Session 16

### The Gang does not eat brains

After shrugging off the feeling of indifference the rest of the group runs into the kitchen to help their new companion. They see Schmitty, fighting a cauldron of slimy croissant dough. Skarūl and Falgas position themselves inside the door and Kaax comes in behind shapeshifted as a cave bear. Falgas burns the dough, which it doesn't seem to like. And Kaax slashes at it with his claws. Schmitty, surprised by the bear that suddenly entered the kitchen to help him, casts Haste on Kaax. With the added power, he completely obliterates the creature--while also eating some of the dough in the process.

The group searches the tavern for their friends and find Vallarie, Frewyn, and Isham Ulrik (aka. former Captain Shaw Darby) unconscious. They question them and find out that Billy had bought the dough that morning at the market and then ran off with a woman with green skin and white hair. Skarūl recognizes the description as being his sister Nandise. During the interrogation, Schmitty finds a note tucked under Vallarie:

* "It’s not over. You, and the people you care about, will pay for what you did to him." - N

Upon finding out that Billy is missing, they head to the docks, where Billy was last seen. They speak with the dockmaster who tells them, with a little monetary persuasion, that a young boy and a woman with forged papers were seen leaving on a ship heading northeast. The group know that the Isle of Ra is also based in northeastern Beliria.

The group decides to investigate Alard Vane's tower to see if they can find out more information about the caverns or the dragon's cave. Schmitty finds a log book of transactions and notes for Silversprocket Industries. And the group discovers diagrams for a beautiful sword with a black hilt--designed to imprison a vengeful soul. It looks similar to the sword they saw previously in the dragon's cave. Kaax notices some of the dust was disturbed, heading to a wall in the Alard's library. He discovers an illusory wall that leads to a cavern overrun with glowing moss.

Schmitty sends his mechanical owl B.I.R.D. to scout. He discovers that the tunnels lead to an open cavern that looks like a laboratory. There's an unconscious woman hooked to an IV, a large chest laying open, and a variety of books, dead creatures, and bottled up organs strewn about the room. The group continues down the path, also noting the rats with exposed brains and an old woman crouching in a corner eating one of the rats. They interrogate her and discover that she's Malianna's mother, Anna. And she claimed to have come to the cavern to look for her.

Never fully trusting her, they bring her to the cavern with them--keeping a close eye on her. But she seems fully intent on yelling out for her daughter, which makes it difficult to keep their stealth during their travel. They get to the lab and continue to search the files and discover evidence of the overgrown moss causing the disturbance between the Dream Realm and the material plane. And they learn of Alard's recent interest in illithid experiments and their collective consciousness.

Upon checking Malianna more closely, Kaax recognizes that she's in a meditative dream state--similar to what he does. But when he enters the Dream Realm, he notices a thick, overgrown tentacle protruding from her head. And he recognizes it as a sign that she had spent too long in Dal Quor and the only way to bring her back would be to sever the link that had enslaved her consciousness.

After hitting the tentacle with his shillelagh, he feels a thrust of psychic energy reflect back at him. And it seems to attract attention from nearby shadows. He aborts his plan and leaves the Dream Realm to tell the group what he had found.

That's when the group looks up and see Alard Vane, with new illithid tentacles, levitating above them, admiring their curiosity. He politely asks them to leave so that he may finish his work. And when the group refuses, one of his "experiments" finally wakes up.

A zombie beholder rises from the floor and sends a beam of energy at Skarūl which brutally cripples him. Skarūl turns into a triceratops to counteract the damage while Falgas and Kaax run forward to attack the zombie beast. Alard then attempts to poison the group with a cloudkill spell, which is promptly countered by Schmitty. Schmitty notices Alard giving a nod toward the old lady. So Kaax summons a group of constrictor snakes and sends one group to attack her, while the other group attacks the zombie beholder. The beholder is grappled, and the old lady is killed. Upon her death, her skull explodes. And a walking brain jumps out of the body.

*Find out what happens next with Skar-kūl and the Gang.*