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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ilgatto" data-source="post: 9759493" data-attributes="member: 86051">Duergar & Daemons Part XIII: Revenge of the RaidersIn which the DM informs our noble heroes that it takes them two days to get from Low-Ball to the city of the copper dwarves; and that Sir Eber’s slaves continue to recover from the drugs – their hair is growing, they mutter to each other from time to time and some of them have even cast furtive glances at our noble heroes.Night 130, continued: The company enter the city of the copper dwarves and find themselves in a large, dark cavern. To their right a wall of rock curves away into the darkness and to their left, just visible in the light of their lanterns and torches, they see what must be a large, three-tiered structure with a set of double doors in the lowest tier. From what they can see, the cavern is likely to be circular and perhaps as much as five hundred yards in diameter. There are no strange smells and the temperature is slightly above normal (10 °C instead of 8 °C).Staying close to the wall, the duergar who opened the gates to them takes the company to another set of double doors to the right, as ornate as the first. Here, two tracks are cut into the floor at a constant distance from each other, with one end leading off into the darkness ahead and the other to the doors to their right. The duergar opens one of the doors.“After you,” he says, taking a step back.“And where to now?,” the chevalier asks.“To Dragon Point,” the duergar says, gesturing him to the door.“How long will it take us to get there?”“Eleven days. Pass two clans.”“One of which is the clan of the robbers and thieves?,” Navarre asks.“Bad sorts,” the duergar agrees, nodding.“All Underlings are bad sorts,” Sir Eber growls.“Raiders are really bad sorts,” Rodlu says.The company move forward and step into another tunnel like the one they came from, though with mounds of slag piled up high against the right wall. Also, the tracks they’ve been following continue, leading off into the darkness ahead.“Enjoy your trip,” the duergar says, as he starts closing the door.“Kindly forgive us for interrupting your peaceful delving,” the chevalier starts. “We…”The door closes without making a sound.“We go to Fish now,” Rodlu says, as the company start walking down the tunnel.“A pity we do not have a wagon or cart,” the chevalier says, looking at the tracks in the floor. “It would have made our journey all the more pleasant.”The piles of slag disappear after about two-thirds of a mile, the tracks another quarter of a mile after that.The company travel down the tunnel for the next eight hours, descending slowly and ever so slightly veering off to the left again after some four hours. Navarre has started to subject some of the smaller tunnels in the left wall to cursory inspections, limiting himself to those he estimates to be large enough for duergar caravans to hide in.“I have been wondering about the duergar disappearing when they hear us coming,” he explains his actions. “They may be invisible, but they cannot hide their spiders.”He finds that about one in ten of these smaller tunnels lead to pockets or veins of rock much different from the basalt found in the main tunnel (e.g., soapstone, limestone), with one in ten of these showing signs of recent digging. He does not find any caravans.“So where do they go?,” he asks Rodlu at some point. “Surely there must be caravans traveling between the settlements?”“Few caravans in this realm,” Rodlu says. “Caravans go from city to city. Not to other cities.”“And why is that?,” Navarre asks.“Only main way open to all duergar. All other ways secrets of clans and unknown to other clans. Trade clans have caravans to bring things to one city only. Then new caravan takes things.”Night 132: After some six hours of walking, the company notice a distinct smell of fish in the air. Moments later, they see thirteen steeders lined up against the left wall some distance ahead. There are no duergar in sight and the creatures have large packs reeking of fish tied on their backs.“Good day, gentlemen,” Navarre says, gesturing at the empty space around him. “Is this the way to Fish?”There is no answer and nothing stirs. When our noble hero turns to Rodlu, the plump duergar has disappeared from sight.“I see,” he continues irritably, taking another look around. “Well, bon voyage and all that.”Sir Eber takes a vial with coal dust from his pack and blows its contents into the air in front of the first steeder, guessing that this would be the most logical spot for a caravaneer to be hiding. No duergar appears.Night 134: At the end of the day, the company find that the tunnel ends in a large stone door, which, if anything, reminds our noble heroes of the sluice doors on the quays of the egg and Refuge. The chevalier approaches and knocks on the door. When nothing has stirred after some time, he procures his trumpet and blows it. Nothing happens for about ten minutes until Sir Eber, who has been looking for tracks during this, reports that he has found some fairly recent ones.“Rodlu?,” the chevalier asks.