The Age of Worms / Hall of Harsh Reflections pt. 8 / Eire the 2nd through the 3rd, 3592 CE / 7-7-19

The party is in a cave system below the sewers of Kedesh, searching for the mysterious Zyrxog, hoping that destroying him will satisfy their debt to Telakin's gang of doppelgangers, though as Rikit points out, Lulu's plague may end any such need to fulfill that debt within a few days time. Unfortunately, Lulu's plague may have even greater consequences than that if it continues to spread. Currently there is a shrieker mushroom screaming an alert that echoes through the bowels of the cave system. Rikit quickly smashes the mushroom and its brother, ending the shrieking, but the damage has been done. The element of surprise is no longer on the party's side. Creeping further into the caves, Rikit and Lulu spot something wet and sticky on the floor of the next cavern, as well as seeing a ledge 10 feet up. Los, who has been poking at various mushrooms they've come across, does not seem to notice, but when alerted by her companions, agrees to levitate Rikit so he can see what is on the ledge as well as possibly avoid the wet substance on the ground. Unfortunately, what awaits on the ledge are three drow guards, with heavy repeating crossbows at the ready. They begin to fire at the hapless deep gnome, who falls in a hail of crossbow bolts, but not before observing with horror that the guards wear the crest of House Deshokar. As one of the drow lights the lamp oil on the ground with an alchemist's fire, Lulu and Los spring into action. Los attempts to assert her authority as a noble over the drow. But the scion of House Cantri notices that even as she temporarily intimidates these drow, their eyes have a strange glazed look, as if they are being compelled by another. As the drow continue to fire on the party, Los once again creates a deep darkness through which even eyes accustomed to the Endless Night may not see, while Lulu grabs the unconscious form of her companion Rikit. Using Los's deeper darkness for cover, they are able to elude the drow, as Los uses her divine healing powers to close up the wounds from the guards' crossbow bolts. After making their way back to the sewers to rest and recover, Rikit, recalling the sight of House Deshokar's sigil, which is confirmed by Los, quaffs another invisibility potion to investigate the lair further while his fellows rest. Proceeding past the ambush point and noting that the drow guards have been changed out in the meantime, Rikit moves silently through a room with a subterranean pool fed by a leaking cistern. The room is inhabited by a large snake-like creature. The room adjacent appears to hold some sickly livestock intended for slaughter and feeding the troop of assembled drow. However, even more disturbing to Rikit is the sight of the woman he has been obsessed with ever since he escaped the from the Everlasting Night, Mistress Corvina Deshokar. Making the most of his invisibility, Rikit slips the note he has been holding onto since he fled House Deshokar during a raid by Adventurers into Corvina's belt. As he prepares to make his way silently back to his companions, he notices that between the pool room and the drow enclave is a hidden slot for a portcullis to drop down. Hoping to avoid a situation later where their escape is cut off, Rikit secretly shifts some stone to potentially block the gate from crashing down should it ever be released, and then sneaks back to the sewers.