Session Report 27

General Summary

The Muskrats found themselves entering the trapped test site created by Cornelius Vanderwallen. Unlike the ever nimble Shade, Cambio and Itzal were unable to easily scale the walls to avoid the traps. Through a mixture of ingenuity with ice and sacrificing their gear. Itzal went so far as to sacrifice his backpack and the contents inside of it. After losing their precious equipment, Cambio and Itzal reunited with Shade and found themselves facing a massive spellbook that Cornelius Vanderwallen left behind. Upon inspection, the Muskrats discover that there six challenges that they must complete to obtain the "treasure" for this challenge. The "treasure" in this situation is six spell scrolls that span levels 1st to 6th. To activate the challenges, the challengers must rip a page from the spellbook to begin the challenge. 
Itzal rips the first page and the Muskrats find themselves surprised as to what appears. They find themselves face to face with a massively built human man with a surprised face. Plunging into an argument, the Muskrats and this human man argue about how the man appeared here, and why he is suddenly appeared in the disgusting chamber that the Muskrats were in. After moving beyond their argument, the human man introduces himself as Tev. Once Tev's temper cooled, he came to the realization that the only way to exit the chamber was to cooperate with the Muskrats. The new addition to the Muskrats was ready to provide his frontline battle knowledge. 
The challenges would rapidly go by. In some instances the Muskrats found themselves able to take down multiple challenges at once. After completing the challenges, collecting the spell scrolls, and returning to Grilnam Bronhager in the Tribute Chamber, the Muskrats had finished the second test of the Tribute Chamber. With only the third test left, Grilnam proposed a bet that if the Muskrats immediately proceeded into the third challenge and succeeded, he would provide information about the upcoming challenges they would face after the Tribute Chamber. Always up to a challenge and bolstered by the confidence of the newcomer, Tev, the Muskrats stormed off into the third challenge. 
As described by Grilnam, the third challenge consisted of a simple retrieval of treasure. Upon entering the third challenge, the Muskrats immediately found themselves in a dark cave of obsidian, filled with purple glowing plants, and ruins of what was once a massive subterranean structure. Having suddenly been thrusted into the Underdark, the Muskrats were now face to face with Drow warriors and a single mage, who was working with a magical circle. Cambio upon running near the magical circle came to a horrific realization. A long lost friend, Skewhur, was trapped within the magical circle. Tev who has experience dealing with mages and magical circles charger at the mage in a bid to free Skewhur from the magical circle. Just as his onslaught of brutal swings with his great axe was to fell the mage, the mage formed a single hand sign. As he did so, the flesh of his body fell from his bones and slithered within the circle. The circle grew bright and a single fiend, a Hezrou, appeared. Tev being the closest was immediately locked in combat with the Hezrou and found himself being brutally attacked by the fiend. Rushing to his aid, Itzal succeeded in banishing the creature back to the plane from which it came. 
With the fiend gone, Cambio rushed to his friend. Skewhur, however, did not recognize his friend. During their captivity, Cambio had appeared as an orc named Ulog, taking the name of the great immortal half-orc of Joral. After Cambio explained that he was the Ulog that Skewhur knew, the orc revealed why he was here in the Underdark. He was there to hunt the elven mage, Tritemeus, that had kept him, Cambio, and many of their friends hostage and as test subjects for his magical experimentation. Upon hearing the name Tritemeus, Itzal realized that this mage was the same mage that had visited his homeland, had taught him the beginnings of wizardry, and was the same mage that had inspired him to begin a life as an adventurer. As Itzal revealed his connection to Tritemeus, Cambio thought back to the Muskrats meeting with a certain Garlicle, who had warned him that "one of his closest friends is the friend of his greatest enemy." He now understood the true meaning of those words. 
Skewhur took great offense to Itzal working with Tritemeus and warned Cambio to be careful around the Tortle wizard. With the troubling connection between Cambio, Itzal, and Tritemeus revealed, Skewhur described what had happened to him after he and Cambio were separated. The orc showed that his arm was now covered in black dragon scales and now had long, razor sharp claws. Tritemeus had taken the flesh of a black dragon and implanted the flesh into Skewhur to turn him into a living vessel for the long dead black dragon, Dalrom. The same dragon, who's soul is housed in Kelgac's mask. Before departing, Skewhur told Cambio that should he ever need to find him to travel to Wulkan and head to the Black Pillar. Skewhur promised to wait for Cambio, one hour beginning at noon, once a week. The two lost long friends shared a moment before the orc departed to continue his hunt. The atmosphere of the Muskrats had changed as many wondered if they could now trust Itzal. 
Upon exiting the final test, the Muskrats handed over treasure that was to serve as tribute to Grilnam. In return for their quick passage of the Tribute Chamber, Grilnam offered to answer three questions about the upcoming challenge, the final challenge of the Gauntlet. The Muskrats learned that the final challenge is to defeat the Guardian of the Gauntlet. The Guardian is an Ettin, known at Thelnarlus and Rhaztus. The two minds struggle for control of their body, and each have a different elemental power. Thelnarlus wields the power of ice, while Rhaztus wields fire. They have immunity to both fire and cold damage. The Ettin wields a dual elemental weapon known as Elduris. To reach the Guardian requires a weeklong trek through harsh terrain and environments. Bidding Grilnam farewell, the Muskrats began their trip to learn the truth of the prophecy that is etched across Sauvek's body.

Report Date

13 Sep 2021