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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ilgatto" data-source="post: 9791436" data-attributes="member: 86051">Duergar & Daemons Part XVIII: The Silk RoadIn which the DM informs our noble heroes that the tunnel that took them to the priest’s sanctuary did not go up but down and some of them allow the seemingly endless trek through the Underdark to get the better of them in decidedly caddish – and murderous – fashion.Night 156: We join the company after they have spent the night and are on their way to the surface again, ruefully discussing the fact that they have not seen a decent meal in donkey’s years. With the Broken Lands now likely behind them, they have established a new marching order: Sir Eber and the chevalier are on point behind two of Sir Suvali’s dogs – it seems that his position in the front line has become a permanent one; then Navarre and Sir Suvali and his third dog; then Sir Eber’s slaves in loose formation; and then Sir Oengus and Rodlu bringing up the rear guard.The tunnel is taking the company downward once again and they have been walking for three hours when the two dogs in the front line stop moving and start sniffing at a low opening in the left wall. Sir Eber and the chevalier advance to see what’s what and they soon spy two more holes in the right wall, at ground level and rather smaller than the first.“More rodents,” Sir Eber growls, drawing his swords.When no rodents appear, Navarre advances to the opening in the left wall and shines his lantern into it. It opens into a low tunnel that seems to be of duergar make – narrow, low, and with rough walls as opposed to those of the main tunnel. The revolting stench of rotting meat wafts from within.“Let’s go,” the voice of Sir Eber comes from behind him.The noble duo crouch and enter the passage, the chevalier and Sir Oengus following them at some distance. The passage continues for some thirty feet before it turns sharply right, continues for another ten feet and ends in a wall with a small iron cage chained to it. The fearsome stink gets only worse as the noble duo advance to within three feet of it.“Crabfish. Bait, as to be sure,” Sir Oengus says. Apparently, he and Navarre have switched positions.“Good thinking,” Navarre says, who had been considering a dead pet or some guardian beast in a cage until now.“Any traps?,” the chevalier suggests.Sir Eber has a good look at the cage. It is about two feet wide and deep and just over a foot high and it contains chunks of rotting meat.“A snare of some sort,” Navarre says, rather stating the obvious.“Mon Dieu!,” the chevalier exclaims. “For the rodents! Are they in here?!”“Nothing here,” Sir Oengus says, checking his surroundings.“Pas des crottes?,” the chevalier insists anxiously. “Rat droppings?”“Check the entrance,” he says to Navarre, who now also seems to have switched positions with the chevalier.“Nothing here,” Navarre says, after a quick look around.Sir Eber ties a rope to the cage and starts pulling it toward him. A loud grinding sound is heard and then a part of the floor disappears – it is not exactly clear which part despite the sketches provided here. After what seems to be some more unexplained shifting of positions, Sir Eber and the chevalier inspect the pit but there is nothing in it. Then, Sir Eber starts yanking the cage proper, up and down, left and right, creating a bit of a racket in the process.“Pardieu!,” the startled chevalier cries. “Mon ami! What are you doing?!”“I want the little cage,” Sir Eber replies, continuing his efforts.“Mais… pourquoi?”“Nifty gear!”“But it is of a deplorable quality!,” the chevalier stammers.“Okay,” the ranger says, dropping the cage. “Let’s go.”“Who sets and maintains that thing?,” Navarre wonders, when everybody is in the main tunnel again.“Exactly what I was thinking,” Sir Suvali says.“We are getting close to the spidersilk men,” the chevalier suggests.“That meat must have been there at least a ten-day,” Sir Eber says.The company move on, even more careful than before now that another duergar settlement seems to be close. Some four hours later a set of large, wooden double doors with bronze fittings in a stone wall block the way ahead.“Well, Scaralat?,” Sir Eber says, turning to the chevalier. “Time for your pretty speech.”The chevalier assumes a gallant stance and knocks on the door three times.