Out of the Abyss

The party heads to Sorcere unimpeded thanks to the help of Jarlaxle Baenre

 They bring Grin Ousstyl and Zilchin Q'leptin along, and decide to go as themselves, without any disguise.

Once inside, they see the place is heavily obscured by fog, but it dissipates once they speak the password: alurlssrin. They venture inside the tower, with Grin Ousstyl helping with navigating around the tower.

On the first floor, they encounter a giant spider that is at the bottom of the stairs, so Grumble casts a minor illusion spell to lead it away from it and the group can pass without having to fight it.

On the second floor, they encounter a group of bullies that try to get information out of Grin as to why he is back in Sorcere after a long absence. Initially, Grin gets a bit flustered, but with the paladin by his side, he gets emboldened and doesn't let the bully bother him. They leave him alone, pretending they were just joking around.

On the third floor, the party hears a drow wizard yelling at one of his slaves. The party continues up the stairs while Squeak tries to hide behind the door. He is successful initially, however, after a human lady comes out, then closes the door, she immediately sees Squeak. She asks if he is a slave, and he says that he is. She says her master is upset because she got the wrong components, so Squeak suggests she comes with the party because ''his master'' (Grin)  could probably give her the right components. The party pretends they are holding Grin's material components and that they are his slaves, and she believes them. Donatello gives her a ruby that's infused with faerzress and that allows one to cast the shield spell instead of the regular ruby she requested.

On the fourth floor, they encounter an overly upset drow who is complaining that they woke him up, and who demands ''one of Grin's slaves'' as reparation. He tries to cut Michael's face and Michael pretends to stumble, and he shoves him back in the room. Grumble uses the party member's water from their waterskin to freeze the door with shape water.

Finally, the party reaches Gromph Baenre's outer sanctum. They know the area is warded, but they aren't able to figure out exactly how initially. Grumble is able to unlock the door with his thieves tools, but the party inadvertently activates an alarm spell, which creates a lot of noise. They go inside the room and close the door, activating yet another trap, which released a fire elemental. Squeak polymorphed the fire elemental into a rat to avoid being burned. The party heard people coming from downstairs, but luckily,  those who were initially alerted were members of the Council Of Spiders, so they warned the party against making too much noise, but that they were going to try to keep things under control in the tower so that they'd have some time to do what they had to do.

The party then moved on to explore Gromph's Outer Sanctum. In a bookcase, the party found some books and scrolls, but when Grumble looked inside the drawers, they appeared to be empty. In the room, there was a drow statue with four arms wielding swords, which the party correctly assumed would animate once they messed around with things in the area. Grumble moved a sheet of paper on the desk just to test the theory, and they were proven right as the statue attacked them. However, the party dispatched it easily after Aldrick kept it stunned with his monk roundhouse kicks.

Grumble mentioned a wall near the corner of the room seemed off, and that there was something magical about it. Squeak and Michael went to investigate. Squeak, getting closer sooner than Michael, disappeared right in front of Michael.

The party investigated the door and surmised it was some sort of secret door. Grin opened it with the knock spell, revealing a dark void.

Without hesitation, the party jumped into the dark void, and was transported in a labyrinthine demiplane.

Grumble figured out that people could use their mental strength to get out, or that someone could cast a higher level spell to be able to bring everyone out. Grin tried a 5th level spell and it worked: they all found themselves in Gromph's inner sanctum.

The circular chamber was lit by magic candlles. The floor was made of black stones engraved and inlaid with magical diagrams in silver and gold. Inside of a magic circle, a female drow stood before the party. Behind her,  there were several shelves and cabinets, as well as a lectern on which was placed a black leather bound tome. The tome was Gromph's Grimoire, which is titled Zhaun'ol'eal (''The Book of the Eight'' in Elvish) and describes rituals for summoning and binding powerful demons+. Nearby,  the party eventually noticed a clear crystall ball, inside which had been trapped their friend Squeak. The party cast dispel magic on the ball, which successfully freed Squeak.

