Incorporated Quote Corner II
Intrigued by some masks we find in the dungeon, which appear to be made out of dead squid and are fashioned to look like the face of an Illithid, I put one on along with the accompanying robe. I end up looking suspiciously like the Mind Flayer we saw earlier in the adventure, albeit not terribly tall as, being an Elf, I am only 5'2". We press on, with me still in disguise, just it case it could help us. A disguise has yet to help us in any adventure, but I am nothing but optimistic that it will do one day.
After a quick skirmish with some more Hobgoblins, we find a door, barred on the outside, similar to the one that held mind-controlled prisoners downstairs. We think it quite likely that there are more captured townsfolk behind this one too, so we open it and go in. I had sort of forgotten that I was posing as an Illithid and that this could have a negative effect on the attitude of the prisoners. They seemed to take it in their stride, though:
'Aren't you a little short to be a Mind Flayer?'
'What? Oh, the disguise. I'm Lenwë Telemnar. I'm here to rescue you!', I say, taking off the mask.
With the rest of the townsfolk found, all that is left to do is to find this fake Mind Flayer and destroy the threat he presents. We find him in his quarters, just down the adjoining corridor, protected by his strong partner, and we become embroiled in quite a battle with them. All sorts of magic is thrown around in the fight, including having our Fighter Charmed right at the start, but not by our Mage. Considering his main 'contribution' to the fight is to pick up the magical staff after I disarmed the fake Mind Flayer of it, and then run out of the room, it was interesting to hear his helpful calls of 'do something useful!' from the corridor.
Nevertheless, we prevail, and we all survived, thanks to some masterful and timely healing from the Cleric, after the cornered not-a-Mind Flayer decided to use all of his fireballs on us. We even manage to find an ounce of Stone Salve in the small horde of treasure in the room. This is used to make the Ninja flesh once more, and luckily he suffers no ill effects, such as dying, from the transformation. We rest, get the townsfolk healthy and back to strength for the journey back, and head off back to the town, to be welcomed as heroes.