A gathering of forces…

Kuhl felt conflicting emotions as he walked the halls of Gauntlgrym with his companions. Their meeting with king Bruenor and the subsequent agreement they made to return to a demon infested Underdark filled him with dread, but afterwards they'd been led to private quarters where they could rest and refresh. A happy reunion had waited for them there in the form of a pair of darkling friends. Rhianne and Dairnghan walked with them now and together with Eldeth it felt like old times. Which shouldn't be a good thing as most of those old times involved running for their lives, yet the feeling was pleasant all the same.

"So, Kuhl died, but was brought back to life by a kiss," Sky said. "Then I came swooping down on the back of a golden scaled dragon."

"Kuhl died?" Rhianne asked, voice concerned, cowled head turning to regard the half-elf.

"Sort of," Kuhl said, giving a slight shrug.

"Don't lessen what happened," Dawnbringer admonished in his mind. "You died. I felt it. You were wielding me when it happened."

He had.

But even mentally admitting that brought the slivers of fear he felt then forward in time to the present. His heart skipped a beat and his step faltered for an instant as he relived his touch with oblivion. He recalled a sharp pain in his chest then - nothing - a gap in his memory, moments of lost time. Had there been anything beyond the veil of life after it was stripped away? He couldn't remember, and when he tried his mind skipped forward, avoiding the uncertainty of the unknown to something more pleasant. His pulse quickened with the thought of lips on his and a feminine body pressed against him while silver fire, the raw essence of magic itself, poured into his being.

"A kiss brought him back to life?" the darkling bard asked, her cowled gaze moving to Aleina.

"Don't look at me," the aasimar said with a slight shake of her head.

"By all that dances," Jhelnae said, shaking her head in turn as Rhianne's inquisitive look shifted to her. "No."

"Well," Diarnghan said, voice wry from the depths of his hood. "Whoever gave it, it must have been pleasant, because the memory of it has put a faint smile on our half-elf paladin's lips."

"Why are you smiling like that?" Aleina asked, a pale eyebrow arching as she studied the half-elf. "Since you keep insisting you can't remember anything from that experience?"

"I can't," Kuhl said, flattening his expression. "My first memory back is being helped to my feet."

"Liar," Dawnbringer said in his mind.

The aasimar also detected the falsehood.

"Yeah, right," she scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"You are focusing on the wrong thing," Sky said with a dismissive wave. "Yes, yes, Kuhl died, but he got better. More importantly I rode on the back of a gold dragon! If you're going to compose a song or ballad about this, Rhianne, you need to not get distracted by the side events."

"I don't recall promising to write a song or ballad," the darkling bard said. "I recall asking how Kuhl came by his dragon scale armor. I thought it was a simple question, but apparently it involves a convoluted tale that skips around a lot. And speaking of strange new armor, I don't recall you wearing vambraces before, Sky. Those look very interesting."

"We're getting to those parts," the tabaxi said with an irritated lash of her tail.

"Well, it will have to wait," Eldeth said, cutting into the banter. "Because we're here."

Here was a pair of double doors open wide with armored dwarves standing on either side of them. Beyond their arched opening lay a banquet hall. Brightly lit candelabras stood on the tables and the radiance of magically illuminated crystal chandeliers shone down from above, light reflecting on an ice sculpture centerpiece of a mountain which fountained a clear, blue tinted liquid that ran in rivulets down the sides to finally cascade into pools at the base.

"Silverymoon Blue, I believe," their red-haired dwarf companion said, nodding to the centerpiece. "Some might say the ice sculpture will chill the wine too much, but we can taste for ourselves and see."

"An ice mountain fountain?" Sky said excitedly. "I have to get a closer look!"

That said, the tabaxi moved to do just that.

Following Sky's lead, the group made their way to the sculpture of ice, passing earlier arrivals to the banquet as they did. An older man with a long gray mustache, past his prime years but still strongly built, glanced up at their approach and motioned for the companion he conversed with to step aside to give easier access to the tray of goblets behind them. Kuhl was surprised to find himself meeting the gaze of another half-elf of moon-elf heritage when the other turned to regard them, telltale pointed ears poked through his long silvery white hair and his skin held a hint of blue in its complexion. They exchanged slight nods of acknowledgment.

