Tales from Toril- The Adventures of Critical Bumbersnoot: the Odd Company: Book One, Chapter Sixteen

When Machines Revolt

Dramatis Personae:

Winry Steamgear, the Rock Gnome Alchemist Artificer Wizard

"Critical" Bumbersnoot, Winry's Dachshund Mechanimal Construct
Dunderbittles, Winry's Clockwork Ladybug Welding Spider familiar

Oskar Heartforge, the Shield Dwarf Werewolf Priest of Moradin

Jak Foostus, the Minotaur Monk

Bex Thriceorphaned, the Goliath Juggernaut Barbarian Circle of the Crescent Druid
Trip Hazard, Bex's Golden Cat animal companion
Edwarda Eldersprok, the Rock Gnome Transmutationist
Alphonsa Eldersprok, the Rock Gnome Eldritch Knight Transmutationist  

Comrades we have lost:
Mara Quinn, the Water Genasi Revenant Werewolf Sea Sorceress- turned into a vampire, then killed by the party, then risen as a revenant, and killed again by the party

Carmina Taenfeather, the Human Knight- stayed behind
Amara aka Lady Talina Neverember, the Human Noble- stayed behind
Lady Sylvia Sweetwater, the Human Rogue- stayed behind

Gill O'Darby, the Human Ranger- stayed behind

NOTE: Things will be mostly from Winry's perspective, anything in italics is from a third party view, since the artificer can't be everywhere at once. 

***** Kythorn 11, 1489 DR (The Year of the Warrior Princess), The Lost City of Lantis

       Before we left the power plant, my cousins and I pulled the power cores out of the two centurions, the gnome Mechanical, and one of the hounds. I also took three inactive spiders with me that I could later take control of and the spider I'd already taken over with Dunderbittles help. I disconnected the alarm on the gates so it wouldn't call as many crabs to us, and we'd hopefully be able to slip out a little more quickly. I also copied the map Oskar had found.

       Just before we began the painfully long process of opening the damned gate, Oskar sent out a spell that dropped a pillar of flame at one of the two Mechanicals who were watching us from the roofs of the tow buildings just outside our gates. It set off a flare. So much for not calling attention to ourselves. Jak sent out his Hand at the other Mechanical, and it also set off a flare. At least the alarms were disabled, that might help us a little bit. I hope.

       Oskar and Jak were the only ones who could do anything for the first little bit, and they made quick work of the two Mechanicals outside. Unfortunately, after thirty seconds the fucking alarm started blaring again. I ran back up to the tower and discovered the backup systems had kicked on. Just as I was about to disable them, Oskar broke the alarm. I hurried to the other tower to disable its alarm, and I was only able to get it to be a little quieter, not disconnect it entirely. So Oskar broke that alarm too. I suppose in this instance, brute force was a little better than the finesse of an engineer. 

       At the one minute mark, other Mechanicals started approaching the gate- which was still not open enough for all of us to get out yet. It was a few crabs, guards, and hounds. Jak sent out his Hand again, and Oskar got his spirit weapon going. I could finally see them enough to shoot at them with NATAS. They came at us hella fast and began attacking under the gate. For some reason, this prompted Bex to turn into a cat and run away. 

       We were all fighting the Mechanicals now, and I was glad I'd been able to put Dunderbittles into that welding spider. She now had a chance to unmake everything hit, which would increase our chances of making it out of here alive. I couldn't sit on Bumbersnoot and see to shoot, which put me at a serious disadvantage. One of the Mechanicals managed to knock me prone, opening up the way for two others to drop me- thankfully Oskar saw it and revived me right away. At that point I retreated to the safety of my dog, and Dunderbittles managed to score a serious hit on one of the Mechanicals that had hit me; it began leaking oil. 

       Jak went down, and at that, Edie put up a wall, filling the gap under the gate to give us all a moment to breathe. This locked out Bex, but she shouldn't have left before we were ready anyways. Then Edie put spikes on the wall, and we were metal crunching and Mechanicals sparking. Oskar was able to revive Jak, while Dunderbittles and I killed the hound that had slipped through our defenses. Ali was working on keeping the wall solid for as long as she could, but eventually they broke through. All that was left were three crabs at this point. Edie made spikes shoot up from the ground to kill two of them, and Oskar's spirit guardians killed the last one.

       I activated one of my spiders to shut the gates behind us, and we all ran to the tunnel to the next dome. The mouth of the tunnel had another set of towers with gates, but of course the gate controls were on the wrong side. So I activated another spider to shut the gates behind us, and put an adamantine padlock on the lever to hopefully keep them from opening it. Jak sent his Hand into the second tower and smashed those controls, so they couldn't use that to pursue us. Edie sealed the wall behind us too- anything we could do to keep them from chasing us, we did. 

       We were in some sort of train station, there were tracks on either side of the tunnel, along with a couple of carts. There were also some long-abandoned stalls that looked like they'd once been a market of some sort. An eerie amber light slightly illuminated the tunnel, which gave it an almost haunted look. In the control booth, I found manuals on how to operate the cars. There wasn't enough power to use the station, but I was able to rig up a centurion power core to the cart to get it going. It was a hella bumpy, wild ride down the tunnel, but it was fun. The power core overloaded just as we skidded to a stop at the other side of the tunnel. 

       I closed the gate on this side of the tunnel too, just to put as many obstacles between the crabs and us as possible. This dome was a little smaller than the last one, and there was a plaque on the wall next to the towers that said R&D- research and development. I could live here forever. According to the map, there wasn't a power plant in this dome, and the tunnel to the next dome with a plant wasn't usable. There was a shorter tunnel to a much smaller dome that we could get to though. 

       In the center of this dome was a massive building that was locked. I had to pick the lock, but it was so complex that Dunderbittles ended up cutting part of it to help me. There were tons of crates in the hallway ahead of us, we opened a couple, and they were full of sea salt. Another stack of crates was full of cubes of zinc, with a metal grinder behind it, to turn the zinc into powder. A little further into the building, there were metal shelves with smaller crates on them. Bex cracked one and acid leaked out, it quickly dissolved the entire crate. It was sulfuric acid. 

       Another room had hydrochloric acid, which was created by mixing the sulfuric acid with the salt. The next section we entered had several tanks with components in it, all moving them into a metal still. The still had tubes feeding into tanks that all had shutoff valves. It was stamped with an H, which Edie- after pulling out a book- determined was for hydrogen. A highly volatile compound, created by mixing the hydrochloric acid with the powdered zinc. As soon as she identified it, she told Jak and Bex to stay the fuck out of that room. 

       Upstairs was a control room, and the displays said this dome was a 50% power. The power in this dome depended on the power in the dome we came from, and the dome ahead of us. In the center was an enormous metal capsule shaped building of sorts- it was like a building within a building. There were cables leading from this capsule up to a bag looking thing. I found the roof controls and a chimney switch, and of course I had to see what they did. The roof switch opened up the roof of the building, and we could see a couple of rings leading up to the very top of the dome. The chimney switch created a tube that led up to the top of the dome, from the capsule. The capsule was an airship that could eject us all out of here and up to the surface of the water. It ran on chemistry instead of magic. I knew our people had lost tons of knowledge, but this entire place was beyond anything I could have dreamed. My cousins and I could easily live here for the rest of our lives and still never go through everything. 

       We spent the next four hours packing up all of the research we could and loading it into the ship, so we could take it all with us. Out of the three of us, Edie was the most distracted by the notes. I managed to keep myself a bit more on task by keeping in mind that the Mechanicals needed to be stopped. At one point, Bex ripped a set of notes, just to be a bitch, so I fucking shot her with NATAS. Yes, I can fix those with mending, but it's the principle of the matter. While we worked, I set Dunderbittles and the spider I'd taken control of to work on taking over another inactive spider for me. I hoped I'd be able to get a few of them up and running to help us make this all easier. 

       After four hours of us packing up all of the research we could, we saw purple and white flashes coming from the big dome in the center of the city. That wasn't good. Reluctantly, we came to the conclusion that we needed to leave this wonderful dome and continue with taking down the Mechanicals. We went to the gates to the smaller dome, hoping there really was a way to get us to the next domes hiding in there somewhere. 

       The controls on the gates were a little more different than the usual gates, it had pumps and switches. The pumps removed the water I could see beyond the gates, and when the water drained, I was able to open the gate. There were three large shapes in the dome ahead of us. Two mechanical sharks and one mechanical crab. After tinkering with the controls in them a bit, I figured out how we could operate them. I had to leave my hacked spider in the gatehouse, to open up the dome behind us, so we could get out. Plus, leaving one fully under my control behind, would let us get back inside upon our return. 

       I took the crab with Oskar, Edie and Bex took one shark, and Jak and Ali took the other one. We really could have fit into two of them just fine, but it was better to take all three vehicles, so we had space for stuff to bring back with us. Unfortunately, the other research dome was completely destroyed, so we couldn't get anything from it yet. As we went, we saw more flashes of light coming from the center. That worried me. Bex and Jak scouted, since the sharks could swim, while I was moving a bit slower, scuttling along the bottom. Bex found a whale that seemed frozen in between breaths. Not frozen from ice, just paused in the midst of what it was doing. When she got within ten feet of it to check it out, Jak said she froze, while she said the whale was moving normally and everything behind her was moving at superspeed. Jak had to pull her shark back here with its grapple. This proved my theory that time moved faster down here. My estimate was each tenday was a month, since Edie's letter was dated two tendays ago, but Ali said they'd been here two months. That meant we could spend more time down here without much worry. 

       The other dome had a little docking port for the crab, but not for the sharks, so Oskar and I had to go flip the switch so the others could get in. A centurion was guarding the gate, and Oskar and are not stealthy. I sent Dunderbittles to continue sneaking to the tower while Oskar and I kept the Mechanical busy. She was almost there when it noticed her and shot her. My poor familiar went down... again. I need to boost her armor or something. 

       Oskar rushed the centurion while I had Bumbersnoot use his lightning breath on it. Oskar beat on it with his hammer and his spirit weapon, and I hit it once with NATAS before she shorted out. I hate when that happens. We'd unwittingly lined ourselves up, so the Mechanical hit both of us with a fire attack. It hurt hella bad. Oskar continued beating up the Mechanical, and I sent an acid beetle at it, which didn't do nearly as much as I'd expected. Oskar killed it, just before another one rounded the corner and breathed fire at us, dropping Bumbersnoot. Oskar revived my puppy and Dunderbittles, who continued with her directions to drop the gate and open up the dome. The problem was, I was on the wrong side of the gate when she did it. I yelled "abort" at her, and the painfully long process to raise the gate began anew. With poor Oskar stuck going toe-to-toe with the centurion on his own, but he killed it hella fast.

       Two more Mechanicals came at Oskar, and he ducked into a nearby building for shelter. I polymorphed myself into something small enough to get under the gate, after shrinking Bumbersnoot to put him in my bag, and I scurried under the gate. A Mechanical spotted me, and popped my polymorph instantly. I scrambled to get myself into the tower with Dunderbittles, and slammed the door. I took a moment to heal myself before opening the door again, I knew I couldn't take much more damage in my current state. When I opened the door I shot the Mechanical with NATAS, then Critical Bumbersnoot knocked it prone, and Critical Dunderbittles severed its leg, causing it to blow up. I shot at the crab standing in the doorway of the building Oskar was in, and Oskar dropped it. 

