Below the Sewers - Episode One

== Synopsis: ==
Having slain the Thing in the sewers, a grave question arose amongst the civilians of the Westernlands Outpost: What else may lurk below? It was deemed of utmost importance to ensure the only threats to the Outpost remained outside of it. The mercenary company delved once again into the sewers to ensure no other monsters lurked beneath.
Other monsters did lurk beneath, of course, as well as the ruins of an underground civilization. The mercenaries dealt with the threats as best they could. An encounter with demons, however, left them with an unsigned contract and a path-changing decision for the burgeoning Outpost.
== Client: ==
Westernlands Outpost
== Mercenaries: ==
* Darius Thump - Rabbitfolk Bard (Sponsor: House Stars)
* Jayzal - Tabaxi Rogue (Sponsor: House Stars)
* Miloak Huxford - Human Paladin (Sponsor: House Stefarni)
* Zylqirel Dalanthan - Dark Elf Fighter / Cleric
== Adventure Summary: ==
=== Scratching the Surface ===
Before leaving the Outpost to enter the sewers, Jayzal, a young, dark-furred Tabaxi, warned his fellow mercenaries about what he had seen on his previous journey below. He had faced what he described as "the mother of all oozes," which grafted onto people, rotted them, and turned them into oozes themselves.
As if to assuage any sudden trepidation, Jayzal added that he and his party had, at least, destroyed most of the giant rats, though if there was a "rat king," that may not have yet been found.
Not encouraged by the descriptions but eager to protect the Outpost, the mercenaries descended. Only one torch was needed for Darius, a Rabbitfolk who preferred to travel light since he was so small. The other mercenaries all had darkvision and relied on it.
After finding the location where the giant ooze had been, the party searched in earnest for anything of note. Two hours revealed nothing, but after entering an unexplored section of the sewers, the mercenaries noticed a few support pillars that seemed odd. Most were intact, but all were smooth and white, not marble, not granite shale, and certainly not anything that they expected to see in a sewer. 
The party followed the pillars. All seemed fairly normal until they looped to the southwest, at which point they found a pillar toppled over, which had an ominous aura radiating from it.
Miloak, apparently a Human werewolf who preferred to maintain his bestial appearance, immediately activated his Divine Sense. His eyes shone blue as he gazed around the area. He reported the feeling of an ancient evil, less fiendish, more archaic. As he walked closer, he noticed the sense coming from beyond the pillar to a tunnel dug beneath it. He beckoned the party closer and showed them the gap in the ground that plunged downwards, utterly dark even to those with darkvision. An earthy smell exuded from the hole, an odd complement to the rot of the sewer.
Zylqirel of the Night Elves checked the pillar for writing, but saw none. Darius eyed the pillar and noted that it seemed to have slid to the ground in a way unrelated to gravity. "Whatever it is," he said, "however this got here, it wasn't just put here. You can't do this yourself—This was with magic."
Jayzal stepped to the edge of the hole and dropped in a ball bearing. It was difficult to gauge the falling speed, but it took twenty seconds to hear a clatter. Darius cursed and said there was no surprise now, whatever was down there would know the party was coming.
Zylqirel knelt beside the hole. From the way cobwebs around the tunnel were disturbed, he realized that creatures had been using it recently, with both claw prints and hoof prints surrounding it. With this closer vantage, he also noticed shallow stairs spiraling down.
Miloak, keen on keeping his allies vigilantly protected, volunteered to go down first. Jayzal wrinkled his nose and argued that Miloak, a clunky paladin in metal boots and chainmail, would be a noisy entrance. Zylqirel and Jayzal could instead attempt a stealth approach first. Though Miloak and Darius noted that Jayzal's ball bearing had already disturbed the silence, Miloak acquiesced and stepped aside for the stealthy to enter. Before they did, Jayzal created a psychic link between himself, Miloak, and Zylqirel. After a moment's thought, he strained himself to push the link to Darius as well, so that they all could communicate without speaking.
With that, the party left the sewers, descending into the tunnel below.
=== Traps and Webs ===
The marching order had Jayzal lead and Darius hold the rear, with Zylqirel behind Jayzal and Miloak in front of Darius. The spiral steps were uneventful. They passed a narrow landing and continued to descend until they were at least one hundred feet into the earth.
Finally, the stairs bottomed out into the north wall of a room clouded by a blue haze, obscuring the vision of all to only a few feet ahead. The air smelled of spiced smoke, corroded copper.
Zylqirel tapped Jayzal's shoulder, then mentally suggested they skirt the walls rather than step straight into the room. Jayzal nodded, and both crept off the landing.
Behind them, Miloak clunked down one step, and Darius accidentally plunked two strings of his viol. The two looked at each other, then agreed that they would hang back for the moment.
As Jayzal and Zylqirel entered the room, Zylqirel heard the floor crumble almost immediately. Zylqirel jumped back in time to dodge a pit along the western side of the wall, but Jayzal slipped below sight, falling into an eastern hole twenty feet deep and impaling himself on spikes. Though his major organs were intact, the pain was enough to make him release a string of curses. Miloak mentally asked Jayzal if he was alive, and when Jayzal admitted that he was, Miloak told him not to swear with the Gods.
Jayzal gritted his teeth and yanked himself out of the hole. More careful now, he and Zylqirel continued their investigation. Zylqirel noticed that to the south, the room had an upper ledge that went up five feet. Jayzal saw that the mist seemed to thicken to the northeast and that the stairway leading up to the southern ledge had a trapdoor mechanism at its base.
Zylqirel suggested tying a rope between everyone so that if one fell, the others could drag them back up. Darius scoffed and said he thought trapdoors were fun to go down. There might even be treasure. As he said this, he poked his head out of the stairwell and saw the spike pit, but maintained that trapdoors were still fun.
