The besieged and leaderless forces of Xanathar's Guild held out for a week against the return of the Thirteen. The one restored flameskull found and restored another, and those two restored still others. Soon all thirteen flameskulls were returned to power and directed their magics against the humans, bugbears, duergar, and gargoyles hiding within the fortress on Skull Island.
Once Xanathar's Guild had been routed and the fortress liberated, the people of Skullport celebrated, though the stern appearance of the Thirteen served as an ominous reminder who was in charge.
The Mystics of Trollskull Manor took their leave of Skullport. They returned to their quest to seek the depths of Undermountain - to find and defeat the Mad Mage and earn their wishes.
They followed a path back to the ruins of the dwarven city once known as Stromkulduhr. The city was bisected by a collapsed ceiling. One half the city had been occupied by the Legion of Azrok - goblins, bugbears, and hobgoblins ruled by a military warlord. The other half of the city had in recent months been taken by forces of drow. Recently, however, the drow had been driven from the city by the Mystics of Trollksull Manor.
The Mystics arrived at the checkpoint - their approach heralded by the screams of sentry mushrooms known as shriekers. The Mystics were welcomed as heroes - their actions against the drow had become famous! They were to be taken to an audience with Warlord Azrok immediately.
The Mystics were taken into what appeared to be an armed camp - hobgoblins practiced combat drills, bugbears wrestled, goblins scurried about like unruly cats under the frustrated leadership of their hobgoblin commanders. They were taken to a building and given passports. A goblin clerk bit the thick leather sheets of the passport - the impression of his teeth serving as a kind of stamp or signature.
The characters were brought to a large house wherein sat Warlord Azrok and his retinue. Hogoblins milled about discussing strategy. Bugbear guards loomed at the doorway. An elderly hogoblin woman wearing long robes stood near Azrok, studying the room.
Azrok himself sat hunched in his throne. He gazed at his feet. He occasionally stared at something a thousand feet away and sighed.
- Winterfrost of House Silverspear - Chaotic Good Moon Elf Noble and Fighter. The daughter of elven diplomats, raised among dwarves.
- Etlenda, aka "Exile" - Neutral Good Eladrin Outlander and Paladin. Exiled from the Feywild and raised by wolves. While exploring the Feydark he crossed over into the Underdark and emerged into the Mortal World.
- Tempus Vegvisir - Lawful Good Human Trade Sheriff and Cleric of Helm. Husband and Father.
- Push-ta "Bearbite" Tok - Neutral Half-Orc Former Smuggler and Rogue, secret member of the Zhentarim.
- Kem Hearthfire - Chaotic Good Half-Orc Former Gladiator Priestess of Gond.
- Randall - Chaotic Good Human Scout and Smuggler. The child of minor nobles slain by Manshoon - or one of his duplicates, he now leads smugglers down the River Sargauth to Skullport.
- Glom the Wretched, aka "Hu-Man Patty Johnson" - Chaotic Neutral Goblin NPC, former thief and guide to the Arcane Chambers.
Azrok
The Mystics of Trollskull Manor were introduced to Warlord Azrok. They received hearty cheers and a round of applause from the other hobgoblin officers. The woman behind Azrok smiled and nodded. Azrok simply waved his hand dismissively, "Fine, what do they want?"
The Mystics explained that they were the season's newest contestants in Halaster's challenge and requested simply to be directed towards the nearest passage leading down into Undermountain.
Azrok paid them little attention. He showed little interest and eventually admitted he did not care.
Lurkana
The elderly woman interrupted, thanking the Mystics for their recent work against the drow. She asked if they would be willing to speak with her privately about a sensitive matter.
They agreed and were led to a nearby building. The woman introduced herself as Lurkana, mother of Azrok. She explained that her son had been out of sorts lately. A dagger, a very special dagger that she had made for him, had been stolen by a duergar named Skella Ironeye who then fled deeper into Undermountain. Since then, her son has been bereft of confidence. He has lost interest in the fight against the drow. Even now that the drow had been pushed back, he shows no interest in retaking the rest of Stromkulduhr. This lack of motivation is frustrating his officers and she worries that insurrection is brewing among the troops.
