Synopsis: Relay

The last surviving half-illithid warrior from the slave party the heroes had ambushed had little of value to reveal. The creature had admitted that it did not know the location of the mind flayer sept; the warriors had always marched fresh slaves down the tunnel and to a relay point a few miles from the far end, then turned them over to others to complete the trip. At best, they could use the creature to find that relay point and try to capture a more useful prisoner.

But how to approach that point? Half-illithids were telepathic, the heroes knew, so it could easily and silently send warning of the attack ahead. Finding the correct point without a guide, however, would be extremely difficult.

Tika hit upon an effective solution. She cast a geas on the warrior requiring it to conduct them to the relay point, informing any contacts that they were the last surviving slaves after an ambush on his group; enjoining the creature from communicating anything that would reveal the deception; and requiring it to then leave the area immediately and remain at least 100 miles away for the duration of the spell. This left the warrior with no choice but to fulfill the geas or suffer the debilitating consequences, whch Tika carefuly and graphically described for his benefit.

With their reluctant guide in the lead, the party headed down the tunnel into the underworld. They camped for the night just inside the mouth of the tunnel where it joined a larger underground passage and passed a mostly uneventful night. Vondran spotted a pair of small gnome-like creatures skulking toward the camp in the night but they ran at the first sight of the party rousing.

In the morning -- or what passed for morning in a place with no natural light at all -- Tika prepared a heroe's feast for the group (with the exception of their conscripted guide) and Ash cast a veil spell to make the party appear to be exhausted aquatic humanoids chained together. Thus prepared, they set off for the relay point.

The relay point proved to be a long stone bridge spanning a chasm so deep none in the party could see to the bottom. On the near side stood an athach -- a huge, hulking brute of a creature with three arms, each of which held a massive wooden morningstar. Their captive, playing the role he was compelled to play, motioned them past it and toward the bridge.

The party stepped onto the bridge and saw two more of the giant brutes on the far side. Loki's sharp eye also spotted a smaller, more sinister figure lurking behind one of them -- a mind flayer.

Before the heroes could take action another mind flayer stepped out of the shadows and aimed a mind blast at them. Tika was stunned but the rest shook it off and sprang into action.

Loki charged the mind flayer and scored a powerful hit and psychic strike, prompting the creature to dimension door to the safety of an athach's shadow. Vondran likewise ran toward the end of the bridge and hurled the Arm of Telomir at an enemy. Fortunately the harpoon did not become lodged in the athach's body or Vondran could have been easily pulled off the bridge.

An athach advanced on Loki and bashed at him with all three weapons and a vicious bite while another hurled rocks at Vondran. The third moved up to flank Ash and Tika, holding a morningstar at the ready to crush the first one who tried casting a spell.

Ash took the challenge. She first backed up and then cast Bigby's Grasping Hand. The shimmering giant hand appeared and she used it to bull rush the athach. The hand won the exchange and the athach fell off the bridge, falling into the darkness so far that nobody ever heard it land. Hyros cast a quick sanctuary on Tika and moved to interpose himself between her and Ash and the mind flayer behind them.

With its cover now gone, that mind flayer used exhalation of the black dragon to douse Hyros in acid while the first used a mass cloud mind to hide itself from most of the party. Vondran charged off the bridge attempting a spring attack but was stopped in his tracks by a massive blow from an athach.

The other athach, either recognizing the danger of Ash's magic or acting on instructions, began hurling rocks at her from across the chasm. Ash retaliated by using the Bigby's Grasping Hand to shove the athach toward the chasm but was not able to push quite hard enough to cause the creature to fall. Another volley of rocks caused Ash to move the hand to protect herself and cast stone body to become more resistant to damage.

Vondran regained his balance and jabbed the Arm of Telomir into his attacker, getting it stuck in the athach's body. The athach then bull rushed Vondran off the ledge. He held on to the harpoon's attached chain and climbed back up while Loki kept the creature too busy to dislodge the harpoon and send Vondran plunging.

Meanwhile, Hyros had been protecting Ash and the stunned Tika by menacing the mind flayer behind them. He shook off two fierce psionic attacks and practically cleaved the creature in two with a pair of smiting blows. He then ran to Ash's aid with a heal as she punished the athachs with a pair of fireballs.

The enemy was on its last legs. Loki felled an athach as the second fireball cooked its comrade. Hyros spotted the remaining mind flayer and hit it with a dimensional anchor to ensure that it couldn't easily escape capture. With the battle clearly lost, both the illithid and the last athach turned and ran.

They would not escape. Hyros cast a quick march and the entire party ran off in pursuit. Between the spell and his own abilities Loki tore ahead and caught the mind flayer in just seconds, ending the chase in a flying tackle and holding the illithid until Vondran could arrive with the dimensional shackles. The athach lumbered on and almost caught up with them before collapsing and dying from wounds inflicted by Loki during the combat.

The party wasted no time questioning their prisoner. With Hyros and Loki doing the talking they demanded that the creature reveal the location of the illithid sept, directions to it, and basic information about the strength and nature of its defenses. The mind flayer was belligerent but under duress flashed a map into their minds of the settlement and the route to reach it. It encouraged the party to march into the sept because their brains would be a delicious treat for its inhabitants.

Tika quickly scribed the map onto paper from her memory. When the mind flayer refused to provide any solid intelligence on the sept's defenses the party held a brief consultation on how to deal with it. Hyros volunteered to end the creature with his sword, and it was done.

The party found a place to camp and rest. They had a destination now and the means to find it. What exactly they would do once they reached the sept remained an open question.