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<blockquote data-quote="Netherstorm" data-source="post: 5779337" data-attributes="member: 84943"><p><strong>9. Rilauven</strong></p><p></p><p><em>1/2/12: We skipped a week due to Christmas, and then got back to the campaign. I decided to skip the final room of the mud sorcerer's tomb, as there wasn't much to it and we had quite a bit to get to tonight. The heroes got their loot and we joined in progress....</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>I fell a bit behind due in part to the holiday. I have one more session to recap, as well as the one Ill be running on Monday. Hopefully by next week we'll be caught up. Soon we'll be ready to start Madness at Gardmore Abbey, which ought to be fun. </em></p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'"><span style="font-size: 12px">Saga of Valor </span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'"><span style="font-size: 12px">Book One - NyrodSpace War 3</span></span></p><p></p><p> </p><p> </p><p style="text-align: center"><em>Chapter Nine: Rilauven</em></p> <p style="text-align: center"><em></em></p><p></p><p></p><p><strong>Ardra</strong> - Eladrin Bladesinger Vovoidja</p><p><strong>The Blue Monk</strong> - Half-Orc Monk Almoner</p><p><strong>Hartaniel</strong> - Elf Barbarian Groom of the Stool</p><p><strong>Lucky</strong> - Human Warlord Constable</p><p><strong>Scarlet</strong> - Human Fighter Constable</p><p><strong>Varis</strong> - Half-Elf Warlock Hostarius</p><p></p><p>The adventurers' packs were brimming over with loot from the mud sorcerer's tomb. They'd emerged by a clear pool on Cat Island, high up where the cats seemed unable to go. The adventurers decided to rest. When they awoke, they found that the cloud of Vecna had reformed inside Hartaniel's magic lantern.</p><p></p><p>"Whu... Where am I?", he asked. "I expended almost all of my power!".</p><p></p><p>"We'll find more converts for you, don't worry," Hartaniel said.</p><p></p><p>Vecna continued, "The only thing that awoke me was prayers from that drow in Echo Warrens. She's praying about The Blue Monk! Disgusting."</p><p></p><p>Scarlet smiled slyly at the monk and asked, "What's she saying?".</p><p></p><p>"That is between her and her deity."</p><p></p><p>Dark Secret, the giant bird created by Vecna swooped down and landed near them. The heroes prepared to climb on and fly to Rilauven.</p><p></p><p>Teddy, young Varis' skull familiar, said "Finally! We get to go back home."</p><p></p><p>Varis moaned, "Joy."</p><p></p><p>Teddy the former drow child turned to the heroes and said, "He set my mom on fire. And now he's going to pay."</p><p></p><p>Ardra asked Varis, "Are you a wanted.. adolescent in this city?".</p><p></p><p>"Why do you think I have this cloak and mask?", he asked in response. The mask he wore was one of the plaguebringer masks.</p><p></p><p>Ardra said, "I took that clue. What are we to expect?".</p><p></p><p>"A relatively powerful woman - pissed at me."</p><p></p><p>Before long, they were again on the back of their giant black bird, Dark Secret. Below them was the Sea of Black Blood. And off in the distance was the drow city of Rilauven.</p><p></p><p>They could make out the central temple of Lolth. A shaft of red light shot through its' roof to the ceiling of the massive underdark cavern at all times. Teddy explained that when the light was red, it was considered 'daytime'. When it was purple, it was 'night'.</p><p></p><p>The heroes discussed the best way to approach. Ultimately, they landed near the gate and sent Dark Secret away. Hartaniel whispered to the creature. He asked it to return in a few hours to steal one of the drow ships at the docks. He wanted Dark Secret to bring it to Echo Warrens, to give it to the dwarf who had his ship destroyed by the black dragon.</p><p></p><p>Vecna muttered, "A bold plan!"</p><p></p><p>The heroes approached the gate and were allowed into the city for the fee of one malachite (ten gold) apiece. Blocking their entrance was what looked to be a giant jade statue of a spider. A guard with a lance asked what the heroes business was. The answers included: "vacation" and "sight-seeing". As they paid, the jade spider suddenly came alive! It scuttled to the side, allowing the heroes to pass. Hartaniel gave the guard an extra malachite and said, "We weren't here".</p><p></p><p>They stepped in to the cruel city, noticing that small spiders crawled everywhere freely. There were stalls selling potions and poisons. There were also slave auctions going on. The Blue Monk put on the spider mask given to him by Vaona in Echo Warrens. They watched a drow woman using a whip on a halfling slave. The whip was actually a snake with three heads. The heads bit at the halfling, who screamed.</p><p></p><p>Many citizens had treasure chests that floated alongside them as they walked.