15When Ralis opened the door to the treasury room, he and his companions discovered a trove of useful items in the small, crowded room. They found a few items worth taking, a +3 spear named Impaler, which Jaheira replaced over her old spear, now she owns a +1 scimitar and a +3 spear. They also found a box containing several scrolls of new magic spells that Aerie, Jan Neera, Nalia, Tashia and Edwin don't know yet, but there are not enough spells to share with everyone, though, there are six scrolls containing five new spells for them to learn: Fireshield (Blue) which gives the caster resistance against ice based magic spells, Teleport Field, two scrolls of the Clairvoyance spell, Vocalize and Reflected Image. Aerie volunteered to memorize Fireshield (Blue), Neera learned Teleport Field, Tashia learned Vocalize, Cernd and Viconia learned Clairvoyance and Jan learned Reflected Image. Bad news is, Tashia does not have the material component needed to cast the Vocalize spell, she needs a bell that does not have a clapper.
Ralis found a quiver containing twenty +2 arrows and another quiver containing twenty arrows of biting. He grabbed the quiver containing the +2 arrows and strapped it on his back while Imoen took the 20 arrows of biting and put them in her own quiver. After digging through the treasury, Ralis turned to face his fully equipped companions. Though he is happy to finally leave the sahuagin city and get away from the smell of old sardines, he still felt anxious about going to the Underdark, wandering through the vast subterranean caverns with little to no light, and the high risk of encountering monsters that can ambush them before they know what attacked them. He could feel his stomach twisting and turning at the thought, as if someone is wringing out his stomach like a wet rag. No doubt some of the others feel the same way.
"*sigh*... Well, people, this is it. We are fully equipped for this journey, though I am afraid we must find whatever food and water is edible in the Underdark, and there is enough of us to give even a beholder pause before attacking us, no creature would be eager to attack a group of 21 adventurers, but I won't lie to you. I really am not looking forward to this trek through the Underdark. And I can tell from the looks in your eyes that you aren't looking forward to this either. We are many miles away from the shores of Amn, somewhere underneath the Sea of Swords ocean. There's no way to know if the tunnels we take will lead us north, south, east or west, but we must go. We must push forward and catch up with Irenicus and Bodhi. Now, let's get back to the temple where we met Villynaty and find that pit he mentioned," Ralis said, and led his companions out of the throne room.
Villynaty, Sallinithyl and their bodyguards watched as Ralis and his group leave the throne room, and after the doors closed, Sallinithyl turned to face Villynaty.
"I'm surprised they did not kill us too, honorable Villynaty. We sahuagin have a long history of warring against surface dwellers," she said.
Villynaty nodded slowly. "I am sure the human is aware of that. But what makes you believe he would betray me too?" He asked his priestess.
"Because..." Sallinithyl paused for a moment then leaned closer to Villynaty so that he can clearly hear the next words she is going to whisper to him. "... I just got word from the priestesses of other sahuagin cities just moments before you were crowned king. They plan on attacking a human city called... Waterdeep, and they wanted to know if we sahuagin of the City-of-Caverns want to participate in the raid," Sallinithyl said.
Villynaty shook his head.
"Tell them I refuse to be involved. We must focus on repopulating. Attacking a human city when our city's population are low is not ideal. Besides, I will not attack a human city anytime soon, not after our help came from a human," Villynaty said.
Sallinithyl nodded.
"I understand, most honorable king Villynaty," she conceded, then walked away, leaving the throne room to go to the temple her mother used to be in, leaving Villynaty to sit on his throne and ponder over the future of the sahuagin of the City-of-Caverns.
Ralis and his party returned to the eastern section of the city where the old Sekolah temples are, where Villynaty and the sahuagin rebels used to be before Ixilthetocal's death, and they made their way back to the temple where Villynaty and Sallinithyl used to be. Now that the rebels have returned to the populated areas of the City-of-Caverns, this section of the city looks and feels more like a ghost town, an abandoned settlement, as if some great calamity wiped out the sahuagin long ago, and it didn't help that the dim lighting in this part of the City-of-Caverns makes the place look as if it is haunted, possibly teeming with undead and evil spirits at every corner. The closer they got to the temple Villynaty used to use as his own palace, the more anxious Aerie became, and Neera, walking alongside her, noticed that.
