"The Lost Tomb of Khaem" - Out of the Abyss, Chapter 13

What follows is an illustrated dramatic retelling of my group's play through of the D&D campaign setting, "Out of the Abyss". SPOILERS for anyone wishing to play in this campaign.

CHAPTER 13

"THE LOST TOMB OF KHAEM"

A rag-tag group of survivors

escaped the drow prison at Velkenvelve,

witnessed the razing of a kuo-toa village

by the demon-lord Demogorgon, 

survived weeks of travel in the Underdark,

thwarted a secret demonic cult

in Gracklstugh, the city of the Duergar,

and rescued a baby red dragon whose existence 

could throw the city into war and rebellion.

They had just chartered a boat

to take them to Neverlight Grove

when Hemeth the boat capatain

betrayed them and ordered his men

to steal the baby dragon

and return it to his master

Themberchaud, the Wyrmsmith....

THE PLAYER CHARACTERS
Angolwen - Wizard of mixed human/elven parentage.
Kettle Bearclaw - Halfling baker living among dwarves.
Talorean - Half-drow abandoned at birth to be raised by wolves.
Pain Grille' - Halfling street urchin from Waterdeep.
Virtue - Tiefling paladin and a mysterious wild card.

THEIR FELLOW TRAVELLERS
Jimjar - a roguish deep gnome who likes to wager on everything.
Ront - Thuggish orc from the surface world. Follows Talorean's commands.
Rumpadump - A shy and laconic myconid adult.
Stool - A myconid sprout that follows Kettle like a pet follows its owner.
Prince Derendil - Elven prince in the body of a brutish quaggoth.
Starshine - A mute female moon elf, an escaped slave with no name.
Mister Floop - a friendly flumph.
Santaka - a baby red dragon.

ESCAPE FROM GRACKLSTUGH
Everyone except Virtue was loading their newly purchased supplies, including four pack lizards, onto Hemeth's lake boat and making preparations to leave. In the distance arose the sound of an uprising. The derro were attacking the Stone Guard of Gracklstugh. Hemeth muttered something under his breath, put his crate down, and shouted orders for his crew, "Capture the dragon! Kill the rest!"

Hemeth the Duergar Trader, Agent of Themberchaud

The duergar crew picked up picks and hammers and moved menacingly towards the passengers. Kettle sprang into action, moving to protect the wyrmling from capture. Hemeth moved towards Angolwen but was waylaid by Talorean. Ront sprung at the duergar and clove his head with an axe. The crew used their innate duergar magic to become giants, causing the boat to rock underneath.

Virtue came running down the steps to the quay and towards the boat shouting for them to cease fighting. One of Hemeth's crewmen on the quay intercepted Virtue. When she was close enough, she cast a magic Suggestion spell on him, saying, "You should gather your men and storm the Keepers outpost to get to Thumberchaud! Now is the time to take the throne while the guards are fighting the Derro! Tell our Master quickly! I will get in the palace by offering the baby dragon to the King so I can attack from within. The all powerful Thumberchaud can breach the palace and eliminate two adversaries at once!"

The crewman nodded and called to the rest of the crew, "Quickly! We have been ordered to storm the Keeper's outpost! Our master is betrayed!" With that, four of the six remaining crewmen left the melee on the boat and ran back towards the city.  The remaining two were quickly dispatched.

Santaka the Dragon

Virtue called to the baby dragon, "Santaka, come!" The wyrmling leapt off the boat and rushed to Virtue's side. Virtue looked at her confused friends on the boat. "I'm sorry. I can't go with you. I have things to do here. Good luck!" She and Santaka turned and ran back towards the city.

DM Note -
Virtue's player has classes on Friday night now so he's dropping out for a while. He gave me detailed instructions for what Virtue did that night and her plans for Gracklstugh during the next several weeks.

While the attention of the Stone Guard and other duergar was turned towards the derro uprising, the remaining fugitives from Velkenvelve untied the boat and pushed off. Kettle looked to Rumpadump, "Which way?"

Rumpadump the Myconid

The myconid pointed towards the left, "That way."

Kettle turned his face towards the dark expanse of subterranean lake before him and said, "That way!"


DEATH IN THE DARKLAKE
The fugitives of Velkenvelve took turns manning the oars in shifts, four rowers at a time. The first shift spent eight hours rowing while the second shift studied, took inventory, or crafted necessary supplies. Then they'd swap. The third shift was spent adrift, with everyone resting.

The rowing was uneventful. The only interesting thing that happened was the time they encountered a low ceiling. The roof of the cavern kept getting lower and lower until everyone had to duck low into the boat. Talorean, however, conked his head on the ceiling.

Pain was on watch during the third shift while everyone else was asleep. Pain heard a small splashing sound. He got up to look and saw four creatures climbing into the boat. Each had a humanoid torso that ended in a long fish-like tail. Their bodies were covered in scaly piscine skin. Each possessed two heads. Each head possessed fish-like features - covered in fins and trailing long tentacles. The arms were clawed and each carried a harpoon in one hand attached to a line.

Pain called the alarm and everyone came awake. The two-headed fish-men climbed aboard, one on each quarter of the boat, croaking "Blood and salt for our abyssal lord!" They stabbed their harpoons at the closest targets. Kettle and Talorean were each harpooned and dragged into the water!

Pain quickly killed the mer-creature that threatened him and rush to the aid of Rumpadump.

Kettle managed to kill his opponent and swim back to the boat, but Talorean faced difficulty. His opponent dragged him deeper and deeper under the inky black water of the Darklake.

After finishing off the third mer-creature, Pain activated his magical boots of speed and dove into the water. Following the sound of Talorean's struggles, Pain soon closed with the combatants, but it was too late. Talorean had ceased struggling and was being dragged down further and further. Pain tried in vain to wrestle Talorean's limp body away from the aquatic creature but failed, ultimately giving up and returning to the surface.

Talorean was lost.

RIP Talorean

The fugitives, wet and forlorn, settled down to mourn their lost friend and complete their rest.

