Session 4

A Dragonborn fighter, Tiefling cleric, and Gnome wizard are all in the kitchen.

Zero snacks to be found.

We make our way, carefully, to the Dining Room. The door is locked. K’myr knocks, but there’s no answer. Krepsis stabs the door, narrowly missing the Tiefling’s hand as she goes for another knock. Upset, Krepsis uses his acid breath while Pinenut keeps a lookout in the hall. Disgruntled from almost having her hand run through with a flametongue sword, K’myr walks to the second door.

It’s open.

“Guys, it’s open on this side!” She calls, watching the two trundle over. She peers inside.

Six place settings with six people facedown on the table. Either end of the table is vacant, so K’myr pokes the nearest person with her tail. Nothing happens. Krepsis goes to the end of the table and pokes the nearest cloche.

An intellect devourer, surprised, hisses at him. He kills it with relative ease.

“Hey Krepsis, do you want me to clear the table?” Pinenut asks from his safe position in the doorway.

“Sure, this way we can get a better look.

Pinenut casts Shatter on the table, knocking the covers from the remaining five plates to expose five more intellect devourers.

Two go for Krepsis, two for K’myr, and one dashes for the separated wizard.

The fighter destroys his opponents fairly quickly, but K’myr is having a hard time fending off her attackers, unaccustomed to having intrusions in her mind. Thankfully Krepsis comes to her rescue right as she manages to kill one of the little brains, despite having less than half of her health left. (22/58)

Coming down from the rush of such an attack, the party moves into the Lounge carefully, as it is the only room whose lights are off. Inside we find a body lying facedown in a large pool of blood.

We recognize him from the portrait in the Conservatory, it’s the son of the nobleman we were originally tasked with finding. He’s been completely eviscerated and has been dead for at least a week. We also find a key, so we take the son’s body, put it in the hall, and go to the basement steps to test the key in the door.

It opens.

Descending the stairs, we get to the bottom when there, 120 feet in front of us, is an ogre. It sits, dopey-faced, in some sort of pit. Along the walls are cages with dead animals inside.

About 60 feet in front of us “it” stands; wearing flowing robes and carrying a staff longer than it is tall. As we reach the bottom step, it calls out to us, speaking in our minds.

<So, you have come to play.>

Commotion from behind us. Hefty footsteps pounding on the stairs as suddenly Torinn comes into view wielding his large axe.

Finally, reinforcements.

“Where have you been?” Krepsis asks, a brow quirked and swords ready, the flametongue glowing brightly. “Drinking again?”

“Got caught up.”

The two melee attackers are keeping the ogre busy, but both Pinenut and K’myr are focusing their attention on the illithid, trying desperately to stop it from casting or using any psychic attacks.

It doesn’t work.

K’myr finds herself unable to speak, her mouth forming words but no sound coming out. She is stunned and unable to cast any spells.

Krepsis falls to the ground unconscious. Panic crosses K’myr’s face as she tries to tell the party to save him. Torrin downs the ogre.

On her next turn, K’myr is able to move once more, and screams in Infernal as she casts guiding bolt, “You’re just an ugly squid-face!”

With a great swing of his axe, Torinn brings down the creature. The ogre has already long fainted thankfully, and the group finds evidence that the noble is the one behind all of this. He was apparently collecting creatures to fight in a gladiatorial arena and had thought to control the Mind Flayer.

It was his last mistake.

As for the group, we happened to find a mysterious deck of cards…