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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ilgatto" data-source="post: 9704528" data-attributes="member: 86051">Duergar & Daemons Part VI: Queen of the Dripstone CavernDay 46, continued: Having dropped anchor about half an hour downstream, our noble heroes are waiting for the drowsiness to wear off. Sir Eber and the chevalier are discussing the dwarven helmet, which the latter has donated to the former and which they now seem to know adds a +1 bonus to the wearer’s saving throws.“I will simply wear it all the time,” Sir Eber declares.“It is a valuable asset,” the chevalier agrees. “Although entirely devoid of un certain… je ne sais quoi, n’est-ce pas?”“It would seem that we have to approach these duergar with some care,” Navarre joins in. Theresa’s snuff has somewhat brought him back to his senses although his head still feels like it is filled with wet wool.“C’est comme ça,” the chevalier says primly. “It usually is with a matriarcat.”After the laughter has died down, our noble heroes spend some time discussing what they have discovered about the duergar so far. It must be around four o’clock in the afternoon when the effect of the snuff finally wears off.Day 47: It is just after midnight when Sir Oengus wakes Navarre for his shift. Still not quite feeling like himself, our noble hero installs himself on the bow and enjoys watching the surroundings for a bit, once again marveling at where he is. Drops of water continue to fall down as if it is raining ever so slightly and the ceiling and walls glisten in the light of his lantern. Here and there, he sees some small, white or translucent creatures moving in or out of the water and he decides to put out some lines. But neither he nor any of his noble fellows after this catch anything for the rest of the night, which passes without incident.That morning, the chevalier wakes up his noble fellows by striking his cymbals. Sir Oengus is the first to appear, scratching his head.“Bonjour!,” the chevalier sings to him. “Does monsieur wish his egg to be hard-boiled or medium?”“Hard,” Sir Oengus replies, checking the anchor line.“I will pass it on to the kitchen,” the chevalier says.“You with me?,” Sir Eber says to the chevalier when he has eaten and takes his position on the rowing benches.“Mais bien sûr,” the chevalier says, turning to Navarre. “Mon duc! Would you beat time?”Navarre wipes his mouth and starts tapping his boot on the deck.“Mayhap I could persuade you gentlemen to discuss some sort of plan of action?,” he starts, opening what looks to be the last bottle of Lillac. “It seems that these duergar are not to be trusted and that we were damned lucky yesterday. So, what is it to be? A plan? Or is it more of ‘we’ll see what happens and then start acting like fools’?”“That’s the one,” Sir Eber says.“The plan is to head into the darkness and see where that gets us,” the chevalier says curtly. “Et voilà!”“I see,” Navarre replies irritably. “Well, it would seem that you will have to take up your roles as a merchant and a scullery maid about town again then. Which, I might add, rather seems to agree with you.”“Mais… mon cher!,” the chevalier returns snootily. “If only I could blush!”Navarre doesn’t reply, miffed as he is that he is likely headed for another day of winging it – to which he has a distinct aversion.Sir Eber and the chevalier start rowing the boat upstream again, upon which Sir Suvali withdraws below decks to study his new spell books. When the vessel approaches Beyond about half an hour later, most of our noble heroes are on deck with their weapons drawn. But they pass the quay without incident and, four hours later, around noon, Navarre spots a light in the distance.“Light-ho!,” he calls out.Some distance upstream, a reddish light has appeared. When Sir Suvali appears on deck, Sir Eber calls out to him: “You gonna have a look or what?”“I think I can do that,” the sorcerer replies stiffly. He spreads his wings and heads off into the darkness.When he is gone, Sir Eber points to the barrel of gnome blood he purchased from the duergar on the quay.“Snifter anyone?,” he asks.“Indeed!,” the chevalier says, flexing his aching muscles. “I do believe I could use a stiff drink.”“I should imagine so. An old salt like yourself…,” Navarre snaps. He instantly regrets his remark, if not because it was somewhat uncalled for, then surely because it lacked a punch.