DM Note -
That was the first PC death this campaign and it was pretty brutal! Talorean was resting so he wasn't wearing armor, which made him easy to hit and damage. Dragging him underwater separated him from help and made it difficult to get healing potions to him. Overall, the merrow random encounter was bad-ass and scary! It did a good job of showing how dangerous the Darklake can be.

A CHALLENGE FOR COMMAND
The surviving members of the party were awakened by Ront. Ront followed Talorean, and Talorean was now dead. Ront declared himself leader of the party. Pain, Kettle, and Angolwen objected.

Ront

Kettle stepped up to Ront and tried to intimidate him, but his small halfling stature and friendly demeanor betrayed him. Ront threatened to eat Kettle but the halfling refused to back down. Ront picked Kettle up and tried to throw him overboard, but Kettle's feet found the gunwale and pushed back. Ront tried again but could not throw Kettle over the side. Kettle stabbed Ront with his new black-bladed katar. Ront screamed in anger but backed down. Kettle ordered Ront to man an oar. The brutish orc complied.

A few hours later, Angolwen spotted a strange creature descending through the dark. The shadowy silhouette soon resolved into a bizarre giant brain with a terrible beak. The brain trailed long writhing tentacles. Kettle identified the beast as a grell but knew little about it.

The grell moved over the boat and began to dangle its tentacles towards the party. Angolwen launched a fireball spell high overhead, detonating it above the grell. The fiery shockwave threw everyone to the deck, but the grell's flaming body hit the boat and bounced in the lake.

Thirty-six hours after they left Gracklstugh, they arrived at a waterfall that emerged from a subterranean river about a hundred feet above the level of the lake. Rumpadump indicated the direction. They put the boat ashore, offloaded the supplies, and used the pack lizards to pull the boat out of the water.

The party then climbed the rocky wall to the cavern's mouth. The pack lizards made short work of the rough surface, climbing the wall with ease. Soon they were following the small river into a tunnel that measures about a hundred feet across.


A VOICE IN THE DARKNESS
Kettle, who had learned the secrets of survival and navigation in the Underdark from Hemeth and Sarith, blazed the trail ahead, scouting the easiest path and making easy work of the difficult terrain. He turned what would have been a four day journey up rough obstacle-strewn river into a two-day journey. They made excellent time before resting and encountered no surprises during this time.

Halfway to Neverlight Grove, every member of the party heard a telepathic call for help. A soft feminine voice spoke directly to their mind, "Hello? Is someone there? Oh please, I need your help! I have been trapped in the dark for so long! So very long! Please, won't you help me?"

The party tried to communicate back but found that the voice was one-way. They could not respond.

Fearing a trap, they nonetheless investigated. They could sense the direction of the telepathic voice and followed it into a rift recently opened by tectonic shifts. They followed the voice to an ancient bronze door. The door was covered in bas relief carvings from the ancient Netherese culture.

The party hesitated. They debated the merits of opening the door and decided that the potential rewards outweighed the risks.

DM Note - 
The actual conversation went something like this:

The PCs warily follow the voice and find an ancient sealed door. 

PC 1: "Oh hell no! It's a trap! I ain't going in there! There's going to be undead and traps and stuff! We should move on."

PC 2: "Wait, (to me) just to be sure. Is there an inscription on the door? Any sort of writing?"

Me (the DM): "No. Not really, just some bas relief carvings and some undecipherable hieroglyphs."

PC2: "It sounds dangerous! Let's move on!"

Other PCs: (general sound of agreement and nervousness pointing towards avoiding the side-quest entirely)

Me (getting slightly annoyed): "Wait, there IS an inscription. It says 'ARE YOU FUCKING ADVENTURERS OR AREN'T YOU?' "

They got the point and opened the door.

AN ANCIENT SORCERER

Inside, they found an entrance room. The walls were covered in carved friezes displaying the great deeds of a powerful ancient sorcerer. Stairs led down hundreds of feet into a shrine. The shine appeared to be recently defaced and clawed but the dust of the floor showed no disturbance. 

There were two doors in the shine. The took the exit opposite the entrance. The passage opened into a crypt. Four sarcophagi sat undisturbed, the burial vault of the ancient sorcerer's most trusted servants. Pain moved into the room to investigate a sarcophagus. In so doing, four spectral figures rose and attacked.

Kettle, Pain, and Ront attacked the spectres while Jimjar fired his crossbow. Angolwen attacked with spells from the entrance. Ront was seriously injured and had to withdraw but was saved by Pain and a healing potion. The spectres were soon defeated. Kettle and Pain opened each of the sarcophagi to reveal treasures in the form of burial jewelry and ornaments.

Having looted the crypts, the party was about ready to leave when the disembodied voice once more called out, "No! Please don't leave! You are so close! Please don't leave me here!"

They looked around again, inspecting each corner of the room. It was Kettle that noticed one sarcophagus could be moved, revealing a pit in the floor that opened into a hidden chamber below.

THE TOMB
The party descended by rope into the dark chamber below. There they found a single sarcophagus atop a raised platform. After they entered, a wraith-like apparition appeared. The apparition spoke in a different voice altogether from that of the disembodied voice, cursing and threatening them as it attacked!

"Who disturbs my tomb? Who wakens me from my eternal slumber? I, the great and powerful Brysis Khaem, will destroy you!"

After defeating the ghostly sorcerer, they could still hear the friendly disembodied voice, "Yes! Closer! Within the sarcophagus!"

They opened the sarcophagus to find the mummified remains of Brysis Khaem. Atop the body was a golden sword hilt.

"You have found me! I am free!"

Kettle took the hilt. He tried to ask the hilt questions, but all it would say was that its name was Dawnbringer and that all would be revealed to him who bonded with it.

FALSE TOMB
As they went to climb out of the tomb, the party found that Ront, who had stayed above, had raised the rope. They yelled at Ront, ordering him to lower the rope. Ront considered leaving them to die but eventually lowered the rope and allowed them to climb out.

