Adventure Brunch #47 - 9/19/20 - we cleared and we rested...

General Summary

Cyrus healed his compatriots' eyes and the group headed back into the compound. They inspected the two towers and peered through the telescopes they found there:

Tower #1 (Building #3)

10am Position (in direction of Veriscali)-- Vast desert with large lizards (not dragons). Far in the distance is a column of darkness with a floating city inside.
12pm Position (Veriscali at bottom)-- Massive mountain range, 1 mountaintop looks shorn off; great giant door/gate with a face like those at the entrance of this compound.
2pm Position-- Large carved city in a huge carved face, with people living there (?!)

Tower #2 (Building #7)

10am Position-- Vast ocean.
12pm Position-- Great vast swamp, dead center and great ball of wooden brambles in the shape of a dome, emanating green light (similar to the heart of the dryad). Dark figures were throwing themselves at the brambles.
2pm Position-- Mountain range with a break in between, where three marble tips of towers with a sun emblem(?) could be seen at the base.

The party skipped ahead to the inner section of the compound, where the buildings were larger (vs. the tiny doors the other buildings had) and went to the huge tower in the middle. They walked in and found a series of 8 hydraulic pumps, then a recess down large steps. Through another set of huge doors, they entered a large room with huge tables and benches with a fire pit in the center and a huge throne at the far end. In the throne was a giant figure, made of wood, metal, and fungus.
The heroes defeated the giant creature and continued to explore the room. They found a huge, 50 lb book with clockwork designs (which Zura strapped to Shakkax's big, strong back) and 2 black stone panels which they couldn't make any sense out of. Perhaps they're doors?
Jingles felt with his kitty senses that there are elementals deep underground in this space, submerged in a "soup" of fiendish energy. What is going on here?!
The party still felt watched, and decided to clear out the rest of buildings on their way back... not sure what to do about the purple membrane, which seemed like something from the Underdark.
Building #5 had 27 metal spiders and a ton of jewels, but the spiders didn't react to the intrusion unless someone tried to take a jewel... so it was decided this building could wait. Building #4 looked like a foundry. Building #6 had 16 more metal spiders and an alchemy lab feel... another one left for later.
Back in the smaller building area toward the front of the compound, Building #6 was large and made of ornately carved stone. It contained a large stone bed with cube stone pillows and a dire bear rug (which Zura stuffed into her Bag of Colding. Building #5 was similar, but was covered in black mold and smelled of rotting meat and musk. Building #4 had a green plant scent... and the group went in to find different types of fungus in cubby holes and a doorway that opened to a spiral staircase down, leading to water. Was this a bathhouse?
Down by the water were three large, purple mushroom caps. The group debated for a long time on strategy, then attacked what they were sure were larger versions of the thing that blinded Zura and Shakkax the day before. Sure enough... they were and the group kited them up the stairs, only to find more enemies flooding in the entrance! Luckily the battle went pretty smoothly and no one was blinded with mushroom caps.
Building #8 was a plant and fungus nursery, Building #9 was filled with barred alcoves and shackles (slave pen or prison?), and Building #10 looked like an inn.