Finn's hands brush over a perfectly ordinary section of the wall at the end of the corridor, he performs a sequence of prods and pokes and there is an audible click and a hidden doorway swings slowly open. The open door reveals another magically lit passage leading upwards to a set of steps which in turn lead to a small wooden door. Our heroes do not hesitate to take the path before them and soon enough they reach the door. Finn once again taking up his role of party door opener places his hand on the handle and looks back to his friends to ensure they are ready for whatever may be on the other side. Through the door the faint sound of chattering can be heard, the Halfling slowly pulls the handle and the door creeks open to reveal what appears to be a kitchen. Peaking round the door frame a large woman wearing an apron can be seen berating a haggard looking Kobold. The Kobold quickly grabs some questionable meat and heads out of another door on the other side of the room. She looks up, noticing the party for the first time. Farraine is first to act, "Health Inspectors, don't mind us". The cook glances at a nearby meat clever then back to the strangers in her kitchen and decides against arming herself. Farraine proceeds to make his way through the kitchen with the rest of the party hot on his heels, emerging into a sporadically populated bar. A female Tiefling stands behind the bar, polishing a tankard and sporting a look upon her face as sullen as the tavern's ambiance.
"Welcome to The Guts and Garters Inn, most of our patrons use the front entrance" she says as the party stand behind the bar. Quickly vaulting over the ale stained bar our heroes trying their best to look inconspicuous. The Tiefling eyes them suspiciously when all of a sudden a female Elf bursts through the front door. "Ulvera! You're barred, out!". The elf quickly makes her way over to our heroes and bids them to follow her as she turns and leaves the tavern.
"We don't have much time, Xanathar will soon know of your arrival. Sister Garaele told me you would be coming, I know where your friends are, they were taken to the slave market in chains". Ulvera proceeds to give directions to the nearby port where the Slave Market is located and with little hesitation (save a quick double take at the mention of Sister Garaele) the party head off in pursuit of Ozen and Byron. Making their way through the streets of Undermountain, the stench of fish getting stronger and stronger as they approach the docks, the clanking of chains getting steadily louder. Before long, our heroes emerge from a side street into a squalid and depressing scene. Cages line the docks, inside, bound in chains are captives awaiting sale and an uncertain future. A thick set man in plate armour steps down from a raised stage and makes his way over to our heroes.
"Can I help you gentlemen...and lady" he says noticing Sigrid. Farraine proceeds to ask if he has any Chefs for sale. "That's a rather unusual request, I'm afraid I don't have anyone available with those particular skills at the moment. I did, however sell one earlier in fact so I am sure I might be able to get my hands on another should you wish" Farraine asks for more information on this sold slave and from the Slave Master's description it appears that it was indeed Ozen that was recently sold and is now on his way with Byron to the Well of Dragons.
The party gather together to discuss this troubling discovery. It appears their options are limited, whilst the Well of Dragons is likely to be their ultimate goal in defeating Tiamat, heading there at this stage might prove foolish. There is also the matter of Noska Ur'Gray that needs to be taken care of as well. After a lengthy discussion the decision is finally made to head back the way they came and explore more of the Xanathar hideout. Turning on their heels the party leave the Slave Market and head back to The Guts and Garters. Entering the tavern and making their way to the bar, Sigrid tries to push her way past the Tiefling who remains as solid as a statue. The druid mumbles an apology as she walks slowly around the barmaid and heads into the kitchen with the rest of the party. Through the secret door and down the corridor our heroes find themselves in the familiar fighting pit arena. It is at this point that Finn remembers the female Drow they had promised to help, hasn't been following them on their brief expedition through Undermountain. It appears that unlike our heroes she remained focussed on her task and headed deeper into the Xanathar lair to rescue her friend on her own.
