Session 9

## Bohemian Grove

Concerning events of 18 Kythorn to 20 Kythorn in the year 1492 DR taking place in and around the grey dwarf city of Gracklstugh.

Our heroes the Young Adventurers have just defeated a group of derro and for once did not knock anybody out to question them. They examine the large chamber in which the fight took place, which is dominated by a towering obelisk and an huge (presumably) dragon egg. They also note eight crates of what is probably the ore stolen from Clan Thrazgad. It is clear some ritual was being attempted on the egg but it is not clear why or if anything was done.

In examining the obelisk Ralkor discovers that feeding it some magical energy while in contact with it will cause something to happen, but he doesn’t know what. Kaia decides to give it a try and promptly teleports to who-knows-where. The rest of the party attempts to follow by hanging on to Ralkor while he channels a spell slot into it but only Ralkor and Derendil are teleported away. Nespip and Sebastian shrug and set about rigging up a way to carry the dragon egg.

Kaia, Ralkor, and Derendil find themselves just outside Gracklstugh and quickly re-enter the city using the badges Captain Blackskull gave them. They make a stop at their inn to drop off the stone giant statue then head back into the Whirlestone Tunnels to find Nespip and Sebastian. Without Sebastian’s map they are forced to rely on their own memory to find their way back, which works surprisingly well.

Back in the egg room the now-reunited party carry the egg out on Sebastian’s cobbled-together egg sling. There is some argument about what to do with the egg--Kaia wants to turn it over to Captain Blackskull, Ralkor wants to hatch and raise the dragon themselves--but ultimately they decide to take it back to Captain Blackskull. She brusquely gives them the agreed upon 500g (and Fargus’s googles) and tells them to leave the city by tomorrow morning.

On a trip to the Bazaar Sebastian and Ralkor pick up some spell components. Ralkor then attempts to sell Clan Thrazgad the location of their ore, but while the Thrazgad merchant agrees in principle she won’t pay until they verify the information. Sebastian draws her a map, with a promise of gold should it prove correct.

Kaia attempts to make sense of the various letters, journals, and ledgers the party recovered from the tunnels. She discovers that:

* One of the books is a spellbook, which she gives to Ralkor
* One is Narrak’s journel
* He saw Demogorgon while sailing on the Darklake, sometime before he attacked Sloobludop
* Narrak was turned to worship the demon lord and has converted much of the Council of Savants to his cult
* The letters prove that most or all of the council was aware of Narrak’s actions
* The cult was attempting to make the dragon egg into a gift for Demogorgon
* One book describes the ritual for causing a creature to grow a second head plus another ritual for grafting body parts from one creature to another

Kaia tells the party what she discovered but otherwise decides to sit on this information for now.

The party, along with their pack mule (Derendil) then go visit the stone giants with the two-headed stone giant statue. Sebastian explains that he believes the statue can be used to heal Rihuud and the Stonespeaker is very thankful, giving the party a valuable diamond as a reward. Sebastian explains the derro plot against the stone giants and where they can find the statue of Dorhun. Sebastian, to Kaia’s surprise, also tells Stonespeaker Hgramm all about the Council of Savants secretly being in league with a cult of Demogorgon. The Stonespeaker is troubled about what the deepking might do if told about this, but says he will likely have to tell him anyway. Sebastian then claims they have no proof of the allegation in any case.

At this point Sebastian became super paranoid for some reason (I honestly forget if there was a good reason) and wants to leave the city immediately instead of tomorrow morning. The party agrees and goes to collect Fargus, Jimjar, Eldeth, and Stool from the inn. Ralkor attempts to collect from the Thrazgad merchant but she has yet to verify the ore’s location. She tells him he can forgo payment and the clan will owe him a favour he may call due in the future and Ralkor agrees.

The Young Adventurers and Friends head out from the city and I am disappointed I didn’t roll an encounter because they are injured and almost out of spells. Unfortunately they are able to take a long rest after a days march without incident.

After two more days travel, led by Fargus towards the Lost Tomb of Khaem, the party encounters an odd pair of duergar riding carrion crawlers. They are colourfully dressed, introduce themselves as Zeks and Edsel, and invite the group to come eat at Princess Annarei’s garden. The party follows the two down a narrow tunnel which opens into a huge chamber filled with glowing crystals, an array of fungi, and a wide variety of creatures from goblin to ogre all taking their ease. They are introduced to Princess Annarei, a beautiful elven woman, and she warmly welcomes them to her garden which she describes as a place of pleasure, safety, and rest.

The party is understandably suspicious of the situation, asking questions of Annarei and her guests. They discover that the story seems to be more or less true in that the grove is a place of rest and safety but it is clear something is being hidden. Ralkor casts detect magic, discovering that Annarei wears a pendant radiating conjuration magic. The party attempts to find out about the pendant but all Annarei will say is that it was a gift from a man she strongly hints was a lover.

Eldeth is not happy in the garden, viewing the people as indolent and frivolous. Derendil, on the other hand, reveals he is worried that he may be mad, considering for the first time that he may not be the elf prince he believed. He thinks perhaps he should just stay in the garden and give up on trying to return to his family. Sebastian promises to attempt to heal Derendil in the morning (having just looked and saw remove curse on his spell list) but Derendil is hesitant, thinking he may be better off with a comforting lie than the harsh truth.

The party joins Annarei for dinner at her dining table set on the ruined foundation of some old stone building. The food is delicious, as is the wine (which is spiked with a drug called gresyl), although Ralkor only pretends to eat and Kaia does not drink the wine. The residents of the garden quickly become intoxicated, many passing out or becoming otherwise incapacitated. The only exception is Suortin, Annarei’s hulking carapace covered bodyguard, but Suortin’s attention is focused on Annarei.

Kaia is the only one to notice as three shambling humanoids set on a sleeping goblin and attack, disembowelling him. She gets the attention of her party leading to Annarei becoming aware. Annarei reacts with apparently genuine horror, identifying the attacking zombies as guests she thought had gone home while at the same time taking to the air on a pair of bat-like wings she suddenly manifests. She pleads with the party to defend her drunken people, and directs Suortin to do so as well.

The group decides to do as she asked, finding a dozen zombies and a wight north of the dining area, which they quickly dispatch. After the fight Annarei identifies that the undead apparently came from a hidden tunnel in the foundation and demands the party search the tunnel and make sure there are no more undead waiting to attack her people. Kaia demands to know who or what she is, what the deal is with the pendant, and why she is here. Annarei reveals her true form as a succubus and states that the pendant was a gift from Graz’zt, the demon lord of indulgence. Annarei says she is only doing what she originally claimed--creating a place of ease and indulgence open to anybody.

We stop there, on the evening of 20 Kythorn with our party (I believe) planning to examine what lies beneath this ancient foundation at the behest of a succubus.