Session 23-A: Downward Spiral

## Key Plot Developments

Voospur, the myconid adult, sings the praises of the Lady's Gift (the ability to travel between through fungus) to Glyn. Glyn promises to propose the idea to his party. He discusses the proposition with Trix, Misu, and Pelek. Glyn is open to the idea; the others are not. They argue about their various patrons and sources of power, bemoaning their lack of easy teleportation ability. Misu and Pelek talk about relationships. Glyn challenges Trix on his trust of Misu; Trix rationalizes why Misu shot him in front of Themberchaud for the dragon's amusement.

Misu tries to reach out to Glyn; Glyn is predisposed to distrust her. Pelek tries to fit in. They continue through the tunnels in search of Pelek's hand and discover a shambling mound in a field of mushrooms. They destroy it; Trix relies on his dark purple twilight sanctuary, which alarms both Glyn and Pelek, while Glyn relies on his Dark Prince-powered Oathbreaker magic, which alarms Misu and Trix.

They rest in the mushroom-saturated tunnels. Soon, they hear muttering from a surrounding tunnel. The dirty derro is easy to recognize: a pale face under a floppy hat fitted with two tentacle-like things that bob up and down in time with his brisk pace. He keeps muttering a repetitive series of phrases to himself at different volumes, failing to notice the party. **"Droki is late! They will be so angry! Stupid, stupid, stupid! Delays, blocks, procrastination, obstructions, pfah! No time, no rhyme, not mine! No! Time!"**

The party tries to intercede and speak with the derro (Droki); they recognize him by his distinctive hat (and noticed him sneaking around Gracklstugh earlier). He is unwilling to share information and responds rudely to their inquisitiveness. They decide to capitalize on his impulsive forgetfulness, let him walk away, and then track him from afar. They go through a dense fungi forest. A hissing sound starts to rise-like uncounted tiny voices whispering in tongues they don't understand, but they continue.

Finally, they reach a new room. The glow of faerzress shifts across this chamber as if pushed by an unseen wind. It flows toward and around a large mesa and continues to spiral upward, but the ceiling of the cavern is too dark and high to see. They hear murmurs and whispers coming from atop the mesa, which grow louder as you approach. Its stacked levels resemble steps in a staircase, but a ramp running from top to bottom provides an easy way up.

They notice a small number of derro cultists at the mesa's base. As they sneak closer to the top, they hear the murmur of the chamber more clearly, and can recognize it as disparate sounds. They hear the rhythmic clank and roar of Gracklstugh's forges, the low rumble of Themberchaud's displeasure, the mad screaming of derro, and even hints and snatches of conversations. The faerzress in this place echoes the sounds produced in Gracklstugh above, creating a storm of noise.

The party attacks, intimidates, and incapacitates the derro cultists, who shriek unintelligibly in response. The group only clearly recognizes one word: **"Demogorgon."**

Misu climbs the mesa and tries to listen for specific voices in the faerzress, but is cursed with madness as the sounds invade her mind. Specifically, the bothersome voice of her father now vexes her. She decides to destroy the mesa with magic, provoking concerned responses from the goblins. They decide that destroying the mesa--which is underneath Gracklstugh--could cause a massive cave in and structurally damage Gracklstugh, harming civilians.

They take the captured, unconscious derro with them as they proceed, trying to follow the now-escaped Droki. They encounter a flumph in the next set of tunnels. The flumph, Nigel, pleasantly greets them. He telepathically--and without malice--exposes Misu as a tiefling, not a devil (as she's claimed). He also mentions that there's a group of powerful psions in the caverns, led by a mind flayer, in addition to derro cultists of the Demogorgon.

They interact with Lemon. He emerges from his bag of holding, pretending to be "Bag the Bat." Misu notes his ability to temporarily alter his physical shape. Trix is concerned.

## New NPCs

1. Droki, annoyed derro
2. Nigel, pleasant flumph

## Memorable Quotations

* **Pelek:** It is great to get feedback from another thing!
* **Glyn:** Yeah. You're a stand-up guy.
* **Pelek:** Ah, yes. (Pause.) I am dead. My death, it was painful!

**Trix:** Yeah, um, I'll pray to Pelor. Let me pray for a second. Yeah, Pelor doesn't have anything to say right now. Yeah, you know, he had to go; someone else was calling at the same time, so...

* **Trix:** If Y can teleport us, why don't we just let him teleport?
* **Glyn:** He's...busy.

**Trix:** Have you ever had, like, dreamed, like, when you were tasting a sweet thing, and then you were drowning in it?

* **Misu:** I was thinking of getting married AFTER I die.
* **Pelek**: Why would you do that?
* **Misu:** More options! There are more fish in the Styx, as they say.
* **Pelek:** Okay. What's your favorite food?
* **Misu:** Deviled eggs.

**Pelek:** What about me? Can I be trusted? Okay, I can be trusted.

* **Glyn:** It seems like Misu wants souls.
* **Trix:** Yeah. For sure.
* **Glyn:** Well, I guess you don't have to worry about that.
* **Trix:** I think she gets them with her crossbow.
* **Glyn:** The one she SHOT you with?
* **Trix:** Well, I deserved it. I gave her the look, you know? The you-can-shoot-me look.
* **Pelek:** What's the look on my face, now that I have the face of a metal panther?
* **Misu:** Intimidating and comforting at the same time.

**Pelek:** If I could taste, this would taste awful. Of course, that is better than tasting nothing!

* **Trix:** You could say that we need a hand.
* **Pelek;** Yes; that is accurate.
* **Trix:** Because we're looking for a hand. You lost your hand. And we need your help to find it.
* **Pelek:** OH! A jape! I have grown so literal in death!

**Droki:** My name is...shut the f\*ck up and get out of my way. I'm late!

* **Misu:** I trust you, Glyn. Do you trust me?
* **Glyn:** Absolutely not.

**Glyn:** I care about you like I care about myself, Trix!

* **Misu:** Don't worry. I'm not blowing anything up...yet.
* **Glyn:** You're putting a magical thing in a magical room that f\*cks with magic!
* **Trix:** We could destroy a civilian population!
* **Misu:** They are...beyond saving.

**Lemon:** Hi, everyone! I'm Bag the Bat. What do you all think of Lemon?