Fortunately, the long gallery ahead remains unoccupied. The monster's corpse has been removed from the lower level, and it looks like this area has been abandoned since the last time you were here. At the far southern end of the gallery, a flight of stairs leads back up to the level above this one, and a door is set in the east wall.
A search of this area also uncovers a secret door to the west. Beyond, a hall ends at another secret door.
Not wanting to waste her inky dragon, Zetty says "Why don't we try the secret door? Maybe we can catch a seugathi with its pants down... err, or whatever they have instead of pants... Actually, cross that out, I don't want to get into whether they should be wearing pants at all."
Bertolt chuckles at Zetty's musings. He goes to where the first secret door is located on the west and opens it with shield raised.
This long chamber is rounded on both ends with a door to the north and a curved wall of transparent stone to the south. A faint stink wafts from an exit in the west wall.
The transparent wall overlooks the vast arena to the south that once held the shanrigol behemoth that you destroyed earlier. Like the destrachan, its remains have been removed from the arena floor.
"Wow, they cleaned up. I hope that's not because they already warped a replacement..." Zetty looks between the two options of door. "How do we feel about the stinky door? I wonder if that's some kind of experiment room?"
"Let's try that way, carefully."
She casts a quick detect magic in case there are any magical hazards in the room.
Bella investigated the western opening.
This room bears the rich stink of rot. Doors to four changing stalls prominently appear at the east end of this long hallway. Each door has a makeshift clockwork mechanism attached to it, and the mechanism connects to a lever on the eastern wall through a series of wires and pulleys. The hallway to the west is hung with four wide, tattered curtains. Another, thicker curtain covers the hall’s west end.
The room’s stink plainly originates from the small rooms. The doors to these rooms stop six inches from the ceiling and floor. You can hear snarls from behind the doors, and occasionally long, sharp claws reach under a door through the gap.
"Bathroom stalls now full of hungry monsters?" Zetty rapidly sketches the unlikely scene. "At least the controls to the doors are on our side." After a moment to check if everyone else is ready, she uses her mage hand to pull the curtains aside on each of the side passages.
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The four thinner curtains cover alcoves that once served as massage rooms; each now only has a dilapidated massage table. The thicker curtain conceals the entrance to another chamber.
This round sauna is constructed entirely from polished stone. A wooden bench lines the circumference of the room, save for the exit to the east, which is covered by a thick curtain. At the center of the chamber stands a stone pedestal topped with a heavy bronze bowl filled with red-hot rocks. A wooden bucket full of water rests next to the pedestal.
A tall, burly humanoid with gray skin sits on the bench, soaking in the steam. He glares at you. "And who are you lot supposed to be?" he asks in the Common tongue.
"Uhhhhh..." Zetty thinks fast "Sauna inspectors! You've got a sauna here, right? We've gotten reports of unsanitary conditions. And who are you exactly? Are you the owner? A representative of Belcorra?"
"I don't know any Belcorra," the man shrugs. "The name's Murschen. I'm the champ around these parts." He points to a sigil on his forehead, which reads "victor" in Aklo. "I'm training to be the best warrior in the Darklands. I've beaten every monster the suegathis have pitted me against, and they've rewarded me with fame and wealth. So if you're here to disrupt their operation, then you and me have a problem."
Zetty pauses, then quickly starts sketching as she talks "The best warrior in the Darklands? Hmmm hmmm. That's a pretty impressive goal. And the monsters the seugathi have been making are pretty fierce. But fame and wealth?" She taps the side of her spectacles "You are getting WAY less than you're probably worth anywhere else. Behold!"
Zetty turns her slate around to show her somewhat fanciful rendition of the legendary Ruby Phoenix Tournament grounds. "The Ruby Phoenix Tournament! If you're looking for fame and fortune, you'll find far far more there than you could ever find in there dark, dingy and honestly kinda gross chambers. And it's open to everyone. If you're strong, you'll find everything you could want there." She twirls her quill.
"These seugathi are only holding you back."
Bertolt was wise enough to know when to keep his mouth shut. He absentmindedly nodded along to Zetty's words, and did his best to seem relaxed but focused; his attempt to seem like a bodyguard who doesn't see much action.
