Tag Archives: Spider Queen

Dro… Spide… eh, Driders!

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Another corridor stretches out in front of them, the distance lighted by a queer blue sheen. It could be moss or crystals, which can glow with a soft light. When her brother can’t detect any magical influences, she silently scouts ahead. The corridor broadens into a large hall with massive pillars in the middle, covered in quarts. Ever-burning torches mix the shadows with bluish light. Movement draws Phaedra attention, and she sees a drider hiding behind one of the stone columns. Half drow half spider, the creature seems to guard the place. Often they are fallen clerics or wizards.
Lilith orders Jharrath to summon elementals, and soon three of them appear in front of the hidden drider. But when they lash out, the drider disappears. It was an illusion. The arrow that strikes Phaedra is no illusion though. Arcane phrases call up a lightning bolt, which strikes the earth elementals. Two of the summoned creatures are able to jump aside, the third one vanishes. Phaedra’s eyes follow the lightning’s path back to a plateau.

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Suddenly another spell is cast and a second drider appears, hanging on to a pillar. The lightning ball sizzles straight into the corridor where the Xaniqos are. The scout nimbly jumps aside, while Lilith’s spell resistance enables her to shrug off the effects without any damage. Rolling his muscles, Alvra is fine too, but his brother takes the full brunt of the attack. He’s badly hurt and shakes like a leaf. With a growl, the cleric calls forth dark flames in her hand, ready to use them when she sees an opponent.

Phaedra tumbles past her sister and runs towards the other side of the very large cave.

Jharrath, move!

Frustrated the fighter returns his kukri to his belt, eager to get an overview of the situation. Jharrath steps into the cave and takes up position around the corner, and soon a blur distorts his frame. Alvra follows his siblings and sees the two remaining earth elementals at the foot of the pillar, waiting for the drider to come down from its height. With a threatening yet fluid movement he throws his javelin at the creature and scores a hit. Green pus oozes from the deep wound.

A third drider, bow in hand, climbs down at the far side and only Phaedra notices this new threat. Dark words trickle through the silence, barely audible. They remind her of a spell Jharrath uses more often. She fires her crossbow at the drider, but it disappears. Yet another illusion.

The other driders also take refuge in spells. The beast on the plateau sends forth magic missiles, aimed at the elementals, while the drider on the pillar casts a web at the Xaniqos. When all three easily evade the sticky substance, the drider climbs on top of his perch. Just the thing Lilith has been waiting for. Instantly she launches her dark fire at the drow-spider. Twice the creature gets hit by her sizzling flames and it screams in agony. Then it slowly topples forward, one of Alvra’s javelins embedded in its head.

Jharrath and Lilith, still standing under the cave’s entrance, find themselves under attack by a third drider. The beast had been hiding right over their heads. It lashes out at the wizard with two daggers, and claws scrape over Lilith’s armor – to no avail. Its bite attack also misses.

Leave, priestess, you will fail!

Several voices grind into the cleric’s head.

I will not!

Her determination to bring this quest to a successful end never wavers. She hurls another round of dark flames at the abomination hanging above her head. The flames burn into the creature’s flesh.

You failed the Mistress,

it hisses. The cleric retorts:

Eh, who exactly is the drider here?

after which the beast hangs its head.

drider

A little stone alerts the scout to impending danger and she quickly turns around. The drider – the real one this time – is surprised by her alert reaction and his arrow misses its target. Phaedra puts her crossbow away and – spiked chain in hand – awaits her opportunity to take out her opponent. The earth elementals come to her aid, only to get hit by lightning. The damage proves too much for one of the elementals. Phaedra again evades the energy bolt. The drider looks very frustrated and shuffles back a little. Immediately the Xaniqos drow lashes out with her chain and pulls big chunks of meat from the beast’s body. Green pus mingles with black blood.

Jharrath teleports, trying to get away from the imminent danger and finds himself face to face with yet another drider. Daggers are raised threateningly, but the wizard sees through the illusion. His arcane knowledge is too extensive to fall for these tricks.

Hurling his last javelin towards the drider that is threatening his mistress, Alvra takes his sword and stands ready. Meanwhile the conversation continues.

You will join us soon, we can’t wait.

Lilith rolls her eyes.

Do you always talk this much?

The beast fires a ray of enfeeblement at the fighter, and immediately Alvra feels his strength seep away, but his brother counters with a spell of his own to nullify the effects. Dark flames shoot from the cleric’s hand, straight into the drider. The smell of burning flesh fills the air and heavily wounded, it hisses in pain. Pondering on how the drider holds on onto the wall, Alvra aimes a tanglefoot bag at the creature. Goo splatters all over the creature. It tries to levitate to safety but is stuck. After retrieving his javelin from the other drider corpse, Alvra throws the weapon at their entangled enemy, while Lilith’s dark flames finally end the life of the beast.

