Taurven calls on his archaeologist's luck to guide his aim. Then he looses two arrows in rapid succession at the drow woman.
From their hidden place, the heroes attack and charge at the enemies, and by the grace of Torm, no one, except maybe for Garmagal, missed.
Round Surprise-
Ordered Initiative-
Active Effects-
Map-
Notes-
Narrative-
Taking aim, Gargamal fires at the Drow.
Attack-ranged:
Damage:
Attack-ranged:
Damage:
Taurven looses two more arrows at the drow, hoping to take her out quickly.
With a rare display of brutality, the heroes wipe out the duo without giving them any chance to know that was happening.
Arrows piercing bodies, swords cut, guts exposed, and some broken neck. That is the result of the party brutal surprise attack.
The woman has in her body:
Drow poison, ring of counterspells, wand of pyrotechnics (8 charges), +1 breastplate, +1 hand crossbow with 23 +1 bolts, +1 heavy mace, cloak of protection +2, silver sphere, 40 gp.
The tiefling: scroll of lightning bolt, nondetection, magic missile, and rope trick; scroll of monster summoning III, +1 longspear.
"Any others ahead may be somewhat alert, now." Taurven takes the lead after switching from bow to sword. He moves forward as quietly as he can while keeping watch for danger.
Gargamal collects the usable items from the dead and then moves forward with Taurven.
Stealth:
Perception:
The corridor is covered with a black curtain or tapestry. Around the edges, you can see that the space beyond has been expanded into a summoning chamber or makeshift laboratory. Braziers in the corners burn with coals; long shelves hold hundreds of books and scrolls. More tapestries cover the walls and hold in the heat of the braziers.
One section of the chamber directly across from you is lit by a metal candelabra that holds hundreds of candles; their light shines on a black cat has—it is perched on the table. Its three red eyes stare straight at you, unblinking.
After some minutes of unblinking stare, the three-eyed cat lick his pawns and settle into a more comfortable position, laying on the table as it continues staring at the band of heroes.
Gargamal will try to use his animal empaty on the cat to determine if it is a threat.
Animal Empathy:
The cat, although uncommon three-eyed is just a normal cat and offers no danger to the group of heroes.
Taurven searches the room, taking his time to be thorough.
A throughout search of the place only makes Taurven remember and now be sure the drown they just killed is the one they were sent to gather a report from.
Lissondra was supposed to be studying several anatomies of several creatures, and the bard finds evidence if the lab/room he is searching.
The search reveals nothing more of significance or importance. No treasures or secret compartments, no hidden message or secret books.
Knowing know they objective has failed, how the heroes plan to deal with the situation?
The Gitzerai words mysteriously come to the heroes head.
"I didn't know you had that sort of power." Taurven gives Karla a wink. "Raising people as zombies really doesn't count, you know."
Karla proceeds to destroy all the books and apparatus inside the lab. At the first sign of violence, the three-eyed cat jumps out of the great sword away, fleeing for his life, towards the web tunnels.
The cleric breaking work continues for several minutes, until she is satisfied that nothing remains usable.
"Feeling better now?" Taurven asks after Karla vents her frustration on the lab. He doesn't seem overly sarcastic.
"That cat is weird. Think you can track it Gargamal?"
Taurven has some slight skill at tracking himself, he examines the so called ground where the cat with excessive eyes was last seen.
"Sure. Lets see where it has gone."
Tracking:
Following the cat proved to be a short lived endeavor.
It ran just outside the lab, and you see it waiting, not so far away, until you most likely leave its resting place.
"Sure, let's go see the Fame of Ack-lumbdra, or whatever. Sounds fabulous."
The three-eyed-cat stares at the intruders wondering: When will they leave so I can return to my house?
Of course, none of the said intruders paid any attention or even imagined such things crossed the cat's mind. They were too busy planning and deciding where to go next.
"Perhaps they will allow us swifter travel from one place to another, instead of walking through these webs", the ranger says as he prepares to examine the tokens.
Deciding to test the possibility of the silver sphere found with the priestess drow be a teleport key, the group of heroes move to the nearest room with the same symbol engraved on the ground, which in this case is the Demon Shrine they just visited before meeting the Lissondra.
As consensus, since most of the group knows how that device might work, the group holds the key and step into the circle…
...and suddenly they are in a recognizable place.
