Link's Out of the Abyss!

Nyskira looks up as Shade stops near him while carrying Stool and listens to what the little myconid has to say, then asks, "Can you get to Neverlight Grove from here in a day?"

Quote from Brian_Avery >>

Nyskira looks up as Shade stops near him while carrying Stool and listens to what the little myconid has to say, then asks, "Can you get to Neverlight Grove from here in a day?"

 “No. It’ll take nearly 4 tendays!”

Quote from LinkArcher >>

 “No. It’ll take nearly 4 tendays!”

Shade deflates a bit at that news.  He didn't even think to ask how far away Neverlight Grove was.  40 days!  The prospect of spending another month in these dark caves even after they escape the Drow is discouraging, and Shade doubts that a place called "Neverlight" is anywhere near the surface world.  He has a sudden longing to see the sunlight filtering through the leaves of his jungle homeland.

But that's not really why Shade brought Stool over to Nyskira.  He tells the wizard, "Stool also said that the mushroom people can talk to each other through spores in their heads?"  He ends that sentence with an uncertain, questioning uptick in his voice.  "Do you know what he's talking about, Nyskira?  I thought that it might be why the Drow captured the little guy in the first place."

*Does Nyskira know what Stool is talking about?*

Soren nods as Buppito answers his questions, but decides to continue playing dumb.  

"Mistress Ilvara, you say?  Who is that, pray tell?  You'll have to excuse my ignorance, I'm afraid.  I'm not exactly the brains of any operation."  

Quote from Brian_Avery >>

*Does Nyskira know what Stool is talking about?*

*Shade is a rather garbled relay here.  Feel free to ask Sprout to clarify.*

Quote from JFCapps >>

Soren nods as Buppito answers his questions, but decides to continue playing dumb.  

"Mistress Ilvara, you say?  Who is that, pray tell?  You'll have to excuse my ignorance, I'm afraid.  I'm not exactly the brains of any operation."  

 

 “Really? You don’t know? Huh. Funny. She’s the one who controls this whole place. It’s supposedly called Velkynvelve.”

Nyskira asks Stool, "Can these spores you speak of be used by others to... 'speak within their heads?' Are they harmful to non-mushroom people?"

Quote from Brian_Avery >>

Nyskira asks Stool, "Can these spores you speak of be used by others to... 'speak within their heads?' Are they harmful to non-mushroom people?"

 “Yes! We can speak to others in their heads, and it won’t hurt them!”

"Can you talk to me... inside my head?"

Nyskira thinks it might be useful to their escape plans to be able to communicate silently.

Mirelle's heart sinks as she hears it will take 40 days to escape to the Neverlight Grove... and even then they'll STILL be stuck in the Underdark. But she isn't one to dwell on the negative long... lest she find herself staring into a dark abyss and unable to pull herself back.

"It seems then that we hath discovered a goal to work towards," she says, doing her best to sound confident. "I am prepared as one can be to do my part to facilitate our flight from this place. Be we all in agreement?"

Finn nods in agreement to Mirelle's statement and moves closer to Stool to experience talking in that way. 

Quote from Mister_Whisker >>

Mirelle's heart sinks as she hears it will take 40 days to escape to the Neverlight Grove...

*OOC: If we can assume that the PCs have pulled together everything that we've heard so far, we have three possible destinations after we escape the Drow. 

• Stool told Shade that it would take 40 days to get to Neverlight Grove.
• Buppido was talking to Mirelle and Soren about going to Gracklstugh, the home of the Derro. 
• The Kuo-Toa pacifist just told Nyskira that they could take us to Sloobludop, a Kuo-Toa village. 

Maybe ask the others about how long it would take to travel to their homes; one of the other destinations might be closer than Neverlight Grove.*

When Nyskira sees Finn approach he will try to tell Stool using only his thoughts to pass on a message to Finn.

The message is that he believes Ilvara may of placed a 'plant' or two among the prisoners to report any escape plans.