She asked them for their assistance in finding and returning this dagger. They agreed. With that, she assigned two hobgoblin guards to lead the party to the edge of the city and give them directions to the checkpoint guarding the passage leading deeper into Undermountain.
The Warlord's Secret
As they exited the city of Stromkulduhr, the party found themselves alone. Tempus summoned the others, "it's remarkable that Warlord Azrok could achieve such status in hobgoblin society despite being blind. "
"Wait, he's blind?" asked Winterfrost.
"Yes. I could tell when we first met him. Though he is apparently keeping it a secret from the others. I didn't want to say anything in front of the other hobgoblins."
A collective gasp of realization spread through the group.
"That makes sense!" declared Winterfrost. "I bet the knife is magic and allows him to see."
"I'm sure the mother knows." said Etlenda, "She said she crafted the knife for him. I think you're right, Winterfrost. And that is why he has lost his confidence."
DM - I had sent a whisper to Tempus' player when they first met Azrok with the above information but I sent it to his character in Roll20 and not the player, so the player never saw it. Nobody said anything or acted on this information so as they were leaving I asked Tempus' player, "Did you see the whisper I sent?" and he was all "What whisper?" I slapped my forehead. Once I shared that info, there was a collective, "OH! Oh yeah, it all makes sense!" that passed around the group.
Keepers of the Purple Worm
On their way to the checkpoint, the party overheard two goblins whispering and arguing in a side cavern. They had obviously found something and didn't want to be caught.
Winterfrost became curious and led the party into the side cavern. Etlenda and Randall both voiced their objections to this distraction.
Within they found two goblins obviously hiding something behind each of their backs. The goblins, named Dribblespit and Zob, denied having found anything and refused to show their hands. The party, not wishing to harm the goblins, who as far as they knew were completely innocent, were at an impasse.
The goblins tried to make a break for it, running past Bearbite. Bearbite knocked Zob over and Kem threw her net over him. A half a statue of a purple worm tumbled out of his hand. Dribblespit picked up the other half and ran for the exit.
Tempus held out his hands and shouted, "Wait! Your statue is broken! I can fix it! Allow me to repair it and I will buy it from you."
Dribblespit hesitated but Zob was sold. Bearbite helped Zob out of the net. Dribblespit agreed but demanded fifty gold pieces for the statue. Tempus agreed. He said a prayer of mending and the two halves miraculously became one statue! He paid the goblins 50 gold pieces and they ran away.
Tempus had a purple jade statue of a worm.
Checkpoint
The party soon found a checkpoint occupied by bugbears and hobgoblins. They showed their passports and were once again welcomed as heroes. The officer in charge, a hobgoblin named Kliyuse the Skull Cleaver, bit their passports.
As the party moved through the checkpoint, Winterfrost overheard a hobgoblin complain to another about manning a checkpoint when they should be retaking Stromkulduhr. Kliyuse commiserated and suggested that it was time for a new leader - a leader with ambition and motivation.
Winterfrost ran up to Captain Kliyuse and punched him in the face. The hobgoblin captain was knocked to the ground, surprised.
"Don't EVER speak that way about your commander! I will come back and personally kill anyone who breathes another word of such insolence!"
The goblinoids were taken aback by the display of strength from this moon elf woman wearing dwarven armor. Captain Kliyuse rubbed his chin, "I apologize. It will not happen again."
The party left the checkpoint and descended a spiraling passage.
DM -The biting the leather as a goblin signature or official stamp was something one of the players suggested. I thought it was genius and rolled with it!
The Fungal Forest
They entered into a large chamber filled with giant tree-sized mushrooms with woody stalks that rivaled any forest tree trunk, massive lichens the size of ferns, and dozens of types of other fungi. Some mushrooms glowed strange unearthly colors.
Well-trod paths snaked through the fungal growth.
The air was filled with a dimly luminescent blue haze - an emission from the glowing mushrooms.
Tempus decided send his familiar, Edward the Bat, to fly around to get a sense of the surrounding caves.