From the west, the mercenaries heard a squawk-chirping sound. All instinctively grabbed their weapons. Jayzal told everyone to remember that the only things that worked on the ooze were magic or starium weapons, but Zylqirel noted that the chirping didn't sound like any ooze. He created a series of Dancing Lights, purple motes that sparked into existence one by one, lighting the western hallway.
Through the fog, the mercenaries saw a swarm of bird-like creatures with moth wings, known as webbirds. The webbirds immediately swept towards the mercenaries. Jayzal frantically ordered Zylqirel to extinguish the lights, and Zylqirel just as frantically did, but it was too late; the webbirds were practically upon them and showed no signs of relenting.
Jayzal started the combat, moving to a crack in the western wall that let him see into the hallway. He threw two psychic daggers at the webbirds. Even with the fog, he managed to hit with both strikes. He then ducked below the crack, hoping to remain unnoticed.
Unfortunately, the swarm surrounded Jayzal. The creatures spat webs at him, though he easily rolled out of the way. One of the webbirds spotted Miloak charging out of the stairwell and spewed web at him, a direct hit that restrained the werewolf. Miloak growled and flexed, ripping through the web, and continued his charge. Mentally, he stated how horrifying the disgusting bird-bug creatures were. Darius responded that he thought they were cute in an ugly way, then he Viciously Mocked the swarm. The enchanted words seemed to have little effect.
Zylqirel engaged the swarm with his rapier, puncturing one bird and flicking it aside. Jayzal sliced with psychic energy but missed. He ducked down to disengage and scrambled up the southern ledge. The old stones dislodged beneath him, threatening to drop him back to the lower level; however, thanks to an extra push of his mental powers, Jayzal predicted the roll of the stones and continued his upward trajectory.
The swarm ignored the fleeing Tabaxi and instead surrounded Miloak and Zylqirel. The warriors dodged the spat webs, Zylqirel syncing himself perfectly to Miloak's moves. The two stood back-to-back, unafraid.
Darius meanwhile yelled that the swarm had the aim of a blind archer. The swarm, however, used echolocation, and did not seem bothered by the insult. Darius scoffed and backed into the stairwell.
Miloak swung his warhammer, but somehow missed every bird. Not only that, his force sent him spinning further than he meant, nearly clobbering Zylqirel in the process. Zylqirel dodged just in time, using the momentum to thrust at another bird and skewering two.
Jayzal threw a psychic dagger into the swarm, which passed through the brains of multiple creatures, dropping them to the floor. At that moment, he felt the ground rumble. He turned just in time to see three corpses rise, skeletons that might have been dressed as guards, but with weapons and armor of unfamiliar make. The first swung its rusty blade at Jayzal, but he ducked under it. The second flanked him, but Jayzal sidestepped the strike. The third strike, however, plunged into his back. Jayzal hissed, stabbing one blade into the skeleton's eye socket and thrusting his other blade at the first skeleton's ankles. The third undead shivered and collapsed immediately while the first took the blow without crumpling.
The webbirds kept their attention on Miloak. This time, their webs pinned him, giving a few of them opportunity to cling to his body and bite at him. Thankfully, the chain links held firm against the assault.
Darius once more used Vicious Mockery, but the swarm was unperturbed. The Rabbitfolk then spoke a word of encouragement to Miloak, granting him Bardic Inspiration. Miloak grinned and ripped off the webbing, throwing the webbirds off of him. He remained in the swarm, taunting them to keep their attention while Zylqirel once more stabbed into their midst. Instead of addressing the taunt, however, the swarm focused their web spit on Zylqirel. The webbing clung to his knees, trapping him in place. The Night Elf glared at the webbing, then at the birds. He rebuked them with a voice like thunder, and while most avoided the shockwave, a few dropped dead.
The two flanking skeletons continued to press their attack on Jayzal. Both hit, leaving trails of blood in the joints of Jayzal's armor. Mentally, Jayzal let out another curse.
Miloak looked past the swarm to where Jayzal stood in the fog. The werewolf asked Jayzal through the mind link if he was good. Jayzal sent back a firm but curt "Yep." Rather than responding mentally, Miloak raised a thumbs up high above the webbird swarm, then smashed down with his warhammer. While it felt like a glancing blow off a wing, the magic of Darius' inspiration seemed to guide Miloak's strike to crush a head.
Tired of his words being ignored by the enemy, Darius ran into the webbirds with his rapier, stabbing one. Excited to finally do some damage, Darius cheered, but the cheer cut short when he felt a web tighten around him. Zylqirel meanwhile ripped off his own webbing.
Jayzal somersaulted past one of the skeletons and fumbled out a healing kit in the corner to staunch his bleeding. The skeletons were fast on his tail, however, and while he dodged one blow, the other struck him on the head and knocked him unconscious. He tumbled off the ledge, but somehow managed to land in a roll that prevented further damage. A sort of static filled the minds of the other party members as they realized that Jayzal was out.
Darius looked to the sword in his hand, then at the few webbirds still flying. Though webbed, he decided to take a swing. His rapier swatted one of the webbirds, and with that, the remaining swarm scattered, defeated.
Miloak went straight for the dying Tabaxi. His hands glowed with a silver light as he bestowed healing to Jayzal. Then he tried to climb the cliff in order to keep the skeletons occupied. Unfortunately, he was not dexterous enough to outmaneuver the crumbling edifice and slid back to the lower level.
Assured that Jayzal was awake, Zylqirel took out his bow. His strike landed between one skeleton's ribs. The skeleton looked down at the feathers, then looked at Zylqirel, then back at the arrow. Zylqirel moved away to beside the east pit, beyond the skeleton's easy reach.
Bloody but alive, Jayzal stood and stumbled to the west pit's ledge to put some distance between himself and the skeletons. He threw two daggers, and while the first went wide, the second rattled his target.
