Session 15: Lurking in the Dark
The party descends into the Underdark, finding ancient structures, and strange creatures.
Spelunking
Collecting themselves at the bottom of the chasm, but uncertain about determining a path forward, the party follows
Maldwyn and his sense of smell down one of the tunnels.
Vita utilized her cantrip, Light, to cast a glow on
Brian and
Fork, who were most incapable of seeing in the dark. Descending slowly through the natural corridor, they could hear the sounds of rushing water up ahead, which grew and grew into the sound of a deafening torrent as they found the tunnel widening into a chamber. A stone bridge extended out into the darkness, while unimaginable amounts of water was cascading down the sides from somewhere above. The bridge, being in impressively good shape and only slightly damp, was easy enough for the party to cross, after deciding that investigating the torrents themselves was too risky. Entering another tunnel at the far side,
Vita was perceptive enough to catch
Brian before he stepped on what was determined to be some sort of pressure plate. The party moved further into the tunnel as a precaution, while
Fork attempted to disarm it, which he was able to do successfully.
Continuing downward, the party found the tunnel widen once again, but this time the sound of water was far more tolerable; a babble. They found themselves on the bank of a shallow subterranean pond, one which
Tilly confirmed contained at least some fish, successfully catching one with her fishing gear (with assistance from
Bulgey, who was far more appropriately sized for dealing with the fish).
Utilizing the "Light" cantrip, Vita threw some illuminating stones into the pond to determine where it was shallow enough to cross. To reach the areas where she could not throw to,
Brian took some of the stones and flew off over the pond to deposit them manually.
Underdarkness
Brian was interrupted in his task however, as something from the ceiling fell onto his head as he flew beneath it; simultaneously enveloping his head, and (to the rest of the party, anyway), creating a large orb of darkness where
Brian was just visible; even darkvision was of no use.
Unsure what was going on, the party looked around for other potential threats; but only
Maldwyn was perceptive enough to initially spot one. Growling at what appeared to be a large brain on the ceiling, the rest of the party took aim with their ranged attacks, unsure of what else to do, while
Brian tried to free himself. As another orb of darkness formed and began moving towards the party, and the
tentacled brain monster detached itself from the ceiling, the combat really got going.
As the
tentacled brain monster began attacking
Fork and
Bulgey in melee range, the second orb of darkness descended into them; blinding those within it, and those outside from seeing in. Blind strikes and spells eventually revealed the source of the darkness spells to be strange floating squid-like creatures, as
Brian succeeded in killing the one attached to him. Within the other darkness spell, the tentacle creature successfully paralyzed
Fork and began dragging him away. However, in doing so, it left the sphere of darkness, and
Brian,
Tilly, and
Maldwyn were able to stall the creature long enough for the second darkness spell to end, and
Bulgey to clobber the brain creature to death with his lute.
Fork let out his remaining anger by skewering the remaining squid creature, now much less problematic without it's sphere of darkness.
The threats disposed of,
Tilly follows a flying
Maldwyn upstream a short ways, where they find the remnants of a previous meal, along with 25 gold.
Whispers in the Dark
More worse from wear than they tend to be, the party continued down the tunnel, keenly aware of their need of rest and recuperation. It doesn't take them long before they come across a caved in side tunnel, and a flat, almost road-like cobblestone surface leading further ahead. Following it, they come across a fork; with the road turning left. Relying once again on
Maldwyn and his sense of smell, they follow the road, which leads shortly to some sort of gate. Wary of the previous ambush and trap, they approached stealthily and cautiously,
Vita noticing a clear tripwire across the open gate.
Fork, using his thieves tools, is able to disarm the trap, allowing himself,
Vita (as a large spider), and
Tilly to explore the strange subterranean guardhouse and courtyard.
The building, long abandoned, showed some signs of recent use. A triggered tripwire at a blown off door, along with scorch marks and a pair of corpses, caught their attention off to one side, which spurred them to investigate.
Vita, spotting what looked like a locked chest behind one of the bodies, goes in for a closer look. It's at this point they all start to hear the whispers. As
Vita approached the corner near the chest, she spots a strange,
misshapen horror around it; reddish pink, fleshy, and covered in unblinking eyes and mouths all gibbering and murmuring, she retreats back quickly, managing to get away without harm.
Now aware of an enemy,
Fork waves
Bulgey and
Brian towards the gatehouse before rushing in himself. As they set up and prepare to make a defensive stand in the courtyard however, they are flanked by a large, beaked worm-like creature, which keeps their attention while
Vita,
Tilly,
Fork, and
Maldwyn deal with the strange mouth horror within.
The creature of eyes and mouths seemed to have strange effects on those that could hear it; and for a moment
Fork was paralyzed by the alien sounds in his head.
Vita and
Tilly were able to stave off the voices however, and the four of them combined were able to kill the creature before it could do any lasting harm.
Brian and
Bulgey, still in a good fighting form, were able to dispatch the giant worm creature easily, before they joined the others within the gatehouse.
Through a bit of a joint effort between
Fork,
Bulgey, and
Tilly, they were able to get the chest open; where they found 150 gold, 50 gold in gems to be sold later, a spell scroll of "Crown of Madness", an unknown resistance potion, and a strange small pouch of magical dust.
Careful to seal up any strange holes or grates within the room, and resetting the trap at the main door with Fork's crossbow in the mix, the party determines this is as good a place as they're likely to find to bed down, and they make camp.
