost using one’s strength or nimbleness. Prince Derendil, upon hearing about this, immediately attempts to break out of his chains and does indeed almost break them apart using his sheer strength. Just seconds later Ilvara, the Drow priestess in command, enters the cell flanked by Jorlan and Shoor. She gives Thorum the chance to take his brother’s place. KahVen tries to intervene in order to keep the Dwarf from accepting the offer, and while he succeeds, Ilvara decides to give the two to her new plaything for the day. In this case ‘plaything’ refers to Shoor, who gladly takes the two away for - presumably - hours of torture. Once the three are gone Ilvara approaches Pockets, pointing out that she is well aware of what her race does - and what she therefore did. Pockets, not being able to feel fear, inadvertently pisses the priestess off by not showing enough respect and, well, fear. Although she tries to fake it, Ilvara sees through her deception and the Bard is promised to Jorlan for torture later. As soon as the Drow are gone again Pockets gets back to making her, this time motivated by both guilt and self-preservation. From Derendil she figures out that you can jump down from the spiderweb into the water to escape, as well as that the very bars of the cell prohibit magic - much like the manacles. The twins, Topsy and Turvy let her know that they are scouts. Using their memory she is able to draw a crude map of the place and it becomes clear the only way out is down - either using the lift or jumping down into the water. On the lower level you can find three tunnels. The north tunnel leads to the Drow Capital, the other two lead to the dark lake. Coincidentally, Shushaar the Awakened, the Kua Toa, lives there. He lets her know that they could build a raft to get to his city and then purchase a boat there - it is not a good idea to try and cross the lake without one. Lastly, Pockets approaches the Drow. Apparently he used to be a part of the patrol that picked up the prisoners to lead them to the Drow Capital. Due to his former inside position he knows that Jorlan genuinely hates Ilvara and wants to show her up. And although she tries to approach Stool once more, even singing him a funny little song,he still refuses to talk to her. Just before the Kender rejoins Okhar JimJar lets him know that the Drow party coming to pick the prisoners up is late. After her inquiry as to what he can do to help them escape, he tells her that he is a good talker, and Pockets sees her chance to - possibly - get out of hours of torture. She makes a bet with him. The bet is that he can’t convince Jorlan to use their escape as a way to make the priestess look bad, which JimJar gladly takes. Meanwhile, after Thorum and KahVen went through what felt like hours of torture, getting hurt by Shoor, then hurting each other for his amusement, then being given healing potions to start the whole cycle again. After a while, however, an agitated Drow enters the room to let Ilvara’s plaything know that the post is under attack. Looking through the barred the windows the two can see demons chasing demons in the air. They have to break down the door to get out. Eventually they make it into Ilvara’s room, a bedroom dominated by decor related to Lolth. There’s also a pretty big chest in there. They decide to take it with them and continue to break down the door to the next room, to find themselves in a temple to the aforementioned goddess. In there, they are attacked by a Giant Spider. Thorum gets a crossbow bolt out of Gods know where and does his best to fight the beast. KahVen tries to push the statue onto the spider - and manages to move it, pinning the spider to the ground. But the beast has a sudden moment of supernatural strength, pushing a much heavier statue off of itself. They do, however, eventually beat the creature and continue to break down the next door. In the meantime Jorlan shows up at the cell to let them out, proving that the bet with JimJar wasn’t necessary - the Drow had already been on the way to open the gate. Once they are outside, JimJar, Derendil and Beregar manage to get out of their manacles, the rest stay shackled. They start making their way across the bridge to the armory. Although the group tries to look for the bodies of the wrapped up Dwarves, they can’t see any cocoons near them. The moment Okhar sets foot on the bridge he is hit by multiple crossbow bolts. Apparently there were some guards left in the tower and for a second the group gets worried, but then the Prince busts open the door - only to reveal more Drow. They run past them to arm up and defeat them. Derendil, however, does not seem to be able to calm down and backs off whenever someone gets closer. After everyone grabs their best option out of a selection of handcrossbows, short swords, leather armor and some extras, the group continues on - they did not find their old equipment. That is, most likely, with KahVen and Thorum, who they promptly run into when the two break open their last door. Although the inmates are excited to meet up, they soon see Ilvara behind them, leading a small army of Drow and other creatures. Before anyone can get truly worried Beregar moves forward and simply burns the ropes holding the bridge up. Thinking they escaped the group moves on. The moment they take another step they run into some Quaggoth - and that’s when it starts. While the group gets their bearings they are faced with Drow on top of the Towers, Quaggoth on the ground and then more and more doors open, to reveal more and more Drow. Pockets goes to sleep after a sixth bolt flies her direction (although she dodged the other five). Thorum pushes a Drow down into the web, KahVen manages to get Derendil sane again, but still - Pockets and Okhar go unconscious. Until - there, climbing up the rope of the lift - Angus! ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ After some time of struggling Angus manages to break his way out of his cocoon. There are Giant Spiders all around - he can’t see them, but he knows they’re there. He carefully makes his way over to Eldeth, hoping to find an ally but, alas, she is still paralyzed. Looks like he is doing this solo. It doesn’t take him long to realize that the only way out is down, down into the water. The Dwarf lifts his head one more time to see the spiders looking straight back at him, so he jumps - with Eldeth in his arms and a ‘Fuck you’ in his head. Although the water is cold and dark, the gods are on his side. The two of them wash up on shore and he pulls his companion onto the bank, only to find Ront lying there, next to a dead Ooze. Here is where our hero finds himself torn for the first time - all he wants is to find his brother, but he just can’t bear leaving two people behind, hurt and helpless as they are. Unsure as to what he should do next, he takes some time to find food and water for his small group. While scavenging, Angus hears a noise from a nearby tunnel and immediately makes his way back to the two unconscious people on the floor, quickly deciding to drag the two into the water to hide. Had he acted only moments later, both him and his companions wouldn’t have survived. Horrifying demons begin to fight in the air above them. Not being willing to chance Eldeth’s or Ront’s life he drags both of them down stream, having to fight against it so that it would not drag him or his companions down. But - his struggle is till not over. Although he sees the Kender leading the inmates across the bridge, they don’t notice him waving, and he doesn’t dare make a sound. Desperate to reach the rest he drags both the Dwarf and the Orc in the direction they’re running to, hoping to finally rejoin them. In a last ditch effort Angus makes his way to the lift, praying that this is where they meant to go, and makes his way up the rope. Worried about his charges, worried about his brother up top, worried about anyone making it with those demons in the air, our hero nonetheless tries to think of something witty to say once he reaches the top - no amount of hardship would keep him from that. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Hearing his brother arrive Thorum immediately grabs an axe to throw towards his brother while Shushaar and KahVen heal the two unconscious people. Everyone tries to makes to their lift. One look at the thing lets the group realize that they’ll have to take at least two turns to get everyone down, so they decide that their equipment as well as Okhar, Pockets, Shushaar, Topsy, Stool and Beregar. While Topsy lowers and pulls the lift back up again, the rest of the inmates fight. JimJar is down and gets back up again, more doors revealing more Drow, the Dwarven brothers fight - once again - side by side, Thorum goes down and gets back up again and finally, finally the lift is back - just as Ilvara marches towards them, an army at her back. Everyone gets on, everyone but Angus. For one last time of heroism he cuts the rope to let the lift down faster and jumps. Hurt, but safe, all of the inmates make their way south, with their equipment with and a very angry Drow priestess behind them. Tl;dr It was more than 20 Drow and Angus could probably have taken all of them. Also fuck doors. (by Lea)

Session 6 - ALICA - Another Little Innocent Character Arrives Underdark Tunnels, Orc Fortress Derek (KahVen Tharashk), Robby PI (Thorum), Lea (Pockets), David (Okhar), Malcolm (Angus), Alica (Gwyneth Chromfour) Fleeing through the tunnels of the Underdark the group comes across a symbol on the cavern wall, which, after some time, is identified as a warning sign in Drow by Sarith. It says ‘Demon’s ahead’. Whilst discussing on how to proceed - go on or turn around - Okhar and Pockets get their manacles removed by the Dwarven brothers. Once the human is free he immediately spouts flames from his hands and prestidigitates the dirt off of the Kender’s face. Meanwhile Angus tries to destroy the symbol, but soon he finds himself compelled to rub his arm every now and then. Eventually they conclude that while they might run into demons going forward, they will definitely run into the Drow if they turn around, so they choose to go on. Topsy and Turvy, the deep gnome twin scouts, find a small cave up ahead. The prisoners choose to rest. When Pockets goes to wake up Okhar to take his watch, she sees that his eyes are already open and he appears to muttering to himself, holding a divine symbol in one hand and a tarot card in the other. Not even her slap woke him up. Their second day of running comes and the darkness of the Underdark takes it’s toll on the humans without darkvision, KahVen babbles to himself for one hour and Beregar seems to be seeing things. After some more hours of walking they run into a tunnel filled with moss. It’s the exact same moss that they had in their cell. Here, they are approached by a Troglodyte named Skriss who seems to be researching the moss. Him and Pockets are research buddies, Okhar seems like an idiot to him and the two Dwarves mistrust him since they fought Troglodytes in the war. He tells them about the ‘Society of Brilliance’, a group of researchers in the Underdark. Although Pockets really wants to join it turns out that the members are all humanoids that could be considered ‘Monsters’ and part of the groups mission is to change the people’s view on them. Another member, for example, is Blurg, an Orog studying the Fauna of the Underdark. The group follows Shuushar as he leads them through other tunnels around the one infected with moss. While they walk they have to listen to Sarith complain about wanting to make his way to Neverlight Grove as quickly as possible, but no one pays much attention to him. Pockets pays off hers and Angus bet with JimJar, while Okhar goes to make some more with the Deep Gnome. They chat a bit, although they still keep in mind that their main focus is on escaping. The Kender begins teaching Underdark to those who don’t know it. The next day come across a path that leads to an Orc fortress, which, according to Shuushar, could be perfectly fine to pass through. While the Orcs do take part in the slave trade, they wouldn’t enslave a random group of people. They decide to take the chance. Before entering they make sure that everyone is aware that attacking the Orcs due to having slaves or partaking in the slave-trade is a bad idea, although it does rub most of them the wrong way. Talking to the other inmates some more let’s them know a couple of things. One, Beregar can create creatures he then buffs in order to fight, two, Derendil only remembers being a Quaggoth for a couple of months and Shuushar has been through this fortress every now and then. Due to the last they chose to let him speak for them. Once they enter they are met with a small group of blind deep gnomes singing an odd little tune, repeating the words ‘Oh it’s bad luck to be you’. After Shuushar shows the Orc leader that they have gems he welcomes them in Luthixhome. The next person they meet is a Goblin named Snot. He waves them over and offers to trade different objects with them, one being a stone he claims can teach you any language. Angus makes a deal with him to take the stone for any winnings he makes in the local gladiator arena. Snot soon realizes that Pockets is a Kender and claims to have a box filled with ‘Kender-things’. She trades him a silk rope and a bit of pulverized silver for it, but once she opens it the group is met with four corpses. Pockets asks if they could give them a final rest. But before anyone can do anything, Okhar sells one of the dead Kender to an Orc who immediately begins eating it. While the Orc offers up some stones to the Sorcerer for the other three corpses Pockets begins yelling at him, casting Viscous Mockery at Okhar. The rest of the group gets ready to intervene, but don’t do anything, and the trade happens. KahVen eventually gets the Kender to stop. Thorum attempts to apologize to Pockets for not stepping in earlier, but she asks him what his honor is worth if it’s occasional. The group makes it’s way to the arena and watch a Rock Gnome beat up three Goblins in the pit, seemingly without breaking a sweat. The dwarves approach her to give her a compliment. Apparently she is looking for a Necromancer and some friends to travel with, but for now the group lets her know that they want to eventually head to the surface. Thorum brings up the issue of the corpses once again, but Okhar says that they led to currency and therefore to survival. Both KahVen and Thorum disagree, saying that sometimes you have to keep the emotions of people in mind. To the Sorcerer, however, emotions can lead to stupid decisions. Tl;dr Our group makes it’s way through the tunnels of the Underdark, comes across an Orc fortress and HOLY SHIT WHAT? Also badass Gnome Cleric. (by Lea)

