Chapter Twenty-Seven
A Favor for a Favor
1485 DR / Day 35
The Whorlstone Tunnels, Gracklstugh
Kazimir spent so long staring into the strange abyss of the raucous mesa's ceiling that Nine had already begun the second watch by the time he finally drifted off to sleep. During that time, the wizard heard many whispers but nothing of consequence. Instead, it was a lot of rumor and grumbling about the current state of Gracklstugh.
The only thing the tiefling heard of note was that several citizens of the duergar city were losing faith in their king's rule. His behavior of late was strange. The Deepking made laws that had no correlation to Gracklstugh's current state, for he spent his days locked away in the palace. Furthermore, these strange decrees came through his advisor. But Kazimir failed to see how that information would help their current tasks.
All he wanted to know was where the dragon egg was! And who, ultimately, was behind the assassinations! Unfortunately, it seemed those questions would remain a mystery.
But as the wizard drifted through dream, a familiar sensation washed over him, and even in sleep, he knew he was about to experience a vision. It had been some time since he had had one—not since before the carrion crawler attack, at least. But this time, instead of seeing his companions, Kazimir saw Gracklstugh, and along with it, he felt a crushing weight.
The vision focused on a grand building of stone, the palace, and a throne room. An imposing individual sat upon a seat hewn of black obsidian. The male duergar had a long, braided white beard that fell to his knees and wore a blood-red cape accented by heavy black furs. A jagged three-pronged circlet of iron sat upon his brow. Hunched next to him was a well-endowed female duergar who whispered furiously in his left ear. Her salt-and-pepper hair was tightly braided back, and she wore a shining mithril dress inlaid with many other precious stones. Kazimir thought that strange. Since coming to Gracklstugh, he had learned that such extravagance was most unbecoming of the grey dwarves. Surface dwarves, yes. Duergar, no.
The vision shifted, and Kazimir recognized that he was now wandering through the Whorlstone Tunnels. He came upon a plateaued room filled with many cloaked figures who surrounded an oval-shaped object infused with faerzress. They chanted in a language unknown to him—likely Undercommon—and thus, the wizard could not make out the words. Directly across from the chanting group was another platform that contained a soaring obelisk. It was made of black material of an unknown origin and had many chips and cracks spidering through its otherwise smooth surface.
He then found himself standing before the obelisk. The cloaked figures were gone. He was there, alone. The tiefling peered closely into the shiny black surface, saw his horned reflection, and reached out to touch it. As his hand made contact, the world around him erupted in hellfire, and a sudden bright light encased the entire cavern. Voices called out in confusion and worry, but it was dark. So very dark.
Kazimir woke in a cold sweat and took several mouthfuls of air as he fought to control his racing heart. The wizard stared up at the abyss again in both awe and bewilderment. Never had he experienced a vision so powerful or so detailed.
Many long minutes passed before he was able to drift off again. [1]
. . .
"What do you mean you know where the egg is?" Fraeya demanded as Kazimir shared his visions with the group as they rose and prepared for breakfast.
The tiefling shrugged. "I finally solved the riddle of the chamber. It's like an encyclopedia of Gracklstugh. You just need to let the faerzress know what you are searching for. I saw two things—both of which I have a hunch will help us with these quests." He then explained his visions in grave detail, sure to leave nothing out.
Except for the hellfire.
That he kept to himself.
"How do you know it wasn't just a dream?" Nine asked.
"I know," the wizard said stubbornly.
"So, the egg is in a room with an obelisk, and you think someone foul has the ear of the Deepking," Eldeth surmised.
"I once read a chapbook where an honorable horse lord fell victim to a wizard's dark spell and carried out the whims of a corrupted advisor. I'd say it's not out of the realm of possibility," Zelyra said thoughtfully as she munched on her rations. [2]
"This is reality, not a chapbook," Fraeya snapped.
"Magic can do bizarre things," Kazimir said, supporting the druid's theory. "Perhaps this other duergar has placed some spell of confusion on the Deepking to use him as a pawn. Or…maybe he's just a bad leader."
"One more problem to add to our list! And I still don't see how it is of any help to us," the drow said.
"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bedroll this morning," the tiefling snarked.
"I had a rock digging into my back all night—okay?! Why do I always pick the worst resting places?" Fraeya groaned while wiping a weary hand over her face.
