Below the Sewers - Episode Three

## **Synopsis:**

At the Westernlands Outpost, the mercenaries Zylqirel Dalanthan and Kauter descended below the Outpost sewers. They parlayed with the Chitine, a spider-like species of humanoids; and together decided to purge the demonish entity known as Caullum.

After thirty-six hours without the Outpost receiving any word from the group, worries were on the rise. Another company was sent to follow in their footsteps, discovering them on the precipice of a fight with a monstrous anglerfish in the depths of a subterranean lake.

After defeating the fish, the two parties joined forces and took the fight deeper underground, reaching Caullum and the mysterious Foundingstone, a relic that could distort time.

## **Mercenaries:**

* Kauter - Fire Forceborn Paladin
* Jayzal - Tabaxi Rogue (Sponsor: House Stars)
* Miloak Huxford - Human Paladin (Sponsor: House Stefarni)
* Zylqirel Dalanthan - Drow Fighter / Cleric (Sponsor: House Shadhavar)

## **Adventure Summary:**

### **The Underground Lake**

Before going missing, Zylqirel and Kauter had sent word that they were working with the Chitine, a race of spider-like humanoids who were former slaves of the demons but had broken free from their bondage and taken up residence in the ancient civilization beneath the sewers. There was even talk of trading supplies with the Outpost and of a joint venture to eliminate Caullum, the demon from whom the Chitine had escaped.

Most of the Whispering Cutlass mercenaries at the Outpost assumed that Kauter and Zylqirel were already dead. Miloak and Jayzal however refused to give up hope and volunteered to descend once more, both armed with holy water as preparation for the demons that they had encountered during their first delve below the sewers.

Jayzal and Miloak went straight to the lower caverns where they had previously ventured and were heartened to find few signs of demons. Going deeper into the long tunnels, they heard a bubbling, and turning a corner found an underground lake with a massive calcified ship sunk in its bed. More importantly however, one-hundred feet away on the other side of the lake, the flaming hair of Kauter shone brilliantly. He stood with longsword brandished, Zylqirel beside him with arrow nocked, and a Chitine named Uelwen with an egg sac in her hands. All were engaged in combat with a giant anglerfish leaping out of the water, its four lures adding to the cavern's luminescence.

The anglerfish was unaware of the two new party members. Miloak and Jayzal planned to take advantage of that, attacking with ranged weapons. Unfortunately, the arrow from Jayzal's shortbow went wide, and Miloak's javelin slid into the water with little sound. The fish remained unaware of the attacks and lunged at Kauter's glowing form. Though it moved with serpentine grace, Kauter dodged at the last second. He chopped down with his sword in response, but the fish drew back faster than the blow.

Zylqirel cast a Faerie Fire on the anglerfish, which began to glow with purple light all along its body, twenty-five feet long and twelve feet wide, a truly giant fish. Uelwen tossed her egg sac at the fish, but it slithered aside, leaving the sac to plop into the water. It floated helplessly as spiders burst out of it, drowning quickly.

Miloak lobbed another javelin, and again he missed. His heart pounded as the warning he received when last underground rang through his ears: "Leave this place if you value your soul." He tried to shake off the nerves.

Jayzal saw the distantly glowing fish and swam with a burst of agility. Floating in the middle of the lake with the sunken ship's tallest mast sixty feet below him, he tried to fling a psychic knife at the fish, but instead flung it to the cavern ceiling. The psychic vibrations caused a stalactite to dislodge, which crashed into the water in front of the Tabaxi. Alerted by the noise, the fish glanced back just in time to receive Jayzal's second psychic dagger to the face.

The anglerfish shivered, but it turned its attention to Zylqirel who had made it a glowing target. It bit the Drow, teeth stabbing into his waist, then flung its head back to swallow him. With the last of his strength before losing consciousness, Zylqirel grabbed the fish's inner throat and sent a wave of lightning coursing through the creature. The fish twitched and writhed under the electric assault, mouth agape.

Before it could recover, Uelwen sprung into the fish's mouth, taking hold of the uvula to keep from getting swallowed. She stabbed deep into the fish's gullet with her shortsword, a critical blow that left the anglerfish choking. While it spat up the dying Zylqirel, Uelwen swung to hang onto the front of the fish.

Kauter rushed to Zylqirel's side, hands glowing with holy light. This restored a sliver of life to the Night Elf, awakening him. The cleric dragged himself away from the fight.

Jayzal treaded water, attempting to steady his aim as he threw another dagger. The care was worth it, psychic energy slicing through. Miloak meanwhile threw another javelin, yet another miss. Though he wasn't one to curse, he heavily considered starting.

The anglerfish attempted to bite Uelwen, making an awkward snap at its own body. It managed to crunch into her arm and tried to yank her into the air for ease of swallowing, but the Chitine managed to hang onto the fish's body while also stabbing it with her blade.

Kauter attacked with his longsword, and though it seemed as if the fish would dodge, the glow of a blessing took over the paladin's aim, making the blade strike true. Kauter was happy with the hit and tried to channel divine favour to make it more powerful, but he was burned out from his previous battles in the caverns.

Jayzal once more steadied his aim and struck the anglerfish with a psychic dagger, causing it to writhe.

Miloak whooped at the sight, saying, "Yes, good job people, let's have a fish fry." Since he couldn't seem to help with the battle, he'd resorted to helping with the morale. Nevertheless, he whispered a prayer that Katis might guide his aim and halfheartedly threw another javelin.

In midair, a silver light burst from the projectile as a Divine Smite imbued it. The weapon harpooned the anglerfish from behind, the radiance building until the javelin exploded, leaving the creature dead on the shore.

