Tag Archives: drow

Revenant

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While the others go home, Lilith goes straight to Potions & Poisons in the Ghetto of Artisans to get rid of the inflammable blood moss. Jharrath drags his feet after his mistress. They are welcomed by Lha’Zis Ulvira.
‘Ah, so you have returned. Did you succeed?’.
Jharrath shows him the sack. ‘We have the blood moss you’ve asked for. Do you have a place to put it?’
Watched by countless spiders, the shopkeeper leads them past the counter. The wizard sees many alchemy treasures, but the way the shop is organized, it is a small miracle that Potions & Poisons hasn’t exploded yet.
‘Just put it down here.’ Lha’Zis blows out the candles, whereas glowing gems provide enough light. ‘So much moss, very nice!’ The poison maker takes another look in the bag. ‘Fantastic!’

Poison

‘It is much indeed,’ Jharrath says quickly. ‘I presume we get an additional discount?’
As a reply, Ulvira hands him 25 knockout poison –five extra– and 20 sick stones.
‘How about the gland, did you find it yet?’
Lilith, who is observing the spiders, shakes her head.
‘After you bring it to me, it will take two days to make the virile madness.’
The cleric bids him farewell, and together with Jharrath heads home as well.

At the Xaniqos mansion, the siblings go their own way. Some freshen up and find healing. Alvra makes his rounds and talks with the guards, while Lilith spends hours in reverie. Afterward, she takes 100 gold, a bag of gems and the drow mission blade to the treasury. The blade protects its wielder from acid and gives extra luck when near a node, like in Erelhei-Cinly. Phaedra is happy with the five vials of black, gummy poison. Somewhat later, Thaldynion brings them a message from the Matron Mother: she is pleased with their actions and provides each with 8000 gold to enhance their equipment. This is a big favor from Lady Thandysha and they all feel honored.

When the drow walk into the Ghetto of Scholars, there is no open hostility, but they notice that the House-affiliated are not favorable towards House Xaniqos. The city is on edge, more so than normal. They enter Nyttoris Arms & Armor, as a big sign says over the door. Nyttoris is glad to see the Xaniqos walk in his door. With a big smile, he says, ‘Well, well, well, what brings you to my place? It is good to see you again. We have many items on display today. We have boots, armor, weapons like rapiers and scimitars and many magic items. No dwarven ware though, those are not sophisticated enough.’ When he hears the drow’s wishes, Nyttoris leaves the other customers in his servants’ care and takes the Xaniqos to his private office. A young drow female takes care of food and drinks. The table is well provisioned.

‘House Xaniqos seems to be doing well. All of the requested items are present, but first I want to offer you a business deal. I am waiting for a ship with goods from the Upper world, and it is already a tenday too late. There is no sign of it after it left Luskar. Either it sank in the Glimmersea, or it was attacked. If you can find out what happened to the shipment, and perhaps take the goods back to me, I offer you a 25% discount.’
Nyttoris shows them a map of House Shi’quos, with the safest and most probable routes. After Lilith has studied the map and accepts the assignment, he hands her the scroll.
‘You’ll get the discount when you return. You can use one of my galleys to investigate. It is waiting for you at Blessed Seahaven. Thank you for doing business, and I hope to see you back soon, preferably with the goods.’

When they step back onto the street outside of Arms & Armor, Alvra is wearing new leather boots, and his brother has a new red robe with spikes on it, plus new bracers of red-brown leather. The scout has new bracers as well, and her spiked chain is continuously crackling with electricity. Her armor looks slightly shinier. Lilith has a new leather belt with a buckle with three black pearls, and on her finger is a ring with lavender glass. On their way back, Jharrath buys two potions that will help him to breathe underwater. It never hurts to come to a battle well prepared.

The siblings gather at the Xaniqos mansion and call one of the servants.
‘Tell Thaldynion that we’ve gone to Blessed Seahaven. We hope to be back in two days.’

The Xaniqos presence in the Ghetto of Outcasts is becoming more visible. Buildings are under repair, and beautiful mansions are constructed. More and better guards patrol the perimeters. As they walk through the district, they hear a loud wailing moan, gathering in intensity. It is a dreadful, very nasty sound. As they draw closer, they see a shape walking, dragging itself and its evil bastard sword forward. The dust of the street swirls and gathers around the shape.

Two Xaniqos guards approach, their weapons drawn, but the undead ignores everything around it.
‘Don’t worry,’ one of the guards says, ‘we’ll take care of it. It is probably just an escaped undead from the district of the dead or something.’ The guards stop, flanking the animated corpse from 30 feet distance.
Alvra nods towards his men. ‘Do your job,’ and the siblings continue on their way to Blessed Seahaven. Then the eyes of the undead focus on Phaedra, its stare pure hatred. Phaedra halts. She recognizes him as Jhaelmin Shi’quos, the second son of the House, whose throat she cut in the Lair of Principles when they were searching for the Cloak of the Patriarch.
‘This is impossible! He has been dead for a long time!’ But is it? House Shi’quos specializes in necromancy…

Revenant

The guards attack the Shi’quos but are immediately covered in a swarm of insects that bite and claw at their faces. The dust forms a vortex and the undead lays his hand on one of the guards. The soldier screams in pain and a moment later his armor crashes to the ground. He has turned to dust, all moisture sucked from his body.

Lilith recognizes the form of a hand burned into Jhaelmin’s forehead as a sign of Kiaransalee. She tries to rebuke the undead, but the power of the Lady of the Death is too strong. Phaedra and Alvra are hurt by the negative energy of the vortex’ swarm attack. The fighter counters by throwing a javelin at the Shi’quos, but to no avail. Jharrath summons a large earth elemental, which attacks the undead. It seems to be able to damage the creature that once was a drow. The remaining guard keeps his distance, still under attack by the swarm.

Phaedra hits the undead but doesn’t hurt him. Once again, Lilith tries to rebuke, but the one who put the spell on the undead is very strong; her own level at least.
The revenant stretches his hand and under his command a wall of sand rises, covering Jharrath from head to toes. The wizard can’t breathe, is blind and deaf. Alvra steps back and throws another javelin, right in the center of the undead’s chest. Death oozes from the cavity, but the vortex grows only stronger. Fortunately, the elemental isn’t much bothered by it. Two more javelins disappear harmlessly into the vortex.