Heading south through the fighting pit another door presents itself and once again Finn is called into action with the rest of the party stood behind him ready for whatever is on the other side. The door opens to reveal an expansive room with a curved wall on the far side. Large stone pillars with unsettling eyes inset into the aged stonework follow them as they move into the room. Scattered around the room, stone statues of various races each looking unnervingly realistic, no stone mason hand created these. Exploring the space, their movements tracked by the many eyeballs. Heading north the party find another doorway and after checking it for traps and slowly swinging it open Finn discovers the corridor where they first gained entry to the lair. Turning around he joins his companions as they discover another door off to the west of the room. Before he can get there though Sigrid, with little regard for her own safety, simply pushes the door open and strolls into the room on the other side. The druid finds herself in a large circular room, once again lifelike statues adorn the space, no doubt each with their own horrific story behind them. In the centre of the room a series of ominous, mystical runes are carved on the floor their very presence screams danger. Sigrid steps into the centre of the runic circle. The rest of the party look at her in a mix of surprise and incredulity. It appears the druid has lost all sense of self preservation and caution. Poison-tipped darts fly towards the carefree Druid puncturing her skin and slicing her robes, she drops to her knees and quickly crawls out of the rune circle.
On the other side of the room lies another door, Finn opens it carefully and creeps down the passageway beyond. The sound of soft footsteps echoes around the stone hallway. Peaking around the corner the Halfling notices a flamboyantly dressed jester skipping towards him. Beckoning the party to join him, Finn steps into the passage and greats the funny man.
"Good day to you, I am Flutterfoot Zipswiggle the Master's Jester, I'd be happy to show you around if you so desire, providing of course you can answer a simple riddle". The party look to each other with an air of confidence.
"I come with a smile; In slaughter, I rest; I can be contagious, But my medicine is best. What am I?"
"Easy" says Finn "Laughter"
"Correct, correct, well done little man. Now, how might I assist you?"
The conversation that followed started as a means to gather intelligence on the lair and it's master, yet somehow ended with Trollskull Manor becoming the new host to a regular comedy night event hosted by the former jester of a malevolent Beholder. As Flutterfoot skipped his way out of the lair the rest of the party head up the hallway, in a room off to one side, a group of dwarves are sat in a circle, a purple eye tattooed on their foreheads. It seems our heroes have stumbled upon the central hub of the lair security systems. Rather than engaging in battle and possibly alerting the Master to their presence, the party leave the dwarves alone and instead continue down the hallway to another door. Finn quickly checks it for any hidden traps and slowly opens it to reveal a room, inside of which is an ornate desk and a couple of wooden crates. Behind the desk sits a chair with a strange spider motif carved into it. The wooden crates are overflowing with Onyx beholder trophies and stuffed beholder dolls, it appears the master of this lair has been branching out into the world of branded merchandise. Finn moves carefully up to the the desk and finds a couple of locked drawers. Taking his thieves tools from his pouch he probes the lock mechanisms until there is a satisfying click. Opening the first drawer the Halfling lifts out a leather bound spell book. Lucian eyes the tome greedily.
"Er, easy now, I'm a spellcaster too you know" says Finn.
The Wizard chuckles "You're just a pretender"
Finn's eyes narrow, a wry smile spreads across his face as he quickly mutters a spell and points his finger at Lucian. There is a look of momentary shock on the Wizard's face before he collapses to the floor, clutching his sides uncontrollable laughter causing his body to convulse violently. In between the fits of mirth and chuckles the occasional expletive can be heard directed at the Halfling. Finn pockets the spell book and turns his attention to the other drawer, again there is a resounding click and the drawer pops open. Inside there is an ornate silk bag. Finn quickly decides that given his last encounter with a mimic, Garrick is probably the best person to deal with this. The halfling tosses the bag to the Cleric and Garrick immediately throws it into the portable hole.
There is a sound unlike anything any of them have ever heard, the sound of space and time being torn apart echoes through the small room, Garrick is immediate sucked into the portable hole, it's edges now jagged. Sigrid is swept off her feet and dragged towards the unstable portal before disappearing into the warped space. Finally with a series of screams and belly laughs, Lucian slides across the floor and vanishes from sight. The room falls silent, Finn looks over at Farraine. "What the fuck just happened?"
No comments:
Post a Comment