The next few days are uneventful. Calla, Eldeth, and Jimjar continue to meld with the Myconids. They start to gain resistances and immunities to poisons and diseases, as well a stronger mental resistances. On the fifth day of travel The Circle leaders stop the group as they notice mushrooms they've never seen before. Not wasting any time, Chomper Fire Bolts one of the mushrooms and a Fungal Dragon emerges! The fight is touch and go for a while as three more Fungal Dragons join the battle. Prince Derendil, Rasharoo, Hebopbe, Eldeth, and Sovereign Basidia all get paralyzed by the Fungal Dragons spore breath during the fight, but you are able to prevail. You take a short rest after the fight and get ready to continue to the Myconid colony, Glomeria.

The party examines the pillars outside the chapel and are able to see they represent heroes of Elturel. They have even heard of them before and can name them. They also see the divine markings that will release a small radiant burst when they speak the name of the hero of that pillar. Kiley moves to enter the chapel but several Shadows and Specters emerge from the pillars and stop her progress. The spirits are resistant to most of the damage our heroes are trying to inflict upon them. Pamu gets the life drained out of him by a Specter, leaving him half of what he once was. Reya uses Redemption to attack and the sword proves its worth! Pamu goes down and Reya uses her Potion of Healing to revive him. One of the spirits darts to the south as Dilea gives chase, her Spirit Guardians rushing with her. The spirit eludes her. Kiley and Auron enter the chapel and 4 more Minotaur Skeletons rise up. Meanwhile, Pamu does a flying side kick at the doors of an outbuilding and bounces off and falls on this Lizardfolk butt. The battle in the chapel kicks off and this time our heroes are able to prevent the Minotaur Skeletons from using their charge. Dilea uses a Fireball from the Shield of the Hidden Lord/Gargauth and burns three of them. The Party's efforts are much better coordinated this time. They make short work of the Undead while a Specter emerges from the outbuilding and attacks Pamu, who goes down, again. A strange man also comes out and he and Lulu start talking. Pamu is healed again. Gideon asks the party if they fight devils or demons. The answer of both causes Gideon to attack and they trade blows. Dilea mentions Zariel in a battle cry and Gideon calls for a cease-fire as he also serves Zariel. You come to an agreement, find out that Ravenguard MIGHT still be in the lower levels of the chapel. Gideon makes a deal with the party and they are able to take a brief rest in exchange for help beating back the demons that are assaulting the chapel from within. The heroes emerge from the outbuilding and Gideon leads them to another entrance to the Chapel. This section still has one intact stained glass window and Dilea kneels before the image of Lathander and recites the prayer that is inscribed in the glass. A bright light fills Dilea's space and when it clears, a +2 longsword is on the ground before her. She claims it, stands up and rejoins the rest of the party. Gideon pulls back the curtain leading to the stairs to see two incredibly strange creatures squaring off with a fiendish giant scorpion.

