Author's note: I'M NOT DEAD! I am extremely disappointed in myself for not getting this one up in under a year, but with how bad my writer's block has been, I might have to put this on hiatus until I can get my brain back in gear. Anywho, please enjoy!
"Petrification." Grolim said grimly, walking around the stone figure, and studying it intently. From the humanoid's build, and pointed ears, it was obvious that he was elven. Clad in simple armour and a cloak, he was frozen halfway through the motion of turning to run, a look of pure terror on his granite features.
"What could have caused it?" Catalin asked, unsettled by the frozen elf's fearful expression. His gaze drifted uneasily in the direction the stone eyes stared. A shallow recession in the cave wall there tapered off into a tunnel, large enough that the darkness within could easily hide something four times Beoric's size.
"There are multiple creatures inhabiting the Underdark capable of turning a man to stone." Kirion replied gravely, also looking at the petrified figure, and sparing a quick glance at the tunnel, "Basilisks, medusae, and even the occasional cocatrice have been found here." he continued, stepping back with one hand against his chin in thought.
"What exactly it was doesn't matter." Makareth responded with a shake of his head, "If something like that lives in this area, we should keep moving. Get away from its territory, and avoid a similar fate." From his shoulders, his spiders chittered uneasily as if in agreement.
Grolim also nodded, resting his sword over his shoulder as he narrowed his eyes a bit at the tunnel entrance.
"I don't like the look of this either." he said gesturing towards the petrified elf, "I'm with Makareth. Let's put a few more miles behind us."
"But, if we encounter the creature on our way to a safer position, we may be too tired to fight it, and end up like him anyway." Beoric warned, eyeing the stone figure pensively. Lila frowned as she too looked at the body frozen in fear, wishing to aid him, but lacking the right materials.
Makareth clenched his jaw at the paladin's words, crossing his arms over his chest in frustration.
"Do we have the time to wait around though?" He asked in an impatient hiss, "Ishrae could have found a way down from the ledge by now, and we can't afford to let her gain ground on us!." His gaze flicked over to Liana as the ranger placed a calming hand on his shoulder.
"We will lose more distance if we aren't properly rested." the wood elf pointed out, glancing around at the others, "I say we look for a defensible spot nearby and get some sleep."
"I agree with Beoric and Liana." Kirion stated, turning away from the stone figure to face the others, "If whatever caused this is still in the area, we will have a better chance of fighting it now, and in a place of our own choosing, than another half mile down the road when we are even more tired, and did not see it coming.'
"And if we do encounter it later, we'll be rested enough that an ambush would be less devastating." Catalin added with a slow nod, "This place makes me uneasy, and personally, I would rather get away; but your idea makes more sense."
Kirion inclined his head in acknowledgement, before turning to the cleric.
"What do you think, Lila?" he asked.
The halfling looked up, a thoughtful expression on her face.
"I think we should rest first." she said, shooting Grolim and Makareth an apologetic look, "We've gotten at least a day's worth of walking in after all. We'll get farther, faster with a bit of shuteye between treks."
Grolim sighed, and shook his head, turning to Makareth.
"Looks like we're outvoted lad." he announced with a shrug. The drow nodded with a huff, though he admitted silently to himself that maybe this was the better option. His own frequent method of pushing himself to exhaustion may not be as effective in a group, and probably wasn't a good idea to begin with.
Liana spotted a decent sized alcove a little ways down the tunnel, which appeared large enough to hold all of them, and small enough that it could be easily defended should it come to that. As the group moved towards it to get a better look, the ground beneath their feet suddenly warped under them, dropping all seven into a deep hole. They landed with a crash and chorus of yelps, before awkwardly untangling from one another to observe their situation more clearly.
They stood at the bottom of a cylindrical pit, deep enough that even Beoric who was the tallest of the group, had to crane his neck a bit to see the top. The walls surrounding them were smooth, almost glassy, to the point where one look ruled out the option of even Makareth being able to climb out.
"What is this?" Kirion wondered, running a curious hand along the wall, his fingertips tingling with a detect magic spell.
"Well, it definitely isn't natural." Grolim muttered, rapping his armour clad knuckles against the stone, "My guess would be elemental sorcery."
The high elf noded, dispelling his own magic and stepping back to observe the top of the pit again.
"Why would someone set a pit trap, magical or otherwise, out in the middle of nowhere?" Catalin asked, running a hand through his hair, "Is there anything down here worth catching that way? And why bother smoothing out the walls?"
"We can discuss what it might be doing here after we get out." Lila said, smiling slightly at the young human's curiosity, "Makareth, do you want to give the spider plan a try?" she asked, turning to the rogue.
On the other side of the pit, Makareth stared silently at the wall with a defeated look on his face, and one of his spiders held in his hands. He looked over at the cleric as she spoke, setting the spider on the ground by the wall.
