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<blockquote data-quote="htetickrt" data-source="post: 1539716" data-attributes="member: 16534"><p style="text-align: center">The Chasm, Part I</p><p></p><p>Danek says nothing other than to murmur the words of a healing spell, leaning heavily against a wall of the cavern as she repairs some of the damage to her body. She surveys the changes to Lenara and Cerridwin uneasily out of the corners of her eyes as she does so. For her part, Kai sails down out of the air to land on one of the chairs, pulling her feet under her and leaning wearily back into the cushions. "Well," she asks the drow, "What can we expect further on? Is this as defensible a place as we can expect to find for the time being? We'll eventually need to find places to rest if we don't decide to stop here."</p><p></p><p>Trella takes up the two potions of cure serious wounds and hands them to Cerridwin and Dobi with the order to "Drink up." Inspecting the party, she says, "Time for some choices, I suppose. I am forging ahead 'cause Drow piss me off. Anyone who wants to leave now should say so now; no one will think less of you. No one should linger in these caverns, though; it's too risky."</p><p></p><p>Andy looks very uncomfortable as if she wants to go, but does not want to be the first person to do so. She idly picks through the loot while glancing around for someone to say something first.</p><p></p><p>Kai is joined by a non-dominated drow, who answers eagerly as soon as his feet touch the ground. "Finally, a way in which I *want* to help you," he exclaims. "Through the exit from this post lies a huge web, patrolled and maintained by a gargantuan fiendish spider. The web connects all of Szith Morcane, but you have to know which strands are not sticky to avoid being captured on your way anywhere. I can help with that," he says, a bit smugly.</p><p></p><p>"There are six major areas off of the web, and you're going to have to go through all of them to make sure you've gotten rid of all the invaders. The closest is the barracks level, which I'd advise cleaning out first. They watch over the rest of the city, and leaving them there will just make your job more difficult later. Of course they're on to you, so you'll have to have a plan of some sort to avoid this sort of near-slaughter." The drow gestures around himself vaguely.</p><p></p><p>"The second area is the bazaar level, which is pretty much what you'd expect it to be. It used to be a bustling marketplace back when we still ran the show in what you surface types call Shadowdale, but it's since become more limited in scope. There are still ways to get things you might need, though I'm sure anyone presently there will want to kill you for the color of your skin. Tough, that. There were also rumors about some sort of cult presence here, plus a watchpost for the city's militia.</p><p></p><p>"The third is the commoner's level. There shouldn't be too much to do here, as no self-respecting drow would bother with those weaklings and slaves. I expect that you won't be bothering much either, given our deal....</p><p></p><p>"The fourth gets far more dangerous. That one is known as the inverted tower, and is populated by a bunch of insular wizards. That might have changed since the invasion, but I'd bet that it hasn't much. There's a lot of power in that place, and I have no idea whose side it's on. I'd tread carefully there. Having never entered, I can't provide any help.</p><p></p><p>"The fifth level housed my house, House Morcane." The drow noticeably puffs up at this announcement. "For many centuries we held those halls, only to be driven out by a band of savages. They slaughtered our priests, converting them into those horrid quth-maren, and transformed many of us noble guards into vampires or worse. This level will be teeming with undead and their leaders and they will be ready for you.</p><p></p><p>"The sixth and final level is the fane of Lolth. It is a deeply holy place, and I doubt that even the enemy has done much with it. There are rumors of traps to repel the nonbelievers, and I have no doubt that you would be annihilated soon upon entering.</p><p></p><p>"I have knowledge of the barracks, bazaar, House Morcane, and commoner levels, and can lead you through them, bypassing traps placed there by my people, as long as you maintain our agreement. The web leading to all these places will have a patrol roughly equivalent to that you just fought, though with a greater emphasis on magic and ranged attacks. The commoner level houses the exit from the city into the Underdark. If you desire to enter the city, I would go now, leaving behind any too weak to survive. If you choose to return tomorrow, you will find your way nearly impassable. The force at the entry post was all that could be rounded up in the few minutes you gave them. A day will enable a much more deadly response. More than this I will tell you when necessary."</p><p></p><p>Kai cannot restrain an eyeroll at this proclamation, and moves quickly to interrogate telepathically the dominated House Morcane drow. What she learns echoes that heard aloud, and she is suitably convinced that the other noble guard told the truth. A brief foray into Raphael's mind indicates a strong belief that to go on would mean a horrible, violent death, and Kai is sure that any more probing risks a new chance for the arcane guard to free himself.</p><p></p><p>Dobi strokes his chin thoughtfully as the drow speaks, pocketing the potion given to him by Trella while instead curing himself with a spell. Reluctant to leave a group so apt to provide him with new experiences—and relishing the opportunity to bond further with the enigmatic Calla, he admits to himself—the halfling moves out of the way to wait for his companions’ actions.