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When last we met, the heroes faced a hideous foe guarding the path forward as they plodded through the darkness toward the Kuo Toa town of Sloobludop. Drifting over the softly lapping waves of the Darklake an undead beholder positioned itself to prevent the party from advancing through to the far tunnel. Bloated rotting minions gurgled mindlessly as they came walking up from the depths. The group withdrew, cowed by the fearsome ocular blasts of the beholder. Stumbling over both their myriad companions as well as the waterlogged zombies, the group found themselves unable to effectively advance. The water and shifting gravel lake floor left companions in perilous positions as they strived to reach the far tunnel opening. Disintegrating blasts began to destabilize the tunnel entirely, and pressed the group to move forward.

Onward, led by the kuo toa priest, Shushaar, the group continued forth to reach their destination in several days. Shuushar guided the group through the town wall, consisting of netting, drift”wood”, and debris. The kuo toa guards seemed unfriendly and hostile at first, but your guide seemed capable and smoothed your passage inside. The town is strange and alien to you, with the odd fish-men inhabitants constantly wandering about in a manner similar to fish meandering through the nooks and crannies of underwater rock formations. Some weaved through the town asleep, with disturbing unblinking eyes not registering your presence even as they moved around you as they passed in the street. The group investigated the meagre offerings at the shops and stalls, but moved with some urgency to present themselves to the Archpriest of the Sea Mother, Ploopplopeen.

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Ploopplopeen was excited to see surface visitors, and was disturbingly quick to embroil the group in his local troubles with a rival church. Not long ago, Ploopplopeen’s daughter, Bloppblippodd experienced a vision that drove her to found the shrine to the Deep Father, Leemoogoogoon… a diety that was to be her people’s new and rightful god. Ploopplopeen had a plan in which he would offer the heroes to archpriest Bloppblippodd as sacrifices for the Deep Father. It became clear that surface sacrifices were of greater value than the typical under dark vermin that the Kuo Toa typically catch and offer. In exchange for their help, the fellowship was offered rewards in the form of valuables, a guide, and a vessel suited to navigating the Darklake. The group accepted.

Combat broke out and chaos ensued. Ploopplopeen spoke, her stance eased. Enemy guards moved in, and for a moment the group could not tell if they were in on a plan, or part of some sort of double cross. but when Plooplopeen…”. The shrine was ramshackle, erected of debris and impales creatures from the lake. Tentacled and leathery things, oozing dark fluid into a misshapen bowl. At first, the archpriest of the Deep Father stood defensively behind a line of spear wielding guards, but as Not wanting to waste any time, lest the strange ritual taking place at the docks become unexpectedly complete, the surface dwellers moved toward the docks under guard. Almost immediately, the distant drone of the Deep Father faithful could be heard…

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In the din of battle, strange splashing and burbling sounds almost went without notice, save for the keep eared and eyed of the group. Off in the distance, in the lake where the followers of the Deep Father chanted, kuo toa we being viciously sucked into the water. Their disappearance accompanied by screams, splashed of red tinged lake water, and frenzied movement just barely illuminated by the phosphorescent material in the cave and water. Moments later, the next phase of the ritual came to pass, as something terrible emerged far from the shore, amidst roiling, glowing water, and fanatical kuo toa.

The heroes arose from the dust and debris of the cave in, checking themselves for grievous injury and broken limbs. Fortunate to find themselves intact, but dismayed to find above them nothing but a tangled crush of massive stones and rockfall. The small tunnel in which they found themselves was ancient… long ago sealed by a similar cave in that left no trace of an exit. However, exposed through the collapsed tunnel wall was a surface of smooth worked stone, etched in alien runes and lettering. Intrigued, and lacking options, the band did their best to clear away the debris until they were able to reveal an entrance point into this strange structure.

