After opting for a short but necessary rest, you pick back up and head on toward Sloopludop, now even more wary of the potential threats as you slowly descend toward Darklake. However, upon getting fairly close to the city you are once more interrupted by another Kuo-toa patrol! This time you see 6 kuo-toa, 2 Monitors, and a more elaborately (for their kind) dressed one, Shuushar is quick to point out as an archpriest.
The priest comes forward though, holding hand out in greeting, and speaks in Undercommon:
“I am Ploopploopeen, archpriest of the Sea Mother Blibdoolvpoolp. She answers my prayers by delivering you. Help us, and you will be rewarded for your service.”
"Kind?" The noble drow scoffs. "It would be very uncivil of me to let you walk around all covered in Kuo-Toa blood, and your own if I'm not mistaken." He continues, letting his hand magically clean the blonde warrior up, paying special attention to the wound at her shoulder. "The Kuo-Toa bite got deep, it must be painful." He says in a softer voice with a worried look, trying to be gentle.
After taking care of tidying Khessa up, Traydark hesitates at accepting being subjected to Khessa's magical experiment, but finally turns and closes his eyes, a great feat in itself for someone who was brought up with suspicion all around him. He flinches as the magical massage starts, but soon he relaxes again and hums along with the force applied to his neck, shoulders and back. "Mm, yes, quite impressive, for a beginner. Not quite the real thing though is it?" He says with a chuckle. "I think you can give your magic a rest now Khessa." He turns and says with a friendly smile after a while, giving her an appreciative nod before more relaxed than before finding a place to rest.
Traydark is extremely wary as the new group of Kuo-Toa approaches them but relaxes somewhat as the archpriest declares they are servants of the Sea Mother, motioning for his companions to lower any weapons as he steps forward through the ranks. "I doubt the Sea Mother would be the one having us delivered here but we might be able to help you in return for your assistance to hasten our journey as our service is done."He says in undercommon to the archpriest, bowing gracefully.
Persuasion to continue peaceful contact: 14 Another roll if help action is given: 24 Insight to tell if the Kuo-Toa have peaceful intents: 13
"Kind?" The noble drow scoffs. "It would be very uncivil of me to let you walk around all covered in Kuo-Toa blood, and your own if I'm not mistaken." He continues, letting his hand magically clean the blonde warrior up, paying special attention to the wound at her shoulder. "The Kuo-Toa bite got deep, it must be painful." He says in a softer voice with a worried look, trying to be gentle.
After taking care of tidying Khessa up, Traydark hesitates at accepting being subjected to Khessa's magical experiment, but finally turns and closes his eyes, a great feat in itself for someone who was brought up with suspicion all around him. He flinches as the magical massage starts, but soon he relaxes again and hums along with the force applied to his neck, shoulders and back. "Mm, yes, quite impressive, for a beginner. Not quite the real thing though is it?" He says with a chuckle. "I think you can give your magic a rest now Khessa." He turns and says with a friendly smile after a while, giving her an appreciative nod before more relaxed than before finding a place to rest.
"It has been a good bite indeed!" the tall adventuress confirms "Plus, that bloodthirsty anthropomorphic salmon had aimed at my throat, for that matter! If I hadn't instinctively raised my shoulder, I wouldn't be here to tell the tale now. But you'll see, a little rest can do wonders..." she tries to reassure him, flattered that he's sounding concerned... quite a change, since he hadn't even glanced at poor Grell-drooled Eldeth! "I won't let a fish bite slow me down for long. Anyway, thank you... you are both civil and kind!".
Also glad that the drow forces himself to trust her, she replies to the massage comments: "Yes, I know, it was meant only as a surrogate, as I told... But I'm confident I might become good in the real thing also, given proper training" and winks.
After opting for a short but necessary rest, you pick back up and head on toward Sloopludop, now even more wary of the potential threats as you slowly descend toward Darklake. However, upon getting fairly close to the city you are once more interrupted by another Kuo-toa patrol! This time you see 6 kuo-toa, 2 Monitors, and a more elaborately (for their kind) dressed one, Shuushar is quick to point out as an archpriest.
The priest comes forward though, holding hand out in greeting, and speaks in Undercommon:
“I am Ploopploopeen, archpriest of the Sea Mother Blibdoolvpoolp. She answers my prayers by delivering you. Help us, and you will be rewarded for your service.”
