Dietrich looks at Drogic as the dwarf and gnome banter back and forth and can't help but roll his eyes. "I haven't met a dwarf yet who can outrun fate, but feel free to give it a try Skygge." He laughs at the mental image of Skygge, the young dwarf, tottering his way through the mushroom forest trying to outrun the spectre of fate, who, barely walking, is able to keep up. "Go on Drogic, tell this one of your adventure in the mushroom forest, as I recall, you climbed a Purple-Capped Tolliper, and, 30 feet off the ground, decided to taste its poisonous shell. Didn't you see visions for a month afterwards?"
"Truthfuilly, I don't know. I was about 30 when i was captured, spent a good 8 years in captivity, maybe more, and I wandered in the Darklands for months, maybe years before I ran into your people. I'd guess about 10 years altogether."
"That's a mighty long time." Drogic mutters quietly, looking at Gumar with a degree of respect. It was no wonder the gnome was cynical with what he must have gone through. Drogic knew all too well how the drow treated their captives, and how difficult it could be to relearn how to appreciate life after you had spent years longing for death. Still, being back underground, and in different company, had seemed to be doing well for him, so Drogic left it alone, slightly changing the subject. "We have not had contact with the svirfneblin in years. I heard they still trade with the races above, but we dwarves, well, we have been focused inward of late." He finishes lamely. "It is a rare honour to be escorting you home," he adds. "I am looking forward to being reunited with Lord Geiri Geirlison." He grins over at Dietrich. "You remember ol' Geiri? One of the bravest gnomes I ever did meet."
At Dietrich's jabbing. Drogic laughs. "Stop boring the children with your exaggerated tales." Drogic snaps back at Dietrich in a good-natured tone. "I've forgotten more about the Fungal Jungle than you ever knew, outsider." He teases.
"As for your questions," he says turning towards Skygge with an eyebrow raised. "The lake of diamonds is a magical place." he says. "Took my lover there our first time, may she rest in peace. The water is so still that it becomes a giant mirror, and all around it are quartz crystals that radiate a pale violet light. The only things that live there are white cave crickets, whose song reflects through the cavern and off the crystals." He smiles, remembering. "She loved it. Let me tell you. You ever want a girl to love you, you take her there."
"As to the jungle, I'm sure the Svirfneblin knows the story better than I, but I'll try my best." He turns to Gumar with a smile. "We've stopped telling about this place to young dwarves," he explains. "They are already restless enough without knowing of the wonders beyond their home." He smiles knowingly at both Ancian and Skygge. "Well. Let's see here. According to legend, there was once a demon god named Z'ggu-Xan-Zara, who was called the Lord of Decay. During the Titan War, he was slain by the righteous gods. They say the Fungal Jungle is his grave, and as his body rotted over the thousands of years, it released an immense magical power and an endless sea of mushrooms." He laughs as though he doesn't quite believe it. "The Svirfneblin, like our friend here, have always been drawn to the area for the unique plants that grow there. There are bioluminescent dragonflies, some as big as horses. Ants in every colour of the rainbow. Salamanders."
"We call it the Fungal Jungle, or the Mushroom Forest because there are no plants, or trees, or grass. There is only fungus. White-caps as tall as pine trees. It's where we get many of our materials." He gestures to the wheels of the caravan, which are clearly made from mushroom stalks, and in fact there doesn't seem to be any wood involved in its construction at all.
"In all my years in the Underdark, I've never seen anything so large, beautiful, and terrifying." He shakes his head. "Eating the poisonous mushrooms is the least of your worries there. Not only is it the home of the terrible skis'raal, but a people called the "Xan" also live there. I'm afraid that in thousands of years of living here, we still know very little about them, except that they're plants. If you believe the legends, they're parts that broke off from Z'ggu-Xan-Zara." He shakes his head and gives a shrug. "All I know is they aren't like any of us. They're something else."
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"The fungal Jungle, eh? that takes me back. Used to go there a lot with my master when I was apprenticed to him, collecting raw materials. here's a lot of strange fungi only grows there, and it's good stuff for alchemists. That's partly why alchemy is so strong in Fasturvalt. Some of the nearer reaches are quite tame, though of course that was because they're patrolled regularly. Or they were. Don't know how much has changed in the last 10 years. Probably overrun with Skis'raal by now, or chopped down for carts and stuff."
"I do indeed recall Lord Geiri. Very brave Gnome. I've been to the Fungal Jungle a few times myself. Even tracked a thief to its borders, but the fool ran inside and suffice to say, I never saw him again. Perhaps he still lives, but I kinda doubt it."