Within, the trappings of a long vacant temple of some sort were identified, though to what diety the temple was devoted remained a mystery. Trudging along the humid halls of the building, the group happened upon acidic gray slimes that pulsed with strange mental energy… energy that resonated violently inside the skulls of those that drew too near. Injured from the fall that brought them here, and burned and battered by the hostile oozes, the group stopped to take stock of their situation. The weapons they used against these enemies had begun to decay and pit, and food was rather scarce. The air itself was thick and stifling, and the group feared some form of airborn spore might be making it hard to breathe. Before their rest was through, they encountered another concern – water had rolled into the chamber and was rising at an alarming rate, up to their ankles in less than an hour. The group arose, and committed to no further breaks until they were clear of this place.

More gray oozed blocked their way, hassling them with mighty swipes of their bulbous pseudopods or lashing them with blasts of mental energy. At one point they found what they thought might be an ally in this unlikely place. A floating disembodied skeleton that turned out to be encased within a gelatinous cube. It spoke to them mentally with a desire to leave this place and see the "surface" that the heroes described. They allowed it to tag along, and in return it released to them its treasure that had long been floating in the quavering mass of the cube. Overcoming a pit trap filled with a horrifically caustic black ooze, the group was able to press onward through the ever deepening water, until they came upon a strange central fountain altar. While fishing valuable from the brackish water of its basin, they were assaulted by yet more of the gray slimes – forced into a desperate battle by their mindless pressing assault. Their few precious weapons warped and shriveled from their acidic forms, but they were victorious. Here they found yet another point where the water poured in from cracks in the walls and ceiling.

In a nearby natural cave, yet more of these spouts of water – damage caused by the recent geological event that brought the party here in the first place – threatened to submerge the temple entirely. This cave seemed ready to collapse with the smallest disturbance, and given the pressure of the water spraying inward, such a collapse would fill the place in minutes.

In the end, the group decided their only hope would be to dig themselves out of this submerged place. Frantically excavating stones, and ignoring the rising water, they managed to squeeze through a narrow passage and swim upwards to where they hoped air might be. They came to learn that the temple sat at the bottom of a large body of water in the Darklake region, a mere 30' from the surface. All escaped save for their ally Eldeth, the dwarven scout.

Sad to lose such a valuable companion, the group followed Shushaar the Kuo-toa to the nearest beach before fully resting and continuing forth. Shuushaar advised that he knew this place well, and that the Kuo-Toa city was not far. Meanwhile, Sereth the drow warned the group that most kuo-toa are not like Shuushaar. They are more unpredicatable, and much less "refined". Acting somewhat strangely, he advised that the best destination would bo head for Stool's homeland of Neverlight Grove…

In the last episode of Out of the Abyss, our downtrodden heroes continued their escape effort. The evening fired up with a brutal combat with the drow masters of the garrisson and a handful of their quaggoth servants. The slaveband withdrew to the guard tower once it became clear the drow were too powerful for the poorly armed group, but once their captors began applying magic, the party decided that action was necessary.

Out the back door they crept, across the bridge to a platform that peered into darkness with the crashing waterfall in the distance. One by one, they scaled the wall, seeking to get as close to the waterfall as possible before leaping into the web-choked darkness below. Once the drow became alert to their ploy, some of the escapees went so far as to desperately jump from the platform… and pray that they clear enough space to avoid where the rope like webs below were thickest.

Down they fell, with most of them striking a pool of water far below. Some did not reach the pool, and were stranded above, dangling from sticky strands of spidersilk. As the group worked to recover all of the hanging companions, a large grey ooze lashed out at any that remained in the water. Massive pseudopods battered the heroes mercilessly until they were able to all fall back from the pool.

Sitting in the shadow of a massive fungus covered stone outcrop, the group discussed their options. Jimjar the deep gnome suggested the north passage, where he could guide them to the deep gnome city. The drow of the group urged caution, for also to the north can be found the dangers of the drow city stronghold of Menzoberranzan.

Weary and weak, the group set forth northward…

Good job last night guys! You are officially escaped… but for our band of adventurers, it’s starting to feel like they’ve fallen from the frying pan and into the fire. The Underdark is a confusing and dangerous place. A simple 5k hike takes nearly a full day, as the group is forced to overcome harsh subterranean conditions and unusual geologic obstacles. The creatures of the under dark are the stuff of nightmares. Getting back to the surface is not a simple stroll through the forest.