The Waning Confidence of Warlord Azrok - Dungeon of the Mad Mage, Chapter 19

 

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. 

CHAPTER 19

"THE WANING CONFIDENCE

OF WARLORD AZROK"

The Mystics of Trollskull Manor:

• 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.

DM - The group FINALLY descends to level 4. I also discover this week that my hardcover book is missing pages 65-96, which is most of Level 4 and 5. I have already submitted a ticket to WotC.

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.

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.

To be Continued...

Stromkuhldur - Dungeon of the Mad Mage, Chapter 13

 

The Mystics of Trollskull Manor descended to the second level of Undermountain known as the Arcane Chambers. They passed through the Goblin Bazaar. The Bazaar was severely depopulated - many of the goblin merchants having been recruited by the Legion of Azrok to fight the drow farther below. 

They retraced their steps to the Dead Eyes Watch Post. The watch post was now manned by hobgoblins. The hobgoblin guards bade them approach slowly with hands up. The Mystics complied and were allowed entry. 

A mixed platoon of  hobgoblins, bugbears, and goblins guarded the doorway. The captain came out to interrogate the Mystics on their origin, their destination, and their intention. Etlenda explained that they were this season's contestants in the challenge of the Mad Mage Halaster and they sought safe passage. Etlenda asked the captain how the campaign went against the drow. The captain declared that their holy crusade against the foul invaders continues. With the recent vacancy of the Xanathar's Guild, he and his platoon had been sent to secure this watch post to prevent further expansion by the vile dark elves.

When asked how he felt about Xanathar's Guild, the hobgoblin captain showed disdain for the criminal element and confidence in their ability to hold this post against any attempt by the Guild to retake it. The goblins and bugbears under his command, however, rubbed the back of their heads and glanced at each other warily - a sign that his troops did not share the captain's positive assessment.

The captain attempted to recruit the Mystics into the Legion's righteous crusade which they politely refused.

The captain announced that the toll for descent was 1 gold piece per party member. Etlenda gladly paid double the amount as a sign of encouragement and solidarity with the Legion of Azrok - as long as they held the post against Xanathar's Guild. 

CHAPTER 13

"STROMKUHLDUR"

The Mystics of Trollskull Manor:

• 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. 
• Glom the Wretched - Chaotic Neutral Goblin NPC, former thief and guide to the Arcane Chambers.

DM - This week we returned to Undermountain. I got great positive feedback from my players about the way the campaign has been going. They really appreciated the mix of dungeon-crawling, faction politics, and role-playing. They felt the balance has been really well maintained. They expressed a concern about having to refight battles as they ascend out of the dungeon and descend back into it. I reminded them that it's a living dungeon and stuff happens while they're gone. If they wanted a secure route, it was up to them to make it secure. They might consider hiring guards to occupy and protect key checkpoints. They rolled their eyes at the additional expense but acknowledged it was probably the best way.

Sromkuhldur

The party went right at the bottom of the stairs, having already taken the left passage. The corridor turned left - Kem figured they were facing south. The passage turned east then south again and opened into a chamber - a hundred feet across with a thirty foot ceiling. The southern, easter, and western portions of the chamber were covered in debris from a massive collapse. The chamber contained small walled structures - mostly collapsed or with fallen walls. This was once part of the dwarven city of Stromkuhldur. They explored a few of the structures but found them empty - long ago stripped of anything useful - so they continued through an excavated passage in the collapsed southern wall.

Chimera

The passage contained a side branch heading east. The half-orc Push-ta scouted the side passage. He returned to report a natural cavern with a large three-headed beast - a chimera - lying upon a pile of coins. The party decided to confront the beast.

Winterfrost and Etlenda led the way. They charged into the room and attacked the creature. The chimera  responded by biting at Winterfrost while its dragon head breathed flame onto Etlenda, burning him and his spirit wolf. They, along with Push-ta, counterattacked and made short work of the chimera. 

