Still riding the high of defeating the Angel, the adventurers rested among their duergar allies, then descended into the next level of the dungeon. At least it looked nice, much like a noble manor up in Waterdeep. But it obviously contained horrors - the party was immediately beset by several grells. Being fully rested, high level spells and divine smites flew all around, from fireballs to fire storms.
Having defeated the grells, the adventurers explored the mansion, studying its statues and reliefs. These told the tale of the Shadowdusk noble house: once explorers and merchants, now banished into the Underdark and their upside manor burned. Did the wizard on the fresco corrupt the crystal tablet, or did the tablet corrupt the wizard?
Anyway, the party ventured into nothic territory, and slaughtered the creatures relentlessly. Except two that were obviously scared and hiding; those were spared.
The nothics held nothing of value, nor was any loot to be found in their rooms. The adventurers decided to go down some stairs. The manor grew darker, and they were beset by shades and whispers. They also met worthy opponents: invisible death slaad set upon them with fireballs. They were also resistant to the fire and cold based spells the party threw at them, but not to the divine smites of Brienne.
With their fireballs exhausted, the slaadi conjured cloudkill spells, then resorted to hit and run attacks by turning invisible. This would have been quite successful bar Brienne's sentinel feat, which held them in place and the adventurers beat them down.
In the end, one slaad escaped, and the adventurers were exhausted of resources, but victorious.
*************
During the next session, the party stopped for a short rest in an abandoned library, then continued exploring the mansion. In a particularly large hall, they met will-o-the-wisps, and at the query regarding their purpose, Brienne declared they are here to cleanse the halls of evil. Who'd have guessed, the wisps and their nothic allies attacked. Obviously, they were swiftly defeated.
Alas, while the adventurers delved into some neighboring rooms, surviving wisps alerted two mages and their grell servants. The horribly mutated casters - a man without eyes and a misshapen woman with two sets of arms and mouths - jumped the party with 9th level spells, stunning most of the adventurers and almost but not quite ravaging Szivem. The response was overwhelming. While Groin's Destructive Wave was Counterspell'd, Szivem's careful spell'd Disintegrate could not be countered. The eyeless man died, and the woman fled.
Having defeated the wizards, the adventurers explored the rest of the second level of the mansion. A burned library held no secrets, and a laboratory had nothing useful in it after a cursory glance. The home offices of two mad mages[1] had two spellbooks and some cash to be looted.
The party then descended to the third level of the mansion, and took off in a random direction. They opened a door into a strangely warped chamber, with a shape shifting statue and a cloaked figured kneeling in front of it. This proved to be a mutated insectoid-human thing, actually a powerful caster with a dinosaur bodyguard.
Brienne rushed up to the cloaked figure, who decided to ignore her and instead unleash psychic spells upon the party. Szivem's head exploded[2], the rest were stunned. Perfect timing for a slaad to come out of invisibility and give them the fireball. Combat proceeded from here, with the adventurers scattering, the caster keeping Brienne stunned, counterspelling all of Groin's heals, and generally having fun. When Ireth was caught in a fear spell, Groin had finally had enough and used his 9th level mass heal. The caster shrugged and teleported away, and the slaad turned invisible. The party beat down the dinosaur, and decided to retreat in order to resurrect their fallen companion.
[1] Hue hue hue
[2] Her player spent the rest of the session rolling for the mobs.
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