"Aerie? I see you're shaking. What's wrong?" Neera asked.
Aerie glanced at Neera for a second then focused walking forward as if she is concerned that if she focuses her eyes on Neera instead of watching Minsc ahead of her, she might bump into him if he comes to a complete stop.
"I, uh... I never thought that I would be going to the Underdark. When I was a child, I heard many stories about the Underdark from my friends. They said that many kinds of dangerous creatures live there..." She said nervously.
"But you're not going there alone. You got all of us with you, and there is a lot of strength in our numbers," Neera reminded Aerie.
Aerie had to admit Neera is right, she is surrounded by 20 people, most of them she trusts with her life, with the exception of Viconia, Dorn, Hexxat and Korgan.
"Neera is right," Mazzy chimed in, walking next to Neera to her left. "We must cooperate as a team if we are to survive the Underdark," she said.
Dorn huffed.
"I refuse to cooperate with a child. Better we leave her here if she is too afraid to face the horrors of the Underdark," he said.
"You know Ralis will not approve, Dorn," Rasaad said as the group turned left on the road, proceeding deeper into the deserted section of the cavern city.
"Hah! I'm with ye, all the way, half-orc! The wingless freak is better off bein' used as beholder bait!" Korgan said.
"Korgan!" Mazzy snapped at him, causing Korgan to change his demeanor immediately.
"Whoa! Sorry if I offended ye, Mazzy, I meant no offense," Korgan apologized.
"It's not just me you offended. You offended me by offending Aerie! This is another reason why I never respond positively to your flirtations!"
"Because I expect the wingless girl to grow a backbone? Come on, dear Mazzy, I only mean to be tough on the wingless lass so that she won't be a whining crybaby no more, is all," Korgan replied defensively to Mazzy.
"I don't need your type of lecturing, Korgan, so just... mind your own business and scratch your nether regions as if fleas are biting you there," Aerie said, sounding mildly upset.
Dorn couldn't help chuckling.
"Ha ha ha... The girl may whine sometimes, but she can bark and bite when she has to," he said.
A few minutes later, Edwin spoke to Korgan.
"So tell me, Korgan, what do you think of character and adversity? It seems to me that this party is long on squawk and short on character," he said to the dwarf.
Korgan looked up at the Red Wizard and replied: "The harder yer conflict, the more glorious be yer triumph, I reckon, spellchucker. What ye obtain too cheaply, ye esteem too lightly."
Ralis, Mazzy, Anomen and Rasaad were amazed at how philosophical Korgan can be, but they remained silent and focused on walking and listening ot Edwin and Korgan's conversation.
"How true, how true," Edwin nodded in approval. "As a gallant warrior-born, I correctly assumed you to be a student of warfare and and a master of battle."
"Aye", Korgan nodded in agreement. "The best battler is he who can smile in troubles deep, gather his strength from distress and grow brave in reflection."
There is so much more to Korgan than I originally thought, Rasaad thought in amusement.
"Dwarf, you speak the truth," Edwin said, making it obvious to everyone that he is not shy in revealing how much respect he has for Korgan. "A warrior without peer, like you, must be an affront to nature. The strongest in the most peril... strange how Fate weaves her tapestry."
Korgan frowned and nodded in agreement before replying. "Survival of the fittest be the term, and that be the puzzle of Life. The life of adventurers. Now shut yer yap."
Normally Edwin would get offended by that final remark from Korgan, but instead of getting offended and angry, Edwin decided not to say anything more to Korgan... out of respect for his beliefs on character development in the face of adversity.
