Tyrsday the 3rd of Hells

Tucker tells me that he has made contact with a resistance fighter who will look for information about Roth for us.

After spending time with the orb and Torc, it occurred to me (whether by my own means, or the orb or Torc influencing me), that Roth may be caught as Vola and Swift were in time via the sequester ability.

After some discussion, the group have decided to find an individual who has been placing bounties on Tucker’s head with the intention of silencing him permanently. It appears that mercenaries have come to claim the bounty and have attacked (or attempted to attack) Tucker. Tucker, who is under our protection, is also under the apparent protection of the Procurer’s Guild. I have noticed Ehrman has taken an interest in the Procurer’s guild, and I believe he may have formed a professional relationship with the guild.

We have found ourselves in the sewers on our way to fin the individual responsible for placing an assassin’s bounty on the head of Tucker. There are rats everywhere, including Wetiko who has transformed into a rat.

We have encountered a battle! There are 5 adversaries who are humanoid, and two hostile rats. One of the humanoids appears to have rat features in his face. One of them, a hooded figure, appears to be controlling the rats and he commands an army of rats to come forth and attack us. The hooded figure jumps down a well filled with water and onto the corpse of a horse. We kill some of our enemies, some flee, but we capture one individual who we interrogate. Her name is Alexa. She says “We, the Proselyte wont rest until you, Tucker are dead”. Tucker knocks her unconscious. Ehrman takes her Proselyte medallion in order to potentially impersonate a member in the future. We wake her, and I cast detect thoughts on her. She prays to Koshanth in her mind. Her thoughts give away that our presence has interfered with a big ritual of some sort. I discerned that appearance of a man that she perceives as the ‘High Priest’. I took his form and fooled her to take us to their base of operations. She takes us to the town Fortress!. We begin to realise that she taking us to the bath-house. A place with green tiles and a fountain.

Alexa pays our entry into the bath-house, however, there are guards present that she was apparently expecting. She instructs us to “get rid of the guards”. Tucker drops his disguise to convince the guards to allow us through using his influence and renown. The guards leave. We are led to an area where Alexa tells us to close and lock the door behind us. The door appears to be a secret door that will disappear when closed. WE successfully attempt to leave the door open ajar for the guards to return and see its existence as we are sure that even they do now know that it is here. Alexa instructs Tucker to press a tile, he does so. Another are opens to the right. We are led through a passage to stairs. She tells us that we are to show respect, for we are to enter the realm of those who truly rule the world. Marius pushes her down the stairs. Tucker grabs his mace as she falls. She is killed upon falling.

The door behind us closes and a substance appearing to be oil begins to pour out of a portion of wall toward us. We run! I, unfortunately slip in the oil and somewhat gracefully fall over on to the ground. Most of the group also fall and we end up in a pile. The room ahead of us is empty. There are two doors on opposite sides of the room. Tucker uses magic to utilise freezing temperatures to greatly slow the oil that is seeping toward us down. There appears to be a trap on one of the doors that will made the chandelier fall from the ceiling. The candles would set all of the oil alight. We extinguish the candles and torches to prevent the oil from lighting. The chandelier falls somehow, but I cast tenser’s floating disk and manage to catch it. We open the door made of iron and behind it are two Proselyte agents. We kill them and they turn out to be doppelgängers!

We venture forth as Tucker says that he is hearing a voice inside his head inviting him. We enter another room to find seven individuals with robes. The leader of them says that he wants the person with the Torc to set it down in front of him. I hide at the back of the group. They set a gate down at the door, dividing the room. Ehrman and Tucker stand with me outside the room, but our other comrades are trapped on the other side with the robed people. I hear a door slam somewhere behind us. The three of us make haste to investigate only to find a group of six enemy agent headed in our direction. Ehrman throws ball bearings at their feet and I let loose a fireball. The room explodes in fire on top of our enemies. The door behind them explodes. More oil pours out, a LOT of oil… And another explosion goes off in our faces. I am injured in the explosion. We run back toward our group as fast as we are able.

