Eclipsed Faith

Game Master bigrig107

"No shoulders.. brrr."

Shaggar hrmphs. ”She has shoulders… they are just less.” He looks up at the gallerok. ”Do not be concerned; he envies you. Come down when you are ready.”

"Looks like someone's overcompensating for something,"

The gnoll considers her words… an exercise hampered by him having no idea what ‘overcompensating’ could mean in this context. To simplify matters, he assumes Ari must be referring to Rutilux. ”And you,” he says to Ari, ”may rise when you are ready. I will put on tea.”

Rutilux can’t be sure if what happens next is the croco-snake’s instinctive action OR if it is getting a little payback for his comments.

In either case, the gallerok releases its grip and slides off the rafter. It doesn’t do a stately crawl down the post. Instead, it drops into mid-air and flares its smallish shoulders and hips until it resembles a heavy, scaled, and toothed ribbon. It float-flies across the room, landing by the front door.

Glide

Shaggar looks on the creature with admiration, "Is that not wondrous?"

"Oh sweet Selune preserve me, it's airborne" He makes a warding gesture normally reserved for the evil eye "Let's just get on with fighting harpies and undead. Those are much less frightening."

Sasha and Pheliks sleep soundly, cuddled together to ward off the cool damp and apparently unconcerned by the rest of the party's restlessness overnight.

In the morning they are the last to wake, only stirring when the shouting begins. Both look about silently, waiting to see if they need to engage with anything and then deciding that they don't. With simultaneous yawns the two close their eyes and roll into each other more closely, waiting for the drama to settle down.

At the smell of tea and the idea of breakfast they finally rise, looking about with blurry, sleepy eyes and a smile at their newest party members. "Good morning, everyone. I'm going to take just a moment to wake up, but then we can get started," announces Sasha with a smile as she steps out the door to find a place to relieve herself in privacy and begin her day.

"Morning, Sasha. Morning, Pheliks," The merchant son greets them. He enjoys his morning repast such as it is, keeping away from the 'snake adjacent' creature, but making less of a fuss of it now that he's had time to settle his nerves.

He'll be ready to go when they are but for now waits patiently, taking out the half staff that's been so useful and looking it over. If only I had the whole thing.

"There's a certain grace to it," Ari agrees, watching the gallerok descend. At least she knows the creature is Shaggar's... friend? pet ? ally? She recalls her first encounter with Pheliks, far from impressed not knowing whether she was about to get raked to death by an enormous cat. She knows now, though she struggles to get her head round the blind-spot most people seem to have where their animals are concerned.

"And tea would be great, thanks." She throws on her clothes quickly enough but Ari double checks her weapons, making sure that her full complement of knives are where they should be. By the sound of it, it will be unlikely that she'll get through the day without drawing one.

Returning, she takes a cup of what the gnoll has brewed. Cradling it in both hands, she asks, "I'm not sure I was entirely awake but did you say that we will also be freeing her people from the troglodytes?" She gestures subtly with her head towards the serpent. "Sahalya - is that right?" she asks, shaping her tongue around the new name. While she is used to being mistreated by others, both passive-aggressively and with just plain aggression, Ari has never liked the disrespect that comes from not choosing to use a creature's name properly. Definitely easier than Sshzsshh at least. She lifts a hand to plump up her hair. The hand shows no visible sign that the firestar was ever there, or of the bond between them. Given her views on people and their pets, the irony of what she has just done for another creature is not lost on her.

The gnoll pours another cup of tea and hands it Ari. ”The gallerok are like… hm, ‘guard dogs’ for the troglodytes. IF there are more, I would like to free them. But it may not be possible if they are loyal to their masters.”

”Sahalya is my only ally. If I were stronger, I think I could what’s-the-word... sway other gallerok. But that time is not now. And I don’t know if Sahalya can influence them.” Shaggar sips his tea and briefly imagines what may be possible when his emerging talent is more potent. He’s fairly certain he could be roving these strange corridors with four gallerok slithering around him, slipping into and out of their minds with ease. Coordinating their actions, aligning them to a single will. What will that be like?