The group fell into silence as they continued walking, Ralis up ahead trying to memorize the route they took back when they were being escorted by the rebels. Without their guidance, the chances of them getting lost in this abandoned part of the City-of-Caverns is possible. But thanks to Jaheira, Neera and Viconia's ability to see in low light, they spotted Villynati's old temple just 46 yards away. Good thing the temple they are looking for is built on a high rising hill, making it tower above all the other temples, and its size is telling, too.
When they arrived in the temple, they checked behind the altar where Villynati stabbed the fake heart with the dagger, and found the pit that leads straight to the Underdark. The pit is five feet wide and it is impossible to tell how deep the pit is because after 3 feet of depth the rest of the pit is shrouded in complete darkness.
"Shouldn't we rest before we continue onward? We need to prepare our spells for whatever the Underdark throws at us," Nalia suggested, then she checked her spell book to review the spells she has taken note of, and though the pages are still wet, she took care to turn the pages gently to try not to tear them.
Ralis nodded. "Good idea. There are no monsters here, and we can sleep peacefully here. We can rest for 20 hours, but after that, we need to get going," he said.
And so everyone got comfortable as they could, relaxed, the mages studied their spells, and then everyone fell asleep. Then, 20 hours later, they woke up refreshed, but their stomachs churned in pain, hungry for food to digest. But they all knew they won't find edible food back in the sahuagin city, so they decided to press on despite the possibility that they might starve to death in the Underdark. Ralis looked at the magical rope, wondering how will a seemingly ordinary rope help them get down to the Underdark when there is the possibility the pit is deeper than the rope?
"I hope this rope really is magical, because I don't see how it can help us..." Ralis muttered to himself.
He stood near the pit's edge, holding out the rope on one end and letting the other end fall into the pit's darkness. As expected, Ralis founded impossible to tell how deep the pit is.
"Don't drop the rope, Ralis. It's our only way to get out of here," Jaheira reminded him.
"I know, Jaheira, I know," Ralis replied, feeling a bit angry that Jaheira sees him as a naive child sometimes.
"Why don't you tie the rope to something?" Anomen suggested.
Ralis looked around. There are pillars close to the pit, but Ralis is afraid that by tying the rope to the pillars, he will lose seven feet of the rope's overall length. The rope is 30 feet long, so tying the rope to the pillar means they will 23 inches of rope left to climb down the pit, and that might not be enough.. But seeing that he has no choice, he sighed and walked over to the pillar to his right, going around the old pillar with one end of the rope and coming back around to tie the rope to the pillar. Then he walked over to the other end of the rope, grabbing the part that is 8 feet away from the rope's other end, and he tugged at the end tied to the pillar. The knot he made seems to be fastened to the pillar with no possibility of coming loose. Now there is one thing left to do: Descend down the pit with the rope.
"It's going to be dark down there, so I'm going to need some light," Ralis said to his companions. "Anyone memorized the Light spell?" He asked them.
Tashia stepped forward. "I'll do it. As soon as you disappear into the dark, I'll throw a ball of light down there to help you," Tashia offered.
Ralis nodded, feeling relieved that Tashia had the foresight to memorize not just offensive spells, but also spells that help navigate through tough environments. Ralis thhrew the other end of the rope down the pit, eased himself over the edge while holding on to the rope. He tried his best not to think about releasing his hold on the rope by accident and falling to his death. He just held on to the rope tightly and slowly descended down the pit, his feet touching the brass covered walls of the pit and descending down inches by inches.
When he entered the darkness, leaving the view of his companions, Tashia said the words and used the somatic components necessary to cast the level 1 Alteration spell, then a small globe of bright light appeared in her hand, and she dropped the ball down the pit. Ralis was momentarily surprised at seeing the ball fall past him, illuminating the pit, and when he looked down, he saw the ball of light fall further down the pit... until it hit the ground 108 meters below him. And to his surprise, Ralis noticed that the magical rope really is magical, it somehow extended its length long enough to reach the end of the pit where the globe of light sat! Feeling overjoyed that the magical rope can help them get down to the pit in ways a normal rope cannot, he invited everyone to climb down after him.
