Oak leaves the chambers with the others, looking a little dejected. But upon hearing that the drow was another demon Lord, he’s glad he didn’t push things too far with them!

Assuming no one can hear the party discuss next steps, he says, “Hmmmmph... I don’t know what to think now! Releasing a dragon into the city would undoubtedly tear down the slavers’ main operations; something I would have relished only a few long weeks ago...”. He looks like his whole reason for being is in doubt. “But at what cost?....”.

”What if we remove the slavers, only for a demon Lord to have run of the city?!.... And how can we be certain of Trill’s crew’s safety with a dragon tearing the place apart?!”.

”I say we use these few days to evaluate our options... and any alternatives!”.

Trill tries to think if she's heard that name before.

History: 18

"Of course he is..." Caelynn lets out a heavy sigh, walking for silence for a moment as she tries to process the information. "I haven't heard anything from her. I could try to ask for advice, but I don't know if she'd answer, or even hear."

Trill, you now Graz'zt is a powerful demon lord. He is know as the Prince of Pleasure. He and his followers believe that you should follow your desires whenever and how you want. They tend to be erotic in nature, and they love the fine things in life. Every fetish should and will be pursued.

Our new 'friend' goes by "Prince of Pleasure", gets off, literally, on indulging whatever whim and erotic desire strikes his fancy, and thinks everyone should do the same. Less bellowing rage and destruction than Ape-topus Two Heads, but just as dangerous. 

Trill shares what she recalls.

Aimon looks down at what Trill has written and smiles.

"What else have you got stored in that head of yours?" Aimon asks Trill.

He walks along with the others.

"He was in my village, and he was negotiating something with my father," Aimon says. "And he said it didn't go well. He likely has plans nested in plans and all for his own amusement."

Aimon looks back over his shoulder.

"The Derro we can avoid and escape from and despite their threats, I don't think it likely they would ever find us again back up on the surface, or even in other places down here in the Underdark. Prince Erotica though, that's a different matter. He'll find us." Aimon says then pauses for a moment. "But what's he doing here anyway?"

He looks over at Trill.

"Madam demon expert," Aimon begins with a bow. "This is weird, right? Demons wandering around in our world? Don't they stick to wherever they're supposed to stick to?"

"Lots of shiny things!" , she pipes up in a child's voice.

She has a ponder.

If the demon lords made a habit of coming to our world, I think the world would be a whole lot... messier. But this is my first time deep in the Underdark, could be they vacation here on the regular, and the surface world is unaware.

Aimon nods as he reads what Trill has written.

"Well, let's try and find our way back to Gracklstugh and figure out how we're going to survive this," Aimon says.

As you begin to walk the way you came from, you realize that you don't have any shrinking or growing mushrooms. You can see the path ahead of you leads to a small lake that steaks pleasantly. What do you do?

"Well... @#$^.", Trill says in the borrowed voice of a half-orc gambler she met once.

((Oops, I meant "steams pleasantly, not "steaks pleasantly"))

"Did we come this way?" Aimon asks as he looks around. 

He looks around for other pathways or someway around the lake.

"Damn Drokki," he mutters under his breath.

(Perception: 24  )

((Have we seen/been in this area before? Caelynn's favored terrain feature states that she can't get lost by non-magical means while in the underdark, so she would probably know if they have or not.))

Caelynn steps closer to the pool, crouching down and examining it for any weird color/odor or any plants or animals in it.

Perception: 21

Oak looks around too, to try and get a feel for where they are, and what is around. “hHmmphh... tunnels that are too small... steaming lake...  where did that mesa with the voices go?... What? Don’t look at me like that! All the stories about minotaurs living in labyrinthine caverns are not true!!...”.

Perception: 23 

“Should we go back to the house and ask them for some more mushrooms?”.

You have been here before. You find the crack in the wall nearby where you came through. If you go through there, you will come out in the cavern with the strange mesa. The lake is past an intersection of tunnels.

((Map posted. You are at the middle right section where there is a cluster of smaller chambers))

"I doubt they'll appreciate that," Caelynn replies with a small chuckle. She takes a minute to orient herself to their location - she thinks she recognizes several of these tunnels, and if only they had some mushrooms, she could definitely lead them out. But for now... "I see two options to get us out. There's a turn up ahead that will take us into that weird grove with the hissing sounds. While we were there, I noticed a tunnel branching off in the right direction. It could lead to a dead end, or it could loop us back to where we need to go. Issue is, Drokki said that area was dangerous to anyone who wasn't tiny. I don't know what was in there, but I'd rather avoid a fight if we could."

She points the tunnel out as she speaks, then returns her attention to the steaming pool up ahead. ((Anything weird about it determined by her perception check? Survival would be the same result, nature would be -2))

"Our other option is to get past that lake. Generally, I'm not a fan of swimming down here. Most of the fish want to eat you, and when there's not fish, there's usually a good reason why. If there's not any sort of ledge, we could try climbing on the wall. If it's too sheer or slippery, I have pitons we could use as handholds. The first person across would have to place them down, and the last person would collect them." She looks to the group for their input.

Oak looks over at Caelynn impressed, “You have quite the eye for the lay of the land around here, m’Lady!”. He looks her over, as if maybe wondering about her background. “That would be quite a talent above  ground! Let alone down here... in this gods forgotten place!...”.

He snorts and readjusts himself on his enormous hooves, looking around at the scene again, trying to see what the elf sees... “Well,... I, for one, would rather not go in the water, or anywhere near it!... ..... If there’s a passage that hooks around past it, then you have better eyes than me!... But I think I’d favour staying on solid ground if the option’s there”.

”I’m tempted to try out this new trinket from the derro and the drow back there... see what it can really do?... ... but maybe that can wait until we’re somewhere safer?!”. He turns the object over in his hands before stashing it again.

If we climb, I can help set and retrieve the line.

(OOC Are the NPCs still with us? Or did we leave them back a the Inn?)

"This all looks the same to me," Aimon says. "Dark, dreary tunnels. So I'll follow your lead."

Aimon walks over to the wall by the lake and starts looking for handholds and ledges to try climbing. Without going out over the lake he does a couple of practice climbs to get a feel for the wall and whether it's too wet.

Athletics: 21  

(Guess I can see how that worked out)

((The NPCs were with you when you began the chase, but they were left behind in the chase. They shouted at you and told you to go ahead without them. You assume they would have made it back to the tavern.))

You approach the steaming lake. The air is warm and muggy, but it isn't unpleasantly hot. There is a small ledge running the edge of the lake, but you can see condensation has made the walls and floor slick. The water is dark and murky, and has a mineral odor to it. Caelynn and Oak can smell that something is off in the air. The water has a faint rotting odor to it mostly masked by the scent of minerals. You also notice that the walls of these tunnels have very faint whorl designs naturally set into the stone. They are easy to miss, but are an interesting sight. Aimon ventures out to where one of the ledges begin. You feel along the walls and do find several patches of wall that could be used as handholds. As you turn to move back, you foot slips out from underneath you as you step on a patch of unseen slime. You fall and smack your knees painfully into the stone before you topple backwards into the water with a splash. You emerge and sputter for air for a moment as you regain your orientation. Some of the water got into your mouth and eyes, and it has a distinctive mineral aftertaste, but the water is the same temperature as a heated bath tub. It would almost be relaxing if it weren't in the Underdark.

Aimon, make a DC 12 constitution saving throw.