Hue notched another arrow with a speed that surprised himself. With a grin of pride he turned about looking for another target, pulled back the bow string and promptly tripped on an oar. The arrow corkscrewed wildly through the air and the fletching brushed Kalanzar's ear. "Oh! Sorry Mister Kalanzar!"
The arrow continued on with an equal chance of hitting the creature attached to Hemeth, hitting Hemeth, or flying off into the darkness.
The near miss gave Kalanzar new resolve.
Kalanzar nods to his comrades who are saving his life, grabs a scimitar and cuts down another creature .
The four creatures that had found purchase on a person were immediately dispatched. The final one, seeing that its flock had been killed, buzzed off.
Hemeth had barely had time to react to the creature attached to him before Hue shot it off with alarming accuracy. Trembling a little, he spat over the side where the remaining corpses were slowly sinking. "Bah! Stirges. Filthy things. That was fine shooting, Hue. My thanks."
Kalanzar slowly wipes the blood from the scimitar. I caught some fish, but maybe the meat of these creatures will suit us too.
+
Kalanzar slowly wipes the blood from the scimitar. I caught some fish, but maybe the meat of these creatures will suit us too.
”Surely we ain’t that desperate fer variety,” Precious said, feeling his stomach starting to protest at the very thought of eating what looked like monstrous, corrupted insects. ”Think I’ll rather stick to me berries if that’s what’s on tonight’s menu. Or better yet, gimme a chance with them fishies, ‘haps me luck will hold truer,” he went on to search Hemet’s hoard for some like and hooks.
"Bah! Stirges. Filthy things. That was fine shooting, Hue. My thanks."
"Um, yes"
"fine shooting"He looked to the oar he tripped over.
"anytime."
First she had had to clean vomit off Abby's deck and out of her own hair. Now her hands were full of stirge guts. So much grossness in so little time. Maddy shuddered a bit at the thought of what may have happened to them should there have been more of those disgusting creatures.
She bent over the side of Abby's hull to wash her hands in the water. "I agree with Precious. I'm not hungry enough to eat something that drank any of our blood...but the fish sounds delightful. If I can help, I'm happy to do so."
She looked at Hemeth, "Unless you'd rather Dawn and I stay in your cabin then we can do that too. Although it should be fine for her to be out here with the glowing fish."
The are no further interruptions to your fishing attempts, and you soon have plenty of fish. Abby, sensibly, won't allow a fire onboard, but Hemeth finds a broken-off stalagmite that's big enough for a campfire. It uses up the last of the dried fungus onboard, but it's worth it for the heat, the light, and the roasted fish. Oddly, they continue to glow even after being cooked, but Hemeth assures you it's not dangerous.
The next day, the "remains" are still glowing. It's...uncanny.
You all settle into a routine over the next week. You take turns at the oars, you keep a watch out for danger, and for fresh water, fungus for food and fires, and safe places to rest. Your hands grow tough and calloused, and your arms and shoulders grow stronger.
The journey is still scary, but not as bad in the boat. Sometimes Hemeth allows light on deck, and sometimes he doesn't. You float through enormous caverns, narrow rivers, and everything in between. At one point, you come across a recent partial collapse of the roof, and you're forced to portage Abby across.
It's often dark, but occasionally lit by phosphorescent fungus or creatures. When Maddy needs to row, Dawn will allow herself to darken - she'd rather stay dark with Maddy than be left alone in the cabin.
Twice you come across other boats. Firstly, a group of 3 kuo-toa in a boat not unlike Abby. At first it seems like they will attack, but when they see how outnumbered they are, they reluctantly let you pass.
The second time, a larger boat with 6 duergar go past while you're resting on an island. Hemeth considers calling out to them, but in the end, you hunker down and hide behind the large fungus growing there, and they pass by without seeing you.
You spend countless hours in silence. You also use the time to get to know each other better. You tell stories of home, and share jokes and songs. Hemeth tells you more about Gracklstugh.
Finally, Hemeth tells you that tomorrow you'll reach the duergar city. You are camping in a long and narrow cavern, with Abby tied up in placid waters near the entrance. Jimjar is attempting to recreate a fungus stew that Ksenia had showed him, but he doesn't have the dwarf's touch. Kalanzar goes behind a crag of rock that you've been using as the latrine.
Random encounters.
Encounters:
1) Rockfall
2) kuo-toa in a boat
3) 1 grell
4) An island with fungus growing on it is a good place to rest, but duergar in a boat go past
5) Rough current.
Kalanzar
The pause that is required to realize the horror of what he saw may cost Kalanzar his life...
The floating horror drops quickly towards the druid. The drow's night vision, however gives him just enough prior warning to duck aside. The waving tentacles and clacking beak strike the air near his head, shearing a few white hairs, but causing no damage.