</p><p></p><p>Quid, on the other hand, is more forceful. "I still say we should go back and free the driders. I can probably stone shape open a hole with no problem. They should confuse those damn drow enough until we can regroup. We can rig up some stone walls and alarms and blade barriers and traps to keep them from getting out, and instead let them wreak some havoc. Likely they'll be dispatched in short order, but not before making our lives somewhat easier. Maybe we can send in Dobster to smooth things over with the driders, or maybe not. In any case, Mr. Drow-Person, anywhere down here we can hide while the driders do their thing? So that we don't risk getting stuck on the wrong side of the breach? That there is one breach that I'd only like to go unto once."</p><p></p><p>The free drow looks at Quid like she's crazy. "Do you have any familiarity with driders at all? There were three of them holed up above a week ago with a few spiders and no other food. They're not going to be talking to you. Given that they were walled in by a small handful of drow, they're also not going to be the massive distraction you desire. I would advise for your own safety that you abandon grandiose notions of cavalry coming to your aid. I am a member of the noble house of Szith Morcane, and I have seen what these invaders can do. They will not be cowed by your half-starved drider force.</p><p></p><p>"If you are not strong enough to take the city, there are places to hide within it, as long as you are watchful. You can also simply teleport away and then back. Each moment you rest, however, risks defensive measures being added to prevent your entrance—or your exit."</p><p></p><p>Quid retorts, "Look Mr. Drow, if the driders can be overcome by just a few of the many drow you expect us to take out, then they should certainly be no problem for us to handle. I still think it would be nice to have someone else setting off ambushes, so that even if the driders don't manage to kill any of them, we can follow them in to clean up, giving us the advantage, or at least evening things up. Normally, I'd say we should hire some townsfolk for that job to send off as cannon fodder (hey, fair economic trade), but since none are available, the driders seem like a decent option."</p><p></p><p>Kai interjects, "Well, there are those two drow up there rethinking their lives. It won't take them forever, or their thoughtful mood may wear off. If you want to sic some driders on those two, Quid, I don't really have an objection, though I still can't think of a way to drive the driders forward once we've made an exit for them. If anybody can, then let's go ahead and do it. Anyway, we have to take care of them no matter what we decide to do next. In any case, I think softening up the ambushes would be less of a priority if we take more care to scout out the enemy before each encounter. If we can prepare spells to account for their number and positions before we close for combat, I think we'll do much better."</p><p></p><p>Cerridwin looks around silently, trying to determine the mood of the crowd. Suddenly, he says, with the strength, confidence, and more than a little creepiness, "I'm leaving. I've died once, changed sex twice, changed race once, I'm randy as hell but can't even keep track of which sex I'm supposed to be attracted to, and I don't even know what's going on. Is anyone else coming?"</p><p></p><p>Andy reluctantly puts down the weaponry she was handling. "Yeah, I'm pretty certain this place will be the death of me." Turning back to the party she looks defeated. "Sorry" is all she can offer. Trella maintains a neutral expression.</p><p></p><p>Lenara gives one longing glance at Khail before shaking his head sadly and moving to stand with Cerridwin.</p><p></p><p>Buttercup's eyes stare wildly at his surroundings. He says, "I don't know what to do. Part of me wants to fight, but the other part wants to see flowers again. My brain hurts!"</p><p></p><p>Rhien approaches the burly half-orc and pats him on the shoulder. "The two do not have to be mutually exclusive, Buttercup." At Buttercup's look of incomprehension, the monk amends, "I mean, you can have both at the same time. If we fail, or even if we succeed but cannot stop all the drow, someone will need to guard against additional drow raids on the surface. Any of you who want to perform that quite important task can camp near the entrance to the crypts, keeping a watchful eye out for drow. Of course, none of you should feel required to do this."</p><p></p><p>Buttercup, however, seems quite pleased with the proposal, jumping up and down to show his enthusiasm. "I'll do it!" he exclaims, meaning to go as soon as he expends some healing for the group.</p><p></p><p>Danek, about to heal herself again but equivocating about which of her spells to use in the process, looks up and scowls. "I'm not going anywhere," she announces belligerently. "If I start using magic before combat then I can maybe do all right. I'm not set up to do it today but I can get different spells tomorrow. If I die and become a mermaid then I'll go defend the entrance," she finishes, while avoiding eye contact with a vengeance.</p><p></p><p>After a pause following Danek's announcement, Kai carefully ventures to change the subject. "Well, no matter who comes with us, it sounds like we should either disable the webbing leading to this entry post now so that we can rest, leaving us with the problem of reconnecting it when we're ready to move on and of dealing with it both times under fire from this fiendish spider, or take out the spider now and rest somewhere further on.</p><p>Personally, I'd like to know more about this thing before we deal with it. It's time we stopped walking into combat unprepared." She directs these last two comments coldly toward the drow.</p><p></p><p>Trella and Quid move to begin healing, stopping when Buttercup puts up his hands. "We will heal you. You should save yours." Trella nods and, never being one for prolonged goodbyes, wildshapes into a bat in order to scout ahead. As Dobi moves to stand by Danek, making his decision known, Trella flies off into the darkness beyond Quid's daylight spell.