Prizzard has no problem recovering his bola and darts. While they did damage, they didn't seem to stick into the stony hide. In any case, not being of extra-planar origin like the creatures, they didn't disappear when the gargoyle did.


Sala never stepped up to engage the Drow in melee, so he wasn't close enough to get caught up in the tangle into the rock.

Although she still had some fight left in her, Mithra had no idea what other threat they might encounter before rejoining the others, so she downed her last potion.

"Hope the others were successful! Let's go join them!"

She felt bad about pushing her horse, but there'd be time to rest later.

She took off through the forest, angling towards where she guessed the others might be.

Sala tries to join the others inside the secret dimension if possible.

"Ah, Moongazer there you are." The worry almost automatically washed away from the tiefling's face once she caught sight of her owl companion. Moongazer flew up and landed on her shoulder when she beckoned. After stroking the silver and white feathers under the owl's chin the tiefling turned her attention to the other she had tangled with, "Who are you?" she started to scan the group for anyone familiar.

"Did I do that?" Artagel manages to mutter as he stumbles back out of the secret room, glancing down at his blades.

"He attacked me! It was self-defense!"

"Hey! Who are you?" he suddenly directs at Axia, somewhat vaguely aware that she was the one that had teleported in. "You kind of look familiar. Have we met before?"

Having been the cause of the Drow Summoner's demise, Artagel sheathes his swords and drags the Drow by his ankles out into the light... or at least into the gloom that still lingers around the summoning circle.

He'll let the others search the body and the secret room.

Stonecrow made a pained noise as he sat up slowly and pushed the drow corpse off of him. He slowly stood up and offered the red-skinned tiefling woman his hand to help her stand as well if she wanted.

"I am called Stonecrow. I do not know you, but if you are against this drow summoner, then we can likely be allies or at least not enemies."

"My name is Axia..." She was hesitant, but something about this half-elf seemed sincere. "Gryxis." She accepted his help to stand then gestured to to the owl on her shoulder. "This is Moongazer. I know nothing about a drow, but I do believe I saw you take a hit. Are you ok?"

Alecks had been eyeing the other newcomer. Lord knows this wasn't particularly unusual, considering all the tales that had been spun around the campfire, meals, drinks, and rests.

"As the saying goes," he addressed the bugbear, "'my enemy's enemy is my ally', perhaps even friend. Since the Drow was definitely our enemy, though we have yet to determine why, that would seem to make you a friend."

"The word we've been tossing around a lot is 'confluence'--perhaps some force or just the Great Cosmic Wheel is pulling us all together."

"My name is Alecks Senechal. At your service. Might I ask what has brought you to this area?"

By the time Mithra, Nemeia, Prizzard and Willem ride up to join the others, the Drow has been searched as well as his little secret cave.

Besides wearing a robe, an amulet and a ring. He carried a staff (which anyone with a Good alignment feels reluctant to get near), and a black-and-red dagger.

He was also wearing a necklace that appears to have had six crystal spheres in it, all of which have been shattered.

And then there's the black spider mask he was wearing.


The contents of the little secret room cave appear to be an assortment of components for making a summoning circle and specifying what monsters to summon. And maybe some magic mushrooms to chew on while he does it.

The back half of the cave, only slightly larger than the front half, barely has enough room for the bedroll. While no papers were found on the body, there is a letter with the bedroll. Addressed to the Black Spider, it simply says: Stop them!

There's no signature, but there is a symbol of a spider.

While the others take care of everything else, Sala begins his identification routine.

Axia held her staff in hand like a walking stick and looked to each of the others as they spoke. She responded to the one, "I was adventuring once before, but I felt it wasn't a good fit for me so when I saw an opportunity to take my leave I did. It wasn't until I was back at where I grew up that I found myself wanting to 'escape' again. Adventuring seemed like it may fit now, then before I knew I popped up here and got tangled with you lot."

"Nice. My coach once told me, after a few too many drinks, that you can only get the best mushrooms off a dead drow as they're essentially a prized crop." Trusting the contents Prizzard takes a small nibble of skin from one of the magic snacks. Not enough to cause hallucinations, maybe not even enough to act as a mild stimulant, but he felt it better to start small. "After the last few weeks we could all use a taste."

Emerging from the foliage, the bugbear faces Alecks.

