The dwarf replies to you "You honor my people Tanis Shaidaro. (She takes your hand in a firm grip) My name is Eldeth Feldrun, a scout from the mighty city of Gauntlgrym. Many surface dwellers don't realize the debt they owe dwarves for keeping some of these corrupt dark dwellers in check. I will stand against any of them if given the opportunity and fight to the death. If I can get it back, I will gladly give these Drow the taste of my warhammer. I'm not sure how many of these prisoners could fight. Some of them I certainly do not trust. We would be going up against superior forces. I've been trying to track their movements. There are close to 20 Drow here, plus a number of these quaggoths in their service (she points toward the furry creature). That one seems to be mad. He claims to be an elf. (She shrugs) In addition, there are signs of giant spiders about. I haven't seen them, but if they take you out of the cave, you will see that there is a massive nest of their webs between these ledges and stalactites and the cavern floor."
You get the clear impression this is a very proud and noble dwarf. She seems very sincere. (no check required)
Shoowaa looks at Phodoxia with hope and replies in goblin "That would be great. I would like it after we get out the prison though." Shoowaa suddenly frowns and tells the other goblin in goblin "My plan failed. Magic does not work here. New plan! We have many, they have few. Get us together to fight the few that capture us, yes? We need to convince the others to help. You help yes?" After the talk with Phodoxia, Shoowaa picks up the spider that was given to him and gives it back to the derro, but he is already gone to scrub the chambers, he decides to put the spider on the wall where no one will squish it.
[Goblin] "Magic doesn't work?" Phodoxia makes a face. "Well, that's no good." She wriggles her wrists experimentally, brow furrowed as if trying to concentrate on something. Then she shrugs in resignation. "Okay, new plan. I'll help." Absorbing the other goblin's contagious enthusiasm, she looks around the crowded cell, trying to see whose eye she can catch. A half elf, a tall pale thing, meets her eye and nods, and she nods in return, with a sly toothy smile. Maybe there's one! She watches as the half elf goes to speak to the dwarf. Good, they're all rallying now.
Nodding, Phodoxia pushes herself painfully to her feet and slinks to the edge of the cell, peeking out through the bars. "They have few?" she mutters to Shoowaa, "I don't know about that. I can't see them all in the dark. There's some in that tower." She starts to point but then stops herself, not wanting to draw attention.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Tanis is taken aback at the sudden flood of information from Eldeth, like a cloudburst on parched ground. It's been so long since he talked to anyone. Longer still probably for the dwarf. He admires her courage.
Gauntlgrym. Had he heard of the place? Tanis wishes he had paid more attention to his teachers and commanders. History check if applicable (-1): 7
(Edited to add: OOC Tanis most definitely has never heard of Gauntlgrym as a real city. Probably never heard of Icewind Dale either despite being born there. But I'm going to pretend he can continue speaking without going cross-eyed).
Still in dwarvish, still quietly: "Well met, Eldeth Feldrun of Gauntlgrym. I too am a scout, though a failed one it seems. A scout and archer. For sheriff Markham Southwell of Bryn Shander in Icewind Dale. Not so mighty as your city from the sounds of it, though I'd say our local Ten Towns do owe us a bit, so perhaps a small similarity there. I too wish for my weapons, rapier, longbow and arrows to use on our captors."
Tanis pauses to work more moisture into his throat, "My thanks for the intelligence report. 20 or more drow, quaggoths and giant spiders with fortification and webs. In case of escape, there is no way a direct frontal assault works for this group against that kind of opposition, even if we all pulled together and were fully armed, which we won't and aren't. I too would choose an honorable fight to the death over a lifetime of captivity and creeping madness, but better options may present themselves in time. Options likely involving mostly stealth until we can find more resources, picking off opponents one or two at a time. And even were we to escape, we need some of these deep denizens to help guide us. I certainly know next to nothing of the Underdark."
He pauses once more in case Eldeth wants to interject that she has further knowledge of their surroundings, though she has already told him plenty.