The whole party cheered then, glad to have survived. Jayzal and Miloak crossed the lake, Miloak recovering all his javelins save the one that had exploded.

Zylqirel greeted the backup with gratitude. There was no way he, Kauter, and Uelwen could have survived alone. He cast Cure Wounds on himself to close the gouges while Kauter used Lay on Hands to restore Uelwen's health. Miloak's restorative light healed the remaining wounds on Zylqirel and Uelwen while also cleaning the scrapes on Kauter.

While the majority of the party began to set up camp, Kauter stripped off his armor and dove into the water, steam rising the moment he touched it. He swam to the sunken ship to check it out. The ship appeared to predate the above settlement. At one point, the underground lake may have been a shoal near the shoreline.

Though his exhaustion was getting to him and he felt a little winded, Kauter maintained his held breath. The inky blackness of the deep lake nearly blinded him, but the combination of his glowing hair, darkvision, and a conjured Produce Flame allowed him to make out a table with what appeared to be a skeletal captain hunched over it. The skeleton had the remains of an eyepatch over one socket and a plate of gold and gems right in front of it on the table. The table also had raised strips of clay, not a traditional map in Kauter's opinion, but one used for charting, tracking what appeared to be winged snakelike symbols. The paladin realized that the ship predated the Scourge, as this was a crew of dragonslayers.

Desiring to not be cursed by an ancient dragonslayer, Kauter left the treasure alone. As he exited the ship on the other side, he saw a tunnel at the bottom of the lake. Pushing himself, lungs burning, he swam through the snaking tunnel and found at the far end a giant oyster over four feet in length and width. He tried to use Produce Flame to cook it open, but when that failed, he used a javelin he had brought with him as leverage to pry it. Inside he found the skeleton of a Halfling or Gnome who had died to the oyster, along with twenty-four pieces of ancient gold, one-hundred pieces of ancient copper, and a tarnished flask that seemed to have words that might translate to "Old Death Whisper." The coins looked like they predated even the ruined city above, with the emblem of a serpent's or dragon's eye.

Running out of breath, Kauter plowed through the water, out the tunnel, past the boat, and burst to the surface, hair flinging back and steam rising all around him. Zylqirel grimaced as a flashback of the anglerfish resurfaced in his mind.

Once Kauter was on the shore, Jayzal asked what the paladin had found. Kauter relayed the loot and took a sniff from the flask. It seemed to be some sort of spirits. Taking young Jayzal to be the most gullible of the group, Kauter offered him a drink as thanks for the rescue. Jayzal grabbed it and sniffed, but reeled back at the smell of paint thinner, pure two-hundred-proof whiskey. Jayzal gave it back, saying he'd try it maybe after they'd gotten out of the underground.

Settling down to rest, Jayzal wondered if they should post a guard on the other shore, but Kauter shrugged and said he expected them to be fine. The Tabaxi acquiesced.

During their rest, Kauter and Zylqirel caught up the newcomers to their adventure. Specifically, Kauter regaled them with the story of how he had freed Zylqirel from a living nightmare of a unicorn which came from a cursed necklace. On gut intuition, the paladin destroyed the necklace's statuette of a unicorn, which ended the nightmare and freed the spirit of the Goddess of Unicorns. The Goddess was so grateful that she bestowed a blessing upon Kauter, Uelwen, and Zylqirel; and also promised to grant Kauter a boon in his most dire hour.

Zylqirel knew that the "Goddess of Unicorns" part was an embellishment, but he merely smiled rather than contradict his ally.

Jayzal asked why the party had been underground without contact for so long. Kauter spoke of demon bounty hunters and minions and maggot-sucking wretches, and that wasn't even taking into account the eight hours of negotiation with the Chitine. Jayzal piped up that the party had made contact with the Outpost after the negotiations, so Kauter couldn't include that, but Kauter hushed him and said that this was his story and he'd tell it his way.

It turned out the demons were digging, looking for some sort of gate, but had only found the statuette. Zylqirel added that if they had dug further, it's possible they would have found the gate. Kauter agreed and said that the demons were of course working for Caullum, whom the party was planning to meet in combat and defeat.

Miloak sat up straight, eyes wide. "Excuse me?"

Kauter nodded. "Yep, we're going to take down the father of these demons."

A shiver ran over Miloak's whole body. "Oh." He looked as if his entire life were flashing before his eyes.

Kauter clicked his tongue and stood over the werewolf, gesturing grandly. He offered him a divine blessing of the flame that would grant him protection in the coming battles.

Miloak, who had been a soldier at Rimewatch before his Talent emerged, was somewhat of an old salt when it came to those kinds of "divine blessings." He gave Kauter a flat grin before declaring that he was going to bed, rolling into a ball and staring at the wall, tail between his legs.

Meanwhile, Zylqirel pulled out a potion he'd found earlier and attempted to identify it. It bubbled and steamed as if boiling, but he could determine little besides that.

Jayzal looked over the Night Elf's shoulder and knew exactly what it was. "Where did you get a Potion of Heroism?" he asked, surprised by the rare item. Zylqirel didn't remember, but was grateful for the aid.

Leaving Miloak to his sleep, Kauter returned to the group and asked Zylqirel who might best hold the magic hurdy-gurdy they had found earlier. Zylqirel decided to keep it, knowing that with his ranged combat style, he was likely to have more opportunities to utilize its spells. Kauter agreed. He added that he had a bag full of Dust of Appearance that might come in handy later.

### **A Door with No Handles**

Upon breaking camp, Jayzal used his psychic powers to link the party mentally. They crossed the lake and reached a crossroads. North would take them back towards the surface, south went further into the unknown. Steeling themselves to face the great demon at any minute, they headed south, with Uelwen and Jayzal stealthily in the lead, Kauter in the middle, and Zylqirel and Miloak bringing up the rear.

