Captured by the drow! You wouldn't wish this fate upon anyone, yet here you are-locked in a dark cave, the cold, heavy weight of metal tight around your throat and wrists. You are not alone. Other prisoners are trapped in here with you, in an underground outpost far from the light of the sun.
Your captors include a cruel drow priestess who calls herself Mistress Ilvara of House Mizzrym. Over the past several days, you've met her several times, robed in silken garments and flanked by two male drow, one of whom has a mass of scars along one side of his face and neck.
Mistress Ilvara likes to impress her will with scourge in hand and remind you that your life now belongs to her. "Accept your fate, learn to obey, and you may survive." Her words echo in your memory, even as you plot your escape.
Xunhar has been here for 2 days. He has a shard of rock he could use as a crude dagger.
Maxmillian has been here for 1. He's managed to scavenge a single gold coin.
@denanstus has been here for 3.
(OOC: I need a character name)
The Kobolds Three have been here for 3.
They have a tarantula, and haven't decided whether it is edible.
Kozvul has been here for 9 days.
She has grabbed a 5 foot long scrap of dirty rope.
Armalis has been here for 9.
He also has a coin.
There are several other prisoners you could talk to. What would you like to do?
"But we can helps, we can," Zenga hissed softly to the guard. "We don't needs to be prisoner, we can volunteer! Makes tunnels better we does..."
"They has tunnels already though," Moxo points out.
"We can makes then better," Zenga replied, still quietly but also annoyed.
"But why we do that? We don't like them," Moxo asks.
"He's trying to get us free, dummy" Fred answers, forgetting to lower his voice.
Zenga digs the heels of his palms into he eyes and stifles a scream. After a loud sigh he continues. "We don't needs freedom," Zenga explains to the disinterested guard. "Just out of these collars and chains..."
"But isn't that freedoms?" Moxo asks.
Fred smacks the back of Moxo's head. "He's trying to convince them we won't try to escape," Fred points out.
"But we will," Moxo says bluntly.
"We won't!" Zenga shouts, turning to glower at Moxo.
"But we already has!" Moxo answers, oblivious to the subtleties of tone and deception. "We's already started trying to dig that tunnel back in the corner where we sleeps!"
Fred grabs Moxo by the scruff and starts dragging him away. Moxo's feet alternatively carving little paths in the dirt or kicking up little clouds when he kicks out. "Shut up you, you're getting us all in the troubles!" Fred snarls.
Zenga laughs and puts his hands up in surrender. "A jest... He jests... He can't spell it but he still does it!" Zenga assured the guard, who is still intently not listening at all. "Tunnel? Who said tunnel? There's of course no tunnels..." Zenga backs away slowly. "Just... a hole... A little hole. For warmth... and snuggling into. Sleeping in... Yeah, that's all... Definitely no tunnels..."
Zenga continues backing away until absolutely positive the guard is convinced. As far as any of the other prisoners can tell the guard was asleep and oblivious to the enter encounter. Zenga turns and sees a couple of the other prisoners looking at him, with mainly total disinterest. The way one would watch am ugly worm inch it's way across the floor when there was nothing else to do and you were already full and not looking for a snack. "We'll... We'll just be over there... Not doing anything... Everything's ok... Thanks guys!" Then Zenga hurries over to his brethren and they gather in an odd huddle with lots of snarling and bickering and shoving and scheming...
Kozvul's going to attempt to find one of the prisoners who's been located there the longest. If she's able to find them, she will approach them and say "I'm sorry to bother you, but there's something important I wanted to discuss with you, if you're willing to spare a minute of peace to talk to me." She laughs, barely, to alleviate the tension.
A half orc male lies on his side on the floor of the cave, weighing the prospect of escape against another lashing, and death. It's impossible to find a comfortable position with the collar and shackles, and so he keeps turning this way and that, searching for a moment's respite from this constant torment.
If I live to have a dog, I swear I'll not put it in a collar.
In truth, a little dog food sounds mighty pleasant right now.
He fidgets with the little coin in his pocket. A worn and dirty thing, he'd found it buried in the mud alongside a decrepit boot. Heads, tails, heads, tails, it speaks a binary language of yes's and no's. A single gold coin, buried so far underground. He'd thought to use it to bribe a guard, but what good is coin here? He almost chuckles aloud, imagining purchasing a beer at the nearby underground slave bar.
