Spelunking

Becket

…the first order of business was to find someone familiar with Helm’s Hold. Our party ventured into Scar Alley to find a local watering hole, where they hoped to hire someone to guide them to the tunnels beneath the city, but away from the Warrens. In one such establishment, they found a human male that had the look of an experienced fighter, wearing chainmail and carrying a battleaxe. Introducing himself as Becket, the mercenary agreed to lead the party through Scar Alley and into the tunnels. T’Sai noted that Becket was careful to avoid any of the Order of the Guilded Eye’s patrols as he wound his way through the shanty town.

Finally making it to what Becket proclaimed to be the entrance to the tunnels, T’Sai took the point position, scouting ahead of the rest of the party. When he came to the first fork, he adopted the party’s usual approach: go left. After a few such turns and backtracks, Pix had the idea to utilize the Rod to guide them towards the next piece. With this new compass guiding them, T’Sai set off once more. The entire complex was unlit, so T’Sai kept his distance while the rest of the party followed with their various light sources. The natural passages had smooth, damp walls and the ceilings bristled with small stalactites. The twisting passages varied between five and ten feet wide, often forcing the party into single-file.

After about an hour of traversing the tunnels downward, the tunnel finally opened into a chamber whose walls were studded with multicolored chunks of quartz and a reek of decay from somewhere nearby. As T’Sai moved east into the next chamber, he found a pile of pungent offal in the center, with various mushrooms and fungus around the perimeter. When the rest of the party entered the first chamber, their light sources caused brilliant reflections from the crystals, brightening the room to near daylight. The light spilled into the next chamber, rousing piercing cries from the five shriekers hidden among the fungi.

Clearly summoned by the commotion, an umber hulk lumbered in from the south. Thaminor charged and engaged immediately, with Becket right behind. T’Sai moved to attack, but stopped, confused, before running back down the tunnel that brought them there. Pix dropped a flaming sphere behind the monstrosity, cutting off its escape and burning it from behind at the same time. A few minutes later, and the party’s combined efforts were able to bring it down.

Heading south to ensure there were no more threats coming, the party found a chamber with a scattering of splintered bones but no sign of a nest or bedding of any sort. In addition to the natural tunnel that brought them in, there was a short roughly carved tunnel to the north and a longer one to the south. Thaminor briefly scouted the tunnel to the south, which had multiple crisscrossing tunnels intersecting it, but the party decided to continue exploration through the natural complex.

Heading north then east, the next large cavern reeked like a barnyard on a hot day, despite the air being cool and damp. The floor was covered in a spongy carpet of lichen and moss. A hodgepodge of of mushrooms grew throughout the cavern, with normal specimens a few inches high and others as tall as Pix.

As the party moved into the cavern, several squat humanoids with fish-like tails and vacant eyes emerged from behind the stalagmites and rushed the intruders. They had slimy-looking gray skin, and were armed with some kind of crude polearm. Pix identified these creatures as skum, humanoid slaves of the ancient aboleths. It doesn’t take long for our party to defeat these aberrations and move on to explore the cavern and the pool of water at its southern tip. Molish patched up any wounds, and the adventurers continued on…

…heading out of the fungi cavern and south down the unexplored tunnel, the party continued their downward trek for a couple hours before coming to another fork in the tunnel.  Following the previous bad luck going left, T’Sai turned right and led the way as the tunnel curved and sloped down and to the west.  After a few hours, the tunnel widened and the ceiling rose to 50 feet.

Still leading the way, T’Sai noticed eight giant spiders on the ceiling and upper section of the walls.  After T’Sai quickly stepped back to warn the others, the offensive against the monstrosities was on: Thaminor and Becket threw javelins, T’Sai fired an arrow, Pix and Molish cast spells.  The spiders started phasing in and out of the material plane, bringing a new challenge to the battle as they advanced and fought back.  Curiously, only seven of the eight advanced, while the last one hung back before phasing out itself.  Slowly, the spiders fell to our party’s attacks, dropping to the ground with their legs twitching and curling in their death spasms.

