Adventure Three, Session Twenty Five

INT. GRAND LAKE BENEATH THE WORLD - TIME UNKNOWN...
When we last left our heroes, they'd just narrowly escaped an altercation with the high priest of  the kuo-toa (“fish man”) port town of Blimpiblod (formerly Pukt). They were unexpectedly aided by the high priest of another sect of kuo-toa, named Glooglugogg, who worshipped the Oblox Uulex as if the aboleth were himself a god. As the party was on their way to parlay with Uulex, this was a fortunate encounter. 
Glooglugogg had the PCs board a barge that he then piloted across the grand, subterranean lake, towards Obloxis Azuun. Once they arrived, the PCs had some of the party distract Glooglugogg, so the rest could formulate a plan. In a nutshell, the plan involved using Guy's shape-changing to have him simulate a Malask, so he could swap himself with Kharthlaxi's imprisoned companion, Tulvlu. Then Guy would supposedly transform into one of the prison guards and somehow switch places with said guard in order to escape himself. Easy, peasy.    
In order to facilitate this, and due to the fact that Guy had yet to encounter a Malask in person, he planned to transform himself into a bugbear, and then Bartholomew would craft a wooden mask to simulate the bizarre mask-faces of the Malask. It would, presumably, be "close enough" to confound the (hopefully unobservant) guards. With Glooglugogg still distracted, both Esla and Warren stole two planks from the barge (from which to craft the mask).  
Around this time, Glooglugogg informed the party that they were likely being watched, and loitering on the docks would potentially get them in trouble. He said he was to escort them to the Oblox's "waiting room," called The Forum. The party followed the kuo-toa priest and they departed into the aboleth city.
EXT. OBLOXIS AZUUN 
Shortly after clearing the docks, the party was intercepted by several of the city watch. In this case, strange amphibious creatures with octopi-like "legs," known (sadly) as "Skum." After a bit of sweet talking, the Skum guards allowed the party to proceed, however with a contingent of guards as a further escort.
The group shortly arrived at the spherical structure known as The Forum. As a side-note, pretty much all the buildings and structures in the city were spherical and made of seemingly inaccessible stone. Glooglugogg told the PCs to walk into the stone wall, and when they did, they simply passed through it, as if it were made of jelly. 
INT. FORUM
Once inside the forum, they discovered a domed, circular room surrounding a large (100' diameter) pool in the center. Glooglugogg informed them that he needed to confer with Uulex before they could proceed. He pleaded for the party to stay put and touch nothing, to which they agreed. He then did a backflip into the central pool and disappeared.
As the party waited in the spartan room, devoid of anything save for a few "chairs" made of stone, suddenly "things" began to morph out of the walls, as if pushed through from the other side. Priceless works of art, from all around the globe, slowly emerged, hanging from the walls. Naiya, in her disguise as the halfling Krixus Leatherbottom, noticed one painting (of Varuumae Corona) was apparently stolen from her waiting chambers. "That's where it went!"
After a brief period of waiting, Glooglugogg returned with "good news." The Oblox wished the PCs to attend a dinner in their honor that very night. And in preparation for the event, they were to be assigned quarters in which they could "freshen up." 
More Skum descended from the ceiling, on long chains that ended in fish hooks. They essentially surrounded the party and led them to the wall on the opposite side of the room. The wall then "dissolved," revealing a long, tubular passageway that led to their assigned quarters. 
INT. ASSIGNED QUARTERS
Once at their rooms, the party decided to stay mostly together. The 11 remaining modrons from Fourry's clan were placed in one room, along with Oltorf and Temerity, while the others huddled in a second room.
In their rooms, the PCs further discussed the plan, which involved gaining access to Tulvlu by pretending to want to "interrogate and torture" her, and asking Uulex's permission to do so. A Skum arrived at their door bearing gifts... A set of brand new clothes for everyone. Shimmery, silk "unisex" outfits, not unlike some 1960's idea of utopian garb from a Star Trek episode. The party all changed, but Naiya refused to leave her cloak behind. She just wore it on top of the silken "dress." 
In the center of their spartan rooms, a small pool (similar to the one in the forum) with shallow waters was indented into the floor. Once the party was all freshened up, the pool began to steam and bubble, filling the air with a thick mist. The door to the outside suddenly vanished, as well, leaving behind a smooth, stone wall. Once the mist cleared, everyone saw a hole in the floor, where the pool once was. Upon inspection, the hole led to a chute. The party, not knowing what else to do, jumped in, hoping for the best...
