As the group is all waking Stena stands and starts to work the stiffness from her body when she stops and starts looking around frantically, reeling a step or two back. She grabs desperately towards her bow and misses it. She starts saying something over and over, in Dwarven,

 Giving up on her bow she snags an arrow from her quiver and desperately starts placing its shaft along her arm and then leg, shifting back and forth between the two as she stumbles wildly back into the cave wall and whatever she is saying becomes a monosyllabic whimper, still in Dwarven, as she curls into a ball and wraps her arms over her head.

 She'll lash out at anything that touches her or gets too close, but after 10 minutes she'll stop speaking and after another 5 she'll slowly begin moving her arms to look around. Twenty minutes after whatever happened started she'll be on her feet gathering her scattered arrows and bow and will not acknowledge that anything happened if asked.

As Lia wakes, and gets herself ready for the day, she gets more and more agitated around Sarith. When he speaks though, she can’t handle it any more, and backs away, around an outcropping of crystals. From there she can hear Stena’s panic too, and it fuels her own fear, and confirms that Sarith is one to be feared. Oh gods, what is he doing to her?!

She slides down the cold crystal to the floor and gathers up her knees and just sits rocking and whimpering.

She should help Stena!

Sarith could be murdering them all!

But she’s too scared!!…

She just sits in a ball until the feeling passes.

When she’s composed herself, and comes back around, Stena seems fine, and Sarith is helping with the morning tasks. All seems.. okay.. again…

Everything’s… fine?… Yes, everything’s fine. Just the dreams… and these dammed crystals and their frantic vibrating music. Nnnnngh! She has to get out of this crystal grove…

She gathers her things and makes it clear with her body language that she’s eager to get moving. She’ll stay as far from Sarith as she can today. If he’s leading, she’ll stay in the back again.

Thom wakes up from his nightmare and realizes that the prince was curled up beside him. He would say out loud "hey MATE what the heck!!" maybe a bit too loud but probably not loud enough to actually wake the prince as he stumbles up. He then says to Eldeth "er... yeah sure Ma'am, that's right. My turn." and he gets up embarrassed that the prince was curled up with him and that Eldeth saw as he takes his watch for the 'night'.

Oh, he'd almost wake Galingal for something that happened in his dream, but then decides not too. 

That would be crazy.

The next day, Thom notices Stena acting oddly and says to her "uhhhhhhh... Ma'am? You alright?" very confused at her actions.

Then he notices Lia sitting on the floor rocking and whimpering. He says "UHHHHH... MA'AM? YOU ALRIGHT TOO?"

He thinks to himself fork fork fork fork they are all going crazy fork fork fork fork or maybe it's me? fork fork fork fork how can i be sure fork fork fork i know, let me check my arrows! 

Then he says out loud "YES! THAT WILL PROVE IT! WAIT... FORK! OWWW! FORK! OWWWWW!" and he madly starts to take arrows from his quicker and start to snap them erratically.

After a few minutes, he stops, shakes his head, and takes a knee. And tries to hide the arrows he broke with some dirt or debris. Slight of hand: 5

"Maybe take it slow today, yeah? I'm not feeling the greatest."

"Oh, those arrows? Those were no good. Had to break them."

 -4 arrows from Thom.

Stena is too much in her own head to notice Lia acting odder than usual at first but does recognize the ball she was just in. She swallows and goes to move away only to watch blankly as Thom destroys arrows and poorly tries to hide them, listening to his weak explanation.

At this point she will say tersely, in common and then undercommon,

"Aye think we may have been poisoned by something."

She looks to Eldeth and then around at the others,

"Something that makes ye... see things."

She will ponder on the food they ate and its potential to cause this or other things down here that could do that (med or nature?): 2

((She'll still push for a fast pace.))

((Lia is too freaked to help decide on pace right now. But we’re well fed and watered so she’s happy with fast for now too))

Those of you paying attention may have noticed that many of you other companions seem to have had odd experiences as you rested, whether their dreams were as odd as yours, you can't tell at a look, but though rested, many of them seem a bit slow getting going.

Further, Buppido spends a few minutes being very jumpy and twitchy, hiding from the crystals as best he can. Eldeth huddles and shivers when she's woken, stuttering and babbling. Derendil gets up and stretches before promptly passing out and landing on his face. No amount of shaking wakes him, and Lia has a few minutes of panic before he wakes up as if nothing happened. Meanwhile, Lex is completely rigid and has been giving of a wheezing groan, and after a few minutes of this, she gives a jolt and is able to move. She seems a bit embarrassed.