Session 7 - DAFT - Drow Are Fast Trackers Orc Fortress - Arena, Orc Fortress - Underground Tunnels, Underdark Tunnels Derek (KahVen Tharashk), Robby PI (Thorum), Lea (Pockets), Malcolm (Angus), Alica (Gwyneth Chromfour) Our group finds itself in the arena of Luthixhome, attempting to make some coin not stained by the coagulated blood of dead Kender. The two Dwarven brothers, Thorum and Angus, are offered to fight the current champion by the head Orc known as Headus Orcus, but decline. Although they claim to just want to warm up, they still have to endure the laughter of all the present Orcs. Including Ront. Outside of the ring JimJar begins betting on the two Dwarves while Okhar places bets against them and anyone who’d care to listen would hear a quiet, sad song whispered in Halfling. After taking a look at the ring Ront decides to join the action, to ‘show the dwarves how it’s done’. As soon as he has leapt over the bars, two more Orcs join the fray. It’s three versus four. The fight begins with Thorum and Angus taking a defensive stand, letting the Orcs charge them. Ront didn’t hesitate and ripped apart an Orc with a great axe just seconds after the fight began, and he continues to rage attack, ignoring the wounds he gets almost completely. Team Dwarf and Orc is winning by a landslide when the group begins to hear a fight at the entrance of the stronghold. Still, the fighters continue. After a bit of back and forth Angus finally grabs the last Orc, confusing his brother quite a bit (’Stop making out with him and let’s finish him!’) - just as the rest can see what’s going on. Drow are attacking the fortress, slowly but surely striking down the Orcs. Pockets warns the pit fighters, goes invisible and holds on to KahVen while Angus finishes off the last Orc by throwing him down into the pit. After the Paladin asks the Orc guards for the way out he points to the Drow - and to the pit. Eventually they decide that the possible-death pit is better than the definite-death Drow and Thorum and KahVen bind their rope to the bars surrounding the arena, so that they can get down at least somewhat safely. Ront and Angus, however, ignore any comments and simply jump in. Both the Dwarf and the Orc as well as Gwyn, who was being carried by Angus at the time, and KahVen who failed to help Beregar down, take some wounds once they land - Ront actually manages to break his leg and Gwyn her arm. Once they land they find themselves on a pile of dead bodies, but there’s no time to be squeamish. The group follows the tunnels until they come to a crossroad section and are approached by an Orc named Bronson Hagguk. He claims to know the way out and the group doesn’t hesitate to follow him, especially since they begin to hear ‘thumps’ in the tunnels behind them. Although Bronson seems slow in the head, he manages to tell them that there’s monsters ahead. They make it into the next room. This one is seemingly filled with lots of statues, and once Pockets sees those and hears the hissing she just manages to yell out for the group not to look at the creatures, because the group has run into Basilisks. Bronson is once again of no help and is simply standing in the corner, terrified and crying. At first the prisoners seem to have run into only one Basilisk, but they can soon see Ront run off and hear him attack some others. The Kender eventually manages to charm one of the creatures Angus is holding. The Basilisk, later named Harold by Pockets and Pocks by Angus, is told to go off and tell his brethren to stop fighting the group. Upon asking Bronson where they should go now, he informs them that the path is up in the northern room. One by one they make their way there. While some of them are still fighting, Beregar figures out that there’s a puzzle in the room, calling for a sacrifice by the group in order to get something. In the room there are six pillars with holes on top and a lever on each of them. After KahVen gets Bronson to finally move they ask him where the exit is. The Orc points back towards the Basilisk filled room and to the east, claiming that they need to do this room first though, since his ‘shiny’ is here. The slap of KahVen’s hand meeting the Paladin’s forehead is heard far and wide. The injured fighters are told to move back into the eastern tunnel, while Harold once again tries to tell his family to stop - and when they don’t, the Basilisk starts fighting his own brother. Meanwhile KahVen watches Okhar taunt Beregar into pulling a lever. Bronson puts his hand over a column and actually pulls his lever, causing his hand to be kept in place by a stone manacle. One by one other members of the group go to join him, and eventually every lever has been pulled. Blades shoot out of the pillars. After a second of anticipation their hands are released and a chest appears. Meanwhile Harold continues to kill his brothers and Thorum and Ront bond over their hatred for underground Orcs. Finally, the last creature is killed. In the chest the group finds a fine longsword, chainmail armor, a satchel with coin and something wrapped in silk cloth. Pockets decides to send Harold off to halt the Drow. She immediately feels guilty. The ex-prisoners move on and run into a room with Skeletons on the walls, but quickly move on. They run into some webs. Bronson, the head-touched Orc, uses his ‘shiny’ to set the webs aflame and the group can hear things burn to death in the distance. Once they reach the next room they are met with a couple of dead spiders and another junction. Pockets attempts to ask one of the surviving giant spiders for the way out, but all she gets is ‘You killed all of my children! Are you gonna pay for their funeral?’ as well as the fact that the creatures are afraid of Bronson’s ‘shiny’. While the group is distracted Ront gets abducted by a second giant spider, so they decide to simply kill them. The spiders are taken care off quickly. Finally, the group takes the southern path and finds their way out, once again running from the Drow. The second they leave the tunnel Bronson trips, falls onto stalagmite and impales himself. After KahVen has identified the item they realize that it’s a fancy flint and steel - a rock of striking and a sliver of sparking that can create a firebolt. Tl;dr - The Drow catch up to them, so the group escapes through the fortress’ underground tunnels. (by Lea)

Session 8 - OHKAR - Openly Honest Killers Aren't Realistic The party continues their spelunking in the Underdark, Shushaar leading them to the lake. Concerns are raised among the Dwarves about the Drow following them through the tunnels, but nothing is done about it. The party feels the temperature drop dramatically as they continue down the caverns, unexplained. Pockets decides at this point to keep an eye open specifically on Ohkar. The temperature continues to drop, and the party notices the walls seem almost... Fuzzy... The cold starts to sting, like being in a walk-in freezer. Beads of sweat on the party remaining after their grand escape from the Drow begin to freeze, adhering their wet clothes to their skin. The Kua Toa is unperturbed by the temperature difference. The "fuzz" is identified as Brown Mold, sapping heat from the area. The party begins to freeze even more, Pockets, Gwyneth, even Thorum all are on the edge of falling. The party continues to heal and warm each other as best as possible just to stay alive. Ohkar and Haligan freeze, and they're tossed forward as the party reaches the end of the mossy pathway. They see a dwarf frozen in a block of ice, who they initially decide to leave behind (the bastards). Angus and Thorum then manage to pull the victim out on their way, exiting the mossy pathway. Ohkar, Haligan, Jimjar, and Stool are all down. Ohkar is the only one not healed to consciousness, and is then carried out by Angus. Pockets tries to convince Angus to carry her out rather than Ohkar, but he refuses his charge in favor of preserving the party. The group comes to a cliff, nearly 50 feet in height, blocking their way forward. Six goblin slaves are present, chattering to each other and cowering. Pockets offers her grappling hook to Angus. Thorum attempts to speak to the goblins in undercommon as Angus attempts to study the wall to determine if it's particularly climbable. Neither of which open in a positive outcome. The party accidentally KOs a goblin as they fail to use the grappling hook. Ront shows Angus how it's done as he launches the grappling hook, catching the edge of a rope ladder and pulling it down. When they reach the top, they discuss bringing the frozen dwarf with them at length. They end up tying a rope around him and lifting him up the 50 feet... Or at least halfway. The block falls and shatters, killing the dwarf. Mwop mwop. Nah, the dwarf man is fine, and he's lifted up on a slightly better choreographed second attempt. Thorum has the idea to take the rope ladder with them. Shusharr sits, staring at three available passageways at the top of the cliff. He has no memory of this place. Angus "accidentally" drops the unconscious Ohkar off the cliff. KahVen and Gwen retrieve the still-breathing body. Pockets discovers clawmarks of indigenous fauna in one of the tunnels, which she deduces to be Hook Horrors. The party decides to descend and travel west, following the goblins rather than descending into the Hook Horror cavern, but not before Pockets begged to investigate the creatures. First; the party takes a long rest. Ohkar wakes up, then passes out again as camp is being set up. Long day for Ohkar. During his and Angus' watch, Okhar goes missing. The party waits until morning to search for him. In the meantime, they thaw and meet the frozen dwarf. His name was Basteln, a Kesselflicker and a member of the forces that took Gauntylgrim. He reveals himself to be a cleric when he heals himself in front of the party. The group troops down the West Path for 10 minutes before they come across the corpse of Ohkar, head smashed in by a boulder. Gwyn and KahVen bury him in rocks and pray for his safe passage. The service is minimal. The party travels two days without incident before they come across a crystal of quartz emitting a dull glow. Beregar identifies it as something similar to the Moss, causing the traumatized Basteln to give it a wide berth. Experimentally, Angus attempts to cleave a hunk of the quartz to discover its capacity, causing it to shatter and a flare to blind nearly the whole party, but only for a short time. Pockets and Angus take some of the dull, no longer glowing crystal, then the party attempts to harvest as much of the remaining glowing crystals as possible, obtaining twelve over the next five hours thanks to the dwarf brother's mining experience. The party feels a low rumbling as they continue, and all of the dwarves simultaneously start running. Angus grabs Pockets, and the rest of the group pads behind. Boulders fall, crushing many party members half to death. The Paladin is the only member to fall unconscious, but survives. After the cave-in, the Drow will be blocked off. The party camps again. During the watches, they start seeing glimmers in the distance. Angus and Thorum throw a torch to see whatever it was, but it "must have been their eyes playing tricks". Angus flirts with Eldeth on their watch, apologizing for more than he should have by the end. It's awkward and adorable. Basteln and Gwyneth also make conversation during their watches, but, in spite having a significant amount in common, find little to talk about and don't click. Haligan was found dead in the morning. A small incision was made in his neck and he drowned in his own blood by morning. A massive debate unfolds that results in KahVen using the command spell to force Angus to confess that he did murder the two, despite his innocence. Angus is cleared as it is found the command spell really can't be used for that purpose truthfully. Sareth, Topsy, Turvy, Pockets, and Buppido are seen as the most suspicious by the general group, but nothing further will be acted upon until the clerics prepare the zone of truth spell. They immolate the dead Haligan, giving their curt ceremony, and travel on. After another day, the party reaches a black building with church-like qualities... Tl;dr , They thaw a new companion and end up at each other's throats because people keep mysteriously dying. (by Land)

