Just to be sure, after the Mother's staked the vampire-drow-cleric, they cut off her head, blessed some rations and stuffed the head's mouth with them. Only then did they set about searching for treasure. Apart from the items obtained from her body, they found a scroll tube with a map of a route between Szith Morcane and the drow city of Maerimydra and a letter from "Mother" to "Daughter" indicating that raids should be carried out for the glory of the White Banshee amongst other things. The "Greater Revenance" spell that the Mother was working on seemed somewhat worrying. Small coffers in her final resting place also contained coins and magical items that were scooped up by the victorious heroes. They also looted a lyre and a chess set on their way back through the chambers. The party decided to head straight back to their apartments in Arabel, so Fonesca and Siosiann cast teleport and soon Kurtalla was re-acquainting himself with his bear.

The Mothers reported to the Lord High Seneschal, giving him news of the potential threat from Maerimydra. He was understandably keen for them to return to the underdark to help thwart whatever plans were afoot. Gaspode, meanwhile had more mercantile concerns.

The gaseous form of the drow vampire priestess who had hidden in the column swept back along the top of the chamber away from them. It reached the rear wall and then gradually started disappearing. The Mothers approached the wall and were able to discover a large circular door hidden in the stonework. Gaspode then searched around for lock or a catch to open it and found a piece of stonework that he could depress to the right of the door. This did not allow it to open though, so subsequent searching was required for the other three catches. When the last was released, the stone dropped down a few inches and rolled off to the right, into the wall.

Beyond lay a bare room with a large copper covered coffin, bound with two copper bands. Of the vampire, there was no sign. The top of the coffin was engraved with the image of a drow female and the copper was completely untarnished. Gaspode examined it to see if it would release any traps and he found a glyph on each band of copper. Fonesca attempted to dispel the glyphs but to no effect, so Gaspode had to attempt to circumvent them himself. Unfortunately, they proved too difficult and their magic caused a blade barrier to spring into force around the coffin edging Gaspode backwards, but causing him no harm.

Attempts to remove the barrier were fruitless, so the Mothers waited nearly two hours for it to disappear. Jito used a Knock spell to open the band that Gaspode had not reached and it seemed to have no other effect. Kurtalla then stepped forward to open the coffin. As soon as he moved the lid, the vampire within attacked him draining life energy from him. The Mothers leapt to attack. The creature proved immune to their magic missiles but still quite susceptible to weaponry, as Jito, Kurtalla and Gaspode all laid blows. The vampire-drow cast some spells that her attackers managed to shrug off without too much effort, though Siosiann's summoned celestial hippogryphs did not last long in her circle of death.

Eventually the vampire was forced back into her gaseous form and settled back into the coffin, where she solidified again into her drow form, unmoving and statuesque.

The Mothers climbed into the carved cavern that they had freed from barring magics. Four of the acidic flayed drow lurked at the rear of the chamber near the two passages out and to either side of the web-like ladder to a small aperture near the ceiling. Two clouds of suspicious looking gas appeared and one drifted over towards Gaspode. Obrana identified these as vampires. Siosiann summoned three celestial hippogryphs to block off the quth-maren. These managed to hold of the bleeding creatures. Meanwhile, Obrana called on the power of Tyr to send back the vampires. One fled to the northern exit. Fonesca then captured the other form in a Resilient Sphere. The Mothers then attacked the quth-maren with ranged spells while the celestial hippogryphs managed to do some damage. Two of the summoned creatures died while the Mothers finished off the flayed undead.

The Mothers gathered around the sphere enclosing the other vampire. Fonesca brought it down and the creature fled towards the exit. Obrana landed a blow and Kurtalla landed two, but the gaseous vampire fled up the web-like ladder into the small aperture above them. Jito loosed a fireball from his staff at the aperture and it burst into that space, but the Mothers did not know if it had any effect.

As Gaspode attempted to follow the vampire up the ladder he noticed that it was about to entangle him. He managed to jump away just in time. Gaspode then attempted to disarm the trap but he set it off and the others had to extract him. They decided to take another route, following the first vampire through the northern passage. Immediately through this opening another opening appeared to the right. This opened into a large chamber which held a drow female chained to one wall. Gaspode was suspicious, so he checked the view through his gem of true seeing; but nothing was different. Gaspode then approached the drow...