An arrow flies past the wizard’s head. Fed up with the attacks, Jharrath hurls a fireball through the opening of the plateau. An enormous explosion rocks the cavern and they hear a loud scream, then silence.

On the other side of the cave the last drider suddenly jumps down, surprising the scout in the act. The drow falls backwards and the beast is all over her, biting her. Fortunately her natural resistance to poison is sufficient. She gets up quickly and lashes out with her chain. Feebly, the drider tries to counterattack, but its wounds are too severe. With one stroke, Phaedra ends its misery.

Dead silence surrounds them – the fight seems to be over for now. Lilith orders all to gather close and casts a healing circle, while her faith in the Spider Queen strengthens them.

 

Too Many Arms

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The only way forward is through the previously mentioned small opening. Lilith buffs herself with spells and steps through, her flail at hand. At a junction, she keeps to the left and continues to do so where possible. Slowly they work their way deeper into the maze. The cleric occasionally hears spider feet scuttle past. The corridor opens up a bit, revealing filth, left-overs and chunks of rotting meat. The smell is awful. Lilith notices two piles of bones, a skull on top of each. Drow skulls, with wisps of long white hair still attached. Rounding another curve, the cleric finds herself stuck in a web. She grabs her dagger starts cutting.

In the dark corridor, Phaedra is attacked by a bone-white chitine, a spiderlike, four-armed humanoid. The spider’s piercing eyes glow and it tries to stab the scout with its short sword. To its surprise, the drow disappears, only to appear again further up. It hisses and follows the drow. Both engage in a vicious fight.

Chitine

Lilith hacks at the sticky spider webbings and manages to severe some strands, but by far not enough to free herself and counterattack the two chitines that draw near. The first attack ricochets off her armor, but the other sword hits. The weapon seems to suck the blood from her body. Grabbing his kukri, her fighter brother comes to her aid and lashes out at one of the chitines. He doesn’t seem to be able to pierce its web armor though.

With her flail in special attack mode, the cleric pounds on one of her opponents and wounds it severely. The creature cautiously pulls back and avoids a second attack by Alvra, who fumbles and drops his kukri. The other spider attacks Lilith with its multiple arms and draws more blood. The fighter searches for his missing kukri and finally spots it dangling in the webbings. Totally fed up with the situation, Alvra jumps on the chitine and tries to strangle it with his bare hands. A sword in his side is the reward. Enraged, he crushes the creature with his gnashing armor and squeezes its throat shut. The chitine is very resilient and hangs on, even when Lilith crashes her flail into the beast.

Filthy drow, get off me!

the creature hisses. Suddenly one of Jharrath’s Kellgore’s firebolts ends the fight.

His three summoned earth elementals have been engaged in several fights with the remaining humanoid spiders. Aiming his wand of magic missiles, the wizard kills the chitine near the scout, while an elemental starts working on the spider that was heavily wounded by Lilith. Phaedra follows the other elementals, and witnesses how both are finished off by the last chitine. She grabs her dagger, attacks and scores a hit when the spider decides to go for the wizard in front of him. It must have pure adrenaline in its veins, for it even survives a magic missile. Attacking in many directions with its four arms, it wounds both Jharrath and Phaedra, until the scout kills it with a mighty stab.

Aided by Alvra, the cleric drow has managed to free herself from the web with a mighty pull. When she picks up the chitine’s short sword, she feels an irresistible urge to stab someone. This is one eager magic sword! Her brother frees the dead spider from its web armor and stashes the armor in his backpack.

What other challenges will await them? Only the Spider Queen knows…

In the Lair of the Forsaken

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The four adventurers move through the streets of Erelhei-Cinlu. It’s an interesting district where House Xaniqos roams. The Ghetto of Outcasts harbors various races and professions. The situation for the few poor and sick drow that reside there, is hopeless. The party stays rather unobtrusive. Foreigners are allowed into the district, but they are being exploited. One can quite make a good living as a villain. Still it’s quite ‘safe’.

They walk past inns and dilapidated houses until they reach a dead end: the city wall.

Behold, the entrance to the Lair of the Forsaken,

Alvra says. A five feet wide hole looms black and uninviting.

The Forsaken are mainly priestesses, sorcerers and wizards who have failed Lolth. They have been expelled by their houses. Often they are drow who have been magically punished by turning them into a drider and other lugubrious forms of spiders. Shunned by everyone, these creatures are not allowed into the city.

Phaedra hears the wind howling and feels a draft. It’s pitch black inside. She climbs over the rubble and walks down a slope, followed by her sister. The path slowly goes upwards again, until they reach a wider corridor. The height is enormous. The wind blows right through it, straight towards the Upperdark. Huge pillars take up the middle of the path. Alvra casts dancing lights to see what’s up there. There seems to be no ceiling. The ground is covered in rubble, rocks and boards and it’s dusty and filthy. Jharrath cloaks himself in mage armor.