From behind the craggy bit of rock that you're all using for privacy while you relieve yourselves, you hear Kalanzar let out a horrified shout.
One evening when work on the ship wasn't necessary and there was a little downtime, as she sat with Dawn in hand Maddy asked the group, "When we get back to the surface, what is the first thing each of you are going to do?"
Maddy was always on edge in the Underdark so when she heard Kalanzar shout, she was on the move with Dawn in hand. "Now's your time to shine, Dawn. We'll need to see what has caused Kalanzar to practically scream in terror."
”Blood o’ me ancestors, what the heck’s happenin’ this time?” Precious swore, startled from his reverie by the sudden scream. After so long on the rocking boat, he had been enjoying solid ground under his feet and had found himself relaxing, despite their unfamiliar and abundantly dangerous surroundings. Thus he was slow to get up, pick up his staff and ready himself for whatever was coming to get them.
"When we get back to the surface, what is the first thing each of you are going to do?"
Hue sits in thought, "Well I have to ge' a missive to my three sisters, don' I?! They hardly worry about me on accoun' tha' I delve for long periods from time tot time. Gotta write them and let them know they should have been worried." A sad look comes over his face. "Then I gotta ge' a new journal and star' all over again. Right back to Acrid Angel Shelf mushroom."
Hue grabbed for the spear, which he's been holding less and less since he found his new bow, and ran towards the noise.
Party really f$#$ing hard, like, enough to make you pass out hard Maddy!
Coming! Hold out! Alexandra grips her power and rushes to Kalanzars aid.
A strange detached thought sweeps through the drow's head, as if all this is not happening to him. If I hadn't been a believer before, I would be one right now. Barely dodging (and probably miraculously escaped a painful death), Kalanzar does the very thing that makes sense in such a situation - rushes to the allies.
After the shout, you see Kalanzar running pell-mell out from behind the privacy nook, back towards the group. As of yet, you can't see what he's shouting about.
Move: Alexandra moves in front of Kalanzar, assuming herself, not without reason, to be sturdier and harder to hit.
Action:
Tentacles? DEATH TO TENTACLES! Alexandra announces as she aims her eldritch blasts at whatever this thing is.
Bonus action:
I think I missed! Maybe its some fake tentacle thing? Or maybe I should aim at the center of mass and not the tentacles? What in the empty night is it anyway? She thinks as she adjusts her blades grip back to 2 handed.
Alexandra moves in front of everybody else, around the "privacy crag" to see a horrid aberration. A floating brain with dozens of barbed, dangling tentacles, and a sharp, clacking beak. She recognizes it as a grell, and knows that the tentacles are venomous.
Her eldritch blast slices through some of the tentacles, which fall, wiggling to the rocky floor.
The grell floats/flies at Alexandra, closing the short distance quickly. The beak snaps and bites at her, but the warlock dodges aside. The tentacles, however, manage a glancing blow across her raised forearm. The barbs pierce her flesh, and she feels to venom burn through her veins.
Its a grell, its tentacles are drugged and it got me, crap!
"I'm coming! I'm coming!" Hue ran forward and tried to duck under Alex's legs, his spear dragged on the ground. When he popped up he found he wasn't quite past her and picked her up on his shoulders for a seconds-worth of awkward piggy-back. He fell forward as Alexandra steadied herself and stepped back. His spear waved around wildly threatening to hit himself, Alex, or a random tenticle. "Wha's tha' abou' poison?!"
Alexandra... Kalanzar sighs. On the one hand, fighting in a narrow aisle is a bad idea. On the other hand, she rushed to save a friend... Drow stops abruptly and immediately runs up to Maddy. May the Dark Goddesses bless you. The scarred stars on Kalanzar's body are illuminated by a faint silver light for a second, and .
”What in ruin is that bleedin’ critter?” Precious groaned aloud as he caught a glimpse of whipping tentacles behind Alex’s and Hue’s bodies. Not that he was sure he even wanted to know the answer. ”Either fall back or push on! Don’t fight there where it’s just one ‘gainst one!”
Maddy had never heard of a grell but it didn't sound pleasant. The touch of Kalanzar's magic emboldened Maddy with a surety that she could succeed against whatever foe was behind that rock. She smiled her thanks to the druid before quickly moving forward.
Dawn gleefully grew in brightness so Maddy had no trouble seeing where to place her feet. Alexandra and Hue seemed to be blocking the way but Maddy's size allowed her to push her way through.
As soon as the creature came into Maddy's line of sight and within striking distance, she worked in tandem with Dawn to land a blow.
