(Ah, my bad)

As Caelynn looks around for the gems, she finds one fairly quickly - in her hands. She must not have been paying attention when it was given to her. She takes off after Trill, not wanting her to be alone in this potentially hostile environment.

Oak, looking around, you do get some sense of familiarity. It's like a memory of a memory

Trill, you approach the cage and look at the weary faces inside. You don't recognize any of them. They all look dejected, their gaze is fixed on the ground. There are more men than women in the cage. They each have a thick collar made it black iron etched with glowing orange and red runes wrapped around their necks. The flesh around the collars is burned and blistered. The only clothing any of them wears is filthy rags around their "naughty bits."

 "Oh! I saw a mask vendor," Jimjar exclaims. He begins moving through the crowd towards the vendors with Topsy following close behind. "Stay right there!" he says over his shoulder as he disappears from sight.

Eldeth stays with Aimon and Oak and glares at any druegar who look in her direction.

The bid is currently at 500 gold.

Some more General Features:

• The temperature hovers around 90 degrees Fahrenheit in the Darklake District. It goes steadily warmer as you approach the walls.
• The vendors tend to sale specific foods while the actual buildings built in and around the natural columns well foods of a broader category.

Oak’s eyes narrow as he tries to work out if he’s seen any of the slavers before. Something itches, in the dark recesses of his brain, but he can’t put a finger on what, or who. Maybe he’ll think on it, or sleep on it. Maybe they all just look like too many other slavers.

He puts a gentle arm around Trill’s shoulders, as it becomes apparent that she hasn’t seen anyone she recognises either. He doesn’t say anything, just lets her know he stands with her.

Oak could stand here all day watching, and getting steadily more angry at a system that causes so much hurt. But it wouldn’t do any of them any favours to cause a scene here, now.

He looks across at some of the bidders ((is there anyone he recognises there? Some of the slave masters he’s know ended up dead one way or another... so again, he’s not hopeful)).

If none of Trill’s crew are here, Oak is more than happy to move on. Unless she would like them to ask around.

Trill raises a hand to her shoulder to grip a few fingers of Oak's.

Aimon turns from the slave auction.

"I can't watch this," he says to the others. "Could we just buy the lot of them and set them free? I don't remember how much we have in the chest."

He looks back over his shoulder at the human being auctioned. 

"Could we buy some?"

Oak looks at Aimon with a very haunted and somber expression, and then slowly shakes his head, not quite believing what he’s about to say...

He speaks very low and quiet, “No one wants to free them more than me, believe me...”. He pauses...

“But if we free one or two in the underdark, it’s as good as a death sentence.... And we would make some very influential enemies if we outbid these... people... Not to mention drawing attention to ourselves. I don’t think here is how we free these souls”.

”If we find the underground fortress, maybe we can make more of a difference? I don’t know... but I know if I stay here much longer I’m not sure I could be held responsible for my actions...”. He looks like he’s trying and maybe failing to hold back his rage...

"I hate to say this, but Oak is right. We can't afford to buy them all. And even if we bought a couple, what then? If we sent them on their way, they'd either be captured again and resold or killed by some creature. If we took them with us, I suspect they'd be more of a hindrance than a help in combat. That could get one of us hurt or killed. I can't bear to see these people consigned to such an awful fate, but we need to be realistic."

Caelynn's voice shakes slightly but holds an air of finality. Her fists are clenched at her sides, nails digging into her palms. She has half a mind to shoot the guards then and there to try and break the prisoners free, but she knows that would be detrimental. Their group could potentially take on a handful of duergar, but it's all too likely that more are waiting in the shadows for an incursion to happen.

"We should go." The words pain her, and she stares at the ground in front of her, refusing to make eye contact.

Aimon sighs. They're right. If this was up above, they could rush in, free the slaves and be off into the woods before anyone could stop them. Here they were likely to just end up in some dead end next to a furnace and surrounded by duergar guards.

"Okay," he begins. "Where are Jimjar and Topsy? Did anyone see where they went?"

Just after Aimon's question, Jimjar and Topsy push their way through the crowd back to the group. In Jimjar's hands, you can see several masks. They look somewhat similar to be masks, but they aren't as bulky and they only cover the mouth and nose. He hands one out to every one but Trill. He says, "I spent twelve gold one these. None of the masks that vendor had would fit around your beak. Sorry."

 " Sold for 550 gold!" the auctioneer shouts. The guards grab hold of the slave and forces him down to the finely dressed goblin who bought him. The goblin runs his hands together excitedly as the slave is brought to him. One of the guards attaches a chain to the dollar and hands the other end to the goblin after the goblin hands him a large sack of gold. The goblin looks the slave up and down like one inspects a slice of meat. He begins to lead his slave away and he passes nearby you. You catch a snidbit of him talking in Undercommon when he passes, "... going to be delicious..."

 The auctioneer begins reading through his list again. 

