Tefarek

Thorgill looks at Sigille and shrugs, saying moderately quietly, "An' why don' we jus' kill the spider princess? Ah'm na' wantin' t' keep payin' these tolls t' git where we wan' t' go." Sigille gives him a glare and she shakes her head. Jaco muses on how the spider came into its position of royalty among spiders. "How does one become a spider princess? " Jaco asks the merchant. " Is a spider born into the role? Or do they just have to eat enough other spiders until they are named princess?" Pieltch answers, "Is similar to your bloodlines. Spider is born into the role. And yes, also spider eats many offspring who might challenge her. She eats enemies too. We do not want to be eaten." Roderick says, "Perhaps offering tribute would save a caravan from dealing with her nest and her. I believe she is not alone. " Mart asks Thorgill not to antagonize the spiders, then appeals to Trixie and Lysme, "Ladies, since we are going to have to pay homage to a Princess, and I dare say that you might have better manners than us men, would you please do the honors and represent us when dealing with the Princess? She might be more lenient on us and see you closer to an equal than I, Rogerick or Thorgill. I am not sure if Leo can do a better job than you two." Trixie answered Mart "yes of course we can, I believe that women rule down here so they would be preferable to men" Srileena speaks to one of the Drow, "I have never heard of a spider princess; but would assume she is related to Lloth? Do you know where her relationship is to those of Kiaransalee?" Roll The Drow replies, "Yes, related to Lolth. All spiders are related to Lolth. No relation to Kiaransalee..." At this point, Pieltch tosses some hunks of rotten meat into a side passage. Almost immediately, an enormous spider emerges from the shadows. She is shiny and black, with six stout legs, a bulbous hairy back, prismatic eyes, a barbed stinger, and strong mandibles. You hear the spider squeak out some sort of language, then she grabs the rotting flesh and bone, and begins to wrap it with her silk. After spinning and storing the meat, she crawls up and around the rock walls, watching over each one of your party. Pieltch speaks again in Drowish, seemingly vouching for your presence, and after an uncomfortable pause, the Spider Princess retreats to the ceiling of the cavern, still keeping a close watch over you. Pieltch says, "Is ok, we must go quickly now..."

After reaching safety, Roderick pats the lizard, and the enormous beast turns its head and flicks out its tongue to smell the air. Thorgill's lizard hisses quietly when the barbarian touches the reptile's snout. Mart endures the ride, but doesn't enjoy it. Jaco says, "We are all blind in the dark, so we cannot see any real danger." Pieltch replies, "That's right, little person. And there is much danger down here." Trixie and Lysme climb down from their lizards, and share a glance between them that they aren't enjoying their travels in the Underdark. Once you are all ready to go, the crates are reloaded on the lizards, and Pieltch whistles for his Drow companions to move out. You continue forward down dark caverns for the remainder of the day, although you can't really tell that it is daytime. You only sense the passing of hours by your internal clocks, and how tired you get. Throughout the journey, you hear echoing squeaks of vermin and flapping of bat wings all around you, always unseen. The air smells cool and dank. Meanwhile, the pack lizards march onwards relentlessly. They are very useful for finding the easiest footing through tunnels. After many hours, the main passage you are traveling through opens up into a larger cavern, and you are assaulted by a horrible stench of rotting meat. Pieltch raises his hand, and the caravan comes to a stop. "This is the Passage of Zorfal. She is a spider princess. Tribute must be paid. Show her the utmost respect at all times, or she will be offended." He steps forward and starts speaking loudly in Drowish toward the dark passage ahead.