INT. ANTECHAMBER TO THE AUDIENCE HALL
The party emerged from the tube, ejected as it were, from the chute exit on the ceiling onto a pile of pillows below. The occupants of both PC rooms arrived, with the exception of the modrons, who were asked to stay behind. This, however, didn't stop Fourry, who also emerged from the chute, uninvited. 
The group found themselves in yet another unadorned stone room. But this one featured a large golden door on one side, guarded by two Skum guards in fancy, coral armor. A moment later, and from another hole in the ceiling, another person emerged, landing on the pillows. He was tall and lanky, with red skin and tiny black horns. A devil of some sort. But a friendly one. He introduced himself as Javraglat, the "he Imbiber of Blood and the Blade of Thorns ." It seemed he was a prince of hell, and an often visitor of the Oblox's. He was very interested in the PCs and told them he'd be their guide and handle the introductions to the other dinner guests. He led them to the golden doors, and the Skum parted to allow them access.
INT. THE AUDIENCE HALL OF THE OBLOX 
In a manner now expected, the room was once again large and oval-ish, with a high domed ceiling nearly 30' up. Built around the 60' wide pool in the room's center was a circular table which essentially ringed the waters. Many guests were already seated, Javraglat made the introductions...
In attendance were the following:
1. The Metatron... a proxy for the Oblox Uulex in the form of an androgynous, bald elf slave. This servant was the eyes, ears and mouth of Uulex. Whatever the Oblox said came from its mouth. Whatever it saw, the Oblox too spied.
2. Javraglat the Imbiber of Blood and the Blade of Thorns.
3. Ehggrrol, a Skum Lieutentant in coral armor.
4. Hanalan Frippart, A human merchant from the east.
5. Avoun De’estra, a Qualenti (dark elf) mage and mercenary leader.
6. Neslanya Lingrov, A “painted lady” of the Lentokki Court, she is actually a blood mage who commands a sizable Lentokki force of "Emerald Incendiaries" (elite Lentokki shock troops).  
7. Dame Arlenda Capular, The magister of the court of Essendra Halbion, the "queen in exile."
The Oblox (through its Metatron) welcomed its guests and "produced" appetizers. Small dishes literally emerged from the stone table, pushing through it like jelly. Elsa recognized the dish as a rare, deep sea plant that she assured the others was quite tasty. Uulex announced that there would be "entertainment," yet they were still awaiting two more guests. Guests, who arrived, moments later...
The first was a kuo-toa priestess that the party didn't immediately recognize. Then they got it. It was Sloobludop, the kuo-toa who tried to sacrifice them back in Blimpiblod. However, the priestess acted as if she either didn't know them, or didn't care.
The second guest was a slinky woman of immense beauty, although she was mostly concealed by a hooded robe. Again, it took the party a moment, but they all suddenly realized they met this woman before. It was the medusa that visited them while they were imprisoned by the lord of The Seven Pillared Hall. A medusa that knew their true identities (remember, the PCs were pretending to be mercenaries who killed Kharthlaxi for the bounty). Her name was Serestra, and she too acted as if she'd never met the PCs before, though she clearly had. What was her game? The party would have to wait to find out...
Moments later, the entertainment was presented. A cadre of beings of many species descended from the domed ceiling, pushing through the walls, as was the style of the city. They were all dressed in rags and looked quite haggard. The PCs quickly identified them as slaves (or at least lesser servants). They all remained hovering about 15' over the dinner guests, and at their head descended a duegar "dark dwarf" named Maestro Donlesse. He was a choirmaster, and the captive servants were his choir. They began signing a pensive, yet beautiful dirge, which eventually shifted to something more epic and up-key.
Mangy instantly took a dislike to the dark dwarf conductor, as strouts (surface dwarves) and duegar hold an aeons-long enmity towards each other. 
As the performance continued, the party engaged many of the guests in conversation. They also learned a lot of things possibly beyond their pay grade. Most importantly, that the forces of Lentokk, the Halbion Queen and the Oblox were in the process of forming a union to "retake the West" and "put a Halbion back on the throne of Wyeth." This was quite alarming news, particularly for Naiya, who barely managed to hold her tongue. This did not go unnoticed (although she was still disguised in halfling form), and soon the conversation "coincidentally" turned to news from Varuumae Corona. Specifically the possible abduction of the Inheritrix and the tumult within the royal court. 
The PCs managed to successfully shift the conversation away from Naiya, and eventually the Oblox requested to be presented with the body of Kharthlaxi. Guy went to the guards, who were holding the body, and retrieved the dead mind flayer. He placed him on the table, for all to see. Then the Oblox made a dire request.
