Adventure Three, Session Twenty

INT. CELLS BENEATH TOWER OF THE MAGI, SURUUNAE - DAY
When we last left our heroes... they had been captured by the Ordinator Arcanis (the captain of the guard, so to speak, of Suruunae and the Seven Pillared Hall) and brought before one of the three ruling Magi of the city, a human named Paldemar. Unsatisfied with their answers to his probing questions (about Kharthlaxi), he tossed them in the cells below in order to "give them time to think." Not long after, the PCs began several attempts at escape, the final one involving using copious Thunderwave spells to drill a hole in the ceiling directly above them. By this time they'd also made a new "friend" in the form of a Modron named 4959053 or "fourry" for short.
As they continued to pummel the ceiling with spells, the hole marginally increased in circumference. Eventually it was large enough for a small person, or perhaps Mangy, to pass through. The commotion from all the spell casting and rock smashing brought several royal guards down to the dungeon, where they threatened the party with, well, I'm not quite sure... but they better stop trying to bust out!
The guards left, but in the stairwell the PCs could hear their conversation. They apparently took a bribe from someone who wished to have "fifteen minutes alone" with the PCs. That someone then soon made their presence known. It was Grinfel (going against his order never to step foot in this city again), and he was not alone. His companion was a cloaked and hooded woman who practically slithered into the room. Grinfel went straight to asking questions. He wanted to know where the party agreed to meet Kharthlaxi. He told them that if he didn't get his hands on the mind flayer, he'd return home with the PCs instead. He refused to go back to his boss in Obloxis Azuun empty-handed.
Tesken and some of the others made a show of defiance, wondering what possibly Grinfel could do to them sice they were locked up and all. Grinfel asked his companion to demonstrate. The woman turned around to face the mad man in the cell opposite the PCs. She raised her hood so the man could see her eyes (yet the party still could not). As you might have guessed, the crazy poo-flinging man suddenly began to slowly, painfully turn to stone!
The moment the PCs realized they were dealing with a medusa, they (slightly) changed their tune. Mangy and several others insisted that Kharthlaxi was not their friend and they'd be happy to give him up if Grinfel simply let them out of the cell.
Grinfel decided that the entire party would be too much to handle. He also contemplated turning them all to stone and just bringing back their petrified heads. Ultimately he settled on taking just one of them, picking out Guy from the mix as the best candidate.
As he set off to get the guards to possibly unlock the cell, Mangy had Tesken toss him (dwarf toss!) up through the hole, where he'd attempt to use his Thunder Step to essentially teleport across the floor of the level above. Unfortunately, he wasn't quite fast enough, and his Thunder Step simply smashed him (pretty hard) into the side of their cell. But he did manage to make the hole above a bit larger.
Shortly after this, Tomison noticed something flutter down into the cell. It was a tiny slip of paper. She grabbed and read it. "Help coming. Be ready..." She covertly informed the rest of the party as Grinfel negotiated with the guards, attempting to get permission to make one of the prisoners (Guy) "disappear."
Around this time, another curios thing occurred. Suddenly something (or things) began to plummet into the cell from the hole above. Little furry things (roughly halfling sized), with insect-like heads and mandibles over their gaping maws. They later discovered these things were called Meenlocks. Soon, five or six of the little buggers were in the cell with the party, and they seemed viscious. Tesken, finding them cute, went to pet one, only to have her arm gashed for her trouble. Nasty little creatures!
It quickly became clear, from the sounds of a commotion above, that elsewhere in the tower others were also confronted with a horde of terrible Meenlocks. Two more guards rushed downstairs, bringing the total to four (plus Grinfel and the medusa). They set to arguing whether or not they should move the prisoners, so they wouldn't be harmed by the tiny invaders. Eventually the consensus was to move them, but one at a time. They unlocked the cell, then pulled a rune stone from the wall -- one that acted as a hall pass for moving through the magical barrier around the cell. They passed the stone back and forth between the PCs, until eventually they were all out of the cell and "surrounded" by guards at sword point.
However, before they got to Mangy, he had Tesken toss him up again. This time he made it, pulling himself up to the level above. Here Mangy saw the wild fight between a slew of guards and a gaggle of meenlocks. He also saw someone else... The Ordinator Arcanis. She was there! The Ordinator turned and spotted Mangy, but instead of doing anything terrible, she simply winked at him. Mangy began to process this seemingly out of character action. He watched the Ordinator walk downstairs towards the dungeons and then decided to drop back down into his cell.
They were just about to transport the party to a new cell when someone else came downstairs. It was the Ordinator Arcanis. Upon seeing her, Grinfel immediately fled, leaving the medusa behind. The Ordinator approached the guards stating her intent to take the prisoners under her personal custody. This was contested by one of the guards who realized this would not normally be under her jurisdiction, however general fear of the Ordinator (plus a little verbal push from the PCs) was all it took to get them to comply. A moment later and the PCs were on their way out of the dungeon.
