Chapter 9 - The Well of Demons (Thunderspire Labyrinth - Part 5)

Back in the Hall, the group is approached by a kobold messenger, who brings them a scroll. The heroes are invited to a location in the Labyrinth, where apparently a redeemed member of an evil organization allied with the Grimmershul awaits them.

The heroes smell trap, but decide to go anyhow, to stake their enemies. At the site, they're ambushed by two tiefling assassins, accompained by a Bronze Guardian, an ancient minotaur guardian golem.

After defeating them, they discover that the two were hired by Paldemar, a rogue mage of Saruun, who planned to gift their corpses to the Blackfang Gnolls. On the tieflings, they also find a map with directions to reach the Well of Demons.

Armed with this knowledge, they travel to the site, and have a fisrt encounter with a few lurkers guarding the entrance. They also discover a room where Gnolls and Hyenas are tormenting a big Dire Boar, the lost "pet" of the patriarch of the Deepgem Mining Company. After releasing the beast, they deliver it to their guide Tarlenn for safekeep, before resuming their exploration.

Digging deep into the cursed site, the Heroes meet three ghostly figures, ancient heroes who once walked their same path. They reveal that to lift the curse of the well, they will need to perform a ritual in those very chambers, by recovering items of power, that shall unlock a powerful secret. Unfortunately, the spirits are soon annoyed by the Heroes questions, and depart without giving clues of what this powerful secret might be.

In their search for the items of power, the heroes reach the inner sanctum of Maldrick Scarmaker, a fiendish Gnoll who is about to sacrifice human slaves to Yenoghuu, Demon Lord of the Gnolls. Maldrick is protected by many demonic allies, and shielded by fiendish mists erupting from iron cauldrons.

After a dangerous start, where hope seemed lost, our Heroes manage, through team play and clever tactics, to destroy Maldrick's minion one by one, and finally defeat him and save the slaves. On Maldrick, they also find proof of an alliance with the renegade mage Paldemar, and a Silver Key who opens the way to his hideout.

Their strengths almost completely depleted, they decide to make their way to the Seven-Pillared Hall, to deliver the Boar to a caring master, and find a safe place for the slaves. On their way back, Tarrlen the guide has a fit, and transorms into a Werevolf. The heroes handle him without killing him, and deliver him to the care of the Shrine of Hidden Light in the Sevan-pillared Hall.

For the final time, they enter the well of demons, and find the 4 items of power, after confronting dangerous demons and clever trap-rooms, and begin the Test of Perseverance. As the central room of the complex becomes one big trap, the ancient guardian of the Well of Demons, a young green dragon, awakes. After defeating the traps and the wyrm, the heroes lift the curse on the compound, and leave, now ready to confront Paldemar in the Tower of Mysteries.