On their way out, they explored the unopened door. There they found what appeared to be a tomb with another sarcophagi and canopic jars. Angolwen cast a Detect Magic spell on the sarcophagus, sensing illusion and abjuration magic. They opened the tomb and activated the ancient spell. The spell had lost its magic, however, and it fizzled and sputtered.

Angolwen the Wizard

After determining that this final tomb was a decoy, they left the tomb of Khaem and returned to their campsite where they left the pack animals with the non-combatants.

NEXT WEEK - Neverlight Grove!

"Secrets and Spies" - Out of the Abyss, Chapter 12

What follows is an illustrated dramatic retelling of my group's play through of the D&D campaign setting, "Out of the Abyss". SPOILERS for anyone wishing to play in this campaign.

CHAPTER 12

"SECRETS AND SPIES"

A rag-tag group of survivors

escaped the drow prison at Velkenvelve,

witnessed the razing of a kuo-toa village

by the demon-lord Demogorgon, 

and traveled for 28 days to 

Gracklstugh, the city of the Duergar,

where they have become involved

in the scheming machinations of

the various political factions 

vying for power in this city of madness...

THE PLAYER CHARACTERS
Angolwen - Wizard of mixed human/elven parentage.
Kettle Bearclaw - Halfling baker living among dwarves.
Virtue - Tiefling paladin and a mysterious wild card.

THEIR FELLOW TRAVELLERS
Jimjar - a roguish deep gnome who likes to wager on everything.

NOT PRESENT THIS EPISODE
Talorean - Half-drow abandoned at birth to be raised by wolves.
Ront - Thuggish orc from the surface world. Follows Talorean's commands.
Pain Grille' - Halfling street urchin from Waterdeep.
Rumpadump - A shy and laconic myconid adult.
Stool - A myconid sprout that follows Kettle like a pet follows its owner.
Prince Derendil - Elven prince in the body of a brutish quaggoth.
Starshine - A mute female moon elf, an escaped slave with no name.
Topsy and Turvy - Deep gnome twins who everyone pretty much knows are were-rats.
Mister Floop - a friendly flumph.

VIRTUE'S DRAGON
When Virtue saw Buppido, she was overwhelmed by her manic paranoia. She turned and fled, carrying her seventy pound dragon egg to safety.

She blindly ran through the Whorlstone Tunnels until she came across the chamber of the Whispering Mesa. It seemed a safe defensible location so she climbed.

She sat down at the top of the mesa, surrounded by the whispered thoughts of the people of Gracklstugh, and considered the dragon egg. There she sat with her egg for what felt like days, or possibly only hours, it was difficult to tell in this alien subterranean environment.

While she sat, she caught a snippet of a thought from Themberchaud the dragon, the Wyrmsmith of Gracklstugh. She knew then that if she returned the egg to Themberchaud, the dragon would destroy the egg as a potential rival. She also sensed growing impatience in the dragon, and a growing desire to destroy the Keepers of the Flame, kill the Deepking, and take over the city.

She decided she wouldn't turn the egg over to Themberchaud. She would hatch it herself.

At first she used her own magical flame to heat the egg. Then she downed a potion of fire breathing and exhaled flame over the egg.

The egg cracked.

Out hatched a wyrmling. A sixty-pound baby dragon that burped fire and loudly squawked, "MAA!"

Virtue fed the wymrling what edible mushrooms and rations she had but the dragon was unsatisfied. It needed meat.

He left the dragon momentarily to obtain some more meat from a nearby cavern, but the dragon was still dissatisfied.

DM Note-
Me: "Where will you find any meat?"

Virtue's player: "We've left dead bodies in every room we've been to in this dungeon!"

Me: "Good point."

Virtue gathered up the egg-shells into a sack and loaded the dragon and into her backpack and ventured out of the cavern in search of more food.

THE SPIDER KING
While harvesting some more mushrooms from a nearby patch, she came upon a fissure in the wall. She remembered that this fissure probably connected to the fissure in the back of the mushroom garden of the alchemist's lab. Knowing that the door to the lab was locked and figuring that the lab was a safe place to be, she consumed a pygmywort mushroom and gave one to her dragon.  Tnhey both shrank down to the size of a halfling and ventured into the fissure.

She came upon an split in the tunnel and chose left. At the second split, she realized that she had fallen into a trap. She was surrounded by three giant spiders! The largest one with two heads said something in a language she did not understand. She drew her hex blade.

One of spiders in front of her showered her in sticky webbing. The dragon exhaled fire upon the two-headed spider behind them. The spiders approached, biting with their poisonous fangs. Virtue managed to kill one of the spiders in front of her but ultimately fell to the other's poisonous bite. The spider wrapped up Virtue's fallen body in a cocoon while the baby dragon fought and killed the two-headed spider. Upon defeating its foe, the baby dragon then turned and killed the spider dragging Virtue's body away.

The dragon pawed at the un-moving cocoon, crying, "MAA!" The dragon dragged the cocoon out of the fissure and back to the chamber of the mesa.

SECRETS SHARED

Angolwen

After leading Ylsa Henstak into the Whorlstone Tunnels and the chamber of the Obsidian Obelisk, Angolwen and Kettle decide to head back to the cavern of the Whispering Mesa to ask some more questions while Pain Grille' went back to Gracklstugh to help make preparations to leave.

To their surprise, they find a halfling-sized cocoon and a baby dragon.

"MAA!"

The baby dragon took a defensive posture over the cocoon but Kettle managed to ease its fears and convince it that they were friendly.

DM Note - 
Animal Handling!

Kettle pulled one of his blades and cut open the cocoon. He found the halfling-sized Virtue unconscious and blue. He applied a healing potion and helped her to come around. There they waited for the paralysis to wear off.

Once Virtue regained her senses, she realized that her overwhelming paranoia had finally passed, though some lingering suspicion remained.

The three caught up on the events of the previous tridon (an Underdark "day"): the death of Buppido,  the ghost and the quest to find the missing ring, the thwarting of the derro savants and the cult of Demogorgon, etc. Virtue caught everyone up on his deal with Themberchaud, the duplicity of the Keepers of the Flame, the theft of the dragon egg by the Grey Shadows on behalf of the derro savants, the subsequent hatching of the baby dragon, etc. Then they discussed what they wanted to do next.

