Adventure Three, Session Eighteen

INT. ERET SI'NU VAPOR MINES - DAY
When we last left our heroes, they had just left the mining town's constabulary for the mines where they harvest the mysterious gas known as Eret Si'Nu for the royal family. Upon crossing the threshold, lying in the pass between the mountains of Wyrmcrest (and spanning the entire gap), the party instantly discovered why the Lady Telmont had advised them to proceed with caution and patience.
The vapor mines consisted of small "islands" of stony ground, surrounded on all sides by a sodden field of green-glowing marsh. From the marsh, every six seconds, a powerful geyser of pressurized (and super heated) gas would shoot upwards, hitting the covered ceiling of the mines. The eruption would last for five seconds, then there would be one second of calm. Then another geyser would erupt from a different location. Only one geyser would burst at a time, and it seemed nearly random from which part of the marsh it would occur. However, when it did, it completely enveloped the dry island it surrounded, and which island would be next seemed to be somewhat random.
The party attempted to time the eruptions, and used this knowledge to run from island to island (all connected by rickety rope bridges), barely evading the deadly vapor blasts. Sure enough, on the far end, they discovered the station house they were informed would be there. Tesken kicked the door in, shattering it and sending sharp splinters all around.
Once within the party discovered Talal, gravely injured and resting on a makeshift bed at the far end of the room. He greeted the party with "I had hoped you would arrive." He then went on to explain what had brought him here. He informed the party that somehow they were carrying an arcane tracking device amongst them. Something that led their "enemies" to them back at the previous village (when they were beset by a mutated Tithlan and his likewise afflicted Red Turbans). Talal had somehow managed to both detect the magic signal from the tracking device and also "hijack" the signal. This led him to the village they'd just fled, but unfortunately too late. He found the village uninhabited, with bodies of the dead strewn all about. He and the court wizard (not the Consummata) he traveled with were then suprise attacked by the mutants who used to be agents of "the crown."
He had the wizard track the progress of the party, and found them heading towards the mountain pass. Talal could only hope their destination was "Zeke al Bajan's Last Hope," and as such had the wizard teleport him there. But not until he'd been stricken with a (likely) mortal wound by one of the mutants. The wizard managed to teleport him just as he himself was dying (the wizard had been struck by the mutants as well). Only Talal made it to the mining town alive.
The party attempted to figure out what they could have taken that would act as a tracking device. They thought back to Tithlan, specifically because Talal told them that the captain also contained the tracking device. They remembered that Tithlan, when he was still able to talk, explained that he and his men had taken a mysterious potion, at the behest of the Grand Hassir. However, it should be noted that they never saw Serasnian Arabata, rather they received a letter (along with the potion) sealed with the royal crest. In fact their entire mission to retrieve Naiya was assigned to them through unseen agents bearing the royal seal.
The party then remembered that they too had all ingested a mysterious potion. One that was given to them by Vandergraff and the Consummata! It was supposed to ease their journey and "bring them luck." They deduced that this must have contained the tracking device. Talal informed them that, if this was in fact the case, the party would also be at risk of transformation into mindless mutants. For some reason, whoever planted the tracking device on them wanted them alive... for now.
Talal also expounded on a few other things. For one, he explained the nature of concentrated Eret Si'Nu, Vapor form, the mining of which constituted the entire purpose of the mines. A wizard who inhales the vapor would find his or her arcane talents increased in potency, for a time. Shortly after this, the party would collect one canister of the vapor, using the tools of the miners and instructed by Talal, who'd witnessed the dangerous harvesting process.
Talal told them that there was a chance they could have the tracking device/mutation potion nullified, but it would take a powerful wizard... one more powerful than she who created the potion (likely the Consummata) to begin with. Such a powrful wizard, he told them, lived in a small "city" on their path between the Wyrmcrest mountains and Qudra. This small settlement was called Glortanthias, or "The City on the Chain." The wizard was a man named Vikel ed Hamma, and he was also a member of the Brotherhood of the Weave. The party should only have to mention Talal's name in order to gain Vikel's assistance.
