War!!

 The battle finally came to Phandalin when the Mind Flayers attacked using their vast army of Thralls.  Over 500 Orcs backed by a unit of Mind Flayers attacked!  The party took control of 2 units of archers, 2 foot soldier regiments, a unit of spell casters, the Griffon Calvary and an unexpected group of Gnomes from Ieirithymbul.

Griffon Calvary

The Mind Flayer unit, stayed at the rear of the battlefield and out of range. The Archers and Spell casters engaged from range while the ground units flanked the initial groups and decimated them.  The ground units took a surprisingly small amount of casualties and only one Griffon was lost.

Once the Orcs were defeated, the Illithid unit began to advance.  Out of the north a lone Red Dragon descended on the battlefield and razed the unit of Mind Flayers with its breath weapon.  The dragon then landed and the Githyanki rider dismounted and confronted the party.  Three more Gith plane shifted into the war zone.

The Gith were impressed with the efficiency that the army had dispensed with the threat, but quickly noticed Ash's sword Curoch.  A conversation was had about where the sword was acquired and that the Gith wanted it, but Curoch made it know it did not want to return to Githyanki control.

Just as there was about to be a confrontation, an elderly dwarf wandered onto the battlefield.  He quickly transformed into the Ancient Gold Dragon Palandrusk and quickly reminded the Gith that no Red Dragon has a claim to this region and he would defend it.

Palandrusk in Dragon form

 

With this in mind, and the fact the army was still assembled and a young Red Dragon is no match for an Ancient Gold Dragon, they departed.

 As soon as they left, Palandrusk reverted to Dwarf form and fell to the ground exhausted.  The party quickly returned him to the Guild Hall where Elminster had arrived to congratulate the Guardians on their initial victory.

 

 Seeing that Palandrusk was in distress and possibly dying, he called upon Mystra to intervene.  To everyones surprise, she appeared and laid hands on the dying dragon.  He appeared to de-age by several centuries and regained consciousness.  Everyone was thankful and just as quickly as she appeared, she was gone.

 Palandrusk reminded the group that the threat was not over and the Elder Brain needed to be addressed.

Elder Brain

Purple People Eater!

 After learning that the "Unseen Protector" had been looking for them, the party headed back north.  The Guardians asked the group to also do some recon in the forest.

About half an hour outside of town, the group notices what sounds like digging coming from underground and it is getting closer.  Torin casts invisibility on himself and heads west towards the source.  Suddenly a Giant Purple Worm bursts from the ground and attacks.

 

Purple Worm

Morganna is the first to be hit and is swallowed whole by the great beast!  The others began to do damage, but none more than Morganna does from the inside.  After a critical hit and over 60 points of damage and failing a Constitution save, the worm spits her out. While alive, she is critically injured and makes her way away from the battle.

Ash is struck by the tail attach and takes nearly 40 in poison damage.  His counter strike with intelligent sword Curoch not only damages the worm, but he uses its Planeshift ability to send it to the Astral Plane.

After the worm is defeated and Morganna and Ash have been somewhat healed by Torin, they notice there are voices coming from the hold the worm made.  Ash, Torin and Papi decide to take a look and find a Ulitharid commanding several Orcs.  They wisely exit the hole and Ash uses Mold Earth to seal them in.

Ulitharid

 

The group returned to Phandalin and led soldiers back to the hole to guard it and then headed north again.  In the forest, they find more Purple Worm holes. While investigating them, Torin discovers a ruby.  The party then runs into the "unseen protector" and he tells them there are many more holes like this throughout the region.  The Mind Flayers are using them to excavate and search for their lost Spell Jamming helm.  He tells the group he knows which path leads to the Illithid lair.

While deciding if they want to traverse the many tunnels also looking for the help, Gobby tells them he can help get the helm.  Then, for the first time, Vregroqai speaks in a serious tone.  He tells the party he has a Wish left from the Deck of Many Things and will use it to retrieve the helm, for a cost.

He wants to open a franchise of Acquisitions Inc in Phandalin and agrees to give the town 10% of his take. The party is shocked at the revelation that their small green friend has been acting this whole time!  They are a bit leery of the gesture, but wanting to secure the helm before the Mind Flayers is their priority.

"Gobby" makes the wish and they now have the helm. Palandrusk transforms brifly to his Gold Dragon form and reveals he is not strong enough to attack in open battle and must defend his people.

The group heads back to Phandalin to report and make preparations.

As the sun rises the next day, the Orc war tribe can be heard in the distance. The battle is coming...

Heading Home

After defeating the Arachnomancer, the party managed to find the Greenstone Amulet for Durnan and a few items of use to them as well! A helm of Mental Invincibility, A +2 sword fo sharpness and a Shield of the Silver Dragon. 

Having completed their quest in Myth Drannor, the party decides to head home. After climbing out of the dungeon, the part is again faced with a Drow encounter. A Drow Assassin and another Drow Arachnomancer with henchmen attack. The party defeated all but the Arachnomancer and he planeshifted away.

Drow Assassin

 

 The party made their way back to the Thelaeneum to use the tapestry to enter the Thalaene gate room. As they are making their way through the gate complex they hear the previous door they had entered being blasted away by what they assume to be the Beholder that was previously in a cell.

 They are able to use the Gate to get back to Phandalin where they proceed to tell Grimstead and the rest of the Guardians about their trip. They discover that the Orcs have been steadily attacking the perimitter defenses and they se to start fortifying the northern edge of town.

