What if we just say we work for Matron Khan? Do we think that might get us through? It is true. Just a thought
If you're intending to ask me, the DM - I ain't telling you whether it'll work or not, silly boy!
If you're intending to suggest that to your comrades - do it in-character. ;)
As for zipline opportunities, if you imagine the North Wall of Westeros from A Song of Ice and Fire, you wouldn't be far off from the description of this wall you face now - except it is far smaller and not as cold. The similarity lies in the fact that there's a good-sized district of the city at the base of the elevator, as well as Lito's establishment at the top. If you climbed to a nearby rooftop you could attempt to zipline up - but again, I ain't telling ya whether that's a good idea or a bad idea.
You get to decide for yourselves. ;)
Zayva was on edge, and starting to get overwhelmed. When the guard had yelled, it had not helped, shaking her some. It had been so long since she had been outside. While, yes, she had been around others in the lab, it was different out here. Between the awe she felt at the city, the thoughts of their tail putting her on edge, and now, this guard they needed pass wanting a name that could possibly get her severely punished, she was starting to stress more. She did not dare say a word, instead chewing on her lip. Already it was getting harder to understand what they were saying. She just knew if she tried to speak, they would likely not understand her. She didn't want to make things worse.
Muhoro whispers to Zayva, "What if we just say we work for Matron Khan? Do you think that might get us through? It is true."
She had to focus really hard on what Muhoro was saying, a slightly puzzled look on her face. Sometimes it sounded like gibberish but she knew it wasn't. He didn't speak gibberish. Trying really hard she managed to catch a few words: work, the name Matron Khan, something about through and then true. Was he suggesting they say they work for Matron Khan? Well, technically she did work as one of Doctor Khan's healers for the slave.
Hoping she had interpreted this correctly, she whispered in return hoping he would understand her as well. "मुझे लगता है so?" Just trying to speak normally, she had switched between two languages. She didn't even seem to have realized she had done this.
I guess
He looks at Zayva and nods, understanding her in either language. He steps up to the guards and says, "We are slaves of Matron Khan and are about on her business."
The guard smirks at you and writes it down on his clipboard. "Was that so hard?" he comments, as he and the other guards step aside and allow you and the other slaves to board.
It's a tight fit - with how large some of you are, and the 20-odd other passengers riding up, you're all cramped pretty close together on the elevator. The half-orc mercenary gives Siri a grin and flashes her a thumbs-up as you board.
The ride takes about five minutes. Inside the elevator with you, everyone appears to be armed and armored. All the inhabitants appear keen on avoiding eye contact and pretending everyone else does not exist
After a long, uncomfortable silence, the elevator jolts to a stop. Beldrek's head collides with the ceiling of the elevator, as do a few other of the taller inhabitants of the elevator - a humanoid figure covered head-to-toe in armor that conceals his obvious race and a hobgoblin. With a general grumbling, they fall in with the crush of people leaving the elevator via a huge double-hinged gate that folds off to either side.
Before you lies the true breadbasket of Chaulnazeen - the Mushroom Fields. Mushrooms are one of the few edible plants that can be cultivated and harvested in the sunless Darklands, and the drow of Chaulnazeen use slave labor to till the hard stone lands and harvest the enormous crops.
In the center of the enormous cavern that stretches out before you for miles is a lower region where the mushrooms grow. Through genetic modification and cunning magic, the drow have enlarged this species to proposterous sizes, causing them to reach from a lower section in the center of the cavern all the way up to the roof of the cavern. You can see, looking up and by the faint light of bio-luminescent fungus on the ceiling, that stalagtites that used to reach down from the top of the cavern have been broken off to allow room for the mushrooms.
You see noble Houses here as well, humbler than the grandeur of the downtown area, but dignified and dangerous-looking in their own way. Long walkways stretch from wall to wall, crisscrossing among the mushroom stems almost 200 feet up. You see cloth overhangs where merchants have set up stalls nearest to you - the elevator bay appears to be near a popular trading hub, which is perhaps not a coincidence.
"I am getting thoroughly sick of mushrooms," Siri complains, clearly annoyed about having to tell the guards their patrons name, she has grown used to expecting the worst and hates to leave more evidence than necessary.
Zayva stayed quiet during the elevator ride. Even when she reached the top, she stayed that way. Words were still a little hard to understand, so she stuck to observing. Those Mushrooms though, they were HUGE! She still wasn't so sure about all the people, seeing those large mushrooms had distracted her, even if it was momentarily. "So big!" It wasn't like she had ever really seen outside a city anyway, and here were these huge mushrooms! Her inner child had taken a moment to come out, causing her to forget for just a moment why they were there in the first place.
Alaria's mouth fell open as she arrived at the top of the elevator. "Nice. Never been in a place so dark and so big. Impressive, if it weren't for the fact these monsters are my enemies."
You are all standing in an open square that resembles a marketplace. Unlike the crush of people and destitute poverty that you witnessed in the Drag, you see well-to-do people strolling all around you. Nobody tries to shove you around, possibly because you're a bunch of demon-looking things. In Chaulnazeen, tieflings are even less common than they were near the Worldwound, so you get your share of open-mouthed stares - especially with your extra-special body modifications.