We attempt to open the big door and struggle to do so. Some of out comrades on the other side try to help us lift the door but hey are still fighting on the other side. All at once, we hear a yell from the other side, the men on that side drop the door and a blast of heat and fire comes from under the door. They may have been hit by a fireball, or perhaps the fire has somehow reached their side.

The other side has become quiet.

Thankfully, it appears that out comrades have survived, and our group is whole again. The door is lifted and we stand together once more. Ehrman and Swift inspect the trap door that they were attacked from which appears to be locked. Swift tears a tapestry off the wall, and behind is a secret room containing what appears to be a teleportation circle. There is a voice in our heads claiming to want to talk with us and to be allies. He calls himself Dallas. He claims to need our help. Marius asks for the being to show himself. Dallas appears before us. We hear a door open and footsteps coming toward us. Dallas appears to be a mindflayer! Dallas says that he needs our help. He says that he is an illithid. He claims that Koshanth is forcing his hivemother to use the hive for his own purposes. He wants our help to free the hivemother. He tells us that tonight was supposed to be a meeting of the Proselyte.

The hivemother is being kept on an island with a old lighthouse by a beholder, or so he believes. Dallas is being controlled by the Proselyte, but wants to be set free. He has agreed to give us the Proselyte’s plans in exchange for our help reducing his hivemother.

Dallas says he was in a meeting with members of the community who are Proselyte members. They are expecting some important individual to visit them. He would like us to attack the group after he instructs his brother illithid to leave the room and so will no lover be protecting the Proselyte group. He also tells us that the tunnels in the facility are extensive and some tunnels leads away to the ocean which may facilitate our escape. Dallas tells us that the meeting room contains a large dining table with twelve place settings, and another at the top of the top for three of the leadership. There is a statue in the room which is magical but Dallas does not know how. There is a secret exit behind a curtain at the top right-hand side, but it is dangerous, Dallas will investigate the guests at the feast for us.

The twelve sitting at the table are local people. Fanatics, but none are particularly powerful. There are four spellcasting fanatics, and six that are simple no-bodies. Two people, however, are shielding their minds. They are council members wearing fake Torcs. These two are likely guild leaders. Two at the top table are doppelgängers who are hiding their true forms. They are not very powerful but they can read minds which may be dangerous.

The group decides on a plan to have the two at the head table poisoned so that they become sick and retire to the privy so that we can ambush them. As the group continues to make plans, I investigate the teleportation circles. As I approach one, the Torc speaks to me in my mind and I get an understanding of how they work. When standing on a standard circle, I am able to bring people with me anywhere to a location that I know. I can teleport myself, alone, to the teleportation circle from anywhere. The other teleportation circle is special. It is connected to the main teleportation network and will teleport me to the main system as they are connected.

We have decided to poison the food and wait in the toilets and have a short rest for an hour, and wait.

A person comes in to wash their hands but appears to be a regular person so we allow them to leave. They leave, and someone rushes in sick. We murder him. He turns back into a doppelganger. He has on his person, an invitation to tonight’s event which states that they are expecting “The Master” to appear tonight.

Two more people walk in casually having a conversation. We attack, and murder them. We hide the bodies by throwing them down the long drops of the privy. Another person furiously races into the restroom, seemingly the other sick doppelganger. We kill him, the body falls into the waste pit. Dallas informs us that the important guest is arriving soon so we should make haste. He has also got his family to leave the room. The room is ours for the pickings.

I cast a fireball at the table. Some are incinerated on the spot. We defeat the rest, but the statue at the head of the room animates and begins to attack us. I yell to everyone to run to the teleportation circle and turn on my heels to make haste to the circle. The golem makes chase. We run to the teleport circle and activate it to teleport back to the house. Relieved, we rest for the night.