"Oh, lobster..." Hearing a familiar word, Tuma thinks back to the many times she's spotted a lobster on her home island. "Hmm, can't say I like it. Always preferred squid. Oh!" She covered her mouth, face flush with horror. "Are there giant squids in the underdark? Did I just jinx us?"
Mars will walk up to Sarith, brandishing the manacles from her former imprisonment. Her eyes are sharp, a sensation of hot and cold seems to steam off her skin, although it is not anything that would register on the visible spectrum.
"Sarith, you were imprisoned with us, you fought beside us, and you even took some nasty damage on our behalf. You haven't given us any reason to distrust you. Your former associates and jailers, they threw you into the dungeon with us ibleth after judging you for a crime you have no memory of committing. Please don't sell us out, to the priestess. There's," Mars falters, the mild aura dissipates, "there's, um, no going back for you, I think. I don't want to use these" - the manacles clink - "but I think the most important thing is that we keep moving."
Persuasion (if applicable, to help Sarith see it is in his best interest to have our backs): 18
Sarith stands, looking Mars in the eyes. “I don’t like working with surface dwellers...with non-drow scum. The surface world has made its inhabitants soft and weak. The very idea of drawing swords beside your kind would have sickened me a week ago,” he pauses, glancing her over. “But I hate Ilvara and her pets more. They betrayed me, they were to ship me to be a sacrifice to Lolth, the demon queen who cares nothing for males. You, yours, and I are not friends, but we can be allies, until such the time we may part ways safely. Daerthe was right,” Sarith glances to his old compatriot. “The Underdark is no place to travel alone. We are bound together in this by necessity, nothing more. You are my best chance of survival, and for that reason my blade shall not be turned against you.”
"That's, yes. Good enough for me." Mars turns and muffles the manacles with her silk rope before tucking them away. Looking to Shuushar and the rest of the party, she points West; "Onward?"
"That goes for me as well where he is concerned. I saved him once and yet he still feels the need to call me names and worse. But honestly at this point the surface almost sounds good. Perhaps I should see what my human side is supposed to like." Daerthe says as she gives Sarith a blank look.
Mars makes a start towards the sound of cool, refreshing, life-saving water before she stops herself. "Is there a reason why we should not rush to this forward? Is water safe to drink down here?"
Daerthe will move slowly as they hear the water, motioning the rest to stay quiet as that could attract some of the Underdark creatures that may attempt to kill them.
Silently approaching, the underground river comes into view, flowing northwest. Beside the river stands a purple kuo-toa, fishing pole in hand. A large metal amulet hangs from his neck, with this symbol:
The tunnel follows the river northwest, and splits to a inclined southeast passage, the direction from which the river is flowing.
"Shuushar," Mars whispers, "does that talisman mean anything to you? Can you identify this fisherman as a friend or an enemy?"
Mars peers closely at the large metal amulet, searching her own limited recollection from a long series of misfortunate owners for a connection to the engraved symbol.
Thun pulls his eyes from the floor, smirks, and then winces,
"At first, kind of like eating a lobster with its shell still on. Then it start biting the insides, and I just tasted alot of blood."
He coughs and checks his spit for any lingering damage. The spit is clear, but his face shows indifference with a hint of disbelieve.
"At least it wasn't permanent."
"Oh, lobster..." Hearing a familiar word, Tuma thinks back to the many times she's spotted a lobster on her home island. "Hmm, can't say I like it. Always preferred squid. Oh!" She covered her mouth, face flush with horror. "Are there giant squids in the underdark? Did I just jinx us?"
The old gnome simply huffs at Sarith.
Mars will walk up to Sarith, brandishing the manacles from her former imprisonment. Her eyes are sharp, a sensation of hot and cold seems to steam off her skin, although it is not anything that would register on the visible spectrum.
"Sarith, you were imprisoned with us, you fought beside us, and you even took some nasty damage on our behalf. You haven't given us any reason to distrust you. Your former associates and jailers, they threw you into the dungeon with us ibleth after judging you for a crime you have no memory of committing. Please don't sell us out, to the priestess. There's," Mars falters, the mild aura dissipates, "there's, um, no going back for you, I think. I don't want to use these" - the manacles clink - "but I think the most important thing is that we keep moving."
Persuasion (if applicable, to help Sarith see it is in his best interest to have our backs): 18
Sarith stands, looking Mars in the eyes. “I don’t like working with surface dwellers...with non-drow scum. The surface world has made its inhabitants soft and weak. The very idea of drawing swords beside your kind would have sickened me a week ago,” he pauses, glancing her over. “But I hate Ilvara and her pets more. They betrayed me, they were to ship me to be a sacrifice to Lolth, the demon queen who cares nothing for males. You, yours, and I are not friends, but we can be allies, until such the time we may part ways safely. Daerthe was right,” Sarith glances to his old compatriot. “The Underdark is no place to travel alone. We are bound together in this by necessity, nothing more. You are my best chance of survival, and for that reason my blade shall not be turned against you.”
"That's, yes. Good enough for me." Mars turns and muffles the manacles with her silk rope before tucking them away. Looking to Shuushar and the rest of the party, she points West; "Onward?"
With a taste of iron in his mouth and a sense of twisting in his guts, Thun marches in the direction Mars pointed silently.
He casually mulls over a thought, but dismisses it looking towards Sarith and moving on.
"That goes for me as well where he is concerned. I saved him once and yet he still feels the need to call me names and worse. But honestly at this point the surface almost sounds good. Perhaps I should see what my human side is supposed to like." Daerthe says as she gives Sarith a blank look.
Sarith rolls his eyes, but says nothing further.
The group follows Thun and Mars' westward direction, leaving the crystalline room behind, and traversing further into the Underdark.
11
After travelling for an hour or so through the tunnel, the sound of running water reaches the party's ears from up ahead.
The old gnome unconsciously licks his lips at the sound of running water.
Mars makes a start towards the sound of cool, refreshing, life-saving water before she stops herself. "Is there a reason why we should not rush to this forward? Is water safe to drink down here?"
Daerthe will move slowly as they hear the water, motioning the rest to stay quiet as that could attract some of the Underdark creatures that may attempt to kill them.
Daerthe: stealth check please, and we can just apply to the whole group to keep things simple.
Stealth: 23
Nice!
Silently approaching, the underground river comes into view, flowing northwest. Beside the river stands a purple kuo-toa, fishing pole in hand. A large metal amulet hangs from his neck, with this symbol:
The tunnel follows the river northwest, and splits to a inclined southeast passage, the direction from which the river is flowing.
The old gnome looks expectantly at the kuo-toa traveling with them to approach the fishing kuo-toa.
"Shuushar," Mars whispers, "does that talisman mean anything to you? Can you identify this fisherman as a friend or an enemy?"
Mars peers closely at the large metal amulet, searching her own limited recollection from a long series of misfortunate owners for a connection to the engraved symbol.
OOC: unsure which is relevant here.
History: 10 // Religion: 13 // Arcana: 3
Daerthe waits to see you the kua toa in their group does, keeping her hand close to her weapons.