</p><p></p><p>Buttercup hands his healing wand to Quid as soon as the druid leaves. Taking one last look around with a slightly sad look in his eyes, the half-orc says, "Good luck," and begins the march back to the surface alongside Andy, Lenara, and Cerridwin.</p><p></p><p>Quid begins to plan as the party’s sundering is complete, calling the utility of the drow’s information again into question.</p><p></p><p>The drow responds swiftly, raising both hands, palms out. "Easy; I didn't ask you to jump into the guard post, now did I? As for the next area, normally the spider would be there by itself, keeping the web in good shape and such. It's also usually sufficient to eliminate most small threats, what with its nasty poison and web throwing and such. Plus it’s of fiendish ancestry, which gives it a leg up, so to speak. Since you've raised the alarm, I'm sure it will be supported by what we used to call a web team. Protocol used to have an officer supported by a spellguard and eight sentries. Then again, there were about seven times more sentries and five times more spellguards than I expected here in the entry post, so it's clear the usurpers don't want to take any chances. On the plus side, this means battles outside of guard posts should be minimized, as no one will be left off-duty."</p><p></p><p>Quid queries, "If we do destroy the webbing, how hard would it be to reconstruct?"</p><p></p><p>The drow replies, "Are you hiding huge spinnerets under your robes, priest? The spider's webbing is far sterner stuff than you could hope to produce."</p><p></p><p>"Ah, but is it flammable?"</p><p></p><p>"Yes, but it is somewhat fire resistant, so the flames would not spread."</p><p></p><p>"Could the ensuing chasm be crossed with perhaps wall of stone spells or fly or dimension door?"</p><p></p><p>"Flying would take you anywhere you wanted, assuming it was not dispelled in transit. Point-to-point transportation magic is certainly an option, but it would require many spells to transport you around. Walls of stone might bridge a single gap, but would surely be destroyed by the time you returned from a given layer, resulting in the same problems."</p><p></p><p>Trella returns five minutes after the four party members left, quickly changing back to her own form in order to relay her new information.</p><p></p><p>Looking at Kai, she reports, "Your drow buddy got the layout right, and you'd have to be one of them to know where you can step without getting stuck. There's webbing everywhere, and the spider climbing around it is humongous. The big webs run vertically alongside the near wall of a deep but narrow chasm, connecting this entrance with the six layers he mentioned. They're anchored pretty well to the wall in most places, so they aren't coming loose. The wall behind them seemed pretty craggy, so it might be climbable too. Smaller webs connect the two walls of the chasm, which also makes flying difficult. There're also the web-heads or whatever waiting for us, but they look tougher than drow-boy said. About eight sentries are climbing along the spine of the web, so that's likely not sticky. I think it looks sort of ladder-like, so it should be easier to climb. Ten more, led by what I'm guessing is the commander, wait with ranged weapons inside the closest tunnel entrance. Five of those damned mages are flying behind the climbing ones, taking care not to move around too much so they don't get caught in the smaller webs.</p><p></p><p>"Besides the tunnels off the web that drow-boy told us about, I also found a small cavern on the opposite wall of the chasm. It would require climbing or flying to get to, but I for one don't want to go back. All that's in there is this freaky deformed drow who was talking to herself the entire time I was there."</p><p></p><p>The drow interjects, "If she wasn't a drider, then she's probably a fang of Lolth. They're quite devoted to the Spider Queen, even taking on some of her physical characteristics over time."</p><p></p><p>Trella snaps back, "That's a great story, ass-face. Even more reason not to go down there again."</p><p></p><p>Kai, Quid, and Dobi briefly discuss strategy, coming up with a basic plan after a couple of minutes. Deciding to give the specifics more thought, Kai turns to the drow and asks as an aside, "While we're thinking, would you mind going up and taking care of those two up top? I'm sure you'll enjoy the vengeance. You can keep any items of theirs you'll actually use to help us take your house back for you. As for the rest I'm sure you understand that our use of those items benefits you." She sends their dominated buddy with them to keep an eye on things.</p><p></p><p>Turning back to the party: "One thing that might be really useful is just to send Kyree in there. You're already flying, Kyree, and you won't get stuck in the existing webs, so you can fly around attacking them from a distance. I can add an improved invisibility to your protections, which'll help if they're not expecting it. Then the only thing you'd have to worry about would be new flying webs and poison."</p><p></p><p>Danek smacks her forehead. "Buttercup had a wand of neutralize poison!" She sprints after her erstwhile companions to ask to borrow the wand.</p><p></p><p>The barbarian passes the three drow warriors, who have drawn their rapiers in preparation for an attack. Pouncing on the unaware drow, the three are able to score enough holes in his flesh with their rapiers to send the mage spiraling towards death. The second one, deciding he’s done rethinking his life after the sudden assault, whirls and begins to trigger his wand while taking off. The four drow come together in a blur of arms and electricity; when they part again, the mage is dead from eight new puncture wounds, but two of the drow have suffered moderate electrical burns across their bodies. The two non-dominated drow take and quaff two potions of healing, while the dominated one secures two wands of lightning and four scrolls for party use, along with some diamond dust. They return to Kai shortly afterward, smug in their report of success.