Morning, Kelehess 1st - Night, Kelehess 3rd
(5 total days survived)
(5 total days survived)
Breakfast
The Hand of Doom escorted their guests down a great hall and into an open quarter with several offshoots, to a long table with a great map of the empire riddled with strategic markings and pins. There they all sat, scions and commanders, with many more dark races and drow lingering around them. It seemed for every one the group killed, three took their place, and more passed in and out of a far, dark passage. Just how big was this organization? Just what was its true purposes?
Emaciated servants, pale and sickly, carried huge trays of food, some laden with surface delicacies and others with Underdark delicacies, to the table. Their heads were entirely covered by black, mesh bags, giving them a disturbing quality. None ever spoke, and often winced.
Situated, Hulda happened to match glances with the orc commander Mazdur. Red eyes met blue as they fought for visual dominance, but Hulda soon shied away, suddenly and uncomfortably reminded that she was just a girl, despite all she'd been through in sixteen years and two days.
No Dildos on the Table, Please
Giers made an off comment that provoked Lhekrina into a show of her sexual deviancy, and she teased the ethrey with her dildo rod. Kaylan, quite offended, made her feelings known, at which point the dark elf plopped the glass penis between the cleric and paladin and assured the young half-elf that she would gladly teach her how to use it as readily as she would teach Giers.
Haxlound, the hob commander, insisted they return to more important matters.
Discussing the Accord
Lhekrina and Haxlound discussed the accord, or rather dictated it to the scions. The group would remain in The Screaming Caves for one week, which brought more than a few protests. During that time the identities of Isabella and Takeshi would be varified. If they proved true, The Hand would personally escort everyone home via the Underdark, in return for secret alliances with Saspien and Atha.
Little Miss Diplomat
Isabella, sensing what a bad situation they were in, truly a lose/lose, protested several times. Her outcries fell on deaf ears, leaving her frustrated and somewhat depressed. She knew well enough that when her identity was proven, she could just as easily be used as an expensive ransom than an "ally". In fact she suspected the former and drowned her sorrows in dark elven wine.
Attempted Rape
As conversation continued, the bugbear commander began hitting on Takeshi beside her. She wouldn't take the hints (his horrified expressions) and moved with increasing insistence, until which point Arshagouhl tore off her top leathers and lunged for him. He managed an impressive aerial maneuver to avoid her and the bugbear tackled Mazdur instead. The two fell to the ground in a a tussel.
Eating Contest
In the same moment, tensions snapped between Hulda and the ogre commander Batenhk, who'd both been systematically clearing every edible item off the table. He reached for the pheasant, which was in the half-giant's hands, and it was on. The two of them leaped onto the table and began shoving everything they could down their throats. The ogre eventually won out, though, having eaten plates, goblets, and even a leg of the table itself.
Haxlound's Ultimatum
The hob laid down very clear limits to where the group could go, a tight reign excluding the South Wing and of course the stairs and outside. They were also forbidden to explore the Underdark, though it would have been a wonder that the group would delve into it for "fun". They soon found they weren't much welcomed in The North Wing, either, as the general troops didn't like the scions much at all.
Drow Quarters
Lhekrina offered the group her drow's private chambers, bringing a multitude of hushed outcries from the dark elves, who now were forced to live in the smelly, soiled barracks and use the same latrines ogres and bugbears used. One drow male spoke up incredulously, a prince of the sixth house so he said, and Lhekrina snapped. She tore up and lashed him with her scourge, scarring his previously perfect face. He slinked back into the arms of his shadowy counterparts and stalked off.
Lhekrina in the lead, she took the group to their rooms, truly the nicest room in all The Screaming Caves. Well-furnished with expensive furniture, bedded with fine linens, sporting a claw-foot table and chairs, two dressers and even a man-sized mirror, it wasn't entirely terrible... but there were no windows. In fact, it was very obvious they were deep underground, a sensation of entombment that would quicklt wear on the group.
Tuckered-Out Takeshi
Takeshi was bidden to remain with Lhekrina, where he initiated in aggressive negotiations, in part feeling responsible for the group's current situation but knowing had he not made a deal they'd be dead. Every night for three days he met with the drow commander, fighting to somehow release the others from the accord and burden himself with whatever else she desired.
Every night he would come back late, utterly exhausted, and pass out as soon as his head hit the pillow. Rumors of what he might be doing spread not just within the group...
