The party continues to explore the first level of Undermountain, the ‘Dungeon Level’.
As Tang Wu retreats to the city above to rid himself of the cursed blade, the party prepares to move out. They decide to leave through the south door, and avoid the passage marked “Certain Death”. This route takes them to a broken, headless statue of a humanoid woman, that stands in front of a dirt tunnel that has been dug into the wall of the dungeon. SEarching the area, Shining Brow finds a stone serpentine head which seems to be part of the statue, but nothing else of interest. The group identifies it as a statue of a yuan-ti and, cautious of the snake people, they decide not to continue down the dirt tunnel. Instead, they continue through the room and into a long hall, lined with magical, floating candles. This, obviously, is the ‘Hall of a Hundred Candles’, an oft spoken of location on the Dungeon Level.
Along the hall, they find a small, square room which seems to cancel out all magical effects. On the floor is a piece of parchment. After fishing it out, Mantis reads the single rune on the sheet, and a goblin appears from nowhere, calling him “Boss”. The goblin behaves rudely to the rest of the group, who give it several names. The goblin, however, seems dedicated to Mantis, and he names it “Little Buddy”.
Mantis begins to scout ahead, but is confronted with a shimmering field covering the entire passage. The ‘field’ moves forward, and he quickly discovers that it is a gelatinous cube. The cube advances, and he immediately flees, yelling for the party to do likewise. The group retreats, and Shining Brow tries to leave an oil trap behind them. As they flee, they also discovers that all of the doors have shut and locked behind them. Shazuu and Tygorr pick the gelatinous cube apart with their magic. Eventually, it falls apart, leaving behind some small coins.
The group continues exploring, but several passages end in rock falls or dead ends. One of the dead ends terminates in a tall oval mirror, with carvings of wizards on either side. Mantis casts a spell which reveals the mirror can be activated by a wand held by an individual of sufficient power. Unable to move forward, the group goes back to the north.
They find another mystery as they move north. In an alcove not far from the hall, they discover a bas relief of a fat man playing a harp, with the words “Gaze on me with a bronze visage, and secrets I shall reveal.” Unable to solve the puzzle, the group moves on, although Shazuu begins to ask everyone he meets about a “bronze visage”.
Shining Brow scouts ahead and finds two bugbears on guard. Shazuu decides to immediately charge them, but the bugbears flee down a nearby hallway. The party pursues, and blunders headlong into a room full of goblins. Mantis recognizes he can gain an advantage by sneaking around a back path, and loops around while the party begins to fight for their lives. Shazuu destroys many goblins, but bugbear and goblin reinforcements quickly arrive. Mantis finally flanks them from behind, and the party finishes their foes. They don’t uncover any treasure, but they do find a black obelisk, surrounded by bones, dried flowers, and other offerings from the goblins. Exhausted from their efforts, the party decides to rest in a tiny hut created by Mantis.
During their rest, the watch spots something outside the hut, but is unable to identify it. After their rest, the group finds a secret door near their resting spot. Mantis scouts ahead, and rapidly returns after being spotted by a floating eyeball. Tygorr recognizes it as some sort of arcane eye, or scrying spell. The group realizes that the mad mage Halaster may be watching them.
They move forward into a strangely shaped room. Shazuu is attacked by an invisible force… something like a whirlwind, which also hurls Mantis at his Little Buddy. The group fights back, and quickly defeats the air elemental.
The party resumes their search for magical items. The zigzag hallway leads to a corpse with ruined leather armor and a longbow. A secret door leads to a hallway full of dwarven statues. Mantis meets a cornered were-rat, calms her, and unlocks a door blocking her passage. In turn, she warns of magical traps in a room ahead. After she flees, the party reaches the door for the room she had mentioned. Peeking inside, the group sees a large were-rat lounging on a throne, and hears squeaks from either side of the room. While the party argues about entering, Tygorr turns invisible and confirms the room is full of only danger, and sneaks out again.
The group backtracks to doors they had passed earlier. They investigate a set of doors, both of which lead to rooms that may have once been barracks. Stacked beds line the walls. In one of the rooms, Shining Brow finds a single skeleton laying on the bed. Shining Brow casts detect magic, revealing a magic quarterstaff. After securing their first magical item, they follow the passages up a flight of stairs through a large room, into what appears to be a bath chamber. The party turns some handles, and water pours out of dwarven sculptures.
Content
Next time:
- Wu has returned to the surface (PJ’s out for two weeks).
- The group continues their search for magical items.
- Durnan mentioned the “Arcane Chambers”, “The Willowood”, and “Selune’s Tears” in his letter
- Return to the Mirror of Wands when strong enough (Lvl 11)
