Gnome's OOTA Story Thread [CLOSED]

"Do not judge them too harshly, Traydark..." Khessa murmurs softly to the drow noble, understanding from his eloquent expression and the tone of his words his state of mind "I have experienced firsthand what it means, when the influence of the Demon Lords messes with your head... They must have suffered a lot... They probably would have been more useful to us, if they had been able to".

"We'll get through anyway" the blonde arcane warrior rests a hand on his shoulder for a few long moments. A contact that says, in silence, 'I'm here. I always am'.

After that, the tall adventuress resumes her position, in the vanguard, with the Gauntlet infantry, trying to ease the tension with a joke: "See, Olaf? You scared the intruders and made them run away without having to fight! I knew there had to be a reason they accepted you into the Gauntlet..."

Moving on past the delirious flumphs...

A foul stench and a cacophony of faint, hissing voices rises from ahead. The tunnel plunges sharply downward into a vast, open cavern dimly lit by luminous fungi and bisected by an underground stream. Tall reptilian humanoids stand on either side of the stream, waving makeshift weapons and howling threats at each other in a hissing language.

The group of creatures closest to you has a captive lashed between two stalagmites atop a low rise in the cavern floor. That floor is some twenty feet below you, down a steep but navigable tunnel whose walls are piled high with rubble. The creatures are preoccupied with their conflict and haven’t noticed you yet.

No longer constrained by the small space available in the tunnels, Lulu is able to get a good glimpse at the confrontation happening amongst the lizardfolk. Though she does not speak this hissing language, she does her best to infer from context what might be happening using her Goddess' Guidance. 


((Insight: 10+7+2 19))

(Due the roll and everyone else's abilities and such:)

 The troglodytes ambushed and killed a drow scouting party whose leader wielded a magic sword that S’slaar, the troglodyte chieftain, claimed as a trophy. However, S’slaar’s war marshal, H’slaat, was the one who killed the drow leader, and who now claims the right to wield the blade.

The disagreement blossomed into a full-fledged conflict, and the other troglodytes quickly chose sides. On one side of the stream, troglodytes loyal to H’slaat seized S’slaar’s mate and are threatening her, hoping to force the chieftain to back down. On his side of the stream, S’slaar is wildly swinging the magic sword and screaming, as the troglodytes loyal to him shout insults and taunts at the other side.

"Let's hurry to free that poor female troglodyte prisoner..." Khessa advises "Let go to her immediately, both us and the army, while the troglodytes are busy taunting each other. We will free her and return her to S'slaar. If H'slaat and his minions try to stop us, we can defend ourselves from the higher position, with the help of the army. H'slaat will have us on one side and S'slaar (able to act, with the hostage free) on the other. H'slaat will have no hope of victory, he will have to give in to S'slaar - or die. And S'slaar might be grateful and help us in what we seek. Or at least give us some information".

"I agree, although I might recommend sending the scouts to free the other prisoners so that if things go sideways we will have more forces attacking from the opposite flank..." Horkas suggests.

"True, Horkas, but on the other hand, freeing those prisoners ourselves could bring upon us the wrath of both S'slaar and H'slaat at the same time..." the blonde arcane warrior observes "Don't you think so?"

“Might it not be better to ask S'slaar for their release,” the tall adventuress ponders “after we get him out of the mess he's in?”

"Or will meddling just join them back together against us?" Katryl counters. "Will these creatures even negotiate? Does anyone even know what they are?" She watches for a moment then adds. "Maybe we just wait and let them wear each other down. Though, how easliy can they even get across that stream."  She then thinks, 'How did they even get there?'  But she focuses on seeing if she can determine how easily that water could be crossed. (Perception: 27, or something else if it should have been a different skill.) 

(The stream seems to be about 15 feet wide, but it's hard to tell just how deep it is from where you are now. It is not a particularly fast flowing stream.)

Lulu crouches and places a bare hand upon the ground as she watches the scene, feeling for the vibrations of any great creatures that may be drawn by the ruckus. She glances up at the others, expression taut. "The prisoners we must help. Covertly. But... tis a greedy squabble over spoils of victory between the others. I do no' like the idea of ye putting yerselves in danger over such a thing. We will be worn down by a fight with so many--and there's still a chance we may yet face a worm or worse to retrieve this egg."

Horkas adds his final thought. "I want to free the prisoners and get past this chamber with as little fighting as possible. Khessa's plan has merit, if those troglodytes have any reason. But nothing unites two brothers fighting each other faster than an outsider trying to step in, so we may end up fighting all of them anyway. But that seems to be true with everything in these sun-forsaken tunnels...so let's pick a plan of action, move out, and take what comes."

"I too am convinced that the prisoners we must help" Khessa agrees with the gentle firbolg. "But if we do it covertly and we get caught, we'll have to fight both sides. If we instead ally ourselves with one side and fight the other, winning will be easier and less expensive. They will not wear us down too much, in this scenario. And the victors could help us afterwards; by letting us free the prisoners and by giving us information, at least, if not in a more direct way".

"And even in the worst case scenario," the blonde arcane warrior sighs "i.e. that the victors stupidly decide to attack us instead of being grateful to us, at least we will get to fight the two sides one at a time. Still better than facing them together".

“Wait and let them wear each other down would be a good approach too, Katryl” the tall adventuress muses. "But at the moment, the two sides are at a stalemate... I don't know when hostilities will break out. Maybe never - and then we would have lost the advantage of being able to deal with one side at a time. But even if hostilities broke out and they weakened each other, in any case we would lose the possibility of getting information from them..."