Lilith calls forth dark fire and strikes hard at the creature. She uses her brand new belt to get another attack and dark fire again strikes towards the undead. The three pearls of the belt’s buckle are spent and turn white, but she manages to force the creature to let go of the sand wall. The undead steps forward and again the cleric counters with a touch attack of dark flames. Phaedra teleports out of harm’s way, as Alvra attacks twohanded. This time his sword attack succeeds. The elemental aids him, and the wizard follows up with a Kellgore’s firebolt. The undead finally drops his sword and falls down.

Now the left-over guard comes near and brags, ‘I couldn’t have done it without you. Well done, masters!’ The drow incredulously stare at him.
’What is your name, guard?’ The Captain of the Guard’s voice is icy.
‘I’m Eldi’nine, master.’
‘Well, Eldi’nine. Return to the Xaniqos mansion and report for duty immediately.’
Alvra will take care of this impudent guard later.

Lilith tries to burn the remains of the undead with her dark flames, but it won’t turn to ashes. She knows that she has to destroy all traces of the revenant and its evil sword, or it will come back to revenge its death once more. She takes a bottle from her pack and pours holy water on the remains. Finally, the corpse and the bastard sword turn to dust.

Alvra orders a group of four new guards to take over the control of the Ghetto, and, together with his mistress, the scout and the wizard, resumes his path.

About magic mushrooms and ogres

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Phaedra leads the way from the blood moss cave, and soon they leave the smell of decay and wet leaves behind. Mushrooms and spores are everywhere. Phaedra is fairly sure she’s taking them in the right direction, past deep chasms and caves. Finally, they emerge onto an open plain. In the distance, a circle of shadows and lights shimmers. Phaedra feels an uncanny urge to check it out. Half in trance, she sees weird walking mushrooms within, and she veers sharply to the left.  Her brothers are under the influence as well, their gaze focused on the fungi ring. Lilith is the only one who isn’t affected by the lights, but she follows the others, wondering if Phaedra suddenly has found a new route. Or has she seen something?

The scout manages to shake off the effects of the fae ring just in time, but is too late to stop her brothers from entering the magic circle. As soon as Alvra passes through the mushrooms, he comes to his senses. He feels how his life force slowly is pulled from him. It is as if he wakes from a bad dream, but the reality is even worse. Feeling dreadful, he moans: ‘What am I doing here?’ Beside him, the moisture is sucked from Jharrath’s skin.

Mushroom ring

Lilith yells at them to leave the mushroom ring, and both drow snap to attention. Alvra looks gray and Jharrath is dehydrated. ‘This fae ring works like a trap,’ the wizard explains. ‘It is a combination of nature and magic.’
‘Come on, guys, I think there are myconids around; I saw movement earlier on. We need to get away immediately.’ Again the scout searches the area, but all seems safe for the moment. Quickly she leads them back to the route that will take them home.

After a while, deep manmade tracks become visible in the soil, and abandoned mine carts are scattered around the area. They are nearing the ruins of Ogran, an old dwarven city, that now consists of several dwarven enclaves. The dwarves of these enclaves defend their territory fiercely, often seen flying enormous bats.

Suddenly they hear an enormous rumbling and thundering sound behind them. From high up, huge rocks tumble down the slope. A cave in – the way back is closed, and the only way left is forward. Then a huge humanoid shape appears, and he yells loudly in a thundering voice. The earth starts shaking: Phaedra and Alvra manage to stay upright, but the others go down.

Ogre

The horned ogre has a big club as a weapon and is aided by an earth elemental. He demands a toll for their passage: 250 gold each. Lilith tries to engage the ogre –his name is Bolgoreth– in a conversation. When she tries to stall, the impatient creature takes a big sword and slams it into the earth. The earth groans and shakes once more, and now the way forward is blocked as well by another cave in. Lilith loses her footing again and gets pissed. She starts arguing with the ogre, so he calls another friend to help him: a two-headed ogre, that goes by the names Crusher and Cracker.

ogre 2headed

Lilith, not feeling the need to fight without a cause, decides to hold her notorious temper in check and pays the toll – gold they found on their quest anyway. The ogres, happy with their accomplishment, leave through a side corridor, while Phaedra nimbly climbs up the unstable mountain of stones and rocks. The underground is still settling. The space between the boulders and the ceiling is very narrow, but the scout is able to squeeze through the gap. On the other side of the cave-in, all seems to be quiet. Alvra takes his time on the wobbly surface and joins his sister near the top. Phaedra wraps a rope around a huge boulder so her siblings can use it to climb up too. They untie the rope and crawl through the claustrophobic space.

The rest of the journey home is blissfully uneventful, and after a couple of hours, they reach Erelhei-Cinly once more.

Blood moss

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Back at the Xaniqos mansion, they quickly pack and set out on their second task: collecting blood moss. According to the map, there are three options for their travels: follow the inner sea, travel through the swamps or take the broader but longer trading route. They decide on the latter.

As always, Phaedra scouts ahead. Their trek through Erelhei-Cinlu isn’t very eventful, and Phaedra finds them a fine route in between the Upper and Middle Underdark. They pass many caves and spend the night in an uninhabited one. Lilith takes first watch and her sister the second, but nothing happens.

On the second day, the scout spots two very big humanoids in the distance, who move awkwardly. When she focuses, she sees that the figures are twice the size of a drow, and are covered in spines. She returns to the others, and the cleric decides to move back to a side corridor they passed earlier. No use in engaging in a confrontation if it is not necessary. Alvra casts darkness in the corridor to hide them. Soon they hear heavy footsteps passing, and the jingle of armor.

Phaedra waits until the sounds fade completely and sets out in the direction of their goal. They arrive at a wide high cave, illuminated by the fungi. The ground stretches before them, soft and packed with dense moss. Jharrath informs them that they probably should find a smaller cave for locating the blood moss.

190309cave1

They follow airborne spores towards their origin and find the entrance to a cave complex. The ground turns wetter and kind of oozy. “We’re getting closer,” the wizard whispers. The entrance is about 5 feet wide. When Phaedra passes, she notices that mushrooms react to her presence by releasing even more spores. She treads carefully. Soon the cave becomes wider, and there’s a path winding through. The vegetation is becoming wilder, with jelly and spores. The scout steps into a puddle of green gunk, that quickly changes into a gelatinous cube. It tries to trap her, but her quick reflexes save her.

