Adventure Three, Session Twenty Four

INT. CAVERN OF THE SPIDER QUEEN - TIME UNKNOWN
When we last left our heroes they were cornered in a tiny side-tunnel within the lair of Shigrad, the spider queen. Above them, a tunnel in the ceiling led upward towards a potential exit, however while investigating the portal, the party heard signs of Sigrad's approach. Mangy placed his immovable rod in the middle of the passage, hopefully barring the giant spider from entry into the cavern below.
Once the giant spider arrived, ta few members of the party distracted her with arrows (shot up the shaft) while the others made for the narrow exit on the ground level. The newly freed modrons led the way, heading down the 5' wide corridor, but just as they were about to clear the exit, the suddenly collided with what seemed to be an invisible barrier, blocking the exit. Guy, right behind the modrons, pushed past them and came upon the same barrier. Indeed, this was some form of magical wall, invisible but solid as stone.
As Guy dealt with the barrier, Shegrad managed to make her way into the cavern, as Mangy retrieved his immovable rod just before. The party remaining in the small cavern fired arrows her her, and Mangy hit the spider with a Thunder Wave spell, causing the "spider queen" to spin out of control and swing like a pendulum.
Shegrad blasted a group of modrons with her deadly acidic bile, instantly killing at least three of them, and severely injuring Fourry (predominantly his leg). The party continued to fight her, slowly weakening the behemoth, but at a mounting cost. The party was beyond exhausted and nearly spent of all their magic.
As Guy, and now Bartholemew, continued to explore the invisible wall for some possible egress, suddenly a form materialized on the opposite side of the barrier. It was the leader of the Qualenti dark elf hunting party they'd previously bested. The leader had escaped, but now was here, clearly controlling the invisible wall with his magic. Guy attempted to parlay with him, but to no avail (especially since he'd reverted back to his "standard" form, and no longer had the appearance of a female Qualenti). Bartholomew, for his part, attempted to mock and enrage the dark elf, hoping the magic-user would lose his spell concentration. But again, to no avail.
Once the giant spider freed herself from her spinning web, she launched a ground attack at the party, nearly killing Naiya in the process. Mangy used the distraction to fly up the ceiling shaft on his magic carpet (which miraculously didn't crap out on him). He flew up until the passage went from vertical to horizontal. He then ran down the rest of the way, eventually finding a potential way out.
Meanwhile, back in the cavern, Guy retreated from the invisible barrier and somehow rallied the remaining modrons to attack Shigrad. The giant spider made short work of a good number of the tiny mechanical beings, but left her flank open to attacks from both Guy and Naiya (who'd picked up a discarded spear from a dead modron). Slowly, the party was gaining the upper hand on the beast. In the 5' corridor, Bartholomew continued in his attempt to figure out a way past the barrier. He hit it, causing the wall to shimmer for just a moment, but long enough for him to determine that the wall didn't actually touch the ground. It hovered a few mere inches from the floor, but just enough for the gnome to empty a flask of oil under. He set the oil ablaze, causing a decent fire on the other side of the wall. Unfortunately not one significant enough for the dark elf to lose his spell...
Mangy finally came to the exit, which (after picking the right passage out of two options) led back to the main corridor... and the qualenti mage. Mangy hit the dark elf caster with another Thunder Wave, knocking him back, and cancelling his barrier spell. With the wall now gone, Bartholomew struck at him as well. The dwarf and gnome, as a team, managed to take out the dark elf, even as the Qualenti attempted to teleport again. As the dark elf teleported directly in front of Mangy, in order to strike him with his bizarre black blade (that seemed to emit a stream of smoke), Bartholomew managed to drive his own blade straight through the Qualenti's back, ending the foul being's life.
Now provided with a means to exit the cavern, the party rallied together, but before leaving, made one more strong push against the spider. Guy ended up getting caught in her mandibles, but managed to escape with just enough life left in him to strike her again. Between him and Naiya, they drove the creature to retreat back up the hole she came from. Not sticking around to question this stroke of luck, everyone came together and ran down the 5' corridor and out the previously barred exit.
