The Troglodyte Warrens or or Cha-wing-what??? - Day 5 - 5/9/23 and 5/16/23
General Summary
A Unholy Creature of Lolth, the Chwidencha
The Chwidencha are creatures created by the Drow goddess Lolth to punish Drow who fail some of Her many tests, transforming them into horrific beings. Though created by an evil Goddess, chwidencha themselves are not intelligent enough to be evil; they are animalistic creatures that hunt what they can find in the Underdark. They are more likely to be found prowling the tunnels of the underworld alongside hook horrors and ropers.
A chwidencha seemingly consists of nothing but a writhing mass of long, hairy, flexible spider legs. Each leg ends in a barbed spike and has one side covered in thorn-like hairs that allowed the limb to easily tear through the flesh and bone of any unfortunate victim. The creature does have a central body hidden under the dozens of legs that radiated from it, but this is many times only seen after the chwidencha's demise.
Chwidenchas are able to climb up walls as well as any spider, but are also proficient burrowers that are able to move as quickly under the ground as they could on its surface. A common tactic for chwidenchas is to hide beneath a layer of earth while using its tremorsense to notify it of any approaching prey. Upon detecting a suitable target, the chwidencha will burrow under or behind their prey, then suddenly emerge to strangle, constrict, or impale with its dozens of spiked legs. Chwidenchas are also known to simply charge at their prey in a flurry of legs and claws in an attempt to crush them with their many limbs. After killing its prey, the chwidencha will usually drag the body off to somewhere it can safely devour its victim, as it takes it several hours to do so.
---excerpted from "Exposition of the Underdark" by Valuk IlmlinLurking in the dark, a Chwidencha waits to ambush the party
Magaruk battles a horrific Chwidencha
Using a Firebolt, Liana burns a bloated, pregnant female Chwidencha in its webs
Breaking Camp - Day 5
Waking on the morning of Day Five, Drop dispels his casting of Leomund's Tiny Hut and watches the group of adventurers disperse within the tunnel to attend to their morning activities. 'Tis a good group. I am lucky to have found them, the Kenku thinks to herself in Auran, the language of the Elemental Plane of Air, which is the language she tends to think in, translating words from Common into Auran in her head. She thinks further to the strange, horrible creatures that attacked her and her companions yesterday, very suddenly appearing from tunnels to the side of the passage the group was traveling. Drow punished by Lolth, she thinks with a shudder, thanking Selune for Her blessings and for keeping her safe in this abominable land. She closes her eyes, and begins her morning ritual to her deity before Carth has breakfast ready.
Emerging from Leomund's Tiny Hut after the evening's rest, Magaruk has gotten little sleep from the night before. Dreams of the evil creatures that attacked her friends - attacked Carth! - the chwidencha... Afraid of no creature, she finds the fear she experienced in the dream difficult to process. She is afraid, not of death, but because in her dream she was fighting alongside the creatures and against her friends. Magaruk quickly begins preparing her weapons for the day, oiling her blade, Blackrazor, who gives her a quick burst of energy from the souls it has consumed in response. Magaruk closes her eyes and smiles. When she opens them again, she sees Carth looking at her from across the passage.
Continuing on with four days behind them, the party continues through the Underdark into their fifth day. Having chosen one of the smaller, secondary passageways from the cavern labeled "Ancient Enemies" on the Drow map, the group moves along amongst the precarious footing, somewhat slowed after Liana slips and twists an ankle. Most of the group continues to move tied together in expedition style to avoid falling in pits and crevices. Rashi, without explanation, chooses this day to remain untied, taking her place watching the passageway behind. From toward the front, Bahgras points out a patch of a fungus that the group have not seen before in the days since leaving the halls of King Snurre. Taking a brief rest, Carth compares the look of the fungus to the pictures in his Herbalist Manual, and finds a match. Soldier's AppleUsing the tools from his Herbalism Kit, Carth is able to harvest one dose of the spongy caps. After doing so, given what he has learned about this fungus, he gives it to Bahgras to use in battle.
As the heroes come to a place where the passageway narrows vertically looking like it is intersecting with another passage, Liana feels a burning sensation on her ankle. Looking down, she notices what appears to be guano of some creature has rubbed upon her leg, seemingly very acidic, and burning where it touches the skin. Quickly using a piece of cloth to rub off the substance, Liana shakes her head at this place which seems so hostile to creatures from the surface world.
The narrow tunnel seems to drop down approximately five feet into a passage which runs east to west. His bulky muscles and equipment making it a difficult squeeze, Bahgras looks to both sides and gives the all clear. The rest of the group squeeze through a little easier, although some twisting of the body is required for all.
