Abyss Modified Session 10, the Silken Path

Spoilers for Out of the Abyss Adventure

The party continued further into the tunnels and ran into two new companions, Syre the snake folk bard and Thelrun the Tortle abjuration wizard. They had been hired to accompany a merchant and became separated from their charge on the Silken Path, a giant cavern full of webs acting as a highway through the underdark. Their path behind them became treacherous, blocked by rocks and debris, and they joined with the group for safety in numbers.

Mild introductions were made and the group followed their guide, Keg, as he retraced the steps he had taken many times before. They eventually found the tunnel he normally took collapsed and ruined, but another path existed on the right. They continued, eventually finding a chamber with odd statues with minor transmutation magic emanating from within as well as faint tendrils that led deeper into the chamber. A voice called out asking their intentions and demanding tribute, the party thought about leaving an absent companion or two for the voice, which revealed herself to be a medusa with control over her statues, which also attacked. Syre used bane on the statues, causing them to be a minor nuisance. The medusa launched poison arrows into Godric, her closest foe and her proximity caused her foes to have to resist her stone gaze. Xanaphia, Orion, and Godric dealt with it the most until Syre caused the medusa to flee with dissonant whispers. The medusa eventually attempted to flee, jumping back into her tent and Xanaphia blew the tent up with a thunder wave, finding it empty. The medusa had pulled herself into a secret tunnel and the party made quick work in foiling her escape. Once dead they removed the medusa’s head for a trophy, finding her paralyzing ability only worked while alive in this case. Her statues also stopped moving once she died.

Healing up a bit first they continued on their way eventually finding themselves on the Silken Path, finding their feet sticking just enough to be annoying while they walked the webs. They ran into two goblins who seemed to know their way around and told them not to mess with the ettercaps, strange spider people that lived in the webs. They could see these creatures approaching so they used rope and magic to get onto another strand of webs and evade any pursuit. They continued on, finding signs that pointed in the direction of Blingdenstone and showed Keg, the kobold how to foil trackers, by turning the signs to point the wrong way. The next signpost they got to Keg grabbed and tossed into the abyss below them. His larceny stoked he wondered if the webs could burn as well and the party talked him down from madness. While traveling they also noticed whale sized spiders just within view spinning strands of the web super structure and quietly passed unnoticed. Eventually five drow descended from above and stopped the party, informing them they had magically received word a group of escapees from a drow outpost had been causing trouble and matched the description of the party. They bluffed their way into friendship with the drow, Thelrun having cast see invisibility and noticing a large eye patched cat person with an oversized crossbow with the drow but levitating about ten feet off the web and up in the air. As a group they made it to one of the crossways and could feel the web bouncing under them, the drow cut the strand, watching as a charging troll fell into the abyss.

The group parted ways with the drow and eventually found the other end of the giant web chamber that Keg knew was close to their goal. They cut one of the strands behind them. A little way into the new tunnel they entered what seemed to be a crypt, Keg showing the party a secret chamber where they and their numerous allies could rest for the night. While they slept horrible murmuring filled the air, strange unknown voices echoed and terrible dreams and visions were had by a large part of the party. They all awoke covered in sweat and heard something huge moving through the tunnel, smaller creatures screaming, and eventually something plummet in the distance. They opened the secret wall to find about six or seven dead drow splashed over sixty feet of tunnels, different drow then they had seen before.

They followed the path of carnage back to a large iron door, it seemed since the last time Keg had been this way something had carved out a small fortress within the underdark. Past the iron door they found a gore splattered room with a summoning circle, dead drow, and one dead dark dwarf, his body on the floor, his head within the circle. Huge bloody and burned foot prints lead out the tunnel the way they came. They found there was a dwarf clan, the Gold Shields, that tried to make this an outpost for their city but it seemed something went wrong in their dealings. The party started turning the place over and found out a little about the clans and the fort, confirming everything they already knew. They grabbed odd building supplies from the court yard and a spiked chain from the torture room they found. As they made their way out of the keep we ended for the night, the party has now reached level five.