"That's why, in my opinion, in this case, it would be better for us to get involved in their squabble" Khessa concludes.

The noble Drow would throroughly relay to the others what Grax'xt reports after having scouted the Troglodyte caves and after witnessing what has just occured with the Drow scouting party and the enchanted blade. He simply shrugs at the end of the discussion. He sees no reason to involve the team with the lowly stinking trogs, although the prisonars might prove useful. "We should focus on getting information about where to find what we are looking for. So far we are just randomly walking through these warrens with little hope of stumbling over neither purple worm eggs nor beholder eyes." He says but is otherwise ready to go along with whatever plan is put in motion, using his magical stone to summon his Earth elemental servant to deal with the nasty trogs if necessary.

"Alright, let's try and free the captive troglodyte woman." Katryl says. "How should we approach this?  Perhaps the scouts and I will stay back and attack at range.  Do you just propose to rush in Khessa? Who will be with you?" 

"I believe the earth elemental can handle that safely." The noble Drow says a bit impatiently, otherwise having no mind of over-thinking this situation as trogs in his mind was lowly creatures that they would handle easily, most of them quickly falling to his magic, although he hoped he wouldn't need to get close to those stinking creatures.

"Oh, I'm sure the bad4sses here," Khessa points back at the Gauntlet Infantry with her thumb, "won't let me go alone to rescue the 'troglodyte-damsell-in-distress'... Especially Tamryn! Can't you see that Are the others forcibly holding her back from impulsively charging forward?”

The other infantrymen of the Gauntlet smile, giggle or sneer... for Tamryn Tharke never ever shows impulsiveness. This woman, whose short shaggy brown hair contrasts strongly with her fine face with chiseled features and unusual, slightly almond-shaped purple eyes, is always calm in the heat of battle...

“Maybe it's best if you don't waste time and get on with explaining the plan, Khessa,” Tamryn sighs. Her voice doesn't have an amused tone, but it doesn't have a resentful tone either... it's just her usual matter-of-fact tone with which she reminds you what you should prioritize. “I will do whatever I am told, as usual”.

"Really 'whatever'?" the blonde arcane warrior raises an eyebrow "Well... smile, then, Tamryn! It's an order!"

"Khessa..." the other one rolls her purple eyes to the ceiling, while a trace of exasperation breaks through her usual stoic imperturbability "Do you think it's time to..."

"Are you being insubordinate," the tall adventuress tries to keep her tone as serious as she can "private Tharke?"

Tamryn's extensive obedience training trumps her ability to understand jokes, and her chiseled features automatically relax into a smile (though perhaps a bit forced).

"Well done!" Khessa pats her on the shoulder "I knew I could count on you for everything!"

“Well, now that Tamryn is done wasting our time with jokes, let's get back to the plan” the blonde arcane warrior begins to explain (earning a smile, this time spontaneous, from the Gauntlet Infantrywoman). "I had in mind for us all to go to the raised point where the prisoner is... so that whoever attacks from range could do so with a better view. Since climbing is only easy on one side, the bad4sses and I should be able to defend that side and prevent any enemy from attacking those behind us".

"But what you say is fine too, Katryl" the tall adventuress concedes. "If you, the scouts, and anyone who wants to attack from range wants to do it from here, no problem. You should still be able to target the targets without problems and if the enemies decide to try to reach you, they will have a difficult uphill path... you would probably decimate them before they reach you".

"The idea of me (plus whoever wants to come with me) rushing in, to then defend the prisoner and the elevated position, is my best proposal..." Khessa addresses everyone "I'm not good at sneaking at all. And the infantry is not either, I'm afraid. So, unless someone can do something about that, I propose to try to approach quickly along a path where the troglodytes are not looking... Luckily they are busy arguing... We should be able to reach the prisoner and the station before they notice us. And if they notice us at some point, we should still have time to free the prisoner and the position before the bulk of H'slaat's forces can reach us".

"Katryl? So you and the scouts are staying here?" the blonde arcane warrior finally asks "Or have you changed your mind and you all come with me? And you, Traydark, with the Zhentarim? Would you rather stay here with Katryl or come with me? Horkas, you and your 'construct faction' are coming with me to provide melee support, I presume? Or do you think you could be more useful in another place or in another way? Lulu? Your healing capabilities can be useful in both places... Do you prefer to stay here? Or to come with us?”

While the final details are being finalized, the tall adventuress ritual-casts Comprehend Languages, so that she can understand what the troglodytes are saying even if they use a language not known to her.

Horkas pats Skitter and replies, "Oh, yeah, we're coming with you! At least my constructs don't have to worry about the trogs' stench!"

Evidently being ignored, the noble Drow lets out a tired sigh. "If you want to brave the stench just to get some practice for your troops then go ahead but please do it now. Since you will surely be enough people to save the stinking trog then I will keep the zhents and the elemental here to intercept any enemies coming this way." Traydark says with an even more impatient tone.

"You speak as if you considered this army of troglodytes a very small threat, Traydark..." Khessa observes, initially a little amazed "And, mind me, I will be very happy if you are right... But if I bring the bad4sses with me, it is not to give them practice - they probably have more battle experience than me, for that matter - but because this army of troglodytes seems to have been able to defeat an enemy powerful enough to possess a magical weapon... and to take prisoners even among races that usually know how to defend themselves well, such as dwarves and drow... And they are actually a lot of troglodytes..."

"Anyway," the blonde arcane warrior smiles, satisfied to know that he is optimistic about the outcome of the battle "if we need you, you can contribute very well from here too and I know that we can count on you, so I'll go without worries".