Act 2: Be careful, for you tread on my dreams - Part 2

In a crazy display of speed from the frog, it was too fast for Miri to react, and she instantly succumb to the effect of the strange substance and entered into a waking dream like state. The party reaching out to help, found themselves similarly affected, though to a lesser degree when they made grabbed her hand. Cook was immediately overcome with a wave of exhaustion, and realising the potential danger, the team quickly organised a system to help guide Miri, with Thedan Ellahorn quickly using the silken rope gifted by Danzug to ensure zero contact was needed. Cook took the time to set up a ritual to help identify the substance, and found it laced with a form of sleep mah-jeek.

After a brief rest, the party set off back to find a way out of the sewers and get help for their afflicted team members. After a quarter a mile they came to an exit, but were instantly faced with the prospect of hoisting a adult human in full chain mail, and other gear, 15 feet straight up with Miri having no means of assisting themselves in her current condition. After Calla and Cook blasted through the shell-hole cover that had rusted shut with a few firebolts, Cook remembered the hard way that fire heats metal and that it needs time to cool down, narrowly avoiding branding himself as the property of M.P. Water Ways and Sewage Disposal Corp in the process.

Thedan Ellahorn was able to adjust the rope into a harness to lift Miri up on to the streets were they could get some help. With two at the top and one below to help guide their friend as she was hoisted up, the party tried in vain to pull, but the weight of the gear and the chain mail proved too much. Hoisting Miri all of two feet off the ground, the party were fast enough to save their rope from fraying and snapping, and decided on plan B. They then hatched plan B.

Making their way back to where they came in, a much easier series of steps, the party came across the door with the pipe. Stepping around the puddle of liquid that was slowly dripping into the channel next to them and flowing downstream. A few moments later a shadow loomed out of the darkness and lit a lantern, sending an array of shadows dancing across the ceiling.

Claiming to be a simple tosher, he asked what had happened and if the person being pulled along by ropes and steered with a quarterstaff was ok. The party quickly let the person in the shadows know what had happened, and when they pressed for further information, they gladly divulged. Without warning the stranger used the staff to cast a powerful form of sleep, unaware that 2 of the 3 conscious party members were of elvish descent and therefore immune. Responding quickly and definitively the party responded, with Thedan Ellahorn transforming into a tiger and engaging the "Hooded bastard". Pouncing on the new danger, Thedan Ellahorn raked their claws across their chest leaving a deep claw wound welling with blood.

The "Hooded Bastard" responded and a back and forth between Calla the mysterious stranger, caused a good deal of damage to either side before the hooded bastard misty stepped to the far side of the sewer to gain some distance, and once on the far side they started focusing on overcharging their power. Cook came barrelling over the bridge and unleashed a torrent of mah-jeek before Thedan Ellahorn , revelling in their agility of their new form, easily and gracefully leapt to the far side to join the aggressor, and once again inflict terrible wounds, this time with their powerful jaws.

Grimacing, and maintaining their mah-jeek overcharging, the "Hooded bastard" circled the new threat, lining up Thedan Ellahorn and Cook before unleashing a powerful bolt of lightning. The power was enough to knock Cook out immediately and almost obliterated him in the process. Thedan Ellahorn 's tiger form weathered the worst of the damage, but wasn't strong enough to withstand it entirely, and Thedan Ellahorn reappeared in the blink of an eye, a slight trickle of blood from their nose. Calla shot a ray of frost, hitting and slowing the "Hooded Bastard", and cook slipped a little further from life.

Thedan Ellahorn , wrestled the cloaked figure and was able to throw into the sewer, where they came up visibly exhausted and showing a glimpse of orcish features. Muttering under their breath, the cloaked figure pointed to a space above the unconscious Cook , before a small bright fizzing ball of energy shot forth like a firework, exploding in a brilliant ball of fire and light and knocking everyone unconscious.

An unknown amount of time the party started to come to. they found themselves blindfolded and manacled to a wall, as the voice of the hooded figure could be heard muttering just out of earshot. Shortly after a sound similar to a bath being drained was heard, followed by the sound of running liquid. Thedan Ellahorn , changing into a cat form, slipped their manacles, before reverting to their normal form and quickly releasing the others. They were confronted with a strange room, with a large pool of the strange liquid in the centre, a couple of gargoyles and a strange plumbing system.

The party quickly discerned the nature of the puzzle in front of them, and exited the chamber, skilfully lowering Miri into and "guiding her across the pool" the party almost escaped without mishap. A slight slipped caused more lethargy to spread. Tired and battered and severely burnt, the party made their way to the exit, to find a barred door, with a strange clockwork mechanism. not seeing anything trapped the party still cautiously backed off before Calla released the trap with her Mage hand.

A glowing ball emerged from a concealed cage just above the door, floating down in the form of a burning hand. At the same time Gwinny Dappleback entered the fray, having been commissioned by Danzug to find the missing party. A fierce battle ensued, with the team only just besting the living spell. Tired, burnt and in desperate need of rest, the party returned to Danzugs to rest.