Murschen seems unimpressed by Zetty's drawing. "Ruby Phoenix? Never heard of it," he scoffs. "But you wanna know what would really prove that I'm the best warrior in these parts? If I could get a one-on-one duel with Vischari. She's an urdefhan who manages the Warped Brew tavern a few rooms over. I've heard she's a skilled brawler like me, but she's never taken my challenges seriously, and the seugathis won't force her into the arena with me. If you can somehow set up a match with her, then I'll let you go without reporting you to the seugathis in charge. Deal?"
Bella proposed, "Why don't we see about arranging a match between you and Vischari? Then everyone would see your obvious skill as a warrior!"
"There's a tavern down here? I hope you're not going to say its those..." She points toward the horrid, smelly, claw-containing stalls in the previous room. "... things! Is there a real, proper tavern? I'm sure we can make some kind of deal with Vischari. Why hasn't she taken your challenges seriously before? Is she just that strong? Or is fighting not her style?"
"Let's go to the tavern, and see what we can do for Murschen." Bella suggested. "Can you give us directions, Mr. Murschen?"
"Either you help me fight Vischari, or I'll fight you," Murschen says to Vengis menacingly.
He turns to Zetty. "Yeah, it's a proper tavern. The Warped Brew. She thinks she's stronger than me, but we'll see who comes out on top once you arrange that fight for me, yeah? Go back out to the hall and turn north, and you'll find yourself in the tavern. Now go, and don't make me regret letting you leave!"
Following the directions, you head up a flight of stairs and through another door into the tavern. As you approach the door, you can several voices speaking in Undercommon, laughing and shouting.
Polished wooden tables, chairs, and a long wooden bar mark this chamber as a tavern. The smell of spilled beer and fried morsels pervades the room. In the southeast corner, an elevated stage overlooks the seating.
Five creatures are present here: a creature that seems to be half drow and half spider flipping through a book filled with crudely drawn drow erotica, two morlocks playing a card game called towers, a morlock tending the bar, and another morlock complaining to the bartender. They look up as you stand in the entryway, ceasing their conversations. They seem tense, waiting to see what you will do.
Zetty takes a breath, then proceeds into the room as if she heads into such places every day. She doesn't know undercommon, but she figures a little confidence could go a long way. She takes a seat at the bar and calls out in Aklo "Whatever's in the fryer for me!" Before settling in to observe the morlock complaining to the bartender.
When the others come in, she whispers "Anyone know undercommon?"
Hearing your friendly overtures, the bar patrons resume their business, though they continue to keep a close eye on you. The morlock behind the bar grunts. "Vischari's the manager of this place. She's in her office, through those doors." She reaches for a dirty bottle of liquor. "Wanna buy a drink? One gold a glass. Shadow Malice will be going on stage soon, too, if you wanna stick around for the show."
Bella volunteered, "I"ll have an ale, presuming that they serve that."
She looked around the room, refraining from staring at anyone.
Zetty whispers to the others "Isn't a gold for a glass kind of Darklands robbery?" She watches the morlock to try to judge if this is some kind of ploy to take advantage of surface worlders. She's not planning to contest the price, but just wants to get a feel for what the group is dealing with.
She also asks the morlock, through Vengis "Vischari's your boss then? What's she like?"
The bartender is definitely trying to extort you by charging way too much for the drinks.
"Vischari's tough. She doesn't take nonsense from anybody," the morlock says. "Saw her beat a guy to death with her fists when he refused to pay the tab." She eyes you significantly as she holds out two mugs of ale.
Zetty follows up with "Oh? Would she do that for anyone that came and didn't pay their tab?" through Vengis, a plan already brewing in her mind.
The bartender shrugs. "It only happened the one time. Everybody's paid their tab since."
"So everyone else had enough sense to not tangle with her, then?" Zetty hmmmms to herself and then asks the others "So do we want to give plan 'Boozy Bamboozle' a try or just go chat with Vischari? Assuming she's willing to chat with us?"
"Seems to fulfill the plan obligation we had set out to discover. I say we return with this information."