Assuming it works Finn replies from his mind "Who do you think is the spy. Do you think it is the Drow over there?" 

*Even if the 'relay-telepathy' doesn't work Nyskira and Finn are close enough to whisper with each other so should still be able to pass info back and forth and plan?*

Nyskira shares some ideas with Finn:

"It could be the drow... or the Quaggoth... or both! Oh, I don't know... maybe my paranoia is getting the better of me?"

"Neverlight Grove is probably too far to try for at 40 days away but we could let everyone think that's our destination. But I've heard of a village nearby, Sloobludop, that leads to many places. If we can make it there then our chances to lose any pursuers improves greatly."

"We're going to need our spellbooks, others will need weapons and tools, and we will all need food, water, and supplies."

*OOC: Was Shade was included in any of the telepathic messages or the whispers between Nyskira and Finn?  Even if he wasn't, now that he has handed off Stool to Nyskira, Shade was already planning to turn his attention to the Drow next.*

Shade is used to being the "muscle" for Mirelle and, more recently, for Finn and Nyskira's expedition.  He confronted the big Orc (Roth) first because he thought his strength and size might be needed to get the angry bully to fall in line with the escape plan.  The happy little mushroom sprout caught his eye next, but now Shade is ready to confront their most difficult cellmates.  He still avoids the Large-sized white-furred creature.  (It looks more like some sort of wild animal or monster, and he's not sure what that is or why it's in the pen with them.  But it hasn't attacked yet, and he's inclined to leave it alone for now.)  After the quaggoth, the Drow seems like the next biggest threat in the pen.

Shade moves closer to Mirelle, Soren, and Buppido.  He saw the strange elf looking quite distressed just before he joined Mirelle's conversation with Buppido, and he asks Soren, "You seemed a bit woozy there for a moment.  You're not sick, are you?"  Shade worries for a moment: what would they do if one of their cellmates was sick?  The gray-skinned Buppido was cackling strangely to himself earlier, and the white-furred beast appears to be talking to itself.  What if one of them is wode, as they used to call it back home when some jungle sickness unbalanced someone's mind?  

Assuming that Soren seems OK, Shade suggests that all of them (including the wizards) go talk to the Drow who shares their cell.  "Maybe the dark elf can tell us more about this place and our captors and what they plan to do with us."  He has a gut feeling that their current situation is temporary, and if the Drow plan to separate the prisoners, they'll need to escape before that happens. 

Shade figures that Mirelle might be able to convince the Drow to share what he knows.  If not, Shade will be there to see whether he can loosen the Drow elf's tongue with the two iron bars.

Quote from Brian_Avery >>

*Even if the 'relay-telepathy' doesn't work Nyskira and Finn are close enough to whisper with each other so should still be able to pass info back and forth and plan?*

Nyskira shares some ideas with Finn:

"It could be the drow... or the Quaggoth... or both! Oh, I don't know... maybe my paranoia is getting the better of me?"

"Neverlight Grove is probably too far to try for at 40 days away but we could let everyone think that's our destination. But I've heard of a village nearby, Sloobludop, that leads to many places. If we can make it there then our chances to lose any pursuers improves greatly."

"We're going to need our spellbooks, others will need weapons and tools, and we will all need food, water, and supplies."

 *Yes, you can move close enough.*

Quote from Brian_Avery >>

When Nyskira sees Finn approach he will try to tell Stool using only his thoughts to pass on a message to Finn.

The message is that he believes Ilvara may of placed a 'plant' or two among the prisoners to report any escape plans.

 *He can ask Stool to use rapport spores, which lets you send messages telepathically within a certain area for an hour.*

*OOC: Is that something Stool can only do a certain number of times per day, or can Stool refresh the rapport spores whenever he wants?  And does that give the PCs telepathy?  Or does it just create a telepathic link between us and Stool?  Or between everyone who is currently under the influence of the rapport spores?*