“A-ha-ha-ha!,” the chevalier laughs frostily.Sir Suvali, flying low above the surface of the river, approaches a large body of water in a cavern with a ceiling bathed in a reddish light. He hovers for a bit to see whether he can make something of the light and finds it to consist of many separate ‘units’ moving along the ceiling in a slow, random fashion. He estimates the cavern to be some seventy yards in diameter, with the ceiling around fifty yards above the surface of the water. In the middle of the ‘lake’ is an island, perhaps twenty to thirty yards in diameter and crammed with tall buildings. He observes the island for a while and concludes that the lights on the ceiling seem to be connected to something or things moving on the roofs of the buildings.He has another good look around before he flies to the ceiling and finds it to be the habitat of all manner of tiny insects and spiders. From up here, he can see that there are five groups of buildings on the island, centered on an open central space. The lights on the ceiling seem to come from five to twenty sources moving on the roofs of most of the buildings. He tries to determine whether there is some sort of recognizable pattern to the movements but doesn’t find any – the lights move completely at random and remarkably slowly.He continues to observe the island for some time but does not see any duergar or other living creatures. Narrow alleys separate the five blocks of buildings from each other and there are arrow slits in the walls. Although he does not see vessels of any kind, each of the five blocks has its own jetties. The cavern has another exit at about two o’clock from where he is now.Back on the boat, Navarre and the chevalier have raised a toast to each other and quaffed another shot of gnome blood.“You will need it for your shift, mon ami!,” the chevalier laughs.“Ha, ha, ha,” Navarre returns.The noble duo drink some more and they are exchanging loud guffaws when Sir Suvali – always one to take his time if only for dramatic effect – finally returns and tells the others what he has seen down the river.“Gentlemen,” he concludes. “We take the small boat.”“We do?,” Navarre cries in mock surprise. “What about Eber? Is he to swim?”“I will fly,” the sorcerer returns says stiffly.“And why, pray, are we to take the small boat, Sir?,” Navarre resumes rather sharply.“I do not think taking the small boat would give us an advantage,” the chevalier says, quick to cut in at the first sign of aggravation as usual. “We will need the large boat if there should be a fight.”“Agreed,” Sir Eber says. “The pinnace is fine for sneaking in at night but not when we approach in full sight.”“Sails away, mateys,” Sir Oengus yells, taking a seat at the oars.And so the boat slowly enters the cavern. When it gets to within thirty, forty yards of the island, the chevalier clears his throat.“La, la, la, la-a-a-a,” he sings, before procuring his trumpet and turning to his noble fellows. “One has to test the acoustics, non?”He turns around again and blows a merry fanfare.“Mes amis!,” he yells when he is finished.On the ceiling, the lights stop moving. A deathly silence falls.When the chevalier blows his trumpet again, the lights start moving again, advancing slowly, as it seems, toward the boat – there must be around seventy-five of them. Fully expecting to be in the spotlight soon, the chevalier doffs his hat.“Mes amis!,” he calls again. “We come in peace! We are representatives of the king above! We would like to speak with the king…, the duke…, your leader?”A creaky old voice sounds from one of the buildings to the left: “What you want?”“We would like to make your acquaintance!,” the chevalier calls. “Perhaps exchange certain goods, pleasantries, stories!”There is no answer.“We also bring news from the village downstream!,” the chevalier resumes.Now, another voice, as decrepit as the last one, sounds from the buildings to the right: “Do not listen to that witch!”And then both voices start cursing and screaming in the language of the duergar, apparently at each other.When there is a pause, the chevalier calls again: “We would like to make ourselves available to those who will show us the most generous of hospitalities and honor!”“We have balls, shields, and powder,” the first voice yells.“Balls?,” Navarre calls. “Explain yourself!”“One hundred and fifty gold per kilo!,” the voice yells.“Swindlers!,” the second voice yells. “One hundred and forty-five for balls, shields, and powder!”