With Gaspode, Fonesca and Jito all still incapacitated, the Mothers were not happy to see the approaching group of drow. One spellcaster and two warriors came out of the cave entrance at the far end of the bazaar. They did not get to act before Siosiann unleashed a lightning bolt at them, striking two. The fighters closed to attack Kurtalla and Obrana while the wizard fired back a lightning bolt at Siosiann; Kurtalla evaded the edge of the bolt. The glaive wielding warrior managed to miss Obrana entirely while his compatriot did stab successfully at Kurtalla. This was the last attack that the Mothers permitted. Kurtalla dealt with his foe decisively and Obrana and Siosiann finished their weakened enemies with a blow and a spell respectively. Nervously, the Mothers regrouped near their stunned colleagues and they were relieved when after a brief discussion on how to haul them off to safety, they covered their senses.

A full inventory was taken of the items on the merchants and purchasers, Siosiann's innate ability to see the magical auras helped them to decide which items were stored via Gaspode's sheet for further use. The mind flayer in particular had a useful stash in its bag of holding. Jito was doing an inventory of his own and he realised that he should figure out what spell his ring of counterspelling should contain. He made the mistake of asking Fonesca. The wizard proceeded to guide the gnome on the correct procedure to ascertain the frequency of spell attacks against an individual, how to balance this against the availability of the said spells, the average power of enemy combatants and the current weaknesses in his own defences.Gaspode dryly commented that if he had had the ring with Slay Living in it, then he wouldn't have died when he met the drow cleric. Jito felt it best to leave it as it was.

Rather than attempting to go into the commoner level, the Mothers decided to proceed directly to the nobles' area. They went straight down from the bazaar along the central axis of the web. Again, much use was made of Siosiann's ability to detect magical auras. She was able to discern that two auras, both strong, were present in the entrance cave. One was an abjuration, the other an evocation. The Mothers then spent most of their Dispel Magics in order to rid the cavern of these lingering dweomers. Siosiann was eventually able to tell them that it was clear.

Once the spells had been prepared, or at least decided upon, the Mothers set watches throughout the night. Occasionally, Obrana, Fonesca or Kurtalla would pass amongst them dispensing healing, so that by the time they were ready to depart everyone was at full strength. Then the debates started as to which route to take. They went out to the web and tested the strands. The only ones that would allow them to pass without the stickiness were back the way they had come (clockwise to the major strand running vertically), and one that led straight down at an angle to the centre of the web, where they had been told, the commoners' level lay. Beneath this on the far extremity of the web, was, so they understood. an entrance to the nobles' level. Seeing that they could not find a route that did not pass through the centre, they decided to pay the commoners' level a visit.

When they arrived, the Mothers tentatively peered into the cavern beyond. They could make out two huge pack lizards, burdened with all manner of goods. Several figures were surrounding these beasts, two of which were drow. The owners of the lizards were three duergar, the grey dwarves of the underdark. They carried out negotiations with the drow, a mauve-skinned mind flayer and three kua-toa. As the Mothers approached the fish-men began to leave and the others turned to them cautiously. The Mothers decided to fight and Jito managed to loose a fireball that engulfed most of the traders before they could move. Two kua-toa at the back suddenly realised they had not moved far enough and died. One drow was quick enough to react and ran at Gaspode and sliced him with his glaive. Siosiann let loose a lightning bolt and Fonesca followed up with an acid storm. Most of the enemy lay dead already.

The mind flayer moved beyond the area of his fellows and turned when he had a clear view of the Mothers. Immediately they felt an assault within their skulls that left Jito, Fonesca and Gaspode stunned. Orbrana fired her crossbow at the mind flayer and buried her bolt in its flesh. Kurtalla ran after the illithid and managed to land a blow. The last remaining grey dwarf started to retreat to the back of the cavern, while the only live pack lizard became enraged and charged at Siosiann. Its attack came to naught. Siosiann finished off the lizard with her flametongue sword while Kurtalla's head was clasped by one of the mind flayer's tentacles and another scored him across the neck. He responded with a flurry of blows that left the illithid in pieces. Obrana cleaned up by freezing the fleeing duergar in place with a spell. The Mothers who could still move mopped up the remaining combatants, dispatching them with efficiency. Gaspode, Fonesca and Jito had still not recovered.

The Mothers had just killed the mage student in his cell and looted his body and his room of any valuables. Fonesca realised that the Knock spells that they had cast to get past the Arcane Locks on the doors only suppressed their power and they might get trapped if they did not leave. Jito and the others ferried themselves down to the floor of the octagonal chamber to plan again.

