Crax Goobadink, Euclid Lazuli, Imari, and Ragnar Dravenson are gathered by Sybil Morvina at Morvina's Tree. Sybil Morvina informs the group that an unnatural and incredibly powerful seismic event occurred. She is concerned about it, and what ramifications such an expulsion of energy could have on the region. Sybil Morvina asks the group to go out and investigate the event: she wishes for them to determine the cause of the earthquake, the impact on the region, and to aid any individuals or creatures adversely impacted by the event. Specifically, she knows that the denizens of Qir'ellan'alak live relatively nearby, and she knows their Drow rangers often scout and map the caverns for miles, so aiding anyone from the city is a top priority.
Sybil Morvina is also aware the the Nexus Encephalon moved into the ruins of Uldrazim around where the quake was felt, so she warns the party about the possible Mind Flayer threat. In doing so, she grants them some boons:
- 4 Brownies of Burrowing (Burrowing speed of 30 feet for 1 hour)
- 4 Eldritch Eclairs (Advantage on saves for charm or frightened by aberrations for 1 hour)
- 4 Madeleines of Mind Shielding (Resistance to psychic damage for 1 hour)
Sybil Morvina also assigns one of her animal companions to help guide the party: Bauble the Cave Badger.
The Tremor Chasers would then be sent out from Morvina's Tree into the caverns. Since she was a safe distance from the impacted area, they must travel for 1.25 miles through collapsed caverns and navigating newly formed ravines. Some jumps across ravines and a climb down a vertical cave leads to a Quaggoth cave, with 5 injured Quaggoths under the thrall of the colony and granted psionic magic as a part of this enchantment (Quaggoth Thonot Stat Block).
Beyond this cave is the collapsed northern (left from from gate) side of Uldrazim. They will need to dig or otherwise pass through the cave in to reach the city proper: Bauble will lead them through and provide a small tunnel to work with.
Inside the city, the north side of the ruins is the trades district of the city: blacksmiths, apothecaries, and storefronts are long abandoned, with some repositories kept up and occuiped by members of the colony. Inside the abandoned trades are plenty of ancient Duergar weapons, armor, gear, and coins - all long eroded. The only usable items are some magical artifacts found by the Illithid but scattered and buried throughout the city after the Devastation Orb Earthquake. Those items include: Tunnelbreaker Pickaxe, Corrupted Warhammer, Mind Lash, Mind Blade, Magma War Pick, Necrolace.
One such maintained building will be the Granite Codex, the largest library building within Uldrazim. It is here that the colony have stored a majority of their stolen texts and tomes, including large swaths of aberration and religious texts, and the stolen contents of the Religion of the Illithid research by one Killian Sweeney. Several Illithid are controlling some Brain Golems to levitate and move debris from around the building and reinforcing the walls and roof (4 x Mind Flayers, 2 x Eater of Knowledge, all injured).
Near the back of the city, Intellect Snares are flying up to the ziggurat Velkrazar, as they are the fastest creatures in the colony. Charging up the western stairs as well are Eaters of Knowledge, rushing to defend the Elder Brain at the top. The Tremor Chasers can intercept some of the Intellect Snares and golems before they make for the summit (2 x Intellect Snare, 2 x Eater of Knowledge)