Because that's what he is now. A slave to the drow. They'd heard of such horrors growing up in Neverwinter, what with the Chasm's ever-present maw open to the Underdark. But stories like that just didn't seem real.
He thinks of his lover Nataly, and her unexplained disappearance. Had she been abducted into a similar fate?
Pssst, he calls to the kobolds. "I'd lay low if I were you. No, that's.... it's just an expression. It means don't draw attention to yourself! You can tell these guards have a serious hard on for punishment. That means... eh, aw hell it means they like it and they're looking for an excuse to whip us. Say, what're your names? I'm Armalis. Call me Armie."
Moxo yips loudly and jumps into the air when he hears Kozul approach. Spinning and baring his teeth, even as he backs up to press against his brothers, he hisses "Wasn't me! What you want? Go 'way! It's ours!"
Fred jabs his elbow into Moxo's ribs and gives the kobold approximation of a smile. "Ignore him, his brain hasn't hatched yet..."
"But yes, what do you want?" Zenga asks calmly, stroking his chin as if he had a beard... Or at least some stubble.
The three listen to Kozul apologize for the interruption and inquire about how long they have been there while at first jostling each other to try to not be in front, then when they find it's a friendly encounter more operating and moving to different sides of Kozul, looking them up and down.
"Dunno. Not telling. None of your business!" Moxo answers, striving to be the first to speak. Then more quietly, turning to look at the other two, wondering "How long has we been here?"
Zenga clears his throat academically, he hopes, and looks up and to the left as if he was pondering a great issue. "Curious, curious aren't you? You have potential, I think. You know... If we worked together..."
"Five days. Maybe six," Fred answers, using his fingers to double check his math. "Longer than you. Not as long as some..."
"He's been here longer!" Moxo bursts out, pointing to one of the other prisoners. "And them... and them... and them too!"
"Yes, yes. Some longer, some shorter, all prisoners. If all of us, or at least a good sized group of us could work together..." Zenga says thoughtfully.
"But not him! He's one of them!" Moxo exclaims pointing at an obviously Drow prisoner. "Must be a plant. Or a spy! Or here to listen to us!"
Fred shoves him over with a growl. "Shuddup. And no pointing! It's rude."
"And dangerous," Zenga adds.
"Rude and dangerous!" Fred clarifies. "Both at once!"
"Quite right," Zenga agrees. "As for working together though... Do you think a tarantula would be beneficial to getting out of this situation, or best used as a taster treat?"
"Not that we have one!" Moxo squeaks, before Kozvul can answer. Climbing to his feet and dusting himself off Moxo adds "Not that we don't have one either. Not telling! Nope, a secret!"
"A little obvious, don't you think?" Fred asks in exasperation... "But no, you don't think. So shut yer trap about spiders and other stuff you know nothing about. Which is everything!"
The three kobolds inevitably ended up in a huddle of bickers and snarling and Draconic insults and gestures. Undoubtedly Kozvul, exasperated and at an end of their patience, eventually wanders off to inquire with someone else. "But if you do want to work together... We're eager!" Zenga calls after them before getting pulled back into the bickering...
------
Quickly backing up in a group when the dangerous, burly looking half orc speaks to them, they all stare in silence for a long moment, afraid to respond. After a moment Moxo starts crawling down to the ground, Fred also starts to lie down before the Half Orc clarifies. Fred immediately gets back to his feet, Moxo is much more slow to come around and still very dubious when he finally does so.
"Ah yes. Hello sir. Armalis. Armie Armalis. Sir. Well yes... We are very much so against whips. Specifically being whipped," Zenga says, finally gathering the courage to converse.
"And you, too," Fred says. "Not against you! I didn't meant that."
"No, of course he didn't" Zenga adds quickly.
"Of course! Against you being whipped, I meant," Fred added.
"Unless you deserved it," Moxo adds, wanting to be a part of things.
"Yes, unless you... no! No, no!" Fred says, emphatically. "We are of course against him being whipped!"
"We are?" Moxo asks.
"We are!" Zenga adds. "We never want potential allies being whipped..."
"Is he?" Fred asks.
"Why?" Molo asks at the same time.
