Bogo

Bogo is a notoriously lazy goblin as well as the nephew of Gobo the Traveling Merchant. After Bogo's mother foisted him onto Gobo, Gobo in turn foisted him on the adventurers of the Thaig Expedition by stuffing him into a bag of holding (with a breathing straw) purchased by K (along with a note telling the adventurers to take care of him and claiming Bogo could "summon creatures more useful than he is"). Due to Bogo's laziness, he typically allows his sprite servant Owen to do the talking and take care of his affairs. Though he will summon more powerful monsters to assist in combat situations and even act directly in the rare instance he considers something interesting enough to miss out on a nap for it.
Table of Contents

Pre-Campaign

Bogo hails from the same village as his uncle Gobo in the Underdark, where he has spent a lifetime developing a reputation as a lazy good-for-nothing. This has caused him to be passed between virtually everyone in his home village, his laziness always outweighing his family's and neighbor's capacity to try and whip him into shape. He was eventually sent to his uncle Gobo who knew better than to try and offloaded him onto some adventurers he'd been doing business with at the first opportunity. His only instructions for Bogo were to not die, "...or else your mom (Gobo's sister) will get mad at me."

Journey into the Underdark Arc

Meeting & Joining the Adventurers

Shortly after the defeat of the Light Gundam, the adventurers of the Thaig Expedition were planning their next move. K took the opportunity to mention he'd purchased a bag of holding from Gobo but was surprised to see a straw sticking out of it when he showed it to the others. He pulled on the straw and out came Bogo, half asleep with his teeth still clenched around the other end of his breathing tube. There was a note pinned to his collar from Gobo, asking the party to take care of Bogo and stating he could summon monsters more useful than his lazy self. Bogo's sprite familiar, Owen, outlined the rather ridiculous details of Bogo's work contract. Still, the adventurers were a man down following Ban's departure and accepted Bogo into the group to fill the gap.

Attacking Charwell Fortress

Initial Attack

The other adventurers explained that a trio of kobold vipers had attacked Cinderfolk Foundry before Bogo made his appearance. They intended to sneak into Charwell Fortress, knowing the kobold vipers had made a home there, to eliminate them before their actions caused issues with the adventurers attempts to assist the Deep Spire's leaders with working out a peace treaty with Brazenthrone. They took their ship, the Grinning Widow, towards the fortress while making their plan of attack.
Leh'ct and Jake turned into giant bats (Leh'ct via his druid magic and Jake via a polymorph spell from Elycia) to fly in over the light-emitting buoys that surrounded the fortress. Jake went in first with K, as they were the stealthiest of the adventurers. The other stayed on Leh'ct, who was ready to swoop in should their comrades need back-up. They sneakily climbed along the ancient fortress' crumbling walls, making their way to a chapel where they assassinated two priests and a guard. Soon after, they found another kobold viper and tried the same with him, though this one was skilled enough to survive their initial assault and blew a horn to sound the alarm.
Over two dozen kobold viper guards emerged from hiding, many of them peppering the adventurers in the sky with arrows while their horn-blowing leader attacked the ground-level intruders. Bogo summoned a beholder-kin to keep the kobold vipers pinned with magical rays, particularly their mages. When Elycia was forced to leave Jake behind to evacuate Leh'ct and K, both wounded and paralyzed by a powerful poison, Bogo used his flying cloud to get down to Jake and got the pair of them out of there with a teleportation spell.
The adventurers made their way back to the boat shortly thereafter to recover from their injuries and plan their next move. But Bogo had been savvy enough to leave his servant Owen behind, where the invisible sprite could spy on what the kobold vipers were doing in the party's absence.

Owen the Spy

Using his warlock powers, Bogo looked and listened through Owen's senses to get a first-hand look at the sprite's observations. Owen watched as the kobold vipers made their way for a hole leading to a downward sloping tunnel. They seemed to be focused on getting their unarmed members and injured leader down first, the rest of their number holding off Bogo's beholder-kin in the meantime. Only then did the armed kobold vipers also make their way there. Owen followed the last kobold viper and quickly found himself enveloped in darkness as it pulled a lever that sealed the entrance with a boulder. Unable to see, Owen had to feel his way forward but moved slowly enough to not accidentally bump into anyone.
The tunnel was narrow, barely large enough for the kobold vipers to move single-file and their heads nearly brushing the ceiling. It eventually widened into a larger chamber and Owen heard soft splashing nearby and determined the source to be the oars of a rowboat. The vessel seemed to be going somewhere nearby; it left and returned ten minutes later to pick up more passengers. Owen clung to the back of the rowboat, observing a small farming area growing edible moss on the journey. When the boat eventually stopped, Owen flew away quickly and noticed a cave opening head with light coming out of it. The kobold vipers seemed to be making their way there and so too did Owen.
The cave was crowded with many kobold vipers. To one side were smaller ones, children with eyes red from crying as the adults tried to comfort them. The wounded were off to another side, their dead having already been revived by priests who were now treating injuries. Torches on stands ringed the center of the chamber, at the heart of which their mages were drawing an intricate magic symbol. Bogo recognized it as a teleportation circle and realized the kobold vipers were preparing to abandon the fortress to keep their children and the other non-combatants safe. It wasn't long before a portal opened, the kobold vipers evacuating to what seemed to be a cave on the other side. Details were hard to make out through the fog that covered the other side of the portal, though Bogo did recognize a symbol carved on a wall Owen could see. It was that of Stronmaus, the Storm Lord.
Once the last kobold viper was through and the portal closed, Owen altered it so that it could not be used to return to Charwell Fortress. He then began to scout the now-abandoned facility, though he failed to find anything substantial before he tripped one of the many traps the kobold vipers left behind and found himself cleaved in half by a pendulum blade.
With the fortress seemingly clear, the adventurers decided to search it and see if any clues (or anything of value) had been left behind. It soon seemed that the main thing left behind were traps as Elycia stepped foot off the dock and onto concealed caltrops. While she was picking them out of her skin, Bogo summoned an aberration in the form of a slaadi with regenerative powers. He sent the creature ahead of the group knowing it could heal from any traps that killed it outright. Which proved to be a good choice as it fell into a pit of poisoned spikes, snagged a tripwire that triggered crossbows, and stepped in more than one bear trap.
Aside from the traps, the fortress seemed to be empty. Finding nothing of note on the ground level, the adventurers went into the tunnels below where the kobolds had evacuated (Elycia using her magic boots to pass through the boulder blocking the entrance to pull the lever on the other side). They fixed up a damaged boat to follow the waterways, but still found nothing of note related to the kobold vipers. Leh’ct, however, found something that interested him greatly. As he was looking around a grove where the kobold vipers had been farming edible moss, something small dart from cover to cover out of the corner of his eye. He followed the shape and found what looked like a fox with bat wings. Leh’ct immediately decided to adopt the little creature and went to show his companions. Bogo objected outright to this, stating that the fox-thing was almost certainly a familiar that could be spying on them. Leh’ct was having none of it and kept it under his protection regardless, noting that the creature appeared to be intelligent and that it hadn't done anything to them (much to Bogo's ire).
The kobold vipers seemed to be well and truly gone, and unable to return after Bogo had his sprite servant Owen alter the teleportation circle they'd left behind. With the situation seemingly dealt with, they returned to the Grinning Widow and spent the next several weeks waiting for the Deepking's return correspondence to the Deep Spire's leaders. Once the letter was in hand, they returned to the Deep Spire to deliver it.

Off to Brazenthrone

Got a Letter Here for You

The adventurers learned from the guards that Ysri and Lord Varl were in Lord Varl's home. Elycia handed off the letter to a Sword Dancer guard, who opened it and presented it to Ysri. The Matron Mother walked over by Lord Varl before opening it so that the two could read it together. After a moment, she informed the adventurers that Deepking Oghren Orzammar III had invited a diplomatic envoy to Brazenthrone.
Ysri stated that things were still too tenuous at the Deep Spire for her or Lord Varl to go to Brazenthrone themselves. She would instead be sending her high mage in her stead while Lord Varl would be sending his high priestess, along with a number of retainers. But she also had a proposal for the adventurers. Ysri desired extra eyes and ears in the duergar city that could report to their envoys, people who would not be associated with the Deep Spire. Given that the Thaig Expedition came from the surface, she believed they could pull this off.
While the adventurers did discuss the offer somewhat, Elycia stated they needed to talk to the rest of the expedition and see what they thought before making any decisions. Ysri said that was fine and that the adventurers could find the two of them here once they'd made their decision. The group then set out to look for the rest of the expedition, finding them in the tavern they'd been frequenting as usual.

Spies Among Us (and as a Career Choice)

Sitting down with Ernest, Bertrand, Villamax, and Itassis, Leh’ct (at Villamax's prompting) started to ramble on about the many, many things that had happened to the party since the last time they all sat down together. The most notable feature (to the rest of the expedition) being their discovery of the Lost Catacombs of Auldbaern and the stone tablets recovered there. Ernest confirmed they showed the information about the Thaig family history he was looking for, but unfortunately the documents were not notarized. Still, he seemed confident that if this writing had lasted all these years that a notarized copy liked had as well.
Their next order of business was the fox-creature that Leh’ct had kept at his side for the last five weeks. Bogo still insisted the creature was a familiar and a spy, a theory that Villamax believed held weight. The wizard suggested simply casting a dispel magic spell on it to see what happens. The fox-creature bristled at this and began struggling to get away. Not wanting to see anything happen to it, Leh’ct let it go and went to open the door for it as the fox-creature started pawing at the tavern's exit. Bogo stopped him from doing so by putting his foot in front of the door as Villamax cast the spell; the fox-creature, which was indeed a familiar, disappeared with a popping sound. The group was now concerned the kobold vipers had indeed been spying on them but also speculated it could have been one of their other enemies instead, such as "Black Hand" Kelly.
With that order of business out of the way (and Leh’ct now sad), the adventurers next discussed Ysri's offer with their business partners. None of them had any objection to it, though Bertrand was concerned what kind of welcome he and his brother might receive in Brazenthrone as surface dwarves. Villamax had apparently been thinking about this as well and plopped a Hat of Disguise he'd prepared on each of them, disguising the brothers as duergar. Though the wizard did warn them that they would need to be careful with their accents and mannerisms, which would likely give them away if they weren't careful. With that detail taken care of, the adventurers decided to go sell some of the items they'd acquired on their adventures to Gobo before returning to Varl's place.

Do I Get a License to Kill?

After reaffirming with the adventurers that Bogo would be staying with them ("no refunds on Bogo"), Gobo bought the loot they'd accumulated over their last several adventurers. As they were shopping, they brought up their plans to go to Brazenthrone and Gobo mentioned he knew the gatemaster there. If they decided to enter the city by land, Gobo stated he could come along with them and get them in. With that in mind, the adventurers returned to Ysri and Lord Varl to finalize the details about their work as spies.
Ysri was glad to hear the adventurers accepted the offer and stated there were two ways into Brazenthrone, by land and by sea. Wanting to keep their distance from the official envoy ship to avoid suspicion, the group elected to take the land option. Lord Varl recommended they take the Grinning Widow to the Chesterboro Arms inn, as it was the last sign of civilization (or at least something resembling it) between itself and the tunnels that lead to Brazenthrone. As far as getting messages to the envoys went, Bogo said he could do so telepathically or using his invisible familiar, though Ysri warned him to be careful as the duergar would likely have detection methods for both those things.

