Erik Soong's Call of the Netherdeep

Shiv is also fey.

I feel like Morgan's bat-familiar-who-does-not-deserve-a-name is a fiend.

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Morgan moves closer to Nivi before she gets too far ahead. He looks at the elf with a slight frown... while pinching his nose with two fingers.
"Spireli'g? Dever heard of theb... It seebs you dow bore tha' we do. Bore tha' I do, for sure. If you have inforbation that could help us stay alive... by ears are bigger tha' by hat."
He winks with a smile.

On the verge of ranging ahead into the darkness, Nivi halts and favors Morgan with a flat look as he attempts to spare his delicate nose the redolent aroma of the sewer tunnel.  A flat look that gradually transforms into incredulity as the man speaks of not knowing.

"Never heard of a Spireling?  You saw the sigil there.  You all saw it.  Doesn't that..."  she trails off, looking around at the others.  Then closes her eyes as if willing herself to patience.  "Gotta remind myself sometimes.  Not in Tal'Dorei any more."

Opening her eyes, Nivi continues with an edge.  "That's the symbol of The Clasp back there.  Guild of assassins and thieves.  Spirelings call the shots.  Big in Tal'Dorei, where they got started, but here too now, looks like.  Shiv watched Tracker over there," she gestures at Frekor, "put one of them in the dirt with an arrow last night while I was chasing Aloysia.  And no, that elf b!tch ain't Clasp.  Far as I know, anyway.  Different styles, I'm thinking."

"In Tal'Dorei, Clasp had a code.  Protection rackets, high-end contraband, played politics, but a code, yeah?  Which I thought included, you know, NO GODS DAMNED DEALS WITH DEMONS.  But here, that's what they're doing, so whichever bloody Spireling made that call, they're getting something out of it, and it's not gonna be small.  Targeting something major.  Something or someone. Else allying with fiends wouldn't be worth it.  But what the hell do I know.  Might be it doesn't matter.  Can already tell bunny girl there doesn't care.  Could be she's right.  But believe me, you ain't killing them all..."

Nivi trails off, her voice having grown louder than she had intended.  She sighs and gives Morgan a final sideways look before loping off into the dark.

"Breathe it in, pretty boy.  Put some hair on your chest."

Morgan tries to raise a hand in protest... but she is already gone.
He shakes his head and takes a breath.
He shrugs with a smile and a pained grimace. "At least she called me pretty boy."

Nivi creeps ahead. She is well-lit as she moves away from the group, and her boot heels seem to be making an unusual amount of noise in these sewers, likely a result of the long, narrow stone tunnels. As she reaches the edge of Ylis' blaring light, she comes to a intersection in the tunnels. East or west. The east seems to sharply turn south after a few steps, quickly being blocked off by the narrow walls, but on the west side, the tunnel stretches down a long tunnel with a door 25ft down on its north side. That reaches the limit of Nivi's Darkvision. 

Shiv is able to see a bit farther and can communicate to her that another three doors can be seen, two on the north and one on the south.

DM: The smaller overlay is the Bright Light. The larger the Dim Light. I divided what Nivi can see into her own Darkvision and Shiv's, with a small break about halfway down the tunnel. 

Nivi pads back to the others, Shiv still on her shoulder.

"Never been in this part before.  T-intersection ahead.  We turn left, the passage curves forward.  Can't see down it too far from here.  Turn right, straight shot with doors on walls, three on the right that Shiv could see, and one on the left."  Nivi chews her lip  "Could be we try clearing whatever's behind the doors first so nothing's coming out of 'em at our back after we're past?  Dunno if they're storage rooms, Clasp crash pads, somethin' else."

She waits to check if any of her new companions have any suggestions.  In case they have none, she puts her rudimentary plan into action, turning right (west) and approach the first door to the north.  Continuing to try (and to some extent fail) to move quietly.

Once she knows which way the party is heading, Nivi speaks a word in Elvish and gestures to cast Blade Ward on herself before heading back out into the darkness, Shiv still perched on her shoulder.  Trusting in the others to follow behind her (or whatever plan is decided upon).

Morgan tries to raise a hand in protest... but she is already gone.
He shakes his head and takes a breath.
He shrugs with a smile and a pained grimace. "At least she called me pretty boy."

"Is that a good thing?" Sky seems confused.  "I just think Nivi doesn't know how to remember people's names," he says perspicaciously.

Ylis moves ahead and pauses at the T. She makes a drawing motion and a small white bunny figure is engraved on the wall pointing back the way they came.

(Using Mold Earth to leave a mark in the wall)

The bunny girl holds up one finger and points to the nearest door then holds her hand to her ear.

Jacaranda remains silent her eyes and ears searching constantly for something out of place, she looks down at Ylis feeling a momentary sense of foreboding doom.....

She moves up behind Ylis and sights down the tunnel, then turns and covers the corner to their east.

Perception- 23

Back within illumination as her new companions move up, Nivi steps along the northern walkway of the western corridor to the first door (on the north wall) as Ylis suggested.  Both she and Shiv inspect it for traps or hazards and then both listen for any sounds coming from behind it.

