Subterranean Tussle

## **Synopsis:**

In Chapter 4: Subterranean Tussle, we surged into combat against the mighty Ankheg.  The elven archer Mi'Shan provided impressive ranged support, and when the clamor of battle attracted the attention of a few restless undead – we put our new combat skills to the test and beat back the advancing threat.  In the aftermath, Mi'Shan volunteered to fall back and report on our findings while we pressed forward – discovering a collapsed wall leading to an underground dwelling of some kind.

We entered the compound with extreme caution, delicately sifting through mostly abandoned rooms before happening upon a grim scene in the largest chamber: a murdered man with another standing above him, bloodied knife in hand.  Despite our attempts to talk him down, the culprit would not obey our instructions to disarm – and Safira attempted to force the issue by firing an arrow at his hand.

In the moment that the arrow seemed it would strike true, the figure dissipated into a mist and Erland was shanked by an unseen source.  Using an invisibility potion and a decoy illusion, we had been outmaneuvered – and as we rushed to aid Erland a magical barrier was summoned to keep us at bay.  Orba attempted to impede the man as he began to operate a teleportation circle carved into the ground, but the barrier seemed impenetrable and he stepped through a portal to the other side.

Scouring the area for clues as to this hidden structure's purpose, we broke the seal on a magical door which released a curse that affected Graven's mobility, but somewhat curiously left us otherwise unharmed.  Inside we found apparatus similar to that which we discovered underneath the fountain at the ransacked Festival to Oomaso, though again we seemed to arrive too late to discern the machine's purpose.

Back in the room with the teleportation circle, we scaled a ladder that had been blocked off by unknown inhabitants of the room above – and after some deliberation about how to proceed, we burned our way through and Beezaura, Erland and Safira found themselves in an unfurnished home – perhaps used as a prop to conceal the passage below.

Orba and Graven backtracked through the grotto's tunnels to the entrance, where the fighting had stopped and the wounded were attended to – among them the body of Administrator Fusard who fell to an Ankheg ambush.  We relayed our discoveries to the man who appeared to be in charge – Pullnik – and he expressed his intention to launch an investigation into the disturbances in the grotto.  He asked us to meet him at Chupa Hall in two days time to discuss his findings, and with some reluctance upheld the bargain that Fusard had struck with Erland – handing over a blood-flecked Proof of Esteem for the library.

Orba and Graven reconnected with Erland on their way out and the three of them retreated to the Dancing Clam where Safira had done a little digging into whether Jillian had been spotted.  A few streets over in the Rose District, Beezaura followed a suspicious pair back to Fable's Repose where she haggled for an exorbitantly priced room to spend the night.

## Trivia

* Natural one count: one natural ones was rolled in this Chapter, by John.