Having redressed the ignoble retreat from the lair of Mr. Monocle by breaking in and murdering that evil bastard, the group is riding high though uncertain of their course now that Malchor Mentat the Magnificent is driving the wagon. He seems to be on an arc that emphasizes the removal of grave threats in the name of improving the world for everyone. To that end, the group recalls an encounter from several years back. Near the site of the monocular massacre there was a cave being used by the Cult of the Dragon to house a dracolich. They battled the beast and destroyed its material body. Ona subsequent visit they discovered a series of caves and tunnels in the mountainside. Therein the floating arcane eye discovered a drow mage and his minions. At the time it was not on the party’s agenda so they moved on.
Now that they are on a goodly path and unsure of a destination, they decide to revisit the area and see if the threat can be permanently neutralized. A quick teleportation jaunt followed by some aerial investigation and a visit from the peeping arcane eyes shows the cave is inhabited by a ‘blue dragon’ that seems to be slightly moth eaten at the edges. The last time they spotted the dracolich, it was wearing a black dragon skin…so maybe it’s the same one with a different skin, or it is a different one…either way, it has to die..or un-die…or whatever.
The plan is for two, three-man strike teams to teleport into the cave and attack, with one group neutralizing a crystal ball(?) set into a pedestal and the other to engage the dreadful beast. The initial plan falls apart almost immediately as the beast resists early disintegrate spells and fries Elulyn with a blast of lightning. Justicar and Cosmic are seriously wounded in the blast. While Malchor tries to shut down the crystal ball (navigation system?), Mr. T pelts the beast with arrows, while Kiko tries to come up with an effective attack. Cosmic spawns some mirror images and coats himself in acid then leaps forward to engage the beast. Magic missiles from the evil creature do away with his subterfuge and it is looking like casualties may mount when the creature is suddenly laid low. The group knows full well that it is only the material form that is destroyed and they must make haste. Even so, they send an eye in advance and find a trio of figues -one distinctly skeletal – staring at a duplicate of the crystal ball at the rear of the dracolich cave.
They work out an orderly approach to the lower level but find that the drow has made preparations. The combination of darkness, black tentacles and web prevents rapid access and the fireball fired off by the dark elf damages many of the party. It also burns the web and nearly lets a wayward flask of explosions fall to the ground. Mr. T is lucky enough to snag it and toss it into the tentacles, wiping them out. The group spills out of the narrow passageway and a luckky feeblemind spell penetrates the drow’s defenses and overcomes the natural magic resistance. They pause for a moment and take in the scene…realizing that there is a small purple mountain gorilla sitting atop an ornate brass chest. It is promptly disintegrated and the group makes haste to go ‘up rope’ to recover a bit before any of the drow’s allies or minions can appear to make life even more difficult. They pack the drooling drow into the space with them. Hopefully no one tries to steal the brass chest while they are gone, now that they’ve slain the guardian… They spend time identifying the items retrieved from the chest after it was disintegrated.
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