There's a faint breeze in this part of the cavern, coming from the right, and the overall mood is lighter. It's a welcome feeling after the oppressive atmosphere in the city proper. Despite still being a district of a drow city, non-drow outnumber the drow in this district 10 to 1, so the atmosphere is a little less tense.
Refusing to be lulled by the no doubt deiceitfully convivial atmosphere Siri begins slides onwards making for House Kashi.
Siri slithers a few feet forward, before stopping and glancing from one noble House to the next. Which one was her target?
Zayva turned to look back at the others, a child-like glee on her face. "Think we can touch one?" She looked hopeful and excited at the idea.
Muhoro quietly rides the lift to the top and is pleasantly surprised with the vista that presents itself. He actual smile when Zayva asks to touch on of the giant fungus.
"Go ahead Zayva. It will not harm anything."
He looks at the various distant estates, then turns 1/2 orc who had spoken to them before.
"Do you know which nobles live at which estate? There are so many, and I would hate not to know which is which."
Zayva took Muhoro's permission as enough. She rushed over to a spot where she believed she could reach one, reaching out with one hand to touch it. The look of excitement and glee never leaving her face.
Siri frowns,
"Do not let your guard down, but I suppose we need to approach someone, preferably a slave, in order to determine which is House Kashi's compound."
|
Alec steps out of the elevator and looks around with interest. He gets a calculating look on his face upon seeing the mushrooms, but it quickly fades as he realizes that the Drow probably wouldn't put poisonous plants within reach of the general populace. Not recognizing any of the Houses, he waits for one of the friendlier members of his group to reconnoiter.
Siri approaches a nearby none drow, the weakest looking she can see and asks,
"Excuse me we need directions to House Lito. You seem to know your way around here, would you be kind enough to direct me?"
Zayva looked back at the group excited, seeing if someone else was going to come touch them with her.
Siri manages a weak smile for Zavya, but she is too caught up in worry, her temporary respite from pain only serving to remind her that she can expect to return to it.
Alaria just rolls her eyes at Zayva and walks up to Siri's side. "For someone who has been kept so long as a slave, you'd think she would have more resentment than pleasure at their architecture..."
Siri chooses to approach an old and frail-looking Tengu who is eyeing a bracelet at a market stall. He jumps when you speak to him, and jumps again when he turns around - Siri's a terrifying sight, after all. Her polite words and calm demeanor, as well as her reasonable request, seem to put him at ease, however. His eyes glancing back and forth, he wordlessly points further down the left-hand side of the cavern. "Toward the end," he croaks, in a quiet voice. "They're the ones with bronze rothe heads on either side of the gate, you can't miss it."
Meanwhile, Zayva, your fingers delight at the touch of the giant mushroom stem. It's the first living, breathing thing you've touched in quite some time that wasn't on the verge of bleeding out on an operating table. Dealing with a living plant instead of a living person for once is...relaxing. You do see some people nearby giving you weird looks, though. A few seem confused at your open enthusiasm - much like New York, open happiness isn't something commonly witnessed on the streets of Chaulnazeen.
Siri nods and smiles at the Tengu,
"My thanks, I appreciate your help and wish you well," before sliding towards the indicated direction beckoning the others to follow.
Zayva was focusing back on the mushroom. Distracted by happy thoughts. She had yet to realize the group was moving on without her. It was nice to have happy, life-filled thoughts.
Since the 1/2 orc did not answer his question, Muhoro moves over to where Zayva is admiring the huge fungus.
"It is a remarkable thing isn't it! Whole forests of such mushrooms....it is a sight to behold, however we must be moving on. I think Siri has located our objective. Come let us see what other wonders this cavern holds!"
The half-orc mercenary is speaking with two other armored humans, dusky-skinned and wearing deeply suspicious expressions. One of them says, "Tiefling. Damned devil-spawn..." in a condescending tone, and spits on the ground. His hand openly rests on the haft of his battleaxe on his belt.
The half-orc, by comparison, is friendlier. She rolls her eyes at the human, then smiles briefly at Muhoro. "You're with the snake-lady, right? Cute little piece of tail. As for the noble houses, they affiliate themselves by the animals they choose to adorn their buildings with." she points behind you, in the general direction of the market stalls. "Most merchants have little cheat-sheets to help them keep track. I was planning on picking one up myself, a bit later - I'm new around here too. They won't give theirs away, of course, but if you ask nicely and catch one of them in a good mood, they may let you make a copy." As she was talking, the two humans with her had scoffed and begun walking away. Now, they call to her - "Mukla! Move your ass!" and she begins to follow them. Over her shoulder, she says, "If your group is ever in House Lito's neighborhood, tell that snake-lady to look me up!"
The tieflings regroup, some reluctantly, and begin to travel through the agricultural district. Races of all descriptions are represented here, even a few other tieflings - a few shady-looking groups playing a dice game on the side of the street. The streets are lit with streetlamps that contain gemstones infused with a permanent faerie fire enchantment, casting everything in faint sheens of various colors that alternate slowly as the minutes pass by.