For a moment there was pure chaos. Hue stumbles into and through Alexandra, who was reeling from the grell's attack. Dawnbringer fills the cavern with bright light, and Maddy bulls her way past both her friends to attack. Hue's spear and Maddy's sword slash and stab at the aberration, and sickly yellow fluid drips from the wounded brain.
However, it seems not to recognize the danger it's in, and instead of retreating, it continues the attack. It clacks its beak and lashes its tentacles at Hue, but the stumbling halfling accidentally avoids being injured by either.
Hue
It was like Hue couldn't control his feet. For a moment he was caught between Maddy and the tentacled thing trying with all his might not to get his spear tangled. He swiped out and bounced off it's beak, his spear came back, Alex parried it, Hue slipped, he used the spear butt as a crutch to right himself, he lunged, the butt got caught under Maddy's foot, he yanked it free and found himself pressed against the wall having done no damage.
He watched in wonder as a great wound opened up on the creatures other side from a blow he made nearly six seconds ago.
Usually Maddy planted her feet and slashed with her sword until the threat was dead; however, Hue was making that more difficult. The halfling seemed to be underfoot and flailing around like a whirlwind all at once.
She felt like she was pushed off balance when Hue yanked his spear from under her foot. As she fell forward, the creature dodged right into Dawn's blade cutting deeply in a way that Maddy couldn't have orchestrated on her own.
Alexandra for her part was happy to let the melee people melee, retreats and fires some eldritch flame at the thing
Scoring a not all that fatal hit.
As Alexandra backed away from the aberration, launching a barrage of magic at it, Precious used the opportunity to close in, swinging his enchanted staff, but the glaring light of Dawn’s unsheathed blade made him squint his eyes and his stumbled during his charge, coming uncomfortably close to spearing Maddy in the side with his staff before he managed to find his balance.
Kalanzar, unable to squeeze through, prays for everyone who is fighting now .
Precious
Dawn cries out, "Die in the light, you fiend, you horror!" As if guided by Dawn's righteous anger, Maddy swings savagely, carving a large chunk out of the floating brain. The aberration, pushed nearly to the ground, lunges out at the nearest leg, in this case, Precious's. The beak catches on his raggedy clothing, but the tentacles rake across his flesh, leaving angry-looking welts behind.
Precious grimaced in anticipated pain as the strange beast’s tentacle raked his flesh but, surprisingly, that wasn’t the case. In fact, his wounded leg didn’t feel much like anything. Almost as…
His eyes widened in horror as he realized the numb feeling he was only becoming aware of was spreading! His leg seemed to freeze in place, causing him to stumble and fall on the ground, his staff falling as he had to catch himself with his hands before he smacked his head on the stone floor, and by the time he managed to reflexively look back at his legs he realized he had lost all feeling below his waist… and the wave of cool nothingness predated by a tingling, itching, burning feeling was creeping steadily upwards.
”Oh, bugge-“ was as far as he could get before his jaws seized and his leaden tongue froze in place.
Kalanzar rushes forward, pushing through his comrades and pulls the dwarf out of the mess
Hue tried to lung forward again, only the butt of his spear hit the ground and whirlwind over the back of his hand. He grabbed it to stop it from spinning and lunged again only to discover the spear was backwards and he bopped the creature harmlessly with the wrong end.
Invigorated by Dawn's light and devastating blade, Maddy adjusted her grip slightly to give herself leverage for another two-handed blow.
She saw Precious seize out of the corner of her eye and it took all her will to not shrink back from the creature's beak and tentacles. As crushing as it would be for her to become paralyzed, it would be worse to just give up now. The others were counting on her as their protector.
Kalanzar drags the stiff Precious out of harms way, but the harm is soon destroyed by Maddy and Dawn. The grell, stabbed through by the glowing sword, falls to the ground with a wet splat.
Kalanzar is trying to give first aid to Precious. He takes out some pieces of moss and mushrooms that he has been collecting all this time and tries to help the dwarf cope with the poison.
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Maddy bit off a victorious cry as the grell lay motionless on the ground. "Nicely done, Dawn! If I could high five a sword without losing my fingers, I would. We make a great team."
The young woman, trusting in the others to take care of Alexandra and Precious, raised Dawn a little higher to look for further danger in the dark. Maybe the grell hadn't been alone. Better to make sure it was safe than be sorry.
Hue stood up straight and brushed himself off regaining what little poise he had after that wild display. He watched Maddy and backed her up and he investigated the cave under light of sword for and scrapes of markings. She was keeping them safe and he was going to do the same for her.
Moments seemed to stretch into a small eternity as Precious found himself captive inside his own body before feeling slowly began to return, chasing a wave of pins and needles – uncomfortable, true, but welcome after a while of not feeling anything at all.
