| Session Date | July 06, 2019 |
| Start Date | 11 Greenmonth, 1272 |
| End Date | 11 Greenmonth, 1272 |
| Starting Location | Eburnean Vaults |
| Ending Location | Eburnean Vaults |
| Player Characters | |
| Base XP Gained | 1833 |
The party continued their explorations of the second level of the dungeon with the cream-colored walls. They came into a large room with several doors leading off of it, from which several Bugbears came out. They shouted at the party in Bugbear and Common to get out or suffer the consequences. They were clearly not happy the party had busted into their lair, but did not immediately attack. The Bugbears were clearly very cocky and sure of themselves. The party decided not to fight and turned to go, but then hit on the idea of maybe hiring some as muscle. They asked if any might be interested and, after a small bribe, one Bugbear (I don't have his name written down here!) said they'd have to talk to Klurn and Ecthel about that, and took them to a door across the large room.
The Bugbear knocked and they were admitted to the presence of their leader, Klurn, a Giant Troll of immense size and foul disposition. It was a minion of the Troll Kings, charged with maintaining this outpost of his forces on this level. They did indeed like to hire out muscle and were willing to do so. Klurn proved rather dull and untalkative and turned the negotiations over to his assistant, Ecthel. The latter was a Maerling warrior and clearly far smarter than his erstwhile boss. He was only too happy to hire out some of his Bugbears for a mere 10 silver pieces each per day. However, there was a fee of ten times that for each one killed. The party agreed and hired four of the creatures (including the one they'd first spoken with).
With two at front and two at the back of the party, they returned to their explorations. As the party passed the short staircase back up to the huge chamber previously explored, they were attacked by a force of Hobgoblins. The first group hit the center of the party but were quickly cut down, though they inflicted a few minor wounds. Iban rushed up the stairs through the ones as they were cut down, only to find another force there with bows drawn. He rushed into a hail of arrows and began to cut down this larger group of Hobgoblins; the other fighters followed. As the melee went on, the party realized that their Bugbear mercenaries had not engaged and were instead sitting back, taking bets on the fight. When confronted, they pointed out that they had not been ordered to do anything. They seemed very amused by it all. The Hobgoblins proved tougher than might be expected, though the worst injury to a party member was Iban striking Cadwallider.
Their explorations continued, and they came to a door beyond which the diminutive Dimbul could hear noise. Aldeberon tried to use his clairvoyance to see beyond, but it was all darkness. The party busted the door in and entered a small room; they saw a tiny figure slip through an opening to the south. Following they came to another small room in which was a tiny doll, only two feet or so tall but clearly animated or alive. "You should not be here," it said. "Mother will be very cross." There was some talk with it, but it said little beyond vague threats about its mother. The party decided to withdraw, not wishing to arouse the "mother;" they were roundly mocked by the Bugbears for running from a little dolly.
As the party continued on their way, they were thrust into sudden darkness. Cadwallider used his Staff of Power to cast continual light to dispel it, and the party found four of the small hooded figures they'd seen before attempting to rob them. The creatures cried at the light and fled, with three being injured but escaping. A fourth, slain by magic missiles, exploded in a bright flash. The party found an odd dagger dropped by one of the creatures and took it.
A little further on they entered a room with four Wights, but Mordecai turned them, and the party left. Not far form there, they were set upon by eight hunting spiders. A serious fight ensued with them. Two Bugbears were slain by poisoned bites, while one was injured. Dimbul was also poisoned but ZZ saved him with a slow poison spell (for the third time). These losses rather irritated the Bugbears, but they did not desert the party and explorations continued.
Not far from there, Iban burst into a locked room to find a pair of Medusa. Fortunately, he was not petrified and began to fight blindly against them. However, one of the Medusas exited the room to attempt to petrify the rest of the party, but they were able to avert their eyes in time. The Medusas attempted to get in close to petrify and strike at the party, but they were seriously outnumbered and soon slain. After taking a small treasure form them, the surviving Bugbears declared that they were done and wished to be released. The party agreed and accompanied them back to their lair. The party checked in with Ecthel and paid the fines for losing two of his Bugbears, and he did not seemed to happy, though he was certainly not hostile about it, and admitted that "spiders were a real problem around here." The party now left, though they gave a few silver coins to the two surviving Bugbears, who appreciated the small bonus.
The party now returned to the Medusa room, as they did not wish to attempt to brave the threat of the cultists above, who likely had redeployed glyphs of warding and other traps for the party. They would camp overnight so that ZZ could pray for neutralize poison to save Dimbul the Diminutive Dwarf despoiler.