He wanted one amongst the party to do the honors and "prove that he was dead." Mangy volunteered and was presented a saber from Avoun De'estra. The dwarf wizard plunged the blade into Kharthlaxi's side, thus proving his deceased status. Satisfied, the Oblox returned to polite dinner conversation and the main course at hand.
As the entrees began to magically manifest on the table before the guests, once again rising through the table itself, Avoun asked the PCs if they'd happened upon any female Qualenti in Suruunae (The Seven Pillar Hall). Apparently he was on a mission to hunt down and bring back a rogue member of House Dey'orl. It didn't take long for the party to realize he was talking about Teffa! Apparently she was to be sacrificed to the Spider Queen in order to appease the Qualenti's deity and formally bond their house to Obloxis Azuun. It seemed even Teffa's family was in cahoots with those conspiring to conquer the west. 
Another point of conversation involved Fourry, whom the Metatron couldn't keep from staring at. Apparently, when the portal from their home plane of Mechanus opened, it opened directly in the middle of Obloxis Azuun. This was a great intrusion and insult to the Oblox. The modrons managed to escape before he could enact "justice" upon them. He now greatly desired to punish them after the fact, and offered to pay the PCs handsomely for them. The party managed to change the subject before actually agreeing to anything on that front. 
As far as their other payment, the one for Kharthlaxi, Uulex pronounced that it would be made available to them shortly.
A final conversation of import came from Javraglat, who explained what brought him hence from the nine hells on this fine evening. He was in search of a missing lieutenant from his own legion. A "pit fiend" named Barlock, who went missing after he was tasked to bring back yet another pit fiend who'd gone AWOL. Barlock was dispatched to Qudra (where the party intended to travel through) on a tip that this defecting pit fiend (named Aarghlan) might be in the "city of slavers." Javraglat went so far as to offer a bounty to the party if they managed to bring a message to Barlock. That message being, abandon your mission and return home. 
Hanalan Frippart, the merchant prince, also took an interest in the party. If they were such renown bounty hunters, why hadn't he heard of them? The party seemed to assuage his suspicions with some smooth talking, and Hanalan let it dangle. He did, however, request for them to look him up the next time they were in Angleport (where apparently he was headed). The party managed to decipher that he was a member of The Club Masters, the organization who owned the casino back in Varuumae Corona which they basically trashed, many moons ago.
The dinner eventually wound to a close, with the party requesting an audience with Tulvlu, with the intent to "torture" and "interrogate" the malask. The Oblox seemed slightly taken aback, as he himself wanted to savor the pain to be inflicted upon Kharthlaxi's companion, especially seeing as he could no longer hurt the mind flayer himself. Mangy managed to convince him to at least think it over. In turn, the aboleth lord requested that the PCs spend the night so that they could meet again in the morrow... ostensibly to pay them for the mind flayer. Mangy also requested a "tour" of the undercity, a subterranean portion of Obloxis Azuun only accessible to water-breathers. 
Apparently, the prison was contained in a submerged and anchored "bubble" in the under city, and Mangy was looking for a back up plan to get in front of Tulvlu. 
The party was soon escorted by several Skum back to their quarters, but along the way, Serestra soon caught up with them. She asked to meet them in their chambers later, to which the party (particularly Mangy, who fostered a crush on the gorgon) agreed.   
Upon arriving back at their rooms, the gang instantly discovered that the other modrons were missing! They assumed the creatures were taken to the prison as well, especially knowing that the Oblox wanted them for his own amusement.
Unable to do anything about it currently, the party reconvened in the other room, where shortly after Serestra came knocking.
The medusa got right to the point and explained that she too was a slave to the Oblox. She pointed to a metal bracer around her neck, which acted somewhat as a control collar. She wanted out, and she wanted it removed. Unfortunately, the key was kept (apparently) in the same bubble as the prison itself. She made a proposition to the party...
Bring her the key and she would instantly teleport them safely to the other end of the Wet Dark, depositing them just south of the Wyrmcrest Mountains. 
This would shave a long and dangerous portion off their trip, and was an offer they basically couldn't refuse. The only problem was how to pull it off?
After a bit of back and forth and spitballing, they came up with portions of a plan. They merely needed to get the key, and then Elsa could "swim" it back to Serestra, who'd be waiting in the Forum (where they were initially taken upon entering the city). Elsa could pop up through the pool and hand the key to the gorgon (medusa). Once freed of the collar, Serestra could teleport to the party still trapped in the bubble and then teleport them all to safety.
It seemed almost too easy...
To be continued...