”Gah- Uh- Damn,” the dwarf manage to mutter, after first biting the inside of his cheek before full control of his body returned. ”That was damn right embarassin’,” he muttered, then proceeded to rub some feeling back into his extremities, feeling very much relieved that the moment of helplessness was indeed passing – for a while there he had been worried it might last ancestors knew how long. ”Thank ye fer draggin’ me bacon outta the fire,” he said to Kalanzar. ”I dunno know what that blasted thing was, but I do know I ain’t in a hurry to meet the rest o’ its family.”
Empty night that stuff is like... Much less enjoyable then some other things that result in the same condition. The actual damage is fairly superficial.
She pauses
I should be mostly good in a minute or so
Kalanzar taps the dwarf on the shoulder. Everything breathes death here, but this time we were lucky. Smiling, he goes to help Alexandra.
The danger over, Hemeth pokes his head above Abby's gunwale - he had retreated to the boat in his terror. Crawling cautiously over the gunwale, he said, "You've killed it, then? Good. Ugh. I cannot wait to be back in the civilized lands of Gracklestugh."
The rest of the night passes uneventfully, and in the morning you eagerly hop into Abby for what is meant to be the last time. The water you're travelling over opens up into another proper lake, or even underground sea. The ceiling is lost to darkvision overhead. But after a few hours, you see a dull red glow far ahead of you. "Home!" Hemeth sighs with relief. You all pick up the pace with your paddling, sensing safety, well - relative safety, ahead.
As you approach the red glow of the city, you think on what Hemeth has told you about the duergar city, known to many as the City of Blades.
The eternally burning smelters fuel the city's metal works, and as a result of the industry there, Gracklstugh has become a bastion of civilization in the Underdark, with active trade routes. It is ruled by the Deepking, whom all duergar look to with respect. Best of all, the duergar are no friends to the drow.
However, they're not friendly with any other race. They will be expected to stay in the Darklake District, which is the only area open to non-duergar. Every other district is off limits to outsiders. Even within Darklake District, they will find few friends. Hemeth recommends the Ghohlbrorn's Lair, as the only inn devoted to outsiders. "There are merchants, mercenaries and other foreigners there who can possibly offer information about travelling to the other places you mentioned; Neverlight Grove, Blindingstone, or maybe even to the surface."
After everything that Hemeth had told them about Gracklstugh, Maddy was nervous about how hostile the city seemed to be to outsiders. This was precisely why Maddy preferred to be alone with the animals in the wilderness. So much more peaceful than anywhere in the Underdark.
She longed to get back to the surface but had made a promise to Stool and Jimjar. She needed to see them home before she could leave the Underdark.
Now that they were approaching the city, Maddy had a few additional questions for Hemeth. "Do you have any contacts in the Darklake District that we can go to for help?"
"Now that I have Dawn and my grandfather's greatsword, I have a few extra weapons. Are you willing to buy the extra weapons like the scimitar I still have?"
You greys are famous for slave labor. How and for what can a visitor of the city become a slave?
"Wha' abou' a fence in town??? Is there someone 'we' can sell to? Aaaaaand, is there another way for us to make money? A ... a kinda job board?"
”Gracklstugh, eh…” Precious grunted, smelling the familiar scents of burning coal and oil, the perfume of molten metal poured into molds, seeing sparks among the clouds of black smoke. He could imagine the sweet ringing of water-powered hammers beating at sheets of steel… yet the city was one ruled by dark dwarves – notoriously distrustful of outsiders… and none more than their surface-living kin. He would not have much fun in the city, he feared, and decided to raid Hemeth’s storage once more for a cloak with a hood, before realizing his antlers would make that disguise as useless as useless got. Besides, his copper-colored beard and hair would be a dead giveaway, and he didn’t even have soot to try and stain it.
Guess he’d just have to mind his own business and hope the locals took him for a rogue. ”Hope yer kin won’t take too badly fer one of their surface cousins,” he grunted, not feeling too hopeful. After all, any druergar that stumbled into a mountain dwarves’ hold uninvited would quickly find himself in chains and subjected to some very pointed questions about his origins and intentions.
Hemeth laughed at Maddy's question. "I have an entire hold of weapons I wasn't able to sell at Sloobludop. And now I've spent the better part of three weeks returning, lacking profit. I'm not in the market for more weapons."[b]
Turning to Hue, he said, [b]"I don't know much about what goes on in Darklake District. I'm sure at the inn I told you about, you'll be able to find information about a fence. As for legal jobs, I've no idea."
To Kalanzar, he said, "If you don't want to become a slave, keep your head down, don't stray from Darklake, and don't stay long. And definitely don't disrespect the Deepking."