</p><p></p><p>There were drow, lolthbound goblins, orcs and bugbears walking about. A number of human, elf and dwarf slaves were near as well. Drow guards were riding in carts that had animated spider legs instead of wheels. Mounted on the carts were harpoon guns. These conveyances were known as spider-walkers.</p><p></p><p>The heroes entered a bar called BloodWeaver's. Varis had gone to BloodWeaver's often as a slave, for help running impossible errands. A white-haired man who claimed to be a fallen angel named Saureya was often found there. Saureya was fond of Varis, and would aid the lad however he could. The Blue Monk bought him a fungus wine.</p><p></p><p>Varis removed his mask. Saureya was happy to see him and warned, "your mother's agents are everywhere."</p><p></p><p>He told the heroes that "the drow hero, Lochar," had arrived a day or two ago. Lochar had delivered the canisters, but had sold one or two on the side to wealthy citizens for an enormous profit. They also again heard the story that when Lochar was on the boat to Rilauven, the black dragon had attacked. Lochar threw one of the canisters into the mouth of the beast, giving it a mouthful of blood veil! The creature had flown off.</p><p></p><p>They asked about getting near the central temple of Lolth, but found that it was in the walled-off religious district. The only way a non-drow could get in was by obtaining a special green cloak from a drow authority.</p><p></p><p>Saureya informed the heroes that Lochar had sold a canister of blood veil to a nasty band of black-furred gnolls. He said that they lived in an abandoned theater in the ghetto.</p><p></p><p>Hartaniel headed into a shop to get his crossbow repaired. It had been broken in the mud sorcerer's tomb. The drow inside looked it over and said the repair job would take a few hours.</p><p></p><p>"How much?", asked Hartaniel.</p><p></p><p>"One malachite. Ten gold."</p><p></p><p>"How about I give you 5 gold and not kill you?".</p><p></p><p>The drow looked at him, incredulous. "Get out of here right now." He drew a poisoned blade and began to yell.</p><p></p><p>Hartaniel said, "Fine. Ten gold it is."</p><p></p><p>The drow was incensed. "Get out of here. Keep your filthy gold."</p><p></p><p>Hartaniel had a counter-offer. "20 gold."</p><p></p><p>The drow began shouting out the windows of his shop for the guards.</p><p></p><p>Hartaniel shrugged. "Your loss," said the eladrin. He left the shop.</p><p></p><p>The other heroes, waiting outside, sighed and drew their weapons. From around a southern street came a spider-walker with three drow guards on it. From a northern street came another, and their ogre ally approached from the east!</p><p></p><p>As the battle unfolded, drow and lolthbound goblins sat on rooftops and cheered. The drow guards often attacked surface-race visitor for their own amusement.</p><p></p><p>The Blue Monk and Hartaniel charged the spider-walker to the north. The monk jumped and climbed onto the walker and attacked the three guards One drew a rapier dripping with poison and stabbed at him. Hartaniel ran underneath it and hacked through its' wooden undercarriage. The cart scuttled to the side, and a drow fired a harpoon into Hartaniel. Hartaniel angrily puled the harpoon out and threw it at the drow. Hartaniel turned and looked at some goblins watching on a rooftop and raised his hands. They cheered for him.</p><p></p><p>The Blue Monk extinguished a drow with a fatal heart punch, and killed another with a blow to the head. He turned and jumped off of the cart onto the roof of a nearby dwelling. Hartaniel slew the last drow, and then cut off one of the cart's spider legs and threw it to some cheering goblins on a nearby rooftop.</p><p></p><p>Scarlet and Ardra charged the other cart with Lucky nearby. Varis stood at an intersection, preparing to cast spells. Scarlet grabbed one of the spider-walker's legs and gave it a mighty wrench, tipping the cart on its' side. The drow guards cursed as they fell to the side. Ardra raced over to a prone drow and plunged her blade into him, and then tossed him near Lucky. Lucky finished him off, and took his glowing spider-ring which controlled the cart.</p><p></p><p>Varis turned to see the massive ogre charge at him and deliver a brutal crushing blow to the young warlock. He fell back and called out for help. Scarlet raced back while Ardra continued to battle the drow. The bladesinger killed another. The drow's soul swirled and fused with one of the gems in her helm of seven deaths.</p><p></p><p> Scarlet stabbed the ogre and got a tight grip on the creature's arm. Lucky healed Varis. The heroes converged on the ogre and cut it down, to surprised cheers from goblins and drow alike. Varis finished it off with a burning spray spell.</p><p></p><p>Victory in hand, goblins began to gather. The smell of tasty cooked ogre filled their nostrils. The heroes made a hasty retreat.