"I admit, I too do not trust some of our cellmates, and I suspect the derro at least may backstab one of us at some point. But I must try to talk with some of the others to gauge the situation. My plan is to speak with the strangest of them first if I can. I never heard of a mushroom murdering anyone. But at some point we may also need less savory allies." Tanis has a sudden, visceral daydream of soaking his mother's fresh-baked bread with venison and mushroom broth and immediately regrets the unintentional double-entendre with the word "savory" in connection with the mushroom being ("Stool").
"When the time comes, we will have to make common cause with the small human, lizard man and 2 goblins almost certainly. Possibly the bugbear and deep gnomes or even one or both of the other captive drow. Let us both keep our eyes open as you clearly have done, and be ready when the opportunity comes."
Here's a layout of the Velkynvelve outpost. This gives away more than you can see at this point, but nothing is really hidden here. There are two caves on the top right side of this map. You are held in the lower of the two. In the side view, you can see your cave entrance next to the first stalactite on the left. From the gate, you can see a stone walkway headed north, that goes down a series of carved stone stairs to another cave entrance. You see a rope bridge that connects the ledge in front of your cave to a large stalactite directly across from the cave entrance. That's where there is a guard station. Another rope bridge heads southwest out of the other side of that stalactite (to the right on the side view). You see other stalactites that also have rooms carved into them in a line heading away to the south west. Looking to your left out of the cave entrance, there is a waterfall that pours out of the rock wall and crashes down into the cavern below. It creates a roar that permeates the cavern. The side view of the Velkynvelve outpost gives you a better impression of the relationship between the levels of the various caves, bridges and stalactites. It shows a little more than I'd like to, but it doesn't really give anything away. I'm assuming the rooms carved into the stalactites have some windows carved out of the stone to allow people inside to look out. So you could guess some of them have multiple levels of rooms inside. There is a thick net of spider webs running along the eastern wall of the cavern, connecting the various stalactites. It's hard to see, but you would guess that it's around 100 feet from the webs to the cavern floor below.
Shoowaa spots the odd one out, asides from him is a walking mushroom. He wonders what type of mushroom can walk and maybe talk. He wonders if any part of the mushroom can be used in some alchemy to make even more potent potions before remembering it's a person. His curiosity gets the better of him and he walks to the mushroom. Shoowaa's tail wags in excitement when talking to the odd creature. "I'm Shoowaa. I haven't seen a walking mushroom before. How did you get kidnapped? I want to get as many people as possible to cause a riot. Oooh do you have poisonous spores? If you do you think you can use it against our captors? Do you know of others that can help? Will you help? Oh oh oh how many guards are there? Are there other prisoners? If we get out maybe we can get others out and overwhelm the drow."
Tanis turns to see that the goblin with the tail has beaten him to the punch in speaking with the mushroom.
Firmly suppressing any thoughts of his mother's beef and mushroom soup, he watches with a mixture of bemusement and horror as the small humanoid speaks so openly to the sentient fungus in front of everyone.
First Eldeth and now this goblin. Seems everyone is more courageous than me. Is being open about it the right move here?
But clearly the time is not right... yet. We can't just win a fight or sneak out and be done with it, as if that were not itself a huge challenge. To truly escape, we have to make our way through the Underdark. Hopefully the mushroom being, or one of the other prisoners would know the way.
With the deep gnomes gone for the moment, Tanis starts considering instead how best to approach one of the captive drow...
Petmailer is tracking with his eyes, watching the interactions, the furtive glances, the hushed speech as each of his fellow inmates starts to make stock of the situation. Alliances and allies, a new brand of politics, here in the cell, he thinks to himself. He notices the half elf eying him and the other Drow in the cell. I bet they wonder how the hell I ended up in here.
He stands stiffly and walks over to Tanis and nearby Eldeth, sits down, crosses his legs and assumes a non-threatening posture and speaks softly. "Hello. My name is Petmailer. I couldn't help but see you looking at me, wondering, appraising the situation. I bet you and everyone else is wondering how the hell I ended up in here? I'll be glad to tell you, in time. The only way that we are going to survive is by working together. Not all Drow are the same, you know. I am being imprisoned unjustly and like all of you, I just want to get out of here and leave this place behind, never to return." He looks at you to see how this is being received, looking for signs of encouragement before he continues.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.
