Hemeth coughs a few times and shuffles his feet before grinning sheepishly at Vinexa "Thank you kindly. I, um, I might take you up on that offer."
Speaking with a few people you swiftly discover that there are numerous tensions between the ruling duergar and the derro underclass. You also learn that there is a ban on exporting duergar made weapons in any significant qualities, despite considerable demand for them in many other settlements around the Darklake. Something about not arming potential enemies.
You eventually manage to sell most of the assorted trinkets to various merchants for 7,500 gold pieces and the ioun stones for an extra 10,000. Many of the merchants you dealt with however seemed highly eccentric. Several kept changing their price quotations at the last minute (in either direction) and then denied doing so, while others were highly insulting, yet despite their clear disdain for you offered up better than average prices. A couple of merchants even turned invisible halfway through a transaction, yet continued speaking as if nothing had happened.
Now that's a new one. It's like a community of gnomes. Are these sales in an open air bazaar or a nice cozy private shop? Tanic will avoid any open bazaar situations.
Micar nods at Talindra, "I'm not very familiar with the Duergar, and Harro definitely has his quirks, but they do seem to act a little off."
This behaviour is certainly not normal for duergar. It is unlikely that this could be being caused by the demon lord you saw (unless he is much closer than you think) but it could have the same underlying cause of a weakening of the wall between worlds.
"Even more reason to get out of here and headed north/"
"Leave? North? Crazy talkin'! We're safe!"
Tanic gives the deluded Harro a 'look'.
"You deceive yourself Harro. Cities are never safe. There's always someone out there willing to stick a knife in your back for your boots. An no appreciation for the finer things in life, like a quiet cave with luminescent fungus. Everyone is hurrying everywhere and getting nowhere. And this city is worse than most with all the strange things going on. Mark my words, we will all be moving on soon enough of we will be facing dire consequences."
"Yes, folks are acting quite strange, first the kua-toa, now those in this city. I'm not sure isolating ourselves is the answer, but we might want to try and find out the reason before we are stricken by madness as well. We don't know how far this reaches."
Harro waves his hand at the others talk of crazyness and drinks another mug of mushroom beer.
"BAH!"
Over dinner in the common room of the inn, you hear that travel between settlements has got noticeably more difficult lately. Almost every group has their own tale of a demonic encounter somewhere in the tunnels and there is much one-upmanship and comparing of scars among the merchants guards. The merchants meanwhile are heavily debating whether normal trade routes are even worth the risk anymore. According to most accounts the trouble started around 3 months ago.
Hemeth shows up later that evening and rather sheepishly disappears with Vinexa.
"No idea. But from the sounds of things we are going to be affected. All I ever wanted was my work and living a humble life in my cave."
The last is stated with a bit of a whine in his voice.
Harro slams his mug on the table, spilling some of his beer.
"We go see the priests of Laduger, god of the Duergar, ifn' just to shut yer' yaps! The priests KNOW things, and can tell youse' to shut-it with this Abyssal-barrier THING! OK? Can't e'en get a drink without talkin' 'bout demons..."
The next day you finish making your purchases and start to head for the Temple of Laduger when suddenly the rhythmic hammering of the city's forges is drowned out for a second by a thundering roar and the sound of crumbling rock. Duergar and visitors alike turn to look as a two-headed, grey skinned giant bursts through a gate, howling madly and lashing out left and right, littering the plaza with rock and stone debris. As he bellows, one of his swings connects with a duergar guard, whose broken body flies through the air and crashes in front of you with a sickening crunch.
The giant is clearly both confused and terrified and is not really aware of what it is doing.
"Poor thing. Something'd driven it to this. I think it's running scared. Anyone know giant?"
to see if guard is dead
Seeing the body of the crushed Duergar land nearby, natural instincts kick into Harro as he grabs his gleaming new axe, and raging, charges the giant!
"Come'ere big guy! Pick on me!"
@Tanic - The guard has several cracked ribs and is clearly out of the fight but is likely to survive.
Poor thing is going to be slaughtered. Oh well... such is.
Tanic will cast a DC 16 blindness spell on it.
Harro and Micar's blades both bite deep into the giant's legs causing it to roar out in pain.
It shakes off the effects of Tanic's spell.
A small group of duergar guards have been attracted by the commotion and are approaching carefully with long spears.
Vinexa decided to try something to slow the giant down, maybe stop, it's assault. She gazed firmly at it with her hypnotic red eyes as she began to exert her will upon it. With her gaze focused and lending her mesmeric powers she then drew on emotions of lust, longing, and thoughts of fondling, caressing, and kissing her. The spell now constructed in her mind she pressed it upon the giant's thoughts, trying to impose her will upon it. She hoped that, in trying to reach her, it could be brought down by those it passed.