</p><p></p><p>Lucky and Ardra were interested in finding someone who dealt with adamantine limb replacements. One name came up: Curra the Sorceress. It was said that something was wrong with Curra's brain. She operated out of a small forge in a better section of the ghetto.</p><p></p><p>They found the forge and stepped in. They saw a number of duergar hammering away on anvils. Curra, a drow sorceress, stood near them, gazing longingly into a rock crystal tear.</p><p></p><p>Curra looked at the heroes, and at Lucky's adamantine arm. She said, "I am Curra. Are you slaves?"</p><p></p><p>"No."</p><p></p><p>She nodded thoughtfully. Then she asked Lucky, "How did you get that arm?".</p><p></p><p>Hartaniel interjected, "I have a crossbow that I'd like to have repaired. Please."</p><p></p><p>"I don't repair crossbows."</p><p></p><p>"I'd be happy to pay any price."</p><p></p><p>Lucky cut in with a pun. "I'm a fan of your handi-work."</p><p></p><p>Curra smiled and took a look at the arm. "Commander Pellanistra?".</p><p></p><p>Lucky nodded. "She won't be needing it any more."</p><p></p><p>"Oh, my. So what is it you want from me?".</p><p></p><p>Lucky pointed out her missing leg and eye. "I'm interested in more appendages. I can keep you in work for a while. On the off chance that I don't get brutally murdered, maybe I'll come back and visit you."</p><p></p><p>Ardra expressed an interest in learning how to craft and attach the limbs. Curra explained she'd learned it when she was a member of the church of Lolth, before she was kicked out. Curra explained that as a priestess, a pain web spell misfired and affected her brain. She said she now had pity for the non-drow and slaves of the city of Rilauven.</p><p></p><p>Ardra bought a book on the art of crafting and attaching adamantite limbs.</p><p></p><p>They said goodbye and headed to the run-down theater. Along the way, they passed through the dock area. The saw Dark Secret swoop down from the sky, pluck a boat in it's massive claws and fly off. The drow guards shouted and fired volleys of arrows and ballista bolts into the creature, injuring it quite badly.</p><p></p><p>The heroes made their way to the theater. A gnoll guard led them inside. He had a brand on the palm of his hand in the shape of a spider. Varis recognized the brand as the mark of his own House Talshalee.</p><p></p><p>Half a dozen gnolls lurked about. Four child slaves were combing the fur of some of the gnolls. Their leader lurked in a shadowy balcony high above them. It hissed in a female voice, "What do you want?". They herd a weird scraping sound as she moved closer to the edge.</p><p></p><p>"We want the blood veil."</p><p></p><p>She cackled. Varis recognized the voice. The thing up there in the darkness was his former owner, Matron YasnaBrinna Talshalee! Teddy gasped. Varis immediately shoved him as far into his pack as he would go.</p><p></p><p>Scarlet leaned over and said quietly, "Stay in the pack and talk to Vecna!". Scarlet was pretty sure Teddy was naturally inclined to obey females and would listen.</p><p></p><p>"If you want the canister, you'll have to do something for me. I need a key from the home of Xenla Amandrucil. Get it for me and I'll give you the blood veil - free!". Again she cackled.</p><p></p><p>She moved again, and again they heard a scraping noise. Hartaniel said, "I like to see who I'm working for."</p><p></p><p>"Not this time, boy."</p><p></p><p>The heroes left and walked the streets. They talked about their options. Ardra asked if that thing in the balcony was Varis' "mother".</p><p></p><p>"Ask Teddy", he said, and pulled his skull familiar out of his pack.</p><p></p><p>Teddy said, excitedly, "She sounded different! Let me go back in!".</p><p></p><p>The heroes ignored him. They headed to the residential district, and found the home of Xenla Amandrucil.</p><p></p><p>They knocked on the door. A little slot opened. A lolthbound goblin peered through and asked, "Whaddya want?".</p><p></p><p>Ardra said, "We have some information -"</p><p></p><p>"I don't know what that means."</p><p></p><p>"...Where's the boss lady?"</p><p></p><p>"She's at the temple. Won't be home until later tonight. Little girl is home. What a bunch of white-faces want?".</p><p></p><p>The Blue Monk said something about the goblin's purple face. The goblin paused and said, "I am a butler." There was another pause. "I not supposed to let anybody in. If you try to open door, big fire explode and kill you!". The goblin laughed heartily at this. Then he said, Now you open door and die in explosion!" He shut the slit and hobbled away from the door. They heard him call out, "Ok... go!".</p><p></p><p>The heroes smiled and looked at each other. Lucky yelled, "It's not working!".</p><p></p><p>The goblin called out, "What you mean, it not working? You not try to jiggle door!"</p><p></p><p>Scarlet called out, "We did! You try it!".</p><p></p><p>The goblin was skeptical. He thought they were just stupid. Varis continued to insist i his innocent, boyish manner. The heroes quietly backed up.