After her discussion with the bugbear, Vethna looks over the other prisoners. Taking a deep breath she figures she best get this next bit done with right off. Seeing that one of the drow has moved to talk with the dwarf and half-elf, she moves over to the second dark elf.
Approaching Sarith she gives him a piercing look. "I don't care why you are in here." She says in way of greeting. "I don't even care if we can trust you to be honest. What I want to know is if you will aid us or do you only wish to serve your time here and be released back to your fellow drow outside this prison?"
(I'm assuming you are speaking to him in common). Sarith looks up at you. He speaks in halting common (you can tell from his accent he probably speaks undercommon).
"I don't care why you here. Don't care who you are."
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Beaten to the punch once again, Tanis doesn't hide trying to appraise the drow's ... Petmailer's sincerity. It certainly sounded sincere, but could this be a plant or ruse by the dark elves to root out escape-minded prisoners? Somehow Tanis doubted it given the dismissive attitude of the guards outside to those inside the cell, and yet...
Insight: 20
Tanis speaks as openly (but quietly) as possible, acutely conscious that the dwarf beside him may not share his relative openness to making common cause, even temporary, with drow of any stripe. This Petmailer could potentially become the most useful member of any escape party, given our surroundings. Or perhaps a liability even if sincere, if he is viewed as a traitor by the other drow.
(In common, assuming that is the language the dark elf is using, otherwise Tanis would know undercommon along naturally with elvish): "Well met, Petmailer. I am Tanis Shaidaro." Tanis leaves the Eldeth's name out of the introduction since he is not sure she would want it given.
"I won't deny being curious about your circumstance and that of the other," nodding at Sarith. "But I don't think it matters much in truth. The key is that you want out and see the need to work as a group, as I do. I also hope then that if we were all to escape and stay together, your chosen destination would not be Menzoberranzan."
The name of the city sounds strange and harsh in Tanis' mouth, never having said it aloud in his life until now.
Edited to add: to clarify Tanis' last sentence, he is unsure if by "leave this place behind," Petmailer means only the prison, this area of the Underdark, or the Underdark altogether.
As Shoowaa approaches the mushroom creature, it scrambles away from you to an empty corner of the cave. The orc grumbles at you "Be careful you don't set that thing off."
He makes a poof sound and mimes something like a small explosion with his hands.
When Vethna speaks to him in undercommon, the drow responds in kind saying:
"I'm going to do whatever is necessary to keep my head attached to my neck. You're not going to be 'given' a way to freedom, but if the opportunity arises, I'm sure as hell not going to stay in here and wait to be executed."
Shoowaa nods when the orc warns him and he even with his curiosity he doesn't want to get exploded on. "Ohhh new new idea! Maybe it can go BOOM and we can get out that way. Thanks orc!" Shoowaa goes to the mushroom, trying not to startle it, and decides to call out, trying to get away from any explosions. He tries his best to make the mushroom move towards the door. "Hello, I'm Shoowaa and I would like your help. Can you get close to the door and when the drow come in you go boom!"
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The dwarf replies to you "You honor my people Tanis Shaidaro. (She takes your hand in a firm grip) My name is Eldeth Feldrun, a scout from the mighty city of Gauntlgrym. Many surface dwellers don't realize the debt they owe dwarves for keeping some of these corrupt dark dwellers in check. I will stand against any of them if given the opportunity and fight to the death. If I can get it back, I will gladly give these Drow the taste of my warhammer. I'm not sure how many of these prisoners could fight. Some of them I certainly do not trust. We would be going up against superior forces. I've been trying to track their movements. There are close to 20 Drow here, plus a number of these quaggoths in their service (she points toward the furry creature). That one seems to be mad. He claims to be an elf. (She shrugs) In addition, there are signs of giant spiders about. I haven't seen them, but if they take you out of the cave, you will see that there is a massive nest of their webs between these ledges and stalactites and the cavern floor."
You get the clear impression this is a very proud and noble dwarf. She seems very sincere. (no check required)
Shoowaa looks at Phodoxia with hope and replies in goblin "That would be great. I would like it after we get out the prison though." Shoowaa suddenly frowns and tells the other goblin in goblin "My plan failed. Magic does not work here. New plan! We have many, they have few. Get us together to fight the few that capture us, yes? We need to convince the others to help. You help yes?" After the talk with Phodoxia, Shoowaa picks up the spider that was given to him and gives it back to the derro, but he is already gone to scrub the chambers, he decides to put the spider on the wall where no one will squish it.
