Vishnu will get close to the portal while her companions are questioning the warlord, and examine it more closely.

Investigation: 16

Investigation: 13 , 21

Quote from Lerus17 >>

@Ven: please roll an investigation check with advantage.

@Shai: please roll an investigation check and a separate DEX check.

 Investigation 20

Dexterity check  15   -> might as well add Bardic Inspiration (expires after 10mins?)  7

.....bloody hell.....

 Kalak will analyze the magic of the portal.

Arcana (dunno why I said Investigation first, same modifier, tho): 15

The rrakkma takes a few moments to take stock of their situation, recover their sense of determination, and study their surroundings.

@Kalak: You feel reassured by the mind flayer's death. Not only is that one less of these foul creatures for you to worry about, it is also confirmation that you are in the right path. You take a quick look at the reliquary you are carrying around. It is emanating no light whatsoever... no change from last time you checked. That is another welcomed sight. Next in your list, the portal. You notice that Vishnu is also interested in the structure and accompany her to its vicinity. While she examines its surroundings, you try to instead attune to its magical source. To your understanding, this circle functions similarly to other teleportation circles you've seen before, except, its runes are unique, foreign to you even. You reckon that duplicating them might be quite the mentally arduous task, and another passage to Pandemonium is likely not a good idea in any case. Perhaps more interestingly, you can tell that the Weave about the circle has been disturbed recently, indicating that a group of individuals passed through it not too long ago.. perhaps a few hours and certainly no more than a couple of days. It is hard to tell with this one-of-a-kind portal. The disturbance is quite significant, which also indicates they were in the possession of a powerful arcane object when they made use of the portal.

@Kandalou: After recomposing yourself, you notice that the tuning fork in your possession is vibrating wildly. It is a sure indication that the nearby portal is indeed the one you have been looking for. Looking over, you see both Kalak and Vishnu analyzing it already, so you set about working on a different task. You approach the warlord, who remains unconscious. Shai has already decided to bind the dwarf by the time you offer to help, though she has no rope with which to do it. You offer to help but she seems interested only on the rope for now. You lend your length of hempen rope to her and watch as she ties the warlord. That should be alright; you'll be there to assist in the interrogation with your intimidating looks in any case. Speaking of which, It looks like he is waking up now, so the questioning is about to begin.

@Quadere: You wonder if the group could use some more of your healing gifts. Shai, Ven, and Kandalou all look like they could have some of their wounds closed, but they ask you to spare your blessed power for now. If anything, they reckon they could sit and rest for an hour before continuing. A decision still needs to be made on this front, but for now, the rrakkma seems focused on other tasks. 

@Shai: First things first. You focus on your internal ki sources and mentally put them back in place. It may be a little while before you are able to do this again but for now, the resulting healing warmth is more than welcomed. (You heal 27 HP.) Once this is done, you move on to the next task at hand: the warlord's belongings. Removing his plate armor and shield is not a hard task, though it takes some time. You place the set neatly on a corner alongside the veteran's specialized warhammer, and check to see if he was hiding anything else of interest... the answer is no. A bit disappointed, you then turn to the task of tying up the dwarf. Unfortunately, you don't carry any rope with you. Luckily, Kandalou does. You borrow his rope and tie the duergar chief as best as you can while the muscular gith watches (and potentially judges) your knot tying skills. Once the job is done, you figure the rope will hold but that it might not cause the amount of pain your were hoping it would in case the warlord decides to double his size again. Oh well, that'll have to do for now. You then call Ven over to initiate the questioning, offering to read the duergar's mind while the bard does the speaking. You slap the duergar's face a couple of times and get ready for the questions to start.

@Ven: Taking a quick moment of respite sounds like a great idea to you. You can even magically accelerate your companion's natural healing abilities with some soothing magical song but... that will have to wait at least a little bit. Making sure the illithid is really no longer a threat should take priority. You approach its corpse and begin to rummage through its belongings. Though quite repulsive, its breastplate could be useful. Its cape and vestments are unlikely to be of any use, but a small pocket hidden in their folds looks promising. You find a long and thin glass vial in it. Inside the vial, you can see a faintly purplish mist floating about. You pocket the concoction as you hear Shai and Kandalou calling you over to help interrogate the waking warlord.

