32

The Town of Thizrun
Entering a Sunblight controlled mining colony, the party took to disguising themselves as well as cloaking Sensei, who was unfortunately considered a delicacy among some gray dwarves. They soon found themselves amidst a center of trade, where commonfolk duergar kept to themselves under the oppressive presence of the Sunblight Clan. An unexpected alliance with the duergar princess Olpha Muzgardt was forged, as well as a plan to infiltrate Sunblight via a hidden escape tunnel while Olpha dined with the warlord. Before setting off towards the mines, the party purchased T-Rex the kobold from slavers. He's now part of the gang, for better or worse.

The Town of Thizrun

#UnderdarkExpedition The party neared the duergar mining colony, whose lamp lights were seen a mile down in the cavernous valley's floor. Sensei worried that their own presence would be met with possible hostility, since some duergar were known for prizing myconid flesh. Therefore the party took efforts to conceal themselves. They told Sensei to play dead, as they carted them in through the town's outer guardpost, claiming they had myconid for sale. Tetro took the form of a mule, and Fern decided to conceal her tiefling self, though tucking the tail proved troublesome. She applied some grey tint to Gadget so that she may appear to be a deep gnome. The half-orcs, Oona and Azgul, along with the bugbear Crank felt their presence was fine, given that the town below was reputedly frequented by other Underdark dwellers for trade.
#UnderdarkExpedition The duergar mining town had Sunblight soldiers positioned as guards. Past them, the party saw a series of dingy shacks and grimed shanty houses leading to a busy market square. The guards were deceived by the party's tale of being adventuring merchants with fungus for sale. Used to exerting their power, the older guard pressed them for a bribe. With a deft slight of handle, Crank took a fake cut of Sensei, and handed the duergar a tongue of madness. The guard began rambling, one thought after the next. He not only granted the party passage, but revealed that Sunblight merely controlled the town, that other duergar had to be kept in line, and that a duergar princess from the Muzgardt clan was staying at the other end of the markets, awaiting an invitation to dine and be courted by Xardorok himself. She was known to come from a line of merchant brewers in the distant cavern city of Gracklstugh.
#UnderdarkExpedition The ashen and dirtied local duergar miners kept to themself, avoiding the party, as they moved into the busy markets of the town, now known to be called Thizrun. Several deep gnomes pandered mining technology, shoved along by the occassional Sunblight soldier, and hooded drow were seen making deals in alleys with savvy duergar artisans. The town numbered one to three hundred it seemed, and one roadway appeared to lead towards the duergar's mining activity. The party noted an opulent tent as well, with several armed duergar moving in and out. This must belong to the princess. As they were milling about, they heard a croaky whisper, "Hey! I know you!" T-Rex the kobold was in a cage, his snout and eyes poking out from under a cloth. A cock-eyed duergar slaver and his bugbear bodyguard manned the booth. It seems like T-Rex fled back into the Underdark after the party took care of his cronies in Termalaine and was caught thieving. He was now for sale.
#UnderdarkExpedition Weariness began to set in. The party had been adventuring for nearly a full 24 hours. They found a roadside duergar bar, where several anxious miners tried their best to ignore them. Oona clapped one on the back and massaged the tired worker, but was taken aback when chardalyn fragments flaked off their skin. The party discovered that the mines were once brimming with the black ice, before the duergar sought out purer sources on the surface. While the dwarves were somewhat more tolerant of its corrupting effects, the party began to sense its malignant presence in the area. Azgul toyed with the stone in his pocket, his grip tightening. These duergar were downtrodden, but eventually one directed them to an inn of sorts.
#UnderdarkExpedition The inn had seen better days. Its duergar owner, Girt, did not receive the guests with open arms. He didn't care for the travelers. He didn't care for the Sunblight. He wanted to be left alone. When pressed about Sunblight, he admitted that the duergar warlord was mad, worshiping Deep Duerra, the duergar demigoddess known as the Axe of Conquest. Deep Duerra, though, had disappeared a hundred years ago. On top of that, once a nameless hovel, the very village they were in was annexed by Sunblight after the discovery of chardalyn ore. It was renamed Thizrun, the name of Xardorok's first wife who he executed. Xardorok's fortress was built up on the opposite side of the mines. Girt demanded 300 gp for the party to stay the night, since he was risking his neck. Girt, too stubborn to be swayed, convinced the party to acquiesce.
#UnderdarkExpedition The party managed to rest while staking out the Muzgardt tent. They counted five guards and, as the curtained door fluttered, a duergar woman inside. The guards wore different regalia than the Sunblight. Chancing a meeting, Fern and Oona went to the tent, asserting to her guard that they had an appointment to discuss fungus trade with the brewer princess. While the guard let them in, the duergar princess - who turned out to be nearly 300 years old - saw through them quickly, wondering why the tiefling was poorly attempting to hide her tail. She conjured tea leaves and asked them to sit. Discussion led to understanding: Olpha Muzgardt saw Xardorok Sunblight as a threat. Hovering near the women was a toy chardalyn dragon made in Xardorok's forge, which pulsed with the magic of a red dragon's heart. It was a gift of courtship she said. But she saw through Xardorok. He fervently attested to his connection to Deep Duerra, though chardalyn deranged his every thought. Not only was he a foolish warmonger, he was a threat to the Underdark. Xardorok was bent on conquering the Northdark in its entirety and all the lands that lie above.
#UnderdarkExpedition Xardorok Sunblight had been married three times, according to Olpha, siring nine children. He killed his first wife, Thizrun. His second wife, Yrraska, was killed in a tunnel collapse along with two of their daughters. His third wife, Marral, was killed during a raid against a mind flayer enclave, along with another daughter and three sons. Xardorok killed his eldest son, Ulthoon, son of Thizrun, for plotting to overthrow him. His surviving offspring number three, Durth, Nildar, and Morin. Xardorok wears a crown of chardalyn with nine spires representing his children, six of which he had since broken off. Now he wished to wed Olpha, seizing the Muzgardt Clan's merchant enterprises and mushroom ale factories.
#UnderdarkExpedition The candid Olpha Muzgardt's expression turned serious. After this discussion, it was clear the party's goals aligned with her own. They would help her depose Sunblight, she threatened, as her guards poised themselves behind our heroes. In return, she would reveal to them a hidden entrance into the fortress into its throne room, which they could take advantage of while she was dining the warlock himself. She vowed to have no interest in the surface folk following the coup, attesting to care only for the preservation of her clan.
#UnderdarkExpedition Speaking of mushroom ale, Olpha Muzgardt provided the party tinctures that would delay the onset of chardalyn corruption. The duergar were naturally resilient to poisons, including the malignant influence of the black ice, though it certainly affected them over time. This brew, she said, may help the party. Or, maybe it wouldn't, if their constitutions failed to handle it.

T-Rex, Dragon of the Kobolds

#UnderdarkExpedition Oona couldn't help but feel sorry for T-Rex, despite Crank and Azgul pleading with her to leave the issue. Fern had to chime in that an indentured servant at their newly deeded inn in Bryn Shander might not be a bad thing. And so it went that the party took T-Rex into their fold, for the meager cost of 50 gp.

XP

Total XP: 13801

1 ~ Purchased T-Rex the kobold.
2000 ~ #UnderdarkExpedition complete!
500 ~ Allied with Olpha Muzgardt.

Loot

Quieting Angel Brew ~ Olpha Muzgardt market ~ party
T-Rex the kobold ~ Thizrun market ~ Oona