Merico grimaces and writhes uncomfortably as the spell forces him to admit ‘My patron is the elder brain dwelling at the heart of Ilkalith’s caverns, and it seeks to unify all three of the ancient mind flayer colonies that live in secrecy below you. My goal was to provide passage for a band of illithids to come up into the castle and capture Qualksander, before converting him into a mindwitness to be our powerful servant. From there we would continue our search for the last remaining renegade alhoon; X’iritig The Gray. After he is slain, all illithids will be unified, and they shall seize the minds of mortal men to reclaim their dominance over their forgotten kingdom!’ He gasps for breath as the spell relinquishes control over his speech, and then glares at you, a smirk of annoyance on his face. He growls ‘Tsch - even now you know our plan, it is impossible for you to stop us. We’ve already eliminated the other two rogue illithids scattered across this land, and now that one remains, unification of the colonies is inevitable.’ 

"Or perhaps their extinction..." mutters Silvos.

"And how did they take you as a servant in stead of just eating your brain?"

"Are we sure they did? Have we checked his brain? He might be controlled by an intellect devourer."

Abishai laughs nervously as Merico tells the group of his master's plan. The bard begins to pace back and forth in the room before stating, "We should secure our prisoner properly. The secret Illithid empires are not so secret anymore, thanks to our friend here." Abishai gestures to Merico, "Thanks for that, by the way. Targeting Qualksander was a hell of a risk. One that didn't pay off for you."

Wanting to know more, Abishai prods, "If we were of a mind to hunt down this Alhoon for you, where would we find him?" The bard thinks one less mindflayer would be good for the world.

As Wendel suggests, Merico could be controlled by an intellect devourer, Abishai stops pacing and gives Merico a scrutinizing look, and says to Wendel, "Let's find out, shall we?" He walks up to their defeated foe while swinging his lute around and begins to play a few quick notes while singing, "Abberation, there's nowhere for you to hide. Abberation, today's the day you die." Placing a hand on the warlock, Abishai unleashes the magic of his melody into Merico.

Merico watches apprehensively as you discuss what to do with him, but has enough of a stomach left to snap back at Abishai asks where the party might find the Alhoon, 'If we knew that, we would have found and killed them ourselves. They'll almost definitely be lurking somewhere in a town so they can snatch civilians to sacrifice, perhaps even running a business as a front for the operation to get even more foot traffic and make the kidnappings more unsuspecting, given it that it's less likely for someone to notice a person going missing if they wander into a backroom and don't come out, rather than being stolen right off the street. We're yet to put our finger on an likely target though...'

He then flinches as Abishai places a hand on him and sends a jolt of magic flowing through him, but there seems to be no effect. Merico smirks and says 'My human cunning and arcane ability made more valuable to the elder brain alive than as a shambling thrall I suppose. Though, if I ever do find my way back to my patron after this ordeal, and our plan comes to fruition, I fully believe I'll be granted the blessing of ceremorphosis when the time comes.' As high level adventurers, you're aware that ceremorphosis is the process of converting a humanoid into a mind flayer, and also are aware it leaves no trace of the original being's memories or personalities intact. Therefore, Merico's desire for such a transformation likely strikes you as quite mad, although it seems his sanity has already been warped and moulded long ago to make him such a loyal servant to an entity so utterly alien and adverse to his kind.

"Not likely. You are aware that arcane magic is frowned upon in ilithid culture right? That's the very reason you are hunting the Alhoons" Wendell sees it very unlikely that Merico will see sense. But it's also equally unlikely he will live long enough to return to the elder brain. 

For a moment, a hint of clarity crosses Merico's face, and he seems a bit stumped by that response, but after a moment he cuts back with a retort that seems to only defend his own beliefs without questioning them. 'In its infinite wisdom, the elder brain must have some tolerance for non-illithid magic-wielders then, as whenever I communed with them, or was granted my strength from its link to the Far Realm's power, I only ever received words of praise, encouragement, and promises of my place in their eternal kingdom.' To you, this sounds like Brainwashing 101; in reality, the elder brain probably doesn't care a shred for Merico, and by exposing his mind to the energy of the Far Realm willingly, Merico has likely made himself the perfect target for the elder brain's subtle influence by melting his willpower down to metaphorical jelly. 

Silvosh comments, "I suppose we should let Qualksander decide what to do with him."

Almost on cue, Mr Lumens arrives [ignore how he should have arrived much earlier if we went off the time it said it would take in combat XD ]He floats down into the now exposed basement to find you have dealt with Merico, though is quite surprised to learn it was him all along. 'My goodness, I would have never guessed! You did always seem quiet, but I never saw you express any ill will towards me!' In a defeated tone, Merico glumly mutters 'It was never personal...' 