"Okay! We can always give talking to Vischari a try later." Zetty gives a thumbs up and waves to the bartender morlock as she jumps off the barstool. With a little bow for the tavern room, she heads back to the sauna to find Murschen again.
Bella finished her ale and followed the others back to speak with the aspiring pugilist.
"Alright, here goes nothing." Zetty declares as soon as the group is back in the hallway. She makes her way to the sauna and greets Murschen with a "Hi there!" and a twirl of her inkpen.
"So here's what we've learned. Vischari isn't normally interested in fighting, you got that part right, but there's a way to really get her riled up. And if you can get her riled up, then you can get a fight out of it." She nods "So, what you need to do is go to the bar, drink or waste as much booze as you like, then refuse to pay your tab. Call out Vischari, maybe something like 'If she doesn't like it, she can come say so to my face'." She taps her pen to the side of her nose "Sure it won't be a big arena fight, but it'll get you the brawl you've been craving, and based on what we heard, she won't be holding anything back."
"What do you think?"
Murschchen chuckles. "Sounds good to me! I'm gonna head there now. You wanna come with me and watch me kick Vischari's ass?"
"I wouldn't miss a good show! I could do a piece for the victor to take with them." She flourishes her pen. "Though you've probably got a bit of drinking to do, or pretend to do, before this all gets started. We'll stop by in a few minutes, but definitely before the fight begins! We wouldn't miss that!"
You allow Murschen a good head start to get going with his drinking before heading into The Warped Brew. You can hear music coming from the tavern as you approach the entrance, and this time, when you enter, you can see a band performing on the stage. The band members consist of a xulgath and a caligni strumming lutes, a duergar playing the drums, and a ysoki clad in a fancy leather suit singing loudly!
Murschen is at the bar, looking sullen as he downs another drink. Numerous empty mugs adorn the bar in front of him. He looks up at you as you enter and waves you over.
"It's not working!" he says, voice slurring. "I've been as rude and crass as I can be, trying to call out Vischari, but she refuses to come out of her office! But the bartender said she might come out if somebody challenges Shadow Malice!" He gestures to the band on the stage. "I got no musical talent, but maybe you do?"
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Vengis steps forward without hesitation.
"My moment has finally arrived," he says with an eager smile. "I was made for this!"
Raising a fist, he shouts to the band on stage.
"I challenge you! To a battle of the bands!"
This he does very theatrically.
"Psst," he whispers to his companions. "Anyone else have dreams that are coming to fruition right now?"
"Uh what?" Zetty, bewildered, looks from side to side before pointing her inkpen at herself "Me? A band? On stage?"
"I mean, I learned some basics about playing, but I don't even own one anymore; an instrument, that is. And really, I don't think my skills at drawing are going to translate all that well to..." She surveys the rest of the team for a moment, thinking about the group's chances, before switching gears "Uh, well, actually, I guess I could give it a try?"
"What do you play Vengis? Maybe Vischari or the bartender have some instrument you could borrow. I played oboe while I was in school, and a bit of flute."
Bertolt chuckles. "I am a confident singer, but not a good one."
"Wow, how have you never shared your singing with us, either of you?" Zetty looks over at the bar and then around for any stray instruments she could improvise with. She wasn't too confident in her singing, even if she'd joined a chorus a few times. And in any case, this venue didn't seem like a big ballad kind of place.
The morlocks in the bar cheer as Vengis issues his challenge. "Woo! Challenge! Challenge!" they chant.
The ysoki singer squints at you all and chuckles, baring yellow fangs. "I'm Ryta! My bandmates are Gulzash, Nox, and Kragala. You want to challenge Shadow Malice? Then let’s get to it. We’ll each face off one-on-one. Each pair squares off with some kind of show: music, acrobatic tricks, displays of strength, whatever. Then we perform as two groups—mine then yours—and let the crowd tell us who’s the best overall!"
Bertolt perks up and his eyebrows waggle at the description of the challenge. "Display of strength you say? Now there is something I can be of help with."
Eyenia asks one of the band members to play a tune, and the band strikes up a strange warbling tune. She dances in time to it, letting the eddies of the cosmos steer her movements in a very interpretive but surprisingly graceful dance.