Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk

Boona then walked over and picked up Fergus tucking him under one arm.

" Stupid rock-things sleep now.  We need go find Bryony family!!!"

Bryony wipes tears from her own eyes as she listens to Jorzu, but when Boona mentions her family, she gives a determined nod. "Yes, we still need to find my Aunt Qelline," she says, turning to the newcomer. "Will you help us? I think it's the cult that has my aunt. Our goals are similar."

Bryony watches Boona lift Fergus' stone form with awe. "Thank you, Boona. Take good care of him," she says. "We'll find someone who can help. We just have to!"

Nightblade:

”Yes, I think our goals align.  Between our groups we have a better chance at taking down the cult or at least rescuing our respective people,” responds Nightblade.

Getting a sample of the Medusa’s blood, he adds, “I’m sorry that didn’t work for your friend.  You look injured as well.”  Nightblade reaches out and provides some healing to Bryony, his armor pulsing with a barely perceptible divine light.

Cure Wounds x2:  21

All is quiet. The galeb duhr have become inert boulders, indistinguishable from the rubble in the hallway, bedroom, and vault.

What next? Where to?

Boona heads back outside and puts a hand on Karst, " Still move? Good."

" Maybe Karst stay here and guard Fergus? Boona not fit easy through doors or tight space.....might knock Fergus head off...."

Nightblade:

"If you are ready, I can take you to my employers," offers Nightblade, "though we may have to pass by some cultists, they have not appeared to be overtly aggressive yet."  The drow elf starts walking back towards the door to the west.

Bryony sighs gratefully as the healing magic washes through her, knitting her wounds back together. She's not back to 100% yet, and there is still some pain, but she is well enough to continue on, especially if it means rescuing Aunt Qelline. 

"Ok, lead the way," says Bryony. The halfling nods at Boona. "That might be a good idea. Karst can watch over Fergus until we get back. Thank you, Boona."

Unless you have other immediate business, the party follows the dark elf to the west, to the door across the deepening hall. 

Many doors lead out from the large room within, which has four stone chairs facing each other in the middle of it. One chair is covered with fresh blood. Most of the doors are open.

The strange robed, winged figure you saw earlier stands at the edge of the room. Nearby, a pyramid-shaped nugget bounces idly on spindly legs.

"More newcomers! Do you hear the call?" he says, a wild look in his eye. "Look at all the little ones! Perhaps you could give your littlest to my growing friend? She is so hungry." He points to Jurgen.

Boona looked at Jurgen then back at the winged figure, " No."

" Maybe smash you and stupid meat thing?"

Nightblade:

”Do not bother these fine people, Falfark,” says Nightblade, “We have business to attend to down below.”

He starts heading towards the opening to the south of the room, but does not leave quite yet in case hostilities break out.

Intimidation:  27

 Jorzu 

"Come Alâedixx, no time for mourning, we still have work to do" commands Jorzu as they ready themselves to follow this newcomer. He composes himself and follows Bryony and the others. When they enter the large room it becomes apparent to Jorzu that they maybe should have come this way first - they may not have lost Fergus that way. The winged man's suggestion leaves him a little startled but all concerns are set aside when Nightblade dismisses the creature. "Impressive, indeed" he mumbles to Alâedixx.

Boona side-eyes Nightblade....... such a commanding presence to come out of such a tiny person......

Well.....not Bryony or Jurgen tiny....but still.....

She nodded forcefully.

Falfark grumbles and retreats into the room in the northwest corner, muttering something about a "stone" that “disgorges its young to feed.” Nightblade ushers you ahead, as he hangs back to keep an eye on Falfark's door.

Continuing south, the party enters another large room. A long stone table here is broken in two pieces. Several metal chests are stacked against a wall to the west. The largest opening leading from this room, to the east, is choked with rubble and the skeletal remains of dwarves and mind flayers. More doors lead south. You hear the distant sound of a tool chipping at stone somewhere to the southeast.

Suddenly, a wailing mind flayer appears atop the table. It is struck by an armored dwarf’s hammer, so hard that the stone table cracks. The dwarf retreats toward the stacked chests with a triumphant cry, beckoning the party to follow. The scene is confusing, and garbled. Nightblade saw this vision when they first arrived, now repeated almost identically. His employers had suspected that the image was some sort of dangerous lure and have since avoided this room.

Nightblade:

Moving up to the front now that Falkirk is dealt with, Nightblade wonders at the crazy last words—is there some macro-fleshy gemmule that is nourished by all these little ones?

Hearing the visions spool up to the south, Nightblade counsels, “Best avoid the visions for now if we do not want delays—I have not tested them myself.”  He heads east around the room, giving visions, chest, and table a wide berth, apparently aiming for a door in the south wall.

Boona shrugs and follows the elf....

Jürgen follows as well

The party skirts around the broken table, and ignoring the illusory, beckoning dwarf, continues through a door to the south.

You descend a short set of stairs and pass through a short hallway which opens up into what was once an alcove at the end of a majestic yet rubble-choked hall. In it, you glimpse an enormous statue of a dwarf scholar atop a high plinth. A figure chips at the statue’s head, shaping the visage into a wailing, inhuman face. Four pyramid-shaped nuggets with legs lounge around the statue’s base. A double door leads to the east, and another to the south. The strange woman on the statue turns and grins, studying your arrival with interest from her high vantage point atop the huge stone dwarven figure.

Nightblade ignores her and opens the door to the south. In it, you see a small study of some sort. Four large stone chairs with wide armrests are pushed to one side of this room, making room for three bedrolls, where three drow sit tensely. They look up at Nightblade sharply. One asks, "Who's this?"

Boona keeps walking up to the large statue, " Hey, what doing? Why break statue?"

Nightblade:

Nodding to his fellow mercenaries, Nightblade says, “Greetings.  These are the adventurers who were fighting elsewhere in the complex.  I believe their goals and ours align.”

Not elaborating given the cultist nearby within earshot, he adds, “Let us set up a meeting with our employers and see if we can come to a mutually beneficial arrangement.”, 

"Back off there, Fatty," crows the woman atop the statue to Boona. She twirls her finger in a turn-around-and-go-back gesture. "You can't go through here. Not unless you heard the call or wanna feed the Cluster." She's perched on the defaced statue’s wide shoulders, about 20 feet above the floor. Her four encephalon gemmules gnaw on chips of stone that have fallen from her work. "Food for the obelisk is food for the brain!” 

"Get 'em in here. Quickly," implores one of the drow to Nightblade from the room to the south.