@Vishnu: Out of spite, you spit on the mind flayer's body and set on collecting the arrows you shot during the fight. A couple are broken, but you figure the other half of them are still good enough for another shot, at least. You look over your shoulder and see most of the rrakkma getting ready to question the warlord or trying to sort their spoils, but not Kalak. The wizard is approaching the portal instead, just as you are. You assume the older gith is interested in the runes and magical powers of the circle drawn on the ground, so you set about checking its surroundings and more material aspects. First, you notice that the circle was made using paint instead of chalk or charcoal. This gives it a more permanent purpose, in line with what you heard from Belthomias. Around it, you also note a striking lack of footprints. You see some that no doubt belong to the heavy boots of the oldest duergar of the bunch, but it looks like none of the four younger ones walked too close to the portal. You are not surprised by the lack of prints from the mind flayer, though, given these foul creatures tendency to float around rather than walk.

“Let us rest quickly and be on the move then. Time is limited.”

As the warlord wakes up, "Hello, warrior. Sleep well?" Kandalou says with a sly smile. "We're going to ask you a couple questions. So sit tight and try not to do anything stupid, thanks." He will wait for Ven to ask questions.

As soon as Ven starts asking crucial questions about the portal and the device being built Shai will use Detect Thoughts, standing behind and away from him, positioning herself between the dwarf and the portal just in case something happens and he gets free....

She will seek to probe deeply into his thought looking for anything about the portal, where it might lead, what is there, and anything it knows about the Mind Flayers it serves and the device being built. WIS DC 16

OOC: Ven knows that this only lasts a minute and should know to ask these questions rapidly to bring the thoughts into the Duergars mind....

Kalak returns to the group interrogating the warlord and informs them of his findings, "The weave of the portal has been in turmoil for some time, a few days at the very most. The reason is not just due to individuals going into the portal. Rather, it is due to a powerful magical artifact moving through it."

Ven gives to Kalak the thin glass vial... "Can you have a look at this? I am not well trained in Arcana. What do you think is ?"

He dons his new breastplate which gives him now more protection and finally approaches the Duergar and talk in Deep Speech: "Hi big guy, I can see you were not yourself, but the illidith is now dead. It is just us and you. Tell us about the portal, when has it been used ? How many evil creature went through ?"

Persuasion if needed: 19
Persuasion (advantage): 24

He then approaches the Duergar: "Hi big guy, I can see you were not yourself, but the illidith is now dead. It is just us and you. Tell us about the portal, when has it been used ? How many evil creature went through ?"

Persuasion if needed: 19

 

OOC: Shai will wait until the questioning turns to "How does the portal operate?", "Where does the portal lead?" & "What do you know of the weapon/device that the Illithid's are building?" before triggering Detect Thoughts......she wants the dwarf to be thinking about those important things before looking into his mind.....

Noting that the ability only lasts for ONE MINUTE, so Ven is going to have to be concise when he gets around to those issues.....

"Very well." Kalak accepts the vial and tries to discern its nature.

Arcana: 24

“If you need, I can cast identify on it. Oghma has granted the ability to perform the ritual. It will take me but a few minutes.”

"I am capable of casting that spell, as well. But, if you wish do do so, be my guest."

Ven shows no hurry is starting the duergar's questioning despite Shai and Kandalou's requests. First, the bard hands the vial he found to Kalak for the learned wizard to have a look. Quadere offers to help and Kalak politely accepts. Nonetheless, before handing it over to the cleric, the wizard uncorks the vial and lets the smallest amount of purple mist fill his nostrils. With a sniff, the githyanki seals the glass container once more and tells Quadere that the vial contains a concoction or psychic resistance in gaseous form.

