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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Eccles" data-source="post: 1164248" data-attributes="member: 5675">Yvgeny's ReportsTwelfth Letter-----------------------To His Eminence Pietr Orik,Temple of Ilmater,King’s Palace Square,Heliogabalus.Your Grace, Glad to hear you are back safe and sound in Heliogabalus! Hope your time spent visiting the provinces has proven that faith in Ilmater is still strong, and the Motherland is continuing to bounce back from the invasion. How goes the Bloodstone revival? To be honest, I’m missing the old homeland, but the Crusaders still have drow to deal with, and plenty of them, so my tour of duty is by no means over. In my last missive, we had just fought a battle with a fiendish giant spider, and had lost. After our trip back to Dagger Falls for improvements, we returned to the crypts for another try at the beast. First, of course, we had to beat the multitude of traps the drow had set. This time, the traps were defeated by our cunning mages, using magic instead of tools, for reasons of speed. Adamo suggested we use the bag of holding to ferry each member of the Crusaders over the traps, with a flying mage doing the carrying. First, of course, we had to part with our dimensional spaces, because, as Adamo pointed out, putting a dimensional space inside a bag of holding has ‘unforeseen circumstances!’ So, one slightly claustrophobic and disorienting (the bag felt both large and small at the same time, your eminence, I swear it!) trip later, and I had bypassed the drow traps. In a matter of minutes, all the Crusaders had made it past the traps and we found ourselves in the environs of the first dropshaft. On descending, however, we found that the drow had set additional traps in the short corridor between the first drop shaft and the next. Now it was Halbrinn’s turn for that little spark of mad genius that gnomes are especially famous for: Creating an impervious sphere of magical force around himself, and trundling it like a rodent in a wheel, he blithely rolled off down the corridor, triggering carefully crafted traps, left, right and centre! By the Triad, the gnome has a gift for the sublimely ridiculous, and no mistake! Our mirth came to an end very suddenly, however, when we saw that he had set off one trap too many. A hinged section of the ceiling swung down as Halbrinn rolled over a pressure plate in the floor, and it executed its purpose exactly as per spec: Halbrinn was pushed straight down the second dropshaft, and the rest of the Crusaders were separated from him. On the instant, I set about damaging the hinge mechanism, climbing to it via my new slippers of spider climbing. Adamo quickly summoned a magmin, however, to heat the hinge, so that it may break more easily. The magmin couldn’t reach the hinge, and I had no time to cast a spell for protection from fire, so I offered a prayer to Ilmater and lifted the beast with my bare hands unguarded. Which was painful, I have to say, and also set light to my judogi! Fortunately, the magmin melted the hinges on the block with some speed. The cube of stone dropped the last few inches to the floor of the tunnel leaving about an eighteen-inch gap between it and the tunnel roof, which was just enough for the rest of us to clamber over. I followed a few moments after the others, after smothering my flaming jacket and arrived just in time to see one of the skinless drow creatures get blasted to dust by Aeron’s mace. Halbrinn, now in ogre form, ended his resilient sphere spell and accused us of spoiling his fun by destroying his undead elf! Apparently, he had been bumping it around the cavern with great abandon! By the Triad, I’m glad this gnome is with us, as he lightens the tone of these grim proceedings without even trying! Still, we had a rematch with the Spider from Hell to look forward to so, girding our loins, we set about picking defensible positions, while Adamo attracted the attention of that fiendish abomination by hitting its webs with the flat of his sword. Sure enough, with an audible clacking of mandibles, the spider ventured forth, and battle commenced. This time, our weapons could touch the beast, although it was still difficult to make a serious impression on the thing, so huge was it. Again, many of the group were protected by spells that delayed the effects of poison, but the going was still hard, and by no means were the Crusaders sure that we would defeat the Hellish thing. Fortunately, the beast decided matters for us, scuttling back to the chasm edge and away over its webs before we could do for it utterly. However, we were not about to give up our advantage, so those that were able followed it, into the heart of its silken maze. I was the first to approach its nest, so, naturally, I was the one it chose to counterattack. I had just turned my head for a second to admire Halbrinn’s handiwork in fireballing a group of drow that were creeping up from below us, when the damned Spider from Hell decided it would go down fighting! By the Triad, it was touch-and-go whether I would survive, for it charged me twice as I retreated; once more would have finished me off. Fortunately, I just made it back to the cavern and my comrades distracted it before I received the telling blow. This time, it did not survive or escape the onslaught, but curled up and died right