From the diary of Feldon Quickhand

DAY 3: ARIDDAY 14, 595 CY

We threw open the door to the underground passage and boldly fell into the hole. When Hrodel asked for experienced individuals she missed the mark by a good bit. The Tribe, with the help of our spell casters, managed to stumble down the passage until we met a waterfall. After those introductions we began an arduous climb down a rope ladder with Theo and Dreyma promptly falling from the top of the ladder into a lake. With two mighty gnomes, Bella nd Feldon, and a lot of swimming, they were fished back to the shore.

The wily and stone cunning dwarf managed to spot a passage down the side of a cliff. It was another rope ladder! With unparalleled teamwork the Tribe descended the rope and then into a hole with handholds cut into the side. This exited into a passage that went in two directions.

What has long slithery tentacles, sharp as razors teeth, a single glowing eye, and skin as hard as the stone around you? Come to find out -- nothing. When the Tribe’s scout came running back in fear describing the fearsome beast, we knew we had to fight our hardest or die in the caves. With mighty spells crashing and the ring of weapons being drawn we engaged the fearsome beast. Missiles born of magic crashed into it. It was not even fazed. Blades of keen steel rebounded from its hide. Arrows could not penetrate the rocky exterior. What could this creature be? It was a rock dressed as a tentacled monster. The Tribe was once again polymorphed, this time into the proverbial sheep.

The next few hours would be a test of life and limb as we navigated the most treacherous parts. Bridges that were so slippery we had to rope across, ledges so thin they should have broken under our weight and piles of debris so high we had to climb down them. Finally, we exited into a large room where we detected some semblance of life.

The cave was huge even by gnome standards. A mushroom forest had the look of a salad gone wrong. There was a large bonfire with weirdly dancing shapes and a glowing cave with a pool area. As we descended to the cavern’s floor, both the sounds of chanting and the sight of glittering distracted us. Of course we ignored the chanting and went straight for the glittering.

Having had a bad experience with tentacles it was amazing that the fearless scout did not run like a rabbit when the lifeless rotting tentacled head came into view. It was driven onto a wooden construct along with a strange pair of goggles, a gloved hand, some candles and some trinkets to ward off evil spirits. The fearless scout, Feldon (that's me), removed the stylish goggles and headed to inspect the glimmering throne. Braving the traps he removed five large gems from the throne and scampered back to the rest of the Tribe who were watching the cavern.

Ref's Notes: Feldon later gave the Goggles of Far Seeing to his buddy Bella, who models the eyewear as if she were constantly strutting down a medieval runway. Feldon, however, has taken a strange fancy to the gloved hand which he wears around his neck on a chain and tucked neatly away under his tunic.

If you would like to read more about Vokilar's Spectacles - Click Here
If you would like to read more about The Hand of Psylear - Click Here

The figures around the fire were huge and coming right at us! The goggles appeared to magically enhance sight such that the cavern could be surveyed with impunity! In the area of the mushrooms was a large bug. It had spears embedded in its side and was augmented with writing warning of death and fear. In the center area was a large bonfire with some lizard kin loading a wagon and bustling about. In the glowing cave area there were large pink pools of water.

It was agreed that two of the Tribe would negotiate with the lizard kin that was chanting and the other lizard kin that was dousing the pedestal hut by the lake with some kind of liquid. As they approached the hut a gnome stepped out to stop them. Using the ancient language of the dragons, a negotiation was started. “We want to return the body to his family,” we said. “Die filthy surface dwellers!” they said. Negotiations became a bit more aggressive at that point.

The gnome pulled his mouth open to reveal a full set of tentacles and then promptly made his escape (that was both gross and really weird). The chanter started chanting and the non-chanter was trying to light the hut on fire! After some weapons negotiations while the hut was burning we saved the casket with the body, killed both lizard kin and scared the tentacle faced boy away.

Hurray!

The mouth in the ceiling was horrific. It had large tusks covered by some slime like material. It was dark and could easily swallow a horse or elephant. Where could you hide or run from something that size? So we climbed up into it and used our magic keys to open the door in the back and then entered into a disgusting pulsating room. The elven ghosts agreed to serve us as they served their missing master. The drink was superb, tasting both of citrus and a hint of mint. The food left something to be desired – a steaming plate of human brains. We skipped the second course and instead we borrowed the magic and treasure that was lying around and climbed back down to the cavern and headed out the way we came in.

While in the hideout of Sae' Taz, the party found its grimoire. It looked like the illithid would not be needing it any longer, so Bella took it for her own.

Read more about the Grimoire of Sae'Taz by clicking here.

The running battle that ensued is a thing of legend. Fighting on the ledges and bridges, in the tunnels and tubes, across the water and ropes -- it was fierce. The troglodytes, with the help of the tentacle boy, chased us all the way back to the surface. We delivered our cargo and collected the massive reward.

Drema used Kai Rifter's enchanted blade during the battle to the surface. The fine sword was returned to Hrodel after the party returned to Galehaven. The artisans who lived in Galehaven were so thankful to the Tribe for returning Kai's body that they forged another sword and gave it to the party. Drema would carry the sword into battle until her untimely death in the days to come. Maeve, a cleric from Galehaven, would eventually take up the sword to strike down her enemies

Click here to read more about Diamondback, Uncle Kai's vorpal blade.
Click here to read more about Galeblade.

In societies of the past and future, leaders, politicians, elders, statesman, kings, and emperors are often chosen for their wisdom. This wisdom is gained through trial, experience, reflection and thought. Reminiscing on our adventure, we, the mighty members of The Tribe, learned three immutable ideas that can be applied to any future situation. The first is; humans cannot see in the dark. No matter how much they strain their eyes nor wish it to happen it will not be possible. The second idea is that certain gnomes cannot climb and should not climb. If I had to evaluate their skills versus that of a rock I would have to rate the rock higher in skills related to scaling vertical surfaces. And finally, if a tower was compromised of all the deeds of the Tribe, teamwork would be the foundation that anchored the tower.

- End

Ref's Notes: We finished this adventure in one sitting. The players decided they would make Galehaven their new temporary home - it was a lot better than Iguana Shores, afterall. They spent roughly the next two weeks moving in to new homes, building an alchemist lab and visiting with Hrodel about the contents of Uncle Kai's notes that were in his personal journal. It seems that Uncle Kai was investigating something wicked that threatened Galehaven. The notes were unclear and Hrodel wanted to visit with her father, Kai's brother, to see if he could help interpret them. One thing was clear, Uncle Kai was next headed to the town of Iron Lake (Diamond Lake) to investigate some trouble there. The word "whispers" was written in these notes many times, but it was not clear what that meant. Hrodel asked the players to travel to Iron Lake when they were ready and see if they couldn't figure out what Uncle Kai was on to - and what could he have meant when he wrote the word "whispers" in his notes.

LINKS

Map of Galehaven
Vokilar's Spectacles
Hand of Psylear
Diamondback
The Galeblade

PICS

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