Session 10: Bookstores and Brainworms
General Summary
The session begins as the players gaze upon the first ganglion of Thywicket, now a battered, diseased-looking sac. The first ganglion has already been taken over by Intellect Devourers.
Looking around the ganglion, if they have a light, they can see that there are cuts, bruises, and some tunneling in the muscle and connective tissue around the nerve cluster. After a few minutes, the sphincter behind them opens enough to allow passage.
The difference between the healthy ganglion and the first one are immediately apparent, as the healthy one occasionally sparks with energy, and has healthy looking flesh around it. If they move to the next chamber, they find themselves upon the strip of connective tissue separating the next ganglia from one of the stomachs. With light, they can see the thin membranes holding them above the gut. If the caterpillar is eating, they can see the plant matter passing through, and watch as the bile separates the corruption from the plant matter. A successful Perception Check (DC 15) will allow them to see the remnants of some non-natural crates. Studying the material from afar reveals the things to be crates of some sort (the cages that the Intellect Devourers were brought in), that are dissolving in the caustic gut. The mindflayer will not be back until the following day with more Intellect Devourers.
As the illithid is careful about remaining undiscovered, the cages are the only thing to find in the gut this session.
If the players head to find the lost apprentices: They take their lizards from the stables and go down to the plains. Along the way, the party has the chance to make some Perception checks (DC 13) to notice that some people in the poor district are peering out at them and shuttering windows as the party passes. In these spots, the people have gathered in relatively larger buildings, and the party can see that they are meeting in covert groups, as Pendeghast feared. If a roll of greater than 20 is rolled, the character notices that several of these people are discreetly carrying woodworking tools to these gatherings.
As they search for where the flashes of light came from, the plants are active. Any time they stop, the plants latch on to their mounts. Str 12, increasing by one every time it happens to escape
Eventually, they find the cave entrance along the foothills of the mountain. It's easy to see when they are close, as there are deep gouges, and lines of charred rock and grass leading up to and around the entrance. The cave has a staircase down, cut into the black stone, and circling around the edge until it reaches the cave floor. All along the walls are intricate carvings, written in a indecipherable language (the illithid language). Much of it has been slashed by the clawing legs of the Chapel of Light. _________________________________________________________________
The party investigated inside the worm. Making their way through the internal chambers, they saw the difference between the healthy ganglia and the first corrupted one. Khashayar was the only one to explore past the second chamber, taking Claudia with to be Visayan's eyes and nose. Khashayar came across the pile of cages being dissolved in the bile, determining that since they were piled bottom to top, someone had dumped them there, rather than being eaten by Thywicket. He unsuccessfully attempted to get the dissolving crate, and moved to the last chamber. Here, the token of his patron began to hum, emitting a blackish-purplish aura. He hid the token under the final ganglion, after hiding Claudia in his robes so Visayan couldn't see what he was up to. Through the flashes of neural activity, Claudia could see the silhouette of a horned or antlered figure flash upon the back wall.
Khashayar also found some of the cages in the final room, noting the barbs to keep the ticks in, and the traces of slime upon only the inside top. He started to make his way back. As he moved forward, he tried again for the crate and fished out the molten blob of jewelry (25 GP) and three enchanted necklaces. Pushing through and avoiding eaten boulders, the party climbed back out, and headed to Pendeghast's bookstore.
As they searched, Visayan cast Detect magic, and found a scroll for Summon Elemental (Tasha's Cauldron of Everything). During that time, Cranium rats dominated Steps and Kestrel, as they searched for the books Pendeghast needed for the trip. As they searched and made a mess, they found two useful books, highlighted in green. Steps tried to get Visayan to give him the blueprints, which started to key Visayan and Khashayar in to the thought that something was off with them. Kestrel grabbed some of the partial letters from the mothery, with partial wax seals of a cog.
Found a letter to Pendeghast from Wren, encouraging him to join them at the cave.
