Session 34 - Once Again, All Kamist's Suspicions Are Confirmed

Or How to be a Successful Psychic Without Even Trying

26th of Uktar, 1371 DR
We scoured every room Coenoby tonight, but found nothin' ta point us in the right direction. Oh, we found plenty of suspicious stuff, but nothin' regarding Raknian and the Age of Worms or the scrolls. Most of the rest of the guys got involved in some "trouble" or another. Tyree's still trying to make a move on the Snow Leopard women. I guess he's made some headway after rescuin' one from some Ghouls in the river.

I just didn't seem to have it in me to get into any trouble of my own. Michella's response to my letter was much colder than I had hoped for. Kinda threw me off my game.

I have decided to not worry about it until after the games.

27th of Uktar, 1371 DR
So, there are all these exhibition games goin' on taday. Before we even really decide what ta do about that, Ekyam shows up and reveals his true motivations for gettin' us into the games. It seems his sister, was recently "involved" with Raknian and now she's gone missin'. Ekyam was hopin' we could snoop around a bit and see if we can't find any clues as to what's become of her.

Luckily for Ekyam, we wanted to do some snoopin' of our own - hopefully to uncover the truth about what Raknian has planned for Waterdeep. So, we told him we'd do our best, and bowed out of all the exhibition matches.

I think this really disappointed Tyee. he seemed to really want ta fight the "Bear Warrior."

So, we waited until the first event was underway and no one was around to sneak over the secret door that Rumple had stumbled across yesterday. Once behind the door, the stench of rottin' flesh and gods knows what else hit us in the face like a physical presence!

It wasn't long before we came across some Squirmers accompanied by mass swarms of worms! We dealt with 'em with the proven tactics we've developed over the last few weeks. Without our trusty Warmage, however, I fear this'll be tougher than usual.

Maybe we killed the last of 'em already?

Session 33 - Betrayal in the Arena

24th of Uktar, 1371 DR
My time at the Eltorchul Academy was well spent. I feel like I'm on the verge of a breakthrough. I only wish I'd had more time to practice before the games. I can't help but feel new ways to manipulate force energy would be useful.

25th of Uktar, 1371 DR
The openin' ceremonies and feast for the Champion's Belt Games was tonight. Quite a shindig actually. Lots a food. Lots a booze. Lots of competitors that seem way too serious about this whole thing!

We mostly were able to stay out of trouble during the feast. Tyree did his best to pick up on some Uthgardt women (which, of course, means he ended up lookin' like a fool). We managed to keep from gettin' entangled with prostitutes and people sellin' "illegal" goods. I also managed to save one of the servin' girls from some savage Orcs (with Alabron's help) - magically switched the poor girl with Al who immediately did his best impression of poor fighter. All-in-all, I think we managed to look quite incompetent. My bumblin' introduction got us rated all the way down to a two at one point!

Other strange things that happened...we ran into Carenthal. He wasn't on a team, so I'm not sure what he was doin' there, but there he was. Came over to make some lame excuse about why he vanished without a word or even a note and then promptly left us to go talk to the team of female Elven archers. I used to like Carenthal. Now I think he's a bit of an ass-hat.

That crazed street prophet even made an appearance. That guy need to get a new speech! I swear, I can just about recite his "prophecy" from memory by now. I suppose I won't have to worry about it too much, though. When he broke away from the guards who grabbed him, he was killed with a knife to his back. A knife! A guard's sword, I would have expected, but a knife! Certainly looks like he was murdered and not killed trying to escape custody.

Which brings me to Loris Raknian and his sinister-looking "captain." They were givin' us the stink-eye all night! It seems quite apparent that Loris knows we were involved with the downfall of the Doppelgangers and death of the Illithid who sold him the apostolic scrolls. The question is, does he know that we know about him and his connection to all the evil that's goin' on?

My personal theory is that these games are just a front (this year) for some sinister ritual Raknian's goin' to perform to summon/create an Ulgurstasa. If that thing were to appear right here in the stadium with a sold out crowd, there's no tellin' how many Undead monstrosities it could create before it is destroyed!

Bottom line is we need to be on our guard. It seems likely Raknian will try to have us killed either durin' the games themselves or during down time in the Coenoby. Most of us have opted to eat or drink nothin' unless it has been prepared by us from start to finish. Mostly that means relyin' on Egwaine's ability to create food and water. I have also started doin' what I can to keep everyone together. If one of were led off into some dark part of the stadium's underbelly, there's no tellin' what might happen.

26th of Uktar, 1371 DR
We found out we were part of a four-way battle. Us, the Elven archer women, the Sapphire Squad, and the Badlands Revenge. We quickly made alliances with the Elves and Duke based on the idea that the Badlanders were only here to kill people, so they should be dealt with first before we fought amongst ourselves to win this round.

All of our sandbaggin' our ratin' really paid off. I don't think anyone was expectin' what came up that lift. By the time we hit the stadium floor we must have looked bright than last night's fireworks display to anyone detectin' magic. Good thing too, because it looks like Raknian must have made some alliances of his own.