After the last arachnid was defeated, the party noticed a surface elf standing in the middle of the tunnel, just past the scene of battle. “You’re a long way from home, strangers,” she greeted them. As T’Sai stepped up to parlay, the elf told them that nothing lay beyond but drow patrols and other Underdark threats. After explaining which direction the party planned to go, they were told that no path led that way save back whence they came… and to proceed any further would only bring the attention of the drow to the surface–where they currently have not had any interest. The party agreed to turn around, but warned the elf that they would be back if they did not find another way to their destination.

A few hours later, all steps had been retraced, and T’Sai led the way down the previously passed tunnel. Heading northeast, the tunnel opened into a small cavern, when T’Sai was attacked by two driders, and the battle was on once more!

Thaminor and Becket moved up to engage one drider, while T’Sai took on the other; Molish and Pix began casting from behind. T’Sai, it seemed, was channelling Beshaba’s favor: he could barely hit his target, dropped his weapon, and lost his footing during the minutes that followed. Moments after battle began, a third drider arrived from the north to begin chanting, and a fourth from the southwest–along with a couple giant spiders–to attack from behind. The spellcasting monstrosity summoned black tentacles over the battlefield (area 5), and cast heat metal on Thaminor’s armor. Pix, finding himself besieged in melee, had to summon a resilient sphere until the fighters could assist. The party continued to battle, felling the first two driders and the giant spiders, when the last two fled.

While some of the party regrouped, Becket went north in search of the fleeing monstrosities… which soon surprised him in the northern chamber (area 6), as they broke their invisibility and hit him hard. He managed to hold them off, however, until Thaminor and T’Sai took over the fight–and Molish patched Becket up. Pix made his way around the western tunnel (path 7), to return the flanking favor they paid him earlier. Approaching from the west, Pix calculated the right placement and quickly cast a fireball at the final two driders. The glowing red pea-sized ball left his pointing finger and sped towards its target… only to explode against a wall of force enacted in the doorway to the chamber, engulfing Pix in flames! This minor setback did not hinder the party from defeating these foes, but it did increase the need for them to take the time to rest before continuing on.

Following the tunnel to the north, the party continued down a slow descent, until negotiating a series of natural staircases that turned in almost a complete circle. T’Sai led the way, rounding yet another bend when he found himself gazing into a tiny chamber (area 8) filled with mushrooms as tall as barstools. The fungi were clustered around a pile of offal that smelled like rotten fish; the stench turned his stomach. The fungi quivered at the party’s approach, seeming to flee in slow motion as they emitted an all-too-familiar series of piercing shrieks!

Moving as slow as a turtle, the shrieking fungi were cut down in short order. Thaminor and Becket made their way south and east through a large cavern covered with a spongy carpet of moss and lined with a hodgepodge of mushrooms growing anywhere from a few inches to a few feet high. While advancing through a narrow pass into the next chamber, they were set upon by several skum, wielding similar polearms to those encountered previously. Once the rest of the party caught up to them, the skum were defeated quickly.

T’Sai, returned from scouting to the west, suggested further exploring the chamber (area 10) to the northwest of the shriekers. An oddity, the stone floor gave way to sandy ground and two passages led away in each of the northern corners. Thaminor, leading the party, rounded the northwestern corner, and was greeted by a couple darts–thrown by two of the largest skum the party has seen. Following their throws, the skum dove from their sandy bar into the water surrounding them.  As additional party members joined Thaminor, other skum rose to the surface, also throwing darts. Shortly after battle was joined, two more large skum entered the chamber from the south, flanking the party.  Spells were cast, javelins were thrown, weapons were swung, and the skum were defeated.  When Becket dove into the water to retrieve his javelins and continual light coin, he saw adolescent skum hiding in the depths.

