"Thanks, Trill," Aimon says. "I'll still think of the sword as Dawnbringer and maybe some day we'll come across someone who knows more about her kind."

He looks down at the ring, a hint of the heat from the dragon's fire flitting across his memory.

"If we talk to the dragon again, yeah, maybe just one of us and the ring goes in for that chat."

He then moves over to Oak and sizes up the big minotaur.

"You okay? You scared a lot of people upstairs," Aimon says quietly. "I guess we've one more stop to add to the itinerary now. We'll have the whole Underdark mapped out before we know it. At least we haven't run across any more demons in the last 24 hours."

He slips the sword hilt back into his belt.

"So, what now?," Aimon asks. "Do we go back to Blackskull and tell her about the first giant being possessed, the guard at Firehand acting weird, maybe say we have a lead on some tunnels Drokki is using?"

Oak looks confused and sorry, “I’m okay. I just think this place is getting to me. I keep thinking I’m seeing things.... I’ll be fine”.

”But yes, another place to add to our list of places to find!... If my people are there, I have to try and find them.... ... But you’re right, for now we’re bound to finishing what we started here”. 

Trill pulls Caelynn aside.

That guard was acting strange and angry... Oak is acting strange and angry, and seeing things... I hope he's not possessed, but if he is, we'll fix him... somehow. 

Caelynn writes back,

I hope not. We should keep an eye on him.

Walking back over towards the center of the room, she sits down across from Oak. "We all want to help you, but we can only do that if you're honest with us. Is it just your people you're looking for in Mantol-Derith, or is there something else?"

Oak looks at Caelynn, and the start of a smile touches his lips, before he remembers that his behaviour in the bar was far less than professional.

As she speaks to him, and looks at him, Caelynn sees his eyes, faintly reflective like a cat’s, due to his owl necklace. Slightly off-putting perhaps, but she’s maybe used to that by now...

But, she sees something else, something new. Beyond the scorched hide and patches of bare skin, some of the hair at his temples and his chin (and a few places elsewhere) is flecked with grey and white.

Oak listens to her question and tries to answer in a way that comes across as honest as he can, “I don’t know where this Mantol-Derith is. Or what’s there...”.

He says, almost defeated, in spite of this new lead, “I just want to see my mother again....”.

“The weird woman in the city said she still but lives.... YOU said that what I seek is in Mantol-Derith.... I hardly even dare dream that she is there and well...”. He trails off, but is still looking in his elf friend’s eyes.

@Caelynn

((The owl pendant is a reskinned goggles of night vision, while the invisible chest is a reskinned bag of holding. Trill discovers that the chest has a rune engraved on its lid that provides the invisibility effect. She learn that if she touches the rune in a certain pattern, the invisibility will be turned off. You can also turn it back on with the same sequence))

 @Oak

(( @Cealynn... private message incoming ))

Trill returns the pendant to Oak, jotting down that it functions much as he is aware, and then demonstrates to the group how to make the chest visible and invisible.

Aimon watches carefully as Trill demonstrates how the chest works.

"Well isn't that handy," he says to Trill. "I've gotten really sick of tripping over that damn thing. Though probably best to keep it invisible as often as possible."

Aimon then eyes Oak for a moment.

"You okay to give the outside world a try again?" he asks. "If so, let's go see Blackskull and let her know what we've found, keeping the little bit about helping the derro and a demon overthrow her city to ourselves for now."

He picks up his pack, never quite sure if they'll be coming back, and adjusts it on his back.

"After that, want to give sneaking into the Firehand compound a try? After tomorrow there may not be much left of this place so today might be our last chance to see if we can find Trill's crewmate."

Caelynn stares at Oak for a long moment, and the two almost seem to have an unspoken conversation. After what simultaneously feels like forever and no time at all, they appear to reach an understanding of each other, and she gives a tiny nod.

“We’ll get you there,” she decides, giving Oak a knowing look that perhaps only he would understand. ”I have an idea for where to start.”

Oak looks at Caelynn with his big, old, practiced, neutral, bovine face. He feels like she can see right into his soul sometimes. Maybe she can...

When she tells him she’ll help get him there, he breaks into that smile he’d half started before. And he almost looks like the Oak they all knew, from before the dragon attack.

He nods back at her and pulls her in to a quick bear-hug, before letting go and turning back to the others.

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!" Frila screams while raising her arms
"I am all freshed up, sorry for the delay. Last time I failed to do anything, won´t happen again!"
She did a large sigh
"So i have been thinking, i know i know last time it was terrible. But we have several places we could go, that black... leg? I am pretty sure it´s black leg. I am also kinda curious to know what happened with the giants after the dragon, you thought about asking the dragon, but maybe we can try to convice those big guys also? If anyone is left that is. And I think that we should do some investigation on that..."She closes her hands in an angry way"dwarf. A woman like her she has to have some dirt on her, maybe we can use that to our advantage, for obviusly not blackmailing purpose" She presents a proud smile
"So what you think of this idea and how you think it shall fail? I bet it´s gonna fail on the giant´s thing"

Oak thanks Trill for checking the owl necklace. And for making sure it doesn’t have some crazy curse he’d have to worry about!

And he says to Aimon, “I was born ready!”. But then he remembers the scene in the bar again and confirms more humbly, “I’m okay. Thank you. I’ll be fine. I promise...”. Although he looks a little past him as he speaks, and then quickly looks all around the room, not seeming to find anyone there that shouldn’t be.

Can't guarantee no curse... a proper curse can probably fool my ability to tell that it's there.

Oak considers Trill’s message, and looks a little sheepish, and maybe a little concerned about the fact that the owl necklace doesn’t definitely not have a curse... “Understood.. hmmm.... .... Thank you”, he says, nodding his thanks to Trill.

As they get ready to head out and meet with Blackskull, Aimon looks over at Frila and absorbs her frantic outburst.

"Are you suggesting following Blackskull?" Aimon asks as they walk. "It might lead to some information on how they control the dragon, though I think that's the nodes the derro want to take out."

With that, the party heads out into the streets towards the Keep. It's a short, 10 minute walk to the Keep as you head towards the towering fortress along the shore of the Darklake. Along your way there, you stumble across a scene of an accident. It seems that one of the towers clinging to the side of a natural column of obsidian that helps hold up ceiling of the cavern collapsed a while ago. Druergar citizens and guards mill about the area, clearing away stone and such tasks . You can see several investigators and a mage inspecting the ruins, and a few guards are questioning dazed and battered citizens. You move down one more street as a detour and find yourself along the docks of Gracklestugh. You can see that the stone docks along the edge of the Darklake are mostly void of citizens and guests. The only person you can see along the unlit lake front is solitary figure hurrying along the docks about 100 feet ahead of you. Suddenly, you see a figure seemingly emerge from the darkness behind the figure. Silently, you see the new figure lunge forward with a smooth grace, and the original figure collapses to the ground. As the first figure collapses, you see the new figure meld into the darkness where it stands and disappears.

A deep sigh escapes Aimon's lips.

"I really don't know why so many people live down here," Aimon says to the others. "This place is terrible."

He runs forward, hand on the hilt of his sword, looking into the shadows for the attacker and then checks on the figure who collapsed to the ground.

(Perception: 24   )

Oak dashes forward too, to back up Aimon, with whatever he finds up ahead. He draws one of his hand axes...