Chapter 4: Part 4: Everything is Bigger Underground

Exiting through the main door to the back of the Drow fortress, Operation Trundle Wagon see three paths: right, left, and middle.

They take the less traveled path to the left, embarking on a long and uneventful journey through the least traveled path while hoping to avoid the Drow’s notice as they search for the warrens.

At another fork, they check the path to the right. Fennuris realizes the map they have is a direct guide to the Drow vault they need to find.

They decide to continue on this less traveled path. The cave becomes rockier and covered in rubble. The deep caverns are less maintained and more challenging to navigate.

After spending a long time in narrow passages, they reach a large opening in the cave. The space is wide and high, with rubble strewn across the ground. The sides of the cave are especially covered and difficult to traverse, forcing them to stick to the middle area of the large room.

Cautiously walking forward and slightly off to the side of the path, Kazik the wolf’s paw breaks through the dirt, causing the ground around him to give way. Silvius hopes off of his mount and Kazik frees himself, revealing a deep hole.

Oscorn throws a magically lit pebble down the hole. They watch it roll down a long slope before disappearing into the depths.

The team is concerned, noticing similar mudcaps scattered along the hall and around them.\

“Stay on the path, I know because I remember my first path” says Czolg

The team continues forward, and the room opens up further. About five feet ahead of them, an area opens up to more rubble. It appears to have been an excavation project that was abruptly halted.

In the distance, they see a creature that looks like a gigantic ant. It walks out and looks around. The ant shakes from front to back, releasing puffs of hair into the air.

Silvius grants darkvision to Oscorn, Fennuris, and ADC. With her enhanced vision, Fennuris immediately shoots and kills the ant in the distance.

The team moves forward cautiously, anticipating the appearance of other insects.

Suddenly, four dark-colored ants with flat, large heads come scurrying around the corner at a rapid pace, heading straight towards the team.

More ants emerge in front of them as well as behind them. Ants seem to be coming from every hole in the earth as the hero are surrounded. The ants quickly surround Fennuris, Silvius, and Kazik. One of the ants tries to pass by, but Kazik bites and kills it instantly.

Fennuris fires her arrows at the ants around them, swiftly killing all four. She spins around and fires another arrow at an ant approaching from the north, taking it down.

ADC strikes one of the charging ants to the north, killing it effortlessly.

Silvius mocks the next ant charging forward, disorienting it.

More ants appear ahead of Czolg. Several of them run past, while others emerge, once again surrounding Fennuris, Silvius, and Kazik.

An ant charges Czolg with all its might but collapses right in front of him.

Fennuris disengages from the approaching ants and dashes to the east, hiding among the rocks.

Kalinar moves behind the ants Fennuris fled from and creates a boom of thunder, badly hurting many of them. He then moves north.

Kazik bites one of the ants, wounding it, while Silvius strikes it with his flaming sword. Kazik then runs towards Fennuris, and Silvius positions himself next to Oscorn.

Piercing ants surround everyone, and one of them sprays acid at the group.

Oscorn casts a weak dawn spell, hurting many of the ants.

Fennuris, Oscorn, and Czolg suffer some ant bites, and Oscorn, Czolg, and Silvius are sprayed with acid.

Fennuris dodges back again from the ants.

Kalinar casts black tentacles, ensnaring several ants.

Silvius casts spirit guardians, killing many ants around him. He moves south to strike four more of the charging ants, then retreats to stand between Oscorn and Czolg.

Kalinar, Silvius, Kazik, and Czolg endure bites from the ants.

Kazik is brought down by the charging ants, and Fennuris continues to be bitten as more ants join the fight, fully surrounding her.

Czolg strikes the ant next to Silvius twice, wounding it.

Fennuris shoots a short-range volley at the ants around her, killing many. However, she fails to find a good hiding spot.

Kalinar summons a tentacle and swings at the ant near Silvius but misses.

Silvius lands a critical hit on the ant next to him with his flaming sword. He then runs around to the south, hitting more ants with his spirit guardians.

The ants spray acid at Silvius, Oscorn, Kalinar, and Czolg. Kalinar loses his concentration on the tentacles.

Oscorn transforms into a hell hound, and darkness falls as his dawn spell fades.

The ants again swarm around Oscorn and Fennuris, closing in from all sides.

