The Eidolon Cave

The Eidolon Cave was the third quest undertaken by The Party. It follows Suqa and Tatsumaki, as well as Tomicus (and Diolarah) who were introduced during this quest. The team is given a task by an estranged relative of Nicholai at the Dead Yuan to track down a super-powered golem known as an eidolon in a nearby cave. The quest was DMed by Nykirnsu.

Plot
Suqa Mardiq and Tatsumaki, heading north to find work to help pay Shreklan’s bail, find their way to a remote tavern in the Thraka Forest called the Dead Yuan. Outside the town gate they meet a poor, insane paladin who calls himself Tomicus the Holy Penetrator, who immediately asked if he could join their party. They accepted him and then entered the tavern, where they were greeted by a kindly barkeep who recognized Tatsumaki and Suqa as two of the heroes of New Haven (revealing them to be an infamous band named Tiamat’s Reavers) and bought them a round of drinks and recommended the talk to the local Bahamut Knights’ Inquisitor, who was staying at the tavern.

The Inquisitor, Sarai Carno, began giving them a quest - and a map - to destroy an eidolon hiding in the Driden Cavern in the eastern mountain range until Tatsumaki questioned her name in relation to Nicholai. She jumped at this, begging to know what happened to her younger brother. Suqa initially claimed Nicholai to be his sex-slave until Tatsumaki told her the truth, which prompted her to leave being unable to handle this revelation (claiming she had business with the orcs…). She leaves them with her assistant, a strange and unhealthy-looking elf named Varmine, who fills them in on the quest details and then asks to accompany them. They agree to this and head out on their quest.

The first thing they choose to do is head to see a banshrae who lives on the way to the cavern, banshraes being on Suqa’s ‘list’. On their way they witness Tomicus’ incredible athletic abilities, as he sprints the entire way. When they arrive at the place marked on the map they’re unable to find the clearly marked house, that is, until a net nearly falls on them and they see a wiry figure steal Varmine into the forest.

They follow the figure to a house resembling a tree and head inside, assuming it to be the banshrae’s home. When they go in they find Varmine strapped to some kind of torture device, although upon attempting to save her discover it actually heals her mysterious health problems. At which point the Banshrae appears and Suqa attempts to rape her. She gives an evil look, and then rapes him instead, and despite her size manages to overpower him for some time. He tries to kill her for revenge when she’s done, but she somehow is able to defeat the entire trio in combat, with them barely escaping with their dignity!

After they escape they find a healed (and now terrifying-looking) Varmine awaiting them. She explains that Sarai had cursed her as a slave after taking her from her home, Driden Cavern - actually a Drow camp centered around an Eidolon of Lolth. She holds the location of their reward ransom in exchange for the party’s protection on the way home.

They continued onward to their goal (Tomicus reluctantly, having just remebered that Sarai mentioned a dragon living in nearby mountains), but were eventually attacked by a group of scorpions and kobolds, who surprisingly provided absolutely no threat. After they killed the creatures they met another mercenary, an eladrin named Diolarah, who was after the same goal as them. It was then that Tomicus revealed another of his fantastic abilities, casting a divine spell that compelled Diolarah to love and worship him, which is lucky considering she apparently wanted to murder Shreklan, and showed signs of wanting to fight the party.

The trio and their two companions then made their way to the Driden Cavern and decided to rest outside before getting close. The next day they made their way toward the cave, expecting it to be guarded by goblins, but instead halflings have already paved the way. They find the halflings to be harmless and head inside the cavern. Still thinking they ought to destroy the Eidolon, Varmine pleads that they now leave, and tells them to head to Wastelandia Mountain to the north to find the reward buried under a Bahamut Knights banner.

The party (and Diolarah, who held on to Tomicus and trailed behind him, refusing to let go of her lord!) follow this direction, but are stopped by a group of kobolds at the foot of the mountain. Suqa demands they let the party through, and they head back up the mountain. Eventually the party find the banner on a lookout, but before they can dig it up they’re attacked by a large group of aggressive kobolds, along with several young dragons. This fight took an entire night, eventually seeming like a stalemate, but at last Tomicus was able to charge up his holy power and obliterate the last of the kobolds. The party, especially Tatsumaki were especially worn out after this, and after a rest they dug up their hard earned gold they started preparing for the long journey back to New Haven…