The tunnel opened into a wide cavern that stair-stepped deeper and deeper downwards. A side tunnel to the east promised a more circuitous but safer path, though the party chose to jump down the landings instead.

After only a couple of landings, Uelwen chittered, halting the party. She pointed to the darkness ahead. Jayzal's keen eyes saw another Chitine at the bottom level of the cavern. Of note, the Chitine had a key on a chain around his neck.

"Is that one of yours?" Jayzal mentally asked Uelwen.

She shook her head. It was Garlome, a former chief of the Chitine, but he had remained with the demons, thinking that they were stronger and would defeat the runaways.

"So he's the enemy," Kauter declared in their minds.

Again, Uelwen shook her head. Not the enemy, more … misguided.

"If that's the case," added Miloak, "maybe we could guide him to the correct path."

"Or maybe we could take him by surprise," Kauter said.

"Or maybe," said Zylqirel, "we could give him a chance to redeem himself?"

"Of course!" Kauter nodded. "We'll sneak up, bash him over the head, drag him back, and then he can redeem himself by telling us everything he knows."

This didn't seem to be quite what Zylqirel had in mind, but he didn't argue. The group decided that it would be best if Uelwen approached Garlome alone to attempt persuading him first.

She went without pretense of stealth, and Garlome did not attack. They communicated using sign language, Uelwen mentally translating to the hidden party. Uelwen asked what Garlome was still doing in the caverns, with the demons, even though he knew that the demons had been sending out hunters to murder the Chitine.

Garlome replied that the hunters were only after those who had left. Those who stayed were safe.

Uelwen was disgusted. There were horrors in the caverns above. The Shadowlands were encroaching.

According to Garlome, such only signaled the ascendance of their plan.

Uelwen gestured to Garlome's key. He was just a servant holding it for Caullum.

Garlome disagreed. Caullum trusted him. He wasn't a traitor like Uelwen.

The two continued to go back and forth, non-stop bickering. Eventually, Uelwen grew tired of the fruitless efforts. She gave the mental signal to attack, but once more asked the mercenaries to knock out Garlome rather than kill him if possible.

In tandem, Zylqirel and Jayzal stepped out of the shadows. Zylqirel shot an arrow already nocked while Jayzal tossed a psychic dagger, but both of their attacks went wide. Garlome crouched, alerted to the ambush. He drew his own daggers while more arrows and psychic energies flew around him. Uelwen charged forward, punching Garlome's jaw and throwing him off balance.

Then Garlome screamed as a javelin tossed by Kauter pierced him in the side, a critical blow. The Chitine pulled at it angrily, ichor pouring out of him.

"Hey!" Kauter called. "That's my favourite javelin, don't lose that."

Garlome ignored him and struck with dual slashes, slicing into Uelwen.

Suddenly, a howl rent the air. Miloak, still on the upper landings, raised his warhammer high. He ran, somersaulting down one landing, sprinting across a fallen pillar and jumping off of it; it was an excellent show of athleticism. His fellow paladin Kauter whooped and yelled, "Yeah, good boy!" as Miloak blew by him.

Without missing a single step, Miloak landed in front of Garlome, hammer already mid-swing. "Be judged," he shouted, smashing the hammer into the side of Garlome's head, but pulling back at the last moment to make the blow as nonlethal as possible.

The Chitine dropped like a sack of potatoes, senseless. Uelwen kicked his unconscious body, adding that she would spit on him if she could.

Jayzal hopped down and claimed the key. He flashed the Mundane Mirror to confirm that the key was not magical.

Patting down Garlome, the party found two hardened web daggers and a set of armor that had the strength of hardened leather armor. Like other Chitine tools, it would need a weekly application of Chitine oil to remain intact.

A member of the group scouted. To the east they found the path that looped to the top landing. To the west was a black iron wall. Kauter rapped on it and asked if it might be an egg. No one thought that it was. Uelwen mentioned that she was aware that a door would be down here, which the black iron must be. However, as there was neither a keyhole nor a handle, she didn't know how it might open, other than perhaps through a secret password.

Jayzal once more used the Mundane Mirror. The door vanished in the reflection, revealing a passageway with a stairwell beyond.

Zylqirel tapped Garlome's key to the door, but nothing occurred. Miloak scratched his head and mentioned that they'd found the word *foundingstone* previously. He watched the iron expectantly, but it didn't budge.

The majority of the group moved back to where they had left the unconscious Garlome, intending to interrogate him. However, Miloak's eyes suddenly lit. From his pack, he pulled an aquamarine orb which had been found during his last journey underground. He pondered the orb for a moment, then whispered, "Pyorrhoea," the word an ice spirit had spoken when he first touched the orb.

The moment the word passed his lips, the iron door slid into the wall, disappearing from sight and leaving the passageway open.

All stared in shock. Miloak laughed and hugged the orb, thanking it before stowing it in his pack once more.

Recognizing the word, Jayzal blinked and compared Garlome's key to his thieves' tools. He realized that the door he had picked in his last adventure, the dragon-headed door which led to the orb, probably would be opened by that key. He clicked his tongue and said, "We don't need this key anymore," explaining his findings.

With nothing barring their way anymore, the party tied up Garlome and left him behind, descending the stairs.

### **Aberrant Ice**

The group entered a new cavern, a chamber filled with red stone that let off a strange radiance, like a thin layer of dandelion seeds blowing in the wind. All around them was the faint luminescence and an odd silence.