DM Note - 
Unbeknownst to them, while they were sharing all their secrets and strategies, they were being observed by invisible agents of Ylsa and the Merchant Council.

ONE LAST MEETING WITH YLSA
They decided they needed more information so they made one more trip back to the Obsidian Obelisk to ask Ylsa some questions about the politics of Gracklstugh, specifically what would happen if various factions were eliminated or made more powerful. On the way, they realized they had a baby red dragon that was in high demand, so Angolwen cast a Minor Illusion spell to make the dragon resemble a large dog.

"MAA!"

Close enough.

Ylsa Henstak

Ylsa was still examining the obelisk when they arrived.

"Welcome back. You weren't gone long."

"We'd like to ask you some questions about Gracklstugh."

She nodded and turned around from her inspection of the obelisk.

"What.. is.. that?" she said with alarm, pointing at the disguised dog.. dragon.. thing.

"MAA!" bleated the roughly canine quadruped.

"It's a.. um.. it's a dog." declared Kettle, hesitantly.

"A what? What is that? Is that some kind of Overworlder animal?"

"Yep! That's exactly what it is!"

"Keep it away from me!"

They asked her some questions about how politics were run in Gracklstugh. Who was in charge? What was the line of succession? Who was the current heir? Who was at odds with whom? What was the relationship between the stone giants of Clan Cairngorm and the Deepking? She shared what she knew.

DM Note - 
After they left, the invisible spy informed Ylsa of everything he had observed. 

CLOSING OUT THE REMAINING QUESTS
Afterwards, they decided to hunt down the crawling hand with the ring they sought. They tracked it to the chamber filled with discarded corpses and two-headed zombies. Angolwen stood on the ledge and safely dispatched all the zombies at range using attack spells. Kettle noticed the hand with the ring crawling in the back of the room. He climbed down and grabbed the hand. The hand fought back. Kettle wrestled with the hand and managed to pull the ring off. He threw the hand across the room and Angolwen zapped it with an Eldritch Blast.

The Crawling Claw

DM Note-
I thought about having the zombies reanimate as soon as Kettle was in the back of the room, but it's kind of a pointless encounter, so I just skipped it. 

On their way out, they investigated an unexplored passage. They found their way blocked by crude bars made of scrap. Within was a mosaic spiral pattern built into the floor surrounded by glowing stones. In the distance were nine large animal cages, several of them filled with cave bears. Two derro were camped in the room, both arguing with non-existent, or invisible, companions. The party decided to leave the room alone and return to Gracklstugh.

DM Note-
Party rolled an average stealth score of 9. The players were certain they'd be spotted. However, the passive Perception of the derro is 7. Nobody saw nuthin.

THE STONESPEAKER HGRAAM
Their first task upon returning to Gracklstugh was to request an audience with Stonespeaker Hgraam. They considered the Stonespeaker to be the only being they could trust in Gracklstugh so they wanted to make sure he was informed of all that was happening in Gracklstugh.

Stonespeaker Hgraam

Stonespeaker Hgraam met them as requested, "I did not expect to see you again so soon."

They told the Stonespeaker about Themberchaud's growing impatience and plans to take over the city, as well as the Keepers' plot to replace Themberchaud. They asked what the stone giant response would be in the event of Themberchaud trying to take over. The Stonespeaker replied that they would fulfill their oath and fight the Wyrmsmith to protect the Deepking. However, if the Deepking were to die, his line would come to an end and Clan Cairngorm would be free of their oath. He also pointed out that the current consort has been unable to produce an heir, a situation that has caused some concern among members of the royal court.

Afterwards, they told Hgraam about the Whispering Mesa and the Obsidian Obelisk. Hgraam expressed alarm and said that they had to take this information directly to the Deepking. He would arrange an audience with the Deep King at once.

AUDIENCE WITH THE DEEP KING
Stonespeaker Hgraam took the trio, along with their strange looking "dog" to the Deep King's hall. Lava poured down troughs flanking the wide boulevard that led into the immensely tall arched entrance. Massive basalt pillars held aloft a soaring vaulted ceiling. At the head of the hall sat the Deep King Horgar Steelshadow V on his heavy throne. His consort stood by his side.

The Deep King Horgar Steelshadow V

Other than the Deep King and his consort, they were completely alone. No guards, no courtiers, no advisers.

Stonespeaker Hgraam introduced the party, informing the Deep King that they had vital information that affected the security and well being of the kingdom. Kettle stepped forward. As the only member of the party that spoke Dwarvish, he spoke for the party.

Kettle repeated his information for the Deep King, informing him of the power of the Whispering Mesa, the Obsidian Obelisk, the involvement of the derro savants in the cult of Demogorgon, and the cult's attempts to destabilize the influence of the stone giants.

While Kettle spoke, Angolwen cast a spell of Comprehend Languages upon herself so that she could follow and provide support if needed. Virtue, remembering a rumor she heard somewhere regarding the possible true nature of the king's consort, observed her closely trying to get a reading on her.

The Deep King thanked Kettle for the information. Then he asked where they obtained the wyrmling. He had seen right through the illusion.

"MAA!"

Kettle replied that it was their dragon and not for sale.

The Deep King offered to purchase the dragon for 1000 gold coins.

Kettle replied that it was not for sale.

The Deep King increased his offer to 2000 gold coins.

Kettle replied that it was still not for sale.

The situation became tense for a short moment. Then the Deep King informed Kettle that, as a reward for the useful information he provided, he would allow them to keep the dragon. However, he warned them to leave the city immediately lest they garner the wrath of Themberchaud the Wymrsmith.

Kettle agreed and the party ended their audience with the Deep King.

UNWELCOME INFORMATION
Hgraam escorted the party back to the gates to the Darklake District. On the way, Virtue told the others that the king's consort was a fiend, probably a succubus, confirming the rumors he had heard.