”Greetings, I am Xar’ach, Stalker in your tongue.”, he said in common. ”A ranger of Neverwinter, bound to Aradan Rudur of Eigersstor, now Neverwinter.” His accent is very odd with many of the guttural sounds of his people but lilting as well. The words Aradan Rudur and Eigersstor flow off his tongue as if one of the eladrin were speaking.

”Friend is a powerful word, not to be used lightly. But I understand your intent. Since my apprenticeship with Aradan began, I’ve wandered these wilds, helping to secure them against any with ill designs. I began my latest tour two weeks hence.”

As he relaxes somewhat, he slowly rises to his full height and Alecks finds himself looking at the goblinoid’s leather wrapped chest.

”I’d been following the track of orcs, hundreds of them dead, when I came across the foul scent of Drow. As they can only be up to evil and are more dangerous than orcs, I turned from my path to follow. After three days, the trail led me here to him…” He jerks he head in the direction of the corpse. ”… and you.” He looks Alecks in the eye.

Glancing around at the others he asks, ”This is a large group, may I ask your purpose here?”

Stonecrow nodded to the owl as well, as if to an equal - or maybe not, the raven mask made it hard to tell. Then he gave a pained shrug. "I am...injured, but I will live. Thank you."

He then helped people up out of the 'hole' once they were ready. Once out of the hole, he stepped a bit apart to give himself a bit of room, then he did a quick series of complicated gestures and touched his chest. A little flash of warm golden light enveloped his hand and then dissipated. Some of his wounds faded.

Nemeia stayed on the dire warhorse and a little away from the others who were talking to the new strangers. The members who were sent to find the enemy did not look too bad except for The Cook. The paladin was actually a little relieved that he had survived because she had not had a chance to taste his cooking yet. From what she had heard, the enemy was dead, and they could continue their mission to head back to the castle. But everyone wanted to talk first and The-Soft-Spoken-One was already starting his ritual to identify the items found. At this rate, they were going to make camp with the strangers. The warrior tiefling's gauntleted hand tightened around the shaft of Death Seeker. She was very annoyed.

The Paladin of Vengeance took this time to appraise the newcomers.

The Bestial One was very tall, muscular and had many scars that covered his body. This one was no stranger to fighting. His towering presence alone would make others run in fear. But what interested the paladin most was the way he moved and the look in his eyes. It seemed very familiar to her. It was like something only a survivor of The Training would have. Someone who had been put through mental and physical abuse for long periods of time. Someone who had seen the face of death and did not break. Someone who rose above themselves to destroy their weakness and become stronger. Nemeia found it odd to find something in common with the stranger.

Then there was The Seductress. The tiefling wore just enough to leave to the imagination. It was most likely the armor she used against the weak willed males who did not want to attack a pretty woman. There were no scars or blimishes to mar the pristine skin and in her hands was a staff. Nemeia shook her head slightly and sighed. Another mage to flaunt her ego along with her body. The only thing good about this newcomer was the very cute owl perched on her shoulder.

The paladin would try very hard to resist the urge to pet it.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:57, Thu 30 Mar 2023.

She still insisted she wasn't a leader type, but the rest of this group still looked to her to be their spokesperson. So, after getting everyone's opinion of the battle, she wasn't about to gloat over the success of their ploy because it had been a close one--it could have gone either way.

"That's a good question, Xar'ach," she answered the bugbear. "This is but half of our merry band. Mostly we've been out patrolling the area for a new Orc invasion. We found it. Been eliminating it to the best of our abilities."

"We were on our way to rejoin the others at the Cragmaw Castle ruins when we were attacked by the Drow's monsters."

Hi, Axia! Rejoining us, hey?"

"My guess is this Drow is the Black Spider. We almost caught up with him in the Lost Mine. I got the vague impression then he was an agent for some other... creature. This would seem to confirm that."

"I suppose it won't hurt to make camp... recover. Decide what to do with this stuff."

In no particular order, Sala is able to determine that the Drow's staff is an Advantageous Staff that gives Advantage with any melee attacks as well as any ranged spell attacks when the staff is used as a focus. However, it has been attuned to evil.


The robe is a Robe of Defense: once per day as an Action, you can activate Mage Armor spell (AC 13 + Dex; 8 hours). As a separate Action, you can cast Shield spell (+5 AC next turn; no damage from Magic Missile).


The dagger is a Dagger of Venom: You gain a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with this magic weapon.

You can use an action to cause thick, black poison to coat the blade. The poison remains for 1 minute or until an attack using this weapon hits a creature. That creature must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or take 2d10 poison damage and become poisoned for 1 minute. The dagger can't be used this way again until the next dawn.

