Vinexa listened to what Gartokkar wanted, his proposal was intriguing, and she couldn't help but ask, "What exactly do we get out of this? What is our assistance worth to you?"
Vinexa smiled in amusement at Harro's worries and said, "I think Thembercloud is rather amusing."
As usual Tanic's ignorance and sheltered life show themselves. "I've heard of gnomes! They sound interesting. But what is a cog-golem?"
"How exactly do we find these Grey Ghosts, and how are we going to infiltrate a group of derro? We don't exactly blend in."
"The Grey Ghosts are the only real large criminal organisation in the Deepkingdom and use their unnatural occult magic to steal from hard working folks and evade capture. They stole our dragon egg, the one meant to provide Themberchaud's successor. This puts us in a very awkward position as I'm sure you understand.
As for why I think that they are behind the madness, well isn't it obvious? Everyone knows that all Derro are absolutely crazy, and this is just the sort of thing they'd do, with their strange, unnatural magic and demon worship. I don't know how they are doing it, maybe with those glowing purple crystals of theirs but I'm positive that they are behind the madness."
The duergar priest loses a degree of his composure as he discusses the Derro and he takes several seconds to calm down before continuing.
"The Grey Ghosts also count escaped slaves and other unsavory types amongst their numbers. You might stand out in the Derro Quarter, but not in the same way that our normal agents or the Stoneguard do. You're outsiders and people will be less wary around you as a consequence.
The stoneguard have identified a courier, named Droki, who they believe is linked to a conspiracy involving the Council of Savants, the Derro leadership. We believe he is also linked with the Grey Ghosts and that if you manage to follow him he will lead you right to them.
As for payment, we'll happily reimburse you for all reasonable expenses incurred on our behalf and smooth over any possible unpleasantness as a result of actions taken in furtherance of your mission. If you manage to retrieve the egg, I think we can stretch to a reward of 500 gold pieces each plus an extra 200 for evidence that the Derro are behind the madness. Additional incentives may also be offered for exceptional performance. What do you say?
Gartokkar sits back in his chair and waits expectantly.
Gartokkar seems rather desperate to retrieve the egg and also seems to harbour an irrational hatred towards Derro. It is highly likely that he will agree to a higher offer if pushed.
Harro wipes vomit from his mouth and jumps up eagerly.
"Derro hunting? No problems!"
Tanic scratches his stony head.
I don't know why folks are always trying to pay me to do stuff. You can't eat it. You can't make anything with it. It isn't attractive or anything.
"You can keep your money. I'll do it because I don't like the way they are messing with nature. That poor giant... On second thought you can give my share to Harro. He likes money. I would like a tour of your fungus farms though."
Harro laughs and smiles broadly then punches Tanic on the shoulder in a almost too-friendly brotherly gesture for his generosity!
Tanic bounces off a wall, mostly unharmed.
Note to self. A happy duergar is a dangerous duergar.
"Yes, we 'lost' a dragon egg. And no Themberchaud does not know, he didn't even know that we had an egg. Wyrmsmiths tend to get rather irritable over the matter of succession, considering themselves irreplaceable. For that reason we tend not to discuss these matters with them" the duergar shoots back.
"I suppose we could spare a little more, a fresh hatchling is less expensive in upkeep after all. 1000 gold pieces each for the egg and a special bonus if you manage it within the week. I might even see if there are any magic items we could possibly stand to lose. Just get me that egg."
Harro rubs his hands together, a gleam in his eye that scares people a little.
"Hehehe. Let's get'ta crackin' Derro skulls!"
He then leans in and shakes the priest's hand.
"Proud to be workin' for ya sirs!"
"So, where do we find this Droki?"
Gartokkar shakes Harro's hand, pleased by the fellow Duergar's eagerness and turns to Micar,
"Droki can often be found in the Blade Bazaar, although his work as a courier takes him all over the city, and beneath it. You'll easily recognise him, he wears a very distinctive hat, with two displacer beast tentacles stitched to the brim. I have a sketch of him in one of these drawers, if you'll give me just a moment"
After a few seconds of searching in his desk Gartokkar finds and hands over a piece of parchment with a Droki's likeness on it and a set of gold badges featuring a dragons head above the symbol of Laduguer.
"There you go. You can show these badges if you get into any trouble with the guards, or if you need to get into one of the districts where outsiders are generally not allowed, but please, don't go flashing them around. Now, I'm sure you're all eager to get started."