Zenga ignores them both. "I am Zenga, master arcane speller of our warren.."
"Though we've lost our warren," Moxo adds.
"We're not lost," Zenga clarifies. "Merely abducted from it... or it's regions, anyway."
"I'm Fred," Fred says stepping up to stand bravely behind Zenga... "Healer. Soother. Conduit to the unknown.. Which for this one is everything."
"I know which of us I'll be volunteering to feed the... giant spiders or whatever else lives down here." She says under her breath.
Having been pointed to the more veteran prisoners, Kozvul will approach Maxmillian.
"The Kobolds were no help, but they said you've been here a while. I assume that means you're... developing a way out? Because we're gonna die in here if we don't escape, whether or not we 'learn to obey'."She looks down at the ground and starts shifting the dirt with her muddy shoes."I don't mean to be so forward it's just... time is of the essence."
Maximillian is a middle aged man of surprising fitness. The lack of food is cutting away fat and muscle both, but it’s far from gone. His jawline is meant for super models, and his teeth make for a smile to charm nuns. His hair looks long, and dirty, but the dark curls veined with silver are about as handsome as one could hope. The rags make for a less appealing presentation...
Max glances at Kozvul with a wry grin. “I was thinking I’d eat their bug in a heartbeat just now.”
”Maximilian.” He offers his hand. “And I think those Kobolds will be important. Natural tunnel dwelling folk, you know. We won’t get out of here with words, so it won’t matter that they’re... a bit tactless.” He produces a coin. “We need to find out where weapons are kept. And get those Kobolds to digging.”
(Have we seen anything other than this cage? What kind of slaving do we do?)
"They may have their uses, but they're far from cooperative with each other. And the constant bickering. If we hope to get out of here undetected-"
She sighs.
"I've just spent a lot of time in the wilderness. Loud companions can be," She shrugs "Y'know... a liability. But you're the veteran prisoner here. If you're not worried, I won't be either."
There's little Xunhar remembers from before a tenday ago... He was picking mushrooms in a cave, the sound of a nearby waterfall muffling the usual Underdark echoes, then suddenly the sting, a bold stuck into his skin, the drowsiness, of course, drow poison...
The now malnourished young drow shifts uncomfortably in his chains at the back of the cave from time to time, he had spent days trying to loose the chains to no avail, then after giving up, he used the chains to break off a shard of rock from the wall, carefully hiding it under his white mane of hair. Not one to talk too much, his eerie blue eyes are usually staring from the dark corner of the cave he's stuck in, wondering what sort of deal this cursed Mizzrym has with his family. Spending the locked up days with his thoughts alone, he eventually gave up when chatter became too much to bear silently.
Xunhar suddenly barks at the kobolds pointing at him, "Mind your tongue little one, I am no planted spy. And maybe, among all of us here, I'm the one with least time left to live under our captors.", taking a measure of the others imprisoned here, he stands up and speaks in a humorless tone, "You kivvin are begging to die, aren't you? I'm not sure what sort of bad idea got you here in the first place, but escaping into the Underdark aimlessly is certainly what will get you all killed.", he sighs, "This is the land of Lolth, and no one escapes her web."
(OOC:A description of your co-prisoners: a derro who is much saner than most of his kind, a quaggoth who actually seems quite civilized, a female dwarf, one adult deep gnome and 2 twin deep gnome children, an orc, a drow, a koa-toa who actually is probably one of the sanest among you, and a mushroom, about 1 foot diameter, with legs.
You haven't actually had to do work yet.)
A surly drow dressed in fine armor comes to the door of your pen and rattles the bars. He sneers "Alright, time for you scum to earn your keep. You, you, you, and you three, come with me." He points to the gnome twins, Maxmillian and the Kobold Three.
"Well you weren't quiet," Fred said, punching Moxo in the arm.
"You didn't tell me to be! And Ow...." Moxo complained.
"Shush, the both of you!" Zenga said with authority. Turning to look at the Drow who claims to be a prisoner, and not a spy at all, Zenga slowly raises his hand up and attempts to politely clear his throat. "Ummm, yes. Excuse me Mr. ummm. Sir... Yes, well... Umm, what is a 'kivven', as you say? And... perhaps you hadn't noticed but we're in tunnels, not a web. Webs are much stickier and... well... not tunnels."