The party continues their travels towards Sloobludop and discover the body of a bandit which looks like it was stabbed to death. They find it next to an overturned timmask mushroom which Stool tells them can cause confusion. They carefully search the body and find nothing of interest. They move on and are accosted by bandits demanding a toll for passage through this particular tunnel. Our heroes try to negotiate down the price of the toll, but the bandits aren't having it, having “graciously” reduced the toll already since they look impoverished. Battle ensues and they put one of the bandits to sleep, and scare off two of the others as they focus their fire on the leader. The leader eventually surrenders and the party loots him and the remaining one they put to sleep. They disarm the leader save a dagger, and tie his hands behind his back and send him into down the tunnel from which they came. They leave the other bandit there, tied up, and continue towards Sloobludop. They rest that night, find some water, and try to rest. Most of the group have terrible nightmares of being on the shore of a lake when tentacles emerge from the water, grab them, and drag them in. This dream happens continuously. The next morning they continue towards Suushar's village. They soon come to the shore of a lake that looks like the one in their nightmare. A couple of hours outside of Sloobludop they are stopped by a large group of Kuo-Toa. They tell Shuushar he shouldn't have returned from his exile since the penalty is now death. They tell they party that they are to be captured and sacrificed to their god Leemoogoogoon. Vastly outnumbered, and now surrounded, out heroes don't resist. They are bound and daisy-chained, but allowed to keep their gear and weapons, the Kuo-Toa relying on their sheer numbers to prevent any violence. After an hour of travel, they are stopped again by a rival group of Kuo-Toa. Plooploopleen, an arch-priestess of Blibdoolpoolp, demands the party's release. The sect worshiping Leemoogoogoon refuse and they fight. Plooploopleen's forces win and they release our heroes. She then speaks with her father, Shuushar and then to the party. She proposes a ruse – let her escort the party in to Sloobludop as “captives.” She will “offer” them to Bloppblipodd, her daughter and arch-priestess of Leemoogoogoon so she can get close enough to kill her. Afterwards, the party will be supplied to include boats to cross the Darklake. They agree. Once in town they are taken to Plooploopleen's hut where she once again goes over the plan for tomorrow. They are then taken to a separate hut and rest for the night. The next day they are loosely bound (so you can slip out of them) and marched to the Alter of the Deep Father, Leemoogoogoon. The Kuo-Toa are marching around the altar in an ever-widening circle. As they enter a trance-like chanting state those in the water start to get attacked by something! They don't seem to notice. They party is presented to Bloppblipodd and the ruse works! Plooploopleen attacks her daughter stabbing her. Bloppblipodd falls over backwards onto the altar and her blood spills on it. All hells break loose as the village erupts in civil war! Suddenly, a massive 30 foot figure emerges from the water with two baboon heads and tentacles for arms! It starts to destroy the docks! The Kuo-Toa start to freak out! Some of them grow extra limbs, some grow an extra head, and some grow tentacles. Shuushar, his madness already far along, grows all three than starts to enlarge like he's filling with air. Then, he explodes! The party runs. Some of them run to the escape the village, some of them run to Plooploopleen's hut to secure the treasure they saw there yesterday, and some of them run to the hut they saw Bloppblipodd come out of to see if she has treasure too. Our heroes secure both treasuresand then run like the Nine Hells were after them until they can't run any longer. They stop to rest and make camp.

Red sends Pokey out to see what's on the other side of the door. The Homunculus Servant is able to draw three Hell Hounds and three Ogres away from the party's position, injuring a couple of the enemies along the way. Red utters the password to suppress the Arcane Lock and Plum opens the door. Our heroes head out and turn the corner and see Pokey in action. They rush forward to help out/eliminate the enemy and are now fighting their way through Ironslag a second time. Kora lays down a Call Lightning and tells the heroes to draw the giants' forces under the cloud. Yagnar helps out with the Ogres, but that's it. Plum and Leopurr glitch and rage, respectively, and start to eliminate enemies. Red starts bladesinging and uses Booming Blade to great effect that seems to dissipate as the battle progresses. Jakob activates his Twilight Sanctuary and then alternates between healing and Guiding Bolts. They kill the initial Hell Hounds and Ogres, but reinforcements come from the gantry in the form of a couple of Fire Giants, a couple of Ogres, and more Hell Hounds. Adoel makes her and Jakob Out of Phase and Bwystfil turns into a Giant Scorpion. Pokey gets destroyed, Clyde is almost in pieces again, Bwystfil is about to revert to his normal form, Leopurr is badly wounded, and so is Plum.