As the cleric steps forward, Alvra flanks her on the opposite side of the pillar. When the fighter directs his lights in front of them, they see skeletons and humanoid skulls. The bones are cracked and fractured and strewn across the entire floor. Even the skulls are broken. Lilith intently gazes upwards but doesn’t see anything out of the ordinary. The scout, whose eyes are better, notices long scratches on the smooth walls. It’s quite damp. Moving forward, Phaedra moulders shelves and crushes bones. Further ahead, a small low opening is visible.

Lilith, her crossbow at the ready, stands next to her sister, while the males follow. From the corner of his eye, Alvra sees a movement. It seems like the debris is alive. Then long claws appear from under the bones. They belong to a huge spider, three times as big as the drow, eleven feet in diameter. It’s hard to discern if it has jaws, the legs originate from its center. The creature is probably transformed.

Mistress!

the fighter urgently whispers, ready for action.

Chwidencha

Handmaiden of Lolth

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After freshing up a bit, Lilith heads towards the Xaniqos shrine, accompanied by her siblings. Though deserted at first, soon they are joined by Lady Thandysha, their eldest sister Quarra and many other clerics. In unison they thank the Spider Queen, chanting in a trance.

Suddenly the session is crudely disturbed by a dark and heavy omnipresent voice. Near the altar a Yochlol appears. The form alternates between a big black spider and a pulsating cloud. The voice speaks in Abyssal, a language that both the cleric and the wizard understand. Then the mass changes into a beautiful drow female. She addresses Lilith directly, saying:

The Spider Queen has noticed you. You have been very loyal to House Xaniqos, but not quite enough. You’ll have to prove yourself.

Yochlol

They all feel that they are in the presence of one of Lolth’s handmaidens. It’s not often that the Spider Queen directs her attention directly to House Xaniqos, and all are affected – even Lady Thandysha. Phaedra cowers in fear, together with the other clerics.

Go to the lair of the forsaken. Kill all in your path and deal alone with the One who is shunned. She wishes to redeem herself to me. Prove your loyaly and strength. Do not fail, or the lair will show you what I do with the ones who fail me. Go now!

With these words the Yochlol changes back into a cloud and then disappears all together. The scout is able to draw breath again, the terror slowly subsiding.

The Matron Mother steps up to her daughter.

This is the final test to become a priestess, Lilith. Everyone must deal with this. You have to face this alone, do not fail me!

Thandysha solemnly looks at her other children.

Do not let her fail. Is she has to sacrifice you all to give the House one more high priestess, then she will.

Quarra echoes her mother’s words and smirks.

Yes indeed, sister, many fail…

Maybe many fail, but I won’t, sister.

Lilith retorts, and then turns around to get her party ready. Alvra takes the looted weapons and armor to the armory and receives new javelins in return. The drow are healed and all fatigue is removed by the clerics. They need to be in tiptop shape before they leave for the Ghetto of the Outcast. The Lair of the Forsaken is situated in the most northern part, the fighter says, an area avoided by the other citizens of Erelhei-Cinlu.

I’ve never actually been there, but I can lead you there.

 

Open Sesame

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The doors won’t budge and have neither lock nor handles. There’s a gap between the two slabs of stone. Jharrath can’t detect any magic surrounding them, and finally his fighter brother simply bangs on the doors. They hear a loud cracking and the massive stone doors slide to the side. Two huge hairy arms appear in the opening. The arms are attached to one of the giant kind. Two horns protrude from his skull and a blue aura surrounds him. The wizard realizes it’s an ogre mage. Behind the mage are two more ogres, dressed in a hide armor. They both have a wooden club in their hands.

Holding a magnificent greatsword, the mage ogre turns his white eyes towards the drow.

What do you want?

Ogre Mage

His long black teeth ground the words into a jumble of sentences. Lilith tries to talk her way in by claiming they want to do business, but the ogre growls that they are of the wrong house – threateningly he steps into the corridor. When he reaches for his greatsword, Jharrath starts casting. Grease covers the floor and the mage goes down with a heavy thump. He’s prone! The drow wizard releases a Kellgore’s firebolt at the creature and ignites the grease. Apparently burning up and attacking at the same time is not a good combination, because the ogre mage only manages to hit the door, which leaves his weapon stuck in deep. The air is permeated with the stench of burning hair and flesh. One of the ogres tries to pull the mage to safety, while the other starts sliding the stone door back.