Kauter warned the divine warriors to be ready to cast Protection from Evil and Good at a moment's notice. Jayzal checked the red stones to see if he knew what they were, but could only determine that they were, in fact, rocks. Zylqirel kept his senses attuned for traps, but didn't think there were any nearby.

Crossing into a new area, they saw a section of an underground river, chunks of ice forming in it. On the shore across the river, the party could make out scaly, horned creatures with dagger-like teeth and small grasping arms. Their walking legs had curved talons, including one on the back heel.

The creatures didn't seem to notice the party. Zylqirel knelt by the riverbank and touched the water. It was ice cold. He looked south down the river, and at the edge of his darkvision, he watched ice building, practically clogging the river. It apparently got colder the deeper it went.

The group could see two rock bridges led across the river, though only one bridge was accessible to them; a cavern wall blocked them from seeing where the other began, though it led straight to the pack of raptor-like creatures while the other looped around to the other side of their resting grounds.

Jayzal stealthed across the accessible bridge. The creatures sniffed the air, but apparently the Tabaxi smelled too much of limestone to seem edible, because none stirred.

Coming up behind the raptors, Jayzal warned the party that he planned to attack, luring them his way. Zylqirel agreed, taking up a position at the base of the bridge to make it a joint attack. Kauter stood in the middle of the bridge, Miloak remained on the riverbank alongside Zylqirel, and Uelwen positioned herself near the riverbank so that she had a good view of the other bridge.

The psychic energy built in Jayzal's hand. He flicked his wrist.

An instant later, the nearest raptor squealed in pain and flailed about before collapsing into death throes.

At the same moment, Zylqirel let loose an arrow. Unfortunately, it hit a wall, deflected, and hit Kauter. The Forceborn glared at Zylqirel, who apologized profusely.

A raptor ran up to its dying ally and spotted Jayzal. It bit at him, then kicked with the talon on its heel. Jayzal tumbled out of the way of both attacks. He slashed with psychic energy, a first strike bouncing off the scales, then the second cutting into the brain. The raptor writhed, but didn't falter.

Raptors appeared on the other bridge, running towards Jayzal. Zylqirel moved onto his own bridge and shot at one of the sprinting raptors. The arrow seemed to soar too low, but it suddenly gained buoyancy as the blessing granted by the unicorn soul overtook it. The blow was glancing, but it was better than a miss.

Kauter charged to Jayzal's side and chopped the raptor attacking him, splitting it in the shoulder. As it fell, another raptor dashed to them, teeth bared.

Uelwen moved closer to the second bridge and threw a dagger at one of the raptors on it, piercing it in the eye.

Miloak dashed past Zylqirel on his way across the bridge, attempting to lend his aid to Kauter and Jayzal, rounding the corner just in time to see the raptor bite Kauter's arm. Jayzal stabbed at the back of its skull, and though only an edge of the psychic energy pierced the scales, it was enough to kill the creature.

Zylqirel moved back on the bridge to get a better shot at the raptors bearing down on the other party members, but his attack missed. Uelwen threw another dagger, but that missed as well.

Kauter gave a wild swing at a raptor. Not only did he miss, but his strike threatened to collide with Jayzal. The Tabaxi ducked just in time, however, and Kauter was able to halt his blade before he cut into the stonework of the wall.

A raptor tried to take advantage of Jayzal's distraction, but both a bite and a kick failed to connect. Uelwen dashed across the bridge to attempt melee, and Miloak squeezed around a wall to get beyond Jayzal and Kauter so that he could smash a raptor's skull. Doing this left the werewolf exposed, and a raptor flanked him. Miloak was up to the challenge, blocking a kick with his shield and parrying a bite. The raptor roared at him, but then dropped dead—Jayzal at its back, nodding to Miloak. The Tabaxi swung at the other raptor, but his aim fell short.

Zylqirel dashed across the bridge, preparing his melee weapon, but there was little need: With Miloak and Jayzal already flanking the last raptor, Kauter cornered it and ran it through with his sword. The battle was over.

While the party caught their collective breath, Uelwen pulled out a pack of web bandages to bind her wounds from earlier. Kauter used Lay on Hands on himself to restore his health.

The group moved across the bridge from which raptors had come and found that there was no nest, as if the creatures had only recently appeared. Jayzal wondered aloud if they could have come from deeper reaches, moving outwards for food. But Zylqirel shook his head. He felt highly attuned to the underground, and something about the area was instinctively wrong. They had found older and older prehistoric creatures that didn't seem to belong. It wasn't as if they had been trapped underground; rather, it was more like something was distorting time. Zylqirel noted that the mercenary Darius Thump, who had traveled to the Shadowlands, had mentioned encountering people from different eras, so maybe more of the Shadowlands was seeping through.

Jayzal wondered if there was a thinning to the Shadowlands in the area. Maybe that iron door was a seal to prevent the thinning from leaking further.

Kauter interrupted. It was all fascinating, he said, but didn't they have a demon to kill? Zylqirel told him to look at the bigger picture. They argued about fighting Caullum on his own turf and terms, knowing it would be dangerous. Kauter wanted a challenge to honor the Gods. Miloak said that Katis and others didn't need a challenge to be pleased with the actions of their servants. Jayzal knew that the Gods wouldn't save them from everything, least of all their own stupidity.

Regardless of what was causing all the aberrant behaviour and whether it was foolhardy to face Caullum too eagerly or not, all agreed to move forward. The river continued to freeze until it became a solid rippling sheet of ice. A chill filled the air.

Ahead of them to the west, the cavern's natural walls gave way to a carved hallway. Miloak and Jayzal saw that the hall used the same stone as the pillars in the sewers, almost marble-like, but not quite. Heavy layers of ice coated the hall. It was certainly the most ancient part of the caverns that had yet been encountered.

