Adventure Three, Session Twenty One

INT. FUNGAL CAVERN, WET DARK - TIME UNKNOWN...
When we last left our heroes, they had just defeated a small caravan of neogi slavers/traders and were just beginning to go through their trade goods. The first thing they discovered, in a cage mounted on top of one of the lizard pack animals, was a triton or sea elf captive. They released her, and she promptly introduced herself as Esla. After a protracted moment of tension, where the party couldn't seem to agree whether or not to trust this formerly captive adventurer, the PCs were distracted by another discovery... a second cage on the other pack lizard. It had been essentially buried under a ton of food wares and general store styled items. In this cage, however, was a captive Neogi! This neogi was even branded on its chest in some language nobody seemed to understand. Well, nobody save for Kharthlaxi, who had the limited ability to communicate with the creature, as Undercommon is slightly similar to Outercommon (the neogi tongue).
The brand on the creature's chest declared him a "Traitor", and Kharthlaxi probed him for his story. He translated back to the PCs that this neogi's name was Sevrist, and he'd been part of some traveling group consisting of family and friends. Somehow, their "vessel" crashed and several neogi were sent to find help. Along the way, his two companions (the ones the PCs defeated) decided to follow their greed and made the decision to trade all the items on their pack animals (likely in The Seven Pillared Hall of Saruunae). When Sevrist contested this decision, they locked him up and branded him a traitor. Neogi, it seems, are always driven by financial gain, even after a tragedy (like a ship wreck). They're sort of like a more fearsome version of the Ferengi from TNG.
Not knowing exactly what to do with this captive, the PCs began searching the pack animals for useful items. They restocked their food, and Else found a pouch of money (which she stealthily hid from the others - as much of that money was originally hers). They also found two "alchemical globes," sealed glass orbs containing a slightly glowing amber fluid which, when shook, flared up with a bright light. They're basically portable light bulbs. Finally, and potentially most importantly, the party discovered something like a treasure map hidden on one of the pack lizards. They examined it, and it seemed to depict locations within the Wet Dark, but none (including Kharthlaxi) seemed to recognize any of the locations depicted. It didn't help that the writing on the map was in Outercommon... something Kharthlaxi had very limited experience with.
The party continued to get Elsa's story, as the tension between the sea elf and the party hadn't quite fully subsided. She explained that she was from Bleeder's Bay, adjacent to the city of Progress, in Hariel Majour. She essentially fled from her family (for reasons not fully explained), and they in turn were "hunting" her. How she ended up in the clutches of the neogi were still unclear. Tesken, deciding that the risk of taking on or freeing a stranger was too great, in light of their sensitive mission, decided to attempt to "knock her out" with the flat of her great axe. But Esla was too swift, and cast a Fog Cloud to obscure her escape from the attack. She didn't flee the cavern, but rather just sidestepped the blow intended for her.
At this point, Kharthlaxi stepped in, dispelling the Fog Cloud but also issuing a stern demand to cease all hostilities. The party agreed, even Tesken (begrudgingly). As it seemed Esla had the same destination planned (the city of Sage), everyone decided they might wish to travel together... safety in numbers and all. But what to do about the caged neogi?
The neogi pointed to the map and began yammering on about something. Kharthlaxi loosely translated that the creature was offering to lead the party to the treasure, as long as they released him. Warren advocated for this plan, even though (with more explanation from the neogi) it seemed the treasure was not along their planned route. Warren simply wanted to release the captive and let him go his own way. After all, they weren't cold blooded killers, were they? Even though he agreed in spirit, Kharthlaxi feared what this neogi might report back to his fellows about the party and their trajectory.
They decided to test the waters and unlock the creature's cage. Esla picked the lock and the neogi climbed down to the cavern floor. He still wasn't free to go, however. Sevrist, once again translated by Kharthlaxi, told the party that they'd missed a "powerful item" when searching the pack animals, and he'd hand it over (and even teach them how to use it) in return for his freedom. After much back and forth, the party agreed, and the neogi grabbed (what appeared to be) a simple iron rod from one of the pack lizarrds. He nonchalantly held it out, twistting and turning unseen or invisible cranks and gears, and the "device" suddenly began crackling with arcane energy.
A high pitched squeal filled the cavern, forcing the party to cover their ears. A moment later, the rod emitted a bright FLASH of light, blinding the party and knocking them all unconscious!
Everyone slowly awoke, not sure how much time had elapsed. As their vision returned, the firs thing they saw was that the Sevrist the neogi was gone (and the magic rod along with him)! The party all slowly returned to their feet, all save Kharthlaxi. The group slowly approached his body, fearing his demise. However, the mind flayer slowly rose, obviously (gravely) injured. He'd taken a blast of energy directly to his chest (he was oriignally positioned right in front of the neogi), and smoke still curled up from the wound. Kharthlaxi insisted he was "fine," and wouldn't accept much help from the PCs.