The rhythmic hammering of the cities forges is drowned out by a thundering war and the sound of crumbling rock. Druergar and visitors or like turn to look as a 2 headed, gray skinned giant bursts through a gate, howling madly and lashing out left and right, littering the plaza with rock and stone debris. As he bellows, 1 of his swings connects with a Druergar soldier, who's body flies through the air and crashes near you with a sickening crunch.The

Roll initiative

6

Oak's initiative: 10 

Oak can't understand the goblin's words, but he sneers down at him as he passes. It probably goes unnoticed though, as he's so far above the creature. But then, all of a sudden, the plaza is thrown into disarray as the giant storms in....

Caelynn gratefully accepts the mask and fastens it over her face, relieved when she takes her first breath of somewhat fresh air. She balls her fists tighter as the goblin passes, glaring at him and fighting the urge to grab the chain from his hands. Suddenly, there's an echoing roar, and she snaps her head towards the sound, hands reflexively flying to her weapons.

Initiative: 6

"You're going to eat him?" Aimon shouts after the goblin as he passes, putting on the mask that Jimjar hands him. "Seriously?"

I get what Oak and Caelynn were saying, Aimon thinks to himself but even if they free this one and he gets captured again, he's still better off than being eaten. In the middle of deciding what to do next, the giant crashes through the gate, and all of a sudden a lot more possibilities open up.

Initiative:18 

Stone giant initiative: 14

Eldeth Initiative: 4

Jimjar Initiative: 20

Topsy initiative: 12

The giant roars in pain and terror, both of its tongues lolling around each of its mouths. It charges into the crowd and goes wild. His fists and feet lash out and strike bystanders as they scatter all directions. You hear screams and shouts as people in the market flee, sometimes knocking over stands to escape. Stone giant Attack: 15 Damage: 13, Attack: 12 Damage: 12. You watch as it stomps on a drow, crushing it to pulp. It the picks up a young Druergar women in a fine dress and hurls her. She sails over rooftops, screaming as she goes. 

All but two of the guards standing at the pen are crouches underneath masonry. The pull themselves to their feet, and then double in size with a grunt of exertion. The approach the stone giant and begin circling around it, looking for weaknesses. 

Eldeth shouts to the group, "What do we do!?

On his turn, if it seems like there’s enough commotion not to be noticed, and if the goblin slave-master is still just going past, Oak will simply try to cut him in half whilst making it look like an accident: just part of the movement of drawing his axe, and this little thing got caught in the way..,

Action (reckless attack): Attack: 23 Damage: 11 

Movement: Oak takes half a step towards the goblin, then if it dies, moves gingerly away from body and the giant.

If it works he’ll also wink at the freed slave.

He looks at Eldeth and the others... “Stay away from the giant!... ... and try and free the slaves if you can do it without drawing too much attention”.

Aimon moves to the slave pen, and if any guards are distracted by the giant, he tries opening the gate while dodging anything coming his way.

(Movement to the pen, action to open, bonus action - cunning action to Dodge)

Stealth:11 

Caelynn considers her next course of action. They probably don’t need all of them to free the slaves, and it might be a good idea to take down the giant before it gets to them. Plus, the two heads are unsettlingly familiar...

”Go! I’ll try and keep that thing away, and maybe take some of the attention off you while I’m at it.”

Caelynn darts in the opposite direction that Aimon went and tries to find something to climb on top of - a merchant stall, a low rooftop, wherever she will be the most visible. She then sends a gleaming purple arrow towards the giant, speaking some random magic-sounding words in elvish as she does so.

Attack: 24 Damage: 6 magical piercing + 6 psychic

(I’m going for flair here - trying to be a distraction)

Trill vanishes, before heading towards the slave pen. Kenku don't seem to be very common down here, she's sure to stand out if anyone spots her up to anything.

Invisible Stealth: 11

Oak, you whip out your axe with unnecessary vigor and "accidentally" remove the goblin's head from his shoulders. As his body slumps to the ground, the slave dives forward with a terrified expression on his face. He quickly grabs the goblin's hand holding the chain and then wraps his hands around it without saying anything, making sure that the goblin doesn't lose contact with the chain.

Aimon and Trill, you make your way to the slave pen seemingly unnoticed, but there is a lot going on for someone to mind Kroc vs you moving towards the cage. You see the cage is unlocked, and you open it. The slaves just stare at you with surprise on their faces. As you beckon for them to escape, several of them shake their heads while others gesture to the glowing collars around their necks.

Caelynn, you launch glowing arrows into its hardened hide as the Druergar attack the giant. You watch as the giant swings a heavy fist that knocks the head off of one of the guards. It sails through the air and is lost in the distance as the body falls to the ground and spasms. It then smacks the other guard to the ground and stomps in his chest, crushing him flat. You see two more enlarged guards rush out of the hole in the wall and engage the giant. They have ornate armor with glowing symbols etched in the elaborate armor. They wield strange lances, but the business end is wreathed in intense blue flames. As they rush the giant, you see one of the lances bump a rock from the wall, and the rock instantly melts into slag and magma. You see a few Druergar citizens run towards the guard and assist them with whatever they have in hand. Dwarven shouts and Giant screams fill the air.