Session 12: The Desecrated Lair
General Summary
When the party reaches the bottom of the cave, there is a scene of week-old carnage. There are putrid, burned husks of some type of creatures. In the center of the cave, there is an ornate vat, with evaporated gel/fluid, and a rank, burned carcass. In an adjoining tunnel, there is a room with laboratory equipment, cages, and glass containers filled with odd biological materials.
Other alcoves have seared pools for the tadpoles, and husks of odd, but mysterious creatures. Orlock is near a back wall, dead. Some blood has come out his trunk. Thephani is near one of the burnt pools, dead. Medicine or Investigation checks show she has a thin dribble of dried blood down her neck, from her ear. Wren is alive, but barely, tucked away behind some broken cages. Stuck to some barbs and broken wires is the dead, deflated husk of an Intellect Devourer, with a small knife buried in its face.
Exploring the different alcoves: The tunnels wind and twist in many directions but they all tend to spiral, and they tend to go down, most of them only wide enough to fit single file. If they look closely enough, there are different grove patterns near the tops and center sides of the tunnels (which the mind flayers use to navigate by holding their tentacles out. This makes it difficult to find your way back out or to anywhere useful. Historically, this made it nearly impossible for running slaves to escape.
There are no lights or braziers along the tunnels, and there are only chemical lamps in the larger rooms.
There are six directions to explore and effectively have endpoints in one worthwhile room each. 1. Slave pens- cavern with large cages with thick stone walls. The gates look strong and menacing, but close examination of the locks might reveal that the locks are not that advanced. Some of the larger pens on one side have deep gouges from an unknown beast once kept there. There is only one chemical light globe in the entire large cavern, above an odd device. There are a few notable pieces of the device that stand out. First, in the center of the device, there is a slot with an empty, ornate glass jug. It is connected to inscrutable tubes or metal pieces, with a final piece that ends above an oblong basin (where the head rests). The final piece is the tube where the larvae come out, and it can be lowered and positioned anywhere around the basin. The whole of the device seems to be on a semicircular plinth, and an Investigation check can find that the whole setup can rotate to be closer to various pens. On a connected ring, outside the plinth, there are ceremonial altars with chains,used to keep creatures in place and to pull the head down. Investigating the chains can reveal that they ratchet down. 2. The Deep Library- Stone shelves line the walls, with brutal black reading stands in places. The books are all gone, taken by the herald. Some things have been left behind, though. There are skulls of creatures from various races, carved with intricate occult symbols. In a sub-alcove, there is an excavation around a statue set into the wall. The statue has the muscled torso of a humanoid, but has four arms and seven cobra heads. On the carved strip down its chest, there is an ancient language that reads (if successfully translated): “Only those of true strength are worthy to attempt the trial”. It is clear that there was an extended effort to enter the spiral door, but that the attempts were fruitless. 3. Spawning Pools- Tiered pools with an evil, slightly viscous water. Each is filled with dead tadpoles. Here, there is an array of ornate bottles in one wall, meticulously and perfectly stacked and ordered. This makes it apparent that one is missing. In the center of the pools, there is a a larger, deeper one, that looks like the cauldron above. It still has the luminous green fluid, but is otherwise empty, as the Elder Brain had been brought up to meet Orthol Clemont. Thephani is dead in this room. 4. Laboratory- a smaller room than the others. This one has chemical lights and plaves to hang lanterns. On one side, there are a few surgery tables with bizarre and discomforting tools arrayed around them. Another side is covered, wall to wall and floor to ceiling, with aquariums, terrariums, and some more cages for creatures of tiny to small sizes. The third section has racks and racks of odd preserved biological specimens, including a disproportionate number of brains from various creatures. It is in this room that Wren can be found. 5. Forge- cyclopean glassblowing and metalworking forges. There are many benches with tools, each with a worn groove in the floor where the slaves toiled endlessly in place. 6. Refectory and Lounge- The private quarters of the mind flayers. Though still austere, there is a definite air of luxury to the place. Orlock is dead near some odd coffin-like structures (which the mindflayers sleep in). _____________________________________________________________________________
First room explored- slave pens. They discovered the device, and were able to gain that it was mostly humanoids kept imprisoned here. Examining the device, they did not find traces of magic, but did pick up the remnants of psychic vibrations from the control device, described as an oblong orb with paths of indentations, which does not move.