Sparring Match

The adventurers soon set sail aboard the Grinning Widow, spending weeks sailing the entirety of the Black Loch from east to west. Mott and the rest of the crew got them as close to Brazenthrone as they could by water, dropping them off at a tunnel that (probably) connected to the land route the adventurers had decided to take. He also made sure that they officially declared him to be the new captain in their absence, though was unsuccessful in talking Jake into giving him his captain's hat (and grumbling about how Sunny had promised him a hat and never delivered on it).
As the adventurers moved forward, they came to a large open chamber with stairs and stone signposts that pointed the way towards Brazenthrone. They almost failed to notice when Villamax and Itassis stopped walking to talk in hushed tones. Elycia's keen hearing picked up on this and the other stopped when she turned around to ask them what was up. Villamax stated that since the party had encountered numerous powerful foes recently (to say nothing of those still out there like "Black Hand" Kelly and Santaura) and struggled in many of the fights, he thought a bit of training might be in order. Particularly because of the recent addition of Bogo to the group; better the adventurers get used to working with him in a controlled environment vs. a life or death situation.
The adventurers agreed that it couldn't hurt and Villamax allowed them to position themselves before summoning a smoke elemental for them to battle, backed up by Itassis to ensure the adventurers couldn't just gang up on it and defeat it too easily. Though they won, their performance and teamwork had enough holes in it that they declined Villamax's offer to keep going for a round two. This prompted the adventurers to begin discussing tactics amongst themselves so they could iron out a few issues before their next true battle. The training match also gave them the opportunity to analyze a few of the magic items in Itassis' possession, though Bogo didn't get a good look at any of them.

Leh'ct's Departure

After a brief stop for rest following the sparring match, the advance party separated from the rear group. They planned to do their initial spying alone so that they could report back about the customs of the locals, which would hopefully be enough for Bertrand and Ernest to blend in under their illusionary duergar disguises.
The tunnels forked along the way and the adventurers heard footsteps approaching. The steps were light, seeming to indicate it was a single person. Leh'ct was unable to hide himself before the source of the sound turned the corner, revealing itself as Karai, the cloaked individual who'd previously signaled for help when Elycia and Jake had been injured by "Black Hand" Kelly's ambush. She greeted them and introduced herself to those of the adventurers she had not met before. When they did the same, she paused upon hearing "Leh'ct". She asked the young druid to repeat himself before asking, "Leh'ct Arlathil of Haven City"? Leh'ct had no idea how this woman knew so much about him; he asked about that, but she ignored his question momentarily and asked Gobo if the adventurers could be trusted. Gobo gave her an affirmative and she lowered her hood to reveal herself as a blindfolded medusa.
Leh'ct's mind focused on old memories he'd glimpsed once before, those showing a medusa delivering his infant self to the orphanarium where he grew up. Karai confirmed she was indeed the person who'd left him there as a favor to his parents. Leh'ct had many questions, but before he could settle on which to ask first she had one for him. Would he like to see his parents? Leh'ct delivered an enthusiastic yes, but his spirits were soon dampened upon learning the journey would take him in a different direction then Brazenthrone. But still, this was an opportunity he could not let pass him by. Leh'ct bid farewell to his friends of these past months, leaving the Dark Mantle he wore in their care, and set off with Karai to find the definitive answers to both his own past and that of his parents.

Elycia's Past Comes Calling

The group marched on until, less than a day from Brazenthrone, they heard the sound of metal striking stone from up ahead. Elycia and K decided to investigate while the others stayed behind as back-up, with K disguising himself as a blind stonemason and Elycia playing the role of his guide/guard.
Not long after, Bogo and Jake heard the sound of combat and rushed in to find their companions, as well as a duergar woman and group of high elves, engaged in battle with a pack of wolf-like OoPAs. Bogo was quick to demonstrate his mastery of summoning magic, sending in an undead-type summon that left half the pack striken with supernatural fear. When the alpha wolf appeared, it seemed to be able to smell that Bogo was the source of this magic and made a beeline for him. The wolves had spent the battle jumping into the air and gliding forward on membraces between their legs, as well as flinging toxic spines from their tails. These tactics were both used against Bogo as he tried to fly to safety, and it was thanks to a powerful illusion spell of Elycia's incapacitating the rest of the pack that the adventurers and elves were able to focus on the alpha wolf and rescue Bogo.
The battle ended as the largest of the wolf OoPAs, the alpha, went down. Silence filled the cavern, but only for a moment as clapping filled the chamber. Everyone's eyes turned to the source; Santaura, having apparently survived the destruction of the Light Gundam's base, perched on a rock. She didn't remain for long, quickly teleporting away in a blot of inky black smoke and taking the surviving wolves with her.
Sergeant Keebler asked who that was and Elycia commented she was responsible for sinking the elven ship that had been on the Black Loch. This was a poor decision on her part, as a suddenly enraged Keebler demanded to know why she'd not mentioned that earlier when she'd claimed to know nothing more about the sunken ship. It was the last straw for Keebler. His team was in no position to take Elycia prisoner and haul her in front of a military court, but he still has measures he could take to punish her. Using a strange crystal orb, he formally discharged Elycia from their military and ripped the arcane magic from her body before tearing off his insignia, which Elycia herself once worn, and throwing it at her feet. He had no desire to wear something that once belonged to someone he now considered a traitor. He left in a huff with the rest of his squad, who seemed uneasy with the situation given Elycia's status as a war hero in their eyes.

Gobo's "Rival"

Despite how the situation with the Silver Falcons had degraded, the duergar woman traveling with them came over and introduced herself as Jenlin Keenpast. Her appearance seemed to trigger Gobo's berserk button, who declared she was his enemy and eternal rival. Jenlin had no idea who Gobo, which Elycia found hilarious, but claimed she was the #1 merchant in Brazenthrone and all the Underdark for that matter. Gobo seethed harder and turned redder with every word.
Jenlin explained she'd hired the Silver Falcons as temporary guards when her usual men had taken ill. She also didn't hold any animosity towards the adventurers the way they did; to the contrary, she wanted to make sure to give them a proper thank you for their assistance against the OoPAs. Several of the adventurers began inquiring about purchasing magic items from her and she had to assure them she'd come over to thank them, not to conduct business on the spot. Jenlin gave them a metal card that would allow them access to the part of the city where she set up shop (albeit under guard), normally inaccessible to non-citizens. She was quick to take her leave after that, needing to keep her reputation of never losing a shipment and always arriving on time.

Arrival in Brazenthrone

Corrupt Gatemaster

Several hours later, the adventurers arrived at their destination and approached the gates of Brazenthrone. The gates sat at the end of a long hallway in a carved tunnel, the last 175 feet before the gate filled with murderholes that pockmarked the walls and ceiling. Bogo and Jake stepped up to do the talking since K and Elycia didn't speak the local languages, with Bogo relaying the conversation to them. It quickly became apparent that the gatemaster, Darmond Stouthead, was attempting to fleece them before allowing them into the city. Luckily, Gobo seemed to have some compromising information on the man and got then into the city toll free by implying he'd reveal it otherwise. Darmond ordered one of his men to escort them to the Common Quarter. As they went, K rifled through his assortment of holy symbols and made sure the one for Tiamat hung out of his shirt, knowing there were Dragon Queen worshipers in the city.

A Giant Problem

While the walk from the gates to the Common Quarter is normally a short one, the guard was forced to take the adventurers around the long way through the Anvil Quarter due to an accident blocking the quicker route. The smog filling the city became thicker and the clanging of metal in the air louder as they approached the city's forges. Though their guide tried to usher them through quickly, the group was forced to stop when a stone giant speaking to a blacksmith produced a crystal made from corrupted faerzress. When the smith tried to examine it with a magical monocle, the stone's energy released and flowed into the stone giant's body. His eyes glowed purple as he began to violently lash out at all those around him.
Bogo and his comrades found themselves standing next to the stone giant by the Freehammer Forge as this happened, forcing them to defend themselves. Though their humanoid-sized weapons could only do so much damage to a giant's body, Bogo summoned a group of giant frogs that restrained the giant as the pain of his wounds seemed to cut through the fog that clouded the stone giant's mind and allowed him to regain his senses. He apologized profusely to the nearby citizens for frightening them and thanked the adventurers for their intervention, grateful that they were able to prevent him from causing any fatalities. The giant also told their guard guide that he would pay for any healing services the adventurers required from the local temples due to this incident.

Witnessing the Forge Wyrm

With that excitement over, they continued on towards the Common Quarter. But the group was interrupted yet again when a group of robed men appeared around a corner and commanded everyone in the street make way for Yolheimsu'um, the Forge Wyrm. While most of the adventurers tried their hardest to not capture the dragon's attention (Bogo using his frogs as a wall to hide behind), K did the opposite and flaunted his Tiamat amulet while following after the dragon. He watched as the Forge Wyrm refreshed the fires of the Freehammer Forge to the cheers of Brazenthrone's citizens. From the dragon's body language, it did appear to take notice of K's actions.
After K rejoined the group, they finally found themselves in the Common Quarter. Their guard pointed out the main market as well as several other amenities in the area as he escorted them to some empty guest apartments. The guard left them there and warned them not to attempt to leave the Common Quarter without permission & an escort, else they would be jailed.

Late-Night Scouting

Bogo wasted no time thinking of a loophole in that logic and got to work, summoning a swarm of bats to scout the area and zero in on anyone who mentioned these "Awakened" cultists. Several of these bats made it back, the others having been spotted and eaten by giant lizards used as pack animals. Though they didn't hear anything about the cultists, they did see someone in a robe leaving the apartments Bogo and co. were staying at as they flew back in. From the description, it sounded to Bogo like one of the Bellows. Taking a peek outside, he found a letter on the table of the apartment's common area addressed to the group. It was a summons to stand before Yolheimsu'um, worded in way that made it clear this was a demand rather than a request. A member of the Bellows would be by at noon tomorrow to collect them.
While one bat reported to him, Bogo had the rest follow after the robed man. However, they lost track of him in the chaos of a street brawl that started as a result of the guards chasing after someone. The fleeing figure yelled, "You'll never catch the likes of Diir!" Leaving whatever that was aside for the moment, Bogo sent his bats to gather the others so he could let them know what he'd learned. As they were talking, there was a knock at the door and a messenger dropped off another letter addressed to the adventurers. This one was from the local stone giant enclave, inviting them to come by and receive thanks for their help in the Anvil District earlier.