</p><p></p><p>Kai acknowledges them with a weak smile. When Danek returns with the wand of neutralize poison, the group decides to put Quid’s plan regarding the driders into action, and ascends the pit. The Waukeenar’s magic easily creates a large hole in the stone wall sealing the drider’s living tomb, and the party makes its way cautiously into the revealed tunnel. Taking the rear, Trella invokes a new stone wall, this time positioning it so as to block most of the passage back to the surface, leaving just enough room for a medium-sized creature to slip through.</p><p></p><p>The passage quickly splits off into two, and the group pauses to assess the situation. Before Kyree can even set himself to listen, however, two ravenously hungry spiders come crawling out of the upper passage, intent on making the party their dinner.</p><p></p><p>Putting aside impulses to fight, the group retreats behind the wall before the spiders can reach them. Pausing only slightly at the loss of their meal, the two arachnids climb down the passage to engage the drow on the web. Wanting to maximize the effect of the attack, Quid quickly leaves the safety of the wall to approach the southern passage. She is slightly concerned that the driders have not exited on their own, but puts aside that thought until Calla brusquely pushes past her.</p><p></p><p>“If they’re not exiting, there’s likely a trap. Wait for me to find it.” The halfling creeps toward the entrance to a cavern, nodding her head slightly as she scans the floors and walls. She stops before entering and says, “Like I thought. The floor over here is an illusion, and there’s probably a pit beneath it. Let’s see if I can make that more obvious.” Calla pokes around on the floor for a short time, causing the illusory wall covering the pit to vanish. “There you go. Now let me see what’s inside.”</p><p></p><p>Relying on her skills and her ring to protect her from detection, Calla creeps into the cavern. It takes all her self-control to avoid gagging as an acrid, sulfurous odor, likely arising from a pile of filth in the corner of the room, overwhelms her senses. Two large forms shaped like bloated spiders creep slowly along the walls and ceiling. Seeing the driders, Calla returns and whispers her findings. The sound of lightning ripping through the air echoes through the cavern below.</p><p></p><p>Quid huffs quietly, distressed that the driders haven’t yet come out. After some thought, Kai directs Rafael to enter the cavern and lead the driders out, while she and her friends hide behind the stone wall. Unable to fight Kai’s will, Rafael complies.</p><p></p><p>Upon seeing the drow, both driders immediately cast protective magic on themselves and crawl to higher ground. Rafael bolts from the room, running down the passage until he reaches the stone wall. There he stops, waiting for Kai’s instructions after noting that the driders aren’t following him.</p><p></p><p>Kai sighs and sends him in again, this time with the directive to shoot bolts until they follow. The drow dutifully obeys, entering the odiferous cavern with his hand crossbow raised. Before he can fire, however, two lightning bolts fly from the darkness at him. Only one penetrates his innate resistance, and his retaliatory quarrel scores a minor wound in one of their hides. Rafael yells, “Dirty abominations!” while exiting the cavern after this.</p><p></p><p>This time the driders follow, climbing along the walls behind him. Exiting into the passage, they blast him again with two forked bolts of lightning, though this time neither has an effect. Rafael leaps down the hole as directed, but this time the driders do not follow.</p><p></p><p>Seeing this, Kai groans. “This is getting pointless. Maybe we should just kill them.”</p><p></p><p>Quid responds, “I still think they could be useful. We should try parleying with them.”</p><p></p><p>Dobi offers, “I can do it, with some support.” Quid volunteers for that job, and the two approach the cavern again.</p><p></p><p>As they do so, Dobi speaks loudly, “We have common enemies in the drow. Surely we can work together, much like Chief Tripod worked with—”</p><p></p><p>A drider snarls, “Enough! Your foolish plan is transparent to us. We will not be used as fodder in an assault on the accursed city. Anyone who enters our cavern will be slain.”</p><p></p><p>Dobi turns to Quid and shrugs apologetically. Before they can do more, the two driders burst out of the cavern with murder on their minds. One looks at Dobi and ‘suggests,’ “The one next to you is a drow spy. You should attack her!” The other blasts the pair with a bolt of lightning.</p><p></p><p>Dobi fights off the magical compulsion and avoids all damage from the lightning; Quid is almost as lucky, suffering only a glancing blow [7 hp]. The noise draws the rest of the group, who file in as Quid and Dobi counterattack. Quid slices and pounds the uninjured drow with scimitar and nunchaku. Dobi finishes it off with two flanking attacks.</p><p></p><p>The remaining drider attempts to drop a shroud of darkness upon the combat as it retreats along the ceiling. The magic is overwhelmed by the bright light from Quid’s rock, and a volley of arrows from Kyree sends the hapless aberration flying into the opposite wall, quite dead.</p><p></p><p>A quick glance around reveals shiny materials in the dung heap. Khail takes one for the team, banking on his immunity to disease to protect him from whatever pathogens reside in the filth. A little digging and a bit of scrubbing produces a nice heap of gold and minor magic to add to the party loot.