Ash happily picks at the mine wall for Khyber dragon shard crystals and reminds anyone who will listen how great King Bi’hig Bruhu’ther is. Then he snaps out of the charm and hurries to catch up to Charlie Company wrecking face. Ten briefs Ash on the duergar miners who were liberated, the duergar guards and elementals who were destroyed, and King Bi’hig Bruhu’ther who is just down that hallway shooting beholder beams of anti-magic at them.
Ander considers making a flour bomb to roll up the tracks at KBB, but Ten doubts the effectiveness of flour as a destructive force unless KBB is doing keto. Ander next considers reconnoiter by fireball, but fast acting Ash is already charging up the hall toward a few approaching duergar who are immune to the persuasion of known duergar agitator Kariggs. Barika and Sqyylarr dash to try and keep up with Ash. They are joined by Ten’s spiritual weapon. Ander, a little worried about his magically attached prosthetic arm and leg, hangs back but brings his force ballista online to cannonize the duergar thugs. Watc is a little worried about her magically attached, well, everything and goes looking for a way through the mine to sneak up behind KBB’s eye ray cones.
Instead of fleeing the mine in gentlemanly capitulation, KBB has tactically withdrawn into his ceiling hole chambers from which he encouragingly motivates his enthralled minions and discouragingly eye-rays Ash with a petrification ray. Ash is worried enough to yell for help, yet composed enough to strike a heroic draw ready to plunge a longbow arrow into KBB should his emergence and Ash’s restoration ever coincide.
An anti-magic ray suppresses Ten’s spiritual weapon. Ten counters with a spiritual guardian to plug the ceiling hole so that KBB may either suppress one or the other. Ten restores petrified Ash, telekinetically shakes Sqyylarr awake from ray-induced sleep, and night steps behind a column decorated with the Khyber tile collection.
Ander suffers separation anxiety as his magically attached artificed limbs detach in the anti-magic ray. He drops the force ballista for autonomous firing mode at the duergar henchmen and takes up a position to cast upwardly scorching rays at KBB.
Restored Ash gets a couple of wide-open shots on KBB and pours in his slayer, ensnaring, goading, and pushing strikes. Barika’s greataxe finds some purchase on the duergar henchmen, but mostly she absorbs damage and eye rays so that her team does not have to. Ander’s ring links up to Ten’s divinity to bolster Barika’s health. Ten pops around the pillar of tucking to drop necrotic harm on KBB. Unnerved KBB manages only to frighten Barika.
Pent-up Sqyylarr smashes through the henchmen Harnir and Thalkahm. Watc pops out of the shallow river and immolates KBB’s insides while Ander fatally scorches rays on his outsides. Henchman Ragmand snaps out of dead KBB’s enthrall just barely saving him from Sqyylarr’s next fatal smash.
With WynkGlarx’s permission as impromptu union leader, Charlie Company gathers up all the loose Khyber dragon crystals, more than enough to satisfy the mission requirements. Available gold funds are gathered from each according to his ability to compensate the surviving miners each according to his need. Ander liberates a few books:
Architecture for Dummies by Walldorf Bricklayer
Column Building for Fun and Profit by Doric Alabastror
A journal on Basic Dragonshard Forging by Melton Hotsweaver