“Messires!,” he starts. “I would ask you grant us an entrée to your residence! We are travelers, emissaries from the surface world! We expect yet another warm welcome!”Nothing stirs.“Allô?”Perhaps already regretting the fact that he let the chevalier do his thing, Sir Eber starts looking for secret doors. Finding none, he starts hammering at the door with the giant’s hammer – ‛in a friendly manner’ as he reassuringly informs the startled chevalier. Although the doors do give a bit, they do not open.“Barred from the inside,” he says. “Want me to break them down?”“I think not,” the chevalier says frostily. “It would not be the first time that we have had to wait for an answer and it may well compromise our ouvertures if the duergar would find their doors hacked to splinters.”“Gentlemen,” Sir Suvali declares. “We will make camp.”And so Sir Eber rigs the tunnel with a variety of snares and lines attached to small bells again and the company spend an uneventful night some distance from the doors.Night 157: After a quick breakfast, Sir Eber informs his noble companions that he has determined that the doors do not see much use.“No tracks to speak of and nothing came through last night,” he adds. “I say we put our shoulders into it and force them open.”Our noble heroes put their shoulders and a giant’s crowbar into it and a result of “20%” on Sir Eber’s Bend Bars/Lift Gates check means that the doors do indeed open. Beyond them, the main tunnel continues as before until it ends in a similar set of doors some fifty yards ahead.“Hullo?,” Navarre hollers. “Anybody here?”The chevalier announces that he looks up at the ceiling, and results of “4” and “1” on 2d6 inform him that it is about eighteen feet overhead, and that there is a slight discoloration at its apex some ten yards into the passage.“Suvali!,” he calls. “You see that? Spread your wings, mon ami! Take to the skies to see what’s what!”“No,” Sir Suvali says.This is followed by a great many clumsy excuses and awkward wriggling from the sorcerer, until he eventually sees no other way out than declaring that he was planning on casting a spell first. He does so after a considerable pause for effect and then, after yet another such pause, informs his noble companions that the discolored spot is about the size of a large copper coin and that the ceiling and walls are much cleaner than elsewhere.“And you glean all of this from a single spell?,” Navarre asks, quite annoyed with the sorcerer’s cowardly behavior. “Impressive.”“There is nothing magic in the tunnel,” the sorcerer says coldly.“A-ha-ha-ha!,” the chevalier interrupts the nettlesome exchange. “Is it a peephole?”Sir Suvali sends two of his dogs into the tunnel and, when nothing has happened for about a turn, he spreads the wings of his flying contraption and finally flies to the ceiling. When he returns, he reports that the discoloration is a hole with a cork in it.“It is a trap,” the chevalier says. “I can feel it!”“Hmm…,” Navarre muses. “I am not so sure. The doors were barred from the inside. Does that not at least suggest that the doors have to be opened from the inside? What use would a trap be if one cannot enter from without?”“Alors,” the chevalier resumes, disregarding the questionable notion. “Suggestions?”“I can think of many explanations for a hole like that,” Navarre continues. “A peephole would be among the first.”“Blah, blah, blah,” Sir Eber growls, starting down the passage with his weapons drawn.Navarre and the chevalier go in after him, with Rodlu some yards behind them. After about twenty yards, Rodlu stops and points at the ceiling.“Psst!,” he hisses. “Other hole!”And so there is. And then another ten yards further down, and then another. Now about halfway down the tunnel, the noble trio in the front line have also stopped moving and they ponder the holes for some minutes. But nothing happens and so they start moving again, pass beneath yet another hole and reach the second set of doors. These are barred from the inside like the first and one of them has a smaller door in it. They report their findings to the others, who haven’t moved much.“Curious,” Navarre says, looking around for some other entrance to the passage. “A secret door, perhaps?”