With all their enemies below them, the skeletons tossed themselves off the ledge. The first crumbled to pieces the moment it hit the ground. The other dislocated its leg, but as a skeleton reanimated by dark magic, the damage didn't slow it down. It swung at Miloak, but the blade chipped against his armor. The paladin finished off the undead with one more sober strike.
Darius slid out of the webbing without issue, then both he and Zylqirel cast Cure Wounds on Jayzal, restoring his health for the moment. Jayzal however knew that he needed to be careful; if he went down again, he might take some lasting damage.
Zylqirel restored his Dancing Lights so that the party could once more scout the immediate location. To the south they saw a collapsed tunnel. In a northeast tunnel, they saw a door with a metal dragon head on it. Blue smoke poured out of the dragon's nostrils. The party decided to check this door out first.
The floor looked solid. The door was made of iron, as was the dragon head. Some runes were etched at the top of the door, but it was of an ancient language that none of them could interpret. Jayzal looked at the door through his Mundane Mirror, confirming that the whole door disappeared.
Darius suggested that Jayzal pick the lock. Jayzal was reticent, thinking about the apparent shield around the Outpost and the magic fountain on a nearby mountain. With so much manufactured magic, it might be detrimental to open an unknown magic door. Nevertheless, he knelt down and broke out his thieves' tools.
When Jayzal was about halfway through the lock, the eyes on the dragon began to glow. Jayzal looked up, and his pupils shrank to pinpricks. Overwhelming terror filled Jayzal and sent him bounding from the room, all the way back to the spike pits, unable to even look back in the direction of the door.
Miloak ran after him and put a hand on his shoulder. With a kindly smile, he said, "It's okay kid, we've all been there." He told Jayzal to sit tight and returned to the dragon door, where Darius and Miloak discussed plugging the nostrils. While Miloak volunteered his Stefarni scarf and bedroll as possible clogging materials, Darius cut up his own bedroll and plugged up the nose. After five minutes, the blue haze cleared from the tunnels, allowing the party to see.
Rather than press their luck with the door, the party decided to check other areas. Up on the southern ledge, Zylqirel searched through the rubble and found thirteen ancient gold coins, along with thirty-six ancient copper coins. The coins bore strange words similar to those over the dragon door, implying they were from the same archaic civilization.
Zylqirel offered to split the gold with the rest of the party. Jayzal eagerly agreed, then tried to remember which Rabbitfolk he owed thirty gold. Darius piped up, saying that it was him, but Jayzal scoffed and said that it was Sqriggles McHopper, not Darius.
In the western path from which the webbirds came, they could hear individual chirps rather than the sounds of a swarm. Going down the east path instead with Jayzal in the lead, they rounded a corner and found thick webbing blocking their way. There was no chirping from that direction, however, and Miloak was sure the pearl-gray webbing was thicker than those spat by the webbirds.
Jayzal tried to see beyond the blocking web without cutting it, but the passage was too obscured. Not eager to face spiders, Zylqirel said that the trapdoor they had passed earlier might be better to investigate. Jayzal and Miloak agreed and went back. Miloak laid flat on the ground beside the door and cracked it open with his warhammer. It was, in fact, another spike pit.
Meanwhile, Darius remained at the webbing and sliced it open. As it collapsed, he saw a hideous humanoid figure with eight arms, multiple eyes, and a spiderlike jaw crawl down from webbings from the ceiling. Darius immediately crouched and backed away silently, psychically describing to the group his discovery.
Jayzal berated Darius for slicing the webbing, and while alone, no less. Darius said that there was no harm done and that they would get nowhere if they didn't take risks. They both glared at each other, but Miloak stepped between them and put a hand on each, breaking up the fight. He looked down the tunnel, as did the others. They could hear what sounded like the spider creature rebuilding its web.
The group chose to steal down the western path and leave the spider person alone. There, they found individual webbirds trapped in cages, along with swaths of webbing woven into cloth and a few desiccated humanoid forms.
Jayzal studied the room first. After confirming no sign of traps or hidden creatures, he turned his attention to the corpses. To his surprise, they looked like Darrow, a race from old storybooks. He related this to the party, and Zylqirel mentioned a few spooky stories he had heard of the creatures in his youth.
Beyond the webbing chambers was a long hallway heading north to south. At the north bend of the hall was a sculpture of a rearing unicorn, cracked and pitted, but intact.
Jayzal warned the party to be careful of Darrow traps. Zylqirel and Miloak nodded, then went straight to the unicorn. Jayzal and Darius followed. While Zylqirel tried to notice anything magic about the statue, he could sense nothing. Jayzal relied more on his physical senses and noticed that the unicorn's horn could be rotated either clockwise or counterclockwise.
Miloak stated that he wanted to touch it. After a bit of debate, Jayzal reached out and rotated the horn counterclockwise. The mouth of the unicorn opened and expelled a dark gas. Zylqirel seemed immune to the gas and Darius hopped back in time, but Jayzal and Miloak dropped to the floor, asleep.
The two shared a vision. In a round stone chamber, flashes of light emitted from a skull-shaped stone. Horrors appeared with the lightning, threatening a unicorn. The unicorn reared back, but got struck by lightning. It fell, dead.
When Jayzal and Miloak awoke, they were exhausted. Zylqirel helped them to their feet, then rotated the horn clockwise. The unicorn slid backwards, revealing a door. Beyond that door was a short hall, and then another door. Zylqirel and Jayzal shoved Darius forward to investigate. The Rabbitfolk noted that the second door was solid wood, worn down with time, unlocked. Inside, the room smelled of vinegar, filled with old casks. He could detect the vestiges of a preservation spell, but it had long expired. What was wine was now spoiled.
But not all of it; searching the casks, Darius found two gallon-sized casks that still held wine, to his delight.