First Day in Brazenthrone

Audience with the Forge Wyrm

Bogo had concerns that visiting the giants before the dragon, or vice versa, may anger the other party since giants and dragons traditionally don't get along. However, he and the others (sans Elycia) agreed that asking forgiveness of a giant would be easier than asking it of a chromatic dragon, so they decided to pop in on Yolheimsu'um first. The leader of the Bellows, Galmin Firechains, came to collect them the next day at noon. He led the adventurers through the streets of Brazenthrone to the southern edge of the city where worked stone gave way to the natural cave Yolheimsu'um had made his lair.
Galmin took the adventurers past many guards, all Bellows like himself, and around pools of water that were soon replaced by pools of magma. As they approached the central pool, Galmin motioned for them to halt while he approached the edge and banged his warhammer on the ground several times. A wake approached from beneath the magma and Yolheimsu'um partially pulled himself from it, lounging as he told the adventurers to introduce themselves and introducing himself in turn. With the pleasantries out of the way, K (who was making of show of faking faith for Tiamat, Queen of Evil Dragons) asked for what reason Yolheimsu'um had called them here.
The dragon told them that while he was making his rounds lighting forges, someone had slipped past the Bellows and stolen a valuable tome from his horde. Though the had a number of suspects (nobles who were political rivals, greedy merchants, and the renowned thief Diir among them), he'd no idea who he could trust outside his Bellows and they had so far failed to retrieve the item. Since the adventurers had only just arrived to Brazenthrone, they were not suspects and therefore made good candidates for finding the burglar. His wording made it clear that as far as Yolheimsu'um was concerned, they would do this for him or there would be consequences.
K asked what sort of reward they could expect in exchange for this service. Yolheimsu'um stated that they would do it because he told them to and that that was good reason enough. Not taking the hint, K insisted that some additional reward would serve as proper motivation. An angry looking Yolheimsu'um pulled himself fully out of the magma and was on top of K in an instant, telling the bugbear that he was playing with fire that could very easily burn, consume, and destroy him. But, Yolheimsu'um noted, fire could also temper when applied to material strong enough to withstand it. The dragon respected K's boldness and stated he would prepare a suitable reward should the adventurers succeed.
Yolheimsu'um instructed Galmin to give the adventurers badges showing the symbol of the Bellows, Galmin telling them the badges would let them move through Brazenthrone a bit more freely but that the notoriously stubborn guards may still need some persuading. As Yolheimsu'um instructed Galmin to see the adventurers out, he paused to tell Galmin that should the adventurers succeed in retrieving the missing tome first, he would be fired from his position as leader of the Bellows. When the adventurers inquired whether that statement was literal or figurative, Galmin seemed to think it was both.
On the way back to the Common Quarter, Bogo told the others about how his bat had seen this Diir guy that Yolheimsu'um had mentioned. The dragon had mentioned Diir had long been a thorn in the Blade Guard's side, so talking to them could be a good place to start gathering leads. While the Blade Guard would not normally accept outside help in doing their jobs, the bounty on Diir's head seemed to indicate they wished to be rid of the infamous derro by any means necessary.

Invitation to the Enclave

After parting ways with Galmin (and speculating they'd likely come into conflict with him in the future, since his life was riding on their failure), Bogo loudly announced they needed an escort to the stone giant enclave. One of the city's many invisible guards soon appeared and skimmed over the invitation before leading the group to the western side of the city. The guard would not go past the markers indicating the start of the stone giant's land, which was a natural cave rather than the worked stone of the dwarven living areas. One of two giants sitting by a roaring bonfire noticed them as they entered and pointed them in the direction of their leader, Sradzar.
The stone giant stood in front of a work table, so focused on his carvings that he didn't notice the adventurers until Bogo floated up to eye level on his magic cloud. Turning around, Sradzar welcomed the adventurers and expressed his personal thanks for their assistance the day before in making sure no one was killed. The adventurers shared what they knew of dark faerzress with him, which seemed to confirm a theory of Sradzar's that this phenomenon was unnatural. He spoke of an evil stirring within the Underdark, something so wicked it made the rock itself cry out in pain and horror as madness began to seep into the deepest depths of the earth.
Sradzar confirmed the dark faerzress had been present for at least a few decades, having seen it himself when helping the Deepking liberate the derro from Gyan'dis, but it seemed to be only recently that its effects became so profound. The adventurers expressed interest in learning more if they could, which reminded Sradzar to give them a reward for their deed yesterday. He approached Elycia (who seemed nervous and ready to bolt like a rabbit at something so large approaching her, but held her ground) and handed her a Stonespeaker Crystal. The adventurers thanked Sradzar and told him to contact them if he needed help with anything else. Nothing came to the cleric's mind at the moment, but he informed them he'd keep their offer in mind.

Aim to Impress

The adventurers returned to the apartments to find Gobo walking out of a smoky room in a lab coat. He told them he was on the cusp of figuring out how to attach multiple trinkets to a single piece of equipment and expected his research to be done soon. The group had learned that OoPAs were attacking the city's entrances and people on the roads outside on a semi-regular basis from Sradzar, so Gobo's announcement gave them the idea to go OoPA hunting. Not only would that give them additional parts to improve their equipment, helping to kill the creatures could earn them the goodwill of the locals.
Gobo heavily endorsed this idea that would have them spending more money at his shop and told them to stay away from that "evil witch" Jenlin Keenpast while they were out and about. This reminded the adventurers they still needed to visit Jenlin, much to Gobo's ire.

Shopping & Hunting

Before heading out to begin the hunt, Elycia suggested the group take Jenlin up on her offer to visit and see if she had any items that could help them. Bogo teased Elycia on the way there when the surface dwelling elf kept looking at the ceiling to try and navigate by the sky out of habit. A guardsman escorted the adventurers to Trader's Ward in the Great Hall and they quickly found the largest building was the one belonging to Jenlin. The desk in the reception area was unmanned but atop it sat a bell that Bogo rang repeatedly until an orc appeared from the door to the warehouse. Bogo rang the bell one more time for good measure before addressing the man.
The adventurers explained why they were here and the orc called for his boss, prompting a slightly dust covered Jenlin to appear from the back. Jenlin welcomed them and commented on their recent audience with Yolheimsu'um, informing them it was the talking of the normally uneventful town. Bogo asked that she keep her ears open about anyone trying to fleece a particularly rare book and Jenlin immediately put two and two together, though refrained from commenting on the adventurers' quest directly. With that bit of business out of the way, the adventurers began to inquire about items useful to them. Bogo was interested in sturdier armor that he could wear without disrupting his druidic magic and Jenlin believed she could have something equivalent to a breastplate ready for him the next day. He also inquired about an elven cloak, and though Jenlin stocked the item he refrained from buying it there (planning to get one from Gobo instead to earn more Gobo Medals due to the high price tag).
While shopping, the adventurers asked Jenlin if she'd heard anything about OoPA attacks nearby. She told them there'd been several attacks against the city's entrances, which were crushed instantly and showcased the monsters complete lack of self-preservation instinct. Attacks against travelers out in the tunnels were the real problem and she marked two spots on Bogo's map where caravans were reported to have been wrecked recently, one to the north and another to the east. While the northern site was technically closer, the eastern spot could be reached faster due to closer proximity to the roads. The group opted to take the road more traveled and headed east after popping by the apartments so Bogo could pick up a Piwafwi (Cloak of Elvenkind) from his uncle.
It didn't take long to find the OoPA they were looking for, a monstrous snake of gargantuan proportions. It's slithery form quickly surged forward, coiling around Bogo and K while firing thunderous blasts down the tunnel at Jake and Elycia. While Elycia pulled him free, Bogo used his magic to summon a huge (but not quite as big) snake of his own to attack the hostile one. The two serpents quickly wrapped themselves in a coiled mess of writhing, raging reptile, the adventurers maneuvering to stop themselves from being crushed while peppering the hostile snake with wounds brought on by spells, arrows, and blades.
The snake reeled as its injuries grew deeper and more numerous, firing off additional thunderous blasts. One such blast caught Bogo, injuring him severely enough that he lost his hold on the magic that bound his summoned snake to this plane. But his magic was far from spent and he summoned another fresh for the fight, this one holding the monster snake until it too was destroyed by a blast of thunder. The monstrous snake fought bitterly despite its grave injuries, which turned lethal as Elycia was able to strike a wound between its scale and used her new divine power to to incapacitate the unnatural creature. Jake quickly ran forward, binding the unconscious beast with the magic from Gobo's Dimensional Ripper and began to harvest pieces of it with Bogo's assistance. Strangely, the OoPA faded from the Material Plane back to its home realm once the harvesting was complete (unlike a normal otherworldly creature, which would only undergo this process after being killed on the Material Plane).

Showing Off for the Blade Guard

The party returned to Brazenthrone and made for a guardhouse they'd noticed on their way out earlier. However, Bogo was unable to convince the guards that the monster parts had come from an OoPA. The guard called him a fraud, stating everyone knew those strange beasts dissolved upon death and slamming the door in Bogo's face. It seemed their plan would need a bit more refinement if it was to work.
To figure out how best to do this, the adventurers decided to hit up one of the city's many bars and talk to the locals. While K wandered off in search of one of the seedier establishments, Bogo and Jake followed Elycia at her suggestion to find the most crowded place and try there. The bar in question, The Spotted Mushroom, was packed wall to wall with duergar and deep gnomes. Though Elycia couldn't speak the local languages, her words in Common attracted the attention of an alehouse drake. Which she immediately offended by mistaking it for a pet and attempting to pet it. Bogo apologized for her behavior in Draconic and the drake seemed willing to gossip with him (while still glaring daggers in Elycia's direction). The drake seemed to think the adventurers' plan to impress the guard would work...if they could prove their claim about Gobo's daggers. Mulling this over, they resolved they'd just have to kill an OoPA in front of some guards to have eyewitnesses.
They found K in the nearby market not long after leaving the bar, who told him he'd spotted some drow alongside a draegloth that were members of the local drow embassy. The elves had had a group of collared quaggoths with them as well, likely prisoners of war being worked while they were held for ransom.

Hunting Monsters & Madmen

Captain of the Guard

The next day, the party decided to head for the city gates and wait for a hunting party to leave so they could follow. This didn't sit well with gatemaster Darmond Stouthead, who seemed sour to see the party had returned. As he opened his mouth to have them shooed away for lollygagging, the gatemaster suddenly stiffened up as a group of Blade Guards approached. At the head of this formation was the captain of the guard, Brannas Blackaxe. She inquired to the party's business and stated her group was going to hunt the same OoPA they appeared to be after, which had attacked several travelers and inflicted a few fatalities recently. Though she remained skeptical of their claims about harvesting monster parts from the beasts, they convinced her to let them to tag along for the extra manpower if nothing else.
Once the group was in the general area of the attacks, Jake was easily able to pick up on a trail of blood spots presumably from victims the monster had dragged away for consumption. This trail led to a tunnel just big enough for a large-sized creature to squeeze through. The group went through single file before coming into a large cavern filled with unusual plant life. At the far end stood the OoPA, which resembled an enlarged kangaroo (though none of the adventurers were familiar with such an animal). It snacked on fruit and most of its body was behind a large rock, preventing the adventurers from getting a clear long-distance shot at it.
Brannas Blackaxe seemed content to sit back and watch with her men as the adventurers moved forward, wishing to see if their boasts about their abilities from earlier proved true. Skilled as they were, the battle that followed proved difficult for two reasons. Firstly, the kangaroo could produce different fruits from its pouch to throw at them, each of which produced a different magical impairment upon impact. And secondly, the kangaroo was not alone. A number of creatures that resembled eyeballs as large as Bogo with bat-like wings and scorpion-like tails attacked alongside the kangaroo, dripping toxic tears and stinging with their tails.
When Jake attempted to retreat away from the others, the bats swarmed the isolated bugbear and quickly stung him to death while the others were dealing a death blow to the kangaroo. Despite Jake's death, Gobo's Dimensional Ripper on his person was still able to work its magic on the kangaroo corpse. Bogo produced a few diamonds to revive Jake before anything else, seeing as he was the most skilled at skinning game and such. However, though Jake had been revived before, this revival brought with it unforeseen consequences.

The Herald Arrives

As Jake once again drew breath, something pushed him from beneath and caused him to roll several feet away. But though Jake himself moved, his shadow remained where it was. A skinless arm emerged from the shadow, grabbing the ground next to it as its owner pulled itself from the shadow and skin appeared on the exposed muscles. A humanoid figure the adventurers recognized as the mysterious skeleton man they'd seen before emerged from Jake's, his body now made wholly flesh as the shadows twisted around him into a suit of armor.
The mystery man reveled in manifesting fully, informing the adventurers that it was all thanks to them. He had gotten caught in some sort of magical trap while plane shifting, trapping him between worlds. Only a trickle of his power could manifest on Nexus, but it was through that power that he observed Jake's original foray into the Underdark. He gave Jake the magic the bugbear would need to survive, and in doing so linked their spirits. Whenever Jake died and had his soul pulled back to the Material Plane by revival magic, he pulled another piece of the mystery man back with him. It took several of these revivals to free the mystery man from the trap completely.
The mystery man, having no further use for the adventurers, decided to "thank" them by blasting the ceiling with a beam of powerful magic and send it crashing down on them. He teleported away laughing as the chamber began to crumble around them, the adventurers narrowly managing to grab the kangaroo corpse and escape alongside the Blade Guard.

