<The next journal page is filled with scribbled notes>

Best idea ever. Naturally vetoed by the team
Step 1. we take the note that began with “To Maldric Scarmaker”, and ended with “Your friend and ally — Paldemar”.
Step 2. We scrape the ink off everything in between.
Step 3. we replace the missing text with…..
….. at which Klajdu suggests “Please let live and tell all detail of Plan” ?

K, (looking up): “Klajdu admire stalactite”
someone – “It’s good you know which one to look at”
K: “Ah, one chance out of two”.

Shazia: “They’ve got something in that tower.”
Splug: “I bet they’ve got strippers.”
Shazia: {pause}. “I don’t think I understand the Raven Queen cult”.
Splug: “It *is* complicated”.

Klajdu: “How many gnoll at Well of Demons? Also why not call Well of Gnolls?”

Someone: “So how do we know you can handle yourself?”
Neil Sapphire: “I’ve handled myself plenty.”

Klajdu, (on learning how Splug made his Pogre belly and minotaur jerky): “I see. It was best when not know secret.”

Shazia: “This is better than screaming. ”
Klajdu: “Ah. Jury out. ”

Neil Sapphire: “WanananananBWUM bwum snicka….”
Kalystra: “NO!! I don’t like folkstep!”

Neil Sapphire: “Do you guys want to take a short rest?”
Shazia: “Sure. Wait, does that mean you’re going to sing?”
Neil Sapphire: “Of course!”

Klajdu, nearly asking Splug a question: “How did you…. did you…. Should not ask. Did you form the poop into….?”

—————————-

I wasn’t able to make much of the construct but I’m glad I got a good look at it. I took one of its arms. Ostensibly to have option of waving it about and causing mass panic back at the 7-pillar hall (hey, options are good). At least I didn’t collect any teeth though. And anyways standards for behavior are relatively low right now with this crowd – as I straightened up from dismembering the bronze warder I saw Distress coyly lifting the tunic of a dead tiefling.

We went back to the 7 pillar hall, with our captive tiefling (and hopefully with neither teeth nor anything else from any of the dead ones). We dragged the captive to Aruntor and told all. Paldemar is King Boss Evil Guy. He’s not “missing”, he’s “the problem”. Notes were waved about. Fingers were waggled. Mysterious towers were vaguely pointed at.

Aruntor was overcome but fortunately did not prevail upon yours truly for any more free drinks. Aruntor in fact quite soberly put the tiefling in a cell and promised to interrogate him more soon. Much discussion ensued about whether Aruntor could repair the Bronze warder (warder-forearms were much gesticulated-at and somewhat gesticulated-with), how long such a repair might take, the differences between the Warders and the Ordinators, which of the two might be useful in a fight. I think. I lost track and started drinking after a while. It’s a blur until the entrance of Neil Sapphire, who snuck into a strange situation and out-stranged it.

Neil Sapphire: singer, songwriter, raven queen cultist. I could say more if my mouth didn’t keep hanging open. He’s kind of awesome, if awesome occasionally made you want to crawl into a hole and hide. He goes by Neil or “Bro” but not by Sapphire. He appears impervious to browbeating.

Neil Sapphire: [[ I share a psychic bond with Dr Cabin and he sent me a message telling me to come here and help you guys. ]]
Shazia: Can you send him a message right now? From all of us?
Neil Sapphire: Sure!
Shazia: What. The. Fuck?
Neil Sapphire: Er, Dr Cabin is in kind of a fragile place at the moment so I don’t think I’m going to pass that along.

———————

We slipped away. plus the bard Neil, cause he fit right in. And minus Carn which was a shock. From what I can tell I think Carn got too fascinated by the dynamics of the hall – a fearful crowd grappling with suddenly uncertain lines of authority? Maybe he sensed an opening. Maybe when we come back he is considerably richer and/or he’ll run the place.

I just remembered a detail I almost forgot — Aruntor told us a bit about the the lower layers beneath the hall and the Well of Demons. It’s this — There are layers, and each layer has a test.
There, isn’t this an informative journal? If you the reader are thinking a crazy goblin with a pot on his head would take better notes, I invite you to look through his belongings. Undoubtedly priceless and evocative materials await.

The party thus reconfigured, sauntered further underground, variously enduring screaming in long-dead demonic languages and folkstep. We reached a big high-ceilinged chamber marked on the map. In the hall were 5 columns. Each column had the face of a leering fanged minotaur carved into it. The map had no mention of the columns, nor of their conversational habits. 2 of the columns nonetheless spoke to us.

Greetings, seekers of Baphomet’s boundless glory.
Those who prove unworthy of his attention
Shall be claimed forever as his slaves.
Those who prove worthy
Shall be granted power beyond mortal reckoning.
Mask, bell, blade, and tome

Splug immediately went over to a well in the far southwest of the chamber. Why? because he has a pot on his head and don’t ask silly questions.
Fun happy things apparently called Ceiling Chokers slithered out from the ceiling near the columns and attacked us, as did a lovely Phalagar which popped up out of the apparently-dry well. They were friendly and more than a little grabby. They responded positively to fire, stabbing, axification, blasting, frost, and everything we could think of, until they died. Oh and singing.
And then the ghouls came. Hopefully not for the singing.

Sapphire confused and shocked enemies with hymns and shrieks, and at one point partly stunned a ghoul by saying “Your mama is so fat she was mistaken for a gelatinous cube!!!”.

After the enemies fell and a couple motes of dust had settled Splug lowered himself into the dry well to find only new depths of nastiness. The Phalagar had been living there for some time, and he reported that some mad soul had in fact been feeding it.
In the chamber we saw carving on the walls that looked to be of Minotaurs, carved by Minotaurs, but nothing else of note. This despite a veritable montage of silliness where we touched blades to columns and ritual tomes to columns and god knows what to columns when nobody was looking.

And thus after a short rest with some light vocal accompaniment, we took the east exit and were immediately attacked by something massive and distinctly evil. The screaming in my head instantly increased to where it made my teeth hurt and I freaked out a bit and unleashed quite a lot of my powers at whatever it was. The rest of the party likewise laid into the evil demonic thing and after a tough fight it turned to dust and was gone.

Which brings me to where I am now, cowering a bit in a corner trying to block out some kind of halfling-jazz rendition of “we are the champions”.