He abruptly dismisses the reverie. Wishful thinking is a human pastime; he is a gnoll. ”Tomorrow is tomorrow. Today, we must see the gallerok as enemies until we learn what is possible.”

The halfling humphs, then sighs "Well, they certainly don't deserve Trog collars. No one does." But he does not scoot closer to Sahalya either.

Kiley does not sleep easily. She tosses and turns through most of the night, only calming shortly before the other wake. As she gets ready to face another day down here in the Underdark she tries her best to act normally, but the others can see how tense she's become in her movements an the way her attention focuses on unexpected sounds and movements. What they do not see is the nightmare replaying over and over in her mind, one brought about by Lucina's ill-fortuned fate.

With everyone finally up, dressed, and fed, there seems little point in delaying matters. He rubs the still-clotting wound along his ribs. He looks to the healer, ”Sasha, are you prepared to heal me or should I use the magic… stick?”

Shaggar is down 16HP.

The gnoll glances towards the gnome, "The nose ointment? It is in troglodyte territory?"

Sasha considers Shaggar carefully before laughing at his joke. She had healed him (and the others) considerably the night before and was only just now fresh on her divine magic.

As discussed in Discord, DM allowed this to be completed the previous night.

She's not usually one for motivational speaking but looking at Kiley and the way the woman is shrinking into her already petite frame, the other tiefling decides that may be what is required. Given they're about to venture into enemy territory it would be in everyone's interest to have her mind focused and in the right place. As Shaggar is busy with the practical preparations, Ari sighs inwardly and saunters over to Kiley. "So," she says lightly, "is it the thousand tons of rock up above or the promise of troglodyte fragrance that has you longing for the fresh air of the surface?"

Kiley jumps at Ari's voice and relaxes when she sees it's the other teifling.

"Neither," she says. Not wanting to burden the others with her own fears and insecurities, she hesitates as she tries to think of something more to say than the terse one-word response. "I-I'll be alright," she adds with a pathetic attempt at a smile.

Ari rolls her eyes. "You're about as convincing as an ogre in a noblewoman's dress. You can keep your secrets, that's your call," she says. "But you do need to eat." With that, shaking her head at the fact she's found herself playing nursemaid, Ari strides over to the kettle and pours a cup of Shaggar's brew. She returns with it and a hastily plated pile of food, gingerly placing the cup into Kiley's two shaking hands. "Eat, if you can. A good hearty meal is the best - well, perhaps second best -" she smiles slyly, "way to start the morning."

She looks intently at the other tiefling, waiting for her to meet her gaze. "Whatever it is you need to do to get through today, you do it," she says firmly. Then, more gently. "You've got a good voice, why don't you sing to keep your spirits up? Keep all our spirits up - this is a peculiarly miserable sort of place. Probably not if we're trying to sneak up on trogs, but you know what I mean. I fancy your knowledge of bawdy tavern ballads is a little lacking but I bet you've got some rousing battle songs and odes to Selûne you can deploy."

Kiley winces as her bluff is called. Still, a part of her wonders what Ari means by second best way to start the morning before deciding that she doesn't need to pile embarrassment on top of her fears and grief. The nightmare had reopened wounds that still feel raw and ragged even after two years and more. She gratefully takes the cup and the plate and puts something in her belly to help cheer her up. She feels a little better after the meal, though she finds Ari's softer side a little strange after getting to know her.

"A lot a bit lacking, actually," Kiley says softly in regards to her knowledge of bawdy tunes of any sort really. "I'm not sure if I could lift anyone's spirits right now. What--what happened to Lucina brought back some bad memories, the kind that give you nightmares for life."

Rutilux can see that Ari and Kiley are chatting, of course, but eavesdropping beyond that seems rude. So he eats, works on dwarf translations and plays with dancing lights.

Unlike Rutilux, to Shaggar if a conversation is public, it is fair game to listen. The Bedine wisdom is that what is said in a tent is private and you must pretend not to hear it. But anything said before the tribe is public. So, even as he prepares for the journey ahead, his intrudes into the conversation. ”I know one! I heard a bawdy sailor song once. After it was explained to me, yes, it is inappropriate.”