Bad Neighborhood

As the adventurers began to harvest bits of the kangaroo so Gobo could make more trinkets, Brannas demanded to know who or what that crazy man was. The adventurers told her what they knew, which Brannas quickly resolved to report to the Deepking ASAP. She also acknowledged that their claims about harvesting OoPA parts was true and that more of those magic knives could potentially persuade others to devote their manpower of clearing the Underdark of these things.
On their way back to town, the party discussed their immediate plans with Brannas by mentioning their hunt for Diir. Though calm up to this point, Brannas quickly became enraged at the sound of the derro's name. She informed the party their idea to look for intel around the derro slums in the Old City was sound, and admitted her own men couldn't do this themselves. The derro policed themselves with a neighborhood watch that wouldn't let any other guards, not even the Blade Guard, through the Old City's still-functional iron gate. Nonetheless, Brannas offered to have her men escort the party through the Noble Quarter and to the Old City as thanks for their assistance with the kangaroo. But from there, they would be on their own.
After resting up back in Brazenthrone, the party headed for the slums. Several derro stood outside the gate, one approaching and demanding to know the party's business. They claimed they were tourists here to look at the Old City's architecture. Satisfied with that reply, the guard replied they could go in if they paid the gate fee of two muffins and a live badger. And also a spoon if they wanted visitors passes they could wear. Bogo easily magicked up a badger which bit the derro when the derro picked it up. The derro considered this a positive thing and named the badger Quickbite. Elycia tried to pass off crammed together crumbs from her pack as muffins, but the derro wasn't buying it. Bogo's insistence that they were mini-mini-mini-muffins did the trick though, and the adventurers were allowed through the iron gates that soon slammed shut behind them.
From the look of this place, nothing had ever been repaired after the earthquake that caused the duergar to abandon it. Yet the derro went about their daily lives without any apparent issue with the state of their buildings. Each of these denizens displayed various signs of madness; muttering to people who weren't there, twitching involuntarily, walking rather sillily, and so forth. They were apparently unused to visitors, as several babies in wooden cages started to cry when K got too close to them. Some of these derro were better armed then others (presumably the neighborhood watch) and Bogo tried to take routes to avoid them. This lead him to a near run-in with Santaura, who was in the company of three derro. All it took was one look at her slasher smile to send Bogo packing back the way he came.
Bogo bee lined back towards the others to warn them he'd just seen that crazy woman they'd told him about. K and Elycia peeked around a corner to see her walking up the steps to the Old Palace (where the party was headed). She loudly said to one of the watchmen standing on the stairs she was headed inside to meet Diir, looking back and flashing her wicked smile in the party's direction as she did so. Though the trap was obvious, the party had no choice but to proceed if they wanted to find Diir and get Yolheimsu'um's book back.
Bogo hung back and hid by some cover while Elycia and K approached the guards at the stairs. Elycia spoke to them with Bogo playing translator via his Psi Crystal. The guards said no one was allowed in because the palace was old, crumbling, and dangerous. Elycia pointed out Santaura had just walked in but the guards feigned ignorance. One of them then demonstrated how crumbly the place was by pushing over a ruined pillar...right onto Elycia. Bogo ran to hide behind help her while K tried to walk up the stairs regardless of the guards. They took exception to this and the lead guard, a sorcerer, tried to blast the adventurers with magic (but only hit Bogo).
The fight that followed was brief, the derro guarding the ruins being no match for seasoned adventurers. However, there were still complications. A derro ran out from a nearby alleyway and began levitating. He floated towards Bogo as one of his arms burst into a trio of tentacles and flew towards the goblin druid. As they brushed against him, the slime that covered them began to leech away Bogo's vitality on contact. At the same time, the derro sorcerer managed to cast a message spell just before K knocked him unconscious. He apparently told someone to rally the neighborhood, as the sounds of dozens of footsteps began to thunder through the air. They grew louder and the party realized an angry mob was approaching from all directions save one, the Old Palace. With nowhere else to run, they fled in that direction.
Not much remained of the once great palace; some of its outer walls still stood but where there was once a castle was now only a hole in the floor, a massive one more than large enough to accommodate a dragon. The way down was steep and sliding, the party forced down into the dark to escape the approaching mob. Though dark at first, the tunnel was soon lit with the glow of faerzress swirling into spirals of lights, colors, and patterns. These lights allowed the adventurers to avoid the stalagmites that littered the tunnel on the way down to the bottom of this slope.

Tunnels Beneath Brazenthrone

Forks in the Road

The air in the tunnels had a smell and taste to it, slightly metallic. Something down here, perhaps an effect of the faerzress, seemed to mute noise; water from stalactites dripped nearby, yet made no sound. The party walked ahead a few hundred feet before the path split into three branches. The elected to take the left path, which led to a small cave where pygmywort and bigwig mushrooms grew, with an even smaller tunnel at the far wall. After taking a few moments to collect the mushrooms, they made their way through the small tunnel (Elycia with her Xorn-Sole Boots, Jake and K squeezing through with their bugbear physiology, and Bogo by being small enough to fit without help).
The path soon branched again, this time to the left and right. They took the left path only to immediately find another three-way branch, where they again decided to stick to the left path. This tunnel also split after a ways, the left path curving around somewhere and the right leading into a cave. Getting tired to tunnels, the party decided to check out the cave. Ahead of them inside, the stealthy adventurers saw a pair of derro and a very large dogmole, a type of star-nosed mole the size of a horse. Elycia elected to make use of her Xorn-Sole Boots to go through the wall and check out what the unseen part of the cave contained. She stuck her head out to see an ogre with a large horn on its forehead standing behind their quarry, Diir. Diir himself stood in front of a large magic circle with another derro inside. After a flash of light, the derro demonstarted his arms turning into tentacles like the one that had attacked Bogo earlier. She returned to the party and reported what she saw so they could plan out their next move.

Battles in the Caves

The plan they devised was straightforward; Bogo, Jake, and K would launch an attack from afar as a distraction so Elycia could sneak back in to grab the books and papers from a table she'd seen. Hopefully one of those books would be the one stolen from Yolheimsu'um. Bogo summoned an army of giant frogs, sending most in to attack the derro and their pet giant dogmole while three of them blocked the tunnel to stall melee attackers. Unfortunately, the three rear frogs appeared next to a shrieker mushroom that quickly lived up to its name.
While the dogmole and derro that were attacked directly fought, Diir and his companions chose to flee rather than face an ambush. They fled towards a side tunnel, Diir and the newly mutated derro fleeing down it while a one-horned ogre blocked the way. The two derro broke the wooden straights on their way through, collapsing the tunnel behind them to prevent pursuit. The rest of the enemies fought on with the exception of the one-horned ogre. It stood still and made no move to defend itself, allowing itself to rack up injuries before using its greatsword to take its own life. The creature's body faded into a shadowy substance as it fell, seeming to indicate it was a creature of another plane that returned home instead of truly dying. They did manage to take one of the regular derro sorcerers managed, but for the time the man remained unconscious.
While Elycia investigated the collapsed tunnel, walking through the rubble with her Xorn-Sole Boots, Bogo and K took a look at the magic circle. As he stared at the circle, Bogo felt as if he was started to...not understand it, but to feel more of it. It was linked to something, something powerful, that sought to plant a seed within him and forcefully dig its roots inside. Bogo quickly pulled away and K marred the circle with the tip of his blade to disrupt it.
Elycia soon returned and informed everyone else it went too far to dig through within a reasonable amount of time. They would have to go back around instead, and quickly if they wished to catch the fleeing derro. Heading back the way they came before taking a previously unexplored tunnel, Bogo and K noticed a pair of tight side passages. They followed one that seemed to go in the direction of the cave they'd just fought in, finding the other side of the tunnel collapse after a short time. There was another path and footprints that seemed to indicate the derro had gone that way, but unfortunately they had collapsed that route behind them as well. Heading back through the main tunnel, the adventurers soon discovered that this time an ambush was waiting for them when one of Bogo's frogs hopped into someone invisible.
The derro mutated in the previous cave was present, though there was no sign of Diir. The trouble was, he was not alone. Nor were his companions more derro, but rather psionic duergar cultists like those the party had encountered before. Though the party was a good measure stronger than they were during their previous encounters, it still proved to be a difficult battle. The duergar's psionics could duplicate the effects of many spells, but their non-magical nature made them difficult to counter. Bogo expended nearly all his available magic summoning wave after wave of giant frogs as they were repeatedly blown to pieces and dispelled back to nothingness. When K was critically injured, he also started to drag the bugbear out of the enemy's line of fire.
Though the battle was taxing on them all, the adventurers again emerged victorious. However, one of the duergar managed to flee and they were in no shape to pursue him into unknown territory. To say nothing of the fact there was still no sign of Diir, a closer examination of the books Elycia revealed the one stolen from Yolheimsu'um was not among them. But as he looked at them, Bogo felt that same sensation of wrongness that looking at the magic circle had given him beginning to intrude on his mind. He quickly put away the books and papers, suggesting that the party should burn them immediately.

To Catch a Thief (or At Least a Book)

After resting for a bit to patch themselves up, the adventurers continued to explore the tunnels. As they did, Bogo spotted a door concealed behind a patch of large mushrooms. It was blocked from the other side, and despite the best efforts of all the adventurers they were unable to force it open with brute strength. That having failed, Elycia simply used her magic boots to go around the door and lift the door bar on the other side free so the others could come through. The path beyond led to a stretch of tunnel that was unlit with faerzress, unlike the rest of the area. They crept through the darkness to peer into the cave beyond where they saw an unsettling sight. Santaura was there with Diir at her side, the book they were seeking hanging from a chain on her waist. A red crystal sat on a rock near her on a platform; across a bridge on a second platform was wreckage from the Light Gundam's base, arranged into a humanoid shape.
The adventurers were preparing a sneak attack when Santaura called out a greeting to them. She was glad they were here, relishing the opportunity to take Elycia's head for her collection. The deranged woman also questioned Leh'ct's absence, still desiring a child's head for her collection and having saved the spot for him. The adventurers claimed Leh'ct was dead to keep this psychopath away from him. She told them to wait there and that she'd be with them in a minute, taking a step towards the ominous red crystal. To the adventurers, that seemed like a good que to attack.
Pockets of shadows around the chamber writhed, as did the shadows in the tunnel behind them. Husks emerged; nightmarish, misshapen beings with everchanging forms that leaked darkness from their bodies. Bogo yelled at his companions to attack the crystal before Santaura could make use of it, but his words were not heeded. His fellow adventurers focused their efforts on the woman herself instead, but it wasn't enough to stop her from reaching the crystal. She laid her open hand upon it and a red beam shot between the platforms, striking the broken machinery with magic that twisted and transformed it into a Void Knight. She also launched heads from her belts at the adventurers, Bogo being the first one struck as the undead head latched to his arm.
The Void Knight quickly proved itself a deadly foe, using telekinetic force to seize weapons from the adventurers. Bogo was the first to learn this as his staff was pulled from his hands, the Void Knight using it to fire blasts of necrotic magic at the adventurers. When Bogo was struck, he felt the necrotic magic surge through his body and redouble as it reacted to the undead head biting him. At the same time, the Husks closed in around him. Bogo rode his cloud into the air to keep away from them and joined his allies in focusing what little magic he had remaining after their previous battles on Santaura. Her injuries steadily grew, but her determination held fast. She mocked them, stating that even if they "killed" her she'd merely return to her home plane. They could kill her again and again and again and it wouldn't matter. But she only had to kill them once.
When the fatal blow was struck, her shadow lurched upward and pulled her away to parts unknown. At nearly the same moment, the situation worsened as Darkonda appeared. He complimented the adventurers (whom he referred to as "Coffin Dodgers") for managing to survive one of Santaura's games as he took the red crystal in hand. As a "reward", he let them be and teleported away (taking the Void Knight and Diir with him). Though their foes were still out there somewhere, Elycia had managed to break the chain holding Yolheimsu'um's book during the battle. Elycia herself was gravely injured and Bogo rushed over to heal her before anything else.

