House Millithor in COSQ: part 3

[Serpenteye]

The Matron summons Carcelon and Kripp to her chambers. She inquires about their efforts to locate Narcelia and when she learns that they have made no progress she moves on dispassionately to another subject. As far as she's concerned Narceila is dead, and though she doesn't share that sentiment out loud, other matters must now take priority.
For every day that they stayed here their enemy was gaining in strength and getting ever closer to her goal. Time was not in their favour, and they would have to leave Szith Morcane soon. Preparations would have to be made in relative haste.
The negotiations with He who Swims in Darkness would potentially be the most time consuming of their immediate tasks and their outcome would have a desicive impact on her plans. That was the primary reason why she had summoned the two clerics.
Carcelon is appointed her envoy, and given the right to negotiate in the name of House Millithor and House Morcane, with a limited right to make concessions to the Kuo-Toans "within reason". Kilcif will accompany her and Kripp as a body-guard and a means of communications between them and the Matron. His word is to be considered an order from the Matron, but only when he's speaking in Abyssal.

 

[Pyrex]

"Yes Mother. If either you or Tierak can take over organizing the restoration of the temple I can be ready to leave in a couple of hours."

 

[Serpenteye]

"You need not concern yourself with that matter, it will be taken care of. Farewell, daughter, I am confident that you will prove worthy of your task."

 

[Seonaid]

Narcelia dreams.

She stands before a tapestry woven beautifully out of enchanted spider silk. The scene depicted is one she cannot ever recall seeing before. Two drow figures, one male, one female, both nude, dance seductively for each other. Narcelia looks more closely and realizes they are portrayals of gods. The woman wears silver rings on her fingers and, due to the magic of the weave, at times appears skeletal. The man has the muscles and scars of a warrior, and a shadowy aspect of a spider draped over his body. Suddenly the magic in the tapestry increases and the figures actually move across the spidersilk. The two deities go toward each other and embrace. The action holds all the passion a drow romance can hold, but the gods turn to Narcelia and she can see only cold calculation in their eyes. As they continue to cling to each other, their bodies meld and the arachnid aspect is overtaken by the undead aspect. Before Narcelia can question the apparent subsuming of Selvetarm into Kiaransalee, the spider dominates the undead. The two vie for control, but it is clear that the combined creature is more powerful than either of the two individually, even with the constant struggle against itself.

 

[Endur]

Time passes quickly in the unending darkness of the Underdark.

Kripp communes with the Lord of All that Swims in Darkness. The Lord reveals many terrible secrets, including the knowledge that Narcelia still lives and that she is unconscious, but not in imminent danger and that she is being carried towards the Lake of Shadows.

Torellan, Zieggrek, and Dariel wreck havoc among nearby farms on the surface world, slaying many surfacers and bringing prisoners back for the sacrificial ceremonies to rededicate the Temple of Lolth.

Carcelon, Kripp, and Kilcif travel towards the Lake of Shadows.

Quertus makes his trip to Skullport, buys several magical items of power, and returns to Szith Morcane without incident. His experiments with the Sword of the Dales continue.

Casting spells and asking questions of his familiar, Quertus begins to discover the legend of the Sword of the Dales. Appearently the Sword was forged over 500 years ago. A few centuries ago, an evil wizard sought to hide her soul in the sword and prepared the sword as a lich's phylactery. Something went wrong however, and instead of becoming a lich, she became a type of undead spirit akin to a ghost and haunted the possessor of the Sword. Some thirty years ago, a group of adventurers destroyed the undead spirit and gave the sword to Randal Morn to aid him in the quest of liberating Dagger Dale from the forces of Zhentil Keep.

Many of the Drow commoners are still under a fog of mental control. They are slowly recovering their mental faculties as the death of Dorina T'sarran causes the Domination to wear off.

Torellan begins to convert some of the Drow warriors into vampires under the direction of the Matron. Coffins are built out of wood to hold the bodies of the slain drow.

Planning continues on how to attack Maerimydra. The commoners and slaves are being assembled into a group that will march as an army. The path will take them to the Lake of Shadows, where they will catch up with Carcelon, Kripp, and Kilcif.

 

[Pyrex]

Carcelon turns to Kripp;
"It's a long walk from here to the lake for the three of us. Do you have means of getting us there faster?"

 

[Uriel]

Carcelon turns to Kripp;
"It's a long walk from here to the lake for the three of us. Do you have means of getting us there faster?"

'Fast Magic, Kripp not have.By Water, could we travel faster.Gills, you no have, Drow, useless is Kripp's faster option,fear, do I...'

 

[Endur]

Carcelon, Kripp, and Kilcif travel into the Underdark, leaving the Commoner level along the route that Kripp traveled to Szith Morcane.

They pass through are a mix of natural Underdark caves and long, winding tunnels burrowed by who knows what manner of beast. The caves range in size from 20' to 200' in size, the tunnels range in length from 50' to over 1000' with a width ranging from 3' to 30'. The stone is almost entirely unworked, with frequent stalagmites and stalactites.

In the Upper Underdark, luminescent flora and faerzress provide occasional light, though not consistently. Vents from the surface keep air fresh and moving in the passages, so air quality is not an issue as they travel. Water trickles down from the surface. Many different types of wild fungi grow in the caverns and the Underdark equivalent of small game can be found in the tunnels (rats, lizards, various giant vermin, etc.).

Carecelon, Kripp, and Kilcif travel deeper into the Underdark, descending into the Middle Underdark as they approach the Lake of Shadows. They have descended until they are some five miles under the surface of the earth. The number of alternative tunnels is beginning to decline, making the choice of which way to go much easier.

The flora and fauna become much less common, and air quality begins to become an issue. Certain tunnels must not be followed, simply because of how the air smells.

Kilcif is a subdued bodyguard as they travel, rarely speaking on his own except to utter the words of the Matron in Abyssal.

On the second day, a flight of Dire Bats attempts to drop upon the party from the ceiling and attack the party of travelers. The Dire Bats are quickly slain by the powerful melee weapons wielded by Carcelon, Kripp, and Kilcif.

Kripp points out a fork in the trail that would lead the unwary traveler away from the Lake of Shadows.

Kripp ponders how much he should trust the drow priestess and the bugbear. Should he tell them that the fork in the trail led into the dangerous Naga Crawls, a place of terror inhabitated by Spirit Nagas? Should he mention the community of Stone Giants that live on the edge of the Lake of Shadows? Should he reveal the true nature of the Claw, the ruler of the Kuo-toa Shrine? Should he describe the Awful Majesty of That Which Swims in Darkness, the absolute Tyrant of the Lake of Shadows?

On the third day, they are moving through a freshly dug tunnel approximatley 8' in diameter, when they encounter the digger of the tunnel. A massive worm is approaching them from sixty feet away. The worm entirely fills the tunnel.

 

[Pyrex]

OOC: Do any of us know what it is? Primarily I want to know if it regards us as "tasty snack" or "in the way".

 

[Endur]

Carcelon does not recognize it. But, you really don't have a good view of the worm. All you see is the huge gaping mouth that looks big enough to swallow you whole.