The female drow asked the party for help, telling them she would be able to help them back afterwards. Howevern, the paladins, with their keen senses - and also the fact that the female drow was standing in a literal magic circle - realized this drow was in fact a demon who had changed its appearance to look like a drow, so they refused to help it. It was not time for the party to leave.

The party notices the spider moving, and they realize they may have made a mistake so brazenly trying to access Tier Breche without more preparation.

Grumble begins to look for a place to retreat to and hide. At the same time, a drow pulls the party aside and tells them to back away, then leads them away from the area.

He inquires about what the party is doing, and eventually introduces himself as a member of Bregan D'Aerthe. After discussing with the party, and learning they were trying to get rid of the demon lords in the Underdark, the drow suggested he might be able to arrange a meeting with the leader of his organization.

The party agreed, then went shopping at the Bazaar while they waited to see if the leader would meet them. There wasn't many stalls or shops open because of the destruction wreaked by Demogorgon

They purchased a few items, then a drow by the name of Krilelyn H'Kar came to them to lead them to the leader of Bregan D'Aerthe.

When they arrived, a dashing drow in black leather armor, weaing an eyepatch and a wide-brimmed hat greeted them. The drow was Jarlaxle Baenre, the leader of Bregan D'Aerthe. Michael had never met him, but he had heard of him during his adventure in Waterdeep and the Dungeon of the Mad Mage.

After a long discussion, and some exchange of information, as well as Jarlaxle Baenre saying he was going to protect Menzoberranzan and work to send the demon lords back where they belonged, Grin Ousstyl finally broke and shared he was conflicted because the ritual might end up destroying Menzoberranzan.

Party talks with Vizeran and agree to his plans

Zilch learns the seeming spell.

The party goes through the secret tunnel made by Vizeran deVir led by Grin Ousstyl.

After reaching near Menzoberranzan, the party eventually cast the seeming spell to look like drows, but without usurping a house identity.

The party traveled through the Braeryn where they were ambushed by a group of rowdy teenagers. The party shown no interest in them, and didn't seem threatened by them and left, while the teenager group made lewd gestures at them.

Zilchin Q'leptin cast sending to Vizeran who tells them to let him know when the party is inside or about to enter Sorcere, because his allies can only (or are only willing to) help with the wards within Sorcere

Then the party headed through various districts of Menzoberranzan to walk the steps to Tier Breche. Upon reaching the top of the stairs, they noticed two huge spider statues begin to move towards them, and some people slowly starting to take notice of the movement of these statues.

By using a system of pulley, chains and ropes, as well as Bigby's Hand and their raw strength, the party managed to pull the Orderer out of the precipice it was stuck in. They figured out they could shut it down with a dispel magic (high DC), which they did before it could cause more trouble. Since they wanted to keep it as a potential weapon against the demon lords. Since it was so hard to carry, they contacted Vizeran deVir, the powerful archmage, to help them store it. He stored the Orderer in a demiplane of his own. Afterwards, the party gave him the components they had gathered for the ritual, and requested Vizeran's help with the matter of Myla and her companions. As a show of good faith, Vizeran agreed to have arranged to have her resurrected, and to send her party back to the surface world again. Behind the scenes, as time passes, Vizeran will honor this request throughout the following week, whils the party will travel to Menzoberranzan.

Vizeran told the party Grin Ousstyl would help them get to Menzoberranzan. Michael remains a bit suspicious of Vizeran's true intent, but Vizeran seemed genuine about getting rid of the demon lords.

Despite the help of Vizeran, it took a couple days to teleport the whole party to Araj, and during these days, the party had to fight off a goristro and two bulezau who came to attack them as revenge claiming they stole something from their master, but they were able to dispatch them without too much trouble, although Donatello had a bit of a hard time. During downtime, Michael communicated with the Blackstaff to exchange information and give some updates.

The only one thing left to find for the party before the amulet could be created and the ritual prepared, was to find Gromph Baenre's grimoire.

The party arrived at the location of the Maze Engine or Orderer, but the entrance leading to where it would be located was blocked by a nalfeshnee working for Baphomet. It tried to toy with the party, but the party didn't want to waste time, and fought it until they dispatched it.

