Content warning: actual dialogue from the gameplay, until an set of friends make an appearance.
"Listen, you little maggot! I want to know how you got your collar off, right now... or you'll find there are far worse things than being a slave!"
"N-no! No! I don't care what you say! I w-won't be a slave any more!"
Damiondred nodded slightly as he stepped through. Quietly, feet shuffled around him, and as he flicked his fingers Viconia quietly started to pray.
"Well, if that's the way you -" The splint-armored figure shook the rag-clad gnome a few times before one of the hooded figures in blue reached out to take him by the shoulder.
"T'rael! Hold! Others have come through the portal!"
"What? Others? Ah... the primes. How foolish of you to have followed your actor friends here." He dropped the gnome, who crawled a few feet away an curled into a ball, hands over his head. "Von'ith, close the portal, please. Heh, do you have any idea at all where you are, primes?"
Damiondred puffed out his cheeks, tapping the shaft of one arrow against his shoulder as he looked thoughtful. "Not really... just came through for a bit of sight-seeing, really."
"You idiot prime. This place is one of the finest prisons in the planes." The splint-armored hunter sneered, incredulous, and the archer couldn't blame him. He could almost see Edwin rolling his eyes, despite the fact that the conjurer was invisible and probably carefully halfway across the room by now. "There is no way out of here... except at the whim of the cambion. What fools you must be to come here of your own volition. No matter. I expect you'll bring a grand price from the cambion as new thralls. Hunters, take th-!"
Blessed silence, thought the archer as he turned sharply to the side to start soundlessly launching arrows into the closest of the snake men. Viconia, having become visible with the completion of her spell, set herself defensively while the three visible melee combatants charged towards the bhaalspawn and ran into her instead. Damiondred expected Hexxat to appear behind the closest of the casters until he felt a slight shift in the air beside him. A splatter of blood preceded the appearance of both a halfling and the vampire, and he struggled in her grasp as she kept him in a headlock and finished tearing out his throat.
Damiondred was very glad at that moment that she was on his side.
Still, that left Edwin peppering the one snake man with fire arrows even as regular arrows buried themselves between scales and eventually in its throat as it turned, finally out of the radius of the silence spell and raised its hands to begin casting. Hexxat shifted around to support Viconia, flanking the three that were harrying the drow and splitting their attention while the necromancer completed the second counterspell to disrupt what was being cast behind them. The second snake man hissed at the necromancer until it was forced to throw its arms up to try and protect its face as the conjurer and archer focused their fire on him.
The rest fell easily enough, soon after that, and the group set about looting the corpses. It took a moment, but the gnome eventually approached them.
"I... I thank you, my lord, for your timely rescue. I am afraid I did not give much thought as to what I would do after I removed my collar. It was foolish of me, I suppose, but I would rather be dead than remain enslaved to the cambion forever. There has to be a way out of here somewhere!"
"What do you mean by your collar?" Damiondred conversationally flopped one of the tails towards the gnome, grinning as he squeaked and skittered back a little bit, eyes wide.
"The warden keeps a large number of slaves here... prisoners that have been turned into thralls by a magical collar that they wear that controls them. They are next to impossible to remove. Mine had a small flaw in it, and I was able to squirm out of it not long ago... only to find that there was almost nowhere for me to go, here, and danger down every corridor."
Humming quietly to himself, the bhaalspawn pushed himself to his feet and tilted his head, deciding to try and get whatever information he could out of the clearly skittish gnome. "What was this cambion you mentioned?"
"The cambion? The cambion, here, is the warden of this prison. I know not his true name, but he is a cruel and evil master who delights in the suffering of his thralls. He is a powerful demon as well. You may have defeated his bounty hunters, but if I were you I would find a way out and avoid him entirely."
"Are you sure there isn't a way out of here?" Picking his nails, he frowned down at them as he realized he was getting blisters again. Three months had certainly done a number on the callouses he had built up in the past. He was also pointedly ignoring Edwin's livid glare.