       While waiting for the dome to be ready for the others to come in, I disabled the alarms on the gate,  hopefully for real this time. Dunderbittles was a great help, making a repair drone my familiar was definitely the right call. Once the others were through, we headed for the power plant, and managed to avoid everything but the two centurions guarding it. The others decided they'd draw the centurions fire while I got to the tower and shut the gates. Edie and Ali would be in the other tower so we would have people at both sets of controls. The plan started off right. We got the gate closed, and the others killed the first centurion quickly. The other one was fucking invisible. It was pretty hilarious at first, watching to others flail around trying to hit it. But when it finally became visible, it was in the corner between the gate and the tower Edie and Ali were in. It glowed with a purple-white light and blew up. That entire section of the gate, and the tower crumpled. 

       We dug as quickly as we could to find my family. Bex had also been caught in the blast, and we found her first. Ali was alive, though her arms were destroyed, and the metal of her armor had melted and flattened. Edie wasn't so lucky. Her head was smashed in, in such a way that Oskar couldn't revive her just yet. My heart was broken. Edie and Ali have been my best friends for my entire life. We're more like sisters than cousins. But we had to push on, and I had faith that Oskar would be able to bring her back to me. 

       Inside the plant was mostly stripped, aside from the consoles needed to access and monitor the plant. The two foot thick adamantine doors to the power core hadn't been breached yet though, and the password format was the same, thankfully. Inside, I got the power up and running, and we sat down to rest. Bex said she saw a streak of purple-white light in the core, but I watched for a bit after she mentioned it, and didn't see anything out of sorts.

       I tried to get Ali out of her armor so Oskar could take a look at her arms, but her helm wouldn't come off. After some pressing, she told me she was the armor. Her soul had been bound to it after an accident. I was too emotionally drained to press her, even though it was tempting to do so. I fixed up her arms, since it was just the metal that needed repairing. 

       After our rest, Jak and Dunderbittles went off to scout out our path. There were some beetles flying around patrolling, but they didn't notice us. We reached the gates to the central dome unmolested. Since this area was fully powered, I could set the carts to go automatically, without having to steer them. One of the two carts was full of scrap, so we moved some scrap over to the other cart and hid ourselves in it. Oskar vanished in the scrap, I was impressed. We decided to leave these gates open so we wouldn't raise suspicion. Plus, I was getting low on spiders. 

       When we reached the other side of the tunnel, a bunch of spiders grabbed metal off our carts, and thankfully, they didn't try to grab any of us. Oskar did a really bad job of getting out of his cart, and one lingering spider saw him, but he killed it instantly. I grabbed it for parts, but upon touching it, I felt sickly and dropped it. There was just something wrong with these Mechanicals. 

       In the middle of the central dome was a massive building with eight different clocks on it, and each clock displayed a different time; they all moved at completely different speeds. There was a sickly, purple energy there, and it had the same wrongness to it that the spider had. It was so tall we could see it across the dome. After looking at it, Jak's mind broke a little, and for the next few hours, he thought Dunderbittles was his lucky charm and he wouldn't allow himself to be separated from her. 

       As we moved through the dome, heading toward the last one with a power plant, we managed to avoid most of the Mechanicals on the way. We didn't want to create a conflict and find ourselves overwhelmed. At one point we had to duck into a building to hide from some crabs, and Dunderbittles helped Jak hide, partially cutting into one of his horns, which I had to mend. 

       When we drew nearer to the central, Jak slipped ahead to scope it out. There were swarms of hundreds of spiders running around it, and Mechanicals were being built like crazy. A ton of power was being routed into the building, but he couldn't see where exactly it was going. He said the building was creating the Mechanicals so quickly it was practically shitting them out. There were also some weird, fleshy Mechanicals that would bow whenever they drew near the center. I was scared of what awaited us inside. But first we needed to hit that last power plant. 

       I was able to call a cart to us at this tunnel, by rigging my other centurion core to the station. We got over there easily, and this cart was much easier to control than the first one. We had to hide from more beetles, but we made it again made it to the plant unmolested. There were the usual two centurions patrolling, and they had the sickly, purple energy in them too. We didn't want to have another confrontation with them, so we instead decided to just draw them out and shut the gates. Again, the plan started off well, but we had some unexpected complications. The towers and no doors, and the controls had been stripped. I'd have to hotwire the gate shut, so I sent Dunderbittles and Ali to the other tower to do it. 

       The problem was Dunderbittles set her side off a hair too early, and Oskar wasn't quite in the gates yet. Ali ran out and snapped a spell to hold the gate up for him, but in the process she was completely smashed. All that was left of her was her helm and a gorget that was hella reinforced. I grabbed them and hoped Oskar could use them to bring her back too. This mission was beginning to wear thin. I may have found what I've spent my life searching for, but the loss of my family sucked the joy out of it. 

       We entered the plant, which was as stripped as the last one. Before I got anything turned on, there was a lurch, and we were pretty sure the Mechanicals just blew the gate. I got the power up and running in here, and found a supervisor's handbook in one of the desks.

       The supervisor's handbook was useful. I found out about escape pods that would eject us into the ocean above, but I didn't mention those to the others, since Jak really wanted to blow up my ancestral home. I was losing serious patience with him down here. I also found a back exit we could use to leave the plant if there was too much waiting for us outside for us. There were instructions on how to raise the city to the surface of the ocean, which I wanted to do. In addition to all of this was a key to unlock all of the padlocks I'd had to pick while here- that would have been nice yesterday. 

       All we needed to do was take the central core. If we could secure that, we'd really stand a chance against the Mechanical army. We came up with a rather ridiculous, but brilliant, plan to get ourselves out of the plant without too much conflict. Bex was going to summon a bunch of animals and send them out as a distraction. The hope was they would distract the centurions long enough for us to make a run for it. Among other things, Bex summoned the cutest baby goat, and I decided we needed to keep it. I snuggled it up on Bumbersnoot with me. 

       Our distraction worked! The animals distracted the Mechanicals enough to let us run. Our ridiculous ideas didn't stop there. When we got back to the tunnel, Oskar had a completely fucking insane plan that I thought might work. There were three carts at our end, so Oskar suggested we just put the first cart on full throttle, and empty, to just smash into the central building. Then, we'd send the second cart with a bomb to blast our way in. He'd taken some of the acids, salt, and zinc from the research building that I could tinker with to make it awesome. 

       I summoned an air elemental and put it in the front of the cart to fuel the explosion, then set the sulfuric acid to slide into the salt, which would then slide into the zinc, and would hit the fire elemental in the back. It was fucking epic. We heard some clattering with the first one, and gave it a moment before sending down the explosive cart. Several explosions, each louder than the first, rang out throughout the cavern. Then we hopped in the last cart and went after it. We were almost to the end of the tracks when we hit a slighting warped section that sent our cart spiraling in the air. The bomb had made a huge hole in the central building. As we not-so-gracefully landed, another explosion rang out, the purple energy in the top of the tower swirled up and the clocks sped up. The tower exploded and I felt a weird, sickening lurch; Dunderbittles, Jak, and Trip Hazard all were sick from it. 

       We walked straight toward the entrance we'd created. Oskar cast his spirit guardians and destroyed any spiders who came near us as we strolled in. When we reached the bridge of the building, there was a huge mechanical thing below us, roaring angrily and absorbing all the scrap metal it could get, then basically shitting out more Mechanicals. Looking at it, Oskar realized he was looking at a Demon Lord, and mentioning that reminded me of Haagenti, a Demon Lord of Alchemy. Of course a fucking Demon Lord had taken over my ancestral home. We needed to get the fuck rid of him. I hoped that taking him out would take out the army of evil Mechanicals that were all over the city. 

       The interior of the building was stripped down to bare bones. Suspended about fifty feet in the air was a huge ring with runes on it, and all that power that had been gathering was being pumped into it. We climbed 100 feet down to the forges below, one of the few solid surfaces in this fucking building. As soon as we got down there, wires flew at us, grappling Bex and Oskar. I'd already rigged up Bumbersnoot to keep us from getting grappled, and somehow the goat (which Jak had been carrying) allowed Jak to just step out of them. 

       Then Dunderbittles attacked me. She missed, and was then confused about why she did that. This was hella worrisome. The ring in the air was definitely a portal, and I thought we could hack into it and change its location with Bex's staff, which had plane shift on it. As we debated, because some people don't fucking respect my opinion, even in literally my area of expertise, the forge we'd been huddled behind was ripped out of the ground and we were face to face with Haagenti. Bex grabbed me, and Bumbersnoot by extension, and began running to get us to the ring so we could change its location. Bumbersnoot attempted to attack me, and ended up getting Bex instead. Dunderbittles attacked me for the third time, so I shoved her in my bag. The little twat cut herself out of the bag- I'd hoped putting her in there would cut off Haagenti's hold on her, but I guess I underestimated his reach. Dunderbittles tumbled toward the ground, and fell right into Haagenti's open mouth. I'm glad I shoved her in the bag that just had spare metal, not the one with my more important stuff. Though I'd put NATAS' microscopic Mechanical bugs in her when I hacked her. That was worrisome. 

       Jak came to the conclusion we needed to be moving faster, so he ran up, grabbed Bex, Bumbersnoot, and I and continued running us up toward the gate. Wires shot at us, but only managed to lightly pierced Bex. Jak ran up to the floor right above to gate and smashed a hole in the floor- using Bex as a weapon, which was hella cool, but looked like it hurt- and the four of us tumbled to the circle. Bex's spell went off at exactly the right moment, and seven runes on the gate lit up. There was a flash, and Jak and Bex vanished. Bumbersnoot and I tumbled to the ground. 

       Haagenti roared in anger at our interference, and it hit both Oskar and I. I managed to finally snap Bumbersnoot out of the charm the Demon Lord had placed on him, just as Oskar decided he was fucking done. Rage in his eyes, the dwarf raised his hand, and slapped the Demon Lord. Haagenti vanished in a flash of light! Oskar had sent him back to the Abyss! 

       Then the building began to collapse, so I shrunk Oskar, got him on Bumbersnoot with me, and we fucking ran. The circle came flying right at us, and Bumbersnoot executed a beautiful jump, and flew right through the portal, landing next to Bex and Jak in the Beast Lands. 

The Underdark Escapees: Contacts and Allies

Since the party's journeys are set to take them to many cities, and introduce them to many possible allies, here's a list of the contacts they make in them as they come up, along with any quests given by those contacts- and the outcome of the quests. Read more of their adventures here!

