2024-10-25 – Shadowed Keep

Characters

Chartreuse (pp 17 Inv 20 Ins 11)
Eldrox (pp 16 Inv 10 Ins 16)
Helm Hobbs (pp 17 Inv 10 Ins 17)
Radon (pp 14 Inv 10 Ins 11)
Voxi (pp 11 Inv 17 Ins 11)
Zaffre (pp 14 Inv 14 Ins 11)

Strong Start

The troglodytes are surprised in their birthing pods on their way to the gardens.

Scenes

The troglodyte dens
Into the mushroom forest
The obelisk of Zuggtmoy
Meeting the drow on the way out of the cavern

Secrets and Clues

The obelisk here is built from a sliver of petrified mushroom millions of years old yet glyphed with strange glyphs.
The mushroom obelisk touches the world of Zuggtmoy, several layers of the abyss known together as Shedaklah.
The drow outpost of the Grayspire Cavern is led by House Elservs.
Hawkwind is an independent drow – not tied to the noble houses of Erelhei-Cinlu but has served them as an assassin for a long time.
Each of the spires is often tied to an outer plane or realm. They twist the boundaries between worlds with a focus on the doors of the Black Cathedral.
The obelisk worshipped by the Kuo Toa is particularly wild, seeming to bend at the strange whims of the worshippers. They have two large ziggurats from which they conduct their ceremonies.
Many strange powers fight for domination in the lower realms. This is what makes the drow so ruthless compared to the surface elves.
Eldrox feels the vast connection of nature here, but it is the nature of decay and rebirth from decay. Something from very far away.
Radon once saw some tortles of another tribe worshipping a huge mound of dead seaweed. It came to life and strangled them and they did nothing to resist it.
A huge underground river flows through the passageways of the Depths known as Svartjet River. It's deep, dangerous, and deadly.

Fantastic Locations

Mushroom Gardens of the Gray Spire. Oily stalagmites. Large mushrooms. Small red explosive mushrooms.
Giant ethereal pillars of stone giants from millenia ago.
The Svartget River

Paths

The bridge of webs
The sinkhole to the underground river
The old phosphorescent mining tunnels

Notable NPCs

Kelena d'Elservs – female commander of the Grayspire Cavern outpost CR 5 AC/DC 15 HP 95 Atk/Prof +7 DPR 35 Atks 3 × 1d6 + 9
Trissan and Brake d'Noquar – CR 4 AC/DC 14 HP 84 Atk/Prof +6 DPR 28 Atks 2 × 1d6 + 11, drow blademasters of house Noquar.

Monsters

Troglodite CR 1/2 AC/DC 12 HP 22 Atk/Prof +4 DPR 8 Atks 2 × 1d6 + 1
Troglodite Brute CR 3 AC/DC 13 HP 65 Atk/Prof +5 DPR 23 Atks 2 × 1d6 + 9
Umber Hulk CR 5 AC/DC 15 HP 95 Atk/Prof +7 DPR 35 Atks 3 × 1d6 + 9 Confusing gaze
Troglodite Priestess CR 6 AC/DC 15 HP 112 Atk/Prof +7 DPR 41 Atks 3 × 1d6 + 11, mushroom blasts, barbed spears
Avatar of Zuggtmoy CR 16 AC/DC 14 HP 229 Atk/Prof +11 DPR 101 Atks 5 × 1d6 + 18 – confusing spores, gripping tendrils
Hawkwind CR 8 AC/DC 15 HP 136 Atk/Prof +7 DPR 53 Atks 3 × 1d6 + 15 – ring of greater invisibility. Elemental blade.

Treasure

98 sp, 1199 gp, 117 pp
8 × 100 gp agate gemstones
200 gp goblinoid bloodstone and jade chess set
goblinoid frozen cup that casts Regenerate once
gnomish moontouched skull that casts Dominate Person once
Ioun Stone (Reserve)

Session Notes

The characters defeated the Avatar of Zuggtmoy and stand at the hill above the troglodyte mound.

We are shocked, shocked that the Bugbears aren't attacking the troglodytes like they said they would, and instead have moved themselves into the trolls' lair while they're fighting the troglodytes and wyverns. We fight 6 troglodytes in a stinky cavern with these egg-like sacs hanging from the ceiling. It is so stinky that Radon, who as a tortle, grew up in swampy areas is uncontrollably retching. We kill the troglodytes and destroy the tadpole egg sacs. The troglodyte bodies show fungal growth (with a greenish glow). We continue on and encounter an abandoned troglodyte camp in the cavern. We enter a Super Mario-style mushroom forest through which the troglodytes had travelled. The mushrooms have a strange alien feeling to Eldrox, there's a powerful vortex thrumming that he feels coming from off in the distance. We come across a big pile of crap with a mushroom headed buddah-like idol. There's a different type of obelisk than we've seen in the past -- it's the Gray Spire.

(Radon remembers that growing up a bunch of tortles formed a cult that worshipped a pile of dead stuff topped with a mushroom idol. It ate them. It was Zuggtmoy, the demon queen of fungi -- an embodiment of death and virulence.)

There's a priestess atop the mound and a number of troglodytes -- like 18 -- are facing the mound waving their arms around. There are two umber hulks are walking around, hypnotizing and chopping the heads of some of the troglodytes. We kill a couple of troglodytes standing near us and then go in to attack, killing the trogs and the priestess, but the idol starts to awaken. We destroy the enemies, including the idol to Zuggtmoy.

We advance to level 8!