After a few moments thought, Jito attempted to cast a Dispel Magic on an area between where Gaspode had exposed the presence of the upper two doors. His first and second attempt failed (they realised this by flying up and testing them). The third attempt revealed the doors themselves, the false images protecting them had been removed! Jito and Gaspode flew up to the lower one, which was one level above the one that they had entered before. Here they found another corridor filled with obscuring fog, but there was no door on the opposite wall like before. Instead the corridor went off to the left and right for twenty feet, ending in seemingly blank walls. Gaspode's gem revealed the doors there, but they had no further magic to bypass the locks.

They returned to the octagonal chamber and decided to attempt the highest door. This they found unlocked, but as soon as they opened it, Jito and Gaspode were forced back to the far wall of the octagon by a constant rush of air from within the chamber. It was all that they could do to hang on to the broom, so they descended to plan a route through the portal. Gaspode got out a grappling hook and rose again with Jito. He eventually managed to snag the grapple on the edge of the door and he swung off the broom on the attached rope. He pulled himself up into the chamber beyond the door and then helped the others in.

When they had caught their breath, the wind ended. They turned and saw a throne on a dais flanked by tapestries. Before the throne stood an immaculately dressed male drow. His purple shirt was loose and his fine white hair was held back by a golden headband. He waited for the Mothers to speak. When they meekly said hello, he asked why they had come to his "tower". Obrana claimed that they had come seeking fame and fortune, but the drow said that he would let them leave unharmed if they would target the priestesses of either drow goddess. He wished to gain power over Szith Morcane and eventually promised to halt raids on the surface if his wish could be fulfilled. He told them of the main areas off the web cavern and of the forbiddance cast over the entry to the nobles area. He also gave them leave to remain in the guard quarters for twenty-four hours.

The party left him and rested in the guardroom, after cleaning some of the gore. Fonesca concentrated on improving her skills and felt as if she could master more magics if she had more free time. The others carefully discussed their tactics when it came to spell selection given what they had planned to tackle next.

Indrizil:
Word has probably reached you about the fall of Maerimydra, and perhaps you have wondered about my safety. Obviously, I survived the sack of the city, although it was a close call indeed. The city fell at the hands of mere chattel - the priestesses of the Spider Queen had kept the city so cowed that, with their powers gone, its defenders could not resist even a force of goblins, ogres and giants. We held our strong places for a while without the clerics, but then House Chumavh was overthrown from within and so we were undone.
I write to you now from Szith Morcane, the old outpost north and west of the city. Perhaps you will come and visit me - though I must say that if you still profess faith in Lloth you will not be welcomed by those who rule here now. The Spider Queen's priestesses have found a new role here, one which I think you would not enjoy overmuch.
I do not know if you still cling to the hope that the Spider Queen will restore you - will restore all of us - to her favour, but if you do, I urge you to reconsider. It is not too late for you or for our bond of blood. The Lady of the Dead will accept you still, just as she has taken me into her care. All Maerimydra is her temple now, and her emissaries rule here too. Abandon your empty allegiance to a silent goddess and come to Szith Morcane, but do not wear the emblem of the spider. I have need of allies of my own blood, and if Lloth still ignores your pleas, I suspect you do as well.
- Rhavauz

With suspicion arisen over Fonesca, the Mothers were worried about what she would do in the week that they had to prepare. She seemed to be most concerned with the two wands that appeared to lack a joining piece between them. One they had found in the tomb of King Siryl high in the mountains in the Spine of the World, the other they had taken from the daughter of King Snurre of the Fire Giants. Fonesca found a wizard willing to cast a Legend Lore spell on the two items. The spell revealed a verse:

That which was sundered on Pesh's plain, Holds back chaos's reign. Yet the vaati's deed shall remain undone, Until the seven again become one.

The wizard himself was able to explain that the vaati, were a race of lawful immortals sometimes called the Wind Dukes of Aaqa, but he did not know where they came from or where “Pesh’s plain” might be. The wizard suggested that another Legend Lore spell might reveal more if they knew something of the history.

Gaspode decided to accompany Fonesca on her further researches. They went to the temple of Tyr and asked Levi and Guthranka help them search the library for references to these terms. After a number of days they found a reference to a great conflict between Law and Chaos on the prime material world called Oerth. A great battle of the war was being fought there on a volcanic plain. Champions of Law had forged a weapon, a metal tapering rod, that could be used against the general of the Chaotic forces, a demon, Miska the Wolf Spider. When they finally were able to use the rod against the demon, they impaled him with it, but this clash of primal energies was such that a planar rift opened and the demon fell through it and the rod was shattered into seven pieces. This was all that they could find, although they looked for maps of Oerth to locate the plain of Pesh. Gaspode and Fonesca recalled that they had visited Oerth before from a portal in Sigil at the request of the Lord High Seneschal. That time, they had been following the trail of Iuz who had mysteriously halted his attacks on the Cormyrean border.