Then, they walked into the cavern guarded by the nalfeshnee and saw the Orderer, which was wedged halfway down a crevasse filled with magma. The tridrone they encountered prior was able to activate the Orderer, after the party asked him to do so. It caused the malfunctioning Orderer to eventually do strange and unpredictable things, and it started to shake, almost falling in the crevasse.

The party didn't want it to fall down the crevasse, so they used spells, pulley systems, and their raw strength to prevent it from falling, all the while, being attacked by elemental creatures that began flying around the engine after it became active. Eventually, the engine emitted a purple flash, and the party realized that the modrons, and all other extraplanar creatures were gone. After some time, the engine stopped creating strange magical effects, and started recalibrating. The party had to figure out what to do with the engine before it was too late.

DM Notes

2) 89  - Extra planar creatures return to their native plane

3) 100 - Extra planar creatures return to their native plane

4) 40 - Squeak is polymorphed into a flying snake

5) 22 - Slippery goo spews out of the engine

6) 76 - Calliope Song

7) 98 - Extra planar creatures return to their native plane

8) 8 - Arcs of white light play across the surface of the engine

9) 52 - Magic item is summoned (Acheron Blade)

10) 31 - Creatures within 120 feet become invisible

11) 65 - The engine spews harmless multicolored sparks

12) 63 - The engine spews harmless multicolored sparks

The party found an area where the goristro seemed to have spent some time for a while and found some timmasks as well as other mushrooms and fungi. They collected most of it, and Aldrik ate some which made him feel and act funny for some time. The party then continued their travel and reached the Gallery of Angels, a cavern where eight angels ''statues'' stood for ages. Knowing they had to get their wings for the ritual, Michael reached out to his deity, to know whether or not these angels were just statues or real angels, and he learned that they were real angels. He asked if they had been petrified in this way as a form of punishment, and his god replied that they were.

The party decided to be precise while breaking off the wings of these angels, and they realized that when they'd touch the angels, they would be able to ''communicate'' with them, although in a very limited fashion, or at the very least, they could be affected by them. The party only interacted with 6 of the 8 angels

One angel dealt psychic damage, one would make the person making contact with them hear its screaming, so horrific it could render someone mad, another one would encourage to not lose hope, one that would beg for the party member to kill it, and two that would offer some sort of divination magic.

The party tried shattering the angel that was begging to be killed to pieces, but they kept hearing its voice begging to be killed even after it had been shattered. It would become less and less frequent, but occasionally, those who smashed it, Aldrik Rumnaheim and Michael would hear the begging voice again ''Kill me.''

Afterwards, the party continued on their journey and encountered a behir which they dispatched without even breaking a sweat thanks to the hold monster spell cast by Squeak, and walked on until they reached the area where the modrons indicated the Orderer to be.

The party went to find the mind flayer and rushed to its location, which alerted the mind flayer, who had just finished eating the brains of a humanoid creature. The mind flayer used plane shift before the party could do anything. The party made a cairn for the tiefling, and took his notebook as well as his spellcasting focus. Michael cast gentle repose on the body. The party skimmed the notebooks which was written in infernal, and ascertained the tiefling was a warlock of Bael, an archdevil.

Filthriddens

The party traveled for two days (48 miles) without encountering trouble, during which Nieznane studied new spells (Unseen servant, and gaseous form). The group finally arrived in Filthriddens, and, to Kurr's surprise, it was completely different than when he had last seen it. At first glance, besides the strange humanoid man praying over a rotting minotaur head in a circle of burning torchstalk mushrooms, the place seemed completely empty. Upon closer look, there seems to be people or creature hiding in the shadows.

The man was thin, and his face and arms were streaked with dry blood. He had long, sharp fangs that showed when he smiled. He greeted them when he saw them, and explained to him what happened there, that Yeenoghu saved him from the minotaurs, and finally slaughtered the minotaurs that were raiding the village. Since this time, he's become the patron of Filthriddens and has made the settlement a place of worship to Yeenoghu. Those who weren't in favor are gone. The man was named Grisha, and he invited the party to join him and his group, but the party declined the invitation. He told them that they could come back there when they changed their minds.