"Why didn't you just get up and move?" Sarith asked. The icy glare Fraeya shot the warrior's way for the untoward comment left the others sniggering.
The companions packed their camp on the raucous mesa and cleared all traces of their passing before moving on. The following tunnel was long and lined with thick patches of fungi, but thankfully the stone floor was clear of overgrowth. As they passed, Zelyra traced her fingertips along the wall and allowed her magic to connect to the fungi.
"Has anyone passed through this tunnel recently?" she whispered in Druidic.
As the whispers and feelings of the fungi flowed through her, Zelyra saw impressions of the same black-cloaked individuals Fraeya and Fargas had followed the day before, always accompanied by the four-legged brain creatures. She could only surmise they regularly patrolled the area. But there was also something else. As Zelyra prepared to remove her hand from the wall, a sudden mental burst struck her. This was a warning, something that even upset the balance of the fungi in the Whorlstone tunnels. A psionic presence, a powerful and dangerous one. The fungi warned the druid to be careful and watchful.
Zelyra hastily relayed that information to Sarith, who passed the warning on to Fraeya through the sending stone.
"Psionic presence?" Fraeya echoed confusedly.
"Could be anything," the warrior replied cryptically. "Be on your guard."
Fraeya quietly relayed Zelyra's warning to Fargas, who paled slightly. He did not know what to make of a 'psionic presence' either, but he certainly did not wish to find it. The pair continued to slowly scout ahead until they came to the first of several offshoot rooms and carefully peered inside. The room was blacker than pitch. Fraeya was forced to utilize her infravision to detect movement inside in the gloom. She recognized the heat signatures of two stout individuals, likely duergar, but the third was much larger and the form unknown to her. She had never seen anything like the large tentacled form which hovered in the center of the room.
Fraeya took a step back and meant to return to the others when a chilled voice spoke to her telepathically. "Are you here to see the master?" it asked.
. . .
As Fraeya and Fargas's companions waited outside in the tunnel, Kazimir quickly grew impatient with the lack of progress. Why did they always have to remain behind while Fraeya and Fargas got the first look? The wizard spotted another chamber further up ahead, perhaps 50 feet from their current position. He looked around amongst his companions before setting his gaze on Sarith. While he did not trust the drow, he could not deny that Sarith's darkvision was keener.
"Psst—Sarith! Want to go check out that next room with me?" Kazimir proposed as he gestured ahead.
"No," the drow deadpanned.
"Why not? Aren't you sick of always being in the back?" the tiefling prodded. "Why do Fraeya and Fargas get to have all the fun?"
"They are our scouts. We should wait for them to return," Sarith answered.
"I will go with you. If you wish," Derendil told Kazimir.
"Thanks, prince. Sarith is just a spoilsport," the tiefling hissed.
Sarith rolled his eyes but otherwise was unphased by the slight.
"I agree with Sarith," Zelyra said. "We shouldn't split."
"It's fifty feet up ahead! What's the worst that could happen?" Kazimir argued.
"Famous last words," Eldeth bit.
"Bad idea," Zelyra said.
"Your funeral," Nine added with an eye roll.
Kazimir shook his head, and against the others' warnings, he and Prince Derendil went ahead. Stool eagerly tried to follow the pair, but Zelyra cut them off.
"Absolutely not," she said sternly.
When the sprout's cap sagged, Rumpadump waddled up to console them.
"Not safe," the juvenile told Stool.
Stool replied, "But I want to help my friend."
Rumpadump sighed through their bond. "The feathered-one is a friend also. Only trying to protect," they insisted.
The tiefling and quaggoth were oblivious to Stool's attempt to follow them, and as they passed the first chamber that Fraeya and Fargas had gone in to investigate, they saw neither scout, so they pressed on. Looking inside, the next room was a small den filled with cots and chests and bookshelves—a barracks of some sort. It was also not empty. Occupying it were five black-cloaked duergar and a swarm of the ugliest creatures Kazimir had ever seen—rats with enlarged, exposed brains. He tried to back-peddle and, in his haste, bumped back into Prince Derendil. The sound instantly alerted their presence to the individuals in the room. The brain-exposed rats chittered agitatedly.
"A half-devil and his quaggoth pet? Who are you, and what are you doing in Scabbard territory?" one of the cloaked duergar demanded in Undercommon as they stood and drew their sword.