The team took some time to separate the pile of coins by type without counting. They recovered hundreds of electrum coins and thousands of silver coins. They put the electrum into a magical bag of holding and continued their exploration.

Giant Spiders

They continued down the excavated tunnel and entered another section of the dwarven city. This chamber was larger than the first and the north and western sections were buried in collapsed debris. The subterranean structures were larger. Many contained chimneys and pipes connecting to the ceiling. The walls were covered in a thick layer of silky webbing. Large sheets of webbing dangled from the ceiling, swaying slowly. Many of the structures were connected by massive strands of web. 

Suddenly three humongous spiders attacked - attempting to cover the Mystics of Trollskull Manor with webbing from their hidden positions atop structures or on the wall. 

The party became split into two flanks and the battle became a slog. Soon more spiders joined the fight from further south in the city-chamber. As one spider was defeated, another would appear! 

Kitchen Guards

From around the corner of the nearby structure appeared an elf with charcoal gray skin and long white hair - a dark elf - a drow! The drow was investigating the disturbance and seemed surprised to see intruders defeating the massive spiders. He ran back inside the structure.

Kem said a prayer was was surrounded by several dozen spiritual hammers which attacked the spiders and forced them to retreat. 

Hu-man Patty Johnson became immobilized in sticky webs. Etlenda and Tempus were forced to divert to aid their friend and help her escape from the webs. Push-ta climbed the structure to give chase to the fleeing spider. He soon shot it dead with his light crossbow. 

Etlenda and Tempus rejoined Kem and Winterfrost who had defeated the spiders on their flank and were pursuing the drow into the structure.

There they were plunged into magical darkness. The spiritual hammers struck down the drow in the room and the magical darkness ended. 

They were in a kitchen. Bugbear and goblin prisoners were chained to a table preparing meat to be cooked while a cauldron bubbled in the far corner of the room. 

They freed the prisoners and equipped them with weapons taken from the drow. The prisoners fled to reunite with the Legion of Azrok.

Bedchambers

The party exited the kitchen soon afterwards but were attacked by a drow with a crossbow from the opposite roof. Etlenda disappeared, only to magically reappear on the far roof. He rode his spirit wolf mount as he chase down and slew the defiant dark elf.

The party had noticed that the drow had come from the the northeast. They explored that way and found the entrance to a richly appointed bedchamber. The door was decorated with paintings of a female dark elf and multiple giant spiders.

Within was a luxurious bed covered in fine spider silks. The preserved heads of goblins and bugbears sat on a shelf in one corner. 

By the bed was a locked chest. The chest was decorated with a spider motif. Push-ta produced his lock picks and quickly opened the lock and the chest.

Within they found an onyx spider figurine, 8 sticks of incense, a dagger with a reservoir for poison , a folded robe of spider silk dyed black with gold spiders on it, a potion of yellow oily liquid similar to a healing potion, a birchwood wand and a fancy leatherbound spell book decorated with moons and trees, and a secret compartment Push-ta found a pouch decorated like the spell book with a diamond and a pearl.

Demon Mirror

They party exited the bedchamber and explored some other nearby structures. Most were empty but in one locked structure they discovered a large oval mirror. The mirror's frame was carved to look like hundreds of black spiders - they seemed to move and boil. 

Winterfrost approached the mirror and saw her own reflection. As she drew near her reflection was replaced with a waxy amorphous mass with a single giant red eye. It spoke in a language she did not understand. The mirror tilted forward. Winterfrost retreated as it fell onto the floor, smashing into a thousand shards.

Tempus, a religious man, had heard the words. He knew the language - Abyssal, the speech of demons. He relayed what the demon said, "I know you. I know who you are."

Treasure Downstream

The next structure they found was opened. Within was a vein of turquoise running down the eastern wall. The vein resembled a blue-green river. Several carved salmon were embedded into the turquoise as if swimming in the river. 