The party thought that was an excellent reason to pause and celebrate their living. They took a short rest, Miloak and Jayzal recovering from their exhaustion and Jayzal taking the time to clean the last of his wounds. During the break, Jayzal brought out a potion he had found on a previous journey, trying to figure out what it could be. Darius offered to Identify it, and after Jayzal's magical sense failed him, he passed the vial to Darius. It was a Potion of Courage, which could make anyone immune to fear. The party laughed at the coincidence, Jayzal stating that he could have used that before the dragon door, the thought of which still sent shivers down his spine.
Back on the path, the party checked the room beside the hidden unicorn passage. The plaster covering those walls and ceiling was flaking and sagging, and on the ground was a broken stone tablet around three feet wide. On the tablet was the arcane writing and the faded design of a skull with an infinity symbol between its teeth.
Jayzal ran his hands over the writing. Making connections between that language and current linguistic practices, he interpreted one word to mean "foundingstone." Beyond that, he had no guess.
The party continued southward along the long hallway. One side room had collapsed with broken masonry and statuary underneath layers of undisturbed dust. Zylqirel tried to figure out what the statues were, but couldn't.
In another side room, Jayzal saw oddly shaped rocks, but didn't think them significant. Miloak quipped that they were probably eggs.
Zylqirel sent out his Dancing Lights and found glowing webs at the end of the hall. These were different than the webbirds or the gray webbing, implying yet another web-using creature.
Darius hung back to look at the odd stones. They were the size of his body.
Jayzal reached the end of the hall, where the passage diverged east and west. To the east, he heard snoring. He crouched and commanded the group to be stealthy.
Darius ignored him, rapping his knuckles against the stone. It cracked, hollow inside. It was no stone, but was actually an egg. Miloak, who had stopped moving the moment Jayzal called for silence, cringed at the realization.
Jayzal crept down the eastern path. In the room beyond, he saw two large land-bird creatures which appeared to be some form of prehistoric sowary. Both snored, asleep. Jayzal began to tiptoe backwards, asking if they could somehow block the door.
Zylqirel moved closer to see what was the issue, but kicked a stone in the process. He froze, eyes wide.
One set of snoring stopped. Jayzal gestured for everyone to retreat. While Zylqirel and Jayzal ran north up the hall, Miloak held his ground to make sure whatever creature might attack hit him before the others. Darius however fled down the western path. Miloak hissed at him to stick with the group, but at that moment, the prehistoric sowary reached the hallway crossroads, Darius in front of it, Miloak to its right.
Miloak growled at it, trying to appear the more pressing threat. He succeeded, the sowary charging at him. Miloak met the charge with his warhammer, smashing it against the sowary's flat beak.
Darius whooped, encouraging Miloak with Bardic Inspiration. He then tried Vicious Mockery on the sowary, to no effect.
Jayzal saw Miloak engage the sowary and tossed a psychic dagger. It was a direct hit, killing the creature instantly. Miloak looked back at the Tabaxi and nodded his approval.
Zylqirel positioned himself in the hall with an arrow nocked, ready to shoot the other sowary should it come. It did, but it squawked, looking directly at the Night Elf. Zylqirel hesitated and flinched, and the increased pressure on his string caused it to snap. The sowary reached Zylqirel and thrust its head, but Zylqirel blocked with his bow.
Darius rubbed his hands together. He hopped onto the sowary's back, attempting to ride it bareback. The sowary bucked, but Darius held on furiously, claiming that the bird would be his mount.
Hearing Darius' claim, Miloak came up from behind and attempted a nonlethal knockout blow. It was a critical success, ramming his hammer against the side of its head, but though the strike left the sowary stunned, it kept its feet.
Jayzal took advantage of the moment to send a precise psychic dagger to the sowary's brain. The creature seized up, then fell. Jayzal cringed, hoping he didn't kill it. After a moment, its body shuddered in a breath, and Jayzal released his own in relief.
Darius stepped away from the sowary, exhilarated. While Miloak kept watch, Zylqirel tied up the sowary. Jayzal meanwhile went to the room in which the sowaries had slept. There he found thirty-one silver pieces, two eggs, a potion, and a ring of bone. He tried identifying the potion and ring himself, but discovered nothing.
Zylqirel called from the other room, asking if Jayzal had found anything. The Tabaxi didn't answer. He stowed the eggs in his backpack, wrapping them in a blanket. Then he rejoined the party, telling them about all the goods.
Darius offered to Identify the items immediately. The ring was a Ring of Animal Friendship with twelve charges in it while the potion was a Potion of Healing.
Jayzal started to pocket the ring, but Darius refused to let go. Zylqirel and Miloak said that Darius might want to use it to calm the sowary and keep it docile upon awakening. Jayzal stated his own need for money. Miloak urged the party to wait until after exiting the undersewers before quibbling over the treasure.
They decide to put the sowary—apparently the mother of the eggs—along with the eggs in the nest to retrieve later. Darius uses one charge of the Ring of Animal Friendship to keep it calm. Zylqirel meanwhile dragged the corpse of the father sowary into a side room so that the mother wouldn't see it when they all left.
Down the western hall, the group saw many passageways, along with collapsed bricks from the walls. Zylqirel suggested taking an immediate northern passage. Jayzal ignored him and instead travelled deeper west. Unfortunately, a spike trap opened beneath him, badly piercing his legs. Worse, in his face was a decrepit skeleton in rotted leather armor, the gaping skull staring at him. The Tabaxi screamed and bolted out of the pit.
While Jayzal used another healer's kit to bind his wounds, Zylqirel moved to the edge of the pit. He contemplated descending with rope to check out the skeleton, but then thought better of it and pulled out his grappling hook. Jayzal offered to do the toss, since his aim was uncannily steady, and Zylqirel agreed. The aim was perfect, and while the appendages snapped off, the torso, ribs, and pelvis make it out.
