SD.1.2 Skulls and Mirrors

Session Preface:

Only hours into your foray into the dizzying dungeon beneath Waterdeep, you've already become acquainted with the strange combination of dangerous and peculiar creatures and citizens who call the Undermountain home. From the the divided gang of actors portraying vampires calling themselves the Undertakers to the trio of felled chimeras whose bodies litter the large chamber you currently find yourselves in, the weight sitting in your gut as you catch your breath implies you have faced the first of many challenges and threats this simple delivery will entail before the job is done.  

Session Summary:

After looting the manticores and their makeshift nests, the party takes a moment to catch their breath, at which point they meet a pair of goblins named Groin and Pibble who claim to be collected the skulls of the manticores to add to the 'skull closet.' The goblins also instruct the party to head further south to discover the stairs to the dungeon level below. After two goblins take their leave, the party ventures into another corridor filled with a rotting and monstrous stench before incidentally interrupting a troll feasting on a bowl of spoiled meat. Once the monster is defeated, the party discovers a green door with a strange smile leading to a false closet whose back wall belies a thin mist seeping through. Following the strange path, the party discovers the hallway magically connecting to a hallway entirely separate from their entry point. Finding they've arrived in an already explored corridor, the party works their way back to the original path they carved through the northeastern portion of the level and make their way into a desecrated temple.   Within the crumbled halls, a dead basilisk clutches a driftglobe, but when reaching for the artifact, Fenris draws the ire of a pair of giant centipedes which the party quickly deals with, but not before the creatures try to poison Fenris for disturbing their nest. Among the ruined statues and petrified adventurers of journies past, a single statue seemingly made of a shimmery black stone stands unharmed. Upon examining the statue, the black material slides away from the statue of Gond, the god of invention, revealing itself to be a black pudding whose acidic pseudpods eat away and corrode Thaust's armor, permanently weakening his defenses. Once each splitting portion of the pudding is destroyed, the party retrace their steps so as to continue exploring south per Groin and Pibble's guidance.   As a quick detour, the party uses the mist-filled hallway to explore a pair of discovered rooms, one of which is the storage room holding thousands of skulls which the goblins described. Beyond, the party finds a green copper helm and throne of the same material. Examining the throne and room closely, Hawk eventually realizes to wear the helm while seated in the throne and a hidden compartment above opens, dropping a wand of some magical power directly onto his head, protected by the helmet.   Returning to their original path, the party descends on a pair of bugbear only to discover intellect devourers harboring inside the creatures and striking out to indwell the party as a replacement host. In the course of battle, Fenris finds himself stripped of his mental facilities, paralyzed and unable to speak in more than broken words. Looking for a cure, Hawk searches down a hallway the bugbears used to try and escape, discovering mining tools and a burrowed cave leading to a headless statue of a nude woman among other rubble. With no means of curing Fenris apparent, Hawk and Thaust bring their new companion back to the entrance and in turn all return to the Yawning Portal.   Among patrons settling bets and scores based on their return, the party calls out for anyone willing to restore Fenris' intellect. A blue dragonborn paladin of Bahamut by the name of Vizvez steps forth and offers to heal him if the party can provide the necessary diamond dust. Knowing that given the hour only the temples would be available to provide such materials, Hawk rushes to find a priest of Lathander and quickly returns with the diamond dust. After Fenris is healed, Vizvez questions the adventurers if they'd ever known or come across a pair of dragonborn by the names of Parathrax and Vorothruun who were known to have been in Waterdeep a couple of years ago before their trail went cold. Hawk lies, saying they'd never heard or nor seen the figures, but agree to bring any relics of Bahamut up from the Undermountain as payment for the healing services rendered on behalf of Fenris.   Returning to the dungeon, the party tries to make up for lost time and rush headfirst through a long hallway of mirrors, through which shadowy visages of Thaust draw forth, striking the firbolg and weakening him with their ethereal grip. Once defeating the haunting images, Fenris shatters each mirror, discovering three to be illusions, behind one of which is a bronze mask of Halaster himself, which Hawk holds onto for later examination. With the sound of the shattering class, a patrol of goblins and bugbear leaders come charging in from the south. After defeating the patrol as well as the intellect devourers controlling the bugbears once more, the party takes another pause from exploring the dungeon to prepare for the yet revealed dangers surely ahead.