Virtue

DM Note-
This led to some debate about whether succubi were demons or devils, a detail that changed with each edition. After some research I determined that "fiends" were both demons AND devils and that succubi served both sides. This was important because Kettle's favored enemy is demon. 

Stonespeaker Hgraam was shocked. He said that this was a major allegation and could not be repeated without proof or evidence.

Virtue really wanted to go back and immediately deal with this information. She offered several strategies that allowed her to reveal the consort as an agent of demons. Angolwen and Kettle managed to talk him out of it. They really just wanted to leave the city. They promised they would deal with it later.

At gate, party bade farewell to Stonespeaker Hgraam, who suggested that they should probably not return to Gracklstugh.

PREPARATIONS TO LEAVE
The trio next went to Overlake Hold and chose equipment from the armory, their reward for serving Commander Blackskull. They briefly met with the commander. She was by now almost paralyzed with paranoia. Nevertheless, they told her, too, about Obsidian Obelisk and the Whispering Mesa. She admitted that she already knew this. She has had invisible spies following them for some time. She warned them to never believe for a moment that they were alone, for her spies were likely not alone. Before they left, Commander Blackskull collected her badges and gave them exit passports, allowing them to exit the city.

Commander Errde Blackskull

Afterwards, they went shopping in the Blade Bazaar. Angolwen purchased crates of spell components. Kettle purchased pack lizard and supplies, then picked up his new weapon: a katar made of black glass-metal, made from the missing chunk of obelisk found in the alchemist's laboratory.

DM Note-
As a non-magical bug exceptional blade, I'm going to give it the property of re-rolling damage rolls of 1. 

Virtue returned to the Gohlbrorn's Lair to gather everyone up and prepare them for leaving. She told them to meet down at the Darklake Docks.

Virtue and Kettle met early down by the docks and found Hemeth, the duergar merchant they helped return to Gracklstugh several tridons ago. Hemeth was overseeing the outfitting of his new ship. They chartered his ship to take them to Neverlight Grove. Soon, the others arrive and they began loading their equipment and supplies, as well as their young dragon, on board.

PARTING SHOTS
While the others loaded the ship, Virtue said she had to go take care of some final things and went back to the city.

On her way to the gates, she was waylaid by Gartokkar Xundorn, leader of the Keepers of the Flame. Gartokkar demanded to know where the dragon egg was.

Virtue said the dragon died and gave Gartokkar the egg shells. Gartokkar suspected treachery and demanded to see the dragon's body. Virtue admitted to Gartokkar that Themberchaud employed her as a secret agent to bring the dragon to him to kill. She added that Thermberchaud was growing restless of the Keepers of the Flame and was going to take over the city soon. This Gartokkar knew, of course. The duergar warned Virtue that Themberchaud had other agents. If Virtue had the dragon, the dragon was in danger.

"Other agents? Like whom?"

"Like Hemeth."

Virtue's eyes got large. She suddenly remembered that it was Hemeth that brought her to Themberchaud's lair, and that it was Hemeth that introduced her to the Wyrmsmith. She said, "Oh. Oh that's right. Uh oh. Gotta go!"

As she turned to run back to the ship, she heard the sound of battle. The derro were uprising!

Hemeth

Back on the boat, Hemeth gave a signal and he and his agents drew their weapons. "Capture the dragon! Kill the rest!"

"MAA!"

TO BE CONTINUED

After Action Report - 
We were missing Talorean and Pain Grille' this week. 

Virtue's player really wanted to foment rebellion and strife everywhere she went, which is totally in line with the character's backstory and goals. The other players just want to get the heck out of town. They're ready for Neverlight Grove.

In a way I'm glad that Talorean's player missed this week because it was filled with the types of machinations, plotting, speculation, investigation, and duplicity that he kind of hates. He becomes bored with political drama and "what should we tell to who?" kinds of strategies. He prefers clearly defined enemies and clearly defined goals where anything else is extraneous and to be ignored.

However, this kind of play is right up Virtue's and Kettle's players alleys. They eat this stuff up. It helps immerse them into the world and it gives them a sense of impact in the setting.

Most of this week's game was just Kettle and Virtue and Angolwen talking in character and interacting with NPCs, and they had a blast! 

I'm a little sad Pain's player missed it because he likes this kind of play also. 

Next week- I built a boat for them to fight on and/or steal to take to Neverlight Grove! 

"The Curse of the Derro" - Out of the Abyss, Chapter 11

What follows is an illustrated dramatic retelling of my group's play through of the D&D campaign setting, "Out of the Abyss". SPOILERS for anyone wishing to play in this campaign.

CHAPTER 11

"THE CURSE OF THE DERRO"

After delivering Droki to Commander Blackskull

The party returned to the Whorlstone Tunnels.

There they encountered a strange group of mushroom men

and chanced upon an old friend...

THE PLAYER CHARACTERS
Talorean - Half-drow abandoned at birth to be raised by wolves.
Angolwen - Wizard of mixed human/elven parentage.
Kettle Bearclaw - Halfling baker living among dwarves.
Pain Grille' - Halfling street urchin from Waterdeep.

THEIR FELLOW TRAVELLERS
Ront - Thuggish orc from the surface world. Follows Talorean's commands.
Jimjar - a roguish deep gnome who likes to wager on everything.
Topsy and Turvy - Deep gnome twins who everyone pretty much knows are were-rats.
Buppido - A gregarious derro. Everyone assumes he's an assassin.

NOT PRESENT THIS EPISODE
Virtue - Tiefling paladin and a mysterious wild card.

Stool - A myconid sprout that follows Kettle like a pet follows its owner.
Prince Derendil - Elven prince in the body of a brutish quaggoth.
Starshine - A mute female moon elf, an escaped slave with no name.

INTRODUCING
Mister Floop! - A friendly newcomer

AN OLD FRIEND
Soon after encountering the dancing myconids, Virtue received a premonition. Looking around nervously, she muttered something about danger and mysteriously fled with her dragon egg.