As the new kuo-toa encounter takes place, the blonde arcane warrior speakes immediately after Traydark, for fear that the noble drow has given the no less noble kuo-toa too cautious or too little deferential an answer.
Khessa intervenes, in the same language: "Pleasure to meet you, Ploopploopeen! I'm Khessa!" she mimics the other's greeting with the hand and, smiling, goes on "Allow me to introduce to you the other members of the company... Meet Shuushar," she introduces them one by one, gesturing with her other hand "Traydark, our specialist in public relations, as you might have guessed, Katyrl, Ebzer, Silas, Buppido, Sarith, Eldeth and Stool! Forgive my friend's suspicions, justified by an assault we recently suffered. But it goes without saying that the kuo-toa who attacked us have nothing to do with you - or you would have already attacked us with no questions asked".
The blonde arcane warrior continues: "We are honored by your words and, since we are not under contract at the moment, we will be delighted to help you. Please, explain what's your problem. Perhaps something to do with a certain 'Deep Father'?" she raises an eyebrow "Anyway, please, tell us; if has been this Sea Mother Blibdoolvpoolp that propitiated this encounter, I'm pretty sure we will find an agreement about the reward, whether this takes material form, or whether this results in an exchange of favours".
(I hope this can be considered as Help to Traydark's Persuasion check of the previous post)
The priest begins explaining that they have lived in harmony with the Sea Mother for some time, even with a few oddities now and then (and takes a look at Shuushar before going on). A few weeks ago, Bloppblippodd, Ploopploopeen’s own daughter, experienced a powerful vision of “Leemooggoogoon the Deep Father,” proclaiming him the new god of her people. She has backed up her claims with a great increase in her magical power, and new followers have flocked to her.
“We are split in two now and fighting among ourselves. The followers of the Deep Father have been making an increasing number of offerings on his altar — killing blood sacrifices then casting bloody chum into the waters of the Darklake, where it is consumed by … something." The priest makes a big sigh. "They need humanoid sacrifices for the Deep Father. I would like to bring you as a peace offering to them. Not as bait for them, but infiltrators in a trap, to get close to their leaders and cut them down in one blow. When it is time, I will escort you to the altar to be prepped, weapons included, and when the time is right we will strike and hopefully end this rebellion once and for all."
He seems quite willing to help without ulterior motive as best you can tell.
"Well," begins Khessa (who is also translating into Common anyway, for those who do not speak Undercommon) "that's no small task, dear Ploopploopeen! We're putting ourselves at a considerable risk - it's true that you will take part of that risk with us, since you say you will escort us to the altar, but it is useless to forget that, attacking the leaders, we will be the main targets of the enemies!"
"Now, as my friend Ebzer was (rightfully) ready to remind," continues the blonde arcane warrior "for a challenge of this magnitude we will have to be at our best. We will need a little rest to prepare ourselves".
"Will you be able to offer us accommodation for a few days, I guess?" is the first thing she asks"Or even a single day, if you also can supply magical healing".
"Also, an armor would be very useful to me" is the second thing the blue-eyed woman asks. "Even something simple, like a chainmail... but I would need it. You know, the one I had... it's currently unrecoverable. And in a fight like the one you are planning, without armor, I'd be cut to pieces. Or forced to stay behind, making myself less useful than I might be. You'll have no trouble getting us a chainmail, will you?"
"If you can comply with our requests, I'm pretty sure we will be able to help you get rid of the leaders of the Deep Father's cult"the tall adventuress assures. "But what will be our reward, dear Ploopploopeen?" she also wishes to know, finally, looking with her blue eyes in the fish ones of the interlocutor "How much is this service worth to you, considering that this service will return to the venerable Sea Mother Blibdoolvpoolp the supremacy she deserves? Not to mention that your people will again live as one?"
"I think you misunderstand. You only need to serve as bait, long enough for us to get close to them in the open. Me and the followers of the Sea Mother will do most of the fighting. I'm afraid we don't have much else to offer, but if we can end this heresy now, we would be glad to assist you with what provisions we might have and even a boat to traverse the Darklake if you need it. You could rest for a short bit here, but I am afraid things are much too volatile between us right now to consider it safe for you to spend much longer. Perhaps if this is ended quickly there would be a better chance for you to rest here. Same with healing, I don't know how violent disrupting the Deep Father ritual will be, but if we can manage it afterward I would be glad to assist you that way as well."