You awake in the morning and start for Gracklstugh. Eldeth, with some help, picks a path through the Underdark. The next couple of days are uneventful as you trudge your way through the endless dark. You do find that food and water, especially water, are easier to find since you are closer to the Darklake. On the third day you come across a cavern that has a stream running through it. Unfortunately, it also has several Grells. They attack, but you are able to fight them off. Once they are all dead you gather what water you can and explore the area a bit. You examine the old bones that seem to be of a dinosaur of some kind, and the structures in the area like the bridge and a couple of small towers. The origin of the towers elude you as the skulls atop them seem out of place. Thorin is able to tell the bridge is ancient, older than anything he's seen on the surface. The next few days are uneventful as well, the only excitement was the greenish-purplish light that start to fill one tunnel. You know that light can drive you mad so Eldeth leads you another way and finds a way around it. On the seventh day since Demogorgon destroyed Sloobludop Fargas gets excited! From what he can see the area bears some of the markers he needs to find the Lost Tomb of Khaem. He leads you down a tunnel, down a shaft, and down another tunnel when the ground suddenly gives way. Some of you fall through and take damage, landing in the anteroom of the very tomb you were looking for. The rest of you climb down. You all hear a female voice in your head, sad, lonely, a little scared, asking for help. You all agree and start to look around. The frescoes in this room depict a sorceress being attended to by her servants. Another shows several floating cities. You head down the stairs and come to a room where the friezes have been scratched out. You cannot tell what they once were or how long they have been defaced. You open the door to the east and enter a room with several sarcophagi. You examine one of them touching it, and 6 Specters float through the sarcophagi and walls of the tomb. You battle hard using magic and anything else you can think of as these damn specters seem to resist so much. You eventually defeat them and take a breath.

The party continues the fight by making a tactical withdrawl to lure the enemies into Kora's Call Lightning range. The Fire Giants and Ogres follow them and pay the price, particularly the Fire Giant that that just arrived as Bwystfil in Allosaurus form causes it to fall over and Plum takes advantage. With a mighty blow from his maul, he strikes it critically and the Fire Giant is unable to fight off the magic of the Hammer of Thunderbolts. Plum practically one-shots the Fire Giant as it dies. The rest of the reinforcements fall quickly. Our heroes loot the fire giants. Leopurr scouts a bit to the east following the bucket chain (now immobile) and discovers a massive work area where he sees the adolescent that raised the alarm, the giant that seems to be his father, a bodyguard and a couple of hell hounds. He also sees a massive adamantine head and torso (which a HUUUGEEEE ruby for one eye) and a forearm and a 70-80 foot long greatsword, all made of adamantine. He reports back and the rest of the party and they explain to him about the Vonindod and the weapon it is to fight dragons and that the Fire Giants are trying to rebuild it. At that point they decide to secure their way out since the lift is destroyed. They head up the gantry and Jakob shares his Eyes of Night so everyone can see better and further. They spot a force waiting or them, a Fire Giant and an Ogre. Leopurr and Plum move forward, the Tabaxi out pacing the Warforged. That's when three hell hounds come out and blast with their Fire Breath. Leopurr is caught in all three while Plum only gets caught in one later, but it would have been enough to kill him had it not been for Jakob's Twilight Sanctuary bolstering his health. Plum casts Mirror Image on himself and drinks a Potion of Superior Healing. Plum gains additional healing, as do many other of you when Jakob uses his channel divinity again and the meditations back home at the temple pay off. You kill the hell hounds and the Ogre and finally move to engage the Fire Giant who ran off to shout that “[he] found them!”

The party gets ready to fight, but holds as they are still trying to figure out what's fighting what, and who's on the side of whom. As they do, Auron is suddenly enveloped by a cloud of ravens that swirl around him faster and faster until there is nothing left but a few black feathers floating to the ground. Moments later, a portal opens in a different part of the room and a paladin steps through thoroughly confused. Meanwhile, unwilling to wait any longer, Kiley lets loose a fireball that gets the Mezzoloths, the fiendish Giant Scorpion, and the Dretches that poured up the steps. While the demons fall quickly, the yuggoloths are a little tougher, especially when they start to teleport and run to escape. Out heroes chase them down and Lulu manages to blast the hell out of one with a trumpet blast while Pamu catches up with the other and kills it with a dart. Meanwhile, Dilea starts to head down the stairs while the new person tries to make sense of what is going on. Eventually they all make it down to the ossuary and proper introductions are made. They move forward and pass through burial rooms filled with the once-faithful to Tyr, Torm, Helm, and Lathander, but move quickly through. They eventually come to a room where they find the Grand Duke Ravenguard with a gold helm on his head seemingly locked in a struggle as he switches speaking between Celestial and Abyssal. There is a strange portal on the east wall, and the pool in the room is filled with the dead bodies of both the Flaming Fist and Hellriders. Streams of ichor also trail through the pool. Suddenly, two Barlguras and a Howler emerge from the portal! Lulu's aura helps most of out heroes avoid the Entangle one of the Barlgura's cast, but Vàli gets caught in it. The Howler screams and everyone except Reya resists the fear it causes, but Dilea's Twilight Sanctuary removes her fear within seconds. They are able to send one Barlgura back to the Abyss. Pamu, with Protection from Evil and Good on him from Kiley, is able to avoid many of the attacks, but Dilea goes down in the water and starts to sink. Lulu flies over and drags her out. The rest of they party focuses primarily on the Howler as the battle rages on.