"Yeah, I get that," the tiefling says, surprisingly sympathetically. "We've all got ghosts that follow us round." Then, with rather more tough love, "Would be nice if we had the luxury of being someplace more comfortable and with time to deal with it. But we don't. So unless you want to wait here - which I assume you don't - you're going to need to get your head straight."

Ari turns to look at the gnoll, raising an eyebrow. "Where did you hear a sailor's song? I thought you didn't believe in the sea?" she teases.

Shaggar sniffs. ”The Bedine trade with outsiders at times. The fellow said he was a… troubadour. I’m sure his tale was that of a sailor from a boat on a lake, naturally. Seas are fiction.”

"Oh we've GOT To get Shaggar West of Baldur's gate sometime," Rutilux WAS staying out of it but really he wants to see the look on the gnoll's muzzle after a few days sailing on the Sea of Swords

"It's not the one Baldur's Gate sits on, and it's a bit of a disservice to call it such, but the Sea of Fallen Stars is an inland sea so I suppose you could claim that it's a really, really big lake," Ari says. "Regardless, be a sweetheart and sing it for me." She flutters hers eyelids in an exaggerated fashion.

The gnoll chuffs. He rather likes Ari's bravura and he'd never actually sang before so it would be an interesting challenge.

He mulls it, trying to remember the words and cadence of the tune. He clears his throat and his clawed foot begins rapping out the steady rhythm - good for repetitive work on a boat he supposes.

Improbably… in an abandoned tavern, in a ravaged dwarf stronghold, miles below the surface of the world, a gnoll starts to sing…

Hey HO! Ohhhhh, I’m a flinty sea-dog…

Cuz I’m a FLINTY sea-dog – Hey Ho!
Cuz I’m a flinty SEA-DOG – Hey Ho!
Cuz I’m a flinty sea-dog – HEY HO!

The gnoll delivers an absolute tour-de-force of horrendous, off-key, and piss-poor singing… but he maintains the tempo admirably.

Sing Sea Shanty (untrained): 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (2) - 1 = 1

Singing might be a stretch to describe the way Shaggar growls his way through the sea shanty, but Ari manages to keep the wince off her face as she chuckles at the bawdy lyrics. "Well thank you," she says, "that was quite something."

She turns back to Kiley. "I'm not sure the world is ready for a duet between the two of you yet, so I'm going to leave it to you to sing as the mood takes you. However, it would be rude of me not to return the favour."

She grins and clears her throat. "This is an old one, used to be quite famous as I understand it. It's called 'Elminster's Jest'."

Perform (sing): 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 2 = 9

With that Ari begins:

"There was a knight who longed to wield a more impressive lance
To carry into battle, and to aid him with romance.
A wizard overheard the knight and granted his request.
The knight at first was overjoyed to see how he was blessed."

"Hey there, ho there,
A lesson's coming through:
Be careful what you ask for-
For your wishes may come true."

She's not a singer either, beyond joining in with campfire songs, usually after a drink or three, so Ari stops there. "Always leave them wanting more - that's what an elven minstrel once told me," she says. "I'll teach you the rest later, my treat."

The halflng's eyebrows lift and eyes widen for a moment as Shaggar... uhm.. sings. He schools his features quickly.

Singing might be a stretch to describe the way Shaggar growls his way through the sea shanty, but Ari manages to keep the wince off her face as she chuckles at the bawdy lyrics. "Well thank you," she says, "that was quite something."

Rutilux agrees, "Can't deny it wasn't something, quite the something." And he adds to show support, "Very Enthusiastic"

Then Ari begins to sing. This song he's heard and it brings a smile to his face for that sake. Well, you can tell none of us are worshiping Milil

She's not a singer either, beyond joining in with campfire songs, usually after a drink or three, so Ari stops there. "Always leave them wanting more - that's what an elven minstrel once told me," she says. "I'll teach you the rest later, my treat."

"The right drinks can be quite the muse." He says "Course, I got oer mused one evening and ended up with the shade of an oil lamp as a hat one morning so.." A chuckle "The muse isn't always on my side."