"They can't climb it." he responded, frustration seeping into his tone as he gestured at the arachnid who attempted to scale the wall, but found her feet unable to gain any purchase on the slippery surface, "The walls are too smooth."
Lila bit the inside of her cheek in thought, watching as the spider returned to Makareth's shoulder.
After a few more minutes of contemplative staring at the rim of the pit, Catalin turned to Beoric.
"Think you could throw me up there?" he asked, tapping the toe of his boot on the ground, "If I took the rope, I could pull some of you up, and we could work together to get the rest?"
"I believe I could…" the paladin rumbled, placing one clawed finger on his chin in thought.
"I do not think that would be the best plan." Kirion interjected, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth despite the grim situation, "The last time you were launched any higher than head level, I seem to recall a few broken limbs in the result."
The human's face darkened in embarrassment.
"I swear that bard hadn't thought the whole thing through." he muttered, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, "But you've got a point… Forget I said anything."
"No, that's actually a good idea." Liana insisted as she stared up at the cavern ceiling overhead, "If we could get one of us up there, the others could be pulled up fairly easily."
"As long as whoever it is is able to stick the landing." Catalin added, giving Kirion a look.
"And be strong enough to pull a few others up." the high elf added, shaking his head slightly at the human's expression., "Even if I were small enough for Beoric to boost up there, I do not have the strength to pull any of you up on my own."
"Perhaps sending two up to start with would be best." Grolim suggested, stroking his beard in thought, "One to pull the others up, and the second as backup until the rest of us are out."
"Good thought." Beoric said with a slow nod, "We wouldn't want to leave anyone without immediate help. Especially with the possibility of a monster nearby that would be capable of petrification."
"Not that we would be able to do much about it at the moment though…." Lila muttered softly, adding at a normal volume, "I'll go up with the rope." Looking up at Makareth as an idea formed in her head, she hesitantly asked, "Could I take one of your spiders up? Even if they can't climb out on their own, we can still test the web plan."
The dark elf's gaze drifted off to the side, and he reached up to touch the two arachnids on his shoulders. They had obviously been fine with these surface adventurers after he had been separated from them, but he still didn't like the idea of purposefully sending them off with someone else so early.
"I'll go with you as your backup." he said quietly, meeting the halfling's gaze,
Lila nodded, turning to Beoric.
"Which of us should go first?" she asked, tightening the strap holding her shield to her back.
"I don't think it particularly matters." the dragonborn shrugged, taking his own shield off its strap, and glancing between Lila and Makareth, "It's entirely up to you." he said.
The halfling slung her coil of rope over one shoulder, and looked at Makareth.
"Do you have any preference?" she asked. The drow shrugged slightly, shifting his gaze to the rim of their current prison.
"I'll go first." he responded eventually, returning his attention to the cleric, and loosening his knives in their scabbards, "I have darkvision, so if there's something up there, I'll see it before you do."
Lila smiled slightly with a quick nod, brushing a lock of fiery red hair out of her face.
"Alright." she said cheerfully, "I'll be right behind you."
Nodding once, Beoric shifted his shield onto his left arm, and dropped into a crouch while holding it at an angle above his head. "I'll give you a boost. Ready?" he questioned, checking to make sure that he was positioned correctly to get the two of them onto the right side of the pit. Makareth nodded back, glancing calculatingly up at the rim of the hole, and running the short distance to the paladin, jumping up onto the angled shield. Beoric immediately pushed upward, the combined momentum of the skyward thrust, and Makareth's own leap off of the shield's wooden surface, sent the young drow easily over the edge of the magical trap.
From still within the hole, the others heard the light tap of his landing, as well as movement from something else. Multiple somethings Kirion figured, his eyes widening in surprise, and concern of this particular unknown. A glance around at the others' expressions of unease said they were hearing it as well.
Lila moved to climb up onto Beoric's shield, but paused when the high elf held up a cautious hand.
"Makareth." He called quietly, "Are there any other creatures moving around up there?"
For a few moments, nothing but the noise of what sounded like a group of shuffling feet reached their ears; gaining volume with each "step".
"Lila wait, don't come up here yet…" eventually came the rogue's puzzled response, "I hear something, but there's nothing th-!" His statement was cut off suddenly by a sharp intake of breath, followed by a thump, and muffled grunt.
Then silence.
"Makareth? What was that?" Lila called, her eyes widening slightly as she gripped Beoric's shield slightly.
No response came for a full minute, the shifting sounds seeming roughly a few metres from the edge of the pit; this time accompanied by low murmurs, and the occasional muted snarl.
When they did get a response, the answering voice was nothing like that of the typically soft spoken drow. Instead, a gruff and heavily accented one growled back.