The skeleton's armor was unsalvageable, but they did find four arrows that exuded magic from the quiver. After some debate over who might use their bow more, Zylqirel took three of the arrows while Jayzal took one.
In the northern passageway, the party found a slight slope. Jayzal stopped the group and checked for traps, but didn't find any. Up the slope and to the east were side chambers with more glowing webs. To the west were a set of stairs that led up to a landing with a wooden door. The door was not locked, but the wood was so warped that it was stuck.
Miloak gently shouldered open the door. The room beyond was oddly barren, though it did hold another wooden door at the other end. As the werewolf popped open the next door, Zylqirel, Darius, and Jayzal investigated the barren chamber, though they could determine nothing truly special about it.
In the room beyond, however, were more glowing webs, as well as a phantomlike spider resting in the webs. Miloak's eyes immediately glowed blue with his Divine Sense. He warned the party that the spider was a ghost and that regular weapons would be of no use.
Darius decided to begin the encounter with a Vicious Mockery. The spider faced them, but didn't seem perturbed. Darius tried another insult, again to no effect. He then Bardically Inspired Jayzal as the spider jaunted towards Miloak.
But before reaching the paladin, the spider blinked out of existence. In the blink of an eye, it was beside Jayzal instead, who fell back just in time to dodge the fangs. The spider disappeared once more.
Zylqirel was the only one who could see what occurred. He announced that the spider had moved to the ethereal plane and would be back soon, so they needed to leave.
Jayzal moved away, waiting to see if the spider would strike him. When it didn't, he said that now was the time to leave if they wanted to. In spite of that, he moved beside one doorway, intent on ambushing the spider when it reappeared. Seeing this, Zylqirel took up a similar position in front of the other door. Miloak stood in front of Zylqirel to protect the martial cleric while Darius hid behind Jayzal, preparing another insult.
The spider reappeared after a few seconds and ran towards Jayzal. He flicked his wrist, plunging his dagger straight through the spider, a critical hit that sent psychic energy rippling along its body. It collapsed and rolled over, legs curled.
Miloak's brow rose. He silently clapped and said that in all his years of service, he'd never seen a more impressive one-shot.
Leaving the corpse behind, the party checked the spider's nest. Jayzal quickly saw that one wall seemed too smooth and found a switch. The wall slid open, revealing a set of stairs going down. Darius wanted to go down straightaway and Zylqirel agreed, but after a minute of thought, the group decided to search the southern paths first, then maybe circle back to the dragon door.
Down to the south, they found a round room with rotting and stained plaster, broken masonry, broken support pillars, and undisturbed dust.
Zylqirel gave the room a once-over and noted a secret door. He mentioned that his family was legendary at finding secret doors, and apparently it was no exaggeration. The secret door rolled to the side, letting a puff of dry and stale air out into the round room. The air was cold, presumably due to the rough block of ice on a platform in the middle of the room. The block was several feet tall and deep, with a large blot of oily darkness trapped in its core.
Miloak eyed the darkness and pressed his lips together. "Don't open that."
Jayzal studied the ice, accepting a touch of Guidance from Zylqirel and utilizing the Bardic Inspiration Darius had bequeathed earlier. The Tabaxi man saw how fragile it was, where a little force would probably make it collapse. Worse, inside the mass of oil were bulges and bubbles that looked like eyes.
"Yeah," Jayzal said, "don't open that."
Beyond the ice block, Zylqirel spied a chest. Jayzal asked if Darius could sneak to the chest to check it, and Darius rebutted that Jayzal needed to check it for traps first. They both squeeze by the ice without issue. There were no visible traps on the chest, and Jayzal's Mundane Mirror revealed the chest to be ordinary. He flipped open the lid.
A gush of flame poured from the chest, engulfing Jayzal, who wailed in pain. Darius jumped back, hand over his face, unscathed; but the flame bathed the ice block, cracking it.
Miloak and Zylqirel looked on in horror as the blob rose with the unearthly choking caw of a gibbering mouther.
Without looking away from the aberration, Zylqirel slapped Miloak's shoulder, bestowing Protection from Evil and Good on him that caused his armor to gain a slight navy blush. Miloak grunted in thanks, then ran, getting between the mouther and Jayzal. He prayed for favour and bestowed the last of his spare healing on the Tabaxi, turning the worst of the burns into restored flesh.
The mouther began to spout mind-bending gibberish. Zylqirel's eyes widened as he froze, paralyzed in fear.
Darius shook off the words and sent out his own, but his Vicious Mockery was ineffective. He tried pushing extra power into the spell, but to his frustration, it still did nothing. He tried to move closer to the exit, though the mouther blocked his path.
Jayzal, numb from the immediate pain thanks to the healing, patted out any extraneous flames. He threw two psychic dagger, which both plunged into the creature. He then fled into the back corner of the room to get as far away from the mouther as possible.
Thanks to the Protection from Evil and Good, Miloak tuned out the mouther's gibberish. He climbed up the platform and smashed the mouther with his hammer, the weapon flashing with a Divine Smite.
The mouther shuddered and spat out a blob of blinding chemicals right in Miloak's face. The goo blinded him, and the creature flung one of its mouths to impale him with its teeth—
—but the teeth broke against Miloak's precise shield block. With his werewolf Thread and years of experience as a war veteran, Miloak had honed his senses to a level of blindsight, having no need for his eyes in melee combat.
Zylqirel shook off the mouther's words and ran up the platform to fight alongside Miloak. He stabbed the creature with his rapier. Darius once more tried his insults, to no avail.
The mouther's gibberish seemed to grow louder. Darius couldn't take it, wincing and then running as fast as possible out of the secret room and into the round chamber. Jayzal meanwhile gritted his teeth and slashed violently at the air around him, trying to stop the noise.