</p><p></p><p>Not wanting to waste any more time outside of the city, Trella leads the party quickly back through the tunnels and into the entry post. No sign of the spiders or of combat is present there, indicating at least that the former made it to the chasm. Recognizing that a large battle is imminent, the party sets about casting its preparatory magic. As an air elemental appears to do Quid’s bidding, the group prepares to engage.</p><p></p><p><em>To be continued…</em></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="htetickrt, post: 1539716, member: 16534"] [CENTER]The Chasm, Part I[/CENTER] Danek says nothing other than to murmur the words of a healing spell, leaning heavily against a wall of the cavern as she repairs some of the damage to her body. She surveys the changes to Lenara and Cerridwin uneasily out of the corners of her eyes as she does so. For her part, Kai sails down out of the air to land on one of the chairs, pulling her feet under her and leaning wearily back into the cushions. "Well," she asks the drow, "What can we expect further on? Is this as defensible a place as we can expect to find for the time being? We'll eventually need to find places to rest if we don't decide to stop here." Trella takes up the two potions of cure serious wounds and hands them to Cerridwin and Dobi with the order to "Drink up." Inspecting the party, she says, "Time for some choices, I suppose. I am forging ahead 'cause Drow piss me off. Anyone who wants to leave now should say so now; no one will think less of you. No one should linger in these caverns, though; it's too risky." Andy looks very uncomfortable as if she wants to go, but does not want to be the first person to do so. She idly picks through the loot while glancing around for someone to say something first. Kai is joined by a non-dominated drow, who answers eagerly as soon as his feet touch the ground. "Finally, a way in which I *want* to help you," he exclaims. "Through the exit from this post lies a huge web, patrolled and maintained by a gargantuan fiendish spider. The web connects all of Szith Morcane, but you have to know which strands are not sticky to avoid being captured on your way anywhere. I can help with that," he says, a bit smugly. "There are six major areas off of the web, and you're going to have to go through all of them to make sure you've gotten rid of all the invaders. The closest is the barracks level, which I'd advise cleaning out first. They watch over the rest of the city, and leaving them there will just make your job more difficult later. Of course they're on to you, so you'll have to have a plan of some sort to avoid this sort of near-slaughter." The drow gestures around himself vaguely. "The second area is the bazaar level, which is pretty much what you'd expect it to be. It used to be a bustling marketplace back when we still ran the show in what you surface types call Shadowdale, but it's since become more limited in scope. There are still ways to get things you might need, though I'm sure anyone presently there will want to kill you for the color of your skin. Tough, that. There were also rumors about some sort of cult presence here, plus a watchpost for the city's militia. "The third is the commoner's level. There shouldn't be too much to do here, as no self-respecting drow would bother with those weaklings and slaves. I expect that you won't be bothering much either, given our deal.... "The fourth gets far more dangerous. That one is known as the inverted tower, and is populated by a bunch of insular wizards. That might have changed since the invasion, but I'd bet that it hasn't much. There's a lot of power in that place, and I have no idea whose side it's on. I'd tread carefully there. Having never entered, I can't provide any help. "The fifth level housed my house, House Morcane." The drow noticeably puffs up at this announcement. "For many centuries we held those halls, only to be driven out by a band of savages. They slaughtered our priests, converting them into those horrid quth-maren, and transformed many of us noble guards into vampires or worse. This level will be teeming with undead and their leaders and they will be ready for you. "The sixth and final level is the fane of Lolth. It is a deeply holy place, and I doubt that even the enemy has done much with it. There are rumors of traps to repel the nonbelievers, and I have no doubt that you would be annihilated soon upon entering. "I have knowledge of the barracks, bazaar, House Morcane, and commoner levels, and can lead you through them, bypassing traps placed there by my people, as long as you maintain our agreement. The web leading to all these places will have a patrol roughly equivalent to that you just fought, though with a greater emphasis on magic and ranged attacks. The commoner level houses the exit from the city into the Underdark. If you desire to enter the city, I would go now, leaving behind any too weak to survive. If you choose to return tomorrow, you will find your way nearly impassable. The force at the entry post was all that could be rounded up in the few minutes you gave them. A day will enable a much more deadly response. More than this I will tell you when necessary." Kai cannot restrain an eyeroll at this proclamation, and moves quickly to interrogate telepathically the dominated House Morcane drow. What she learns echoes that heard aloud, and she is suitably convinced that the other noble guard told the truth. A brief foray into Raphael's mind indicates a strong belief that to go on would mean a horrible, violent death, and Kai is sure that any more probing risks a new chance for the arcane guard to free himself. Dobi strokes his chin thoughtfully as the drow speaks, pocketing the potion given to him by Trella while instead curing himself with a spell. Reluctant to leave a group so apt to provide him with new experiences—and relishing the opportunity to bond further with the enigmatic Calla, he admits to himself—the