Everyone watched her, somewhat dumbounded, as she ran away towards the alchemist's lab. She ran right past Kettle, who was calmly approaching from that same direction.

"Where's she going?" the halfling asked, hooking his thumb towards Virtue.

Pain simply shrugged.

Continuing into the next chamber, they encountered the gruesome stench of decaying bodies. There they found a derro arranging dozens of mutilated corpses into a spiral pattern on the floor.

Buppido looked up from his task as the party entered his charnel abattoir and smiled.

Pain was at first happy to be reunited with a former member of their party, but he was apprehensive, "Uh, Buppido? Buddy?"

"Oh, there you are! I didn't expect you to find me here, with my shrine nearly finished! An power! My faithful are finaly honoring me! Are you...? Yes, I sense that you are ready to receive my truth into your hearts!"

Buppido held his arms wide and looked to the ceiling. In his right hand was the curved drow blade with which he attacked Angolwen.

"And Angolwen! I am happy to see that you have returned so that I can finish what I started!"

Buppido was bathed in a column of purple light emanating from a glowing circle that formed underneath his feet. Tiny motes of energy swirled in the air around him. 

Buppido

"Rise! Rise my faithful worshippers! Rise and do your the bidding of your all-powerful god!"

Various rotting body parts assembled into seven humanoid shapes and rose up from the floor. Each animated corpses comprised of mis-matched parts but all possessing two heads! They animated body parts moved towards the party, brandishing weapons in a threatening manner. 

Pain quipped, "Huh, maybe he really IS the avatar of the god of murder!"

Angolwen shouted, "Let me kill him! Let me kick him in the nards again!"

Kettle yelled back, "No! Don't kill him! There's a reward for his arrest!"

Angolwen looked dubiously at Kettle, "Really? Are you sure?"

Kettle assured her, "Yes! Of course there is! Don't kill him!"

Angolwen gritted her teeth, "Hrumph! Fine!"

The party spread out. Pain rushed in and engaged Buppido. Buppido stabbed Pain with his poisoned dagger, but as a halfling Pain was resistant to its effects. Pain then stabbed Buppido, but stayed his blade so that Buppido might be captured alive.

Soon afterwards, the animated corpses were defeated and Buppido was bound and in custody.

A moment later, a diminuitive ghost arose from the mass of dismembered body parts. The ghost introduced himself as Pelek. Pelek was friendly and interacted with the party, answering what questions he could. He explained that he was a travelling trader from Brlingdenstone on his way to Gracklstugh and that had met Buppido several tridons ago wanding alone in the Underdark. They journed together to the City of Blades. It was then that Buppido murdered the deep gnome and scattered his parts here. He requested the party return his family ring to his relatives in Blingdenstone. Only then would his soul be set free.

The party agreed, only to then learn that the ring is attached to a hand that, only an hour ago, became animated and scuttled out of the room into the caves beyond.

Kettle took a look around and noted the tiny glowing finger-print like tracks left in the magically infused stone of the tunnel.

As they prepared to head out and track the hand, Kettle ordered Ront, as the strongest, to carry the captive Buppido.

Ront looked at Talorean for approval. Talorean shook his head, "No."

Kettle tried again. Ront looked at Talorean again. Talorean, once more, forbade him. Ront was confused. Kettle and Talorean clashed over who should carry the body. Talorean argued that he needed Ront to be unencumbered should fighting break out. Also, Talorean wanted to kill Buppido in the first place. If Kettle wanted to carry him around, then Kettle would have to do it.

Kettle acquiesced in a huff but managed to persuade the myconid Rumpadump to carry Buppido.

THE WHISPERING MESA
Kettle lost the tiny glowing fingerprints in the mushroom forest. Taking a chance, the party went right, following the winding passage as it curved to the left. They found themselves in the cavern containing the single massive stalagmite and the ceiling concealed by a glowing whispering fog.

They climbed the stalagmite to the top where the whispers became distict voices. Angolwen closed her eyes and concentrated, trying to listen for a voice belonging to Commander Blackskull. Soon, she could hear Commander Blackskull's very thoughts. She learned that Commander Blackskull had, indeed, spoken with representatives of the Xarrorn and the Merchants' Guild and that it was safe for Angolwen to reach out to the Merchants' Guild about the miscommunication.

She tried to listen for additional thoughts, but overtaxed her mind, causing a severe headache which caused her to break the link.

Kettle and Pain likewise attempted, but both accomplished nothing more than severe headaches.

They decided to leave the chamber. Having lost the trail of the crawling hand, they returned to the mushroom forest and tried the other route.

MISTER FLOOP
Back at the mushroom forest, they decided to take the left path. Kettle was able to reacquire the trail which they followed past the chamber with the water weird pool and down the long corridor.

Up ahead, they saw a strange creature - a floating fleshy disk with two eye stalks. Dangling below the disk were many gently waving tentacles, like a floating jellyfish.

Mister Floop

The strange creature approached them, calling out, "Hello there! Oh hello! I am in need of assistance!"

The party warily engaged the strange creature in conversation.

The creature introduced itself as "Mister Floop", a "flumph". He said that he was drawn to these caves because of their unique magical nature, which he found quite nourishing, but he has encountered several creatures engaging in most distressing behavior regarding rituals involved with certain infernal extra-dimensional entities. Their activities are spoiling the magical nature of these caves, infusing them with infernal extra-dimensional energies. He enlisted the party to stop their activities before the caves were ruined forever!

The party put aside their quest for the crawling hand to help Mister Floop with his problem.

THE CULTISTS HIDEOUT
The party followed Mister Floop down the long corridor, curving around to the left until it made a sharp left turn. They had arrived at the intersection where they had previously scattered caltrops to discourage a group of shambling two-headed grimlocks. They cautiously entered the previously unexplored side passage, weapons drawn.

No one was failed to notice the concealed pit trap in front of them. They easily moved around it and continued into the dense fungal thicket ahead. As they did so, they could smell campfires ahead and hear the droning chanting of some kind of ritual. The ritual was interrupted as several blood-curdlling screams went up around the party. They had entered a patch of shrieker mushrooms!