As soon as the battle started, the Elves opened up on our newest recruit. His own protective spells (Mirror Image and Protection From Arrows) saved him, and after a quick heal from Egwaine, he was back in the fight. The Sapphire Duke and his Janni started positioning for a cavalry charge against us. The Badlands Revenge split into two groups. One group comin' at us and the others rushin' the Elves.

It was easy to see that the Elves represented the biggest threat. If allowed to fire at us from across the stadium, they would be able to pick us off one at a time with witherin' barrages of arrows. Menelvagor soften them up with a Fireball and I started tearin' apart their arrogant leader with Magic Missiles of various sorts. In the end, however, it was our smart planning, mobility, and adaptability that won the day.

We had come into the battle with Egwaine invisible and with every protective spell we could muster in place. Almost all of us had some sort of flying magic active. We combined that with a Haste spell from Menelvagor to give ourselves incredible speed. Then Egwaine used Dimension Door to put an Enlarged Alabron and an invisible Rumple right behind the Elven leader. Seconds later, the entire Elven team had surrendered.

Next, we dealt with the Sapphire Duke and his men. Our main concern about him was the Vorpal Scimitar he was wieldin'. He literally had the ability to cut us to pieces if the magic of that dread sword came into play. We neutralized him by only allowin' him individual attacks. When he used Ethereal Jaunt to close with us, we took the opportunity to wipe out his men. When the Duke finally did appear, we focused enough fire on him to force him to surrender or be killed.

The badlands Revenge turned out to be easier to deal with than expected. Early on, Alabron had killed their giant wolverine with a single blow. When their leader turned into a Giant Crocodile we were a bit concerned, but after the Sapphire Squad was out of the fight, our focus shifted to the croc and he was down in seconds. The rest of the Bandlanders were easy to mob up because with our ability to remain out of reach, they really had no chance.

So, we basically took down three teams by ourselves. Guess our ratin' is about to go up!

Round 1 goes to the Three Hills Adventurin' Company, betrayal and all. I hope Raknian has trouble sleepin' tonight.

Session 30 & 31 - Calamari Anyone

18th of Uktar, 1371 DR
Down a windin’ passage we came to a magical sigil in the floor. It was reminiscent to the sigil we found on the Doppleganger leader, but not an exact match. We figured it was some sorta magical trap, so Alabron made a path of dead Drow which did the trick nicely. This place is full of beautiful white marble that has been run through with the most vibrant purple and green veins I’ve ever seen. Unfortunately, these veins seem to glow with their own radiance and pulse a little. The effect’s not unattractive, but it’s quite unnerving.

I still think they’d make an interestin’ addition to the guild house if we could figure out how to get them back home.

On the other side of one of the amazin’ white marble doors we ran into five strange, globular creatures. Each one had a pair of long tentacles with serrated claws on the end. I couldn’t see any eyes on them, but it didn’t seem to hamper them in the least. Aedrinar called them Octopians – some kind of experimental pet grown by Illithids. We managed them alright. Alabron killed one, Tyree killed one, Storn killed one, and I finished off one with a Magic Missile spell. Of course, my earlier Orb of Force and some Scorching Rays from Aedrinar softened others up for those killin’ blows.

We did discover that the snappin’ claws of the Octopians were capable of causin’ horrific wounds when it clamped both of them on a single target. They were able to rend flesh from bone as they tore the claws away for their follow-up strikes. Very dangerous.

Through another set of marble doors was a large, domed chamber with a grotesque, white marble brain in the middle. Alabron clutched his head for a moment, then he screamed, Oh no you don’t!” leapt up onto the brain and started hewin’ away chunks of it with his adamantine sword! Durin’ this frenzy, I could tell he was under some sort of mental assault, but he kept at it until the think was pulverized and we all felt a palpable sense of relief.

After we had a chance to study the room, we noticed there were several benches along the outer walls and the benches had manacles built into them. Based on Alabron’s reaction, it seems reasonable to assume that the mind Flayer used this room to soften up his captives to make them easier to dominate later.

Shudder.

Down a gently spiralin’ ramp we came to a study with a large vat full of opaque green liquid in it. As we spread out to see if we could find any useful information on the desk or on the book shelves. Suddenly, I saw Aedrinar’s eyes grow wide as he was reading some notes form the desk. He looked up to shout a warnin’ but, as if on sue, a gigantic Octopian (at least twice as big as the others we faced) lurched out of the vat and tore into Egwaine who was stanin’ closest!

The fight was surprisingly quick as everyone opened up their most powerful spells and attacks on the beast to kill it quickly, but Egwaine and Tyree almost didn’t make it. That’s how ferocious the monster was.

Next, we discovered a scryin’ chamber. No matter what I tried, I couldn’t get the scryin’ pool to show me anythin’ except us in the scryin’ room. Down a short hallway there was a balcony openin’ up on a really big room with a pool full of glowin’ green liquid. I figured that’s the place we’d have our showdown with the Mind Flayer, but he hadn’t showed up yet.