Proficiency with a dagger allows you to add your proficiency bonus to the attack roll for any attack you make with it.


Amulet of Natural AC +2


Ring of Magic Missile: once per day as an Action, you can cast Magic Missile spell (6d4+6 (15)).

The Tabaxi Hunter came across the grey render's tracks on his way to find Victor Harkness and decided one less monstrosity in the world is worth a short detour. He began to follow the trail but suddenly heard hoofbeats clomping through the woods from the direction the tracks were leading. He hid and observed as he always did when coming upon strangers in the wilds. With relief, he overheard news of the successful slaying of the render and other strange creatures. When the feinting group rejoined with the Drow strike group, he remained hidden in the underbrush and assessed the party's intentions.

Satisfied that these travelers were worth meeting, Selgar steps from the woods into the summoning area. He stands about a foot shorter than Xar'ach and is thickly muscled but moves lightly. His yellow eyes dart from person to person, his short black fur broken with numerous scars. There is a wide band of leather from his right shoulder crossing his chest diagonally like a sash covered with pockets and pouches on the front and sheathed weapons on the back. The only other garment is a pair of brown pants that end in tatters at the knee. Selgar's voice is sonorous but quiet.

"Hello."
This message was last edited by the player at 02:00, Fri 31 Mar 2023.

Sala looks over the items and tells the group what he had found out.

"Of these items, there are several that may be of interest to us. The staff seems to have been attuned to evil, however. I am unsure if I can wrestle control of it and re-align it, but I will try to do some research. The mask, I thought would have had some magical properties, but I am still trying to discern that much."

He then goes on to explain what each item would do.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:06, Fri 31 Mar 2023.

The Spider Mask has the following abilities:

1. Speak with Spiders (limited by the Int of the spider).

2. Advantage on all saves against web attacks and web spells.

3. Immune to all spider venoms.

4. Cast Spider Climb once per day.

"Greetings," Alecks says in response to yet another person popping up out of the landscape... so to speak.

"I'm Alecks Senechal... and the Confluence continues to roll on! Should we give it a name?"

"Next to me is Artagel. Then there's Theirastra, Grey Willem, Cinnabar, Mithra, Prizzard, studious Sala there, Nemeia the Paladin, Stonecrow, Xar'ach, and Axia."

"Seems like a lot, but safety in numbers is a particularly good motto these days what with the land threatening to be overrun by Orcs."

"Did the Confluence bring you here for that, too? Or do you have some other agenda?"

The brawny feline nods in greeting to each person in turn though he does not hide his suspicion toward Nemeia, Axia, Xar'ach, and Stormcrow. When he speaks, every syllable is enunciated distinctly.

"Yes. A solitary predator may hunt a single quarry but it takes a pack to fell a herd. And I sense this is a strong pack, though there are some I would distrust without further knowledge. I would join you but I am on my own hunt. I do no know about a Confluence but I seek Victor Harkness."

Selgar begins looking around for a clear path out of the area.

02:01, Today: Selgar rolled 21 using 1d20+3 with rolls of 18. Selgar notices that Cinnabar is a halfling and not a child and thus in no more danger than the rest.

"Victor leads the other half of our group," Mithra explains. "He's currently at the ruins of Cragmaw Castle not too far from here. We expect to be rejoining him in the morning."

"Don't mind the others. Our outer forms may be different, but we are kindred spirits underneath with a common goal."

As expected, the group was going to make camp. With a party this large, only a much bigger foe or one with many numbers, would attack. But watches would still have to be done. The Reluctant One was being too trusting of the strangers. One day, someone will pay for that mistake. As if to highlight the danger, a black panther walking on two legs just walked up to the camp and started to ask questions. From the way its head moved, it was looking to leave again. That was fine by the paladin. She was trying to be more trusting of the normal group, but if the stranger's stayed, it will take longer.

Finding out the group was going to make camp, Nemeia dismounted and started to stroke Despair's neck soothingly. As the paladin spoke, her voice was softer and very different when speaking to others. "Thank you Loyal One. Go home and rest well. I will call upon you soon, our vengeance is not yet complete." With those spoken words, the dire warhorse became blurry for a moment before turning into a black smoke and drifting away.

Knowing she would be taking the darkest watch, Nemeia found a place to meditate and prepare for the next day. They were still in a dangerous area and strangers were also staying at the camp. It was defiantly better to keep her armor on.