Answering the golem, "We have not yet collapsed the tunnel.  We have fought many drow though and some other problems.  We need to rest for some hours and regain some magic and heal a bit, then we will head back over there and collapse the tunnels like we promised."

Jaq will rest and nap until the poisons wear off.

6 2 HD of healing

Once he is feeling a bit better, Jaq will take a look at the training manuals that were found and see what they are trying to learn.

If there is still time while we are letting Cladmir doze, he will go over the ledgers, next.

8  One more HD of healing

(In that case I suppose she’ll look over the magic books first and let Lurn and Jaq take over the letters

also I just realized it maaay have came across as Joe flirting with Kroshav or showing interest, that is not the case.)

((He'd have been clue-less if she had been. He's only 17, which dragonborn are adults at 15, but he's pretty naïve.)) 

The golem answers Jaq in the same flat, slightly female voice,

"And found a new companion. I can inform you if any Drow enter this level."

((More tomorrow.))

"The more the merrier, after all!  Well, in his current state he probably can't take on a single drow, but once he's rested I'm sure he'll be a considerable addition to our force.  That's partly why we've already returned to recuperate.  Good news, though, we've likely eliminated a third of the minimum number of drow on this expedition, so including when we first broke free that should be half their number.  We do understand that we can't keep delaying like this, but we've surely got at least some time to weaken their forces before they can call for reinforcements.  It's especially important because of the troublesome poison they use.  Just a slight scratch from their weapons can knock us unconscious."

Guess I'll use one of the HD I've recovered, decide on the other after that.  Nothing else for Lurn to really work on, and no spells recovered from just a short rest, but we've not used enough time for most of use to use a long rest, right?

11

(Yeah I'd say 11 is plenty of healing)

((It's only been a few hours for us, iirc, so only Cladmir can get a rest at the moment.))

The golem listens stone faced to Lurn and doesn't respond to any of his points before sinking back into the mud.

Later, Joe makes a small fire to summon a little spider to make sure the Librarian stays good to her word.

Joe touches the books in abyssal and, skimming them since reading would take more time that she has, finds them to be a mixture of direct demands from Lolth to her faithful (frequently contradictory) and gruesome details for how to punish those that don't follow those commands and a mixture of components for what Joe presumes to be spells to summon demons along with presumably the spells but they aren't decipherable. The letters in Elven are simply personal correspondence between whomever the drow was and, it appears, various relations. Most of the of the letters are benign, some simply update the recipient on local or familial events while others are hostile and have very strong allusions to harm coming to the recipient when/if they return. The general vibe of the letters indicates that this posting was not something any of the drow assigned here wanted and it is strongly implied having been assigned here was a punishment.

Jaq finds that one of the manuals has been hollowed out and a small red vial has been place inside (nature or a flat intelligence to try and identify its contents). The other manual looks to be a guide to sword forms which culminates in tactics for using shorter blades in confined spaces more effectively. It is well written and has a number of useful diagrams and drawings to help the reader understand. Maybe not Jaq's cup of tea but someone would probably think it was useful. Looking over the loose papers from the first room the author seems to be writing about the anti-magic box and how it could be opened. It is pretty hard to follow the process of what they were doing or planning in the jumbled mess but the mage that penned it seems quite interested.

After eight hours Cladmir awakens feeling much recovered, if not exactly healthy.

((Where to now?))

Jaq makes sure to keep all the paper from the mage who was writing about the anti-magic box and keeps them separated from the other papers.  He will work on this more when he has free time in the future.

16 Nature check on potion.  (Did Jaq recover his padded box where he stores his potions?)

Jaq will leave the drow crossbow and bolts down where we rested, "Cladmir, you are free to take more of these bolts if you want them."

He, instead, makes sure his longbow is strung perfectly and his rapier is back on his belt.  He moves his stuff back into his pack so he knows where everything is, and is ready.  He looks at the others, waiting for their lead on how they are going to do this next part. 

((Got got his padded leather box back.))

Jaq pops the cork gingerly and gives the contents a small sniff. His eyes immediately begin to water as it burns in his sinuses and throat, and keeps burning, for a few moments. Blinking away the tears and re-corking the vial he identifies it as nasty mix of poisons common to those in the trade called the Nightcap. It paralyzes the victim and, in strong enough doses, will stop the heart while also causing other unfortunate damage.

(The vial contains enough for five small doses, two medium or one large. A small dose will paralyze on failed DC 14 con save and does 1d10 damage, half on save. A medium will paralyze with a chance of stopping the heart on DC 15 con fail doing 2d10 damage and half on save and a large will stop the heart on a fail of DC 16 save and do 3d10 damage, half on save. It can be ingested or enter the blood stream via a weapon, etc.))

Wiping away the tears from his eyes when he smells the contents of the vial, he will then recork it and then state to anyone paying attention, "It's a vial of the poison the drow use on their weapons.  Ugghh.  Do NOT smell it by accident."  He shakes his head, trying to clear his head again.  "Too much poison lately!"   He gets out his padded box and places it safely inside.  

Cladmir woke up feeling both much better and noted that his new companion has not left him behind.  He felt like he should say something to express his gratitude and how greatly he was indebt to them, but words and charms were never his strength.  "Thank you, everyone.  I will try not to let you all down," was all that he managed to say.   

Quickly Cladmir got up and tightened his gears.  He lifted and pointed this right arm, his sword arm, straight ahead, and noted that it was still shaking.  He did the same thing to the left arm and noted that it was shaking as well.  Sighing inwardly he realized that while the strength has returned to his limbs, he was not yet fully combat-ready.

As he readied up Jaq mentioned the bolts and Cladmir gladly collected them.  He was not a marksman before and in his present condition he felt he needed all the bolt he could get his hands on.

(( I'm not sure how many bolts I started out with and whether or not this is a group that cares about the # of bolts we carry/use in a fight.  ))

As he carefully stowed the poison bolts away he heard Jaq mentioned the poison vial and he briefly thought of the poison bolts he was arranging with his shaking hands and decided to be a *little* more careful handling them.

((Not really that important on the bolt count anymore. It was important when the party had no weapons or gear though! You can put 40 bolts down just for ease.))

"Alright then, shall we get back to the task at hand?  Let's clear out those drow."

((Oh, Mikram would have grabbed some scalemail, a dozen javelins and a warpick back in the last room along with a bag. He'd also have slept again like Cladmir.

@Hound, even with those additions I don't think Lurn is anywhere near his capacity?))

(Time to get rid of the drow once and for all!)  Joe will have Ruby scout ahead. Far far ahead so she doesn't see him but still in range of telepathy (so 100')

Hearing the cry to end the drows got Cladmir's blood going and he raised his fist in response to Lurn's urging while letting out a loud grunt of approval.  While his experience campaigning has left him somewhat indifferent to the mass of enemies that he had to face, this was different.  It was personal this time and he cannot wait to exact retribution on the dastardly beings that had cruelly tortured him and his crew.

Kroshav nods in agreement.

((Okay, so where are you going first? Straight to where Mikram says the breach into the library is on the fourth floor? The drow's quarters and your cells were on the fifth.))

 Kroshav:

 ((Insight please, let's see if you can break your streak.))

Insight: 7

((Fingers crossed...))