190309greenooze
Lilith walks past the stuff, deeper into the cave, keeping her distance from the green ooze. Jharrath takes out a candle and summons an earth elemental. The stone beast pummels the jelly. The acid splashes but doesn’t harm the elemental. Phaedra knows her weapons are vulnerable to the acid, so she tumbles back and looks around, searching for blood moss. She moves on towards the next cave. Alvra stays in the original corridor and keeps checking the main hall.

The cube reaches for the cleric, and quickly she jumps aside. Lilith calls forth a darkbolt, but it fizzles out. Again the ooze reaches for her, but the earth elemental pummels the creature until once again it is a harmless looking puddle. Jharrath signals “It might be dead, but I can’t be sure.” He orders the elemental to step on the ooze. Nothing happens; it is indeed beaten.

Phaedra turns another corner. Fungi grow thick and high on the walls, and some kind of path meanders through the space. There’s a heap of rotting vegetation in the middle. And it moves! Jharrath steps forward to stand next to Phaedra, and they are joined by the elemental. the wizard recognizes the mound with vegetation arms: a huge shambling mound, fungi colored.

190309shamblingmound

It is intelligent, carnivorous and predatory. Two huge, armlike appendages stretch towards Phaedra, wrap around her and slam her against the ground. Then they grapple her and pull her towards the mound. Lilith moves forward and shoots searing lights into the beast. It won’t release her sister though. Phaedra can’t get loose but keeps attacking the tentacles. Jharrath moves out of the earth elemental’s way and fires his wand of scorching rays at the huge plant. The shambling mound slowly squeezes the life out of Phaedra, so Lilith steps closer and heals her sister. Working together, Jharrath, the elemental and the scout attack the same tentacle. It unwraps itself, too damaged to hold on, but the other appendage is still squeezing. Again Lilith casts a healing spell, now affecting her whole party positively. Finally, after a charge from Alvra, more searing lights of the cleric, and a new elemental attacking, Phaedra can tumble away from the monstrous plant. Pummeled by the elemental, burned by Jharrath scorching rays and an attack by Alvra’s sword, the beast finally lies down and dies. Lilith again has to heal Alvra, who is badly wounded by the fight, plus hands him a very strong healing potion.

Lilith buffs her siblings with a strong conviction spell, which should raise their resilience. Behind the remains of the shambling mound, they see red fungi. It looks like the blood moss they are after, but it is not dense enough. Mist wafts on the underground current, phosphorescent fungi and red moss is all around. Phaedra again takes the lead.

At the side of the room, huge mushrooms grow from the wall. There is moss in every color. The smell of lemon, bread, and decay is heavy on the air. Then another cave opens, with at the far end a thick blanket of blood moss. The room seems poisonous. There are a lot of spores afloat in the air. And when the spores almost settle on the ground, another gust of wind blows them into the air once more.

The drow halt at the entrance of the blood moss cave. The earth elemental is unaffected by the floating spores and walks in. Suddenly tentacles shoot from a heap of leaves. Another shambling mound, though this one is slightly smaller and doesn’t have a fungi color. The elemental gets into a fight with the plant and, aided by the drow, kills it. Quickly Jharrath summons more elementals and places them at strategic points throughout the room. At the back, a third mound appears and captures one of the elementals. Lilith and Phaedra take out their crossbows and shoot at the plant.

Yet another creature appears at the back of the room: a huge glistening treelike creature, oozing acid. Phaedra doesn’t recognize it, beyond that it seems to be a sentient being.

190309ent
The creature attacks the elementals, and Lilith immediately counters with a flame strike. A column of fire roars down on top of the ent, and one of Alvra’s javelins scores a hit. The creature roars and releases a 60 feet cone of spores, enveloping the cleric, wounding her severely. She retreats to heal herself, while her siblings keep up the fight with crossbow, spiked chain, javelin, sword and kellgore’s fire bolts. When she is recovered enough, the cleric calls down another flame strike on the treant. She then attacks the respawning shambling mound with her flail and does extra fire damage. Three more summoned earth elementals kill the vegetation.

Alvra is under attack and becomes engulfed in the tree-like being, the roots dealing acid damage. Lilith attacks the ent with her flail and the added fire damage sets the ent ablaze, which ends its life. An almost respawning shambling mound withers and dies.

190309redmossIn the treant’s carcass, they find a drow mission blade, that has protection against acid.
Lilith and Alvra leave the spores zone, where Lilith does a full heal on Alvra. Jharrath, Alvra, and Phaedra shovel the blood moss in a bag. They search the remains of the shambling mounds and find a collection of gold and gems – obviously of no use to these creatures.

 

A change of positions

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When they arrive at the mansion, Leargath goes his own way, while the siblings carry the body of the warlock inside. Immediately drow slaves take it to the morgue. After a while, they are invited to the throne room, where lady Thandysha seems to be in a positive mood. All the important people of House Xaniqos are present.

“Good to see you. I presume your mission was a success?” As always the Matron Mother doesn’t leave much room for failure.

“Yes, Mother. House Despana was behind the abduction of our captain. They wanted information about the rod, as well as punish us. And though we managed to save Solaufein, he is in no condition to secure our House. We brought back the warlord’s body though, it is at your disposal at the morgue.” Lilith and Phaedra continue to relate the happenings of the last day.

At that moment Alvra steps up and makes his ambitions clear. “Make me captain of the guard! I will take Solaufein’s position.”

Alvra
Quarra snorts indignantly but holds her tongue.
“Alvra, that is a bold statement,” the Matron Mother says. “The captain of the guard is also my personal guard. It is a high position. What do your siblings think about your proposal?” She turns towards Lilith. “Is he qualified?”

The cleric assesses the fighter, then nods. A simple yes is her reply.
“I have only seen his group activities, and he knows his position.” Phaedra shrugs. Jharrath doesn’t object either. “He’s up to the task. But I’d love to hear what Quarra thinks of this.”
“Well thank you, Jharrath”, an overly polite Quarra replies. “You all seem to back up Alvra. And if Lilith says he’s able, then, by all means, Mother, we must give him our support too.”
Lady Thandysha briefly glances at her consort, who nods approvingly.

“Since everybody is here, it is settled now. Welcome, Alvra, as the new captain of the guard of House Xaniqos. Thaldinyon will fill you in. We will meet each other in a few hours, and talk about how we deal with House Despana. Its actions can not be tolerated!”

The mansion is bigger and more luxurious than their former residence, and so are their rooms. After a visit to the House clerics for healing, the men leave for the bathhouse, where they lazily float in the water. Alas, their peace doesn’t last very long, for Phaedra comes to get them on her sister’s behalf. “We must meet her at the chapel,” she says, “that’s all I know.”