Once out of the Priest's office, Harro will elbow Tanic and whisper loudly.
"Now we justa gott'a talk to Hemeth! He knows this town better than most...AND he owes me one! He might not know this Droki hisself, but I'm sure'n he knows someone who does!"
"Well, then, let's go. But why are you whispering? Or is that a whisper? I can't tell."
I do hope I don't mess this up. This sneaking around thing is not my style. I don't think it is Harro's either.
Taking your leave of Gartokkar and the Keepers you return to The Ghohlbrorn's Lair, where you are able to arrange a meeting with Hemeth. At first the name Droki doesn't mean anything to him, but when shown the sketch he recognises the eccentrically dressed derro.
"I saw him once down in the Whorlstone Tunnels, beneath the city. Gave us a hell of a fright he did. We were moving some, ah, goods about when he suddenly ran past us, cackling and muttering to himself. No idea were he came from, it's like he just appeared straight out of thin air. I think I might have seen him in the main city a few times as well but it's that encounter that really sticks out. What do you want with this Droki guy anyway, if you don't mind me asking?"
Harro nudges his fellow dwarf and starts spilling the beans.
"The Church is payin'zus to find him and stop the Derro fro' driving everybodies crazy! And there was sumtin' about a dragon egg too..."
"Yep. An egg and some crazy Derros. All we got to do is sort things out and we got friends in high places."
And the best part is, no crowds.
Tanic unconsciously rubs his shoulder. It hurts for some reason. Oh, yea, the crazy Duergar.
Vinexa nodded and said, "It seems like we have a new job. I guess we might as well get to it." With that she left with the others as they headed back to their inn. Hemeth wasn't being helpful, at first, but he quickly was when he recognized the sketch. The half-succubus was somewhat relieved at a lead in their search and she was looking forward to the rewards they were promised..
"Very interesting. Well I'll keep my ear to the ground and let you know if I hear anything. I can show you an entrance to the Whorlstone Tunnels as well if you like. Not many folks know about them, and most are in my sort of line of work if you get my meaning. Not many duergar, but a fair number of derro. If you do go down there hunting for your guy, be careful. There's lots of strange stuff down there and its really easy to get lost. I just stick to one or two routes myself." Hemeth elaborates.
[b]"Well, then. That's perfect as I am quite acquainted with all sorts of strange things. Two headed snakes. Mushrooms that hand from the ceilings like bats. Even fish that walk on land. Lead on!"[b]
Unless there is an objection, Harro will lead the group to the entrance of the 'tunnels' given by Hemeth.
Singing a little song he makes up on the spot, Harro seems to be quite happy with the situation.
"Gonna grab sum Derros, beat them for an egg, then we's killin' some Derro, listen'n to 'um beg..."
Go ahead Harro can lead. Micar will follow.
Micar speaks quietly to Harro, "It's good you're excited about killing the Derros, but you might not want to advertise our intentions just yet as we still need some information. Also, they might not get within reach."
Following Hemeth's directions, you head towards an entrance to the Whorlstone Tunnels in the West Cleft District, a ghetto mostly inhabited by derro. The entrance to the district is guarded, but you are waved through when you discretely flash your badges at the Stoneguard on the gate.
As you pass through the gate the stench in the air changes from acrid and metallic to fetid and repugnant, the fires of industry replaced by squalor. The homes in this part of Gracklstugh are crudely carved from the rock or are just holes in the walls, arranged in no apparent order. You sense that without directions it would be very easy to get lost here. The chatter in the air is unnerving, with hundreds of derro muttering to themselves or screaming at each other. Most ignore you, although you do get the feeling that you are being watched and occasionally an individual will glare at you with a look of burning hatred.
Eventually, after a couple of wrong turns you find the entrance Hemeth mentioned between a cluster of hovels. A narrow fissure in the wall is hidden by scraps of cloth and mouldy boxes. It would be easy to overlook, were it not for the wisps of eerie fog leaking out from somewhere within the tunnels. The tunnel is a tight squeeze for the first ten feet before widening out slightly, although not enough for two to comfortably walk abreast, and it twists and turns as it descends.
"So what's the plan?" asks Jimjar, "Do we try exploring on our own or try and find somewhere to hide and hope someone who knows where they are going comes along?"