[Goblin] "Magic doesn't work?" Phodoxia makes a face. "Well, that's no good." She wriggles her wrists experimentally, brow furrowed as if trying to concentrate on something. Then she shrugs in resignation. "Okay, new plan. I'll help." Absorbing the other goblin's contagious enthusiasm, she looks around the crowded cell, trying to see whose eye she can catch. A half elf, a tall pale thing, meets her eye and nods, and she nods in return, with a sly toothy smile. Maybe there's one! She watches as the half elf goes to speak to the dwarf. Good, they're all rallying now.
Nodding, Phodoxia pushes herself painfully to her feet and slinks to the edge of the cell, peeking out through the bars. "They have few?" she mutters to Shoowaa, "I don't know about that. I can't see them all in the dark. There's some in that tower." She starts to point but then stops herself, not wanting to draw attention.
Here are some of your fellow prisoners:
Tanis is taken aback at the sudden flood of information from Eldeth, like a cloudburst on parched ground. It's been so long since he talked to anyone. Longer still probably for the dwarf. He admires her courage.
Gauntlgrym. Had he heard of the place? Tanis wishes he had paid more attention to his teachers and commanders. History check if applicable (-1): 7
(Edited to add: OOC Tanis most definitely has never heard of Gauntlgrym as a real city. Probably never heard of Icewind Dale either despite being born there. But I'm going to pretend he can continue speaking without going cross-eyed).
Still in dwarvish, still quietly: "Well met, Eldeth Feldrun of Gauntlgrym. I too am a scout, though a failed one it seems. A scout and archer. For sheriff Markham Southwell of Bryn Shander in Icewind Dale. Not so mighty as your city from the sounds of it, though I'd say our local Ten Towns do owe us a bit, so perhaps a small similarity there. I too wish for my weapons, rapier, longbow and arrows to use on our captors."
Tanis pauses to work more moisture into his throat, "My thanks for the intelligence report. 20 or more drow, quaggoths and giant spiders with fortification and webs. In case of escape, there is no way a direct frontal assault works for this group against that kind of opposition, even if we all pulled together and were fully armed, which we won't and aren't. I too would choose an honorable fight to the death over a lifetime of captivity and creeping madness, but better options may present themselves in time. Options likely involving mostly stealth until we can find more resources, picking off opponents one or two at a time. And even were we to escape, we need some of these deep denizens to help guide us. I certainly know next to nothing of the Underdark."
He pauses once more in case Eldeth wants to interject that she has further knowledge of their surroundings, though she has already told him plenty.
"I admit, I too do not trust some of our cellmates, and I suspect the derro at least may backstab one of us at some point. But I must try to talk with some of the others to gauge the situation. My plan is to speak with the strangest of them first if I can. I never heard of a mushroom murdering anyone. But at some point we may also need less savory allies." Tanis has a sudden, visceral daydream of soaking his mother's fresh-baked bread with venison and mushroom broth and immediately regrets the unintentional double-entendre with the word "savory" in connection with the mushroom being ("Stool").
"When the time comes, we will have to make common cause with the small human, lizard man and 2 goblins almost certainly. Possibly the bugbear and deep gnomes or even one or both of the other captive drow. Let us both keep our eyes open as you clearly have done, and be ready when the opportunity comes."
Tanis(Ranger1): Shiverquill's Tempest City | Xarian(Fighter2): NioNSwiper's Tyranny of Dragons
Dyson/Eleo(TwilightCleric4): Vos' Beyond the Veil | Soren(ShepherdDruid5): Bartjeebus' Ravenloft | Ophelia(WildMagicSorcerer4): Ashen_Age's Risen from the Sands
Joren(EchoKnightFighter6): NotDrizzt's Simple Request | Sabetha(MercyMonk3): Bedlymn's Murder Court | Seri(NatureCleric3/DivineSoulSorcerer1): Bartjeebus' Greyhawk
Tanis: Gauntlgrym is a name you've heard, but you thought it was some legendary city from folklore. You didn't realize it was an actual real city.