When the two returned to the rest of the Mothers they recounted their efforts. Obrana offered to bear the two rod pieces herself, to take the burden from the usually carefree Fonesca, but the latter demurred. Then they began again to plan how they would obtain information about the drow forces and their intentions. The Mothers agreed that their first step should not be to kidnap the drow wizard that had attacked them, but rather to obtain information from those slain. Unfortunately, they could not scry a dead person or a place, so they would have to take a risk when they teleported to the cave where they had been attacked, that they might go awry. They risked this strategy and arrived safely as two groups in the cave. Ursus, they left behind. The drow had cleaned up after their dead and no corpses remained. Fonesca and Siosiann studied the cave carefully, in case they ever had to return. The others watched for drow activity for this hour and Kurtalla reassured himself that the dark elves had only come into the cave through the front.

The party decided to try and fetch the dead drow that they had first encountered at the entrance to the crypts, so they walked north again for about six hours until they reached the area. The corpses were still there, so the Mothers gathered them up using the sheet and stowed them for later questioning. They retreated to the vampire crypt to study this area too. They teleported back to Arabel once they were finished. Obrana was able cast her speaking spell immediately, so they got out one of the bodies and she asked it: “Who killed you?” It answered “Followers of the White Banshee.”
“Who is the White Banshee asked Obrana?” “Kiaransalee,” was the eerie reply.
“Where are you from?” “Szith Morcane.”
“Where is Szith Morcane?” “Below the old human crypts.”
“Why were you killed?” “Because we followed the Spider Queen.”
Obrana informed the Mothers that she would be able to ask more questions the following day.

One evening, the Mothers invited Levi and Guthranka to join them for dinner. The two Tyrrans reported grim news. The rod that had been stolen from the temple some time ago, had been put to good use: the oracles now proclaimed that Orcus, Demon Lord of the Undead had returned to his full power and re-taken his seat in the Abyss. The Mothers had entrusted the rod to the temple when they had foiled the plans of Tenebrous, the aspect of Orcus that remained after his defeat by a drow goddess. They had found that they could not destroy the rod, but they could not keep it safe either. The party all looked rather nervous at the prospect of their one-time nemesis now sitting in power on a Lower Plane!

Fonesca was continuing to act strangely with the group. She demonstrated this in front of them all at once when she spent ten minutes dividing up their apple pie into exactly equal slices for the group, despite the protestations of those gathered that it really didn’t matter how big each piece was. The rest of the Mothers became concerned.

Jito spent his week learning several spells to improve his flexibility in combat and otherwise. Siosiann summoned a familiar on the first day, using herbs that she had carried with her for some time and a recently purchased brazier. Her ritual was effective as she was joined at the end of the day by Tenwar, a pseudodragon. She was very pleased with her efforts and Tenwar seemed to be very pleased to be there. On the next days, with Tenwar often perching on her shoulders, she learnt more spells from the others’ books. Finally she cast a detect magic on herself and made its effects permanent.

Obrana meanwhile was creating things. She gathered together strange ingredients, glassware, pestles and mortars and busied herself in a corner of the apartment concocting potions. By the end of the week she had made five which she clearly labelled so that the other Mothers would be able to use them without her direction. They were potions of: Remove Disease; Invisibility Purge; Prayer and two of Cure Serious Wounds.

Kurtalla taught Ursus to “stay”.

The first order of business was for Obrana to obtain her diamond and for the Mothers to trade any items that they had picked up that they had no use for. Much haggling was done in the city’s markets, armourers, weapon-smiths and the like, but eventually the party ended up with some considerable cash reserves and the requisite gem.

Gaspode’s spirit returned to his re-enlarged body without demur. Once he was cured of his remaining hurts he took part as well as he was able in the discussions of what to do about the drow threat. He did insist that the party urgently visit the Lord High Seneschal to report their findings. Once there, the party briefed the noble on their activities, but he was obviously frustrated about any solid information about the size of the drow forces or their intentions. He asked that they return as soon as possible, agreeing to a week of recovery and preparation for the Mothers.

Obrana ordered a silver font with an accompanying stand to be built to her specifications so that she could scry out their enemy, the magician-drow who had escaped them. This would take most of the week to complete. Siosiann ordered a masterwork bow to be made which would take advantage of her strength. The others gathered materials and inks to allow them to learn spells, create potions and summon familiars.