The party rushed into the large chamber. The right half of the chamber was elevated from the left by a five foot ledge. There were three burning braziers on the ledge, casting odd flickering light and shadows against the dimly glowing magical walls of the cavern.

Five derro, one wearing fancy robes, were chanting in a circle.  As they chanted, a two-foot statue in the center of the circle began growing a second head! The chanting came to a crescendo with the shouting of a hideous name:

"Demogorgon!"

Upon hearing the shreiker, the derro moved away from the circle and took up defensive positions along the ledge.

Another derro, who had been sitting near a camp fire and several sleeping bags in the lower half of the chamber, stood up and moved to open a large nearby cage. Within the cage was a vicious two-headed dog!

Pain rushed in to re-close the cage. Ront followed to engage the derro.

Kettle ran forth to engage the derro on the ledge.

The derro in the fine robes issued orders to someone out of view in a niche to the right, "Grula-Munga! Arise! Strike down our enemies! Your master, Narrak, demands it!"

Narrak

From around the corner arose a massive hulking two-headed giant, apparently named Grula-Munga!

The Cultist Hideout

Grula-Munga strode forward into view, walked up to Kettle, hit him once with a massive uprooted tree, then smashed into the halfling with a powerful swing from a metal mace! Kettle went flying into a nearby wall with a crash!  The stunned halfling caught his breath with a groan.

DM Note-
Critical hit! 

Talorean rushed forward to support Kettle in his fight with the two-headed giant. Angolwen came around the corner and began hurling spells.

After a thrilling battle, Grula-Munga was finally defeated by a thunderous chromatic orb released high over the creature's heads.

Meanwhile, one of the other derro ran up and re-opened the cage holding the two-headed dog. Pain looked at him in disbelief, "What? REALLY??" The derro smiled with glassy eyes.

Ront and Pain continued to fight the death dog and the two derro with assistance from Jimjar. The remaining two derro withdrew to protect Narrak.

Talorean and Ront, having finished off their foes, began to approach Narrak. Narrak cast a Hold Person spell on Talorean. Ront, seeing magic at play, decided to back off.

Topsy and Turvy ran up to engage the derro protecting Narrak. Upon entering the glowing magic circle, Turvy was overcome by irrational fear and retreated to the safety of the cage that once held the two-headed dog.

Kettle and Pain attempted to fight with Narrak and his bodygards while Angolwen and Jimjar attacked at range with spells and crossbow. Angolwen called for restraint to that Narrak could be captured alive. Topsy, however, showed no restraint and killed the derro savant anyway.

INSUBORDINATION

After the battle, Kettle went to check on Buppido, whom Rumpadump had been dragging along. Kettle was annoyed to find Buppido stabbed to death!

Kettle shouted at Rumpadump, "What happened here? Who did this? And don't you dare tell me we all look alike!"

Rumpadump stoically replied, "Okay." The myconid remained silent.

Kettle, annoyed, said, "Well? Who did it?"

Rumpadump answered, "I don't know. One of the mammals."

Jimjar said, "Yeah, uh, I was trying to tell you earlier."

"Did you do this?"

"Uh, no way! It wasn't me! I'm not gonna say WHO did it. I'm no rat! But let's just say you might want to ask the twins about it." Jimjar hooked a thumb at Topsy and Turvy.

Topy was trying to get her brother Turvy out of the dog cage. Turvy was still in the throes of fear.

Kettle stormed over and began yelling at them. The rest of the party tried to calm him down. Angolwen, however, was ambivalent. On the one hand, she was happy that Buppido, who tried to murder her, was dead. She wanted to kill him anyway. On the other hand, she was annoyed at Topsy for murdering Narrak. She simply shrugged and stayed out of it.

Kettle berates the Twins for Murdering Buppido

Topsy shouted at Kettle, "Bad big-head tried to kill nice elf lady! We saw it! We saw him try to kill her! He would kill all of us! He would try to kill us! We killed him first!"

Kettle was incensed that the bounty he believed awaited him was not lost.

In response, Topsy and Turvy both turned into were-rats and ran off, squeezing through a fissure in the back of the chamber.

THE AFTERMATH

After the drama with the twins had died down, the party began to examine the room.
In the center of the circle they found the two-foot tall statue. The statue was of a stone giant, with a freshly grown second head. The statue was engraved with the profane markings of demogorgon. On its base was the name Dorhun, the stone giant they had met in the Blade Bazaar.

In the rear of the cave, they found several broken two-headed statues in a pile by Narrak's desk. One of the statues had the name Rihuud, the giant they were forced to kill in the Blade Bazaar. The other was named Chthonn, the giant they encountered in the Underdark. When they picked up the pieces of Rihuud's statue, it crumbled to dust. The shards of Chthonn's statue, however, did not crumble. They bundled them up with the statue of Dorhun to return to Stonespeaker Hgraam.

On the desk was a scroll and a book containing ancient dwarven rituals - a book that would take hours to read and comprehend.

Angolwen used the Stonespeaker Crystal to cast a Speak with Dead spell upon the corpse of Narrak. She learned that the savants were sorcerers and kept no spell books, frustrating her attempts to gain new magic.

At that point, Mister Floop came dashing in, telepathically broadcasting, "Ah Hah! Have at thee! Oh, is the battle over?"

He was told that it was. He seemed disappointed. "I'm terribly sorry. I'm having difficulty understanding this concept you call the linear passage of time. I'll try better to participate next time. Well, you certainly have performed a terrific service here! You've brought an end to the corruption these filthy creatures were causing. You certainly are an exciting bunch! Refreshing! Very satisfying! I passively feed off emotions, you see. Would you mind terribly if I were to, say, accompany you on your travels for a while?"

Angolwen rolled her eyes, "Sure. Great."

DM Note-
Angolwen's player had commented the week before that the majority of the rewards in this campaign so far seemed to be additional NPCs. She's not wrong.