There was a deep basin carved into the floor of the northern portion of the room. The fish appeared to be swimming away from it.

Etlenda examined the fish and noticed that they were attacked via pegs and could be rotated. He spun all the fish around so that they were swimming towards the basin.

The basin magically filled with water. Within the water was a bright milky green fish, swimming around.

Etlenda got on his knees near the basin. He reached in and managed to catch the fish. When he withdrew it from the water, it stopped moving. It had become frozen in emerald. He placed it within his magical bag of holding for later examination.

Quaggoth Charge

As the party exited the structure, they saw four large hairy beasts, like a cross between a man, a bear, and a gorilla covered in white fur, charging towards them, clinging to the walls of the dwarven structures. The beasts snarled and seemed intent on violence!

They were being directed from the rear by a drow handler. More drow could be heard mustering around the corner.

They were under attack!

To be Continued!

Next week, Push-ta's player is absent to I'm taking the opportunity to run Mork Borg for some of my other players who had yet to experience it. The two players who had previously played Mork Borg were very excited!

Dead Eyes - Dungeon of the Mad Mage, Chapter 7

 

The Mystics of Trollskull Manor planned their next move. Etlenda took Glom the Wretched aside, "Glom, you said you  knew how to find the stairs down to the next lower level?"

"Yes. Yes. Glom know. But too dangerous. You go back to surface, yes?"

"No, Glom. You're going to take us to the stairs going down."

Glom sighed, defeated, "Okay. Glom show you. But very dangerous! You not go!"

Glom led them back to the hall of the Goblin Bazaar. As they entered, Etlenda held up his arms in triumphant return. He waited for all the goblins to hail his return with a cry of "Pigmud!" Instead, his return was met with a momentary pause in the normal proceedings punctuated with a single cough. The goblins shrugged and returned to their regular work.

Tempus noticed that Copper Stoneforge was missing - he had chained the dwarf prisoner there only a few hours earlier and hired goblins to watch him. "What? Where'd he go? Dammit!" 

Tempus angrily tried to get the attention of goblin passers by, demanding to know what happened to Copper Stoneforge, but none of the goblins appeared to understand Common. Tempus poked his head into the audience hall of Yek the Tall but the dwarf was nowhere to be seen.

Yek the Tall, meanwhile, saw Tempus. The goblin chieftain pointed at Tempus and shouted, "YOU!"

CHAPTER 7

"DEAD EYES"

The Mystics of Trollskull Manor:

• 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. 

The Legion of Azrok

Yek ordered his bugbear guards to detain Tempus. Tempus retreated from the room, "We had a deal, Yek!" He rejoined the group, "We should probably go."

At just that moment, the exit to the south was thrown open. Behind the door was an entire unit of hobgoblin warriors led by a battle-scarred commander. The commander shouted at full military intensity, "Step aside for the Legion of Azrok!"

The Mystics of Trollskull Manor parted and allowed the platoon of eleven hobgoblins to enter. They marched to the center of the hall in tight military formation. The hobgoblin commander shouted something in goblin.

Etlenda asked Glom what was going on. She explained that the hobgoblins were recruiting warriors to fight the drow. 

Winterfrost said, "What do you think?"

Etlenda replied, "Not our problem. Lets stick to the plan!"

The party exited through the south door.

The Owlbear Challenge

The party traveled down a long corridor heading east. They came across a four-way intersection decorated with colorful frescoes depicting dwarves at work. Glom indicated the passage to the south.

Tempus said, "Glom, hold up. Now that you are safely away from the bazaar, we're going to need that back." He took the circlet from her head. Glom, startled, reverted back to her goblin form. "Oh," she said, disappointed, "Glom was getting used to it."

