From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 402 Camping in the Underdark

"The abandoned temple and the ogres are a perfect combination. I can't help but think of a tomb full of rotting corpses." Asdaelon stared at the ogre bodyguards of the goblin priestess on the ground and said critically.

"For you, it's like returning to your happy hometown?" Kalak teased.

"Thank you. I haven't set foot in a cemetery since I became a vampire. Vampires are completely different from other undead creatures." Asdeln still had that "don't compare me with them" expression on his face.

"That's true. I've never heard of a mummy complaining about—" Kalak nodded, then imitated Asdaelon's tone of voice in a pretentious manner, "'wrinkled tights' or 'sour wine'..."

The adventurers' laughter just sounded for a moment when it was interrupted by the sound of a heavy object falling outside the door.

"This broken temple can't hold out for much longer... We must quickly find the tunnel leading to the Underdark before it collapses completely." Harsin said with some concern.

"There is only one way here," Ivy looked at the image of Selune above the arch, "We have no other choice."

"Halcin, how do you know there is a tunnel under the temple that leads to the Underdark?" Gale was very curious about this question, "and it also leads to the Moonrise Tower."

"Because of Kethric Thom," Halsin said, looking carefully at the rubble-filled hall where other adventurers were also searching for the hidden tunnel, "this temple was his place of pilgrimage many years ago."

"There's a mechanism on the ground." Ivy looked at the turntable on the ground. "It's a rotating puzzle. If you move it to a specific position, you can successfully activate it."

"I seem to have seen this pattern before..." Xie Nian tilted his head and squinted his eyes, "In the storage room of the Zhentarim! Just move this piece first, then this piece, and finally fill all four points of this piece with black..."

As the evil thoughts turned, four discs on the ground formed a pattern that revealed the changing phases of the moon.

Then, a wall behind the collapsed statue slowly moved away with the sound of a machine, revealing a new path.

Behind the stone gate is a platform made of wood, and these structures are built as a whole in a downward cave. A mysterious purple mist is faintly visible from the depths.

"We found it!" Harsin said happily. "This must be the tunnel to the Underdark! Eladin and his men are looking for a way down there - if they can find a relic called the Nightsong, they will gain a fortune."

"If only I had come with you instead of Aladdin... we couldn't even get close to the temple." As Harsin narrated, the team began to descend along the path opened up by the followers of Selune, until they went deep into the Underdark.

"Let's continue our topic, Halsin, about the Moonrise Tower, the Shadow Curse, the Underdark, and the believer named Catheric Somselune." Gale asked again, "I don't know if it's an illusion, but I seem to have heard this name from Minsara. Are they from the same family? Are they descendants who used the names of their ancestors?"

"Speaking of Minsara..." Kalak held the wooden ladder left by the Selune believers with one hand and took out a small gray frog from his bag. "How long can your transformation last, Ivy? If she changes back to human form in my bag, she will definitely crush the potion in my body."

Ivy thought about the fifth-level spell slots he had used up, and then gave an uncertain answer: "Maybe... a few hours?"

"The source of magic in this world, the magic network, is different from the world I've been to before, so my magic has changed a little here..." Ivy's Transfiguration at Hogwarts can even permanently transform inorganic matter, and even when facing living creatures, it can last for several years to decades. But in Toril, this problem has become an unknown. "But I can guarantee that you can take the little frog with you until we have completed the establishment of the camp."

Kalak wasn't very interested in magic, so he didn't respond and just put the little gray frog back into his bag.

During this process, the conversation between Harsin and Gale continued.

"The superior of the drow true soul is Catheric Thom? I can't tell you the answer to this question. I don't even know if the Thom family really survived... I can only talk about the Catheric Thom from more than a hundred years ago." Halsin had a bad feeling in his heart. "Catheric was once a devout believer in Selune. Later, he turned to the Night Lady Shar, established a secret base in the Underdark, and summoned a whole army of Night Judges."

"An entire army of Dark Night Judges?" Shadow Heart, who was not far from them, asked in surprise, "That might mean there is a temple in the Underdark that can train Dark Night Judges... The Song of the Night is likely to be Lady Shar's artifact... I must go and see it anyway."

"Perhaps it is possible... Shar can't send out an army of Night Judges out of thin air." Halsin had never had a close and friendly exchange with a Shar believer, and Shadow Heart's words gave him new revelations. "In short, Catheric Thom was preparing to extend Shar's reign of terror to the entire Sword Coast. At that time, I was just an ordinary druid, and I participated in the resistance against Catheric Thom and the Night Judges. In the end, we won, but before being defeated, Catheric used Shar's Shadow Curse to pollute the entire Rasven area."

“I have spent much time studying this curse, trying to eradicate it, but to no avail—yet.” Halsin continued. “If we can reach Shar’s temple and get close to Moonrise Tower, perhaps we can find a way to remove the curse, and of course, a way to heal you.”

"But the matter in the woodland makes me very worried. I must return to the woodland before the thorn ritual is completed..."

"Don't worry, Archdruid, we will return to the woods with you." Ivy said easily.

The adventure team has escaped from the claustrophobic tunnel and successfully arrived at Selune Outpost in the Underdark.

Similar to the broken temple in the mountain, this underground building is also in ruins.

However, the outpost had not been ravaged by the goblins and seemed to be in good condition. At least the statues of Selûne were relatively intact and had not been violently destroyed.