Gauntlgrym

Gurnin Bloodshield, the commander who took the party's statement
Dwarvenforge, the svirfneblin smith who is kin to the one in Blingdenstone
Falkryn Stonekey

Blingdenstone
Dorbo and Senni Diggermattock, the political leaders of the city
       Dorbo was permanently disfigured in the Battle of Blingdenstone

• discover where the ooze infestation is coming from found the oozes thanks to Chipgrin's information
• parley with, or exterminate, the Goldwhiskers chose to parley and attempt to broker peace
• tell Yanthal Coaxrock the location of Entemoch's Boon  told Nomi since Yanthal was absent
• Escort caravan to pick up herbs in Neverlight Grove and trade salt in Gracklstugh for weapons

Dwarvenforge, smith in the Caves of Clatter; lost his arm in the Battle of Blingdenstone

• gives Claire box to deliver to his kin in Gauntlgrym

Burrow Warden Jadger's Ghost, in the catacombs

• destroy Vazuk they took him out right away
• recover Udhask's remains  gathered his remains, still need to lay Udhask to rest in the catacombs

Nomi Pathshutter, contact at the Stoneheart Enclave

• Harvest samples of elementals corrupted by Ogremoch's Bane and return them to her
• Try to banish Ogremoch's Bane Banished

Gurnik Tapfinger, priest of Smoothhands

•  Cleanse the Steadfast Stone, a temple that has been corrupted by Ogremoch's Bane

Sark Axebarrel, a gate guard

• Kill medusa and bring him her head

Vort, scout from Digger's Guild statue was crumpled during medusa fight

• lay his remains to rest in catacombs

Kazook Pickshine, the merchant the twins delivered gems to
Mattock Goldscales, the caravan master who escorted the party to Blingdenstone
Dasco Pickshine, overseer to the Pickshine Mines
Tappy Foamstrap, owner of the Foaming Mug
Glyphic Shroomlight, cleric in charge of Ruby in the Rough  died in the Battle of Blingdenstone.
Yanthal Coaxrock, contact at the Stoneheart Enclave
Yornik Greenpaw, Chipgrin's advisor
Trisk Adamantlpiece, a burrow warden apprentice
Thecker Powdercraft, the Deep Gnome Wererat Gunslinger and Inquisitor of Bahamut
Topsy and Turvy Goldwhiskers, the Deep Gnome Wererat Rogue Twins
Medic Stonebandage, the Priest of Smoothhands in charge of Ruby in the Rough; permanently disfigured in Battle of Blingdenstone
Smoothpalm, the Deep Gnome Monk of Smoothhands
Terrik Stoneshot, the Deep Gnome Gunslinger
Schnella Stonesneak

Members of Neverlight Grove who've moved to Blingdenstone
Sovereign Basidia, the sane leader of Neverlight Grove

Photo from Out of the Abyss Adventure Module by Wizards of the Coast

Loobamub, the leader of the Circle of Hunters
Rasharoo, the leader of the Circle of Explorers
Stool, the myconid sprout

Residents of Bahamutsville who now reside in Blingdenstone:
Kibbik, the Kobold Paladin of Bahamut and leader of the kobolds
Sillis, the Kobold Bard
Vevvev, the Kobold Gunslinger
Cyrryc, the Kobold Gunslinger
Renner, the Kobold Rogue
Xiccix, the Kobold Weapon Master
Gabtar, the Goblin Inquisitor and Kibbik's squire
Glabbagool, the Gelatinous Cube and a great warrior
Mezzem, the Kobold Wererat Priestess of Bahamut

Lily's summoned allies who chose to remain in Blingdenstone:
Gimli, the Gnome Scholar
Ukal of Citadel Adbar, the Dwarf Aristocrat
Boada, the Elf Scholar
Sabel, the Halfling Servant

Neverlight Grove
Insane Members of the Grove, under the influence of Zuggtmoy
Sovereign Phylo, one of the leaders of the Grove
Yestabrod, leader of the Circle of Masters, who looks like a fungal larva thing
Gasbide, leader of the Circle of Builders
Hebophe, leader of the Circle of Growers
Yrberop, leader of the Circle of Spores

Lily's Summoned Allies
*****
       Gimli is a gnome scholar who is morose and intimidating. He carries a skin of milk around to taunt Umund with.

*****
       Umund died in the Battle of Blingdenstone. is a dwarf scholar who suffers from a deadly allergy to milk.

*****
       Elyn died in the Battle of Blingdenstone. is a halfling and an artist, who is very old, but not dead yet.

*****
       Galothel Nightbreeze died in the Battle of Blingdenstone. is a moon elf and transmutation wizard, as well as an alchemist. She has white hair, green eyes, and wears expensive clothing with silk gloves. Galothel is lewd and crude, and spends a lot of time picking on Amin.

*****
       Ukal of Citadel Adbar is a shied dwarf aristocrat. She has a pet bunny named Amin to torment him.

*****
       Boada is an elven scholar with a pet rabbit named Sate XXXVII.

*****
       Lith is a Bronze Dragonborn with amber eyes who was with Lily 100 years ago, before he got turned to stone. She left Lily for many reasons, most of them including the existence of Rosebud; she frequently is heard telling Lily "this is why I left you." She wears modest garments with an ermine fur cape. She carries a whip that looks like a frost killed vine. Lith is a Feylock, in a pact with Leanansidhe of the winter court. She is a principled and energetic person, who is always looking to learn more, considering herself to be a scholar. Lith has used many potions of longevity to maintain her youth. She has a faerie dragon familiar named Fitzzle.

*****
       Arwenel is an elven scholar who seeks only fame and glory.

*****
       Amin of Citadel Adbar is a shield dwarf with golden hair and sharp hazel eyes. He walks with a limp and uses his warhammer as a cane. Amin is an alchemist and an abjurationist wizard, and he uses his protective spells to keep himself away from conflict. He is a complete coward. 

*****
       Mithrilye has grown up believing that she is a Sun Elf, though she is actually a tiefling. She is half Sun Elf, and half Succubus, which she learns after being brought to the Underdark by Lily. Mithrilye is extremely beautiful, and will sleep with just about anyone; which is how she knew Lily 100 years ago. Mithrilye is an entertainer and maestro bard, who can turn the noise of battle into music that bolsters her allies and increases their abilities. She has a narrow face, auburn hair, and bright blue eyes. Mithrilye wears modest garments and carries a fine stiletto with her. She is a curious and aggressive person.

*****
       Sabel is an elderly halfling servant who is on a mission to find her missing son. Over 100 years ago she sold her little boy to Lily, and that boy is now Rosebud. Upon seeing him for the first time she started screaming. The sight of her long-lost son as a halftaur made her go slightly mad.

The Society of Brilliance
The caravan met two members of the Society of Brilliance while the main party was hacking their way through the tower of corbies.
Sloopidoop is a kuo-toa cleric who worships a new deity every day. His deity comes from his dreams or what he sees upon waking, and he does some odd rituals as a result.

Photo from the Out of the Abyss adventure module by Wizards of the Coast

Grazilaxx is an illithid with a missing tentacle and an outcast to his kind, demonstrated in his apparent lack of interest in eating brains. He's some sort of mage, and spends his time invisible when meeting new people, since many are prejudice to his kind, for good reason.

Photo from the Out of the Abyss adventure module by Wizards of the Coast

The Wicked Garden

Princess Annarei, the Succubus Disciple of Graz'zt

Zeks and Edsel, the Duergar Crawler Commandos

Suortin, the Umber Hulk and Annarei's bodyguard 

Giggles, the Ogre

Bahamutsville:
The Party arrived in Bahamutsville on Kythorn 22, 1489 DR (The Year of the Warrior Princess)

Kibbik, the Kobold Paladin of Bahamut and leader of the kobolds
Sillis, the Kobold Bard
Vevvev, the Kobold Gunslinger
Cyrryc, the Kobold Gunslinger
Renner, the Kobold Rogue
Xiccix, the Kobold Weapon Master
Mezzem, the Kobold Priestess of Bahamut  stayed with party
Gabtar, the Goblin Inquisitor and Kibbik's squire
Glabbagool, the Gelatinous Cube and a great warrior

The Party left Bahamutsville on Flamerule 3, 1489 DR (The Year of the Warrior Princess) after drow took the gnoll's place as invaders in the city. The group escorted the kobolds to a safe place to live until they could regroup.

The party parted with the residents of Bahamutsville on Flamerule 16, 1489 DR (The Year of the Warrior Princess) when they found a new home. 94 of the 115 kobolds they left with made it to their new haven.

Gracklstugh, the City of Blades: 
The party arrived in Gracklstugh on Kythorn 7, 1489 DR (The Year of the Warrior Princess)
They left the city on Kythorn 16, 1489 DR (The Year of the Warrior Princess)

Ylsa Henstak, duergar merchant

• Find out how the Gray Ghosts are getting so much surface coin and jewelry. In exchange she offered the group maps and route advice to Blingdenstone and Neverlight Grove. They believe it was tied to the obelisk, and gave Ylsa the notes and coin they got off the derro.

Errde Blackskull, the captain of the Stone Guard

• Meet with her as soon as business with the Keepers of the Flame concluded  Errde was going to ask them to get information from Droki, but they had already killed him. She was also going to ask the party to find proof of corruption within the guard, which they had found on their own, and gave to her.

Gartokkar Xundorn, the leader of the Keepers of the Flame

• Follow the derro named Droki to the Gray Ghosts Aura killed Droki
• Find where the Gray Ghosts are holed up
• Confirm their involvement in the disturbance he was sensing
• Bring the magic they're using to cause the disturbance back to him  They were unable to find what Gartokkar wanted, even though they recovered the stolen dragon egg that they didn't know he was after. The Gray Ghosts are not the cause of the disturbance he's feeling.

Themberchaud the Wyrmsmith, the adult red dragon who keeps the forges burning

• Follow the Keeper's orders, but report everything to him before going to Gartokkar.  They found the red dragon egg that was intended to be Themberchaud's replacement, and brought it to him instead of the Keepers.

Pelek, the deep gnome ghost in Buppido's shrine

• Find his hand and take it to Blingdenstone to be laid to rest   Thecker and Kyri came across his hand, but they were unaware of his request, and Thecker destroyed it when it attacked her.

Hemeth, the arms dealer they sailed to Gracklstugh with. They parted ways with Hemeth upon reaching the city, but he is still a potential contact and ally should they meet him again.

The Underdark Escapees: the characters

NOTE: Characters are frequently added to this campaign, so check back often. A new character means a new bio! Read more of their adventures here!

*****
       Twyla had never been taken as a pet by Graz'zt, and was safely back with the party. 

       Twyla was still trapped in the demon armor the party had gotten, and when Astrid wished the party to safety, Graz'zt decided to keep her for himself- overriding the wish.

       Twyla Alderleaf was rescued by the party from a group of orcs that had taken her and her fiancee, Niles, as slaves. Since they wanted to get back to the surface, the couple joined the party, in hopes of going home soon. She isn't terribly skilled with weapons, so Claire, Tali, and Roswyn have taken her under their wings to train her; if the elf wants to survive to the surface, she needs to be able to defend herself.

      After much training by the party, Twyla is now a fighter who can scout and forage. The elf can now somewhat hold her own in an attack. 

*****
       Mithrilye was trapped in the Abyss when Astrid wished everyone away, because she is Graz'zt's daughter.

       Mithrilye has grown up believing that she is a Sun Elf, though she is actually a tiefling. She is half Sun Elf, and half Succubus, which she learns after being brought to the Underdark by Lily. Mithrilye is extremely beautiful, and will sleep with just about anyone; which is how she knew Lily 100 years ago. Mithrilye is an entertainer maestro bard, who can turn the noise of battle into music that bolsters her allies and increases their abilities. She has a narrow face, auburn hair, and bright blue eyes. Mithrilye wears modest garments and carries a fine stiletto with her. She is a curious and aggressive person.

       As one of the wishes from the Living Dungeon, Mithrilye became a fulled blooded succubus- though the only change everyone saw on the surface was that she was now even more beautiful. 

       Mithrilye had never been lost in the Abyss, and was now safely back with the party.

*****
       Since Geophry pushed Kazul out of the circle, the event that made her fall was removed, and she was back to her old self. 

       Kazul had been taken prisoner in the arena in the Abyss and was forced to fight a unicorn. She killed the unicorn, which led to her falling from grace, losing all of the abilities Bahamut had given her for being platinum, and her scales were dull looking. Kazul was completely evil now, and a total sociopath.

       Kazul had some of Mithrilye's blood on her when Astrid wished everyone away, leaving her also trapped in the Abyss.