</p><p></p><p>So the goblin opened the door and the fire trap exploded. The goblin was a fiery husk. The blast echoed throughout the street. They heard footsteps from further within the dwelling.</p><p></p><p>"I thought we were going to try to be nice...", Scarlet said.</p><p></p><p>Ardra pointed out, "He was just trying to open the door for us. We didn't do anything."</p><p></p><p>Two more goblin butlers appeared. One was a maid and one a butler. The little drow girl came through a door. She was wearing a key around her neck and was holding one of the whips that ended in three snake heads. She scolded the goblins and then shrieked when she saw the heroes through the smoldering doorway.</p><p></p><p>The maid shut the door. The heroes knew things had gone awry. They ran. They could hear shouts of "Help!". They raced past many fields of rothe and fungus. They finally ducked into a fungus farm, hiding behind massive mushroom stumps as tall as a giant.</p><p></p><p>Then they planned. They decided to go back to the house at night. They thought about sending a letter, that started off with "Sorry we killed your butler..". Instead they decided to go to the market to buy a replacement slave for the drow, as a way of apologizing.</p><p></p><p>They saw that most goblins went for 300 gold. That was a bit steep. They found some discount slaves. One had a bad leg, another had permanent brain damage. Another was just naturally really stupid. They inspected the slave with the bad leg. Scarlet and The Blue Monk didn't like any of this, and went shopping.</p><p></p><p>The adventurers bought the goblin. They brought him to a huge fungus field. They broke his bad leg, and then had Lucky use healing infusions to try to re-set it. Some guards heard the goblin's screams, and a drow patrol in a spider-walker came over and questioned them. The guards left the heroes, which seemed odd to them.</p><p></p><p>They crept near the Amandrucil house and saw guards lurking near it: 2 spider-walkers and an ogre. They watched for a while. On spider-walker left down a street. Scarlet thought they had a chance to talk their way out of things. Hartaniel promised not to say or do anything.</p><p></p><p>The heroes approached the guards outside the dwelling. There was general alarm. Xenla, a tall drow priestess came out. Lucky smooth-talked her and then explained the situation. She told Xenla that Yasnabrinna had the chest, and that Xenla had the key.</p><p></p><p>Xenla angrily explained that she had bought the chest with the blood veil canister inside. YasnaBrinna's gnolls had stolen it from her, but needed the key to open it without triggering the protective glyphs Xenla had put on the chest.</p><p></p><p>Hartaniel offered Xenla the goblin slave to replace the butler. Xenla seemed pleased. The ogre guard loomed over them and asked, "Should I crush dem?"</p><p></p><p>Xenla thought a better idea was to have the heroes retrieve her chest for her. The heroes agreed to do so.</p><p></p><p>The heroes returned to the theater. The gnolls let them in when the heroes lied that they had the key. They stood before the dark balcony. YasnaBrinna asked, "Do they have it?". The heroes heard a scraping sound as she moved closer to the edge.</p><p></p><p>And then the heroes attacked!</p><p></p><p>YasnaBrinna lurked on a balcony with two archers. One more archer was on the ground floor, along with three brutes. Lucky raced toward the balcony and lured YasnaBrinna to the edge. She fell over the side and crashed to the ground.</p><p></p><p>The heroes got a good look at her. Her entire body was burned. Her once-beautiful face now resembled a skull with tufts of hair growing from its' scalp. Skin was melted over one eye. The sound they were hearing was her dragging herself over the floor with her arms. Her legs did not work at all.</p><p></p><p>The adventurers rushed her and stabbed her while she was down. She chanted and cast a spell that caused her to hover 20 feet in the air, well above the adventurers. Her burnt legs hung limply underneath her, useless. Varis pulled off his mask and looked at her. Her good eye went wide. "You!", she shrieked. "You did this to me!".</p><p></p><p>Teddy, Varis' skull familiar and her son, called out to her. She recognized Teddy's voice and said coldly, "You are of no use to me." Teddy continued to call out to her, but his cruel mother made it clear that she had no sympathy for his plight whatsoever.</p><p></p><p>Gnoll archers took aim and plugged Scarlet full of arrows. She fell to the ground, hurt badly. YasnaBrinna began firing off dark bolts at Varis, dropping him as well. Lucky gave him a quick heal. Then he got up and blasted the drow with a spell that blew off her legs!</p><p></p><p>Scarlet was healed as well. She made her way up to the balcony to deal with the archers while the other heroes tried to handle to powerful gnolls below.