"Although we have been indoors for the past few hours, I can still confirm that it's time to set up camp." Ivy walked around the small outpost a few times. "The spells of the Selune believers are still in effect, and the two statues at the door will help us resist the hostile eyes in the Underdark. As long as we guard the only gap, it will be a peaceful night." "The Thorn Ceremony has been going on for two days since we arrived at the Druid Grove. How much time do we have left on the road, Archdruid?" Xie Nian counted on his fingers and looked up at Harsin.

Halsinmer calculated and replied, "If the person conducting the ceremony is Kaha, then we still have about three days."

"That sounds like plenty of time, at least more than when we found out there were mind flayer tadpoles in our heads," Will commented. "We've been through a lot today, and we should have rested a long time ago. Perhaps you could sing a song to help relieve your fatigue after we've set up camp, Ivy?"

"I'm happy to help, but I'll leave my tent to you, Will." Ivy began to look for something useful in the outpost. "I need to find a way to plug that gap. This outpost built by the Selune believers seems to be very vulnerable to attacks by the underground natives. They store a large amount of war supplies here, including smoke powder barrels, training dummies, various weapons and arrows, and even bellows and furnaces that can be used to repair weapons."

"You are always so thoughtful, Ivy. You remind me more of a general commanding an army than a bard," said Laizer, stamping his feet vigorously. "And this is your fortress."

"This outpost in Selune is too shabby for our bards." Shadowheart shook his head in disapproval. "Kathric Thom once led an army of night judges, but still failed. If Ivy can convert to Lady Shar, she will definitely do better than him!"

"I think we've discussed this before, Shadowheart." Gale, who was packing his bed, overheard the conversation. "We won't comment on your beliefs, and you won't spread Shar's teachings to us."

"Of course I haven't forgotten." Yingxin took off his armor, revealing his youthful and energetic body. "In fact, I have never talked about Ms. Shar's teachings. If Ivy is willing to join us, we can talk about those doctrines when we are alone."

"Excuse me, Ivy is obviously more suitable for Mystra..." Gale sighed with some jealousy, "I rarely envy anyone, but Ivy... Let me put it this way, if he was also born in Waterdeep, I'm afraid Mystra wouldn't even look at me."

"Alright, alright! Friends! I appreciate your compliments, but please let me focus on my work, okay?" Ivy couldn't stand his teammates' flattery anymore, but the main reason was that they kept talking about the true God of Ferran.

In this world with divine power, every time a believer mentions the name of a god, it will attract the god's attention, but whether the god will focus on it depends on the god's mood at the time.

However, there are many talented people in this team, and almost everyone is related to the higher beings in the upper and lower planes. It is almost impossible not to accept the attention of the gods.

Ivy still remembered that on the road leading to the Moonrise Tower, there was a great wizard named Elminster waiting.

----

"Ah! My good friends! Look how cozy you have made this place! I'm welcome - thank you very much!" A high-pitched, somewhat funny voice sounded in the camp, and the adventurers had just finished setting up their tents.

"Varo!" Xie Nian shouted in shock, "Didn't you go back to the forest? What's going on?"

"This is all thanks to your amazing elder friend!" Varro was very satisfied with the shocked expression on Xie Nian's face, and he stroked his upturned beard proudly. "I bumped into him on the way, and after I revealed my identity, we immediately started chatting very speculatively. After I mentioned that I had just been rescued from the goblin camp by you, he waved his hand and brought me here!"

"I plan to settle down and review my latest discoveries - mind flayers, cultists, and of course, you, my most distinguished companions!" Varro looked at everything in the outpost excitedly, preparing to find a place to put down his backpack. "Oh! Archdruid Harsin! I'm so happy to see that the adventurers rescued you as well!"

At this time, Ivy also discovered another figure in the camp - the thin gravekeeper, so the reason why Varo could come here was very simple, old man Yager took action personally.

But Ivy, who had already finished repairing the broken fence, did not feel any fluctuations in the nearby magic net.

So in his eyes, the gravekeeper never used magic, or rather, did not use magic power to drive magic.

This was a kind of power that Ivy had never encountered before, a kind of power that he really wanted to experience - divine power.

But he had to be careful about matters concerning the gods. Ivy could foresee that he would have to communicate with the true gods many times in his future journeys. He would have plenty of opportunities to get in close contact with the gods, and in a more harmless environment, facing targets that would not resist.

"What a powerful and mysterious being... Can we ask your... friend to send us all back to the woods?" Harsin heard about the gravekeeper from Gale, so he made a suggestion that sounded feasible.

"Good question!" Xie Nian said, "I'll go ask it."

In less than two minutes, Xie Nian was sitting by the campfire again.

"It's the same excuse. He can help us guard the camp, or call back some souls that died in the fight against the Supreme God, or even create some extra teammates." Xie Nian has become immune to the gravekeeper's magical powers. "But he doesn't provide any other services."

"That's a pity." Yingxin asked, "I have also considered asking him to send me to Lady Shar's temple... What if we can offer a reward? Like gold coins?"

"Do you think I haven't thought about it?" Xie Nian threw a purse in front of him, and some pleasant metal collision sounds came from it. "The gravekeeper has no material desires at all! I even stole back the 200 gold coins that I used to revive Gale last time, but he didn't react at all!"

What is even more surprising than the mysterious gravekeeper is Xie Nian’s completely abnormal mind. Who would think of stealing the power to resurrect the dead?
(End of this chapter)