"I think we just found the assassins," Prince Derendil whispered anxiously.
The tiefling raised his hands in peace. Though he could not be sure the duergar would understand him in return, he easily read the hostile situation. "Just a mistake. Carry on, boys! We'll be going now."
"Halt—"
Kazimir turned on his heel and fled before the duergar could get out another word.
. . .
Zelyra, Nine, Eldeth, and Sarith elected to move themselves and the sprouts forward to a position between both rooms. But as soon as they passed the first chamber that Fraeya and Fargas had been investigating, they were surprised to see Fargas sprinting out of it while Fraeya followed at a much more careful and less frenzied pace.
"I don't know what it is! But it's bad!" Fargas cried as he reached his companions. "It spoke in our heads and—wait, where's Kazimir and the prince?"
"The mage was tired of being left out of all the fun," Sarith replied apathetically.
Fraeya slapped a hand to her forehead. "Oh, for the love of—"
The drow did not finish the phrase. As she looked ahead, Fraeya saw their wayward wizard companion rushing towards them with Prince Derendil hot on his heels. And closely following them was a stream of black-cloaked guards. Then, almost simultaneously, movement came from the party's back as two duergar and a flying nightmare of eyes and tentacles closed in to flank them.
Nine immediately stiffened upon seeing the aberration. "A mindwitness—created by inserting illithid tadpoles into a beholder. They are smaller but no less dangerous than their parents," she hissed to her companions and fought the urge to immediately draw her bow.
"That's small?" Fargas croaked.
The companions were quickly surrounded and outnumbered. As one of the cloaked figures stepped forward and growled, "You're coming with us," this time, no one argued.
They were led to a less cramped space, a meeting room of sorts, that was sparsely decorated. A small table filled with books and scraps of fish skin was pushed into one corner. And at the center was a depression that had been carefully cultivated into a garden of fungi. Otherwise, four black-cloaked duergar stood huddled around the small table and were in quiet discussion. Once the companions were led into the room, one of the duergar stepped up to greet them. He had a grizzled look and wore an eye patch over his left eye. It was evident he had been through a lot in his lifetime.
"Intruders?" the patch-wearing duergar asked his guards in Dwarvish.
"Found two of 'em sneaking in the barracks," one guard replied.
"State your business," he then demanded in Common, noticing several surface-dwellers among the group.
Zelyra stepped forward and said, "We were looking for missing companions of ours—Balasar and Buppido." Not the exact truth, but also not a lie.
The grizzled duergar folded his arms across his chest. "Aye, I've heard of Buppido, and I don't believe you. Types like him don't have companions."
"It's true! He traveled with us for a time before separating from us outside Gracklstugh," the druid maintained. "We believed our other companion was with him."
The duergar snorted. "Then I'm sorry for your friend."
And with that one statement, the party became very much aware that this group was likely aware of Buppido's experiments. If they were not on their guard before, they certainly were now.
"We're also looking for an egg!" Kazimir abruptly blurted.
"An egg?" the duergar echoed with a raised brow.
Fraeya kicked the tiefling in the foot.
But to the group's surprise, the grizzled duergar suddenly gave them a broad smile that showed each of his rotten teeth. "This wouldn't happen to be a dragon egg, would it? If so…perhaps we can make a deal."
"Depends—do you have it?" Kazimir drawled.
Again, Fraeya cursed him for giving away their secrets so easily.
But the duergar shook his head. "No, we do not. But I know who does. Might I introduce myself—I am Eldgrim. Welcome to the headquarters of the Empty Scabbard Killers."
"The people of Gracklstugh think ye a myth," Eldeth said with raised brows.
"That is what we want them to think," Eldgrim leered. "How else would we get our job done?"
"What sort of deal are you wanting to offer us?" Fraeya asked suspiciously.
"As I am sure you can surmise, we are behind the spike of assassinations within the city. Most—if not all—were members of the Grey Ghosts. For the past several months, we have slowly been making ground in taking their territory to build our own," the assassin explained.
Eldgrim then gestured proudly to the room they were in and proclaimed, "We now hold the entire eastern quadrant of the tunnels! What used to be the Ghost's pathetic garden and safe house is now our headquarters. We slew their two-headed spider pet and alchemist to make room for our own laboratory and barracks. If we continue to push our assault, we should have the northern territories claimed in no time. And I think you can help us with that."