"Guys! I see the bottom thanks to Tashia's light ball! Come on down!" Ralis exclaimed, his echo rebounded in the pit and faded away.
As soon as Ralis was 7 feet below the pit's rim, Abdel climbed down after him, then Jaheira, then Minsc, then Aerie, then Althir, then Neera, then Mazzy, then Jan, then Viconia, then Tashia, then Korgan, then Dorn, then Hexxat, then Edwin, then Anomen, then Valygar, then Rasaad, then Neera, then Cernd, then last but not least, Nalia. As soon as Ralis reached the end of the rope and his feet touched the ground, he checked out his surroundings. The cavern is roomy enough for all 21 of them to be in, and there is only one path the tunnel takes them, and the ball of light Tashia threw down only illuminated 120 yards of the tunnel. The rest remained shrouded in darkness, and Ralis could feel a foreboding air permeate the tunnels, warning him that many dangers lie ahead beyond the darkness of the tunnel ahead. Part of him wanted to heed that warning, but there is no other choice, they must go through the Underdark. When Abdel arrived, his feet landing on the ground after releasing his hold on the rope, he immediately asked:
"So where do we go?"
Ralis pointed down the only tunnel ahead of them.
"That way. Are you ready for this, Abdel?" Ralis replied.
"A journey through the Underdark?" He scoffed. "Do you want the honest answer?"
"Yeah."
At that moment Jaheira jumped down and landed next to Abdel, then checking herself to see if she still had her equipment and weapons.
"I am both excited and terrified. Mostly terrified," Abdel confessed without shame.
Ralis smirked. "At least you are honest."
They waited until everyone arrived, and minutes later, everyone is now gathered at the bottom of the pit, surrounding the ball of light Tashia threw down, and the ball cast shadows in all directions, and Viconia made sure to shield her eyes from the ball's harsh light otherwise she would go blind.
"Let's go, Ralis, we only got less than 31 minutes before the light ball I threw down here fades away," Tashia reminded him.
Ralis inhaled slowly then exhaled slowly.
"All right, people. Weapons ready, in case we immediately run into trouble, okay? Viconia, walk with me. I need your darkvision ability to see what's ahead of us."
After saying that, he waited for Viconia to come forward, then he slowly pulled Albruin out of its scabbard and led the way through the tunnel, with Viconia by his side holding her Mauler's Arm mace in her right hand and her silver buckler attached to the wrist of her left hand, and Abdel, Jaheira and the other behind them. They journeyed through the partially illuminated tunnel to the point where the light ball's illumination can't reach and cast their shadows, and soon they were journeying into darkness. Ralis' eyes struggled to adjust to the darkness while Viconia with her darkvision saw the outlines of the tunnels in a few shades of gray as if she were in broad daylight.
"What's up ahead, Viconia?" Ralis whispered.
"Nothing worth mentioning yet, abbil. I think I see the end of the tunnel 22 yards up ahead. Prepare yourself, Ralis, I know not what awaits at the end," Viconia advised him.
Ralis gripped Albruin's handle more tighter than he had expected. As soon as they reached the end of the tunnel, Ralis and Viconia found themselves in a somewhat wide open, subterranean cavern. Ralis could not see much because of the limited amount of light, the cavern's ceiling is difficult to see, but he did see a few stalactites jutting visibly from the dark ceiling here and there, and the tunnel walls on both sides are wide enough to accommodate 50 people walking through this tunnel. Viconia looked to her left and saw that one end of the tunnel goes straight for 24 feet then curves away to the right, while the other end of the tunnel seems to lead 14 feet away into a more open space filled with glowing rocks.
I can't believe we are here... Ralis thought, examining as much of his surroundings as he could as his other companions emerged from the smaller tunnel and took their first glimpse of one of the many tunnels of the Underdark. The great depths of the Underdark stretch before them on both sides, and as those who do not have low light vision adjust to the dim light, the reality of where they are began to sink in and fill them with dread. It is a realm of countless legends, where evil lurks behind each shadow, and though they have traveled far in pursuit of Irenicus, they feel very isolated, especially Ralis, who has never been in a location so full of danger such as this. As black as the situation may seem, it somehow grows darker still, like the tunnels of the Underdark, and the dangers it hides.