 Grimstead tells the party that a dwarf, with a proclivity for wood carving had come looking for them....

 

The Void!

 As our heroes were leaving the poker table from last week, they noticed a fancy deck of cards in one of the skeletons possession.  It Turned out to be a Deck of Many Things!!

The Deck of Many Things

 

Thorin drew Skull and had to fight Avatar of Death alone, and narrowly defeated it.  He then drew The Void, his soul was removed from his body and he dropped unconscious.

Then Lucian drew Sun and gained 3 levels!

Papi drew Rogue, someone, he doesn't know who, now hates him... He also drew Donjon and he disappeared.

Ash drew balance and is now Lawful Neutral.

Finally, much to the dismay of the party, Gobby drew a card. It was Moon, He got three wishes. He used two to know the location of Papi and Torin. 

Mythal magic warped the effect of the Donjon card and didn't move Papi too far from the party.

The party decides to use the tapestry gate to get back to the Thelaene gate room.  Once in the complex, they find a sphere in one of the cells, Gobby says to break it, when they do, Jib appears.

The Beholder from last time is now awake and tries to bargain for its freedom.  Lucian nearly releases him while changing the levers that open cell doors.

Gobby then tells the part to follow him as he makes his way to the gate room.  He thinks about where Torin is and goes through the gate.  The party reluctantly follows him and ends up in unknown parts of the underdark.  

Gobby uses his last wish to teleport the party back to the poker room. The party continues to search and eventually finds a Cloak of the Manta Ray.

Arachnomancer

 

The final battle is with an Arachnomancer Drow.  The battle was very difficult, especially when he escaped grapple, cast darkness and turned into a spider and crawled up the wall. The party prevailed, found some coin and continued their search.  The found a secret door and that is where the tale will pick up next week.

The Gate

 This week we started with the immediate aftermath of the party getting split up at in the Thelaeneum Crypt.

The Thelaeneum

Ash was kidnapped by unknown forces.

Torin and Papi had touched the Gate on the tapestry and were gated to a demiplane that had been magically created by the mages of the Thelaene Order. Its purpose seems have been one of the ways the Elves had fled Myth Drannor. They explored a few rooms and found several cells that contained a Duergar, a Mind Flayer, a Beholder and their companion Ash.  All were suspended in a magical stasis field.  They decided to explore a bit further and found a recently used bedroom, where they barricaded themselves in for a long rest.

Sleeping Beholder

Cothana had release an insane sorceress from the tapestry that immediately attacked her. The blast knocked her into the tapestry and she was teleported to a clearing in the woods outside Myth Drannor.

There she encountered Lucian, Morganna and Gobby.  They quickly, but stealthily made their way back to the Thelaeneum.  They ventured back to the tapestry room and touched the Gate, which took them to the same demiplane as Torin and Papi. The three of them encountered a statue that gave the following information:  As they approached the east side it said:

“ Elven brothers, to the east retreat, return to the Isle of Evermeet.”

When they approached the west side it said:

”Visualize your path to the west, of that land you’ll be a guest”

  The also discovered the cell room and were able to free Ash from the magical field, however he was unconscious.  Next they found the bedroom and the whole part was reunited.  Some more searching led them to a Latrine, another bedroom where they had to fight a Giant Mimic Disguised as a bookcase and finally a Kitchen area where there were 14 bottles of very expensive wine and a fresh stew cooking over the fire.  They assumed they were not alone here.

Torin the Cleric cast lesser restoration on Ash and he regained consciousness.  The rest of the part was exhausted and they too took a long rest. Remembering there was not the common stench of a normal latrine, he went back to investigate.  Gobby tossed a rock down and it disappeared.  Torin, thinking this might be the way out, tried to fit in, but got stuck and his magic boots were pulled into the tiny gate.(unknown to them, the gate is one way to the 9th plane of hell)

Then they decided to release the Duergar to interrogate.  he had little helpful information

They found a secret door that lead to a control room for the bars of the 5 larger cells. Ash pulled two of them and the cell doors opened.  The Duergar then pulled the rest.  Fortunately, the beholder was also still in a stasis field.  Ash, angered by the Duergars actions , kicked him into the pit that had previously used to banish those they no longer had a use for.  He is now floating somewhere in the Astral Plane.

Then they made their way to the gate room to the west of the statue where as they were leaving they heard doors shutting elsewhere in the complex.  They were able to use the gate to return to the Thelaeneum. 

 

Thelaene Order Gate Complex

Fearing the insane sorceress, they used the tapestry to get to the woods outside Myth Drannor again.  They followed a path of destruction back to the ruins.  Several Drow warriors were found, victims of the crazed woman.  

Cothana used her crude maps made in the map room of the previous crypt, to find their way to the Neirdre family estate.  What was left standing stood in harmony with the rest of the fallen Myth Drannor.  In the great hall they found a hole in the floor that led 50 feet down to the Neirdrecrypt.

Here they fought an Iron Golem.  Being immune to so many different forms of damage, Gobby and Morganna were unable to damage it.  Fortunately, after a very hard fought battle, they were able to destroy it.

Iron Golem

 

After finding a secret door, they discovered the skeletal remains of four elves seated around a table, their cards and wagers still intact.  The part quickly looted the table and prepared to venture forth.