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Message: <blockquote data-quote="LordVyreth" data-source="post: 1593018" data-attributes="member: 9626">The Ancient DungeonAs the party rested for the night in preparation for the expedition the next morning, a pair of figures were speeding their way to the city in pursuit of them.  One of them was Galeron, a cleric of the church of Bha-Ael, the ruler goddess.  He had heard about the party’s exploits, and was surprised to learn of a rumor that many of them shared the same dream he did over a year ago, involving a mysterious creature called Lady Memory.  He decided to follow them and hope that they will share any information they had about this figure.  On the way, he encountered a drow named Tebryn, who was lost in the snow and ice of the Sunless continent.  He claimed he had no idea how he got here; he just fell through a strange portal, and was in this new land.  Galeron was suspicious, but he used his powers to sense him, and he didn’t have the moral taint of evil, so Galeron offered to let Tebryn join him on the quest to find the party.  Slowly, they neared a familiar mountain range…    The next morning, the four near-sober members of the party began their journey through the ancient “dungeon.”  They traveled at first through a series of narrow tunnels through the mountains, which presumably was once a mere crack that the dragons excavated and turned into a reasonably sized passage.  At the end of the path, there was a gigantic cavern, which was bisected by a huge metal gate.  It was fifty feet high and just as wide, but the dragons had already broken through the gate enough to crate a five-foot wide hole in the middle of the gate.  Carefully, Fnipper led the group towards the hole in the gate.  Once he neared the gate, he peaked through the hole, and saw a well-lit, metal room.  There was no immediate danger, so he quickly darted into the room, only to find that the room wasn’t as uninhabited as he thought.  Four of the rolling “sheens,” much like the ones they encountered among the army of them back on the surface, were here.  But the ones here were at least twice the size of the earlier ones!      Fnipper was feeling unusually brave after he remembered how easy the last of these creatures were, and charged the first one just as it was activating.  He got a few quick hits in, but since he had no idea how these creatures worked, he couldn’t find a weak spot.  The rest of the party was about to enter the room to help Fnipper, when they heard a sound behind them!Galeron and Tebryn were cautiously entering the tunnel that the party had just left.  They had arrived late last night, and after speaking to the Sage, they learned of the earlier arrival of the party.  Though the shock was as great for them as it was for the party, they were able to control themselves enough to work out a deal with Facetous.  Since Galeron was of the same group as the rest of the party, he would be allowed to join the group, and the honor was extended to Tebryn once Galeron insisted that his new friend would not be left behind.  Suddenly, Galeron and Tebryn had to throw caution to the wind, for there were sounds of battle ahead of them!  They quickly charged up the rest of the tunnel, with Galeron taking the lead despite Tebryn’s ability to move faster as a result of his lighter armor.  Robin whirled around to respond to this new potential threat, only to see that it was apparently a cleric and a holy warrior of Bha-Ael.  Deciding that questions can wait, he drew his bow and began to fire into the room at one of the rollers.  Tebryn, however, didn’t think he would be as welcome because of his race, and used his innate magical powers to draw a cloak of darkness around him as he skulked into the room.  He wanted to help, but had to time it so they wouldn’t think he was a threat.Meanwhile, Tal and Tsine had bigger concerns, like saving their friend.  Both of them also got to the edge of the room, and began to fire magical projectiles at the rollers.  However, the simple-minded rollers still considered Fnipper their primary threat, and three of them surrounded the unfortunate gnome while the other moved to the front of the doorway to engage Robin.  Despite his incredible dexterity, Fnipper was surprised by the speed of these creatures, and though he activated his ring of blinking before he entered the fight, fortune was with the metal creatures, as he was always in the wrong place (by his perspective,) when they connected.  Desperate, Fnipper tried to use his ring to phase through the wall and to safety, but again luck wasn’t with him, and he materialized within the wall!  This caused him to get shunted back into the room.  Gasping for air and trying to ignore the dozens of cuts he got from leaving parts of himself inside the wall, he looked up to see the three giant monsters closing in on him.  He carefully downed a potion, and hoped he would have more luck dodging these things from now on.Meanwhile, Galeron charged into the doorway, to help Robin fight back the monster.  Between the two of them and with Tal and Tsine’s magic supporting them, they were able to destroy the monster, but they didn’t have a chance to help Fnipper.  Fnipper concentrated and focused on his family, and how he would never see them again if he died here.  With his focus renewed, he was able to evade his foes far better, and his sense of timing lasted long enough for him to jump through the wall a little more carefully this time.  Though he again materialized inside the wall, he was almost on the other side, and the momentum carried him to the safety of the outer chamber despite the pain it caused him.  Unfortunately, Tebryn used this exact moment to try to help, and Fnipper came face to face with a strange drow elf that was forcing (from Fnipper’s perspective) a vial of strange liquid upon him!Galeron entered the room to help engage the three surviving monsters, while Tal and Tsine moved to the far side of the room to continue the magical barrage, and Robin remained in the doorway to fire on the machines from a distance.  Galeron heard the screams from outside, and a strange, high-pitched voice yelling “Help!  It’s a drow assassin!  He’s trying to poison me!”Suddenly realizing what was going on, Galeron yelled back “It’s okay!  He’s a good guy, and he’s with me!  He just wants to help!”  Robin, after realizing that Fnipper never actually saw Galeron yet, shouted that Fnipper should trust him as well, and Tal and Tsine echoed this claim.  Dubiously, Fnipper drank the liquid, but even after it healed some of his wounds, he looked at the drow with suspicion.  “Don’t think this means I trust you, drow.  I don’t have faith in any of your stinking kind.”  With that, he phased through the wall again to help his friends.  Tebryn went around the wall and into the room to help as well, though he did so with less than good intentions.  He was used to others mistrusting him because of his race, but he hoped it was different here, and this gnome was really the first to show him any discrimination.  He began to dislike the gnome already.At any rate, now that they were surrounded and overpowered, the remaining rollers soon crumbled when Tsine used up some of his more powerful magic to blast all three of them with flames.  The party soon gathered, and began their introductions.  Galeron explained that he came from Methosilang to accompany the party, after hearing that they shared a similar dream.  He told a bit about his past.  Most importantly, he explained about his motivations for adventuring beyond the Lady Memory issue.  Notably, he talked quite a bit about his missing mother, who was lost to an orc raid years ago, and who may or may not be alive any more.Tebryn’s story was even more unusual.  He claimed he was from a city called Menzoberranzan, a drow city under the watch of a goddess called Lolth.  Tal and Tsine remembered that latter name from the records of the old gods, but this drow city and the idea that one of the old gods is still in control are new concepts for them.  Tebryn was just as amazed when he learned of Methosilang, the drow alliance with the surface dwellers, and the creation of the Benefactor drow.  Tsine, who did some research on planar theory, suggested that Tebryn was from an alternate plane and somehow ended up here on accident.  Both of them were accepted into the group, at least by a majority of the group.  Fnipper gave him a look that clearly suggested he still didn’t trust this drow, especially since he wasn’t even from the relatively good drow civilization of Methosilang, and Tebryn’s hatred for the little gnome grew.OOC Notes:  And thus we have our two new characters.  Galeron is a cleric/paladin, with a strong emphasis on the former.  He also has a dwarven cleric cohort, but he wasn’t written up in time for the game, so he essentially is waiting at home for Galeron until he can be written back into the plot.  Tebryn is a normal drow, with SR and spell-like abilities, from the Forgotten Realms.  He is a fighter/wizard.  Both will be part of the group for a decent amount of time.</blockquote>

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