Lilith is in the chapel, worshiping the Spider Queen. When she hears their footsteps, she turns around and welcomes her siblings. “Tell me, Alvra. What are your plans as the new captain of the guard?” The fighter plans to expand the number of guards. He also plans to use the lizard mounts more. The cleric is pleased to hear that. She gathers her sister and brothers and heals them all. Back in their rooms, Jharrath identifies the cloak as a magical cloak of charisma. This lightweight and fashionable cloak has a highly decorative silver trim. Lilith keeps it for herself; the mithril shirt goes to Phaedra.

It is already late when they are summoned to the Matron Mother’s room. Lady Thandysha is seated at the head of the table. Quarra and K’yorl are seated in their usual chairs, but Alvra’s seat has been upgraded.

“Welcome all. It is time for our House to step forward and take our rightful place. We will not be the last House any longer. We have grown in power, we have many soldiers and slaves. We have risen in prestige, and will now measure ourselves in strength as well. The rod causes a lot of unrest. Despana doesn’t have it, and neither have we. The rod will cause a shift in power. She who has the rod has the upper hand.

Phaedra, I hope you will aid our House with your skills. House Despana is the perfect prey. We will have to take away their assets in the city. We need to know what happens at the Ghetto of Savages. Who are our allies, how are the political relations in the city? House Vae is engaged in a surface war. House Aleval is running a covert war.

Furthermore, there is a shortage of certain ingredients in our household. You will have to get them for me at Potions & Poisons, located in the Ghetto of Artisans. Start your investigations in the morning.“ Lady Thandysha hands her daughter a scroll with ingredients and a bag of gems, worth 15.000 GP. “Go to the shop, Lilith. Mind you, he is the best poison maker in town, but something is wrong with his mind.” The scroll reads:

  • knockout poison 20x
  • dark ore 1x
  • poison virile madness 1x
  • sick stones 20x

Laboratory

The Potions & Poisons is located in the same street as Nyttoris Arms & Armor. The detached building at the end of the street in the Ghetto of Artisans appears to be closed, everything is shut, but when Lilith tries the door, it opens. She and Jharrath step inside. The interior resembles a laboratory. There is stuff bubbling everywhere, and the smell is very heavy, very chemical. On the top floor, lots of adamantine spider constructs are moving around. In the back of the room is a very large, very real spider. The beast takes up more than half of the space.

Someone is working at an alchemy table: a man, dressed in black and wearing green armor. One look and you know that he is evil through and through… and crazy as a bat.

Arachnomancer

“Xu’klir, we have guests!” he says to the monstrous spider. Poisonmaker Lha’zis Ulvira resembles a spider himself. When Lilith tells him what they need, the arachnomancer complains about his stocks. “We are running low on supplies and I don’t have all the things you need. You see, there are problems with deliveries by the caravans. They have not arrived from Maerimydra yet, and none of the investigating parties have returned.”

“Do we get a discount if we help you?”, Jharrath haggles. “You’ll only need to pay for the poison of virile madness if you can get me a sack of blood moss. But be careful not to add fire to it. The blood moss can be found to the southwest of Erelhei-Cinlu, about two days of travel. I also need the poison glands of a purple worm.”

“And where might we find one?”

“No one knows for sure, but there are rumors that one has been sighted to the northwest of here.”

And with that news, Lilith and Jharrath return home.

The Rescue of Solafein

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While the cleric is concentrating on her spell, the babau secretly makes its way towards Lilith and slashes her neck with one of his stinking claws. Alvra, seeing his mistress bloodied, turns around and beheads the tanar’ri with a powerful swing of his sword.

Lilith walks over to the altar and finds Solaufein on the brink of death. Casting a full healing spell on the captain, she manages to bring him back. The information and testimony he can give might be crucial. They need to know the secrets he has yielded to House Despana. She unties Solaufein. Though his body is healed, his dazed mind will need time to recover.

healing

The vrock keeps following the wizard and reaches for Jharrath with its beak. At that moment Leargath manages to get through its defenses and wounds the monster with his scimitar, while Jharrath retreats in full haste back towards the circle. Where the wizard can take the narrow tunnels, the vrock is forced to follow the main corridor, so Jharrath casts caustic smoke near the entrance from that side. Alvra and Leargath position themselves near the two other entrances, while the wizard walks toward the south room.

To their surprise, not one but four vrocks enter the center room. Lilith casts a dispelling screen on them, but the spell is too high to nullify. Alvra and Leargath attack the creatures with their weapons and manage to get rid of the mirror images. Aided by the cleric, the three of them fight in melee, until a swing with the cleric’s flail sends the vrock back to where it came from.

Solaufein, who is slowly coming to his senses, tells Alvra that the dungeon is a place where House Despana worships demons. They tortured him and asked him for information about the rod Dark Fate.

It was also meant as a punishment for your victory in the arena, Alvra. The warlock was the one ordering the demons, though these were not allowed to go near his room in the south.

In the other room, the knock-out potion loses its potency and the Despana warlock slowly gets up. He flees to a corridor in the back, with Phaedra in pursuit. She yells:

Don’t kill the mage!

and charges him, trying to knock him down again. Her strike is well aimed. The warlock is badly hurt but not quite dead. The Despana dark elf is getting tired of the unrelenting scout and takes a healing potion while leaning against the wall. His ebony color returns and he scowls at Phaedra. Then Jharrath enters and aims a hail of stones at the warlock. The Despana looks mangled. He focusses on Phaedra and releases an Eldritch blast.

eldritch

The energy strikes the scout, but she immediately counterattacks and lashes out again. Her strike renders him unconscious once more. Phaedra binds and gags the warlock, and strips him of his possessions. On him, she finds a mithral shirt, a magic belt, the wand of fireballs and a magic ring with three gems: two still active and one spent. The scout follows the corridor where the mage tried to flee to and arrives at a hole in the ground. Apparently, this is the place where the Despana dumps the bodies of their victims.

When she returns to the south room, she finds Jharrath studying the arcane mage symbols on a door that is a few steps down.

This sealed door can only be opened in a magical way. And I don’t have the right spells for it. Perhaps…

Phaedra shows him what she found on the warlock’s body, and Jharrath recognizes the ring as a ring of spell storing. One gem is able to hold a portal, the other has a knock spell. He puts the ring on his finger and feels he now has access to the room.

