Deep in the bowels of Zadash’s sewers, Triple J screamed in pain as a mimic disguised as a chest clamped down on his hand. Conan rallied to his defense hacking and slashing away at the beast. Just as Soren was about to join the fray, a gelatinous cube fell from the walkway above and engulfed the divine warrior. Both Triple J and Soren managed to wrest free from their respective foes, Triple J crawling away in fear, Soren still covered in the cube’s acidic goop. Endrin clambered atop some nearby barrels to aid in the mimic’s dismemberment, but not before Conan turned his attention towards the threat posed by the cube. Mono a mono, gnome vs mimic, the two combatants quarreled. Endrin struggled to fend off the snapping jaws and lashing tongue of the beast with naught but his dagger wielded by short arms, but still managed to buy time enough for his friends to hack and slash the cube down into clumps of jelly. The mimic proved difficult to bring down even after being cornered following the cube’s demise. It managed to deal near fatal blows to both Endrin and Triple J before being chopped to pieces by the raging barbarian, erm… fighter.
The party licked their wounds and assessed their current situation, ultimately deciding to seek respite with the Dwendalian deserters in the chamber prior rather than risk the dangers of delving further into the sewers given their current, battered condition. Dak and Nak embraced their entrepreneurial spirit, charging the weary adventurers a small fee to sleep in their grimy bedrolls. Thankful for a place to rest at all in the dank tunnels, FCG turned in. Soren took first watch, and sometime in the night, heard the faint but very discernible sounds of screaming echoing through the sewers. Disturbed but unwilling to investigate alone, Soren completed her watch and woke Conan. Still weary from many battles, Conan struggled to remain vigilant and fell victim to drowsiness at his post. When the party awoke hours later, Dak and Nak were both gone along with Conan’s coin purse.
Desperate to find their query and be rid of sewage, FCG pressed forward. They wound their way back through the tunnels, discovering a magical blade among the remains of the cube, and eventually found a stairway leading up to another level. Soren took the lead, and much to her annoyance, stepped on a pressure plate atop the stairway and was impaled by two crossbow bolts from across the passage. More alert than ever, the group proceeded carefully. As they rounded the last bend, they saw a literal light at the end of the tunnel. The light however, was eerily violet, evoking memories rather left forgotten.
The scene before the party was gruesome. Bandits lay slain across the chamber in three separate piles. The corpses looked drained of their very souls, withered and horrified. In the center of the chamber sat the still smoldering embers of what was once a violet bonfire. Tending to business first, Endrin and Soren scoured the corpses for one of orcish descent and beheaded it. Meanwhile Triple J searched the corpses and room for any additional evidence and came across two rather peculiar paintings, seemingly part of the thieves’ hoard. Endrin identified the corpses and discovered that their deaths were in fact recent and arcane in nature. Both Endrin and Soren also took turns examining the violet smolder, determining that the embers were cold to the touch and that the remnants were necromantic in nature. Disturbed by their findings and their mission seemingly complete, the party made their way out of the sewers and back into the Duscar cold of the city above.
Upon returning to the hideout beneath the Evening Nip, the Gentleman was most pleased with the party’s work, confirming that the withered head indeed belonged to Mikael, and paid them handsomely. Soren and Endrin forfeited monetary gain for knowledge, instead uncovering more secrets regarding the Cerberus Assembly’s machinations, and passage to the wastes of Xhoras respectively. Triple J stemmed the tide of the Gentleman’s wrath, following the lustful bard’s inquiry about his daughter, with the portrait of a nude halfling guzzling grapes in the back of a cart. The Gentleman informed the group that he was still finalizing the details of another job and assured them that he would reach out when their services were next required. With their seedy business concluded, FCG hit the Pentamarket to relieve the hefty weight now burdening their coin purses.
Conan acquired a set of plate armor from the smithy while the others acquired various spell components. Their was one store however, that caught the collective eye of the group, an arcane emporium known as The Invulnerable Vagrant. Greeted by three identical looking firbolgs, all seemingly named Pumat Sol, the party was dazzled by the array of magical items before them. Triple J purchased a circlet to help disguise his complexion, Soren bought gloves to amplify her strength, and Endrin placed an order for a pearl that would aid in his arcane endurance. With a smile and a wave, the party headed back to the Leaky Tap and it’s adequate beds and ale. FCG checked in on their horse and cart and procured three rooms for the night before sitting down at the bar for a well earned drink.