"Oh, well... if risk is lower, we could try with less preparation, I guess..." reflects Khessa "But still, some magical support would be great. Can't we have some healing spell and some buff cast on us before this ordeal? Anything could make the difference... and among the many followers of the Sea Mother there must be someone able to channel her holy power..."
"And the armor?" asks the blonde arcane warrior "That could you find in time, at least? It should not be that difficult... An heresy is so easier dealt with, when you wear a chainmail..."
As others rested Katryl spent her time checking in on Eldeth and many of the others to make sure they were alright. She walks along quietly, wondering about this Deep Father and thinking it strange nobody else had heard of it. Especially those that lived in the Underdark. Once the new party of kuo-toa arrived, she just listened without much understanding. At least not until Khessa relayed the information in Common. Even then the bloops, blops, and blips, had her rather confused about who was doing what.
She grins a bit as Khessa continues to go on about armor. As the priest mentions a boat, she leans in towards Eldeth, asking her in a whisper, "Where might crossing this Darklake lead to? Is that the way we would go?" She then quietly goes over to Traydark asking, "How are we doing with provisions? It would probably be good to get more, wouldn't it?"
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Taking a step back and listening to Khessa handling negotiations with the Kuo-Toa Traydark turns to Katryl, speaking quietly in common. "We can definitely survive for some time without it but I would much prefer to eat every day if food was available, so yes, more food would be most welcome but as I get it we will need to act as bait first. Assuming we survive that ordeal I will certainly talk to the Kuo-Toa about prividing us with a boat to cross the Darklake and plenty of provisions to go along. Crossing the Darklake seems like a good idea as it would likely be harder for the drow to pursue us."
Traydark also ponders over the name of Leemooggoogoon, likely having some knowledge of demons in general coming from Menzoberranzan and should perhaps be aware of the demon lord Demogorgon: 16
Ebzer sighs briefly, then straightens up, "Well, I ain't never backed down from a fight before, and I dinnae plan to start now. Normally I would steer clear of religious disputes, but sacrificin' people to a demon crosses the line. Let's go FISHIN''!" Suddenly, he realizes he may have said something offensive. "Er, sorry, I meant... 'Let's help these nice fish-people against the other really bad fish-people'" he finishes, lamely.
Ebzer sighs briefly, then straightens up, "Well, I ain't never backed down from a fight before, and I dinnae plan to start now. Normally I would steer clear of religious disputes, but sacrificin' people to a demon crosses the line. Let's go FISHIN''!" Suddenly, he realizes he may have said something offensive. "Er, sorry, I meant... 'Let's help these nice fish-people against the other really bad fish-people'" he finishes, lamely.
Khessa doesn't give much weight to the dwarf friend's choice of words... Ebzer may even feel embarrassed for having proposed to 'go FISHIN'', but on the other hand the Deep Father's kuo-toa showed no qualms about 'go HUMANOIDIN''...
Certain that Ploopploopeen shouldn't have been offended, the blonde arcane warrior awaits her response regarding the hoped-for willingness (from someone who is such an influential person in the city of Sloopludop) to provide at least one armor and a little magical healing to the envoys of the Sea Mother who will have to cover (not without dangers) the role of bait.
Katryl nods to Traydark. "Then it seems to make sense that we accept this offer. I hate to be in the middle of this kuo-toa feud, but it seems a small risk to get provisions and quick passsage." (Although she still would like to hear what Eldeth things of crossing the lake.) She then calls out to the others, "We should accept this deal." She then looks towards chief priest. "We do have a few of us that are injured. If we can't take the time to recover, then they really cannot be put at risk. Perhaps there is somewhere they could be kept hidden while we set this trap of yours?"
"Oh, well... if risk is lower, we could try with less preparation, I guess..." reflects Khessa "But still, some magical support would be great. Can't we have some healing spell and some buff cast on us before this ordeal? Anything could make the difference... and among the many followers of the Sea Mother there must be someone able to channel her holy power..."
"And the armor?" asks the blonde arcane warrior "That could you find in time, at least? It should not be that difficult... An heresy is so easier dealt with, when you wear a chainmail..."
The priest sighs visibly. "I can tell you do not know us well. We are mostly fishermen, not normally suited for combat. As such we do not carry much supply in the way of armors. I'm afraid it's more difficult than you assume. We can look but I won't make any promises in that regard."