"The only sure way out of this planar prison is through the dark magic of the cambion himself. But I doubt he would transport anyone out of here willingly. There be no physical exit that I know of. The portals lead only to other rooms within the prison, and there are no doors or windows... if there even is an outside to speak of, here. No... the only way one can leave is through the use of magic. Powerful magic that only a few might have, to attract a conduit to this dim and forsaken place."
"Good to know. Do you know where I might find Haer'Dalis and his troupe? Otherwise I have someone with the most powerful magic I've ever seen standing just across the room from me." Edwin's glare wavered as his eyes narrowed at Damiondred's blithe compliment.
"You are friends of the actors?" The gnome fidgeted in place, before mournfully looking back up at the tall bhaalspawn. "Ahh... then you may as well begin mourning them, my lord. They are in the Warden's cells, awaiting transport to Duke Rowan's tower, I am told. The warden is directly north of here, through the hallway... but I would advise against going down that path. You will see on the floor markings that the tanar'ri have left with their magic... portals that transport you to the other rooms in this prison. The ones in the hallway to the north you cannot avoid, and they bring you to the barracks where the warden keeps his personal soldiers and thralls. 'Tis a most dangerous path to take. There is another way to reach the warden... a safer way, perhaps, that may serve your purpose and perhaps mine as well. Might I tell you of it?"
The archer pondered for a moment only to nod as Xzar came up behind him, head canted to the side. "Very well, I'm listening."
"The warden is powerful by himself, true, but he is also protected by the many thralls under his control through the collars they wear. The passage east leads to the chambers of the Master of Thralls... a lesser tanar'ri who holds a device that I know allows him to control the collars. Destroy that device and the thralls are freed. The warden is vulnerable... and I will be able to contact my newly freed friends. Some of them are mages who will teleport us away. As well, the portals on the floors to the east may be avoided... they lead only to other cells, I understand, and are full of naught but violent and dangerous creatures. I-I would not-"
"Kill the Master of Thralls, kill the Warden, and find Haer'Dalis and his troupe seems to be the order of things then. Got it, don't worry your little gnome head about it. On to more important things. " Damiondred waved his hand idly, cutting the gnome off as he turned to Xzar. "Are those what I think they are?"
The necromancer beamed. "Yesss~, yes they aaare~. Only the best for my Leader!"
The bhaalspawn took a page out of Xzar's book, and squealed quietly with glee.
The boots fit just as comfortably as they had the last time he had worn them, though he wasn't sure how they had gotten in the hands of bounty hunters. On further reflection, he thought perhaps they might have been party to Irenicus' successful kidnapping of the bhaalspawn, sister and some of their party, but tried to put it out of his mind. He didn't know how he had known, but he liked to think perhaps that it was the boots that had called to him through the opportunity. He had no proof, of course, but he was starting to understand how faith worked a little better because of it. It was a belief that was felt somewhere in the chest that was only loosely connected to logic, or such was the conclusion he had come to.
He only felt minorly sorry about killing the two thralls that impeded their progress east. There wasn't anything he could do about their current states, and damned if he was going to dick around with their collars as they actively attempted to kill him. He did stop briefly to collect the collars themselves, however, as he did have the beginnings of a plan for them. The next thralls the group crossed paths with gave him the chance to experiment with the concept of momentum and swing, as he swapped the longbow for his brothers sword and took down one of the thrall mages with ease. He even hoisted them up, still impaled on the sword, and let his momentum play out. It was a happy coincidence that he did so, as a large wyvern swooped down from its perch to lash out with its tail, stinger passing clear through the poor human girl and finishing her off.
By then, he was a fair distance ahead of the rest of the party, but adrenaline sung through his veins and everything seemed like it would be oh so easy to kill.
He danced in a circle, leading the beast on a merry little chase as he surveyed the room, grinning as he shifted out of the path of the stinger and bringing the two handed sword down in an overhead chop that just about severed it in one blow. The beast shrieked, recoiling in time to backwing into the path of a freshly peeled and freshly lobbed skull that exploded with an echoing shriek, necromantic energy rippling outwards and tearing through its wings. It landed heavily, and he charged up to draw the two handed sword across its torso, sending scales and a spray of blood flying in an outward ark before Hexxat was able to get the shadow's blade through its hide and into a lung. Viconia slammed the mace across its jaw for good measure, sending the body teetering back and onto the ground with a thump.