       Three days after Kazul had died, she was returned to life by Bahamut, as a platinum dragonborn. She managed to evade the drow still lurking in Bahamutsville, and followed the party, eventually meeting up with Kibbik's group in the cavern they had decided to call their temporary home. Kazul has slowly been regaining her memories, but hasn't gotten them all back yet. 

       During the Battle for Bahamutsville, Kazul was knocked down by a hezrou who was intent on eating the hatchlings. Before anyone could assist her, Fidget threw a rock at a vrock, and missed, caving Kazul's skull in. This was not the first time the svirfneblin had killed a party member with one of his rocks. They hid her body in the egg vault in the hatchery, planning to come back to retrieve her for proper burial when the city was safe again.

       Kazul grew up in a temple of Bahamut, making her one of the rare dragonborn who actually follow a god. The copper dragonborn set out on a holy pilgrimage to visit as many temples of Bahamut as she possibly could- which is how she ended up in Cormyr and met Claire. The two become fast friends, so when Claire had to track down a group of gnolls for justice, she came along; there would surely be other temples of Bahamut that she could visit at least briefly along the way.

Photo from deviantart.com

*****
       Alfalfa Clover Petunia is literally the other half of Rosebud. When Lily created Rosebud there were parts leftover- the horse's head and the halfling's body from the hips down. Since he's the reverse of Rosebud, he's considered to be a Centling instead of a Halftaur. Somehow Alfie has stayed alive for the last century, and survived on his own after Lily and Rosebud went missing. He is supposed to be Rosebud's devoted knight, per the Deck of Many Things. Alfie also hates Lily, whether it's from the Deck of Many Things or just because of how Lily created him and abandoned him is unclear. 

       Alfie died briefly in the Great Forge of Gauntlgrym, and was so badly burned by the snakes that he had to be reincarnated. Alfie still has halfling legs, but he now has a crocodile's head and torso. Rosebud had to use some of his blood to help with the reincarnation, making Alfie a wererat too. The group decided that Alfie's new race was Crocling, and thanks to Lith he's disguised as a hideous kobold.

       After his reincarnation Seluna awakened Alfie, which took a toll on his sanity. He thinks he's the best at everything and can't take anything seriously.

       Lily put Alfie under a Geas to force him to like him and quit attacking him. Lily was fed up with Alfie's obnoxious attempts on his life.

       Alfie made a wish for normal arms, so he now has extremely buff halfling arms.

        Gazing upon Graz'zt caused Alfie's mind to crack, and he now believes that his path is the one to redemption.

       Alfie was killed by Rosebud under the command of Graz'zt, and Seluna had to reincarnate him again. He now has the hips and legs of an orc, the upper body of a pegasus, and the large, muscular halfling arms; and he's no longer a werewolf. This odd combination has been named Orcasus.

*****

       Astrid Rockham grew up on a pirate ship. The shifter is also an evocation wizard. She ended up in the Underdark because her ship was wrecked and her party was taken prisoner by the drow. Astrid escaped and met the party. She has a frilled lizard familiar named Calipso. 

       After being turned into a rabbit by an angry wizard, Lily adopted Astrid into the Petunia clan, giving her the middle name Oleander.

       While under a charm in the Abyss, Alfie killed Astrid with a blowgun dart, so Seluna had to reincarnate her. Astrid is now a drow, and she turned Calipso into a raven to match her new form.

       Gazing upon Graz'zt caused Astrid's mind to crack, and she now believes her own pleasure is of paramount importance and everything else is trivial

       Astrid was vaporized by a marilith snapping her Staff of Power during the party's showdown with Graz'zt. Seluna reincarnated her again, and this time Astrid came back as an orc.

By Charlie Creber

Photo from deviantart

Photo from deviantart

Photo courtesy of deviantart.com

Photo courtesy of deviantart.com

*****

       Lith is a Bronze Dragonborn with amber eyes who was with Lily 100 years ago, before he got turned to stone. She left Lily for many reasons, most of them including the existence of Rosebud; she frequently is heard telling Lily "this is why I left you." She wears modest garments with an ermine fur cape. She carries a whip that looks like a frost killed vine. Lith is a Feylock, in a pact with Leanansidhe of the winter court. She is a principled and energetic person, who is always looking to learn more, considering herself to be a scholar. Lith has used many potions of longevity to maintain her youth. She has a faerie dragon familiar named Fitzzle.

       As one of the wishes from the Living Dungeon, Lith got even younger, going back to her prime, and Fitzzle turned purple; the faerie dragon had absorbed her age. 

*****

       Amin of Citadel Adbar is a shield dwarf with golden hair and sharp hazel eyes. He walks with a limp and uses his warhammer as a cane. Amin is an alchemist and an abjurationist wizard, and he uses his protective spells to keep himself away from conflict. He is a complete coward. 

       As one of the wishes from the Living Dungeon, Amin's hammer became a legacy weapon. 

*****

       Geophry was a little boy around 10 years old over 100 years ago. He was the apprentice of the mad wizard who owned the Tower of Corbies, and became a chair after some experimenting. When the wizard vanished without a trace about 100 years ago, Geophry found himself trapped in the wizard's private rooms at the top of the tower. He has spent the last century reading everything available in the private library, and talking with the mimic door who guarded the entrance to the sanctum- though the mimic door was a dick who didn't like him. 

       The chair was excited to be accepted by the party so easily, and he quickly bonded with Rosebud; the pair have the same childlike minds, so they understand each other in a weird way that no one else gets. 

       Lily adopted Geophry into the Petunia family, naming him Geophry Cherry Blossom Petunia. The Petunia family just got even stranger.

*****
       Flimflam Pebblehead began his life as a noble, but he went insane at a young age. The svirfneblin is an arcanist, and his spells cause a lot of destruction- to both the enemies and the allies. He loves killing things so much that Flimflam doesn't always care who he kills. He eagerly joined the party when they advertised that they were hiring caravan guards, and wouldn't accept monetary payment for joining, he wanted only knowledge- something Lily was thrilled to provide.

       Flimflam went completely insane while in the Tower of Corbies. He now thinks he has powerful enemies who are hunting him and telling him what to do, via a GPS style voice that randomly gives him directions. The arcanist now also occasionally meows for no reason. Flimflam is also enamored with every beautiful voice he hears, thanks to the harpies in the tower. 

       As one of the wishes from the Living Dungeon, Flimflam remembered his family's secret to making spell stones, something he'd been trying to learn for a long time.

       During the fight with the former myconid in the Garden of Welcoming in Neverlight Grove, Flimflam is now prone to slip into catatonic states. 

       The sight of Yggmorgus, the tower in the Neverlight Grove, caused Flimflam's mind to begin slipping, and his intelligence now waxes and wanes. 

       However, with Flimflam's latest insanities being something of a liability, Mezzem took away all of them, making the svirfneblin sane again; he was not happy about that.

       During the Battle of Blingdenstone Flimflam died briefly and was engulfed by an ooze. Mezzem revived him while he was still inside the ooze, and the horror of coming back inside that cracked his recently repaired mind; he is now a hoarder. 

       Flimflam has become a glutton, and thinks everyone should eat constantly; it was a madness from the Pudding King.

       He was also adopted into the Petunia clan after the Battle of Blingdenstone.

       Flimflam was killed in Azzagrat by Orwantz, a goristro who acts as border patrol for Graz'zt. Seluna reincarnated him, and he is now a selkie- a elf that is also a seal.

       After taking a brutal hit from several geth the party was attacking, Flimflam's mind cracked again. He can no longer take anything seriously. 

       Grazing upon Graz'zt caused Flimflam's fragile mind to crack further, and he now thinks that his path is the one to redemption and that his own pleasure is of paramount importance and everything else is trivial.

*****
       Niles Rubusthorn was rescued by the party from a group of orcs that had taken him and his fiancee, Twyla, as slaves. Since they wanted to get back to the surface, the couple joined the party, in hopes of going home soon. He isn't terribly skilled with weapons, so Claire, Tali, and Roswyn have taken him under their wings to train him; if the elf wants to survive to the surface, he needs to be able to defend himself.

       Through the tutelage of the party, Niles learned the arts of hiding in the shadows. He is now a shadow dancer rogue who specializes in hiding.\

       As one of the wishes from the Living Dungeon, Niles became a better archer, more capable in combat.

       Niles drew the Flames card from the Deck of Many Things, and now has a powerful devil as his enemy for life. 

*****
       Little is known about Seluna, the Moon Elf Drow Totem Warrior Circle of the Moon Druid and Silverstar of Selûne. She doesn't really talk about herself, and hasn't really shared anything with the party about her life.

*****
       Lily Trillium Petunia is a peculiar dragonborn, to say the least. He makes a point to learn everything he can, and will try anything in the name of knowledge- which got him kicked out of his bard college. He even created his son, Rosebud, by combining a halfling and a Shetland pony into a disturbing centaur-like combination. While Lily is male, due to his name and Rosebud calling him Momma all the time, most people think he's a woman, so the gender pronouns change constantly with him, not that it bothers Lily in the slightest. He is a fierce warrior and a know-it-all bard, and while he is slightly deranged, the dragonborn is a good ally to have on your side- just don't mess with his baby. Lily will do anything, no matter how insane, to protect his family.

       Lily was turned to stone by the Medusa who had taken up residence in Blingdenstone's Rock Blight district when the drow invaded- he had gone after Rosebud; he sent the boy to go get food and when he never returned, Lily needed to find his boy. They both spent the next 100 years as statues until the party came along.

*****
       "I'm a legend, I helped save the world!"- Rosebud

       Rosebud Goldenrod Petunia was created by his Momma by cutting off the legs at the hips of a young halfling and cutting off the head of a Shetland pony, then sewing him back together an wiping his memories of being a normal halfling boy- making him a centaur of sorts, and one of the strangest creatures anyone will meet. The boy is friendly and outgoing, and believes him Momma can do anything. Lily refers to him as a halftaur.

       Rosebud was sent out to get food and was abducted by the drow who were attacking Blingdenstone. He was given fake breasts and nipple rings that turned his pain into pleasure, and three piercings on his penis that amplified the pain- all for the drow's amusement. There were also little jingle bells on each of his ankles. One day the priestess who was holding him returned a Medusa, and the poor boy was turned to stone, where he sat until the party decided he was amusing to look at and decided to revive him to find out what the hell he is; both he and his Momma spent 100 years as statutes before the party found them.

       "He means well. He really is a good boy." -Lily

       "I'm a powerful summoner!"- Rosebud

       As one of the wishes from the Living Dungeon, Rosebud is now a true lycanthrope, a real shifter. He's no longer at odds with her beast, but instead in harmony with it. The wish also made Rosebud's sutures- the ones that kept his halfling body attached to his pony body- fully healed, he was truly a halftaur now, no longer just Lily's creation. Another wish from the Dungeon made him and his "tribe" legends. No one really knows what that means yet. 

       During the fight in the Neverlight Grove's Garden of Welcome, Rosebud was hit by a spore cloud, and lost the ability to take anything seriously. The more serious the matter, the funnier it is to the barbarian. 

       "I'm a Kingslayer, Momma!" -Rosebud

       Rosebud drew the Flames card from the Deck of Many Things, and now has a random devil as an enemy.

       Rosebud got written out of Lily's will after drawing the Ruin card from the Deck of Many Things. 

       "I'm Bud, the Crusher of Rapist Demon Apes."

       Gazing upon Graz'zt caused Rosebud's mind to crack, and he now will not rest until he has made someone his.