Once through, Carth takes out the Drow map and shows it to Bahgras. The two glance at it, noting this passage is not shown, but that the main passage probably connects to the west. "Should we go left?" says Bahgras, pointing down the secondary passage to the west.
"Left," says Magaruk, nodding and moving in that direction. Carth watches her walk off. Magaruk has been looking drained recently he thinks. When did I first notice, I cannot remember now, he thinks to himself. Waiting until he feels she is far enough away to not hear, he whispers to Bahgras, "Have you been concerned about Magaruk recently? She has been acting...odd." "Recently...?" mimics Drop, who is taking a moment to sit. "Yes, recently," repeats Carth. "I feel the sword is beginning to corrupt her mind." Bahgras looks at Carth questioningly. "What do you mean? She seems alright. She is a warrior. She is strong like me. But you know her best, what do you think we should do?" "Yes, her effectiveness cannot be doubted," says Carth. "She is a woman of strong will, and will not be easily parted from such an item, even if we do deem it dangerous. I do not know... just be aware..." He trails off, glancing again down the passage toward Ruk. I just hope we will not end up having a bigger problem on our hands, he thinks to himself.The Troglodyte Warrens
Continuing about a mile down the passage, the tunnel starts to curve slightly left, taking more of a southeast direction. "If we haven't gotten completely disoriented by now," thinks Liana, not for the first time. After a short distance, the passage seems to curve up slightly and open into a long but narrow cavern, with multiple exit tunnels branching in all directions. A large pile of what looks to be rubbish is pushed to the side about halfway down the chamber. The pile looks to be made up of the skin, hair and bones of multiple creatures, and smells like fecal matter as well. In fact, the chamber smells awful, close to overpowering in its stench. A ring of stones that might be used to ring a campfire is in the center of the chamber, but shows no evidence that a fire has been burning, Bahgras notes. In fact, there is no fuel at all, only a red-brown mold on rocks piled within. While Bahgras inspects this, Carth looks down the first of several passages leading off to the south from the chamber, which seems to wind and branch into smaller tunnels 15 or 20 feet in. Drop tilts her head in several directions, trying to use the sensitive hearing of the Kenku, but hears nothing. All begin to look down the various tunnels leading from the chamber, which look similar to the one Carth is peering down. Bahgras looks at the floor of the cavern, noting what appear to be clawed footprints. Some prints go to and from all of the passages, but significantly more traffic appears to have used the two larger tunnels at the end of the long cave. Slowly, with the rest of the party guarding their rear, Bahgras and Magaruk creep into a side passage to the north. The 5 foot tunnel branches into two, each branch terminating in an oval chamber, each containing a smaller refuse pile, and what looks to be a sleeping nest. Suddenly, Bahgras and Ruk see movement where there appeared to be no creature just prior. With skin that blends perfectly with the walls of the chamber, changing ever so slightly to adapt to the colors as they move, two humanoid creatures with the features of a lizard rush at the two. Similar movement is seen in all of the passages, as troglodytes begin to come out of the walls, quickly surrounding everyone.
Regrouping after battling dozens of the creatures throughout the various tunnels and chambers of the warren, everybody congregates in one of the long communal caverns to discuss a plan.
"I think we should search all these areas. You never know, there might be art," says Bahgras. "But I think we should stick together."As a group, they begin to explore the complex, first entering into the largest cave seen so far in the warren, although that is not saying much. Searching what appears to be the main communal room of the troglodytes, Carth notes a strange mold growing on various surfaces on the wall, as well as on rocks stacked within the fire ring in the center of the room. Investigating, he identifies the mold as Cinderyeast.
CinderyeastBahgras explores a small tunnel extending from the south of the room. In a small cave at the end of the tunnel, he finds a female trog, shaking with fear. Bahg makes gestures intended to reassure the creature that he means it no arm, and he backs out of the tunnel.
Moving to the chamber immediately to the north, another firepit with the strange mold in it is found, in addition to four dead trogs, who appear to be of a higher class than others - maybe leaders, or holy men? Three of the four wear small medallions of gold hammered into a likeness of a human skull. On the shelf at the back of their area is a human skull sheathed in gold with garnets set in the eye holes. Taking this last to be art, Bahgras carefully puts the skull away.
Looking throughout the other tunnels and small chambers only refuse, simple tools, bone jewelry, and fecal matter is found. Gathering together in the first chamber they had entered prior to the battle, the group looks at their drawn map and notes several exits from the warren. Choosing one to the south, the group movers to enter another area of this vast cave complex.
Next...A Forest of Mushrooms, and the Troll Caves- a pictorial
Created Content
Items found in the Troglolyte Warrens
A human skull sheathed in gold with garnets set in the eye holes
Around three of the troglodyte leader's necks are medallions of gold hammered into a likeness of a human skull
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