Chapter 5: Old Friend, New Enemy

After a frightening bridge encounter with a Beholder and an Elder Primordial Beast, the party revives their guide and seeks out shelter to rest for the night. Using unseen abilities, Vadriar is able to find a strongly fortified cave with which to rest in but it was occupied by a party already...

Digging their way into the cave, the party was met by two derro and a goblin, completely absorbed in a small game of goblin jacks. Picking his head up to see who was intruding on the fun, Po Tam Gum, rogue prodigy, realized it was his pevious adventuring group. Excitedly reuniting with old friends, the group went over their current situation and where they were going.

After an extended rest, the newly formed party continued through the underdark pausing only to examine a strange slime found on the stalagmites. Vadriar identified it as fresh Aboleth slime and began to consume the slime in small doses. Following on his lead, the rest of the party downed the slime and were quick to realize they could no longer breath in the air around them. Breathless but still calm, Vadriar jumped into a nearby underground stream which plummeted shortly into a massive underwater cavern. Fully submerged in the underdark cavern, the adventurers were able to breath underwater from the temporary gills the Aboleth slime had gifted them with. The one time site of a megalopolis long forgotten, buildings and settlements now lay suspended underneath the crushing force of underdark waters. Upon exiting the depths of the freezing water, Vadriar (the first one out of the water) handed each party member a mysterious herb which was able to subdue the effects of the Aboleth slime. The successful and dangerous journey through the underwater cavern was quick lived as the group stumbled across several dead bodies of grimmerzhul dwarves.

The brief investigation lead them straight into the layer of an Aboleth and his minions. Dominating the minds of his slaves, the Aboleth known as Leviticus quickly attempted to take over the team through psychic attacks and physical force from his minion brutes. Devastating dailies rained down on Leviticus and he was quickly overwhelmed by the party. Moving through the caves of the Underdark, the adventurers found more and more carved stone and other forms of civilization. The journey to Phaervorul was almost complete.