Chapter 6: In the Hall of the Mountain King

The group awakened from horrible dreams where they witnessed massive, whale-like tentacled beings in the sky and were shown things they held dear being torn apart and corrupted. The dreams deeply perturbed them, leaving some with temporary madness. After describing their dreams, Keladrien suggested their origins seemed similar to Aberrations. They found Baen unconscious, and tried their best to rouse him but all failed. They instead chose to take him to the Temple of the Morndinsamman in dwarf-town. Upon leaving, Hawk delivered to them a letter inviting them to the funeral of Banak Glittergold and his crew of 12 dwarves.
At the temple, they found most of dwarf-town's populace attending the funeral. They asked a priest to try to wake Baen, but the magic required proved costly. He suggested waiting for him to wake, as the affliction was likely not permanent. The group attended the ceremony, and Baen awakened near the end (screaming and brandishing axes). They then attended the wake at Moradin's Throng, and there were approached by a dwarf named Garn Silveraxe. He revealed himself to be a member of the Delzoun resurgence, a band of resistance fighters in Mithral Hall. He had heard of Kathra's dealings with the free peoples of the moonwood, and learned that she had worked with Banak before his death. He described an encounter with an intellect devourer among his ranks, and was worried that someone in the king's inner circle may be similarly compromised. Garn hired the group to investigate this in Mithral Hall in return for a hefty sum of gold.
The group gathered their supplies and horses and departed for Mithral Hall. As they left the city, the dark whispers in their minds grew fainter. The dreams returned the first night, leaving Pan paralyzed in the morning. Baen inexplicably found him revolting for the next day. The next day, their dreams were free of nightmares. On the road, they encountered a Roc and managed to fight it until it fled (with Nalzmyr severing one of its talons that held Keladrien in its grip). They journeyed on, taking the eastern route along the mountains. On their sixth day of travel, the group encountered a band of orcs arguing over loot from a caravan. They fought the orcs along a cliffside, and eventually slew them all and kept the loot for themselves.
After six long days, the party arrived at Mithral Hall's eastern Surbrin Gate, finding the hidden door thanks to the memory of the Dwarves in the group. They traveled directly to the one-horned helm tavern and bought rooms from the innskeep Gandalug Bitterbeard. Nalzmyr challenged Pan to a drinking contest and lost, and the rest of the group retired for the night. In the morning, as they ate their breakfast their contact in the Delzoun Resurgence (Bergen Brightsmith) signaled to them and met with the party outside. He asked that they meet him at an abandoned home in the undercity. They agreed and followed his directions, making sure not to be followed or to draw attention to themselves. After meeting with him, Bergen relayed their orders and their means to communicate with him. They left the abandoned home and set about investigating. Pan managed to disguise himself and Nalzmyr as dwarves, and Keladrien used magic to disguise himself similarly. The group traveled to the region of Mithral Hall near the oval chamber (where the throne room sits), with Pan gathering information from people and Keladrien piecing things together. After a few hours, they discovered that the ramping up of executions began after the arrival of a new advisor to King Dagna named Gorun Stonekeep. No one knew his ancestry or family, but he arrived from Citadel Felbarr 6 months back. They learned of his weekly barber shop appointment and visited the barber there two days later for the appointment. There, Kathra received a haircut and managed to coax information from the barber, learning that Gorun had been seen wandering the halls late at night near the abandoned mine Banak had tried to rob. With this information in hand, the group headed for the mine.
At the mine, they waited and eventually spotted Gorun making his way to the mine. They followed him into the mine, where he turned into a tunnel to the underdark. As they followed him, his form shifted into that of a Duergar and he met with several other Duergar guarded by an intellect devourer. As they watched, the Duergar discussed their success manipulating the dwarven king. They mentioned the loss of an agent beneath the mine in Nesme, and also mentioned Torun Markon by name (wishing to meet with him next). They said that the great whisperer would be pleased, and then went into a trance as a massive astral projection of an aboleth appeared above them. The intellect devourer detected them, and as battle ensued the Duegrars' trance was interrupted and the astral projection disappeared. Nalzmyr slew the devourer, but not before being blasted by its psychic power. As the group battled the duergar, their enemies proved to be powerful psionic warriors. Gorun turned invisible and tried to run, but Nalzmyr caught up with him and Kathra cornered him on some stony steps. As the leader of the duergar approached death, he summoned forth a massive earth elemental in their midst. Kathra managed to knock Gorun unconscious, and the group focused on the elemental. The battle proved challenging, and sent Nalzmyr and Pan near death several times. Finally, their combined efforts brought the beast down as Keladrien fired a firebolt into its mouth that ripped it apart from the inside.
now the unconscious Duergar Gorun Stonekeep awaits them...