Session 9 - FROG - Forever Restrained Outcast Goliath Underdark Tunnels, Daelkyr Church Derek (KahVen Tharashk), Robby PI (Thorum), Lea (Pockets), Malcolm (Angus), Alica (Gwyneth Chromfour), Land (Basteln Kesselflicker), Rachel (Venya) The group finds itself in front of the church and decide to have some quick discussions with Angus. KahVen tries to apologize to him while Pockets tries to convince him that magic is not inherently evil - and fails, and his brother manages to resolve the tension between them about the lies Angus told when trying to kill Okhar. Afterwards the Kender makes her way to Eldeth to finally apologize for what happened back in the Drow camp, when the Dwarf mentions Beregar talking to Haligan. Wondering if he may know something about the murders, Pockets makes her way over to the old man. Beregar is sitting on the floor, working on a dagger he’s been infusing with magic for a surface company. Upon asking him about Haligan, all he can tell her is that they originated from the same place. Other than that he prefers not to share his theories. While JimJar makes his way around the group, wanting to bet that KahVen can’t convert someone in the dark church or that Pockets is the killer, the group hears footsteps in the tunnel behind them. A High Elf in ragged clothes and with disheveled hair appears. She says that her name is Venya, that she is currently alone down here and that she’s looking for her children, her nine year old son and her 12 year old daughter. Surprisingly, her and the Dwarves bond - over hating Drow, which makes Sarith rather uncomfortable. Distressed about the fight Pockets could feel coming, the Kender makes her way over to the church and knocks on the door. When she doesn’t get an answer, the Bard opens the door and enters the building just as the rest catch up with her. Within the building the group finds multiple hooded figures on the church benches, all turning out to be skeletons. Upon asking if anyone’s there, they get a response - “Yes, I am here.” KahVen begins talking to the male Duergar who refuses to tell them his name and invites them to join their service instead. They spot a door on the right and a statue behind the priest, although they can’t tell which deity it’s supposed to represent. A little unnerved by the atmosphere, KahVen, being translated by Thorum, asks what his god wants. “My god just wants obedience.” They decide sit down carefully, being very aware of their surroundings, and listen to the priests words. He talks about his deity, Lord Belashyrra from Xoriat, who created the beholders and has mind flayers and the likes following him. At this point the party gets very uncomfortable and think about leaving. Apparently there’s a pet of the god here that needs to be fed as well. When the priest asks: “Which one of you brought the offering?”, Angus makes his way up to the priest, thinking that he may want some jerky. He doesn’t. As Land tries to blow open the door to the right some of the skeletons get up and start attacking the group. Venya and Pockets use their Thunderwaves to clean some up early, the other ones follow soon - however there’s one skeleton that just doesn’t die. Meanwhile the main guy uses harmful gas as a shield in front of him, as well as a spike-pit trap that Angus promptly falls into. Although the Dwarf makes it out of the pit, he is promptly thrown back into it by the priest. After Thorum makes his way down into the trap to heal his brother Angus finally manages to kill the Duergar. Just to be sure, KahVen hits every other skeleton in the church, as the rest moves on to search the body. They find two keys and a note. “Salas, You are to stay here and keep guard over the tomb. Remember to guide anyone who enters the main altar room away from the secret passage” Upon reading that Pockets makes her way around the room looking for a secret door - and promptly finds it. The tunnel behind the door leads to a room with the statue of a fighter and a chest, a chest that turns out to be a mimic. Although both Thorum and Pockets get stuck to it, they quickly beat it with the help of Ront, who comes running in to help Thorum. The statue turns out to hide a 4’ door behind it. Waiting in the room are a coffin and a Specter, who begins talking to them. He claims that they have freed him and that it has been many generations since anyone has said his name, but that they can call him Keyvard. Apparently the Clerics of the Daelkyr Belashyrra bound him to the tomb in his own house, as they supposedly feared his power. He claims to have the ability to wrong everyone who killed him. After some more questions about the Daelkyr the group discovers that you musn’t speak the name of a Daelkyr, as well as that you can never permanently kill them. They decide to let the Specter go to do his thing and search his sarcophagus once it’s gone. What they find is a ring of poison resistance. Realizing that their only way forward is through the door in the chapel, they make their way back and unlock it. The first room behind that is simply filled with beds, but directly afterwards there is another one - a butchery. Of the two doors going off of that room, they find a torturer’s room with a toilet behind that behind the first one and a hallway behind the second. They open the door at the end of it and - there’s a lot of bodies. There is a lot of bodies. There is also a weird looking frog creature with multiple eyes and tentacles, which are - as they promptly find out - coated in acid that is extremely harmful to their weapons. The later named Blur Frog seems to able to evade their attacks by never quite being where the party hits - and by jumping all the way across the room. Ront eventually manages to kill him. After taking a short rest they move on to a room seemingly filled with water. Angus jumps in, only to find out that it was an illusion and that the room is actually filled with spikes. Immediately KahVen ropes down to get him out and Gwyn casts “Spare the Dying”, as they are out of healing spells. The group finds itself in front of a maze of pit-traps, and Pockets, not thinking about the tables or benches in the other rooms, uses the Marvelous Pigments she found to draw the most beautiful plank ever. Using said gorgeous plank they make their way to a mirror. They can’t, however, see themselves in it, but 4 different people in different environments. The first is a Thri Keen in a blank desert, then they see a Human Wizard on an island in the ocean, next is a Goliath on a mountaintop and finally there’s a black Half-Dragon in full plate in the middle of a volcano. They are extremely torn on what to do and try out different things - it seems too heavy to carry, they don’t need it to leave, but the people inside can hear them tap the mirror, so they are clearly alive. After watching the people for a while, they identify the Half-Dragon as a Paladin of the Chalice. With no other hints for any of the other prisoners, they chose to break the mirror when he is visible - praying that that frees him. It thankfully does. The Paladin introduces himself as Arxan and claims to have been stuck in the mirror for a 120 years, banned into it by the Clerics that wanted to keep him from hunting their gods. According to him the Daelkyr have been down in the Underdark for 9000 years - he also let’s them know that Thorum has been marked by one. Although he can’t say with certainty, he believes that a spell of non-detection can help get rid of them for a while. Thorum just wants to chop his hand off. While the group offers to join him in his quest, he tells them to get stronger first - as well as shacking the Drow off. He even hands then dimensional shackles in exchange for a healing potion and the ring of poison resistance they give him. Equipped with new shackles and knowledge the group continues it’s way through the Underdark tunnels. Tl;dr - The group knows about Daelkyr now - also Grog may be dead. (by Lea)

Session 10 - DEATHS - Dwarf Eaten, All The Heroes Sad. PCs: Derek (KahVen Tharashk), Robby (Thorum Bronzebeard), , Malcolm (Angus Bronzebeard), Alica (Gwyneth Chromfour), Land (Basteln Kesselflicker), Rachel (Venya),  Lea (Pockets, Absent).   NPCs: Ront the orc, Eldeth the dwarf , Sareth the drow, Buppido the Derro, Topsy and Turvy the deep gnome twins , Jimjar the deep gnome gambler, Stool the child mushroom, Derendel the harry quaggath who says he is an elf prince, Shushar the Kua-toa pacifist. The group makes it to the shore of the Darklake. They see mushrooms and shrubbery and some barrels that washed ashore. Thorum found 1 barrel that could support him. He inspected some mushrooms to see if they would float and determined they were poisonous. Angus agreed but Shushar the Kua-tua said they were not poisonous. Thorum assured him that he knew the underdark better then a kua-toa. Meanwhile Bereger the genius was making a raft but couldn’t find enough wood to make a raft large enough. With no other options, Venya went to the poisonous mushrooms despite Thorum’s many warnings and determined the mushrooms were not poisonous but were quite floatable to make rafts with. Thorum said he must have been looking at the other mushroom next to it. They found half a barrel to make a bucket for Stool to ride in and they finally had enough room for everyone to ride. After taking most of the day to make the rafts, they decided to take a long rest. Topsy and Turvy said they wanted to leave for the night. It’s safer for everyone they said. They promise they did nothing to the people that died but really want to leave for the night. They may or may not return in the morning. The group reluctantly accepts and they go. In the night, on the last shift, Buppido alerts the group about seeing some movement and 4 black puddings attack. It was a very dangerous fight with multiple people getting hit badly so they call for a retreat. Eldeth gets killed by an ooze and even though they are both almost dead, Angus and Thorum ran for Eldeth’s body to get her hammer and shield. It was her dying wish that her hammer and shield get returned to her family in Gauntlygrym if she died and Angus made her a promise that he would. Thorum runs up and gets to her items, but Venya cats thorn whip and pulls an ooze closer to her and Thorum so its able to catch him from behind and takes him down. Knocking him unconscious. Meanwhile Bastaln has been getting everyone to the boats. He puts an unconscious Gwyn on a boat and pushes it off. Then he pushes Stool out in his barrel. Everyone is healed back to consciousness and they are all able to run to the boats and escape. Eldeth is dead and Topsy and Turvy are no where in site. On the boats are: Mushroom Raft 1- Angus, Thorum Mushroom Raft 2- Ront, Sareth, Pockets Wood Raft 1- KahVen, JimJar, Gwen, Shushar Wood Raft 2- JimJar, Buppido, Derendel, and Beregar Bucket (half Barrel) - Stool Barrel - Basteln