Reaching the centerpiece, Sky jabbed a clawed finger into a cascading stream of wine then popped it in her mouth to suck on it.

"Sky!" Aleina hissed, glancing around to see who might have noticed the tabaxi's wine tasting method. "Use a goblet."

She grabbed a pair of drinking vessels from the tray and passed one to Sky.

"It's cold as mountain run off," the tabaxi said, tail lashing as she filled her goblet from one of the rivulets flowing down the ice sculpture. "And just as refreshing."

One by one the companions did the same until Kuhl himself filled a goblet of his own.

"Not too chilled," Rhianne sighed, lowering her goblet from the depths of her cowled hood.

The half-elf took a sip and agreed, enjoying the crisp coldness. He thought he tasted a hint of something floral in the drink. Their party moved aside to clear the way to the goblets for other guests.

"Don't stare," Eldeth said. "But there, I think, is the group of Zhentarim we'll be traveling with."

Kuhl followed the motion of her goblet to a group of rough looking humans across the room. Most wore dark leathers and all of them looked like they knew how to wield the weapons strapped to their belts or backs. Being armed and even lightly armored in Gauntlgrym was not unusual. Most of the dwarven citizens themselves did the same. The subterranean city was vast and formerly long abandoned. A few years into the reclamation had rendered the inner city mostly safe but, according to Eldeth, the occasional threat still found its way inside. Still, the level of weaponry worn by this group to a banquet went beyond precaution.

A woman noticed them looking and returned it with an impassive appraising stare of her own. She looked dangerous, built as graceful and elegant as a blade, the hints of gray in her dark hair and the frown lines of her face seemed to convey a life of hard-edged experience.

"I think what I said was don't stare," Eldeth sighed.

"To be fair," Jhelnae said. "I'm only staring at one of them."

"I think I am staring at the same one," Aleina said.

"The one in the crimson arming doublet?" Rhianne asked.

"That would be the one," the half-drow confirmed.

One in a red hued doublet did look out of place from the rest. His clothes were finely tailored, if well used and worn, and fit his lean, muscular frame well. He bore no facial tattoos, unlike many others in his group, and his unscarred face was strikingly handsome, piercing sky-blue eyes contrasting with his dusky brown complexion and short brown curly hair.

"Aligor Moonwhisper," a voice said. "Always one for catching the attention of ladies. Unfortunately, he fell in love with the wrong one. Which is why it is no longer Sir Aligor Moonwhisper anymore I suppose."

The speaker was the half-elf who had moved aside to make way to the wine goblets earlier. Swathed in silk and velvet, he cut a fine figure and when he raised his goblet in greeting it showed off an impressive signet ring on his finger. His elven ancestry made it hard to guess his age. When Kuhl's group moved away from the tray of goblets they had inadvertently moved into the vicinity of the silver-haired half-elf and his companion.

"My pardon," the half-elf said. "Rude to just thrust myself into a conversation without introductions. I am Eravien Haund, at some events it would be appropriate to add a Lord before my name, but there is no reason for such formalities here. My friend here is Sir Lanniver Strayl."

The pair bowed in greeting and, one by one, the companions introduced themselves in turn to nods, though their new acquaintances clearly didn't know what to make of a tabaxi and the two heavily cloaked darklings but were too polite to make inquiries. Introductions done, Eravien gave Aleina a thoughtful look.

"But it isn't just Aleina D'lusker, is it?" the silver-haired half-elf said. "Isn't it Lady D'lusker of Baldur's Gate?"

"How did you…?" the aasimar asked, trailing off and frowning.

"I have a villa in the Seaward," Lord Haund said. "And while I don't read the Wazoo myself, it's all drivel, trash and salacious slander just to sell broadsheets isn't it, the occasional cover sheet catches my eye."

He glanced at Jhelnae as he said the last part. Aleina's frown deepened, but Jhelnae chuckled. An artist had rendered both their likenesses in a Wazoo article featuring the Runaway Aasimar Bride.

"You seem to be fond of gossip, Lord Haund," the half-drow said. "So then, what is Aligor Moonwhisper's story? Something about falling in love with the wrong lady?"

