Liches Give Stitches, and other Horrors of the Dark

22nd of Flamerule (Part II)
 
After riding the high of adrenaline that came from the intense fight with the half-dragon and his mighty minions we set about the task of investigating the room. Rhumor began inspecting for traps. Conrad was naturally drawn to the huge reliefs carved into the stone walls, and kept going on about volcanoes and holes in the wall. As it turned out, this was most fortuitous since Rhumor did find a trap that had been rigged to the small chest, and those holes in the wall were no doubt part of the contraption. After making a sketch of the reliefs, Conrad retreated to the hallway with Grok, Nuri, and myself to allow Rhumor to attempt to disarm the trap. Thankfully Rhumor had no issue getting the chest open, and inside was nice collection of precious gems and jewelry. He had also discovered a satchel bag that must have accidentally been dropped by its owner in their haste to leave.
 
We traced our steps back to the storage room we had seen earlier. It was the only place we had been thus far that had a single entrance and exit, and seemed to be the best option for getting a quick breather in. The satchel bag appeared to been owned by Frulam Mondath, and inside we found some unique potions to facilitate the benefits of a full night’s sleep, but in a short span of about an hour or so. There was also a letter to Frulam from Rezmir. It has been difficult to piece things together with the limited information we have, but I believe the hierarchy of the cult’s structure looks something like this, starting from the bottom: Langdedrosa Cyanwrath (now deceased at the hands of Grok), Frulam Mondath (was in charge of the camp we infiltrated), Rezmir (appears to be in charge of more than one local group Severin (the letter from Rezmir to Frulam was the first instance we have heard this name). The name Rath Modar was mentioned in the letter as well (as the creator of the potions), but there were no clues as to where on the totem pole this individual sits or if they are simply an alchemist working for the cult.
 
There were only two vials of this potion of resting, and after a fair bit of arguing, it was finally decided that Grok and Nuri should be the ones to drink them. Most of this disagreement came in the form of needing to convince Nuri that she should be one of the two. I’m not certain I understand her logic, unless she was simply scared to drink the stuff (which in truth, is understandable). In the end, it all worked out fairly well. Grok and Nuri were fully refreshed, Conrad seemed to perk up a bit and was able to cook a delightful meal for us that really lifted everyone’s spirits and constitution. We began heading back the way we had come, but noticed that the bodies of soldiers and kobolds we had killed had been moved. Despite Rhumor and I setting a watch, someone had sneaked by the entrance to the store room and been in the barracks. Bloody kobold tracks littered the floor. With this the team agreed to backtrack to the miniature mushroom forest to continue our exploration of the cave.
We made it through the fungi without issue, avoiding the violet ones was easy enough. I even managed to grab a few medicinal fungi as we picked our way through. The next portion of the cave contained a few fungi, and a hoard of bats. And Stirges. Despite our best efforts to be quiet, the bats went berserk and began to swarm, and then the stirges used the chaos to attack us. It was so hard to see anything – even at the edge of the swarm like I was. One stirge flew right up to me, trying to stick its ugly needle-like beak into my arm. I dodged, and then sliced it in half as I turned and ran away from the swarming bats. Whilst trying to rid ourselves of the scourge of stirges we managed to attract the attention of some nearby kobolds. Nuri put them all to sleep and then Rhumor dispatched them.
 
Finally getting a good look at where we were was at once both distressing and relieving. Just below us, in a controlled pit were 3 drakes – and these appeared to be larger and more robust than what we had fought back in Greenest. They were howling and growling and roaring. Someone, I cannot recall who, had the idea to toss in some dead bats and kobolds to quiet the drakes down. It seemed to work, so the immediate noise problem had been abated. Meanwhile Rhumor crept up the tunnel where the kobolds had come from. He came back to report there more in the tunnel ahead, and he would goad them into coming our way. It worked, though none of us were prepared for the sheer number of the things. In the end there were well over a dozen dead kobolds – some with wings, and some without. Nuri’s spells were invaluable once again. For my part I had been planning to ambush kobolds coming out the tunnel mouth. It turned out to be a very flawed plan. Aside from contributing very little to the fight, I also managed to get stabbed by one of the winged kobolds – it packed a much bigger punch than its ground bound brethren as well as accidentally bringing some stalactites down on top of Grok.
 
With all of the kobolds finally cleared from this region of the cave, we killed the large drakes to ensure no one could double back on us and let them loose. Not the noblest of acts, but if those drakes were to be freed, we could have been in a world of hurt. Further on we discovered the meat locker. It occurred to me that we might be able to entice any new penned in drakes we encountered with food, so we grabbed a few of the freshest looking deer legs. Adjacent to this room, disturbingly, was the refuse pit. Who stores their food next to the garbage? Bits of shiny glinting things were visible from above, and so Grok, Rhumor, and Conrad hopped down to investigate. Perhaps it was my nerves from such a poor performance against the kobolds, but I opted to stay above for a bit, observing. Who knows what could be hiding in a giant pile of trash? After some time, the coast seemed to be truly clear, and I joined Conrad at the far wall of the pit – he was intently looking over some tools he’d discovered and runes on the wall. I then saw the symbols – the same ones that had been part of the magic door in the ruins that led us to the lich. My heart stopped, my brain froze, and I could not even begin to think about what the runes might mean. I quickly muttered something about them being useless and not meaning anything at all.
 