"You shouldn't correct him. He looks mean," Fred suggests quietly.
"He's definitely mean," Moxo says, forgetting the quiet part.
"Mean or not, if he could help us...." Zenga began before being interrupted by a guard calling them scum.
"That one is definitely mean," Moxo says of the guard.
"It's his job to be mean," Fred offers.
"Shush... Just... Do what he says but also keep your eyes open and watch everything," Zenga says in Draconic and a hushed voice. "The more we see, the more we learn, the better..."
Damn it. The little ones have drawn attention. Armalis feels a strong paternal instinct kick in. He nonchalantly tucks one leg under his body, positioning himself to spring up.
"Where are you taking them?" he ventures, feeling bold.
The guard opens the door long enough for the 6 to exit. "I'm taking them to start their new lives. Don't you try anything", he says to everyone else, his crossbow leveled to shoot. After they exit, he slams and locks the door behind them.
Kobolds and Max:
You are taken to do all manner of menial work, some of which is obviously just to annoy you. Make Perception Checks. If there is anything you would like to do during the 8 hours of work, let me know. Otherwise, we'll skip to the end.
Vanros stirred softly as he rolled for what was the 50th time in the last 3 hours. He had not gotten much sleep for the last few nights, as his complexion had begun to take a slightly sickly look. For a middle aged half elf, his charm was still there, with not much sign of age showing beyond a slight set of wrinkles on his forehead from raising his eyebrows too much. His short goatee had begun to get a bit rougher, as his clothes had some wear on them. Eventually, he woke up, his cheatnut brown eyes blinking heavily as bags continued to form. He glanced in the directions of the kobolds leaving, sighing softly. "Maybe now I can sleep..." He whispered, yawning and stretching a bit before laying back down.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Max
Perception 12 not sure if this is at disadvantage being in the dark so here’s a second roll 5 Max is going to see what he can of who comes and goes, and keep an eye on what might make for an improvised weapon. Definitely watching for keys. He’ll try to spend some time talking to the gnome twins. “You two look sharp. I’m Max. I hope you can see we are all friends in bondage here. But we don’t have to stay in bondage if you can tell me when you see something useful. Eh?”
You think you might be able to break the rock to make a dagger. In addition, you have to clean in the armory. You personally can't sneak anything out, but you think the kobolds or Kozvul might be able to grab something. The gnomes don't respond, but the female looks curiously at you. You think they might not speak common. There are roughly 20 drow in the outpost, and roughly a dozen quaggoth guards.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Kobold Perception: 9 - using fighter stats for all non-casting rolls so as not to cherry pick amongst them..
The three kobolds keep up their constant chattering, slipping to draconic whispers when talking about things best not overheard. Despite how they seem, the three are all very used to living underground and traversing tunnels and use this to take as careful not as possible of the layout of the areas they’re taken to and through, trying to make a mental map. Their bickering and chattering is often a deliberate distraction for the one not involved to pay special attention to landmarks, try to peek down paths they don’t take, remember faces, etc... being annoying can be useful to grab someone’s attention for someone else to be overlooked. And honestly, if annoying long enough, everyone eventually stops paying you any mind sat all...
They do not bicker of complain when given assignments. They act eager and happy to assist, and put in as much effort as they can. They are used to long hours on communal projects and they view this as nothing different. Well, they act as such anyway. They still chatter and argue, but they put in as much work as possible and never talk back to the guards, being a bit overly subservient to them if anything...
((will add a bit of RP when home but wanted to get the roll, obedience and watchfulness in...))
As you work, you get a pretty good idea of the layout of the place:
There are 19 drow, 12 quaggoths, and several giant spiders. One of the male drow, a man who once was handsome but who has been disfigured by ugly scars, seems to hate Ilvara and her current consort. You figure you might be able to get him to help you, if you're careful. In addition, while cleaning, you're taken into the armory. You think you could grab something, but you would need somewhere to hide it.
You do notice the guards nodding approvingly, and one of them says "Finally. Slaves that know their place."
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Captured by the drow! You wouldn't wish this fate upon anyone, yet here you are-locked in a dark cave, the cold, heavy weight of metal tight around your throat and wrists. You are not alone. Other prisoners are trapped in here with you, in an underground outpost far from the light of the sun.