The cleric walks towards the beast and attacks. They need the entrance open! She evades a counterattack and strikes the creature’s arm full force. Her flail draws blood, opening the limb to the bone. Her sister joins the fray and lashes out with her spiked chain. The ogre screams in pain. Then a javelin whizzes past, splintering against the far wall – Alvra looks chagrined. When the ogre mage tries to regain his feet, the drow sisters pull their attention back to this more formidable opponent and renew their attack, but can’t prevent the monster from getting back up. The ogre’s skin is healing rapidly, but he’s obviously still in pain. Before he can regenerate any further, Lilith ferociously attacks twice and finishes him off.

Jharrath summons an earth elemental, which goes for one of the remaining brutes. Phaedra nimbly climbs over the carcass of the mage and tumbles towards the wounded ogre. Her spiked chain yet again makes another victim. There’s only one opponent left, and Alvra claims that one as his. His two handed attack provokes a vicious reaction though and with bone crushing force the monster’s club hits the fighter. Twice! Heavily wounded  he stands back while the earth elemental goes for the kill, but it takes a couple of scorching rays from the wizard’s wand to scorch the beast to death. Three huge cadavers bear witness to the passing of the Xaniqos drow.

An oaken table and chairs, straw pallets, small sacks with personal belongings – Phaedra finishes her search rather quickly. The harvest: 435 gold pieces, 3 gems, a large steel shield and a healing potion. Meanwhile Lilith strides over to Alvra and assesses his condition. She calls on the Spider Queen, and Lolth grants her healing powers which she uses on her brother. After subsequently drinking a potion, he feels good enough to beat out the dents in his armor.

Lolth, Spider Queen

Lolth, Spider Queen

Back Home

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After a while, the three barges that harbor the Xaniqos and their riding animals veer away from the other barges. Vuon and twenty warriors stay with them, while the other Kua Toas accompany the slaves – slaves who get only mediocre food and very short breaks. The Kua Toas move with military precision. Though Lilith immediately asks for Vuon, the Kua Toa waits a couple of hours before answering her call.

First you say that you were ‘heading this way anyway’, and now we are the only ones traveling in this direction? Where are the others going?

Are you worried, Priestess?

Lilith snorts.

Of course not. Just curious.

The Kua Toa explains that the other barges are headed for places around the Glimmersea and that all is going according to plan. Nothing else to do than sit back and enjoy the view, which is very boring. The journey continues smoothly and three times a day the Kua Toas dive with their tridents to catch fish and collect seaweed for the lizards.

Four days later they see Blessed Seahaven in the distance. Vuon asks Lilith if they want to debark at the village or in the vicinity, since they want nothing to do with the ritual. Lilith tells the Kua Toa to disembark nearby. Though it is a smooth landing, the lizards get a bit restless, so their chains are deftly removed. Everyone is glad to be off the rafts and they quickly say goodbye to Vuon.

May the darkness be with you.

Where upon the Cleric replies:

And may the Spider Queen kiss you!

Glimmersea

The Drow climb on their mounts and ride off. After two hours the familiar big gates of Erelhei-Cinlu rise up from the gloom and soon the bigger buildings are visible. Two more hours have passed when they are welcomed by the City Guards. The Xaniqos show their House insignias and are allowed to pass the gates, notwithstanding their looks. People make way for their party; whether that is because of their House insignias, the lizards or the intrusive sea scent remains unclear. With their hodgepodge clothing and armor they look a band of mercenaries. At the Noble Gate, they are halted by a female Cleric of House Thorntor, who denies them access. Lilith is fed up with the delay and it takes quite a bit of her diplomacy skills to gain access. They are allowed through under escort of the Priestess and ten of her armed guards so nothing happens on her watch.

When they arrive at the Xaniqos mansion, the Thorntor Cleric enters the house. Several patrols are guarding the premises, more than usual. Surrounded by the Noble Gate guards, the siblings impatiently wait until someone with authority acknowledges them. After an hour the Priestess emerges again, accompanied by Taldinyon, who has a big grin on his face. He nods to the Priestess and tells her they are Xaniqos alright. The guards move aside and finally the favored consort escorts them into the the house. Goblin slaves lead the lizards to the stables.

A lot has changed, Taldinyon say, please follow me. The House is bristling with activity. There are many Bugbear slaves and armed Drow patrol the corridors and hallways. Word of your arrival has been sent to the Matron Mother, so you might want to freshen up, Taldinyon suggests. But Lilith first wants to visit the Chapel. When she enters, her sister Quarra is leading a sermon for several praying Priestesses. Some seem familiar to Lilith from her time at the Clergy School, but others are strangers.

priestesslolth

After several minutes, Quarra turns around and greets her sisters.

We have prayed for your safe return,

she says and then kisses Lilith.

There are new developments. Our revered Matron Mother has assembled more of the lower Houses to our cause. We have had some rough times since you left, but the Lady Thandysha has made wise and strategic moves. We gained fifty warriors, five Priestesses and over a hundred slaves. Too bad you weren’t around when these great tidings arose.