Moving on, the party followed the main tunnel east, finally turning north at the first unexplored passage.  T’Sai led the way, descending a short, slick natural staircase into a chamber (area 12) with a high ceiling hung with dozens of stalactites.  Some were the size of small trees, but most were smaller, about the size of a human’s forearm.  Water dripping from the stalactites fell into knee-deep (chest-deep for Pix) murky water.  T’Sai circled to the east, finding multiple piles in the chamber (area 11) beyond: harvested mushrooms, trash, a heap of baskets, some of the hooked sticks, and a few darts.  Rejoining the party, T’Sai led them northwest, where the tunnel ascended a short distance, before nearly doubling back on itself and descending sharply.

After following the descending tunnel for a few, it began to level out, while continuing to wind its way generally east. Following a sharp right turn in their path, the party came upon another hole (13a) descending steeply down. As their Rod still indicated they must travel deeper underground, they decided to volunteer Pix as explorer! They tethered a rope around his waist, and lowered him about 100 feet. At the bottom, he found a 5 foot wide rushing underground river.  Seeing no path or other way along the river, Pix returned to the party above and recommended continuing on.

A few yards ahead, the passage ended in a sheer drop.  The bottom was beyond the range of their light, but they could hear water gurgling in the depths.  Becket tossed a continual light coin down, and they surmised that they found the continuation of Pix’s river.  The chasm stretched a good dagger toss to their left and right, but the walls were sheer, with no ledges that would allow them to circle it.  Only 15 or 20 feet ahead and to the left, there was a cave opening with another passage leading away to the north.  The gap was almost narrow enough to jump–but that wasn’t a risk they (especially Pix’s short legs) wanted to take.

Pix summoned Bigby’s Hand, and carried Thaminor across the chasm.  No sooner than he had set foot on the other side, Thaminor felt something around his legs that yanked him off the ledge, and he started a swinging descent into the chasm!  Thinking quickly, he cast levitate on himself to stop the descent, and Bigby’s Hand grabbed him to stop his backward momentum.  Thaminor swung his sword, and cut whatever it was that had a hold of him.  He didn’t see anything that could have caused this, but he was quickly grabbed again, and pulled across once more!  On the opposite wall, parallel to the tunnel that had brought the party to the chasm, was a cave with what Pix would later identify as a cave fisher.  As Thaminor was pulled into the monstrosity’s lair, he freed himself once more and began to battle the creature.  T’Sai climbed the sheer wall so that he could assist, and Pix began to attack with Bigby’s Hand.  After a short but fierce battle, the monstrosity was defeated.  Bigby’s Hand brought the body over to the main tunnel, so that they could harvest some useful parts, before it expired.  Once again facing the need to cross the chasm, Pix used the wand collected from the driders to summon a horizontal wall of force, essentially creating an invisible bridge for them to cross to the other side.

On the other side of the chasm, the party found another sinkhole down to the river. Continuing down the main tunnel, the party continued to descend further towards their goal. As the tunnel leveled out, T’Sai smelled the familiar stench of rotting trash and heard the sounds of hammers ringing. Investigating further, a dimly lit chamber to the east (area 14) contained a dozen large fungi, similar to the shriekers seen previously. In order to take them out from a safe distance, Pix sent a flaming sphere into the chamber. He systematically mowed them down, while a familiar shrieking echoed through the tunnels. The party hung back, awaiting any possible attack brought on by the subterranean alarm system.

While the hamming sounds stopped, no attack was forthcoming, so the party ventured forward.  With nothing to see but tunnels off the burned out room, the party turned north to explore the next chamber (area 15). As soon as they entered the room, two of the larger skum ambushed from either side.  An old foe at this point, they were quickly dispatched.  Hammers and chisels were laying about, having been hastily dropped: this area was clearly the source of the previous sounds.  An exploration of the off-shooting mining tunnels revealed a dozen of the worker skum, huddling in fear.  Becket ensured none were left to follow behind.