Day One
Day one was a general settling in, Isabella's hangover, some games of chance on the part of the siblings and Portia's initial scout of the accessible area. Not even twenty-four hours and half the group was squirming from the lack of sunlight, fresh air and sky. Much time was spent in their borrowed room, not really feeling safe anywhere else.
Passage into the Underdark
The deep, dark passage in the upper corner of the command post was soon revealed to be a gate into The Underdark itself, which The Hand of Doom used as their secret highway across the hostile imperial region. Troops of The Hand's five races (orc, hob, bugbear, ogre and drow) passed in and out every few hours, calling into question just how large the organization was and where exactly the known commanders ranked in the hierarchy.
Screaming
The South Wing was the origin for much screaming, muted explosions, surging energy and even roars. A heavy contingent of hobgoblins always guarded the wing's entrance, suffering none to pass. Haxlound often passed in and out, calling it his domain and warning the scions to stay out. No doubt something diabolical went on within.
Day Two
By the second day, Kaylan and especially Giers were going stir crazy. Darkness and stone seemed to surround them, squeeze them even, and even Isabella, a daughter of Saspien, felt a gloom settle over her. The boggart seemed at home enough, though, and the half-giant didn't complain much either.
The Mystery Door
Portia sneaked often through the compound, following Lhekrina when she could. She found the drow commander often visited a magically-sealed door behind crates that could only be opened by a special key looking like a fingerbone. Though her thieving skills were ample, Portia had to regroup and form a plan for pickpocketing it, as Lhekrina kept the key safe in her nethers.
Hulda's New Maul
Hulda began making nice with a certain ogre and his crew of bugbear and orc mates, who played bones every night. Wanting to trade out her makeshift club for something nicer, Hulda joined in, testing her strength and her dice hand. Though she failed to claim anything the first night in the caves, on the second her jotun heritage earned her a Maul. Little did she know how soon she'd have to use it.
Day Three
The third day, the group at its lowest morale yet, and The Hand perhaps at its highest, it started much the same. However many troops funneled down through the Underdark Gate, called away for something hushed and barely spoken of. With a skeleton crew and the commanders, who seemed bound to run this installation, two other guests decided to boldly emerge.
The Purples!
The two purple dragon wyrmlings flew like lion-wraiths through the shadows and demanded audience with Lhekrina. They shouted and roared much in draconic, lost to the group but undoubtedly involving them as the male dragon often nodded and snarled their way. Lhekrina finally came out to see what the commotion was, where upon there was a tense argument. The drow commander used a red gem held over her lips like a translator when speaking with the wyrmlings, but words didn't get very far.
Then the male turned and demanded one of the scions be sacrificed, which really grated on Isabella. She tried to initiate conversation of any substance, but the dragons seemed to treat her as if a toddler were attempting to interject on an adult conversation. Lhekrina did her best explaining the serendipitous find the two had made when luring their next round of play things, but neither dragon wanted to give the group up.
An argument of royalty sprung up, in which both reminded the drow that they too were royalty and that while Atha and Saspien might be nice wishful allies, they represented the very real possibility of alliance with their parents. The female was especially biting when at last she left, her brother tow, knowing she had the advantage and confirming without much doubt that Lhekrina was not the head hauncho of the Hand, just this installation.
While The Children Slept
That night, everyone but Takeshi in their beds, the two wyrmlings and the scar-faced drow slipped into the Drow Quarters looking to kill the group. Thankfully Portia's over-sized ears picked up the suspicious creeping. She screamed at the top of her lungs, waking the group before they were cast into sleeps eternal. A fight was on!
Deadly Down
Portia, deadly with any object, took her pillow and proceeded to beat the living shit out of the drow monk, smacking him into bedposts, walls and the floor, and nearly slaying him singlehandedly.
Zulthanza and Marzonn
The true power houses of the attack were the dragons, Zulthanza the female and Marzonn the male. Zulthanza blew her purple-haze of psychic breath, dazing Hulda before turning her against Giers in an irresistable moment of betrayal. This fueled Giers rage, but the dragons were quick, harty, and strategic. After Marzonn blew his breath, the group dazed, weakened and wondering whether or not they could win this, thoughts turned to a tactical retreat. Isabella thought to send them into comas and allow a quick dealing with the trio, but though each succumbed, it was but for seconds before they leaped back up, and so began the scions' slow downfall...