"I don't like to repeat gossip," Eravien said, accompanying sly smile telling the opposite was true. "But it's a tragic tale…"

"No one really knows it," the older man, Sir Lanniver, cut in, with a shake of his head and a bit of firmness in his voice. "It's all rumor and unseemly speculation. But as I overheard you are to be traveling with him, I will tell you this - he might no longer be a paladin of the Red Knight, but you can still trust his strong sword arm. Of that, I am sure."

A fallen paladin.

As a paladin himself, Kuhl's curiosity was roused. But he agreed with Sir Lanniver's sentiment. If this Aligor was trustworthy in the ways that mattered as a traveling companion, and the old man seemed to believe that true, their group shouldn't be listening to speculative rumors. Jhelnae and Aleina shared a pursed lipped glance and Rhianne's cowled head shifted to also regard them. The three of them, it seemed, really wanted to hear these rumors.

"Lanniver you are such a bore," Lord Haund sighed. "Why don't you go to a corner and ruminate on Tyr and honor for a while and let the ladies and I talk."

Sky spoke before the old man could reply.

"Wait, you said you live in a villa in the Seaward?" the tabaxi asked. "In Waterdeep?"

"Yes?" the silver-haired half-elf answered a question in his tone.

"Well then," Sky said. "I should have told you more than just my name when I introduced myself. My junior partner should have reminded me, but I guess he forgot."

She paused to fix Kuhl with a brief golden-eyed glare.

"Should you need any detective services when you are back in Waterdeep you should hire the Red Sky and Nightstar agency. No case is too small or too large. Pets rescued, missing socks reunited with their mates, and suspiciously acting spouses surreptitiously followed. Open Lord Laeral Silverhand herself has been one of our clients."

"Lady Silverhand was one of your clients?" Lord Haund asked, sounding impressed. "What did you do for her?"

Kuhl suddenly realized Sky was about to share the story of retrieving Neverember's embezzled hoard. Something the Open Lord specifically told them to keep secret.

"We found a missing sock for her," he blurted before the tabaxi could speak.

His panicked mind could come up with nothing else in an instant.

"She hired you to find a missing sock for her…" the silver-haired half-elf said, trailing off and raising a skeptical eyebrow.

"It meant a lot to her," Kuhl said. "Mirt bought it for her."

For a moment he felt good about his improvisation, then he saw consideration enter Lord Haund's expression.

"I was not aware they were the sorts of friends that gave such keepsake gifts," Eravien said. "Sounds like they are close, intimately, close. How interesting. Well, good for Lord Walrus. I will have to congratulate him when I next see him."

Kuhl winced.

"I think, Eravien," Sir Lanniver said. "The representatives for the Enclave have arrived. Which means we should get back with our groups and get ready to take our seats."

"Oh, I suppose so," the silver-haired half-elf said. "Time to eat food, drink wine and beer, and listen to speeches. It has been a pleasure meeting you all. Ladies, we should find a cozy corner to chat afterward. Oh, don't scowl like that Lanniver. We aren't going to engage in unseemly speculation. These two are residents of the City of Splendors. We are going to discuss the wonders of our city."

The wink he gave as he turned to leave brought a slight smile to Aleina's and Jhelnae's lips.

"I don't like him," Eldeth grunted as the pair moved out of earshot. "If you took the worst in human and elven nobles and combined them, he would be the result. All decorative carvings with no solid stonework underneath."

"I didn't like him at first either," the aasimar said. "But I sense he just enjoys talking and socializing. He likes to know and share things about people, but I don't think he is cruel with what he learns. Unlike others I knew in the past…"

"More importantly," the half-drow laughed, looking at Kuhl. "Laeral is going to kill you…"

She practically sang the words.

The half-elf groaned.

"Sky," he growled. "You know we aren't supposed to share anything about you know what."

"I know that," the tabaxi said with a casual shrug.

"Really?" Kuhl said. "Then what were you planning on telling Lord Haund about what we did for the Open Lord?"

"I was planning on telling him we helped with the Dock Ward Killer," Sky said with a lash of her tail. "Which we did."

"Oh…" the half-elf said. "That would be…"

"Better than what you said?" Dawnbringer finished in his mind.

"I feel like I am missing information that would make this conversation make sense," Rhianne said from the depths of her cowl.

"It has to do with their time in Waterdeep," Eldeth said.

She already heard the tale during their travel to Gauntlgrym.