Reporting to the Blade Guard

Injured and exhausted as they were, the group was unsure they would last back out in the tunnels (to say nothing of the angry mob back in the derro slums). Bogo surmised that if this was Diir's base of operations, he must have a way to easily access Brazenthrone from here. The adventurers searched the chamber, Jake managing to find a tiny opening in the wall. Though too large for any humanoid under normal circumstances, it could be traversed using the pygmywort the adventurers had found earlier. But rather than the whole group marching into the unknown, Bogo wild shaped into a snake and slithered through to see what was on the other side.
After several hundred feet, he came to the bottom of a crevice. A rickety ladder was bolted to one side, leading to a light up above. He followed the ladder as far as he could; it did not reach all the way to the top. But where it ended, there were handholds and footholds disguised to look like natural stone. Following those up towards the light, he found himself in the middle of one of Brazenthrone's residential areas. Bogo returned to the others to let them know it was safe and they used the crevice to get back to civilization, heading back towards the Common Quarter (to the staring eyes of several citizens) to find a guard post. The path back to the area led them directly to one, the very guard post where Bogo had previously had the door slammed in his face when they didn't believe his explanation about his uncle's magic dagger.
Rather than waste words on the guards here, Bogo immediately dumped the corpse of a mutated derro out of his bag of holding and said he needed to speak with Brannas Blackaxe. One of the guards ran to fetch the captain of the Blade Guard and she arrived quickly. Bogo and Jake explained everything that had happened to her, putting extra emphasis on Diir's escape and the tunnels beneath the city. While Brannas did state the crevices had been examined for city security before, she trusted the adventurers at their word and immediately ordered guards to be posted around the area. She then thanked them for the information and said she would mention they were the source of this information in her direct report to the Deepking.
With Brannas heading off to deal with that, the next order of business for the adventurers was delivering the book they'd recovered to Yolheimsu'um. Elycia protested doing this immediately for two reasons. One, she still did not believe the dragon could be trusted. Two, they were weary and wounded from their trek through the tunnels. Galmin Firechains had been threatened with death for failing to find the book and had yet to make an appearance. Despite her protests, Bogo and the others were unconvinced the cleric would try to pull anything in either the city or the dragon's lair. So, they headed off to deliver the book.

Rewards from a Dragon

Several of the Bellows were standing guard as the adventurers walked in, their way forward soon blocked by Galmin. They stated they'd found some leads in their investigation and wished to consult Yolheimsu'um on them before proceeding further. But Galmin had no intention of letting them pass, drawing his mace as his followers did the same and stating his magic could extract any useful information from their corpses so that he could find the book. Realizing Elycia had been right, Gobo quickly zipped passed Jake on his flying cloud and grabbed the book from him. They were in no condition for a fight; they had to get the book to Yolheimsu'um and hope that the dragon would protect them.
The cultists tried to stop them, blasting Bogo and Jake with pillars of holy fire as the two dashed ahead, tossing the book between themselves in a deadly game of keep away. Bogo managed to reach the dragon while holding the book, dropping it into Yolheimsu'um's extended claw. The dragon thanked him before bellowing for Galmin, which put an immediate end to the fighting. Bogo floated nearby on his cloud as Galmin approached. Yolheimsu'um informed the Bellows former leader that he would continue to serve Tiamat, just not in his former capacity. A glimmer of hope sparkled in the cleric's eyes until Yolheimsu'um threw him into the nearby lava with a flick of his tail. As Galmin screamed and burned, Yolheimsu'um informed him that Tiamat's armies would use him as cannon fodder in their war against General Marshall.
With that bit of business out of the way, Yolheimsu'um ordered a pair of his Bellows to retrieve the adventurers rewards. He chatted with the adventurers for a bit while they did so, soon returning with a chest carried between the two of them. Each of them received a magic item crafted here in Brazenthrone and personally picked out by Yolheimsu'um based on his observations of them. The dragon was aware that Bogo operated as a summoner and gifted him a Ring of Fire Starting. Once all their rewards were received, the dragon dismissed them as he was eager to use the book they'd recovered to complete his near-finished iron golem.

Audience with a King

A Royal Invitation

Heading back towards their lodgings, the party spotted Gobo in the market selling his OoPA-killing magic daggers. Surprisingly, Itassis was with him and helping the goblin run his makeshift market stall. Elycia asked the tabaxi why she was helping Gobo and received a vague answer that led the elf to believe Gobo had bribed her into assisting him.
Just as the adventurers were preparing to collapse into their beds, there was a knock at the door. A member of the Blade Guard delivered a letter stamped with the seal of Deepking Oghren Orzammar III (which a tired a grumpy Bogo accepted). The document outlined an invitation for the adventurers to join a feast at his castle the following evening as the guests of honor. They asked the guard what type of attire would be appropriate for the event and he responded it depended on how they wanted to represent themselves. Bogo opted to not change from his usual outfit cause that was too much work, but it'd be an issue for tomorrow after a good night's, morning's, afternoon's, and evening's sleep.

The Deepking's Feast

After spending a day resting and recovering, the Blade Guard returned to escort the adventurers through the city to the palace. Upon arriving, they noticed it was heavily fortified with defenses similar to those at the city gates and a great many guards. Said guards pointed the expected adventurers towards the throne room, where the Deepking waited for them atop his throne. One of the throne rooms many guards bade them forward and announced them as the Delvers of Secrets (a name the group has pre-selected for themselves for just such an occasion).
The adventurers were ushered inside and announced by one of the guards, who asked them how they wished to identify their group. Thinking this may happen, they had picked a name beforehand and told the guard they were called the Delvers of Secrets. The Deepking and spoke of their deeds throughout Brazenthrone; stopping a rampaging giant, providing the proof and means to hunt OoPAs properly, recovering Yolheimsu'um's stolen property, and discovering the hidden tunnels below the city while chasing the infamous thief Diir out of town. And all in roughly a week's time, no less. Bogo openly commented that they really had done a lot when someone just lays it all out like that.
While they had the opportunity, the adventurers directly informed the Deepking about the psionic cult they'd encountered on several occasions. They'd heard a name mentioned by the cultists, Astali, and believed it to be someone or something the cultists were worshiping. The Deepking recognized this name and informed them that Astali was a disgraced scientist. She was rumored to have conducted unethical experiments, but mysteriously disappeared while the Blade Guard was investigating those allegations. She was believed to have gone off searching for the realm of Ioun, the Knowing Mistress, the Endless Athenaeum, only to never return.
The Deepking was deeply thankful for all they had done and hopped off his throne to led them to the feast hall, where they would sit at his table with him. As the adventurers began to eat their fill and enjoy the merriment, Brannas Blackaxe presented them each with a medal baring the city's seal on the Deepking's behalf. The king informed them that they were now honorary citizens of Brazenthrone and that wearing those medals would allow them to traverse the city freely without an escort. They thanked the king for this boon and continued drinking late into the night, taking a well-deserved moment to enjoy themselves before figuring out their next adventure.

Repairing the Crown

We Should Probably Go Get the Others

The next morning, Itassis was waiting for the (mostly hungover) adventurers and wanted to know why she and the rest of the expedition had been camped out waiting for them to return for over a week. They explained everything that had happened during that time, which seemed to (sort of) mollify the ticked off tabaxi. As Itassis turned away, Elycia noticed her sneaking a swig from an odd looking bottle before hiding the concoction back under her cloak but decided not to ask about it. With the Delvers of Secrets schedule now free, Itassis did demand they go grab Villamax and the Thaig brothers.
Several hours of walking later, the Delvers reunited with the rest of the Thaig Expedition. On the walk back to the city, they filled them in on everything that they'd been through in the last week. Though the Thaig brothers used illusionary hats of disguise to look like duergar, they opted to stay inside the apartments the Delvers had been staying at to avoid attention. Itassis said she would keep an eye on them, as Villamax quickly disappeared to check out the city's local libraries and book shops.
With that matter settled, the party set their sights on their next goal: repairing the damaged Crown of Auldbearn. Given that the crown was made by surface dwarves, the group was unsure how the local duergar would react to it. So, they decided to visit the stone giants and see what Sradzar thought before taking further action.

Vision from a Stone Giant Seer

Using their shiny medals to walk through Brazenthrone freely, the Delvers of Secrets made their way to the stone giant enclave. They found Sradzar at his workbench and said they had something they wanted to show him discreetly. Sradzar immediately recognized the Crown of Auldbearn, familiar with the history surrounding it, and understood the adventurers' desire for secrecy. He informed them that while the city's dragonfire forges could repair the crown, they would need some form of magical iron as well. The only such iron in this part of the Underdark that he was aware of was cold iron, a type of mineral deadly to fey when forged, located in the Shadowfell.
Sradzar began to meditate and commune with the stone around him, seeking out any nearby portals leading to the Shadowfell. He spoke of seeing a petrified forest with the cold iron ore nearby and claimed that K would guide the rest of the adventurers to it. He told the bugbear to lead the Delvers out of Brazenthrone through the north gate and follow the tunnel. There he would find a sign that would lead him to what they sought. The adventurers thanked Sradzar for his assistance (and confirmed he would keep the crown's existence between them) and set off towards the north gate after restocking on supplies.

Elycia Gets Cursed

The tunnel Sradzar told the adventurers to follow eventually split, but K noticed movement going down one passageway. He followed a spotted a moth, causing the murderous force within him to well up. But this time he refrained from killing the insect when he noticed its coloration. This moth had different colors on each wing; one was the color of his mother's eyes and the other of her hair. The memories of his loving mother allowed K to suppress the murderous rage for the first time. This was surely the sign that Sradzar had spoken of and seemed to hint at some connection between his mother and Mother Moth. He followed the moth, the rest of the Delvers of Secrets still behind him.
As the group approached a series of tunnels, the moth began to flutter erratically. Bogo heard the sound of a hoof on stone ahead, an odd noise to hear in the Underdark. The party readied themselves for battles as a group of demons approached them. The clopping came from armanites, demons that resembled corrupted centaurs with sword-like tails. They were accompanied by echo demons, which resembled man-sized bipedal bats. The battle quickly turned fierce, the armanties firing bolts of lightning and the echo demons letting out tunnel shaking shrieks. That tunnel shaking quickly turned into tunnel collapsing and the adventurers began to retreat.
As they did, K killed a demon that was standing next to Elycia and its corpse exploded into demonic ichor. Elycia's body was unable to resist the ichor's mutating effects, causing her arms & legs to switch places. With her unable to flee under her own power, Bogo summoned a parliament of giant owls to carry the party forward ahead of the collapsing ceiling. The owls kept going until the group found a place to rest and plan out their next move.