Second, Ven strips his armor in favor of the mind flayer's protective gear. The process takes a few minutes, even if the bard asks for help. Only when he feels comfortable in his hideous new armor does Ven approach the duergar. By then, Kandalou has already started intimidating the still groggy warlord. His presence and bulk are doing most of the job, as it becomes apparent that the warlord does not understand the fighter's words. (I'll say Kandalou spoke in Common.) At this point, Kalak shares with the group what he learned from the portal, but his companions seem more interested in talking to their prisoner.

A somewhat inpatient Shai whispers her plans to Ven in a language she is sure the duergar won't understand. (Let's say Elvish.) Quadere steps forward and volunteers to serve as an interpreter for the whole questioning ordeal, which she suggests should most likely happen in the Dwarvish language.

The interrogation is about to start.

(@Superbad: please roll an intimidation check).

(@Grimnir: You may roll your persuasion checks during this interrogation with advantage, as others are helping you.)

(@MuggsHill: Please roll an insight check. You can do so with advantage because of the spell you are going to cast.)

Insight 20

OOC: At least one of the others not directly in the interrogation will presumably be on watch....particularly the portal...just in case something comes through....

Vishnu will keep watch.

Ven begins speaking in Deep Speech but gets no looks of recognition from the duergar. A bit saddened by not being able to show his linguistic skills, the bard reverts back to asking his questions in the Gith language, which Quadere promptly translates word by word. The warlord responds in Dwarvish, his now unarmored bulky body seeming more deflated and weak than you envisioned. It looks like he has no reason to refuse Ven the answers he seeks.

Ven: Hi big guy, I can see you were not yourself, but the illidith is now dead. It is just us and you.

Warlord: No.. I wasn't myself... That thing... That thing spoke into my head. I couldn't refuse its requests... My men... I misled them and now...

Ven: Tell us about the portal, when has it been used? 

Warlord: My memory is hazy... That creature has been in charge of my brain for some time... I.. I can't know for sure but the portal was used within the last day or two, I think. We were supposed to protect it. My men were excused whenever the illithids came by... They... They didn't know. I tried to warn them but the words wouldn't come out. I failed my men.

Ven: How many evil creatures went through?

Warlord: A handful... a group about the size of yours... I think. I... don't know.

At this point Ven winks at Shai to signal his intent to jump into her suggested line of questioning. The monk focuses on the duergar's thoughts.

Ven: How does the portal operate?

Warlord: I... I reckon you just step on it... likely in the very center. (WIS saving throw {DC 16}: 15)

@Shai: The warlord is visualizing a group of mind flayers stepping in the circle. The memory is hazy, and the warlord can't come up with an exact count of individuals going through.

Ven: Where does the portal lead? 

Warlord: I... I... don't know; I was never told. (WIS saving throw {DC 16}: 19)

@Shai: You go deep into the duergar's head but there are no exact thoughts or memories confirming the portal's destination... not that you can reach, at least.

Ven: What do you know of the weapon/device that the Illithid's are building?

Warlord: Weapon? What weapon?... Arrghhh.. Please stop digging into my mind... I had enough of that with the brain eater already! (WIS saving throw {DC 16}: 19)

@Shai: He has no recollection of any weapons that you can tell. Furthermore, your study of his thoughts and reactions leads to no obvious signs that would betray falsehood. This surely once proud warlord has been reduced to an illithid's thrall, whose mind is missing many important details. Finally, you sense your connection to the warlord's brain fading. It seems his innate resistance has severed the link early.

@Vishnu: There are no suspicious movements in your vicinity.

Kandalou's Intimidation, if still needed: 19

Kandalou will listen to each of the answers quietly. He is staring the duergar in the eyes, possibly seeing the warlord's pain for his soldier's deaths. 

After the questioning, he will stand and ask the party, "What do we do with him?"

Ven seems happy with the answers of the Duergar but looks deep in his eyes to be sure (Insight: 19).

Nodding at Kandalou, Ven asks the Duergar "Well, he seems to have recover his mental health. If I were him, after loosing all my men, I would only pursue revenge. I know you Duergars are loyal people and I think you could only redeem yourself by cutting the tentacles of those creatures. What do you say of taking up your weapon and fight those creatures with us ?"

Persuasion: 19

"but that is only if the Rrakkma agrees..."