Talal also noted that the tracking device did not seem to work while the party was underground, and as such he suggested they continue through the mountainous caverns as they proceeded south. Talal also knew a bit about the origin of the caverns within the mountains. They were not naturally occurring, rather they were carved out by a previous civilization (one likely from the age of Lumeria and possibly tied to Methanok) and potentially even led to a "lost city" deep beneath the earth.
The party wished to help Talal, but he was beyond any level of healing they possessed. He told them his journey was at an end, and they should get moving as time was a factor for the Inheritrix. His only wish, he mentioned was "to see The Tapestry of Meeros Tilva once before he died." The party turned their eyes to Naiya, growing suspicious that she might be currently carrying the item (possibly hidden in her cloak or actually woven into the cloak), but the inheritrix simply evaded their probing questions... growing more and more uncomfortable in the process.
With nothing further to do "above ground," the party trudged forth, deeper into the caverns and the lost civilization that hewn them from the very rock itself.
The passageway they entered was extremely narrow, forcing them to march single file. It twisted and turned, like a labyrinth, and eventually led them to one of several forks in the path that they would have to navigate. After making several choices on direction, they continued deeper and deeper, losing all track of time and their bearings.
Finally, they came to another fork, with the left tunnel slightly inclining, and the right one slightly declining. Just before the two tunnels, Sendry also discovered a pile of broken glass, with scorch marks around it. The party surmised that this was likely a canister of Eret Si'Nu, as Talal also informed them that the gas was highly explosive (when thrown). Just after determining this, they suddenly heard a voice coming from the left passageway. A voice calling for help.
A few members of the party (Sendry, Warren and Mangy) decided to investigate and took the left path. They soon came upon a halfling standing in the center of the passageway. He informed them that his name was Rindle, and that he'd stepped upon a pressure plate, one which would send a lethal jet of Eret Si'Nu down from a hole in the ceiling directly above him, killing him and also spreading out to kill whoever else was too close to evade the pressurized gasses.
He explained that he lived in a subterranean city not far from here, and he was out investigating rumors of destruction at the mining town when he was accosted by a group of miners from "Last Hope" who robbed him. He ran away, and they gave chase. That's when he accidentally stepped on the pressure plate. After realizing what happened, the miners decided to go back and leave the halfling to his fate...
After some deliberation, Mangy had the idea to use his Thunder Step to teleport both himself and Rindle to safety - roughly 90 feet away. Hopefully it would be enough. Sendry and Warren squeezed past the halfling and moved further down the hall to where Mangy would meet them momentarily. Mangy then grabbed Rindle (without taking his weight off the pressure plate) and Thunder Stepped both of them the 90 feet he could pull off.
Sure enough, just as they essentially teleported, a powerful jet of gas came shooting down from the ceiling, nearly scorching them. But Mangy's spell got them to safety. Sendry then decided to explore deeper down this path, even though RIndle offered to lead the party safely to his "city" of "The Seven Pillared Hall." His suggested path would take them back and then down the right tunnel instead. However, Sendry didn't get much further before he came upon a translucent "wall" that filled the entire path before him. The wall began to move, coming towards him. Sendry fled back to the others, and they all headed back the way they came.
Meanwhile, the remaining party (who did not go up the left path) decided to explore down the right path. They soon came upon an open, circular chamber with three passageways forward. As they contemplated this complication, they suddenly heard voices. From each of the three available paths. It was the violent miners. They threatened to shoot the party (with crossbows) if they didn't leave all their valuables on the ground. The standoff lasted for a few minutes, until Gut suddenly decied to Magic Missile their assailants, sending multiple missiles down the three paths.
Even though he hurt the miners, they still managed to fire off their crossbows, wounding Temerity and Tesken. A fight quickly ensued, with the miners keeping back in their individual passages, where they could "safely" continue to barrage the party with crossbow quarrels. Mangy and the others soon arrived to join the battle, and the dwarven wizard, as well as Guy, inhaled their supply of Eret Si'Nu. They used the increase in power to fire off more Magic Missiles at their attackers. Tesken, for her part, brought the fight to the miners, rushing down the center corridor and slaying the assumed leader. Shortly after, the party had felled all three miners.