Session 11 - Dark Elves Are Dark - DEAD Dark Lake Derek (KahVen Tharashk), Robby PI (Thorum), Lea (Pockets), Malcolm (Angus), Alica (Gwyneth Chromfour), Land (Basteln Kesselflicker), Rachel (Venya) The group just escaped the oozes on the lake’s shore. They decide to stay away from the cave walls due to rocks in the water that could damage their make-shift boats and simply flow with the current. Pockets decide to spend her time learning more about Orcs from Ront, who tells everyone the story of Grom, a half-orc who became King of the Goblins. Sarith talks about women leading his race and how his brother was turned into a Drider. Afterwards he explains that Drow don’t like people, they simply find use for them. As time goes by, they realize that they need to be smart about who rows which boat, as not all of their members are strong enough to help. Afterwards Angus decides to talk to Beregar, who wonders if Angus’ brain has taken damage as he asks questions the human already answered. He wants to return to Trollenport, where his son, Buchanon, lives on an island nearby. It takes a while until Angus figures out that it’s a robot and that the old man did not have a child with his gnomish assistant. Two of the groups boats crash into stones as the people in the water are attacked by Quippers. Now the party is trying to get their members out of the water and away from the fish, with way to little boats for everyone. While most people try to work together, Angus tries to kill Sarith to make space, leading Beregar to believe that Angus is the murderer. Meanwhile Venya thornwhips the fish onto the boat so that the rest can hit them. As Pockets and the other raft work together to draw a boat for the one person too many that is making theirs sink, Angus and Sarith start a fight on the mushroom. In order to protect himself the Dark Elf casts darkness on the mushroom. Disoriented Angus swings away, knocking his brother unconscious and into the water, where he proceeds to be eaten by Quippers. While the boat goes to save the two drowning dwarves, Ront, Beregar and Sarith try to leave with the mushroom, thoroughly distrusting the rest of group. Said group is currently struggeling to get rid of the last swarm of Quippers, and as Angus dies to his wounds they see the other NPCs coming back, who have crashed the mushroom since their were into complete darkness. To have some more space on the boat they have to throw Angus overboard, which his brother Thorum heavy-heartedly does. As the group continues to drift down, they can not seem to get rid of the swarm of Quippers - not even with a newly drawn net - and Thorum dies as well. KahVen finally catches them as Pockets begins drawing the other boat to save the rest of the group. They have just enough space for the people they have. Tl;dr - The Dwarven brothers die as the group crashes their boats and is attacked by Quippers.

Session 12 - SHADOW - Such Hatred, A Death Of Wizards Dark Lake, Wizard’s Cave, Underdark Tunnels Derek (KahVen Tharashk), Robby PI (Zendor/The Unnamed), Lea (Pockets), Alica (Gwyneth Chromfour), Land (Basteln Kesselflicker), Jeff (Invidia), Rachel (Venya) The group moves on with two boats, but without two of their allies. However, after everything that happened during the last couple of days, most of them are doubting the Dwarven brothers. Angus had tried to openly kill Sarith and Okhar after all. KahVen and Sarith explain the new situation to Gwyn, who highly doubts that Angus killed Haligan. The Dark Elf even seems to distrust the ‘Zone of Truth’ spell at this point, and ponders leaving the group. Soon they run into an island with mushrooms on them, one gives them a torch that may explode, another one provides them with food and water. Afterwards they find a cave-opening illuminated by light, where they crush their small boat on the rocks by accident. Pockets, JimJar, Derendil and Buppido split as Pockets can’t make it to the cave and sits on a rock by herself. The other three meet Invidia, a chef from the surface. After a lot of back and forth Prince Derendil decides to try and save Pockets, paddling to her like a dog. The moment Pockets and Invidia meet, they bond over cooking, but are still aware of the dangers of they Underdark, as the cave is covered with blood. While the cave group discusses building another boat, the others crush theirs to ‘save Pockets’. As they move onto the shore, Beregar and Invidia recognize each other. Apparently Beregar used to work for a group called ‘The Horizon Company’, who fired him and aren’t protecting him anymore - and one of them has a dragon. As KahVen mentions Shushaar, Invidia seems very interested, but they are interrupted by a Drow appearing in the summoning circle. His name was Zendor, but he wants a new name as he hates his family. The Dark Elf seems hell-bent on keeping himself alive. However, he wants to make it to the surface to find friends and is farely impressed by Pockets’ two friends - even though they’re dead. Ront does not want Zendor to join, as he believes that he just lost the only two respected fellow members and hates the Dark Elf for hating them. Eventually they decide to head forward together, as they all only have one way to go. As soon as they come to a fork in the road, they find a glyph in front of a bedroom. Pockets examines it, but as she gets closer it explodes - without her even touching it. The following fire keeps on spreading and the group has to run and get Pockets up as quickly as possible. The next room they find seems to be a common room covered in blood once again. In one of the rooms KahVen finds Zombies, which leads Invidia and Beregar to believe that this may be a necromancer’s place. The second one holds another Undead chained to the bed, which the group struggles to kill. They hurry up to leave the fire behind and find a room with five glyphs - 4 for summoning each elemental and a fifth representing a shadow. They chose to activate the water glyph, although they fail to remember how to do it at first, so they try to break it, until Beregar reminds them that they have to channel magic through it. This summons, unsurprisingly, a water elemental. They have some issues with it, as the elemental immediately traps their physically weak spellcasters. But they do beat it, and once they’re done the door opens through beams of light. The glyph breaks and a shadow elemental appears, seemingly mad that there are two mages in the group as a mage bound him once. The already weakened group finds themselves in another combat - and in complete darkness. Just as everything seems hopeless as Venya bursts through the door, and after a while Pockets remembers the crystals they found and breaks one against the wall, partially dispelling the magical darkness. Venya uses that visibility to finally kill the shadow elemental. They find a book of spells, that, as it gets opened, explodes into their face, forcing them to use more spells and a short rest to restore themselves. Tl;dr - The group finds Invidia and passes through a wizard’s cave, blowing up left and right.

Session 13- Underdark Tunnels, Small mushroom forest Derek (KahVen Tharashk), Robby PI (Zendor/The Unnamed), Lea (Pockets), Land (Basteln Kesselflicker), Jeff (Invidia), Rachel (Venya), Doug (Ovrin) After the group exited the wizards the group continued on through the tunnels when they reached a step hill with a soft glow coming from the top of the hill. Kahven led the party up the hill only to discover that the glow at the top of the hill was mushrooms of all different shapes and sizes. After brief discussion with Stool the party learned this mushroom forest was not in fact Neverlight grove but merely a smaller grove of mushrooms. Stool led the party through the dangerous path as Venya attempted to get a closer look at the mushrooms along the path they followed. When Venya did the mushroom released some acidic spores that injured both her and Invidia followed by stool telling the group not to touch anything. The group continuing on found a fork in their path, as they approached the fork the group heard a scream coming from one of the paths of the forks. Following the scream they saw a dwarven man being chased by 7 sentient mushrooms. The party quickly dispatched the mushrooms, had Invidia collect and prepare the bodies of the mushrooms into food, and also learned the name of the dwarf they rescued was named Ovrin. Ovrin agreed to follow the group as the underdark is a very dangerous place but kept a wary eye on the two drow in the party. Not long after the party exited the forest and met a wandering gnomish trader who had a large bag of things for sale. The party ended up nearly cleaning the gnome out of his wares and the gnome left happily with all of the gold he got. The group continued on the the myriad of tunnels throughout the underdark but stopped when they heard a clattering around them. As the party investigated they found it to be an ambush of kobolds that took the party by surprise. While the fight with the kobolds seemed grim at first ,with the party being ambushed, quickly turned the fight in their favor and dispatched the kobolds. The party looted the kobolds bodies and Pockets now has a new pet skunk added to her ever growing collection. TLDR: Party finds forest, finds a drawf, fights mushrooms, finds a merchant gnome, and fights some kobolds

Session 14 - GNOLL - Gone, No One Lives Long Underdark Tunnels, Dark Lake Derek (KahVen Tharashk), Robby PI (Zendor/The Unnamed), Lea (Pockets), Jeff (Invidia), Rachel (Venya), Doug (Ovrin Greymorge) Shuushar notifies the group that they’ll arrive at the dark lake soon and that his people can be aggressive when hungry - or even when not. He also informs them about a hook horror pair living up ahead. As the group doesn’t have much money anymore, they think about using their meat for payment, but quickly redecide. When they arrive at the hook horror area, they see the two creatures run away from something cackling in the distance. As the group discusses back and forth what to do, the cackling gets louder and a group of Gnolls arrive. These do not just pass by. They attack, and one of them seems to be chanting something. The group can’t understand what it’s saying, but they can make out a name, ‘Yeenoghu’. The group finishes them off somewhat quickly, but the group wonders why the Hook Horrors ran away from the Gnolls. They’re also unsure as to which path to take and start stumbling around. The group eventually runs into more Gnolls, which they try to talk out of combat, but to no avail. Although the group eventually wins, their members go down one by one. KahVen, Pockets and The Unnamed all go unconscious, and while Shuushar stabilizes the Kender, the paladin dies saying ‘God damn it it’s a metaphor’. While looting the Pack leader, Invidia finds an Alchemy jug and gems. After stumbling around a bit more, they find the lake and a raft the Gnolls used to row across. Tl;dr - The group run into a lot of Gnolls and lose KahVen.

