Episode 26, "Along The Path Of Temptation"

Having defeated the invisible servant guarding the throne room door in the Tomb of Urzaan, the heroes inch up the stairway to listen-in. Their ears are keen this time, and they pick up a whole lot of useful information from three Order mages conversing on the other side. The Order has been closely guarding the secret of Dralek, the dracolich terrorizing the countryside, for over two centuries now and are scrambling to try and figure out how to handle him now that he's reclaimed his soul (thanks, Doc). They discuss the potential of framing the heroes for Dralek's rampage, and then toy with the idea of retrieving the soul of an old and powerful sorcerer from a demon on the Abyssal plane to begin the process of destroying the dragon itself when Fhasys decides to try and open the door. A trap triggers, zapping the rogue with a dose of lightning, and Vyreth dispels whatever magic might be lingering around the door itself.

The door-fiddling alerts the Order mages on the other side who steel themselves for a fight. Some words are exchanged through the door and finally, cautiously, the heroes file into the throne room to talk to the mages. Talos takes up the lead as ambassador for his party and speaks with the mages in Elven. In a strange turn of events, it turns out that the mages and Talos share a common goal--to find and destroy the sorcerer, Wishram's soul, for good. (Wishram is Talos' ex-master, now enslaved by the demon Yzztlach due to an unfortunate turn of events quite some time ago). Fhasys, once again, finds the general high-and-mighty attitude of the Elven mages to be abnoxious as best and she tries to stir the pot a bit... But, cooler heads prevail. They discuss the varied dangers of the Abyssal plane for a bit and then make their way back to the portal room.

The new group teleport to the Abyssal plane, a dark and foreboding landscape, and immediately spot their destination--a softly illuminated grove of twisted, petrified trees perched on the ledge of the humongous floating chunk of rock on which they stand. Along the way, each hero stumbles upon a rare magical item placed conspicuously in plain-view, clean and sparkling as if fresh out of the shop. Sendil, the head of the mage trio, points out that Yzztlach is a galbrezu--a demon who feeds off of tempting mortals into their own destruction. Despite cautions aired by the Order mages, the heroes snatch-up their new trinkets and store them for future identification.

As the heroes near the grove, a cacophony of screeching and squawking fills their ears. Dozens of strange, black silhouettes dangle and perch among the branches of the grove; some seeming hybrid of monkeys and giant vultures. The soft glow spotted from the portal door also comes into focus, revealing large glowing baubles hanging from the tree limbs here and there. While the heroes contemplate a surprise attack, the mages caution to keep a cooler head as they have a history in dealing with Yzztlach that they do not want to tarnish. The heroes acquiesce and the lot moves into the grove.

The vrocks in the trees above seemingly pay no notice to the passers-by as they travel through an archway made of petrified branches toward the sounds of a woman pleading for help on the other side. Once they clear the grove, the party arrives at a rocky ledge overlooking an abyss and another floating hunk of rock some 20' out on which stands a solitary, bedraggled woman. Vyreth immediately recognizes the woman as Varishna, his lost love, and teleports over to the rock for a teary and happy reunion. With their final prize accepted, the demon Yzztlach makes an appearance.

Sendil and the Order mages fire an opening volley of respect and reverence to the demon, but things quickly start coming off the rails when he suggests that they must sacrifice both Wishram's soul AND Varishna to Dralek's shade in order to defeat him. The mages had assumed only the soul was necessary, but begrudgingly accept the new marching orders. The heroes, on the other hand, start to question this entire scenario from the ground-up. As they debate, Doc asks what they need to do for the bauble around Yzztlach's neck and the demon asks for a "sacrifice" from each group. When asked to clarify, the demon dances around the subject--clearly believing himself to be in the position of power. Faerun decides to volunteer herself for the exchange and steps toward the abyss willingly, but amidst the debate within the hero circle Talos looses a lightning bolt squarely at Yzztlach. Combat ensues.