More ants bite Fennuris, and the regular-looking ants scatter, starting to climb the walls above the team.

Czolg hits the ant between him and Oscorn multiple times, killing it.

Silvius runs to Fennuris, killing ants as he goes.

Fennuris falls unconscious from the relentless ant attacks.

ADC stabilizes Fennuris with magic.

Silvius utters a healing word to revive Fennuris. He makes a distracting swing at the ant next to him and then positions himself between Czolg and Kalinar.

The ants hit Silvius hard enough to make him lose focus on his god, causing the spirit guardians to fade away. Fennuris is again knocked unconscious by the ants biting her.

Czolg continues to kill ants with his spear, methodically striking them down.

Kalinar unleashes another blast, successfully killing one ant but missing another horribly.

Oscorn breathes fire on the ant next to Fennuris, incinerating it. He then runs back to Silvius.

Silvius sighs, “Healing people is hard.”

Oscorn reassures him, “You’ve done a great job. I’ve got it from here.”

Fennuris gets up and attempts to shoot, but in her stupor, she falls back down, fumbling with her arrows on the ground.

Kalinar tries to cast another spell but bites his tongue, struggling to speak.

Oscorn heals Fennuris, bringing her back to a stable state.

Czolg continues stabbing and killing ants with delight while Fennuris picks up her scattered arrows.

Kalinar regains his composure and blasts the ants.

Silvius runs to the other side of the ants near Czolg and strikes an ant.

The few remaining ants begin to retreat to the north. Czolg chases after them, continuing to strike as they flee.

ADC continues to observe the fight, ready to step in if needed.

Kalinar blasts the nearest ant again.

Silvius follows Czolg and hits the retreating ant with his flaming sword.

Oscorn heals everyone a substantial amount, restoring a lot of health to each of them.

Fennuris, now steady, shoots the ant next to Silvius, taking it down.

Czolg charges at the last ant, hitting it, while Silvius chases and lands another blow with his flaming sword.

Finally, Oscorn casts Toll the Dead, killing the last remaining ant and ending the battle.

Catching their breathes, the team notices a large pit to the northeast and heads over to check it out. They can see that it is deep and then turns off to the side.

They decide to explore the path to the southwest and find a long, flat wall. Kalinar discovers a hidden stone door next to it. They search inside and find nothing of immediate value.

Fennuris examines the area and deduces that it has been abandoned for over a hundred years. Silvius decides to activate his magic detection to see if anything interesting has been left behind in this ancient place.

They head back to the pit room, where Silvius notices something glowing in the walls. Moving closer, he sees items emitting a magical aura and gold scattered everywhere. On closer inspection and with identification of magic with the help of ADC they discover:

Potion of healing

Potion of climbing

Scroll of shocking grasp

Scroll of shield of faith

Scroll of hideous laughter

Scroll of hunters mark

Oscorn puts the treasure in his bag including: 750 gold pieces 3 statues carved of some type of gem. 2 green and 1 white.

Oscorn casts a spell, conjuring an eye that he begins to send down the depths of the large pit in front of him. Silvius calmly smokes his drow pipe, contemplating their next move. Kalinar takes charge and shuts the door to the treasure room, ensuring their safety.

As the eye descends into the pit, it reveals a vast network of tunnels twisting and turning, stretching hundreds of feet deep. Among the passages, normal worker ants scuttle about, and offshoots lead to larger rooms carved out of the main tunnel. The eye observes egg sacks and ants of various types further down, indicating the complexity of the ant nest. One split leads to three separate tunnels; the eye veers left, encountering more ant activity. It navigates through tight passages, occasionally bumping into ants as it moves further into the nest.

Eventually, the eye reaches a large room adorned with fungi and molds, reminiscent of the pockets observed earlier. Several offshoot tunnels branch out from the central chamber, where worker ants gather bits of mold from a central source. Oscorn notes the ants’ behavior and the intricate network of tunnels, some carved by tools and others clawed out by the ants themselves. Continuing deeper, the eye spots a densely populated area where larva are concentrated, essential to the ants’ reproductive cycle.

Oscorn recasts the eye spell, this time exploring to the right. He notices a tunnel that appears to be more heavily traveled than the others and follows it down until he discovers a large ant with a notable behind.

The team deliberates and decides to move on, realizing that there is nothing more to be gained from observing the ants’ activities and no more treasure to be found here.