The room seems to have been torn apart by powerful forces—it looks crumpled in sections, and the floor is uneven, with cracks that let a breeze through. You realize that the corridor ahead is an intersection, and part of the ceiling is missing. You see webs, hundreds of them, in all directions above you.
"There is that sculpted spider. If we could figure out how to drag it to Sigul, intact, it would go a long way toward financing our battle against her spidereyness."
Gargamal suddenly looks up as Taurven suggests taking the sculpture.
"It is not a thing of beauty or art, but a vile reminded of the spider queen. It should be destroyed...what person would buy such a thing? Enemies to be sure!"
Taurven really can't think of a means to get the spider back to Sigul anyway, so he shrugs. "Art lovers are a strange breed. They fancy the oddest things. "
"Shall we head back to the tavern, or investigate this final location on the map...a fortress or some such..."
The group of adventures, figuring out how to use the teleport key, now tries to decide what to do. The key provides an excellent way to infiltrate the fortress when couldn’t before.
Or they could abandon the daring plan and return to Sigil, to for some shady advice from the shady Rule-of-Three.
The group of heroes decides to test other possibilities with the teleporter when Karla intervene ”I gotta get back to Sigil.”
She gives no other explanation and is adamant on her decision.
Given the fact, the group decides against exploring further and returns to Sigil.
--
As soon they step out of the portal, which leaves them in a completely different location from when they first entered, Karla says simple ”I gotta go. Don’t wait for me. Sorry and thanks.” and with those last words, the warrior-woman leaves the party, maybe never to be seen again.
@Adelaide Brightsong
Your travels led you far away and to strange wondrous places. One of those places is the city where you are right now.
How did you get here? Well, that’s the confusing part: You stepped through a door and the mage said it would lead to a certain place. However, none of the ones with you arrived at the same spot, and you are sure, given the nature of the people in this city, that is not where you wanted to be.
You are standing in a city unlike anything you ever saw.
No two buildings are made from the same materials or designed the same way. There’s no dominant style. The look of the city reflects the fact that its residents come from everywhere. Sturdy Dwarven built stone structures next to graceful elf villas. A faithful reproduction of an Abyssal palace stands proudly overlooking the street, while around the corner a white marble shrine to Pelor is tucked into an alley. Half (or more) of the buildings are ramshackle affairs thrown together from the parts of a dozen other constructions. The gorgeous darkwood facade of that tavern seems to probably have come from an old elf inn, and its stone fireplace was most likely carried rock by rock from the ruins of a foundry twenty-three blocks away.
Behind you, the portal which you just used flickered out of life and disappear, there’s no way back.
There’s no sun or moon. Judging by the light, you reckon it’s early in the morning. Which brings you looking around and to your despair; the city seems to have been built in a gigantic ring, not being supported by anything.
Now that all the shock has passed, another thing comes to you. You see devils and demons and angels and an uncountable assortment of other creatures you cannot tell what it is, walking about, none minding the other.
Before you have the chance to do anything, something catches your attention: A group of adventures just walked out of a portal. The small glimpse to where the portal led, sent shivers down your spine. The group, two half-elfs, and two humans, seems at loss of what to do when the female warrior just walk away.
Another thing that catches your attention: One of the half-elfs is carrying a longbow which really resembles one of the legends of your order. The great longbow made from the horn of a great stag, the demon killer, Thaas.
Adelaide gives herself a quick pinch, just to ensure she isn't dreaming. No such luck. Well, she did always say she was running out of ground to walk upon and this was certainly new. The Gods certainly send the most... unique gifts.
Before she even takes her first step in this unnerving land, a set of more familiar, or less strange at least, faces appear out of another portal. She catches only the briefest look at where they came from. They were either very brave or very foolish. Wait, that bow on the half-elf...
She approaches the group curiously, eyeing up the bow's bearer curiously.
"আপনার অস্ত্র, এটা দৈত্য হত্যাকারী সম্মানে নির্মিত হয়?"
"Your bow, it was made in honor of the demon killer?"
Adelaide asked with some hesitation in her voice. This was a very strange place with very strange people, for all she knew this was Thaas.
When she'd gotten into conversing range her eyes flicked to the human. Oh, perhaps these half-elves were raised in human lands. She repeated herself in the Common tongue.
"Ahh... bow craft for demon, uh... ender?" she asked, blushing as she stammered over her words. She was clearly out of practice speaking Common.