"I was wondering when more o' ye would be sent." The sounds of heavy footfalls approached the edge of the pit, and the remaining adventurers exchanged confused looks, "Ye expected that stone one to just lead ye straight to yer quarry, didn't ye? Well, we've had enough o'ye sneaking into our territory, and…." The speaker trailed off as his bearded face came into view, and he in turn saw the adventurers trapped at the bottom of the hole.
White brows knit together in confusion beneath the dark metal of a helmet as grey lips twisted into a grimace.
"What're a bunch o' raggedy surfacers doing down here?" he demanded, his eyes narrowing, especially at Grolim.
Clearly they were not what he was expecting to find, but unwelcome nonetheless.
"We are trying to return to the surface." Lila explained, stepping back from Beoric's larger form and craning her neck to look up, "Apologies, we have no intention of trespassing on your land."
The male above them snorted.
"And what brought ye this far out into the wilderness?" he questioned with a sneer, "Right on the border o' drow territory, with one o'the devils?" He nodded behind him, presumably towards Makareth.
"We were captured by one of their priestesses, and are trying to find a way home." Kirion said calmly, "The dark elf we are travelling with was in no better position than ourselves; a prisoner of his own people, also seeking freedom. We were completely unaware of the territory lines, and like the cleric said, we did not intend to trespass."
This time the creature looking down from above just blinked at him for a minute or so, then burst out laughing; a harsh, gravely sound.
"Ye expect me to just believe that?" he wheezed once he was able to draw enough breath to speak, "There've been enough dark elf scum sneaking their way across our borders recently, that I wouldn't be surprised if this was just another one o'their tricks!"
"I can assure you, this is no trick." Beoric rumbled with a shake of his head, "What reason would they have to send us?"
That made their interrogator pause, though the suspicion in his face remained. He stroked his beard in thought, turning to look at something behind him.
"If the drow weren't with ye, I might believe it." He said coldly, "But with their recent impertinence in regard to territory lines, he, and ye all by association, will be considered intruders on duergar land."
Grolim's jaw clenched slightly.
"And what exactly does that mean for us?" he asked, his eyes hardening with warryness. The grey dwarf overhead grinned darkly.
"It means that all o' ye will be locked up until it is decided what is to be done with ye." he responded before disappearing from sight.
The air within the pit grew noticeably denser as the six adventurers shared concerned glances. Before they had the chance to converse about this new development, the ground beneath their feet, and walls all around them began to shift and crack, as the spell carving the hole in the ground began to reverse. Just as quickly as they had been dropped into the pit, the stone floor fleshed itself out again, and they stood once more on level ground as if the trap had never been there.
Now able to get a look around at the newcomers, the six adventurers counted nine squat, surly figures, seven of which surrounded them in a ring of weapons, while the eighth stood off to the side beside the ninth, who held down the bound form of Makareth. A roughly woven bag sat beside the two of them, the contents of which seemed to be thrashing about and hissing; but that stilled at a harsh jab from the spear of the one restraining Makareth, making the rogue tense angrily.
The dwarf standing apart from the others strode forward, the same one who had spoken to them in the pit, and gestured with his hands to the assortment of arms they all carried, "Drop yer weapons." he demanded, "If there is any merit whatsoever to yer story, ye will come along quietly." He tossed Makareth's knives to the side, beginning a pile for the adventurers' weaponry, far from any of their immediate reach.
A beat of silence passed as the group exchanged anxious glances,before with hesitant hands, they began to slowly remove their weapons, and allow the duergar to add them to the growing heap.
"Good choice." The dwarf said, a smirk settling across his features with a slow nod. Turning to the other grey dwarves, he jerked his head sharply, indicating the tunnel behind him. "Secure them, and get ready to leave. I will reset the trap." He walked past the surrounded group of adventurers, making a series of hand signs.
"One upside to that, would be that if the priestess tries coming after us, she'll probably fall in too." Grolim muttered under his breath as they were herded further down the tunnel, and closer to the last grey dwarf who had allowed Makareth to sit up, instead of pinning him to the cavern floor.
"I'm not sure if that would help us necessarily, or make our case worse." Beoric responded, his voice low as he kept his gaze pointed forward, "Another drow appearing, hostile or otherwise, may only fuel their anger."
The eight dwarves stood guard around the seven adventurers until the ninth returned from resetting his pit trap.
"Let's hope no one else triggers that spell." he said lowly, looking up at the seven prisoners, "For yer all's sake…"
Without another word, the dwarves began to march back down the tunnel, away from the river, and the companions' only plan to get out of the Underdark.
Author's note 2: I am not happy with how this one flows. It feels more shallow, even though I know roughly how I want the story to proceed from here, at least to a certain point. This wasn't even where I intended the chapter to end, but because of the aforementioned writer's block, nothing else was coming together. I have no intention of abandoning this story, and the Nine Hells will flourish like the Feywild before then, but I can make no promises about any sort of consistency in my posting. Not that there was really any to begin with...