Session 15 - FRIENDS - Finally Ront Is Embracing New Dudes Underdark Tunnels, Lake Shore Derek (Keenith Otaranko), Robby PI (Zendor/The Unnamed, Varn Murwood the Defender), Lea (Pockets), Jeff (Invidia), Rachel (Venya), Doug (Ovrin Greymorge), Malcolm (Kruun “The Cannibal”) Looking upon their fallen companion, they wonder if they should burn or bury him. Invidia buries him with herbs like rosemary and lavender, making his the first true burial. As Pockets wakes up, she says goodbye to her friend and talks to the people that left the Slave camp with her, asking them if they think any of them will make it. Venya thanks Zendor and they talk about her missing children. Pockets tries to help and gets Venya to agree to give Zendor a new Elven name for helping save her life. They vote to move on as quickly as possible. As they continue, they run into an 8ft. Tall, pale grey skinned half-orcish male. He seems to be looking for his master and bows before Zendor. When he invites him to come to the surface, Kruun gets excited about trees. Ront approves of him being a half surface Orc, but clarifies that he is the stronger Orc. They are buddies now, and Kruun may join his tribe. Once they get to the edge of the water, they have some time to kill. Pockets and Invidia try to cook a bit and the Kender listens to Ront and Kruun bond. Apparently Kruun’s father was a Goliath, making him an Uruk-hai. Meanwhile Zendor teaches Ovrin Undercommon, with Venya listening in, although she eventually decides to approach Shuushar, who’s been sitting by the lake, looking worried. They talk about family, especially about children and Shuushar’s plan to change his city’s ways. Currently, they are praying to ‘a false god’ and practice ‘blood-thirsty cannibalism’. Zendor finally decides to approach Sarith, asking him about his connection the Neverlight Grove. He believes himself to be cursed and seeks help there, using Stool as a guide and considers himself higher than the Unnamed. Stool and Pockets, meanwhile, find an unconscious Aasimar. He has had visions of a group he needs to help, including an old human male named ‘Beregar’. Beregar assumes that The Horizon Company send him, but while Ken knows about them, he believes himself to be send by the Gods. They question him for a bit, but he seems to be sincere. Realizing that he came from the surface, Derendil asks him about the ‘Sun-Elves’, but he has never heard of it. The group realizes that Derendil has never heard of a single country they come from and thinks that his people lived across the whole continent. They begin to wonder if there are other continents that can be reached through the Underdark - or if Derendil is perhaps crazy. Invidia learns from JimJar that he used to be a scout and that his home city has been taken. In exchange, he shows him a weird looking potato. They flip a coin over a snack. Meanwhile Pockets shows Varn how to play the dulcimer and one by one everyone gets in on it. Kruun eventually breaks it. As Ken and Pockets start mending it, he tells her that he is a Life Cleric, which she welcomes greatly. The Kender questions him about the gods, and while they share different points of view, he hands her a pamphlet about the Sovereign Host. Meanwhile Ovrin learns that Venya’s husband died, so he tells Varn to ‘go for it’. When the Drow informs him about mourning, he answers that he killed the only person he liked and didn’t feel that way. The dwarf then moves on to Kruun, learning that his old master died in a rockfall. The Half-Orc’s mother, Kushtka, was a surface Orc from the woods, so he wants to see trees. They talk about making friends, although most of them don’t seem to comprehend the concept. While trying to get Kruun’s muzzle off, Varn decides to use acid and goes unconscious from hurting himself. The Half-Orc wonders if they can eat him now, but Ken quickly heals him back up. Beregar eventually figures out that the muzzle is magic and will be very hard to remove, impossible even, if they make a mistake. The group decides to eat and sleep. Tomorrow, they’ll approach the city. Tl;dr - The group met two new people and bonded.

Session 16 - KAPTURE (Kao-Tao are possibly the unfairest race ever) Underdark Tunnels, Lake Shore Derek (Keenith Otaranko), Robby PI (Zendor/The Unnamed, Varn Murwood the Defender), Lea (Pockets), Jeff (Invidia), Rachel (Venya), Doug (Ovrin Greymorge), Malcolm (Kruun “The Cannibal”) The Legion set off after deciding to leave Kruun's face mask attached just in case it really is their for a reason. Everyone jumps on to the raft the Gnoll pack had used, big enough to hold the entire group they set off once again across the dark lake making their way towards Sloobludop. Varn decides it would be a good idea to ask Shushar for some additional information about the Kao-Tao. Shushar announces there is a very high chance they will be attacked however he is unsure who it will be who attacks them. Shushar admits that once they come in contact with his people he will surrender and accept any fate that he has waiting for him and one way or the other he plans to leave the group once they reach Sloobludop. Soon after Varn finishes talking to Shushar they see several boats, one of which makes its way towards them stopping pressed up against the face of the groups raft. Shushar sits down surrendering almost immediately and Varn tries to communicate however the Kao-Toa do not seem to understand him and begin trying to throw nets over individuals. Beregar is first to be netted and is dragged into the water almost immediately. Invidia quickly responds by sending a shockwave towards the Kao-Toa's raft knocking them all into the water apart from three who manage to stand firm on the raft. A small skirmish breaks out however the Kao-Tao who where blasted into the water become even more bothersome. Using guerilla tactics they emerge from the water throwing nets at their victims, as the Kao-Tao turn the raft and begin to make a speedy retreat. As they slowly make their break, their captive Beregar is swung up and restrained on the raft. Varn attempts to misty step onto the raft to prevent its escape however soon finds himself beaten unconscious and captured. Invidia is thrown into the water and entangled in a net after escaping once he is quickly re-captured by the Kao-Tao. Pockets allows herself to be captured after hiding her quill unceremoniously for later use. Venya against her will is captured underwater and tries to break out unsuccessfully and is taken to the raft. Kruun is netted however Ront quickly aids him by ripping it off. Kruun smashes a Kao-Tao in the head with his morning star killing it, making use of a semi detached eye ball as some quick food. Keenith is taken captive after Ront fails to rip the net off him before the Kao-Tao drag him into the water. The Kao-Tao leave soon after quickly escaping with their captives leaving, Ovrin, Kruun and Ront the most capable of the group to find them and save the day with the remainder of the group stranded on the raft. tl;dr - Kao-Tao capture most the group leaving Kruun and Ovrin the two worst people with no moral compass to find them and rescue them...

Session 17 - DEMON - Demogorgon Emerges: Massive Olden Nightmare Dark Lake, Sloobludop Derek (Kennith Otaranko), Robby PI (Zendor/The Unnamed, Varn Murwood the Defender), Lea (Pockets), Jeff (Invidia), Rachel (Venya), Doug (Ovrin Greymorge), Malcolm (Kruun “The Cannibal”) Our group wakes up to another group of Kua-Toa who seemingly healed the members. When the other boat catches up to them, Kruun attempts to attack these ‘fishmen’ as well, but gets stopped by Ront - who accidentally throws him into the water due to his strength. They promptly learn that he can’t swim. Ploopploopeen, the leading priest, serves the goddess Blibdoolvpoolp and asks them to help support her cause. She seems to be protective in nature, but asks for sacrifices, like items or corpses. Apparently the sea mother told him of their arrival and he needs their help - the help of ‘outsiders’. They lived their religion happily until his daugther, Bloppblippodd, saw a vision of the deep father, Leemooggoogoon, who is seemingly much more bloodthirsty. Once she turned to the other god, he considered her worth to die. He plans to offer them up as a sacrifice and to use them as infiltrators and as a distraction. Meanwhile, the Kender almost gets converted to the Scavenger goddess. The priest, furthermore, offers up to reward the group with funds and a lead on who to ask for further information in Gracklstugh. Eventually they arrive at Sloobludop, a city protected by netting. There are two gates on the west and east and a docking area to the north, but those seem to be the only means of entry. The priest leads them to the middle of the city, where they give offerings to the goddess and the Kua-Toa begin to throw up. Venya, seeing that, also has to throw up, and gets a positive reaction from them. Not all of the fishmen welcome them, but the priest reminds them of the vision. He lets them know to avoid the western part of the city. After roughly an hour of rest they are picked up by a large group of Kua-Toa and brought to the shrine of the deep father, where Ploop pretends to offer them up. Once they get there they meet Himmeth, a Duergar, meant to be sacrificed as well. As the ritual goes on, they are prodded into the water - and then Ploop attacks. The fight goes back and forth while Varn and Invidia try to destroy the altar, but right after the fight starts a bunch of manta-ray looking creatures appear and start killing everyone and everything that stands in the water. Thankfully, most of the group was out of the lake. Behind the manta-rays the Demogorgon rises out of the water, a huge creature with two baboon-like faces attached to a single torso with oily tentacles, the prince of all demons, and the group decides to leave. Shuushar chooses to stay to lead his people, so the group says there goodbyes, and runs. Tl;dr - The group thought the city would improve things, but then the Demogorgon appears. Welp.

Session 18 - OOZE - Out Of Ze Ebyss Tunnels near Sloobludop, Ooze-temple Derek (Kennith Otaranko), Robby PI (Varn Murwood the Defender), Lea (Pockets), Jeff (Invidia), Doug (Ovrin Greymorge), Malcolm (Kruun “The Cannibal”) The group discusses returning to the village to go get the boat. They assume that the Demogorgon would quickly be done killing Kua-Toa and would then move on to do other evil stuff. They discuss the recent demon influences on the Underdark - the flying demons in the Drow camp, the Kua-Toa girl’s vision regarding the Demogorgon - and they decide that the place may have just gotten another problem. In the morning the discussion goes back and forth. Which one of them should go to see if the Demogorgon is still around? While they have the discussion, Kruun and Varn walk off to the city - only to see that the Demogorgon is still there, thrashing about! This immediately sends Kruun into mad laughing fit, so the Drow has to pull him back. They decide to scout up ahead a days walk away from the town to see what’s around the area, finding a ruined temple. After a moment of inspecting it, they decide that the architecture seems shitty, and lo and behold! It begins to crumble around them. Pockets and Invidia, who waited outside, need to make a quick decision, and decide to join the group. With no way out, they decide to explore the temple and the small tunnels dug around it - why not? Because random things will give you psychic damage, that’s why! Random oozes spill out of the walls - and one gelatinous cube starts talking to them. Apparently he is only curious about them. The other ones, however, do very much want to kill them. After a race against the grey oozes Glabbagool helps to protect them by blocking out the door, they are, however, stuck now. Tl;dr - As the Demogorgon continues to have fun, the group runs into an old Ooze temple.