The Xaniqos siblings gather in the chamber to decide what they will do next, while Leargath goes up into the warehouse to keep watch. Lilith orders her wizard brother to open the sealed door, and then drags the warlock back to the room with the pentagram circle. He is still out cold. Jharrath activates the ring’s knock spell and renders the arcane seal inactive.

Phaedra quickly opens the door and takes a peek. Inside it smells like a tomb. In the middle is an open sarcophagus with humanoid bones and a decayed armor. They seem to have belonged to a fighter. At the back of the chamber is a marble statue, and on it an upright hand. The wizard enters the room and circles the sarcophagus. A green mist rises, changing into a female elven warrior. Her face expresses utter hate for all that is living, malicious. By now the room is illuminated with a purple light that swirls around and in the hand of the statue. Phaedra and Jharrath both run from the room and try to lock the door again, but the female drow warrior escapes.

Chwuvain

Since the spirit doesn’t attack yet, Lilith asks who she is.

My name is Qu’Chwuvain. I have been slain and they locked me up in here. What year is it? Where am I?

You are in the city of Erelhei-Cinlu.

I am from Menzoberranzan, and was a famous warrior there. Where is the mage that kept me imprisoned?

Qu’Chwuvain works herself into a frenzy, so the cleric shows her to the next room, where the mage lies bound.

Here he is, but we still need information from him!

Lilith’s words fall on deaf ears though. They have hardly left her mouth, when the spirit swoops down on the mage, pulls a spectral sword and sticks it in the warlock, over and over again. She screams and keeps on screaming until the warlock is dead, so full of anger, hate and frustration, that Phaedra runs away in fear.

Since he was an enemy of yours, I thank you. But do not cross my path again. Now take me out of here!

Jharrath points towards the exit and tells her that the draegloth is an ally, while Lilith gets her sister back and leads her away from the mage room. She then takes the wizard to the sarcophagus.

Look at that hand, Jharrath. It is getting more real!

The Xaniqos wizard takes out his wand and detects magic, originating in strong waves from the statue. A voice in his head urges him to step closer, to come and touch it, but he resists and steps back. Phaedra is also under the influence of the hand and wants to go back into the chamber. The voice whispers:

Come and touch me. I promise to bring fame and fortune to your House. With me you will rise and flourish. Come and touch me!

Phaedra desperately tries to reach the room, but with a combined effort Alvra and Lilith stop her and drag her out of harm’s way. Jharrath casts black tentacles in front of the door and they run out. Once they are past the pentagram, the evil voice of the hand gets softer, then fades.

The siblings go outside, where they meet Leargath.

What did you unleash?

Ah, just a pissed off ghost, searching for the warlock that entombed her. And that mage now is dead. By the way, could you carry him?

She points at Solaufein. The draegloth grumbles, but gives in to the cleric’s order and walks out, together with the Xaniqos siblings and the Captain of the Guard. Somewhat later they arrive at their house, fatigued and wounded, but safe.

A Warlock and his Tanar’ri’s

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The Xaniqos fighter charges the vrock that Lilith is in combat with. He hits the demon repeatedly, after which the vrock releases spores, that bite into Alvra’s skin. Then it counterattacks with claw, beak, and talons! The drow is glad for the cleric’s protection earlier on. Lilith walks towards the monster and her touch attack leaves marks of negative energy. The creature screeches with pain. The fight rages back and forth, both sides evenly vicious in the battle, seemingly oblivious to the pain being dealt to them. Alvra is bleeding from many wounds, scratches and bite marks all over his body. When fungus starts to grow in his wounds and he feels very sick and weak, he retreats to take a potion.

The earth elemental fights valiantly, but the combined attacks of the other vrock and the mage send it back to its own plane. The demon looks up, in search of his next victim. Slowly he makes his way towards the entrance of the dungeon, where Jharrath is waiting.

Phaedra tumbles past the mage while staying clear of the circle. She lands in front of another room. Masses of blood and remains are strewn around the side chamber, the smell is awful. Behind her back, the second babau sneaks closer. Phaedra puts away her spiked chain and knocks an arrow on her short bow. When the small demon springs to attack her, she fluently steps back.

 

Laergath

What a fine mess did you get yourself into now?

Jharrath hears breathing in his ears and smells wet dog. Leargath is back! Haughtily he replies:

I was just about to help.

He and his mirror images teleport to the circle. The device with the levers is still there, but the creature handling it is gone. Jharrath pulls several levers to try and open the portcullis for the draegloth, but he only succeeds in opening two others.

The mage takes a wand ending in a red flame, and shoots a fireball against the wall above the summoning circle. Debris rains down, but the Xaniqos are not hurt by it – including the drow on the altar, who is indeed their lost Captain of the Guard!

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The enemy mage orders the vrock near the portcullis to return to the fight, and then hits Phaedra with his purple energy beam. The Xaniqos wizard recognizes this ability as a warlock’s.  The enemy drow chants an invocation to destroy their potions, but fails in doing so. Then Phaedra’s arrow finds its mark, and the warlock slowly topples backward. The knock-out potion she used on her weapon worked really well.

At the same moment, Lilith inflicts critical wounds on the vrock and sends it back to the demon plane. Quickly she checks on Alvra. The potion seems to have done its job, and she casts a strong healing spell to help him recover: she needs the fighter on his feet. She then heals herself. Alvra thanks his mistress and then walks back to help Leargath. Together they lift the heavy portcullis, their muscles trembling. The powerful drow gathers his strength and manages to hold up the gate on his own for an instant. But that is enough for the draegloth, and two seconds later, he is standing next to Alvra.

The remaining vrock attacks Jharrath several times, and one by one the mirror images disappear. The wizard steps away and recasts the spell. Now there are eight wizards facing the demon. He walks backwards into a corridor and calls forth a new earth elemental, that fights the vrock for him. Jharrath then casts a spell and incendiary slime covers part of the floor.

Phaedra repeatedly jumps away from the babau, but the tanar’ri is persistent. The scout disappears in a blinding flash, dazzling the monster. That doesn’t last long though. Again he looks for her and overcomes her invisibility. She tumbles away once more, puts her bow away and takes out her spiked chain. The babau, upset with the nimble evasive scout, makes himself invisible and searches for a new victim.

The Xaniqos fighter and draegloth walk towards the summoning circle, where the vrock and the earth elemental are in close combat.