Back to the Shadowfell

With Elycia unable to walk and the party unable to undo the curse afflicting her, Bogo loaned her his magic cloud and wild shaped into a bat so he could hang from K's backpack. After healing their wounds from the last battle, they continued to follow the moth. It led them to a chamber with a large, shadowy pit. Bogo flew down to scout and passed through a thick fog, emerging through clouds in the sky of the Shadowfell. Elycia used the cloud to ferry Jake and K down to the forest below one at a time.
Upon arriving, the adventurers (sans Bogo) recognized this forest. It was the one they had passed through shortly before discovering the Crown of Auldbearn's resting place. But whereas they had traveled north their first time here, this time the moth led them east. They walked for a short time along a road before Bogo noticed some of the shadows in the nearby bushes and trees seemed to be moving. The party was quickly assailed by a group of shadow mastiffs, the growling and howling dogs drooling with hunger. Though the dogs fought viciously, they were quick to flee once the pack lord (which was greatly weakened by Elycia's divine magic) was slain. Fortunately, the party came through this conflict with minimal injuries.
They did not have to travel much further before spotting a light in the distance. Squinting through the darkness as they approached, Elycia recognized the tents set up as elven military equipment. As the adventurers approached, the camp was empty and silent with not a soul in sight. Wards had been placed around the area to allow for light and keep the worst of the shadows corruption at bay. Elycia stated that the elves would not simply abandon so much equipment here. They must be somewhere nearby and must have expected battle to leave their non-combat gear here so it wouldn't slow them down. As if on cue, Elycia heard a twig snap nearby. While the others hid in case it was something hostile, Elycia approached and called out to whatever made the noise. It turned out to be Private Hym, the scout of Elycia's old Silver Falcons squad.

Marching East

Hym was injured, his flesh torn and burnt in various places. He seemed hesitant to associate with Elycia, what with her being dishonorably discharged (not to mention her limbs currently being switched), but also very aware he needed help. Elycia convinced Hym to let her tend to his wounds before asking him what happened. Hym told her his squad had been ambushed by something that resembled a dragon, seeming to think their mission was a failure because of it. He managed to escape thanks to his speed but didn't know where the rest of his squad was or if they were even still alive. Unfortunately, it seemed this encounter had happened in the direction the moth had been leading the adventurers. They left the injured elf to rest while starting to steel themselves for a battle against a dragon.
As they traveled towards their next battlefield, Elycia and Bogo noticed as shadows began to thicken around Jake. Surged towards him, flowing up and around his body as they encased the helmeted bugbear and obscured him entirely. Elycia called out to Jake and asked if he was alright. He replied, "Yes," but his answer didn't seem directed at her. His voice was distant and unfocused, as if addressing another. A mote of darkness, flickering like black fire, appeared in front of him. Jake seized it and the darkness surged. It flared around him before collapsing inward, seeming to find a home in Jake's physical form. As the shadows faded, Elycia and the others noted a symbol that had appeared on Jake's helmet, a black circle rimmed by a purple ring.
Seeing as what just happened in no way seemed like a good thing, Bogo cautiously asked if Jake was ok. The bugbear stated he was and still sounded the same, but Bogo remained cautious. Neither he nor any of the others recognized the symbol now adorning Jake's helmet, so that didn't help. With nothing else to be done about this matter at this exact moment, the group pressed on with their march east. It wasn't long before the spotted an odd sight up ahead. Grass, a whole field of it in the Shadowfell of all places. While the place looked comforting & inviting, to the adventurers it screamed "trap" given where they were. They decided to skirt around the field's perimeter until they reached the other side and keep heading east from there.

Shadows in the Mine

After a few more hours of walking, they saw a cliffside with a hole in it flanked by two enormous dwarven statues. The opening was clearly an entrance, but it was blocked by a wall of writhing shadows. Bogo attempted to send one of his summoned creatures through, but the shadows appeared solid to it. Elycia had no better luck traversing the barrier, nor the rock that K threw at it. But when Jake (reluctantly, at the others pressuring) reached out to touch it, the new symbol on his helm glowed faintly and the shadows parted. Ahead was a mine tunnel, the tracks going down the main way while also branching off into many side passages.
The group entered the tunnels but didn't get far before the shadows inside the mine moved to attack them. Not individually, as undead shadows often do, but having merged into a monstrous overshadow. The adventurers' attacks proved ineffective against the creature, with the exception of Elycia's divine magic, but they powered through and continued striking the creature until it dissipated. Out of imminent danger, they began to explore their surroundings. The mine was clearly ancient and seemed to have been abandoned for centuries, if not millennia. But it was not uninhabited; a trio of shadow panthers crept up behind Jake and struck him when he lingered too far behind the others, only to flee when the adventurers retaliated. It was not long after that they determined they may not have been what the panthers fled from.
As they continued to progress, Jake cried out and claimed that Elycia was about to walk into a large web. The others looked where he pointed and saw nothing, though Jake continued to insist a web was there. The adventurers quickly learned what spun them when a mated pair of darkweavers attacked, one grabbing Bogo and the other Elycia with their thread. Jake moved to help Bogo while K ran to assist Elycia. These creatures, like the overshadow at the entrance, seemed to be protected by a veil of shadows that resisted anything that wasn't holy magic. Though already somewhat fatigued, the adventurers fought back fiercely. One of the darkweavers fought until the death while the other attempted to flee, only to be brought down by Jake before it could make its escape.
Investigating nearby, K discovered the creatures' nest and a large cluster of eggs. He wasted no time in destroying the eggs while noting several dead creatures laying nearby, presumably as food for the infant monsters that would now never hatch. There was one of those shadow panthers, a deep gnome, and some manner of grey-skinned elf that K did not recognize. He claimed the slain elf's weapon, some sort of spiked chain, but otherwise left the remains undisturbed.

Library Heist

The adventurers remained undisturbed after their encounter with the darkweavers, finding that rest of the complex appeared empty. The passed through many old workrooms, finding nothing of note other than a spell scroll uncovered by Elycia and thick layers of dust. While passing through what appeared to be a holding area (which Bogo speculated might've been built to give the miners a safe place to sleep in case monsters snuck into the mine), they began to hear a voice. It sounded elderly and grumpy, its musings interrupted by the occasional sound of something hitting the floor with a loud thump. Jake, as the currently least injured member of the group, was strongarmed into scouting ahead.
He followed the noise to a closed door and reported back to the others. The group decided they would throw the door open and attack whatever was inside if it proved hostile. They did so, the first creature they spied being a large, armored golem. The only other creature was the source of the grumpy musings. None of the Delvers recognized it, but it resembled a hunchbacked individual that was a cross between a human and a vulture. The room these individuals stood in appeared to be a library. The vulture-man was going through its books and tossing aside those he deemed uninteresting. He took at look at the adventurers who had just thrown the door open, weapons drawn and at the ready, and promptly ignored them to keep perusing the books.
Elycia tried to talk to the vulture-man, asking who he was and what he was doing here, and he promptly told her to buzz off and stop bothering him. She kept trying to communicate but swiftly annoyed the vulture-man enough that he commanded his golem to slam the doors shut in the adventurers faces. Bogo suggested going in there by force, killing the guy, and taking anything valuable in retaliation. Elycia and Jake weren't sure about that and K outright objected to the idea, seeming to be against wearing themselves out when they didn't know what was waiting for them in the unexplored sections of the mine. However, K remembered the group's promise to Villamax to collect any books for him they could during this adventure. He suggested trying to find another way in and taking what books them could before the vulture-man noticed them.
While some of the others had reservations about K's idea too, he made it clear he was going to keep his word to Villamax with or without the rest of them. They crept through the nearby tunnels, eventually finding a back way into the library. Jake cast a silence spell in the area to keep their movements quiet and stop the creaky door hinges from giving them away, careful not to get the vulture-man or golem in the spells range either to avoid tipping them off that way either. While he and Elycia kept lookout, Bogo and K snuck in and filled their bag of holding with as many books from the rear shelves as they could. They had to work quickly, the vulture-man's shadow growing closer as he began to move towards the back of the library. At K's signal, they made a swift exit and retreated far from the library before the vulture-man could notice anything wrong.

Ambush at the Gates

After taking a bit of time to rest up in a secure-looking room, the adventurers decided to trace their steps back towards the passage the moth guiding them had seemed excited about before. It led them down a rough tunnel that began to flood after a ways. The water was shallow at first, scarcely up to their ankles, but quickly grew deep enough that they had to swim, climb, or float their way through the rest of the tunnel. It opened up into a large chamber illuminated by orange crystals that were surrounded by moths made of light. These crystals sat on the remains of an ancient structure, on the far side of which was a gate made of gold. Just as the adventurers stepped up to examine it, they heard splashes nearby as a pair of waterkleddes burst from the water to attack. Accompanying them was the bounty hunter Vex and Crow Eldingar Toreros, who swiftly joined in on the ambush.
The waterkleddes quickly found themselves unable to approach the area the adventurers were in, the ruin being protected by magic that repelled otherworldly creatures. Unfortunately for Bogo, this included the hawk-like fey that he'd had accompanying him as well as most of the creatures he was capable of summoning. He chose to stick to the shadows and used what support spells he could to aid his comrades. As the fight dragged on, it began to become apparent that the wounded and weary adventurers couldn't match the bounty hunters. But K had discovered a way out; text appeared on the golden door as he approached it, spelling out a riddle. He quickly solved it only for another to appear. Bogo and a heavily injured Jake rushed over, their added presence spawning the riddles faster, while Elycia held the line against the bounty hunters.
To assist her in doing so, Bogo used his magic to transform her into powerful beasts. First a tyrannosaurus rex, then (after the rex form was heavily injured) a huge giant crab. While she kept the bounty hunters at bay, Bogo and the rest solved riddle after riddle. Once they had solved the last, a new line of text appeared telling them they had all they needed to open the door. Wracking their brains, Jake realized the first letter of each answer spelled out "snap twice". Bogo did so and the door swung open. But as he did, he felt his magic breaking and looked back to see Elycia struck down by Eldingar's enchanted electrified sword. Thinking fast, Bogo used a thorn whip spell to grab Elycia's body away from the villains and jumped through the golden gate alongside his comrades, its door slamming shut behind them.