Jayzal wondered if this was what had been sealing that ice spirit, the one that had given Miloak the warning about losing his soul by staying. Miloak gave Jayzal a side eye, tail trembling; but the paladin kept his head high. He volunteered to take up the rear. This aligned with Zylqirel, who wanted the stealthy to lead with the paladins in the back.

Jayzal led the way, checking for traps as he went. The hall was lined with doorless entryways, so he peeked his head into them as he passed. In the first, he saw a room with an altar at its back. Some sort of strange witchlight illuminated the area.

He glanced up, then grimaced. The ceiling appeared to be on the verge of crumbling, roughly stitched together by webbing.

Uelwen came alongside him and nodded at the trap. It must have been Hachoji's handiwork; he was a skilled trap maker.

The next room in the hall held a frozen entity beneath a floor of ice, with a dead, skinned raptor hanging from the ceiling. The creature beneath the ice was a weed-wrapped humanoid with webbed hands and claws, flippers for feet, and a head reminiscent of a deceased frog. It was a drael, though the mercenaries did not know that, nor did Uelwen.

They passed to peek into the next room, which had two entryways side by side. Being very careful with the icy floors, Jayzal pushed his head into one entryway and relayed that there was a chest to the south, sitting on a tile floor beyond the ice. As much as Jayzal loved to loot, he was against touching the ice and risking the release of the draels.

Kauter stood beside Jayzal, looking alongside him through the other entrance. He wondered if they might subtly melt the ice. Without hesitation, he tossed a produced flame into the corner of the room to see how the ice would react. The rest of the party glared at him as first a puddle formed, and then the ice cracked and rumbled. Jayzal took one step backwards.

Too late—The ice shattered, two draels bursting upwards. One was directly in front of Kauter and raked its claws against him. The first blow glanced off armor, but the second tore flesh, and Kauter immediately felt a debilitating disease come over him, reducing his strength and stamina.

Uelwen stepped forward to help, but cracking ice to her right caught her attention. The creature in the previous room was breaking free as well, the strange amalgamation of mashed-together parts a horrific sight. She engaged it, and before it could react, she had slashed its throat, ending its life.

Jayzal and Kauter blocked their draels from entering the hallway, but there was no room for other party members to attack with melee weapons, and ranged weapons risked hitting their allies. With that in mind, Miloak stood behind Kauter, making a long lunge with his javelin at the drael. The attack wasn't meant to hit, but rather to distract. It seemed successful, given the way the drael screamed at the blade.

Zylqirel risked the ranged attack and used his bow against the far drael. Hit shot flew over Jayzal's shoulder and struck the drael's shoulder, glowing with the unicorn blessing. Then the drael fell as a psychic dagger plunged into its chest and stopped its heart. Jayzal tried to make a follow-up against the drael beside him and Kauter, but his wrist slammed into the wall between the two entrances, cutting short the blow.

Snarling but refusing to be sapped, Kauter dropped his shield and raised his sword for an overhead chop. With Miloak's jabbing keeping the creature distracted, Kauter was able to drive his blade deep into the drael's shoulder. It hissed at him and frantically slashed with both claws, to no avail.

The sound of cracking ice continued. Another drael appeared in the room and rushed to Jayzal, swiping at him. Jayzal ducked the first clawed strike, but the second snagged his cheek, and he nearly doubled over as the disease overtook him.

Uelwen squeezed past Miloak, not to aid with the known opponents, but rather to guard the southern bend of the hallway, lest something come from there to ambush them. Sure enough, another drael with a cow-like face came out into the hall.

Seeing that Jayzal was taking the disease hard, Miloak pulled back his javelin and slapped Jayzal on the back with a hand shining silver, curing the Tabaxi with a Lay on Hands. Zylqirel meanwhile clapped, releasing a Toll of the Dead against the drael pinned by Kauter's sword. The drael writhed under the dolorous tones, then slumped over, dead.

Jayzal performed a double stab against the drael before him. Both blows struck true, leaving the drael a crumpled mass on the ground. Kauter picked back up his shield, moved down the hall to where the last drael remained, and sliced its hip. Uelwen threw a dagger that pierced it in the gut. As it collapsed, the party remained at the ready, looking about for more foes.

But silence surrounded them. They were victorious.

Miloak gave pat slaps all around, telling the crew they hustled well. Kauter, winded from the disease, called Miloak over for some of that good healing as he was out of Lay on Hands himself. Miloak said, "Sure thing, sonny," before giving him a firm, restorative pat on the back. Kauter grinned and, vigour restored, skipped off with Jayzal to find the chest.

Jayzal probed it and felt confident there were no traps. The chest had a rusted hinge and a rusted lock, but force would probably work to pry it open. Kauter thrust his sword into the hinge to pop it, Jayzal running off to the side for fear of a flamethrower trap.

The chest snapped open with ease. Inside was a set of serpentine scalemail, gold in color and quite fancy. Jayzal attempted to use his knowledge of arcana to see if he knew anything about it, but his mind went blank.

Miloak's hackles rose the moment he saw it, however, as did Zylqirel's. They warned that the armor looked heavily like a relic of Svsx, the bloodthirsty Serpent Queen. They should be highly cautious around it.

Kauter agreed. He wrapped the armor in a cloak and stuffed it in Jayzal's pack. Jayzal protested lightly, but accepted the burden. He led the way south down the hall, still keeping himself wary of traps.

At the end of the hall were stairs leading down to another hall, with another set of stairs leading up to an urn on a pedestal. There was an inscription on the urn, but it was too far away to read.