In total, the party only found 2 of Pendeghast's 4 books, and the list of books that Folgorath borrowed before combat began. They found the rats by Kestrel punching a hole in the wall. They defeated all the swarms inside, but only Visayan fled the tower before it toppled. They ended the session pulling themselves from the rubble, dusting themselves off, and looking up to the shocked faces of everyone who was in the temple.
The difference between the healthy ganglion and the first one are immediately apparent, as the healthy one occasionally sparks with energy, and has healthy looking flesh around it. If they move to the next chamber, they find themselves upon the strip of connective tissue separating the next ganglia from one of the stomachs. With light, they can see the thin membranes holding them above the gut. If the caterpillar is eating, they can see the plant matter passing through, and watch as the bile separates the corruption from the plant matter. A successful Perception Check (DC 15) will allow them to see the remnants of some non-natural crates. Studying the material from afar reveals the things to be crates of some sort (the cages that the Intellect Devourers were brought in), that are dissolving in the caustic gut. The mindflayer will not be back until the following day with more Intellect Devourers.
As the illithid is careful about remaining undiscovered, the cages are the only thing to find in the gut this session.
If the players head to find the lost apprentices: They take their lizards from the stables and go down to the plains. Along the way, the party has the chance to make some Perception checks (DC 13) to notice that some people in the poor district are peering out at them and shuttering windows as the party passes. In these spots, the people have gathered in relatively larger buildings, and the party can see that they are meeting in covert groups, as Pendeghast feared. If a roll of greater than 20 is rolled, the character notices that several of these people are discreetly carrying woodworking tools to these gatherings.
As they search for where the flashes of light came from, the plants are active. Any time they stop, the plants latch on to their mounts. Str 12, increasing by one every time it happens to escape
Eventually, they find the cave entrance along the foothills of the mountain. It's easy to see when they are close, as there are deep gouges, and lines of charred rock and grass leading up to and around the entrance. The cave has a staircase down, cut into the black stone, and circling around the edge until it reaches the cave floor. All along the walls are intricate carvings, written in a indecipherable language (the illithid language). Much of it has been slashed by the clawing legs of the Chapel of Light. _________________________________________________________________
The party investigated inside the worm. Making their way through the internal chambers, they saw the difference between the healthy ganglia and the first corrupted one. Khashayar was the only one to explore past the second chamber, taking Claudia with to be Visayan's eyes and nose. Khashayar came across the pile of cages being dissolved in the bile, determining that since they were piled bottom to top, someone had dumped them there, rather than being eaten by Thywicket. He unsuccessfully attempted to get the dissolving crate, and moved to the last chamber. Here, the token of his patron began to hum, emitting a blackish-purplish aura. He hid the token under the final ganglion, after hiding Claudia in his robes so Visayan couldn't see what he was up to. Through the flashes of neural activity, Claudia could see the silhouette of a horned or antlered figure flash upon the back wall.
Khashayar also found some of the cages in the final room, noting the barbs to keep the ticks in, and the traces of slime upon only the inside top. He started to make his way back. As he moved forward, he tried again for the crate and fished out the molten blob of jewelry (25 GP) and three enchanted necklaces. Pushing through and avoiding eaten boulders, the party climbed back out, and headed to Pendeghast's bookstore.
As they searched, Visayan cast Detect magic, and found a scroll for Summon Elemental (Tasha's Cauldron of Everything). During that time, Cranium rats dominated Steps and Kestrel, as they searched for the books Pendeghast needed for the trip. As they searched and made a mess, they found two useful books, highlighted in green. Steps tried to get Visayan to give him the blueprints, which started to key Visayan and Khashayar in to the thought that something was off with them. Kestrel grabbed some of the partial letters from the mothery, with partial wax seals of a cog.
Found a letter to Pendeghast from Wren, encouraging him to join them at the cave.
In total, the party only found 2 of Pendeghast's 4 books, and the list of books that Folgorath borrowed before combat began. They found the rats by Kestrel punching a hole in the wall. They defeated all the swarms inside, but only Visayan fled the tower before it toppled. They ended the session pulling themselves from the rubble, dusting themselves off, and looking up to the shocked faces of everyone who was in the temple.
Report Date
23 May 2025
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