The party briefly explores the antechamber. . Crumbling, moldy plaster adorned with indeterminate images – a small room that looks to have been the lair of the little brain horrors…and a great moldy curtain into the next area. Elulyn draws back a corner of the curtain and sees a trio of goggle-eyed fishmen. Elulyn says ‘hello’ with a fireball and the trio is dispatched in the next ten seconds. A quick investigation of the area reveals a number of alcoves with statues of a lobster lady – her head removed, the arms snapped off and a severed head placed atop the jagged stump. Drow, druegar, elves and even a githyanki head – nicely preserved – all are missing the brain. It appears to have been yanked out through the back of the skull. Cheery. They select a door opposite the curtain and proceed onward. About 30 seconds later, they are attacked from the rear of the party by a troll and another set of fishfolk. 3…2…1…and the battle is over.
The party presses onwards, investigating some sort of trophy room and moving into an adjoining study, where they surprise an elf who is dusting and tidying. As the party charges it runs afoul of a strange and powerful magic item – a lump of amber clenched in the teeth of a skull that dangles from a chain in the ceiling. Goldpiece overcomes the feelings of despair and pursues the elf, who runs downa flight of stairs and vanishes into the darkness. Although one might magic missile the darkness, one cannot missile the missing elf.
There is a bit of tension, but the Mighty Mantit dispels magic, collects the rock and temporarily stashes it in an interdimensional space. The stairs are navigated and the party has a brief tussle with the surprisingly stabby maid before ushering him to the great beyond. It appears to be the lair of some sort of magey type being. But – the books are old and moldy. The spell ingredients are stale, inert of otherwise neglected. This doesn’t look like it has been used in some time.
The elves investigate and it is found that one of the bookshelves is hiding a passageway.
The group advances and some strange things happen. Malchor goes ‘offline’ staring blankly at a wall and waves of mental energy crash into the party member’s minds, leaving some stunned and shaken.
Advancing boldly, the remaining group members find themselves in a pitched battle with the dreaded mind flayer who lurks in his actual lair – not that fake lair! Goldpiece avoids having his brain eaten and they deal enough damage to convince Fred the Flayer to seek less dangerous prey. They gather their comrades, do a quick loot and take a significant amount of written material from the scene, preserve one of the little clawed brain horrors and snag the githyanki skull before hightailing it back to the safety of different extra-dimensional space.
Upon emerging they swiftly teleport back to the Tormite Mound and hash out their discoveries, including the braille spell book of the mysterious Melkerech. That raises far more questions than it answers, so the group ponders the next move.
The preserved goods and writing will be offered for barter with the War Wizards and some additional investigations may need to be undertaken. Failing all else, there is at least one more lead referring to a mysterious tomb in the northern deserts. It seems a popular place for all manner of evil to lurk. Remote location and a nice dry climate so your papers don’t mold. Seems ideal for things that don’t need water (like liches) and don’t like visitors. So far, the party has encountered the Bone Tower of Orcus, a dracolitch and drow (complete with miniature purple gorilla), a temple devoted to some sort of evil aerial deity, a lich (who may or may not be Melkerech) – all within the space of a couple of hundred miles. The place is positively hopping!
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