Good news indeed, Lilith says, but we didn’t do too bad ourselves either.

The travelers all go to their rooms to freshen up – Lolth knows they can use it – until a ruckus downstairs tells them that the Matron Mother has returned.

Council of the Eight Ruling Houses

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In the evening, just before the Matron Mother will leave for the Council of the Eight Ruling Houses, our four brave drow are summoned to their mother’s private quarters. Dressed in a robe of spider silk, Thandysha does not even bother to ask after Vorn’s fate. Since Taldinyon is also present, the youngsters presume she knows about Vorn’s defeat. Two impressive minotaur impassively guard the door. Security is very high in House Xaniqos tonight, and Mother Thandysha reminds her children of their house insignia’s.

The Matron Mother then accepts the letters of her children with their choice for a possible alliance with one of the Ruling Houses. After reading the notes, she tells them they have named two alternatives, which she will keep in mind when making her final decision. Thandysha thanks them for their opinion and sends Phaedra, Lilith and the brothers to their chambers to get some rest. They have to be ready to be called upon though.

Later that night, the Matron Mother, her favored Consort and most of the house guard leave for the First House, where the Council will be held. Quarra, the eldest sister, turns to her siblings:

Pay attention. We are undermanned, so I expect to see you in full armor as soon as possible. And bring your weapons with you. We need to stay at high alert!

Jharrath looks rather smug wearing his new dark snakeskin outfit.

The hours pass and the attentive drow enjoy a good evening meal, separate from the main guard. Rumors already buzz through the mansion when Quarra sends for them: Cleric Amalika has arrived with news from the Council. House Xaniqos has been accepted as Eighth House! Only for their ears though, she tells them that Mother Thandysha has talked to Matron Mother Sereska of the House of Vae, who is quite interested in a coalition but can not see the benefits… yet. The other option was House Godeep, and Matron Mother Siadef is ready to return Thandysha’s favor, though on one condition. House Xaniqos has to prove itself worthy by obtaining a special artifact: the Mask of the Matriarch. This mask used to belong to one of the lower old noble houses and has been lost from sight. The Mask of the Matriarch has the powerful ability to make others cower in fear.

Cleric Amalika asks the four Xaniqos siblings if they are up to the task of retrieving this mask in the Ghetto of the Dead (situated next to the Ghetto of Outcasts). As one they raise their chins and Lilith replies with a definite yes. When she asks for specifics, Amalika tells her the mask is made of obsidian and bears resemblance to the face of a female drow. The Mask of the Matriarch is thought to be buried underneath the House of Nuchar. Strange necromancy experiments have taken place in that house, which is now totally obliterated.

The Ghetto of the Dead, also called the Necropolis, is the home of necromancers, vampires, ghouls and undead. Long ago, the ghetto was a traditional place of the dead, known for its mausoleums, cemeteries and tombs. There are eight big obelisks at the Necropolis Square, one for each of the Ruling Houses. Most drow avoid the district, venturing into the ghetto only when they must dispose of mortal remains. Once the mourners depart, the hungry undead descend to feast upon the corpses.

With Alvra in the lead, they set out into the night…

Shucks! VORN!

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The House of Xaniqos is in a slight state of uproar over the coming Council of the Eight Ruling Houses. Matron Mother Thandysha is away often and her eldest daughter is taking care of the daily routine. Somewhat proud of their success in getting rid of the kobold infestation, the siblings sleep in and have a late breakfast. Suddenly the Matron Mother sweeps in. Everyone is dead silent; the lady Thandysha never ever enters the dining room…

Though she looks ravishing, dressed up in her finest clothes, her face is contorted in a mask of rage. In an icy voice she tells her offspring that she has received a message. A message saying Vorn is still alive!! Due to their failure, Vorn’s second-in-command, who was supposed to take over from him and support house Xaniqos, barely escaped with his life. They have killed a doppelganger in stead of the real deal! Acidly she tells them,

Vorn needs to be dealt with at once. And try not to alarm the whole city!

In a swirl of robes, the Matron Mother leaves the room. Seems breakfast is over. Taldinyon advises them to hurry: Vorn is trying to escape the city!

After a stop at the armory, where Lilith asks for healing potions, the four make their way to Vorn’s mansion in great haste. When they arrive at the street, a carriage – pulled by a huge lizard – is parked in front of the main door. The Scout sucks in a sharp breath when she sees her ogre ‘friend’ carrying boxes towards it. Two drow are on top of the cart, while another is on the open loading platform at the back of the cart, surrounded by furniture. At every street corner pox bearing spies have been stationed and silent signals flow back and forth. So much for a stealthy approach.