“What powder is that?,” Sir Eber yells.“Fire beetle powder!,” one of the voices yells.“Charlatans! Rogues!,” another voice yells. “One hundred and forty!”“One thirty-five!”More cursing and screaming follows.“Good lord!,” Navarre says to his noble fellows. “What are the creatures on about?”“The powder can be a component of fire-based spells,” Sir Suvali says. “They farm fire beetles on their roofs. That’s what the lights are.”“Perhaps we should try another block,” the chevalier says. “The prices seem to be dropping by the minute.”Our noble heroes row the boat around the island, with comparable results. When the price for balls, shields, and powder has dropped to one hundred gold coins per kilo, Sir Oengus lands the boat at one of the jetties.“Go away!,” a voice yells from the nearest group of buildings.“Do not listen!,” another voice comes from the buildings next to it. “Welcome!”“We want to inspect your balls and shields,” Sir Eber yells, jumping onto the jetty.“How much money do we have?,” the chevalier asks, after he and Navarre have also disembarked.“Fifty gold, fifty silver, and fifty copper,” Sir Suvali says.“That seems a bit weak,” the chevalier muses. “Perhaps we should try trading some of the bath salts?”“Do you gamble?,” Sir Oengus hollers at one of the buildings from behind the wheel.“Not a lot!,” a voice yells.“I have here two fantastic dwarven dice!,” Sir Oengus yells.“Duergar give two copper!,” a voice yells after a moment’s hesitation.Then, two duergar appear on the jetty. As seems to be the case with all duergar, they are in full armor and armed to the teeth. One of them is carrying what appears to be the chitin shell of some beetle-like creature, the other a dull spherical object.“What is this?,” Sir Eber asks. “Where are the shields?”The duergar carrying the shell presents it to the ranger.“What is it?,” Sir Eber asks. “I expected shields.”“Fire beetle shield,” the duergar says. “Very good quality!”Navarre approaches and has a look at the carapace.“What do you do with it, my good man?,” he asks.“Make masterwork stuff!,” the duergar says. “Stop fire!”“Do you have the finished product?”“Human need smith.”“And are you such a smith?”“Duergar are farmers.”“Ah,” Navarre says, starting back to the boat. “In that case, I cannot say I am very interested.”“No!,” the duergar replies. “Is valuable component! Is for making magic! Masterwork!”Navarre stops and turns around.“My good man,” he says. “Surely you do not expect me to go peddling with these things until I find a smith? One does not bring dough to a baker, does one?”“Is very good!,” the duergar insists. “One hundred gold for kilo.”“I’m sure it is,” Navarre says, who has no money to speak of. “Perhaps you should speak to Suvali over there. He may be interested.”“I have a dwarven hammer and dwarven chain,” Sir Eber suggests, procuring one of the ancient dwarven chains.“Duergar give three hundred gold,” the duergar says.“Ah,” Navarre says. “Well, in that case… you might as well throw in one of those carapaces.”When the laughter has died down, Sir Suvali addresses the duergar with the dull red ball in his hand: “What is that?”“Light ball,” the duergar says. “Sheds long light.”“I don’t see any light,” the sorcerer says.“Must squeeze to activate. Very special. Only fire beetle duergar make!”Sir Suvali inspects the ball, with the duergar providing him with more information. As it turns out, the balls are made from the glands of fire beetles in a secret process. When activated, they shed light for eight hours and in a sixty-foot radius. Once activated, they cannot be extinguished again and they cannot be reused or recharged when the light finally dies.“Gentlemen,” Sir Suvali says. “Three balls for each of us.”He buys some of the light balls, hands each of his noble fellows three of them and explains their use.“You be interested in this?,” Sir Oengus says after this, showing the duergar one of his sea charts.“Yes,” one of the duergar says.“Do you know what it is, then?”“Is map. Duergar give ten gold.”“Too little,” Sir Oengus says. “Fifty.”“Thirty.”“This ‘ere be an expensive map, to be sure,” Sir Oengus says.“Okay! Fifty!”“I do not think we should sell these maps to the duergar, mon cher,” the chevalier says under his breath, nudging Sir Oengus. “They seem a bit too eager to get their hands on them.”“I agree,” Sir Suvali says below his voice. “No need giving them information on the surface.”