Your captors include a cruel drow priestess who calls herself Mistress Ilvara of House Mizzrym. Over the past several days, you've met her several times, robed in silken garments and flanked by two male drow, one of whom has a mass of scars along one side of his face and neck.
Mistress Ilvara likes to impress her will with scourge in hand and remind you that your life now belongs to her. "Accept your fate, learn to obey, and you may survive." Her words echo in your memory, even as you plot your escape.
Xunhar has been here for 2 days. He has a shard of rock he could use as a crude dagger.
Maxmillian has been here for 1. He's managed to scavenge a single gold coin.
@denanstus has been here for 3.
(OOC: I need a character name)
The Kobolds Three have been here for 3.
They have a tarantula, and haven't decided whether it is edible.
Kozvul has been here for 9 days.
She has grabbed a 5 foot long scrap of dirty rope.
Armalis has been here for 9.
He also has a coin.
There are several other prisoners you could talk to. What would you like to do?
"But we can helps, we can," Zenga hissed softly to the guard. "We don't needs to be prisoner, we can volunteer! Makes tunnels better we does..."
"They has tunnels already though," Moxo points out.
"We can makes then better," Zenga replied, still quietly but also annoyed.
"But why we do that? We don't like them," Moxo asks.
"He's trying to get us free, dummy" Fred answers, forgetting to lower his voice.
Zenga digs the heels of his palms into he eyes and stifles a scream. After a loud sigh he continues. "We don't needs freedom," Zenga explains to the disinterested guard. "Just out of these collars and chains..."
"But isn't that freedoms?" Moxo asks.
Fred smacks the back of Moxo's head. "He's trying to convince them we won't try to escape," Fred points out.
"But we will," Moxo says bluntly.
"We won't!" Zenga shouts, turning to glower at Moxo.
"But we already has!" Moxo answers, oblivious to the subtleties of tone and deception. "We's already started trying to dig that tunnel back in the corner where we sleeps!"
Fred grabs Moxo by the scruff and starts dragging him away. Moxo's feet alternatively carving little paths in the dirt or kicking up little clouds when he kicks out. "Shut up you, you're getting us all in the troubles!" Fred snarls.
Zenga laughs and puts his hands up in surrender. "A jest... He jests... He can't spell it but he still does it!" Zenga assured the guard, who is still intently not listening at all. "Tunnel? Who said tunnel? There's of course no tunnels..." Zenga backs away slowly. "Just... a hole... A little hole. For warmth... and snuggling into. Sleeping in... Yeah, that's all... Definitely no tunnels..."
Zenga continues backing away until absolutely positive the guard is convinced. As far as any of the other prisoners can tell the guard was asleep and oblivious to the enter encounter. Zenga turns and sees a couple of the other prisoners looking at him, with mainly total disinterest. The way one would watch am ugly worm inch it's way across the floor when there was nothing else to do and you were already full and not looking for a snack. "We'll... We'll just be over there... Not doing anything... Everything's ok... Thanks guys!" Then Zenga hurries over to his brethren and they gather in an odd huddle with lots of snarling and bickering and shoving and scheming...
Kozvul's going to attempt to find one of the prisoners who's been located there the longest. If she's able to find them, she will approach them and say "I'm sorry to bother you, but there's something important I wanted to discuss with you, if you're willing to spare a minute of peace to talk to me." She laughs, barely, to alleviate the tension.
A half orc male lies on his side on the floor of the cave, weighing the prospect of escape against another lashing, and death. It's impossible to find a comfortable position with the collar and shackles, and so he keeps turning this way and that, searching for a moment's respite from this constant torment.
If I live to have a dog, I swear I'll not put it in a collar.
In truth, a little dog food sounds mighty pleasant right now.
He fidgets with the little coin in his pocket. A worn and dirty thing, he'd found it buried in the mud alongside a decrepit boot. Heads, tails, heads, tails, it speaks a binary language of yes's and no's. A single gold coin, buried so far underground. He'd thought to use it to bribe a guard, but what good is coin here? He almost chuckles aloud, imagining purchasing a beer at the nearby underground slave bar.
Because that's what he is now. A slave to the drow. They'd heard of such horrors growing up in Neverwinter, what with the Chasm's ever-present maw open to the Underdark. But stories like that just didn't seem real.