Taking a step back and listening to Khessa handling negotiations with the Kuo-Toa Traydark turns to Katryl, speaking quietly in common. "We can definitely survive for some time without it but I would much prefer to eat every day if food was available, so yes, more food would be most welcome but as I get it we will need to act as bait first. Assuming we survive that ordeal I will certainly talk to the Kuo-Toa about prividing us with a boat to cross the Darklake and plenty of provisions to go along. Crossing the Darklake seems like a good idea as it would likely be harder for the drow to pursue us."
Traydark also ponders over the name of Leemooggoogoon, likely having some knowledge of demons in general coming from Menzoberranzan and should perhaps be aware of the demon lord Demogorgon: 10
It sure SOUNDS suspiciously like Demogorgon, and if it IS, then that IS one of the fearsome demon lords from below, but that's a few if's.
Katryl nods to Traydark. "Then it seems to make sense that we accept this offer. I hate to be in the middle of this kuo-toa feud, but it seems a small risk to get provisions and quick passsage." (Although she still would like to hear what Eldeth things of crossing the lake.) She then calls out to the others, "We should accept this deal." She then looks towards chief priest. "We do have a few of us that are injured. If we can't take the time to recover, then they really cannot be put at risk. Perhaps there is somewhere they could be kept hidden while we set this trap of yours?"
The priest nods, "That we can do. It isn't much but you can stay inside my hovel until I can bring my people together and the others to get ready for the ritual. You should have a bit of time to rest then. Let's go."
The kuo-toa escort you through the gate to their city, which is a massive wall of knotted rope, bits of bone, shell and metal pieces. Several kuo-toa whips and monitors watch your group pass through but stay their weapons for now. The city itself is an odd arrangement of sloped buildings and criss-crossing walkways of wood and rope, giving the impression that the Kuo-toa built an underwater city...on land. It is still very dark though with only faint lamps in a few places. As you reach the center of town, a nine-foot-tall statue stands here. Its body is roughly carved from some kind of wood in the shape of a humanoid female, its head and forearms formed from the severed head and claws of a giant albino crayfish. These parts are lashed on with strands of gut, and emit an overpowering stench of rotting shellfish. Shells, brightly colored stones, mushrooms, and rotting fish are piled at the statue’s feet and strung in garlands around its neck. Four stern kuo-toa slowly circle the statue, alert and on guard, while a few others mill about, gazing up at the statue and bowing repeatedly while chanting.
As they move through the city, Katryl comes over to Khessa. She speaks to her in a quiet voice. "I know it's not much, but you're welcome to my leather armor. You probably could get more use out of it than I do. I'm holding out no hope that these folks have any chain around here anywhere. Don't you think they'd use it themselves if they did?"
As she sees the statue she can't help but remark, "Do you suppose that is the Sea Mother?"
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Traydark follows Ploopploopeen to Sloobludop to be bait to the followers of Leemooggoogoon.
"Yes, I'm not surprised you can smell your mother right now, should make you feel right at home duergar." The noble drow comments with a smile and a wink. It's clearly more of a playful banter than a derisive tone now though. He continues to warily follow the others, keeping a good look out for the insurgents while also trying to remember to breath through his mouth.
Perception: 6
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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Fighter HD: 10
Wizard HD: 5
Thanks to the vigor of her young body and to her indomitable spirit, Khessa fully recovers from battle after the short breather!
After opting for a short but necessary rest, you pick back up and head on toward Sloopludop, now even more wary of the potential threats as you slowly descend toward Darklake. However, upon getting fairly close to the city you are once more interrupted by another Kuo-toa patrol! This time you see 6 kuo-toa, 2 Monitors, and a more elaborately (for their kind) dressed one, Shuushar is quick to point out as an archpriest.
The priest comes forward though, holding hand out in greeting, and speaks in Undercommon:
“I am Ploopploopeen, archpriest of the Sea Mother Blibdoolvpoolp. She answers my prayers by delivering you. Help us, and you will be rewarded for your service.”
"Kind?" The noble drow scoffs. "It would be very uncivil of me to let you walk around all covered in Kuo-Toa blood, and your own if I'm not mistaken." He continues, letting his hand magically clean the blonde warrior up, paying special attention to the wound at her shoulder. "The Kuo-Toa bite got deep, it must be painful." He says in a softer voice with a worried look, trying to be gentle.
