Aftermath

 

Aftermath:

•  Party returns to Terra Malatia.  Still in the possession of a ship that can travel the Astral Sea.S
• Samm had joined with Jedwin and Trilos in freeing the Thinker’s prison once the anti-magic field fell.  Samm is now with the party in Fort Aralan.
• Captain Hurst got his ship repaired, and is now back to his treasure hunting life.
• The ancient city remains, but no longer ruled by the Thinker.  The collection of underdark creatures who dwell there are working out a new arrangement to govern their city. 
• The party is in possession of the anti-magic lantern.
• Jedwin has decided to remain with Trilos, at least temporarily. 

What Sihirbaz learned:

·         During his time of imprisonment, Si spent many hours talking to the Thinker, and learned much.       

•       The Thinker rebelled against his Elder Brain master, and stole the anti-magic lantern from him. 
•       He came to Ares to begin building up a power-base from which he could challenge his old master.  He did this by undermining existing societies in the Ares Underdark, and luring those that he could radicalize to his side.
•       The Thinkers prisoners were mostly for food.  When he eats brains they give him sustenance, but he also gains knowledge and memories. Some key prisoners were not on the menu.  Instead the Thinker sent time trying to persuade them to join his cause against the Elder Brain.  This is why Si was kept alive.
•       The Thinker has begun to expand his influence to the party’s homeworld too, reaching out to the Bahumati there.  The implications of this are unclear.  But it might mean that Terra Malatia has come on to the radar of the Elder Brain and the Giths.
•      Si had known for a long time that the Bahumati have built a large city far to the west of Fort Aralan where they are mustering their forces.  Their goal is likely to drive all non-reptiloids off the continent.  The Thinker was beginning to try to weave his spell of influence over this city.

Loose ends and threads for the next phase.

• There is a kobold named Vig among the Bahumati who had an alliance with the party.  He guided them to the ancient city, and in return Perra returned him to his home.
• The Party might choose to investigate the rising Bahumati city in the west.
• The Party might choose to join Trilos (and Jedwin) on a mission to bring down the Elder Brain.
• There will be conflict between the Githzerai settlers on Ares and the Githyanki assassin Trilos Dath.

 

#75 Some Final Thoughts from the Thinker

• The monk and Mahlkier reunited with the party.  Trilos was able to teleport them to the parties location, because of the tracking gem that Tellum had given them.
• Jedwin remained with Trilos.
•  The plan was for Trilos, Jedwin, and Samm to await the deactivation of the anti-magic field, then assist as the prisoners were able to escape.  This all hinged on the ability of the party to reach the source of the anti-magic field and disable it.

The party continued on their journey through the underdark wilderness beneath the city, coming to a pile of bodies.  These bodies were a dumping ground for victims of the Thinker.  He would devour their brains, then toss the remains down a long cavernous shaft.

The party ascended this shaft.  Along the way they were attacked by two Behir.  The won this battle, but took significant damage.  They need to expend healing resources before continuing.

Finally, they ascended into The Thinker's chamber.  The fairy Arceaus scouted the room before they all entered, from the top of the shaft.  He located in the corner a bulls-eye lantern, containing the preserved eye of a beholder.  This was the device that emitted the anti-magic field.  

The device was guarded by a purple worm.  Unknown to the party, a magic force field confined the worm to the space directly around the lantern.

The party entered the chamber, and the Thinker quickly cast a confusion spell upon them.  This spell affected Whisper and Mahlkier, impeding there plans for several rounds.  Nevertheless, the rest of the party sprung into action.  Lenny took on a Drider, which was guarding a pen full of prisoners.  The Monk bounded across the room toward the anti-magic lantern, as did Arceaus, who did do in the form of a swarm of wasps.  Perry was confronted by a Thri-Kreen weapons master.  All of the party was subjected to pot shots from a group of dragonborn arcane archers.

Arceaus and the monk found themselves unable to reach the lantern, now detecting the force field that confined it and the purple worm.  As Lenny defeated the Drider and unlocked the cage, Arceaus found his way inside the force field.  He approached from the outside, as the anti-magic effect left one side of the corner uncovered by the forcefield.

Arceaus picked up the lantern, turning it disable the forcefield.  By now, the Thinker had emerged.  The Thinker's mind blast stunned Mahlkier for several rounds, effectively removing him from the fight.

With the forcefield disabled, the purple worm was free to roam out into the chamber.  Lenny found himself face to face with the gargantuan worm.

By now Whisper had recovered from his confusion, and he teleported into melee with the Thinker.

Lenny was swallowed by the worm.  The monk dealt severe damage to the worm, but he was unable to force it to regurgitate Lenny.

Arceaus, now in possession of the lantern, directed the anti-magic field to impede the Thinker.  But the Thinker didn't need spells to use its tentacles.  It grabbed Whisper, and was on the verge of devouring her brain.

Thinks looked bleak for the party, with Lenny ingested by the worm, and Whisper with her head caught in the jaws of the Illithid Thinker.

Whisper was able to muster the fortitude to hold of the brain-eating attack.  The monk and Perra stuck the worm again, doing enough damage to force it to give up Lenny from its acid stomach.

Perra joined Whisper in melee against the Thinker, striking the fatal blow that ended his reign of terror.

By now, Sihirbaz and the other prisoners had escaped, bringing this chapter of the campaign to a close.

#74 Meeting Some Resistance

The party unlocked the gate beneath the city, within the water lifting mechanism that pulled water from the lake up to the open area of the city.  

Making good on his promise to the kobold guide that had brought them this far, Perra casts a spell to send the kobold back to Terra Malatia.  (I have neglected to provide much detail about this kobold.  For future reference his name is "Vig".)