Seeing no sign of traps, Jayzal and Kauter approached the urn. From up close, Jayzal's knowledge of linguistics helped him discern that the inscription may have said "guardians."

Kauter leaned over the rim of the urn, looking inside without touching. The urn was filled with ashes, and on top of the ashes was a ring. Kauter laughed and said, "Yoink!" grabbing the ring; and before anyone knew what was happening, a semi-translucent wraith rose from the urn and grabbed the sides of Kauter's face. It inhaled, and a ghostly visage of Kauter began to seep from his body, getting sucked into the wraith.

But suddenly a radiant unicorn horn appeared at Kauter's chest and lanced the wraith, a holy barrier blocking the spectre's touch. The wraith reeled back as the unicorn's boon smote it, preventing Kauter's life force from being drained.

Seeing the wraith, Jayzal had flashbacks of his time climbing a mountain looking for a hidden spellbook. Shaking, he stepped into a corner and attempted to throw his psychic knives, but his aim was so off that one dagger hit Kauter's unicorn barrier. Thankfully, the holy energy seemed to block the friendly fire.

But the barrier could only last so long, and once it dissipated, the wraith once more grabbed Kauter. Its necrotic touch seared him, but Kauter refused to let his life force be inhaled by it. He swung his longsword, cutting the wraith in half. The spectre merely coalesced, the physical weapon doing little damage.

Miloak hopped down the one flight of stairs and then up the other to reach Kauter, bestowing a Cure Wounds on his ally. Then he retreated back to the other hall.

Zylqirel stood in a corner and raised his symbol of Luniar, channeling his power to Turn Undead. The symbol flashed with purple light, and the wraith panicked, fleeing east down the hall. Four daggers—two of web from Uelwen, two of psychic energy from Jayzal—trailed the creature. Three plunged into its body, though one of the web daggers hit a wall and shattered instead.

When the wraith fled, Kauter reacted quickly to attempt a strike, but missed. He shoved the urn to the side and gave chase, throwing a spitball of fire at it. The fire fell short and extinguished.

The others also pursued the wraith, Miloak moving to Kauter's side and Zylqirel dashing so that he might be directly behind the wraith, keeping it running. Uelwen went ahead of the paladins and tossed a dagger at the wraith, and then Jayzal stood at an upper landing for a good vantage point. He sent his psychic blade straight into the wraith's back, a critical hit; it dissipated without a trace.

Jayzal jumped down and slapped Kauter on the back of the head. Kauter smiled apologetically, but his attention was already on the ring he had picked up. He was ninety-nine percent sure that it was a Ring of Blinking with only one charge remaining. He put it on with no issue.

Further down the hallway was another urn on a pedestal. "Don't touch it," Jayzal said.

The party complied and continued on their way. But Zylqirel felt something ominously wrong, a sensation that built the further they went. He felt Luniar guiding him to a passageway that split off to the southeast. However, he also saw a glow to the northeast. He warned the group of both the feeling and the glow.

Kauter, still sore from the wraith attack, asked if they might take a short rest. Zylqirel said it might be better to go further up the hall rather than just plop down and rest there between a glow and an ominous feeling.

While the two debated, Jayzal ignored Zylqirel's warning and climbed the northeastern path. He saw a skeleton sprawled out, reaching, having scrawled words on the stone floor. The glow came from a central edifice along the floor.

Seeing no immediate danger, Jayzal suggested the party rest at an alcove just before the split between north and south passages. Kauter agreed with the plan, and neither Zylqirel nor Miloak thought it worth arguing. The party rested there, Zylqirel keeping an uneasy eye on the south passage the whole time.

### **The Foundingstone**

After tending to their wounds, both Kauter and Jayzal peeked into the northeast room, curious about the skeleton. Zylqirel came up behind them, his eyes glowing from a Detect Magic spell he had cast during their break. He saw auras of multiple schools of magic—conjuration, transmutation, abjuration, and necromancy. They all exuded from the central edifice. Something had been created there long ago, and the vestiges of magic still lingered.

Jayzal saw no traps, so he skirted the wall of the room and climbed up to the top landing where the edifice and skeleton resided. He tried to read the writing, but couldn't make anything out. Besides that, the columns in the room had a faint glow, and multiple dead runes broken apart by roots were inscribed on the surfaces. Some tiles had partially melted. The skeleton was a half-petrified humanoid. The skull and upper portion were still intact, but the lower body was fully calcified.

Zylqirel wondered if the hurdy-gurdy, which was imbued with a one-use Speak with Dead spell, might be useful.

Kauter scooted to the other side of the room, which had an entryway leading to the south. He saw a closed door at the far end and kept his eyes on it.

Zylqirel approached the writing. Though it was in an ancient tongue, he could sense the agony in it. His knowledge of language led him to believe that it said, "I'm sorry," signed by Pyorrhoea, though the name cut off halfway through, the inscription an uneven trail following the skeletal finger's final path.

With this information, the party deduced that Pyorrhoea might have been a mage, not simply a password.

Miloak said that maybe they could use the hurdy-gurdy to ask what, if anything, had been summoned. Or perhaps Caullum had a personal stake in the location, and Pyorrhoea might know the demon's true name. Kauter added that they could ask where the treasury was.

Zylqirel agreed that there was good enough reason to use the hurdy-gurdy and set to playing it. After a few seconds, the corpse sat up, hollow eyes glowing, looking about with a weird semblance of life. Echoing words poured from its lipless mouth, a haunting sound that would surely linger in the nightmares of the mercenaries for many days: "Si mi bivai. Si mi zyak zyak bivai."

Jayzal asked what was sealed in that place. But Pyorrhoea spoke in an ancient language that none of them could interpret: "Wer Foundingstone, bedroque di tairais."

