Gnome's OOTA Story Thread [CLOSED]

With what she already thought confirmed, but unable to cast the spell at her current level, Lulu attempts to gather up the creature. "Well, why don't ye come with us anyhow? We can get ye out of this prison at the very least." If it will allow her, she'll pick the creature up, planning to fly it down with her using her Steps of Night when the group is ready to depart. 

The creature doesn't really seem to acknowledge Lulu as such, but neither does it run away when she picks up and leaves.

"Poor creature..." Khessa, who hoped to see the unusual prisoner heal, murmurs disappointed and pained "In fact, if Mr Ball King's mind was already compromised by the Demon Lord madness, it is difficult to even imagine how compromised this poor fellow's mind is, given that it also had to endure 'the attentions' of a cruel and crazy jailer like Mr Ball King".

The blonde arcane warrior leaves verbal communication aside momentarily and simply helps Lulu take care of the creature. She resorts to non-verbal communication (caresses, slow and gentle touches, a sweet and reassuring tone of voice) to at least try to make the creature realize that its condition of oppression and psycho-physical torture is over.

"Let's help all the prisoners (including this one) to return to where we left the others" the tall adventuress then proposes. "We will offer them to stay with us until they find a safe place. Perhaps, on the journey to Vizeran Tower, where we can leave the egg and eye safely, we will pass by some underground city. Or perhaps we can help them start a small community, if we come across a reasonably defensible place with sources of food and water. When everything is done, they can return to the Surface with us, if they want".

[[ OOC: @DM: As far as we know, did we pass reasonably close to any underground cities during our journey from Vizeran's Tower to the Wormwrithings? ]]

(No, you didn't pass any major cities on the way)

When all is said and done, there are around 100 slaves of various races that come out of the Vast Oblivium (human, goblin, dwarves, svirfniblen, drow, goblin and orog). The rest of the prisoners are much like the first ones, exhausted, scared, bad off, but willing to follow you all out if you accompany them. The trip back to the tower is uneventful, but if there was anything you wanted to do on the way just say so. The slaves will not be permitted inside the tower, but they are welcome to settle in the cave that surrounds the tower for the time being, though many of them also talk about wanting to return to other settlements. If you insist they stay with you they will without objection, and the little mechanical creature waits with its curious whirring and buzzing.

Horkas would encourage any who have places to return to go there...to be with kin is better than strangers. He will constantly tinker with the construct, but knows that he does not have the right skill set to bring about its total recovery.

About two days out from the tower, Lulu will gather her group in the privacy of the tiny hut for a serious discussion. "I need to put something forth to ye all. And I ask ye allow me to finish my spiel in its entirety before casting aspersions."

Taking a deep breath, the cleric sets her jaw and begins what is likely the longest the firbolg has spoken in one go since they've known her. "It's time we set up a base of operations. I let it go when others did no' agree before, but I will no' let it go now. Whether we carve an outpost from the stone itself or take one from our enemies--one is greatly needed. We've nowhere for the allies we gain to go," she says with a sigh, thinking of the hundreds currently in their care. "And we've a proper army that will be joining us soon. We need somewhere to safely receive them. Somewhere to organize and plan. To conduct trade for the supplies they will need."

"Likewise, I do no' ken how we can get such a force into Menzoberranzan when the time comes. As such, and to avoid a catastrophic loss of life, I suggest--" though no scrying magic can penetrate the hut, she still lowers her voice, "--we conduct this ritual somewhere of our choosing. Where our allies can more easily maneuver and prepare for when we've a gaggle of Demon Lords to defeat." Looking to Traydark, she continues, "As I doubt yer kin would be willing to help us set an ambush in their city seeing as it would also mean the untold destruction of it, we cannae count on an element of surprise should we summon them there."

"I do no' claim to be a genius of strategy," she says, anticipating push back. "Nor am I the smartest among us regarding these matters. But I ken the wisdom of regulating our tactics by the infinite variety of opportunities open to us. If we can somehow learn how to conduct this ritual ourselves, then we can wage this battle on our terms. With our allies' and our strategy's best interests in mind."

Seemingly weary at her own verbosity, her features soften as she slowly exhales then looks to the others for their questions, concerns, or rebuttals. Open to receiving all of them.

Katryl does not have much specifically that she wanted to do during the journey.  She spends time with the scouts part of the time, the rest of the group other times.  