You follow Pieltch's orders, and grab onto the ties on the pack lizards. Your only comfort is that the Drow on this merchant caravan also grab onto the lizards, and you all travel together. The pack lizards' skin is warm and dry beneath you. The reptiles clamber up the loose rock hill, and duck into a claustrophobic tight tunnel. You can't see anything, but you feel yourself being bumped against the rock walls as the beast probes its way through the mazelike passage. The air is dank and foul here, and you can hear one of the Drow curse loudly as his head hits a rock. The lizards move remarkably fast on this terrain, and you quickly understand how valuable they are for travel down here. After a few minutes, you emerge from the tunnel onto a narrow ledge above a steep drop. The reptiles traverse this ridge easily, even though you can see it is a long way down if you fall. They wind down the path, and then down a long and treacherous descent, until you arrive at the safety of ground level. Pieltch is waiting for you, and his Drowish guards. "What is the matter?! You look scared!" He laughs and laughs, while his Drow team quickly load the crates back onto the backs of the beasts. Meanwhile, Pieltch throws some hunks of rotting animal flesh to the lizards, and they quickly devour it as a treat for navigating the tunnel... You have about another half day journey before you reach Kiaransalee.

Your party mingles with the Drow on the merchant caravan, as you move forward through the dark passages to Kiaransalee... Jaco keeps to himself, and hangs toward the back of the group, staying to the shadows and watching for anything coming from behind. Mart appears to carry on a rather serious whispered conversation with Pieltch, the head merchant in charge of the Drow caravan. Thorgill travels next to Sigille, and the two of them chat quietly on the journey. Roderick takes a spot in the middle of the caravan, asking one of the Drow about the logistics of the lizards. He replies, "Lizards expensive, moreso for you, but vital for travel. Vital for merchants. They come trained. Lizard masters train them to do this. Is too hard to train them, must be expert." Trixie and Lysme travel together, saying little, but whispering occasionally... Lem attempts to chat to Pieltch about his travels, but the Drow appears rather gruff, "I've been all over the Underdark. Know it like the back of my hand." After about an hour of travel, you come to a difficult passage that goes up sharply with loose rock, then through a small opening that winds in a narrow tunnel, then across a short but sheer cliff to safety on the other side. Pieltch whistles and barks out orders in Drowish. Then he says to you, "Lizards take goods first with two Drow, then come back for all the rest of us. Is too dangerous to go on foot, lizards are only safety." With that, the four enormous pack lizards plod deftly up the steep rocks and disappear into the narrow tunnel, much faster than you could ever imagine. Two Drow are on their backs to guard the wares. After a short wait, the lizards appear again, this time without the crates. Pieltch yells, "Get on lizards! We go!" The remaining Drow and your entire party split up amongst the four pack lizards. The giant reptiles have harnesses and loops of rope to hang onto. Once you are settled, the beasts clamber up the rocks again, and you have to duck your heads as they squeeze forward into a tight and claustrophobic tunnel. You hear Pieltch's voice echoing in the darkness, "Hold on to lizard here or you die..."

Roderick asks, "So hows business. any paths to take when we return." OOC Doing a CHA roll for Roderick... label Pielch replies briefly, "Business good. I give you advice once we get where we are going." Mart says, "Well Pieltch, are you familiar with this area?" The Drow replies, "Yes, very. Tell your friends to follow my orders, and you will all be fine." Then Pielch takes Mart aside, and speaks to him quietly, occasionally gesturing toward the rest of your party. Once you are ready to go, the Drow merchant barks out an order in Drowish, and the four pack lizards begin to plod forward. The reptiles are all laden down with large chests. In addition to Pielch, there are six Drow guards for the caravan. Two Drow guards go to the front, and two Drow guards go to the back. The rest are in between, and you are free to go anywhere in the marching order, except ahead or behind the Drow. In spite of the size of the lizards, they are able to move faster than you can. The beasts effortlessly climb over the most difficult terrain without batting an eye...

I'm going to need practice to use the inline dice. Any advice for using this? Like normally, I'd do a post with a 1d20 roll to hit, then a 1d8 roll for damage, and all of that would be in the middle of text describing a battle.

OOCMart had an exceptionally good CHA roll, so for whatever reason, the Drow merchant seems to have taken a liking to Mart. Jaco's CHA roll was pretty good too.