The party left, then walked for about 48 miles without running into trouble.  This took two day, and during those days, the party and the gnolls, Gash and Kurr, taught each other their native language, common and gnoll. After these two days of travel, the party heard a strange noise, went to investigate, and found a group of traveling modrons.

March to Nowhere

The party, via telepathic bond, discusses with the group of modrons they came across. The tridrone, Duo, and one of the twelve monodrones, (not Mono ) are part of the bond with the main party members. Whilst the monodrone wasn't quite helpful, only saying a few words like ''march'', ''seventeen'', ''Mechanus'', and ''lost', the tridrone was a bit more helpful, although vague in his answers. Eventually, the party ascertained that this group of modrons, led by the tridrone they chose to call Trio, got lost on The Great Modron March that happened over 200 years ago. They are now lost in The Labyrinth in the Underdark, but the tridrone didn't want to admit it. Since Duo and Mono were already a part of the group, the tridrone was open to trusting the party.

The party talked about the Orderer (Maze Engine) to the tridrone, and he warned them it was malfunctioning. After discussing the matter, the tridrone and his group accepted to follow the party, and find the Orderer.

x1 Tridrone
x12 Monodrone

joined the party!

Yeenoghu's Hunt

About 12 miles of traveling, the party saw, from a distance, Yeenoghu and his pack fighting a goristro. As Yeenoghu was fighting it, Michael suggested they use that opportunity to try and attack Yeenoghu as well, taking the opportunity. Donatello was ready to fight, but by the time the rest of the party assessed the situation in order to make a more informed decision, Yeenoghu had already defeated the goristro, and tore its body apart. The hyenas accompanying Yeenoghu feasted on the goristro, and subsequently transformed into gnolls. Yeenoghu then sniffed the area around him, and slowly walked towards the party, but then heard some demonic scream, which took his attention, and he took off, chasing whoever or whatever made that scream, with a good portion of his pack. The rest of the pack remained, feasting on the goristro.

The party took this opportunity to defeat a part of Yeenoghu's pack, and then dissected the body to take the heart of the goristro before its body dissolved into ichor. The heart of the goristro weighed about 100 lbs and kept beating, even after it was taken out.

The party was also able to gather some of the blood of Yeenoghu that remained in the area.

The party then plans to find the goristro's "lair", and to follow Yeenoghu's tracks.

See the associated session log for items and other information.

After going down into the chasm, the party continued traveling through the Underdark for a few days until they traversed a long tunnel which opened up into a cavern. On the opposite wall to the entrance, was a cleft with mounds of decapitated heads on either side as well as graffiti made in blood and vile sigils on the wall. Grumble looked around and asserted this place had been consecrated to Baphomet. Not too long after their arrival, a limping and gnarly looking gnoll, with a mass of scar tissue covering one of his eyes, came out of the cleft to meet the party. The party initially communicated with him using telepathic bond. He told them he could guide them through the maze of his master.

Michael, noticing Gash was pretty injured, decided to heal him, and also tried to learn more about him. This caused Gash to be very shocked, having never been treated so nicely by anyone else in his life. He shared that he was a part of a pack of gnoll, and that there has been an increase in the ferocity of the minotaurs in the area. Gnolls and minotaurs are often fighting for territory in the labyrinth, and this place was the latest battlefield. His pack was slaughtered, and the minotaurs let him live with the condition he would serve people as a ''guide'', and that he would lead people through the maze, but make sure they would get lost or ambushed by the minotaurs. He did that for a long time, but now, seeing that the party was being so nice, he couldn't bring himself to lead them in the maze to be slaughtered, and so he advised them to turn around and find another way.

The party still wanted to go through the minotaur maze, despite Gash's objections. So Gash said he would try to lead them to the exit, and try to avoid danger. It took about 3h for the party to go through the maze, and they were able to avoid the minotaurs. On the way, they found some humanoid bones, and the decapitated corpse of a dwarf. Aldrik Rumnaheim took some of the valuables from the body, and carried it outside, so him and Michael could perform a proper burial and a ceremony for the departed dwarf.