She listens carefully to what Lulu says about the need for a base of operations.  At the end of it she speaks up. "Lunaria, you are of course quite wise, and a lot of what you say makes sense.  My only concern is with the later part of it - could we really learn this ritual ourselves? I don't see how we get the information out of that drow."  She pauses, frowning a bit. "I'm sorry to not be more optimistic about that.  Having a base of operations might be good." 

"Aye, t'would be no easy feat," Lulu concedes. The firbolg reclines against the fur throws strewn about the hut and begins to doff her armor as the gears of her mind turn. "At the very least, in our continuing interactions with him, we could keep our eyes and ears peeled for the information."

"Could be," she smiles, "he has no plans to put himself in direct danger in the first place! And will leave the summoning to us anywho." 

[[ OOC: Small premise: considering how little Khessa trusts Vizeran, she would never have agreed to bring the ex-slaves there, for fear that Vizeran might decide to 'use' them for his own gain. As per the previous post, if a city had not been encountered along the way, Khessa would have proposed that the refugees found one. If a suitable place has not been found or the proposal has not been accepted, then OK to have the refugees with us until we get near Vizeran, but Khessa does not want to bring them to him or let him know of their existence. ]]

Khessa gazes tenderly into her blue eyes on the gentle firbolg: "Lulu, helping refugees to found a city was something I had already proposed... so I completely agree. When this story is over, who who wants to return to the Surface will be able to do it with us, those who want to stay in the newfounded town (let's call it 'Unchained' for now, for convenience) will instead stay there. We just have to find a place that is relatively easy to defend and has sources of energy nearby food and water. We could send our scouts out to find something like that. And Unchained will be founded soon".

"But as for performing the ritual that summons the Demon Lords ourselves..." the expression of the blonde arcane warrior becomes very skeptical "A ritual that a powerful and expert archmage like Gromph has attempted and (although probably due to external interference) messed up... I don't think it's a feasible idea. Come on, Lulu... we have no idea of ​​the magical procedure needed... spying on Vizeran would involve us staying here - but if we stayed here, no one would recover. the remaining components... And even if by spying on Vizeran we could intuit something about the ritual, it would certainly not be the same as having it explained to us in detail without tricks - a very remote eventuality in my opinion - still none of us have the same experience and control of the Weave as an archmage..."

"Our most powerful arcanist is Traydark" the tall adventurer places a hand delicately on his shoulder. "And he is very good, that's for sure... but do you think he is capable of mastering a ritual that influences legendary creatures such as Demon Lords? And even worse if it were a ritual that only a wizard can perform... In that case you'd have to rely on me! On me, do you understand!? Who did you take me for, Lesla Carrowil? I have her tomes, not her experience, much less her power! No, Lulu, we'd better leave the casting of the ritual to Vizeran himself... We'll just make him believe we've taken the Heart of Darkness where he wants it, to Menzoberranzan, while instead we'll hide it in his tower" she smiles mischievously at the idea. “So, no innocent will get hurt”.

In the great treasure room of the beholder, Horkas takes his backpack of and spends a little time etching arcane runes inside and out, then rubs it with a special concoction of mineral oil and several herbs. When finished, he holds the same backpack but somehow so much bigger on the inside that he is able to transfer all of the coins and gems inside! (Artificer infusion - replicate magic item: bag of holding. This will replace the infusion on his armor, DM.)

"Lulu, I like your idea of having our own base of operations. The beholder's lair would have been a good spot, but it seems far out of the way. The svirfneblin town we all met up in looked like it had open room for people, and they at least seemed mildly interested in increasing trade. They also have artisans and smiths and those who could support an army. Again, though, not close by. Still...I see the merit of your idea! And none of us trust Vizeran, but we may have no choice but to let him cast the spell as he will...the best we could do then is warn the people of Menzoberranzan." 

Lulu doesn't argue with Khessa over the fact that she proposed establishing an outpost first thing upon their return to the Underdark. And that it's an outpost or a stronghold she's again proposing now, not a city for refugees. But she does add, "Aye, lass, that's what I mean. If he's to give us the heart, perhaps we can place it wheresoever we choose. If that's the final step, especially. If yer suggesting we leave it in his Tower, why not simply take it somewhere we can create an advantage for the army instead?"

To Horkas, she nods appreciatively. "But aye, if we've no choice but to summon them there, they must be warned. 'spose we'll have a chance to do so when we look for that Gromph character?" Of his suggestion for Blingdenstone, she also agrees. "It does seem they'd be willing to consider the idea. It would certainly keep them safer and help them recover from the ooze attacks. I could Send some messages this evening to see what our allies think. Even if Blingdenstone is just to be a stopover where they replenish supplies on their way to an outpost. Or outposts if we can secure them."