He was just about to turn and charge into the next room when Xzar threw an eyeball at him. The splat of it across his side was what got his attention and slowed his stride halfway across the room, drawing his gaze inquisitively to the flailing necromancer.
"Stop! Cease! Desist! Halt! Do not pass go!"
"Oh come on, Xzar, it was one wyvern-"
"Do you want me to help you with your goal? Or do want me to let you turn into your brother." The former Zhent tucked the backs of his wrists against his hips, fingers curled as he struck a pose only to gesture to the direction the archer was heading in. "If the former, then hold I say. If the latter, then by ALL means. As you were."
Damiondred blinked at the necromancer, then at the dead wyvern, and then over at where the rest of his group had assembled. Viconia in particular looked displeased.
"... Nnnope, you're right. You're absolutely right. Thank you. I got, uhh... Carried away there for a moment." Smiling sheepishly, he grounded the point of the sword of chaos and shifted slightly where he stood. "I just, you know... These boots saved my life more times than I can count. I've got a good enough reaction time that, with them, I should be okay, so..."
"So you became drunk on the possible power." Hexxat looked thoughtful, folding her arms. "I have seen it before, with new fledgling spawn. They become excited at the prospect of what they can suddenly do. Do you know how they die?"
Tapping the tip of the sword against the ground, Damiondred sheepishly looked down. "By leaping without looking?"
"Probably by losing track of time in their bloodlust and frenzy and being burned by the sun." The drow frowned at Hexxat as the vampire nodded, only to shake her head and look back at the archer. "What have I always told you?"
"Caution helps you live longer."
"And?" Viconia prompted.
"Leave no witnesses?"
"That is Edwin's advice, Abbil." She smiled nonetheless, and the bhaalspawn smiled sheepishly at her.
They approached the next room with considerably more caution than he had the last one. Which was good, considering the Master of Thralls had two air elementals guarding the passage as he paced restlessly behind them. Periodically, he would tap the butt end of an unusual pronged staff against the ground, and mutter to himself.
"Edwin? Can you get rid of them?"
"(Edwin do this, Edwin do that, Edwin is not the one that got us stuck in an extra-planar prison-!) No, no I cannot. But I can keep them busy. Kill the demon, and with luck they will disappear. I will be locked in mental combat with my summon once I begin, so do not allow me to be disturbed." The conjurer sneered, across the room, before starting to raise his hands and cast. He took a smudge of ash from a pouch and dragged it down to bisect his lower lip, only to then underline each of his eyes with another smudge of ash.
Damiondred nodded as he looked past (through?) the elementals and eased an arrow out of the quiver he wore beside his brothers sword.
"Let's go with our standard tactics, if slightly modified. Xzar will play defense and support for Edwin and keep an eye on the Master of Thralls. If you see him start to cast, counter it. The robes let you cast ridiculously fast, after all. Hexxat, try to assassinate him if you can. You're an ambush predator anyways, so that should be right up your alley. I'll harrass anything that tries to nail... Well, anyone."
"Your arrows will do naught against the windbags." Xzar chewed on a lower lip as Hexxat shook her head, and the archer hummed thoughtfully.
"Fortunately, Edwin will have them both well distracted. Worst case scenario I'll grab my swords and head in. Viconia, do you think it would be better for you to help distract the elementals or take down the big guy?"
"Elementals. I do not move fast enough to get past them, Abbil."
"Everyone knows their jobs then."
They destroyed the orb, then circled back around and took down the mostly dead cambion as it licked its wounds in the middle of a pile of fresh corpses. Of course, they were all utterly choked up by the rampant loss of the lives of those who had fought for their freedom, and promised to use any gear they had on them to the best of their ability to further their own survival. Xzar tucked in to have a nice little snack while Hexxat stripped the corpses for anything useful, both promising to bring any not-yet-dead survivors to Viconia for a patch up before they were sent to the gnome.