The group decides that it needs to rest so they retrace their steps and get back to the well that leads up to the Yawning Portal and safety to rest. Dauntless inquires about a library, leaves 33 rations, a diamond worth 300 gp, and a Bag of Holding on the table and walks out. Right after that our heroes see rather sub-par group of adventures head down, the Cheeky Pluckers. Led by Fiana de Vaub, the group heads down. Four-Fingers, Halberd, Sariel, and Danny Elfman seem in good spirits. They haven't even finished their meals when the rope from the well starts to dance. A gold piece in hand, the lead is lowered and up comes Four-Fingers. He tells the party that the rest of the Cheeky Pluckers are dead, killed by Bugbears. Our heroes rest at the Yawning Portal and head back down immediately after, still less than 24 hours since they first went down. They follow through the Kenku skeleton room into the room with the forest of pillars where you are assaulted by Bugbears as they approach. The Bugbear corpses soon join those of the Cheeky Pluckers, who have been stripped of gear and loot. Edge spots tracks to the west and the party follows them down a long hall filled with alcoves of mirrors. As they pass the final set copies of half of them are made. They fight off their mirror images and destroy one of the mirrors thus preventing additional copies gettign made. The tracks continue to the south and they follow them and then again to the east. They see two sets of doors and they listen at each of them. From the south they hear chatter but don't understand it. They set caltrops and ball bearings outside the door to slow anyone down and head east and into the other room. A bugbear launches a javelin and battle begins. A second Bugbear is waiting to ambush our heroes as they enter the room. Thava puts one of them to sleep and they kill the other. As it dies, a little brain with legs crawls out of its skull and teleports away. The room they bypassed comes alive as Goblins mobilize. Some of them head south out of the room and sneak attack the group while others head north and struggle with the ball bearings and caltrops. They party kills most of them, but one flees and they give chase through the dungeon. It's fast, but Plum, hava's familiar, is faster. And with the Dragon Breath that Thava cast on him, he is most likely the winged death the Goblin didn't know it feared.

The party starts to leave the chamber where they fought the specters when they hear the telepathic voice begging them to leave her. They re-enter the chamber and do a more thorough search and find the sarcophagus in the southeast corner is on hidden rollers. They move it to reveal a set of narrow stairs heading down. They all go down the stairs into the hidden chamber and find an immensely more elaborate sarcophagus. When they examine it, it summons the wraith that was once Brysis of Khaem. Our heroes fight her and emerge victorious. Afterwards, They open the sarcophagus and discover a gilded hilt. They quickly learn that it is the source of the telepathic voice. Dawnbringer, the original sun blade, is ecstatic to be released. It is decided that Sebastian will attune to her. The party returns to the previous room up the stairs and explores the one chamber they haven't yet. They find another sarcophagus and Fargas, in his excitement, and thinking all threats are eliminated, runs up to it tries to open it. Opening it causes a Magic Mouth to boom out, “You have disturbed the tomb of Brysis of Khaem! Accursed you are, most miserable of creatures!” and Fargas turns to stone. The party looks in the now open sarcophagus and sees a statue in it. They decide to leave it alone. They head back upstairs to the foyer and leave by the main doors. Eldeth is able to pick up the trail for Gracklstugh and they press on, the petrified Fargas now a part of the décor of the Lost Tomb of Khaem. Several days go by, and they continue to forage for water, their supply slowly dwindling. They come to a stream that they  have to cross, but before they can stock up on water they are attacked by a Minotaur Skeleton. As battle ensues two more rise up and join the fray. Our heroes are able to defeat them, Thorin's hammer dealing exceptional damage against them. Sebastian uses both Dawnbringer and his Shadow Blade to fight. While Dawnbringer isn't pleased, the shadow blade is being used to destroy undead, so it's okay. After the battle is over, they inspect the Minotaur Skeletons and notice that all three of them have symbols of Orcus etched into their skulls. They quickly fill Their water skins and get the nine hells out of there. Another several days go by. By the time they reach Gracklstugh they are out of water and suffering the effects of a day of thirst. The party is stopped by the Duergar on guard duty and denied entry into the city and the opportunity to resupply. The watch captain, Gorglag, comes out and tries to extort them for entry. The only thing she seems interested in is the gilded hilt with light coming out of it called Dawnbringer. they counter with the extra gear you have on hand, a few sets of armor and some weapons. She rejects but the offer but continues to negotiate. Some of the counters seem a bit...mad...but they work, sort of. While you weren't granted access into the Duergar city, you did get Gorglag to supply you with 15 gallons of water as you left.

