11.20.21
Backstory?! More like Back Door-y!
November 20th, 2021
When we last joined our adventurers, they had just ended their encounter with the Neznar, Black Spider, his doppelgänger ally, and rescued Nundro the captured Rockseeker brother in Wave Echo Cave. With the Black Spider disappeared into an alternative dimension with a augmentation bead and far from where he can hurt the party, they took a long rest and prepared to explore the remaining cavern. Evelyn is devastated by the loss of cultural heritage thanks to the trapped ceiling of the Black Spider's chamber and has unsuprisingly spent the night weeping over the remains, yelling at the party, drinking heavily, and attempting to recover what artifacts remain in the room's rubble. Lillian tends to the wounded and harrowed Nundro.
With Nundro still feeling unable to fight, Lillian decides to hang back with him until he feels stable enough to return to Phandalin. The rest of the party decide to head out and explore the rest of the labyrinth of caverns.
Heading out of Nundro's quarters, the sound of waves and a suprisingly refreshing and slight salty sea breeze great the adventurers. This utterly confuses Keras, who is semi aquatic by nature and is painfully aware of how far from the sea he is right now.
As the party heads into the unknown they discover a chamber with another large rift in the center with a small river flowing down into it. Keras leaps into the river and rides the waterfall down into the crevice. He gracefully and easily makes it down the clifflike side waterfall of the crevice. Demna is not convinced of the water's safety and attempts to use some fraying ropes, which fail her. As Keras sees this he dolphin leaps out of the water and blunts her fall. "You're welcome" he retorts as he gently sets her down.
The rest of the party climb down with relatively little damage, with only Dripp falling. Luckily his drunken reflexes save him from severe damage. Keras dives for his dropped flask and manages to save it from most of the damage. Evelyn makes an impressive dive down the waterfall, which Keras sees and cannot help but use Thalmaturgy to make the cound of a crowd cheering.
With the whole party down in the crevace begins to explore. Keras attempts to explore the water tube but finds no easy escape. Billie locates several piles of rubble. The party decides to spend several hours digging through the rubble. Billie uncovers a dwarven skeleton wearing magic guantlets.
Keras casts Identify on the gauntlets, and realizes that they are Guantlets of Ogre Power. After some discussion Keras convinces Billie to let him have it, in return for a favor. The party takes a short rest to recover from their exertion. Detercting no other way out, Billie and Keras make a hand basket and yeet the rest of the player up over the other side. Once the rest of the party makes it up, they both effortlessly climb up the 20 foot cliff face.
Once over the ledge they find a cave tunnel leading further into the cavern. They head down it coming out into a massive water filled cave, every 2 minutes a surge of water crashes in like clockwork. Keras is tempted to jump in but decides against it. The party spreads out to explore and Billie stumbles to a stone archway, as he turns to return to the party Zombies spot him and release a howling scream. Above them a green skull surrounded in flames looks on.
A blast furnace and a mechanical bellows powere by a waterwheel dominate this large chamber. The furnace is cold and dark, but heaps of coal are pilled nearby, along with carts full of runrefined ore. The waterwheel sits in a ten-foot-wide channel cit into the floor of the room, bit the channel is dry. Passages exit to the west, south, and east. The empty channel exits to the noth and east.
Demna who is nearby runs to Billie and casts Chromatic Orb at the Zombie. Killing it instantly, a second Chromatic Orb heads to the flaming skull, which dispells the magic and cackles at her. Keras runs up to Billie shortly behind Demna, and casts Guiding Bolt at the Flameskull. Dealing significant damage to the creature. It reacts poorly raising into the air and casting a Fireball at the three clustered allies. Only Billie is able to jump out of the way. The spell severely burns both keras and Demna.
Dripp approaches the party next, attempting to impress the party, he tries to shoot two arrows at the same time. He fails. Taking a sip from his flask, he casts Hunter's Mark and shoots again, managing to land the hit, and futher angering the Flameskull.
Evelyn, joins the fray last, casting Hunger of Hadar. An abyssal black gateway opens over the skull and several of his zombie minions. They are bathed in darkness and are all blinded. Unseen horrors and tentacles reach out and attack them. Evelyn also heals Demna who was looking very rough.
Bille lashes out next, using his staff to pole vault up to the upper area where the zombies are. He lands a strike only to see the familiar signs of ash raising from the animated corpse. Luckily, Billie is now virtually immune to Ash Zombies with his frequent encounters with them. Shrugging off the ash, he strikes it repeatedly, knocking it down and seemingly killing it. But it shortly rises again. Several of its zombie companions rush to surround Billie.
Demna seeing Billie in danger casts Fireball incinerating a fe of the zombies and triggering more ash clouds. She heads towards the water wheel. Keras heads up towards Billie casting Shatter into the void area still covered in Evelyn's spell. He successfully dispatches all but the Flameskull which wobbles out of the darkness, barely able to suspend itself, when out of nowhere a form drops from the ceiling and plunges its blades into the skull. The party is suprised to see the form of Ekxikas who shrungs and shouts... "Save your insults, I know I'm a bitch."
Unaffected by the sudden apperance of their once sometimes ally, Dripp enters combat with the two remaining zombies. Bisecting one of the two remaining zombies. With only one enemy left, Evelyn reluctantly heals their relic destroying allies, casting Healing Word on Keras and using Healing Light on Demna. Billie engages the last remaining zombie, again shrugging off its ash cloud, after repeated bludgening, the animated corpse falls and does not rise again. With all the enemies dead, they loot the Flameskull's skull which he stores in his anus of holding... gross. The party takes a short rest.
After recovering some health they head southeast, discovering two rooms with doors carved into the cave. Keras rips the melted door off its hinges of the first smaller door discovering a small store room which appears to have already been looted, based on the patterns in the thick dust coating the room. Ekxikas, enters the larger ornate doors, discovering a forge with the tentacled and eye stalked green form of The Spectator. He attempts to speak with Ekxikas, but he attacks him with Psychic Blades. He explains to the spectre that he's only looking for treasure and for him to leave him alone.
The Spectator holder responds, "Leave tiny one this place is not for you." Intimidated, Exkikas leaves and informs the party of a tentacled monster inside. they try to enter the remaining door inside the storage area, only to have their lockpicks break inside it.
Keras, Exkikas, and Dripp approach the two larger ornate doors and attempt to open them further. The Spectator calls out that this space isn't for them. Keras asks "Who is this space for?"
It explains that it is for the followers of Dumathoin. Dumathoin, a god of the forge, is a diety that Keras is deeply familiar with as a Force Cleric. He bluffs the guardian of the Forge of Spells, claiming to be a cleric of Dumathoin, and requesting that he not be attacked and permitted to enter. Exkikas on the other hand attacks it again with Psychic Blades, this time triggering a counter spell which paralyses the teifling theif where he stands.
Billie unaware of what the rest of the party is doing attacks the locked door that two others have attempted to pick. He successfully twists his ankle in the process.
Keras is invited in by The Spectator, but feels weakness. He attempts to play an improvised song to the Talhund. Keras enters, forcing the door open and approaches the green flames of the Forge of Spells. The Spectator tells Keras that he made one mistake, and shoots him with 2 eye beams. The party enters combat. Keras's faith in Thasa sheild him from one of the beams.
