The Underdumm Pt. 1

"The Underdumm Pt. 1" is the first episode in the "Growing Campaigns: Side Stories" catalog and the first episode in a new episodic story arc DM'd by Seth Dumm.

Part I
A group of four adventurers, hired by a mysterious stranger named The Z, set out to steal the portrait of Dr. Elgar Roivas, a long deceased Drow physician who was once well known in the Underdark city of Ehn’Gha. The mansion of the Roivas family seldom sees visitors, and the family is no longer prominent, though they remain wealthy due to the work of Dr. Elgar. The adventurers' plan goes awry when the butler of the mansion, also a Drow, caught them pilfering the portrait off of the Ballroom mantle piece. Guards overwhelmed the party, and they were hooded, stripped of their weapons, tools, and affects and sent to the dungeon cell room.

Once in the cell, and their hoods removed, they are greeted by another prisoner, an Aarakocra with blue white and orange coloring, donning worn leathers and a fedora soiled with black dirt. He introduces himself as O’Tengu. Right away the party plots their escape, and O’tengu expresses there is no way out. After a cold and dark night spent in the cell, the guards, Brash and Clang, enter carrying a single plate of guel, not even enough to serve as a meal for one weary traveler. An attempt to feign sickness and death was made by the white Kobold, Eldur Von-Ixen, to lure Brash closer. With the Deep Gnome Jerome McChrome expressing concern towards Eldur, the act was marginally successful, bringing Brash, who was also holding the keys, closer to the cell. The bright orange Kobold, Charzy made a grab for the keys, but as his hands made it through the bars, force energy threw them back. Brash laughed as he began to poke at Eldur with his war pick. Eldur gave up the act as soon as he realized the plan had failed.

“Man you look rough,” says the fourth adventurer, a black Kenku named Caw, as he helps Eldur up onto his feet. The guards make their way to the second door in the cell room, which leads to other cells where another prisoner is presumably being held. The guards exit once again, and O’Tengu seems to have a realization.

He has thought of a way to escape, but he asks that the adventurers each owe him a favor in return for freeing them. Aftersome reluctance arises, O’Tengu also sweetens the deal by agreeing to tell them where their gear is being kept. Each one of them concedes to the price of their escape with belly’s rumbling, and the words from Caw echoing in their ears. “How are we going to get home?”

A light behind O’Tengu’s eyes takes flame, and an evil smile stretches across his beak as he itterates, “Don’t forget now, you owe me one.” A brand appears on each of the PC’s dominant palms. A searing pain, and a flash of gold subsides to leave behind the mark of O’Tengu, the clashing of two swords over a watchful eye. O’tengu disappears in a puff of blue smoke that smelled of sulfur, and the earth begins to rumble and shake. Dust falls from the ceiling as crashes and groans are heard from the walls around them. The noise escalates to a crescendo, and the shaking stops. *Click* the gate unlocks and swings open.

An image of where their gear is being kept pops into their minds so that they have a general idea of where to go, and Charzy is the first to explore. He takes the direct path toward his gear, going into the second cell room where he is greeted by a shadow held by one of the cells. The shadow asks for help, and Charzy ignores him, making a b-line for the furthest cell, the one he believes shares a wall with the room holding his effects. Jerome hears the pleas for help from the shadow, and listens to his request.

A Drow wearing a black button down shirt, cloak, and pants leans forward in his cell. Jerome has to take a second look, convinced that he is staring down a true shadow, but in fact his first assumption was correct, the drow has no face and no hair. He blends into the dark cell wall almost perfectly. The shadow introduces himself as Buio, a captive of the Roivas family because he had murdered the butler. He explained that someone had stolen his face, though he was reluctant to explain further than that. A skeptical Jerome made Buio pinky swear that Buio would aid them if he was released, and a pact was made.

Charzy found a secret brick in the far empty cell and opened a door to a chest chamber, their effects found, along with four red potions.

Break

 * 10 minute break

Part II
The party then adventures through the mansion dungeon a little bit, and ended up fighting the guards that had ambushed them in the first place. They handled them easily this time, and Charzy went as far as harvesting one of the deep gnomes arms. Retrieving the key from Brashes cold corpse, the party frees Buio from the cell, who leads them out of the dungeon. Along the way they come across the body of the Budler splayed over top of a pile of bones and older rotting corpses. They leave him alone for now.

At the top of the dungeon stairs they find themselves once again in the ballroom of the Roivas mansion, the painting that was their mission is nowhere to be found. The party suggests splitting up to search for it after listening carefully around them and finding no one else in the mansion. Charzy has them all draw bones and he managed to rig the groups into one of his own design. He accompanied Jerome while they searched the second floor. Caw accompanied Eldur to the butlers pantry, and Buio was left alone to search the front room.

Caw and Eldur discovered the butler's pantry splashed with blood, and a soiled letter was left on the countertop. The letter revealed the butler’s name to be Luce, and he was in fact, Buio’s estranged brother. The note also revealed Buio to be the “Sr. Roivas” that O’Tengu had dealt with, resulting in O’Tengu being locked in the cell. The details of the deal, and reason why Buio was hanging out in the cell were left unexplained for now.

The party met in the foyer of the mansion, which was overlooked by the grand staircase balcony, Buio nowhere to be found. To the parties dismay, the front door was also locked, so they could not escape. Eldur then remembered a clue that was left in the note, the butler held the keys, and they already knew where he was.

They reached the pit with the mound of bones once more, the body of the butler still laying on top. Everyone but Jerome entered the pit to examine the butler or the pile, and they were met by a menace. Not long before entering the pit, the party was psychologically accosted. A shifting of bones revealed an Intellect Devourer, a large brain on claw-foot legs, scuttling about the pile. A dangerous fight ensued and Charzy was brought down. Luckily, Eldur decided to help him up before his fate was sealed, and they managed to slay the beast. The brain sent them a message telepathically, but tragically, the language it used to communicate in was unknown to the party, and the message is lost.

Grabbing the keys off of the butler, the party rushed upstairs to escape the mansion. As the key turned the bolt in the door, and Eldur twisted the handle to open the door, “Hahahaha” a voice laughed behind them. “You think this is over, don’t you. You think you’re escaping?!” They turn to see Buio, the faceless Drow, hovering over the precipice of the grand staircase. “No, this is just the beginning! Your fates as well as mine have been set in motion. They will be entwined for all of eternity. You think you just owe O’Tengu a favor?? Hahah, no! You have sold your soul to the Devil himself.” Buio threw the painting down to the party as they’re exiting. “Here, don’t forget to take this with you, and tell The Z, I said ‘Hello’.” A gust of wind blew them out of the doorway with such force that they landed ten feet away. Buio’s laughter echoed through their ears until the door slammed shut, when it ended abruptly.

Player Characters

 * Caw
 * Charzy
 * Eldur Von-Ixen
 * Jerome McChrome

New

 * O’Tengu, celestial Aarakocra and former cell mate to the adventurers
 * Buio Roivas, the "Sr." of the Roivas House
 * Brash, Deep Gnome guard
 * ___, Deep Gnome guard
 * ___, Deep Gnome guard

Mentioned

 * The Z, the mysterious figure that gave the adventurers their mission.