He thinks of his lover Nataly, and her unexplained disappearance. Had she been abducted into a similar fate?
Pssst, he calls to the kobolds. "I'd lay low if I were you. No, that's.... it's just an expression. It means don't draw attention to yourself! You can tell these guards have a serious hard on for punishment. That means... eh, aw hell it means they like it and they're looking for an excuse to whip us. Say, what're your names? I'm Armalis. Call me Armie."
Moxo yips loudly and jumps into the air when he hears Kozul approach. Spinning and baring his teeth, even as he backs up to press against his brothers, he hisses "Wasn't me! What you want? Go 'way! It's ours!"
Fred jabs his elbow into Moxo's ribs and gives the kobold approximation of a smile. "Ignore him, his brain hasn't hatched yet..."
"But yes, what do you want?" Zenga asks calmly, stroking his chin as if he had a beard... Or at least some stubble.
The three listen to Kozul apologize for the interruption and inquire about how long they have been there while at first jostling each other to try to not be in front, then when they find it's a friendly encounter more operating and moving to different sides of Kozul, looking them up and down.
"Dunno. Not telling. None of your business!" Moxo answers, striving to be the first to speak. Then more quietly, turning to look at the other two, wondering "How long has we been here?"
Zenga clears his throat academically, he hopes, and looks up and to the left as if he was pondering a great issue. "Curious, curious aren't you? You have potential, I think. You know... If we worked together..."
"Five days. Maybe six," Fred answers, using his fingers to double check his math. "Longer than you. Not as long as some..."
"He's been here longer!" Moxo bursts out, pointing to one of the other prisoners. "And them... and them... and them too!"
"Yes, yes. Some longer, some shorter, all prisoners. If all of us, or at least a good sized group of us could work together..." Zenga says thoughtfully.
"But not him! He's one of them!" Moxo exclaims pointing at an obviously Drow prisoner. "Must be a plant. Or a spy! Or here to listen to us!"
Fred shoves him over with a growl. "Shuddup. And no pointing! It's rude."
"And dangerous," Zenga adds.
"Rude and dangerous!" Fred clarifies. "Both at once!"
"Quite right," Zenga agrees. "As for working together though... Do you think a tarantula would be beneficial to getting out of this situation, or best used as a taster treat?"
"Not that we have one!" Moxo squeaks, before Kozvul can answer. Climbing to his feet and dusting himself off Moxo adds "Not that we don't have one either. Not telling! Nope, a secret!"
"A little obvious, don't you think?" Fred asks in exasperation... "But no, you don't think. So shut yer trap about spiders and other stuff you know nothing about. Which is everything!"
The three kobolds inevitably ended up in a huddle of bickers and snarling and Draconic insults and gestures. Undoubtedly Kozvul, exasperated and at an end of their patience, eventually wanders off to inquire with someone else. "But if you do want to work together... We're eager!" Zenga calls after them before getting pulled back into the bickering...
------
Quickly backing up in a group when the dangerous, burly looking half orc speaks to them, they all stare in silence for a long moment, afraid to respond. After a moment Moxo starts crawling down to the ground, Fred also starts to lie down before the Half Orc clarifies. Fred immediately gets back to his feet, Moxo is much more slow to come around and still very dubious when he finally does so.
"Ah yes. Hello sir. Armalis. Armie Armalis. Sir. Well yes... We are very much so against whips. Specifically being whipped," Zenga says, finally gathering the courage to converse.
"And you, too," Fred says. "Not against you! I didn't meant that."
"No, of course he didn't" Zenga adds quickly.
"Of course! Against you being whipped, I meant," Fred added.
"Unless you deserved it," Moxo adds, wanting to be a part of things.
"Yes, unless you... no! No, no!" Fred says, emphatically. "We are of course against him being whipped!"
"We are?" Moxo asks.
"We are!" Zenga adds. "We never want potential allies being whipped..."
"Is he?" Fred asks.
"Why?" Molo asks at the same time.
Zenga ignores them both. "I am Zenga, master arcane speller of our warren.."
"Though we've lost our warren," Moxo adds.
"We're not lost," Zenga clarifies. "Merely abducted from it... or it's regions, anyway."