Start Day 6 of Freedom, traveling to Darklake: Miles traveled, ~33 (fast)

There is consensus to try to move fast and make up for yesterday's lost pace, Sarith and Galingal leading the party to the barrelstalks they'd found while out foraging.

After a few minutes of work, you're all able to break your fast on barrelstalk water and flesh after cutting the cap off and revealing the interior of the mushroom.

Water: 12 gallons

Food: 17 pounds

 After folks have finished off the first one, the Underdark folk set to harvesting the barrel itself. It's a bit cumbersome, but seems worthwhile to have a portable watertight vessel. Waterskins are topped up, and they party gets ready to move, leaving behind what water they couldn't finish in the second barrelstalk.

Sarith Navigating: 15

Sarith gets you moving on the right direction, and you indeed make a good pace, eventually coming out where he recognizes some of the terrain.

Party Provisions:

Encounter rolls:

 You're moving through 10+ft wide tunnel side by side when Galingal, you hear footsteps and the soft murmur of echoing whispers from up ahead around a curve in the darkness. You raise a hand and call a halt, the rest of the party falling still and silent, but the other group also falling still. Either you heard your own footsteps echoed back to you, or whoever is out there heard you too, and similarly halted.

Stena pauses when Galingal calls the halt, watching him. She moves quietly to Stool and stands ready to give the myconid the signal to get it's spore on.

((Given the relatively narrow tunnel you're in, and Stool's position in the marching order, he'd be only able to get the back ~2/3rds of the party. Sarith, Galingal and Thom (and Stena) would typically be outside his range in this formation.))

Galingal watches the others and their erratic behaviour as the day starts. He looks around at the crystals again and the effect it had on Lia's magic.

"We should question camping near these crystals again," Galingal says as they start out.

When the sound of footsteps comes from ahead then stops. He pauses for a moment then looks back at the others. Seeing they've stopped. He decides to move quietly forward to see if it was just an echo or if there's a group waiting a head.

Stealth:  12  

Closer to the intersection, Galingal hears sounds that would indicate that there is a party around the bend. The soft creak of leather, a jangle of chain, a soft growl or grunt.

Stena watches for a signal from Galingal...

((LOL @ "get its spore on"))

Thom agrees with Stena "agreed Ma'am. That was a bit crazy, yeah? And, I'm down 4 arrows. Crap."

Thom also agrees with Galingal "Huh. Maybe it was those crystals after all that caused our crazy fits yeah?"

Thom takes his bow off his back as quietly and as quickly as possible, pulls out an arrow and readies himself after Galingal halts the party. He doesn't say anything yet, just holds position waiting for Galingal's signal. 

He nods at Stena. 

Galingal sees Stena and Thom ready for anything, and the others prepared behind them.

He steps closer to the corner of the bend, pauses for a moment, slides his shield into place, then steps out to see who's around the corner.

As Galingal steps around the corner, he sees a party of drow arrayed before him in the tunnel. They are similarly filing two by two through the hallway, but also seem to have a few giant lizards with them as pack beasts, laden down with bundles. The front row or two of drow are well armored in chain shirts and shields, carrying spears, while behind them, with the animals are some unarmored drow that are holding light crossbows without much confidence. They seem a bit startled, but a more well dressed male, wearing a breastplate and rapier at his side, pastes on grin, raises a hand and calls out in Undercommon.

((Does anyone else in the group hear what's shouted?))

((I'd say that Stena would be close enough to have heard. (And some of the NPCs too).))

Galingal looks back at the party and calls Stena forward, and Jimjar if he's able to get through. He waves Sarith off and indicates he should move back.

"Hello," Galingal says with the very basic Undercommon he's picked up from their lessons. "Hello. Buy. Sell. Yes."

He stays wary but keeps his hand off his rapier for now.

((Galingal, you also note that they are dressed differently from the drow warriors of the outpost, not full in black, don't have the black stain on their faces and hands. White skin white hair, metallic armor rather than armor that's been treated to be black, clothes aren't just all black either.))

Stena waits for Jimjar then approaches but stays where the rest of the party can see her and can see the Drow, if possible.

She eye the traders and try and gauge their intent.

Insight: 11