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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Richards" data-source="post: 7850265" data-attributes="member: 508">ADVENTURE 3: A TRIP TO THE SLAVE MARKETPC Roster: Cramer Appleknocker, gnome cleric 1             Jhasspok, lizardfolk 1             Khari Hammerslammer, dwarf fighter 1             Marlo Pendragon, human sorcerer 1             Utred "Buckets" Butterflinger, dwarf barbarian 1Game Session Date: 6 November 2019 - - -Calish Jalamir was back to his usual cheerful self.  "Attend!" he called out to his slaves and they immediately clustered around him, eager to hear what he had to say.  That was more like it, the slavemaster thought to himself."It's payday!" he announced, passing a small purse of spider silk to each of the slaves.  "20 slave tokens for each of you - well, all but one of you, in any case."  He passed a small sack to Cramer, who could tell at once there was much more slack in his purse than in the others.  Opening his bag, he saw ten square slate chips; the purses of the other slaves each contained twice as many.  "A temporary fine for a one-time lack of good judgment," explained Calish.  "No doubt you will receive a full allotment next time around."  Cramer just bowed his head in acknowledgment and said nothing, determined not to allow any of his resentment to show.Jhasspok looked into his bag in puzzlement, shrugged, and closed it up again.  More of those pieces of stone the drow slavemasters passed out to their slaves; they had been confusing to the lizardfolk when he'd first been given a batch years ago and they made no sense to him to this day.  But Calish was explaining their purpose to the other slaves, who, unlike Jhasspok, had not been raised their entire lives in slavery.  "These tokens are used as currency among the slaves.  You may spend them in the same manner as you would coins of your home lands - but they can be used only in the House Jalamir slave markets."  Holding up a token, the surface seemed to have a carved image of the House insignia, although it still felt smooth to the touch.  "Each House has its own variations but you will find the coins of one House are worthless to other Houses.  Jhasspok?  You look puzzled."The lizardfolk looked up.  "What are they for?" he asked."Why, to buy things, of course," replied Calish with a smile.  "Didn't your former slavemaster explain why he was giving you slave tokens?"  Jhasspok just shook his head.  "Well, perhaps your new friends here will explain things to you at the market.  Come."  And he led the way to the upper reaches of the massive, hollow column belonging to House Jalamir, stepping out upon the ceiling of the cavern, which had a permanent reverse gravity effect in place.  Once on the ceiling, looking straight "up" was in fact looking down at the Underdark sea half a mile below the cavern's ceiling - a quite exhilarating view."The House Jalamir slave market is just outside the confines of our column," Calish explained.  "The area lit by slave-torches is for slave use, while the unlit areas are reserved for drow.  You would do best to remain within the areas marked for use by slaves, but you are free to visit the market when you aren't otherwise occupied by the tasks we send your way."  And with that, he shooed them into the market, turning on his heel and going back the way he had come."You really have no idea how money works?" asked Marlo.  Again, Jhasspok shook his head."Then what did you do with all of the slave tokens you were given over the years?" asked Cramer.Jhasspok had an answer for this, at least.  "There was another fisher slave, like me, who told me some of the slaves liked stacking the tokens into piles to see how high they could go before they fell over.  It was some kind of game, to pass the time.  I thought that was dumb, so he asked if he could have my tokens.  So I always gave mine to him.""He was cheating you out of your money!" exclaimed Marlo, aghast on the lizardfolk's behalf."Who was this slave?" asked Utred, eager to put a name to the thief."Fussington Pebblecruncher," replied Jhasspok.  "He's a svirfneblin.""You point him out to us if you see him," commanded Khari.  "We'll take care of him for you."  The little dwarf tapped his hammer to drive home the point; as arena slaves of some renown among House Jalamir, they were allowed to retain their weapons and armor within the confines of the city of Overreach.  Jhasspok shrugged again, not seeing the point of making such a fuss over little square pieces of rock.The House Jalamir slave market was filled with ramshackle little shops selling a wide variety of goods, just as one might expect to see in any surface village.  There were three shops that stood out as somewhat unusual for a market catering to slaves of the drow, however: a potion shop, a scroll vendor, and a "Punch a Drow" shop.  While Marlo explained what a potion was to Jhasspok - the lizardfolk was unfamiliar with the term, if not the concept - Cramer took an interest in the "Punch a Drow" shop.  "What's all this about?" he asked the drow running the place."Drow criminals," replied the bored-looking dark elf.  "They get a choice: death or life as a slave.  If they choose slavery, they wear a slave collar for the rest of their days and are exempted from normal drow society.  You slaves, for instance, could attack a drow slave without the magic of your tattoos activating."  That definitely got the gnome's interest!  "At my shop here, slaves of the lesser races - like you - are allowed to vent your frustration against your betters by beating up a drow slave - if you have the coin.""How much?" Cramer wanted to know."One token, one punch," replied the shop owner.  "Or 100 tokens gets you an hour alone in a room with the drow slave of your choice.  You can do whatever you want during that hour, as long as you don't kill the drow slave - anything besides that's fair game.  But I'm willing to bet you don't have a hundred tokens, do you?""Alas, no," frowned Cramer."Then it's a token a punch or come back when you save up your hundred."  Cramer moved on."I will give you some of my rocks," Jhasspok offered the gnome."Don't do that!" chided Marlo.  "Save them for yourself!  Buy something you want, don't go giving them away!  You're supposed to be spending them on things you want."Jhasspok thought this over.  "You give these rocks away to people for giving you things you want," he reasoned.  Marlo acknowledged that this was true.  Jhasspok thought on the concept some more, then pulled out ten tokens and held them out to Cramer.  "He healed me in the arena," the lizardfolk said.  "I will buy his healing."  Cramer, no fool, took the proffered tokens and added them to the contents of his silk purse, which now totaled 20 tokens.Marlo scrunched her face up in irritation, not wanting to chide the lizardfolk for doing a good deed but still wanting to protect his best interests.  "No, you don't buy something you already received," she argued.  "Cramer healed you because we're a team, and because having you up and fighting helped him to protect himself - and the rest of us.  You should spend your money on something you want."  This seemed a possible approach: keeping it at its most basic for the simple-minded lizardfolk.  "What would you want to buy if you could buy anything at all in the whole world?" she asked.Jhasspok pondered the question for a moment in his slow, meticulous way and then answered, "A fish."  Marlo scanned the area and found a worn cart containing fresh fish.  She led Jhasspok there.  "Pick out a fish," she instructed.  After close examination, Jhasspok made his decision.  "This one," he said."Good.  Now pay the vendor," she said.Jhasspok looked at the vendor with puzzlement.  He held up a token from his own bag.  "If I give you this...you will let me have this fish?" he asked."That's the way it works, pal.""Ssss-ssss-ssss-ssss-ssss-ssss!" hissed Jhasspok, passing the slave token over and turning away with his purchase.  It took Marlo a moment to realize this was the lizardfolk's way of laughing.  And to Jhasspok, the transaction was nothing short of hilarious: this idiot had traded a delicious fish for a square piece of rock with a drawing of the House Jalamir insignia on it!  He gobbled down his fish before the vendor could come to his senses and demand they trade back.The dwarves each decided to pick up a few healing potions - and at their suggestion Jhasspok bought one for himself as well - and Marlo had just purchased a scroll containing the shield spell (there were no attack spells for sale, she noticed, only those useful for defense or general purpose) when the distinctive sounds of combat came from behind a row of small buildings.  As one, the arena slaves turned their heads in the direction from which the sounds were coming.  "Let's go!" cried Cramer, casting a longstrider spell on himself and heading beyond the market.  He scooped up a handful of small pebbles from the street as he ran, future ammunition for a magic stone spell.A dart went whizzing past his head as he headed down a narrow alley.  Up ahead, a lone male drow leaned against a building, his hand crossbow shaking while his other hand was down at his stomach, doing his best to hold in his own intestines.  At his feet lay another drow, blood pooling at his throat where a crossbow dart jutted out.Jhasspok raced up beside the gnome, his turtle shell shield held up to deflect any incoming missiles.  He looked at the dead body in the street before him, then at the trail of another half-dozen or so extending down a side alleyway.  The drow with his intestines leaking out of his stomach had been quite busy, it seemed!Marlo stepped up behind the lizardfolk and gasped at the carnage.  At her approach, the drow lowered his hand weapon, having now recognized the group for who they must be: the House Jalamir arena slaves who had been so successful in the recent Festival of Blood.  "Save...Niradi..." he gasped, falling first to a knee and then to his side.  A loop of intestines slid out of the gash in his torso he'd been trying to hold closed as he collapsed, a victim to his fatal wound.A woman's scream from the alleyway behind Marlo caused the arena slaves to turn in that direction - 180 degrees from the line of drow assassins the collapsing bodyguard had slain.  A few dark-clad figures scurried down the far end of that alley, their long, white hair and dark skin identifying them as drow as well.  Oddly, their backs seemed to writhe and shift in constant motion as the assassins moved toward their prey.Cramer cast his magic stone spell and tossed the first pebble at one of the retreating assassins.  It shattered against a brick wall at the side of the assassin's head, alerting her to the party's presence.  She spun and shot at the gnome with her hand crossbow - missing him, fortunately - while others of her group closed in on their unseen quarry.Jhasspok raced up, his new masterwork quality short sword in hand - the dwarves had suggested he give this new weapon a try and he was determined to give it a fair shot, although he rather liked the morningstar Utred had loaned him.  He swung the blade at the assassin's head but she ducked nimbly in time, avoiding the decapitation Jhasspok had hoped for.  But at this range, the lizardfolk could see the assassin wore a cloak seemingly made up of black flames, which was the constant motion the arena slaves had noticed about her earlier.Then from behind the drow woman stepped a drow man, a stern look on his face and a rapier in his hand.  "This is none of your business - leave at once!" he bellowed, and Jhasspok's initial impulse was to obey him immediately.  But then a magic missile went streaking past the lizardfolk to strike the drow male in the face.  Jhasspok was confused; he had been ordered by a drow to save this Niradi person and was inclined to obey, but now a different drow was telling him to back away.  Which drow's orders were to be obeyed when they were in direct violation of each other?  Eventually, the fact that Marlo had not been incapacitated by her tattoo for the magic missile attack on the drow indicated this drow was fair game; perhaps it was okay to attack drow who were trying to kill other drow?  In any case, helping someone who was being attacked seemed like the right thing to do, so that's the direction Jhasspok decided to head.But Utred beat him to it; charging forward, he cut the drow male down with a solid swing of his dwarven greataxe, cutting through the ranger's shoulder and halfway through his chest before the axe got stuck on the man's ribs.  Utred was forced to lift a booted foot to the man's sternum to pull his blade free.There was the sound of a sudden explosion in the distance but no way to determine how far away it was or what had caused it.  And the arena slaves had a battle to deal with right here, as the closest assassins turned to face them, allowing two others of their group to continue chasing down Niradi - whoever she might be.Khari swung his masterwork warhammer at the nearest assassin but she too was able to duck beneath the weapon and remain unscathed by the dwarf's attack.  Before she could counterattack, though, she was beaned in the forehead with the second pebble enhanced by Cramer's magic stone spell.Three of the rogue drow shot their hand crossbows at Utred, having seen the damage he could dish out.  Only one of the flying darts hit their mark, and Utred could feel the sting of poison entering his bloodstream from the wound - but dwarves were made of pretty tough stuff and the barbarian managed to keep on his feet despite the venom now coursing through his system.Jhasspok hit the assassin he'd missed before, his second swing hitting her in the arm and distracting her enough to allow him to clamp his sharp teeth around her neck.  He allowed his weight to bring her to the ground and ripped her throat out for good measure.  All in all, Jhasspok decided, it didn't taste nearly as good as the fish he had bought and devoured.Marlo hit another of the drow assassins with a magic missile spell and frowned at the ease of her success.  True, this particular spell was an almost guaranteed hit - only very specific magics, like the shield spell, warded a person from a magic missile - but the human sorcerer was fairly sure she'd been taught the drow were resistant to nearly all magic spells, and that there was a pretty good chance that any spell directed at a drow would fizzle away into nothingness.  That certainly hadn't been her experience; perhaps these were a weaker type of drow - slaves themselves, perhaps?Utred slew another assassin with his greataxe while Marlo was having her moment of self-doubt.  Khari beaned another drow on the head, smashing in her skull and sending her lifelessly to the alley street.  