"I'm Fred," Fred says stepping up to stand bravely behind Zenga... "Healer. Soother. Conduit to the unknown.. Which for this one is everything."
"Moxo!" Moxo squeaks, still keeping his distance.
"I know which of us I'll be volunteering to feed the... giant spiders or whatever else lives down here." She says under her breath.
Having been pointed to the more veteran prisoners, Kozvul will approach Maxmillian.
"The Kobolds were no help, but they said you've been here a while. I assume that means you're... developing a way out? Because we're gonna die in here if we don't escape, whether or not we 'learn to obey'." She looks down at the ground and starts shifting the dirt with her muddy shoes. "I don't mean to be so forward it's just... time is of the essence."
((Sorry, was posting when you did... Updated it to respond to you!))
Maximillian is a middle aged man of surprising fitness. The lack of food is cutting away fat and muscle both, but it’s far from gone. His jawline is meant for super models, and his teeth make for a smile to charm nuns. His hair looks long, and dirty, but the dark curls veined with silver are about as handsome as one could hope. The rags make for a less appealing presentation...
Max glances at Kozvul with a wry grin. “I was thinking I’d eat their bug in a heartbeat just now.”
”Maximilian.” He offers his hand. “And I think those Kobolds will be important. Natural tunnel dwelling folk, you know. We won’t get out of here with words, so it won’t matter that they’re... a bit tactless.” He produces a coin. “We need to find out where weapons are kept. And get those Kobolds to digging.”
(Have we seen anything other than this cage? What kind of slaving do we do?)
Paladin - warforged - orange
Kozvul gives a strained smile.
"They may have their uses, but they're far from cooperative with each other. And the constant bickering. If we hope to get out of here undetected-"
She sighs.
"I've just spent a lot of time in the wilderness. Loud companions can be," She shrugs "Y'know... a liability. But you're the veteran prisoner here. If you're not worried, I won't be either."
There's little Xunhar remembers from before a tenday ago... He was picking mushrooms in a cave, the sound of a nearby waterfall muffling the usual Underdark echoes, then suddenly the sting, a bold stuck into his skin, the drowsiness, of course, drow poison...
The now malnourished young drow shifts uncomfortably in his chains at the back of the cave from time to time, he had spent days trying to loose the chains to no avail, then after giving up, he used the chains to break off a shard of rock from the wall, carefully hiding it under his white mane of hair. Not one to talk too much, his eerie blue eyes are usually staring from the dark corner of the cave he's stuck in, wondering what sort of deal this cursed Mizzrym has with his family. Spending the locked up days with his thoughts alone, he eventually gave up when chatter became too much to bear silently.
Xunhar suddenly barks at the kobolds pointing at him, "Mind your tongue little one, I am no planted spy. And maybe, among all of us here, I'm the one with least time left to live under our captors.", taking a measure of the others imprisoned here, he stands up and speaks in a humorless tone, "You kivvin are begging to die, aren't you? I'm not sure what sort of bad idea got you here in the first place, but escaping into the Underdark aimlessly is certainly what will get you all killed.", he sighs, "This is the land of Lolth, and no one escapes her web."
Art Portfolio
(OOC:A description of your co-prisoners: a derro who is much saner than most of his kind, a quaggoth who actually seems quite civilized, a female dwarf, one adult deep gnome and 2 twin deep gnome children, an orc, a drow, a koa-toa who actually is probably one of the sanest among you, and a mushroom, about 1 foot diameter, with legs.
You haven't actually had to do work yet.)
A surly drow dressed in fine armor comes to the door of your pen and rattles the bars. He sneers "Alright, time for you scum to earn your keep. You, you, you, and you three, come with me." He points to the gnome twins, Maxmillian and the Kobold Three.
"He heard us!" Moxo says, ducking behind Zenga.
"Well you weren't quiet," Fred said, punching Moxo in the arm.
"You didn't tell me to be! And Ow...." Moxo complained.
"Shush, the both of you!" Zenga said with authority. Turning to look at the Drow who claims to be a prisoner, and not a spy at all, Zenga slowly raises his hand up and attempts to politely clear his throat. "Ummm, yes. Excuse me Mr. ummm. Sir... Yes, well... Umm, what is a 'kivven', as you say? And... perhaps you hadn't noticed but we're in tunnels, not a web. Webs are much stickier and... well... not tunnels."