Afterwards, they returned to the laboratory of the Grey Alchemist, climbed the ladder back to the Darklake Docks, and took the body of Buppido to the Overlake Hold.

Commander Errde Blackskull of the Stone Guard

They presented the body to Commander Blackskull in the hopes of receiving a reward for the death of the murderer. Commander Blackskull, in her growing paranoia, was concerned that her agents were indeed who they said they were. She informed them of her suspicion that a new breed of doppelganger had entered Gracklstugh, and that these doppelgangers were immune to biological tests! She then used what she called her newly acquired psionic abilities to verify their identities. Having done so, she accepted the body of Buppido and added an additional 50 gp each to their equipment credit when they choose to leave Gracklstugh.

After leaving the Overlake Hold, the party hired a courier to take a message to Clan Cairngorm, informing them of the statues and requesting audience with the Stonespeaker in two shifts.

A MUCH NEEDED REST

The party returned to the Gholbrorn's Lair to rest for a shift. After an uneventful rest, they woke, ate a hearty meal of rothe' stew with mushrooms and tubers, and made their plans for the tridon.

The dour serving wench of the inn brought them a message. They had received a reply from Clan Cairngorm with a pass allowing them to visit.

Stonespeaker Hgraam

They took the pass to the gates and were escorted through the forbidden city to Clan Cairngorm's praxeum. There they were met by Stonespeaker Hgraam. They showed him the statues they had found and recounted the story of the ritual.  The Stonespeaker confirmed that Dorhun had, indeed, suffered a bout of madness during the shift before last, and that he had grown a second head the same as Rihuud. He took the statues, explaining that with the statue he could undo the curse placed upon him. However, because the statue of Chthonn was broken, its effects were permanent. He worried that Chthonn now had two heads of his own.

Stonespeaker thanked the party for their intervention and rewarded them with an emerald the size of a grapefruit!

YLSA'S DEAL

After meeting with the Stonespeaker, the party returned to the Blade Bazaar. They asked several Stone Guard and merchants about meeting with the merchant council to discuss the obelisk. They were directed to the office of Ylsa Henstak, public representative of the council.

Ylsa Henstak

They apologized about the misunderstanding three or four shifts ago. Both sides thought they were engaging the forces of the Grey Ghosts in the laboratory of the Grey Alchemist.

They inquired about the merchant council's interest in the Whorlstone Tunnels. Ylsa did not know about the tunnels. She said that she was investigating possible Derro trade with the surface in violation with exclusive trade agreements and licenses belonging to members of the merchant council.

She then showed the party a collection of contraband items confiscated from the derro: various coins of Overworld pressing, a handful of gold rings, and some necklaces. She pointed out the Overworld provenance of the items, exclaiming that the derro, unfamiliar with their true value, were trading such items in exchange for simple meals!

She went on to relate that the council had learned the Derro Savants had hired the Grey Ghosts for an unknown purpose, and they had learned that Droki had been hired as a courier to deliver items to the Grey Ghosts in an underground hideout. The Xarrorn found the entrance to this hideout and went in to investigate, only to find a group of Overworlders, confirming their suspicions of a connection to the Overworld.

Pain and Angolwen then told Ylsa of the Obsidian Obelisk and its ability to produce items from the Overworld, speculating that this was the source of the items from the Overworld. They offered to take Ylsa and her Xarrorn to the obelisk if she wanted, for a price.

Ylsa was interested and offered the three gold rings as payment for the obelisk.

The following shift, the party escorted Ylsa and a force of Xarrorn and guards from Clan Xardelvar down the pipe into the Whorlstone Tunnels and to the chamber of the obsidian obelisk. There they showed her how to activate the obelisk and produced several random items.

Ylsa was impressed and paid them one of the necklaces. She offered more for Angolwen to demonstrate the teleportation capabilities of the obelisk but, not knowing to where she would teleport, Angolwen declined. Ylsa further offered Angolwen long-term employment activating the obelisk. Angolwen was tempted but declined when she learned she'd have to stay in Gracklstugh for hundreds of tridons.

Pain asked Ylsa if the merchant council had any trips to the Overworld planned. Ylsa said that the caravans are massive affairs and that the next one wouldn't happen for hundreds of tridons. Pain then asked about Blingdenstone instead. She confirmed that they send a lake galley to Blingdenstone once every few dozen tridons. She offered free passage on one should they wish to travel there. The party agreed.

Kettle, having seen the obelisk for the first time, was entranced by its capabilities. He was certain that the obelisk was responsible for the disappearance of his favorite stirring spoons. He asked about the cracks and voids in its metallic surface. Pain explained that the shard they had obtained from the Grey Alchemist would fit perfectly into the void.

Kettle looked sheepish, "Oh, uh, it does?"

Pain became suspicious, "Yes, why."

Kettle admitted, "Because I kind of, um, took it to a blacksmith and asked him to forge it into a new short sword."

Pain Grille'

"What? Really?" Pain exclaimed.

"Um. Yes. Sorry."

"When?"

"Like, three shifts ago, when I took Stool back to the surface."

"Dammit Kettle!"

TO BE CONTINUED...

DM Notes-

One of the things that I loved about this session was seeing the players buy into the paranoia of the city. They're starting to get involved in the plots and schemes and machinations between the various factions, and are beginning to withhold information with an eye towards playing factions against each other!

During the exchanges with Commander Blackskull, they were very careful not to mention the dragon egg or the entire plot happening between the Keepers of the Flame and Themberchaud, or the Grey Ghost theft of the egg for the Derro Savants. They only confirmed that the Grey Ghosts were working for the Derro Savants. Of course, that was driven by Virtue doing a quick subtle head shake to cut that story off in the session before last. Virtue has her own plans for the dragon egg.

Similarly, when they met Ylsa, they failed to mention the dragon egg or any plots involving the Keepers or the Derro Savants, or even the two-headed statues or the cult of Demogorgon. They kept the information about the obsidian obelisk compartmentalized. 

It's that kind of buy-in and interaction with the NPCs as real people and setting as real place that makes me so happy as a dungeon master!