</p><p></p><p>Varis closed in on his former matron. He pelted her with spells, knocking her to the ground as his friends fiercely battled the gnolls all around him. YasnaBrinna, nearly dead, held her hand out to her former slave. "My boy..", she croaked. "Spare me. You did this to me! You did it!"</p><p></p><p>Varis said, "Say hi to my real parents in hell." He cast burning spray. She shrieked and died. The gnolls saw that their leader was done for, and the ran for the exits.</p><p></p><p>Varis held his hand over her remains and drew out her soul. Teddy shrieked as Varis forced her soul into the skull to join him for all eternity.</p><p></p><p>The heroes found the chest, as well as green cloaks that would give them access to the religious district. They were unsure of how they would get in to the Main Temple of Lolth to get the remaining canisters.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Netherstorm, post: 5779337, member: 84943"] [b]9. Rilauven[/b] [I]1/2/12: We skipped a week due to Christmas, and then got back to the campaign. I decided to skip the final room of the mud sorcerer's tomb, as there wasn't much to it and we had quite a bit to get to tonight. The heroes got their loot and we joined in progress.... I fell a bit behind due in part to the holiday. I have one more session to recap, as well as the one Ill be running on Monday. Hopefully by next week we'll be caught up. Soon we'll be ready to start Madness at Gardmore Abbey, which ought to be fun. [/I] [CENTER][FONT=Arial Black][SIZE=3]Saga of Valor [/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial Black][SIZE=3]Book One - NyrodSpace War 3[/SIZE][/FONT][/CENTER] [CENTER][I]Chapter Nine: Rilauven [/I][/CENTER] [B]Ardra[/B] - Eladrin Bladesinger Vovoidja [B]The Blue Monk[/B] - Half-Orc Monk Almoner [B]Hartaniel[/B] - Elf Barbarian Groom of the Stool [B]Lucky[/B] - Human Warlord Constable [B]Scarlet[/B] - Human Fighter Constable [B]Varis[/B] - Half-Elf Warlock Hostarius The adventurers' packs were brimming over with loot from the mud sorcerer's tomb. They'd emerged by a clear pool on Cat Island, high up where the cats seemed unable to go. The adventurers decided to rest. When they awoke, they found that the cloud of Vecna had reformed inside Hartaniel's magic lantern. "Whu... Where am I?", he asked. "I expended almost all of my power!". "We'll find more converts for you, don't worry," Hartaniel said. Vecna continued, "The only thing that awoke me was prayers from that drow in Echo Warrens. She's praying about The Blue Monk! Disgusting." Scarlet smiled slyly at the monk and asked, "What's she saying?". "That is between her and her deity." Dark Secret, the giant bird created by Vecna swooped down and landed near them. The heroes prepared to climb on and fly to Rilauven. Teddy, young Varis' skull familiar, said "Finally! We get to go back home." Varis moaned, "Joy." Teddy the former drow child turned to the heroes and said, "He set my mom on fire. And now he's going to pay." Ardra asked Varis, "Are you a wanted.. adolescent in this city?". "Why do you think I have this cloak and mask?", he asked in response. The mask he wore was one of the plaguebringer masks. Ardra said, "I took that clue. What are we to expect?". "A relatively powerful woman - pissed at me." Before long, they were again on the back of their giant black bird, Dark Secret. Below them was the Sea of Black Blood. And off in the distance was the drow city of Rilauven. They could make out the central temple of Lolth. A shaft of red light shot through its' roof to the ceiling of the massive underdark cavern at all times. Teddy explained that when the light was red, it was considered 'daytime'. When it was purple, it was 'night'. The heroes discussed the best way to approach. Ultimately, they landed near the gate and sent Dark Secret away. Hartaniel whispered to the creature. He asked it to return in a few hours to steal one of the drow ships at the docks. He wanted Dark Secret to bring it to Echo Warrens, to give it to the dwarf who had his ship destroyed by the black dragon. Vecna muttered, "A bold plan!" The heroes approached the gate and were allowed into the city for the fee of one malachite (ten gold) apiece. Blocking their entrance was what looked to be a giant jade statue of a spider. A guard with a lance asked what the heroes business was. The answers included: "vacation" and "sight-seeing". As they paid, the jade spider suddenly came alive! It scuttled to the side, allowing the heroes to pass. Hartaniel gave the guard an extra malachite and said, "We weren't here". They stepped in to the cruel city, noticing that small spiders crawled everywhere freely. There were stalls selling potions and poisons. There were also slave auctions going on. The Blue Monk put on the spider mask given to him by Vaona in Echo Warrens. They watched a drow woman using a whip on a halfling slave. The whip was actually a