The Assault of Wave Echo Cave

Military action

The party clears out the undead, Nezznar, his minions from Wave Echo Cave.

Trinn] wakes up early in an effort to catch Gundren before he heads out. He notices that Gundren has a full backpack packed with mining tools. Gundren tells him he is going to look for his brothers, who haven't been heard from in weeks. Trinn tells him that the party will escort him to protect him this time and gives him one of the rune stones to keep as well. The rest of the party wakes up and agrees with Trinn, and they set off to the Rockseeker brothers' camp northwest of town.   When they arrive they find an abandoned camp. With no signs of struggle at or near the camp, and many supplies still remaining, it is difficult for the party to determine what may have happened. Feeling a sense of urgency, Trinn tells Gundren to return to Phandalin and the party will continue on to Wave Echo Cave to investigate and confront the Black Spider. Gundren warns the party that the cave is crawling with undead, which is why they couldn't take control, and to be careful. The party heads into the cave and find a dead dwarf at the entrance.   The party inspects the dead dwarf and find two large puncture wounds with what appears to be venom around them. They find some magical boots on the dwarf that his killers seem to have missed. They improve speed and jump, so they give it to their slowest member, Garret. Afterwards, they descend in to the cave and are faced with two paths: northwest or southeast.   They choose to go southeast to explore the cave. It is dark and eerie, with the ever present feeling of being watched. As they explore the large complex cave system, they see remnants of the battle for the mines hundreds of years ago; dozens of dwarf, gnome, and orc corpses litter the floor. They soon come across some carved stone hallways and rooms that looked to have been in use during the mine's operation. Inside they find ghouls gnawing on the centuries old bones. After dispatching the ghouls, they notice a different, more fresh corpse: a large goblinoid.   They explore further and find even more ghouls gnawing on even fresher corpses in an old banquet room. After clearing these ghouls as well, they continue north to find a cavern with a large smelter that hasn't been used in centuries. In its center they find a number of zombies and a large skull engulfed in green flame that engages them immediately. It's by far the most, and only, intelligent undead that they have faced together. Its mastery over magic makes the fight very difficult, and just when the party feels they are about to win, it suicide bombs them with a massive explosion. Weakened, the party retreats to one of the carved rooms and rests to recuperate.   When they return to the smelter over an hour later, they are greeted by the same green flaming skull that they thought they had destroyed. The battle is difficult, but not as costly as it was the first time as the skull does not seem to be at full force. After killing it a second time, Reginald creates holy water by blessing water from Trinn's canteen, and they douse the defeated skull with it. This seems to work as its faint glow disappears and it becomes a normal skull on the ground. Tired once again, the party decides to rest in the smelter room.   A little while in to their rest, they hear a commotion coming from the hallway nearby. Moments later, Trinn sees 3 bugbears peering into the darkness of the furnace room speaking in goblin. Before they notice the party, Trinn attacks them with a firebolt that goes wide. In the ensuing battle, both sides climb on and maneuver around the furnace, vying for an advantageous position. However, one of the bugbears flees and runs down the hallway he came from. Due to their tired state, the party has a difficult time dispatching their enemies quickly, but ultimately emerge victorious.   Afterwards, the party gives chase to the escaping bugbear and enter a bunk room that had it's door barricaded. Out the other door, there's a crossroads leading north and west. Trinn sends Athena to scout the beginning of each path and sees a large pool of water to the west with what looks to be a wand and some shiny objects on its floor. He takes the party to investigate and dives down to retrieve a wand of magic missiles and a pair of platinum rings. The party heads back to the bunk room to recuperate from their recent battles. Afterwards, they head up the northern path, coming to another crossroads: east and west.   Trinn uses Athena to scout out the western path as it opens into a large ravine. Inside the ravine, he sees bugbears and ghouls fighting each other. To the east, they see a doorway with light coming from it. They decide to head east and let the monsters deal with each other. When they enter the doorway, they see Nezznar standing next to a large statue.   Nezznar greets them with a disdained inquisitiveness, and Trinn stands before him defiantly. He calls Trinn "Master Gladius" and mentions that he knows all about his family. Trinn notices that Nezznar has a similar symbol in his eye to the one Trinn bears. Nezznar offers to make a deal that benefits both parties, but before he can get a word out, Trinn fires magic missiles from his newly found wand. As the party engages in battle, giant spiders begin to descend from the ceiling, shooting webbing at the party. Garret is the only one bound, but Marri'Elle quickly frees him with her torch. As the rest of the party engages the giant spiders, Trinn battles Nezznar. The party fights off the spiders and kills them, though not without cost to themselves. Weakened, they surround Nezznar and attack him, destroying the large spidery staff. In shock, Nezznar explains that Trinn has doomed them all.   Nezznar writhes in agony as his body begins to contort and and change. His lower half explodes into a bulbous arachnid form, sprouting 8 giant legs and a massive thorax. His cloth garb around his upper body tightens and hardens into a steel armor. His white hair grows much longer and the symbol in his one eye spreads to the other and becomes the only feature in his empty gaze. Enraged, he begins to lash out at everyone within reach, striking and biting where he can. Valamin deftly dodges and weaves through his attacks to lands numerous consecutive concussive blows. Fresh off her spider killing spree, Marri'Elle charges in with her great ax and cleaves Nezznar's humanoid torso from his spider body. Before his death, Nezznar dips his hand in the blood pouring from his torso and grabs Trinn's leg, saying "you've doomed yourselves..."   Marri'Elle grabs the dwarven rune stone and a large key from his body. They use the key on a nearby room and take respite inside. Inside, they see an unconscious dwarf badly injured on the floor. They heal him and let him rest as they all hunker down for a long rest after an arduous journey through Wave Echo Cave. During her watch, Marri'Elle hears a number of bugbears run past their door, gather up some stuff, and then run away. Reginald and Valamin hear the familiar crunching of ghouls eating corpses in the distance.