Chapter 4: Mystery in the Fallen Quarter

Kathra recruited a new member of the party; a wood elf bard named Pan. The group were hired by a wealthy philanthropist named Harmon Blackwood to investigate missing homeless in the fallen quarter. There, they met with a svirfneblin alchemist named Haedius who offered them illicit substances and provided information on the possible culprit, describing a dark robed figure and the sound of possible spellcasting. The party staked out an abandoned building, with Pan disguising himself as a homeless person to lure the kidnapper. The plan worked, but he teleported away before Pan could subdue him with his bardic magic. They did notice, however, that he wore robes with a symbol of a tower with an eye atop it. Heading back to Hawk’s inn, they asked around about the image.
Learning that the icon was that of the Palantine Library (nesme’s only mage’s college, and the source of all arcane learning in the city), they headed there to question the staff. They found the headmaster (Deakon Gray) difficult to track down, but Pan was able to convince a wood elf student into telling them where he might be. She opened a portal to his office (saying he was in the “water room” that day), which turned out to be in the elemental plane of water. After questioning him, the headmaster revealed that the black robes indicated the school of necromancy--a school of magic forbidden at the college--and most likely belonged to a student who was cast out for studying it (and trying to make a flesh golem). The archmage suggested they look for him in the necropolis. The student’s name was Aldred Blackwood, brother of Harmon Blackwood. With this information, they returned to Hawk’s inn and prepared to head into the necropolis in search of the necromancer.
The group traveled to the city necropolis and soon found a secret entrance leading down into a crypt. The tunnel led them north, towards the pyramid. There, they found a slew of undead creatures at the entrance and began battling them by funnelling them into a narrow corridor. That plan backfired when they proved too numerous, so Kathra called upon her goddess’ magic and forced the creatures to flee. As they did, most of them ran into a hallway and were consumed by a flaming trap. The room was filled with metal plates and bits of armor, possibly the makings of incomplete iron golems.
They found corridors blocked by glowing arches and one by a flaming wall. Crossing over the wall using an iron crucible they found in the first room, they entered another room with a pool of molten metal in the center. They found urns etched with glowing eldritch runes and destroyed one of them, releasing a red gas. After coming too close to the pool of molten metal, a pair of flaming skulls erupted from the pool and attacked them with fireballs that decimated them. The skulls proved easy to destroy, however, and exploded in red gas when defeated. The gas in turn made the victim immune to flame and heat. They dispatched the second skull and licked their wounds, resting for an hour and recovering.
The next room was filled with giant statues of horned skulls filled with mist that shunted them to random other skulls, as well as cursed them in various ways when they chose wrong. Eventually, they found a way out and passed into another room filled with white stone rubble and some incomplete statues. There, they found similar glowing arches leading to other rooms. They passed into a nearby room, where they found pillars surrounding a statue of an angel. At the foot of the statue was a dead adventurer, healing potion clutched in his hands. As they passed the pillars, they turned into moving statues and a gargoyle. The statues scratched Kathra, and their poison nearly turned her to stone. When Gorgio was scratched, however, he failed to resist the magic and was turned into a statue. After defeating the statues, the group tried to take Gorgio through one of the glowing gates, but were instead shunted into an adjacent room while Gorgio stayed behind. Bright, glowing pillars of white marble filled this room and concealed skeletons of pure white bone. As soon as the group discovered them, they attempted to flee. Kathra once again used her power to turn the dead and make them flee so that she could escape herself. As she ran, chased by the dead, the white gate destroyed them behind her as she passed. Gravely wounded and with a petrified ally, the group decided to camp and rest for the night within that room.
During the night, Alton met with a wizard and fellow Forsaken Company member named Keladrien and ventured into the dungeon to meet up with the group. Along the way, Alton stepped into the ash tunnel and was incinerated. Keladrien continued by himself and soon found an ally tied and left to die by the flameskull pit. He battled the flameskull with the new ally--a half-drow warrior who could call forth a two-handed sword from the shadows. They defeated the flameskull, and found their way to the group. After introducing themselves, Keladrien and Nalzmyr joined the group and rested for the remainder of the night.
In the morning, Gorgio returned to his fleshy self and the group ventured deeper into the dungeon. They discovered a room with pits filled with thick mud, inside one of which was the corpse of an adventurer holding an alchemy jug. The combined magical efforts of Keladrien and Pan pulled the jug from the pit, and the group discovered the jug was filled with acid. As they traveled deeper, the party soon discovered the necromancer’s lair. Blue-glowing pillars filled the room, and as they attempted to sneak up to him the necromancer heard them and sent his flesh golem on the attack (while turning invisible himself). The pillars were trapped, shocking anyone nearby and attempting to teleport them to another random pillar. They battled the flesh golem and the necromancer Aldred, with Keladrien, Baen and Nalzmyr fighting the golem while Sai, Pan and Kathra took on the necromancer. Aldred tried to snuff out the party with a cloud of poisonous gas, but soon lost concentration as Sai unleashed a flurry of blows on him. The combined might of the party took down both the golem and the necromancer, but as he died Aldred’s skull erupted and his brain flew out onto the floor. It grew 4 legs and stood up, but the group turned upon it and slew it before it could attempt anything.
With the necromancer and his creation dead, the party investigated the room. On Aldred, they found a bag of holding filled with chunks of flesh. Among his things, they found various components for golem-making and a journal. The journal detailed his descent into the pyramid after his exile from the palantine library, including his descent into madness after exploring the lower depths. The journal turned to inane gibbering after mentioning a being called the Great Whisperer. The rest of the journal repeated the phrase Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Illuun Xxiphu wgah'nagl fhtagn. Baen recognized it as Deep Speech and translated it to "In his house at Xxiphu, dread Illuun waits dreaming." The group returned to the surface and spoke with Harmon Blackwood, telling him of his brother’s crimes. He was not surprised, but disappointed. Nevertheless, he paid the group for their work and left.