Bromsby and Lefty guide the party around the outskirts of the air cult quarter of the underground Besilmer city. Along the way, Haerelben forges inflammatory graffiti to promote violence between the Howling Hatred air cult and the Black Earth earth cult.
The party enters the temple area of the Black Earth by way of a room with four massive columns attended by a large dwarven statue in the center. Haerelben draws Theren’s attention to footsteps in the dust indicating the statue is less than completely inanimate. On cue, the statue attempts to strike Haerelben with its spiky ball fists. Lefty flanks to the statue’s side and punches it repeatedly in the face, or what would be its face if it were the height of a tabaxi.
Bromsby’s thorn whip and Meega’s giant slayer have no problem damaging the statue, but Theren’s crossbow bolts glance off, forcing him to consider alternatives. In a moment of insight, Theren holds up his hands in the triangular sign improvised by Allana back in the Sacred Stone Monastery to fool Jurth. Lefty notices and repeats Theren’s gesture where the statue can see it. The statue dwarf returns to standby mode.
Theren concocts a plan to infiltrate the temple. He and Meega retrieve acolyte robes and masks taken from the Sacred Stone Monastery for Theren and Bromsby to take the role of earth cultists. There are three leather flying suits taken off the air cultist spellguard imposters at ambush in the Sumber Hills for Lefty, Meega, and Haerelben to play the captured air cultists.
Theren leads the procession along a corridor that snakes through the temple. With so many doors and cross passages, Theren resorts to luck to choose their path. After a few randomized left and right turns, they come to a room with a crudely fashioned humanoid statue, made from various earthen materials. Bromsby, bringing up the rear to prevent the prisoners from escaping, investigates the statue and discovers the new statue stands upon the rubble of a broken up Besilmer dwarf statue.
Continuing along randomly, the party encounters a steep chasm from which the slavish sounds of hammering and chains are distinctly heard. There is a narrow ledge along the top of the the chasm, but fate does not choose that path at this time.
Wending their way through, the party finds a slit in the wall strategically sighted down a corridor to the left. Theren, with two stripes on his stone mask instead of Bromsby’s one, commands subordinate Bromsby to take the lead long enough to ensure the slot isn’t a murder hole or a Pee Pee Orc styled trap. Theren resumes the lead when nothing bad happens to Bromsby.
The sound of hammers on anvils emanates from a door. It would be weird for a cultist to knock on his own door, so Theren throws it open with appropriate bravado.
A strong female hammerer stands between two anvils, hammering out items on each while a pair of duergar arrange items upon the anvils. A forge occupies the center of the room and workbenches line the walls. At the far end, to the east, the chasm cuts through this room.
Theren apologizes profusely for his error. He’s kind of new to the organization, just in from Red Larch, and still finding his way around trying to escort these doomed prisoners. He’s the first to admit he gets carried away with his duties sometimes.
The indifferent hammerer takes a break while the two duergar become very concerned about the presence of the “windbag” prisoners. They administer a classic test: Who’s the priest in Red Larch? Theren confidently supplies the nearly correct answer: Larrakh. Everyone in the room agrees that Larrakh is a disgrace, but the duergar nevertheless remain unconvinced that Theren and Bromsby are gung-ho earth cultists.
One duergar attacks Theren while the other becomes invisible. Theren and Meega attack the visible duergar and Lefty triple punches it to death.
Haerelben chats up the indifferent anvil hammerer to learn whether she plans to join this fight for either side. She’s not paid by Urnrayle to fight, just to hammer out items. Which items? She hammers out typical anti-air-cultist element stuff, that’s what Xharva Deem does. Haerelben meanwhile ambles in the direction where the invisibly surviving duergar was last seen and fortuitously bumps into him, revealing his location to the party.
Meega cuts into the duergar’s leg, knocking him down, then plants her giant slayer into his proneness. Again, it is Lefty who swoops in for the final punchline.
Xharva Deem is slightly perturbed at the loss of her helpers but doesn’t mind very much when Theren pushes their bodies into the chasm. She’s fine as long as no one takes anything from her shop. Bromsby identifies her as a djinn. The party excuses itself, leaving her in peace.
The next room features a rectangular basin of fresh water. Investigation of the basin reveals that the water could be used to quench a thirst. Unfortunately no one in the party has a thirst.
Haerelben casts locate object for Iron Fang. His unfamiliarity with the artifact prevents resolution of a particular direction, but he can sense the item within 1000 feet.
A randomly selected passage ends in double doors. Theren boldly enters Besil’s main kitchen comprising four large ovens. The party’s combined odor immediately offends Broog and Nurg, the two heads of an ettin rummaging for food in the kitchen.
Nurg and Broog don’t agree upon which of them is in charge, but they do agree they are hungry and offer to digestively relieve Theren and Bromsby of their air cult prisoners. Theren apologetically insists that he has explicit directions from Urnrayle to deliver these prisoners to the executioner’s block, but Lefty looks very tasty and Broog and Nurg make a grab for her.
Meega’s giant slayer bites satisfyingly into the giant before he can bite into Lefty. Bromsby erupts the kitchen floor into earth behind Nurg and Broog. Lefty punches while Theren crossbows, heaping damage on the poor ettin who has no chance to survive. Meega’s giant slayer critically slays the giant.
Bromsby discovers a treasure pile hidden under a pelt: 2900 copper, 130 electrum, an ivory elephant statue, and two gold bracelets. The treasure is surrendered to treasurer Theren.
The kitchen seems relatively unvisited by the Black Earth so the party pauses for the night.