"Something tells me we are not in Brynnlaw anymore," Neera commented, holding her staff with both hands as if it were her only source of comfort, which it probably is.
"I know not where we are, Ralis, but I will tell you this: Selune's light shines weakly here, if at all," Rasaad said, his eyes gazing up at the dark ceiling, looking at the stalactites that are barely visible.
"This... this is the Underdark," Aerie said nervously, her anxiety growing stronger every second. "Oh, I don't want to be here, I don't! This place is death for my people!" Aerie placed her right hand on her chest and sank down on her knees. "I-I feel as if I am going to suffocate here!" Aerie cried and started to hyperventilate.
Neera got down on her knees with Aerie and tried to comfort her.
"No! Aerie, calm yourself, breathe!" Neera urged.
"Take slow, deep breaths, Aerie!" Nalia said.
Ralis knelt down with Neera, trying to reassure Aerie.
"I need you to be strong, Aerie. This is a harsh place, and I need everyone at their best. Look around you, Aerie, you are not alone! You are surrounded by powerful people you can trust!" Ralis told her compassionately.
Aerie wiped her eyes with her right hand and let out a shuddering sigh.
"Yes. Yes, you're right. I... I must sound so silly. You've had your soul stolen from you, and I'm crying about being here... in this place." She slowly stood up now. "Let's go, then, and do what we must. I'll... control myself. Just don't abandon me here, Ralis, I beg you. I'd go mad!"
Ralis nodded to reassure her.
"The Underdark... This is... promising..." Hexxat said, looking fairly amused at her surroundings rather than being anxious like Aerie.
Neera's eyes widened and she turned to Hexxat. "Ooh, you won't have to wear your cloak! No daytime!" She told the vampire too enthusiastically in the ears of her companions, given their situation.
Hexxat smiled at her. "My thoughts exactly."
She removed her cloak and Ralis unfastened Dragomir's Respite tied to his belt and opened it up with both hands, and Hexxat stuffed her cloak into the bag, and stretched her arms, pleased to be no longer encumbered by wearing Dragomir's Cloak.
The bag never bulged because of its pocket dimension, and Ralis closed it up, placing it back around his belt on the opposite end of his inventory bag and the small box containing Yoshimo's heart.
"So... I am in my homeland once again," Viconia said, prompting Ralis and Tashia next to him to look at her. "Already I feel how unwelcome it has become. My eyes are no longer used to its darkness and my senses to the hint of the threat around every corner."
She was talking to herself at first, but now she turned her attention to her former lover.
"We must tread with caution, Ralis. There are, no doubt, drow in this place. Along with beholders, illithids, kuo-toa, and perhaps even worse."
Ralis could only hope that they don't encounter worse creatures than what Viconia described. To make matters worse, Viconia had no idea if they are in the Middledark or the Lowerdark. If they are in the Lowerdark, then they need to find a passageway up to the Middledark, and fast, because the strongest and most fearsome monsters in the Underdark wander the subterranean caverns of the Lowerdark.
"The denizens here will expect no mercy and will offer none. If we are to survive long enough to find your Irenicus, we must be stronger than any of them," Viconia said.
"Oh, we'll be stronger," Lilarcor chimed in, sounding confident and happy to be here. "I can already tell there are lots of things to kill here! C'mon, big guy, let's go hunting!"
Minsc looked over his shoulder trying to look at Lilarcor attached to his back.
"No, sword! We must tread carefully here, lest we get into trouble too deep! Boo says-"
"Bah! Boo says this, Boo says that... Just man up and follow your instincts, baldy! There's lots of evil to kill here!" Lilarcor interrupted Minsc.
"Minsc! Shut that thing up before it draws some unwanted attention to us!" Mazzy said.
"Sorry, Mazzy!" Minsc apologized to Mazzy. "Sword? Shut up."
