Session 17: Jailbreak!

General Summary

Session 24APR2019: We learn from our child wards at the bar: In the Castle Ward, there is a secret door under the Marketplace that leads to the Lair of the Zanathars. The entrance is hidden behind a staircase. In this Zanatharian domain, we expect to find the underground fight ring. The prisoners come in/out of “Skullport,” which is an Undermountain 3rd level feature. We also learn the names of the kids’ parents: Dad’s name is Quinn, Mother’s name is Tolani.   We split into duo teams to explore the Marketplace. Our searching reveals a stream of eyeball-people, complete with neck tattoos, manipulating a nondescript stretch of wall via pushing on a particular stone. This activates a secret door under a staircase. The stone walls of the staircase are carved with open eyes that glow with a faint magical light.   We descend the stairs, which go down hundreds of feet, and enter a sprawling compound of halls and rooms, mainly patterned after a circular motif. The walls are covered with the eyeball decorating scheme. No other people are present. Detalosi and Gnosh share descriptions of their brothers, whom we are looking for.   To the west, we see a double door. Close attention shows a ghostly eyestalk watching the doorway. We push through the doors.   The new hallway is curved clockwise and has pillars and walls covered in the everpresent eyes. We see a Dwarf that seems to be a maintenance worker. Lorin and co. perform a persuasive argument that she is a patron of the gladiatorial arts, and that Det/Feng are her fighters. He directs us to the fighting rings.   We find a magically-lit circular chamber with a 40-foot ceiling, surrounded by stone bleachers. Stairs lead to other parts of the lair, and a tunnel leads down and to the west. A semi-circular recess in the east wall has steps that lead up. There is much Zanthar decoration evident, as well as a few of the magical eyestalks. The west tunnel leads to some cell blocks with prisoners inside.   Lorin sends Pepperdrop, invisibly, to investigate the cells. There are four cells containing a variety of pitiful humanoids. The parents of the human kids and our two brothers seem to be present.   I Charm the guard to obtain his keys and send him on his way. We find Flynn and Newt’s parents. We find Det’s brother. We find Gnosh’s friend. We let them all out; they are in terrible shape, but can walk or be carried. When we try to persuade the Minoatur and Orok in the last cell to be cool, they are most definitely not cool. They rush out of the cell block and go to mertilize the poor maintenance Dwarf. Using them as our “snowplow,” we follow behind and towards our exit. Haul ass!   We succeed! It’s a frickin’ miracle! We head back to the Tavern to regroup and help our newly-rescued people.   There is a stranger in our bar: a human we just rescued. We approach, and his name is Claudio Benzoric (sp?). Gently questioning results in his story: he says he worked some of the ships that frequent the ports, and crossed the wrong person (he doesn’t know who thus, he ended up in the eyeball-pit. We feed him and let him go about his own business.   Det’s brother sleeps, fitfully, but seems to be recovering. Francis (Gnosh’s friend) tells us that they were sometimes made to leave the compound and scavenge, in addition to fighting in the pit.   In the morning, Det introduces his brother, “Etir o vaf.” Etir says that he didn’t do much fighting in the pit; he had originally entered to find their parents, but they had been taken deeper into Undermountain. Det and Etir catch up and reconcile. Det promises to take up Etir’s mission and tries to give back his brother’s hammer, but Etir tells Det to keep the hammer. Det asks him to stay and regain his health.   Etir shares that the Undermountain is filled with unusual creatures, strange cities, magical artifacts, etc. There also seems to be a power struggle between the Mad Mage and the Drow, who control portions of Undermountain.   (I develop a sudden hankering for some of the leftover Dwarven whiskey from the Shaving Incident. So, I take a shot, which amuses the group mightily. There is some betting, and I disappoint the “will puke” faction.)   We ask Quinn and Tolani why they might have been captured. They got the idea that Zanathar isn’t entirely stable, and so random people were being kidnapped and forced to fight in order to satisfy the Beholder’s bloodlust. So, nothing especially compelling.   The group checks in with its various Factions, Guilds, etc.