The adventuring party finds themselves tumbling through a portal between dimensions, sent by Elden's spell. We were on our way to Sigil, where there's hope of finding allies against Vecna. While teleporting, Skygge has a vision:
- A weakling human currying favor with the Whispering One
- Courageous goblins liberate a portrait of Vecna and Kas from miserly human merchants
- Villainous elven siblings named Dracon & Seraphina, commanded to hunt down the heroic goblins
- Skygge and Fell on a grog-fueled bender, away from the innocent goblin village
- Returning to the village to a scene of destruction and Skygge's family turned into zombies
The teleportation spell completes and we find ourselves in a beautiful glass room. An elegant Eladrin elf woman is warming her hands by the fire. A commanding man in a suit is taking a drink from a hippo person. They're joined by a dark haired witch. These are Alustrial, Mordenkainen, and Tasha, the Wizards Three!
We're welcomed, perhaps hesitantly, and a round of introductions is exchanged. They're curious why we're here of course, and we explain the current situation. Neverwinter, Waterdeep, and seemingly all of Faerun has been conquered by Vecna. The Wizards Three had hoped to prevent this from happening, but have clearly failed.
They know that Vecna has been weaving a ritual that affects the entire multiverse, channeled through Eldritch dark powers from the beyond. Could these dark powers be from a divine source? No one is sure.
Mordenkainen explains that he does have a contingency plan, however. There's an artifact scattered across the multiverse that, when combined with the Chime of Unmaking and a special ritual, could undo Vecna's changes. We are to gather the pieces of the Rod of an Unknown Number of Parts. Tasha will work to get the Chime from her father, a demon lord, Grutz. Alustrial will research the ritual required to bind everything together. Mordenkainen will surely do something useful as well.
Skygge is nonplussed by the plan, Gnarls is receptive but thoughtful, and Jain demands that we act immediately. The wizards explain that we must return to Faerun and go to the Underdark, to none other than the city of Menzoberranzan, to find the first piece of the Rod. The place is ruled by the drow, a race of backstabbing xenophobes. Surface dwellers are named iblith and are not welcome. So we must be stealthy. The Rod piece is held by Archmage Gromph Baenre, hidden in his private chambers.
Sigil is the City of Doors, and there is a portal to the underdark here, in the Mortuary. We must go there, find a being named Factal Skull, and have him take us to the Path of Graves. With a magical teacup as a portal key, we can traverse the Path of Graves to the Underdark. Once there, we are to rendezvous with Jarlaxle of the Bregan D'aerthe. He will help us with next steps to steal the piece of the Rod. A winding road indeed. Alustrial gives us a Ring of Spell Storing, Skygge steals a potion, and we head out the door.
Sigil is cold and foggy, a mixture of industrialization, alien architecture, and ancient spires. We meet our Sigil guide, Prisia the Taut, some kind of centaur llama woman. Some awkward introductions go around. She reminds us that The Lady of Pain is the supreme power here, and we should be on our best behavior but to enjoy our stay. On the streets before us are all manner of unusual inhabitants; demons, angels, elemental beings, and some natives of Sigil, the Guardians, who speak in visible *cough* sigils.
We make our way through the city stopping to admire various sights, including a gold dragon that Skygge befriends, kind of. A Mindflayer food stall catches our eye, and we share pickled flumph (definitely not just a charred squirrel), some mysterious seahorse drinks, and a side of space hamster. A Modron from the Plane of Order wanders by on some unknown mission.
We pass through the Hive Ward and make a note of a famous tattoo parlor. Perhaps we'll stop by next time we're in Sigil. Beyond lies the Mortuary District, at which point Prisia bails without ceremony. The district is vast, dominated by a sprawling, dark, stony complex with multiple entrances.
We approach the nearest door and knock on the huge skull-adorned doors, without effect. Jain takes the lead and shoves the doors open. No traps spring to life to vaporize us, and we continue inside to a series of dark, winding passages. The only life we encounter are various scurrying "Cranium Rats". Remarkably, they have some ability to speak and we're able to convince one to give us vague directions towards other humanoids, at least.
The rats' directions lead us instead to a floating skull. Factal Skull? No, but this skull can draw us a map that will take us to him. He has a floating quill and has writer's block trying to write an obituary for a local guard who slipped and died hitting his head in a bathtub. Gnarls puts his lyrical skills to use and helps out with the obituary, framing the fall as a true warrior's death, fought against the inexorable forces of nature, who we all must succumb to eventually.
With a map in hand, we continue and find yet more oddities. A grove of dark dryads tends to an orchard of deathly trees. Skygge's ability to speak with plants is put to the test as she tries to convince the central tree to give up a rare fruit. The tree is completely willing, and amazed by the experience of conversation. In the room beyond, a ghostly butler offers us all rest and sustenance in the form of obviously poisoned food and drink. Sensing a trial, Jain selects a fine wine and melon tray. She stoically finishes them without reacting, ingesting enough poison to kill half a dozen normal people. Nothing happens. Truly, wonders abound.
At last, we reach the end of the path laid out on the map and enter the chamber of an enormous orrery. The arcane mechanisms plot the movement of the stars and other celestial bodies in real time. Bizarre wonders float in orbit above us. At a console is a skeletal semblance of a man fighting with some controls. The being turns to us, announces himself as Factal Skull, and that we're just in time to save the orrery from a deadly planar incursion! On cue, a massive swirling miasma of fire and rock pulls itself through a rent in time and space! A Planar Incarnate!
A ferocious battle ensues. Jain flies straight for the elemental monster, a whirlwind of battle screams and glaive swings. Gnarls jumps aboard a passing stone column in orbit around the orrery, riding it like a surfboard, and blasts our foe with the power of rock. Skygge shrouds herself in a cloud of darkness and swarming insects, whittling the creature down from afar with crossbow bolts. The Incarnate is a master of the elements, and blasts us with directed beams of energy and arcs of plasma.
Gnarls unleashes a powerful lightning bolt, which reduces the size of the creature, but it responds with a blast of its own and he tumbles towards the ground, unconscious! Factal Skull breaks his fall with teleportation, and Jain is able to reach him to channel healing magic into him. From there, the battle grinds on as Skygge's bolts, Gnarl's magic, and Jain's glaive grind the elemental down. At last, it's weakened enough to be pulled back into the portal it came from.
Factal Skull is mildly grateful, even though he says the monster could have laid waste to the entire district. He leads us to the Path of Graves and points us to the portal we need to reach the Underdark. With a glance at one another, the party steps through and is whisked away to a dark cavern far underground. We can feel a literal mountain of rock looming overhead. The smell of stone and the soft sound of dripping water are all that we notice at first.
When our eyes adjust, we spot a figure sitting on a stool in a corner of the cavern. It's Jarlaxle, the drow. He steps forward, bows deeply, and greets us cordially. Menzoberranzan awaits.