Our heroes finish off the Fire Giant and decide it's time to rest. They go topside and secure their position in the Yakfolk Village they cleared out before heading down into Ironslag. Afterwards, they head back down the mine and re-enter Ironslag. Leopurr scouts after Jakob provides everyone with Eyes of the Night. He spots the bratty kid, his dad, and two body guards along with over a dozen hobgoblins. Bwystfil (Red's follower) turns digs through the stone because of his gloves and you all have a way down. The party emerges near the massive forge and a set of double doors to the north. They are able to all move there quietly, and open one of them without being detected. They see several Goblins to the east, and another set of double doors to the west. While they debate their next move, the doors to the west open and there's an Ogre and 5 Goblins. Further into the west is a female Fire Giant, more Goblins, and some sort of Mephit. Battle starts and they kill several Goblins and an Ogre as the rest of the enemies form up.

Our heroes continue to battle the Howler and the remaining Barlgura, sending them back to the Abyss. Kiley (with an exceptional Aracna check) is able to determine that the portal has been opened by Baphomet himself from his realm of Lyktion. They decide it's time to leave, now, and pick up the Grand Duke of Baldur's Gate and make their way back up to the chapel. There, Gideon is waiting for them with a zombie. He wants them to stay and fight off the demons that will continue to come through the portal and refuses to let the party leave. So, they fight him and the zombie, kill them, and leave. On the way back to the High Hall Cathedral Lulu spots a Narzugon riding a Nightmare. She urges the party to hide as she tells them they wouldn't be able to survive a battle against it. They successfully avoid it and make it back to the High Hall. Once there, they rest and Pherria tells them she can help remove the helm from the duke's head. They all go to the main floor to the Altar of Torm that was restored earlier and Pherria starts the ritual. Reya holds the magical greatsword, Redemption, on his shoulder as a channel for the divine power. As the ritual progresses, two Will-o-Wisps appear to try to interfere, but our heroes are able to dispatch them easily. Once Duke Ravenguard is free of the Help of Torm he shares a vision he saw. Ultimately, he recognizes Lulu in it, and mentions a sword that needs to be found. Pherria suggests leaving Elturel and going down to Avernus so they can find it. At the last minute, Lulu remembers something about a place called Fort Knucklebone and suggests starting there. Reya says she will stay behind in Elturel, that's where her place is, but gives up Redemption to Vàli, the Paladin. Pamu also says he will stay to help the civilians.