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He flew into an adjoining cave and caught sight of a man moving in the blue mist. He investigated and sawn an elderly human man wearing tattered rags living in the cave. The cave was filled with makeshift equipment for alchemy - gourds made from hollowed-out woody mushroom caps, utensils fashioned from the wood of the mushroom-trees, a flat-topped stone table in the center of the room, etc.
The old man saw the bat and tried to catch it. Edward retreated and explored another room.
Edward flew into a cave filled with hanging stalactites. Suddenly everything went dark - the psychic link had been broken.
The Alchemist
The party decided to introduce themselves to the old man. He greeted them cautiously. He had the wary antisocial curtness of someone unused to polite interactions. The party learned that they could obtain a handful of potions in exchange for supplies - he did not accept "human money" as payment.
When asked about what lay ahead in the caverns, the old man said only that he did not venture beyond the mushroom forest. To explore beyond would expose him to the nightmares.
Tangled Ropes
The party bade farewell to the old man and continued their exploration. They entered a strange rift that cut perpendicular to their well-trod route . They chose to turn from their route and explore the rift. The rift was filled with large stalagmites.
To their surprise, two of the stalagmites came to life - each growing four long ropy tentacles and each revealing a single large central eye and a gaping mouth filled with cutting triangular teeth - Ropers!
Winterfrost and Bearbite were grabbed by one while Kem and Randall were grabbed by the other.
Winterfrost was drawn in to be devoured by the beast. Bearbite managed to free himself. So, too, did Randall managed to escape.
After a bloody battle, the Mystics of Trollskull Alley were eventually able to slay the ropers.
Short Rest
The battle against the ropers was taxing so the party decided to take a break. Bearbite turned the ropers over onto their sides to expose their soft bellies. He cut the beasts open in search of their gizzard. He managed to remove a handful of gemstones from each roper.
The River
The party continued their exploration of the rift until it became a small passage. The passage led to the bank of an underground river. The sluggish river was covered in a thin sheen of translucent slime. Across the river, out of sight in the far darkness, they could hear the hooting and boobling sounds similar to those made by Hlool the fish-man.
Mad Wizard’s Retreat
The party left the river and explored the other side of the rift. They found a side-cavern filled with more glowing mushrooms. In the back of the cavern crouched a desperate-looking human woman talking to a large frog.
"Teeha, guests! Are they real or are they illusions? Did Urgala send them?"
They introduced themselves as friends but the woman appeared to be deranged. She could no longer tell what was real and what was illusion. She pulled at her hair in frustration and cowered against the wall if anyone came to close. She dismissed the newcomers as phantoms, more nightmares come to taunt her!
The frog croaked dully.
Etlenda approached carefully. He explained that he could tell she was unwell and wished to help her. He was a paladin and could cure her of any natural illness.
Etlenda's calm and friendly demeanor persuaded her. She agreed. Etlenda touched her head and shoulder and channeled the ancient forces of nature.
The woman closed her eyes. When she reopened them, she was healed. She greeted her saviors with clarity and friendliness.
Her name was Darribeth Meltimer. She was a wizard in one of the parties undertaking Halaster's Challenge. She was the sole survivor.
The party offered to take her back to Skullport. She agreed and said that she would reward them for doing so.
Return to Skullport
The party accompanied Darribeth past the hobgoblin checkpoint and back to Skullport - a two hour journey. There they gave her fifty gold coins so that she could teleport back to Waterdeep.
She thanked them and gave them a magic rope.
Back to the Fungal Forest
It had been six hours, give or take, since the party had left Skullport, and now they were leaving again. They retraced their steps to the Fungal Forest, arriving roughly four hours since they left.
This time they found a number of dead bodies littering the grotto. The bodies belonged to dead elves, all drow, all clutching at their bellies or drowned in a soup of bile and blood. Those that did not succumb to - whatever this was - had glossy translucent skin, slick with snot-like slime and mottled with burn marks.
Winterfrost sneered, "Drow. They deserved to die."
She found one barely alive, its dying gurgling breaths making thick bubbled from its bloated greasy mouth - it said, "It whispers! It whispers from the dark!" before it expired.
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