“Duergar of Fish are shy,” the duergar says. “They hear but not let you in.”“Does the door ever open?,” Navarre asks.“Maybe must use special code or sign,” Rodlu says. “Maybe open only on special time. Maybe open only when caravan come or go.”“I say we stay here for a day to see if the door opens at a certain time or when a caravan needs to get through,” Navarre suggests. “We’ll have to come up with some sort of plan if it doesn’t.”The others agree and the company prepare for a long wait – until the chevalier suddenly changes his mind.“On se retire,” he announces. “There is a side tunnel about a mile back there and we will hide in it.”“My dear fellow,” Navarre says irritably. “Whatever for?”“We must retreat,” the chevalier says. “They may not open the door if they can see us.”“I’ll have you know, Sir, that I will not be seen hiding in a cave,” Navarre says stiffly.“We can also tie you up and leave you with Rodlu to knock on the door here,” Sir Oengus says, starting for the side tunnel. “You just see how fast this door will open.”When the laughter has died down and Sir Oengus, Sir Suvali, and the chevalier have settled in the side tunnel, Sir Eber gets to his feet, takes out his stonemason’s tools and starts chiseling away at the door, which leads to the noble trio in the side tunnel suddenly teleporting back in – the chevalier with a decidedly morose expression on his face.“Hello in there?,” Navarre hollers at the door. “Can you hear me?”There is no reply and Sir Eber has to get to “E B E R O F W E A L D K I N G…” before the door finally starts rising into the ceiling.“Veuillez nous excuser, mes petits amis,” the chevalier sings. “Mille excuses for the chiseling.”When the door is about a quarter of the way up, Sir Eber steps back.“Time for some diplomacy, Sarazin,” he says, with a wide grin on his face.The door keeps rising and eventually a room measuring some thirty by thirty feet is revealed. In the wall to the left is a door like it, while, ahead, a broad staircase leads up into the bedrock. The doors, stairs, and room are obviously artificial and there is no duergar in sight, although Sir Oengus hears something moving on the stairs and Sir Suvali’s dogs start barking. Inconvenient lot, PCs with dogs.“Good day, gentlemen,” Navarre says to the empty room. “We would speak to your leaders.”“Something moves on the stairs,” Sir Oengus says.“Hello?,” Navarre resumes, when there is no answer.“Stop that!,” a voice comes from some five yards up the stairs. “Lay down weapons! Prisoners!”“No, no!,” another voice comes. “State business!”The chevalier advances.“Mes amis!,” he calls. “We have come to buy fish. What is your price? We are amiable folk, traders en route to Dragon Point, and we would like to pass through your settlement. We come from the copper dwarves and from many settlements before that, where we have heard much about your excellent fish, which is famous even on the surface! We have come to talk! Please accept our sincerest apologies for the noise and the chiseling. We were planning on leaving you a note! We are unfamiliar with your customs…”“Door of Fish duergar not open for strangers!,” a voice comes.“But we are not strangers!,” the chevalier says. “We come from the surface. We are here for a special conversation! Do you have a queen? We come in peace!”“How many are you?”“We are only as many as you see,” the chevalier replies. “Regrettably, we cannot turn back. There is a large gate back there, which may very well remain closed to us.”“Fish duergar are quiet and peaceful,” the voice comes.“An agreeable quality, messieurs!,” the chevalier says. “We are peaceful like you. We also bring a gift for your queen. Un petit cadeau.”“Better nine gifts,” the voice comes. “One causes much problems.”“There will be no problems,” Navarre says. “We only need to pass through your settlement. We will be out of your hair in minutes.”“How much fish you buy?,” the voice asks.“What kind of fish do you have?,” the chevalier asks. “Perhaps you can show us a selection?”“Better humans give presents now,” the voice comes. “Fish duergar take and talk to queens.”“Would some bottles of wine please your queens?,” the chevalier asks.“Fine,” the voice comes. “Now fish duergar speak with queens and close the door. You wait half hour.”Half an hour later, the door opens again, revealing a duergar on the stairs. He wears no armor, only a leather jacket, and a small oil lamp in his hand sheds a weak light.“Welcome in Fish,” he says.The company enter the room, with the chevalier placing nine bottles of wine on the floor; Sir Eber putting on his mask; and Sir Oengus noticing chains on the walls next to the door, much like in the river room back in the egg. The staircase is some eight yards wide and it ascends at a forty-five-degree angle. When the company are about halfway up the stairs and they hear the door behind them closing, Navarre notices several murder holes in the ceiling.“Quite the defense these duergar have here,” he says to Sir Oengus next to him. “Sluice doors, fishermen – I suppose they can flood the whole area within minutes.”“It be a good defense against steeders,” Sir Oengus says. “They shun water.”