"From what is being said," Dairnghan observed. "They are bound by a promise to keep some of the information secret."

"Not from you," Jhelnae said with a dismissive wave. "You're family. Sky actually was already telling you, in her own way."

"Selune's Tears!" Aleina cut in, pale blue eyes going wide as she stared across the banquet hall. "It can't be! It is!"

She put her drink down on a nearby table and jostled past Kuhl, running for the entrance, waving an arm as she did.

"Mialee! Aravae!" she yelled.

"Mialee?" Jhelnae questioned. "Aravae? What is she… By all that dances! She is right!"

She too got rid of her goblet and started running towards the entrance.

Kuhl turned and saw the wood-elf and sun-elf entering the banquet hall with a group of dwarves. Mialee smiled as she caught sight of the aasimar and moved forward as well. They met with a hug, laughing but also throwing out questions. Other banquet attendees gave them raised eyebrow looks and a wide berth.

"What are you doing here?" Aleina asked.

"What am I doing here?" Mialee repeated. "Aravae and I are here as representatives of the Enclave. What are you doing here?"

"It's a long story," the aasimar said. "Eldeth, Rhianne, Diarnghan, come over here! I want you to meet some friends!"

The red-haired dwarf and cloaked darkling bard exchanged shrugs. Before they moved to join the others, they gulped down the remains of their goblets. Sky gave a languid yawn, then also headed towards the congregating group.

Aleina disengaged with Mialee, letting Jhelnae take her place, and moved to Aravae. Always more reserved, the sun-elf returned the hug stiffly and with only one arm. She did start to loosen and even smiled as the embrace went on.

Diarnghan evidently decided his wife had the right idea and also downed his drink. Then he turned his cowled head to regard Kuhl from its dark depths.

"Did you not tell me of a wood-elf named Mialee when we were in the Underdark?" he asked.

"Yeah," the half-elf sighed.

"This is her?" the darkling ranger pressed.

"Yeah," Kuhl repeated, again as a one-word sigh.

"Is it my imagination," Dairnghan said. "Or does she seem closer to Aleina and Jhelnae now than to you, her former lover?"

"It isn't your imagination," the half-elf breathed.

"How did this happen?" the darkling ranger asked.

"Hot springs trip," Kuhl said, shrugging.

"It is far more insidious than a hot springs trip," Dawnbringer complained in his mind. "Aleina is a female friendship vortex in the shape of an aasimar. She sucks any potential chance you have for feminine companionship into her sphere of influence, never to be released again. The answer is simple. Keep any and all women you meet from now on as far away from her as possible!"

The half-elf decided a drink of Silverymoon Blue was the appropriate answer to his sentient sword's rant. Tilting his head back, he emptied the contents of his goblet down his throat. It was cool and refreshing going down, but a pleasant warmth suffused his stomach by the time he made his way to the reunion of two more friends. There he received a long, tight embrace from Mialee in greeting along with a kiss on the cheek. Even Aravae gave him a brief hug.

"We'll need to find a place to spar," the sun-elf said. "I've improved at wielding two blades since we last saw each other."

During their later travels in the High Forest, Aravae had been working on adding the sword given to her by a ghost ancestor to her bladesinging technique.

"I may have picked up a few tricks of my own," Kuhl said.

"Sounds like a challenge," the bladesinger said.

"Sounds painful," the half-elf returned, with a feigned wince.

"Oh, rest assured, it will be," Aravae laughed. "It's a good thing you can heal bumps and bruises and even a small cut or two when I misjudge my bladework."

Kuhl knew the last part was in jest. In his time training with her, the bladesinger never misjudged her bladework. But training with her again would bring plenty of bumps and bruises. Strangely, he found himself looking forward to them.

A chime sounded and guests began moving to sit at tables.

"We have so much to tell you," Aleina chattered at Mialee. "I met a member of the Enclave in Waterdeep. Lady Jeryth Phaulkon. But get this, she doesn't have a…"

"Mialee," a stern-faced older female dwarf interrupted. "It pleases me that ye have found yerself among friends here. But as ye know, this isn't a social event. It is a council of war with the trapping of a feast. And it is time to take our places."

"Oh," the aasimar said. "Of course."

