Chapter 2 "Flood Season"
***ATTENTION SPOILERS***
The rainy season had begun, and around the city of Cauldron preparations for the Flood Festival were well underway. The party attempted to make a new friend by trading with the Gnome Skie, who offered them a discount for continued patronage. She has all the groups who trade with her regularly identified with thier runes on the outside of her shop. They think she may have possible ties to the "Last Laugh". Later while having a few drinks in the tavern a page brings the party a summons from Jenya. When the group returns to the Church of Helm, Jenya tells them the story of the flood festival and the temple of Helm's role in it. Specifally the creation of the wands of water control which the churches of the town stem the tide of the overflowing lake. Recently the temple High priest Sarcem Delasharn, left Cauldron to pick up the wands from a neighboring temple in Sasserine. Jenya recenty recieved a sending from him, telling her that on the way back, he was staying in the "Lucky Monkey", when it was attacked by marauders. Jenya begged the heroes to go to Sarcem's aid at the "Monkey".
When the party got to the inn it seemed too quiet, but upon further investigation the inn is packed with a small troup of marauders. After defeating the initial batch of marauders the group finds the "leader" of the marauders the Half-Orc werebaboon known only as "Tongueater". After shrugging off many mortal blows it was deduced that only magical forces and huge amounts of damage could hurt it. Slowly but surely the party prevailed with Kabil finally wrestling the beast to the ground and choking it into unconsciousness, after which Helder dispatched it. Upon more searching the group finds the body of Sarcem minus the wands of water control. They also discover a half-drow woman by name of Shensen Tesseril who had barricaded herself in a storeroom to prevent capture. She told the group that the marauders were actually led by a woman with red hair wearing spiked black armor. Her and her men's tracks lead into the forest.
The party leaves the "Lucky Monkey" and heads back toward Cauldron with the remains of Sarcem and Shensen in tow. The rains begin to fall steady as the group heads for town. Once back at Cauldron Gortex bids the group farewell his time with them done, Shensen does as well, but she vows to meet the party at the Temple of Helm later. Back at the Temple information is relayed to Jenya about what went down at the “Monkey”. Through various methods the party learns about Triel Elduarast, an Ex-guardsperson turned multiple murderer. She is the ring leader of the attack on the tavern and is presumed to have the Wands of water control. Rashid gets a note to a meeting with the mysterious informant named Artus, after some dangerous haggling Artus gives him the goods on Triel and her secret hideout, whose entrance is a secret lava tube on the side of the volcano that is Cauldron.
The party makes its way deep into the side of the mountain and into the ruins of an ancient race that Alarick identifies as the Kopru. After defeating the guards at the entrance of the ruins, the party was led into a “gauntlet” of traps, bowmen and fighters. After narrowly making it through the pit chamber, the group made their way to a room with multiple doors, which way to go…?
The door our heroes’ selects leads into a massive mechanical workroom populated with tables littered with parts and pieces. Rashid through shrewd deductions determines that the room is used to build some kind of magical components, but he is unable to determine much more. It is then that the keen eyes of Helder spot something skittering in the deep recesses of the room, just out of torchlight. The group immediately takes an offensive posture and begins to move slowly deeper into the room. They discover a mudd slaad crouching in the darkness. Its first action is to release a otherworldly screech, Rashid immediately grasps his ears and falls to the floor unconscious or possibly even dead. On guard Helder, Cyric and Kabil move in to engage the creature. Through some unknown power the creature calls forth another of its foul brethren from the beyond. The newcomer issues its mind numbing cry and with horror our heroes watch as Cyric falls to the floor as well. With renewed fervor Helder, Alaric and Kabil battle to take the creatures down, after several tense moments the last mud slaad falls limply to the floor. Cyric and Rashid even though sorely battered from the Slaad's strange power, slowly recover through the ministrations of the parties’ stalwart cleric. The group decides to set watch and rest during the night. Sometime during the rest period, one of the slaadi mysteriously disappears. Upon closer inspection of the room the party finds a hidden door in one of the alcoves.
The secret passageway leads to a series of room each of which the party investigates. Due to the ruins being alerted to the prescense of the heroes they are attacked by several wandering patrols of Triel's henchmen. Nothing seems to stop our intrepid party as they make their way through the ruins in explorations searching for Triel and the wands of water control. The party eventually comes to a web shrouded tunnel which is littered with recent footprints. They follow until the tracks split up in two directions. The party follows the "path of least resistence” and go down the tunnel with the fewer tracks. The tunnel opens up into a huge cavern lit by strange fungi. Deep in the recesses of the cavern Helder deduces movement and the group splits up to investigate. Then out of the dimly lit depths charge several foul skeletons, and some rotten corpse that looks to once have been a gnoll. Its hideous hide sloughing off and its armor and weapons wired onto its rotten hide. Alarick immediatly casts a prayer skyward to the hidden sun and searing burning destruction rains down onto the undead. When the light dissipated only Tarkilar the gnoll is left scorched but very much anxious for a fight. He charges into the fray swinging his spiked chain, he seems very intent on Helder whose deft attacks seem to deal no damage. Luckily from a hidden location at the peak of a stalagmite Rashid uses the power of his cloak to cast a entangling web onto Tarkilar, holding fast. The company attacked with abandon while the undead gnoll tried in vain to break free. But blow after blow seem to do little or no damage to the foul creature, only the powerful spells of the sun gods chosen seem to have any effect. It is then that from deep in the cavern where the creatures were hiding Rashid spots a twinkling of metal. He investigates and finds a hastily buried treasure. Two silver wrought swords are pulled from the earth, and it is with these that Rashid, Helder, and Alaric are finally able to put the undead spawn to final rest. Badly beaten and in need of rest the party presses on, Alaric expends what precious few spells he has left to heal his companions.
At the intersection the group decides to follow the tunnel with the more numerous footprints, the tunnel menders for several hundred feet then again comes to an intersection, footprints lead down the right passage with an undistubed silent tunnel leading off into the darkness to the left. After several moments of deliberation Helder decides to take the path with the footprints, with Rashid in the lead the party comes to another well lit cavern, this one with torchlight. From within come a strong female voice and the voices of several other men. Peaking out from behind some rocks the rogue spies Triel speaking to several hard looking figures all armed to the teeth. With the plan laid, Rashid spider climbed his way up into the stalactites in the ceiling, and the rest charged into the cavern. The heroes launched into a vicious battle with the cultists, Rashid webbed the enemy troops but only one got entangled as the rest fought off the effects. Out of nowhere a fiendish wolf charges into the fray, summoned by a mysterious mage in the shadows. Then the mage launched magical missile after missile at the agile rogue who did his best to dodge the unerring strikes by hiding in the stalagmites. Then without anyone really noticing the wizard fades from sight. One by one the cultists fell before the blades of the company, with one cultist left, the monk like lightning struck out at Triel herself, blow for blow was traded between the two combatants but the monk was hard pressed and eventually fell to the flail wielding cleric of Lovitar. The rest of the company charged in to the aid of their companion. Little by little the evil cleric is brought down, then out of the dark Rashid strikes back to back deadly blows to the cleric felling her.
After recovering what few wands Triel had on her person the company attempted to track the wizard who is presumed to have the remaining wands. Unfortunately, the secret passage that was assumed to be used by the wizard led only out onto the southern side of Cauldron. Reluctantly the party made their way to the Church of Helm to deliver what wands they had found. Jenya and her priests made their way to the shores of the lake and after many desperate hours the flood was pushed back for now. Back at the temple the party vowed to return to the Kopru Ruins and retrieve the rest of the wands.