Session 25

Unleashed Potential
28 Eleasis(evening) - 28 Eleasis(but, like, later in the evening)

So, as I (the DM) write this we just wrapped up session 27. Yeah, I just kinda stopped writing these summaries, but luckily I kinda almost remember what happened so we can catch up now. Even more luckily this session was a fun dungeon crawl that didn’t have a lot to do with the main plot, so the things I forget definitely don’t matter.

The Young Adventurers ultimately decide to go into the Zhentarim base, despite being suspicious that Demogorgon was inside. Nero is of the opinion that this is stupid while Thora, the leader of the Veterans of the Guantlet approves. They bring along the three dwarven scouts while leaving the rest of their henchmen behind. The party slowly advances through the hideout before running into various kuo-toa forces. Some are fairly competent fighters and low-level casters but ultimately pose no threat to the Young Adventurers. They also run into strange aberrant creatures, fish-like humanoids with four tentacles in place of legs which prove to be tougher than the kuo-toa.

The party comes to an underground river that flows through the base and see a rise nearby which they immediately climb onto for some reason. On top they find mounds of vegetable and mushroom matter in heaping piles and a strange mossy growth surrounding a cave entrance. Nespip uses his Divine Sense and recognizes the mossy growth as fiendish in origin. Kaia attempts to talk to the heaped vegetable matter with her Stonespeaker Crystal. It tells her to “leave or die.” The party decides to try to damage the mossy growth and are attacked--three shambling mounds and whatever the demonic growth is. Unlike the kuo-toa these foes prove very dangerous and the scout leader, Brim Coppervein, is killed during the fight.

As the fight winds down, the Young Adventurers victorious, a kuo-toa arrives on the scene shouting “stop, stop!” The kuo-toa recognizes the party--it is Shuushar, now titling himself as “the Unleashed” after the events in Sloobludop (so no, Demogorgon is not here). He greets the party as friends but laments the destroyed plantlife, saying that “perhaps it can be regrown.” More kuo-toa and aberrant fishmen gather around.

Shuushar speaks with the party, who are very on guard. It quickly becomes clear that Shuushar is under the influence of Demogorgon, or “the Deep Father” as he calls him. He tells the party that he is grateful they saved him from Velkynvelve and they will be welcome in Demogorgon’s service. When Kaia mentions that they have a bunch of henchmen outside Shuushar says “you are all great warriors, valuable to the Deep Father. These others… meat for the altar.” The Young Adventurers decide that Shuushar is too far gone and attack. Shuushar yells to one of his kuo-toa followers to “find Murk!”

It turns out that Shuushar has been favoured with a great deal of power by Demogorgon. He and his kuo-toa and other fishmen put up a substantial fight. At the height of the battle the kuo-toa who ran off at the start returns, followed by a black dragon. The dragon is smallish, perhaps the size of a large horse (but much longer with neck and tail) and has a fearsome look to it, with a face like a skull. The dragon (presumably Murk) takes a long, considering look at the ongoing fight, then attacks the nearby kuo-toa, melting them with a jet of powerful acid. He joins the fight on the party’s side.

After that the fight is quickly ended. Shuushar falls and manages one final message before he dies, “thank you, my friends… you have freed me yet again.” The rest of the kuo-toa and other enemies are slain. Murk barks at the party, looking somewhat panicked, “there is an imp somewhere, probably invisible, we must find and kill it!” Nespip, using his Divine Sense again, is able to quickly locate the imp and Murk kills it before it can escape.

The party then speaks with Murk, who tells them that Demogorgon attacked his lair (below an abandoned castle on the Dark Lake), killed his kobold minions, and forced Murk to serve him. He was sent out with the kuo-toa to find routes to the surface. He claims not to know what the demonic plant was about. When he saw the party fighting the kuo-toa he took the opportunity to rid himself of Demogorgon’s minions and hopes that the Demon Lord will think he is dead. “Do not come down this tunnel” he commands the party, pointing out a side tunnel they had not yet explored, and he leaves the party.

The Young Adventurers call their own minions into the hideout while they discuss their next steps, but we end here for now. Until next time, which has actually already happened as of this writing!