"Iranaset, beware. For the drow, the surface elves are terrors of nightmares and enemies beyond redemption. Were Drisquar to fall into their clutches, he would be dead within a month under tortures he can barely imagine. Were you,... you would live out your natural life under those same tortures."
"We must find you a disguise, or a pair of shackles."
"I would travel with the dragon if possible. We have complimentary skill sets. I can summon a very fast horse that will ride tirelessly. Though teleport is obviously faster. "
"I really don't know if I should feel flattered by the ghost description... anyway..."
She turns to Anaxian and Malefeasance.
"I guess I could try to carry you with me while I teleport. I'm not sure that I will manage that, there is a limit on how much I can bring with me, and it usually fails with individuals, but maybe someone in your conditions...
Unless you prefer to travel with the Diabolist, although I feel riding a horse in the darklands is usually less than practical.
You should probably not be part of the 'vanguard'. If for not other reason that you will arrive pretty late compared to most of us."
she turns her look at the whole party.
"So, is anyone willing to come with me or I'm too much chaos and strife for you to handle?" Says the succubus mildly amused.
I am lighter than I look. Body weight is primarily liquid and organs. They were superfluous, so I removed them.
"I like my organs."
"I like my organs."
"Overrated"
"The patron of Lavosha's ruling house is Andirifkhu, the demon lord of traps and torture—or was, once upon a time. I believe the demon has long since chosen a new, more impressive house to favor in a far-off city, but a lack of many other nobles in the settlement of Lavosha has so far allowed Lady Mencara to hold power, despite the general paranoid murders of most of her relatives."
"I care little whether Lavosha stands or falls—it is a backwater place, prone to introspection and stagnation of the least useful kind. By the time you leave the palace, I suspect there may be little of value left in the entire place."
"Try not to leave with a drow army at your back, though; they can be persistent trackers and hold grudges for millennia."
I am lighter than I look. Body weight is primarily liquid and organs. They were superfluous, so I removed them.
"You just don't have the ability to realize it anymore but trust me.
Now that you are traveling with a succubus you would have never renounced to organs and liquids"Replies the succubus giggling.
She offers to Anaxian her forearm to perch upon.
"So, I think I will repeat the same plan. I'll go ahead and establish a place we can use as headquarters. By the time you all reach Lavosha we will have a place to stay and some more information."
"I am happy to assist. If vengeance is indeed a dish best served cold, I have been preparing and chilling this dish for a millennium."
"I suppose shackles will work. I'm already uncomfortable enough as it is in my own skin. I'm not too privy to putting on another." the elf cracks her knuckles, though it sounds like bones are snapping. She then holds out her arms to be bound. "While you're at it, I suppose I should say Delyliath has the right idea. I enjoyed a comfortable bed at that last town we visited."
With a graceful flap of his wings Anaxian accepts the offered perch and waits for teleportation.
"I'm sure the succubus can bind you. She no doubt will enjoy it to a rather disturbing degree."
Chuckling at the Ghost's comments, the Bralani replies "My incorporeal friend, clearly you have never bedded a Calistrian priestess, have you? Their mastery over pleasure is legendary, and I daresay the best of them could teach the succubi a thing or three. Especially since I have been with both" He says with a bit of a wicked grin flashed Delyl's way.
Delyliath Glares at Drisquar.
"And I bet the succubus you have been with would be able to prove you wrong. But if she did, you would be no more lively than your incorporeal friend by now.
But you are right, you should play with a Calistrian priestess instead.
We all can tell you are not man enough to sustain a real succubus for more than a minute anyway..."
The succubus disappears from sight, bringing Anaxian with her.
Delyliath finds Illia there, toweling off her hair, which is now vaguely back to its black color, still with tons of silver in it.
"Oh.. Uh.. Huh.. Weird that we'd both choose the same spot.. Eh?" Illia gives her best concealed terror smile.
So, we have
-Illia-, Delyliath, Anaxian, TSG and possibly Shimsil teleporting straight to the city.
-Mal potentially riding over-land to the city.
-Not sure what Iranaset or Drisquar are doing.
Using bags of holding and Drisquar's wind walk ability, it's totally possible to get the whole party there at once. If one or two other characters also prefer to travel over land, I'll split the party and do travel encounters and city scouting separately.
I'd just like to know whether anyone else also wants to do traditional traveling, or else we'll skip that.
The Teleporters
-Delyliath
-Illia-
-Anaxian
-TSG
The farms of Lavosha are rather typical drow farms, albeit smaller and fewer in number. Built into the rock walls and smaller caves that line the north side of the city, they border Lavosha's caphorite mines, with many of the fungus beds built right into the walls of centuries-old depleted mineshafts.