Heading southeast towards the next area (18), the party saw three murky pools of water and passages to the northeast and southeast. As soon as they rounded the corner into the chamber, a lightning bolt tore through them and a fish-like humanoid made a hasty retreat through the southeast exit!  Becket and Thaminor quickly followed, finding the eastern chamber (area 19) mostly filled with a pool of rippling water.  A large, flat rock at the pool’s north end formed an island about half a foot high.  Before they could notice any other details, the pool family boiled and almost a dozen scaly humanoids with goggle eyes erupted from the water.  Their nostrils were filled with the scent of spray and fish.  The creatures formed a cordon down the pool’s length.  Most of them stood ankle deep in the water, but two had climbed atop the island  They fixed the fighters with fishy stares as they linked arms.  A nimbus of power crackled to life around the line, and everyone could feel the prickle of electricity tickling their skin.  A second lightning bolt arced at Thaminor, as the original kuo-toa attacker rose out of the pool and struck at Becket once more.

When Pix and Molish made their way towards the northeast (area 18a), a second kuo-toa attempted to ensnare Pix in a weighted net, but wasn’t able to catch the nimble gnome. When they turned to face their attacker, it also dove into the pool for cover. Molish saw what appeared to be a shrine, comprised of a large block of an engraved soapstone with a two foot tall coral statuette atop it, depicting a female human body with a lobster’s head and claws. Hoping to weaken their opponents, he swung and bashed the statuette, sending it flying into the water.Molish was later unable to say why he did it, but he started stripping of his armor.

T’Sai fired a couple arrows at the chanting kuo-toa, but the attacks did not seem to have any effect.  He dove into the water, seeking to close the distance, and encountered a giant crayfish in the muddy depths.  Becket, too, sought to close the distance with his enemies, and stepped off the edge of the shore, quickly falling 15 feet deep into the pool before reengaging with his previous attacker. Pix launched a lightning bolt of his own, and the electricity crackled as it hit the water. It did its job, however, ending the attacks of both the submerged kuo-toa and the giant crayfish.

Pix went invisible and made his way to the island, along with Thaminor and T’Sai.  One by one, the party came to realize that the kuo-toan spell casters were not actually there… but the large eel-like amphibious aberration that rose up and attacked Thaminor certainly was!  Three centered eyes, a gaping maw, long tentacles, and coated in a layer of slime, this latest enemy would haunt the party’s dreams for the days to come.  It lashed out, striking Thaminor hard, despite his superior armor.  Pix and T’Sai rallied to his side and assaulted the creature with everything they had, ensuring that they brought it down before it could retreat back into the muddy pool.

When it was defeated, the room fell silent, all enemies vanquished.  Molish, confused why he was half out of his armor, started to suit up once more.  Pix identified the final aberration as an aboleth, one of the malevolent monsters with potent psionic abilities that were supposedly driven from this area a few years prior.  When Pix identified the slime that coated its body as potentially beneficial, Thaminor scraped some off into a vial.  The party decided that it was time to rest, before continuing any further, and took the time to do so. Before leaving anything behind, Pix decided to detect magic, and found a source emanating from west of the pool.

Following the direction of the magical emanation, the party soon came upon a secret door off one tunnel.  Once T’Sai gave the all clear, Thaminor easily swung open the door to reveal a smoke chamber (area 17) filled with cluttered workbenches. The air was thick with steam and acrid smoke. Glowing coals gave a ruddy cast to the haze. They could hear the soft mummer of pots left to simmer.  A craggy old man wrapped in discolored rags is seated at a bench with his chin propped on the stump where his right hand should have been.  He had frizzy white hair that probably hadn’t been combed in years and ebony skin.  He stared listlessly at some liquid in a beaker.  As he shifted his gaze to them, the liquid boiled furiously, and a spray of scalding foam shot out over of the bench.  He kept to his feet, waving his stump in the air and snatching the vessel off the coals with a pair of tongs held in his left hand.  That done, he scratched his nose and sneezed.  Looking at the party, he said, “Shut the door!  You’re letting a draft in.”  In the conversation that followed, the party learned that a larger, older aboleth was the true master of the creatures here, controlling things from deeper in the complex.  Istovahn, as he introduced himself, was here against his wishes, but of his own will–unwilling to risk his life in a failed attempt at escaping.  He gave the party a few jars of ointment that would help them in their travels, but refused to join them as they progressed further.  Promising to return once the elder aboleth was defeated, the party continued on.

