Expedition 144: Recover the Leaf

### Summary

The party enters Rosemary's sanctum to recover a leaf for an ent. After getting hit by a few traps on the front door, the group makes it's way into the mage's menagerie and deals with the inhabitants and recovers the item they seek.

### Detailed Write up

The party makes it through the pacified portion of the Mageline without issues. Even passing a few other groups of travelers and guard patrols. They come to the door to Rosemary's sanctum which is locked. Confidence attempts to pick it but a giant bear trap nearly bisects him. Ranag then attempts to use the Nexus key and cast Knock to bypass the door, but the door explodes into fiery shrapnel upon contact with the spell leaving half the group severely burned.

The inside of the mage hall is decorated to accept visitors, but has not seen use in quite a while. The group finds what appear to be Rosemary's personal quarters behind a door warded with conjuration magic, guest quarters, servants quarters, a small kitchen, and a portrait gallery with striking paintings of all the mages of the line. The quarters and kitchen hold some various wizardly objects of value but no First Leaf and there aren't any obvious doors that lead further into the hall. Rather than risk the conjuration door, the party does a thorough search of the other rooms and finds a peephole in the floor of the gallery to a small chamber below. Kel'soveen intuits that it's designed to give clear sight for the use of the spell Misty Step.

The group cobbles together a way to teleport down to the chamber with Dimension Door, however the chamber is smaller than expected, leaving Confidence and Ranag cramped into a 5 ft cube and Kel and Parsnip trapped in a Bag of Holding. Confeidence tries to unlock the iron door to the next chamber but can't in the tight space. Ranag then quickly uses the Nexus key for Passwall and opens up enough space to get everyone out and into the next room, which is revealed to be Rosemary's menagerie.

The room holds a small sleeping area off to the side, but along the main room are a series of iron barred cells containing various creatures. A desiccated Illithid, a ball of seething electricity surrounded in chains, a strange plant, and the forth lies empty. The group begins to search the room, Parsnip takes immediate interest in the plant which after a closer look seems connected to the Leaf he seeks to return. But before he can act on this informations the caged creatures attempt to escape their bonds. The Orb of lightning darts and Kel and attempts to enter his body but is unsuccesful, Kel then turns his flask to the creature and traps it. Then the Plant creature strikes lashing out with it's roots it attempts to restrain everyone in the room with Kel getting caught. The plant then grapples Parsnip and pulls him into its maw. The Mousefolk is one spred thanks to quick action from Ranag. The Illithid then lashes out with it's Mindblast stunning Kel. The battle continues with Ranag and Confidence on offense, Parsnip alternating between healing and being restrained, and Kel being a punching bag. Kel eventually recovers and lands the final blow to the plant creature, revealing the First Leaf.

After picking picking themselves up the group searches the rest of the chamber, finding a Teleport Circle and a pool of Slaad spawn in the forth cell that they destroy with prejudice. There's is also a large brass puzzle box that the group slowly attempts to open but just as they're on the cusp of solving the final layer the boxes teleports away to an unknown location. The group then makes it's way back to the entrance chamber to recover what it can from the upper rooms while Kel'soveen carefully disarms the warded door to Rosemary's bedroom. The group finds inks, paper, and cookware that it manages to recover along with 6 of the 8 mage portraits as the last two are trapped. Once gaining access to the bedroom they also find Rosemary's trophies of past conjurations as well as a magical robe. With nothing left to easily salvage the group heads back to the Nestle Valley without incident.