Afterwards, the party continued on for a few days, and ran into a group of flumphs. The flumphs were named Atchi ,  Etchiu, Hakushon , Apchkhi . The group of flumph told Michael about their own nature, and that there was a mind flayer with dark thoughts nearby, who had enslaved some quaggoths. They also noted the minotaurs being more ferocious lately, and strange demonic activities in the Underdark. Grumble, who has a hatred for mind flayers, wanted to find it as soon as possible.

DM Note

- Aldrik rolled 86 on a d100 after Michael performed a ceremony: funeral rite on a decapitated dwarf in the Labyrinth and Aldrik prayed to Vergadain and poured alcohol over the body (Aldrik got 5 on a Wisdom (Religion) check). The next time Aldrik drinks alcohol, he can burp out a 3rd-level fireball (DC 15).
- Michael rolled 8 and 54 on 2d100 after Michael performed a ceremony: funeral rite on a decapitated dwarf in the Labyrinth and Aldrik prayed to Vergadain and poured alcohol over the body (Michael got 21 on a Charisma (Religion) check). Michael has advantage on the next roll he makes to figure out a difficult decision and needs guidance.

The party continued their journey with Kurr as a guide. During their travel, they encountered another lost modron. By talking telepathically with the modron and Duo, the duodrone, they learned that it also got lost on the great modron march that happened many years ago, just like Duo . It started following Duo, while saying ''We are on the march'' repetitively. Because it is a monodrone, the party called it Mono.

During the rest of the day, Michael spoke with Kurr and tried to learn more about himself. He learned that he was a Gnoll Fang of Yeenoghu, but that he had lost his desire for bloodlust all of a sudden, that he now felt guilty for every creature he had slain, and couldn't bring himself to kill anymore, unless in self defense. The party suggested he should look for an alternative path than the one of Yeenoghu, but Kurr didn't seem to convinced. He remained stubborn in his way of feeling sorrow for his lost bloodlust. He told the party he previously sought to find Yeenoghu, because he had sensed his presence in the Underdark. The party still said he had some time to think about it.

Afterwards, the party continued their journey to Filthriddens . On the way, they walked across an adamantine tower. It was guarded by four gargoyles who attacked them as soon as they tried to open the door, which they later determine to be magically locked. They dispatched the gargoyles, and cast identify and detect magic to investigate. They realized this tower was a Daern's Instant Fortress and they learned the magic word Brillig (to grow and reduce the tower) and Mimsy (to unlock the front door and trap door at the top). On the first floor, they found the remains of what was potentially the previous owner, and some of the items on its body. The party got some of the items with the ''help'' of Nieznane Q'leptin. When they went to the 2nd floor of the tower, they were attacked by two shadow demons. They dispatched the shadow demons, and took a little bit of time to look at the new items they got. Afterards, Michael did a proper burial for the body found, and cast gentle repose on it. They reduced the tower and carried it with them.

Then, the party went down the chasm behind where the tower was, and continued their journey. The party has not rested yet.

The party began traveling. They came across a muck pit that had an awful odor, so they flew over it. However, they flew close to the ceiling from which strange fungi was growing, and as Donatello came too close, one burst and he breathed hallucination spores. This caused him to hallucinate that the muck pit was a nice clean pool of water, and that his friends were demons. The party was able to cure him, and they continued on their journey.

After a few days of travel, they encountered a gnoll pack, who viciously attacked them. However, the party noticed that one of the gnolls in the pack seemed to be staying in the back, not enjoying, nor partaking in the combat. After the groups was dispatched, the last gnoll who stayed back, begged Yeenoghu for forgiveness, threw himself at the mercy of the party, expecting to die, but the party did not kill him.