Brood of Taras!
Giers made one last stab before rushing to the door, naming the wyrmlings as cursed brood of Taras. Marzonn laughed, turning to his sister and in a wicked sneer, "He guessed it, dear sister."
It was mentioned a little later that their mother was known as Ereshkelite.
Tactical Retreat
And so the get of Matthias were renewed in vigor, but after Zulthanza felled Hulda once, then nearly did Giers, and Marzonn nearly Isabella, the group knew to stay was suicide. They fled down the same secret passage the trio took. It was dangerously pitch black, but Giers, then Hulda, then the rest fled down its length, anything better than jaws, claws and psychic attacks.
Scuffle Above, Mushrooms Below
Just as Isabella entered the passage last, a huge explosion resounded upstairs in the Drow Quarters and elven voices mixed with draconic shouts. Lhekrina had discovered what the wyrmlings had done and no doubt there would be hell to pay. As the initial sounds of a fight crashed above, Giers cracked a sunrod and jolted.
The entire group was standing on a narrow bridge suspended a hundred feet above a giant, pale mushroom forest that glowed phosphorescent blues and greens. The bridge extended to another opening across the way and also split into a web-like network of stony ledges, some moving off into other caverns, some back up to parts of The Screaming Caves.
Exhausted and injured, the group took a short rest on the precarious ledge, planning their next moves.
The Hand of Doom escorted their guests down a great hall and into an open quarter with several offshoots, to a long table with a great map of the empire riddled with strategic markings and pins. There they all sat, scions and commanders, with many more dark races and drow lingering around them. It seemed for every one the group killed, three took their place, and more passed in and out of a far, dark passage. Just how big was this organization? Just what was its true purposes?
Emaciated servants, pale and sickly, carried huge trays of food, some laden with surface delicacies and others with Underdark delicacies, to the table. Their heads were entirely covered by black, mesh bags, giving them a disturbing quality. None ever spoke, and often winced.
Situated, Hulda happened to match glances with the orc commander Mazdur. Red eyes met blue as they fought for visual dominance, but Hulda soon shied away, suddenly and uncomfortably reminded that she was just a girl, despite all she'd been through in sixteen years and two days.
No Dildos on the Table, Please
Giers made an off comment that provoked Lhekrina into a show of her sexual deviancy, and she teased the ethrey with her dildo rod. Kaylan, quite offended, made her feelings known, at which point the dark elf plopped the glass penis between the cleric and paladin and assured the young half-elf that she would gladly teach her how to use it as readily as she would teach Giers.
Haxlound, the hob commander, insisted they return to more important matters.
Discussing the Accord
Lhekrina and Haxlound discussed the accord, or rather dictated it to the scions. The group would remain in The Screaming Caves for one week, which brought more than a few protests. During that time the identities of Isabella and Takeshi would be varified. If they proved true, The Hand would personally escort everyone home via the Underdark, in return for secret alliances with Saspien and Atha.
Little Miss Diplomat
Isabella, sensing what a bad situation they were in, truly a lose/lose, protested several times. Her outcries fell on deaf ears, leaving her frustrated and somewhat depressed. She knew well enough that when her identity was proven, she could just as easily be used as an expensive ransom than an "ally". In fact she suspected the former and drowned her sorrows in dark elven wine.
Attempted Rape
As conversation continued, the bugbear commander began hitting on Takeshi beside her. She wouldn't take the hints (his horrified expressions) and moved with increasing insistence, until which point Arshagouhl tore off her top leathers and lunged for him. He managed an impressive aerial maneuver to avoid her and the bugbear tackled Mazdur instead. The two fell to the ground in a a tussel.
Eating Contest
In the same moment, tensions snapped between Hulda and the ogre commander Batenhk, who'd both been systematically clearing every edible item off the table. He reached for the pheasant, which was in the half-giant's hands, and it was on. The two of them leaped onto the table and began shoving everything they could down their throats. The ogre eventually won out, though, having eaten plates, goblets, and even a leg of the table itself.
Haxlound's Ultimatum
The hob laid down very clear limits to where the group could go, a tight reign excluding the South Wing and of course the stairs and outside. They were also forbidden to explore the Underdark, though it would have been a wonder that the group would delve into it for "fun". They soon found they weren't much welcomed in The North Wing, either, as the general troops didn't like the scions much at all.