To the east and west of the city, in part of the same large cavern that houses it, livestock can be seen herded sluggishly in droves, some pastured and some merely ambling near groups of huts.
From well out of sight range, you can still get a good look at the farm workers ambling around in the open during the day. They appear to be a fairly diverse group of elves, goblins, dwarves, gnomes, and some stranger creatures.
The city itself looks more like a mid-sized town, with relatively modest walls.
From well out of sight range, you can still get a good look at the farm workers ambling around in the open during the day. They appear to be a fairly diverse group of elves, goblins, dwarves, gnomes, captured surface creatures as well as some more exotic creatures, some of them furry or bat-like.
The city itself looks more like a mid-sized town, with relatively modest walls. Only the elves, and perhaps a few gnomes and dwarves, appear to head towards or come from the city proper. Some of the stranger creatures appear to be wearing chains.
From well out of sight range, you can still get a good look at the farm workers ambling around in the open during the day. They appear to be a fairly diverse group of elves, goblins, dwarves, gnomes, captured surface creatures as well as some more exotic creatures; you're able to spot a grimlock, several morlocks, and quite a few of what appear to be captured vegepygmies.
The city itself looks more like a mid-sized town, with relatively modest walls. Only the elves, and perhaps a few gnomes and dwarves, appear to head towards or come from the city proper. Some of the stranger creatures appear to be wearing chains.
None of these creatures would be so well-represented in a proper drow city. It seems likely that Lavosha's remoteness may have led to an increased acceptance of outsiders as well as a greater reliance on captured slaves of unusual species.
The Travelers
-Malfeasance
-Iranaset
-Drisquar
-Shimsil
The road to Lavosha is straightforward enough that a map is probably not necessary. While not all of it is proper, maintained roads (naturally), there are a number of occasionally-traveled trade routes you can follow, especially during the second half of the trip.
It is approximately 600 miles to Lavosha, and if Mal's horse hustles (which it can do indefinitely), you can travel 12 miles per hour, for 288 miles a day.
The first 300 miles pass through relatively nondescript craggy wasteland caverns, with the Stranger's suggested path taking you generally along dry river beds and canyon bottoms for smoother travel, although a fair bit of hill-scaling will also be necessary.
After passing through this wasteland, the path will come to a large river/lake nearly a mile wide; you can attempt to cross this river, or take a ~30 mile detour up the river to a small settlement with an established ford and possible ferry.
The last leg of the journey passes through about 200 miles of mushroom forest, some of it used as a hunting preserve for intrepid drow, before arriving within sight of the outskirts of Lavosha.
"Someone should tell Iranaset about how the elves, in particular, are clothed and fettered, if she's to pass herself off as a house slave. Have we a method of long-range communication?"
"I think I'll go Kolyarut again. Cloaked metal warrior fits in everywhere."
The Travelers
Shimsil's street-rat instincts kick in, and as Drisquar scouts ahead, he's clearly able to find every location on the path that would be a good site for an ambush. Sure enough, he also spots signs of tracks and smothered campfires that suggest a large band of Morlock raiders waiting to ambush passersby, and is able to lead the rest of the group out of their sight.
This should be enough to get the travelers to the river. It's about a mile wide, with the cavern ceiling high overhead, and there should be plenty of ways you can cross it—pick one as a group, I suppose, and I'll let you know what happens.
The Teleporters
Anything you guys want to do while you're in town? You've got about a day to investigate, scheme, etc. if we're keeping the timelines matched up.
(and if any of the travelers want to roll things ahead of time, once you cross the river it will be Perception, Survival, and Knowledge (nature) to scout the forest for threats).
(and if any of the travelers want to roll things ahead of time, once you cross the river it will be Perception, Survival, and Knowledge (nature) to scout the forest for threats).
Percep
Mal
Kodo
Podo
Survival
Kodo
"I can just fly across." says the half-dragon, stretching her wings and popping long unused joints. "I could probably carry you Mal, you don't look that heavy."
"Well.. time to see what we are getting ourselves into.
I'm going to gather some intelligence"
Delilyath slowly approaches the farms looking for an Isolated individual, probably a slave, who she could charm and ask questions, possibly with the help of detect thoughts.
She want to ask about who is worshiped here in Lavosha, how many drow and how many slaves there are, and any latest event.
The ghost drifts along imperceptibly behind Delyliath.
Anaxian remains quietly perched on the succubus' shoulder, his scale pattern slowly rippling to take on a more classically fiendish appearance. By the time he was finished he looked like a tiny hellfire wyrm.
[dice=Perception]1d20 + 11
[dice=Survival]1d20 - 2"I can just fly across." says the half-dragon, stretching her wings and popping long unused joints. "I could probably carry you Mal, you don't look that heavy."
"That's acceptable if you think you can do it. "