Skygge looks surprised with so much he did not know, but he sees it as a good thing. "Great, great! I've never been to this places, but I guess the knowledge about it spread wide." He rotates a finger. "You see, once you understand how something works, you stop fearing it, and the roads open up for you. If we had the road from here to Dammerhall all cataloged we would have no problem retaking our city. That's what we need to do, spread the information! Anyway, we have some experienced guides here, and so the road is partially open for us! So, guys, where do you think we should start our quest from, once we pass Fasturvault? On the map I see a path to the west, taking us to the Lake of Diamonds, and one to the east, which will eventually lead us to the Fungal Jungle."
"Just because it is not safe, doesn't mean you have to live in fear an cower in some deep hole underground. The pessimist curses the dangers of the wood. The optimist hopes they will not show. The realist, instead, get ready for if the trouble appears."
Dietrich smiles and closes his eyes as his friend describes a few of the wonders of the Underdark. As he is talking about the Lake of Diamonds, he nudges Ariael, who had returned from his scouting and says loud enough for all to hear, "He is right you know, Drogic himself took me to the Lake of Diamonds once, and I still can't get enough of him." Dietrich laughs until he wheezes, and has to stop and take a few deep breaths before brushing the tears from his eyes.
"I am sorry, I should probably learn to act my age, or my race for that matter, but being in the Underdark is freeing. Apparently I have spent too much time among the dwarves, because acting like them is more natural to me than acting like an elf. Ahh well, suffice it to say, there are wonders in the Underdark just as there are wonders on the surface. Beauty can be found anywhere."
And with that, he relaxes once more, taking in the conversation of this odd group of travelers.
Drogic turns to Gumar. "You have been gone a while." he says with some surprise. "It's true, the Skis'raal control much of the Fungal Jungle now, though they are still at odds with the Xan. We think it might be why the Skis'raal are branching out more." He shrugs, clearly more concerned with the effects than the reasoning.
For several moments, the old Dwarf stares at Skygge. Eventually resigning himself to knowing that he cannot talk the younger Dwarf out of his expedition, he points to the map. "Fasturvalt has a back exit that leads to a path that connects to the Fungal Jungle. It's probably the safest route to take."
His face hardens. "You'd be wise to change your mind, though, son."
The mood is lightened once more by Dietrich, and Drogic laughs along with him. "Indeed, there are many wonders here." He agrees, looking around the caverns with a sense of pride. The group talks into the night once again, before one by one retiring to their tents.
The night passes uneventfully and when what passes for morning in the deep dark rolls around, the group sets off again, determined to reach the Gnome King's Highway that day. Everyone is in high spirits, and the group makes decent time, reaching the Highway that evening.
The paths that they travel through have been chiseled out of the stone, In several spots there are raised embankments along the edges of the road, sometimes up to ten feet high. At other spots, the passages are tight, barely allowing the caravans through.
Less than an hour after reaching the Gnome King's Highway, the group rounds a corner after passing through such a passage, and comes across a strange sight - a lone wagon wheel in the middle of the road.
Drogic looks at it with concern plain on his face. "Aye," he says, as if reading their minds. "We were attacked by the Skis'raal on the way out," He pauses, remembering, and then reaches for his hammer, saying "But we didn't lose any wagons."
"So this is from other folk. It could be a trap, stay alert!"
Skygge scans around the wheel for magic, and keeps a look out for trouble.
Ariael unslings his bow, nocking an arrow and looking around for any signs of danger
Ancian is at once amazed, disoriented and entralled by everything going on around him. Everything is completely foreign and yet familiar. It takes his eyes time to adjust to the true darkness, but his heritage allows him to see just fine once they do.
Ancian walks to silence listening to his companions. They know so much of where they are going, while he knows next to nothing; just stories from his book. He clutches his holy book as they speak of specters and and fungal things, things he had never of, and says a quiet prayer.
In truth, he was afraid. He lacked experience and he had heard them say it before, it was easy to die down here. He let those thoughts go as the group happened upon a wagon wheel on the road and suddenly everyone readied themselves for a fight.
He starts to look around sporadically, but fails to see anything through his search.
He draws his warhammer, and not knowing what is to come, says quietly, "Torag, protect us."
Gumar quickly slinks off into the shadows while the Dwarves circle the remaining wagons as best they can in the narrow passageway. The adventurers approach the wheel, finding signs of a struggle having been around, but seeing little information otherwise.
While looking around, something catches Skygge's eye above on one of the embankments, roughly ten feet above the group. Squinting and moving around, he peers between the stalagmites, but with the distance and obstacles, cannot make out anything other than it being the same type of material as the wagon wheel on the ground.