Plum blasts the Goblin with the Dragon Breath Thava cast on it and the Goblin dies. Edge does a quick check to make sure the Goblin is dead. Meanwhile, Thava and Ely'thl make sure the second Bugbear is dead. They party loots what little they can and head back to the dead Goblin Plum killed. They move through the door to the south where there is a broken arch with two orc skeletons and the base. Nothing weird happens here. They move through the door to the east and are brought back to the half of a tiefling skeleton. Edge casts Speak with Dead on it and works hard to make sure the questions asked are specifically phrased to get straight answers. Ultimately, our heroes are given a path to the next level, but not much more useful is gleaned. They follow the hall east, a hall they've been in before. This time they go through the double doors in the east wall and that's where they find the instructions from the tiefling skeleton to be a little unclear. The party eventually heads south and explores the the unusually clean halls. They practically run into a Gelatinous Cube that eventually engulfs four of them. However, they are able to attack from both inside and outside of it and reduce it to a puddle of goo before too much damage is done. The party finishes exploring the final halls, searches for secret doors (but don't find any) and even finds another empty 10 x 10 room. They head back to the double doors and take the north hall. In that hall they find an alcove with a bas-relief that when they look at it transports them to a demiplane where they see Halaster Blackcloak, or at least some form of a copy of him. Our heroes learn that they have all been brought here by him, each and everyone of them, all orchestrated since before they could walk. He then tells them they are all playing a game, and to win they have to reach his lair. His voice then changes to that of an announcer, and he speaks to an audience our heroes cannot see, but they can the thunderous applause, and their names on the lips of this unseen audience. The next thing they hear is an advertisement for The Legion of Azrok. Puzzled, they are then shunted back into the hall outside of the bas-relief. Confused, they go down the hall and through the door. They're in a hall that stretches north and south. While their directions say south, they head north to make sure no one comes up from behind. They spot a couple of Bugbears run off.

After a few days since leaving Gracklstugh, the heroes' path leads them across some ancient ruins. Seeing the path take a downturn into a valley of sorts, they decide to skirt the edge and head right since the valley comes out the other side. As they move through the ruins on the ledge, they are attacked by a Wolf Spider. They engage in combat when suddenly three arrows fly out of the darkness ahead striking two of them. As they scramble to figure out where they came from, more Wolf Spiders crawl out of the ruins around the area. The battle rages and they soon discover the Drider shooting them with arrows from afar. They deal with the numerous Wolf Spiders that are attacking and start to focus on the Drider. It's able to hit them hard as Ront goes down (again), as does Jimjar, and Sebastian whose form of Dread remains even as he falls. They all get revived before the battle's end and they emerge victorious. Sebastian goes a little mad and loses his memories for a couple of days. During that time, he channels his patron, the Raven Queen, and Dawnbringer decides to not be wielded by him any longer. Mysridil takes the hilt and for the next couple of days the amnesiac Sebastian travels with the party, but remains distant. Finally, in the middle of the third day since the Drider attack, he regains his memories. He sees Mysridil has his magical blade and is most displeased.

As the battle intensifies, the party is able to pick off the Goblins and Smoke Mephits with ease, but there are so many of them! The female Fire Giant flings the cauldron she was carrying when the battle started and she hurts a few of our heroes with it as it hits, and then splashes Red, Clyde, and Bwystfil. Kora, Alma's follower, uses her Call Lightning to slay whole groups of Goblins at a time. The female Fire Giant flees and her kitchen staff pays the price for covering her escape. As the battle in the kitchen dies down Goblins in the dining hall take arms and start to launch arrows at the party, in small groups. Even at the long range they are able to hit and deal damage consistently as our heroes head down the hall. Alma, being the expert shot she is picks off a couple of Goblins every time she fires. They continue the long march down the hall trading arrows with the Goblins. Clyde, Red's Steel Defender, is destroyed and Bwystfil, Red's shape-shifting follower, burrows under the rock to avoid the arrows that have his Allosaurus form bloodied. More than half the Goblins remain.

