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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Plane Sailing" data-source="post: 1522618" data-attributes="member: 114">The next waking period (Day? Night? It would be impossible to tell in the underdark without the regular scrying messages from Dominic) they proceed further into the depths. Garrick suggests caution as they approach what he describes as a mercantile crossroads. Taran creeps ahead with him and sure enough there is a pack lizard with four or five elfin characters nearby – elfin apart from their pale bone-white skin, silver hair and limpid black eyes.“Drow” Garrick shudders.They retire to the rest of the party and decide that these emissaries of evil must be dealt with effectively if they are going to proceed on towards the lake of fire. The best plan is to draw them out into an ambush. Taran helps to find an appropriate stretch of cavern tunnel and Garrick goes to lead the drow into position for the ambush.After waiting for about five minutes all seems to be working according to plan when Garrick scuttles around the corner – and then pitches forwards right onto his face as magical power splashes over his body and the “hold” spell penetrates his innate resistance to magic. As three of the dark elves saunter up towards the prone deep gnome Trajan decides to break cover and charge into the attack. Anne-Marie joins him, using her incredible speed and ability to spring attack to close and retreat before the drow warriors can touch her. One of the wounded fighters moves back towards his cleric for healing and the other two flank Trajan, slashing at him several times with their black-bladed shortswords. A look of astonishment briefly crosses Trajan’s face as the paralysing poison on their blades suddenly robs him of consciousness – the first time Asura’s grace has failed him.The drow priestess moves forwards to curse Anne-Marie, and Trajan sees his opportunity – he tumbles forward and sneak attacks the priestess brutally in the kidneys, bringing her to her knees. The rest of the drow change tack – they call down darkness DMnote: this was 3e so it was total darkness while one of them shoots his own priestess, killing her before she could be captured. Crucial seconds pass before Tania dispels the darkness, and the find that the drow have carried off Trajan’s body!The heroes charge forward, and round the corner they find another globe of darkness filling the corridor. Anne-Marie and Taran charge through it and Anne-Marie strides and leaps forward, continuing her charge towards the lone drow she sees some 60ft away. She reaches him only to find that he has been readying for her arrival, and as she springs in to attack he gashes her thigh… and instantly collapses, succumbing to the virulent paralysis poison on his weapon.Taran has his bow handy and taking cover behind and outcrop unleashes a hail of arrows at the lone drow. It starts to draw its hand crossbow but falls under the rogues withering hail of accurate fire. Zherinda follows them through the darkness and is able to call upon Asura to neutralise the poison flowing through Anne-Maries veins, enabling her to recover.The group continue following the way towards the crossroads chamber, but when the reach the crossroads all that can be seen is the pack lizard. There is no sign of either drow or Trajan. Eventually they start looking for tracks and deduce that the drow never came back up to this area. Going back to the second set of darkness it is once more dispelled and they see the semi-naked body of Trajan asleep on the floor, stripped of his armour of invulnerability, shield of acid resistance and other magic goods including Saithnars circlet of Charisma. Only his sword is still around, dropped when he was first paralysed with the poison before he was dragged off.They recover the pack lizard and use it to convey Trajan until he recovers some 5 minutes later. They use the pack lizard to continue onwards for several hours until the air temp starts getting uncomfortably warm and a wind picks up in the direction they are travelling. Anne-Marie dismisses the pack lizard which is starting to become uncomfortable in the rising heat, Zherinda implores Asura for endure elements to be given to all the party with success and they press on. Dominic contacts them and warns of bad, bad, bad things happening in the world up above. Summoned celestial and fiendish creatures hover above the crater ridge mines, as do a circle of black mages of Morannon and assorted High Priests of Asura. The centre of the crater is the focus of an incredible magical bombardment but from the broken and static-filled scrying glimpses Dominic sees they are unable to cause enough damage to penetrate the purple-veined stone spike in the centre of the crater.Yet the threads of reality are wearing thin around the crater ridge mines, ripples and warping of what is are ebbing and flowing.Divinations are failing. Wizards attempting to contact other planes are going mad. Those priests attempting divination are sickening and collapsing in nausea, their psyche stunned by the perception that tomorrow… does not exist…</blockquote>

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