Drow Quarters
Lhekrina offered the group her drow's private chambers, bringing a multitude of hushed outcries from the dark elves, who now were forced to live in the smelly, soiled barracks and use the same latrines ogres and bugbears used. One drow male spoke up incredulously, a prince of the sixth house so he said, and Lhekrina snapped. She tore up and lashed him with her scourge, scarring his previously perfect face. He slinked back into the arms of his shadowy counterparts and stalked off.
Lhekrina in the lead, she took the group to their rooms, truly the nicest room in all The Screaming Caves. Well-furnished with expensive furniture, bedded with fine linens, sporting a claw-foot table and chairs, two dressers and even a man-sized mirror, it wasn't entirely terrible... but there were no windows. In fact, it was very obvious they were deep underground, a sensation of entombment that would quicklt wear on the group.
Tuckered-Out Takeshi
Takeshi was bidden to remain with Lhekrina, where he initiated in aggressive negotiations, in part feeling responsible for the group's current situation but knowing had he not made a deal they'd be dead. Every night for three days he met with the drow commander, fighting to somehow release the others from the accord and burden himself with whatever else she desired.
Every night he would come back late, utterly exhausted, and pass out as soon as his head hit the pillow. Rumors of what he might be doing spread not just within the group...
Day One
Day one was a general settling in, Isabella's hangover, some games of chance on the part of the siblings and Portia's initial scout of the accessible area. Not even twenty-four hours and half the group was squirming from the lack of sunlight, fresh air and sky. Much time was spent in their borrowed room, not really feeling safe anywhere else.
Passage into the Underdark
The deep, dark passage in the upper corner of the command post was soon revealed to be a gate into The Underdark itself, which The Hand of Doom used as their secret highway across the hostile imperial region. Troops of The Hand's five races (orc, hob, bugbear, ogre and drow) passed in and out every few hours, calling into question just how large the organization was and where exactly the known commanders ranked in the hierarchy.
Screaming
The South Wing was the origin for much screaming, muted explosions, surging energy and even roars. A heavy contingent of hobgoblins always guarded the wing's entrance, suffering none to pass. Haxlound often passed in and out, calling it his domain and warning the scions to stay out. No doubt something diabolical went on within.
Day Two
By the second day, Kaylan and especially Giers were going stir crazy. Darkness and stone seemed to surround them, squeeze them even, and even Isabella, a daughter of Saspien, felt a gloom settle over her. The boggart seemed at home enough, though, and the half-giant didn't complain much either.
The Mystery Door
Portia sneaked often through the compound, following Lhekrina when she could. She found the drow commander often visited a magically-sealed door behind crates that could only be opened by a special key looking like a fingerbone. Though her thieving skills were ample, Portia had to regroup and form a plan for pickpocketing it, as Lhekrina kept the key safe in her nethers.
Hulda's New Maul
Hulda began making nice with a certain ogre and his crew of bugbear and orc mates, who played bones every night. Wanting to trade out her makeshift club for something nicer, Hulda joined in, testing her strength and her dice hand. Though she failed to claim anything the first night in the caves, on the second her jotun heritage earned her a Maul. Little did she know how soon she'd have to use it.
Day Three
The third day, the group at its lowest morale yet, and The Hand perhaps at its highest, it started much the same. However many troops funneled down through the Underdark Gate, called away for something hushed and barely spoken of. With a skeleton crew and the commanders, who seemed bound to run this installation, two other guests decided to boldly emerge.
The Purples!
The two purple dragon wyrmlings flew like lion-wraiths through the shadows and demanded audience with Lhekrina. They shouted and roared much in draconic, lost to the group but undoubtedly involving them as the male dragon often nodded and snarled their way. Lhekrina finally came out to see what the commotion was, where upon there was a tense argument. The drow commander used a red gem held over her lips like a translator when speaking with the wyrmlings, but words didn't get very far.
Then the male turned and demanded one of the scions be sacrificed, which really grated on Isabella. She tried to initiate conversation of any substance, but the dragons seemed to treat her as if a toddler were attempting to interject on an adult conversation. Lhekrina did her best explaining the serendipitous find the two had made when luring their next round of play things, but neither dragon wanted to give the group up.