Down another curlin’ ramp we came to some kind of circular trophy room. The place was full of odds, ends, weapons, and other oddities. All of ‘em looked…strange…like they was made for something not quite Human. Guardin’ all this stuff with a statue of a Vrock (a large, vulture-like Demon). Of course, we figured this was another trap, so we surrounded the thing and prepared to bust it up with Alabron’s adamantine sword. Sure enough, the statue came to life as a real Vrock and started attackin’ us!

In the close confines of the small room, there was no way to escape the Demon’s reach. To make matters worse, he spewed a cloud of puffy, white spores out from under his wings. Everybody caught in the cloud of stuff began to scream as the spores burrowed into the flesh! Moments later, pale green, plant-like (but definitely not plants) things started growin’ out of their skin! It was horrible! And the more the stuff grew, the more pain it caused! To make matters worse, the Vrock was somehow not exactly where he looked like he should be. I guessed it was some sort of Displacement magic and after hittin’ it with a barrage of Fel Drain magic Missiles, I set about tryin’ to dispel the magic with Arcane Turmoil.

All the while, everyone was else was flailin’ away at the Demon, but missin’ more often than not because of the Displacment spell! They were hittin’ occasionally – and hittin’ it hard enough to hurt it, too (although it seemed to be resistant to our weapons). Finally, just as I was able to dispel the creature’s defensive magic, it used telepathy to tell us this was all far from over and then Teleported away.

I figure we’ll see the bastard again before we leave this place.

At last we arrived at the big showdown. We arrived in the grand chamber and there, flyin’ above the pool of green liquid, was the Mind Flayer. Guardin’ the approach to the monster were seven more Octopians! As we entered, the creature’s sibilant voice filled our heads and he threatened to eat our brains.

Yuck.

Seein’ that the Illithid was baitin’ us into his mind blast, I called for everyone to fall back and fight the Octopians in the narrow hallway (where they wouldn’t be able to surround anyone). Aedrinar added a wrinkle to my plan by callin’ up a Wall of Fire between the Octopians and the Mind Flayer. Now they’d have to come get us or die by fire! Aedrinar finished the job (or nearly so) by blastin’ the Octopians with an Empowered Fireball, killin’ all but one of them (and one more on the cool side of the Wall of Fire).

As we fell back, Egwaine and I were castin’ Fly spells on Rumple, Storn, and Tyree (Alabron had his own Fly spell in his Ring of Spell Storing). Ready to deal with the Illithid on his own terms, Tyree and I fell back to cut the Mind Flayer off if he tried to fly over the balcony and come in behind us while all the rest swept around the corner intent on his destruction.

The Illithid hadn’t bothered to circle around behind us, maybe because he knew his guardian Vrock had had a chance to recover from our first encounter. So, Tyree and I had to deal with the Vrock by ourselves while everyone else dealt with the Mind Flayer.

Tyree flew into a rage and started hacking huge pieces out of the Vrock even as he was bathed into another spore swarm. I hammered away with Orbs of Force from down the hall. Even though the Demon’s claws and talons nearly succeeded in tearing Tyree to shreds, the sometimes frustratin’ Illuskan finally succeeded in killin’ the thing before it could Teleport away again. After a quick heal spell from Egwaine, Tyree flew around to the balcony to try to come in around the back of the Mind Flayer while I fell back into the main room.

By the time I got there, the Mind Flayer was surrounded, but he had Alabron in a death grip – his tentacles ready to bore holes into his brain. Aedrinar had already warned me that the thing was highly resistant to magic, so I hurled an Orb of Force at it, but I accidentally hit Alabron! Just as it looked like we’d lose Alabron, Egwaine yelled, “Let him go, or I’ll kill your babies!” gesturing to the pool of green liquid.

The Mind Flayer did let Alabron go, but he unleashed a Mind Blast at the same time, stunnin’ Storn and then flyin’ to the pool. Egwaine released Storn with a Panacea spell and everyone ganged up on the Illithid and killed him.

Then Aedrinar picked up the Mind Flayer’s staff (that was able to Disintegrate people) and the staff tried to Disintegrate him! It was only Egwaine’s Close Wounds spells that prevented him from becoming a vaguely Aedrinar-shaped dust outline on the floor.

We proceeded to methodically destroy all the Illithid’s spawn in the pool (as well as the last Octopian that had gone there for shelter) and loot his room next door. We escaped the lair and sewers and it looks like this threat to Waterdeep is finally at an end. Especially since Tyree insisted on destroyin’ the monster’s brain, “So it can’t be brought back to life.”

We found an interesting ledger written in a stylized version of Undercommon in which there were entries linking Loris Raknian to the Illithid and an entry in which it looked like Raknian purchased something refered to as the Apostolic Scrolls for 25,000 gp. There was also an entry naming the Crooked House Inn and a Dool-Gun and Kaam-Eest with the symbol of a skull next to the names.

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!