The drow mercenaries urge the lizard forward and slowly the cart starts moving. The ogre drops everything he is carrying and runs alongside, while the other drow is balancing himself in the open cart. The Xaniqos race after, dodging crossbow bolts. They have to stop the wagon somehow! Jharrath summons two earth elementals, who attack the lizard, while the Cleric calls forth a spiritual weapon that gleams with an evil red force, hovering over the lizard’s head. The draft animal halts, unwilling to move forward. The streets are suddenly deserted.

The ogre turns back and aims for Phaedra, swinging his great club. Fortunately the Scout is protected by her armor. Alvra charges the giant ogre and throws his javelin, while bolts still hum through the air. Phaedra uses the opportunity to get clear of the ogre and tumbles past him towards the lizard. In the midst of this chaos, Vorn – with intricate spellcasting – counterattacks and suddenly one of the earth elementals and the spiritual weapon vanish. Enraged, the Wizard shoots a firebolt at Vorn to protect his remaining elemental, who is still punching the lizard.

Lilith calls upon the powers of the Spider Queen and commands the ogre to fall. When the giant humanoid crashes to the ground, Alvra immediately charges the prone brute. The Cleric again calls out to Lolth and orders the ogre to stay. One of the mercenaries jumps from the cart and stalks Alvra. The Fighter appraises this new opponent – hired mercenaries are not exactly known for their great loyalty – and decides to attack the new threat. While Lilith dooms the ogre, who is still on the ground, a newly summoned elemental finally delivers the last blow to the big humanoid: the ogre is dead! The Cleric helps Alvra and uses a touch attack to kill the hireling.

Meanwhile the Scout takes down the lizard, thus immobilizing the chariot. She then uses her spiked chain to try and pull Vorn from the carriage. Though she doesn’t succeed, Phaedra does manage to harm him. Jharrath aims a hail of stones at Vorn and the nearby second mercenary.

It is time for new measures. Vorn concentrates hard and is lost in the trance of spellcasting. With a spell of blindness, Lilith tries to break Vorn’s concentration, but to no avail. A huge gelatinous cube slides over the ground towards the Xaniqos Wizard and soons envelops Jharrath in acid ooze. Each creature that comes too close, will be attacked by the mindless cube.

Alvra throws a javelin at Vorn and hits, but the leader of the Pox Bearers quickly takes a healing potion. The Fighter launches himself at the carriage and attacks in melee, which causes Vorn to flee. The Xaniqos must prevent this, if it is the last thing they do! Phaedra and Lilith, who were both fighting the remaining drow mercenary, now turn to Vorn. The mercenary runs for his life and escapes, evading the Cleric’s hastily shot crossbow bolt. Phaedra attacks Vorn with the use of a tanglefoot bag, and Alvra jumps in for the kill. Vorn is down and out.

All three of them now shoot, hack and slash at the gelatinous cube to free their brother, who might still come in handy. At least his summoning skills are quite useful. Jharrath does look a ‘bit’ mangled. Phaedra orders two servant bugbears to carry all the furniture, books and papers from the cart back into the mansion. They hurriedly search the bodies of the slain drow and ogre and find a nightscale armor, a potion belt, a masterwork rapier and crossbow, spell book, plus a pouch with 100 gold pieces. The Cleric now orders Alvra to cut off the guild leader’s head and cover it in rags. This way the proof of his death is undeniable.

They head home – Vorn’s head dangling over the Fighter’s shoulder – where Taldinyon is waiting. The Weapon Master takes one look at the severed drow head and then sends a patrol to clean up the ghetto. The potion belt contains a potion of haste, which Phaedra can make good use of, and two potions of bear’s endurance. Lilith gives one to Alvra and keeps the other for herself. The Scout hands Jharrath the nightscale armor, but holds on to the spellbook, planning on giving that to the Matron Mother.

About Kobolds and Dire Weasels

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When Alvra, Jharrath, Phaedra and Lilith report to the City Gate of Erelhei-Cinlu the next day, several groups from different Houses are already assembled there. A cleric of Lolth walks towards them, big mace and adamantine shield in place. She introduces herself as Narcella, Priestess of House Despana, and group leader of the patrol team.

Their newest mission is to clear all caves plus less used paths in the north-west of the main cave. Regular patrols manage to supervise a lot, but still new creatures infest the area. The Xaniqos offspring has to travel four or five miles in that direction to get rid of the intruders or report back for help.

The group splits up into several smaller teams and the drow take off, in search of unusual inhabitants. Most footprints are already old and it isn’t until later that they encounter fresher tracks, small reptilian kind. Phaedra, who is scouting ahead, signals to the others that she is pretty sure they are dealing with kobolds. Alvra signals back that these creatures are driven by hatred for everything but dragon and reptilian related species. They are sneaky and love making traps, then try to overwhelm their victim.