snake with three heads. The heads bit at the halfling, who screamed. Many citizens had treasure chests that floated alongside them as they walked. There were drow, lolthbound goblins, orcs and bugbears walking about. A number of human, elf and dwarf slaves were near as well. Drow guards were riding in carts that had animated spider legs instead of wheels. Mounted on the carts were harpoon guns. These conveyances were known as spider-walkers. The heroes entered a bar called BloodWeaver's. Varis had gone to BloodWeaver's often as a slave, for help running impossible errands. A white-haired man who claimed to be a fallen angel named Saureya was often found there. Saureya was fond of Varis, and would aid the lad however he could. The Blue Monk bought him a fungus wine. Varis removed his mask. Saureya was happy to see him and warned, "your mother's agents are everywhere." He told the heroes that "the drow hero, Lochar," had arrived a day or two ago. Lochar had delivered the canisters, but had sold one or two on the side to wealthy citizens for an enormous profit. They also again heard the story that when Lochar was on the boat to Rilauven, the black dragon had attacked. Lochar threw one of the canisters into the mouth of the beast, giving it a mouthful of blood veil! The creature had flown off. They asked about getting near the central temple of Lolth, but found that it was in the walled-off religious district. The only way a non-drow could get in was by obtaining a special green cloak from a drow authority. Saureya informed the heroes that Lochar had sold a canister of blood veil to a nasty band of black-furred gnolls. He said that they lived in an abandoned theater in the ghetto. Hartaniel headed into a shop to get his crossbow repaired. It had been broken in the mud sorcerer's tomb. The drow inside looked it over and said the repair job would take a few hours. "How much?", asked Hartaniel. "One malachite. Ten gold." "How about I give you 5 gold and not kill you?". The drow looked at him, incredulous. "Get out of here right now." He drew a poisoned blade and began to yell. Hartaniel said, "Fine. Ten gold it is." The drow was incensed. "Get out of here. Keep your filthy gold." Hartaniel had a counter-offer. "20 gold." The drow began shouting out the windows of his shop for the guards. Hartaniel shrugged. "Your loss," said the eladrin. He left the shop. The other heroes, waiting outside, sighed and drew their weapons. From around a southern street came a spider-walker with three drow guards on it. From a northern street came another, and their ogre ally approached from the east! As the battle unfolded, drow and lolthbound goblins sat on rooftops and cheered. The drow guards often attacked surface-race visitor for their own amusement. The Blue Monk and Hartaniel charged the spider-walker to the north. The monk jumped and climbed onto the walker and attacked the three guards One drew a rapier dripping with poison and stabbed at him. Hartaniel ran underneath it and hacked through its' wooden undercarriage. The cart scuttled to the side, and a drow fired a harpoon into Hartaniel. Hartaniel angrily puled the harpoon out and threw it at the drow. Hartaniel turned and looked at some goblins watching on a rooftop and raised his hands. They cheered for him. The Blue Monk extinguished a drow with a fatal heart punch, and killed another with a blow to the head. He turned and jumped off of the cart onto the roof of a nearby dwelling. Hartaniel slew the last drow, and then cut off one of the cart's spider legs and threw it to some cheering goblins on a nearby rooftop. Scarlet and Ardra charged the other cart with Lucky nearby. Varis stood at an intersection, preparing to cast spells. Scarlet grabbed one of the spider-walker's legs and gave it a mighty wrench, tipping the cart on its' side. The drow guards cursed as they fell to the side. Ardra raced over to a prone drow and plunged her blade into him, and then tossed him near Lucky. Lucky finished him off, and took his glowing spider-ring which controlled the cart. Varis turned to see the massive ogre charge at him and deliver a brutal crushing blow to the young warlock. He fell back and called out for help. Scarlet raced back while Ardra continued to battle the drow. The bladesinger killed another. The drow's soul swirled and fused with one of the gems in her helm of seven deaths. Scarlet stabbed the ogre and got a tight grip on the creature's arm. Lucky healed Varis. The heroes converged on the ogre and cut it down, to surprised cheers from goblins and drow alike. Varis finished it off with a burning spray spell. Victory in hand, goblins began to gather. The smell of tasty cooked ogre filled their nostrils. The heroes made a hasty retreat. Lucky and Ardra were interested in finding someone who dealt with adamantine limb replacements. One name came up: Curra the Sorceress. It was said that something was wrong with Curra's