*****
       Lady Claire Thundersword is a noble from Cormyr who serves the Purple Dragon Knights as a Swordcaptain, which is a middle ranking officer. The Thunderswords have run the city of Immersea for generations, and they have a palatial holding in Marsember, which is near the capital. Each noble is required to serve in the Purple Dragon Knights for a minimum of two years, but Claire loved it so much she decided to stay on as a career soldier; since her older brother is already primed for taking over as Baron Thundersword when her parents die, she was able to continue, instead of returning to court.

       She is a soldier first, a Lady second; always introducing herself by her rank, and only by her title when in court. Claire has little patience for the Game, so she worked hard to become a great officer, who is loved by her subordinates and respected by her commanders. She served in the war against Sembia in 1486, and found it much more pleasant than court.

       Claire ended up in the Underdark after a band of gnolls attacked her city, killing a member of the royal family. She volunteered to go after them to seek justice, by slaying them, and Kazul, her best friend offered to come with her to continue her holy pilgrimage. After chasing the gnolls for two months on the surface, they were forced to follow them into the Underdark, where they spent the next month attempting to track them. While they think they are right on their tail, the pair is uncertain if they will ever find the damned gnolls and be able to go home.

       Claire stands at 5'6, weighs 160 lbs- which is mostly muscle- though she also has generous curves, mousy brown hair and exotic looking blue-green eyes. She has a military tattoo on her right bicep that has her name and the seal of the Purple Dragon Knights.

       Claire's mind cracked when she entered the hatchery in Bahamutsville and was greeted to a gruesome effigy to Yeenoghu, the Demon Lord of Savagery; she is now compelled to collect trophies from every enemy she slays- but only if she landed the killing blow, or the enemy was really bad ass.

       After Kazul's death, Claire sank into a deep depression. The Purple Dragon was unaware that she was deeply in love with Kazul, and the posthumous epiphany was overwhelming. She had lost the best friend she was madly in love with, along with Elle, someone she had become good friends with. Jacky had also vanished- because Sparky was thrown into the Abyss- taking away the three people Claire was close to. She clung desperately to Dawnbringer, the only one left who she knew was a true friend.

       When the party had a run-in with a behir, Claire was badly wounded by its lightning breath, and she now has a scar zigzagging across the right side of her chest.

       Claire's mind cracked after being possessed by a shadow demon. The demon had turned Dawnbringer off and thrown her, but when Claire got her wits about her, she could see Dawnbringer was in her hand, as she should be. The Purple Dragon now has an imaginary Dawnbringer that is the only thing she can trust. Claire's loneliness made a new friend for her, since her beloved sword wasn't at her side like she should have been.

       During the fight with the evil spirits in the Wicked Garden, Claire aged 70 years. In a matter of seconds the Purple Dragon became 99 years old, physically weaker than before. Her depression grew. With the help of potions of longevity, Claire was brought down to her 60's, which was better, but she was still extremely depressed. By this age she should have been several ranks higher in the Purple Dragons, and nearing retirement.

       The twins turned Claire into a wererat by putting some of their blood in a bottle of wine the party was sharing. Topsy felt that with them approaching Blingdenstone she would need security to ensure the Purple Dragon was completely on her side. Claire is unsure how she feels about this change.

       Claire tried to remove the vorpal tooth of a demon Easter bunny with her left hand, and sliced all four fingers off. Now all that remains are four pathetic stumps and her thumb. Holding a shield is nigh impossible, and she cannot hold a blade at all. She's determined to find something to grow her fingers back.

       Thanks to Mezzem, Claire's compulsion to collect the trophies of things she kills was removed. Dawnbringer had asked for the imaginary version of herself to be removed from Claire's mind, but Bahamut decided to remove the Purple Dragon's macabre obsession first.

       Claire received another potion of longevity in Blingdenstone and became 48 years old. Still around her mother's age, but much better than before. She just needs a couple more potions and she should be back to her proper age of 29.

       Claire received a beautiful automail hand from Dwarvenforge. It is mostly comprised of mithril, with adamantine joints, and a spell gem that allows her to feel with it- it functions completely as if it were her actual flesh and blood hand. It also has a slot for another spell gem on the back of it, and with it Claire can cast a single spell- any spell- as a touch spell. She has a gorgeous bloodstone in it from Mezzem. 

       Claire ended up with a basilisk egg from when they first discovered Entemoch's Boon. The infant basilisk imprinted on her and believes her to be its mommy, a role the lonely knight was glad to fill. Claire fell in love with her little basilisk right away. She named him Riddle in honor of a story she read as a child.

       Claire found a potion of longevity in the wizard's lab in the Tower of Corbies, and drinking it made her 36. She is now only seven years older than her actual age, something she can live with. The Purple Dragon literally danced around the room, singing her excitement about being young again. 

       As one of the wishes from the Living Dungeon, Claire is now a true lycanthrope, a real shifter. She's no longer at odds with her beast, but instead in harmony with it. 

       When Claire discovered that Kazul was the dragonborn who Kibbik had sent with them, and that she had no memory of Claire, she was heartbroken. She has decided that this new Kazul is not her cherie, that she still died in Bahamutsville; this new version of Kazul is a completely different person, just a shadow of the woman she loved. Hatred is already brewing in her heart for this platinum edition of Kazul, especially since she isn't giving Claire much space to process this. This was the linchpin of Claire developing a drinking problem; it had been building up with her depression, and this impostor Kazul made her desire for booze much stronger, the Purple Dragon needs something to drown her broken heart in. 

       Claire was adopted by Lily into the very odd Petunia clan. 

       Claire drew the Ruin card from the Deck of Many Things, which caused her family to declare her dead- since she's been missing for months- basically disowning her. She doesn't know this yet, and is still determined to return to Cormyr when they get to the surface. While she can maintain her rank within the Purple Dragons, she is no longer Lady Thundersword. 

       Claire learned through the quartermaster in Gauntlgrym that her family had declared her dead and given up on her. Lily explained that it was likely the cause of the Ruin card she'd drawn from the Deck of Many Things, This completely shattered the Purple Dragon, throwing her into a deep depression, and making her a complete alcoholic. She is somewhat suicidal now, and cares not for her own safety, since she can now never return to her family. She hasn't yet learned that her career in the Army of the Purple Dragon is still there for her. 

       Lily finally decided on a floral middle name for Claire: Callalily.

       Gazing upon Graz'zt caused Claire's mind to crack, and she now thinks that anyone who doesn't do what she says doesn't deserve to live.

       Since Geophry pushed Claire out of the circle, she got her automail hand back.

Photo from deviantart.com

The Dead and/or Gone...

*****
       Arwenel was never killed by Geophry, but instead left the Tower to go home. 

       Arwenel was eaten by Geophry when he threw a tantrum after being banished out of the Abyss and back to the Tower. 

       Arwenel is an elven scholar who seeks only fame and glory.

*****
       Having reached Gauntlgrym, Schnella returned to Blingdenstone.

     Schnella is the guide that the party was provided by the Diggermattocks in return for helping them save Blingdenstone. She is an excellent scout who knows how to get around the Underdark well, and is good at spotting danger.

*****

       Having reached Gauntlgrym, Falkryn parted ways with the group.

       Falkryn is a shield dwarf ruin raider who met up with the party during their travels along the Deep Roads. She got separated from her party, and is going to help the group get to Gauntlgrym, which is her home.

*****

       Mezzem stayed in Blingdenstone.

       Mezzem was found living on the streets of one of the Underdark cities by Kibbik, who took her in and showed her the light of Bahamut. Mezzem became a priestess of Bahamut not long after that, she quickly realized how glorious his light was. She lived in Bahamutsville for years, and was in the Hatchery when the gnolls attacked, so she was able to bring the recently hatched into a secret egg chamber, saving some of the eggs and young. The golden kobold lived in the vault for days before the twins and Thecker found her inside- her magic was what kept the children alive.

       When the kobolds found a new home, Mezzem felt that Bahamut wanted her to stay with the party, as if he was giving her a holy quest She plans to return someday to help them retake Bahamutsville.

       During a fight with an ancient beholder, Sajin was charmed and viciously attacked Mezzem, leaving behind a scar on her torso above one of her knees.

       Mezzem was turned into a wererat through sex with Turvy, and drinking the tainted wine the party had been sharing. The kobold was livid that he had turned her without permission, which has made some turmoil in their relationship.

       Mezzem ended up with a basilisk egg from when they first discovered Entemoch's Boon. The infant basilisk imprinted on her and believes her to be its mommy, and she fell in love right away. Mezzem used the conventional kobold naming traditions and named hers Lit. Lit loves his mommy only and is antisocial with other people and animals- aside from its siblings. 

       After having a traumatizing nightmare of killing everyone she knows and cares about, Mezzem awoke with homicidal thoughts still dancing in her head. The priestess now constantly plots the murder of anyone who slights her.

       As one of the wishes from the Living Dungeon, Mezzem is now a true lycanthrope, a real shifter. She's no longer at odds with her beast, but instead in harmony with it. 

Photo from deviantart.com

*****
       Smoothpalm stayed in Blingdenstone.

       Smoothpalm is a deeply spiritual monk of Smoothhands who volunteered to join the party's caravan free of cost. He simply wanted to help them and his city. Smoothpalm carries a basalt sphere that he has spent many hours toying with, to the point that it has been infused with magical energies.


       After seeing some of the party feast on charred gnome, Smoothpalm developed a hunger for the taste of barbecued gnome. 

*****
       Galothel was never found after the Battle of Blingdenstone, it is assumed the oozes got her and dissolved her.

       Galothel Nightbreeze is a moon elf and transmutation wizard, as well as an alchemist. She has white hair, green eyes, and wears expensive clothing with silk gloves. Galothel is lewd and crude, and spends a lot of time picking on Amin. 

*****
       Vadania was hit with a disintegrate beam by the Pudding King and was reduced to a pile of ash.

       Vadania Nailaza is a Wild Elf from the forests on the surface. She's a paladin, or Oakroot as her faith calls them, of Rillifane Rallathil. Vadania had fallen in love with a boy from the Hidden City, which was forbidden by her people. They were banished and wound up in the Underdark, but somewhere along the way he died. She has been going it alone in the Underdark until she met the rest of the party. Vadania has a Hippogriff steed from her god, named Barkbeak.

Photo courtesy of deviantart.com

Photo courtesy of deviantart.com

*****
       Stool stayed in Blingdenstone with the other myconids. 

       Stool was brought back from the grave by Mezzem, though with some unintended side effects. The poor myconid was now completely mad. Stool now sees visions all around him, views reality in an altered way, periodically slipped into catatonic states, and his intelligence was constantly slipping.

        Mezzem healed Stool of his madnesses. 

       A drunk stone giant named Gront Stonefist tried to dance with the lizard Stool was on. They were on a ledge, and when Gront tripped they all went crashing to the ground below. Stool was smashed into cream of myconid soup. The party is now holding his remains as well to return him to Neverlight Grove. It has not occurred to Mezzem to raise Stool.

      "Stool is a myconid sprout captured by Sarith Kzekarit. Stool is lonely and frightened, wanting only to return to its home in Neverlight Grove. Stool can offer to guide the characters to its home, promising them sanctuary with its folk. However, it isn’t aware of the dangers posed to the myconids by the influence of the demon lord Zuggtmoy.

