Quote from BlueBayou >>

Did Useless go into the tunnel as asked?

The flumph looks placidly at Sekkar for a moment, then wordlessly turns and floats into the tunnel. Sekkar can see its bulbous body bobbing along for a while until it turns a corner and disappears from view. He watches silently. The seconds pass. The seconds become minutes. Pax and the others have wandered back to the main tunnel fork and are examining the tracks and still Useless hasn't returned. Sekkar is just wondering whether to abandon his vigil or to shrink down and go in himself, when he sees the blue buoyant blob bobbing back. (Try saying that fast - with your mouth full of marshmallows) The flumph's voice sounds in Sekkar's mind: I did as you said. I went. I saw. Flumph and lizardman stare at each other for a few seconds. Dawnbringer's voice sounds next in Sekkar's mind with the dry remark: Uh, well I don't know about you, but I'm really glad that thing came along. What would we do without it? Again the flumph's voice responds to the overheard private communication with a simple Thank you! Sekkar realises that this creature is rather literal, doesn't pick up on the usual cues, and didn't understand that Sekkar wanted it to actually report on what it saw. Finally Sekkar prompts Useless to relay the information to him, to which the flumph replies, this time more with visual images than with verbal descriptions: 

The small tunnel continues for 150 feet. Two tunnels branch off, the first to the left and the next to the right, both extending about 50 feet and ending is small caves, unoccupied save that the cave on the right contains a brass-colored ring. The central tunnel terminates when it intersects a larger passage. To the right this passage extends for 250 feet where a door blocks further travel. To the left the passage extends for 100 feet then opens into a large chamber dominated by a big mesa with two peaks. Atop one peak stands a 50-foot-tall smooth black metal pillar. Atop the other peak sits a large red egg. Ten duergar in dark cloaks occupy the chamber.

Pax, seeing the blue buoyant blob bobbing away into the tunnel does not leave, but stands and waits.  After receiving the update from it she nods. "Well, that's most excellent. Thank you ...uh...Useless....for your assistance."  She looks to the rest of the group.  "I suppose we shrink down, check out these two caves, then go to the mesa."  

She pulls out a mushroom, waiting for the group to agree before nibbling on a bit and shrinking down. Assuming everyone does so, she heads into the cave.

(Pax is taking care to ensure people aren't wandering off on their own or failing to follow the group. She's especially paying attention to the nutty mushroom girl, but also the grumpy lizard man who seems prone to wandering away. For the moment, she's assuming she has the lovely job of herding cats. Or in this case, herding lizardmen, bulbous blobs, half-elves, humans, and mushrooms. If someone attempts to wander away, even if it's a walking mushroom, she'll inquire where they're going before they take off.)

"I knew it!"  Kaylyn exclaims.  "Something is up,  let's investigate,  I want to see the egg and the ring and the pillar."

Kaylyn will nibble a shroom and follow.

Off handedly she remarks,

"And why do we call it Useless as it most certainly is not.  That can't really be it's name can it?"

Looking to the flumph,  she asks "Do you have a name?"

Useless has a mouth of sorts, but doesn't seem capable of speech, except through telepathy. By now, everyone can tell that it only seems to understand verbal communication if made in Undercommon, but has no problem hearing and comprehending any conversation made via telepathy. Evidently it can even hear Sekkar's private conversations with Dawnbringer, or Kaylyn's with Pensive. When Kaylyn receives no response to her question in Common, but either speaks Undercommon or 'thinks' her question at the flumph through the myconids' spores, it responds: I had no name. Now I am called Useless. The sword called me that.

Talking to yourself seems to be the only private conversation left... for now.

"This is going to get us really hurt at best," Kastix states as he follows with a bite of mushroom, "You think the egg is fireproof? I'm slowly getting tapped out with my magics"

Sekkar was unfamiliar with the concept "ashamed" and so was Dawnbringer - neither had blushed. "Good job, Useless. So we found the egg and, as it seems, portal too. As I recall both are supposed to be guarded. And if that egg happened to be the dragon egg - quite likely of a red dragon (not sure if they color coded) - I would not try to destroy it. Red dragons are quite possessive."

He got out his stock of mashrooms and prepared to dive in as soon as everyone ready.

Zeno has already nibbled a mushroom and is peering ahead as soon as he heard of the ring.  He won’t get to far ahead but is anxiously peering down the tunnels to see if he can see what Useless saw.

The group nibble their mushrooms, and all experience the strange sensation of feeling as though the caverns have suddenly grown in size. The small tunnel seems to have 'grown' sufficiently large to walk through without difficulty, and the group enter accompanied by the now-disturbingly-large flumph, the intimidatingly-large pseudodragon, and the two creepily-large baby myconids (who obviously no longer fit in Rhayna's backpack). Faerzress permeates this tunnel just as it does the others, and the same swirling patterns can be seen permanently marked on the walls throughout.

Zeno, Kaylyn and Pensive take the small side-tunnel detour Useless described and find that it is not exactly unoccupied as described. A large humanoid skeleton lays in the the center of the cave, with remnants of what used to be a robe swirling softly in the otherwise-indetectable breeze of the faerzress. A brass ring the size of a wrist bracelet still adorns one of the skeleton's long-thick fingers, and Zeno lifts it easily from the corpse, while Kaylyn switches on her magic senses and detects that the huge ring is indeed magic. The two half-elves inspect the bones and are surprised to discover that they appear to be that of some kind of giant-sized elf.

