Session 29 - Sewer Tour

17th of Uktar, 1371 DR
After recoverin’ from our encounter with the Mind Flayer, we ran a few errands (I was able to get a few magical items commissioned). In an interestin’ turn of events, Tyree accidentally brought Mascar WinterEagle to us. Mascar was tryin’ to find a group of mercenaries to hide him from the authorities and the justice of the Hill Giants and instead, he found us. We arrested him and turned him over to Fenton.

While this doesn’t really make up for the error in judgment of not arrestin’ him in the first place, this fortunate happenstance gives the illusion of us bein’ able to track down fugitives in short order.

18th of Uktar, 1371 DR
Usin’ the note we had found about a meetin’ with the Mind Flayer and Tyree’s hard-earned knowledge of the City of Splendors we found the sewer entrance at the intersection in question. Tyree also mentioned that this beggar’s gold mold only grows in the run off from smithies and this information helped us choose which of the ten sewer tunnels to investigate.

I find it endlessly amusin’ and frustratin’ that Tyree can be so useful to our band (what with his combat skills and his useful tidbits of information), yet be such a detriment to us in any kind of social settin’. Certainly his contributions far outweigh his social gaffs. I just can’t help but believe that Tyree could be known as a great hero were it not for the social handicaps imposed on him by his origins and mannerisms.

Be that as it may, we were soon presented with evidence that we were on the right track when we found a decomposin’ body with a hole drilled in the skull – the signature of our Mind Flayer adversary. Eventually we came upon a break in the sewer line openin’ into some sort of rough-hewn or natural cavern. The Shriekers guardin’ the entrance gave off their horrible noise, so we plunged ahead knowing we’d be facin’ stiff resistance.

Sure enough, in a wide hall with a ledge some 20’ high we were set upon by Drow archers. I killed one immediately with a Chain Missile spell (injurin’ all his allies in the process) and then directed the combat from the ground to save my spells for the showdown with the Mind Flayer. Alobron and Tyree killed the rest with fire support from Rumple and Egwaine. We suffered relatively light injuries and after taking a moment to heal and loot bodies we continued down the hall.

Next, we came to a room with a pool of fresh water fed by a fast-flowin’ stream. The room was inhabited by a Guardian Naga whom we negotiated safe passage with. It cost us some of the Drow’s magic, but we didn’t have to waste time or spells fightin’ the Naga. In addition, we were able to gain some information about the Mind Flayer (his name is Xizirzog, for example) as well.

After a short while, the halls pilled out into a large cavern with a ramp on one side and a door in the north wall guarded by a trio of squirmers. The cavern was also chock full of Drow led by a priestess!

This was a tough fight. Despite the radiance from our Daylight spell, the Drow archers laid down witherin’ fire, strippin’ Alobron of his Mirror Images and woundin’ him terribly. The Drow infantry were almost as effective, slicin’ Tyree to ribbons after he charged into the fray. Bolstered by the Cleric’s Prayer spell, the Drow were a formidable force.

I took out the priestess with an Empowered Fel Drain Magic Missile, insurin’ she’d no longer aid in the fight. Another Magic Missile spell took out the Drow sniper leadin’ the archers. Aedrinar proved what a Warmage is capable, first scorchin’ all the Drow with a Blast of Flame (killin’ one outright) and then disruptin’ the archers with a Fireball (killin’ another two with that blast). Alobron, flyin’ over the heads of the Drow and cleavin’ skulls with this falchion killed two and injured two others. Rumple only killed one, but he provided flanks for Tyree and soften up targets so the Uthgardt could finish them off. Tyree killed three Drow while Storn finished off the rest of the infantry Drow. Egwaine managed to keep Alobron healed from a distance and caused the squirmers to flee the divine presence of Kelemvor so that Aedrinar could finish them off safely from a distance with Magic Missiles.

Despite numerous injuries suffered, it was a fine battle which we executed with sound tactics and decisive violence.

I have to wonder, though…how many of these damned Drow does this Mind Flayer have?

Session 28 - The Power Behind the Throne

16th of Uktar, 1371 DR
The Mind Flayer’s ambush was fiendishly clever. At least a half-dozen Drow thralls were hidin’ in magical darkness that we somehow failed to take note of, even though it was painfully obvious that there were pools of darkness in the corners of the room ignorin’ our light sources. One of the Drow was a skirmisher of some kind and was frighteningly deadly with his bow. The Mind Flayer hit us with a mind blast and Alabron and I were sent reelin’ – basically takin’ us out of the fight. By the time we could think straight, there were only a couple of thralls left to fight, so I just directed tactics from the metal platform while Alabron hurled his falchion, desperate to get in the fight.

Three people saved us in this fight. I credit Aedrinar with savin’ our lives. As soon as he could react, instead of usin’ a common (and possibly ineffective) Fireball or some other attack spell, he dropped a Stinkin’ Cloud on the main group of Drow and the Mind Flayer. Not only did this confuse the thrall’s line of attack and force ‘em into less cohesive formations, but it completely drove the Illithid away! Were it not for Aedrinar’s quick thinkin’, I can’t help but believe we’d all be thralls by now.

Storn and Rumple bravely jumped down to the ground to deal with the Drow lest they put us all to sleep with their poisoned arrows. With Storn absorbin’ an amazin’ amount of punishment, Rumple was able to flank Drow at will. Both Storn and Rumple killed three of the thralls and Storn also killed the skirmisher. Alabron and Aedrinar also chalked up a kill each.