Session 19 DEAD GOD  Dead, Eaten Adventurers Don't Go Out Dead. The group stands in the tunnel with the ooze cube known as Glabragool blocking the swarm of evil oozes from them. Varn asks to use the mace inside Glabragool. He says yes under one condition. He wants us to be his friends forever. Varn is quite happy to make a new friend and immediately says YES! Glabragool shakes in happiness. They continue on and see a strange section of stone that looks weird. Varn ad Kennith jump over it. Kruun walks right into it and almost falls but Kennith manages to grab and hold him up from a pit. Globragool tells Invidia there is a magical artifact fountain ahead that heals the dead. They continue and see the fountain. Kruun sticks his head inside and it burns him. Varn pokes around the fountain with the magic mace and sees something. He tries to grab it twice but fails, getting burned by the acid both times. Ovrin curses, walks over and grabs a statue’s head from the fountain. He hands it to Varn, who hands it to Invidia. Varn casts detect magic and finds a magic glyph. He touches it and it glows. They find more glyphs. Invidia fishes the rest of the statue parts out of the fountain. After putting the statue together and into a groove in the wall, they solve a riddle of glyphs and the voice of Lord Arduk talks to them. Lord Arduk is an ancient god of death from over 10,000 years ago. He requires a sacrifice to gain in power. He offers to give them a life for every life they take for him. While Venya and Varn think about killing the drow Sarith for him, ooze statues turn into real oozes and attack. Kruun falls. Kennith tries to heal him but falls in the acidy fountain. Venya also falls, but Ront runs over and grabbs Venya, throwing her across the room to Kennith so he can heal her. Ovrin falls multiple times, but gets healed by Kennith and Venya. Eventually the oozes are killed, but Kruun and Ovrin are dead… Kruun asked Ront to bring his necklace to a tree so he can rest in his last breath. In Ovrin’s last breath, he asked for Pockets but couldn’t find her. Instead he asked Kennith to finish him with his ask. Kennith sighs but agrees to end Ovrin’s suffering by taking his head off with the axe. Ovrin dies with a content smile. With the heroes dead, Lord Arduk takes their deaths as a sacrifice and brings 2 people back from the dead. Angus and Thorum rise from the fountain, very exhausted, but alive! The statue of Lord Arduk now seems somewhat alive with wiggling tentacles. They take the statue with them and put it inside Glabragool for safe keeping. They all rest then find a room with water leaking. The whole room is filling with water slowly. Invidia casts water breathing on everyone and and the room and tunnels fill with water they swim up and find themselves back in the Darklake. Glabragool and the god statue come with. Eventually they see a boat with 2 drow. One seems to know Invidia and they take him with to go meet THC. Invidia bids farewell and offers them to join in with the THC alliance.   Short Version:  They lose 2 members, get back 2 lost members and start a cult.

Session 20 - SHIP - Sailing, Hopefully In Peace Ooze temple, Dark Lake Derek (Kennith Otaranko), Robby PI (Thorum Bronzebeard), Lea (Pockets), Jeff (Glab), Malcolm (Angus Bronzebeard) Pockets has a ‘ravaging’ talk with the ooze about everything - but mostly about trees. She is then faced with her two dead dwarf-friends returning and her party throwing a weird looking statue into Glab called Lord Arduk. The group goes back and forth talking about souls and hell and who died and who didn’t. The losses and returns take a toll on the group. After crying for some time whilst being carried by Kennith, the Kender gets off of his shoulder and walks up to Lord Arduk, offering to serve him. A couple of moments later a boat shows up that takes Invidia and Beregar with them but doesn’t have any more space. They point them towards Gracklstugh. They make their way there and try to explain to the Dwarven brothers that they died, but Lord Arduk explains that souls from hell want to - and should - only remember when they want to, so they decide to leave them be. Eventually they come towards a fog, taking everyone’s sight (except for Lord Arduk’s) and tie themselves to each other. The ancient deity senses Undead and they eventually find an old looking ship, where they immediately decide to untie each other and fight them, since Lord Arduk hates them. Angus finds some Gold and an old desk, Pockets a coffin and a corpse and Kennith find a journal in common. Eventually, they hear moaning and gurgling and are attacked by the undead crew. They explore some more and find two Undead Ogres attacking them with chains. One of them refuses to stay dead, but they eventually kill them. Going through some of the captain’s logs, they figure out that an Elven female slave used some sort of spell or object to curse the crew. She wanted them to stay dead, it was her final wish, as they figure out when they find her letter next to her hung skeleton. They find her ghostly form which accuses them of not honoring her wish - which they didn’t - and she attacks the group. They finally beat her and Lord Arduk asks them to bless the cursed skeleton with some holy water and Kennith obliges. The group ends up being victorious and get themselves a ship! Tl;dr - They cleanse a ghost ship and sail away with it!

Session 21 - NEW - Nascent Elderly Worshipper Normandy Derek (Kennith Otaranko), Robby PI (Thorum Bronzebeard), Lea (Pockets), Malcolm (Angus Bronzebeard), Doug (Saruuc Kech Tuukan) After a week of living on the ship Sarith approaches Pockets, telling her that he wishes to learn how to cook. They proceed to discuss hot sauce and bacon. Later Varn and Pockets approach Lord Arduk to ask him about Thorum and Angus and if there was any evil in their soul. He informs them that he can only tell good from evil through his sin-eaters, a group of his chosen followers. They also learn that his priests told him about the Daelkyr and that they are powerful enough to challenge the Gods. The first lesson of his is that you most come to grips with knowledge that you may not spread. The Gods as we know them do not exist, only beings that came to power through prayer. The Deep Six and The Sovereign Host even walk among people and are even killable on the celestial plane. Pockets accepts this knowledge as she means to follow him. Lastly he informs them that he currently can return one of his priests for one killed enemy. He also asks them if they would think that he should consume the Elven woman’s soul or let her pass on to the afterlife - and that people passing through him will still arrive at their true destination, heaven or hell. Not being comfortable with making a decision like that, Varn goes to fetch Venya. Once she arrives, Stool walks in with her, which Pockets is not okay with, so she leaves to make some music with him, sparing the young Myconid of having to make a horrible decision. Meanwhile Venya asks Lord Arduk some more questions and eventually the group decides to have her move on to nothingness so that one of his followers may return. They are informed that he will appear within the next five minutes. As Varn and Venya start talking to JimJar, a tall, red, old Hobgoblin wearing old chain mail appears in the middle of the room. He starts talking in a very old version of Goblin, though his speech slowly seems to adapt. While he knows Elves he does not know of Drow and finds that Varn speaks very direspectful of Lord Arduk. After Pockets tells him that he’s probably been dead for about 10.000 years, Saruuc needs a moment, but eventually catches himself. Then the group leads him to meet his worshipped lord and deity. After swearing an oath to Lord Arduk to help the group strengthen his power, he is introduced to the crew, one by one. Tl;dr - A long dead Hobgoblin joins the group!

Session 22 - GIANTS - Getting Into Another Nasty, Terrible Situation Derek (Kennith Otaranko, Aasimar cleric), Robby (Thorum Bronzebeard, dwarf fighter), Lea (Pockets, kender bard), Malcolm (Angus Bronzebeard, dwarf barbarian), Doug (Saruuc Kech Tuukan, hobgoblin paladin), Rachel (Venya, elf druid), Nicolette (Lorelei Grey, mysterious, pale, red eyed paladin) As the group approaches Gracklstug, Buppido gets nervous. Angus asks him about it since Buppido claimed he was worshipped in the city. He says there is a difference between the duegar and derro in the city. Buppido is a derro and that part of the city loves him. The duegar however, look down on him. They get to Gracklstug and Buppido tells them that duegar don’t like outsiders and can hide invisibly. After a debate, they decide to park at the main dock and go in openly without trying to hide who they are. At the dock they are greeted by 6 guards. Pockets and Venya want to take point, but the guards are speaking dwarvish, so Thorum and Angus do the talking. They say they are just here for directions and to get supplies, but the guards call them liars and arrest them after seeing they have no good weapons they would want. Everyone is lead in shackles through the city. Suddenly a 2 headed giant comes from nowhere and starts attacking duegar randomly in the city. The giant gives a massive scream and half the people fall down clutching their heads, including Thorum, Pockets, and Saruuc. During the fight a mysterious pale woman showed up and attacked the giant as well doing massive damage to the giant with her sword. When the beast is finally widdled down, the new girl kills it with an ice knife. The giant starts to fall on Angus and Thorum, who is still stunned from the giant scream. Angus flexes mightily and holds the giant up long enough for Saruuc to drag Thorum out of the way. A new giant shows up and is sad. Thorum steps up and immediately apologizes for killing the first giant. The new giant accepts the apology and says they should come see his people after they deal with the guards. He also tells them the captain of the guard, a female duegar named Captain Errde Blackskull, is honorable and will give them a fair deal. Everyone goes back in chains and goes with the guards to see the captain.

Session 23 - JOB - Joining Opportunistic Blackskull Gracklstugh Derek (Kennith Otaranko), Robby PI (Thorum Bronzebeard), Lea (Pockets), Malcolm (Angus Bronzebeard), Doug (Saruuc Kech Tuukan), Rachel (Venya), Nicolette (Lorelei Grey), Samuel (Quinn Riverward) The group and Lorelei are lead to the Overlake Hold to meet the captain of the guard. As they walk on through the city they notice that the merchants around here seem to have some odd ticks - yelling at customers until they buy something, changing the price of an item for no apparent reason and more. Once they arrive they are lead into the dungeon to wait for the captain and Lorelei has to chose if she wants to join them down there or not. Eventually they are lead to a fully armed female grey Dwarf - Captain Errde Blackskull. She wants them to help find the source of corruption in the city and depending on the evidence they’ll be rewarded accordingly. They are given an insignia that allows them to move through the city as deputies. Each one of them could end up with 350gp of equipment when they leave the city. Furthermore there’s a Derro named Droki they’ve been trying to capture and she needs help figuring out if there’s a spy allowing him to slip through their fingers. She’ll even help keep the Drow off of them, but once they stop working for her all bets are off. The Derrow will most likely be in the West Cleft District, where the Duergar can’t walk as freely as them. They’re allowed to kill him once they have evidence. He may be linked to the Council of Savants and the corruption that is plaguing the city. Themberchaud, the Red Dragon, apparently lives in the city, and his egg got stolen - by Droki. So now the group is left to themselves. Once they leave the building they meet a human who asks them about the Giant. His name is Quinn Riverward and he looks very worse for wear, one eye swollen shut and such. He’s looking to kill a guy named Ghazim Du’Loc for revenge and needs the help of a group. They walk on a couple of steps and are confronted with a Duergar speaking to them telepathically, offering them work if they so wish. All they’d need to do is come to the southeast and they’ll be lead to their ‘lair’. For now they decide to make their way to Cairngorm Cavern to meet the Giant that had invited them in the beginning. A large, authoritarian looking Giant welcomes them and tells them about madness seeping out of the stone. He remembers the Daelkyr as he is 5000 years old, so when the party mentions them he explains what he knows. Although he knows that speaking to the stone could cause madness, his people are ready to put him down immediately. After discussing the madness with him for a moment he asks them to leave as he’ll have a meeting with the Deep King soon. The last thing he tells them is that while the Red Dragon is most likely not mad, he’s grown out of his wyrmling stage, which is a problem. Usually the grown red dragon is killed and replaced with a new one, but as the egg has been stolen the city may have to deal with an angry Themberchaud soon. Before they settle they return to their ship to find out that Gwyn, Basteln and Derendil have been killed, Ront has been abducted and the rest ‘fled’ to the ship. The Duergar are currently trying to figure out who did it and the group races to the inn to meet their companions. Tl;dr - The group finally has a job and looses 3 companions.

