[Darkness Under Granary] - The Drow City of Kiaransalee

[Tefarek]

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..."
 

[Blick]

As the troop made its way forward to the Drow temple, Srileena closely watched their Drow companions, as well as the environs around them. It could be a trap, with bandits laying in wait to liberate them from their goods, and lives. Dark Elves could not be trusted, the same as with Humans.

 

When Sigille came along side her, she communicated her distrust with a shake of her head and wary expression.

 

Eventually, they came to where they must trust to the Drow or be left behind. She liked it even less; but was left with no choice. She held on for dear life, as warned; but her eyes were hard as they glowed in the dark.

Edited April 19 by Blick (see edit history)

[paladinred]

Trixie and Lysme

Health
Trixie 37/37
Lysme 20/20

Spells
Trixie - 5/5/3 (Spent 0/0/0)
Lysme - 2/1

 

Trixie answered Lysme with a slow shake of her head "I do not like it here, and I like them even less" she said looking at the dark elf. The pack lizard's cling of death was not fun, when she was back on solid ground she felt better. When she was back at a safe distance she whispered to Lysme "I cannot wait to back into the daylight, oh how I miss our church" she said with a sigh.

 

[Rakle]

 Leo Venier fka Marco (aka Jacopo)

Jaco walked out of the darkness, and clambers aboard of the lizard. Grabbing tight hold of the rope, Jaco waits for the ride to end. He didn't mind the ride. Rather he didn't like have his hands occupied. It left him too vulnerable.

HP: 18/18

Action
 

 

Mission

Get Ruby of lament from Ssinssrigg Vlo (blood). Other families are Llar Jora (3 rats) and P'Leik (skulls)

Jaco's list of oddities

14 poisoned bolts
2 vials marked Healing, plant control ,(non-magical - probably poisoned by orcs)
El Camino's keys
magical? dagger
unopened box of ?

 

[dtspurrier]

 

Roderick Human ranger: AC 4, HP: 18

 

Roderick waits for the ride and will hold on to the lizard.

[Tefarek]

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.
 

Edited April 20 by Tefarek (see edit history)

[dtspurrier]

Roderick Human ranger: AC 4, HP: 18

 

 

Roderick smiles and will pat the lizard who gave him across on the back. He then nods at the merchants joke.

[Balldanor]

Thorgill, rather accustomed to riding horses, sees a lot of similarities to riding the lizards, and thoroughly enjoys the trek down one side and up the other. Upon disembarking, he strokes the snout of the lizard that took him across, then turned to see what lays ahead, at least to the extent of his sight.

[robert_gooey]

He watches the other mount up... and takes mental notes. Not so different than riding a horse, but different all together. He notes as one of the lizards is free and chooses that one to mount up on.

 

Fastening himself in as well as he thinks he is, and with mental notes he took from watching the Drow ride back and forth.

 

He looks around to see if the others are ready to ride.

 

[Rakle]

 Leo Venier fka Marco (aka Jacopo)

"We are all blind in the dark, so we cannot see any real danger" Jaco jokes back to the merchant. While he knows that many within the group can see without lights, he doesn't want to reveal that the tidbit to the drow.

HP: 18/18

Action
 

 

Mission

Get Ruby of lament from Ssinssrigg Vlo (blood). Other families are Llar Jora (3 rats) and P'Leik (skulls)

Jaco's list of oddities

14 poisoned bolts
2 vials marked Healing, plant control ,(non-magical - probably poisoned by orcs)
El Camino's keys
magical? dagger
unopened box of ?

 

[paladinred]

Trixie and Lysme

Health
Trixie 37/37
Lysme 20/20

Spells
Trixie - 5/5/3 (Spent 0/0/0)
Lysme - 2/1

 

Trixie and Lysme climb down from the lizard and after a quick dusting move to their position and prepare to continue their journey, the sooner they are done with this damned mission the better.

 

[Tefarek]

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. 

[Balldanor]

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.

Edited April 24 by Balldanor (see edit history)

[Rakle]

 Leo Venier fka Marco (aka Jacopo)

"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?"

HP: 18/18

Action
 

 

Mission

Get Ruby of lament from Ssinssrigg Vlo (blood). Other families are Llar Jora (3 rats) and P'Leik (skulls)

Jaco's list of oddities

14 poisoned bolts
2 vials marked Healing, plant control ,(non-magical - probably poisoned by orcs)
El Camino's keys
magical? dagger
unopened box of ?

 

[dtspurrier]

Roderick Human ranger: AC 4, HP: 18

 

Roderick sighs and hopefully this does not provoke an attack from the drow merchants. He says, " perhaps offering tribute would save a caravan from dealing with her nest and her. I believe she is not alone. "