halfling moves out of the way to wait for his companions’ actions. Quid, on the other hand, is more forceful. "I still say we should go back and free the driders. I can probably stone shape open a hole with no problem. They should confuse those damn drow enough until we can regroup. We can rig up some stone walls and alarms and blade barriers and traps to keep them from getting out, and instead let them wreak some havoc. Likely they'll be dispatched in short order, but not before making our lives somewhat easier. Maybe we can send in Dobster to smooth things over with the driders, or maybe not. In any case, Mr. Drow-Person, anywhere down here we can hide while the driders do their thing? So that we don't risk getting stuck on the wrong side of the breach? That there is one breach that I'd only like to go unto once." The free drow looks at Quid like she's crazy. "Do you have any familiarity with driders at all? There were three of them holed up above a week ago with a few spiders and no other food. They're not going to be talking to you. Given that they were walled in by a small handful of drow, they're also not going to be the massive distraction you desire. I would advise for your own safety that you abandon grandiose notions of cavalry coming to your aid. I am a member of the noble house of Szith Morcane, and I have seen what these invaders can do. They will not be cowed by your half-starved drider force. "If you are not strong enough to take the city, there are places to hide within it, as long as you are watchful. You can also simply teleport away and then back. Each moment you rest, however, risks defensive measures being added to prevent your entrance—or your exit." Quid retorts, "Look Mr. Drow, if the driders can be overcome by just a few of the many drow you expect us to take out, then they should certainly be no problem for us to handle. I still think it would be nice to have someone else setting off ambushes, so that even if the driders don't manage to kill any of them, we can follow them in to clean up, giving us the advantage, or at least evening things up. Normally, I'd say we should hire some townsfolk for that job to send off as cannon fodder (hey, fair economic trade), but since none are available, the driders seem like a decent option." Kai interjects, "Well, there are those two drow up there rethinking their lives. It won't take them forever, or their thoughtful mood may wear off. If you want to sic some driders on those two, Quid, I don't really have an objection, though I still can't think of a way to drive the driders forward once we've made an exit for them. If anybody can, then let's go ahead and do it. Anyway, we have to take care of them no matter what we decide to do next. In any case, I think softening up the ambushes would be less of a priority if we take more care to scout out the enemy before each encounter. If we can prepare spells to account for their number and positions before we close for combat, I think we'll do much better." Cerridwin looks around silently, trying to determine the mood of the crowd. Suddenly, he says, with the strength, confidence, and more than a little creepiness, "I'm leaving. I've died once, changed sex twice, changed race once, I'm randy as hell but can't even keep track of which sex I'm supposed to be attracted to, and I don't even know what's going on. Is anyone else coming?" Andy reluctantly puts down the weaponry she was handling. "Yeah, I'm pretty certain this place will be the death of me." Turning back to the party she looks defeated. "Sorry" is all she can offer. Trella maintains a neutral expression. Lenara gives one longing glance at Khail before shaking his head sadly and moving to stand with Cerridwin. Buttercup's eyes stare wildly at his surroundings. He says, "I don't know what to do. Part of me wants to fight, but the other part wants to see flowers again. My brain hurts!" Rhien approaches the burly half-orc and pats him on the shoulder. "The two do not have to be mutually exclusive, Buttercup." At Buttercup's look of incomprehension, the monk amends, "I mean, you can have both at the same time. If we fail, or even if we succeed but cannot stop all the drow, someone will need to guard against additional drow raids on the surface. Any of you who want to perform that quite important task can camp near the entrance to the crypts, keeping a watchful eye out for drow. Of course, none of you should feel required to do this." Buttercup, however, seems quite pleased with the proposal, jumping up and down to show his enthusiasm. "I'll do it!" he exclaims, meaning to go as soon as he expends some healing for the group. Danek, about to heal herself again but equivocating about which of her spells to use in the process, looks up and scowls. "I'm not going anywhere," she announces belligerently. "If I start using magic before combat then I can maybe do all right. I'm not set up to do it today but I can get different spells tomorrow. If I die and become a mermaid then I'll go defend the entrance," she finishes, while avoiding eye contact with a vengeance. After a pause following Danek's announcement, Kai carefully ventures to change the subject. "Well, no matter who comes with us, it sounds like we should either disable the webbing leading to this entry post now so that we can rest, leaving us with the problem of reconnecting it when we're ready to move on and of dealing with it both times under fire from this fiendish spider, or take out the spider now and rest somewhere further on. Personally, I'd like to know more about this thing before we deal with it. It's time we stopped walking into combat unprepared." She directs these last two comments coldly toward the drow. Trella and Quid move to begin healing, stopping when Buttercup puts up his hands. "We will heal you. You should save yours." Trella nods and, never being one for prolonged goodbyes, wildshapes into a bat in order to