What are your wishes, Mistress?

Kill that big demon, Leargath, and if possible, do not destroy the elemental in the proces.

Lilith then casts faerie fire on their opponent and outlines his body in sparkling light. Both Alvra and Leargath attack the vrock, but they can’t seem to damage it with their weapons. The demon flutters over the green incendiary grease by flapping its wings and menacingly approaches the mage.  The cleric casts a mighty dispelling spell, but the demon stays right where it is. Again under attack, the last of Jharrath’s mirror images disappears and he teleports to safety.

 

 

By the eight names of Lolth

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While Leargath is busy killing the last Despana guard upstairs, the others slowly make their way deeper into the dark passage. Phaedra, who is scouting ahead, catches a glimpse of a monster with leathery skin and red eyes. She is just about to warn the others when a scream of pain shatters the silence. Someone else is chanting, his voice rising and falling with the spell. Lilith quickly gathers her siblings in a close circle and uses a couple of spells to strengthen their party. Then the siblings follow their scout, chains softly moving against their bodies like a metal curtain.

In the distance, a purple glow lifts the darkness and a smell of decay is heavy in the air. When they turn the corner, they see a glowing summoning circle. In the middle, someone is thrashing on an altar, clearly in pain, while an arcane drow is pulling energy from his victim. Smears of blood surround the frightful scene.

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Our DM used this drawing of dark cells (by Alex J. Moore) to visualize the dungeon.

The Xaniqos wizard summons an elemental to help them, but almost loses his concentration when a claw reaches for him from the dark. Almost. 😉 The earth elemental attacks the mage in the starred circle. The drow nimbly evades, chanting:

By the eight names of Lolth, I invoke thee.
By the eight dooms of the spider queen, I summon thee.
Fill my empty vessel with your profane might, your limitless power, and your inexhaustible wisdom.

With those final words, the mage draws upon the essence of a demon. His appearance changes. His body grows feathers, his head becomes a beak and he develops half wings. He turns towards the elemental and purple light shoots from his arms. The sonic force blasts right through the elemental, dealing much damage.

Calling out to the Spider Queen, Lilith creates a shimmering, magical field around her sister, brothers and herself. In the distance, they hear heavy chains rattling. Somewhere near more gates are opening!

Jharrath finds himself face to face with another demon. The tanar’ri is bent, horned, with a big mouth and claws. Acid gelly coats its slimy skin and half of its head is filled with teeth. They have found the source of the horrid smell: a babau!

Babau

Phaedra steps forward from under the portcullis and attacks the babau with her spiked weapon. She hits the demon, but the chain gets stuck in the skin. It sizzles but stays whole. She is aided by her fighter brother, who attacks the beast from the other side, but the two-handed sword attack does less damage than Alvra expected. Back in the corridor, the Xaniqos wizard casts a spell on the tanar’ri and the creature is sent back to its plane, growling, hissing and seething with rage.

There is no shortage of opponents though: two vrocks step into view near the circle, most likely as a result of the opened cages. The birdlike demons attack the elemental, but it defends itself well.

Vrock

When Phaedra moves forward, she notices a device with multiple handles to the side on her left. A second babau, which is -she presumes- responsible for freeing the vrocks, is standing near it. The scout takes out her spiked chain and attacks one of the vrocks. Focusing divine power like a ray of the sun, Lilith also walks towards the circle, projecting a blast of searing light from her open palm that slams straight into the other vrock.

From the corner of her eyes, Phaedra sees the tanar’ri pull a lever, and with a loud clang the portcullis which they just passed, comes down. Alvra dives forward to be in the same corridor as his mistress, but Jharrath is trapped behind the iron gate! Quickly he casts a spell, and five more duplicate Jharrath’s appear.

The Despana Warehouse

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Phaedra rounds up her siblings. “I just returned from the Matron Mother. She wants us to free our Captain of the Guard immediately.” Alvra hurriedly searches for Leargath and finds him in a downstairs room. The half-demon looks up. “I hear you can use my services? Call me intrigued.” He takes his scythe. “And this, this needs to taste blood. Just make sure you stay out of my way.”

The five Xaniqos warriors make their way towards the warehouse, which is situated up against the great wall of Erelhei-Cinlu. Everyone gives them a wide berth because of the draegloth. He is very intimidating. According to their plan, the half-demon, Lilith, and Alvra will enter the warehouse through the front door, while Phaedra and Jharrath sneak inside.

When they arrive at the end of the street, they see that the warehouse has two wooden doors that open to the outside, but no windows. The cleric calls upon her deity to give them divine protection, extra strength for the fighter and herself and fortifies Alvra’s weapon. “Try to keep it quiet for now, or at least until we are inside.” The draegloth bares his teeth in a ferocious smile.

Cleric and fighter examine the entrance together. There seem to be no traps, but there is a wooden beam on the inside, barring the door. First Leargath tries to lift the bar through the slot of the door, but when that doesn’t work, the males decide to kick in the door. Their cooperation isn’t that successful though, so the half-demon tries on his own. He takes a couple of steps back and charges. The doors rattle but won’t budge. A second try only hurts his shoulder, so drow and half-demon go for it together once more. What they don’t know is that Jharrath casts one of his spells on the lock at the exact time they make contact. The doors fly open and Alvra and Leargath tumble inside.

Two drow guards – clearly not expecting this sudden entrance – attack Leargath. Seems like the wish of his scythe will be fulfilled. One of the guards tries a fire spell on the draegloth, but to no avail. Leargath now is getting in the mood, blood spraying his white mane. The screams are getting worse, only to end abruptly when the draegloth beheads his victim. One more left to play with.

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When Alvra checks out the warehouse, he sees a room in the corner, several crates, barrels, and a drow mage. He charges him and swings his sword. The weapon doesn’t meet with resistance though, and the image of the mage is gone. The fighter quickly looks around and sees the same man standing in the room, laughing, a multicolored aura around him. Suddenly an illithid materializes in front of the Xaniqos fighter! The creature walks towards Alvra, but the drow’s faith does not waver and he sees through the illusion. The illithid is gone, and so is the mage’s smirk.

Lilith calls down a flamestrike, engulfing the shield guardian construct in roaring fire, and prepares another spell. The golem is badly wounded but still tries to grapple Alvra. The fighter immediately counterattacks and manages to free himself. Waiting for the right moment, the Xaniqos cleric releases a darkbolt from her hand, and the jet-black flames bring the construct to the brink of destruction. Alvra’s sword finishes him off.