Second room was library
Kestrel sacrificed his wolf totem to enter the temple of Mamuk. They set the tar ooze on fire and nearly got downed from it. They stopped for a short rest after.
Other alcoves have seared pools for the tadpoles, and husks of odd, but mysterious creatures. Orlock is near a back wall, dead. Some blood has come out his trunk. Thephani is near one of the burnt pools, dead. Medicine or Investigation checks show she has a thin dribble of dried blood down her neck, from her ear. Wren is alive, but barely, tucked away behind some broken cages. Stuck to some barbs and broken wires is the dead, deflated husk of an Intellect Devourer, with a small knife buried in its face.
Exploring the different alcoves: The tunnels wind and twist in many directions but they all tend to spiral, and they tend to go down, most of them only wide enough to fit single file. If they look closely enough, there are different grove patterns near the tops and center sides of the tunnels (which the mind flayers use to navigate by holding their tentacles out. This makes it difficult to find your way back out or to anywhere useful. Historically, this made it nearly impossible for running slaves to escape.
There are no lights or braziers along the tunnels, and there are only chemical lamps in the larger rooms.
There are six directions to explore and effectively have endpoints in one worthwhile room each. 1. Slave pens- cavern with large cages with thick stone walls. The gates look strong and menacing, but close examination of the locks might reveal that the locks are not that advanced. Some of the larger pens on one side have deep gouges from an unknown beast once kept there. There is only one chemical light globe in the entire large cavern, above an odd device. There are a few notable pieces of the device that stand out. First, in the center of the device, there is a slot with an empty, ornate glass jug. It is connected to inscrutable tubes or metal pieces, with a final piece that ends above an oblong basin (where the head rests). The final piece is the tube where the larvae come out, and it can be lowered and positioned anywhere around the basin. The whole of the device seems to be on a semicircular plinth, and an Investigation check can find that the whole setup can rotate to be closer to various pens. On a connected ring, outside the plinth, there are ceremonial altars with chains,used to keep creatures in place and to pull the head down. Investigating the chains can reveal that they ratchet down. 2. The Deep Library- Stone shelves line the walls, with brutal black reading stands in places. The books are all gone, taken by the herald. Some things have been left behind, though. There are skulls of creatures from various races, carved with intricate occult symbols. In a sub-alcove, there is an excavation around a statue set into the wall. The statue has the muscled torso of a humanoid, but has four arms and seven cobra heads. On the carved strip down its chest, there is an ancient language that reads (if successfully translated): “Only those of true strength are worthy to attempt the trial”. It is clear that there was an extended effort to enter the spiral door, but that the attempts were fruitless. 3. Spawning Pools- Tiered pools with an evil, slightly viscous water. Each is filled with dead tadpoles. Here, there is an array of ornate bottles in one wall, meticulously and perfectly stacked and ordered. This makes it apparent that one is missing. In the center of the pools, there is a a larger, deeper one, that looks like the cauldron above. It still has the luminous green fluid, but is otherwise empty, as the Elder Brain had been brought up to meet Orthol Clemont. Thephani is dead in this room. 4. Laboratory- a smaller room than the others. This one has chemical lights and plaves to hang lanterns. On one side, there are a few surgery tables with bizarre and discomforting tools arrayed around them. Another side is covered, wall to wall and floor to ceiling, with aquariums, terrariums, and some more cages for creatures of tiny to small sizes. The third section has racks and racks of odd preserved biological specimens, including a disproportionate number of brains from various creatures. It is in this room that Wren can be found. 5. Forge- cyclopean glassblowing and metalworking forges. There are many benches with tools, each with a worn groove in the floor where the slaves toiled endlessly in place. 6. Refectory and Lounge- The private quarters of the mind flayers. Though still austere, there is a definite air of luxury to the place. Orlock is dead near some odd coffin-like structures (which the mindflayers sleep in). _____________________________________________________________________________
First room explored- slave pens. They discovered the device, and were able to gain that it was mostly humanoids kept imprisoned here. Examining the device, they did not find traces of magic, but did pick up the remnants of psychic vibrations from the control device, described as an oblong orb with paths of indentations, which does not move.
Second room was library
Kestrel sacrificed his wolf totem to enter the temple of Mamuk. They set the tar ooze on fire and nearly got downed from it. They stopped for a short rest after.
Report Date
21 Dec 2025
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