“Someone must have put the bars in place,” Sir Suvali’s yells, still only inches into the passage. He starts looking for a way to prevent the doors behind him from closing, just in case they would do so as part of a trap activating, when the DM, having rolled some dice without anybody noticing, informs him and the chevalier that they hear someone pouring a glass of wine.“Retreat!,” the sorcerer yells, leading by example as he exits the passage in great haste.There is a moment of silence and then a burning liquid starts raining down from the ceiling. Within moments, much of the passage is ablaze.Fortunately, with all of them being close to one of the exits, none of the company suffer much from the event, with the exception of Sir Eber, who now chooses to vent his contempt for the situation in what we shall graciously refer to as a bit of an anachronism.“A-a-a-h! W-a-a-a-h,” he screams in mock despair. “It burns! A-a-a-h! W-a-a-a-h!”“N-o-o-o!,” Sir Oengus joins in from the other side of the passage. “Eb-e-e-r!”“Quand les troupes s’ennuient…,” the chevalier muses.“Hardly regal material,” Navarre agrees.The flames continue to burn for all of five rounds, during which Navarre and Sir Eber have opened the second set of doors. Beyond, the main tunnel continues straight ahead, no longer turning left as it did until now. When the flames are gone and the noble duo turn their attention to the passage behind them again, a section of the wall to their left moves and a bizarre-looking duergar mounted on a steeder comes through the opening. The duergar does not look like any other our nobles heroes have seen before. It is perhaps best described as a clown-like savage just escaped from an insane asylum, clad in patchwork armor, if anything, and with hair and a multi-colored beard jutting from its face at all angles.“Ah!,” the chevalier calls. “A moment of your time, monsieur! We request a parley!”“Kill him!,” Sir Eber hollers, immediately firing an arrow at the duergar.When Sir Suvali and Sir Oengus also start firing arrows at the duergar and his mount, the chevalier procures his trumpet and sounds it twice.“Shield wall!,” the sorcerer yells to Sir Eber’s slaves back in the corridor.“What now?,” the slaves ask when they are in formation. “Where is master?”“Stay!,” the sorcerer barks.Back at the other end of the passage, the chevalier tries to salvage the situation.“Why did you attack us?,” he cries, just when the strange duergar is hit by one of Sir Eber’s arrows.“Hold your fire!,” he yells angrily when the noble trio keep firing arrows at the strange duergar and his mount.But Sir Eber is not to be denied and when the strange duergar starts retreating into the opening he starts running after him. The opening gives into a wide passage, where nine more steeders and their bizarre riders are all over the floor, walls, and ceiling.“Ch-a-a-a-a-rge!,” he yells, dropping his bow and drawing his swords.The chevalier has started after the intrepid ranger and is presently treated to the same vista.“Ah! Messieurs!,” he exclaims in his most genial tone of voice. “Parley?”When the laughter has died down, Sir Suvali starts flying toward the opening from the other end of the passage. Navarre shakes his head in disbelief and draws his sword.“Suh-ren-der!,” one of the duergar yells in a startlingly broken version of Gaelic.“Messieurs!,” the chevalier tries again. “You have thrown fire at us!”“Yes!,” the first duergar yells.“But there is no need! We are traders! We have been informed that you produce silk of the most superior quality! We have come to buy some!”The duergar start talking to each other. It is evident that they do not understand a word of what the gallant chevalier is saying.“Drop wep-pons!,” one of them yells after a moment. “And mah-nee!”“Silk!,” the chevalier says. “Trade!”“Mah-nee!,” the duergar yells.“Messieurs,” the chevalier tries again. “If you would sell us the silk, we will give you the money.”“Mah-nee!”Sir Oengus arrives from the other end of the passage just when Sir Eber announces that he will use his giant hammer to prevent the secret door from closing. He must roll d20 and fails when the result is a “3”. Navarre hasn’t moved much and is keeping an eye on the open doors behind him.“Messieurs,” the chevalier resumes. “Do we have an agreement?”“Yes!,” the duergar yells. “Drop wep-pons end mah-nee!”