Welcome back, adventurers! This week's delve into the Mad Mage's dungeon saw our intrepid party descend to Level 2 and encounter a host of bizarre and dangerous situations.
The session kicked off with the party back in Waterdeep, tending to mundane matters after clearing the initial parts of Level 1. They engaged in some shopping, with discussions around the cost of diamonds for spells and the potential purchase of magic items like scrolls, bags of holding, and a handy haversack. Gold seemed to be a topic of interest, with characters checking their funds.
Ready for more dungeon delving, the party descended once more, finding themselves in a long hallway with branches to the east and west. A bat was sent to scout ahead. This led to the discovery of a room with defaced dwarven bas-reliefs and the sound of banging to the north. Further exploration revealed a water pump and more branching hallways.
Following the sounds of banging, the party encountered a room where goblins appeared to be building something. This led to a significant interaction involving a cursed Staff of Charming that loudly accused a party member of being a thief before becoming useless.
Continuing north, the party entered a large, well-lit chamber resembling a flea market, populated by numerous goblins hawking various wares. This was revealed to be a goblin market. Only one member of the party could understand Goblin. They learned that the goods were likely stolen or found in the dungeon.
Their exploration of the market led them to a granite throne and eventually to a room in the southeast where they encountered Yech, a handsome man wearing a golden circlet, reclining on cushions and eating an apple, surrounded by goblins and guarded by bugbears. They also saw a gagged dwarf and the goblin Glom being held prisoner.
The party negotiated with Yech to purchase the freedom of both Glom and the dwarf for ten gold pieces. Glom, grateful for her release, offered to provide useful information, claiming to know the layout of the level, the location of a Xanathar Guild outpost, and the stairs leading down. She also revealed that Yech was not a typical goblin but had been transformed into a human by the golden circlet. Some goblins were unhappy with Yech's leadership.
After freeing them, the dwarf was initially aggressive but was calmed down by the party. As they were leaving Yech's chamber, they were approached by two goblins, Darryl One and Darryl Two, who asked for their help in ending Yech's curse, stating that many goblins were unhappy with his rule.
The party devised a plan and confronted Yech in his chamber. A fireball was unleashed, followed by other attacks, and Yech was quickly defeated. The bugbear guards were also swiftly dealt with.
With Yech gone, the goblins celebrated, offering the party free non-magical gear and 50 gold pieces. Glom then led them to Yech's treasure room. Inside, they found a gruesome diorama, an ivory chessboard, a painting of Yech, and a chest containing 2,000 silver coins and some costume jewelry.
The freed dwarf, Copper Stormforge, revealed that he had hidden a map of Level 3 in a rather unconventional location and offered it to the party as thanks. He then decided to leave Undermountain.
Glom informed the party about a Xanathar outpost on this level, down a particular hallway. Exploring this area with a scout bat revealed a long corridor with animated frescoes depicting dwarven shieldwarves. This led to the discovery of a room with a limestone altar covered in what appeared to be molten gold, which was identified as an ochre jelly. Wall carvings depicted the demon lord Jubal-Xoo. An inscription on the altar in Abyssal read: “a gift of flesh willingly given can feed our internal hunger”.
Another door opened into a room containing a dwarven skull encased in glass, floating within a gargantuan gelatinous cube. The party engaged the cube in combat and successfully destroyed it. The skull was determined to have a magical property related to enlarging gelatinous cubes.
Finally, opening another door resulted in a burst of saltwater, revealing the putrid corpse of a human wizard, one of Halaster's apprentices, and waterlogged books. With the session drawing to a close, the party decided to rest before continuing their exploration next week.