Qualksander then orders the staff that followed him to escort Merico to a prepared holding room, and makes sure to keep a close anti-magic eye on him at all times, just in case he decides to pull any tricks as he regains his strength, even though that would be a foolish move with a beholder and party to face. He then says to you 'I cannot thank you enough for solving this mystery, and I doubt I we would have ever seen it coming without your help. He'll be put under constant surveillance in a guarded room until we pass him over to the authorities for his attempted murder, so you can be confident in leaving him with us now.  I expect you learned everything you wanted to from him in the time it took for me to get here, and I'm sure we'll be able to gather all the same through our own investigations. Now I know the traitor's identity, things do start to make more sense now, as I feel I recall Merico having a spell that would have allowed him to get in and out of the weapon's room to aquire that bow and arrow...' If you mention the arcane gate he cast, Qualksander says that would fit the bill perfectly. 

After Merico is safely put behind lock and key (in a room with no windows and shuttered keyhole to remove any line of sight out!), Mr Lumens asks you 'You're welcome to stay the night to complete the remaining day you have left here, although I wouldn't blame you if your energy for interviews has been drained from that encounter. What's more, I fear the residents may be a little rattled from this business, so you might find you can't gather much more to take back for your employer anyway. But, if you'd like to stay and see if there are more stories to be found, we'd be more than happy to host our heroes as long as you'd like, it;s up to you! Oh, and whilst this arrangement was one that initial benefited you and Mr Caravatch more than I, your recent actions and initiative have obviously been an enormous help to the Home, so it is of course in order that I arrange a little reward for your deeds to make sure you're not returned back empty handed!'

Silvosh comments, "We might as well see what additional information we can get from the residents. It's strange how everyone remembers something different."

"Yes, let's stay the night and go back in the morning." Abathax agrees

"One more thing to add. Although the attempted murder charge on Klapton is something that he does need to punished for, you can also add attempted kidnapping as a lesser charge for that was the goal with you. Kidnap you and turn you into a slave for the elder brain."

Talking of Klapton, Wendell decides to pay him a visit to let him know the threat should be dealt with for now. 

Abishai's eyebrows raise... "Reward you say?" After Qualksander pauses. "We were just doing what anyone in our position would do, but we will not rob you of your blessing. A reward will be well received."

Abishai spends the rest of the evening performing for the residents, calming their fears from the day's events.

Performance: 20

Wendell visits Klapton and breaks the good news to him. He's in a much better state now, clearly on the road to full recovery after being given some magical healing aid, and is hoping to join you at your last meal. Abishai's performances do excellently at calming the anxiety of the residents and assuring them that things are solved now, which also makes you think they'll be in a better state to open up over some good food and drink in the evening. 

Speaking of which, the banquet Qualksander has the staff prepare is fit for royalty. Each table is laden with the finest food he has to offer, and it almost fully distracts the residents from the day's events, enough to get a word in about the Balowang between snatches of gossip. [You can make your final Deduction checks now!]

Silvosh listens to the stories, trying to identify which are accurate (well as accurate as any story about the Balowang can be), and which have been embellished over many retellings over time, and which are being embellished for their benifit.

Insight 12

But perhaps due to the distraction of the fine meal, Silvosh isn't doing well at spotting embellishment today...

Abishai makes merry with the inhabitants between riffs and is an expert at sorting out the truth from lies as he presses for more information.

Charisma Insight Check: Nat 20+8=28

Wendell has a flashback of a hazy vision overnight. He knew exactly where he was destined to sit, go have the most beneficial conversations. (used portent roll for 18+1 for 19 total) 

Deduction: nat 1 for 9

Abathax doesn't here a thing about the Balowang

Abathax gathers nothing. Whether it's his fearsome appearance or blunt questioning, the people around him don't seem eager to open up. Silvosh hears much of the same thing as she's heard previously, just small details like claws and sharp teeth that reinforce the rhetoric of the Balowang being a fearsome predator. Abishai and Wendell are able to gather some new details however. Abishai learns from one gnome fighter wearing a heavy brass helm describes how they managed to pierce the skin of the Balowang with their lance, and that the blood that came out was thick and sticky like tree sap, and from an elf sorceress that it seemed attracted to her campsite by her fire, and that when extinguished, the beast lost interest. Wendell's vision comes into clarity as he spots the figure of a firbolg druid in the crowd that he recalled from his dream as someone with stories to tell. The druid, when questioned, mentions that they recalled its footsteps sounding like the clattering of clogs on a stone cobbles at it walked.

[I've updated the campaign description to have a list of everything you've learnt about the Balowang so far!]