The party continues to explore the fourth level of Undermountain, the ‘The Twisted Caverns’, and encounter some strangely behaving denizens of the waterlogged, rot-ridden caves.
Having escaped the falling, living stalactites, the party moves into a cave where two strange creatures guard a wall of multi-colored crystals. The monsters each have three arms and three legs, and a mouth full of teeth. The creatures turn to attack, but the party retaliates. They drive the creatures back, but instead of running, the creatures seem to merge into the rocky ground. Some of the group gather some of the broken crystals, and move on before the creatures come back. The party moves forward through the tunnels, and arrive at a river. The water is oily and brackish. Mantis walks across the water to scout, and the party follows through the waist high river.
The tunnels continue to a large cave filled with moss, fungus, and mushrooms. A loud clacking sound echoes from a particular mushroom patch near the stone wall. Shining Brow sends his familiar forward to investigate. His link with the cat is severed as a large spike sends the familiar back to its home plane. The party decides to sneak around the far side of the room. As they move forward, Tang Wu decides to eat one of the blue mushroom caps, which is filled with dust, but it has no effect on him.
The group advances into a damp cave. Water seeps down the walls, forming a small pool. A pile of humanoid skulls and bones sits next to the pool. As Mantis approaches the pile, a huge beast falls from the ceiling and attacks Mantis with a razor sharp beak and curved talons. Tang Wu is knocked into the pile of bones, but Shining Brow dispatches the creature with a vengeance. The group pulls Tang Wu out of the bones, and Mantis begins to search the pile, discovering that it is actually a shallow pit. He finds nothing of value, but when he pulls his hands free, he sees some sort of worm or grubs burrowing into his flesh. Although the party offers to amputate the limb, Mantis decides to burn his arm to destroy the grubs.
After healing, Mantis leads the group south to a small room. A terrible stench emanates from the troglodytes that leap forward to attack. Shazuu makes short work of the beasts, but more issue forth from the tunnel ahead. Shazuu and Tang Wu battle through the mass of monsters, setting up at a choke point. More troglodytes continue to force their way through the tunnels, but Shazuu and Tang Wu methodically take down each foe that lines up, with magical support from the rest of the group. As the lengthy battle continues, Shining Brow notices that these creatures have open untended wounds. When the fight ends, the corridors and caves look like a charnel house. Corpses of the troglodytes are piled everywhere. Suddenly, the ground starts to tremble, the water bubbles on the floor, and an unintelligible shriek fills the minds of each member of the group…