That took care of the immediate combatants, so Cramer tossed his third and final magic stone pebble at the back of a drow assassin approaching a barrier of some type: a globe of shimmering force, beyond which could be seen another form, wavering like a mirage through the lens of the spherical barrier separating the two.Unable to get through the barrier, the two remaining assassins whirled and shot bolts from their hand crossbows at the arena slaves fast approaching them with weapons raised.  Neither bolt hit - but Jhasspok did, leaping at one of the remaining rogues and driving her to the ground, his short sword's blade driven deep into her chest.  Marlo used another magic missile spell to strike the sole remaining assassin, who survived just long enough to be taken down by a blow from Khari's hammer.Now it was the arena slaves standing before the globe of shimmering energy, trying to get a look at the drow woman on the other side, who seemed to be wearing a robe of ironsilk armor similar to the suit Marlo wore beneath her patterned robe.  "I thank you," the woman called out to her rescuers from the far side of an Otiluke's resilient sphere spell effect - a defense called into being when she threw down a bead of force to cut herself off from her attackers."Who are you?" asked Cramer.  "Why were these other drow trying to kill you?""My name is Niradi Ky'hulcressen," the drow woman replied, and the slaves all caught the name of the House renowned for their ironsilk armor.  "And those were not drow - they were surface elves, sent to destabilize the city of Overreach.""You sure?" Khari asked.  "They sure look like drow.""Simple full-body tattoos," Niradi explained.  Marlo for one was ready to believe her; it would explain why these "drow" had no particular spell resistance like a true dark elf would have."How would killing you destabilize Overreach?" Cramer wanted to know."At any given time, there are only six people who know the secret of crafting Ky'hulcressen magisilks," Niradi explained, "of which ironsilk is the most common.  There are three Master Weavers and three apprentices.  Two days ago, one of the Master Weavers and her apprentice were found dead.  Today, my own teacher was slain and I fled with my bodyguard.  Is he all right, by the way?""He's dead," Khari answered bluntly."He went down fighting, though," added Utred.  "Took down half a dozen or more of the assassins with him.""He was a good man," Niradi stated matter-of-factually."So now what?" asked Marlo.  It seemed weird talking through a shimmering barrier but it blocked the entire width of the alley and trying to climb over the roofs of the adjoining buildings would put one outside the permanent reverse gravity spell effect - not a good plan."I will officially request asylum at House Jalamir until House Ky'hulcressen can provide an armed escort back to our own pillar.""Will they grant it, do you think?" asked Cramer."I can assure you, House Jalamir has much more to gain by accepting my request than denying it.""Very well, then," agreed Cramer.  "If you like, we can escort you out of the slave market and into the House Jalamir pillar."  There was no response.  "...If you're ready?" prompted the gnome."We will wait," replied Niradi.  She sounded nervous."For what?" prompted Marlo."...For the duration to run out on the bead of force I activated," admitted Niradi, rubbing the back of her neck, embarrassed to be helpless against a magical effect she herself had brought into being - especially in front of slaves of the lower races.  "Once activated, it's not like you can just turn it off.""Hrmm," grunted Khari.  Magic was weird! - - -Logan explained a slave token can be used to purchase anything worth from one silver piece to one gold piece in value, but the costs aren't cumulative: buying three items valued at 1 sp each would cost 3 slave tokens, just as buying three items valued at 1 gp each would cost 3 slave tokens.  And potions and scrolls (of which only the cheapest from the DMG are available, and then only the non-attack versions) cost five slave tokens each, so there's no real mathematical formula for the correct valuation of a slave token.Five dead elf rogues, each wearing a slave-light cloak, means each of our PCs gained a magic cloak out of this adventure.  Best of all, the color of the illusory flames is adjustable by the wearer, so we can make them whatever color we want - not just the black the elves had been using.And we each gained enough XP to launch us into 2nd level.  Each of the other PCs added a level of the character class they had started out in, while I added my second "lizardfolk" level to Jhasspok; he now gets the lizardfolk +2 racial bonus to Strength that had been put on hold when he was still a first-level character.  That ought to help him hit his targets on combat (that, and the fact that I finally get a +1 BAB!).  And Joey rolled a natural 12 for Utred's hit points, making him - with his +4 Constitution bonus - the first 2nd-level PC I've ever seen with 32 hp!</blockquote>

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