The party whispered amongst themselves, trying to decide what would be a useful way to use the questions if they couldn't understand the answers.

But Jayzal gasped, then squinted his eyes shut. The telepathic link between the party expanded, adding Pyorrhoea to their hive. Suddenly her foreign tongue translated in their minds: "The Foundingstone, bedrock of time distorted."

The party celebrated Jayzal's quick thinking and set to work finishing off the remaining questions. Zylqirel asked what was summoned there. Pyorrhoea responded that there had been nothing summoned, rather created. There was an artifact that distorted time to some effect, which explained the ancient and futuristic things that had been scattered about the caverns.

"Why create it?" Zylqirel asked.

Pyorrhoea shook her head. "We tried to create a device to control the energy coming from it, but we failed. All that is left is rusted metal, broken glass, crumbling stone."

"What was the device supposed to do?"

"End famine, bring things back that had died—Anything we could imagine by manipulating time."

For the last question, Zylqirel asked, "Where was the last place you knew the foundingstone to be?"

Pyorrhoea interpreted this as asking what had happened to the Foundingstone: "As we tried to use it, a sudden rockslide ended our experiment before it began."

With that, the magic faded from the skeleton. As it dropped, Kauter called out, "Wait, where's the treasury?" But it was too late, and he snapped his fingers, disappointed.

The group felt disturbed by the answers received. Caullum was obviously trying to unearth the Foundingstone for a purpose. Maybe to release more demons, maybe to restore a portal? Whatever the reason, the mortals were sure that the world would be poorer for it should Caullum succeed. They went south, towards Zylqirel's ominous feeling and an ice-like door.

They stood in front of it, but paused, planning what they would do depending on what confronted them on the other side. Kauter passed the Ring of Blinking to Jayzal, thinking the rogue might be better suited to using it. Kauter also asked Zylqirel to cast Protection from Evil and Good on him should they face the large demon directly. Miloak agreed, saying that he would do the same to himself. Uelwen and Zylqirel would try to stay back and use ranged attacks if possible.

As ready as they would ever be, they approached the door. One person spoke "Pyorrhoea," and as they did, a skull-like face formed on the door. The ice glowed with a greenish sparkle.

The face in the wall spoke: "Your presence here constitutes your agreement to the test. Choose your measure: test by strife, or test by wit?"

Miloak looked over the battleworn party and suggested that maybe they should go with wit. Kauter said he wouldn't be the best at wit, but even he understood that strife was probably a bad idea.

Zylqirel cleared his throat and said, "Wit."

The face responded: "Answer this, and free you shall be. Think well, for the wrong answer means you remain here with me.

"A tormented soul sought to escape the House of Pain, but was not privy to the password. When the first soul knocked to be let out, the door wight hissed, 'Twelve.' The soul answered 'Six,' and was let through.

"When the second soul knocked, the door wight spat, 'Six!'; the soul answered 'Three,' and was let through.

"The tormented soul saw a pattern, and so it approached the exit and knocked to be let out. 'Ten,' the door wight coughed. The poor soul answered 'Five'—and perished. Why?"

The party went silent, attempting to discern other patterns. But after a few seconds Miloak perked up, tail wagging. With full confidence, he mentally explained that the right answer was supposed to be "three," since there were three letters in the word *ten,* just as there were six letters in the word *twelve* and three letters in the word *six*.

The others stared at him as they processed the new pattern. Kauter agreed that it made as much sense as anything, and taking that as assent, Miloak spewed out his logic to the door.

After a moment of hesitation, the face sighed and said they may enter, the door swinging open.

The party had no time to celebrate the display of wit, however, as inside the next room was a spider-like demon. It held in its claws a cube of white marble.

"That's definitely the Foundingstone," Jayzal said.

"That is definitely Caullum," said Uelwen.

"Hey," Kauter said, "give us the stone." Zylqirel stepped forward as an act of intimidation, Kauter and Miloak snarling alongside him.

But as Caullum turned to face them, he merely sneered. "You've already rejected one contract of mine; why should I offer another?" He raised the cube high as time distorted around him.

The party braced themselves, but nothing in particular seemed to happen. Caullum huffed and charged the party, biting at Kauter and slashing Jayzal with venomous talons. Kauter blocked the mandibles, but Jayzal screamed as the talons ripped his flesh. He disengaged the demon and slipped behind him to enter the chamber, flanking him. He slashed with a psychic dagger, but the poison flowing through him slowed his movements, and the energy swished in open air.

Miloak cast Protection from Evil and Good on himself and readied his hammer while Zylqirel cast the same on Kauter before falling back to ready his bow. Uelwen threw a dagger, though Caullum dodged. Kauter slashed with blinding speed, but Caullum flicked the blade away as if it were a toothpick. The demon then hunched over, and his hide released a cloud of spores. Kauter, Miloak, Jayzal, and Uelwen all breathed in the toxins, coughing up blood immediately.

Staggering, Jayzal stumbled to the back of the room, trying to get away from the poison cloud. He took a vial of holy water out of his pack and made a motion as if to throw it at the demon, but at that moment, Miloak called out that the spores would decay in the presence of holy water, pouring his own vial on himself. Jayzal did the same, and though he still suffered from the poison of the talons, he felt his lungs clear of spores.

Zylqirel, far in the back, lifted a fist. A Guiding Bolt launched from his fingers, wrapped in an aura of unicorn blessings. The radiance caused Caullum's flesh to burn, turning black with char. Not wanting to become a target, Zylqirel slid behind a wall, out of the demon's sight.