Here's a layout of the Velkynvelve outpost. This gives away more than you can see at this point, but nothing is really hidden here. There are two caves on the top right side of this map. You are held in the lower of the two. In the side view, you can see your cave entrance next to the first stalactite on the left. From the gate, you can see a stone walkway headed north, that goes down a series of carved stone stairs to another cave entrance. You see a rope bridge that connects the ledge in front of your cave to a large stalactite directly across from the cave entrance. That's where there is a guard station. Another rope bridge heads southwest out of the other side of that stalactite (to the right on the side view). You see other stalactites that also have rooms carved into them in a line heading away to the south west. Looking to your left out of the cave entrance, there is a waterfall that pours out of the rock wall and crashes down into the cavern below. It creates a roar that permeates the cavern. The side view of the Velkynvelve outpost gives you a better impression of the relationship between the levels of the various caves, bridges and stalactites. It shows a little more than I'd like to, but it doesn't really give anything away. I'm assuming the rooms carved into the stalactites have some windows carved out of the stone to allow people inside to look out. So you could guess some of them have multiple levels of rooms inside. There is a thick net of spider webs running along the eastern wall of the cavern, connecting the various stalactites. It's hard to see, but you would guess that it's around 100 feet from the webs to the cavern floor below.
Shoowaa spots the odd one out, asides from him is a walking mushroom. He wonders what type of mushroom can walk and maybe talk. He wonders if any part of the mushroom can be used in some alchemy to make even more potent potions before remembering it's a person. His curiosity gets the better of him and he walks to the mushroom. Shoowaa's tail wags in excitement when talking to the odd creature. "I'm Shoowaa. I haven't seen a walking mushroom before. How did you get kidnapped? I want to get as many people as possible to cause a riot. Oooh do you have poisonous spores? If you do you think you can use it against our captors? Do you know of others that can help? Will you help? Oh oh oh how many guards are there? Are there other prisoners? If we get out maybe we can get others out and overwhelm the drow."
Tanis turns to see that the goblin with the tail has beaten him to the punch in speaking with the mushroom.
Firmly suppressing any thoughts of his mother's beef and mushroom soup, he watches with a mixture of bemusement and horror as the small humanoid speaks so openly to the sentient fungus in front of everyone.
First Eldeth and now this goblin. Seems everyone is more courageous than me. Is being open about it the right move here?
But clearly the time is not right... yet. We can't just win a fight or sneak out and be done with it, as if that were not itself a huge challenge. To truly escape, we have to make our way through the Underdark. Hopefully the mushroom being, or one of the other prisoners would know the way.
With the deep gnomes gone for the moment, Tanis starts considering instead how best to approach one of the captive drow...
Tanis(Ranger1): Shiverquill's Tempest City | Xarian(Fighter2): NioNSwiper's Tyranny of Dragons
Dyson/Eleo(TwilightCleric4): Vos' Beyond the Veil | Soren(ShepherdDruid5): Bartjeebus' Ravenloft | Ophelia(WildMagicSorcerer4): Ashen_Age's Risen from the Sands
Joren(EchoKnightFighter6): NotDrizzt's Simple Request | Sabetha(MercyMonk3): Bedlymn's Murder Court | Seri(NatureCleric3/DivineSoulSorcerer1): Bartjeebus' Greyhawk
Petmailer is tracking with his eyes, watching the interactions, the furtive glances, the hushed speech as each of his fellow inmates starts to make stock of the situation. Alliances and allies, a new brand of politics, here in the cell, he thinks to himself. He notices the half elf eying him and the other Drow in the cell. I bet they wonder how the hell I ended up in here.
He stands stiffly and walks over to Tanis and nearby Eldeth, sits down, crosses his legs and assumes a non-threatening posture and speaks softly. "Hello. My name is Petmailer. I couldn't help but see you looking at me, wondering, appraising the situation. I bet you and everyone else is wondering how the hell I ended up in here? I'll be glad to tell you, in time. The only way that we are going to survive is by working together. Not all Drow are the same, you know. I am being imprisoned unjustly and like all of you, I just want to get out of here and leave this place behind, never to return." He looks at you to see how this is being received, looking for signs of encouragement before he continues.