there on the edge of the webs where it first made its appearance. And good riddance; by the Triad, most definitely are the Crusaders well shot of that thing! We now chose to use the following hours to consolidate our position, and allow the fighters to rest. Adamo had a plan for reinforcing our position at the top of the dropshaft by creating magical walls of stone. This was done, permitting only a small opening in our enclosed area, so that enemies would not be able to swarm us. I had been suffering reoccurrences of the nightmare I had had on the previous occasion the Crusaders were here. To prevent current events from paralleling the dream, I chose to stay awake until all three watches had been completed, sheer willpower and constant prayers to Ilmater allowing this vigil to be completed without sleep overcoming me. Then I rested while my comrades made our little enclosure as safe as possible, Adamo casting his wall of stone spell, and the rest shoring up the gaps to make the wall look as solid as possible. I got the requisite amount of sleep required to allow me the energy to memorise my spells, then we set off again, with Adamo using his magic to scout ahead and uncover any drow guards that might want to halt or report our progress. When Adamo returned, he did indeed report drow guards, in a cavern some distance below the one we were in. The cavern was non-natural, which suggested the ingress of a more extensive complex that should be investigated. Deciding that now was the time to use our stealth abilities and magic, Miles and I decided we would pool our skills and see if we couldn’t take the guards by stealth. With this in mind, I cast a silence spell, and Miles used one of his own to give himself a pair of leathern wings, that he might glide down as I climbed, my spider slippers helping me avoid sticking to the webs and my elven cloak hiding me from sight, almost completely. Miles trumped me by casting an invisibility spell, which I thought might hamper communications. Miles proved me wrong, however, when we alighted in the vicinity of our target cave: Chalk writing suddenly appeared on the wall, which was Miles giving me instructions! If you don’t mind my saying, your eminence, sometimes he is just such a smart-arse! Our lightning strike attack was mostly successful, with Miles carving into one of the guards whilst I kept close proximity to quieten the screams, my silence spell still being in effect. However, it proved that Miles had struck just seconds too early, for I had not had time to circle round behind the pair and thus block the escape of the second, uninjured guard. As the first guard fell, the other ran screaming through a short corridor into a room just beyond, his shout of alarm coming sudden and loud as soon as he left the area my spell encompassed. Suspecting the worst, I took a quick look down the corridor, and was rewarded with a volley of bolts and arrows: The drow had a trap of their own! I spotted several snipers and a magic user of some sort, so I quickly whipped out a pastry, and lobbed it into the centre of the room. Within seconds, a good thick cloud of smoke had mostly obscured the vision of the archers, and I sent a prayer to Ilmater as I heard my comrades not too far away. So with the spells of Halbrinn, Adamo and Aeron, and the battle prowess of Miles, Grimm and myself, we beat our foes in this battle, although it did take some doing. I can safely say that Grimm did indeed live up to his name, as regards drow, in this battle. He carries a hand-and-a-half sword, but in this melee he swung it like it was no bigger than a short sword, carving into the dark elves like a man possessed! Apparently, his deity of choice is Hoar, which worries me, your eminence! Looking at the drow remains after he had finished with them worried me even more! Clearly this is a man with a major grudge, which I hope won’t jeopardise the continuing mission. I may try to sway him into reducing the bloodlust a little, but judging by the fact that he cut every drow’s throat after the fracas was over, I’m not sure I’ll have a lot of luck. After all the bodies had been checked for useful items and gold, we continued to search the locale for clues as to just what these drow were doing here. About all we could turn up was the fact that the drow we had just killed wore a uniform that suggested a common purpose: White tabards with a black grinning skull decorating the centre of the chest. I cannot shake the feeling that I should recognise this, but neither Aeron nor I could name any ecclesiastical significance. Still, I took a sample, that others on the surface may examine the image and enlighten us. After a short while further, the Crusaders came upon a group of cells with stout wooden doors. All were firmly locked, and either nothing or an obvious corpse occupied all but one. This possibly occupied cell held a covered shape, and it was not obvious whether the occupant was alive or dead. Deciding it behove me to at least check, I tasked Halbrinn with the opening of the lock, which turned out to be rather unfortunate. Before the door was opened, Halbrinn triggered an insidious conjuration trap, and brought forth some species of man-lizard, all wreathed in fire! This creature (Adamo describes it as a salamander) made short work of both Halbrinn and I, before being banished back to the plane of fire by Aeron’s well-timed