Caelynn shrugs. "Might as well. Not like we have anything else to do. We can take a look at that crystal once we're somewhere more private." As she begins walking towards the exit with the others, a thought pops into her head. "Trill, does your ring seem different at all now that it's been toasted in the fireplace?"

In all the residual excitement of her new footwear, Trill forgot to check! She'll try to see if there's a difference.

Oak agrees, “Yes, let’s check out the slums in West Cleft”, he says. “I find you often get more straight talking from those kinds of places”.

”Hmm... and I still think the dragon may prove valuable in the long run. It’s the first powerful being down here that hasn’t tried to kill us!... .. And I have to say: if I was fleeing for my life from a terrible thing right now, I’d be running towards that dragon!”.

“But for now, let’s see what we can find out about Drokki”.

Aimon leads the group back towards the rift and the staircases the Stonespeaker mentioned.

"I think it's best we make sure these badges stay well out of sight," he says as they walk. "And given how cautious the captain was about West Cleft, we should do our best not to draw any attention to ourselves. The last we stand out the better."

You travel West along the gorge and eventually find a large, open bar with a flight of steps stairs that descend downwards. 

As you pass through the gates and down the stairs, the stench in the air changes from acrid and metallic to fetid and repugnant, the fires of industry replaced by the squalor of poverty. The homes in this part of Gracklstugh are crudely carbed from the rock or are just holes in the walls, arranged in no apparent order. The chatter in the air is unnerving with hundreds of Derro muttering, screaming at each other, and otherwise reveling in their insanity. Those who spot you look at you with hatred. It looks as if the dirty and cluttered streets of the district formed as dwellings spread and came together, and not as a product of planning.

Aimon pulls his cloak closer about him, pulls the mask up and hood down and does his best to blend into the background to avoid drawing attention to himself.

(Stealth: 8  - nice)

"I'm not sure talking to anyone here will do more than give them something to focus their rage on," he says to the others. "Let's just keep an eye out for Drokki."

(Perception: 17  )

Oak’s face winces at the bad smells, and he readjusts his mask again... but it doesn’t help block out the stench all that much.

He agrees with Aimon’s plan to keep a low profile, however Oak tends not to keep a particularly low profile at the best of times, but he has cultivated a high profile, that people tend not to want to be seen taking too much notice of. The effect, he finds, is often the same.

He’ll maintain his practiced high profile stealth, and at the same time he keeps his eyes peeled for anything unusual...

Perception check: 17 

Stealth check: 7 

"I'm not feeling particularly welcomed," Caelynn mutters with a dry chuckle, strapping her mask tighter to try and block the smell. "Low profile it is."

She does her best to keep her head down and avoid eye contact while simultaneously scanning the crowds for Drokki.

Perception: 21

Stealth: 15

"The last we stand out the better." Trill repeats, looking from her own hands up to Oak's hulking figure and shaking her beak.

As the others are keeping an eye out and moving quietly, she follows suit.

Perception: 25

Stealth: 15

((If you wanted a roll from her looking at the ring to discern anything from it... Arcana: 17))

Stool stealth: 2

Topsy stealth: 9

Jimjar stealth: 22

Eldeth stealth: 12

Drokki stealth: 24

Drokki perception: 4

Derro perception: 17

@Trill

 The party makes their way through the dark and muggy streets of the Derro. Refuse and trash lie scattered about the streets and are trampled under the feet of Derro. For the most part, the Derro are content on being off in their own little world of insanity as they cackle to themselves while they move sporadically. You see a few of them eying you suspiciously, but none attack you at the moment. There is no light source whatsoever down here in the chasm. Looking up, the roof of the cavern is lost in a maze of ladders, bridges, and clotheslines. You can see that there are many larger side tunnels that lead deeper into the putrescent territory of the Derro. While the gorge stretches about 80 feet across, the various crates and objects clutter the street along the walls where the hovels reside. 

About twenty minutes in, you come to an area where a heady smoke that makes you slightly woozy when inhaled drifts through the air. You can see a group of Derro sitting on the ground on the street all around a small pot that has thin wisps of smoke drifting from it. All the Derro around it appear dazed and have euphoric expressions on their faces. Trill, Caellyn, and Aimon spot a familiar hat bobbing through the streets as they look about. They see the form of Drokki approach a thin Derro woman leaning against a stack of crates. You see him hand her a small slip of paper that disappears into a pocket as she takes it. They exchange a few words before you see Drokki's ears twitch and perk up. He suddenly stops talking and takes a long intake of air as if he smelled something. He turns his head and sees the group moving seemingly unnoticed through the streets. His eyes narrow, and he ducks behind the crates. He was about 45 feet away when you saw him.

Drokki stealth: 13

((Is there a dark alley near us? On the same side as where he went?))

 Trill, looking about for an alley to duck in and not finding one, does as best she can to not be noticed as she goes invisible and flies up, getting vantage from above of their quarry's hiding spot.

As you turn invisible, alarms and bells suddenly split the air. Derro leap into action and begin fleeing in all directions with shouts of, "Druergar! There's Druergar!" As chaos ensues, you see a glyph appear on a walk nearby that burns with a blue light a moment  before a crackling lands of electrical energy erupts from it. It blades through the air towards where you all last saw Trill.

 Trill, you need to make a DC 16 Dexterity Saving Throw or take 15 lightning damage and have your invisibility dispelled. On a successful save, you take half damage.

((Well... crap. :D ))

DEX Save: 18

Trill will try to fly a bit away before dropping the invisibility somewhere out of view.

"Well, there goes low-profile..." Caelynn slips through the crowds towards where she last saw Drokki, trying to use the chaos as cover and hoping that Trill is okay, wherever she went.

Another stealth: 20 and perception: 5 if you need them

Oak sees Trill begin to take off, and then she blinks out of existence. A huge smile starts to sweep across his face, and he thinks to himself ‘Hells yeah!! That’s what I’m talking abou.......’. But before he can finish the thought, the energy bolt strikes... and his instincts kick in...

He leaps away from the blast and slams into the ground (and anything- or anyone-else nearby). Desperately he casts around looking for some sign of Trill. Did she escape the blast? “Oh hells!!”, he growls under his breath.

He gets up to a crouch, on one knee, and tries to see what Aimon and Caelynn are doing, and waits to see what develops... He’s trying to hide if possible, but is also ready to cause a further ‘distraction’ if need be. 

For now, another stealth check (if needed): 8 

"What the hell was that?" Aimon shouts as he sees some sort of electrical energy blast towards where Trill had been. Was that some sort of protective ward that was activated. He would look to check on Trill but he has no idea where she is now.

Aimon decides to follow Caelynn's lead and see if they can get Drokki in the chaos that is developing. He sprints around the other side of the crate that Drokki ducked behind from the side Caelynn is going to (eg if Caelynn goes around the right, Aimon goes around the left).

Seeing Trill gone, and Aimon and Caelynn heading off, Oak attempts to follow suit. Keeping hunched and low, walking almost on all fours like an ape, Oak starts to follow behind the others...

As you race around the crates to find Drokki, you see he has vanished looking around, you can see him running through the screaming crowds about 80 feet ahead of you! Determined to catch him, the party begins to chase after him. 

This has now become a chase. I found some variant chase rules here that I really liked. We will be using those variant rules. Whoever posts first will be the first challenger. Once everyone has had a chance to be a challenger, we will start up at the top again. 

Drokki athletics check: 16