Characters: Terus, Julian, Grim, Randal, Balin, Davvin, Cael, Anthony.
NPCs: Arthynax and Scyldynax the juvenile Copper Dragon twins, 500-600 Slave pit refugees, Bone Devil, Xfureba the Illithid.
30 Hammar 1374 - 1 Alturiak 1374
3650 XP
With the teleportation trap successfully disabled, Julian and the rest of the party cautiously went into Xfureba's empty personal quarters. Balin discovered and examined a large stone shelf filled with the magically preserved skulls of some of Xfureba's victims. Terus found a large sketch book which contained many schematic drawings of complex experimental equipment, a submerged tank, his own psicrystal, and a number of detailed sketches of some mysterious embryonic creature's growth. Grim looked over an alchemical work bench where he found evidence that this had been used to create the deafening sonic bombs which had damaged the party so terribly. Finally, it was Julian whose compulsion to search led him to find the rest of the party's belongings.Armed and dressed once again, the party began to look through the many pools and flooded walkways that made up the largest central room on this bath house level. In the central pool, under Xfureba's striking stone statue, the party found a submerged laboratory with the same visualization equipment that Terus had taken note of in the large sketch book. Julian, Terus, Randal and Grim examined the platform and began to experience debilitating headaches. Once Grim had cleared away and repositioned the visualization equipment they saw in the center a moderate sized box filled with a pinkish grey fluid. They carefully disconnected the box and took it into the kitchen area to examine it further.
Meanwhile, Davvin and Balin had been further reading into the dissection manuals and lab notebooks of the Illithid wizard. In the kitchen the box was opened and out sprung a large brain-shaped creature with 4 tentacles. It pulsated a dazing blast and put Julian into a Suggestion to drown himself. While Julian when to do this Randal followed suspiciously and watched over the curious sorcerer. Anthony, Davvin, and Terus feverishly grappled with this strange creature and finally pinned it, and strapped it down to the dissection table in Xfureba's laboratory. Terus knew that his psicrystal was being absorbed by the embryonic brain and that it must be carefully removed in order not to kill it. Balin and Davvin set to work in a risky and vile operation in which they gradually cut through the writhing brain creature and removed Terus' near drained psicrystal. The party could now finally rest.
The set camp in Dxyquel's personal chambers and rested for a full 8 hours. Some time later, the party awoke suddenly as nearly half were shrunk to the size of halflings by some baleful spell. Xfureba had returned. The party mobilized quickly and began to use their new learned spells to protect themselves. Randal was Forcecaged, and as he slipped out he was Forcecaged again, locking him in a small cell and blocking off the only doorway out of the chamber. Grim teleported the party out and Terus set out to find the Invisible caster. Meanwhile, a Bone Devil appeared adjacent to Cael and engaged the spellsword in a melee. Cael was able to both free Randal through disintegrating the Forcecage and kill the Bone Devil in a blast of energy. Terus had found Xfureba floating high in the cavern ceiling, however the wizard blinded Terus with a powerful spell. Davvin, Balin, and Julian brought an onslaught of powerful spells against the caster, but in the end it was a disintegration ray from Grim which turned the terrible Illithid criminal to dust.
with the sorcerer dead, Julian went up to the high levels of the bath house and found the refugees starving and in disarray. He used Grimm's entire wand of Goodberry to feed only half but for a day, and settled the rest with great words of assurance. The party gathered back together following the battle with the Illithid and stand ready to search through the remaining pools and chambers of this lower bath house.