Eventually, you reach the house that the Tengu described. The fourth-to-last house before the district ends in what looks to be a cliff, you see a squat, five-story building that stretches almost a city block wide, rimmed with a 15' high stone wall. The gates are flanked by two bronze rothe` heads, and the gate - a metal construction of what look to be steel bars - is closed.
She turned to look at Muhoro with a big smile. [b]"You think there is anything better than this? Are things like this outside of every city? Are all cities like this one?"[b] She was curious and hoped Muhoro had the answers.
As they walked, Zayva took in her surroundings. 'This sure is different than the lab'
Muhoro talks to Siri, telling her what the half-orc told him about possibly getting a 'cheat-sheet' from one of the local merchants.
Walking along with Zayva he tells he tails of the great forest where he grew up.
"Some of the trees were even taller than these mushrooms. I remember the sound of the wind through the boughs during the summer, and the sweet smell of their leaves. When we get out of this place perhaps I can take you to see them....'
He looks away, rather abashed at his boldness, looking down at the ground now.
Perception:
Siri listen to Muhoro and nods,
"Such a thing could prove valuable, we should look into acquiring one, but since it would not appear to be of immediate worth I suggest we do so at a later time - I would have this done."
Catching a movement out of the corner of her eye she casts a message spell and targets all save Muhoro who by her side should be clsoe enough to hear her whispering,
"Our tail is back, I suggest that we ought to deal with them before we dare try our appointed task. What do you say?"
"I'd like that." She gave him a smile.
She looked down a little at Siri's suggestion, but the logic was there. She gave a small nod of agreement. Just because it must be done, didn't mean she had to like it. She replied via the Message spell, "Sounds like the better option of those available."
"How?", whispered Muhoro
You saw the drow in dark clothing that were following you running from walkway to walkway in the terraces that are among the mushrooms themselves. About 2 stories up in height on the trunks of the enormous fungi are metallic grateways that trace sinuously from one "tree" to another. At the intersections of the bridges that connect the mushrooms and the walkways that surround the trunks are small buildings, presumably meeting places for those whose business involves those levels. The buildings look to be about 30x15 feet and wrap around the trunks of the mushrooms somewhat.
It is in one of these buildings, nestled against the tall mushroom nearest you, that you caught a glimpse of the red drow's eyes watching you from the darkness.
It's hard to tell exactly how many of them there were, but you know you saw at least two earlier, possibly more.
Casting about yourself, there appears to be two ways into the mushroom's heights - a long airbridge from within the Noble Houses themselves, and a central hub-like building that you've been catching glimpses of through the stalks as you pass by. The building in the grove is a large octagonal structure with what look like a system of complicated elevators going in and out of the roof and up and down to and from the mushroom catwalks.
Muhoro asks, "Could we use our rings to access the upper walkways?"
Siri looks worried, sheathes her weapon,
"Mmmm, I don't see how, gravity does not help you ascend. No, I'll try to distract them and see if we can drive them off or force them to confront us. I'm going to be very vulnerable for a while, please ensure you protect me," and the Marilith vanishes leaving, Siri's true form, just as beautiful but far softer and summons three eagles appear in the air and charge the lurking drow!
The eagles pop into existence at the maximum cast range of Siri's spells, and with a screech they all fly into the building on the mushroom stalk at once. You can hear a commotion inside the building; shouts, the dangerous sheen of steel being drawn, and the noise the eagles themselves make. You see a few drow fleeing the building, frantically waving their hands above their heads to try and keep the eagle's talons away. About 10 drow flee the building - in the confusion it's going to take a DC 20 perception check to recognize the ones you saw tailing you before and differentiate them from the normal drow who were merely conducting business in that building. None of the drow fleeing the eagles appear to be looking back in your direction, however - at least not overtly.
Screaming, the small group of drow scatter all along the different walkways in various directions. On the ground, those around you who saw Siri suddenly summon eagles are taken aback with a gasp - it's the same reaction you might expect a street full of people to have if someone suddenly took out a Glock and began firing. Staring at Siri in horror, the crowd spreads further and further apart all around you, and you hear a few voices shouting for guards.
"What in the hells? Help, help, help, guards!" Siri calls, rushing away in an apparent panic coincidently in the direction of House Lito's compound.
Eagles appearing out of thin air had not been something she was expecting, and she had jumped some. But she knew there were more important things, and she had watched the building in the mushroom stalk.
When the panic started Zayva tried to spot their tail, not wanting to lose them in the panic. The screams and yells were not pleasant. The reminded her of some of the really bad times in the labs, even if they were different here. Trying to shake it off, she attempted to focus on the course of action, lose or remove their tail and then get inside House Lito. She tried to stay close to Siri, but her eyes were more on keeping track of the tail.
Frowning Siri rushes for the sewer grating, her movements awkward and clumsy in her natural form. Casting about for somewhere nearby to hide she asks,
"Can someone get this open?" As she begins chanting the ritual that will summon back her eidolon form.