Meeting Mother Moth

The gate closed behind them; the adventurers found themselves in a new, strange place. They stood in the ankle deep water of a shallow stream, grass and trees alit with the light of luminescent insects. Bogo wasted no time in using some of his stashed diamonds to restore Elycia to life. Jake passed out what goodberries he had remaining, allowing the adventurers to receive some modicum of healing. The moth that had guided them fluttered ahead excitedly. K advised they all ready their weapons and prepare to fight best they could with their injuries. He suspected that Mother Moth was ahead and expected her to be hostile. The group moved slowly forward.
They did not have to follow the stream far, merely a few dozen feet, before they turned a bend and found themselves on the edge of a pond. It appeared just as shallow as the stream and featured an island at its center. Atop the island sat a golden gazebo that housed an equally ornate table and accompanying chairs. A woman sat in one of these chairs, dressed in a plain gray dress with long silver hair and moth-like wings protruding from her back. Mother Moth sipped on a teacup while the adventurers pondered what to do next. K still seemed to be struggling mentally, his dark urges to inflict harm upon Mother Moth barely staved off thanks to Elycia's holy aura. K took the lead in approaching her with choice words prepared for the godly archfey.
K accused Mother Moth of being at fault for his tyrant father's increase in power, letting M deceive her to steal her power. Mother Moth rebuffed his claims, informing the bugbear that he did not have a full story. Before the conversation continued, she suddenly appeared between K and Elycia. None of the adventurers had even seen her move, nor any signs of teleportation magic. With a flick of her wrist, Mother Moth released a moth-shaped mote of light that multiplied into a swarm which cocooned Elycia and cured her of the demonic curse that had switched her limbs. By the time the others looked away from Elycia and back at Mother Moth, the deity was back in her chair sipping her tea once again. The other chairs around her table scooted themselves out and she invited the adventurers to sit.
The Delvers of Secrets sat, K sitting closest to Mother Moth and still somewhat seething. His comments to her were filled with animus and she commented that his every step betrayed his detestation. K again belittled her, this time indirectly, by stating everyone who'd ever allowed themselves to be tricked by his father was a fool. Mother Moth asked if that included his mother and struck a nerve with K. She interrupted him as he sprung to defend his mother's honor, revealing that it had been K's mother who was used to siphon Mother Moth's power. As both a deity and archfey, Mother Moth possessed the ability to grant mortals magic both divine and arcane in nature. K's mother was given the latter, and Mother Moth claimed his late mother had been one of her greatest warlocks.
K was silent for a moment, before commenting that his mother had never gone into much detail about her life before his birth. Mother Moth stated it was not her fault, the blame lay with his father, and accepted that part of the responsibility was also her own. She had been M's target and K's mother had been caught in the crossfire. The aid she would give him now was a way of repaying that due, at least in part. She told K that his anger was a curse, one placed beneath his Curse of the Ethereal Bound to conceal it from magical detection. It was not within her power to remove this curse as she had the one on Elycia, for it had been placed by M and his power currently exceeded Mother Moth's own. But that did not mean she had no way to help K.
Mother Moth disappeared faster than the blink of an eye, reappearing on the grass beside the gazebo. She beckoned K forward, he coming to her side while his friends got up to follow. Mother Moth educated K about the nature of fey; they were creatures of emotion, which bound them to certain behaviors in addition to certain rules. M was a member of the Unseelie Court, those fey who rallied behind emotions mortals considered negative. Fear, anger, hatred...vengeance. So long as K sought revenge against his father while holding bloodlust in his heart, he would fail. As he openly pondered what to do next, Mother Moth conjured a life-size, transparent illusion of Sonya Snowborne.
Though M was ignorant of Sonya and her relationship to K for the time being, Mother Moth warned it was only a matter of time before he discovered her and attempted to use their relationship to his advantage. This worried K somewhat, though Mother Moth assured him that Red was keeping an eye on his fiancée at her behest. Though Red was not as powerful as M, he could still make enough of a scene that it would draw attention M did not want on himself just yet. Despite M being likely to view Sonya as a weakness, Mother Moth insisted that she would be K's trump card. Filling his heart with the fear of losing her and turning that into a new strength, one fueled by love, would give him an edge over his father.
But that would not be the only edge he would take into battle against M. Mother Moth bade K to lay the spiked chain he'd found in the abandoned mine onto the ground. She ran her hand along its length in the air above it, transforming it into a Cold Iron Weapon, a rapier more suited to K's talents. That was all the aid Mother Moth could provide him for now, though she commented she would keep her eyes open for any additional opportunities to do so. She then informed the adventurers that their bounty hunter adversaries had left the area and that they were free to rest here before returning to the mine in search of the rest of the magic iron needed to repair the Crown of Auldbearn (she herself was unable to repair it, the crown having originally been made with the blessings of dwarven deities).

Incursion Against Squad Sixteen

Leaving Mother Moth's demiplane, the adventurers returned to search the unexplored sections of the mine in hopes of finding the cold iron ore they needed. Though they did not locate the ore, they did discover several signs of recent passage. Someone else had been here not long before them and seemed to have made off with the goods. They exited to find fresh tracks outside the mine, heading back west in the direction the adventurers had first come from. The Delvers traced their steps, noting that the grassy field they had seen on the way here was now gone. The path soon led them back to the elven camp where it seemed the Silver Falcons Squad Sixteen had reunited.
Elycia approached the camp alone while her companions hid in the nearby brush. Reflecting on what she'd learned during her time in Arvandor, she decided to try and get through to them. To say Sergeant Keebler was less than enthusiastic to see her again was something of an understatement; he outright stated she was not welcome in their camp and ordered her to leave. Elycia refused, pleading with the elves and trying to get through to them to save their souls. She was asked twice more to vacate the premises and each time refused. The sergeant was apparently not in the mood to ask a fourth time and stated that if she wasn't going to leave, then she was being arrested and taken back to the empire for military tribunal.
One of his men approached with manacles. Elycia took a step back, prompting Keebler to draw his spear at her apparent attempt to flee the arrest. K took that as a sign to open fire, prompting Bogo and Jake to do the same immediately after. Though the elves coordinated together decently, they were not as skilled as the seasoned adventurers and began to fall one by one. Though Elycia wished to take them down non-lethally, her friends lacked the skillset to do so and brought the soldiers down fatally. But before her death, the arcane caster of the group used a sending spell to inform the elven empire that Elycia lived, and that she and her allies were responsible for Squad Sixteen's deaths. Furthermore, the scout Hym managed to flee the battle when it became clear it was a lost cause, tearfully apologizing to her fallen comrades as she retreated alone.
Elycia stepped away as the battle ended, needing a moment to herself. She reflected on how she wished this situation had been different, how the other elves could've just listened to the truth instead of it all coming to terrible violence. She returned sometime later, having collected herself somewhat, to find her comrades had recovered a small chest of cold iron ore as well as a small horde's worth of dragon treasure. While they sorted through the goods, Elycia prepared a pyre and cremated the elves bodies to prevent the Shadowfell's magic from twisting their cadavers into undead. With that grim task behind her, the group carried on back to the area where they had entered the Shadowfell so they could take the portal back to the Underdark.

Wizard Transport Service

Jake led the way back, having memorized their previous route. Upon arriving, Bogo took his flying cloud up into the sky to see if the route back up was safe. While there was no imminent danger present, he soon found that the portal had disappeared without a trace. He relayed this news to the others after coming back down and, with no other options they could think of, the group resolved to return to Mother Moth and ask for her assistance. Traveling back the way they came yet again, they arrived at the spot where they'd previously been ambushed by the pack of shadow mastiffs. On alert for potential ambushes in the dangerous terrain this time, Bogo heard something rather odd coming from the path ahead. It sounded like a person humming a tune.
The rest of the group elected Elycia to make contact while they hid nearby to observe the situation. Around the bend came a man in a tattered suit. He wore an equally tattered top hat and carried a beat-up old cane, the shadows around his feet swirling and seeming to dance with his tune. The man quickly noticed Elycia and greeted her, openly wondering what a lone elven maiden like herself was doing in a place like the Shadowfell. Elycia told him she'd been traveling with a group before being separated from them and now sought a way out of the plane. The man asked where she was from but Elycia, suspecting she was dealing with a fey, answered where she was from was not where she was going. After a bit of polite back-and-forthness, the man in a tattered suit claimed he could get her where she needed to go if she had anything worthwhile the trade.
Thinking on what she knew of the Rules of Fey Etiquette, Elycia produced a dark cloak that had been given to her by Leh'ct. The man in a tattered suit asked to examine it noted it was of a good make, a good color, and carried a strong sentiment with it. He seemed willing to accept the article as payment for taking Elycia back in the direction of Brazenthrone and she followed after him as he led her down a beaten path nearby. They did not travel far before he advised her of a few rules, his voice suddenly taking a much more serious tone. Lock arms with him and do not let go, do not stray from the path, and should she stray from the path somehow regardless, do not fall. He tapped his cane on the ground twice and a doorway of darkness opened in front of them, the pair stepping through with the door closing right behind them.
With no way to follow them, Bogo and the others opted to keep heading back towards Mother Moth for help. They made it as far as the elven camp before Elycia popped back up in the company of Villamax, whom she'd retrieved to fetch the rest of them after making it back to the Material Plane with the help of the man in a tattered suit. K took a moment to give Villamax the books he and Bogo had recovered in the ancient mine before the wizard moved them all back to Brazenthrone. The group walked back to the apartments (where Villamax was quick to shut himself inside so he could start going over all those books) and started to puzzle out how to get the Crown of Auldbearn repaired. K suggested taking it to the stone giants, but Elycia reminded him Sradzar had said the giants didn't have the means to repair the crown themselves. Not knowing any local smiths, the group decided to ask for help from a friend who likely did and went to find Jenlin Keenpast at her shop.
Jenlin was carrying a box of goods from her warehouse to her office as the adventurers entered, briefly explaining they had something they needed a smith who wouldn't ask questions to repair something. She inquired whether the hush-hush nature was because the item was valuable or volatile. The adventurers confirming it was the former seemed to relax her and she said she'd make the introduction if they bought her a few drinks, noting that she wouldn't feel right asking for more than that now that they were something of local celebrities.

The Crown Restored

Jenlin told the adventurers to come back the next day around noon and she would take them to see a friend of hers in the Anvil Quarter. The following afternoon, she led them through the city streets to a ramshackle shop on the edge of the river with a waterwheel on its side and loud clanging coming from within. She had to bang on the door several times before the building's inhabitant heard her over all the clanging. A soot covered duergar in an apron opened up, took one look at Jenlin, and shut the door in her face saying something about "never again, not after last time". Jenlin told the man she'd already apologized about the thing with the giant spiders (emphasizing he still owed her for saving him from the arachnids). He reluctantly opened the door back up and Jenlin motioned for the adventurers to explain why they were here. The smith believed he could fix the crown but said it would take a few days, telling the adventurers to come back then.
The Delvers spent those next few days preparing for the journey to come, purchasing supplies for the weeks of travel ahead and getting a little R&R while they had the opportunity. They also took the time to talk to the other members of the expedition and work out their game plan once they reached Vlyn'darastyl. The others had been doing research on the drow city and unsurprisingly, given drow culture, found the settlement to be nearly impregnable. It was built like a fortress with wards against teleportation, elementals, and anything else the drow's many enemies could try to use against them. Villamax figured the Delvers getting caught or spotted was likely, so he gave them one of two Sending Stones to signal himself and Itassis. They would sneak into the city through another entrance and make a diversion to distract the drow once the Delvers gave the word. Three days later the adventurers returned to the smith and as promised, the Crown of Auldbearn had been restored.

Vlyn'darastyl: The City of Lolth

Dangers on the Road

As before, the Delvers took point from the rest of the expedition as the group began their weeks long walk to Vlyn'darastyl. While most of the threats along the way were no match for a group of seasoned adventurers, there were still those that posed a challenge. The first of these was a large crevice that stretched clear across a chamber containing the road. Bogo flew down to see what was down there only to be thrown out and left coughing by an eruption of sulfuric fumes. After recovering, the goblin used his magic to make a temporary landbridge that proved just stable enough to last until the adventurers had crossed.
Their next challenge came in the form of another cavern, this one containing natural bridges wet with slick clay that crisscrossed above pools of acid. Bogo attempted to use his magic to move the slippery clay out of the way, only to find his spell had no effect on a particular patch of clay. He attacked the patch and it rose up in the form of a clay golem. Though the party was able to damage the now-aggressive construct, the golem used the pools within the room to soak up acid and heal itself faster than the adventurers were able to damage it. With no easy way to destroy the construct, the adventurers elected to simply cross the room and continue on their way rather than risk continuing a fight that would gain them little if any reward.
The last true danger before reaching Vlyn'darastyl came from a chamber covered in red moss with red crystals jutting up from the ground, bones scattered among the floor. A suspicious Elycia used her holy powers the determine one of the bone piles was an undead, prompting the adventurers to attack it before it tried doing the same to them. The bones rose up and formed a large troll skeleton covered in thorned vine. This skeleton appeared to possess the same regeneration powers as a troll, prompting the adventurers to use fire against it. However, the crystal in the room drew in and absorbed any fire before it could reach the troll skeleton. It became a battle of attrition as the Delvers were forced to hold off the skeleton while smashing the crystals, a task further impeded by toxic spores the red moss would spray upwards if stepped on. This was not an easy task, for the piercing weapons carried by the adventurers proved ill-suited for smashing crystals. Noting this, Bogo reached out to the primal source of his druidic magic and prayed for something, anything, that would ease their task. His prayer was answered in the form of a herd of hadrosaurs that were quickly able to destroy the remaining crystals with their thick tails. With the crystals’ protection gone, the adventurers fire magic lit up the troll skeleton like dry wood and cleared the way forward.