spell. Ilmater’s Tears! What a vicious trap to have on the outside of a cell door! I sincerely hope that all drow do not consider it standard practice to ensure prisoners and slaves are warded so tightly: My work here may never be done, your grace! So, we returned to our redoubt, that we might recuperate after the salamander attack. However, our rest was not to be. During the latter part of the rest period, our enemy, literally under the cover of a complex illusion incorporating jungle flora (truly, your grace; I do not jest!) set about removing our presence from their caves once and for all. I was positioned somewhat to the rear of the point of attack, and seeing no clear path to the melee, chose the long way around by climbing the wall nearest me, and thence the ceiling. Hearing the shout that invisible spell casters were about to make life interesting, I quietly cast a spell for purging such enhancements, then put up the hood on my cloak and all but disappeared from sight myself. My carefully crafted plan came to an end whilst I was halfway across the ceiling. Somehow, a Blackguard had managed to get past our front rank, and was about to make life interesting for Adamo. I dropped from the ceiling, implementing a Catfall Twist to land on my feet as close to the evil knight as possible, that he may not be permitted a hefty swing of his sword as I fell. Drawing in my ki, I launched a power punch that connected solidly, but clearly this anti-paladin had plenty of favour from his dark god, for he shook himself like a hound and threw off the muscle-locking spasm. Then he growled, and launched his blade with all his spite behind it in riposte, and by the Triad that hurt! Fortunately Adamo had recovered, so before the hell-favoured knight could follow up the blow, he was weakened by an immaculately aimed spell of strength drain. Halbrinn wrapped up the Blackguard, quite literally, with one of his resilient spheres, effectively taking the anti-paladin out of the fight. The spellcasters left the scene soon after this, and the remaining creatures (the ubiquitous skinless undead and a displacer beast) did not last long under the onslaught, without magical back up. Now, the Crusaders decided it was time to leave. After again destroying diverse traps via Halbrinn’s sphere spell, we removed to Dagger Falls to report our current situation and to sell some of the plunder we had in our almost overflowing bag of holding. By the House of the Triad, I am beginning to sound as mercenary as the rest of the Crusaders! I think it may be time for penitence, your grace: Perhaps a contribution of a thousand gold pieces to the church and some flagellation might purge me somewhat! The journey back was wet, which Miles complained about bitterly, along with the never-ending supply of drow we seem to be wading through. This last point was well made your grace. It seems odd that so many Underdark drow are this close to the surface; even the all-seeing eyes in the Daggerdale government didn’t seem to be expecting so many. I personally think the Crusaders are on to something very big. Time will tell. As has become typical in the last few weeks, our return to Dagger Falls has become an excuse to go shopping in the marquees of the Thayans. I took an opportunity to check out the church, which now feels very much safer. The reason for this was explained to me: The church has now become hallowed ground. No wonder I get such a warm feeling when I go there; I thought it was just the contents of the pastries! However, our time in Dagger Falls was not entirely wasted, as we found out that the white tabard/black skull combination is typical of subjects of the dark elven goddess Kiaransalee. Now I am sure I do not need to elucidate for you, your eminence, the fact that this goddess is at least as bad as Llolth, even if not as powerful, having both vengeance and undeath in Her portfolio. This almost certainly answers the question of why the drow continually attack us: their dogma demands it! I think this is likely to be a long and bloody campaign, your grace, but it is one I am bound to, so I must keep my faith that I am doing the right thing. It is now several days into our sojourn in Dagger Falls and we are due to leave once again for the crypts and the drow. In the meantime, I have learnt that the actual name of the acid-dripping drow undead is quth maren. The process in which they are created is truly appalling, involving the flesh of a living drow being turned to acid whilst he or she still lives. I cannot begin to understand this race, your eminence, but rest assured that I will do everything in my power to impede this barbaric activity. It matters not that the crime is perpetrated against evil creatures; Ilmater, I am sure, would judge the prevention of the process more important than the moral bent of those who suffer such a crime against life. By the Triad, wouldst that I could lead a crusade against these degenerate Kiaransalee worshippers! Ay, me! But I have other tasks to hand. I will write anon, your grace. For now, I must return to my fellow Crusaders, that we might venture forth once again. Events, I sense, will come to a head soon, but I cannot foresee the path that the Crusaders will take. Oh, well. No time for auguries now, for I must depart. Yvgeny. Ilmater save the King.</blockquote>

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