In the wreckage of Trollskull Manor our heroes contemplate their next course of action. This is not some random incident, this is personal and retribution shall be swift. Word has been sent to Vajra Safahr of the party's success in eliminating Vorgansharax and the allied armies are now free to liberate Phlan from it's evil conquerors. Finn and Farraine brief the rest of the party on their first encounter with the Dwarf, Noska Ur'Gray and how their fallen companion, Beef, had taken particular exception to him. As the discussions continue, Lucian, sifts through some of the magical items they managed to retrieve from the Dragon's haul and hands them out to the rest of the group. With the important loot distributed amongst them they grab some rest before heading out in search of Noska. Farraine and Finn take the lead as they make their way to the sewer entrance to Noska's hideout. Lifting the grate and descending the ladder our heroes find themselves in a small room. The walls of the room are decorated with mysterious eyes that seem to follow them as they move around. Off to the south there is a large oak door a single eye dominates the ornately carved portal. Another doorway lies to the North of the room and is less imposing, our fearless heroes decide this may be the better of the two options. Finn moves cautiously up to the door and checks it for traps before skillfully picking at the lock and swinging it open. A stone passageway leads off into the distance and with the diminutive rogue taking the lead the party head off in search of their quarry.
Turning a corner they notice another door at the end of the corridor, slowly they make their way up to it. Finn takes out his tools and begins to inspect the door and its lock. There is a satisfying click as he works at the mechanism.
"Right guys...and gal, get ready when I open this door, if there's anything bad, you let them have it " explains the Halfling. He is met with a series of nods from the rest of the party. "1.....2....3...."
The door swings open to reveal a large room beyond, in the centre of the room a decayed looking creature bearing the resemblance of a beholder turns to stare through the doorway, piles of flesh covered in eyeballs surround it, somehow managing to convey menace with their lack of facial variety. Finn ducks, expecting a volley of arrows and spells to whizz over his head. But there is nothing but silence. The halfling turns to face his friends, an accusatory glare in his eyes. He turns back to the fiends in the room and fires off a quick spell, scorching rays erupt from his fingertips and slam into the undead beholder but the creature seems largely unaffected. Sigrid sends a spell of her own hurtling towards the enemy but again it seems ineffective. Farraine charges into the room, firing a bolt from his crossbow at the necrotic Beholder, it splits the air and pierces the flesh of the beast but there is no scream of pain just a low haunting murmur. Garrick steps into the room conjuring his spiritual weapon which shimmers into existence next to the creature. It swings through the air smiting the beast with a heavy blow. Lucian emerges through the doorway, a calculating look on his face as his eyes scan the room, taking notes of his allies and the height of the ceiling before unleashing a massive ball of fire at the undead Beholder and the fleshy piles that surround it. The room is filled with fire that harmlessly washes over our heroes but scorches the creatures, the piles of flesh and eyes explode causing an eruption of spores. The Undead beholder is engulfed in flame, once again there are no screams of pain. The flames subside to reveal a badly charred undead beholder, hanging on to whatever life the undead have, its eyestalk hanging limply. The creature turns towards Farraine and emits another cloud of spores around him. The fearless Fighter coughs and splutters as his lungs fill with the putrid air. Finn fires off another spell at the creature, it's days are surely numbered and with a few swipes from the sword of Farraine it is reduced to a pile of diced meat on the stone floor the Fighter slowly wipes the blood from his blade and smiles.
Searching the room the party find a small corridor lit with a faint magical glow. Once again Finn takes the lead, searching the walls and flagstones for possible traps as he makes his way down the narrow passage. It's not long before they reach another door, Finn checks for any possible traps and then turns to face the rest of the party.
"Right, now, THIS time, please when I open the door and there's some kind of hideous monster on the other side, please for the love of god SHOOT THE DAMN THING!"
