With the intellect devourer dead, the illusion ends…
… And the goblin is no where to be seen.
Disabling the trap brings down the barrier to the eastern passage.
The party makes their way down long, winding caverns until they come to an open room with a deep pool.
Yeah.
Like that’s good news.
From the pool several Merrow spring out of the water and attack the party.
Although Merrow are formidable, the party makes short work of them.
Proceeding through the pool, they encounter more Merrow, and again, they dispatch the Merrow handily, despite the number of enemies the eventually end up fighting.
Kahseer, in particular, takes on a number of Merrow at once in the form of a Giant Octopus.
At the end of the fight, Brialle’s dog companion notices something the rest of the part did not: something moved into the water ahead of them, while the Merrow were fighting.
At midnight, for the few minutes Sebastian can speak to Brialle without the aid of spells, Sebastian tells her, “It was the goblin.”