Session 013: Into the Underdark Report

The Mighty Menagerie explores the Underdark.

General Summary

5/15/2021

The Mighty Menagerie (2)

Redfall 22, 2020KC

Myconid Colony "Under" Outding Refuge, The Underdark The goal is to find Jacoby Drexelhand and the Abandoned Mindflayer Colony Under Outding Refuge. The Myconid gave a grave warning to the party before they left. The spores went into the air and then the "mushroom trip" began anew.

Myconid Warning: "to go into the The Underdark is no flight of fancy. It is a vast network of tunnels, natural and many not so natural. They can Lead to Dead ends, vast civilizations of a myriad of cultures and species, or large Monstrosities bringing death. It is said that the tunnels connect all around the globe of Dierde. It is also said that the god Torog, a god of death, the patron of jailers & torturers, the "King that Crawls" still lives deep in The Underdark, and that he takes the souls of the Dead from those who perish under the World Above. We are still in the "Upperdark," and it is dangerous enough. We would implore that you avoid going too deep, avoid the Middledark and the Lowerdark -- as the caves dig deeper - miles deeper -- the dangers will only mount. Granted, it is possible that you may not realize which way is up or down sometimes and be forewarned casters of magic -- there are places where The Weave may not penetrate anymore. We also know that certain magic may or may not work even outside of those magic Dead areas. There are countless things to be aware of down there besides the Magic-Dead Areas, such as gates and portals to other parts of The Underdark or the realms; some may even go to other places. Be careful if playing with the gates and portals. Many Beasts may be your key to survival, and others may not look as scary yet can be some of the greatest dangers you shall ever face, from the Drow and Gnomes to natural or unnatural hazards that exist. Be ready for anything, and remember you are always welcome here. We Myconid have never been to this Abandoned Mindflayer Colony Under Outding Refuge you seek; we only know of its existence thanks to our Mindwitness friend. It is where the illithiad turned him from a Beholder to this form. We have long lived here in our circle, located far from the island you came from; you may not realize how far you have gone. However, that gate will take you back to the networks near that island and should lead you to the colony you seek. We have met many different beings from many different places, and we have heard many different things. We have learned of rumors, great treasures, deadly dangers, natural hazards, and we have never had a chance to verify any of them."

They entered the Illusionary wall, which is actually a portal to a portion of the Upperdark nearer to the island of Outding Refuge. As they leave the caverns near the Myconid circle, they start to walk through a narrow passage. The walls in this narrow hall begin to close in on them. To the left and the right, and yet the roof begins to rise exponentially as the path begins to twist and turn. They all follow the path, and there is a point or two where they have to climb the walls as the floor is only an inch wide at places, and they all have to slide through very precariously, at times using teamwork to hold Sas W.T. Rayce above their heads, so her shell doesn't get stuck on the walls. They then come to a point where the walls begin to open up, and they find yourself in a large cavern. The Light spell fails as they come out to this tall underground bridge. There was a narrow bridge that they were on. The ceiling was far above, and there seemed to be water below. This was a wet cave and smelled like marine water. There were drips and flowing water from the ceiling to the ground below. All through the area, the party saw luminescent organisms way off in the distance. The team almost lost a teammate on the bridge, but as a team, they made it across. Shadow in the Snow left scratch marks on the walls to help avoid double-backing and to aid in any need to return the same way. At the end of the bridge, it entered into a large cavern, apx. 40' x 50' and only 10' high. These walls were made of a flaky, dull blue-black Rock. There were two other passages here. One to the right that was 20' wide and one to the left that is 5' wide. The party flipped a "rock" and chose to go left (the 5' passage). Now the party traveled through another 5 hours of the Upperdark, the upper levels of The Underdark. (skill challenge). They realized the Light spell was working again since they left the Dead magic area.

Trekking The Underdark (Skill Challenge)

Shadow in the Snow used her survival skills to check the safety of the ground

Bastion Bladesinger used Athletics and got fancy to find safe routes as he climbed stalagmites through the journey.

Sas W.T. Rayce tried to use her survival skills but failed.

Then Barlo used deception as he overplayed his confidence in choosing the way in the end.