A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.
After her discussion with the bugbear, Vethna looks over the other prisoners. Taking a deep breath she figures she best get this next bit done with right off. Seeing that one of the drow has moved to talk with the dwarf and half-elf, she moves over to the second dark elf.
Approaching Sarith she gives him a piercing look. "I don't care why you are in here." She says in way of greeting. "I don't even care if we can trust you to be honest. What I want to know is if you will aid us or do you only wish to serve your time here and be released back to your fellow drow outside this prison?"
(I'm assuming you are speaking to him in common). Sarith looks up at you. He speaks in halting common (you can tell from his accent he probably speaks undercommon).
"I don't care why you here. Don't care who you are."
He crosses this arms and looks away from you.
Vethna tries both under common and deep speach, seeing if the drow is more accustomed to speaking in either of those languages.
"Does that mean, if we were given a way to freedom, you would rather stay here then?" Vethna presses the drow.
Insight... 20
Beaten to the punch once again, Tanis doesn't hide trying to appraise the drow's ... Petmailer's sincerity. It certainly sounded sincere, but could this be a plant or ruse by the dark elves to root out escape-minded prisoners? Somehow Tanis doubted it given the dismissive attitude of the guards outside to those inside the cell, and yet...
Insight: 20
Tanis speaks as openly (but quietly) as possible, acutely conscious that the dwarf beside him may not share his relative openness to making common cause, even temporary, with drow of any stripe. This Petmailer could potentially become the most useful member of any escape party, given our surroundings. Or perhaps a liability even if sincere, if he is viewed as a traitor by the other drow.
(In common, assuming that is the language the dark elf is using, otherwise Tanis would know undercommon along naturally with elvish): "Well met, Petmailer. I am Tanis Shaidaro." Tanis leaves the Eldeth's name out of the introduction since he is not sure she would want it given.
"I won't deny being curious about your circumstance and that of the other," nodding at Sarith. "But I don't think it matters much in truth. The key is that you want out and see the need to work as a group, as I do. I also hope then that if we were all to escape and stay together, your chosen destination would not be Menzoberranzan."
The name of the city sounds strange and harsh in Tanis' mouth, never having said it aloud in his life until now.
Edited to add: to clarify Tanis' last sentence, he is unsure if by "leave this place behind," Petmailer means only the prison, this area of the Underdark, or the Underdark altogether.
Tanis(Ranger1): Shiverquill's Tempest City | Xarian(Fighter2): NioNSwiper's Tyranny of Dragons
Dyson/Eleo(TwilightCleric4): Vos' Beyond the Veil | Soren(ShepherdDruid5): Bartjeebus' Ravenloft | Ophelia(WildMagicSorcerer4): Ashen_Age's Risen from the Sands
Joren(EchoKnightFighter6): NotDrizzt's Simple Request | Sabetha(MercyMonk3): Bedlymn's Murder Court | Seri(NatureCleric3/DivineSoulSorcerer1): Bartjeebus' Greyhawk
As Shoowaa approaches the mushroom creature, it scrambles away from you to an empty corner of the cave. The orc grumbles at you "Be careful you don't set that thing off."
He makes a poof sound and mimes something like a small explosion with his hands.
When Vethna speaks to him in undercommon, the drow responds in kind saying:
"I'm going to do whatever is necessary to keep my head attached to my neck. You're not going to be 'given' a way to freedom, but if the opportunity arises, I'm sure as hell not going to stay in here and wait to be executed."
Tanis, the best you can tell, Petmailer is being sincere. But in these circumstances, you're finding it hard to read him.
Shoowaa nods when the orc warns him and he even with his curiosity he doesn't want to get exploded on. "Ohhh new new idea! Maybe it can go BOOM and we can get out that way. Thanks orc!" Shoowaa goes to the mushroom, trying not to startle it, and decides to call out, trying to get away from any explosions. He tries his best to make the mushroom move towards the door. "Hello, I'm Shoowaa and I would like your help. Can you get close to the door and when the drow come in you go boom!"