brain. She operated out of a small forge in a better section of the ghetto. They found the forge and stepped in. They saw a number of duergar hammering away on anvils. Curra, a drow sorceress, stood near them, gazing longingly into a rock crystal tear. Curra looked at the heroes, and at Lucky's adamantine arm. She said, "I am Curra. Are you slaves?" "No." She nodded thoughtfully. Then she asked Lucky, "How did you get that arm?". Hartaniel interjected, "I have a crossbow that I'd like to have repaired. Please." "I don't repair crossbows." "I'd be happy to pay any price." Lucky cut in with a pun. "I'm a fan of your handi-work." Curra smiled and took a look at the arm. "Commander Pellanistra?". Lucky nodded. "She won't be needing it any more." "Oh, my. So what is it you want from me?". Lucky pointed out her missing leg and eye. "I'm interested in more appendages. I can keep you in work for a while. On the off chance that I don't get brutally murdered, maybe I'll come back and visit you." Ardra expressed an interest in learning how to craft and attach the limbs. Curra explained she'd learned it when she was a member of the church of Lolth, before she was kicked out. Curra explained that as a priestess, a pain web spell misfired and affected her brain. She said she now had pity for the non-drow and slaves of the city of Rilauven. Ardra bought a book on the art of crafting and attaching adamantite limbs. They said goodbye and headed to the run-down theater. Along the way, they passed through the dock area. The saw Dark Secret swoop down from the sky, pluck a boat in it's massive claws and fly off. The drow guards shouted and fired volleys of arrows and ballista bolts into the creature, injuring it quite badly. The heroes made their way to the theater. A gnoll guard led them inside. He had a brand on the palm of his hand in the shape of a spider. Varis recognized the brand as the mark of his own House Talshalee. Half a dozen gnolls lurked about. Four child slaves were combing the fur of some of the gnolls. Their leader lurked in a shadowy balcony high above them. It hissed in a female voice, "What do you want?". They herd a weird scraping sound as she moved closer to the edge. "We want the blood veil." She cackled. Varis recognized the voice. The thing up there in the darkness was his former owner, Matron YasnaBrinna Talshalee! Teddy gasped. Varis immediately shoved him as far into his pack as he would go. Scarlet leaned over and said quietly, "Stay in the pack and talk to Vecna!". Scarlet was pretty sure Teddy was naturally inclined to obey females and would listen. "If you want the canister, you'll have to do something for me. I need a key from the home of Xenla Amandrucil. Get it for me and I'll give you the blood veil - free!". Again she cackled. She moved again, and again they heard a scraping noise. Hartaniel said, "I like to see who I'm working for." "Not this time, boy." The heroes left and walked the streets. They talked about their options. Ardra asked if that thing in the balcony was Varis' "mother". "Ask Teddy", he said, and pulled his skull familiar out of his pack. Teddy said, excitedly, "She sounded different! Let me go back in!". The heroes ignored him. They headed to the residential district, and found the home of Xenla Amandrucil. They knocked on the door. A little slot opened. A lolthbound goblin peered through and asked, "Whaddya want?". Ardra said, "We have some information -" "I don't know what that means." "...Where's the boss lady?" "She's at the temple. Won't be home until later tonight. Little girl is home. What a bunch of white-faces want?". The Blue Monk said something about the goblin's purple face. The goblin paused and said, "I am a butler." There was another pause. "I not supposed to let anybody in. If you try to open door, big fire explode and kill you!". The goblin laughed heartily at this. Then he said, Now you open door and die in explosion!" He shut the slit and hobbled away from the door. They heard him call out, "Ok... go!". The heroes smiled and looked at each other. Lucky yelled, "It's not working!". The goblin called out, "What you mean, it not working? You not try to jiggle door!" Scarlet called out, "We did! You try it!". The goblin was skeptical. He thought they were just stupid. Varis continued to insist i his innocent, boyish manner. The heroes quietly backed up. So the goblin opened the door and the fire trap exploded. The goblin was a fiery husk. The blast echoed throughout the street. They heard footsteps from further within the dwelling. "I thought we were going to try to be nice...", Scarlet said. Ardra pointed out, "He was just trying to open the door for us. We didn't do anything." Two more goblin butlers appeared. One was a maid and one a butler. The little drow girl came through a door. She was wearing a key around her neck and was holding one of the whips that ended in three snake heads. She scolded