This led the party through a way that they felt confident they could return through and ended at the door. The passage before the door was carved stone, smooth and fitted granite walls. The passage is 5' x 10' and ends with a closed wooden door. Shadow in the Snow cast Mage Hand to try the door handle and found it locked and trapped. Barlo unlocked the door but got poked as the door's trap would trigger each time and not just the first. Mage Hand opened the door. A 35' x 35' room with a door in the middle of each wall. A black hooded cloak was hanging nest the wall on the door opposite the one they entered. Detect Magic showed the cloak as illusionary magic. The cloak had a strange Illusion which seemed to be as if it was a space scene but more like a window into that night sky scene. Shadow took the cloak, and they put it in the Bag of Holding.




Uncommon Glamerweave

The party opened the door to the left. It was a circular 30' wide with a 30' ceiling. A pedestal in the center was 5' wide, and there were runes and magical sigil designs on the floor with various stones and crystals on the floor. There was a wooded frame on the pedestal with fragments of mirrored glass, and there was broken mirrored glass on the floor as well. Bastion noticed the design was clearly a Teleportation Circle. The mirror pieces had a sense of Conjuration magic, and some shards were put into their bag.




Shards of mirror

Back in the waiting room and went across to the door on the other side of this one. It was also around the room, with a strange flat panel on the opposite wall. There was a recess that was 10' wide and extended to the ceiling. In the center of the room is a 5' well. The interior edge is surrounded by bas reliefs and symbols. There is a cylinder in the center that has a button. The bas relief shows a picture of monsters eating Humanoids trying to push a button similar to the one in the well. It would seem that the party might have made some noises or activity to attract a few ogres wandering the caverns. They came to investigate and ...FIGHT!!




2 Ogres

The Battle:

Combat Round 01

R.1

Bastion moves into the center of the room and casts Scorching Ray at the Ogre at the door, two of them hit.
An Ogre squeezes through the tight doorway and makes an attack at Sas, as the great club comes down you see Arktos screech at him and it makes the Ogre miss.
A second Ogre comes in and also attacks Sas with a great club, but misses.
Barlo rages and then attacks the second Ogre that came through with a reckless attack, and the maul comes down on his head.
Shadow has both blades out and lashes out at the other Ogre. Both attacks land and slice through the Ogre.
Arktos claws at the Ogre, hitting him and slicing him.
Sas summons her Shilleligh power and attacks -- it hits hard.

Combat Round 02

R.2

Bastion shoots off with an Ice Knife and it hits, as well as the Ogre missing the DC as the fragments explode it kills the first Ogre.
Sas summons her Halo of spores as the Ogre starts his turn -- which miss as he brushes them aside.
The Ogre strikes at Barlo and he uses his reaction to use his tail as a Shield and it swipes the attack aside except the DM remembered the reckless attack and so the hit goes through the blocking power of the tail after all.
Barlo shift around to flank with Sas on the other side and he makes hard contact with the maul, then shifts away.
Shadow moves into flanking and makes contact, pushing him closer to death and then a second attack is enough to kill him -- She gets him in the kidneys as he is looking at Barlo and [Sas](person:01b514ea-36a8-40e3-b99d-a3b7d189735f). He goes down with the boxer stagger.



☠️ Shadow
☠️ Bastion




t Combat Experience: 900 (224 Each) | Total: 4,888 (GOAL: 6,500) t




75 GP

The well had a pedestal and a glowing red button. There were Platinum coins in the water. The party took some coins, and they turned them into mirror pieces in the shape of the coins. They dropped in a Rock and a Copper piece... Nothing happened with those. Mage Hand picked up a new handful to put in the bag.




handful of mirror coin

Went to the last room. Also, a 30' cylinder. Whitestone though. It has a bed and a table w/ chair. The table has a chemistry set and a few Books. Bastion takes the Books.






"Making Friends: A History of Necromancy"
"This Ore That, Choosing your First Rock Golem"
"Analysis of Divination Spell Extension into the Astral Plane"
"The Magic of Stone and the Souls of Mountains"
"A Guide to the Underdark"

There is a layer of dust on all in the room. The door here was trapped, but when opened, it showed more cave systems. They went back to the button room. They pushed the red button with the Mage Hand; the door closed shut. There were some sounds of movements and whirring. A glow came from the opposite room, with the shards glowing yellow then orange to red … The shards went back to normal and the door unlocked. Used Immovable Rod to keep the door open. The door tried to close. Couldn't. The room turned black. Symbols on the cylinders around the well glowed one at a time. Yellow to red 30 cylinders/symbols. A warm feeling, then everything stopped. Something on the wall popped out on the recessed wall and then went away. Pushed the button again. Barlo pushed the button when it popped out. It opened into a passageway.

**Left the party in this hideout with two passages out of it**