scout ahead. As Dobi moves to stand by Danek, making his decision known, Trella flies off into the darkness beyond Quid's daylight spell. Buttercup hands his healing wand to Quid as soon as the druid leaves. Taking one last look around with a slightly sad look in his eyes, the half-orc says, "Good luck," and begins the march back to the surface alongside Andy, Lenara, and Cerridwin. Quid begins to plan as the party’s sundering is complete, calling the utility of the drow’s information again into question. The drow responds swiftly, raising both hands, palms out. "Easy; I didn't ask you to jump into the guard post, now did I? As for the next area, normally the spider would be there by itself, keeping the web in good shape and such. It's also usually sufficient to eliminate most small threats, what with its nasty poison and web throwing and such. Plus it’s of fiendish ancestry, which gives it a leg up, so to speak. Since you've raised the alarm, I'm sure it will be supported by what we used to call a web team. Protocol used to have an officer supported by a spellguard and eight sentries. Then again, there were about seven times more sentries and five times more spellguards than I expected here in the entry post, so it's clear the usurpers don't want to take any chances. On the plus side, this means battles outside of guard posts should be minimized, as no one will be left off-duty." Quid queries, "If we do destroy the webbing, how hard would it be to reconstruct?" The drow replies, "Are you hiding huge spinnerets under your robes, priest? The spider's webbing is far sterner stuff than you could hope to produce." "Ah, but is it flammable?" "Yes, but it is somewhat fire resistant, so the flames would not spread." "Could the ensuing chasm be crossed with perhaps wall of stone spells or fly or dimension door?" "Flying would take you anywhere you wanted, assuming it was not dispelled in transit. Point-to-point transportation magic is certainly an option, but it would require many spells to transport you around. Walls of stone might bridge a single gap, but would surely be destroyed by the time you returned from a given layer, resulting in the same problems." Trella returns five minutes after the four party members left, quickly changing back to her own form in order to relay her new information. Looking at Kai, she reports, "Your drow buddy got the layout right, and you'd have to be one of them to know where you can step without getting stuck. There's webbing everywhere, and the spider climbing around it is humongous. The big webs run vertically alongside the near wall of a deep but narrow chasm, connecting this entrance with the six layers he mentioned. They're anchored pretty well to the wall in most places, so they aren't coming loose. The wall behind them seemed pretty craggy, so it might be climbable too. Smaller webs connect the two walls of the chasm, which also makes flying difficult. There're also the web-heads or whatever waiting for us, but they look tougher than drow-boy said. About eight sentries are climbing along the spine of the web, so that's likely not sticky. I think it looks sort of ladder-like, so it should be easier to climb. Ten more, led by what I'm guessing is the commander, wait with ranged weapons inside the closest tunnel entrance. Five of those damned mages are flying behind the climbing ones, taking care not to move around too much so they don't get caught in the smaller webs. "Besides the tunnels off the web that drow-boy told us about, I also found a small cavern on the opposite wall of the chasm. It would require climbing or flying to get to, but I for one don't want to go back. All that's in there is this freaky deformed drow who was talking to herself the entire time I was there." The drow interjects, "If she wasn't a drider, then she's probably a fang of Lolth. They're quite devoted to the Spider Queen, even taking on some of her physical characteristics over time." Trella snaps back, "That's a great story, ass-face. Even more reason not to go down there again." Kai, Quid, and Dobi briefly discuss strategy, coming up with a basic plan after a couple of minutes. Deciding to give the specifics more thought, Kai turns to the drow and asks as an aside, "While we're thinking, would you mind going up and taking care of those two up top? I'm sure you'll enjoy the vengeance. You can keep any items of theirs you'll actually use to help us take your house back for you. As for the rest I'm sure you understand that our use of those items benefits you." She sends their dominated buddy with them to keep an eye on things. Turning back to the party: "One thing that might be really useful is just to send Kyree in there. You're already flying, Kyree, and you won't get stuck in the existing webs, so you can fly around attacking them from a distance. I can add an improved invisibility to your protections, which'll help if they're not expecting it. Then the only thing you'd have to worry about would be new flying webs and poison." Danek smacks her forehead. "Buttercup had a wand of neutralize poison!" She sprints after her erstwhile companions to ask to borrow the wand. The barbarian passes the three drow warriors, who have drawn their rapiers in preparation for an attack. Pouncing on the unaware drow, the three are able to score enough holes in his flesh with their rapiers to send the mage spiraling towards death. The second one, deciding he’s done rethinking his life after the sudden assault, whirls and begins to trigger his wand while taking off. The four drow come together in a blur of arms and electricity; when they part again, the mage is dead from eight new puncture wounds, but two of the drow have suffered moderate electrical burns across their bodies. The two non-dominated drow take and quaff two potions of healing, while the dominated one secures two wands of lightning and four scrolls for party use, along with some diamond dust. They