Faerun, realizing the gravity of the situation at-hand, pleads with the heroes to stop their attack while Sendil and Jorun (the other two mages) argue about making a move vs. surrendering on the spot. The demon sprouts wings and flies into the middle of the group, then proceeds to casually grapple and pummel Talos into unconsciousness. Not a good sign. The others take notice and begin to worry that perhaps they're in over their heads. Still, the attacks from the party continue. Fhasys decides to make a persuasive attempt to convince the mages to side with them, and does so successfully. With their new-found confidence, the mages loose a fireball and volley of magic missiles at Yzztlach with little effect. A small flock of vrocks begins to form above the petrified grove and several swoop in using their terrifying screeches to stun... everyone. Vyreth rushes over to Talos' aid as the vrocks begin lashing out with their beaks and claws. A heavy feeling of dread descends upon the party as Sendil prepares for his next attack.

Episode 25, "Out On A Limb"

After a harrowing affair with a mind flayer and its intellect devouring associate, the heroes decide what to do next... Doc and Talos study the scimitar dropped by the flayer and, after identifying it, reveal it to be the Scimitar of the Primordial--a perpetually condensing magical scimitar that expands one's extra-sensory receptivity, making the wielder both more in-tune and vulnerable to his or her surroundings on an intuitive level. It also deals 1d6 psychic damage and has pretty underwater flora designs etched into the sides of the notched blade. Score!

Fhasys, mostly ignored up until this point, gets some ad-hoc treatment by the party's very own druid. He gives her a firm slapping (to no avail), tries yelling at her and shaking her, and finally lays down the law with Dispel Magic... but nothing seems to snap the rouge out of her vegetative state. Worry sets in. Finally, the heroes decide to barricade themselves in the feeding chamber and see what a long rest does for her brain. It helps. A bit.

Fhasys awakens suddenly capable of abstract thought and communication, but still nowhere near as sharp as she used to be. Frustrating. The mob gathers their stuff and makes their way south through a tunnel that seems to be carrying a bit of a draft. The heroes soon emerge from the tunnel on to a ledge jutting out from the side of a canyon wall deeper in the Underdark and find themselves feeling alarmingly exposed. The darkness of the canyon extends above and below and outward in all directions save (again) for the scattered bio-luminescent fungi cluster dotting the canyon walls. While the ledge on which they sand had long since crumbled into the abyss below to their right, it continues some distance to their left toward a descending stairway. Fhasys and Talos toss ball bearings about hoping to learn more about their surroundings but only discover another ledge below. Steeling their resolve and readying their weapons, the heroes slowly and stealthily make their way across.

Halfway to the stairway, Fhasys gets a weird feeling and catches some strange activity overhead. It would appear some thing or things are hovering just outside the visible boundary cast by the lit braziers along the walkway. She throws another ball bearing up toward the movement and receives only a strange, disembodied moan in response. Shrugging it off, the party continues on.

They begin descending the staircase and make it roughly halfway down the 300-odd step switchback when the "things" from the darkness above begin their slow descent. Two large manta ray looking creatures with grotesque fleshless skulls for faces swoop down upon the exposed party: The first of which emits a deep, bone-chilling moan that sends all but Vyreth running for their lives and then mirror images itself into 3 copies. The second cloaker slams into Vyreth, grabbing on to his shoulder with its teeth and wrapping around his body like a thick leathery blanket. Four darkmantles piggyback on to the opportunity and come crashing down from the ceiling above; one manages to lodge itself firmly on Vyreth's head, beginning the process of suffocation, while the rest slam harmlessly onto the staircase. Blind and choking, Vyreth struggles to stay on his feet and decides to shape shift into a bear with hopes of breaking free.