Session 24 - SINK - Swimming Involves Nauseating Kissing Gracklstugh Derek (Kennith Otaranko), Robby PI (Thorum Bronzebeard), Doug (Saruuc Kech Tuukan), Nicolette (Lorelei Grey), Samuel (Quinn Riverward) The group gets to the inn where their companions are staying. Saruuc immediately yells at Varn, asking where his Lord Arduk is. Varn assures him that Lord Arduk is safely in a room upstairs. Saruuc visibly relaxes. They overhear some invisible duegar talking about the docks and the weird stuff going on there. Thorum goes to speak with them. He offers to buy them an ale for some answers but they get mad at him for offering them alcohol at only 10 AM. Then they get mad at him for trying to bribe them. He shows them the mark the guard captain gave them and they angrily back down. Lorelei then comes over and smoothes over the situation. They aren’t very helpful so the group decide to go to the dock to look for clues on what happened to Ront and their murdered companions. Pockets and Angus are very sleepy and decide to stay back. At the docks is 2 duegar attack a merchant. The group runs to save the merchant but one of them shoots out his magical power and everyone is thrown into the water. Quinn quickly swims out and shoots arrows at one of the duegar who grows to gigantic proportions. Lorelei and Thorum pull themselves out soon after and are able to kill the giant duegar. They then attack the other duegar. Lorelei tries to take him alive but he attempts to run and Thorum stabs him in the back and he falls in the water dead. Lorelei glares at him angrily. Qunn jumps into the water to save a drowning Jim Jar. Saruuc finally manages to pull himself out of the water and tells them he saw Kennith drowning so Thorum ties a rope to himself, hands one end to Saruuc, and dives in after Kennith. He is able to get to Kennith who is about to drown so Thorum places him mouth on Kennith and breaths air into him. Kennith wishes he had said no homo first, but reluctantly accepts the air. Sarruc pulls them close to the surface where Kennith swims up himself, but Thorum then passes out from lack of air having given too much to Kennith. Kennith for some reason dives back in to save Thorum who is only 5 feet under water with a rope tied to him…and immediately starts to sink again. Saruuc pulls up an unconscious Thorum and they eventually fish out Kennith from the water again. Saruuc uses his magical ability to talk to a dead duegar, but gets no useful answers. Meanwhile Quinn tries to remove a magical bracelet from one of the dead duegar but breaks it, so he hacks the arms off of the duegar and takes the bracelet while no one is watching. The merchant’s name is Werz Saltbaron. He doesn’t know why they wanted to kill him and is rather gruff and rude to any questions they have, but then thanks them and offers to have them meet him at the shattered spire tomorrow to give them a proper reward. They group is exhausted and goes to sleep at the inn before exploring the city any more.

Session 25 - GAME - Going Around Meeting Everyone Gracklstugh Derek (Kennith Otaranko), Robby PI (Thorum Bronzebeard), Lea (Pockets), Nicolette (Lorelei Grey), Samuel (Quinn Riverward) While Pockets and the others who stayed behind wait for the rest of the group to wake up they watch the inn slowly fill up. Tonight’s visitors include a group of grey dwarves, invisible grey dwarves, an older elven woman flanked by two knights in dark platemail wearing light plate herself that seems to glow, a large imposing woman with ceremonial jewelry and patchy leather armor carrying a whip, a ‘shifty’ woman in a dark cloak and a man in grey clothing and a mask. The last guy has a mish-mash of leather and chain wrapped around him and appears to be able to see Glabbagool. Zana, the human, is from Xen’Drick and down here because it’s the only way to make trade with the other continents. She says if the group goes to Blingdenstone they’ll be able to reach the surface near Zilargo, though she is in need of an animal handler and would love to hire a halfling capable of working with dinosaurs. Upon looking at the mask of the group’s assailants she assumes that the ‘Grey ghosts’, the local underground duergar group. Furthermore she lets the group know that they have to leave the Underdark and re-enter it through the Eldeen Reaches to reach Gauntlgrym. Lastly she informs them that she needs protection as she has vital information that needs to reach Xen’Drick - and that Undead and Dinosaurs await them if they follow her. Meanwhile Lorelei, Thorum and Quinn approach the masked man. He’s looking for another man with a mask, the same one Lorelei is searching. Apparently the man was supposed to gather information on the demonic presence in the Underdark and hasn’t returned. He says that the Juiblex most likely left his mark to give the Oozes sentience, making Glabbagool a possible problem if he chooses to posses him. Refusing to give the group his name he stays vague and lets them know that he’ll be around the inn. Afterwards Thorum approaches the Elves, but doesn’t mention to get much information. They choose to scout out the shattered spire, a tavern in an old ship. They see a Drow pretending to sleep, a Troll on a self-made throne, a blind woman presumably playing cards and a gorgeous woman surrounded by men. Thorum walks up to the blind woman who makes it very clear that information will only be offered against payment. That payment ends up being a game with her, which both Pockets and Lorelei play - Pockets drawing an Ace of Spades and Lorelei drawing a Nine of Spades. According to the woman the Ace of Spades is quite good while the Nine of Spades is alright, but the group has no idea what that means. Nothing seems to have happened either way. The gorgeous woman, called Alura, winks at Kennith and when he comes over to ask what she wants, she starts flirting with him, to the anger of the men already surrounding her. Tl;dr - The group converses with a couple of people in the city.

Session 26 - FIRE - Finally It Really Ends Gracklstugh Derek (Kennith Otaranko), Robby PI (Thorum Bronzebeard), Lea (Pockets), Malcolm (Angus Bronzebeard), Doug (Saruuc Kech Tuukan), Nicolette (Lorelei Grey), Samuel (Quinn Riverward) After a long night of in-party arguing and even fighting, all with straight up banishment to the Shadow Realm by Lord Arduk for Lorelei, they finally get going the next morning. Arduk lets them know that there was a demon in the city for a day who then left and that there’s another one who’s been around for a while. The moment they leave the inn they hear a big roar and watch the red dragon fly over the city, eventually reaching Hold of the Deepking which it immediately fills with flames. Once the group reaches the Hold they notice multiple Duergar trying to get in as well, but failing. They don’t seem to be getting in this way so they decide to climb the walls. Inside they are met with a Succubus, a group of Duergar, the Red Dragon and the man in the white mask they’d met in their inn the night before. Unsure as to what to do the group waits for a moment to see where this goes, while the man in the mask bars the doors and turns ethereal afterwards. Just moments later they’re in complete chaos - fighting the fiend, the dragon, each other and trying to figure out what is happening. Meanwhile the man in the white mask takes out more Duergar as well as the king in a small hallway and frees his friend, another masked man with a tower shield, but returns in order to take down the dragon. Lorelei eventually finishes the beast off and they now focus their attacks on the succubus. After finally slaying all their enemies the group gathers to rest, all except for Pockets, who goes to investigate the cells she found earlier. In there she finds both the red dragon egg and Buppido, covered in blood. The Derro thanks her for freeing him and tells her that he had to kill the Duergar because they stopped him at his work. His work, as his turns out, is ‘finishing his ritual by putting the Orc’s head on the spire’. Tl;dr - Shit hits the fan.

Session 27 - DERRO - Dasterdly Evil Ront Robber’s Orchestration Gracklstugh Derek (Kennith Otaranko), Robby PI (Thorum Bronzebeard), Lea (Pockets), Malcolm (Angus Bronzebeard), Doug (Saruuc Kech Tuukan), Nicolette (Lorelei Grey), Samuel (Quinn Riverward), Katie (Lanore Van Helgen) The group puts together a plan on how to leave Gracklstugh as quickly as possible. Angus, Kennith and Saruuc go out to possibly get Ront while the others rest and attempt to forge a document. Pockets is convinced that her document is about as good as it’s going to get without a Kit and the group moves on to the inn to get the rest of their party. Meanwhile Kennith manages to find Buppido’s blood trail and it leads back past Laduguer’s Furrow, where a bunch of Derro seem to have risen up against the Duergar. The serial killer spots them and - almost as if he was baiting him - smiles and disappears into the crowd. Running through the alleyways and houses their cleric manages to keep track of him. They eventually have to split up and while Kennith goes to check on the boat, Saruuc and Angus keep on following him. After questioning him for a minute they learn that he believes himself to be the reborn Derro god of death - just before he knocks them both unconscious and abducts them as well. While the rest of the group rejoins at the inn, Shelly returns with a paper. It’s an invitation to Buppido’s ascension! They have 24 hours, in which they meet a human archaeologist and try to sleep. During that time Varn confesses his love to Venya, who breaks through her mental blockage and realizes that her children were killed by Drow, kills Varn, realizes what she did and hangs herself. The next morning they make their way to the given address, a broken down building in the middle of the West Cleft District. They get surrounded by Derro, but manage to get enough information out of them to know that Buppido got Ront to his cave using secret entrances around the water’s edge. They decide to wait around his old house for him. Tl;dr - Buppido is a slippery fuck.