Whisper scouted ahead on the metal stairwells that wound up through the well.  

Whisper spotted a grey gnome there, lurking in the shadows.  When  confronted, the gnome asked "Is the monk here?"  He was clearly expecting to meet the monk that had recently joined the party.  

Whisper brought forth the rest of the party, who had remained below.  Upon seeing the monk, the gnome began to explain the situation.

The gnome's name was Tullen Gobblefist.  He is part of a small group within the city that is opposed to The Thinker of Thoughts.  The leader of this group is a man called Trilos Dath.  Trilos is the same person who helped the monk escape from the prison, and apparently has some sort of alliance with Sihirbaz.

Tullen suggests a course of action.  Part of the prison tower is within an anti-magic field.  Sirhirbaz is imprisoned within that.  Rather than making a frontal assault on the prison, a better way might be to find a way to disengage the anti-magic field.  That would allow Sirhibaz, and whatever other arcane prisoners might be within the prison to escape and join the battle.

Tullen believes the anti-magic field originates within the cliff-side palace where The Thinker resides.  

Also, Trilos wants to meet with the party.  He has a proposal that he would like to make.

So the party splits.

The monk, Jedwin, Mahlkier, and Captain hurst went with Tullen to meet Trilos.

The rest began a journey through the ruins beneath the ancient city.  Their destination is the Thinker's palace, and their mission is to deactivate the anti-magic field.  Tullen asked the party to carry with them a gem, enchanted with a spell that would allow Trilos to locate them.

They knew they could choose to go through catacombs populated with undead, or go further below the city into underdark passages.  They chose the latter.  They were confronted by a large group of Hook Horrors, who kept two Ropers within their layer.  They defeated this enemy.

Tullen lead the other group up to the surface area of the city, and there they went to a small building where they met with Trilos.

• Trilos is an assassin with some sort of shape-shifting ability, or at least the ability to generate arcane disguises.  He does not reveal his true identity.
• He had come here not just to assassinate The Thinker, but also to mount a larger mission.  He wants to locate the group of Illithids that The think came from, and destroy the Elder Brain than commands it.  He is asking for the party to join this mission.
• He had magical means to teleport the party to the location of the other group
• Jedwin possesses an item that allows him to see Trilos' true form, which he reveals to Mahlkier and the Monk.  (I will provide details of this in a separate email to Stan and Patrick.) 

#73 The Worms and the Fish-men

 (Note: I have edited the prior post to change references to "the halfling" to now say "the wood elf", as Stan's new character race changed.)

Exhausted from the battle with the Drider patrol, the party rested in the tunnel.  

The wood elf monk regains his strength and tells his story to the party.  He spent quite some time imprisoned in the ancient city, and learned a lot while he was there.

• Spent all his time in a tower prison.  He could observe the city from there.
• The top tiers of the tower are an anti-magic zone for prisoners with magical abilities that might pose a threat
• Ancient city is ruled by a roque illithid who calls himself “The Thinker of Thoughts”
• Some prisoners are simply food for the Thinker, who eats brains.  Other prisoners are considered to be “strategic” for some reason.  People who the Thinker believes he might be able to persuade to join his cause, or otherwise leverage to increase his power.
• City has a diverse population of underdark creatures loyal to the Thinker.  He observed that the population grew over the time he was there.

o Kuo-Toa

o Dwarves who can shape shift into giant form

o Thri-Kreen

o Grimlocks

o Driders

o Enslaved Ogres and Trolls

• The city has been in ruins for centuries.  Much of it was buried under sediment.  In addition to raising a military force, the Thinker also dedicates resources excavating the ruined parts of the city.  Progress on this is slow, but he seems to want to restore the city to its original glory.
• The lake to the south-west of the city extends under it.  Water from this reservoir is hauled up to provide for the citizens.  

During the rest, he inspected his pack and found a note.

Greetings Traveller,

You have not met me, but I aided your escape from the Illithid’s prison.  I’ve infiltrated the prison and I made contact with Sihirbaz several weeks ago.  I smuggled in the components he needed to craft the scroll.  It was I who hid the scroll and your equipment.

Sihirbaz is hopeful that the rescue party that has been sent is formidable.  Indeed to survive this journey you would have to be.  Your goal may be only to rescue the wizard and kill the Illithid.  I will assist you in that effort if you wish.  But I’d like to try to persuade you to join me on a larger mission.  I will explain if we are fortunate enough to meet. 

As you get nearer to the city, you will likely encounter purple worms.  There are many of them in this area.  I must warn you that the bite of the worm can be deadly to even the strongest warrior.  Avoid being swallowed.  If a member of your party is swallowed, you must extract them quickly at all costs or they will die in the acid stomach of the worm.  Should this happen, the key is to inflict as much damage to the creature as you can.  Pain can cause it to regurgitate. 

 Trilos Dath

As the party gathered their things together and prepared to continue their journey, they felt the earth share around them.  They were attacked by a Purple Worm.  They dispatched it quite quickly, though Whisper barely escaped being swallowed.  

A second Purple Worm emerged soon after the first one expired, but it too was defeated quickly.

The party continued their journey.  The found the end of the river tunnel.  The exited at the mouth of a lake, to the southwest of the ancient city, just as the wood elf had described.  

They debated about how to cross the lake and enter the city.  After some time they decided to cross the lake using the boat they had found in the tunnel.  Half-way across the lake, they were confronted by a Kuo-Toa patrol.  4 purple fish-men, 2 with giant gray-fish mounts, and 1 riding a giant crocodile.  They defeated the patrol and moved on to a space on the lake beneath the city.  There they found the entrance to the city where water is retrieved from above.  The key they had recovered from dragons fit the lock here.