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.