They tried interacting with him, but he only spoke gnoll, so Michael asked if anyone in the party was able to cast telepathic bond, but everyone said they couldn't. Squeak insisted to say he didn't know how to cast it. Michael then ried communicating with him via pictograms, and it took a long time, but they were making some progress. Eventually, Squeak asked why no one was using telepathic bond, because he had it. The party was dumbfounded and Squeak didn't understand why. With the telepathic bond up, they were able to communicate with the gnoll, and learned he was named Kurr

The party traveled for 8 days:

Day 1-4: No encounters

Day 5: The party encountered an ochre jelly, they also found a trio of adventurers, Karliss (tiefling), Myla (elf), and Tony (human), they were badly injured, and Myla had died from her wounds. Karliss told the party that they were headed to the Glimmersea, even though they didn't really know what it was. They said Myla had been having dreams, and a compulsion to go there. Karliss and Tony didn't want to go, or at least, not before doing more research on the area, but Myla was so keen on leaving and going immediately that she would have gone without them. Fearing for her safety if she went alone, they accompanied her, although ill-prepared. Karliss mentioned Myla had been acting strange and that her dreams had started happening after she found a strange shield adorned with corals, shells and pearls. The party invited them to join them, and they put Myla's body in a bag of holding.

Day 6-7: No encounters

Day 8: The party came across a ravine that was spanned by an old bridge, and eventually came across the bodies of dead traders or adventurers.

The party encountered some trouble that had them spend an extra day of travel:

Day 9 : The party encountered a muck pit with spore servants within it, which slowed them down quite a bit.

During the travels Nieznane copied more spells in his spellbook:

- Gift of Alacrity

- Comprehend Languages

- Tenser's Floating Disk

- Bat Familiar

- Alarm

- Identify

- Hypnotic Pattern.

There is a secret in your blood, a dark legacy that sings to you in your sleep, drawing you toward deep, dark waters. But you are the master of your own destiny. You are tied to the gate of this world and it to you. You will not abandon it, not now.      (The Call - Eldritch Horror)                                                                                                                        

As he is about to hit the floor, Zilchyn casts fly to save himself and Hilvius and Farryl, but he cannot upcast it enough to save Zilna.

Grumble dives down to get in range of her, and then he casts feather fall to slow their descent and save Zilna.

Aldrik stuns Karazikar.

Shedrak of the Eyes casts Time Stop, then teleports Karazikar away.

The party steals Karazikar's treasure and frees the slaves.

8 slaves refuse to come, they are still too enthralled by Karazikar

1 shield dwarf

1 human refuse

1 moon elf refused

1 female drow refused

2 goblins refused

2 orog refused

The party goes to Blingdenstone and they leave some of the freed slaves there: 20 shield dwarves, 16 humans, and 10 moon elves. They will try to go home when possible, accompanying some of the deep gnomes on the trade routes at some point, when it is safe to travel. The 4 deep gnomes will remain in Blingdenstone. The party sells the assorted gems they found in Karazikar's treasure vault.

The remaining 21 goblins and 14 orogs have agreed to join the Zentharim enclave in mantol derith, at least temporarily, and will either join as members or return home when it is safe to do so.

For the time being, the 6 female drow and 1 male drow remaining sill stay at the drow enclave in Mantol Derith.

Aluryn has been staying and will stay in the drow enclave as well.

Michael contacts Force Grey via sending stone to give them an update on the situation and inquire about a Maze Engine or Orderer.

The person on the other end of the ''sending'' will tell them they will see if they can find some information for him.

The party does some shopping, and learns that it is Shieldmeet, so the Zhentarim have organized a small festival.

The party makes preparations, then departs from Mantol-Derith , and sets on a 5 day journey to Karazikar's Maw, in the Vast Oblivium.

1st day: No encounter

2nd day:

The party encounters a drow party (1 mage leader, 4 drows, and 11 bugbears) and lets them pass first through a very slim tunnel. Nothing bad happens.

3rd day: Peebles gets snatched by a Grick, Grumble vortexes him out and the party kills the Grick.

4th day: No encounter

5th day: No encounter

6th day:

The party gets into Karazikar's lair, they are met with Shedrak who tells them they are not welcome there.

The party insists on coming in and Shedrak retreats and closes a force door behind him.The party takes some time to dig a tunnel further away from the door and gets inside the lair.

A battle ensues and Karazikar destroys the bridge they are standing on with his eye rays.

Some of the party members are able to fly, but Zilchyn and the members of the Lord's Alliance plummet down... They are about to hit the floor. Can they survive such a fall?

Find out in the next episode of Out of the Abyss!