“Sixty!,” the duergar says. Apparently, the creatures have excellent hearing.“How do you transport goods down here?,” Sir Oengus asks, changing the subject. “Barges? Boats?”“Yes.”“Then where be these vessels? I don’t spy any of them, to be sure.”“In castles.”“Do they look like our boat?”“Smaller. Wood and skin.”With Sir Oengus thus discussing things nautical with the duergar, Sir Eber approaches Navarre and hands him a fire beetle carapace.“No need for that, old bean,” Navarre says. “Coin’s a bit tight at the moment and all that.”“You want it or not?,” Sir Eber says.“Oh, alright then,” Navarre says. “Cheers, old boy.”He takes the carapace and subjects it to a closer inspection. It is well over two feet long and ranges in color from black to bright red, with a distinct, oily or pearlescent sheen.Further down the jetty, Sir Oengus is still discussing boats with one of the duergar.Duergar pay five thousand gold for human boat,” the duergar says.“That be a bit weak, lubber,” Sir Oengus replies. “Even so, she be not for sale.”“The dwarves downstream were a lot less hospitable than you lot,” Sir Eber cuts in.“Villains! Drunkards! Bad sorts!,” the duergar cries. “Humans no trust!”“What about the king?,” Sir Eber asks,“Yes! Duergar burn king when he come!,” the duergar says, grinning.“What is further up the river?,” Sir Eber asks.“No go there! Bad sorts!”“It would seem that the duergar don’t have a high regard for their neighbors,” Navarre says to the ranger.“Big city,” the duergar continues, spitting on the floor. “Many clans! Bad people! Bad alleys! Name is Stalag.”“Are there any expert craftsmen up there?,” the chevalier asks.“Is city. Has all sorts. All bad sorts!”“Are there any human visitors there?,” Sir Eber asks.“Only babies,” the duergar says.“Pardon!?,” the chevalier exclaims. “Babies?”“Er…,” the duergar hesitates. “Duergar think humans know.”“Évidemment! But we would like to hear your version of the story,” the chevalier replies smoothly.“Er…,” the duergar says. “Maybe some duergar go to surface maybe at night. Maybe for mischief.”“So this is where the story of ‘changelings’ must come from,” Navarre says. “Do the duergar steal children?”“A-ha-ha-ha!,” the chevalier cuts in, obviously uncomfortable with where the conversation is heading.“Long time ago,” the duergar says. “Old tradition. King do this again.”“And what is your opinion of this?,” the chevalier says, despite himself. “And of this king?”“King is maniac,” the duergar says.“Vraiment?,” the chevalier asks. “Pray explain.”And so the duergar explain that their king roams the Underdark, repeatedly calling him a ‘maniac’, an ‘extortionist’, and a ‘bastard’. He imposes all manner of ‘ridiculous demands’ on the inhabitants of the places he turns up at, usually asking for large amounts of food and hefty ‘taxes’. He lays siege to places that refuse his demands and his actions are considered ‘taboo’ by all ‘civilized duergar such as themselves’. It seems that the king visits each duergar settlement about once each year.“Is terrible!,” the duergar ends.“What would you pay if the parvenu would be… dealt with?,” the chevalier asks.“Gold! Prisoners! Diamonds!”“I will challenge this king,” Sir Eber declares.“Is better you duergar,” the duergar says, looking at the ranger with a strange mixture of surprise and disdain.“I could stoop down a lot,” Sir Eber says, prompting the duergar to throw him hostile glances and Navarre to burst out in laughter.“Perhaps you two could curb your enthusiasm?,” the chevalier remarks, glancing nervously at the duergar.“Ha, ha, ha,” Navarre says. “Chin up, old bean! We’re doing splendidly so far! All thanks to your unsurpassed skills as a merchant and ambassador, I hasten to add! You would do well behind a fish stall! Ha, ha, ha!”“I applaud your ability to make your compliments sound both laudatory and offensive, monsieur,” the chevalier says frostily.“A-ha-ha-ha!,” the noble duo laugh in unison.With trade thus conducted and much information gained, our noble heroes return to the boat and weigh anchor. The boat is approaching the exit when Sir Oengus notices a jetty, an opening in the rock behind it. He lands the boat at the jetty and Navarre and the chevalier disembark. The opening is about a yard wide and two yards high and it seems to lead to a large room.