Edwin had settled a little off to the side to study his new weapon, the staff that the Master of Thralls had used to summon the pair of air elementals, smirking smugly to himself as he studied its pronged appearance. He was mostly left alone by the group while Viconia idly paced and kept watch, periodically glancing down the hallway that Damiondred had skittered down. He returned after a short period of time, and waved at the rest of the group.
"Come on. We've got our way back to the playhouse. Haer'Dalis is going to travel with us, too. We're all ready to go."
"Just like that?" Edwin stared at the archer, who shrugged and nodded.
"Yeah, just like that."
"(Impossible...!) An inescapable planar prison, and after under an hour we are home free again?"
"I mean, we're not back in Athkatla yet but yeah. Look at Xzar, he's already up and ready to go. Viconia and Hexxat are moving towards the troupe's pod. C'mon, Edwin, have some faith in me." The bhaalspawn grinned before turning to practically skip along and catch up as the conjurer stared after him. A moment of deliberation drew a sigh from the Thavian, before he started to follow. It wasn't long before they said their goodbyes to the troupe, stepped through the portal and then headed out from the Five Flagons Inn.
They bedded down in Mekrath's home, taking the time to get clean, tend to their wounds and pool all the equipment they had taken from the planar prison. They divided it up based on who could use what the most, and Haer'Dalis thanked the party for the melodic chain they gifted him, promising to learn how to play it properly before the weak was out. Viconia almost immediately claimed the large enchanted bath for her own use, trusting the archer to set aside anything she could use for her, and had a good long soak while Edwin picked through the loot for his share and then retreated to the library. Hexxat declared she was going to take some time during the night to hunt and would be back within a few hours, waving and nodding as the archer reminded her that only people who deserved it should be on the menu.
Eventually, it was only Damiondred and Xzar left in the sitting room, packing away the excess supplies into the bag of holding that the vampire's coffin was within. The necromancer broke the silence first, withdrawing a fresh finger bone and a dagger to start carving a rune into one side.
"Your doubt seems to have passed. You feel... Clearer. Like a pond that was disturbed by a distorting rock has finally let the sediment settle at the bottom. It was barely a few days ago that you seemed on the verge of a panic attack."
"I was. I thought about it though, and between it and your advice I found some measure of... I don't know, understanding? I still have questions, though. Is wanting to become a god a cliche?" The archer sorted the last of the ammunition, before scrubbing a hand across his face. "Does it matter if it is? It's the path I'm choosing to walk. Isn't that the important thing? I have this habit, of thinking myself in circles but I lack your wisdom to see when I'm doing this until it's too late, Xzar. So I decided there wasn't much of a point thinking about it and to just sort of go with the flow of things. What's important, right now, isn't what kind of god I want to be now is it. No, what's important is getting Imoen back, and killing Irenicus."
The necromancer nodded slowly, habitually chewing off a piece of gristle he had missed earlier before giving the finger bone an experimental roll. Nodding to himself, he tucked it away and started marking runes on the next one. "Long term goals -are- important, but you are right. Shall I expect my skills to be required once we find the mage?"
"Only if you promise me a front row seat."
If only they knew somewhere that they could sell magical weapons to that might be paying a premium for them, due to night time vampire poaching. Hmm.
The robe of vecna is, Nimloth! It gives you everything the robe of the evil archmagi does but also reduces the casting speed of any and all spells by four. Just wait until they find an amulet of power that reduces casting time by one, thus making pretty much everything an instant cast. Also, Edwin's abysmal wisdom of nine makes him incredibly susceptible to flattery, you're absolutely right on that one. For everything else, only time will tell what other abilities I've given Damiondred. Some will say it's OP, but to them I ask did -you- play the game any other way? I rarely ever used any of the game-given bhaalspawn abilities.
Questions? Comments? Consistency issues?
Leave a message after the tone,
-KD