AREA 2B

These two rooms hold smashes crates which once contained a plentiful supply of food. Wine racks still filled with bottles line the northern and southern calls of the western storage area. Most of the wine has turned to vinegar. The eastern storage area has fewer broken crates, but everything has been looted or destroyed.

(Mobile)

"Doesn't seem like anything's been here for a long time..." Doc commented out loud as they began descending downwards.  "I don't know how much you'll actually get from the corpse about the Drow.  But if you're going to do it, let's be quick about it; I'd rather not stay in one place for too long of a time if we don't have to." 

Arora walks back into 2A after inspecting the two side rooms, "Not much in there" she says throwing a thumb over her shoulder indicating the room she just came out of "unless someone wants some bad wine...mostly vinegar now.  I think Daewen is checking to see if there's a good bottle."  She looks over to Doc "Should we keep going down or is Zhi doing something with that body?"

(Mobile)

"Might be a good idea to send someone ahead regardless.  Just in case.." Doc replied

There's one good bottle of wine left. Barely.

Zhi finds himself subconsciously gravitating towards Mock for whatever reason - perhaps she was the best person to be around if things went bad. Perhaps she was just another source of warmth Zhi needs to survive. Either way, Zhi unleashes another, curling sigh. "My magical resources are better spent elsewhere," he determines, commanding Iskri to continue as a scout. Zhi wasn't risking his own neck here. No way. "Knowing you all, I would rather conserve my resources. I will need to fix your mistakes at some point," he grumbles. Was he really risking his life delving into the Underdark with this crew?

Zhi ceases all movement and rolls his eyes back in his snakelike head as he transfers his conscience into his snake. He didn't like doing this. He felt vulnerable. He was deaf, too - he had no doubt in his mind these fools were mocking him behind his back. 

Zhi sends Iskri slithering off towards 3A. 

AREA 3A

Various daggers, swords, spears, and shields hang on the eastern and western walls of this chamber. Every item looks normal and in good condition. Some of it has clearly been used recently. In the corner, discarded or forgotten, is a satchel about the size of a small backpack.

Daewen will kneel down and inspect the small satchel closely, for traps.

Perception: 11

Previously

Dadwen grabbed a single bottle of Chateau Krelgar 1215, ripped off a small section of her cloak and tied the fabric swatch around the neck of the bottle, and then stuffed the bottle into and inner pocket of her cloak. 

Seemed untrapped. Just a satchel on the ground.

Doc gave the word and Arora followed orders along with.... Iskri?  She thinks for a moment, is Iskri gonna stay warm enough she wonders.... no matter, that was Zhi's choice.  She moves around the room inspecting the weapons and then over to Daewen who's obviously looking for traps in a small backpack.  "Daewen" she says as she picks up the pack and just opens it "Who would trap a pack like this?  Just open it."  Arora opens it up to check what's inside.

Daewen jumps back in fright when Arora deftly grabs the pack and opens it up, half expecting it to explode in her face. 

It's a small satchel with some sheets of seemingly golden parchment within. These sheets have a strange symbol-based language on them.

Miah looks at it. "I can read this! It's Undercommon." he declares, and does so.

It's obvious  evidence that the dark elves intended to spy on the Upperworld, more specifically, to determine if it were ripe for harvesting. Rough sketches of the path between Holoth, Embla, and Krelgar Keep are in the sack, as are routes to other Underworld sites, like Stoneholme. The details are documented in black drow writing on the long strips of strange gold-colored paper. A black bone quill and a vial of about an ounce of a thick, jet black liquid are also found

"This is drow ink." he says.

The only aspect that throws Miah is that every route seems to have a wispy trailing tail that winds its way towards a small drow symbol in the very middle of the page, a stylized intertwining of an “S” which can stand for “spider,” “snake,” or “supremacy,” and the symbol for “rest,” or “home” or “eternity,” depending on the context. He studies the notes carefully
and is surprised at the accuracy of the environs around Embla, but also points out a little-used route towards Holoth described as “dangerously fractured.” If the drow have taken over most of the main and subsidiary routes, this information could prove vital.

Miah recognizes the items immediately and understands the notes. According to legend all drow originally hail from Svartálfahimr, a sacred place where priests of darkness rule
from grand palaces and use the Staff of the Great Serpent to smite all who might oppose them. There is a vague reference to this central point when all routes into the Underworld are
described. Miah recognizes that suggestions of paths and roads to this place are just there for religious protection.

Neph looks over the shoulder of Miah and listens to the interpretation.  "Where is the "you are here"?  They never include a good "you are here " to get you oriented.  I'm just kidding.  Let's take that map with us certainly."  As they are talking, Neph is quietly taking their weapons down and rearranging them, putting them in disarray.  "We ought to destroy these, but it will make too much noise and take too much time.  Let's keep moving."   After this he takes a look into one of the rooms in 3b.  

AREA 3B

There are six doors along the north wall, each opening to a small storage compartment where someone once kept fine armor and weapons as well as any items of a personal nature. Most of these lockers have been ransacked, but one contains a rusted suit of plate armor. The locks are all broken, and useless debris litters the floor.

After Miah reads from the parchment, Arora asks for it back as she too knows the dark underworld language of undercommon.... this had been a long and tedious part of her training.  She scans through the text seeing if there is anything more to decipher from it.  She especially looks at the S to see if she can determine any kind of context with it... does it mean Spider... Snake... Supremacy.... or maybe rest... home.... or eternity?

"Very interesting..." she says softly "I don't know anything about this little used route.. glad you do" she says to Miah.  Unless someone else would like to see these, she takes the parchment and places it in her pack along with the bone quill and ink "This may be useful later"

Looking over her shoulder as Neph starts searching the rooms in 3B "Find anything useful over there?  I'm going to check this other side real quick."  She heads over to 3C to inspect the next few rooms.

Aroraspection (if needed): 23

AREA 3C appear to be guard bunks. Everything in here is destroyed. All that remains are old, midewy, straw-filled mattresses that have been gnawed or torn. A thin coat of dust covered everything here.

Boring.

Sneaky-deaky Daewen quietly creeps down the stairs to the next floor (area 4). 

AREA 4

This floor is an old dungeon lined with cells and all of the doors are open, their mechanisms long since rotted away by the damp and cold of a small stream which once ran through a hole in this room. There is a charred skeleton that can be seen in the northeastern cell. 

"Good to see these are still empty. Come. Let us move on." Miah says.

"Good to see these are still empty. Come. Let us move on." Miah says.

"Yes, yes it is" Arora mutters.  "Doesn't appear to be much else here...someone can check the skeleton if they want, but let's keep moving" Arora continues down to 5.

Daewen invisibly nods to Miah to affirm his comment, and then proceeds to sneak further down the stairs to area 5.