The passage turned east again. As the party neared a rupture in the north wall, they heard music swell from no discernable source - it was Halaster's music. A glowing magical rift appeared as a voice declared, "Our heroes press on. Let us see if they can handle a little unexpected challenge. AN OWLBEAR!" A large bear covered in feathers with the head of a giant owl stepped through the rift. It roared aggressively at the party, "HOOOOT!" It charged them with rage in its avian eyes.

The owlbear was quickly defeated. It disappeared into a glowing blue mist. The magical voice said, "Well done! Better than expected! But don't get too cocky, next time there'll be TWO!"

The Zombie Beholder

The passage then turned south, then west. A side passage led to the south. Glom pointed and said, "Stairs down that way, but Glom not go. Too dangerous. Guarded. Don't go. Too dangerous."

Etlenda assured her everything would be okay and sent Push-ta, who now insisted on being called by his goblin name "Bearbite" down the corridor to scout ahead. 

"Bearbite" returned a moment later, his half-orc face pale, "You're not going to believe this. Its like some kind of zombie beholder! Its hovering near the ceiling out of melee range. Also, there's a whole group of people in the room beyond fighting or wrassling or something."

The party was hesitant. Do they turn back? Do they confront a dangerous guardian? They decided to take care of the problem now.

Bearbite moved stealthily ahead of the others. He was unnoticed by the zombie beholder. He aimed his crossbow and loosed a deadly bolt. The attack caught the beholder by surprise. It retaliated in anger, sending a beam of paralysis towards the half-orc "caravan guard". Bearbite's muscles began to freeze. He fought off the paralysis and backed up around the corner and behind cover. 

DM - The spacing of the assault was awkward. Some of the characters had surprise on the beholder, but they were too far back to effectively charge into the room and attack - it would have required a double-move. So there were a few turns of movement and jostling and positioning for optimum coverage by the paladin's aura before they pressed their attack and they wound up losing their surprise round. 

That being said, Push-ta/Bearbite did 51 points of damage on his surprise round sneak attack, which ain't bad!

The party charged down the long corridor and into the room. Winterfrost threw a lasso made of magical lightning at the beholder, pulling it down from the ceiling. 

Etlenda, astride his holy war-wolf, attacked the creature, impaling it with his sword.

The zombie beholder opened its mouth to emit a dry raspy scream as it perished. 

DM - Lightning Lure for 12 lightning damage. Wolf claws for 12 slashing damage. Then a Natural 20 for 20 points of damage followed by 19 points of smite damage! The undead beholder didn't last more than one round and took WAY more damage than it could overcome and reanimate.

Nadia the Unbent

A woman shouted from the next room, "Shut up! Someone's in the entrance! Get them!"

A tall muscular woman led a contingent of human thugs and bugbears into the entrance hall. She stopped when she saw the intruders, "As I thought! It's the ones our masters warned us about! You were told not to enter Undermountain! Now you will learn what it means to defy Xanathar and his guild! None shall pass Nadia the Unbent! Kill them!"

What followed was a tough fight as Etlenda engaged Nadia the Unbent while her thugs fanned out and harassed the party with crossbows from cover. The bugbears and a few thugs joined Nadia in a huge scrum in the center of the hall. A handful of bugbears hung back as reinforcements. 

It was a slog! Despite her name, Nadia fell early in the battle. Etlenda was beaten nearly to unconsciousness on two or three separate occasions, only to be reinvigorated by healing prayers from Tempus and Kem. Winterfrost and Push-ta took the flank and made a drive towards a door to the south - a door the thugs seemed keen on defending.

The bugbear reserves eventually joined the fight while a single thug disappeared through what appeared to be a secret door in the back of the next room. A few moments later more bugbears emerged from the secret door. Their arrival was too little too late and eventually all the opponents lay defeated upon the floor.

The Rust Monster Gate

The party rested for a bit before continuing. Winterfrost took Nadia's great axe as a prize. 

Once they caught their breath, they found and entered the secret door. The passage beyond branched to the left and right. The left was a dead end. The right turned towards the east and terminated in another dead end. However, the dead was framed by an archway, similar to the one which turned people invisible on the level above. A rust monster was engraved on the keystone. 