Session 28 - RUN - Racing Underdark’s Nutcase Gracklstugh Derek (Kennith Otaranko), Robby PI (Thorum Bronzebeard), Lea (Pockets), Malcolm (Angus Bronzebeard), Doug (Saruuc Kech Tuukan), Nicolette (Lorelei Grey), Samuel (Quinn Riverward) The group gets a package from Buppido with another address and an eyeball that looks like it could be from Angus. In the house they run into a fillet Drow with a music box at his feet - and the house blows up shortly afterwards. Eventually they find his cave, filled with bodies, and see Angus, Saruuc hanging from the ceiling. Almost immediately the body piles move, the dead rise and Buppido continues to laugh like a madman. They fight Undead and then have to run from Buppido, who turned into an Abberation, while crawling through a small tunnel. Tl;dr - The group just makes it out of Buppido’s cave.

Session 29 - SWORD - Saruuc Wants Out Rather Dreadfully Gracklstugh, Tunnels Derek (Kennith Otaranko, Varus), Robby PI (Thorum Bronzebeard, Barlo), Lea (Pockets), Malcolm (Angus Bronzebeard), Doug (Saruuc Kech Tuukan), Nicolette (Lorelei Grey), Samuel (Quinn Riverward) As the group runs through the city there are riots happening all around them and just when they leave the city they hear the Demigorgon’s roar behind them. In their travels they experience a couple of things. At first they meet two Duergar merchants who inform them that the Drow are still following them with roughly 50 people. They buy some jerky and go-gurt from them, the latter of which Arduk approves of. A couple of days later they run into a Dwarf and a Woodelf - Barlo and Varus. They are hunting down Phantom for a couple of dice, but decide to head towards Gauntlgrym when they hear about Gracklstugh’s condition. During their days in the tunnels they teach each other different things - draconic, intimidation, nature and more information about each others’ skills. The Thundercannon of their new member, Lanore, is especially interesting to the group. While they are distracted with her weapon Saruuc begins to mumble in Abyssal in front of his Lord’s statue, with Lorelei and Angus watching. The Dhampir manages to interfere with the Hobgoblin at the last second when he attempts to suddenly take his life for Arduk. In Saruuc’s mind he is not worth anything to his god anymore - giving his life for his god seems to be the only way to serve that he can see. The group manages to overpower him and put the dimensional shackles on. Tl;dr - The group’s relations evolve.

Session 30 - SUN - Survivors:  Underdark Nomore! Derek (Kennith Otaranko), Robby (Thorum Bronzebeard), Lea (Pockets), Malcolm (Angus Bronzebeard), Doug (Saruuc Kech Tuukan), Nicolette (Lorelei Grey), Samuel (Quinn Riverward) The group finally emerges from the underdark into a broken water fountain in the middle of a large city with the sun beating down on them. People look at the new arrivals strangely for wearing such heavy armor in the heat. On the dock is a 9 foot gold dragonborn. He looks to be in charge of the docks. Zana thanks everyone for getting her back home, then asks them to talk to her boss Sindra Silvain. 1 st things 1 st , they need a room to relax and a place to get a bath so they start heading that direction. On the way a water barrel falls on Lorelei from above. She looks up and sees a very apologetic woman who tosses her a gold for her troubles and disappears inside. They have 2 inn options. They safe inn or the “fun” inn for cheaper. Angus and Thorum want the fun inn, but Lorelei demands they stay at the safer place, so they do. Angus buys rooms for everyone for a week. Next they go to a bath house where Thorum pays for everyone. After feeling refreshed and clean, the group goes on a shopping spree. After replenishing their supplies and Kenneth getting his much needed ball bearings, they go and talk to Sindra Silvain and the merchant prince Wakanga O’tamu. Sindra looks ill. Angus asked her if she’s ok and she tells them of a curse that she needs help with. A death curse haunts the land. Anyone who was once dead gets weaker, and weaker. No one can be resurrected from the dead anymore either. Sindra tells them of her past as an adventurer wizard and informs them that undead are out in full force in parts of the island. The group agrees to help with the curse. As a reward, if they save her life, she promises them each a magical item. Those that survive that is. Wakanga then asks them to find Vorn. Vorn is a shield guardian that has been lost. He has an amulet on him that controls him and Wakanga wants the group to get the amulet for him. In return he will give them a spellbook. Quinn has his doubts about a man who wants items of power just to have them, but the group agrees to help him as well. Wakanga is the prince guide of magic and lore. Each merchant prince has his own special corner of the market. He is friends with some, but others he doesn’t get along with. The group will need to talk to Jobal who is the prince merchant of guides. Going into the jungles without a guide is very foolish.

Session 31 - VOLO - Verifying Our Last Options Port Nyanzaru Derek (Kennith Otaranko), Robby PI (Thorum Bronzebeard), Lea (Pockets), Malcolm (Angus Bronzebeard), Doug (Saruuc Kech Tuukan), Nicolette (Lorelei Grey), Samuel (Quinn Riverward) The group goes to visit the next Merchant Prince Jobal to acquire a guide. He points them to 8 different people they meet one by one and the party is left to decide who they wish to accompany them on their first trip. Meanwhile Pockets meets Volo, the great adventurer, who wishes to promote his book, as well a woman named Inete, who asks the group to take her to the Aldani Basin. She takes them to the group and they agree to help Inete - and have a nice talk with Volo. They find out that Eku, one of the guides, wants to go near the Basin as well, and decide to hire her and Asaka. During their final evening in town Volo informs the group of a few things to look out for: Elemental spirits with powers who won’t hurt them unless you do and a city called ‘Mezro’. The ruins that can be seen there are an illusion - he also mentions a pale skinned man whispering to a dinosaur man with a big sword, smelling like honeysuckle. Tl;dr - Preperations are being made.

Session 32 - FIGHT - Finally It’s Gathering Heads Time Port Nyanzaru Derek (Kennith Otaranko), Robby PI (Thorum Bronzebeard), Lea (Pockets), Malcolm (Angus Bronzebeard), Doug (Saruuc Kech Tuukan), Nicolette (Lorelei Grey), Samuel (Quinn Riverward) After preparing for their first excursion in town, the group heads off towards Camp Righteous with Eku and Asaka. About two miles out of town they see three Aarakocra flying overhead, who can’t pass a ‘man with a bow, yelling “You shall not pass!”’. They encounter the man as well and quickly find themselves in combat with him after Pockets jumps across the river, pissing the black knight off. During the fight the group chops off his limbs one by one, although the man constantly claims that his life-threatining injuries aren’t as bad as the look. Eventually they are left with his still-talking head, which they choose to take along with them. The next day they meet four Elven scouts - called Tim, Bill, Bob and Alioliea - who tell the party that Camp Righteous has actually been abandoned since a group of Undead attacked it. After talking to them for a bit the group decides to tag along with them and go a little out of their way to cut through a bunch Undead on their path to Camp Vengeance. Just a couple of hours after leaving they are attacked by a couple of Grungs, colorful bipedal frog-people. They give them a few problems but the group eventually manages to finish them all off. Tl;dr - The group fights itself through the jungle and meet Elves with odd names.

Session 33  Derek (Kennith Otaranko), Robby (Thorum Bronzebeard), Malcolm (Angus Bronzebeard), Doug (Saruuc Kech Tuukan), Nicolette (Lorelei Grey), Samuel (Quinn Riverward), Lea as Pockets MIA Lorelei wakes everyone up in the middle of the night because of an ominous blue mist. Soon a swarm of bats flies overhead running from something. Then a horde a various size skeletons attack, including a troll skeleton, a Minotaur skeleton, and a skeletal warhorse. Thorum ran into the mist and became instantly paranoid. Their guide Eku THEN tells them to avoid the mist, its got monkey fever. Eventually all the skeletons are killed as the mist creeps closer, but the giant troll skeleton keeps rising back from the dead and downs both Saruuc and Angus. Lorelei fearlessly charges through the fire and finally burns the troll to death. It takes a few days of being lost but eventually the guides get them to Camp Righteous. Inside is a giant temple shrine of a crocodile on a mans back. There is also a cage with an axebeak bird. Kennith gave the bird food and bonded with it. Then he tried to put a rope harness on it and it started to squeal loudly. Soon 4 bigger, adult axebeaks came running from the north. Lorelei quickly opened the cage and released the first axebeak which ran out to join its family. They all gave an angry stare to Kennith before running away. Saruuc revealed he doesn’t like the dwarf brothers and hopes they die. Meanwhile Angus and Thorum went into the temple and immediately fall into a pit. They climb out and Quinn and Angus climb to the next ledge in the shrine. A serious of 4 blades swing out and hurt them. Quinn eventually leaves the ledge and Thorum climbs up with Angus to help him with stone mason tools to lodge spikes into the blade holes so they can get to the next ledge. On the next ledge is a series of tiles on the floor. Angus has Thorum climb on his back and from there he can see a pattern to the tiles glowing above. Angus follows the pattern, jumping on the tiles until they get to the door. They push the same tile pattern on the door and it opens. They enter and the door slams shut behind them, separating them from the group.

Session 34 - STUCK - Some Temples’ Undergrowth Contain Killers Camp Righteous Derek (Kennith Otaranko), Robby PI (Thorum Bronzebeard), Lea (Pockets), Malcolm (Angus Bronzebeard) Angus and Thorum find themselves in the last chamber by themselves, cut off from the group. They see dinosaur skeletons on the bottom of a spiraling staircase and a jug at the very top. They climb up to it, take it, and do one last thing before leaving the room. Meanwhile the two guides outside hear a horn and footsteps, so Kennith and Pockets go out to investigate. They don’t see anyone but do hear the horn - and then notice that all of their animal companions and belongings are gone, the ropes are cut. Eventually a young Spinosaurus appears and attacks, drawn to them by the horn. It also got the attention of a bunch of Zombies and Skeletons After being thoroughly weakened by the their enemies a group of Goblins - who presumably staged the attack - join the fight. The party seems down on their luck as Eku turns into an elephant and begins to charge the enemies. It surprises them, but doesn’t seem to be enough. Thorum eventually kills the dinosaur, but after that multiple members are dropping in and out of consciousness. They manage to survive the fight and Asaka immediately goes to retrieve their animals, while Pockets and Kennith take the dinosaur apart. It takes Asaka a moment to find them and the group actually has to go out of their way to find Duffel - only to find him with his new mate - and they make their way to Camp Vengeance with one less dinosaur. Tl;dr - The group almost dies fighting three different enemies at once.