       Stool uses rapport spores to establish telepathic communication with other creatures, and it does so to communicate with characters who are kind and friendly toward it. The myconid will also help establish communication with Underdark denizens with whom the characters don’t share a language. Once it becomes attached to one or more of the adventurers, Stool behaves somewhat like an enthusiastic and curious younger sibling, sticking close to the characters and asking all kinds of questions."*

       Stool was taken by kuo-toa followers of the Deep Father for sacrifice, but was rescued by the party before they could sacrifice him to the Demon Lord, Demogorgon.

Photo from Out of the Abyss Adventure Module by Wizards of the Coast

*****
       While hunting down some pests for the Neverlight Grove, Roswyn was ripped to pieces by a pair of gricks. Rosebud had Mezzem gentle repose Roswyn's heart, so that he could later have her resurrected

       Roswyn Darkshooter is a delver scout from the Blingdenstone Miner's Guild. She has spent most of her life going through the Underdark wilds and knows her way around most of the charted routes around the svirfneblin city. Roswyn is an expert tracker and has an abundance of knowledge about many of the monstrosities that await the party in the wilds. She also knows a lot about drow and orcs, having spent much time dealing with them in her travels. Roswyn was selected by the Miner's Guild to lead the party to the Neverlight Grove and Gracklstugh because of her knowledge of the tunnels.

       After seeing some of the party feast on charred gnome, Roswyn developed a hunger for the taste of barbecued gnome.  

*****
       Tali used one of the wishes the party was granted by the Dao in the Living Dungeon to return to her home in Chult. 

       Natali has spent the last two hundred years trapped in a gem by demons- it was the party who let her out on impulse while fighting demon Easter bunnies. She is a therinthrope, a tiger who can shift into a human form, and can speak in any form. Tali is from Chult, a smaller country in Faerûn full of lush jungles, and not many towns. She grew up believing herself to be a chosen spirit guide of Obtao, and still doesn't understand why she now can't simply take what she wants from humans- they should be honored to give her the things she requires. Tali is reserved at first, but quite sociable one you get her to open up, something Claire worked hard to make happen. The way the world works now doesn't make much sense to the therinthrope, especially in a place as odd as the Underdark.

       She has a Deinonychus animal companion named Ykwla, who looks terrifying, but is very sweet once he gets to know you. He is fiercely loyal and protective of Tali.

       Tali ended up with a basilisk egg from when they first discovered Entemoch's Boon. The infant basilisk imprinted on her and believes her to be its mommy, and Tali was glad for another companion. She named her Osaw, which means spear in her native language. 

Photo by Desiree Knight

*****
       Terrik returned to Blingdenstone with the group of summoned people to help protect the weapons.

       Terrik Stoneshot was hired by Thecker from the Blingdenstone Bounty Hunter's Guild to help escort the caravan. He doesn't say much, but his expertise with a gun should come in handy during the caravan's journey.

*****
       Medic was permanently disfigured during the Battle of Blingdenstone. He stayed in Blingdenstone and is now running the Ruby in the Rough.

       Medic returned to Blingdenstone with the group of summoned people to help protect the weapons.

       Medic Stonebandage is a priest of Smoothhands, the svirfneblin god, and he was assigned to the party by the Stoneheart Enclave to assist them in getting the caravan to Neverlight Grove and Gracklstugh. Medic doesn't say much, and prefers to hang back and heal instead of joining fights.

       After suffering a nasty psychic attack, Medic lost the ability to take a joke. He now reacts violently, if not murderously to them.

*****
       Rumpadump vanished without a trace in the tower. He never left it, but no one knows what happened to him. Some members of the party believe Stool ate him, though that is highly unlikely.

       Rumpadump was brought back from the grave by Mezzem, though with some unintended side effects. The poor myconid was now completely mad. Rumpadump now sees visions all around him, views reality in an altered way, periodically slipped into catatonic states, and his intelligence was constantly slipping.

       Rumpadump was bitten by a demon Easter bunny and frozen. Mezzem didn't get to him in time to revive him, and it didn't occur to her that she could raise him; the others didn't know she was capable of that, so no one suggested it. The party is holding on to his remains until the reach Neverlight Grove and can return him to the soil.

       Rumpadump is Stool's friend from the Neverlight Grove. The party met him in the Whorlstone Tunnels in Gracklstugh with a group of myconids who had been infected by the demon queen of fungi, Zuggtmoy. Somehow the sprout avoided infection, and in spite of Fidget making the others attack the party- a move that resulted in the slaughter of those poor myconids- he asked to join the group, due to the kindness Aura, Elle, and Lythana showed him. He is shy and quite, letting Stool do the talking for both of them; the party never actually communicates with him directly.*

Photo from Out of the Abyss Adventure Module by Wizards of the Coast

*****

        Yklwa was left on one floor of the tower while the rest of the party climbed the exterior wall of it; since he didn't have hands to climb himself, they left him behind. The dinosaur decided to follow Tali by going the long way around, and was jumped by some albino corbies. Without backup, Yklwa was helpless against them, and they devoured him. Tali was distraught about the loss of her companion and friend, and collected his remains to give him a proper funeral later. Yklwa will be missed by all.

*****
       Thecker decided to stay behind in Blingdenstone, she wanted to retire. She had purchased the Foaming Mug from Tappy, and wanted to entire a more relaxed life. Plus, she didn't want to be away from Topsy.

       Thecker Powdercraft is a svirfneblin bounty hunter from Blingdenstone. She was captured by Kyri's masters and placed under the minotaur's watchful eyes. Thecker is sarcastic and tends to shoot first and ask questions later.

       After confessing her sins to a statue of Bahamut, Thecker's ring finger was cut off.

       Thecker was turned into a wererat through sex with Topsy, and drinking the tainted wine the party had been sharing. She has no issues with being a wererat.

*****

       The twins stayed in Blingdenstone since they were the new leaders of the Goldwhiskers. They needed to prepare their new family for the battle to come.

       "Twin deep gnomes, Topsy and her brother Turvy are originally from Blingdenstone in the Underdark. They were captured by the drow while out gathering mushrooms in the tunnels near their home. Like most other svirfneblin, Topsy has a stringy mop of hair while Turvy only has a few tufts of hair atop his otherwise bald head. Topsy is by far the more social of the two. Turvy constantly mumbles and mutters darkly, with Topsy repeating or translating what her brother says.

       Topsy and Turvy hide the fact that they are wererats. Infected with the curse of lycanthropy, neither deep gnome has entirely embraced it yet, and they struggle to control their wererat instincts and urges. They are fearful of what potential allies might do if they learn the truth, and are looking out for each other and their own survival."*

       The twins were relieved when the party discovered their true nature and didn't really react to it.

       Topsy and Turvy were lost during a boating accident when Lythana's bad boat navigating smashed the boat into a cavern wall, snapping the boat in half. The twins rejoined the party when Hemeth found everyone on an island. The boating accident was close enough to Hemeth's cove that they were able to swim back to safety.

       Turvy indulged in too much Gresyl wine and lost the ability to control himself around drugs and alcohol. If any substance crosses his path, he has to stop whatever he's doing to ingest them. Topsy is not happy about having to hide all of her booze from her brother.

       Thecker, tired of hiding the booze, used an item found in the ancient beholder's lair that cured Turvy, he no longer felt compelled to consume everything. He fell in love with Mezzem, and is overly protective and extremely jealous when it comes to her.

       Topsy and Thecker ended up falling in love during what began as a fling. They are now inseparable.

       The twins learned that their parents were the children of Chipgrin Goldwhiskers, the leader of the Blingdenstone wererats. Their parents, Snipsy and Snapsy, were twins who had an incestuous relationship, and Snipsy was executed when Snapsy got pregnant; Snapsy was exiled. They are their rightful heirs of the Goldwhiskers clan, and when Chipgrin fell into a catatonic state right after seeing what he believed were the ghosts of his children, Topsy readily stepped into her new role.

Photo from Out of the Abyss Adventure Module by Wizards of the Coast

*****
       Sajin was turned to stone by the medusa who inhabited the Rockblight district in Blingdenstone. Before anyone could help him, the medusa animated his statue, forcing his soul from his body. Claire was forced to destroy the statue in order to protect an unconscious Thecker. While Sajin was given the opportunity to return to life after the party cleansed the Steadfast Stone, he decided to instead have the twins and Thecker be declared officially part of his family- giving them a bit more pull and access in svirfneblin society. 

       Sajin Silvertongue is from a family that was noble before the fall of Blingdenstone. He returned to the svirfneblin city to try to find a way to restore his family to their former glory. In the process, the assassin picked up some work bounty hunting to keep himself going. One of these bounties is how he met the party; he was looking for Fidget, who had been missing for a long time.

       Sajin is incredibly racist toward surfacers, which causes tension in the group, and he has attempted to woo Topsy on several occasions- all of which end with her thinking he's creepy.

       During a fight with quaggoth, Sajin took a nasty blow to the face, and now has a faint (thanks to magic) claw scar running across his face.

       Sajin was turned into a wererat when Topsy stabbed him in the ass during the fight with the beholder. She had put some of her blood on the blade to infect him.

*****
       Kara was literally ripped to pieces by four demon Easter bunnies. Their vorpal teeth shredded her as if she was made of cloth.

       Kara Reginleif was abandoned to her father by her Valkyrie mother shortly after she was born. Kara has no memory of her mother, nor has she ever met her. Instead, she grew up in a home where she was unwanted at best, and unloved at worst; her father had had an affair with her mother, and the poor infant Kara was dumped into a happy family of three, with no room for a fourth. At thirteen she joined the Zhentarim, and has been quite happy fighting in their ranks- unlike her "family" the company actually appreciates her. She met the party when a teleportation spell went awry and she appeared in front of them.

       Kara has a compulsion to collect everything she finds, though this seems to apply mostly to weapons. Any time any weapon, no matter how useless it is, comes across Kara, she has to take it. She's not without reason though, she is willing to trade her weapons, but she cannot ever just give them away.

       Kara was turned into a wererat after learning that everyone else was one too. She asked Topsy to bite her; the half-valkyrie had drank the tainted wine, but had managed not to be turned from it.
                                   

photo from advancedphotoshop.co.uk

*****
Glabbagool, the Gelatinous Cube

       Glabbagool now resides in Blingdenstone.

       Since Glabbagool became a member of Bahamut's flock, he parted ways with the party when the kobolds found a new home. He felt it was his duty to continue carrying and protecting the hatchlings that were in Orvald's barrel- he is, after all, a great warrior. He later became a paladin of Bahamut.

       "The presence in the Underdark of the demon lord Juiblex has granted Glabbagool sentience and awareness. The ooze is genuinely curious about other creatures and wants to learn more about the world. It defends itself if attacked, but doesn’t otherwise try to harm the characters, instead asking who they are, where they come from, and why they have come to the temple."*

       After the adventure in the temple, Orvald invited Glabbagool to join the group, and he quickly became a much loved member of the party.

       Glabbagool defended himself against six gnolls when Fidget sent him off on his own to meet up with the party. The cube slaughtered all of them quickly, and Kyri gave him the title of "Great Warrior," which he proudly accepted. He is also now a follower of Bahamut, thanks to Kibbik telling him about Bahamut's light.

Photo from Out of the Abyss Adventure Module by Wizards of the Coast

*****
       Fidget was killed when Thecker set off a huge explosion to try to kill Orvald and Zenit.

       Fidget Stonegear, the svirfneblin, claims to be very well known for his inventions, though no one ever seems to have actually heard of him. He is constantly making upgrades to the party's equipment, and though he doesn't always get involved in combat, the work he does for the party really makes him shine. Fidget is always picking up random junk, just in case it turns out to be something useful later. He loves making explosives, and seems to revel in the joy of something being destroyed by his creations.