Her agitation at what the Clasp may be up to seems to jangle her usually steady nerves and neither she nor the owl are quite up to their usual standards.

(Back in at least dim light so darkvision makes it seem like bright light to both of them.)

Nivi's Perception:  14
Shiv's Perception:  15 (13 in campaign roller, accidentally rolled as Animal Handling at advantage to simulate 2014 owl stats, which is +3 with advantage, but for the 2024 owl, Shiv should have +5 with no advantage so 15 instead of 13, first roll was higher so lack of advantage doesn't matter.)

(If Investigation is needed instead, she rolled an 11.)

Sky moves forward with the rest of the group, but doesn't advance towards the door; he's never been any good at listening for signs of life nor spotting traps.

Morgan lifts his top hat, freeing his bat familiar.

He sends it to take a quick look to the east, just to check what's around the corner. He would like to avoid any bad surprises from that direction.

(Perception: 7; stealth 10)

Frekor follows Nivi and stays behind her while she looks for traps at the door.

-Did you find anything dangerous at the door? Or do you want another set of eyes to see if there is something?- asked nicely the ranger.

(OOC: Frekor doesn't want to overstep on Nivi's inspection without her permission, so I won't roll a perseption check for now unless she wants.)

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Frekor follows Nivi and stays behind her while she looks for traps at the door.

-Did you find anything dangerous at the door? Or do you want another set of eyes to see if there is something?- asked nicely the ranger.

(OOC: Frekor doesn't want to overstep on Nivi's inspection without her permission, so I won't roll a perseption check for now unless she wants.)

Nivi grins in a way that passes for convivial and makes space for Frekor.

"Be my guest, elven brother.  More the merrier.  Already said you're a better tracker than me just now when we met, didn't I?"

She speaks the word for 'elven brother' in Elvish with a refined, respectful accent utterly different than the Tal'Dorei urban brogue she uses for Common.

DM: Randa, it looks like you are rolling with Disadvantage on my side. Because it is the forum roller, I can’t tell, but if you did, you do not currently have Disadvantage because Ylis is casting the Light spell. You can do a normal roll if what it is showing me is accurate (which would not surprise me since highlighting it also says your result is 23 when the forum number is 17). If not, then I will keep the 17.

The bunny engraving takes on the wall, replacing the marking left by Clasp agents earlier. A much better symbol in my estimation.

Nivi and Frekor make it up to the door and with those Perception Checks, Nivi can hear the sounds of several creatures sleeping. The sounds of light snores make it through the door to Nivi’s ears.

Also reaching Nivi’s ears, aside from Frekor’s question, are the sounds of Morgan as he tries to creep along while peeping through his familiar’s senses. He seems that moving while juggling senses is ill-advised, as he bumps into walls and Ylis, and drags his feet over the floors with an uncertain step. The bat, however, is impossibly quiet. The flapping of its wings would normally be coupled with a beating noise, but oddly, this is not the case with the familiar.

It flaps just far enough to get a good look down the eastern corridor that turns south. It sees that the corridor stretches south as far as it can see, but it does not that it also splits west after 45ft.

Shiv also communicates to Nivi that it can see an intersection at the limits of its vision.

Points of interest marked with red arrows. 

( Ah. She naturally has Advantage on Perception checks so would be an Advantage roll with the Light spell.  Regardless of forum roller shenanigans, 17 is fine to keep and move things along.)

(OOC: Sky is new to this party AND not the type of personality to try and lead or offer a ton of suggestions on what to do.  Just FYI.  If you want him to do something and it's not a violation of his moral code, just have your character say what you'd like him to do and he'll usually acquiesce.  That includes moving him where the party wants him to be.  He's willing to be front line for now.)

OOC: Considering your reach weapon I saw you as second line. Better to have two people dealing damage than just one. Ylis is not one to mince words, if you're in, you're in. She doesn't bother with the whole getting to know you business.

(OOC: I can tank if need be, morningstar + shield.  Halberd is just a pretty nifty weapon)

Nivi glances at Frekor with a questioning eyebrow raised to non-verbally confirm whether he hears the same snoring that she does and check if he notices any traps she may have missed.  If he agrees, she quietly checks if the door appears locked and gives Frekor space to make the same check if he wishes and has not already.  Stepping back away from the door, she tersely whispers their findings to the rest of the party.

... the sounds of several creatures sleeping. The sounds of light snores make it through the door to Nivi’s ears.

"Could be Clasp bastards in there, off shift.  Could be prisoners too.  Doubt it, but you never know.  Not sure demons snore, but they could be there too."

Nivi is on the verge of suggesting the party bust in, Sky in the lead, and commence slaying all inside as soon as she can confirm they are Clasp.  Leaving one alive to question.  But she stops short, realizing she does not know if her new companions are as casually murderous as she.

Instead, she closes her mouth and waits to see how the others react.  IF the door was locked, she pulls her Thieves' Tools from her pack.

Sky looks at the others, his eyes questioning whether or not they should go in.