| Session Date | July 20, 2019 |
| Start Date | 13 Greenmonth, 1272 |
| End Date | 13 Greenmonth, 1272 |
| Starting Location | Astraharsis' quarters, Eburnean Vaults |
| Ending Location | Astraharsis' quarters, Eburnean Vaults |
| Player Characters | |
| Base XP Gained | 4200 |
The party awoke rested and refreshed in the rather crowded quarters of Astraharsis. The Halicarnim woman gave them rough directions to the Dark Market and reiterated that they should avoid touching the statue or throne just to her south at all costs. After casting strength on Aldeberon, the party departed and went south, passing through some disused rooms and into the great throne room they'd been told about. Cadwallider and ZZ noted they were glad they'd come the other way and received the warning -- the statue and throne were tempting! The party paused now for Iban to use his crystal ball to check in on Vorlissa. Her party was out exploring and eventually came to a door with a chalk mark. Iban surmised that this was a door they'd seen and was very close to their current position. Fortunately, the Drow's party then seemed to turn to the north, away from the party's current position, as they now were traversing he trap-heavy corridors the party had used the day before. Still, it was too close for comfort, and the party decided they would focus their explorations to the south, away from the Drow.
They now came to a long east-west corridor. Turning east (away from the direction to the Dark Market and the Drow), they came to a door with another, different chalk mark. The party passed through it and came to another door, which they silently opened. A damp, warm air flowed from it (generated by a huge cauldron on one side of the room) and it glowed from a number of weird, green runes floating in the air. Cadwallider summoned some Giant Rats and sent them in one at a time to trip the runes. The first turned into a green glob that struck the rat and sizzled it as if with acid, while the second exploded with green fire, incinerating that rat. Now, two doors across the room opened and a umber of hooded figures came out. The party opted to retreat but, before they could escape clean, one of the hooded figures raised a wand and shot a stream of acid into Dimbul, killing him instantly. Cadwallider then cast globe of invulnerability on himself (which resulted in the page of his book of infinite spells turning) and pushed forward, and cast fireball into the room. This did not kill the wand wielder and there began a brief magical battle between Cadwallider and the hooded figure, later revealed to be a serpentman of some sort. The party ended up retreating back towards the throne room, but apparently the serpent wizard followed invisibly, as he tried but failed to charm an invisible Iban who was lurking behind to watch for pursuit. Iban rushed the sorcerer but he disappeared before he could be reached. In the end, the party had lost Dimbul and decided to move elsewhere as they did not wish to tangle with the sorcerer again.
After Mordecai and ZZ blasted a group of wandering Ghouls, the party came to a room occupied by a man and three women. He was rather forceful in berating the party for bursting in on him and his three sisters, but he seemed willing enough to parley. To the south, the direction the party was headed, was a large group of ratmen, who he did not care for. He said little else of note, though ZZ gave him 500 silver coins "for his trouble."
Further south, the party came to an open area filled with giant rats, which they attacked. As this was occurring, a number of ratmen erupted from a nearby door to attack. All seemed well enough until a secret door opened behind the party and a wererat priest of some sort came out and began hitting the party with spells. Cadwallider, hanging back already, got into it with him, though the priest sent an enormous albino rat to attack the spellcaster and keep him busy (the rat was nearly slain by the priest's flame strike). A long melee ensued, though over time the party gained the upper hand, in no small part because Iban managed to block a number of the ratmen into the room from which they were trying to issue. The priest eventually began to be overwhelmed by Cadwallider's spells and ZZ, who shifted to attack him. He took a potion of speed and fled into the darkness.
The party had taken a single prisoner ratman who provided a little bit of information, but not much (also, the party apparently left him behind, still alive). As they departed, the party noted that a single, invisible ratman was shadowing them. Cadwallider killed him with magic missiles and dragged the body off. The party regrouped near the throne room again and ZZ cast speak with dead on the scout. What were his orders? (observe and report). How many ratmen were there? (three score). Where do they dwell? (to the southwest). The party wanted more information so they employed the Spirit Bowl they'd recently acquired to speak with dead once more. How many spellcasters? (just Skimnos). Was it Skimnos the party had just fought? (yes) Where is their treasure? (Annina has it). Where is she located? (hidden adjacent to the common room) Based on all this, the party debated -- should they rest and recover (they were torn up), or strike while the ratmen were disorganized and their sole spellcaster depleted of resources. They opted to attack.
Cadwallider went invisible again and Iban cast protection from normal missiles. The party then pressed into the ratman territory, looking for their common room. They killed a lone ratman or two along the way, cleearly intended as sentries or early warning, and it was clear the Ratmen were alerted to their return. The party eventually found what they sought...a large common chamber, though as they entered ratmen rushed them from multiple directions. To the west, Iban summoned Maerlings with his horn of valhalla to block a hallway, while the rest of the party dealt with another group. Skimnos, their priest, also returned, apparently protected by a Protection from Magic scroll which ended up destroying one of Iban's daggers (he tossed two to try to break down the protection). The fight went well enough, though the party was quickly being worn down, and more ratmen kept coming. It was looking rough (Iban was cut down to 1 HP, and others were single digit). So, Cadwallider took out a scroll and cast Death (successfully, despite being higher level than he was normally capable of casting). This worked and all of the Ratmen remaining dropped dead. Inside a nearby secret room the party found the erstwhile leader of the ratmen, Annina, skulking. She surrendered without a fight and disarmed the traps on her treasure in exchange for her life. She was also free with what information she possessed. But, it was clear that the ratmen had been broken.
Laden with loot, the party returned to the lair of Astraharsis to rest and recover. On the morrow, Cadwallider would teleport back to the dwarf city with the body of Dimbul to see if he could be raised from the dead.