Adventure Three, Session Twenty Three

INT. CAVERNS OF THE UNDERWORLD ("WET DARK") - TIME UNKNOWN...
When we last left our heroes they had just escaped the dread man-eating trees of the Sullenwood Forest, a subterranean grove of hungry albino deciduous monstrosities. They were pursued in their hasty exit by a large, half-blind Frogemoth (giant tentacle frog monster thing), which hopefully (fingers crossed) couldn't fit through the tunnel the party absconded through.
Shortly down the path, they took a quick breather in order to assess the situation and their options. One thing immediately became clear. Kharthlaxi's condition was only worsening, and the mind flayer was rapidly facing his own mortality. In light of this, he turned to the PCs and explained his situation. He knew he was close to death, but he also continued to feel dedication to their joint mission. He was resolute that the party continue through Obloxis Azuun, and to that end he made a morbid request. He asked that the party pretend as though they caught the wanted illithid (with a bounty on his head) and were attempting to deliver his soon-to-be dead body to the "Oblox Uulex." Apparently "Oblox" is a title bestowed to the ruling class in Obloxis Azuun, and Uulex is the aboleth in question's actual name. Anyway, he apparently would be quite receptive to the party delivering his prodigal former employee back to him (dead or alive).
With the party sadly agreeing to this course of action, the mind flayer decided to come clean about one additional detail. It seems he hadn't been 100% straight with them thus far. Though he was entirely truthful in his desire to help the Inheritrix Naiya Arabata reach Sage, he also had a secondary reason for teaming up with the party. It seems he left someone (or something) behind in the aboleth city. A companion who was caught while Kharthlaxi escaped. He described this "person" as a creature known as a Malask named "Truvlu." Truvlu sacrificed herself in order for Kharthlaxi to escape, and in turn he's made it his mission to free her from captivity (assuming she's still alive).
The PCs agreed to take over his mission, with the intent to find and free the malask from whatever Gaol exists within Obloxis Azuun. After these terms were worked out, the mind flayer revealed that he needed to "meld" with one member of the party, in order to convey some pertinent information (in case he were to die before they reached the city). Esla volunteered, but when Kharthlaxi "bonded" with her, she was unable to accept the information. In her stead, Guy stood up to the plate. This time the transfer was successful. The mind flayer "downloaded" a "mind map" of his journeys and paths through the underworld directly into Guy's brain. He now knew everything Kharthlaxi knew about the correct paths through the subterranean world, including the correct path to take the party to the proper exit (towards Qudra).
Now fully understanding their situation (well, maybe not fully but...) the party proceeded down the passage towards their next stop on the "Wet Dark" tour... a cavern eerily referred to as the "Lair of the Spider Queen."
Meanwhile... not far away... Two new characters enter the scene.
It seems Talal of the Brotherhood of the Weave had a vision. He saw in his dreams the party beset on all sides by powerful enemies. His response to this was to seek out a few new adventurers to send to the party's aid. He had a lucid vision of three such candidates. Ones that happened to be carousing in Varuumae Corona already. Note: this portion occurred prior to Talal's journey to "Zeke al Bajan's Last Hope," the town in which the party later encountered him.
The three adventurers in question included a human cleric turned vampire hunter named Woodfoot, a gnomish tinkerer and inventor named Bartholomew, and a grizzled human mercenary named Borthos.
Using the extent of his powers, Talal summoned a thick fog, into which he requested the two adventurers enter. Upon doing so, they found themselves instantly transported to an undisclosed location within the Wet Dark. He told them to be expecting the party to catch up to them, and even gave them the "secret hand sign" to identify themselves as friends. He went further to describe a few members of the party, making sure to note Mangy as one he was fairly certain would "survive long enough to reach them."
Fortunately, their teleportation brought them extraordinarily close to the party's location. Unfortunately, that happened to mean the Lair of the Spider Queen. The room they found themselves was wide and circular, with a vaulted ceiling covered completely in webbing. The three were instantly caught up in the massive weave of the spider queen's web and pinned to the wall adjacent to the cavern's entrance. Moments later, the spider queen revealed herself, entering from a large passage directly before them (roughly 100' distant).
She lived up to her name indeed!
Shigrad, the spider queen, was a massive white spider, approximately the size of a bus or an elephant. She rushed forward with a speed not expected for one of her massive bulk. Instantly, she laid into Borthos, ripping the mercenary from his sticky prison and into her toothy maw. With his screams filling the air, she withdrew back into the tunnel from which she emerged. Bye bye Borthos...