From this point forward, the party decided to follow RIndle's lead. He regaled them with stories of his home, a trading outpost in the middle of the "Wet Dark" (Underdark) called Sureenae, where members of all varieties of races (often mortal enemies) could meet on neutral ground and trade without fear of combat. It sounded like the fantasy version of wartime Vienna. And after traveling for a good few hours, the party indeed finally reached "The Seven Pillared Hall" (the main chamber of Sureenae), which turned out to be a giant vault with a 60ft ceiling, that expanded in length and width many thousands of feet. Rindle suggested to the party that they go to his aunt's inn, "The Halfmoon Inn," where he was certain she would award them with free room and board for saving her precious nephew.
They went to the inn, where they met Rindle's aunt Erra, and indeed she granted them food and accommodations. As far as the inn itself, it was something of a bizarre rogues gallery, with members of all sorts of typically hostile species mingling freely. At one table, an illithid (mind flayer) sat... one table away from a group of isagorn rangers. A few dark elves (Qualenti) sat at a table not far away as well. The party, remembering that Teffa was a wanted woman amongst her people, sent her and Naiya up to their room, to avoid detection.
The remainder of the party took seat at a large table, also next to the mind flayer. They were served food and drink, and it didn't take long before the mind flayer attempted to engage them in conversation. The creature introduced himself as Kharthlaxi and he was quite talkative and charismatic. Some of the party took an instant disliking to the mind flayer, as his race is known for their evil tendencies. None more-so than Warren, who harbored a life-long hatred for the illithids. Tesken, on the other hand, took a shine to Kharthlaxi and when the mind flayer offered to buy her a drink, she accepted. The others retreated upstairs (some under duress --- Warren had to cast a charm on Sendry to get him to comply) while the minotaur and the mind flayer stayed below.
Left to their own devices, the increasingly more drunken Tesken essentially told him everything about her, her friends and their mission. Literally everything. For his part, the mind flayer told precious little about himself, other than the fact that he was a trader from the Wet Dark, and that his wares had more to do with information and relationships than physical goods. In fact, he did reveal his burgeoning attempts at becoming an amateur artist, and asked Tesken if he could "draw" her. She agreed, and he began sketching her in his travel journal (carnet).
To their horror, the other PCs came back downstairs to check on Tesken, only to find out that she spilled all the beans to this (vile) creature. A few of the party quickly decided that the mind flayer knew too much and must be dealt with. As if on cue, a large ogre approached their table, mad as hell. This ogre, Grinfel, had outstanding beef with Kharthlaxi and seemed to be on a mission of revenge. He wanted to pull the illithid out of the bar, then out of the city, likely to invoke a great violence upon him. However, the ogre knew well, as did most others present, that any violence conducted within city limits would bring the wrath of something known as The Ordinator Arcanis upon them. And this was apparently not something you want to do.
Rindle and Erra came to the table, and told the ogre to leave before they called the Ordinator. Grinfel begrudgingly complied, waiting just outside the inn. Kharthlaxi would have to leave sometime, right?
The mind flayer thanked the party for their "assistance" in ridding him of his unexpected enemy, and the party in turn went upstairs to decided what to do about this new problem. A moment later, they came back down only to find that Kharthlaxi had vanished into thin air! He was simply GONE!
They went outside to look around and were accosted by Grinfel, who ended up in a standoff with Sendry. Sendry taunted the large beast-man, but Grinfel was (initially at least) too smart to bring the Ordinator down upon his head. But after a vicious amount of verbal abuse, Grinfel finally gave in and rushed Sendry, sword drawn.
He never got a chance to connect. Just as his blade began to swing, suddenly he disappeared out of existence. His sword clattered to the ground. Just like the mind flayer, Grinfel was gone.
Rindle quickly ushered the party inside and back upstairs. He wanted to hide them before the Ordinator arrived. The party complied, not happy about the situation. Somewhere out there, a guileful creature was on the loose, with way too much information about them for anyone's comfort...