Not sure of how much time had passed, and not knowing whether or not more neogi might now be coming, the party decided to cut their losses and move on, toward their destination. They led the pack lizards and headed down the path before them. Kharthlaxi hobbled along, using a pole he pulled from a pack lizard for support. Most of the PCs were worn out and incredibly tired, so first priority was finding a safe place to rest. After several hours of traveling, they came upon another high-vaulted chamber.
The room was about 200' across to the other side and 100' wide. It was filled with all manner of stalagmites and stalagmites. The pointy rock formations littered the majority of the grounds. They could serve as great cover for a camp site, as many were taller than the PCs. Deciding this was the place to rest, the party was about to enter the chamber... however Kharthlaxi stopped them, offering a dread warning.
It seemed in the Wet Dark, there were beasts that evolved to look indistinguishable from stalactites and stalagmites (well, at least until they began to attack). He feared that likely at least some of the rocks within might be these creatures (which he referred to as "Ropers"). Warren asked if the creatures were intelligent, and once given the affirmative, decided to scan the room for sentient "thoughts." Using his mind reading magic, he quickly uncovered two "Ropers" on the ground, and two hanging from the ceiling. Kharthlaxi also warned of a variant creature, called a "Piercer," which possessed an intelligence below that of a standard animal (thus could not be detected by mind reading magic). Piercers attacked by dropping from the ceiling to impale their prey. He feared that some of the pointy rocks above might be these things.
Tesken, for her part, didn't wish to proceed with caution. She rushed into the chamber, directly for one of the two ground-based ropers pointed out by Warren. As she ran towards it, sure enough a piercer dropped from the ceiling, barely missing her and shattering on the cavern floor. Tesken reached the roper and swung her axe. The hard rock armor of the creature stopped her axe, but "woke" the beast. It's huge maw opened, revealing a sea of sharp teeth within. Suddenly numerous fleshy tentacles sprouted from its sides. These tentacles wrapped around Tesken and began to reel her in towards the gaping maw.
The party struck out with ranged attacks, attempting to hit the already identified ropers and also free Tesken. Kharthlaxi lifted his arms and shot a curving arc of lightning into the ceiling. Instantly a series of rocks exploded, including a good number of piercers. Unfortunately, he likely didn't get them all...
The PCs quickly determined that they were in no shape to face the several ropers (and gods know how many piercers) before them. But they needed to get to the other side of the chamber to progress any further. They developed a plan. Using a 50' section of rope, they all took hold of the line (in 5' increments). Then, Esle cast another Fog Cloud, centered on the ropers. The fog obscured their view of the cavern exit on the opposite side, but they'd studied the path and (all holding the rope so as not to get separated) made a break for it.
Miraculously, they all made it across the cavern without getting hit by any enemies (though they heard piercers dropping all around them). Once on the other side, they realized the ropers weren't giving chase. Ironically, this seemed to be a good place to rest, as the ropers and piercers would act as an early warning system if any creatures came for them from down the path last traveled.
The party rested up, and Esla even handed Kharthlaxi her Ring of Regeneration, hoping it would aid his recovery. After getting the requisite amount of rest, the party was in much better shape. Except for Kharthlaxi. Though his wounds seemed largely healed, he looked worse than ever. Something was going on inside his body, but he fended off any questions or attempts at help with a dismissive wave and an insistence that he'd be fine. He did finally agree to allow Tesken to carry him until they reached their next "problem.."
It seemed, Kharthlaxi explained, that they would soon come upon a wooded grove, a subterranean forest of sort called the "Sallowoak Woods." Here, he continued, they'd encounter a chamber thick with albino "oak trees," which were in fact man-eating plants. Thankfully not all the "trees" were ambulatory (and hungry for blood), and Kharthlaxi had conveniently marked the "good" trees on his last pass through the woods, thus creating a path or trail of sorts. He explained that if everyone simply followed him precisely, they'd all likely be safe.
Sure enough, they soon reached the grove of the "Sallowoak Woods," and indeed it was filled to the brim with stark white trees. As the party carefully... slowly... followed the mind flayer, he quickly stopped. Something had changed. The tress were in the wrong spots. His path was ruined (he wasn't able to mark all the safe trees, just the ones he came across). He didn't know the new pattern. The party needed a plan...
They considered sending the monodrone "Forry" across as a sort of canary in the mineshaft, but Kharthlaxi thought the creature was "too much machine" to trigger attacks from the carnivorous trees. He then told them of a rather large creature that he knew laired nearby. Old and blind, it followed its prey by hearing and "tremorsense." This creature was thanfully slow and could be lured from its lair and tricked to enter the grove. It would follow "Forry" and the large monster would certainly trigger the ambulatory trees, thus delineating the path ahead (or at least what to avoid).
It was the best plan out of a pile of bad plans. But now they only need lure the beast from its lair. Warren stood forward and offered himself as bait. Hopefully the nearby monster was actually as slow as Kharthlaxi presumed...
To be continued...