"We'll talk afterwards, Aleina," the wood-elf druid promised in a whisper. "And Jhelnae… this is a reunion of the…"

She paused so the half-drow could say it with her in unison.

"Sweet Sisterhood of Swanmays!"

The two whispered the proclamation as they grinned at each other.

"I think it's time to bury that name in a deep hole," Aravae muttered, rolling her eyes as she followed the stern-faced dwarf and Mialee to their table.

Chatter in the room rapidly fell away. Bruenor Battlehammer now stood on the raised platform holding his table, gazing out at those assembled, burly arms crossed over his barrel chest.

"We're at Bruenor's table," Eldeth said, beckoning them.

Kuhl felt embarrassed. They were seated in a place of honor, a raised table where all could see them, and they were the last to take their seats. And the king visibly waited for them, his expression as unreadable as granite. The half-elf couldn't tell if he was displeased or just waiting out of politeness for them to sit before he began.

"Gauntlgrym is not like the places that ye are from," the dwarf king said, his strong voice reaching all corners of the banquet hall and commanding everyone within to give their attention. "We aren't a place of secrets and intrigue. Here the leaders, including her king, speak plainly with her people. We tell them what is and don't protect them from that thing leaders from other places fear - the truth."

The content of Bruenor's speech bordered on insulting non-dwarven races by implying their governments were inherently dishonest. But there was something in his gruff delivery, his smile and the mischievous twinkle in his eyes, that disarmed.

"I invited ye here to hear the truth," the king went on. "Put plainly. And most of ye already heard it when my envoy returned from the Underdark with a call from Blingdenstone for aid."

He gave a nod towards Eldeth who in turn nodded to those sitting at the lower tables in acknowledgment.

"Yet I have learned that the more unpleasant a truth," Bruenor said. "The more some have the instinct to stick their heads in a hole and ignore it, even though it leaves their backsides exposed and vulnerable. So, let's hear the tale one more time lest there be any lingering doubts. This half-elf here will start the tale. He's no bard, but the food, wine, and beer ye'll be eating and drinking should make up for his lack of skill. After a time, another shall take up the tale, she is a bard and ye'll find she shares bad news so prettily to ye ears it almost sounds like good news."

A nervous pit formed in Kuhl's stomach as the king motioned for him to stand and take his place on the raised platform. The pleasant warmth left by the goblet of Silverymoon Blue from the ice mountain fountain dissipated.

"Just tell them what ye told me lad," Bruenor whispered in reassurance as he approached. "They've heard it before from Eldeth, but twould be good if they heard it again from a non-dwarf and see the tale is the same no matter who tells it."

The half-elf did as instructed, voice shaky at first, but he fell into a rhythm. He'd reported on the events of the Underdark multiple times now and relaying the story was almost becoming rote. True to the king's word, food and drink were delivered to tables as he spoke - appetizer plates of bread, cheese, mushrooms, and smoked quippers. He did not regret missing out on the latter two as they were staples of the Underdark diet, something he'd get more than his fill of with his return there. Servers brought tankards of beer and goblets of wine to guests as well, the latter filled at the ice mountain fountain.

By the time Kuhl finished relaying the events in the duergar city of Gracklstugh and Rhianne took his place, the main courses of roasted boar and braised rothe meat had already been brought out. These he ate, finding both delicious in their own way, but the half-elf was mostly glad for the tankard of beer and goblet of wine waiting for him. While he ate and drank, he listened, even though he knew the story, having lived it after all.

But as Bruenor said, Rhianne was a master of her craft. This was no rote retelling but instead a crafting of rhyme and alliteration spoken with a captivating voice. He learned other information as well, for her tale of the Underdark did not end with an escape through an ancient subterranean portal to the surface, but rather with a caravan from Blingdenstone to Gauntlgrym. That journey apparently included harrowing encounters with gnolls, hook horrors, and once a fall into a temple filled with oozes.

"I saved you a honey nut cake," Aleina whispered after the darkling bard finished speaking and rejoined them at their table. "Or chocolate truffles if you prefer."

"Someone seems to have taken bites from each," Rhianne observed.

"I wanted to try all three choices in desserts," the aasimar said with a guilty wince and shrug.

"What was the third one?" the darkling bard asked, cowled head looking at the empty plates scraped clean in front of each of the companions.