“Quite!,” Navarre agrees.The stairs continue for some forty yards and end in another room, much like the first but with only a single sluice door in the left wall – this one already open. The distinct smell of salt and fish is in the air. From here, the company are taken into a long cavern with three cave-like openings to their right and numerous smaller ones in a constructed wall to their left, which open into workshops or ateliers rather than homes. The cavernous openings to their right open up into wide tunnels, each with a body of water in it stretching as far as the eye can see and lined with jetty-like constructs. Lots of fish are seen swimming in the water and a lone duergar with a fishing rod sits in a small boat on the water in the first tunnel. The whole cavern conveys a distinct impression of a harbor or even a port.“I say,” Navarre says to the duergar guiding them. “Where does that water lead to?”“Is not known,” the duergar says. “Far away. Big water.”“How many days under sail?,” Sir Oengus asks.“More than five.”“There is a tide,” Sir Suvali says, pointing to a dark line on a wall just above the surface of the water. “There must be a connection to the sea.”“Quite impressive,” Navarre says. “But what’s with the lone fisherman? I somehow expected some sort of intricate system for catching fish en masse. Not lone duergar sitting in small boats with fishing rods.”The duergar takes the company to a table about halfway down the cavern, an assortment of fish on display on it.“Ah!,” the chevalier says. “Les poissons! Are they preserved in any way? How much can you deliver?”“Smoking, salting, fresh,” the duergar says.“Catfish, eel,” the chevalier says, rummaging through the fish. “Can we take some samples back to the surface?”“No, no, no,” the duergar says, a startled look on his face. “You pay!““Évidemment!,” the chevalier says hastily. “Could you prepare a choice selection?”“Sixty fish is six silver,” the duergar says.“That seems a bit steep, mon ami,” the chevalier says, a distinct look of dismay on his face.“Ah!,” the duergar says. “Negotiate! Okay, five silver.”“Four.”“Deal,” the duergar says.And so the chevalier ends up buying six rather expensive crates of smoked, salted, and fresh fish.“And our passage?,” Navarre asks the duergar.“Certainly!,” the duergar says. “Fish duergar glad to be rid of humans!”The duergar takes the company to yet another sluice door at the other end of the cavern, where he claps his hands and two more duergar appear out of nothing. He gives them a nod and the newcomers start pulling the chains to either side of the door, opening it in the process. Behind the door is a staircase like the first, which takes the company down into a room with another sluice door in the wall to the right. The newcomers open this door as well and so the company are ushered out of Fish perhaps a little sooner than some of them would have liked.Once again, the company are in the main tunnel, with openings in the left and right walls. Their guide from Fish informs them that the openings in the left wall lead to the refectory, where they are welcome to stay. The openings in the right wall lead to a bathhouse.“Do you have many guests here?,” Navarre asks the guide, noticing that the refectory has a second floor with several windows. “Who might they be?”“Bad sorts down tunnel,” the duergar says. “Fish duergar keep thieves outside.”“Ah, yes,” Navarre says. “The duergar who raid the surface.”“Rumors,” the duergar says, nodding his head. “Some duergar are insane.”“And the king was one of these raiders?”“Human know much,” the guide says, when the door starts closing again. “King was raider. Before humans kill him.”“Not at all, old sport, not at all,” Navarre replies magnanimously. “It was nothing.”The door closes, leaving the company alone in the tunnel.“Is three days to raiders,” Rodlu announces.“We’re heading inland again,” Sir Suvali says. “We’ve made a sharp turn in Fish.”“How’s about some shore leave, lubbers?,” Sir Oengus suggests. “There be three hours of daylight left as I sees it and I says we start for the raiders with our wits about.”“Merveilleux!,” the chevalier says, starting for the bath house.The others enter the refectory, where they start a fire in the hearth, smoke some fish, and drink some wine.As he leans back, Navarre starts observing Rodlu for a while. He still doesn’t trust the plump duergar in the slightest and he has been wondering how the creature seems to know so much about this underworld when it has become eminently clear that none of the duergar clans are in much contact with each other – bad sorts and all that.“I say, Rodlu,” he says after some time. “What’s with you people and music?”“Musicians play, duergar drink,” Rodlu says.“And what about the palace back in Stalag? It seems that there is always some party going on in there. Why is that?”“Evil Queen give big party for all queens of clan,” Rodlu says. “Big honor and all queens come. But queens are guests and cannot leave before party ends and party now lasts for one hundred years. When females are born, Evil Queen sells to rich duergar. Males are taken into Evil Queen clan.”“Indeed?,” Navarre, laughing out loud despite his misgivings. “Ha, ha, ha! A right fairy tale!”