The main party, having been traveling forward down their path, suddenly heard the screams of the dying man. Moments later they rushed into the cavern. Just as they were doing so, Woodfoot managed to pull himself free of the web and was busy freeing Bartholomew as well. For his part, when freed, the gnome pulled out one of his "inventions" and set a section of the webbing ablaze! The fire quickly leapt up the network of webs, creating a nice conflagration that quickly warmed up the room real nice like.
With Esla leading the way, the party entered the chamber just as the blaze reached a fever pitch. The two remaining "additional adventurers" quickly identified themselves and (sort of) why they were there. The old party members didn't have too much time to question this, as soon voices emerged from another passage to their left. In fact, the chamber was riddled with tiny passages. But which one to choose?
Guy pointed out the path he thought to be proper, and was backed up by Kharthlaxi. Unfortunately, it happened to be the one that Shigrad skittered down (with her dinner). Moments later, the party identified the voices as elvish and presumed them to belong to a number of qualenti dark elves. Guy quickly assumed the form of a female qualenti, just in time, as two (male) scouts emerged from the tunnel, crossbows drawn. The party managed to parlay with these dark elves, getting them to stand down under the lie that Guy, along with his mind flayer partner, had "captured" these adventurers and was bringing them to sell in Obloxis Azuun.
Just then, the scouts' leader emerged as well. This older male was less trustful of the party, but after some back-and-forth came to request that the party accompany them through the lair. The leader's goal was to both "not upset the spider queen" and to find the quarry they were hunting. After a moment, it was revealed that the qualenti were stalking the group of modrons that Fourry was a part of.
Esla attempted to hide Fourry, but soon one of the scouts noticed the modron. Taking decisive action (realizing that the ruse was likely up), Guy went on the offensive. He attacked the scouts and a melee broke out.
The party fought the qualenti, and in pretty short order managed to fell the two young scouts. The leader, however, attacked with an arcane "shadow blade." He missed his target, but suddenly disappeared into thin air!
The party didn't have much time to figure out what happened to the leader, for (by the sound of skittering) the spider queen was rapidly returning. The party braced themselves as Shigrad emerged once again, hovering over the exit the party needed to eventually take.
Once again a melee broke out. Bartholomew tossed an explosive cocktail at the spider, igniting the ground beneath her. She reflexively jumped up the wall, creating a tiny gap through which the party could pass through (out the exit tunnel). Temerity and Oltorf quickly escorted Naiya through the opening, while the other party members continued their attack on the giant spider.
After a harrowing skirmish, one that left Woodfoot fallen and near death, the party realized that they might not be able to best this creature. They thusly made for the exit. Mangy hopped on his magic carpet and flew to Woodfoot, rescuing him just in time. Everyone made it through the exit and rushed down the passage, attempting to outrun Shigrad.
Suddenly, Esla, who was in the lead with Fourry, stopped at a small tunnel that cut tot the left of the passage (and was only 5' wide). She and the modron broke off the path and rushed down the new tunnel. The rest of the party soon followed. They all found themselves in a dead end... another (smaller) circular room, with walls covered in webbing. And in those webs, the ten or so other modrons. Fourry's "tribe!"
Though seemingly trapped, at least the spider couldn't fit through the tunnel leading to this room. However, the party then discovered a large hole in the ceiling. This one quite large enough for the spider to traverse.
Mangy flew his surprisingly still working) carpet up the hole, which led up about 15' before taking a sharp right turn into another tunnel. He placed his immovable rod in the narrow part of the passage (not narrow enough, but hopefully it would still harry the spider). Bartholomew, who went up with him on the carpet, connected his grappling hook to the rod and dangled from it. Just in time, as the carpet began to "go out" again. Mangy flew it back down to the chamber below, before it could crap out and drop him hard.
The rest of the party managed to free the trapped modrons, who for their part began walking in confused circles, spouting off equations in their weird quadratic language. In other words, they weren't much help. Fourry then attempted to reason with them, making some impassioned plea in binary code. The party could only hope that it would make some sort of difference and lead these strange planar travelers to assist the trapped PCs.
Moments later, Bartholomew heard something. A familiar skittering. From up ahead of him along the horizontal right passage (connected to the vertical one he was dangling from).
Shegrad was returning...
To be continued...