Entering Vlyn'darastyl

Approaching the outskirts of Vlyn'darastyl, two paths laid before the Delvers. One led to the city's main gates, where it was said no non-drow ever passed lest they were clamped in iron. The other led to a market outside the city's walls where the drow conducted trade with foreigners. The adventurers opted to check out the market first and see what they could find there. The market could only be accessed by waterway from outside the city, so the Delvers threw together a makeshift raft to make the journey dry. While his comrades were doing that, Bogo turned himself into a fish to scout the waters ahead. While they appeared safe for boat travel, the sand at the bottom was littered with traps that would make sneaking through difficult.
Entering the market proper, a guard stopped the group and questioned their reason for entry. They simply stated they were adventurers looking to purchase supplies and provisions, which seemed a good enough answer for the guardsman. The group split up to explore the area, Bogo wandering for a just a bit before making his way into the local tavern where K was drinking. While there was no obvious unguarded way into the city from here, Elycia observed that the stream seemed to run directly into a solid wall. Gobo surmised there must be an underwater tunnel leading into the city and went to an unobtrusive spot to change back into a fish & investigate. Rather than locating an underwater tunnel, he found that the wall was an illusion.
Gobo reported his findings to his fellow adventurers and they decided that this would be their easiest entry point into the city. The Delvers left the market and headed back downstream where they could act unobserved. Once there, Bogo used his magic to turn the whole group into tiny fish that could nimbly avoid the waters traps. They swam up the stream, through the illusion, and into Vlyn'darastyl.

Stealth Approach

The stream soon widened into a river that ran clear through Vlyn'darastyl, though the adventurers could only follow it so far. Still a ways from their destination, they came to a waterfall their fishy forms had no hope of traversing. Flopping out of the water and changing back to their usual selves, Bogo used his magic once again but this time to turn the adventurers into bats. They managed to fly across the city away from prying eyes and made their way to the building that was once the ancestral home of the Thaig brothers family.
The building was well defended; thick, warded stone walls and a pair of elite guards on the only doorway in. The attic was lined with murderholes manned by more guards with crossbows, holes just large enough for a group of bats to squeeze through while the guards were busy talking amongst themselves. Knowing from the information the Thaig brothers provided that they needed to reach the basement, they quickly flew down a series of staircases. The house was earily quiet and practically empty, the Delvers spying only one other guard inside who looked even more impressive than the others. Deciding not to mess with that guy, they flew into the basement and turned back into their humanoid forms.
Though the basement seemed chiefly used for storage, it also housed a number of statues that seemed dedicated to the Spider Queen. Most depicted giant spiders with one noteworthy exception. The most immaculate of the statues resembled a drow woman but stood 12 feet tall and bore six arms to bring its number of appendages up to eight. As the group moved to explore, webbing appeared over the staircase and the doors of the room to block both the way forward and way back. The tall statue moved forward and revealed itself to be a spiderstone golem as a scimitar appeared in each of its six hands. Several decorative suits of armor also began moving of their own volition, revealing themselves to be helmed horrors. At the same time, down near the spiderstone golem, faint glows appeared around the corners of the t-shaped hallways.

Basement Battle

The constructs lunged forward, focusing their fury on the intruding adventurers. As the two sides began to trade blows a pair of Abyssal portals around the corners opened, one spewing out a shadow demon and the other a barlgura. As the first helmed horror fell, the portals flashed again and a second pair of demons appeared. It was clear to the adventurers that the portals would continue to expel demons from the Abyss' seemingly endless hordes if left unchecked. But the spiderstone golem was the most immediate threat, its six scimitars a weaving display of slashing blades.
Though the golem could withstand much punishment, it soon fell to the onslaught of the adventurers' magic weapons. With that threat eliminated, Elycia was the first to rush towards one of the portals. She used her radiant magic to push an emerging barlgura back to its demonic home, the holy power she emitted seeming to have an adverse effect on the portal. Bogo used his own magic to summon a troupe of pixies, which in turn focused their magic on the portals to dispel their Abyssal energies. As the first portal began to close, it began to forcibly pull the barlguras it had summoned back into the Abyss. Within seconds the ape-like demons were banished from the Material Plane, their shadow demon cousins soon following as second half of the pixie troupe turned their magic on the second portal. With the demons gone, the remaining helmed horror fell in short order.

Icky Spiders

The battle was over, but it had been a noisy affair and the party was leery of who would come investigating. But while the monsters defeated coincided with the disappearance of the webs blocking the doors, the ones covering the stairs remained. The group split up to expedite their search, Elycia finding a collapsed wall leading to a downward sloping tunnel. With no way to go but forward, the adventurers stepped through the dark opening. They walked for hours before noting an opening up ahead, Bogo taking the time to summon a smoke para-elemental that could aid them before the Delvers stepped forward.
The natural looking tunnel gave way to worked stone as they stepped into a small area that seemed to contain a quartet of simple sleeping chambers and locked doors. Bogo was able to pop one of the locks rather easily and swung the door open, revealed a larger chamber with a massive hole in its center. This hole was not empty; a stone platform was suspended in its center by the countless strands of spider webs that covered the rest of the area. Bogo gave that a hard "nope" and opted to hang back while Elycia investigated the way forward, hoping across narrow ridges on the side of the chamber to make her way across the hole. As she moved to investigate the tunnel on the far side of the tunnel, the way forward was blocked when webs magically appeared in her way. The other adventurers, glancing behind themselves, noticed webs also appeared to block the tunnel they came from just as they heard the skittering of many legs coming from the large tunnels littering the side of the giant hole.
Thinking it likely this was a breeding ground for giant spiders, Bogo turned into a giant spider himself to see if he could talk down the approaching creatures. Unfortunately, the monsters that emerged were no normal giant spiders but demonfeed spiders, animals turned fiends from being fed a steady diet of demon flesh. Sensing the demonic nature of these creatures, Elycia unleashed the fury of her paladin powers to put a fear of her holiness into these unholiest of arachnids, sending them scurrying away from her in fear. With the demonfeed spiders panicked, the adventurers had little trouble eliminating them one by one, but the demise of the demonfeed spiders did not mark the end of their troubles.
The corpse of one spider twitched, some invisible force throwing it onto the stone platform in the center of the chamber. The adventurers quickly stepped back, unsure of what was coming but positive that it would spell more danger for them. As the last corpse piled on top of the rest, the bodies began to ripple like fluid and fuse together into a writhing black blob. The blob began to take form, resembling the shape of a drider but much, much larger. But this form was no simple drider, not as its coalescence of darkness began to move with fluid arachnid grace. This was Lolth, the Spider Queen herself, who stood before the adventurers.

In the Spider Queen's Web

Lolth Appears

In the shadowed sanctum of the Spider Queen's domain, where the ancient, stone architecture intertwines like the complex patterns of a spider's web, a palpable tension fills the air, as dense and foreboding as the underbelly of the Underdark itself. From the remnants of fallen demonfeed spiders, a new entity begins to coalesce, the pile of remains merging into a singular manifestation of flesh and dark divinity. Rising before the intruders is an incarnation of Lolth, the Sovereign of the Demonweb Pits, the deity revered and feared for her dominion over deceit and spiders. Her voice, a chilling harmony laced with the anguish of countless tormented souls, permeates the unholy expanse of her sanctum.
The very foundations seem to resonate with her indignation, "You dare to encroach upon my consecrated domain, to sully this revered sanctuary with your presence? You, mere strands in the vast tapestry of my divine designs, possess the temerity to defy my will, to interrupt the hallowed ceremonies that weave together chaos and order under my reign?"
There's a solemn pause, heavy with the promise of eternity, as her form undulates with a blend of darkness and arachnid elegance.
"Be certain, mortals: each step you've ventured within my realm has been under my eye, every decision you've made caught within my web. You have been led here, not by chance, but by my will, drawn into this place of power as inevitably as a moth is to flame. Yet, do not despair, for I embody both cruelty and magnanimity. The end of your mortal coils shall be swift, a mere prelude to the true ordeal awaiting your souls within the confines of my Demonweb Pits. This is the extent of my benevolence within these sacred walls."
With these words, the incarnation of Lolth, her gaze alight with a menacing glow, prepares for the impending conflict, the air around her electrified with the very essence of the Abyss. The souls of you trespassing adventurers, mere mortals ensnared in the web of a goddess's fury, teeter on the brink, a tribute to your bravery—or possibly your naivety—in the face of divine vengeance.

A wave of Abyssal energy erupted from the Spider Queen's incarnation, demolishing the nearby walls and knocking every adventurer save K off their feet. His resilience captured Lolth's attention; the dark goddess firing a wall of webbing at the bugbear that ensnared him in a cocoon on impact. She advanced upon him, slashing at the rogue with her multi-headed whip and impaling his shoulder with the tip of one of her legs, as sharp as an enchanted spear. Elycia was the first to strike back against the evil deity's fury, leaping forward and striking Lolth with a powerful kick infused with radiant magic, packing enough force to knock the Spider Queen back.
Jake was next to deal her damage, using his enchanted arrows. Already the Spider Queen's wounds began to heal, but not at a terribly remarkable rate. The adventurers surmised that this was not a true avatar they were facing but rather a weaker reincarnation. Though Lolth's form paled in power compared to an avatar, it was nonetheless still a manifestation of an enraged goddess. Demonstrating her still great power, Lolth summoned one of her Yochlol handmaidens to her aid. The demonic pair attempted to use their magic to control the minds of Jake and Elycia, but luckily the two adventurers were able to withstand the effects of the enchantment magic.
Despite that success, it was clear that as things stood the adventurers would not outlast Lolth in a battle of attrition. To remedy this, Bogo used his magic to summon forth a troupe of pixies from the Feywild that used their own magic to transform the adventurers into a terror of tyrannosauruses. While these hulking beastly forms provided an extra layer of fortitude for the adventurers, it was a double-edged sword as the loss of their magical weapons now made it more difficult to injure the Spider Queen and her servant. For Bogo the situation was even worse; Lolth sneered at the druid and commanded her Yochlol to assist her in slaying him first. The onslaught soon knocked Bogo out of his tyrannosaur form, his concentration on his pixies broken and the fey vanishing back to the Feywild.
Though his friends tried to intervene, they could not do so quickly enough and the Spider Queen claimed Bogo's life as well as his soul, which she threw into her Demonweb Pits as the battle continued.

Magic Items
Cloud of Lazing (Broom of Flying)
Ouroboros Ring
Piwafwi (Cloak of Elvenkind)
Psi Crystal
Ring of Fire Starting
Socks of the Well-Rested
Spine Trinket (Wolf OoPA)
Staff of the Dream Shepherd
Unique Feats
Lazy