       Fidget's mind cracked from the spores the myconids hit him with, and he is now completely convinced he's a myconid. Absolutely nothing can convince the gnome otherwise, no matter how hard anyone tries; he's a mushgnome.

       Fidget's mind broke even more during their travels, and he believed that everyone was judging him and out to get him because he's a myconid.

       During the planning for the supply raid on Bahamutsville, Kibbik told Fidget that he thought like a kobold. The insane svirfneblin was susceptible to suggestions, and took that declaration to heart.

       Fidget was marked by Bahamut during the party's test with the planar. His soul was made a little kinder, and he was expected to be an all around better person for the experience.

*****
       Elle died from Fidget's bombs going off as Thecker's desperate attempt to kill Orvald and Zenit combined with his explosives.

       Miarielle, the Lythari Priestess of Corellon, is the future alpha of her pack. Child of the current alphas, she always knew what her future would hold, to be mated to the second and take her place as leader.  Elle is slow to trust, but is fiercely protective of those she loves- the mark that she will be an excellent alpha someday. She left for the Underdark with Lythana, her "pack sister," with plans to prove herself and gain strength and power before taking her rightful place as leader beside her mate, Lythari. Elle doesn't understand much of civilization, and is more wolf than elf; she is awkward in most company, but she tries to do the right thing and help people. She still doesn't understand that she can't sniff someone in her elven shape, it's considered rude.

       After being shoved through a portal to the Abyss by a hezrou, Elle's mind fractured and she became savage- almost feral- and actively resisted laws and customs, trying to return herself to a more primitive time. A fitting insanity for the lythari who doesn't completely understand civilization in the first place.
                                           
                                                     Photo from deviantart.com

*****
       The party learned that Sparky was a Deep Dragon, moments before he vanished. He was last seen being thrown into the Abyss by a glabrezu, and it is unknown if he survived.

       The party first met Ol' Sparky while chasing the derro Droki; Sparky kept appearing in front of the group during the chase in an attempt to pan handle them. Sparky is not actually blind, though he claims to be, and he is not actually a derro. The group has not figured out what exactly Sparky is, but he is certainly powerful, with a chaotic magical cane that never seems to cast what he wants it to; though he always acts like that was intentional. Sparky also managed to seduce Aura, just to see if she would indeed sleep with a filthy (literally) derro.

       Sparky vanished during the cave-in that led the party to Bahamutsville.

       The surface gnome named Jacky Quicksilver is really Sparky in disguise. He knew he could not get close to Kibbik without risking his true nature being revealed, which would lead to bloodshed. After spending time masking himself, he was able to rejoin the group under this persona.

       During the Battle for Bahamutsville the party learned that Sparky was really a deep dragon, which explained his odd powers, shape changing, and behavior. Claire was horrified by the presence of a purple dragon, even though he had just healed her and saved Elle from the grave.

*****
       Kyri was vaporized by Aura, and became a brick in the Wall of Souls. The minotaur never had a chance to become faithful to a deity, and her soul is now paying for it for eternity, thanks to Aura's bad decision. 

       Kyri was born in a breeding farm for slaves of many kinds, though mostly minotaur. Standing at 7'7, with 350 lbs of solid muscle, keeping Kyri broken was key to keeping her alive; the duergar who purchased her made certain that she was completely loyal and knew her place in life- below them. She has dark brown/black fur, with an untamed mane of black hair that has never seen a brush, predatory bright yellow eyes, and her torso is criss-crossed with scars from whippings. Her horns were sawed off at birth, since the duergar couldn't risk such a deadly slave being constantly armed- instead she has metal horns that attach to the stumps. She fights using nothing but her fists and horns, and will do anything to protect her master- Kyri considers her life expendable, so she tends to do reckless things.

       She doesn't understand the concept of freedom, only servitude. Kyri is also painfully naive about the most basic things in life. Races and genders are also puzzling to her, and since she is called "mule" or "slave" more often than by her own name, she doesn't understand the importance of names; instead, the minotaur calls people by their descriptions, and tends to mix up gender pronouns, or just call people "it" when she doesn't know.

       Her loyalty is concrete and only shifts when she's purchased, she is completely obedient, and her masters, the Gray Ghosts, trust her to discipline other slaves and assist in breaking them. She also loves to eat the flesh of humanoids, something her masters find amusing and use as a "reward" when she kills one of their enemies. Suffering is meaningless to her, she has absolutely no empathy, and barely registers pain.

       Kyri joined to party after Sparky dominated her mind to make her believe the party was her friends- also projecting to her what friendship was. They told her she was free, but since she didn't understand the concept, the minotaur decided that Sparky was her new master. She also contracted Cackle Fever while chasing Thecker, which made her cackle madly when something stressed her out. It took a few days for Elle to realize this was an illness and cure the fever.

       Kyri's mind cracked during the party's travels, and she suddenly believed she was the best, brightest, prettiest, etc. person ever. At least Elle had cured the Cackle Fever before this.

       Elle and Aura made Kyri bathe for the first time ever, and it was the most traumatic experience in the minotaur's short life. She hopes they never do it again, since it made her smell terrible (like flowers) and they even removed the finger she had wedged in her back teeth to eat later. She doesn't understand how anyone would ever willing take a bath.

       After confessing her sins to a statue of Bahamut, Kyri's thumbs were cut off, and her slave collar was melted away. Bahamut was granting her complete freedom, and told her to change her ways; she was confident she could do that, since she was the best at everything.

Photo by John C. Mann

*****
       As Lythana predicted, Aura got herself and someone else killed by not thinking. The genasi loosed fire breath, a spell that has a 60 foot cone, in a 30 foot room full of gunpowder. She vaporized herself and the minotaur, and her soul became another brick in the Wall of Souls- the place where those without faith go when they die.

       Aura is the daughter of an air genasi and an air djinn, and she grew up on the Elemental Plane of Air. She spent most of her life in the breezy isolation of that world, before deciding to set out on her own on the physical plane. Since Aura grew up on another plane of existence, she has not yet learned how to function properly in the real world. She does not think things through, and frequently injures her companions- almost as much as she does the enemies. Aura ended up in the Underdark because she fell in a hole.

       After confessing her sins to a statue of Bahamut, Aura's pinky finger was cut off.

Photo by Wicked Vlad

*****
       Zarrus disappeared when the party retreated from the gnolls at the gates to Bahamutsville.

       Zarrus, the Tiefling Favored Soul Sorcerer of Mephisto, has spent the last 200 years imprisoned in a gem. The party knows little about him aside from that, as Zarrus spends most of his time napping instead of interacting with the party.

       The moment the tiefling's foot touched Gracklstugh, he vanished in a puff of smoke and brimstone, as if the city itself was banishing Zarrus.

        Zarrus reappeared as suddenly as he'd vanished. He'd spent several days collecting debts for his god, and suddenly found himself in an empty room at Ghohlbrorn's Lair- the tavern in Gracklstugh the party was staying at.

*****
       Lythana chased after a derro into the room where Orvald and Pwent had fallen, and was sacrificed to the Demon Lord, Demgorgon by a cultist. Elle could not raise her Sister, and instead of spending her afterlife dancing in Eilistraee's Grove, Lythana's soul was consumed by the demon prince. 

       Lythana Belmyr, the Half-Drow Blood Hunter of Eilistraee, grew up in a time when Eilistraee was presumed dead- yet her faithful never wavered. Lythana was raised in a small temple dedicated to her goddess, and was trained to be a Darksong Knight if the Dark Maiden ever returned. Shortly after the Sundering, Lythana's temple was assaulted by Lolthites, and most of her family was killed. She had been out hunting during the attack, and came home to be greeted by carnage and despair. It was then that the half-drow decided Eilistraee wanted her to take a different path: the path of the Blood Hunter.

       Lythana believes she is on a sacred quest from her Goddess to wipe evil from the face of Toril, and will not back down even if her life is in danger- Elle has had to drag her away from many nasty situations where Lythana would have died in a losing battle. On this journey, Lythana encountered Elle's pack, and assisted them in clearing out some ghouls from the ruins of an old shrine. After doing so, she was tentatively accepted into the pack, and her close friendship with Elle earned her the title of Pack Sister; this makes her more than friends, this friendship runs to her very core. She convinced Elle to accompany her to the Underdark with the plan to "go kill shit."

       Lythana stands at 5'6, and has a lean, but muscular build with pleasant curves. Her storm cloud gray skin is one of the only hints that she is not a full blooded drow, along with her slightly rounded ears. Her snowy white hair and crimson eyes are exactly like those of a full drow.

       After being given a circlet of water breathing that was laced with drow sleep poison, an unconscious Lythana was captured by a two-headed sea troll. She was experimented on for an unknown number of days before she had her wits about her enough to make an escape. Whatever the troll did to Lythana, by covering her body in hundreds, if not thousands, of tiny Y-shaped spiral scars, the half-drow gained the ability to heal herself. The encounter also left the half-drow with another presence in her head. During her escape, Lythana got knocked unconscious, and it is possible that she drowned.

       Lythana was found three days later, barely alive, and was revived with CPR; the regeneration powers the troll had given her worked to keep her alive until help arrived. The regeneration came with a price, the hunter was now significantly slower than the rest of the group.

Photo from deviantart.com

*****
       Orvald and Zenit ambushed the party on their way to Gauntlgrym, doing some heavy damage to them and forcing them to make a very risky escape. 

       During the Battle for Bahamutsville, Zenit showed up and brutally assaulted Kibbik. She had trails of dark energy trailing behind her, and a little shadow that looked vaguely like Orvald. Zenit had been granted Zin-carla on her mouse, animating his corpse and turning him into a killing machine, that knew only her commands.

       Zenit recovered Orvald's body and abandoned the party during the gruesome fight that claimed her love's life. Without the mouse, there was no reason for the drow to bother helping the party anymore- and she had a plan to bring her love back. 

       Zenit 'Dracon was one of the fighters at Velkynvelve who held the party captive. She is a fierce warrior who would gladly slaughter the entire party if given the opportunity. True to drow form, she follows Lolth, and expects people follow her orders because she's female. She is part of House Braz'Dracon, but has not yet reached the standing required for her to use the first half of the name. Zenit is in love with Orvald due to a madness that began when he stabbed her in the leg during the party's escape from Velkynvelve.

*****
       Orvald and Zenit ambushed the party on their way to Gauntlgrym, doing some heavy damage to them and forcing them to make a very risky escape.

       The party encountered Orvald and Zenit during the Battle for Bahamutsville, but the mousefolk was undead. Zenit had been granted Zin-carla from Lolth, a powerful spell that drains the caster, and makes the corpse follow only commands.

       Orvald died from a quasit sneaking up on him. His corpse became a squeaky toy for a death dog, until Aura killed it. 

       Orvald Abershaw, the Mousefolk Barbarian, stands at 1'9, is missing his tail and is bald, aside from some frizzy dark brown hair on top of his head- and is only five years old, though he certainly doesn't act like it. The young mouse has an attitude that says "mess with me and die." He's always ready for a fight, and lives for the thrill of battle. Orvald is also deeply in love with Zenit, the drow he stabbed in the leg with a crossbow bolt soaked in a Philter of Love.

       Orvald's fur and tail regrew after unintentionally bathing in troll blood. The mousefolk now has a luxurious coat of dark brown fur.