Dilea, Kiley, and Vali climb down the chains holding Elturel in this first level of hell. As they climb down they discover the infernal iron from which these massive chains are made hurt when they touch them. About halfway down Kiley slips, but is able to recover. The three of them make it down into the front lines of the Blood War. Hoping to avoid the Pit Fiend that seems to be leading this group of devils, they try to slip through all the fiends knowing they are vastly outnumbered. Unfortunately, another legion of devils intercepts them and brings them before a different Pit Fiend, Lucille. Also before her are a strange rabbit-person, and a strange blue blob of goo. She sentences you to death and starts to give the order to the devils serving her. Before she can complete the order, Bel appears from thin air and orders Lucille to stand down. Lucille, not having any choice but to obey, hisses that the Archduke will hear of what Bel has down. Bel looks at you and tell you all to leave, now. You do. Once you get to a (relatively) safe spot, you make your introductions and decide to join forces. Lulu flies straight up to get a look at the hellscape that is Avernus and picks a direction for Fort Knucklebone. She's successful in finding it, despite her memory loss. As you approach the fort the Redcaps standing guard harass you a bit, laughing at the ridiculousness of it all, but eventually let you in. This place is massive, and it has some very cool things you have never seen before – Infernal War Machines. You see two Kenku working on one, and one of them gets quite excited, tells you to stay put and runs off. It returns quickly with a Night Hag named Mad Maggie and a strange golem called Mickey, who's limping and hopping like it has a bad foot. Mad Maggie agrees to help Lulu regain her memories as she wants to confirm that she is, in fact, the hollyphant that was once Zariel's trusted companion and battle mount. She bids you welcome and invokes the Law of Hospitality. She tells Mickey to watch over you. You quickly notice many of the Redcaps taunting and imitating Mickey doing a dance they call, “doing the Mickey.” You help Mickey out by figuring out that it has a bone splinter stuck in its foot. You are able to get it out and Mickey seems quite happy, but the Redcaps are pissed you ruined their fun. You next help out Chukka and Clonk, the Kenku working on an Infernal War Machine. You are able to determine the problem and are told that it's the Hezrou gear. The only way to fix it is to find a Hezrou, and pick three spines from it. You agree to help and you load up on a Scavenger with Kiley and Seven on Dirt Devils. You head out into the wastelands with Clonk driving and you soon find two Hezrou. Kiley and Seven try to distract one while Bob fires the grappling claw on the other. Vali and Dilea jump down to start collecting spines but it proves to be challenging. Seven gets hit by the distracted Hezrou nearly bloodying him. Kiley banishes it and you all focus on the grappled Hezrou. Bob and Seven come over to assist, as does chukka who gets poisoned by the stench the Hezrou produces. You manage to get two of the three spines you need and keep trying to get the third.

Out of nowhere an announcer recaps what occurred “last time” and then you hear a “Dungeon Profile” of someone or something named Arcturia. This happens as you chase the Bugbears around the curved hall only to find them and 6 Goblins on the other side. You make short work of them and explore south briefly. Seeing it doesn't lead back to the previous hall you explore north. Edge, his keen feline senses at work, spots secret doors others don't and you check them out. Long halls lead to more long halls and a door. You spot a scrying eye, and figure it's Halaster keeping tabs on you. Edge checks for traps along the way and doesn't find any. You open the door an discover a zig-zagging hall that is filled with the sound of wind. About halfway down you find the source of the sound – an Air Elemental. You do battle and dispose of it. You search the rooms at the northern and eastern end of the halls to find a whole lot of nothing. The tub in the VIP quarters has running hot water, but you leave that alone. You turn south and spot a giant rat the turns human a flees. You give chase and run into a pack of rats. Edge uses Spirit Guardians ad the rats die quickly. The two Wererats don't die as quickly, but you escape the skirmish no worse for the wear. During your battles you do hear the cheers and boos of the crowds you cannot see. You head back to the goblin room and take the tunnel to the east the corpse of the strange creature came out of. You battle two of the strange creatures making quick work of them, but they do some damage to you in the process. Following the finished hall to another rough tunnel you emerge in another finished room. There's a door in the west wall, and several more of the strange creatures emerge from the hall to the south. Battle starts up again.

Sebastian and Mysridil have a conversation about Dawnbringer, and Dawnbringer weighs in. Ultimately, Sebastian decides to let Mysridil keep Dawnbringer. You travel a couple more days when you enter an area with bio-luminescent mushrooms lighting your path. You are attacked by several fungal-infested creatures that look like they may have once been Drow, Duergar, and Quaggoth. There's also a strange Myconid that when it gets hit, causes Stool pain. It also deals MASSIVE damage when it hits, dealing a combination of bludgeoning and poison. You defeat the group that ambushed you and several of you explore a hut on a ledge. There's nothing in it. Prince Derendil and Jimjar scout the path ahead and are ambushed by a second group of fungal enemies. They are able to deal with the fungi beings, but it takes all of you to bring down the Deathcap. You notice that the fungal growth on Sarith's face looks an awful like the fungus on the creatures you just killed. The next few days are uneventful and you finally arrive at Neverlight Grove. You are greeted by an adult Myconid calling itself Loobamub. It takes custody of Stool and tells you that if you want to enter Neverlight Grove you need to do one more service; eliminate a slithering tentacled creature with a beak that has rendered one of their hunting grounds unsafe. It is too much for them to handle. You agree and Loobamub gives you directions to the fungal wilds. If you are successful you will be able to meet Sovereign Basidia and Sovereign Phylo. You travel a few hours to the hunting grounds and start searching. You are ambushed by a Shambling Mound that immediately engulfs Thorin. You all attack the Shambling Mound and are able to quickly defeat it before it can do too much damage.

