6️⃣🕷️ the darkest hour

sessions 62-71 | 02/14/2023 - 03/29/2023 | summaries in a 100 words or less!

✨synopsis

At night, drow attack and overwhelm the party and Nezznar, enslaving them in the Underdark drow outpost, Velkynvelve.

The party forges fragile alliances with the other diverse prisoners, and their morals are tested as they face physical and psychological torture from the drow. Soren's desperation to save the party at any cost clashes with Will's and Hugh's strong moral convictions.

Finally, Soren turns to Graz'zt for help escaping, and enlists Nezznar's aid in sacrificing someone to the demon lord. Graz'zt sends hordes of demons to attack the outpost, helping the prisoners escape.

⚔️ 62. might of the drow

Hugh and Droop choke Will to "give him the heimylich". Nezznar continues snide Will, before pleading with Soren to let him rest. Soren lets him sleep out of pity, in exchange for leaving Will alone.

The next day, the group meets a traveling merchant who refuses to serve a drow; Will does Soren's shopping for him.

At night, a squadron of drow led by priestess Ilvara Mizzrym attacks and surrounds the party. Sildar is killed, and the rest of the party surrenders, with Droop and Glitter refusing to leave their side. They are shackled and taken captive by the drow.

🔒 63. velkynvelve

The party is captured by the drow, who are delighted to find the former noble Nezznar disgraced.

After an arduous, sleepless and torment-filled 5-day journey, they are taken to Velkynvelve, a drow outpost in the Underdark, and imprisoned with other creatures. Soren lies that he was only using the party, and is thus unable to communicate in a friendly manner with them.

They are immediately harassed by an orc named Ront, and the surfacers of the party befriend a dwarf named Eldeth. Soren negotiates with Nezznar to keep the party alive for their escape attempt, while Ilvara plans to sell them in Menzoberranzan.

⛓️ 64. the slave olympics

The party meets more of the prisoners, including shy myconid sprout Stool, a drow who claims he was framed for murder (Sarith), a derro (Buppido), kuo-toa (Shuushar) and quaggoth (Derendil) who all act contrary to their race's convention of insanity/brutality.

The prisoners do chores and see more of Velkynvelve. Sildar is revived by Ilvara for questioning. The drow organize a pit fighting tournament in which Will emerges victorious after a brutal slugfest.

While all the prisoners lay unconscious, Will heals Sildar and have a heart-to-heart conversation in which they try to comfort each other despite the horrible circumstances.

👣 65. out on a limb

Will wakes Soren, who warns the party to be careful of some prisoners and promises to work on a plan to get them out of there. The Weaponsmaster returns and whips Will for making friends and de-escalating fights.

Noname, a terrified former slave, is badly beaten for causing a mess in the kitchen, which Soren had orchestrated as a distraction to steal food. Soren later apologizes and gives her the name Sunny.

Later, the prisoners are forced to vote on who should be sacrificed, and Derendil is chosen. He is thrown off the cliff to be devoured by spiders.

🤝 66. unlikely allies

After Derendil's death, Nezznar asks Soren to manipulate the prisoners into working together with them, before having a near-mental-breakdown about his torture at Ilvara's hand; Soren awkwardly comforts him.

The drow instigate conflict between prisoners by only feeding Will. Will gets his hair shorn off by the drow, and Hugh befriends Ront. Soren begs Graz'zt for help and is told he must sacrifice a humanoid to gain the Demon Lord's aid; he seriously considers it.

Nadhiir oversees Will's chores, then confronts Soren about his betrayal of the drow; disowning him as a brother. Ilvara summons Soren privately to perform for her.

🐟 67. fishy therapy

Ilvara, satisfied with Soren's conduct, questions him about someone willing to spend 2,000 GP on him. She considers keeping him for herself, but sends him back. Eldeth tries to turn Sildar against Soren and fails miserably.

Soren and Will disagree about priorities, with Will wanting to rescue Glitter and the prisoners while Soren wants to rescue only the party; Shuushar mediates the fight.

Soren bandages Nezznar's wounds and they share a surprisingly tender moment. Trying to prepare himself to make Graz'zt's sacrifice, Soren tries to take notes from Nezznar's brutality but is shocked to learn Nezznar is capable of remorse.

⚽ 68. like the futbol?

At Sarith's taunting, Nezznar almost kills him—leading to Nezznar being dragged to Ilvara for "punishment". Knowing this likely means Nezznar's death, Soren intervenes, putting his own life on the line.

Soren convinces the guards that Nezznar is worth more alive, but becomes more desperate, deciding to take Graz'zt's offer. Hugh saves Stool from being brutalized, earning the child's trust; Jimjar displays supernatural talents.

Soren, Nezznar and Sunny are forced to count rocks; Soren attempts to kill Sunny for Graz'zt's help—horrified at himself, he almost lets the guards kill him; Nezznar protects Soren, paralleling the events of that morning.

🍄 69. mushroom hotline

Soren asks for Nezznar's help in sacrificing someone to Graz'zt, but is disgusted when he suggests targeting the helpless children. Lack of food leads to in-fighting among the prisoners; Soren uses Nezznar to intimidate the others.

The party discuss escape plans but refuse to partake in Graz'zt's offer due to the moral implications. Will is privately called to converse with Alya Vandree, who hints that she is discontent under Ilvara's iron rule and would like to see Ilvara disgraced before she can hurt Alya or Shoor.

The group learns of Stool's telepathic spores to communicate secretly with.

🦢 70. swan song

Nadhiir asks Hugh to talk about Soren's life with the party, and seems moved that Soren seemed finally happy.

Later, Weaponsmaster Cliff forces Will to fight Ront--when Ront loses, Hugh stops the guards from feeding him to the spiders, angering the drow. They bring Hugh to Ilvara to torture and kill.

This is the last straw for Soren, who begs Nezznar to kill Tor in Graz'zt's name for the demon lord's help. Nezznar demands Soren to promise his safety after their escape and to be called Master again. When Soren agrees, Nezznar kills Tor. A rumbling begins in the distance.

👊 71. dawn of our freedom

The guards of Velkynvelve are beset upon by hordes of demons; during the chaos, Alya frees the prisoners to sabotage Ilvara. In Ilvara's room, Hugh takes advantage of the chaos to grab some confiscated items and regroups with everyone.

After killing several guards (including Cliff) and gathering some supplies, the prisoners are stopped by Nadhiir. When Soren offers to stay behind in exchange for everyone's freedom, Nadhiir admits he still cares about his brother and commands the quaggoth slaves to let them pass.

Finally free, the group escapes into the Underdark. Later, Ilvara furiously commandeers the guards to hunt them down.