Phaedra, who has checked out the exterior of the warehouse, locates a hole in the wall and sees a stairway leading down. She reasons that that might be the place House Despana keeps their prisoners and calls out to Jharrath. No sense in keeping quiet with all the ruckus that is going on inside. The wizard casts a communication spell, including both his sisters. Getting her bearings, Phaedra walks back towards the entrance. She tumbles past the golem and ends at the top of the stairs.

The mage, heavily frustrated, casts protection on himself and, surrounded by a light blue globe, walks past Alvra and Phaedra unchallenged. His will is too strong for them to overcome and the Xaniqos cannot attack him directly. Seething with frustration, the siblings watch the Despana drow. The scout whispers ‘Going downstairs, can’t hit the mage,’ and both Jharrath and Lilith hear her words through the wizard’s spell.

The scout walks into the basement and passes a portcullis. Masses of pointed chains hang from the ceiling, blocking her view. She activates a special ability that, when triggered, will dazzle the mage, so she will no longer be visible to him. Phaedra walks to the end of the corridor and hears how the chains start to move. A humanoid appears, more chains wrapped around him. It seems like the chains respond to the creature, and suddenly four chains seem to grow longer and attack and hurt Phaedra.

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Alvra glances into the mage’s room and sees a desk and a bookcase. If he can’t attack the mage directly, he will try to intimidate the Despana brigand. He jumps behind him and roars “I’ll feed your balls to the rats!” As a result of this unconventional approach, the mage staggers on the stairs. The cleric, in pursuit of her sister, walks towards him. She is not impressed by the mage’s sanctuary spell and attacks him with her flail. The mage hastily retreats into the basement. Alvra searches the mage’s room. Apart from a desk and a bookcase, he discovers a big chest.

Jharrath uses his wand of magic missiles and hits the remaining arcane guard in the back, but soon realizes that the guard is no match for the half-demon. It won’t take long now. The wizard decides to go after the Despana mage. Alvra checks outside, but all seems quiet for now. “I’m going downstairs too, Leargath!”. A death gurgle announces the end of the second arcane guard.

Meanwhile, Phaedra is in combat with the kyton chain devil. She hits the creature again and again with her spiked chain, but the damage is less than expected. Then her own chain turns against her, clearly being controlled by the strange power of the chain devil, and wraps itself around her. The hooks of the chain bite into her flesh. Trying to free herself, she looks around and sees a torture device in an alcove.

The Xaniqos wizard walks through the chained corridor, peeks around the corner and recognizes the chain devil. He knows these creatures regenerate and have a high resistance to spells, so he summons a large earth elemental to fight for him instead. The elemental immediately attacks and hits the chain devil. With renewed energy, Phaedra manages to unwrap her chain, lashes out at the kyton devil and moves past their summoned ally.

Lilith and Alvra arrive downstairs too and run towards the corner to see what is happening. The fighter takes one of his javelins and aims at the chain devil. He throws so hard that the creature is impaled upon the wall. For a moment it hangs on but then it disappears back to the nine hells whence it came from.

Having lost his ally, the Despana mage wants to flee down the corridor, but Phaedra blocks his way. Jharrath quickly strips him of his protection spells and items, so the earth elemental can attack. In two mighty blows, the mage is dead.

Investigating

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Back at the Xaniqos mansion, the sisters immediately head towards the throne room,
where Lady Thandysha and Taldinyon are busy celebrating. Together, Lilith and Phaedra summarize what has happened since they left the Arena.

“Three guards are dead and Solaufein is missing! The tracks show that he has been taken into the ghetto of Performers.”

“Do you know who has been hired to take this hostile action against our house?”

“The Riskallus Agency, Matron Mother.”

Lady Thandysha bursts into anger. “Only assassins of House Aleval are equally good. We have to free the Captain of the Guard. He knows too much of our House!” With a visual effort, Lady Thandysha regains her self-control. “I want him back as soon as possible. Leargath will help. This insult cannot be forgiven or ignored. The element of surprise is of great importance here.”

While the others rest, Phaedra will go back to investigate the house of the assassin’s guild. When she’s about to leave, Jharrath hands her a potion of haste. She nods her thanks, adds the potion to her belt, and hastens outside. When she’s near the Riskallus guild house, she climbs on top of the adjacent building, takes the wizard’s potion and changes into a translucent and weightless puff of smoke. Her spiked chain makes a bit of noise, which fortunately causes a guard to show himself. She is not detected though.

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Once inside the building, she sees an arcane guard in heavy mail,  carrying a spell book. On a lower level, a male drow walks past, his white hair in a bun and a short sword strapped to his back. The elf is currently engaged in a heated argument with a priestess.

“House Despana wants results as soon as possible!”, the female drow hisses.

“And we’d love to provide you with them, Xiletha, but it would be advisable if you took a little less pleasure in torturing our prisoners. Already two of them have perished. We will take care of the last two ourselves.” They disappear down the stairs, and Phaedra returns to the roof, as her translucent form soon will dissipate.

Heavy footsteps lure her to the opposite side. A big golem stands next to two
drow of House Despana. They are no typical priestesses, but look like cult members, wearing the symbols of Lolth. Phaedra realizes that they are mostly highly devoted fighters or assassins, pledging their lives to Lolth and the clerics who serve them. A cart with Duergar merchandise pulls up front, and two persons, a bag over their heads and in chains, are locked up inside. Phaedra recognizes one of the cloaks as Xaniqos. The cart goes one way, while the group goes another. Phaedra decides to follow the prisoners.

They are taken into Despana territory, where the cart stops at a warehouse near the Great Wall. The doors open and two drow guards come out, talk to the driver and then take the prisoners inside. The warehouse is two stories high, approximately 50 feet high and 75 feet wide. Phaedra is about to return home when she hears the golem stamping in the street; the other group has arrived. The Xaniqos scout now has to hurry. Soon they will start torturing the last two prisoners.

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Meanwhile back at the mansion, Alvra, whose wounds are infected, sends someone into the city of Erelhei-Cinlu to obtain healing potions. When the servant returns, the fighter asks a priestess to check out the medicine. “This might work. Where did you get them?” She addresses the servant. “At a local pharmacy, mistress.” The fighter gobbles down the smelly liquid and immediately feels better. Alvra offers his cleric sister the other potion, but she declines and tells him to save it for later. Lilith heals Jharrath and herself with spells.