Harro scratches his beardless chin, his dirty nails making a rasping sound against his near stone-like skin. Finally he shakes his head and shoulders his great axe.
"Dunno. In the fighn' pits it was kill or be killd. Talkin' wasn't suptin' we did much off. Screaming...there was plenty of screamin. Sometimes I hav'n dreams about the screamin...'"
"Explore of course. We are veterans at finding our way through caves by now!"
Ever the optimist.
Micar nods at Talindra, "A tavern is probably a good a place to start as any. There's bound to be someone who will let slip some useful information."
Tanic becomes very uncomfortable at the suggestion that they visit a tavern. Sweaty crowds is not his thing.
"No need. Not going to get anything useful out of a bunch of crazy Derros."
Thumping Tanic on the shoulder again, Harro smiles broadly.
"NOW youse gets it! Derro r'too dirt-a$$ crazy talk'n to! We need to corner one and squeeze him a little until he talks norm'al! Although I could use a drink now aff'ta all the barfin."
Now Tanic's OTHER shoulder is sore. Tanic grimaces at the affectionate display.
I hope we find a Derro for Harro to play with quickly. I'm out of shoulders.
If you go deeped into the tunnels you soon come across a three way junction. The left hand passage leads to a small cavern filled with small blue and purple mushrooms, and appears to be a dead end.
The sound of running water can be heard down the middle passage, while the right hand passage has no particular features marking it out.
All three passages appear to have seen fairly similar levels of infrequent traffic.
You believe you recognise the mushrooms, Bigwig and Pygmywort. Eating the former will cause one to grow, while the latter will shrink one to a tiny size. The key is remembering which is which.
"Oooh, oooh, oooh. I know those 'shrooms; they're MAGICAL!"
Tanic takes a detour and heads, trustingly, towards the mushrooms to harvest them.
"This one makes you grow big and this one makes you shrink. Or is it the other way around? We should just try one and see!"
He pops one of the mushrooms into his mouth.
Upon eating the purple mushroom, Tanic slowly begins growing, eventually stopping after doubling in size. The tunnel now feels somewhat cramped and Tanic is unable to stand upright. . While harvesting the mushrooms, Tanic also noticed a small tunnel at the back of the cavern, far too small for an ordinary person, but maybe not for someone under the effects of pygmywort.
"Aha! This must be Bigwig," Tanic announces in a booming voice. "And THAT must be Pigmywort!"
Unless Tanic knows of some sort of problem with taking one after the other, he will consume some Pigmywort now and harvest the 'shrooms. Not enough to devastate the crop of course.
"Shall we take that small passage over there? With these mushrooms we should be able to make our way through, as long as we find some place large enough before an hour has passed."
Micar will grab a couple of each mushroom and puts them in his backpack, "Sounds good to me." Micar then tosses a blue mushroom into his mouth and starts to head for the small passage.
Shrugging, Harro will grab the rest of the mushrooms of both types. He might need a snack later anyway.
He eats one of the shrinking kind to enter the tunnel with the others.
The crack leads into a small, naturally formed tunnel in which there is ample evidence that you are not the first to pass this way. After walking for a short distance you hear the sounds of an underground river passing beneath you, possibly the same river you could hear down the middle passageway.
After about 15 minutes you reach a normal sized tunnel again. Heading back in the direction you came from you can hear and smell running water. Heading forwards the passage divides in two. The left hand passage is clear, while the right is partially blocked by a dense thicket of fungi.
Tanic is immediately drawn to the thicket of fungi and heads that way.
"I wonder if that is food stock fungi?"
There are a wide variety of edible fungi in the thicket, including bluecaps, ripplebark, and trillimac. There are also a number of more exotic fungi, such as the tongue of madness, which if properly prepared causes any who eat it to compulsively say their every thought for an hour, and the highly poisonous deathcap mushroom. All of the mushrooms in the thicket have some practical use that you know of. It's highly unusual to see this many useful mushrooms in one place.
"Its a garden!! Look at all these interesting fungi. You would never see this combination in the wild. Everything from poisonous to food. This one here is like a truth spell if prepared right. Keep Harro away from it. This one is called deathcap, and, yes, it makes a nasty poison."
Tanic snips one off and takes a bite of one with a nutty flavor (not that he would know what a nut tastes like. He would probably compare the nuts to these fungi) and says
"This one is quite tasty."