Like Fizban, the newest member of the party, dark wizard Praetor is also a follower of the insect god Entomon.

Praetor received a directive from Entomon to eradicate some of the spider god’s minions and was provided mental directions to a cave location where they could be found.

The party entered the dark cave but triggered a falling rock trap that blocked their exit. There would be no turning back now…

From inside, they made friends with a small albino Smeagol-like figure who they named Whitey.

In exchange for some tinfoil material that Nedraw found in Session 18, Whitey helped lead them through the black cave.

They had some encounters with bugbears and giant spiders and Mortaugian was felled by a giant black widow’s deadly poison in the combat but was able to be revived.

They carefully rope-climbed over a large steaming pit of filth and descended down some rickety ladders deeper into the caves.

There was another fight and this time it proved permanently fatal to Mortaugian as he was crushed by bugbear’s vicious attack.

The party had no time to mourn his passing and quickly distributed his holdings.

They traversed deeper into the cave system until they encountered a cluster of giant spiders including the giant phase spider that they were bade to kill.

Luckily they were extremely prepared for this battle. Fizban had his djinni warrior, Praetor had summoned a giant mantis, they were all buffed with haste, Praetor was shielded and Fizban led with a giant fireball that really helped make the fight manageable.

The black widows, crab spiders and the giant phaser were all killed. The party rescued one of the spider’s victims a metal-working blacksmith/lumberjack warrior named Ven Woodenbleeder and he joined the party.

While searching the area, Praetor found a magical stone. While holding it he began thinking of an eagle and as he did so, feathers started appearing from his skin and his nose began to harden. He wasn’t able to push the transformation past that stage but when he put the stone back in his pocket the transformation began to reverse back to his normal state.

Whitey helped them find another exit to the cave. He also pointed out a dangerous tunnel that would lead them to the ‘dark elves’ but the party was not interested in taking on that adventure just yet.

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