Tauster's Journal Entry #1596

Drat the timing of women! That comely bar maid took that moment to come to my tower and I had to leave off my scrying upon the party (Note to self: Don't turn over another item till you get their blasted name!) to enact my transformation to "Taut the Apprentice"! 'Tis a good thing I keep a goodly supply of the transformation spells (and magically preserved oysters!) at hand for the maid was relentless! 'Twas hours before I could scry again upon the party, and then only for a short while over the next two days!

From what I could glean from their current position and conversation, the party had quickly moved past the murder holes while taking care of the crossbow barricade with a well placed wall of fire. After quickly finishing off the Derro stationed there, the party found the entrance to the murder holes and dispatched that threat as well.

Next the party located a nest of Savants and came up with a plan to flush them out. This plan worked...to a point, but the party failed to take into account the large size of the cavern the Savants were located in, and had a tougher fight than they expected. The Savants used their spells well and their flying spider steeds helped to hold the party at bay. Apparently Telin was out of commission for most of the fight due to being slowed and having a Hypnotic Pattern laid against him.  It also didn't help that one of their members, Sten, was ambushed by yet another Illithid and held in place by it's mind. The creature had just started the process of drawing forth Sten's brain when the party dispatched the foul creature.

After defeating their opponents they discovered their treasure , including a box which defied their scrying attempts. When they opened it, they found an exquisite sapphire dragon figure. Something passed between three of the party members, the ones who had "disappeared" awhile back, but nothing was said.