Seeing that the situation has calmed down, Nicholas would then turn to the rest of the group and enquire about Stool's condition, "Is there nothing that can be done then? You mentioned some magic could help? Who or what do we need to find?"

“Um as I said I couldn’t be entirely sure,” Blurg stammers. “My best guess would be an um... divine spell of the more powerful design. I-I don’t um know anyone myself that might posses this... talent....” he continues before trailing off. 

As Blurg speaks, two Duergar crest the small hill that leads to the docks. One is the child who holds the hand of of a larger, male adult duergar. The adult is adorned in ornamental clothing with a large fur cloak and a headdress with three large shafts that poke outwards. He carries himself with grace, is relatively tall for a duergar, and has a long braided beard that almost reaches the ground. 

The pair reaches Jimjar and gives a nod of acknowledgment to the rest of the group. “Hello,” the adult says calmly with a deep voice. “My name is Baror and I am the representative of this village. I have been told by this little one here,” he says, indicating to the boy, “that you all have a problem. Tell me, how may I help you?” Baror asks. 

Thodek: Right now, with your skulking, neither seems to notice you— or at least not your tattoos.

What would you like to do? 

"Greetings, Baror, I am Syvis," she begins in her normal, detached monotone. "Our group travels to Neverlight Grove to return one in our care to his people. We happened upon our orcish companion here," she indicates Blurg, "who was able to teleport us here, roughly half the distance we still had to travel."

Stepping to the side to allow the duergar to see Stool, she continues.

"Most unfortunately, the one we are looking after reacted terribly to the spell and seems to be barely hanging on to life. We believe we are in need of a powerful cleric or priest to revive him as our attempts thus far have failed. Do you have any such person in your village?"

Thodek continues to try to avoid attention.

“Hmmm...” Baror muses as he looks at each of you inquisitively— stroking his beard. “I will see what I can do as I would consider myself to be the person who could perform such magic, but please first tell me what brings you here? What has caused you to choose here... Vin Badur as opposed to someplace like say... Gracklstugh? And also, where have you come from? Let us say I am... interested in your story based on such a... dare I say eclectic group.”

"As I said, we travel to Neverlight Grove and this location was conveniently half-way between where we were and where we are going. It was mere coincidence that Blurg, here, was familiar with your village and was able to grant us passage. I do not believe any of the rest of us are familiar with this place." She looks around at the group for reassurance. "As for where we come from... We come from many places -- some of us from the surface -- and we journey to return, each... or most to their own homes. It was most unfortunate circumstances which brought us together, but the gods have shown us favor in bringing us together. For without each other, every individual here would have perished long before reaching your shore."

“Ah,” Baror says a tinge of distrust to his voice. “I will admit I am not entirely happy with shall I say your... vagueness. I still however would hate to have a soul die like this— especially one so young. You do seem honest in that regard that you are a group in need. Now come, we can sort out the... details... later. Follow me, and I will see what we can do.” He says before turning and making his way back towards the village. Almost under his breath you hear “Perhaps later I will hear from more than one of you. What others have to say.”

Blurg slowly shuffles after Baror, looking towards the group for affirmation. Derendil follows suit, cradling Stool while Jimjar and the twins move closer as if ready to have a quick private conversation.

What would you like to do?

Nicholas would close ranks with the rest of the group and offer his thoughts, "I think we have little choice in the matter but to trust him. We certainly can't bring Stool along as it is. Perhaps with their help we will be able to find away to save our friend."

"That is the hope. All we can do is trust at this particular juncture."

Thodek nods his agreement, "I think its what we need to do, but I'm not certain what kind of welcome an exile will receive here. I'll follow for now, but if need be, I can wait outside the city for you all."

"Nonsense. You were exiled from your home. This is a long way from your home. I am certain they will understand," Syvis says with her usual flat, confident air.

Jimjar gives a silent nod before quickly moving to join closer behind Baror with Derendil. Baror does not look back, and is silent while he walks to your destination. At this point, the small duergar child has disappeared. 

Cresting the small hill that slopes to the docks, you reach Vin Badur proper. It is a small village. At the center, you can see the largest building— a religious or political structure of some sort. Then, almost in a ring surrounding that building is a set of smaller building each with smoke slowly trailing from their chimneys. This appears to be the commercial or trading area of the village. Finally, scattered randomly outwards from there is the smallest residential buildings where those who live in the village reside. 

Baror leads you down the hill and through the relatively bustling main square. A diverse smattering of creatures make their way through the area going about their day. As said earlier, it is definelty a small village, but as you walk through you can make out the likes of a provision store, a smithy, an inn/tavern, etc. 

Eventually you reach the main religious/political building. It has the crest of the Deepking— sovereign leader of Gracklstugh. Baror pushes through the two main doors and holds them open for the group, motioning for you to enter. “Please, enter.” He murmurs quietly. 

What would you like to do?

Not knowing anything of Duergar society and not recognizing the the crest on the building, Syvis scans the faces of the people she sees along the way to see if any others have tattoos similar to those of Thodek as well as to gauge reactions to seeing such a strange group walking through town.

Perception: 9
Insight: 22

Thodek follows along hesitantly, keeping his face turned down as much as possible, and feels his heart sink as he sees the crest.

You don’t see any creatures with tattoos as you walk the the village. There are a smattering of duergar, derro, kuo toa, and the occasional drow. Most seem to ignore you, but a couple give a quick glance as you pass. You notice however that they quickly go back to what they are doing after noticing Baror. In general, the vibe is that people are trying to avoid you because of your association with the religious/political leader of the village. 

Feeling still out of place here in the underdark, Nicholas would stick to the group as much as possible. His eyes dart about as he takes in all that is foreign to him and is hopeful for the first non hostile piece of civilization he has seen so far in the underdark.

Entering the building, you come to what appears to be a modest temple of sorts. There is a main room that narrows with a set of steps to a small elevated altar. On the walls there are tapestries depicting the history of the duergar in a mural of sorts that snakes along the walls of the entire building. Once you all enter, Baror steps inside and closes the entry doors with a creak. You see a small doorway in the far western portion of the building which you assume to be the entrance to a living area of some sort. 

“Welcome to Flamekeep,” he says holding out his hands and surveying the room. “Temple to Laduguer, and the only religious structure in Vin Badur. Only recently has the Deepking decided to spread his influence here... before the people of Vin Badur governed themselves. I have been sent as an attempt to reach out... to connect with our brethren in the hopes of building a prosperous relationship.” Baror then looks to the ground with a small chuckle. “Of course, the people here are resistant to change, but they will soon realize that their autonomy was less beneficial. Nothing comes easy though... Ladugeur does after all preach hard work.”

He then moves slowly towards the altar. “Anyway, sorry for an old man’s ramblings. I’m sure you all are anxious. Please, place the child on the altar. I will see what I can do...”

Syvis is watching Baror uneasily through all this after putting contextual clues together. She's now unsure about his intent.

Insight: 22

She glances over her shoulder at Thodek to see if he's reacted in any way to all this while trying to remember anything she may have previously learned about Ladugeur.

History/religion: 13

Syvis: First, you can’t remember much about Laduguer off of the top of your head. All you really know is he is a duergar deity, and one of the primary deties worshipped in Gracklstugh. 

Additionally, based what Baror is saying now it does seem like he may have ulterior movies. He wants to help your group, but you can tell he is really only doing it to help himself. It is hard to tell however exactly what his plan is. 

Thodek sighs quietly, but keeps silent, for now. But he considers spending time later circulating around the other citizens to spread Moradin’s forgiveness.