The tunnels led forever downwards, deeper into the Underdark, and soon submerged into murky water.  Pix cast water breathing on the party so they could continue, though they knew their fighting abilities would be compromised.  Eventually, the curving tunnel came to a small opening (area 20), and the party was set upon by a few giant crayfish.  Once the distraction was dealt with, the portcullis blocking further passage required both Becket and Thaminor to work together to open.  Just beyond, there was a series of small cracks in the western wall, allowing skum in the chamber beyond (area 21) to attempt to skewer the party with their spears as they ran past. There were no party-kabobs this day, however!

Following the tunnel southward and around a western bend (area 22), the party was ambushed by skum brutes, stepping out of the very cavern walls to attack with their spears! The melee was joined, both on the ground and swimming over those heads in the high-ceilinged tunnel. Molish went down and was revived, T’Sai was seen fighting back with a dozen snakes writhing from his person, and and Pix played with a flaming sphere under water. Realizing that the skum were predominantly entering from the north and south walls, the party slowly moved their way up the north-then-west passage. Thaminor and Becket held the tunnel against the growing mound of skum bodies while T’Sai scouted the tunnel ahead to find that it only led to the chamber (area 21) opposite their approach tunnel.

Once the onslaught ceased and the party regrouped, they noticed that a couple of the skum bodies were laying on the ground halfway through the walls… it was only then that it was realized that they were standing in a large chamber, rather than a tunnel. Heading east, the fighters lifted another portcullis and entered a long chamber with many square columns down its length (area 24). They were beset on by another half dozen giant crayfish, which were again no real challenge. Heading southwest through a third portcullis, the second arrival of a giant purple worm burst from a sinkhole and reached its gaping maw for the intruders.

With its first strike, the purple worm swallowed Molish whole. T’Sai sprung into action, circling around behind the gargantuan monstrosity and striking with all his fury. The remainder of the party charged in with full force. Suddenly, T’Sai followed his instincts and reached inside the worm, grabbing hold of Molish and pulling him through the illusion and into open (murky) water. When the rest of the party heard T’Sai’s proclamation and witnessed this feat, they too no longer believed this latest illusion… and felt a great sense of relief.  Heading through the larger right-hand gate, the party swam southwest into a large chamber whose ceiling rose to 40 feet from the floor and all the walls were coated with a thick layer of slim.  Two 10-foot high alcoves were in the north wall about 15 feet off the floor and packed solid with slime.  Digging out the slime in the easternmost chamber revealed a large egg encased inside, later identified as that of an aboleth.  As soon as this disappeared into Pix’s bag of holding, one of the large aberrations arose from a sinkhole in the center of the chamber!

Larger, and some might say apparently older, than the last of its kind they encountered, this new threat attacked fiercely with tentacles and tail.  Splitting up to surround it, the party began to throw all they could at the master of this complex… or so they thought, as Molish turned on his own party and began to attack!  Realizing that he must be under the creature’s control, Becket quickly fought him back, imploring him to fight the mental control.  It worked–Molish was free to join his companions as they took their turns beating back the evil creature of the deep.  T’Sai circled around to flank while Pix lashed out with arcane fury  Thaminor attacked with all his might and Molish summoned divine power.  The aboleth lashed out with tentacle and tail, all while attempting to mentally assault anyone who let their guard down. T’Sai would later say that it appeared as if the aboleth was trying to flee when the final blow was struck, and it stopped moving forever.

Entering the sinkhole that the aberration came from turned into a tunnel that led to another chamber (area 25) with slime-covered walls.  Ledges in these walls held old rusting coins, but no sign of the Rod.  Following the tunnel to the northwest of the aboleth’s lair led to a final cavern (area 27) with what appeared to be the creature’s real treasure: a giant cache of coins, a platinum statue, and a few items that glowed for Pix’s detect magic spell.  Finally, the third segment of the rod was found encased in the slime on the body of the aboleth itself.  While resting, Pix took the opportunity to identify their treasure and–despite T’Sai’s protests–to attach the third piece of the Rod.