A Wonderous One-Shot of Wavering Wonder - 1

Phone Tag Sucks When There are No Phones
The group, composed of the Fire Genasi Paladin Heiraz, the young Human warlock Whitley, and the Kitsune assassin Korra; are ordered to investigate a plague of manic laughing on the road to [a city] that infects travelers on the road. The guards do not let them through and are advised that the source of the plague is coming from a strange basin formation in the desert.

They make their way to the basin, which has two entrances: One to the north, one to the south. Whitley starts toward the much easier northern descent, but Heiraz suggests that it is much less likely that the southern route would be a trap. Whitley retorts something very scary, but Korra agrees and they descend into the basin by the southern route.

A Descent into Madness
They stepped into the basin and Heiraz was immediately afflicted with the [chuckling madness]. A raven perches nearby and they have a full-length conversation about the basin, the sickness, and the cure before revealing itself to be a scout familiar, whose master was close at hand and wanted to render assistance. The raven helpfully provided information about a cure for the [chuckling madness], and so They went off in search. As they proceeded through the basin, they found themselves in more of a crevasse, with various caves branching off from it. Whitley, impulsive (and damaged) youth that he is, charged into the cave before anyone could stop him and a huge, corrosive slime that was attached to the ceiling of the cave consumes part of his armor. The team beats it back and splits it in half, which of course only produces two autonomous (but smaller) slimes.

Korra attempted to cut it with her shortsword, only to find that it corroded the blade and made it less useable. So her strategy was modified to hurling shuriken after shuriken into the blob. Heiraz, having seen this, switched her weapon to her quarterstaff and with the power of divine light (and plenty of assistance from Whitley and Korra) splattered the corrosive blob, dispersing and killing it. This fight nearly destroyed them. It was at this point that Nezira, a dragonborn warlock [sorcerer?] arrives on the scene to investigate the basin for herself.

Unrelated Laughter, Dry Sand, and Day-Late Allies
After resting momentarily to recover from death’s very doorstep, they continued to scout the caves. To the south of where resided a pack of gnolls. “Hyena people…” chuckled Heiraz, not in the slightest bit amused, “that would explain the laughing.” After the decision was made to eliminate the gnolls, Korra managed to kill two and severely wound three before being noticed. She was very far forward of their support range and nearly surrounded by the remainder of the pack, so Heiraz gallantly charges in to cover Korra’s retreat, drawing the whole team into a 5-on-10-I-mean-7 fight. Whitley opens up a gaping maw under the biggest clump of the gnolls, softening them up so that Korra, Heiraz, and Nezira can finish them off.

In a hidden compartment near the gnoll camp, they find a bag with dust of dryness in it. In exploring the cave, they also found a pond with the flowers necessary to make the [chuckling madness] cure. They also found the foundations of a very old building, perhaps a temple, also in the cave. Korra, chasing the last gnoll, triggers a gigantic boulder to crush Whitley almost to death. Heiraz was able to stabilize him, though. It was at this point that Korra began to explore to the north, where they had encountered the slimes, and in what was left of them, she found a Wand of the War Mage, which she gave to Whitley.

Intruder Alert
They then proceeded up the main crevasse to a large antechamber, with a large sigil drawn into the ground, and runes all around it. Standing there, very still, are a sand troll and a human in full plate armor. Whitley tries and fails to get them to investigate something and stealth the party into the chamber (although to be fair, this is partly because Heiraz is not very stealthy). The human, now recognizable as a female gladiator, and the giant-f***-you-troll advanced on the party, laughing and speaking in unison in a way that seemed like possession. Heiraz told them to hold ground at the mouth of the chamber, as it was too small for the troll to easily fit through, and a chokepoint for converging spellwork against the gladiator.

This strategy worked for a while, but eventually it became clear what was happening and the gladiator attempted a breakout. She succeeded. Heiraz held her ground against the fearsome warrior and with Whitley and Nezira’s help, was able to keep her contained.

Until the troll broke through.

Last Stand
Whitley wisely fell back to the slime cave as Nezira and Heiraz tried desperately to put the gladiator out of the fight. The troll knocks the dragonborn sorcerer unconscious and while Heiraz seems to be holding her own against the gladiator, she knows she stands zero chance against the troll and the gladiator and is looking for a chance to safely disengage to retreat to the cave.

Korra appears from the shadows, killing the gladiator and freeing Heiraz from combat. She blasts a flame toward the troll and escapes inside the cave, being very wounded. Korra tosses her a potion of greater healing and disappears back into the shadows. She dances around the troll, with Whitley and Heiraz firing their ranged spells at the troll as well. Whitley goes to stabilize Nezira and barely makes it back inside the cave before the troll attempts to fit through the tiny aperture. With the troll stuck, Whitley decides to go out of the other entrance, where they found the gnolls (as it turns out, these two caves were actually just one), and rescue Nezira that way while Heiraz and Korra continue to wail on the troll. The troll expires and the team reunites and convalesces for a moment.

Deft Displays of Derring-Do Demonstrated in the Denouement
Nezira suggests that a nearby village will have more warriors that would be helpful in clearing the basin. The team agrees, but Whitley is taken by his insatiable curiosity and goes to examine the chamber. He recognizes the runic symbols but is psychically (further) traumatized by his attempts to read it, and Heiraz pulls him to safety.

At that point, a long rest starts to sound really good, and the team rests, resolved to get more help in clearing the basin, come morning.