Miloak's warhammer crashed into an eye of the mouther. The mouther attempted another bite, but as the paladin shouted a word of thanks to Luniar, a Divine Smite burned the aberration. It reeled in pain, unable to focus on its attack, with Miloak easily sidestepping what would have surely been a critical blow. Zylqirel said his own word of thanks as his mind cut through the mouther's noise. His blade sank deep into the mouther. It screamed at him, but Miloak howled. The aberration's main eyes turned to face him just in time for the hammer to meet its gaping mouth.
Teeth flew across the room and bounced off the wall. The gibbering mouther shuddered, then sank, defeated.
Miloak whooped and hugged Zylqirel, pleased at their divine teamwork. Zylqirel patted the veteran on the back and then got to work searching through the mouther's corpse. While most of the possessions of its former victims had long dissolved, it still held a peridot and a rose quartz, both sizeable enough to be worth five gold each.
Darius peeked back into the room, confirming that the gibbering mouther was dead. Jayzal stopped swinging blindly, and instead slumped to the ground, the pain of his burns catching up to him. Miloak and Zylqirel looked at each other, then both volunteered to set up camp in the circular room so the group might get a good rest.
The sleep held no incident, and after eight hours of rest, the party continued their exploration. Jayzal started by reestablishing his mental connection to the group. Then he took his Potion of Courage, ready to tackle the dragon door. So confident was he that on the way he leapt right over the large pit in which he had found the skeleton with magic arrows. The rest of the party went the long way around and met up with Jayzal on the other side.
Jayzal set to work picking the dragon-headed door, and this time it was a critical success. He quickly found the correct mechanism, the door parting inwards. Strangely enough, the hall beyond looked relatively normal, with no hint as to where the fog exuding from the dragon's nostrils might have originated.
Inside the following room, however, was a statue of a Dragonborn with head bowed, holding out a plate for offerings. Similar to the door, ancient words were inscribed on the statue. Darius glanced at the writing and was surprised to realize that he understood it. He didn't know whether this was knowledge he picked up in the Fey court or elsewhere, but he immediately relayed the translation to his party: "Let the respectful enter beyond." The hall beyond the statue exuded a faint blue glow.
The group debated what would be "respectful," assuming that an offering would need to be placed on the statue's plate. Zylqirel put in all the ancient gold he had found. When nothing happened, he also emptied the ancient silver and copper into the plate as well. Nothing.
Miloak took a deep breath and announced that he had an idea. It was probably stupid and would get him killed, but without explaining, he shut his eyes, dipped his head, and walked "respectfully" into the hallway. A click resounded, and a blade shot from a wall and swished over Miloak's head.
Miloak stopped short, eyes wide, surprised that his hunch was apparently correct. Then he motioned the party on into the next room. As they walked, they felt the temperature drop. The center of the chamber held a rusted iron tripod with an aquamarine orb on it that was a foot in diameter. Blue vapors rolled off the gem. One locked door connected to the room.
Darius looked in the orb, but didn't see anything in it. He explained that he could try to identify the orb, but didn't want to touch it. Jayzal checked the orb in his Mundane Mirror and confirmed that it was magic, though the door was not.
Miloak neared the orb, seeming to enjoy the cold. Without hesitation, he placed his hands on it.
A freezing rush suffused the werewolf's body, making him wince. The vapors dissipated as the magic left the orb, and all in the room heard something speak the word "pyorrhoea." Miloak also saw what appeared to be an ice spirit flash in his mind. It neared him and whispered, "Leave this place if you value your soul." Then it left, and Miloak was left with the 18-pound orb in his hands. He apologized profusely for breaking it, with the other party members consoling him. He then stowed the orb in his backpack.
Jayzal investigated the door and found a poison trap in it. He carefully picked the lock and let the door swing open. Beyond was a weapons storeroom. Some of the boxes were pried open, rusted equipment lay scattered about, but there were a few unrusted weapons of good quality. Namely, three longswords, five daggers, one spear, and one greatsword were all in fine condition. Each weapon bore a skull carved into the pommel and shaft. Both Zylqirel and Darius claimed a dagger each while Miloak claimed a longsword for the time being. Jayzal refused to touch the weapons after all the creepy events happening.
Having explored most of the chambers save for where the spider-like creatures were, the party was generally ready to descend the hidden stairs to the lower level. Miloak, however, having been warned by an ice spirit to leave, was ready to depart. With a little cajoling, however, he agreed to go on, at the least because he was planning to keep the others safe, and if they were going, he surely would need to go as well. Nevertheless, he was the last to descend, looking over his shoulder almost expecting to see the ice spirit disappointedly watching.
=== Fiendish Hunt ===
The stairs emptied into branching caverns that felt less architecturally designed than the above area. Zylqirel sent forth his Dancing Lights to reveal the paths. Of immediate concern were two corpses of the spider-like creatures, both recently deceased. Zylqirel stood over them and checked their wounds. He let the group know that the creatures had been killed by heavy barbs the size of bolts fired from a hand crossbow. The barbs, however, were poisoned.
The spider beings each had a shortsword made of webbing, which were surprisingly sturdy and sharp. Darius took them and stowed them in his supplies.
The party went down the tunnel in which the dead creatures lay, Miloak hanging at the back, Jayzal creeping in front of him, Zylqirel and Darius leading. The Night Elf left his lights at the mouth of the tunnel so that the luminance wouldn't announce their presence to anything further in the tunnel.
Ahead, those of the party with darkvision saw a pair of cloaked figures. Miloak halted, Zylqirel grabbed the blind Darius to alert him. Using their mental communication, the group discussed how to proceed. Miloak voted for a surprise attack, to knock out their opponents first and ask questions after—Whatever was down there was probably a danger to the Outpost, so it was better to be preemptive.