Most of the party correctly surmised that the Ordinator was, in fact, Kharthlaxi under some sort of glamour or illusion. He identified himself once they were up in the antechamber above the dungeon. Everyone made to leave when they remembered that they didn't have any of their gear. Guy shape-changed to look like one of the guards (who happened to have been killed by a meenlock) and Tomison cast Invisibility on herself. Together, they set about reclaiming the party's weapons and various arms, while the rest of the party continued to flee outdoors.
After fumbling their way down several halls, Tomison (and Guy shortly after) discovered the weapons locker where their gear happened to be held. Before Guy vould make it to the room, several other guards found him and asked for his assistance in killing the meenlocks. Two of them were currently outside the main door to the antechamber (which Guy closed behind himself as he entered -- he'd previously been attacked by the same two meenlocks while he was attempting to steal a dead guard's armor). The other guards tossed Guy a crossbow, and they released the door, allowing the meenlocks to rush into the hall.
A flurry of crossbow bolts later, and the meenlocks were destroyed. The guards moved on and Guy slipped away, quickly joining Tomison in the armory. There, they got the clever idea of loading up the flying carpet "Belia" with as much as they could fit. Then Guy activated it using the command word and jumped on, flying it towards the exit. But unfortunately the carpet crapped out (as it typically does) just before they reached the door between the antechamber and the foyer to the outside. Weapons and gear clattered to the ground all over. Tomison rushed up (still invisible) and managed to help Guy load the carpet back up. Together they rammed the main doors of the tower and barely escaped the entry guards.
Once outside they found their companions had left them. Probably to go back to the Halfmoon Inn, they surmised. In actuality, Warren sent his crow familiar to deliver a written message to Teffa, Temerity and Naiya (still holed up in their room at the inn). The message was for them to meet up with the rest of the party outside the southwest exit of the city.
On their way towards the southwest exit, Tomison and Guy saw Teffa, Temerity and Naiya (carrying Clickwild's head) in the distance. As they made to meet up with them, they saw Teffa slip away and run off deeper into the city. Once reunited, Temerity explained that Teffa saw another member of her family, House Dey'orl, and decided to put an end to her bounty by following him back to wherever he was heading. She wished to go alone, and the others respected her request.

INT. CAVERNS OF THE WET DARK - NIGHT
So the splintered party made their way out the city exit (minus Teffa) and reunited several hundred meters down the south passage. Now that they were, more or less, all back together, the party set off to finish their journey to Qudra, and eventually Sage by traveling underground through the mountain pass.
Unfortunately, this would take them through the aboleth settlement of Obloxis Azuun, but they stuck to Kharthlaxi's plan, with some of them pretending to be prisoners, while the others acted as mercenary hunters (with Kharthlaxi as their "leader").
After traveling for several hours, they happened upon some travelers headed the opposite direction. As the strangers got closer, they soon realized that their group consisted of two Umber Hulks and their Neogi (alien, eel-like slavers) masters. The neogi literally rode on the backs of the hulks. The hulk, in turn, were chained to two lizard-like pack animals (looking somewhat like the bastard child of a giant lizard and a donkey) loaded down with wares for sale.
The party wisely stepped to the side, allowing the caravan to pass, but the neogi slowed their approach and began conversing with Kharthlaxi. They were interested in "purchasing" several of the PCs as slaves. Mainly Tomison and Tesken. Kharthlaxi politely, but firmly, declined and eventually the neogi group moved on.
Not long after the previous encounter, the party came upon a chamber glowing with purple light. It was filled with glowing, psychedelic mushrooms and assorted fungi. The party decided to make camp here for the night. As they set up camp, several of the PCs set about foraging amongst the mushrooms, pulling a number of them from a wide variety of choices.
They also began experimenting with the fungi, eating them or convincing their comrades to eat them. Pretty soon, Tesken was one of the only party members who hadn't partaken in the spongy feast. And as a result, a good chunk of the party began tripping balls.
Deciding sleeping it off was probably the best option, the party turned in for the night. First watch was taken by Warren, and Tomison continued to forage a bit. Due to this, Tomison was the first to see the ambush before it happened. They had been followed! The neogi caravan had doubled back, intending to take by force that which they couldn't buy. Tomison roused the party and together, albeit still tripping, they engaged the caravan in melee combat.
After a harrowing battle, the party finally persevered, killing the two neogi masters and freeing the enslaved Umber Hulks, who in turn ran off down the corridor, back the way they came. That left the pack animals and their wares. As the party began to search through the random assortment of items, they soon discovered a cage mounted on top of one of the animals. Inside the cage was a female sea elf, who they quickly freed.
And that is how the party met Esla Ahlorsath.
Stay tuned to find out what happens next week...!