After taking care of tidying Khessa up, Traydark hesitates at accepting being subjected to Khessa's magical experiment, but finally turns and closes his eyes, a great feat in itself for someone who was brought up with suspicion all around him. He flinches as the magical massage starts, but soon he relaxes again and hums along with the force applied to his neck, shoulders and back. "Mm, yes, quite impressive, for a beginner. Not quite the real thing though is it?" He says with a chuckle. "I think you can give your magic a rest now Khessa." He turns and says with a friendly smile after a while, giving her an appreciative nod before more relaxed than before finding a place to rest.
Traydark is extremely wary as the new group of Kuo-Toa approaches them but relaxes somewhat as the archpriest declares they are servants of the Sea Mother, motioning for his companions to lower any weapons as he steps forward through the ranks. "I doubt the Sea Mother would be the one having us delivered here but we might be able to help you in return for your assistance to hasten our journey as our service is done." He says in undercommon to the archpriest, bowing gracefully.
Persuasion to continue peaceful contact: 14 Another roll if help action is given: 24 Insight to tell if the Kuo-Toa have peaceful intents: 13
"It has been a good bite indeed!" the tall adventuress confirms "Plus, that bloodthirsty anthropomorphic salmon had aimed at my throat, for that matter! If I hadn't instinctively raised my shoulder, I wouldn't be here to tell the tale now. But you'll see, a little rest can do wonders..." she tries to reassure him, flattered that he's sounding concerned... quite a change, since he hadn't even glanced at poor Grell-drooled Eldeth! "I won't let a fish bite slow me down for long. Anyway, thank you... you are both civil and kind!".
Also glad that the drow forces himself to trust her, she replies to the massage comments: "Yes, I know, it was meant only as a surrogate, as I told... But I'm confident I might become good in the real thing also, given proper training" and winks.
As the new kuo-toa encounter takes place, the blonde arcane warrior speakes immediately after Traydark, for fear that the noble drow has given the no less noble kuo-toa too cautious or too little deferential an answer.
Khessa intervenes, in the same language: "Pleasure to meet you, Ploopploopeen! I'm Khessa!" she mimics the other's greeting with the hand and, smiling, goes on "Allow me to introduce to you the other members of the company... Meet Shuushar," she introduces them one by one, gesturing with her other hand "Traydark, our specialist in public relations, as you might have guessed, Katyrl, Ebzer, Silas, Buppido, Sarith, Eldeth and Stool! Forgive my friend's suspicions, justified by an assault we recently suffered. But it goes without saying that the kuo-toa who attacked us have nothing to do with you - or you would have already attacked us with no questions asked".
The blonde arcane warrior continues: "We are honored by your words and, since we are not under contract at the moment, we will be delighted to help you. Please, explain what's your problem. Perhaps something to do with a certain 'Deep Father'?" she raises an eyebrow "Anyway, please, tell us; if has been this Sea Mother Blibdoolvpoolp that propitiated this encounter, I'm pretty sure we will find an agreement about the reward, whether this takes material form, or whether this results in an exchange of favours".
(I hope this can be considered as Help to Traydark's Persuasion check of the previous post)
The priest begins explaining that they have lived in harmony with the Sea Mother for some time, even with a few oddities now and then (and takes a look at Shuushar before going on). A few weeks ago, Bloppblippodd, Ploopploopeen’s own daughter, experienced a powerful vision of “Leemooggoogoon the Deep Father,” proclaiming him the new god of her people. She has backed up her claims with a great increase in her magical power, and new followers have flocked to her.
“We are split in two now and fighting among ourselves. The followers of the Deep Father have been making an increasing number of offerings on his altar — killing blood sacrifices then casting bloody chum into the waters of the Darklake, where it is consumed by … something." The priest makes a big sigh. "They need humanoid sacrifices for the Deep Father. I would like to bring you as a peace offering to them. Not as bait for them, but infiltrators in a trap, to get close to their leaders and cut them down in one blow. When it is time, I will escort you to the altar to be prepped, weapons included, and when the time is right we will strike and hopefully end this rebellion once and for all."
He seems quite willing to help without ulterior motive as best you can tell.
Ebzer croaks, "Before we begin another fight, I find meself a little unsteady on me feet, have ye any healers that could help me out a bit?"
"Well," begins Khessa (who is also translating into Common anyway, for those who do not speak Undercommon) "that's no small task, dear Ploopploopeen! We're putting ourselves at a considerable risk - it's true that you will take part of that risk with us, since you say you will escort us to the altar, but it is useless to forget that, attacking the leaders, we will be the main targets of the enemies!"