Skygge points in the direction of the wagon. "Get your weapons ready, this is probably the work of a spider!" He grabs a torch and prepares to lit it. "When everyone's ready!"
Skygge lights his torch and starts to approach the seen material, holding his torch high both to scare possible monsters and to keep it away from his sensitive eyes.
Dietrich hears the words Drogic speak, and in that moment time seems to slow down. The next few moments, things happen slowly, as if they took weeks to accomplish. Going from the surface into the Underdark often had strange effects on the body, so the old storyteller just waited until the sensation passed. Finally, like breaking the surface of a lake, Dietrich's sense returned to him, and the activity of his friends nearly overwhelmed him. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he saw friends draw weapons, he heard Drogic's report echo through his mind, "No lost wagon..." and he watched as others moved toward the wheel. Dietrich knew that all he could do was to wait, so he stood a bit taller on his staff, adjust his weight just a bit to react if need be, and tried to clear his mind.
While the others stand, either in preparation or fear, the entire of the Underdark seems to hold its breath. After a few seconds of nothing happening, the brash young Skygge holds up his torch and begins to climb the embankment.
Drogar looks on with concern, but knows that his place is protecting his wagon, not going off in search of trouble. He spares a glance at Dietrich, before gripping his hammer tighter and staring after Skygge.
Upon reaching the top, Skygge can see what was difficult from the ground - behind a cluster of stalagmites hides the remainder of the wagon. It looks absolutely wrecked. Bits of webbing cling to it, and the front seat of the wagon has quite a bit of dried blood on it. It quickly becomes clear, as feared, that this was the work of the Skis'Raal, but none are to be seen.
Although he does not see much, it is probably because of the amount of webs around it, so he looks behind him to see if he's got some backup and begins to slowly burn a few of the webs with his torch, hoping they are not flammable like the ones in The Legend of Zelda.
Dietrich watches as the young Skygge climbs the embankment, and then sees Drogic look over his shoulder at him. He shoots back his old friend with a look that says both, "What do you want me to do about it? as well as "I am not going out there." He then rolls his eyes and at least moves a bit closer to the embankment that Skygge had climbed. He watches to see how the webbing will respond to Skygge's torch, planning his next step.
The heat from Skygge's torch melts the webbing, but they lack the substance to burn or hold a flame. Approaching the wagon, Gumar can see that its of Gnomish design, and likely came from Fasturvalt.
Remaining untrusting of the situation, Ariael and Ancian stand by the wagons with their weapons raised.
Meanwhile, Dietrich's old eyes spot a small figure, some distance away, crouching behind a stalagmite and watching the investigation with some curiosity. He cannot make much more than a silhouette, but the creature looks ready to bolt.
Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, Skyppe keeps it up, being careful to burn all the webbing around him before proceeding further. There might be interesting equipment to help in their quest...
Seeing that there appears to be no immediate danger, Ari walks over to the ruined wagon, bow at the ready.
As Dietrich looks around, he notices his companions moving toward the wreckage. But then, off to the side, he sees a figure crouched in the shadows. He tries to study it without staring, but is unable to figure out what type of creature it might be. Instead of alerting his allies, he simply holds out his arms, hands outstretched to either side of him, but points his left hand at the dark figure and whispers a message he hopes will bring it out of the shadows.
As Dietrich begins speaking, Ariael can see that the creature he is addressing is a small, female Svirfneblin. She looks ready to take off running, but Dietrich's words catch her interest.
At his message, she calls back in accented Dwarven: "Peace is a foreign concept in the dark. As are friends. Whom do you serve?"
Dietrich smiles and turns toward the dark shadow. He motions his friends to stay where they are and he says, "We serve all those who have lived in fear of evil for far too long. We have come to the Underdark to bring some light into the heart of darkness. Can you tell us what happened here?"
Scared with the sudden appearance of someone who was hiding, Skygge just spends a few moments trying to make his hearth slow its mad beating.
"You scared the hell out of me, lady!"
From behind the stalagmites steps a young svrifneblin woman. She casts a wry smile at Skygge before turning her attention to Gumar, eyeing him for quite a few seconds before speaking. "Ain't seen you around Fasturvalt, and seems to me one who serves it might know whether it stands. But since yer not with the Skis'raal, and yer not Drow, aye, I can tell ye. Fasturvalt stands. Least, it did as of a few weeks ago... when I left."
Turning to Brutus and the others she nods. "Coupla Skis'Raal jumped us from hiding, went right after the sheriff and killed him where he stood. As surface dwellers, ye probably woulna know this, but that ain't normal for them. They took the rest of the crew alive, ye see? That's how they prefer they food. But the Sheriff, they just cut him down."