“Evil Queen not sell own daughters,” Rodlu resumes. “Evil Queen have five daughters, very rare! Unique for one queen. Put daughters in prison on Fire Beetle Island.”“Indeed,” Navarre muses. “Another piece of the puzzle revealed.”But then chevalier interrupts the proceedings as he enters the refectory all shiny and new and suggests our noble heroes set traps for the night.“Whatever for?,” Navarre asks.“To protect ourselves from the raiders,” the chevalier says. “They may come at night.”Since the raider settlement is still three days away, Navarre isn’t overly bothered and so he does not participate in the rather frenzied setting of traps, rigging of doors, and spanning of tripwires that ensues.On his watch that night, Sir Suvali hears his dogs bark and growl. He moves to the window and sees the door to Fish close. He stays extra alert for some time but neither sees nor hears any duergar nor, indeed, anything else.Night 135: The company leave the refectory early that morning and the day passes without incident. All through the day, the smaller tunnels are to their right only, which seems to confirm Sir Suvali’s suggestion that the company are traveling inland.Night 137: Not long after they have resumed their journey, the company reach a section of the tunnel where the usual basalt bedrock is replaced by limestone. To the right, several smaller tunnels lead away from the main tunnel – at least three of them visible in the light of their lanterns and torches.“A welcome diversion, I say!,” Navarre says. “Let’s see what’s in there.”He moves to the first tunnel, Sir Eber right behind him, and finds that it will only barely accommodate him. He crouches a little and enters. Some yards into it, another tunnel opens in the left wall. He advances to the crossroads and then two duergar with crossbows appear out of nothing and fire bolts at him.Moments earlier, back in the main tunnel, the chevalier suddenly sees his left foot outlined in a violet light, which quickly creeps up his leg.“Zut!,” he yells, vigorously shaking his leg. “What is this?!”But the light does not stop and, within seconds, the chevalier is glowing like a violet firefly. Behind him, the startled cries of Sir Suvali and Sir Oengus seem to suggest that they have been subjected to the same strange phenomenon – and then five duergar appear in the tunnel ahead, with four of them firing crossbows at him and a fifth gesturing in an arcane manner. Fortunately, most of the bolts fly past him without effect, although Sir Eber, still in front of the opening Navarre has disappeared into, is hit once (“1”, “1”, “20”, and “4”, would you believe it). He suffers some damage and must pass a saving throw vs. Poison at a +2 bonus, which he passes but which does not bode well for our noble heroes.As the bolts start whizzing past, the chevalier comes to his senses. He draws his sword and dashes into the second opening, where he runs into a duergar. Without hesitating, he swings his sword at the creature, executing a perfect maneuver (“20”) but, much to his chagrin, inflicting only three points of damage.Back in the main tunnel, Sir Suvali has taken to the air and he presently casts Web at the five duergar at the other end of the tunnel, immobilizing two crossbowmen and the spell caster. Only one of the two duergar who manage to jump free from the web ends up in front of it, which means that the spell effectively neutralizes four attackers. Sir Eber and Sir Oengus sprint to the wall to the right, where the ranger is confronted by a duergar coming from the third opening as Sir Oengus crouches down and fires an arrow into the duergar at the web.A furious battle ensues, with Sir Eber and Sir Oengus scrambling to gain their bearings and being pelted and hit by bolts and failing saving throws in the process. Sir Suvali starts firing arrows at the duergar at the web and then at yet more duergar appearing from the second and third openings in the right wall, all to negligible effect while he is hit several times in return and fails at least one saving throw.Not so the chevalier, who seems to be having his day. He has already cut down his opponent and advances deeper into the tunnel, where he quickly deals with another duergar, charges into a tunnel to his right and ends up behind one of the duergar attacking Navarre.Despite their misfortunes, Sir Oengus and Sir Eber make their attacks count in the main tunnel, with Sir Eber eventually bringing down his opponent and Sir Oengus firing more arrows into the duergar at the web. But then, just when he is aiming for another shot, he sags to the floor and moves no more. This seems to be Sir Suvali’s cue to back away from the fight and cast another Web, so that, now, at least one duergar ends up caught between both webs. The sorcerer fires his bow again, hitting another duergar before he retreats even further down the tunnel. Below him, he sees Sir Eber cut down the last of the duergar in the main tunnel and then all goes black.Some time before this, back in the side tunnel, Navarre has a tough time fighting his opponents. He is hit several times while his own attacks have but little effect and he is happy to see the chevalier appear in the tunnel to his left and engage one of his opponents. Indeed, our noble hero continues to struggle until the chevalier, who is definitely having his day, cuts down the first of his opponents and then the second without much ado.