"Why would you boldly declare such damning information to us?" Fraeya asked bewilderedly.
Eldgrim chuckled and seemed very confident as he said, "Because no one will believe you."
The companions had nothing to say to that. Because it was true—the citizens of Gracklstugh did not believe in the assassins' existence, though many mysterious deaths were occurring. And they also knew that if they went to Blackskull about it before acquiring hard proof, she would toss their accusation aside. Then they would be at the mercy of the Empty Scabbard Killers for double-crossing them.
Eldgrim had cleverly cornered them.
"The egg you seek is currently in the possession of our enemy. We are willing to let you carry on with your task…as long as you take as many of them out as you can in the process. We will give you directions to the Grey Ghosts' hideout upon your agreement and warn you of hazardous areas to avoid in the tunnels," Eldgrim detailed.
The deal seemed too good to be true, but the assassin appeared truthful. The mad gleam that appeared in his single, visible eye told the adventurers that his unadulterated hatred for the Grey Ghosts was driving him to ally with the enemy of his enemy.
"Suffice it to say, we can be allies in this. Don't harm my men, and we won't harm you. You may pass freely through our territory without incident," Eldgrim added upon seeing the adventurers' lukewarm reactions. "Really, you would be doing us all a favor."
The companions took a step back then and briefly consulted one another. Was it worth the risk? Surely, they could find the obelisk room on their own. But to speed up their timetable and avoid danger?
"I don't like it," Nine immediately voiced.
"I don't like it either, but I think it's a deal we can't afford to forfeit," Kazimir argued. Around him, his companions nodded in reluctant agreement. The tiefling continued, "It's just like our deal with Blackskull. We must think of the greater picture. We won't have any trouble from them, and they will give us valuable information about the tunnels."
"So, what is our vote?" Eldeth asked.
Unsurprisingly, Nine was the only one to resist.
To persuade her, Kazimir said, "We've been walking blind all this time. Wouldn't it be nice to have a little warning before we stumble upon a trap?" He purposely used the word 'trap' to get through to the stubborn half-elf.
"Traps are bad," the ranger mumbled.
Beside her, Fargas fought back a snort. Why his companion was so obsessed with traps, he'd never know. But she always worried about them in any given situation.
"So, we are in agreement then. We accept," the tiefling said.
This time, Nine nodded reluctantly.
With that, Kazimir stepped forward and told Eldgrim, "I think we can come to an arrangement."
The grin which spanned across Eldgrim's cheeks was one of bloodlust. "Excellent," he drawled.
Kazimir continued, "Now if you wouldn't mind showing the drow and I those maps." He gestured to Fraeya as he said this, as she was the party's main scout and would benefit most from such knowledge. But truly, Kazimir was more interested in the contents of the desk. If they could get close enough, perhaps solid proof against the assassins could still be found. Maybe it was not the smartest thing to double-cross their tentative ally, but the tiefling was unwilling to let such a chance go to waste.
"Are they going to see the Master?" the mindwitness eagerly interrupted. The question eerily transferred into every head which resided in the current chamber.
Eldgrim thought for a moment and said, "No." Instead, he pulled out a shield that was strapped to his back. It was a strange shield with a single closed eye at its center. But as Eldgrim turned it to face the adventurers, the eye shot open, and its gaze darted about the room. The eye eventually landed on the companions and looked them over intently for several moments before lazily closing.
Eldgrim nodded and said, "There, now he's seen you."
"Who has seen us?" Prince Derendil asked cautiously.
The assassin would not answer.
"The maps?" Kazimir pressed.
"Of course," Eldgrim said.
While the others remained under the watch of the assassins' guard, Eldgrim led Fraeya and Kazimir over to the small desk that was pushed into the corner and pulled out a series of maps. They were highly detailed, even going so far as to have numbers slotted in certain areas.
"Which way did you enter the tunnels?" the duergar asked.
Kazimir pointed to an area labeled as '1'. "Here," he answered.
"So, you came up from the south," Eldgrim hummed curiously.
Fraeya traced their assumed path on the map to eventually lead to a point labeled as '7'. "I believe we came this way."