Darius suggested talking with the cloaked people. Miloak's nose wrinkled in disapproval, but he didn't argue. Nevertheless, he insisted the party move into ambush positions.
Jayzal slunk out of the tunnel and past a junction to get a better view. He moved to within ten feet of the creatures. They were obviously not the spider beings, wearing black cloaks and having eyes that burned like fiery coals.
Miloak activated his Divine Sense, and his hackles rose. Mentally, he issued a warning that the creatures were fiends, big fiends, bounty hunters—but it was too late. One fiend happened to glance directly at Jayzal. Without hesitation, they crouched and cracked a whip at him.
The Tabaxi immediately attacked, launching a psychic dagger, but it went wide. As he backpedaled, the whip snapped against his thigh. Jayzal turned down another tunnel and hid in the shadows.
Zylqirel ran to a different tunnel and prepped a bow attack, kneeling behind a boulder for cover.
One of the bounty hunters entered the junction, and Zylqirel let fly. The arrow pierced the demon's shoulder. They ran towards the boulder and swatted with their whip, but Zylqirel dodged.
Darius backed away, pointed at the demon, and whispered, "We don't mean to interrupt, we can be friendly! Do you bargain? We can … leave? I know a lot of good demons—do you know Edga?"
The demon heard the Message spell and responded, saying that they might bargain. Had the party seen the spider corpses? If they hunted down all of them, the demons might not bother the group.
Out loud, Darius said, "I know where those are!" He held up his hands. "It's okay, we can bargain."
Miloak snarled at the demon. He stood at the ready, but didn't engage, willing to follow Darius' lead for the moment.
The demons spoke to each other in sign language for a moment. One raised their hands up without weapons as a sign of good faith.
Jayzal asked the hunters why the spider people were their prey, but before they could answer, Zylqirel asked if the party could continue down the tunnels if they helped the demons.
The spokesperson demon hesitated, then said that they were open to negotiation. They looked to Darius. "You know where they are, you said? Take us to them."
Darius said the spider people were upstairs.
Miloak growled and thrust out his chest, declaring that they were protecting the Outpost. If they helped, the demons would need to leave, permanently.
The demons stopped, dead-eyed, apparently in a trance. After a brief pause, they looked to Darius. "Well, Father says we should be grateful to the one who brought us here."
Darius didn't respond. Miloak stared at him in shock, but didn't speak.
Zylqirel cleared his throat and asked what the spider people were. The demons answered that they were slaves of the demons, but had escaped.
This knowledge put both the paladin and cleric on edge. Miloak and Zylqirel shared a glance, but neither moved.
Darius stepped forward to lead the negotiation. The demons would stay underground without entering the sewers. They would even bequeath the above cavern to the Outpost for uninhibited exploration. And the party would live. For their part, the demons would get the deeper tunnels and the renegades would be dead.
Darius and Jayzal studied the demons, intent on discovering deception. Both were sure that the fiends would stick to the agreement, but the two mercenaries also noticed that the demons wore brooches emblazoned with a skull that held an infinity symbol in its mouth.
Jayzal asked who was the father of the demons. They answer that they never speak his true name, but he may be called Caullum. Outwardly, Jayzal gave the demons a charming smile and bowed. Mentally, he whispered that the mercenaries really needed more clerics. Miloak whispered back that they needed to stop the demon threat. Zylqirel agreed.
Darius began to walk away, leading the demons to the upper floors. Zylqirel mentally wondered if they should backstab the demons. Jayzal thought that was a bad idea.
As if sensing the hesitation, one demon produced a contract from his cloak, telling the party that they needed to sign it before continuing on.
The party read over the contract. It stated that the mercenaries would lead the demons to the renegades, and once the work of the demons was completed, they would let the mercenaries leave alive and would not go above the middle caverns.
Jayzal took the contract and studied it. Miloak noted the specific wordings of the contract, looking for loopholes. Darius stated that if they signed the contract, they would have to follow it. He knew, he had experience.
Miloak once more eyes Darius, but didn't ask for details. He mentally told the party that he wanted to stop the demons. Zylqirel backed him up. Darius shrugged and said that if they were going to make their move, they'd need to do it right then.
The demons looked over the party and asked if they were ready to sign.
Miloak and Zylqirel answered by casting Protection from Evil and Good on themselves simultaneously.
The first demon sighed and whipped Miloak, striking him across the jaw. As the man reeled from the blow, Darius hopped backwards, away from the scuffle. He hesitated, unsure what to do.
Jayzal cursed and called the holy warriors idiots. He disengaged from the demons and ran between them to hide behind Darius. After stuffing the contract in his pack, he tossed a dagger at the first demon and struck with what felt like significant mental damage.
In response, the second demon raised an arm and pointed it at Jayzal. A bone barb protruded from their wrist and shot out at the Tabaxi, though it missed both him and Darius.
Zylqirel fired one of the magical arrows at the second demon, piercing their gut.
Miloak tried to slam his hammer against the first demon's face, but they calmly sidestepped and laughed. "Foolish paladin," they said, "you need blessed weapons to harm us." With that, they clawed at Miloak with a fiery grasp, cutting deep into his throat. Miloak choked on his blood, then slumped to the ground, unconscious.
Darius chewed his cheek and cast Mirror Image, causing three copies of himself to appear around him. He fled into a side tunnel.
Jayzal threw two daggers at the first demon, doing critical damage. With his attuned sense of magic, he knew that such blows should have killed the fiend, but for some reason the psychic energy seemed to be glancing off their mind.
But Jayzal couldn't think about that. Seeing Miloak on the ground, he ran past Darius into the side tunnel, intent on looping around to reach his ally.
The second demon meanwhile stalked after Darius, popping one of the duplicate Rabbitfolk with the whip.
