Session 79 - 101 Uses For A Portable Hole. Or 1 Use, Used 101 Times!

 

20th October 2023

In-game timeline: Start of session: 1490DR Ches 15. End of session: 1490DR Ches 15

Our "Heroes" have managed a short rest - this time without interruption. At the end of their rest, Derrick is alerted by Pacino, stationed outside the room, that a duergar is approaching. Zoning in on Pacino's vision, Derrick sees that it is the duergar that they allowed to escape earlier, trying to sneak past. He seems to be alone, so the party decide to let him go past without impeding him.

They emerge from the smelly room and proceed to go further into the mine, searching areas they haven't been before. They find a bedroom that seems to be where the mechanical-duergar hybrid creatures seem to live, and a large open area that has a few makeshift beds, a cooking hearth and a well. It also seems to contain a cell of sorts, which is currently holding a very scared, and somewhat beaten, gnomish couple - Blaise and Hotch Copperneck. It turns out these are residents of Shining Creek and they were captured as they were returning to their homeland, some 6 months ago. They have been beaten, interrogated and since abandoned. It turns out that they may have been the source of information about Silvermoon, and possibly the Golden Born, for Castellan. Our "Heroes" consider telling the frightened gnomes to make their own way out, before remembering the hostile myconids, the duergar they have allowed to escape, and the hook horror lair in that direction. They instead suggest that the gnomes stay here, and they will collect them and escort them out after defeating Castellan. The gnomes are not sure this will happen, but have no other choices, so agree to this.

The group press on and find a gate stuffed and blocked with rags and fur. On a box nearby they find some sticks that they eventually work out is some sort of incense. They grab a number of sticks and carry them with them. 

Pushing through the stuffed gate, they find a large cavern, with doors to the north and south, and a large, stone staircase heading down into darkness in the middle of the room. Near the north door there are a couple of skeletons, which Iwee and Karoshi check out while Derrick and Jaxii stand guard near the gate.

At this point the stirges attack! Flying up from the staircase below, they head straight for Derrick and Jaxii, with a couple of stragglers going towards Iwee. One of them attaches itself to Iwee, whilst two more attach themselves to Derrick. Jaxii takes a couple of them down using her breath weapon while Iwee lights her incense stick, which causes the stirge that is flying around her to fly away from her. However, it doesn't remove the one that is already attached to Iwee, but Karoshi pulls that stirge off of her, and, with incense surrounding her, it flies away from them both.

Derrick gains another stirge on his body and now has three stirges sucking his blood. He pulls one of them off of him before it can do more damage, but it is quickly replaced by another stirge - since they are all now avoiding the other three who are standing in a cloud of burning incense. Jaxii comes over to Derrick with an incense stick to keep the flying stirges away. Between them, they now pull the remaining stirges from Derrick, though not before he takes some additional damage from the bloodsucking creatures attached to him. Eventually they are stirge-less and all within clouds of incense keeping the stirges at bay, though Derrick has lost a fair amount of blood to the creatures.

The group move towards the door in the south, still holding their incense. Jaxii, currently obsessed with using her portable hole, places the hole at the bottom of the door, and Iwee, holding her lit incense stick, crouches down to look through the hole.

She sees at least one duergar in a lit room beyond. As Iwee takes in the scene through the hole, the incense smoke drifts through the hole and alerts what is in the room! Our "Heroes" quickly remove the hole and prepare to attack anything emerging from the room.

But nothing does emerge. So our focussed adventuring party decide to discuss whether to storm into the room, or quietly retreat and progress further into the mine without having another battle.

Obviously they decide to run into the room, despite Jaxii arguing that they should leave the duergar alone. Everyone wonders who has taken over Jaxii. The group try to open the door. Or rather knock on the door, as it seems to be locked. They end up facing a battle with three more duergar with particularly nasty weapons. Both sides were unsurprised, and it does not take too long for our "Heroes" to despatch all three of the duergar, though not without Karoshi taking some significant damage himself. 

They search the room, which seems to be some sort of laboratory for constructing the metallic casings worn by some of the duergar they met previously. They are sure that one of these duergar was likely Tissora, who they have heard mentioned previously. They really hope that they have got rid of all the duergar on this level of the mine…