"So, you found your former companion then," the duergar mused, referring to Buppido. Before the drow or tiefling could answer, Eldgrim asked, "You wouldn't have happened to come across another derro during your trek, would you? An errand messenger of ours is running unusually late with his delivery."
Fraeya and Kazimir shook their heads and prayed their faces did not betray their lie. Little did the assassin know that his sneaky errand runner would not be making any further deliveries—Sarith had seen to that. Fortunately, the comment was made offhandedly, and Eldgrim did not study them for traces of deception. If he had, the following conversation would have gone very differently.
"The Grey Ghosts hold the northern caverns. Your group could reach it in two ways: pressing forward or turning back. I would personally advise retracing your steps and taking this split to the north," Eldgrim said, pointing to a point labeled '7c' on the map. "Should you go forward and attempt to turn north by that route, you will run into a horrid beast."
"Worse than your creepy floating nightmare of eyes and tentacles?" Kazimir asked without thinking.
Fraeya glared at the tiefling from across the table.
But to their relief, Eldgrim laughed. "A hydra has made that pool her home," he said. "So, I would say yes."
"That's…definitely worse," Kazimir muttered.
As Eldgrim continued to detail other areas and obstacles to the pair, the wizard found his gaze instead darting across the table as he looked for anything interesting. Several loose scraps of fish skin were sitting in a pile, one which looked like…a list. But the tiefling could read none of it and would not risk casting a language comprehension spell on himself with Eldgrim so close. And so, he decided to chance that the fish skins were of some worth.
As Kazimir's hand came across the table to presumably point at some point of the map, he instead purposely struck a bottle of ink, which tipped and spilled onto the parchment. Fraeya and Eldgrim's reactions were as he had hoped they would be. The assassin immediately withdrew the maps from the table before more damage could be done, and Fraeya started loudly cursing him. Kazimir used both distractions to swipe the top few layers of fish skin up and shove them in his pocket. [3]
"Sorry—sorry! Was just caught up in the planning and all. I can be such a clutz! Here, let me get that for you," the wizard spun as he reached for a rag in his satchel to start dotting up the spilled ink.
Fortunately, Eldgrim did not blink twice at the crafty wizard's ploy. Fraeya, however, was furious. It was not until they parted ways with the Empty Scabbard Killers and were making a backward track through the assassins' watch tunnel that Kazimir finally put the drow's nerves at rest and discreetly showed her what he had taken from the desk. She eyed the fish-skins with keen interest but also disappointment.
"It's written in Dwarvish. I can't read it," Fraeya said.
"Tonight, when we rest," Kazimir muttered. "We'll have Eldeth, Derendil, Fargas, or Nine translate it. But I think it is a list—if you know what I mean."
"I think you might be right," the drow admitted.
"And I think you owe me an apology," the tiefling added irritably.
Fraeya was silent for a long while before, "I shouldn't have doubted you, Kazimir. You always come through when it counts."
It was perhaps one of the nicest…and most genuine things the drow had ever said. And she meant it. For all his joking and teasing and mischief, the wizard came through when it counted. He somehow managed to exploit the situation, even in his blunders.
Kazimir tripped over his feet, not having expected Fraeya to actually apologize—much less offer a sincere compliment. "Thank you for that," he said earnestly.
"Don't get used to it," Fraeya grumbled as she averted her gaze in embarrassment. The drow could not say where the praise came from. She was just as baffled as Kazimir that her private reflection had left her lips. The surfacers were turning her soft!
When they reached the fork in the path that Eldgrim said would either lead north into Grey Ghost territory or lead them back south toward the entrance of the Whorlstone Tunnels, it was decided that, once again, the party would utilize a pair of scouts.
"Do you want me to come with you?" Sarith asked Fraeya.
The others turned to the drow warrior in shock. It was the first time he had ever offered to renounce his spot at the back of the line.
Fraeya hesitated before saying, "No. I'd rather you continue to watch our backs."
Sarith dipped his head and said, "As you wish."
Zelyra looked between the pair in bewilderment before a thought suddenly occurred to her. When she started to giggle behind her hand, both dark elves turned to her suspiciously.
"What?" Fraeya demanded.
"It's nothing…it's just…" the druid spoke through quiet laughter. "That was a secret term of endearment in another chapbook I've read." [4]
"You and those damn chapbooks," the rogue grumbled.