Dietrich listens to the girl, not catching the hint of something unsaid in her voice. As she described the encounter he pried her few more details. "So you were here when it happened? How long ago did it happen?"
He listens intently to the young svirfneblin before turning to Drogic and whispers, "Is there any chance of saving them?"
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"I been away a long time, and it's been a long road back. Do you know if any of the Brindlespling clan still live there? What do you mean when you left? not a good idea to leave places of safety, you never know what might happen. What's your name girl? You best stay with us, it isn't safe on your own in the darklands. I've seen too many fall to the Skis'raal; I'll not let another die at their hands if I can help it. Which way did they take them? How long ago? What's this about drow? and why was the Sheriff with you?"
"Well, killing some Skis'raal does sound like a good start!"
"Ought to be," Drogic whispers back to Dietrich. "Skis'Raal like their food still breathing."
The girl approaches slowly, narrowing her eyes suspiciously at Gumar's string of questioning. She stares into his face for several seconds, before deciding that he's telling the truth. "Name's Iverna-Already-Has-Your-Knife. Knivy Ivy fer short. And you?" She asks, looking first at him and then towards the others.
"Fine fine, I'll tell ye the tale," she says to Gumar. "But we should get movin', 'specially if we're like to rescue them dangfools got theyselves caught. If any o ye are trackers, we ought be able to follow the trail." She gestures to some lines in the dirt.
As the group begins to follow the path, and the caravans begin moving again, Ivy tells the tale to those who are interested in listening.
"The Sheriff hired me as a scout fer his dangfool quest to find help. I ain't one to mind - was nice getting out of the city fer a spell. Lord Geirni," She pauses to look at Gumar, "Reckon you ain't know him, bein' out of the world a spell, but the boy's a right idiot."
"Gunther went against his orders." She smiles. "Hell, woulda done this job fer nothin' more'n seein' the look on Geirni's face. Anyway, we ain't get far, as you can see. Two spiders came from above. Ain't common, you know." She looks at those who seem the most likely to be surface dwellers. "Theys have caves in the Fungal Jungle, spend lots of time fightin' them Shroom-Mans."
"These two," she pauses, considering, "They weren't too normal. They went after Gunther like they knew exactly what they were doing. Slit the poor man's throat 'fore he could even scream. Just ain't right. Ain't natural."
"Anyway. They webbed up th'others. Musta been bout a day ago. I hid, figurin' I'd get my bearings a bit 'fore heading off. Ain't sure where I'm lookin' to be headin'."
Ari looks to the dirt Ivy points to
"Webbed bodies were dragged away." He says gravely.
"Just so we know it, what exactly were you seeking help for?"
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Skis'raal are nasty, but they are smart. Probably figured the Sheriff more trouble than he's worth and killed him outright as a warning to any other dangfool troublemakers. makes it easier to round up the rest. I've not heard of them going far from their homes unless they are working for the Drow. Two on their own wouldn't normally last long enough to get this close to Fasturvalt. I hope that Drow aren't close."
Dietrich sees that the young gnome had some kind of connection with Gumar, and willing takes the backseat, as the crochity gnome was asking all the right questions anyways. He even tips his head to him when he complimented his lack of "dangfoolness."
Dietrich nods knowingly at the description of the leaders of Fausturvalt, but opts to keep his opinions to himself. Hearing that the attack happened about a day ago, he is filled with a sense of urgency. "Well as uncertain as I am on this quest we find ourselves on, I can't knowingly leave someone to such a foul fate if I can help it. Together, even if we run into trouble, we should be strong enough to possibly save some."
With that he begins to follow the tracks Ariael pointed out. As he passes his old apprentice he asks him, "I know it has been a long time since we traveled these roads together, but I hope that your martial prowess has not grown rusty my friend, I am certain we will need it."
"Aren't you excited you found another person who uses that word, Gumar?"
As the group moves along the Gnome King's Highway, Ivy ignores the squabbling between them, focusing only on the trail and Gumar's rapidfire thoughts and questions.
Within a few minutes of walking, it's clear that several things can be seen about the girl. She's perceptive, quick-moving, and seems rather independent, though it also may be masking something else. As appearances go, she's a rather attractive deep gnome, with pale brown/grey skin and large blue eyes.
"Ah," she says, looking back to both Gumar and Skygge. "Ye have cut right to the heart of things."
"There was a Drow emissary come to Fasturvalt, was talking to Lord Geirni. I ain't sure what of, but I know the Sheriff didn't trust it, and against Geirni's orders, was leading an expedition over yonder to Kladdenvalt for help."