*****
       A crossbow bolt hit Codsworth, and the flumph literally exploded.

       Codsworth is a prim and proper flumph who joined the party to help him stop derro cultists in the Whorlstone Tunnels. They agreed to help him stop the cultists, so he joined them. He tends to stay closer to the "nicer" people in the group, since he dislikes evil.

*****
       Pwent was devoured by dretches after becoming so terrified he couldn't react to their attacks.

       Thimblepwent Battlehammer is a dwarven battlerager with serious anger issues- though they help him fight. Pwent is always looking for a fight and will gladly join one whenever he gets a chance. He is rather quiet, and mostly speaks up when alcohol or killing something is involved.

       Pwent's mind cracked in the faerzress cavern inside the Whorlstone Tunnels. The dwarf lost the ability to take anything seriously, and now finds everything hilarious- the more serious something is, the more he laughs.

*****
        The group encountered Hemeth while he was bringing a shipment of weapons to Mantol Derith. He warned them from going to Gracklstugh, saying the city had become pure chaos. While no one in the group had ever met Hemeth, since everyone who knew him was either dead or gone in some way, he was amiable to the party and gave them a great deal on gear to outfit Blingdenstone against the Pudding King.

       The party parted ways with Hemeth when they arrived in Gracklstugh.

       Hemeth, the Duergar Arms Dealer was in Sloobludop trying to sell his wares to both sides of the kuo-toa civil war, and instead found himself a captive and future sacrifice to the Deep Father. The party liberated him and invited him to come along with them. Little else is known about the smuggler beyond that.*

*****
       Shuushar was turned into "Shuushi" by the next sea troll attack; he was promptly devoured, and no remains floated toward Glabbagool.

       "A kuo-toa, Shuushar is likely to be one of the more unusual creatures any of the adventurers have met. The aquatic hermit is a calm and peaceful presence. He is aware of his people’s well-deserved reputation for madness, and claims to have spent a lifetime in contemplation and solitary meditation to overcome that legacy. He appears to have been successful, exuding an aura of enlightened balance. Shuushar is even calm and accepting of his current imprisonment, merely saying that it is what it is, and who can say what end it might eventually lead toward?

       Although Shuushar is by far the most sane, stable, and honest of the adventurers’ fellow prisoners, he is also the most useless to their immediate goals. The kuo-toa hermit is a complete pacifist. He doesn’t fight or cause harm to any other creature, even refusing to defend himself or others. He gladly accompanies the party if permitted to do so, however, helping them in any way he
can other than violating his most sacred vow.

       Shuushar is familiar with Sloobludop, the kuo-toa town near the Darklake, and has navigated the twisting routes of the Darklake for many years. He hopes to share his enlightenment with his fellow kuo-toa, although he isn’t aware of recent events in Sloobludop."*

Photo from Out of the Abyss Adventure Module by Wizards of the Coast

*****
       Derendil was gutted by the two-headed sea troll that captured Lythana. Glabbagool quite happily munched on the quaggoth's corpse.

       Prince Derendil, the Quaggoth, believes "that he is not, in fact, a quaggoth, but a gold elf prince polymorphed into quaggoth form by a curse. He claims to be Prince Derendil of the kingdom
of Nelrindenvane in the High Forest. His crown was usurped by the evil wizard Terrestor, who trapped him in this form and exiled him from his people.

       Although Derendil behaves like the highborn prince he believes himself to be, he responds to stress—and particularly threats—like a quaggoth: violently tearing foes limb from limb and rending their flesh with sharp claws and teeth. He comes back to himself only after battle, or when someone reinforces his “true identity” to snap him out of it. Derendil laments that he is slowly but surely losing himself to the savagery of his quaggoth form.

       In fact, Derendil is simply mad, touched by the delusions of the demon lord Fraz-Urb’luu. The kingdom of Nelrindenvane doesn’t exist, and all of “Derendil’s” recollections and personality are an illusion created by the Demon Prince of Deception. The quaggoth refuses to believe the truth, and any incontrovertible evidence as to his real nature sends him into a murderous rage."*

       Derendil's mind cracked further in Sloobludop, and he now believes he the the best, brightest, most handsome, strongest, etc. person he knows. As Lythana says, "Derendil's ego grew three sizes that day."

Photo from Out of the Abyss Adventure Module by Wizards of the Coast

*****
       The party was attacked by a group of grell, and Jim Jar was devoured by one of them before the party could save him. Pwent and Orvald avenged the svirfneblin's death by smashing the grell to smithereens. 

       "A male deep gnome spy, Jimjar is a feckless rogue with a devil-may-care attitude, a fondness for coin, and an obsession with betting on virtually anything and everything. Once he knows the characters, Jimjar regularly offers them bets on things from their own efforts to the outcomes of random events. He sometimes uses betting to goad others into doing things, but characters can easily turn the tables knowing that Jimjar finds it difficult to refuse a wager. His behavior is unusual for the dour deep gnomes, and others of his kind find Jimjar annoying at best, and unstable and potentially mad at worst.

       Jimjar is always true to his word, and he manages to keep exact track of his debits and credits in his head, paying up on his bets (or demanding payment) as soon as possible. He’s not above pocketing a little extra coin when no one is watching, and he has an amazing ability to secret significant wealth on his person.

       Jimjar feels as though there’s something odd about the twins Topsy and Turvy, but he keeps his opinion to himself unless asked. He does his best to get along with everyone, although some find his gregariousness and constant wagers grating."*

Photo from Out of the Abyss Adventure Module by Wizards of the Coast

*****
       Phil was left in the care of Hemeth, since the party couldn't carry a comatose human around Gracklstugh without attracting notice. There is a high possibility that Hemeth killed Phil the moment the party disembarked. 

       Phil survived the boating accident, but the crash put him in a deep coma that Elle was unable to reverse.

       After being rescued from sacrifice to Demogorgon, Phil was lost when Lythana accidentally slammed the back half of a boat into a cavern wall, breaking it in half.

       Phil was taken by kuo-toa followers of the Deep Father for sacrifice.

       Little is known about Phillip Johnson, the human cleric. He is quiet and soft-spoken, and always tries to do the right thing.

*****
       Hera was unable to swim against the current in a river, and floated away into oblivion.

       Hera Adaar, the Abyssal Tiefling Wild Sorceress, is an exile from the country of Halruaa. Being a tiefling in a largely human society always made Hera feel like an outcast, and being one from Abyssal lineage didn't help matters. Hera stands at 5'9, is a vibrant, flame red, with huge bull-like horns, large bat-like wings, a whip of a tail, sharp, pointy teeth, and slitted eyes so yellow it is like looking into the heart of a fire. Hera always smell of brimstone, and developed a fondness for perfumes that mask the smell, since it was one of the many things she was teased about as a child. Being picked on for most of her childhood for being different has left Hera aloof and untrusting of others.

       Then the recurrent dream that got her exiled began, and with them the ability to pull on the weave. Hera dreamed of a chamber has an ankle deep layer of white dust, with footprints going deeper and deeper to an impossibly large adamantine door. The prints are coming away from it, like something running away from the door. She became obsessed with the door, and began searching the country for it, drawing far more attention to herself than she liked; Hera was exiled from her country because of her obsession with the door. Eventually Hera realized that the door had to be somewhere in the Underdark, and began studying what few maps she could find, feeling the call of this door. The dream has been exactly the same for years now, until recently the door changed. The door has become cracked open, and the dust is swirling and stirring near it, like wind is picking it up; and it's getting deeper. Hera's need to open this door has never been so great.

*****

       Luna's skull was caved in by a rock thrown by Fidget, during a fight with a black pudding; it is unknown if Fidget landed the killing blow, or if the pudding was her cause of death.

       Luna Trelawny is a human girl aged sixteen. She has large blue eyes, blonde hair, and has a small stature. Luna's ability to divine the future made her enter a wizarding school at an early age, though her natural talent made her a bit isolated; she spent so much time spacing out, seeing what was yet to come, that she had trouble staying in the present.

Photo from deviantart.com

*****
       Sarith Zekarit was unable to swim against the current in a river and drowned.

       "A male drow, Sarith is sullen and keeps to himself, rebuffing attempts to talk to him. He is disgraced by his imprisonment but is resigned to his fate, since there doesn’t appear to be anything he can do about it. Sarith is accused of murdering one of his fellow drow warriors in a fit of madness, but he has no memory of it. He varies between believing the whole thing is a setup to discredit and destroy him, and fearing that it is all true—which, in fact, it is. He is being held until he can be sent back to Menzoberranzan as a sacrifice to Lolth and an example to others.

       Unknown even to the other drow, Sarith is infected with tainted spores from myconids corrupted by Zuggtmoy, the Demon Queen of Fungi. The initial infestation of the spores caused Sarith’s bout of madness, and his health and sanity continue to deteriorate as the spores grow within his brain."*

Photo from Out of the Abyss Adventure Module by Wizards of the Coast

*****
       Ront was smashed into hamburger by Pwent during a fight with a giant rocktopus.

       "A male orc from the Iceshield tribe, Ront fled from the slaughter of a band of orcs at the hands of the dwarves, falling down a shaft and wandering in the Underdark before being captured by the drow. He’s ashamed of his cowardly act and knows that Gruumsh, the god of the orcs, is punishing him. But he also doesn’t want to die, or at least not in drow captivity. Ront is mean, stupid, and hateful, but he also knuckles under to authority and threats. He especially hates Eldeth, as his tribe is at war with her people.

       Ront engages in threatening behavior and bullying toward the other prisoners unless someone stands up to him."*

Photo from Out of the Abyss Adventure Module by Wizards of the Coast

*****
       The party found Buppido in his shrine in the Whorlstone tunnels, and Orvald smashed the derro to pulp the instant he activated his shrine's power. Unfortunately this gave him the final blood sacrifice he needed to gain more power, so the derro rose again, alongside zombies, and sprouted a second head. Orvald smashed the insane derro again, and the second time he stayed down.

       Buppido decided to leave with a group of duergar merchants from Gracklstugh.

       Buppido, the derro, "is surprisingly gregarious and talkative, demonstrating a keen mind and a disarming manner. This pleasant facade conceals the soul of an insane killer. Buppido secretly believes he is the living incarnation of the derro god Diinkarazan—an avatar of murder offering bloody sacrifices to create a path of carnage through the Underdark for his people to follow to glory. He rationalizes any setbacks (including his capture and imprisonment) as part of his 'divine
plan.' His killings are carefully ritualized, following an exacting process of cutting open the victims and arranging their organs.

       Although mad, Buppido is cunning and capable of hiding his true nature to serve his own ends. Because he believes he is a god, he is convinced that he can’t be killed (or at least that the death of his mortal form means nothing to him), so he is completely fearless. He assumes everything is part of his divine plan, and enthusiastically participates in any plot to escape from the drow so he can continue his holy work." *

Photo from Out of the Abyss Adventure Module by Wizards of the Coast

*****

       Eldeth Feldrun was killed by a drow when the party escaped the prison camp.

       Eldeth Feldrun is "a female shield dwarf scout from Gauntlgrym, Eldeth is high spirited and proud of both her heritage and her people’s achievement in reclaiming the ancient dwarven
kingdom; she suggests Gauntlgrym as a destination to escape from the Underdark. Eldeth is stubborn and hates the drow and all other 'corrupt dark dwellers' such as the derro and duergar.

       Eldeth wants to get back home, but she is also defiant and self sacrificing—and therefore among the most likely prisoners to perish before getting the opportunity."*

Photo from Out of the Abyss Adventure Module by Wizards of the Coast

*Character description is from the Out of the Abyss Adventure Module by Wizards of the Coast