In a long passageway the drow suddenly hear voices, and it seems like whoever is talking, is trying to hush the others. Phaedra climbs up the wall and takes a peek around the corner. She sees three kobolds, their eyes gleaming with evil and full of hatred. One is fiddling with a device – a trap – and the other two have slings. The scout relays the information to her brothers and sister. The cleric orders Jharrath to summon an elemental and send it forth to trigger the trap. The wizard complies and sends an earth elemental towards the kobolds. Together with Phaedra, it attacks one of the kobolds and they even manage to kill it! The other two reptiles run away.

Carefully Phaedra checks the trap: a thin wire covered with moss, leading to a nasty spike in the wall. Her attempt to disarm it succeeds and impatiently Lilith steps forward to go after the kobolds. But the ground beneath her feet disappears and she falls into a pit. Fortunately she lands on an upright spike… Cursing the cleric pulls herself loose and looks around. Another cleric is with her in the pit, but this one is half decayed. There is a symbol on her clothes, but Lilith doesn’t recognize it as one of the leading houses. The deceased has a whipdagger in her hand and a diadem on her skull. With a quick prayer to Lolth, she slowly takes the tiara from the corpses’ head and examines it carefully. At the front of the diadem there are two spiders holding a gem. Trusting in the Spider Queen, she slowly puts the spider tiara on her own head and immediately feels blessed by her deity. The whip dagger seems like a good weapon, so she decides to take it with her too. Her brother Alvra quickly offers his hand to help her climb out of the pit.

The four continue and – after the tumble of her elder sister – Phaedra checks their surroundings with extra care. At a bend of the tunnel, she again takes her position high on the wall to find out what is waiting for them. The path widens into an open space and there, in the middle, three kobolds are waiting. But in front of them stands a growling dire weasel!

The scout moves further into the tunnel and shoots her crossbow at the animal, while Jharrath summons another earth elemental. His brother charges the dire beast and the cleric casts dancing lights on the kobolds and weasel. Again the trap-making kobold tries to take off, while acid splashes all over the weasel: wizard in action! The beast fondly attaches itself to Alvra, who fortunately manages to push it away. The earth elemental finishes the weasel off; all enemies present are dead. Lilith decides they follow the tunnel to which the trap-maker was attempting to flee.

Further ahead another snare – this time attached to a stalactite – is dismantled by Phaedra. Around the corner the tunnel opens into a larger cave, and the silent scout spots two reptiles on a ledge on the right, and four more kobolds plus another dire weasel in the middle. One of them is wearing a head piece. The drow signals this information to her siblings, who carefully move ahead. 

Prepare the defences!

Apparently they have been heard, so Alvra steps forward and hurls a javelin at the leader of the kobolds. A sling bullet hits the drow in return, but does little damage. Then Jharrath unleashes a hail of stones onto the kobold group. As a reaction, someone from the ledge on the left throws a tanglefoot bag into the corridor. The goo glues both fighter and cleric to the floor. Lilith succeeds in fighting her way to freedom, but Alvra stays stuck. With huge eyes he watches an orb of fire rolling his way, curtsey of the kobold sorcerer.

Phaedra casts darkness in the cave, and suddenly nobody moves, except Alvra, who is still trying to escape his hot position. Then pebbles and cross-bolts fly back and forth, with little to no visible results. The scout moves up on the wall and tries to land on the ledge on the right. By now the whole cave is quiet. Finally the fighter breaks loose and heads into the dark, trusting his instincts to show the way. He even manages to hit the dire weasel fighting blind. The wizard stands ready to jump into action and Lilith heads towards the stairs on the left side, to climb onto the other ledge.

Then the younger sister feels something slithering up her leg and gets bitten in her arm. She suddenly feels very weak, but lashes out wildly upon hearing something, or someone, move. A dead kobold topples off the ledge. Meanwhile Lilith swings her flail blindly, and then hits something solid. Seems kobold flesh is not made to resist ferocious attacks. In the centre of the cave, Alvra kills the dire weasel.

Phaedra returns to Jharrath and dispels the darkness. Back in the cave, the drow fighter finally spots the kobold leader, a little snake flanking him. He strides over and attacks, but there is a kind of a magical barrier protecting the kobold: what seemed to be a certain hit, turns into a miss. Alvra’s vision is blurred by a counter-attack spell and he also gets bitten by the snake. Fortunately the bite has no further effects, except maddening the already enraged fighter, and with a mighty swing he kills the sorcerer and his snake. A second kobold on the right ledge attacks the cleric with his sling, who in turn releases a sleeping spell, alas to no avail. A newly summoned earth elemental finishes the last kobold off. They have cleared out the kobold infestation! Just to make sure, the drow check out the other tunnel at the junction, but is is empty.