"Now, as my friend Ebzer was (rightfully) ready to remind," continues the blonde arcane warrior "for a challenge of this magnitude we will have to be at our best. We will need a little rest to prepare ourselves".
"Will you be able to offer us accommodation for a few days, I guess?" is the first thing she asks "Or even a single day, if you also can supply magical healing".
"Also, an armor would be very useful to me" is the second thing the blue-eyed woman asks. "Even something simple, like a chainmail... but I would need it. You know, the one I had... it's currently unrecoverable. And in a fight like the one you are planning, without armor, I'd be cut to pieces. Or forced to stay behind, making myself less useful than I might be. You'll have no trouble getting us a chainmail, will you?"
"If you can comply with our requests, I'm pretty sure we will be able to help you get rid of the leaders of the Deep Father's cult" the tall adventuress assures. "But what will be our reward, dear Ploopploopeen?" she also wishes to know, finally, looking with her blue eyes in the fish ones of the interlocutor "How much is this service worth to you, considering that this service will return to the venerable Sea Mother Blibdoolvpoolp the supremacy she deserves? Not to mention that your people will again live as one?"
"I think you misunderstand. You only need to serve as bait, long enough for us to get close to them in the open. Me and the followers of the Sea Mother will do most of the fighting. I'm afraid we don't have much else to offer, but if we can end this heresy now, we would be glad to assist you with what provisions we might have and even a boat to traverse the Darklake if you need it. You could rest for a short bit here, but I am afraid things are much too volatile between us right now to consider it safe for you to spend much longer. Perhaps if this is ended quickly there would be a better chance for you to rest here. Same with healing, I don't know how violent disrupting the Deep Father ritual will be, but if we can manage it afterward I would be glad to assist you that way as well."
"Oh, well... if risk is lower, we could try with less preparation, I guess..." reflects Khessa "But still, some magical support would be great. Can't we have some healing spell and some buff cast on us before this ordeal? Anything could make the difference... and among the many followers of the Sea Mother there must be someone able to channel her holy power..."
"And the armor?" asks the blonde arcane warrior "That could you find in time, at least? It should not be that difficult... An heresy is so easier dealt with, when you wear a chainmail..."
As others rested Katryl spent her time checking in on Eldeth and many of the others to make sure they were alright. She walks along quietly, wondering about this Deep Father and thinking it strange nobody else had heard of it. Especially those that lived in the Underdark. Once the new party of kuo-toa arrived, she just listened without much understanding. At least not until Khessa relayed the information in Common. Even then the bloops, blops, and blips, had her rather confused about who was doing what.
She grins a bit as Khessa continues to go on about armor. As the priest mentions a boat, she leans in towards Eldeth, asking her in a whisper, "Where might crossing this Darklake lead to? Is that the way we would go?" She then quietly goes over to Traydark asking, "How are we doing with provisions? It would probably be good to get more, wouldn't it?"
Rabbit Sebrica, Sorcerer || Skarai, Monk || Lokilia Vaelphin, Druid || Liivi Orav, Barbarian || Vanizi, Warlock || Britari / Halila Talgeta / Jesa Gumovi || Neital Rhessil, Wizard
Iromae Quinaea, Cleric || Roxana Raincrest, Rogue || Meira Dheran, Rogue || Qirynna Thadri, Wizard || Crisaryn Melkial, Sorcerer
Taking a step back and listening to Khessa handling negotiations with the Kuo-Toa Traydark turns to Katryl, speaking quietly in common. "We can definitely survive for some time without it but I would much prefer to eat every day if food was available, so yes, more food would be most welcome but as I get it we will need to act as bait first. Assuming we survive that ordeal I will certainly talk to the Kuo-Toa about prividing us with a boat to cross the Darklake and plenty of provisions to go along. Crossing the Darklake seems like a good idea as it would likely be harder for the drow to pursue us."
Traydark also ponders over the name of Leemooggoogoon, likely having some knowledge of demons in general coming from Menzoberranzan and should perhaps be aware of the demon lord Demogorgon: 16
Ebzer sighs briefly, then straightens up, "Well, I ain't never backed down from a fight before, and I dinnae plan to start now. Normally I would steer clear of religious disputes, but sacrificin' people to a demon crosses the line. Let's go FISHIN''!" Suddenly, he realizes he may have said something offensive. "Er, sorry, I meant... 'Let's help these nice fish-people against the other really bad fish-people'" he finishes, lamely.