“Look at them go!,” Sir Eber yells after them. “Maybe we should feed them liquor all the time!”Although he has some trouble restraining himself, Navarre decides to let the matter rest and advances into the tunnel. The noble duo end up in a large room where a huge hammer sticking out from one of the walls is otherwise suspended from the ceiling by all manner of cables and pulleys. Its handle is made of a single tree trunk with heavy iron bands around it at various intervals. The head is at least seven feet long and underneath it is a large anvil. There is not a duergar in sight.“A smithy?,” the chevalier suggests.“Could be anything,” Navarre replies. “Who knows what these duergar are up to?”“They make fire beetle powder here,” Sir Suvali says, entering the room with Sir Eber.On the other side of the cavern a doorway opens into a six-foot corridor that leads to another large room, where the rest of the tree sticks out of the wall and passes through another mechanism with many levers – a construct not unlike those our noble heroes saw in the courtyard of Diamond Castle. Another doorway leads to another room, this one with a waterwheel powered by a waterfall. The water comes tumbling down from a large opening in the wall overhead and exits the room through a similar opening lower down. Both openings seem strangely dark, as if obscured by some immaterial curtain.Within seconds, Sir Eber seems to have figured out how to operate the machine and he presently ‘turns it on’. Irked by the uncivilized manner of the fellow, Navarre starts back for the boat.“Whenever you’re ready and all that, old sport,” he calls, leaving the room. A thundering ‘BANG!’ echoes through the cavern before he reaches the boat.Anyway. When he is finished playing with his little machine, Sir Eber also returns to the boat, grinning like a Cheshire cat. He and Sir Oengus take the oars, Sir Suvali the wheel, and our noble heroes continue their journey. They are only yards into the next tunnel when they pass a dark hole in the left wall, not unlike those in the room with the cascade. The sorcerer steers the boat to it and then the chevalier sticks his head into the hole – to find that it ends up in the room with the waterwheel, now hovering as it is above the waterfall.“It is not a curtain,” he declares, when he has pulled his head back. “There is no resistance at all. It is a wall of darkness.”The journey continues and it must be some two hours later when Navarre, on the bow, picks up the sound of another waterfall ahead. He hollers to the others, upon which Sir Suvali drops the anchor and takes to the air to scout ahead.He soon reaches a cavern with a waterfall comes tumbling down an eighty-yard wall – the source of the river. To his right is a long quay from which is grand staircase disappears into the bedrock at the back. He returns to report his findings and then Sir Eber and the chevalier row the boat into the cavern, where Sir Oengus lands it at the quay.Unlike the previous quays, this one shows definite signs of workmanship, albeit still in the minimalist style of the duergar. The staircase features similar ornamentation and it is quite wide – four men could climb it abreast.“A staircase fit for a palace,” the chevalier remarks, jumping onto the quay.“Avast, by thunder!,” Sir Oengus yells. “There be work to be done before we be goin’ up there! Handsomely now!”He starts hollering orders and so our noble heroes end up coiling ropes and scrubbing decks.“I don’t like these dwarves,” Sir Eber says to Navarre when they are having a breather.“You don’t say?,” Navarre says. “Whatever for? They are a hard-working, sober people. What’s not to like?”“Bah!,” the ranger scoffs. “They are poisoners and they steal children.”“They did drug us, didn’t they?,” Navarre muses. “Perhaps it is a tradition?”Sir Eber looks at his noble companion with a look of both disgust and amazement on his face.“By Olm!,” he yells. “They steal children!”“A regrettable habit,” Navarre smiles.Much to his surprise, his noble companion glowers at him in anger.“Seriously?,” Navarre asks. “I’d rather confined that tale to the old wives’ bin, old boy.”“They are despicable critters and they must be cut down like wheat,” Sir Eber fumes.Navarre has never seen his noble companion quite so agitated.“Best not lose your head, old bean,” he says. “We’re not very likely to be rid of the creatures any time soon.”“This whole place is like a twisted hell to me,” the ranger says, angrily returning to his chores.Navarre casts him a pensive glance. What in blazes has gotten into the fellow?</blockquote>

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