. Caves of Chaos

After surviving the ‘trap’ the adventures made it back to the Seven Pillared Hall. A quick meeting with Orontor to show him the notes they acquired from the bodies of the tieflings. They decide to find out what Maldrick Scarmaker and his Blackfang gnolls are up to in regards to the slave trade in the area. Paldemar’s note:

To Maldrick Scarmaker, Exalted Chieftan of the Blackfangs and Chosen of Yeenoghu: Paldemar offers you the corpses of these champions as a gift of ongoing friendship, that our arrangement might continue to be mutually beneficial. May you savor their blood. Your friend and ally, Paldemar

Using the attached map and their new guide and temporary companion Surina they found the entrance to The Well of Demons. A typical dungeon corridor leads into a large, square chamber. Five columns, three set near the room’s corners and two in the middle of the chamber, rise up 15 feet to the ceiling. Each column has the face of a leering, fanged minotaur carved onto it. You notice a well in the southeastern corner of the room, and two passages lead away, one to the east and the other to the south.
As they enter this room one of the minotaur faces animates and with the deep tones of a powerful minotaur says:

Greetings, seekers of Baphomet’s boundless glory.
Those who prove unworthy of his attention
Shall be claimed forever as his slaves.
Those who prove worthy
Shall be granted power beyond mortal reckoning.
Mask, bell, blade, and tome.

Shortly after Gandor notices a humanoid form skulking behind one of the pillars. As their eyes meet it immediately races across the chamber to attack. As they engage this gruesome Ghoul the stench of death and disease wafts off it.
Suddenly from the darkness of the ceiling two incredibly thin long arms reach and claw at Gandor.A small grey creature with long thin multi-articulated limbs clings to the ceiling and grabs at the adventurers. Another grey chocker grabs at Rayrond, and thick many puckered tentacles burst through the thin tiles lining the chamber floor. With Rayrond grabbed from above and below the group fights on. At one point the chocker uses Gandor’s small body to block an attack from his loyal drake.
With Rayrond close to death due to acid leaking out of the tentacles, Pandril starts dishing out major healing. Finally there is only the Phalagar left, and the entire party focuses their attacks until severed tentacles are draped over the floor.
They toss the tentacles and the bodies of the two chokers and ghoul into the well and rest.

During the first hour of sleep, the ever alert Dark Face notices a small cat-sized shape flitting around one of the pillars. It finally approaches by crawling along the floor and stopping in front of the Drow. The creature stretches his wings, and then in a voice like a dagger scratching into stone it asks what they are doing in the Well of Demon’s. It tells Dark Face that it can answer three questions if the group is friendly to Demogorgon and not Baphomet, and if he pays either 100gp or a piece of “your life force”. Dark Face asks if it is safe to camp where they are, and the Emissary answer “I found you easily enough”. Dark Face wakens Pandril (keeper of the loot) and they ask it another question. Gandor hears them talking and wakes up.
After answering a third question the tiny imp takes their gold and disappears. They now know that this place is called the Well of Demons. Does this refer to the well in the room with them, or to a more sinister well deeper in the dungeon?