Khessa doesn't give much weight to the dwarf friend's choice of words... Ebzer may even feel embarrassed for having proposed to 'go FISHIN'', but on the other hand the Deep Father's kuo-toa showed no qualms about 'go HUMANOIDIN''...
Certain that Ploopploopeen shouldn't have been offended, the blonde arcane warrior awaits her response regarding the hoped-for willingness (from someone who is such an influential person in the city of Sloopludop) to provide at least one armor and a little magical healing to the envoys of the Sea Mother who will have to cover (not without dangers) the role of bait.
Katryl nods to Traydark. "Then it seems to make sense that we accept this offer. I hate to be in the middle of this kuo-toa feud, but it seems a small risk to get provisions and quick passsage." (Although she still would like to hear what Eldeth things of crossing the lake.) She then calls out to the others, "We should accept this deal." She then looks towards chief priest. "We do have a few of us that are injured. If we can't take the time to recover, then they really cannot be put at risk. Perhaps there is somewhere they could be kept hidden while we set this trap of yours?"
Rabbit Sebrica, Sorcerer || Skarai, Monk || Lokilia Vaelphin, Druid || Liivi Orav, Barbarian || Vanizi, Warlock || Britari / Halila Talgeta / Jesa Gumovi || Neital Rhessil, Wizard
Iromae Quinaea, Cleric || Roxana Raincrest, Rogue || Meira Dheran, Rogue || Qirynna Thadri, Wizard || Crisaryn Melkial, Sorcerer
The priest sighs visibly. "I can tell you do not know us well. We are mostly fishermen, not normally suited for combat. As such we do not carry much supply in the way of armors. I'm afraid it's more difficult than you assume. We can look but I won't make any promises in that regard."
It sure SOUNDS suspiciously like Demogorgon, and if it IS, then that IS one of the fearsome demon lords from below, but that's a few if's.
The priest nods, "That we can do. It isn't much but you can stay inside my hovel until I can bring my people together and the others to get ready for the ritual. You should have a bit of time to rest then. Let's go."
The kuo-toa escort you through the gate to their city, which is a massive wall of knotted rope, bits of bone, shell and metal pieces. Several kuo-toa whips and monitors watch your group pass through but stay their weapons for now. The city itself is an odd arrangement of sloped buildings and criss-crossing walkways of wood and rope, giving the impression that the Kuo-toa built an underwater city...on land. It is still very dark though with only faint lamps in a few places. As you reach the center of town, a nine-foot-tall statue stands here. Its body is roughly carved from some kind of wood in the shape of a humanoid female, its head and forearms formed from the severed head and claws of a giant albino crayfish. These parts are lashed on with strands of gut, and emit an overpowering stench of rotting shellfish. Shells, brightly colored stones, mushrooms, and rotting fish are piled at the statue’s feet and strung in garlands around its neck. Four stern kuo-toa slowly circle the statue, alert and on guard, while a few others mill about, gazing up at the statue and bowing repeatedly while chanting.
As they move through the city, Katryl comes over to Khessa. She speaks to her in a quiet voice. "I know it's not much, but you're welcome to my leather armor. You probably could get more use out of it than I do. I'm holding out no hope that these folks have any chain around here anywhere. Don't you think they'd use it themselves if they did?"
As she sees the statue she can't help but remark, "Do you suppose that is the Sea Mother?"
Rabbit Sebrica, Sorcerer || Skarai, Monk || Lokilia Vaelphin, Druid || Liivi Orav, Barbarian || Vanizi, Warlock || Britari / Halila Talgeta / Jesa Gumovi || Neital Rhessil, Wizard
Iromae Quinaea, Cleric || Roxana Raincrest, Rogue || Meira Dheran, Rogue || Qirynna Thadri, Wizard || Crisaryn Melkial, Sorcerer
Ebzer mutters to himself, "I may not 'see' mother, but I definitely smell her."
Traydark follows Ploopploopeen to Sloobludop to be bait to the followers of Leemooggoogoon.
"Yes, I'm not surprised you can smell your mother right now, should make you feel right at home duergar." The noble drow comments with a smile and a wink. It's clearly more of a playful banter than a derisive tone now though. He continues to warily follow the others, keeping a good look out for the insurgents while also trying to remember to breath through his mouth.
Perception: 6