Uelwen wiped the blood from her mouth and threw a dagger, piercing one of Caullum's legs. Kauter choked, but he squeezed past Caullum's side to flank the demon; however, his attack still missed. Fed up with the results, he focused his fiery aura, flaring up with heat that ripped the spores from his body.

After shaking the excess holy water from his fur, Miloak slammed his hammer into Caullum's side. The demon hissed and again hunched, a new cloud of spores bursting into Miloak's and Kauter's faces. Both gagged on the toxins.

Breathing deep to steady himself, Jayzal threw a vial of holy water at Caullum. It unfortunately fell short, crashing into a puddle beside Kauter. The Forceborn blinked at it. He somersaulted through the puddle, destroying the spores.

Zylqirel peeked out from his hiding place and threw one of his own vials. Though it bounced off Caullum's hide, it ricocheted and cracked against the wall, spraying the demon with a small amount of the painful liquid.

The poison wracking her body, Uelwen moved forward and slashed at Caullum with her sword and dagger, but neither blow could pierce his skin.

Kauter let out a battlecry and stabbed the demon with his longsword. The blade flashed with light, a Divine Smite that sent smoke rising from the fiend.

Meanwhile, Miloak doubled over, barely able to breathe as blood dripped from his maw. He disengaged, backpedaling to Zylqirel and asking if he might spare a vial. Zylqirel gladly handed over two vials, and Miloak drank one directly, thanking the Night Elf for the assistance.

Jayzal once more steadied his aim before tossing a psychic dagger, which slammed into Caullum's head. The strike rattled the demon, and while he was distracted, Uelwen slashed his abdomen for massive damage. Then she ran away, but stumbled in the middle of the hall, falling unconscious as the poison consumed her.

Kauter gritted his teeth and glared. He drew his sword back, spun, and thrust. The blade broke into the demon's neck, a critical hit that flashed with the paladin's Divine Smite.

Caullum's mandibles slackened. He discorporated as the radiant light ate away at his physical body, leaving no trace of the fiend.

The white marble stone clattered to the ground, the distortions settling around it.

Without a moment to spare, both Kauter and Miloak ran to Uelwen's side. Kauter used the last of his stored divine energy to save the Chitine's life while Miloak poured the final vial of holy water on her, killing off the spores.

At the same time, Jayzal ran for the Foundingstone, picking it up and examining it. Besides the obvious that it was a dangerous artifact that could distort time, he discerned that someone could use it to attempt moving twice as quickly for just an instant. Such power came at a risk, however, as the stone could just as easily rip the person out of time completely, effectively ending their existence.

The group considered destroying it, but Miloak didn't think that they would be able to destroy it well. The released energy might cause more problems. They needed to keep it safe, and unused. They didn't want to be thrown into a different time period or something.

Jayzal corrected him, saying that it would pull them out of time completely. Miloak's eye twitched, and he raised his hands, saying, "Nope, let's take it back to the Outpost and lock it up."

Jayzal said that he would hold onto the Foundingstone for the moment, but the rest of the group believed that the cleric should hold it, since the chance of divine intervention was better than any luck they had as individuals. Jayzal refused to part with the Foundingstone, and Miloak and Zylqirel argued with him over it.

Kauter, however, had been disappointed by the lack of a treasury even though he had defeated a powerful demon. He returned to the second urn, similar to the one from which a wraith had come. Inside was more ash and a ring. He grabbed the ring and ran, knowing that the wraith was rising right behind him. He dodged its grasp and continued down the hall, hollering to the other party members that there was a wraith on the way.

The rest of the party continued to argue about what was happening with the Foundingstone.

"Uh… Help?" Kauter reached them, panting. He looked over his shoulder at the wraith practically upon them.

Zylqirel growled and raised his symbol. Light burst from it, terrifying the wraith, which fled.

Kauter let out his breath. "See how simple that was?" He chuckled and looked at the new ring, but then frowned. It was plain and without magic. He wrinkled his nose and stuffed it into a pocket.

## **Outcome:**

At the Chitine settlement, the mercenaries and Uelwen were heralded as heroes. The leaders Geela and Vald were overjoyed. They gave the party a relic the Chitine had carried with them from the Shadowlands: a dagger made of dragonbone.

After promising to settle final trade agreements with the Chitine and saying farewell to Uelwen, the party returned to the surface. There, they called upon Darius Thump to identify the snake-themed scalemail the group had found earlier. It had been made from the skin of a giant snake, and it was infused with powerful magic; besides having a boosted defensive aura, it allowed the wielder to shapechange into a small, venomous snake. However, this power came with a cost: The wearer was cursed to desire drinking the blood of their enemies, and their decisions would fall more in line with the dark desires of the Goddess Svsx.

While the armor was set aside with a warning to any who would dare utilize it, the Foundingstone was locked away until more research could be done towards destroying or using it.

## **Adventure Rewards:**

### **Mercenary Spoils**

* 27 sp per mercenary who participated in the saga as payment from the Outpost, including a bonus for establishing a trade network.
* 6 gp and 25 cp per mercenary from the divided ancient coins.
* Tarnished ring (2 sp).
* Six carnelians (5 sp each) (from previous episode).
* Magical hurdy-gurdy (from previous episode).
* 200-proof whiskey.
* Ring of Blinking (1 charge remaining).
* Dragonbone Dagger (non-magical, +1 to hit and damage, 1d6 damage die).
* Scalemail of Svsx (+1 AC, shapechange to venomous snake for 1 hour, alignment moves one stage closer to evil).
* Two web daggers.
* Hardened web armor.

### **Outpost Spoils**

* Salt Mine (bonus perk).
* Salted Fish (+4 resources to Escrow).
* Foundingstone.