Sasha listens, eyes wide and a grin on her face, while Pheliks rolls over and covers his ears with his paws. The pair couldn't react more obviously to the songs if they tried, though neither makes a move to share their own songs or discuss the tunes performed by their friends.

Kiley shakes as she tries to suppress a fit of laughter. Shaggar she half-expected to be a horrid singer, but Ari was nearly as bad. If nothing else, the impromptu concerto was enough to lift her spirits a bit.

Perform(Sing): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (11) + 6 = 17

"I'm not sure if I can match yours and Shaggar's magnificent performances, but I suppose fair's fair and I owe you two a song," she manages to get out between giggles. Once she's managed to calm a bit, she starts to sing.

Troll sat alone on his seat of stone,
And munched and mumbled a bare old bone;
For many a year he'd gnawed it near,
For meat was hard to come by.
Done by! Gum by!
In a cave in the hills he dwelt alone,
And meat was hard to come by.

Up came Tom with his big boots on.
Said he to Troll: "Pray, what is yon?
For it looks like the shin o' my nuncle Tim,
As should be a-lyin' in graveyard.
Caveyard! Paveyard!
This many a year has Tim been gone,
And I thought he were lyin' in graveyard."

"My lad," said Troll, "this bone I stole.
But what be bones that lie in a hole?
Thy nunclе was dead as a lump o' lead,
Afore I found his shinbonе.
Tinbone! Thinbone!
He can spare a share for a poor old troll,
For he don't need his shinbone."

Said Tom: "I don't see why the likes o' thee
Without axin' leave should go makin' free
With the shank or the shin o' my father's kin;
So hand the old bone over!
Rover! Trover!
Though dead he be, it belongs to he;
So hand the old bone over!"

"For a couple o' pins," says Troll, and grins,
"I'll eat thee too, and gnaw thy shins.
A bit o' fresh meat will go down sweet!
I'll try my teeth on thee now.
Hee now! See now!
I'm tired o' gnawing old bones and skins;
I've a mind to dine on thee now."

But just as he thought his dinner was caught,
He found his hands had hold of naught.
Before he could mind, Tom slipped behind
And gave him the boot to larn him.
Warn him! Darn him!
A bump o' the boot on the seat, Tom thought,
Would be the way to larn him.

But harder than stone is the flesh and bone
Of a troll that sits in the hills alone.
As well set your boot to the mountain's root,
For the seat of a troll don't feel it.
Peel it! Heal it!
Old Troll laughed, when he heard Tom groan,
And he knew his toes could feel it.

Tom's leg is game, since home he came,
And his bootless foot is lasting lame;
But Troll don't care, and he's still there
With the bone he boned from its owner.
Doner! Boner!
Troll's old seat is still the same,
And the bone he boned from its owner!

"There you go!" Ari says with genuine enthusiasm. "I knew you had it in you. With due respect, you're not exactly a natural showman, but that can be worked on. And frankly if your voice is good enough then people will stop and listen anyway. Based on the last few minutes, I don't think you've any real competition here." She considers giving Kiley a friendly slap on the back but refrains, not wanting to overstep when she has started to cheer up a bit.

"Right. Now we've come up with new ways of either charming the trogs or scaring them off, are we all ready to go? Do we have the information we need?" she asks, mostly directed towards Shaggar as he had been conversing with the deep gnomes.

"Well, I'm not trying a tune as a follow up to THAT lovely bit" The halfling chortles "And ready when you folks are I suppose."

"Same here, and don't worry Ruti. We'll let you sing first next time," Kiley says with a grin.

While she seems a little better, it's still clear that all is not well with Kiley. While the Underdark's oppressive atmosphere has something to do with it, mostly it is remembering the horrible night her parents and everyone else in their manor were murdered by the Zhentarim and imagining all of them turning into undead. The necromancer wouldn't even have to do it based on Lucina's fate, and her parents had died just as horribly as the priestess had.

I pray their souls are at peace and with Selune. I--I don't know what would happen if I learned they were suffering like Lucina had been.

"You may regret that offer," He jokes.

"Regret assumes that I'm not looking forward to teasing you about it." Kiley grins, looking a lot like a cat for a moment.