“By having the summoning happen here, we would have the advantage that Vizeran himself and his Tower would likely be attacked by the Demon Lords – and he would then be forced to fight them” Khessa points out. "This would mean having one more archmage, among those who fight the Demon Lords. Not a small advantage, for an army! But if we can think of a place that offers us even greater advantages, I agree in using that. Regardless of what Vizeran deserves, maximizing the chances of banishing the Demon Lords is the priority".

"If we intend to have existing cities accept the refugees," the blonde arcane warrior agrees "Blindgenstone is probably the best choice. Another good one would be the new city founded by the myconids who escaped from Nevrlight Groove - but we can certainly start by evaluating the Blindgenstone option".

Katryl nods to Lulu. "The idea of using this spell to move more quickly seems good. I'm fine with sending the rest to Blngdenstone either to stay or rest. An outpost does sound like it would be helpful.  But I've not got the slightest idea of how to do that." 

"Yes, I see the wisdom of sending some of our force with the freed slaves while we continue with the quest. And travelling by wind would be wonderful! Can I keep Skitter with me? He's my own creation and won't work for anyone else. But the Guardian can travel with the people and help protect them."

It is clear to everyone that Khessa is very perplexed at the idea of ​​dividing the forces... considering that, already with the united forces, the difficulties were many... First Lulu was almost killed by the first large group of demons encountered. .. Then the entire party was saved from extermination only by the madness of the Beholder who, although with a clear advantage, was unable to fully exploit its potential...

The logical measure to take, at this point, would be... to give up part of the forces?

The blonde arcane warrior would clearly prefer to keep the group together, in order to first accompany the refugees to safety and then resume the search for the components... certainly risking to lose time... but at least risking less to lose lives...

But it is certainly not she alone who decides for everyone; since most of the party seems to see the benefits of this course of action, the tall adventuress simply sighs and waits to see what share of forces the party decides to give up.

'I just hope that the time thus gained does not simply serve to quickly bring us to a result...' Khessa thinks 'but to a result that is very different from the desired one'.

With a decision finally reached, after weighing several options, you decide to send the large group of slaves off toward Blingdenstone along with the scounts and Zhentarim agents. The rest of you have decided to use a spell to accelerate your travels. Where do you plan to go, or what do you want to do?

Our next destination was The Labyrinth, if I remember correctly. If Traydark already has an idea of ​​where it is or if Karazikar's ex-prisoner has recovered enough to be able to explain it to us, let's go straight there.

If we don't know where he is, Khessa suggests taking the ex-prisoner to Gravenhollow, so that the basilisk can heal him and (hopefully) enable him to reveal something to us.

Then we go there from Gravenhollow.

One way or the other, I'd say The Labyrinth is our next destination in our search for components.

Katryl says, "Yes, The Labyrinth sounds right for our next stop.  After we visit Vizeran to drop a couple things, of course." 

Lulu pats the egg secured in her Baby Bjorn. "Aye, t'would be nice to deliver this wee lad before he hatches and calls me 'mum,'" she jokes. 

Before the freed folk part ways, Lulu will give each of them five gold pieces (so 500g total I believe) to help them find their footing in Blingdenstone and sends Hestr along as a mount for any who have trouble walking. She gives the giant lizard a hug and many scritches, telling her in Beast Speech to help protect the caravan.

After they drop off the eye and egg, Lulu will Send to one of the scouts every morning and evening to check in and see how they're getting on. She'll also Send to the leader of Blingdenstone to let them know a large caravan is coming and to the King and faction leaders to update them on their progress (and the plan to summon the Demon Lords), beseeching them to mobilize the army and their allies as soon as possible.

It is easy enough to leave the required ritual components within the tower of Araj, magically secure to wait until all the parts are ready. Once settled, you cast the windy spell, a rush of air surrounds you all, turning you into airy forms, whisking off toward the Labyrinth. It still takes the full 8 hours to reach the closest, easiest entrance, passing by a curious black adamantine tower along the way, though stopping to check it out will leave you unable to make it the entire way to the Labyrinth in one day.

There is a brief acknowledgement from Blingdentstone regarding the army of slaves heading that way, and the large group begins shuffling off into the Underdark, awaiting their fate.