The ranged battle continues and you finally bring down the Goblins in the dining room. The battle has taken its toll though as you take a moment to lick your wounds and heal a little. Red gets Clyde back in working order and just in time! Duke Zalto, Duchess Brimskarda, Zaltember, two bodyguards, and a squad of Hobgoblins emerge from the door that Red didn't cast Arcane Lock on. The Duke challenges you demanding to know what gives you the right to break into his home. You respond with the charges of slaving, among other things, and the battle starts. This time, the enemy charges you, and you are able to join the battle more quickly. Still, there are a couple of rounds of ranged fire, and the rocks the giants throw prove detrimental to Plum's health. He heals a bit and glitches, triggering a random defensive bonus for him and allies within 10 feet of him. Jakob calls forth with Twilight Sanctuary to further bolster the party and Kora lets loose with Shatter after Shatter until she can't. You slay the Hobgoblins and the Hell Hounds leaving only the giants. Adoel uses the Shard of the Ise Rune to cast Sleet Storm slow down the giants. While it doesn't work that way it does separate Brimskarda and Zaltember from Zalto and the others. Your barbarian tanks draw most of the aggro, both bloodied.

You quickly get the third spine and start to re-board the Scavenger. The Hezrou is able to break free of the grappler and starts to follow you up the Infernal war machine. You are able to shove it off the back of it and you leave it on the ground as Clonk puts the machine in drive as Seven and Kiley kick their Devil's Rides into high gear. You make it back to Fort Knucklebone and the Kenku fixes the Demon Grinder they were working on. You deal with a few other problems as well. Pins and Needles, a couple of imps, have an issue with a madcap. They make a deal with you to not lie about you starting trouble, to put in a good word with Mad Maggie on your behalf, and provide the party with a +1 weapon. Only three of you agree, but you are able to isolate the madcap in question and eliminate it. The imps are true to their word and provide a magic warhammer. Next, Barnabas, a Flameskull, asks you for your help in getting its tooth back that a bunch of Redcaps knocked out when they were throwing rocks at it. The whistle it has as it speaks make the request seem genuine. It tells you where to find the Redcap in question and you confront her. You try to intimidate her but fail. The next attempt is overwhelmingly successful and she turns over Barnabas' tooth. It's around this time that Mad Maggie comes to get you to let you know she's ready. You are led to a private area with several black cushions in a circle. Lulu is asked to sit in the center and the rest of you are asked to join her in the circle. Mad Maggie performs the ritual and your thought become connected as you enter a waking dream. You first see what Lulu wishes were true, and Mad Maggie insists you all push through it to find the truth. You next see Lulu and the anger Zariel lying on the ground, badly injured and unconscious as several Spined Devils approach. Mad Maggie tells you they must be defeated and so you fight. You slay half of them and they make an offer to you to serve you once if you let them live. You answer by killing the rest of them. The next seen is one of a black muck and good grasping you, restraining you, an overwhelming sense of despair washing over you. You struggle to break free, and eventually you all do. The next scene shows the angel you saw earlier flanked by two human knights, all three facing off against an ocean of fiends. They hold their own for a bit until a pit Fiend appears and severs Zariel's hand at the wrist, her sword flying through the air. You next see her kneeling before a massive devil. You cannot hear what is being said, but you see a contract appear, you see her sign it, and you see her transform from a beautiful Celestial to a terrifying avenging angel (of a sort). One of the knights with her signs also and undergoes a transformation as well. The other knight slits his own throat and dies, but this transformed angel brings him back, also in a new form, as the dream fades.