Queen Waybeard’s host returns to Mithral Hall with some notables rescued from destroyed Quastarte about the time the caravan arrives. Cleanup ensues and a council hosted by the queen, Regent Stonespeaker, and Master Brand convenes to exposit the situation.
This invasion of creatures, the Quori, from the plane of Dal Quor pushed through a portal at Quastarte by using a zero day exploit of dreamstate, but not before there were warnings from a Very Good Source. The university successfully evacuated people, material, and valuable commodities via portal out to Villa Glamhoth dal e’ Anto. Professor Anton Steele, famously preserved in a constructed body, and Regent Stonespeaker, famously preserved in his own dwarf body, stayed behind at Quastarte to lead the doomed defense at the cost of 1100 spellguard souls. The caravan with its secret cargo is ultimately headed to a monastery of Brother Im at the Firepeaks.
Steele disrupts the exposition as he obsesses over the location where Cohoreth escaped through his gate portal. Steele etches a burned circle into the floor despite the queen’s objections and gets an idea. Caravan companies are dispatched with instructions to gather and return with any living thing exactly five days old. Charlie Company commandeers a druid ringer and heads to Settlestone. Mushrooms of the correct maturity are purchased from a reputable mushroom dealer.
Steele sprinkles the mushrooms on the circle, incants a little deepspeech, and Cohoreth becomes visible through the mushroom hole. Gotcha! Steele jumps through the mushroom hole.
As the queen’s floor is already ruined, Ander tests out some acid-resistant armor made from the vanquished soldiers. The armor performs better than the floor. Sqyylarr, last to “not it”, becomes the recipient of the experimental psychic control armor.
Somehow the creature trapped in the guest room, assumed to be a soldier, has gotten loose. Charlie Company is tasked with exterminating the dangerous beast. They descend into a dark cellar and explore along dilapidated rail bridges.
Barika discovers a new creature when it strangles her. Ander’s turret slays the strangler but falls when the bridge collapses under it dividing the party on either side. Ander embiggens a board and demonstrates its structural integrity, but Watc, at 280 pounds, is not so sure.
The stranglers attack nonstop, but fortunately succumb to the slightest injury.
Hops misses a jump and falls, but Ander reacts to featherfall him and, tied by rope, jumps over and snags Hops. Sqyylarr, at the other end of Ander’s rope, feels the tug get lighter when Ander reduces Hops. Something very powerful knocks Briar out. Watc helps Sqyylarr to help Ander to help MiniHops up where he can heal Briar with a word.
The thing what almost killed Briar escapes in the darkness. Briar and Ander examine some open egg sacs along the walls.