The Land Down Under

Dear Diary
 
I'll be honest - at first I was not totally convinced about this Olga person. She seemed overly upset when I was searching for answers in her dead friend's pockets. But after watching her jump head-first down a hole into what could only be described as a hopeless fight, screaming and carrying on, I realised something.
 
She reminds me a lot of Cromren.
 
Of course, we all immediately followed her down. In the cavern below, dwarves fought over half a dozen mindflayers around a giant brain in a jar, bulging tentacles pressed up against the glass around it. It seems that we encounter more brains in jars these days than brains in the normal fashion.
 
I immediately cast Calm Emotions, as my friends leapt into the fray. Cromren and Ignis began hacking into enemies, with Brax playing support.
 
Zyor was instantly stunned and remained so for the duration. He is an unfortunately obvious target sometimes, what with being a giant armoured elephant.
 
Ignis and Wynra worked together to extract the Khyber Chrystal from the Mindflayer head statue above the floating brain.
 
The other mage [...], managed to take down the barrier encasing the brain which protected it and us. However, the brain plane shifted before we managed to kill it. Instead, we finished off the other mindflayers and slaves. Unfortunately, we were not fast enough to save the Chieftan of their clan - a loss which I think was greater than any of them let on. Olga told us that they would elect a new chief now, and gifted me a set of magical pipes which they call "Nightcallers".
 
We agreed that the Duregar would work to collapse the cave system entirely once we were gone - at least that would displace the brain, should it ever choose to return.
 
We parted ways for now, and though it was a bittersweet ending, I suspect that we will see Olga and the clan again some day. They will probably return to Dirkshire and join the colony there for now.
 
We found some mysterious worm-tadpole-like creatures swimming in the pool in the brain's chambers. Ignis and I believe they may be spawn of the mindflayers. So, naturally, we bottle one up and kill the remainder.
 
Further on, we find a room with yet more brains floating in jars. I'm beginning to consider whether my own skull is simply a popular extra. We believe this may be the brain library, where the common knowledge of the group was stored and accessed. I think Zyor may have been a little upset by missing out on the entire fight, as he immediately cast Shatter on the room. The others admonished him for risking a cave-in and I pretended that the idea hadn't occurred to me also.
 
Dear Diary, Cromren has become a father! Or, a botanist? I'm not certain, however, the mychanid spawn that he has been carrying around does seem to have finally hatched. I am considering taking a small sample of its spores if I get a chance.
 
We met back up with Rasharoo, who led us to Gloomstock once again. It seemed, however, that the conflict was not over there either, and we walked around the city, rather than entering.
 
We arrived back in the city, and set about tidying our business. Ignis and I made to visit Tragram at the Morgrave University. It seemed, however, that he was still on his trip. He was going to Awning for a particular book he said was vital for his research.
 
I left him a quick, 10-minute message that would announce itself on his return and began to exit the university. That is when Braxx met up with us and told us some horrible, illogical news. We were being hunted by the local guards - in fact, Braxx upon his return to the Inn, had almost been arrested! We ran through the streets, following his lead into the Topaz District, to a place we had never been together - the Inn of Many Faces.
 
The Innkeeper recognised Braxx and took us immediately to the back, where we passed through a series of secret doors. There, we were met by a young elven man sitting behind a table. He said his name was Ardos and that he and Braxx knew each other from "way back". Of course, if he is anything like Braxx there is no way to tell the truth of that statement.
 
Braxx explained that we were wanted for the kidnapping of Tragram and the thievery of the Kyber Chrystal. Of course, I immediately made contact with Tragram to ascertain whether he was alive and all right, and he responded, though as if through a barrier or resisting a spell.
 
Now we are more confused than ever - who would make up these lies? And why?
 
And most pressing at the moment - who is Braxx and what are we really hiding from?