"Mountain berry tart," Sky answered blithely. "So good!"

"I meant to save some of the tart," Dairnghan apologized from the depths of his hood. "But, well, next thing I knew it was gone. But I did have your wine goblet filled, knowing you'd want that, and my own as well."

"Fine," Rhianne sighed. "Pass me your goblet."

She put fork to honey nut cake and motioned for Aleina to give her the chocolate truffles as well. The aasimar delayed sliding over the plate in front of her long enough to give a mournful stare down at it before passing it over.

"So, ye have heard the tale again of demon lords in the Underdark," Bruenor called out. "Blingdenstone calls for aid and ye have answered that call. And some of ye came unlooked for, yet we'll accept your help all the same."

At that statement he leveled a look at the table of Zhentarim.

"What I need, we need, is information," the dwarf king said. "Because this reeks of a Menzoberranzan trap. I march an army down there to deal with this, leave me city undefended, and the drow slip in behind me, cut me off from me supply lines, and ambush me. Or they get me fighting with the duergar and laugh over our corpses. An expeditionary force is what I propose. One that secures the way to Blingdenstone and tells us what is needed. I've met with each of ye groups alone, but now it is time to let everyone know the support ye've promised."

Silence settled over the banquet hall, then the stern-faced female dwarf sitting at Mialee's and Aravae's table stood up.

"If it pleases my king," she said. "The Emerald Enclave pledges these three scouts, trained by me specifically for missions in the Underdark."

The three dwarves sitting at her table gave nods of acknowledgment.

"As well as two forest guardians," the dwarf continued. "One a druid able to take the shape of animals and the other a bladesinger and spell archer. They do not know the Underdark, but with training from my scouts on the journey, they will learn quickly. Finally, we pledge eight giant riding lizard mounts commonly used in the Underdark, able to carry much and climb whatever terrain you encounter. They can even hang upside down from ceilings with no danger of falling."

Done speaking, she took her seat, and Sir Lanniver stood next.

"King Bruenor," the old man announced. "The Order of the Gauntlet pledges five warriors to this cause, all battle tested veterans."

He gestured to those seated at his table, all of whom had the look of soldiers.

"Further, I have decided I myself will go," he continued. "My squire will return to the Order and tell them the mustering of more forces may be needed."

At his table, a young woman scowled, clearly not pleased with either Sir Lanniver going or not being included in the expeditionary force.

"Also," the old man said, looking at Eldeth. "During the tales we listened to, it was mentioned you wield a hammer do you not?"

The red-haired dwarf hesitated before answering, as if surprised to find herself being addressed, then gave a nod.

"Then let me further pledge the gift of one of the Order's treasures," Sir Lanniver said. "I possess an enchanted warhammer, formerly wielded by a friend, and I know he wanted it to find its way to dwarven hands again."

Tears brimmed in the old man's eyes, and he set his mouth into a rigid line to hold back emotion.

"It would be my honor, sir," Eldeth replied, voice reverent. "Unless I miss my guess, its previous owner wielded it with great valor?"

"You do not miss your guess," Sir Lanniver confirmed.

"Then Moridan and Clangeddin willing," the red-haired dwarf said. "I pray to do the same."

"I have no doubt you will, lady," the old man said, bowing before taking his seat once more.

"Lanniver," Lord Haund said in a loud sigh. "How am I supposed to follow that?"

A chuckle ran through the room as the silver-haired half-elf stood.

"So, Lanniver is going himself," he mused. "I mean I would, but there are my attendants and personal guard to think of. It's not what they signed up for, you see."

He waved at a trio of halflings and three armed men, all in house livery, sitting at his table.

"Ye could leave them behind," Bruenor observed drily. "Let them enjoy Gauntlgrym hospitality longer."

"They probably wouldn't stay," Lord Haund replied. "Such are their bonds of loyalty to me, which I simply can't take advantage of. So, no, I won't be going into the Underdark myself."

His mien grew serious, and he stood straighter, self-satisfied smirk falling from his lips.

"But rest assured, King Bruenor," he said. "The Lord's Alliance takes this threat from the Underdark seriously. Our allied city of Mirabar sends some of their very best to fulfill our pledge, five dwarf warriors, skilled in tunnel warfare. Three more come from the allied city of Yartar. Cavalry scouts. I understand you won't be taking horses into the Underdark, but perhaps, with a little training, they can make use of the promised riding lizards from the Enclave."