And then, to both Fraeya and Zelyra's surprise, Sarith spoke up and said, "It was an address of respect. In drow culture, the females lead, and the males are subordinate to their whims."
Both females were noticeably taken aback. Zelyra, with the utterly backwards idea of a matriarchal society, and Fraeya, to think that Sarith, after all this time, would think of her as one of them. After all, was he not the one to say she was not like the matron mothers?
Silver met crimson as Fraeya and Sarith locked eyes, and Zelyra took a step back to give them privacy as she observed a flutter of conflict cross their expressions. The dark elves did not need a pair of sending stones to know what the other was thinking.
You are not subordinate to me.
Am I not?
We are allies.
A fickle word.
Not to me.
Sarith was the first to break the connection and stared down at the cavern floor as a mess of unwanted emotions struck him. But being the stubborn drow he was, the warrior forced it down and spun on his heel to take up his designated role as rear guard. Fraeya watched him go with equally conflicted thoughts—she did not know what to make of what had just passed between them.
Zelyra tilted her head as the pair separated. Though she did not understand their silent exchange, she understood the emotions raging across their expressions more than either drow ever could. "Interesting…" she muttered with an amused smile.
With their path and scouts decided, Fraeya and Fargas resumed their post at the group's head. At the fork, they turned north, and after making their way through a long curving tunnel for some time, they reached their diversion point. Fraeya knew this from Eldgrim's maps and motioned for the halfling to follow her down an almost indistinguishable offshoot pathway that was tight, narrow, and winding. The others followed at a moderate distance.
"Will Derendil fit through here?" Fargas whispered to the drow as they inched through the pathway.
"If he turns sideways," Fraeya answered regretfully. "Eldgrim did not say the tunnel was this tight. But it is the only safe path. Otherwise, we'd take the long way around and possibly face a hydra."
The halfling immediately shook his head. "This way's fine."
"For you," the drow shot back as even she had to accommodate her form to the size of the tunnel.
"Poor Derendil," Fargas said wistfully.
"Quiet. The thieves' barracks are just ahead," Fraeya hissed. "Our quarry lies just beyond it."
The rogue then used her sending stone to tell Sarith, "Ask Zelyra to cloak your steps now. We're approaching Grey Ghost territory. Also, apologize to Derendil. This will be a tight squeeze."
As Sarith relayed Fraeya's message to the others, the druid immediately called upon her magic. A domed cloak of quiet and shadow soon encased them. Derendil, however, eyed the narrow tunnel with hesitation.
"I do not think I can—" he began.
"You must," Zelyra beseeched.
For the first time in an entire rest cycle, Derendil finally looked her in the eye.
"Then I should be at the back. The back-back," the prince said. Sarith nodded in agreement and quietly slipped into the tunnel to follow Eldeth, Kazimir, and the myconids. But Zelyra made a noise of protest. Seeing her reluctance, Derendil quietly added, "I would not wish to slow you down. This will be a struggle."
"One that I will endure with you," the druid said willfully. "You will not be left behind."
The prince's expression crumpled. After what he had done to her in Buppido's lair, he did not deserve such loyalty, yet Derendil was loathed to reject it. So, he said, "As you wish."
The druid was about to enter the narrow tunnel when his soft words struck her. She faltered for half a step before pushing forward. Zelyra had just teased Fraeya and Sarith about the secret meaning of such a phrase earlier—but surely, it was just a coincidence. A crowned elven prince would never fall in love with a lowly druid. And if, by chance, one did, how could she ever bear to tell them that she did not have a heart free to give.
. . .
Fraeya and Fargas were the first to reach the massive room at the end of the narrow, winding tunnel. It was a struggle, but the pair did manage to sneak past two other offshoot chambers to reach it—one of which Eldgrim had warned was the Grey Ghost barracks. The other's purpose was still unknown to the assassin's guild. Neither Fraeya nor Fargas wanted to risk checking it out with an end goal so near. It was unexpected that they might fulfill Gartokkar's quest before Blackskull's, but Fraeya, at least, hoped that Kazimir had also reaped some evidence from the fish skins he swiped.
The rogues peered into a well-lit chamber that featured a large, rocky plateau twice the size of the raucous mesa, with crudely formed ramps connecting its different levels. Beyond the glow of the faerzress and bioluminescent fungi, crystal growths on the ceiling fooled the eye into thinking it was natural sunlight. Fraeya squinted against the strange assault as her eyes began to water. But Fargas thought better than to ask if she was okay, for they were not alone in the chamber.
