Belmarniss can now sorta muddle along in the local common thanks to aggressive use of comprehend languages to hand-translate books after roping a local into teaching her the alphabet. Also she hates teleport traps with every fiber of her being. Also she has figured out at this point that she somehow leveled in sorcerer instead of wizard during the business with the pirates and has no idea why that happened or whether it will happen again. And she has sold this stupid arrowhead to two different curio shops and given up as it seems to be cursed. And she just needs to keep doing what she does, she guesses, till she can teleport herself home. The Yawning Portal is a nicely ironic name.
They follow where she leads!
Enserric looks around. "Gods, I had no idea how much I missed being able to see more than ten feet in a given direction."
"Yes, it was - not even really sight per se, it was more of a blind-sense. I could hear farther away, but visually I was very limited."
"I am very glad we could help you, Enserric," Jojo says earnestly. "You have been a friend to us."
"Oh, don't let's be sappy."
They continue along toward their landing site. Along the way, they run into the duergar who gave them the map of the first level. They scramble to their feet when they see the party and their war golems.
"Welcome back, strangers," says their leader. "Looks like you found some friends?"
Enserric smiles thinly. "You could say that."
The lead dwarf laughs in that way that says she didn't really get it. "Did you clear a path for us, then? Should we head down and see what you left behind? You don't look too loaded down..."
"That's good enough for us. A decent-quality golem chassis sells for a hell of a lot."
She winces. "Well... hmm. Better to know it than not, I suppose. Maybe we can come to an arrangement with him. He seem reasonable?"
"Uh, he seemed friendly, I don't know if that's the sort of reasonableness you have in mind."
"We can work with friendly. Thanks."
The dwarves get up and head over towards the dungeon entrance en masse.
Garrus shakes his head. "Two sets of visitors in one day. Hope Alsigard is feeling sociable."
"He must be a helluva introvert to have just wandered into the basement and stayed there for centuries."
"I can't imagine it. I like to get away from it all myself, but seven hundred years? I'd go mad."
They reach the shore, and Jojo tosses a coin into the water. A few seconds later, the prow of Cavallas' boat emerges from a fogbank.
"Were you... waiting for us?" Jojo asks. "In the fog?"
Cavallas hisses and gurgles in a way that implies laughter. "Perhapsss I was."
The golems pile in after them, causing no noticeable dip in the boat's level.
"To the Ssseer's camp, then?" Cavallas asks.
"Yes," Garrus confirms. "As you might have noticed, we're dropping off a delivery."
Cavallas dips its pole into the water and they set off, once again moving at a frankly inexplicable speed.
It's a short trip, and only improved by amateur sashimi. When they dock at the Seer's base camp, the golems disembark first and form a sort of parade guard for the party.
"If any of these are still walking around afterwards we should probably return them but it's tempting to keep 'em."
"Isn't it just?" Garrus asks, strolling through the aisle. "Hell of a reception."
And they head over to the repurposed Temple of Lolth, where the Seer's general awaits them.
"I see you've brought a troop of golems," he notes somewhat redundantly. "Fine work. Are you planning to head straight off to the island with the avariel, or rest here for the night? I'd like to coordinate our strikes on her illithid and beholder power bases with your next action."
"Golem island was neither time consuming nor spell-intensive, I'm up for avariel next if everyone else is."