The silver-haired half-elf then hesitated, pursed his lips and tilted his head to the side, obviously considering something.

"We… also… have… a… spy within Menzoberranzan," he finally said, reluctance at first delaying each word he spoke. "Unfortunately, they have gone silent of late and so I don't know if this demon lord threat is a ruse, as you suggest. I will share the details with Lanniver. They may be a useful contact, if still alive and active."

With that cryptic comment, Lord Haund once again sat.

"As all can see, I came alone," a man called out. "So, I have no soldiers to pledge."

The young gentleman, a man perhaps of mid thirty summers, did indeed sit at a table by himself. He didn't even bother to stand when he spoke and was richly attired, maybe more so than even Lord Haund. Having pulled the attention of the room to himself, he apparently decided a long pull on his tankard was in order.

"Nothing as good as dwarven ale," he said with a smack of his lips. "Where was I? Oh, yes, I did not bring any fellow Harpers with me, so I have no soldiers to pledge. And unlike our brave Sir Lanniver, I will not be going myself. But I do have something that might be useful to an expeditionary force."

The man looked toward the banquet entrance. Moments passed with nothing happening and whispers started at the other tables, then fell silent as the tread of something large and heavy became audible. A figure in plate armor clanked into the banquet hall. But after a moment of staring Kuhl realized it wasn't something in armor it was the armor. It was a construct of metal and sturdy oak, like those he traveled with in Undermountain, Koger and his creation Ancilla. This one, however, did not have the glowing runes or the sleek designs meant to mimic a humanoid. Bulk was instead incorporated into its design and its huge metal fists looked like they could pulverize stone and its massive trunk-like steel shod feet looked like they could stomp a body flat. The construct settled itself as a looming presence behind the man at the otherwise empty table.

"The Harpers pledge my shield guardian," he announced. "I'll give its amulet to Lanniver. Try not to destroy it and I would like it back after you are done with it."

"Are you pledging it for the cause, Lord Roaringhorn?" Sir Lanniver called out from his table, mock offense in his tone. "Or sending it as an armored nanny to protect me because you think I'm too old and infirm to defend myself anymore?"

"Two things can be true, Lanniver," Roaringhorn replied, smiling into the tankard he lifted. "We are neither of us young anymore. It will ease my mind to know it is with you, old friend."

Kuhl was confused by the statement as he judged Sir Lanniver a few decades older than the man with the shield guardian. Yet Roaringhorn acted as if they were of age.

A representative from each of the tables had now spoken, save one. The hard-edged woman with the graying hair Kuhl had noticed before smirked as the attention of the room settled on the table of the Zentarim. She stood, slowly, then let her gaze travel the hall before speaking.

"It is as Bruenor has said," she said. "We were not invited to participate in this mission to relieve Blingdenstone. Strange, really, since we are their long-time loyal allies."

"More like business partners," the owner of the shield guardian called out. "Rather than allies."

"Allies and business partners are the same thing," the woman replied back. "This, Lord Roaringhorn, you well understand. For while you noble families play semantic games with fancy titles to give your mercantile endeavors the trappings of respectability and tradition, in the end you grub fervently in the muck for the same thing we all do."

She raised a hand and a flashing gold coin dexterously danced between her nimble fingers briefly before she flicked it spinning with her thumb then palmed it out of the air.

"But we heard rumors of gathering forces and decided to send our own delegation," the woman continued. "Lest these new allies of Blingdenstone start whispering in their ears about preferential trade agreements for surface goods in exchange for their gemstones."

"This is a relief mission, Davra," Sir Lanniver said. "Not a, as you put it, mercantile endeavor."

The woman, Davra, gave a dry chuckle and rolled her eyes.

"The sad thing is I know you truly believe that, Lanniver," she said. "At any rate we have reports of demon sightings from Mantol-Derith, our trading outpost in the Underdark. Demons are bad for business. So, we have a proposal of our own. One that hopefully avoids a dwarven army, or any others, from marching down into the Underdark."