“Eh, bien,” the chevalier replies, a faint smile on his face. “Now, if you could show us some money…”“Will tayke long time,” the duergar yells in reply, followed by some raucous laughter.But now it is Sir Suvali’s turn to throw some oil onto the fire and he suddenly casts Web into the secret passage, trapping four of the duergar savages and their mounts. Instantly, the remaining duergar charge to the attack.“On a du chocolat!,” the chevalier cries in desperation. “Chocolate!”One of the duergar yells something unintelligible and the maneuver is halted.“Quah-lit-tee!,” he yells to the chevalier.“Avec des noisettes,” the chevalier sings, in what is rapidly turning into an utterly bizarre exchange. “Un bonbon!”“Silk!,” the duergar savage yells.“Finally,” the chevalier sighs in relief. “Pour des robes, des peignoirs…”And then Sir Eber just starts hacking away at one of the steeders in front of him.“Monsieur,” the chevalier addresses the duergar on the steeder with what can only be described as remarkable composure. “My colleague is somewhat confused.”But neither Sir Eber nor the duergar are listening any more as bolts start flying and the ranger continues his assault, apparently allowed to attack two opponents at once and making short work of the first steeder and its rider.“Messieurs?,” the chevalier tries again.“Messieurs!,” louder now – and then he just gives up.“O. K-a-a-a-a-y…,” he sighs in resignation as he draws his sword and charges into the room.“We’ve got work to d-o-o-o-o-o-o!,” the ranger sings at the chevalier, with more than a little glee in his voice.“They are just like children!,” he continues, when he is hit by two of the many crossbow bolts fired at him from all sides.Back in the tunnel, Sir Oengus has started moving and he presently reaches Navarre, who is having some trouble not sitting on the floor with his head in his hands.“Have they finished?,” he groans.“The hands be bletherin’ about with all sails to the wind, that’s fer sure,” Sir Oengus says. He moves back through the secret door to see how the slaves fare, finding that all seems well. Navarre also moves back down the passage until he gets to the first set of doors, closes them, and replaces the bar in the hopes that this will limit the amount of duergar the ranger and the chevalier are going to have to kill.Anyway. The duergar savages have started screaming and yelling again and the chevalier misses twice. Not so Sir Eber, who charges another steeder and its rider, heavily wounding both while he is missed by at least four bolts in turn. Next, the chevalier inflicts some damage on his opponent and suffers about the same amount in return. Even Sir Eber is now bitten by a steeder, for a single point of damage no less, but he retaliates true to form and kills both the offending critter and its rider.Safely behind the lines, Sir Suvali has been biding his time in the main tunnel and he has heard the duergar call the alarm, curse and scream in general, call death and destruction upon the chevalier and the ranger, and yell “Wizard!” and “It’s a trap!”. Deciding that the time has come, he hurls his torch into the web, making it flare up momentarily and inflicting some considerable fire damage on at least four duergar and steeders, to the furious curses and hisses of all concerned. The chevalier misses again and the sorcerer casts another Web, this time further down the secret passage and once again trapping some four duergar and their mounts. More blows are exchanged and the chevalier suffers some hefty damage.And then the duergar savage who spoke first surrenders.“Miss-tayke! Miss-uhn-der-stend!,” he yells, throwing his weapons to the floor.But the murderous instincts of Sir Suvali are not to be denied and so he tosses a second torch into the web down the secret passage, which instantly catches fire. More screams and curses inform him that he has yet again inflicted a serious amount of damage.Now, only two of the duergar remain, the first still on the floor and begging for his life and the second now also yelling that he will surrender.“Master!,” the first yells, when Sir Eber fails his attempt to knock him unconscious.When much of the noise has subsided, Navarre and Sir Oengus start moving up the main tunnel and presently appear in the doorway to the secret passage, with the first, at least, praying that this will be the end of the episode.</blockquote>

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