Just as they were leaving, however, Naiya noticed something tragic. Sometime during the fray, their guide Kharthlaxi had passed away. Still needing him to uphold the illusion of their "bounty hunter" disguises, they had the (11) remaining modrons carry the deceased mind flayer's body.
The party made their way down the main passage and finally were free of the Lair of the Spider Queen. They traveled for an additional hour before finally finding what they deemed to be a safe place to rest. Here, Bartholomew used his tinkering skills to work on Fourry's injured leg.
After an uneventful rest, the party moved forward towards their destination. Guy, having previously mind melded with Kharthlaxi, knew a few things about what lay ahead. They were to soon come upon a small trading town known as Pukt. Once operated by underworld merchants who also "fished" off the piers (Pukt also lay on the banks of the large underground lake that connects with Obloxis Azuun), recently the community was taken over by the fish-like Kuo Toa. These fanatical creatures were split into two camps, based upon which deity they worshipped. Half the town's Kuo Toa worshipped the "old gods" of the sea (Father Ocean and Mother Sea), while the other half actually worshipped the Oblox Uulex himself! Guy knew that the town was a potential powder keg, with the slightest provocation possibly being the spark that could bring the town down in a civil war of sorts.
The party took some time to get their story straight, and then proceeded across the threshold of Pukt. The sign denoting the town's boundary featured the name Pukt, crossed out and replaced with the new name, Blimpiblod.

INT. BLIMPIBLOD - TIME STILL UNKNOWN...
As the proceeded, the ground slowly turned to marsh, and a wooden walkway presented itself. Just as they took to the walkway, a group of Kuo Toa emerged before them. Eight soldiers and a leader dressed in red and white vestments (like a priest). The group of fish-folk approached the party and demanded to know their business. The PCs explained that they were bounty hunters bringing the "wanted" Kharthlaxi back to the Oblox. After grilling them for a while, the leader, who presented herself as Sloobludop, agreed to lead them to the docks, from where they could take a barge to Obloxis Azuun. It was clear that Sloobludop was a priest of the "old gods," and the party was careful to not accidentally imply that they worshipped the Oblox.
As they neared the dock, the party noticed a large totem, monolithic in scale, before them. It seemed that Sloobludop was leading them there. As they neared the obelisk, they also noted that it was significantly stained with blood. The Kuo Toa priestess then asked the party who would be offered up to the old gods. They were supposed to sacrifice a member of the party in order to appease the gods of the lake, allowing them safe passage. But before things could go from bad to worse, another contingent of Kuo Toa approached, this one led by a priest with robed vestments exactly opposite in pattern to Sloobludop's. This was Blipoolblout, the (elderly) high priest of the Oblox Uulex.
The two priests got into a loud argument over the fate of the PCs and during this process, Mangy managed to cast a successful Charm spell on Sloobludop. He commanded her to turn around, which she did. Blipoolblout used her distraction to tell the PCs to run for the docks. They did, with the old priest right behind them. Everyone boarded a rickety old barge and cast off into the lake. Guy tripped and fell into the water, but they managed to pull him out. And apparently just in time, as he brushed against something alive in the waters. Blipoolblout explained that man-eating manta rays (called Xichityl) lived in the waters.
As the party rowed for Obloxis Azuun, the opposing group of Kuo Toa tossed spears and tridents at them, barely missing in several cases. Eventually, the party was free of their enemies, unless you count the potential danger in following Blipoolblout himself.
Just ahead of them lay the shores of Obloxis Azuun, it's many bizarre buildings and structures were like great pearlescent orbs sitting just above the ground. A stranger city none of the PCs had ever seen. Hopefully, those inside would buy their ruse just as much as Blipoolblout had seemed to...
To Be Continued...