Reaching the end of the tunnel, the group emerges as expected in a high and wide passage that stretches in both directions - the right branch curves to the left while the left branch seems to continue into a large chamber, from which subdued but gruff voices can be faintly heard. Numerous tracks can be seen on the thick dirt covering the passage floor, and they appear to be giant-sized versions of duergar footprints, travelling in both directions.

Assuming she notices and they don't both sneak off, Pax follows Zeno and Kaylyn, watching them acquire a brass ring.  She also goes to check out the other empty cave, to ensure it’s actually empty.  Who knows what else the Useless failed to mention. She ensures she is dragging the group along.  

“Do you know something of the ring we've found?”

After that she finally heads down to the main tunnel. Disliking being small she quickly eats a mushroom to return to normal size.  

In a whisper she says to the group, "Are you each prepared to battle?  Is there anything you need to do before we confront the Derro?"

She grips the handle of her blade in her hand, bouncing it as if to remind herself of its weight.  She pulls her chain face covering across her helm to hide her face, doing a final check of her armor fit.

"Not derro - duergar." Sekkar looked around enjoying the view from his normal near-two meters height. "Derro are probably there too, but be prepared to the more heavy battle. Say, you do not have some sunlight problems, do you? You do not look like you might, but who knows."

He moved closer to to entrance of the entrance, trying to keep low, and checked what was going on there.

Stealth 18, Perception 17

"I did not like that," Kastix whispers as he look around growing back to normal size, "If we're not worried about collateral damage I could drop a fireball on them and we clean up but I got limit on it," 

(two level 1 and one level 2 slot left)

(Rhayna is out of lvl2 spells slots and only 2 lvl1 left. She's rdy. FYI)

After nibbling the bigwig mushroom, everyone gets the sensation that the passage around them shrinks, while with the myconids, flumph and pseudodragon shrink back to normal size. The tracks on the ground now look like normal-size duergar tracks, and the brass ring is the right size to fit on a normal finger. Presumably the elf skeleton is also a normal-sized elf, perhaps one that used pygmywort to crawl into the small cave and hide, but grew back to normal size and couldn't escape again. Too bad - finders keepers!

Sekkar creeps as close as he dares to the cavern entrance, knowing that in complete darkness he is virtually invisible, but under the background glow of the faerzress he may not be. Two cloaked figures stand on either side of the entrance passage just inside the cavern, apparently on guard but lounging comfortably, talking and looking more inward than not. Inside the cavern Sekkar can see the twin-peaked mesa, with the left peak featuring a tall black obelisk with two more duergar squatting beside it, watching the obelisk in the manner of waiting for something. No other duergar are in sight, and although Sekkar can hear voices, the echoes make it difficult to pinpoint their location. Sekkar's best guess is that more duergar are in the left side of the chamber. There is also a shuffling and grunting (to the right?) that reminds Sekkar of the sound of two or three people fighting.

With the help of Useless Sekkar translated all he saw to the others. He did not return right away but listen in hope to understand what is going on - may be not all of duergars discussed last tavern brawl?

Seeing everyone else is ready, Pax takes a knee, mumbling under her breath a few words about the righteousness of battle and may the glory of good win out against this foe.  As she does so, darkness swirls about her feet, crawling up her body, all the way up to her head before dispersing, leaving her armor covered in a thin veil of frost which steams in the cavern air. She stands up, steaming and looking painfully cold to the touch.  "Sunlight only harms evil races and undead, of which I am neither. If you can summon such, let it lead our way into glory."  She strides forward, her sword out, shield raised, ready to fight.  (Armor of Agathys using pact slot. Arcane Ward at full.)

A bit more info...

Beams of light penetrate this chamber, as though rays of sunlight have found their way down through the earth, and the chamber is quite bright inside. The mesa is made of several rough layers, each separated by 10-foot high cliffs. Sekkar can see one crude ramp off to the right connecting two layers, and presumably there are more elsewhere in the cave. A sturdy bridge links the two peaks of the mesa. The right-side peak is more difficult to see from Sekkar's viewpoint, but he can make out a large round red object sitting at the summit, about 4 feet tall.

Sekkar can't see if from his viewpoint, but there is a large number 14 inscribed on the ground to the right of the cavern - not.

Only the two by the door can be heard clearly enough to make anything out. They seem to be discussing the latest assassination they carried out - a male duergar smuggler at the docks with one missing hand - and how they can't believe that they were spotted by some surface-dwellers, but that Gorlak will smooth it over when he arrests and discredits them. They are also discussing who will be assigned to the next assassination - a female duergar merchant by the sound of it.

(If combat starts, Rhayna will cast Bless on Sekkar, Zeno, and Pax.)

"May the Lad... I mean the Goddess watch over us." Rhayna shakes her head.

Quote from Wolfy911 >>

(If combat starts, Rhayna will cast Bless on Sekkar, Zeno, and Pax.) 

Looks like combat is starting. Everyone roll initiative. If you are trying to get the jump on the duergar, roll a Stealth check as well, and I'll take it as a group.

Duergar: 18

Initiative: 11
Stealth:  5