The giant rushes towards Vinexa, pushing past Micar, Harro, and Talindra and leaving itself open to devastating attacks from the three of them.
Despite its wounds the Giant pushes forwards and grabs hold of Vinexa, roughly patting and hugging her.
Oh dear. I think she might have gotten more than she bargained for this time.
Frowning at the creature's oddest behavior yet, Harro reluctantly admits something out loud as he charges back at the creature!
"OK! Maybees' you'se guys got a point...sometin' ODD is 'appening!"
Vinexa was pleased at the success of her spell and, when the giant grasped her and pulled her into his grip she did not resist. in fact she was exactly where she wanted to be. A girl had to eat and it was far easier when her meal came to her. As the creature began to hold her tight she almost felt a little guilty at what she was about to do but she just thought, a girl's gotta eat after all and began to pull on the creature's life force, draining it from him and into her.
Micar watches as the giant picks up Vinexa and charges the beast.
Harro and Micar both hit the giant in the back as Vinexa draws on its life force. It staggers momentarily but stays standing.
The group of duergar guards, their confidence boosted by the success of the others fighting the giant press closer, trying to find an opening with their polearms.
The Giant sinks to its knees, tightening it's grip on Vinexa as it trys to crush the life out of her.
"Leggo' of HER!"
Screeching at the giant, Harro moves in again and aims for the giant's massive arm (if he can), now in reach, now crushing the demonling.
I had thought the blindness was his action and did not realize he had another coming. +5/1d4+1d6+4 Corrosive Dagger, +1 [1d4; crit 19–20/×2; dmg: S/P]
Micar moves into a flanking position and attacks.
Feeling herself being crushed in the giant's embrace Vinexa began to think that maybe she had made a mistake. Still, she had to use the hand that was given and if you wanted to hug her, she could accept that. She kissed the giant's broad chest and wriggled pleasantly against him as she drained the life from him once again.
The combined punishment it has suffered is too much for the crazed giant. As Talindra and Micar's blades drive into its much weakened body it sways on the spot for a second before collapsing onto its back, Vinexa landing atop the immobile brute.
As the party catch their breath another stone giant, this one with only one head and appearing perfectly sane, comes through the shattered gate and approaching the fallen giant begins to confer with the guards.
Micar watches the conversation between the giant and guard.
Harro stops raging and rummages around the dead giant looking for loose change...or other valuables...while everyone is distracted by the new giant.
The new giant introduces himself to the guards as Dorhun, apprentice to Stonespeaker Hgraam. He explains that the fallen giant was another of the Stonespeaker's apprentices and was 'communing with the stone' in Cairngorm Cavern when he went mad, sprouted another head, and stormed out. Dorhun had been for him ever since. The guards explain what happened and Dorhun comes over to speak to the party.
"I understand you prevented Rihuud from doing any further harm to anybody. It is a sad day when one loses a friend, but I recognise that you did what you had to. Perhaps Rihuud was indeed already lost, like all the others who have come down with the same affliction. You did the city a service if not my friend and for that I suppose you have my gratitude." he rumbles.
The guards and the giant both seem wary but respectful towards each other, with a hint of insecurity.
Carefully hidden on the fallen giant's person if a polished crystal, about the length of a human forearm. Even one untrained in the mystical arts can tell that it positively thrums with magical energy and is likely to be worth a small fortune.
A small clan of stone giants known as Clan Cairngorm live a short distance outside the city. Their ancestors swore an ancient oath of fealty to the Deepking and have peacefully co-existed with the duergar for centuries. They live simple and uncomplicated lives and rarely enter the city proper.
Harro quickly attempts to grab the crystal, and hide it before the green-colored Talindra can get it!
"Mihne!"
"Well, it was a pity to have to slay the poor creature. Did you say this keeps happening? What stone are you talking about?
Tanic is unconcerned and oblivious to the competition on top of the corpse. He is far more intrigued by the mention of aberrations appearing and corrupting nature. Worried too.
"Have you talked to a druid about this? Our council frown heavily on this sort of thing."
Perhaps this is why they failed to come to my rescue. Something like this would naturally take precedence.
Micar studies the Giant and the guards conversation, "Hmmm, at least we're not in trouble for killing the Giant."
Looking over to the body, he sees Harro and Talindra going through the Giant's belongings, "Find anything of interest?"
"The Stone is the Stone. It is all around us, above us and below us. We are born from the Stone and when we die we return to the Stone." Dorhun explains, seeming slightly puzzled about the need to do so.
"Rihuud is the fourth of our number we have lost in the last two months. We do not know any druids we could contact but we have been seeking answers from the Stone. What we have learnt so far however is cryptic and we have so far had little success in interpreting the whispers of the Stone. If you are learned in such areas perhaps you should meet with Stonespeaker Hgraam?"