About this time a raucous began near the opposite end of the pit – Grok had found crevices in the wall and out came Troglodytes. Already in a state of fear and shock at the sight of the Lich’s symbols, I could not react. Grok was fighting, Rhumor dashed across the room to take a shot, Conrad hurled fire in his rage at this all-important discovery being interrupted. Nuri had blasted the two next to Conrad and I into a stinky paste, and put the others near Grok to sleep. I had done… nothing. As I write this, I feel shame at my inaction, having let my fear and terror of the mere memory of the lich affect me so. Once we are all safe, Grok, Rhumor, Conrad and I will need to review the findings there, and make sure Conrad understands the potential implications of opening, or even tampering with, that doorway. Conrad’s search for his professor just became profoundly important to the safety of our entire group, and quite possibly the entire Sword Coast.
 
On we pressed. We followed another tunnel that ended up being the alternate route out of the room where Cyanwrath’s body still remained. Down the only remaining unexplored path we went, and found ourselves in a cool, damp area. Rhumor scouted ahead and informed us there were two more of these larger drakes, but they were not penned in as before. They were guarding the dragon eggs – we had found them at last. I mirrored myself immediately in preparation for the coming fight. The rest of the team took positions, and Rhumor laid some caltrops – which regrettably informed the drakes of our presence. Up the stairs they came, ferociously attacking. Then I heard explosions. Just within my eyesight I could see Nuri and Grok trying to avoid fire bombs, coming from some unknown source. This fight, which was fast but brutal, was also dominated by Nuri’s magic. I faced off against one of the drakes by myself, but I was barely scratching the thing. My mirror images were doing their job well enough to keep me from harm, but Nuri, Nuri hurled orbs of thunder that shattered the one attacking me, and shook the one facing off against Grok to its core. The battle was over in moments. I know that more happened in that time, I know Rhumor was dealing deadly shots in the dark, and Conrad was playing his part – but I was too far away to see properly, and too distracted to understand the peril that some of my newfound friends had found themselves in.
 
With the drakes, and what were apparently more kobolds, all eliminated, Grok and I headed down to inspect the eggs, and see if there were any hidden treasures in this egg nest. As I rounded twin columns of stone my body froze once again. One of the stalactites moved. A giant yellow eye opened in front of me, followed by an enormous red maw filled with huge teeth. And this is how it ends. I die in a dragon-egg nest at the hands of some huge tentacled horror. I had heard tales from the drow in Luskan of these creatures, but I was not at all prepared for the reality of this monstrosity that was in front of me. To my astonishment, it spoke. In common no less. It sounded like it wanted food. Grok yelled out to give it the meat. I stumbled through my words, pulling a deer leg from my pack and tossing it to the monstrosity. It kept repeating the desire for food –so I told it about the meat storage room we had encountered. Blessedly it believed me, and began to slowly trundle off to find the meat storage area.
After a vigorous discussion about what to do with these 3 huge black dragon eggs, which I was perfectly happy destroying, it was decided we should try to take as many with us as possible. Whether it be to sell, or ransom, or to be used in research. Conrad tried and tried to cram one of these huge eggs into the bag of holding, but it was just too big. Grok indicated he could carry two of them. None of the rest of us could even lift the damn things without being put off balance. So, I began hacking at the 3rd egg. As it cracked, the newborn infant black dragon fell out and began wailing like a child in the most disturbing way. I put it out of its misery with my greatsword. Rhumor and I then went to the grisly task of harvesting various bits and pieces. I now had a rather large collection of drake teeth, claws, and the teeth and claws of a baby black dragon. Perhaps I can make more jewelry out of all of this and sell them for enough gold to buy some half-plate armor.
 
I feel as though this day has been bittersweet in many ways. Up to the point where we had fought and defeated the half dragon and his berserkers I was sure of myself, and doing my part. The rest of the trek through the cave though, I felt… off. Fortunately for all of us Nuri was absolutely brilliant for that second half the cave, felling multiple creatures at every turn, saving my skin more than once. Perhaps the best thing to come out of this experience in the cave is that with so much fighting I feel as though I have come to understand my armor very intimately, and can move in it with much greater ease and grace. Seeing the incredible effectiveness of this sorceress with her devastating spells has also made me rethink what spells I should be focusing on, and how I might best contribute to the group’s efforts as we continue our journey – provided she decides to continue to travel with us.
 
For now, our path leads back to Greenest, where we need to return some of the town’s belongings, and find either horses to buy or some magical means of reaching Elturel. We have so much to share with Leosin now, and I am anxious to meet with Morgan.