Zylqirel stepped back and shot the second magic arrow at the first demon, staggering them. They hissed and raised a wrist, the bone barb protruding—
—but before it could launch, Zylqirel nocked another arrow and fired. It was a critical hit, striking straight into the barb and exploding it into shards that ripped the demon's arm to shreds. The demon screamed, then vanished from the material plane.
Some shards of bone sprinkled over Miloak's prone form before dissipating. He didn't react. His breathing was ragged, his heart beat slowly and with erratic pulses. Death approached as his condition became critically worse.
Darius meanwhile was still struggling to decide what to do. He didn't want to cross the demons since he had already made pacts with them, but with this one bearing down on him, he wasn't sure he could get out of it. He backed against the wall as the demon popped another duplicate. In desperation, he threw out a loud insult, though he didn't lace the words with magic. The demon didn't seem to register the implications.
Jayzal, however, did note what this meant; but his fallen ally was more important than worrying about Darius' behaviour. Pushing himself to his limit, Jayzal dashed down the tunnel, blew past Zylqirel, slid on his knees to Miloak's side, and clamped the Potion of Healing between the werewolf's teeth. He stared at the demon, silently begging them not to notice him.
They didn't. The demon swiped at Darius, but missed.
As Jayzal caught his breath, Zylqirel ran to him and asked for the last magic arrow. Jayzal passed it over with one hand, still holding the potion steady with the other. Zylqirel nodded his thanks and continued on, positioning himself behind the demon.
Miloak blinked awake as the wounds on his throat closed. Jayzal pulled the empty bottle back and let out a sigh of relief. Miloak lifted himself on his elbows and stared at the Tabaxi, lips parting to release his heartfelt gratitude, but Jayzal grabbed the muzzle and held it shut. He jerked his head towards the demon. Miloak stiffened, nodded, stood, used Lay on Hands to grant himself a little more vigour, and then lifted his hammer to rejoin the fray.
Seeing that the demon refused to take the hint, Darius hopped past the demon while Viciously Mocking them. The demon winced as Darius' words took effect for the first time during the entire foray beneath the sewer.
Jayzal pulled a vial of holy water from his pack. He dashed out of the tunnel and strafed the demon, throwing the vial at them; but they ducked, and the glass shattered harmlessly against the wall. They scoffed and said, "That was cute. My turn." Their fiery claws scraped Jayzal's chest, causing him to scream.
Zylqirel's grip tightened on his bow. He nocked one more magical arrow, pulled back, and let it go. The arrow flew true, a critical blow that struck dead between the demon's eyes. The demon's jaw dropped as they collapsed. A second later, however, they discorporated, disappearing without a trace.
The party looked around, weapons drawn, tense. But the battle was over for the moment. They had won.
== Outcome: ==
Miloak leaned against a wall and rubbed his throat, the reality of his near-death experience catching up to him. Zylqirel arched his back, exhausted. Darius dismissed his remaining mirror images and grumbled about the stupid demons. Jayzal pulled the contract out of his pack and announced that it still existed, unsigned, but still written.
Zylqirel said that it would be the Outpost's decision for whatever would be done with it. He held out the last magic arrow to Jayzal, nodding at him to take it.
Jayzal scowled. He snatched the arrow and berated both cleric and paladin, saying that now the spider beings were still a problem. Zylqirel responded that the demons were evil, so at least that threat was stopped. Miloak concurred, sniffing and pulling himself out of his crisis to rejoin the group.
Suddenly, Jayzal glowed as the claw marks on his chest began to heal. All looked behind him to see Darius smiling, casting Cure Wounds on his ally.
The party was tired. No one questioned Darius' hesitation to fight the demons. Jayzal agreed that the contract would be given to the villagers. All ascended to the upper floor to begin dividing the spoils of exploration.
Jayzal immediately wondered how much the giant aquamarine might be worth. Miloak pulled it out of his pack, hesitant. After a moment of silent pondering, he stated that of all the treasure, if he might keep this alone, he would be satisfied. He didn't clarify why, but announced that the gold, the weapons, the other gems—the rest could take whatever share of those they thought he deserved, if he might just have the orb.
Darius scoffed and said Miloak didn't need to be so dramatic about it. It was fine with him, and as far as he was concerned, Miloak could still have a share of the gold and other treasures if he wanted. Zylqirel agreed, saying that they were a team.
Miloak's ears flattened as he dipped his head, humbled. He said that was extremely gracious.
Jayzal squirmed. He noted that he still owed so much gold to Sqriggles and hoped that he might be able to claim the thirteen gold pieces, and perhaps the rose quartz and peridot as well, in order to reduce that debt. He offered that if Darius took the Ring of Animal Friendship, Zylqirel took the last magic arrow, and Miloak took the orb, then Jayzal could take the gold.
Darius and Zylqirel weren't sure if that was the fairest division. Miloak agreed that they would need to negotiate more, but he patted the Tabaxi on the shoulder and thanked him for saving his life. He said that whatever gold they all thought should go to him, he would bequeath to Jayzal. But Miloak was exhausted—could they discuss it later, after they were safely out of the underground ruins?
The others agreed. They gathered their spoils and left the ruins without incident.
== Adventure Rewards: ==
=== Mercenary Spoils ===
* Two gallons of wine.
* Two web shortswords (+1 to hit; will deteriorate if not properly maintained).
* Two daggers.
* Giant aquamarine orb.
* Rose quartz (5 gp).
* Peridot (5 gp).
* Ring of Animal Friendship (11 charges remaining).
* 13 gp, 31 sp, and 34 cp.
* One +2 arrow.
* Prehistoric sowary.
=== Outpost Spoils ===
* Two eggs (+1 resource to Teamster).
* Stone tablet (+1 resource to Historian).
* Glowing webbery (+1 resource to Field Biologist).
* Extra weapons (+1 resource to Weaponsmith).
* Spider cloth (+1 resource to Tailor).
Category:Adventures