From what Bruenor had said during their meeting with the companions, Kuhl could see why the Zentarim wished to avoid armies from the surface in the Underdark. From what he understood, their subterranean trading outpost of Mantol-Derith was a very profitable source of income to their organization. Armies in the Underdark could potentially disrupt this source of income just as much as demons in the Underdark. More importantly, they might also be inclined to stay even after the threat of demons had been dealt with.

"Our proposal is this," Darva continued. "The stone giants have a library, Gravenhollow. Legend says every event in the Underdark is eventually recorded there. We plan to send an expedition there to learn the source of the current demon threat and then hopefully learn how to thwart it."

Kuhl recognized the name Gravenhollow. Stonespeaker Hgraam, leader of clan Cairngorm, the stone giant enclave in the duergar city of Gracklstugh, had rewarded them with a crystal from the library for defeating the cultists cursing stone giants to grow a second head and suffer insanity. He wondered if Eldeth still had the crystal.

"Legend also says Gravenhollow is nearly impossible for anyone but a stone giant to find," the stern-faced dwarf sitting at Mialee and Aravae's table offered. "If it were easy, it wouldn't be a legend, would it? In some tales those who go looking waste their whole life in trying. So, how are ye going to find it?"

At Kuhl's table, Bruenor nodded to himself at the words of his fellow dwarf and gave Darva his full attention. The half-elf suspected the dwarf king once asked a similar question and the answer the Zhentarim leader gave had not fully satisfied him.

"We have a way to find it," the woman with graying hair replied. "Be assured. And we have come here with an offer to take representatives with us."

"What is this 'way ye have to find it'," the stern-faced dwarf pressed.

"That secret," Darva replied, shaking her head. "Is not part of what is being offered. Neither will the way to or location of Mantol-Derith be shared. Any representatives who come with us will be blindfolded as needed to protect that information."

Silence fell over the hall as the leaders of each of the groups cast skeptical glances at each other and at Bruenor. For his part, the dwarf king answered these looks with a slight shrug, body language conveying his own dissatisfaction with the answer.

"Understand," the Zhentarim leader said. "We are going whether you send others with us or not. I will not be personally going. Our party will travel under the able leadership of Aligor Moonwhisper."

At her table the young man in the crimson arming doublet sat even straighter at the mention of his name.

"Be assured that if I had access to a potion of longevity or two," Darva said. "To firm up this flesh and put a little fluidity back into my joints, like Roaringhorn, I'd have the courage to take up the journey myself."

She smiled slyly when the owner of the shield guardian scowled at her not so veiled insult about his apparent lack of courage.

"But the Zhentarim are going to Gravenhollow," the woman went on. "We are going to learn valuable information there. The question before you is, do you want to learn what we learn, or not?"

Again, glances were exchanged by the leaders of each of the tables and Bruenor resulting in slight nods. All this had been discussed before with each group individually, Kuhl knew. This was just the formal adoption.

"We do," the dwarf king said.

"The price for that is this," Darva said. "Gauntlgrym, for the aid she is sending to Blingdenstone, will enter into no exclusive trade deals with the svirfneblin city. Mantol-Derith will be allowed free access to her merchants. And that will apply to all groups represented here. Further, Gauntlgrym, and the groups here, will take no actions to destroy or take over our trade enclave in the Underdark."

Bruenor contemplated a long moment before he spoke.

"As long as yer enclave does not engage in trade we cannot abide," he said. "Like those involving slaves, so be it."

I am actually at the tail end of one of my groups semi-annual DnD get together. I played Onyx Moon, 2nd level tabaxi rogue.

As such, I have not really fully edited this chapter, but going to post it…

Update - back from my trip now. Fun to play DnD among other games for a weekend. In the evening I lay on my top bunk typing away at the story and couldn't resist just posting it before I jumped out of bed to join the others for our last session. But now it has been at least looked over for obvious typos.

Hard to work in all the factions of the module. As those familiar with the module know, part of the role playing is convincing each of the factions to lend their forces to the cause. I didn't want to do that, so I tried something to speed it up, but still put the general gist of the adventure into the story. Obviously, I'm changing some stuff. No Mialee and Aravae as part of the Emerald Enclave faction and Aligor Moonwhisper is just listed as another Zhentarim thug. NPC fodder. But I'm going to try and take a few of the names and add some back story to them etc. Which is what DMs due in prep, so still being true to the spirit of the module...