Rutilux is caught off guard by that, then grins back, "Okay, well played."

enacting reactivation sequence

With the morning discussion over, you pack up what little you have that counts for your camp in this strange place and make the move to reenter the city proper. Gurnik leads you deeper into the maze of buildings clustered together, the ever-present bright white light illuminating the space above you and filtering down to ensure you never are in darkness.

"Beautiful morning for a stroll, don't you think?" your gnome guide jokes, trying to lighten the mood a bit in this cramped but too bright place deep underground.

A large dwarven statue nearly three stories tall stands on the southern end of a supporting column, impressing you with just how much work must have gone into carving it out from the stone long ago. The statue faces down a long open break in the buildings, forming a sort of roadway until it reaches a heavy metal brass gate nearly as tall as the statue itself. The gate looks important and well-crafted, probably sealing off another district of the city to the south.

Gurnik pays it no mind, instead weaseling his way through one of the side passages into another cluster of buildings. Signs here and there denote what they used to be, the paint having not faded since there is no sun to do so. There's a cartographer's shop, a scribe, an artist's studio, an herbalist, and even a barber!

The most interesting part of this hallway, however, are the four butchered corpses of the troglodytes that fled from the fight last night. Gurnik gasps loudly in shock as you round the corner onto the gruesome scene, the walls and floor splashed with dried blood.

Sasha and Pheliks wake slowly and groggily, but they're ready to go by the time the rest of the party is. Following Gurnik and keeping a watchful eye for danger, Sasha looks longingly at the ceiling of the cavern, as if trying to see the night sky through the tons of rock between them. "I miss the stars, Pheliks," she says to her companion.

Pheliks doesn't respond in any noticeable manner, though Sasha sighs as if she hears him speak comforting words to her.

In the quiet of the dead city Sasha's appreciative whistle at the sight of the massive statue sounds out of place and alien. She grimaces after doing it and mouths, "Sorry..." before continuing more quietly. Looking at the signs she nods thoughtfully before stopping at the sight of the dead troglodytes. "Pheliks, watch and warn us if something comes..." she orders. Then, looking at the trog bodies carefully she says, "I was never any good at mundane healing, and I think these are past the veil. Can anyone tell what happened to them?"

The gnoll moves closer to examine the nearest body. He can’t speak to how they died, but the obvious choices were few. ”If this is not a lizardman warning, then it is the price they paid for failing.”

Heal DC10+: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7

"Beautiful morning for a stroll, don't you think?" your gnome guide jokes, trying to lighten the mood a bit in this cramped but too bright place deep underground.

"Yeah, I guess we got lucky given how changeable the weather is down here," Ari replies.

The gnoll moves closer to examine the nearest body. He can’t speak to how they died, but the obvious choices were few. ”If this is not a lizardman warning, then it is the price they paid for failing.”

Heal DC 10+: 1d20 ⇒ 15

Ari moves next to Shaggar to take a look at the bodies. "They certainly paid a price," she agrees. "You don't need to be working at the Healing House to see that something was planning on having them for breakfast." She points out the bite marks and the other rends in the bodies. "Or dinner, anyway - they're not that fresh. Probably died last night, though it would appear they weren't tasty enough to finish." The lightness of tone contrasts with the grimness of the bloody corpses.

"I think we could classify this as a dark cloud getting ready to ruin your beautiful morning," she says to Gurnik.

Heal: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (19) - 1 = 18

Seeing that Ari is right, Kiley pulls out her bow and looks about for any potential threaats.

"We should probably move quietly until we're somewhere safer," she says.

Perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (4) + 8 = 12

Doesn't seem to be any direct threats in the area, but now that Shaggar is closer, he can see that there are tracks leading through the pools of blood. The blood and tracks have long since dried, but are easy enough to follow on the relatively clean carved stone floor.

Strangely, however, there seems to be a unique pattern that Shaggar has extensive experience with. The same stuttering, clawed foot prints that you saw in the mud above ground, in what seems to be such a long time ago, are here as well. A couple of prints step through the blood before disappearing and then reappearing a few steps later. The trail itself ultimately ends up leading directly into in the stone wall at the end of the corridor before ending.

