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Message: <blockquote data-quote="MerakSpielman" data-source="post: 1137086" data-attributes="member: 7464">Session 2 (part 1 of 2)   The companions take the shipping label from the crate and search the complex, but they discover nothing further that they want to spend the time and effort to haul away. All the weapons and armor are doubtless valuable, but far too heavy to transport en masse. “If only we had some sort of pack animal,” muses Zya, but there’s nothing she can do about it at the moment. Satisfied that they have been thorough, the party treks back to the cavern where they first met.   Their mentors are waiting, dark cloaked and mysterious. They are sitting around the lighted rod in the center of the room, deep in conversation. They break off as their apprentices return.   Beltana’s mentor, apparently their agreed-upon spokeswoman, asks brusquely, “What news?”   Their report is short and to the point. They take out the amulet, plant clippings and shipping label. The mentors examine each in detail.   Zya’s mentor speaks for the first time, holding the amulet, “This is genuine. It allows one use of the standard Sending spell once per week. Take turns, and do not forget.”   “This is not a plant I recognize,” says the Drow woman, “But I will research it. As for that, she waves her hand at the label, which Triesste’s mentor is examining it, “It holds no clues other than its words. Your course should be obvious to you. See what you can learn. Unless you have further questions, we will leave you now.”   Nobody speaks. The mentors return the items to the party. The Drow woman picks up her glowing rod and stashes it in some hidden pocket in her robes. Suddenly relying only on darkvision, the companions watch their mentors wordlessly slip away in different directions, enveloped by the enclosing darkness.   A few moments pass. They have, as it were, been officially unleashed. Before they go, the party decides to settle some business. The topic of treasure distribution has come up, and they debate the different ways of going about it briefly. Ultimately, they decide on the following policy: A) Treasure is to be divided as equally; B) Special or magical items are considered to be party treasure, belonging to nobody in particular. If somebody wants to claim one for themselves, they must give the party compensation equal to the item’s value. Essentially, items are either purchased from the party pool by individuals, or sold and the value distributed evenly. C) Exceptions to B may be made if the party unanimously agrees that an item is valuable enough in the hands of a particular party member to warrant it being given to them free of charge.   Slash makes meticulous notes of these proceedings. Currently, the items considered to be party treasure include the masterwork spiked gauntlet and the 2 vials of mysterious substance (hereafter, and possibly erroneously, referred to by the party as “Stoneskin potions”). (OOC: It has been pointed out to me by Emerald that during the game I did not describe the shipping crate as being crafted of cloth coated in a “hardening substance.” I detailed this in the story hour when I realized the crate could not be made of wood. If I had mentioned this, she says the party would have assumed that the vials contain an alchemical compound used to accomplish the cloth-hardening effect. As it is, they do not assume this.)   “All right, then,” says Crystal, once the treasure-division issue has been settled, “There remains the small matter of a cover story. We are an odd group to be traveling with each other without a very solid reason. Especially…” He looks pointedly at Strak.  “You can say it,” grunts Strak, “Derro don’t normally associate with outsiders. At least, not longer than it takes us to fillet them. I don’t know which is harder to explain – me, putting up with you lot, or you putting up with me.”   Triesste chimes in, “We could say that you were lonely and you’re paying us to pretend we’re your friends.” She is still nettled about him referring to her as “mongrel” all the time.   Strak begins to retort, then muses, “You know, people might actually believe that… mongrel. But then you’d have to all act friendly to me, and I’m not sure I could stand it for long.”   “Likewise,” mutters Triesste.   “Oh don’t be silly, you two,” laughs Slash, “The answer is obvious. We’re a troupe of traveling entertainers! I know Crystal and I can play the part, since it’s something we’ve actually done together in the past.”   “And what is our method of performance?” inquires Strak.   “Why, acrobatics and weapon-tricks of course!” the Kobold whirls her nunchukus expertly and does a back flip, “If anybody asks, those of you who aren’t good performers can be our managers.”   After further discussion, they agree that this is probably the best plan. Thus prepared, the companions set out for New Fifechester, a journey that, according to their map, will take almost two weeks and take them through the Nexus, the Crossroads, and the Human city of New Sillar.    (OOC: I spent considerable time figuring out how I wanted to do cross-country travel in the Underdark. I eventually made a map, about 30 squares by 40, where each square is 20 miles on a side. It is assumed that the entire place is riddled with natural caverns. It takes a day to travel one square. If the party is following an established path, this is easy and automatic. If they are traveling off-road, they must make a Wilderness Lore check in order to find a route into the next square. Depending on the terrain, this check is “easy” (15) “difficult”t (25) or “friggin’ hard” (35). Success means they travel to the next square, failure means they spend a day searching for a route. This avoids the tedious mapping of individual tunnels and reflects the number and nature of natural obstacles. They are permitted to hire guides, if they wish, to possibly speed the process. Only the secret DM map has the Wilderness Lore DCs marked (via different highlighter colors) for the different squares, though with proper research this information might be revealed to the party. If the map seems small, only 600 by 800 miles, remember also that this is the Underdark, which means I have three dimensions to work with. I have made 4 levels of map, totallying 3200 squares, or 1,280,000 square miles. The party is currently in the Upper Underdark. The other levels are: Middle Underdark, Lower Underdark, and the Depths. As of this time real-time, they have yet to explore off road at all.)   Session Two to be continued after these messages…</blockquote>

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