After a power nap, Phaedra opens the package of the Spymaster. Inside she finds a big
scroll with a map of a cave complex. A smaller scroll in elaborate handwriting says: “Beware. We know you are hunting treasures, but they might be cursed.” The treasure map shows a location far to the north of Erelhei Cinlu, near Szith Morcane.
Might this be where the rod is? She takes the map to the Matron Mother.

“I went back to the area of Performers. The building was indeed a hide-out of the
Riskallus Agency. I was able to sneak into the building and can confirm that House Despana is behind the kidnapping. The prisoners were transferred to one of the buildings in their district. The Despana family members who took custody of our guards are dreadfangs. And they have a golem too. They want to know if we have the rod ‘Dark Fate’. Speaking of which…”

Phaedra hands over the map.

“Thank you, child, we will look into it. I see this as an attack on our House and they will feel our wrath.” Lady Thandysha makes up her mind. “We will strike back at them right now!”

Where is the Captain of the Guard?

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After the fight, the Xaniqos siblings return to their Matron Mother, who is waiting for them in the noble area of the arena. The atmosphere is splendid – contrary to that of House Despana. Lady Thandysha promises the fighters a great banquet in their honor, as their victory has increased the chance that their side of the bargain with the Spider Queen has been kept.

You are all expected at the mansion. But first, go and freshen up. Solafein will pick you up later and escort you home.

Lady Thandysha and her entourage disappear down the stairs, accompanied by K’yorl and Quarra, who animatedly talk about the fight.

The drow take an extensive bath in the bowels of the arena, while slaves bring tidbits to eat, clean their clothes and try to repair their drow equipment. When the Xaniqos are finally done, an attendant takes them back to the main quarters.

I hope you have enjoyed your time at the Arena. And I do hope to see you back again!

When Lilith inquires after his profits in the bets, his grin is significant. They wait for a while near the entrance but the hall stays empty: where is their Captain of the Guard? Where is Solaufein?

It is getting late, and after a brief consultation about their route home, Phaedra leads the way towards the Ghetto of Chatel of House Vae – the only ghetto in the immediate vicinity that is in favor of the Xaniqos. The Old Battle Axe is still busy, even at this time. The drow walk past. The women feel like many eyes are watching them, though the guys seem undisturbed. When they pass the troglodytes burrows, the creatures flee from the Xaniqos. Not too far though, for they can still see their eyes glistening from the shadows.

As the drow walk deeper into the district, the streets are more deserted. Lilith speeds up their pace and enters the Troll quarters. A duergar, accompanied by two goblinoid slaves, pushes a wheelcart. The Xaniqos cleric stops and watches them, while Phaedra observes a couple of troglodytes that rummage near a body on the ground. Next to them, a large troll lifts another humanoid body in the air and loots it, while another stares back at the drow.

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The scout runs forward and yells “Stop!”. The giant peals the armor off the body and strips the humanoid, not reacting to the shouted command. One of the troglodytes pokes the unmoving victim and takes a big bite.

Coming closer, Lilith recognizes the cloaks of the unmoving bodies. They are Xaniqos! She calls out in Draconic “Stop right now!”. The troglodytes take off in a hurry. One of the trolls bares its yellow teeth at the cleric and growls, while the other starts to walk away. The creatures are kind of shaggy and their claws are long and filthy. And that smell…

Phaedra shoots her crossbow at the departing giant to prevent him from moving further away. That finally seems to get its attention. She signs “Stop”. Now both trolls turn towards the advancing drow. Alvra takes an intimidating stance, sliding his sword from its scabbard, while the cleric comes closer to try and identify the body. A quick glance shows her that it is not Solafein. “Does any of you speak giant?” Phaedra’s question is met with silence. Behind the wizard, new faces appear in the shadows. The possibility of an oncoming fight draws a crowd. Then Jharrath calls out in Goblin. “Leave the bodies!”

As a reaction, the troll smashes the dangling body in its claws on top of Lilith. She barely manages to step aside, and the claws of the giant rake down her armor. The other troll attacks the two drow brothers. Alvra counters the attack with his sword, while Lilith casts a spell. Her size increases and her muscles bulge. She becomes as large as the trolls. Phaedra steps back and takes out her spiked chain.

A Kellgore’s firebolt sizzles into a troll. The other troll goes into a rage and attacks Alvra with its claws, tearing deep wounds in the fighter’s body. Almost at once a feeling of sickness comes over him. Alvra recovers and strikes the troll hard, but it’s a tough fellow. Lilith attacks with her momentarily enhanced flail and activates its special ability. The resulting fire leaves angry scorch marks on her opponent’s body. Enraged, it claws at the cleric and manages to hurt the female drow. The gashes are nasty and likely to get infected too. Scorching rays from the wizard’s wand and ferocious attacks with Phaedra’s spiked chain bring an end to one of the trolls. The drow combine their strength and go after the remaining creature and finally, Alvra manages to take it down. Jharrath grills both troll corpses with scorching rays, to make sure they don’t regenerate.

Lilith gathers her siblings in a healing circle and manages to nullify most of their wounds. When they search the lifeless bodies of the two Xaniqos guards, they find a drow bolt embedded in the neck of one, while the other is expertly stabbed to death. This has been no random robbery. They’ll have to investigate what happened here.

Phaedra searches the soft ground for tracks and discovers humanoid footprints and drag marks. Might this be Solaufein’s? At least one of the abductors is bleeding. When they follow the tracks, the scout walking ahead, the trail leads them back towards the Concours in the middle of Erelhei-Cinlu, and then further on into the Ghetto of Performers. House Aleval! When Phaedra rounds a corner, she is met by two drow, dressed in black from head to toe. Their cloaks, black with a purple border, reveal them as Sharran.

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Spymaster Kyrl Orl sends his regards and a warning. Your search must stop here, or you will be caught and die a horrible death. We’ve been following you for a while. Around the corner are two assassins waiting in ambush.

Do they have our Captain of the Guard? We suspect he was taken into this district.

Yes, they do. He is taken by the Riskallus Agency, one of the best assassin agencies in the ghetto.

I thank you for your warning, even though it is hard to imagine your warning being free. How do we contact you?

One of them hands her a scroll.

Don’t worry, we will find you. May Shar be with you.

Phaedra walks back to her siblings and tells them about the two drow in black, sent by the Spymaster. There is nothing they can do at the moment, so the Xaniqos walk home in silence, lost in their thoughts.