“Touché, mon cher!,” Navarre calls to his noble friend when the last duergar sags to the floor. He moves back to the main tunnel in haste, where his lantern sheds but little light on the situation. Still, the sound of battle seems to have died down a bit and then he sees Sir Oengus on the floor to his right, motionless. Not at all sure of what is going on, he grabs his noble fellow and drags him into the tunnel, just when Sir Eber charges past him and disappears into the darkness to his left – and then everything is silent for a minute or so.“Bloody hell!,” Navarre whispers to the chevalier behind him, the adrenaline still pumping through his veins. “What was that?”“Five duergar in the main tunnel,” the chevalier whispers back. “More in the tunnels behind me. We have to get out of here. You take Oengus. I’ll go after Eber.”And with that, he moves back to the second tunnel and into the main tunnel, where he starts running left. He has not covered twenty yards when he almost breaks his neck as he stumbles over Sir Eber lying motionless on the floor. He grabs the ranger by his armor and starts dragging him down the tunnel, away from whatever duergar are no doubt still out there.Back in his tunnel, Navarre checks to see whether Sir Oengus is still alive. His noble friend breathes quite regularly and he doesn’t seem to have any wounds to speak of – indeed, he seems fast asleep rather than anything else. Magic? Poison? Our noble hero has another quick look outside, where the light of his lantern reveals a mass of webbing blocking the main tunnel to his right. To his left, he sees what he surmises to be the light of the lantern of the chevalier.What now? Are there still any duergar out there? Invisible? He moves back and subjects the first duergar on the floor to a quick inspection, hoping to find any clues as to what might be going on. The creature wears studded leather armor, a leather mask, and a case with crossbow bolts is attached to its belt. Poisoned? He takes the bolts and then decides that he will gain little by waiting for any remaining duergar to regroup and remount their attack. He drags Sir Oengus some distance back into the main tunnel, slings him across his shoulders, and makes a run for it.When he reaches the chevalier, he sees that both Sir Eber and Sir Suvali are also motionless, the first slumped on the floor and the second still suspended in mid-air.“Master, master!,” Rodlu yells, suddenly appearing out of nowhere. “The wizard in the air is asleep!”“Pick them up and move them back there!,” Navarre yells to Sir Eber’s slaves, gesturing to the ranger and Sir Oengus and then further back down the tunnel. When the slaves start moving, the chevalier grabs one of Sir Suvali’s legs and moves further back into the tunnel himself, pulling the sorcerer along like a balloon. Navarre remains behind, crouching low to cover the retreat of his noble fellows. When there is no sign of the attackers for some ten minutes, he cautiously starts backing down the tunnel until he hears the voice of the chevalier.“Go,” his noble friend whispers. “I’ll take over.”Navarre moves yet further down the tunnel until he reaches Rodlu, the slaves, and his immobile noble companions, the sorcerer still suspended in mid-air.“They sleep,” Rodlu says.Still high on adrenaline, Navarre starts slapping Sir Eber in the face in an attempt to wake him. When the ranger doesn’t stir, he suddenly remembers Sir Suvali mentioning something about poison antidotes some time ago. He pulls the sorcerer to the floor and hits him in the face, and then again for good measure, but to no avail. He searches the sorcerer’s mage vest and retrieves three potions, one containing a green liquid and two of which he cannot see the contents. Knowing the green potion to be a potion of regeneration, he opens one of the other bottles and pours its contents down the sorcerer’s throat, who fails his saving throw and therefore does not wake from his slumber. Since this doesn’t seem to work either, Navarre takes Sir Eber’s dwarven hammer and hits the ranger’s finger with some force, inflicting a point of damage in the process. Now the ranger opens his eyes, and our noble hero repeats the procedure on Sir Suvali and Sir Oengus, who also suffer a point of damage each before waking.“Suvali!,” he whispers. “What’s with the webs?”“There’s two,” the sorcerer replies. “At least one duergar in between them. Three in the second, including the spell caster. Another one is on the other side of the second. Those in the webs will be free by now. It’s no use going back.”“The utter bastards!,” Navarre exclaims, now that the pressure seems off. “What in blazes…? This is war!”“Attackers are family of king,” Rodlu says, with a furtive glance at Sir Eber. “King’s clan is raiders.”“And what’s with this sorcerer?!,” Navarre yells. “I thought you said the duergar had no sorcerers!?”“Is priest,” Rodlu says.“By Olm!,” Navarre barks. “There will be a reckoning for this!”</blockquote>

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