Bearbite thought about it for a moment before saying, "I'm doing it." He passed through the arch - 

- only to slam face first into the wall. 

As he rubbed his nose he felt his clothing and armor shift. He looked down to see the rivets in his studded leather, the buckle on every belt, all his crossbow bolts, everything he owned made of iron or steel, turn to flaky rust. 

"Wh-what??"

Winterfrost watched in shock, "Oh shit!"

The Armory

Etlenda and Tempus, meanwhile, searched the dead end to the south and found another secret door. Beyond was a long room filled with racks of old dwarven weapons and armor - an armory. 

There were dozens of suits of plate armor, chain mail shirts, shields, spears, polearms, axes, and hammers. Unfortunately, they were so ancient that all the leather straps and cloth had long ago become brittle or decayed. The wooden hafts of weapons were rotten. Nothing could be used.

Tempus, searching through the racks, found a badly injured thug - the sole survivor who had fled the battle - hiding behind one of the racks. The thug surrendered. 

Tempus told the thug to leave, get out of Undermountain, and never come back, and to remember the mercy they showed him. 

The thug ran nervously past as he escaped with his life. 

Tempus started loading several suits of plate armor into his magical bag of holding. Bearbite said, "What are you doing?"

Tempus replied, "Plate armor costs like 1500 gold pieces per suit! This is treasure! I'm taking it out and selling it!"

"It's useless!" said Kem, examining some of the decayed leather and cloth. 

"It can be repaired! Heck, YOU could repair it! We'll fix it up and sell it! You'll see!"

Kem thought about it and shrugged, "Maybe."

The Ballistae

Bearbite recovered what crossbow bolts he could from the defeated thugs as well as some leather armor. So reequipped, the party prepared to open the south door.

Beyond the south door was a long gallery to the east. At the end of the gallery were two uncrewed heavy ballistae. The party watched the ballistae carefully. Tempus saw one shudder while the other scratched one of its legs. They were magically animated. 

They avoided the long gallery and took the door immediately opposite on the south wall. 

DM - Apparently the players could see the label on the icons in Roll20 "Animated Ballistae". Winterfrost's player said, "I get the feeling they might be animated ballistae."

TWO Owlbears

A long passage led west, then turned south. After the turn, the passage turned back to the east. 

There they heard Halaster's music again. A magical voice appeared, "Ladies and gentlemen, we've seen how they handled one owlbear. But can they handle TWO?" Two magical rifts appeared, one in front and one behind, and an owlbear emerged from both.

Etlenda hopped off his spirit world and ordered Glom to get onto the saddle. He moved towards the back to help defend Tempus and Kem while Bearbite and Winterfrost took on the owlbear in the front. 

The battle was more challenging this time and it took a little more effort but the party was ultimately able to defeat both owlbears. Once again, the dead owlbears disappeared in blue glowing mist.

"Well well well! It looks like they defeated both! Who knew they had it in them?"

The Stairs Down

Before them, the eastern corridor descended down some long stairs. 

The music changed, swelled, became more ominous. The voice became more foreboding, "And so, our contestants persevere in the face of their countless shortcomings, saying goodbye to the Arcane Chambers and hello to the dwarven ruins of Stromkuhldur—but, we wonder, can they weather the storm of spiders and venom that is House Auvryndar? Can they escape the wretched drow? Or shall they too become pregnant with the demon goddess's foul children?"

"Find out this and more next week on Dungeon of the Mad Mage!"

Tempus shouted out, "We're not going down yet!"

There was the sound of a needle scratching on vinyl, "Wait- what?"

Etlenda added, "We just wanted to find the stairs and map it. We're headed back to do some exploring."

"Oh. Oh. Okay. Well, FINE! You're not fun at all!"

The party turned and headed back the way they came.

To Be Continued...