Drew a red arrow indicating the trails' path.

Rutilux wipes some dust off his garb, and lets the others take the lead. Per Kiley's suggestion , he tries to move quietly.

Stealth: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (19) + 6 = 25

Sasha notices Shaggar tracking and directs Pheliks to aid the gnoll with a gesture. The big cat immediately finds the tracks and together the two identify where the party could go if they wanted to follow the trog-killers.

For her part, she finds a spot near the middle of the group, quietly looking around with an apprehensive expression.

Stealth: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (14) + 1 = 15

IIRC, the ‘phasing’ prints are from the Barghest. Let me know if I’m mis-remembering.

”So, the barghest passed through yester eve. We are on the right path.” As for the strung-up corpses, gnoll-logic is more nuanced. The bodies are both ominous and encouraging. Four less troglodytes to fight, but there may be a strong leader keeping the rest in line. They may not run so easily next time.

If anything, the dead indicate the need to complete their sidequest. Shaggar dismisses the barghest’s trail from consideration for the moment. Dried blood wasn’t going anywhere. He glances at the gnome. ”Gurnik. The nose ointment – which direction?”

Sasha notices Shaggar tracking and directs Pheliks to aid the gnoll with a gesture.

FWIW, I’m not tracking anything at the moment.

Got nothing to add, so ready to move on.

"We should probably move quietly until we're somewhere safer," she says.

Stealth: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (14) + 8 = 22

Nodding silently in agreement, Ari pulls up her hood, pushing back her white mane of hair, and quietly makes for the shadows.

I made an assumption based on the DM's post that Shaggar was using his tracking skills to find details that weren't addressed in the original scene-setting post.

Sasha looks thoughtful at Shaggar's pronouncement and optimistic tone, but shrugs and nods at his suggestion that they be prepared with the ointment and get ready to move onward, deeper into the underground city.

Shaking his head and avoiding any glance towards the ripped apart trog bodies, Gurnik carries on down the alleyway towards the gnome's territory. He's much more reserved and less talkative after encountering the scene of the slaughter, not joking as sarcastically as before.

He takes you to the edge of the tall wall that made up the northern part of the hallway, and you can see through a side alley into part of what looks to be an auditorium of some sort. A carved stone stage sits in front of it, but you can't see much more before Gurnik carries on past it. Finally, after squeezing down a smaller passageway, you emerge into another long hallway, with plenty of light and space to see a wide distance on either side. Gurnik makes his way over to a door with a sign over it denoting it as the former stonemason's guild and knocks in a specific pattern: three quick knocks followed by two longer knocks before the door opens.

A strange acrid smell wafts over the party before you can see what's inside, but quickly you see that what used to be a meeting hall has been completely transformed into a makeshift alchemy lab. Strange alchemical apparatus sits on nearly every table, and several of the benches have been pushed out of the way for brewing cauldrons and large metal pots full of boiling liquids of varying states.

"Ah, here we are. The laboratory." Gurnik announces proudly, ushering you in before shutting the door quickly behind the group. "Can't be too careful, that Black Hunger of the trogs might be around at any point, whatever the thing actually is. We'll give you the ointment and any other help we can gather and get you going in the right direction."

"Why this looks down right impressive," Rutilux smiles as he glances about. Resources are good. You can bargain for them, and where there is bargaining, there's a chance of prospering, or at least staying alive.

Following quietly and staying close to Pheliks, Sasha makes her way with the others to the alchemical lab and nods in appreciation as she wrinkles her nose at the smell. "Impressive, but smelly," she complains with a smile. "I can see why it works, though. Hard to be bothered by the trogs when this smells so strongly too..."

She then waits patiently for Gurnick to provide her with some applications of the ointment and tries not to think about the 'Black Hunger' he mentioned...that probably ate the trogs they just saw...

"Worse than an ogre's boudoir," Ari agrees, also wrinkling her nose. "But preferable to ending up as dinner I suppose."

She dips her fingers in the ointment, eyeing up the stinking unguent with distaste. "How much do we need?" she asks Gurnik. "I'd prefer not bathing in the stuff unless I have to."