An argument of royalty sprung up, in which both reminded the drow that they too were royalty and that while Atha and Saspien might be nice wishful allies, they represented the very real possibility of alliance with their parents. The female was especially biting when at last she left, her brother tow, knowing she had the advantage and confirming without much doubt that Lhekrina was not the head hauncho of the Hand, just this installation.
While The Children Slept
That night, everyone but Takeshi in their beds, the two wyrmlings and the scar-faced drow slipped into the Drow Quarters looking to kill the group. Thankfully Portia's over-sized ears picked up the suspicious creeping. She screamed at the top of her lungs, waking the group before they were cast into sleeps eternal. A fight was on!
Deadly Down
Portia, deadly with any object, took her pillow and proceeded to beat the living shit out of the drow monk, smacking him into bedposts, walls and the floor, and nearly slaying him singlehandedly.
Zulthanza and Marzonn
The true power houses of the attack were the dragons, Zulthanza the female and Marzonn the male. Zulthanza blew her purple-haze of psychic breath, dazing Hulda before turning her against Giers in an irresistable moment of betrayal. This fueled Giers rage, but the dragons were quick, harty, and strategic. After Marzonn blew his breath, the group dazed, weakened and wondering whether or not they could win this, thoughts turned to a tactical retreat. Isabella thought to send them into comas and allow a quick dealing with the trio, but though each succumbed, it was but for seconds before they leaped back up, and so began the scions' slow downfall...
Brood of Taras!
Giers made one last stab before rushing to the door, naming the wyrmlings as cursed brood of Taras. Marzonn laughed, turning to his sister and in a wicked sneer, "He guessed it, dear sister."
It was mentioned a little later that their mother was known as Ereshkelite.
Tactical Retreat
And so the get of Matthias were renewed in vigor, but after Zulthanza felled Hulda once, then nearly did Giers, and Marzonn nearly Isabella, the group knew to stay was suicide. They fled down the same secret passage the trio took. It was dangerously pitch black, but Giers, then Hulda, then the rest fled down its length, anything better than jaws, claws and psychic attacks.
Scuffle Above, Mushrooms Below
Just as Isabella entered the passage last, a huge explosion resounded upstairs in the Drow Quarters and elven voices mixed with draconic shouts. Lhekrina had discovered what the wyrmlings had done and no doubt there would be hell to pay. As the initial sounds of a fight crashed above, Giers cracked a sunrod and jolted.
The entire group was standing on a narrow bridge suspended a hundred feet above a giant, pale mushroom forest that glowed phosphorescent blues and greens. The bridge extended to another opening across the way and also split into a web-like network of stony ledges, some moving off into other caverns, some back up to parts of The Screaming Caves.
Exhausted and injured, the group took a short rest on the precarious ledge, planning their next moves.
Experience: 200 each (2018 thus far)
Loot: Maul (Hulda), Bottle of Drow Wine (Isabella), A hairbrush-bloody pillow-bed knob-crate hook-and 12 nails (Portia), 3 day's fresh food and water (Everyone)
Money: (330gp, 120sp total): 55gp, 20sp each; +12 gp (Giers); -3 gp (Hulda)
NPCs:
Haxlound, Hob Commander
Arshagouhl, Bugbear Commander
Boss Batenhk, Ogre Commander
Mazdur, Orc Commander
Zulthanza, Daughter of Taras
Marzonn, Son of Taras
Scarred Drow Monk, [name unknown]
Monsters: Drow Monk, Purple Dragon Wyrmlings
Places: Command Post, Drow Quarters, Secret Passage (Underdark)
Loot: Maul (Hulda), Bottle of Drow Wine (Isabella), A hairbrush-bloody pillow-bed knob-crate hook-and 12 nails (Portia), 3 day's fresh food and water (Everyone)
Money: (330gp, 120sp total): 55gp, 20sp each; +12 gp (Giers); -3 gp (Hulda)
NPCs:
Haxlound, Hob Commander
Arshagouhl, Bugbear Commander
Boss Batenhk, Ogre Commander
Mazdur, Orc Commander
Zulthanza, Daughter of Taras
Marzonn, Son of Taras
Scarred Drow Monk, [name unknown]
Monsters: Drow Monk, Purple Dragon Wyrmlings
Places: Command Post, Drow Quarters, Secret Passage (Underdark)
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