the goblins and then shrieked when she saw the heroes through the smoldering doorway. The maid shut the door. The heroes knew things had gone awry. They ran. They could hear shouts of "Help!". They raced past many fields of rothe and fungus. They finally ducked into a fungus farm, hiding behind massive mushroom stumps as tall as a giant. Then they planned. They decided to go back to the house at night. They thought about sending a letter, that started off with "Sorry we killed your butler..". Instead they decided to go to the market to buy a replacement slave for the drow, as a way of apologizing. They saw that most goblins went for 300 gold. That was a bit steep. They found some discount slaves. One had a bad leg, another had permanent brain damage. Another was just naturally really stupid. They inspected the slave with the bad leg. Scarlet and The Blue Monk didn't like any of this, and went shopping. The adventurers bought the goblin. They brought him to a huge fungus field. They broke his bad leg, and then had Lucky use healing infusions to try to re-set it. Some guards heard the goblin's screams, and a drow patrol in a spider-walker came over and questioned them. The guards left the heroes, which seemed odd to them. They crept near the Amandrucil house and saw guards lurking near it: 2 spider-walkers and an ogre. They watched for a while. On spider-walker left down a street. Scarlet thought they had a chance to talk their way out of things. Hartaniel promised not to say or do anything. The heroes approached the guards outside the dwelling. There was general alarm. Xenla, a tall drow priestess came out. Lucky smooth-talked her and then explained the situation. She told Xenla that Yasnabrinna had the chest, and that Xenla had the key. Xenla angrily explained that she had bought the chest with the blood veil canister inside. YasnaBrinna's gnolls had stolen it from her, but needed the key to open it without triggering the protective glyphs Xenla had put on the chest. Hartaniel offered Xenla the goblin slave to replace the butler. Xenla seemed pleased. The ogre guard loomed over them and asked, "Should I crush dem?" Xenla thought a better idea was to have the heroes retrieve her chest for her. The heroes agreed to do so. The heroes returned to the theater. The gnolls let them in when the heroes lied that they had the key. They stood before the dark balcony. YasnaBrinna asked, "Do they have it?". The heroes heard a scraping sound as she moved closer to the edge. And then the heroes attacked! YasnaBrinna lurked on a balcony with two archers. One more archer was on the ground floor, along with three brutes. Lucky raced toward the balcony and lured YasnaBrinna to the edge. She fell over the side and crashed to the ground. The heroes got a good look at her. Her entire body was burned. Her once-beautiful face now resembled a skull with tufts of hair growing from its' scalp. Skin was melted over one eye. The sound they were hearing was her dragging herself over the floor with her arms. Her legs did not work at all. The adventurers rushed her and stabbed her while she was down. She chanted and cast a spell that caused her to hover 20 feet in the air, well above the adventurers. Her burnt legs hung limply underneath her, useless. Varis pulled off his mask and looked at her. Her good eye went wide. "You!", she shrieked. "You did this to me!". Teddy, Varis' skull familiar and her son, called out to her. She recognized Teddy's voice and said coldly, "You are of no use to me." Teddy continued to call out to her, but his cruel mother made it clear that she had no sympathy for his plight whatsoever. Gnoll archers took aim and plugged Scarlet full of arrows. She fell to the ground, hurt badly. YasnaBrinna began firing off dark bolts at Varis, dropping him as well. Lucky gave him a quick heal. Then he got up and blasted the drow with a spell that blew off her legs! Scarlet was healed as well. She made her way up to the balcony to deal with the archers while the other heroes tried to handle to powerful gnolls below. Varis closed in on his former matron. He pelted her with spells, knocking her to the ground as his friends fiercely battled the gnolls all around him. YasnaBrinna, nearly dead, held her hand out to her former slave. "My boy..", she croaked. "Spare me. You did this to me! You did it!" Varis said, "Say hi to my real parents in hell." He cast burning spray. She shrieked and died. The gnolls saw that their leader was done for, and the ran for the exits. Varis held his hand over her remains and drew out her soul. Teddy shrieked as Varis forced her soul into the skull to join him for all eternity. The heroes found the chest, as well as green cloaks that would give them access to the religious district. They were unsure of how they would get in to the Main Temple of Lolth to get the remaining canisters. [/QUOTE]
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