5th day of Mirkul (possibly)

Before we start the rest though, we decide to quickly go and check on the bugbears that we had tied up.  We discover that they have been freed – their ropes were cut – so obviously Black Spider or another of his henchmen (henchbears? henchbugs?) have been here.  We withdraw to the cavern with the glowing brazier and have our short rest.  We debate on whether to confront the wraith again, but decide that it looks a bit too scary for us, so decide to go and talk to the senile beholder again, and persuade it that we are the new owners of Wave Echo Cave, and all the wizards it used to serve are dead.

We enter the building and hear its familiar burbling voice in our heads.  Garrett starts speaking (or sub-vocalising to it).  He tells it that all of the wizards that it used to serve are long dead, having died in some great battle outside.  It looks quizzical (possibly, difficult to tell on a disembodied eye), and asks us to confirm this a few times.  Then it just suddenly vanishes.

We wait a while to see if it will reappear, before deciding that possibly it had been bound by the wizards and so is now free.  Garrett examines the brazier of green flame and mutters some exploratory incantations over it.  I go and look at the remaining workbenches and find a very fine looking brass headed mace and a breastplate with a dragon’s head on it.  Garrett extends his incantations to examine these items as well.  Aramil takes the mace, which is sacred to Lathanader and is called Lightbringer.  Elaina takes the breastplate, which was made for a hero of Neverwinter called Turgon and is called Dragonguard.  Usefully, it gives extra resistance to dragon’s breath.

It turns out that the flaming brazier will also make mundane items temporarily magical as well, so we dip our weapons and armour into it, and go hunting for Black Spider.  We return to the wave cavern and up the ledge to the far end.  We find a natural fissure where a stream once obviously flowed, but is now dry.  I scout ahead, and find a good sized chasm with a wide fissure across it.  There is the noise of rocks being moved, and I see two bugbears down at the bottom of the fissure, moving rocks around.  Ropes lead up to the floor on the far side, where a further bugbear is supervising them.  I wait and continue to observe, and see a drow is also there as well – this time this must be Black Spider.  We decide that trying to fight them across the fissure is not ideal, as they can easily flee if they start losing, so decide to find the other route into that cave.  We return through the bugbear room, then up the corridor and turn right.  Ahead we hear the noise of the bugbears, so know we are close.  I return to the forge room, and scout up the water channel, guessing that it should also come out into that cavern.  I am correct, and the ambush is set.

I start by shooting the drow, having previously magically marked his as my quarry.  Garrett leaps forward and casts a spectacularly useless shatter spell.  Aramil casts an invocation at the bugbear that freezes it in place, while Elaina slashes at the drow twice, but only hits it once.  The drow now draws a sword and attacks Elaina with little effect.  I shoot it again.  Garrett casts another incantation at the drow, and it drops to the floor.  Aramil hits the still frozen bugbear with his new mace.  Elaina rushes forward and cuts one of the ropes that a bugbear is climbing, causing it to tumble to the floor.  I shoot the other bugbear, and Garrett leaps forward and stabs it with his rapier.  It clutches its face in agony and falls from the rope, breaking its neck as it hits the cavern floor.  Aramil hits the frozen bugbear again, but his blow is deflected by its armour.  Elaina steps in and delivers the coup de grace, while I shoot the final bugbear at the bottom of the rift.

We examine the body of the drow to find that this one has also reverted to a doppleganger form like the last drow.  Was this really Black Spider?  Are all the Black Spiders dopplegangers?  Is there one Black Spider somewhere who is sending out all these duplicates?  Will we ever work out what is going on?