| Session Date | August 3, 2019 |
| Start Date | 17 Greenmonth, 1272 |
| End Date | 17 Greenmonth, 1272 |
| Starting Location | Astraharsis' quarters, Eburnean Vaults |
| Ending Location | Astraharsis' quarters, Eburnean Vaults |
| Player Characters | |
| Base XP Gained | 1000 |
From Astraharsis' quarters, Iban scried Vorlissa, finding her in a small stone room with a single door, apparently with her party in the process of breaking camp. The Drow quickly detected the scrying and cast a spell that seemingly disabled it (further attempts to use it failed). Talking with Astraharsis, the magic-user said that a simple dispel magic could have that effect, but it was temporary.
The party now commenced exploring and managed to find a cache of gems guarded by a trap that Dimbul the Beardless successfully disabled. The party also ran into a group of the Dark Folk that tried to blind and rob the party, but they were easily run off after Cadwallider dispelled their darkness with a light spell form his staff of power.
Their explorations proceeded generally west, where they found a date a few months from that day but clearly scrawled long ago. They also found a room with a strange sight, a column of water that ran upwards form floor to ceiling, apparently extending beyond both. Opening a door just past that, they were attacked by a Black Pudding that fell on them form above. The party retreated back into the water room but the pudding tried to ooze under the door. Fortunately, some burning oil drove it back. In the water column watching all this was now a large orange carp. Iban started taking to it for a time and, to his surprise, it eventually responded when he told it to "swim in a circle" and it swam around in a square. It also was capable of speech though it did not say much, other than it lived somewhere below and occasionally swam up to look around. It had no idea of its origins.
Moving on, the party ran into a party of Bugbears, including their friend Gurgek. He admitted to the party that his group was heading to plunder the former lairs of the wererats, just in case anything got missed. It was generally a friendly meeting and the Bugbears left in peace (they were anxious to get there first to avoid missing out).
A nearby room was filled with old, chewed humanoid bones. There were also weird runes on the wall that they noted looked similar to the green, glowing runes used by the serpentmen. Dimbul proved to have an eye of reading weird writings and determined they said "May Yig protect his children in this place." Nearby was a secret room, but the chests in it had been recently smashed open and plundered.
The party now came to a long corridor with a dim, torchlight ahead. They followed this and soon could hear the buzz of many voices and much activity and they correctly surmised they had found the so-called Dark Market. Indeed, before they got to the market they found plaque that banned "all light greater than a torch" on "pain of death" - the light now being dim but adequate, the party hid away their magical lights. The market proved to be large and quite busy. There were many people here, with the short-statured Dark Folk being the most common. There were dozens of stalls selling all manner of goods, most rather ordinary looking but much also quite exotic. The locals, especially the Dark Folk present, cleared a bubble around the party, eyeing them nervously.
At one end of the market the party noted a slave auction in progress. They went that way to observe for a time and noted that a group of Ogres and Bugbears were slowly moving their direction, though they stopped short and were content to observe (they were clearly security). As the auction proceeded, a human slipped up beside them as if also watching the auction. He then proceeded to ask the party if there was going to be any trouble, because he really did not want to have to deal with it. The party said they wanted no trouble so long as no one bothered them. The man seemed content with that answer; he was clearly aware of their recent activities. When asked about the possibility of being robbed, he shrugged it off an said any crimes would be investigated. He then left to the south. Meanwhile, Cadwallider bid op an Ogre for sale and eventually won the bidding. He freed the Ogre who was content to serve the party (at least for the time being). During all this, it was clear some of the Dark Folk were eyeballing the party's gear and wealth, though the party remained exceptionally watchful as they now turned to some shopping, buying an assortment of oddities.
This accomplished, they now headed to the local tavern, the Inn of the Welcoming Darkness, a dimly lit place that fit the name well enough. This was clearly the place Iban had seen Vorlissa in previously, and it was indeed crowded with a diverse collection of customers. The innkeeper, Ferrar, one of the Dark Folk, proved to be extremely obsequious and none too pleasant. Of note were two hostile faces, one the strangely urbane ghoul the party had sent packing previously and the other the flamboyant game master from the level above that had escaped them. The latter became quite agitated, denouncing the party as thieves and murderers. He demanded justice and generally made a scene until he was told to simmer down by the same human that had just talked to the party at the slave auction.
The party spent a little time in the tavern to get some grub and drinks (expensive, but serviceable). The guard captain, drink in hand, took the opportunity to show a slightly friendlier face to the party. His name was Lornalt; when asked where he was from, he deflected by saying his nationality was "drunkard." He seemed a bit sketchy but friendly enough, even going so far to tell the barkeep to put the party's drinks on his personal tab. The party thanked him for that, but he admitted it was not much of a sacrifice on his part as he never paid it anyway. The party asked about the Market, and Lornalt alluded to "The Dark Masters" running everything -- Iban was interested in buying one f the statues that decorated the place (old petrification victims, clearly), and Lornalt said they would have to deal with the Dark Folk that ran the market day-to-day; the Dark Masters did not meet anyone. Also, when asked about Vorlissa the day before, he claimed it was so long ago he didn't remember. After warning them that "in the Dark Market, life is cheap," he departed with drink still in hand. The party soon followed, returning to Astraharsis' quarters to rest the night, though they ended up selecting a nearby room since the addition of the Ogre made the room too crowded.