Vyreth, now in his bear form, thrashes about wildly dislodging both of his passengers for a moment of freedom but is once again overwhelmed by the cloakers and darkmantles. His compatriots, once Fear has worn off, suddenly come to at the bottom of the staircase wondering where the hell Vyreth is. They look back and see a pile of cloakers and assume the worst. A bolt from Fhasys kills one of the cloakers, sending it sloughing off the stairway and into the abyss. Talos blasts the second cloaker with a lightning bolt, immediately disintegrating it and revealing Vyreth's now unconscious form: A slimy, ooze-covered and matted bear with two darkmantles still attached and constricting him. Doc takes a valiant swing with his glaive but loses his grip mid-swing sending the weapon spinning away into the darkness. Ultimately, they free Vyreth from his hosts and manage to bring him back from the brink.

At the bottom of the staircase, the heroes discover another ledge leading to a doorway with a solid black stone door. Not wanting to risk anything more, Vyreth casts Dispel Magic to pop the lock and disarm the trap, and the lot shoves their way inside... anxious to get out of the Underdark. Inside, they find a portal room, complete with hand-drawn pentagram and various scattered objects. The lot shuts the stone door behind them and prepares to do a lot of thinking...

Talos does some poking around using his arcane knowledge and comes to the conclusion that some combination of trinkets and/or other gestures/sounds will open the portal. Vyreth and Doc search around but find little else other than what was already mentioned. Fhasys ponders for a moment and decides to just start trying combinations while the others think some more. Her first couple attempts temporarily open the portal but aren't lasting enough for travel. Her third attempt creates a magical concussive feedback blast blowing everyone against the walls. Ouch. She regroups and tries again. A second feedblack blast knocks out everyone but Fhasys, so she decides to use the opportunity to take a nap. The rest of the party awakens an hour or so later and resumes their investigation.

Fate eventually blesses the group with insight and breaks them free of the bondage of collective amnesia. Fhasys reminds Talos of the rubbing taken back in the abandoned room at the mages guild; the prose that read, "Ruby soul of heartless glass, callous, cruel, and treacherous past." Using this clue, they decide on some objects and place them in the center of the pentagram. However, the portal activates and flickers out once more. Vyreth, out of the corner of his eye, catches a piece of paper fall from Talos' bag (fate, again); on it, a note simply reading "Dralek". Using the same objects as before, plus uttering the dragon's  name, blows open the portal and the lot make their way through.

Fhasys, being the first to make it through, scans the new area and recognizes it as being the portal room in the tomb of Urzaan! Small town. The heroes wind their way back through the tunnel, across the underground stream, and are met with the blunt-force trauma of another invisible stalker's fists. Combat ensues. The heroes take turns running up to the front of the line and unleashing their attacks in the general direction of the stairway ahead and, after a pretty significant beating, manage to destroy the servant. Exhausted and bruised, they take a moment to heal and drink some water before continuing up the stairway toward the (now) closed wooden door to the throne room.

Episode 24, "Hunting the Order"

Just as the heroes dust themselves off from the long fall into the Underdark, the ground beneath their feet erupts into an explosion of dirt, mycelium, bones and detritus. Some nasty creature (otyugh), awakened by the visitors' arrival, lashes out with huge brown spiked tentacles and a gaping maw of dagger-like teeth. The heroes manage to slay the creature handily, only to be attacked again by a small horde of phase spiders. Wave upon wave of the blue metallic insects wink in and out of existence as they advance on the newcomers atop fungi hill. A sense of impending doom engulfs the party as they ready their swords for the onslaught.

The spiders have no problem phasing their way through the deadly mix of giant mushrooms littering the dirt mound but the heroes find it a tad more difficult to navigate. A spell and an errant bolt from Fhasys' crossbow detonate a couple gas spores sending a cloud of toxic gas in all directions. During the melee, Vyreth gets poisoned by spiders so badly that he collapses to the ground and gets dragged-off causing much concern. Fhasys manages to track Vyreth as he gets dragged down the hill and luckily keeps him from being cocooned. The battle rages for what seems like hours until finally the last of the spiders crumples. The heroes, at this point barely clinging on to life, manage to orchestrate a heal-fest using their remaining potions and spells and take inventory of their surroundings once again.