There is a low murmur of apologies and reassurances that the rest of the party will remember this time. Farraine lifts up his crossbow and takes aim, Lucian steadies himself and readies a spell, sparks crackle from his fingertips, Garrick, a determined look on his face stands poised to unleash a mighty attack on any potential foe and finally Sigrid adjusts her stance and looks as ready as she has ever looked. A smile creeps across the Halfling's face, whatever lies on the other side of this door is going to get the surprise of its life.
"Ready?" a series of nods from the Party, "1....2....3!" The door lies open to reveal....absolutely nothing. Weapons are lowered, spells abandoned and disappointed looks created. "Well at least we were ready this time" says Finn. They step through the doorway into the empty corridor beyond and down a flight of stone steps. The stairway opens up into a large circular room the flagstones are stained with blood, this room has all the hallmarks of a fighting pit. Another set of stairs on one side of the room lead upwards, Farraine makes his way over to them and begins to ascend slowly. All of a sudden his passage is blocked by a mighty Golem. It raises its arm and points back down the stairs, Farraine slowly backs away and the creature returns to a hidden alcove. The party begin to explore the fighting pit and find another door. Finn resumes his role as designated opener of doorways, the heavy wooden door creeks open to reveal 4 jail cells on the other side. Inside the closest cell was a female Halfling, the next one a female Drow, the next 3 humans and in the final one sat a menacing looking Half ogre and a Minotaur.
Finn immediately makes his way over to the first cell with the Female Halfling. Garrick moves into the room and casts a zone of Truth on the jail cells and the party begin to question the captives. It appears that all of them have been captured off the streets and have been locked away ever since. The Minotaur and the half-ogre have battled many times and have killed many opponents in the fighting pit, the other captives were likely to become their next victims. One by one the Party open the cell doors, freeing the kidnapped victims. Reaching the final cell with the most fearsome inhabitants the party decide it best to lead the others to safety first. Farraine promises the Minotaur and the Half-ogre that the party will return and grant them their freedom. As they enter the fighting pit the Drow female starts to wander off on her own. It seems she has a quest of her own that she has to fulfil.
"Wait, where are you going?" shouts Farraine.
"There is another that needs rescuing" replies the Drow.
"Look, just come with us whilst we lead these people to safety and then we will help you on your quest. I'm sure our skills will be useful to you and you don't even know what you might be walking into."
The Drow looks from Farraine to each of the other Party members noting their battle scarred armour and steely determination. She considers her options for a few seconds before she nods and begins to follow the group back out of the fighting pit and to the outside world. She returns with the group to the final cell where the Minotaur and the Half-ogre are rather animated in their requests for freedom. Finn is adamant that freeing them is a bad idea but Farraine says that he is a man of his word and he promised them that he would set them free. Finn points out that he did not make such a promise and if Farraine wants to free them then he is more than welcome to try. The fighter moves up to the cell door and starts to jiggle the handle, pulling at it with all his might but the door does not budge. After watching his friend fumble at the lock, frustration building in his features, Finn finally gives in and pushes Farraine out of the way. A couple of seconds later the lock clicks. The cell door burst open and the two massive creatures storm out of the jail, barging past the party and off up the stairs to freedom.
"Don't forget what we did for you" shouts Farraine at their disappearing backs. Back in the fighting pit room the party consider their next course of action. One of the corridors they passed earlier remains unexplored although, given it's location and direction, it seems unlikely to lead anywhere significant, especially as it is in the complete opposite direction to where the Drow was heading in her quest to rescue her friend. For the sake of thoroughness though the party decide to at least investigate the corridor, besides, it may lead to some interesting loot even if it is not the way to Noska. The party walk down the long corridor until they are met with a stone wall and no other way out except the way they came. Farraine frantically searches the wall for signs of a secret passage. For some reason he seems adamant that a corridor can't just lead to nowhere. But his search is in vain, it appears that this corridor does indeed lead to nowhere. Finn and the rest of the party catch up with Farraine and are just about to turn around and head back when they hear the Halfling.
"Er guys....I think I found something"
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