"You shouldn't correct him. He looks mean," Fred suggests quietly.
"He's definitely mean," Moxo says, forgetting the quiet part.
"Mean or not, if he could help us...." Zenga began before being interrupted by a guard calling them scum.
"That one is definitely mean," Moxo says of the guard.
"It's his job to be mean," Fred offers.
"Shush... Just... Do what he says but also keep your eyes open and watch everything," Zenga says in Draconic and a hushed voice. "The more we see, the more we learn, the better..."
“Come along little kivven, it’s time to work for our pay!” Max does some “pspsps” at the Kobolds like he’s calling cats.
Paladin - warforged - orange
Damn it. The little ones have drawn attention. Armalis feels a strong paternal instinct kick in. He nonchalantly tucks one leg under his body, positioning himself to spring up.
"Where are you taking them?" he ventures, feeling bold.
The guard opens the door long enough for the 6 to exit. "I'm taking them to start their new lives. Don't you try anything", he says to everyone else, his crossbow leveled to shoot. After they exit, he slams and locks the door behind them.
Kobolds and Max:
You are taken to do all manner of menial work, some of which is obviously just to annoy you. Make Perception Checks. If there is anything you would like to do during the 8 hours of work, let me know. Otherwise, we'll skip to the end.
Vanros stirred softly as he rolled for what was the 50th time in the last 3 hours. He had not gotten much sleep for the last few nights, as his complexion had begun to take a slightly sickly look. For a middle aged half elf, his charm was still there, with not much sign of age showing beyond a slight set of wrinkles on his forehead from raising his eyebrows too much. His short goatee had begun to get a bit rougher, as his clothes had some wear on them. Eventually, he woke up, his cheatnut brown eyes blinking heavily as bags continued to form. He glanced in the directions of the kobolds leaving, sighing softly. "Maybe now I can sleep..." He whispered, yawning and stretching a bit before laying back down.
Max
Perception 12 not sure if this is at disadvantage being in the dark so here’s a second roll 5
Max is going to see what he can of who comes and goes, and keep an eye on what might make for an improvised weapon. Definitely watching for keys.
He’ll try to spend some time talking to the gnome twins. “You two look sharp. I’m Max. I hope you can see we are all friends in bondage here. But we don’t have to stay in bondage if you can tell me when you see something useful. Eh?”
Paladin - warforged - orange
Max:
You think you might be able to break the rock to make a dagger. In addition, you have to clean in the armory. You personally can't sneak anything out, but you think the kobolds or Kozvul might be able to grab something. The gnomes don't respond, but the female looks curiously at you. You think they might not speak common. There are roughly 20 drow in the outpost, and roughly a dozen quaggoth guards.
Kobold Perception: 9 - using fighter stats for all non-casting rolls so as not to cherry pick amongst them..
The three kobolds keep up their constant chattering, slipping to draconic whispers when talking about things best not overheard. Despite how they seem, the three are all very used to living underground and traversing tunnels and use this to take as careful not as possible of the layout of the areas they’re taken to and through, trying to make a mental map. Their bickering and chattering is often a deliberate distraction for the one not involved to pay special attention to landmarks, try to peek down paths they don’t take, remember faces, etc... being annoying can be useful to grab someone’s attention for someone else to be overlooked. And honestly, if annoying long enough, everyone eventually stops paying you any mind sat all...
They do not bicker of complain when given assignments. They act eager and happy to assist, and put in as much effort as they can. They are used to long hours on communal projects and they view this as nothing different. Well, they act as such anyway. They still chatter and argue, but they put in as much work as possible and never talk back to the guards, being a bit overly subservient to them if anything...
((will add a bit of RP when home but wanted to get the roll, obedience and watchfulness in...))
Kobolds:
As you work, you get a pretty good idea of the layout of the place:
There are 19 drow, 12 quaggoths, and several giant spiders. One of the male drow, a man who once was handsome but who has been disfigured by ugly scars, seems to hate Ilvara and her current consort. You figure you might be able to get him to help you, if you're careful. In addition, while cleaning, you're taken into the armory. You think you could grab something, but you would need somewhere to hide it.
You do notice the guards nodding approvingly, and one of them says "Finally. Slaves that know their place."