Onward to Vizeran’s Tower (Recap from 7-28-23)

(Conthsen on the 3rd of Misuthar) Initiative was rolled and combat began. The combat immediately started going against the ruffians, so the leader, and a Drow High priestess used word of recall returning to her shrine to Lolth, leaving the others to be massacred by the party.

The party looted the bodies and found the ruffians were all pretty wealthy with a total of 972 gp gained from the now dead ruffians and their mage. The mage had a +1 Drow made hand crossbow with 18 bolts dipped in particularly virulent Drow poison (DC19 save, and if the target fails by two points or more the victim is unconscious) and a Drow spell book containing the following spells:

Cantrips: fire bolt, light, mage hand, prestidigitation, Mind Sliver, Ray of Frost, Toll the Dead

1st level: detect magic, mage armor, magic missile, shield, Chromatic Orb, Burning Hands, Alarm, Feather Fall, unseen servant

2nd level: misty step, Web, Mirror Image, Hold Person,  Invisibility, Arcane Lock, Knock, Magic Weapon

3rd level: counterspell, fireball, Dispel Magic, Glyph Of Warding, Leomund’s Tiny Hut, Summon Shadowspawn, Summon Lesser Demons

4th level: Black Tentacles, Ice Storm,  Arcane Eye, Dimension Door, Stone Shape, Banishment, Summon Aberration

5th level: Synaptic Static, Cone of Cold,  Enervation, Immolation, Scrying, Creation, Modify Memory, Teleportation Circle

6th level: Chain Lightning , Summon Fiend, Disintegrate, Flesh to Stone, Investiture of Flame

Once the dead were laid to rest(Burned to keep them from coming back as undead), the group started looking for the ruffians camp, after a bit of searching and tracking they found a 30 foot cave off one of the side tunnels containing:

Coins: 37,000 gp in total, 4,997gp each 

2,100 pp, 16,000 gp

Gems: 1000 gp gemstones (×17; worth 17,000 gp total):

Topaz (transparent golden yellow), ×2, Diamonds (transparent deep blue), ×8, Alexandrite (transparent dark green), ×3, Black pearl (opaque pure black), ×2, Peridot (transparent rich olive green), ×2

Magic Items (Table C) (×25)

4x Bead of Force, 12x vials poison(2d10), 6x Superior healing potions, (2x)Shortswords of venom (+1), Crossbow of venom(+1). 20 short swords, 12 light crossbows, 4 cases of bolts.

There was also a keg of trostenwald ale (Bumbauchs family brand) and some mushroom wine pretty freshly fermented. Neheedra sampled the wine saying “Well it’s ‘ok’ but not that good.” The group had a meal and some drinks then they rested and did light activities till evening where they set up the two ‘tiny huts’ and camped for the night free from worries about random encounters.

(Folsen the 4th of Misuthar) The group woke early and set off, with travel through the dark worm withings being uneventful, just a lot of dark, dry,  10 feet round worm tunnels running in weird random patterns,  as the party made its way to Araj Tower. When they were getting close to the location of the secret tunnel leading to the tower, it was starting to get close to the time where the party usually camped for a long rest. So they once again set up the ‘tiny huts’ and had a long rest in the darkness safe from random encounters.

The next day (Yulisen the 5th of Misuthar) the party continued on to Vizeran’s tower, where Vizeran shared what he knew, as well as the plan he had formulated for removing the demons. This plan involved creating a talisman, and planting that talisman in the Arch Mage Grumpfs Tower. Once placed the arch mage would conduct the ritual and summon the demon lords to the talisman. The demon lords being in such close proximity plus the effects of the ritual being cast will cause them to fly into frenzied rage and attack each other! Once all are killed, there should be a greatly reduced surviving demon lord who being greatly weakened, should be no problem for such a powerful brave party of adventurers to clean up the remaining demon lord without much trouble. To do this he needed:

• The intact and unhatched egg of a purple worm, for channeling great physical power.
• The central eye of a beholder, to break down magical resistance and overcome magical forces.(The party had this already)
• Six feathers from six different angels—the authority of the celestial realms and a force to enrage fiendish creatures.
• The heart of a goristro, to reach and influence the hearts of other demons.
• Thirteen timmasks, also known as "devil's mushrooms," sprouted from the footprint of a marilith, a balor, or a goristro—a lure to draw demons in.
• A few drops of blood or ichor from a demon lord, to connect with the demons the ritual will call.(The party had this already)
• Gromph Baenre's grimoires and notes on his ritual, to assist in better understanding the power that summoned the demon lords.(The party had this already)

After agreeing to work with Vizeran, the party was pretty sure that when Vizerran said the talisman ‘MUST’ be placed in ‘Grompfs Tower’ in the House Baenre compound in Menzoberranzan, It seemed pretty obvious he wanted most of the destruction caused by the demon lords to be concentrated on House Baenre.

In gleeful anticipation of the destruction of his rival and of House Baenre, he offered the hospitality of his tower for the evening and access to any spell components the party might need for the trip.

One last thing the wizard told the party is that a Beholder had created a deep domain in the Worm writhings and set himself up as a god, buying or capturing slaves to worship him. While scrying Menzoberranzan he saw agents of the beholder buy 6 halflings dressed in the same colors as Abnar! He also saw some dwarves and humans who were also taken by the agents. 

After a long rest in the Tower, the party set out for the Worm Nursery in the worm writhings to retrieve the purple worm egg. (Da’Leysen the 6th of Misuthar) On the way they found a fairly large troglodyte lair and decided to sneak through while two factions of the troglodyte clan were fighting over an evil black sword. 

Sneaking through a secret tunnel they came upon the troglodytes ‘dinner pantry’ where there were two male drow, and four dwarves from Grimgolier imprisoned in a deep pit almost dead and with four points of exhaustion. The party rescued the prisoners and the two drow ran for freedom as soon as they were released. The dwarves asked if they could tag along for protection, and eventually maybe get an escort back to grimgolir. The party also found some stashed supplied in the same area as the prisoners:

Four zurkhwood boxes: held a 50-foot length of spider-silk rope, four flasks of oil, twenty pounds of rancid food, a pile of moldy blankets, six maces and sixteen javelins (all battered but usable), four casks of unspoiled wine worth 100 gp each.

A locked tribute chest (worth 500gp).which contains 1800 gp (minted in Menzoberranzan), three gems each worth 500 gp each, a potion of gaseous form, and a +1 dagger with silvery, weblike filigree worked into the hilt. The dagger is of drow manufacture. The crude litters that the troglodytes use to bear these goods are propped up against the cave wall.

With the exhausted prisoners in tow, the party slipped further quietly into the troglodyte caverns. As they entered a small cavern filled with stalactites and stalagmites, making the cave floor difficult terrain where they were attacked by two Ropers and four piercers that were hiding in the cave. The party rolled for initiative.

Session ended (Da’Leysen the 6th of Misuthar).

Total Party Loot: A total of 59,172 gp worth of coins, art objects, and/or gems (5379gp to each of the 11 party members). (Excluding magic items).