A female derro stood near the obelisk. As she gently patted and stroked its smooth surface, the obelisk shook, and the faerzress in the room swirled in response. The derro released a shriek of excitement and scribbled something down in a leather-bound book she had been carrying in her free hand. Along with the female, six more derro lurked around the tiers holding the obelisk. And on the opposite side of the room, a short, cloaked figure continuously circled a covered, oblong object as if guarding it.
Eight enemies to match the eight adventurers—if they were to exclude the sprouts.
Fargas silently looked to Fraeya and hoped his expression would convey his question. Fight? Or Wait?
The drow held up a silent hand, signifying wait, and reached for her sending stone.
"We have sight on the egg and the obelisk, but they are guarded. Eight derro that we can see, but more may be hidden," Fraeya told Sarith.
"Wait for us," the warrior returned. "We are not far behind now."
And so, Fraeya turned to Fargas and silently gestured to the tunnel behind her while making a walking gesture with her index and middle finger. To her relief, the halfling nodded his understanding but still unslung his shortbow in preparation. The drow followed his lead as they waited.
The rest of the companions came trickling in towards the mouth of the chamber one by one, with Zelyra and Derendil bringing up the rear much later than the others. The prince's already snagged robes had taken even more of a beating this round, with the snags in the back now matching the tears the ghoul had left in the front. But he had made it through. That was all that mattered.
"There are eight derro in the room that we can see. So be on your guard. Fargas and I will go in first and sneak as close as we can to the obelisk. Someone else needs to go after the egg on the second rise, however. There is one guard continuously circling it," Fraeya quietly informed the group.
"I'll go for the egg," Sarith muttered. Again, his companions beheld him with expressions of surprise as it was rare for the drow to volunteer to go to straight to the front lines.
"I'll go with you," Eldeth offered.
The drow gave her a brief nod of acknowledgement.
Kazimir reached into the tan drawstring bag at his side and removed one of the fuzzy puffballs from inside. This was one brown and white in color and as the wizard tossed it back into the darkened cavern behind him, a giant weasel appeared to aid him.
Fraeya stared at the huge, fuzzy creature in horror. "What is that?!" she hissed.
The wizard shrugged nonchalantly. "A giant weasel?"
Fraeya opened her mouth to further question him but then promptly shut it with an exasperated shake of her head. "Nevermind—let's just rescue this damn egg so we can leave this godsforsaken place," she muttered.
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Inspirational images for chapters 26 and 27.
Because I know a dungeon crawl can be a little confusing…here is an updated version of the Whorlstone Tunnels map detailing the path the adventurers have taken thus far.
Entrance
1b) Buppido's Lair
Diseased Pool
Chamber of myconids (called Parade of Fools in the module)
Fungi Thicket
Raucous Mesa
5b) Assassin's tunnel
Assassin's den
6d) Northwest barracks
6e) Mindwitness chamber
Assassin's headquarters
7c) Pathway up to the Grey Ghost territory
9) Fountain of Evil (as told to the adventurers by Elgrim; now home to a hydra instead of the Water Weird from OOTA 77)
14) Obelisk room (where the party is currently)
14b) Unknown room
14c) Thief barracks
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[1] This isn't precisely how the raucous mesa functions per the module. In fact, it says, "A character can focus on the sound of the chamber a number of times equal to their Wisdom modifier (minimum of 1). After that, the character no longer has the ability to tell the sounds apart."
I wanted to give Kazimir's character a moment for his divination abilities to come out. So I used this scene to convey information that Sarith and Zelyra originally received in our gameplay.
[2] Yes, I am absolutely referencing King Théoden from The Lord of the Rings. And yes, I absolutely made this exact reference in gameplay.
[3] I can't recall exactly, but I want to say Kaz rolled a nat 20 deception roll to steal the fish skins from right under Eldgrim's nose. That entire exchange was pure luck of the dice. DM/husband was so disappointed. I think he wanted us to fight the assassins and/or meet the master. But that's not how it panned out.
[4] Again, actual RP and a reference to The Princess Bride, which is one of my favorite movies!
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A shorter chapter this time but I think if I were to tack on the battle as well, this chapter would be massive. So, best to cut it here!