The area surrounding the mound on which they stand lay shrouded in darkness; a seemingly endless expanse of unknown. Fhasys looses a fiery bolt in each of the four cardinal directions in an attempt to feel out the dimensions of their cavern. Sure enough, with a thud and a steamy hiss, each bolt lodges into a far wall covered in lichen and spider silk. The cavern, however, is too damp to foster a cleansing wildfire and the bolts quickly extinguish. The light from the bolts suggests a large cavern some 500' in diameter, crudely carved from the dirt and lined with spider webbing. At the junction of the floor and walls on all sides of the cave sit clusters of shiny spider eggs. They've fallen right into a spider nest! A couple tunnels are spotted as well, but the heroes decide to risk a much-needed long rest before making their way down the hill.

Their rest, of course, is interrupted by several more phase spiders and combat ensues. On their second attempt at extending a short rest, they manage to get some R&R in the dark quiet of the cavern. The heroes turn their attention to the tunnels and set to exploring. A handful of resting spiders guarding cocooned prey are discovered at the end of several winding tunnels, and Fhasys cuts open the cocoons only to find decayed miner bits. Talos has a bright idea and animates the corpses to be used as probes, but they're quickly torn to shreds upon discovering the next cluster of spiders. After a short while of exploring, a cry for help comes echoing through the labyrinth. The party pensively decides to investigate.

With Fhasys in the lead, the heroes attempt to stealth to the best of their ability but Doc's squeaky metal armor gives away their location. They soon arrive at a crossroads of sorts with a dead robed Order mage lying on the tunnel floor just beyond a large opening into some sort of room. Assuming she's stealthed, Fhasys pokes her head around the corner and is spotted by the room's occupants--one humanoid figure clad in a dark leather trench coat with a purple octopus-like head and one raised miner corpse standing idle, swaying slowly by the entrance. The mind flayer, sensing Fhasys' arrival, cassts mind blast and then planeshifts out of existence. Fhasys, partially stunned by the blast, slumps against the dirt cavern wall as the raised miner slowly shuffles toward her. The mind blast, having reduced Fhasys to zero intelligence, creates an opening for the intellect devourer using the miner as a host. The miner grabs on to Fhasys' shoulders, opens its mouth and issues forth a blackened fog from its mouth engulfing her head.

Unfortunately (or, perhaps fortunately), the rest of the party--having filed neatly behind Fhasys--doesn't really know what's happening at this point. They call out her name but she doesn't respond, standing slumped against the entrance to the room motionless. The heroes rush in to investigate and immediately cut-down the miner locked in some sort of "moment" with Fhasys. The rogue, released from the intellect devourer's attempt at brain theft, collapses on to the tunnel floor and stares blankly out into space seemingly unresponsive. The corpse of the now slain miner lies still for a moment, then its head splits open gushing ichor all over the ground. Its brain, apparently having sprouted legs, claws its way free of the confines of the skull and dies. Meanwhile, the mind flayer planeshifts back into existence and snares Vyreth into a strangle-hold. The heroes attempt to wrap their minds around all that's transpired while the flayer goes to work on Vyreth's skull with some ancient, serrated blade. As the cold metal cuts through his skin, Vyreth stands paralyzed and helpless. As the party gets ready to assault the mindflayer, it suddenly drops its weapon and vanishes. Talos finds himself once again overcome by a familiar voice and imagery as the aboleth Quar-Jezz't reaches out through the Underdark using telepathy. The aboleth kindly reminds Talos to follow-through with their original bargain made in the Embershale mine, or next time they won't be so lucky.

Talos comes to to a grisly scene... Vyreth lay on the ground, scalp bleeding profusely from an attempted brain extraction. Fhasys sits slumped against the tunnel wall apparently incapable of rational thought. And the dead, four-legged brain of an ex-miner lay in a puddle of ooze at the entrance to what appears to be the food storage room of the phase spider den. Those heroes still capable of evaluating the situation at hand all agree... Shit just went from bad to worse. And, they haven't even found the Order mages yet.