We limped home with our booty, finally rescuin’ Illya Starmane along the way. She didn’t sound at all pleased with us, but did mention we should come by her estate once she could be sure there was no Doppleganger impersonatin’ her.

17th of Uktar, 1371 DR
Runnin’ errands today. We talked to the Agents of the Alliance and presented them with all our evidence and a detailed accountin’ of what went on inside the Sodden Hold. We also collected a reward for the “super” Doppelganger we killed and were charged with trackin’ the Mind Flayer to its lair and killin’ it.

Tyree is pretty sure he knows how to find the creature based on some strange fungus the Drow had on their boots. That combined with the directions we have on where the Doppelganger leader was supposed to meet the Illithid means we should be able to find the thing.

Bought some more healing hands and commissioned a Portable Hole. Very excitin’ that. Now we won’t have to debate which bulky treasures to leave behind. We can just take it all.

We’re goin’ to discuss strategy and spells tonight over dinner, for tomorrow we hunt Mind Flayer!

Session 27 - Toppling the King of the Sodden Hold

16th of Uktar, 1371 DR
We’ve experienced another changin’ of the guard within our group. We sent Quarto back to replace Storn in guardin’ our way out. By the time Storn caught up to us, we also met a strangely scruffy-lookin’ Elf named Rumple. Since we witnessed him dispatch a Doppelganger on his own, we decided to let him join us (after checkin’ his head for holes, of course).

Rumple turned out to be much better with traps than Quarto. Not only was he able to find several traps, but he was also able to disable them to make them safe to pass by. Which was a good thing because the next room was a mirror maze chock full of traps causin’ spears to jut outta the floor. As we explored the mirror maze (Alabron and Storn used their swords to slash through the mirrors, creatin’ our own path through the maze), we were assaulted by Doppelgangers several times. Mostly, they made the mistake of attackin’ us one at a time and were cut down in short order. When the last three finally struck, we had managed to get together and handled them easily enough.

Havin’ dispatched another batch of Doppelgangers, we decided to find out was behind a scary-lookin’ iron door. The door was double trapped (the clever fiends) and the second trap nearly crushed Alabron as a pillar of stone stomped down on him! Through the door, however, we found the king of the Sodden Hold – a Doppelganger disguised as Allustan sittin’ on a throne flanked by four more undisguised Doppelgangers who had just faded into view from invisibility.

The Allustan Doppelganger dropped a Fireball on our lead element and then surrounded Tyree in a Wall of Fire, fillin’ our entire end of the room with oven-like heat. Then the other four Doppelgangers turned invisible again. Alabron cast Fly on himself and flew into the room and Storn followed in on the ground only to plummet into a pit trap that opened right in front of the closest set of stairs leading up to the throne. Eqwaine used her Wand of Spiritual Weapon to try to keep the Allustan Doppelganger busy, but was unable to hurt it.

Rumple, bravin’ the flames, went in and lowered a rope down to Storn. Tyree ran screamin’ through the Wall of Fire, jumped up to grab the ledge of the throne dais, clambered up and was set upon by a pair of Doppelgangers. At the same time, the Allustan Doppelganger dropped another Fireball on us. Alabron flew towards the Allustan imposter, getting’ stabbed by a Doppelganger comin’ outta invisibility, but failed to hit the creature. Storn started climbin’ out of the pit and I readied myself to interrupt Allustan’s next spell. Egwaine blessed us all with a Prayer spell.

Rumple used some magic item to allow himself to See Invisibility while he helped pull Storn outta the pit. Tyree lashed out at his Doppelganger assailants, hittin’ one of them twice. Then Allustan turned into Kullen and lashed out at Alabron with a frost-laden greataxe. An invisible Doppelganger came at me, but since Rumple was able to warn me I was able to get a Shield spell up in time to foil his attack. Alabron hacked into the Kullen Doppelganger with his falchion and I slammed a barrage of Empowered Fel Drain Magic Missiles into Kullen. Egwaine further increased our combat abilities with a Blessin’ of the Righteous spell – imbuin’ out weapons with holy might.

Rumple continued pullin’ Storn out of the pit. Tyree killed one of his Doppelganger foes and slashed a wicked cut across the other. Kullen flew into a rage and struck Alabron a brutal blow. In return, Alabron blasted the imposter Half-Orc with a Ray of Enfeeblement and flew away. Unfortunately, as he made his escape he was almost killed by blows from Kullen and one of the Doppelgangers. The only thing that saved his life was a Close Wounds spell from Egwaine. Storn finally made it out of the pit and I blasted the Kullen Doppelganger with more Magic Missiles as Egwaine started layin’ out Mass Cure Light Wounds spells.

With Storn out of the pit, the fight turned on the Doppelgangers quickly. Rumple and the Dwarf combined efforts to kill the Doppelganger that was still (fruitlessly) trying to kill me while Tyree dispatched his last foe. After another healin’ spell on Alabron, he was able to re-engage Kullen. A few moments later, all the Doppelgangers were dead and we were lottin’ bodies.

As it turned out, the “king” Doppelganger had darker skin and also had some strange symbol carved into its forehead. We recovered quite a bit of loot, includin’ a mirror that seemed to reflect things as they actually are. We used the mirror to reveal that the Dolgun in the circular room was the real Dolgun, but that the Olaf was a Doppelganger (which we killed).

Haulin’ our loot out of the Sodden Hold, we got to the room with the risin’ pillar when a secret door burst open and a Mind Flayer and a handful of Drow Elves spilled out!

Looks like we’ve found the power behind the throne. I only hope we live to tell people what was really goin’ on down here.