Out of the Abyss is a Dungeons and Dragons (DnD 5e) game set in the Underdark. Play takes place every Friday night at Dragons Keep Roleplay Club in Chislehurst South East London. The Dungeon Master is Joshua. Cast of Characters
Janek Boone - Human Champion (Tony)
Targonis - Wood Elf Ranger (Steve)
Aur - Aarakocra Rogue (Suresh)
Selya Skag - Vedalken Alchemist Artificer (Daniel)
Sunna Mortas - Tiefling Sorceror (Jo)
The Bear Pens
The two Derro each run to the nearest bear cage and flip the latches. As the doors swing open the Bears become enraged bellowing with gusto.
Janek closes the gap to the first Derro and furiously stabs pushing the Derro into the cage alongside the bear. Targonis expertly looses an arrow from Swift Wind through the bars finishing him off. Sunna conjures a ghostly hand which closes and latches the cage door, buying Janek some time. Aur does the same with the third cage. The bear in the first cage roars and smashes the door open lumbering towards our heroes.
Janek answers the call with 3 swift advantageous strikes with his rapiers and as if in competition with his comrade, Targonis plants an arrow in the angry ursine. Skagg tosses a firebolt and retreats to a safe distance allowing Sunna a clear view of the combat. She distracts the bear by poking it with her ethereal hand and then hurls a firebolt at it but the flames just bounce off the bear's thick fur. Aur attacks the remaining derro. The bear makes the mistake of slashing Sunna who has the benefit of a protective pact with her demonic patron. She points at her attacker and hellish flames immediately rise up from cracks in the ground and consume the beast in demonic fire. The second bear breaks out of its cage and attacks Janek from behind, slashing him with a glancing blow. Sunna throws a firebolt at the remaining Derro.
Janek turns to face his attacker and the immense frame of the bear casts an ominous shadow over his face as it rises up on its hind legs to attack him. Janek stabs it in the exposed belly followed by an arrow from Targonis, a firebolt each from Skagg and Sunna. Aur sneaks up behind the bear and slits its throat. Jim Jar sees an opportunity and heads swiftly towards the Derro who is attacking Skagg with a crowbar as the still caged and enraged third bear rattles the bars of its cage.
Janek runs across and stabs the bear twice through the bars. Targonis plants an arrow in the eye socket of the Derro , killing him. Skagg and Sunna firebolt the captive creature and little Nug even contributes a small part of himself to the fight. Aur flies around to the back of the cage and despatches the beast from the shadows.
Catching their breath the heroes search the corpses and find only the accoutrements of a pair of animal handler guards. Sag reads the inscriptions of the pillars which seem to be some form of ritual magic to tame wild creatures.
Back on the trail of the animated hand, the party enters the tunnels which wend their way past the water weird pool and the Xorn hole and emerge into a fungi filled cave. The trail goes left but to the right are a pair of massive zurkhwood doors partially covered in mushrooms of all varieties. Janek and Derendel push open the doors and Aur sends his familiar Cornowlius down the tunnel to be his eyes and ears. The party can hear a partial conversation between Derro and Duergar voices ahead plotting and scheming. Fragments of words "Rock", Missing Piece", "The Master", "Egg" and "Corruption" are all that they can make out.
The Council of Savants
Aur turns himself invisible and goes into the cave to investigate. It is huge. At its centre is a mesa of rock with twin plateaus joined by a wooden rope bridge, On the nearest stands a 50 foot tall black stone obelisk surrounded by 3 Derro and 4 Duergar, on the other a 4 foot tall red dragon egg. The cave is bathed in almost daylight emitted by the bioluminescent flora and fungi which cover the walls and roof and the unmistakable miasma of the faeress. The curious Jim Jar enters the cave and is immediately spotted by the Council of Savants who angrily shout "Alarum".
The shouts are heard down the tunnel and as three derro rush towards them, the frontline of heroes braces for the coming fight. The normally cowardly Quaggoth Prince Derendel finds himself at the front and is immediately set upon by 2 Derro receiving a slash across his arm. Targonis shoots the lone Derro rushing to engage Janek as Skagg firebolts one of Derendel's attackers.
Janek slashes at his attacker on the left as Sunna firebolts one of the two Derro on the right stone dead. The remaining Derro riposte catches Janek and Derendel. Skagg firebolts the derro on the right. Janek fells his attacker and Sunna finishes off the last.
searching through the corpses of what clearly were academics and not soldiers, Skagg finds a notebook containing scrawled research on the obelisk. One passage catches their eye.
"The obelisk and the faeress seem to have some sort of symbiotic relationship. Whenever a hand is placed on the stone, the faeress reacts and begins to glow more energetically. When the hand is removed the glow dissipates."
Curious... thinks the alchemist.