Alvra collects the still usable javelins and finds a special one with a black shaft: a precise javelin. Searching the clothes and bag of the sorcerer, Jharrath comes up with a beautiful half-spear, a light crossbow of the same good quality – which Phaedra takes, together with a pouch with fifty gold pieces – a potion of magic weapon, of blur and a healing potion, a scroll of invisibility and also fifty gold pieces, as well as a very well made axe. He gives the weapon-potion to his brother and then picks up the axe. Fortunately his reflexes are good, because a split second after he releases the weapon, spikes flash out, retreating again with the same speed. Alvra looks at his brother and carefully picks up the masterwork axe. A weapon like that is made for a fighter, not a wizard. Lilith, searching the cave, has found a shiny magical ring.

The Xaniqos warriors walk back to Erelhei-Cinlu, where priestess Narcella is waiting for them. More groups are returning, some of which have had encounters with undead. The four report to the priestess and then go home. To healing and rest. The armoury is happy to receive the whipdagger and other weapons, and hundred gold pieces find their way to the treasury. The ring turns out to be a ring of protection, which the cleric gives to her sister. They all have performed well today.



Jharrath Xaniqos

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Description

At first glance, Jharrath doesn’t look very out of the ordinary. He is average height and average weight. He has long, thick hair reaching just below his shoulders, usually worn loose or in a partial tail. His body is reasonably muscular, but doesn’t look bulky and he looks quite agile. He has a sharp chin, a thin nose and smooth skin. His facial expression is most often sharply inquisitive, whether he’s in conversation or researching something, but he does on many occasions look bored as well, when there’s nothing to crack his brains over. His posture is solemn and thoughtful.

Personality

Jharrath comes across as sober and austere. Even when he’s busy with something he enjoys it’s hardly noticeable, except for a small smile that sometimes appears and the sharpness of his eyes, showing that his brain is at work. Jharrath is easily bored by menial tasks that don’t require his intellect. He is curious about many things, mostly that which is foreign to him. Anything he comes across that he’s not familiar with intrigues him and he likes to research those things at length.

Jharrath is silent and calm in his interaction with others, both when he is being appropriately submissive to his female superiors, and also when is being dominant to his inferiors. He doesn’t believe in ass kissing, but he finds rebelling just as alien. He knows his place in society in general and is content. He is ambitious in his search for knowledge and more power and wants to rise higher to prove his worth. He is cautious in battle and likes to know the strengths and weaknesses of his opponents and exploit those as best as he can. With people around him he adheres to drow hierarchy, but when he notices weakness among his peers, he definitely makes a mental note of it.

When it’s about family, Jharrath follows the normal drow mentality of family taking precedence over personal ambitions. Though he still wants to show his strength and worth to his Mother and siblings, the way he wants to make it happen is by making sure his family grows in the city.

Jharrath’s strength is his intelligence and his hunger for knowledge. He is not satisfied with learning basics, but wants to know as much as he can. In Sorcere this results in him stalking tutors for questions. He is also charismatic. Though mostly stoic, Jharrath can be friendly with people he deems of the same intellectual level. Within the family he is level-headed and tries to calm emotions when they rise high. His opinion is that emotional behavior is a lack of brain activity. When he is being disrespected he doesn’t respond in anger, but remains neutral. This doesn’t mean that Jharrath lets people walk all over him. He adheres to the saying ‘Revenge is a dish best served cold’.

Biography

From a young age Jharrath was sent to Sorcere. For as long as he could remember he was always a curious being and Sorcere suited him well. He found out quickly he had a knack for the Arts and tried his hardest to excel in it. After initial training, Jharrath chose to specialize in Conjuration. He had always been curious about the Planes of existence and the ability to summon creatures from different worlds had caught his interest.

He dropped his training in enchantment and necromancy spells. Jharrath finds enchantments too unpredictable in effect and limited in use. He dropped necromancy because he has a strong distaste of undead. He finds it filthy and he feels that the dead have died for a reason, so to rely on their skills again is laughable.

From that point he dedicated himself to training his skills in the Arts, especially those of his chosen school. He also kept reading books from a variety of subjects. From historic encyclopedia on the Underdark, as well as the World above, Geographic maps of various regions in Faerûn, tomes of arcane knowledge and studies on the different planes. He also started practicing alchemy, in an attempt to make some practical use of his knowledge. He enjoyed his time at Sorcere more than his time at home. Sorcere lacked domination by females, he got along well with tutors as he didn’t pose a threat to them yet, and the same went for his peers. Unlike other students, Jharrath was in no hurry to fulfill his ambition to rule Sorcere as an archmage. For the moment he is satisfied at biding his time and exercising patience, while others hurry to the top or their death.

Though he enjoyed his time at Sorcere more than his time at home, he still felt a strong urge to see his House do well, and when the call from his Mother came to return home, he did so, choosing to bring his personal collection of books on various subjects, his strategy game and his alchemical set. His desire to prove himself for his family now is priority for him.