return to Kai shortly afterward, smug in their report of success. Kai acknowledges them with a weak smile. When Danek returns with the wand of neutralize poison, the group decides to put Quid’s plan regarding the driders into action, and ascends the pit. The Waukeenar’s magic easily creates a large hole in the stone wall sealing the drider’s living tomb, and the party makes its way cautiously into the revealed tunnel. Taking the rear, Trella invokes a new stone wall, this time positioning it so as to block most of the passage back to the surface, leaving just enough room for a medium-sized creature to slip through. The passage quickly splits off into two, and the group pauses to assess the situation. Before Kyree can even set himself to listen, however, two ravenously hungry spiders come crawling out of the upper passage, intent on making the party their dinner. Putting aside impulses to fight, the group retreats behind the wall before the spiders can reach them. Pausing only slightly at the loss of their meal, the two arachnids climb down the passage to engage the drow on the web. Wanting to maximize the effect of the attack, Quid quickly leaves the safety of the wall to approach the southern passage. She is slightly concerned that the driders have not exited on their own, but puts aside that thought until Calla brusquely pushes past her. “If they’re not exiting, there’s likely a trap. Wait for me to find it.” The halfling creeps toward the entrance to a cavern, nodding her head slightly as she scans the floors and walls. She stops before entering and says, “Like I thought. The floor over here is an illusion, and there’s probably a pit beneath it. Let’s see if I can make that more obvious.” Calla pokes around on the floor for a short time, causing the illusory wall covering the pit to vanish. “There you go. Now let me see what’s inside.” Relying on her skills and her ring to protect her from detection, Calla creeps into the cavern. It takes all her self-control to avoid gagging as an acrid, sulfurous odor, likely arising from a pile of filth in the corner of the room, overwhelms her senses. Two large forms shaped like bloated spiders creep slowly along the walls and ceiling. Seeing the driders, Calla returns and whispers her findings. The sound of lightning ripping through the air echoes through the cavern below. Quid huffs quietly, distressed that the driders haven’t yet come out. After some thought, Kai directs Rafael to enter the cavern and lead the driders out, while she and her friends hide behind the stone wall. Unable to fight Kai’s will, Rafael complies. Upon seeing the drow, both driders immediately cast protective magic on themselves and crawl to higher ground. Rafael bolts from the room, running down the passage until he reaches the stone wall. There he stops, waiting for Kai’s instructions after noting that the driders aren’t following him. Kai sighs and sends him in again, this time with the directive to shoot bolts until they follow. The drow dutifully obeys, entering the odiferous cavern with his hand crossbow raised. Before he can fire, however, two lightning bolts fly from the darkness at him. Only one penetrates his innate resistance, and his retaliatory quarrel scores a minor wound in one of their hides. Rafael yells, “Dirty abominations!” while exiting the cavern after this. This time the driders follow, climbing along the walls behind him. Exiting into the passage, they blast him again with two forked bolts of lightning, though this time neither has an effect. Rafael leaps down the hole as directed, but this time the driders do not follow. Seeing this, Kai groans. “This is getting pointless. Maybe we should just kill them.” Quid responds, “I still think they could be useful. We should try parleying with them.” Dobi offers, “I can do it, with some support.” Quid volunteers for that job, and the two approach the cavern again. As they do so, Dobi speaks loudly, “We have common enemies in the drow. Surely we can work together, much like Chief Tripod worked with—” A drider snarls, “Enough! Your foolish plan is transparent to us. We will not be used as fodder in an assault on the accursed city. Anyone who enters our cavern will be slain.” Dobi turns to Quid and shrugs apologetically. Before they can do more, the two driders burst out of the cavern with murder on their minds. One looks at Dobi and ‘suggests,’ “The one next to you is a drow spy. You should attack her!” The other blasts the pair with a bolt of lightning. Dobi fights off the magical compulsion and avoids all damage from the lightning; Quid is almost as lucky, suffering only a glancing blow [7 hp]. The noise draws the rest of the group, who file in as Quid and Dobi counterattack. Quid slices and pounds the uninjured drow with scimitar and nunchaku. Dobi finishes it off with two flanking attacks. The remaining drider attempts to drop a shroud of darkness upon the combat as it retreats along the ceiling. The magic is overwhelmed by the bright light from Quid’s rock, and a volley of arrows from Kyree sends the hapless aberration flying into the opposite wall, quite dead. A quick glance around reveals shiny materials in the dung heap. Khail takes one for the team, banking on his immunity to disease to protect him from whatever pathogens reside in the filth. A little digging and a bit of scrubbing produces a nice heap of gold and minor magic to add to the party loot. Not wanting to waste any more time outside of the city, Trella leads the party quickly back through the tunnels and into the entry post. No sign of the spiders or of combat is present there, indicating at least that the former made it to the chasm. Recognizing that a large battle is imminent, the party sets about casting its preparatory magic. As an air elemental appears to do Quid’s bidding, the group prepares to engage. [I]To be continued…[/I] [/QUOTE]
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