Lilarcor didn't say another word, but it started grumbling angrily.
"Let's go, people. This way," Ralis said, urging his companions to follow his lead and Viconia's as they moved away from the open area of the cavern with the many glowing stones, instead, traveling down the gigantic tunnel that slowly curves to the right, the tunnel walls obscuring what's beyond the curve until they get there.
When they reached the curve, they saw nothing amusing or dangerous ahead but the vast cavern tunnel continuing onward into darkness. They continued to follow the tunnel, wherever it may take them. They held their weapons at the ready, prepared for any ambush that may come to surprise them. Ralis cautiously turned his head left and right, carefully scanning the wide tunnel walls and the ceiling though he couldn't see much without low light vision. But thanks to the glowing rocks here and there, they provided some source of light. And he couldn't help that his heart is pounding in his chest right now, even though he wasn't going insane with anxiety and fear like Aerie almost did, and everyone else felt the same way, except for Dorn, but he kept a cautious lookout for an ambush like everyone else. Mazzy, Minsc, Valygar and Rasaad made sure that Aerie stayed in the middle of the group, since she is the most terrified, and she will feel some semblance of safety in their numbers. Ten minutes of walking down the winding, twisting tunnel passed and so far they have not encountered any hostile creatures of the Underdark... yet. But they did hear some distant howls and growls a couple times. Where it came from, and how far away is it, no one really knew.
"Truly, man was never meant to scurry beneath the earth as a weasel or mole," Cernd said, making his uneasiness known to the group. "We have not the eyes for such delving. It is a task better suited to the dwarven folk."
Korgan smirked at what Cernd said, but he did not reply, instead, Mazzy, who is walking in front of Cernd responded.
"Surely, Cernd, your companions shall stand by you as we descend into the bowels of the earth," she assured him.
"Worry not, Mazzy, my discomfort is minor. I stumble now and then, but bats find their way on a simple screech, and I do find simple "help" on occasion," Cernd said.
Mazzy got the feeling that Cernd is trying to hide the fact that he is almost as scared as Aerie to be in the Underdark, not knowing where they are and what route to take.
"There is no shame in admitting your fears. It is the only way that you might face them," she said.
Cernd raised his eyebrow, then glanced up at the ceiling for a moment.
"There is truth to what you say, but I hesitate only because I prefer to face my fears in the light of day. I feel uncomfortable away from the open skies," he said.
Mazzy had to admit that she understood how Cernd felt. Being in the Undardark, under who knows how many miles of earth is enough to make even people who are not claustrophobic very uncomfortable.
"Then I shall be the staff that you lean upon in your time of need," Mazzy promised Cernd.
Cernd smiled a little. For such a small woman, Mazzy has a heart of gold. Even in the face of creatures that can swallow her whole, her bravery never wavers.
"Ah, Mazzy, what a gentle soul you have. I shall always be pleased to have you by my side, but you needn't worry about me. Others will have more need of the stave you offer, like Aerie, but I will walk by your side without leaning."
When Cernd let his voice trail off, Aerie smiled, glad that Cernd is more concerned for her sanity than his own. She thought about thanking him, but decided to focus on trying not to lose her cool.
"Lead on, stalwart halfling, I shall follow without fear!" Cernd said with determination, making Mazzy and Rasaad smile.
Even Ralis felt the need to smile a little. Even in a hostile environment like this, his companions somehow find a way to reassure themselves that everything will be all right as long as they keep their head in the game, and when danger attacks them, they fight like a team. Besides, 21 well-equipped adventurers wandering the Underdark should be enough to assure their safety! Why, several minutes later, even as they continued walking down the vast tunnel, a cave fisher perched on a high ledge on the left side of the tunnel sensed them walking by using its auditory sensor organs, picking up the sounds of their numerous soft footsteps. A monster that looks like a lobster, cave fishers grow to about seven feet long and have a hard, chitinous shell arranged in overlapping plates for an exoskeleton. They have eight legs and two forelimbs that ended in large pincers. Living underground, cave fishers don't rely on sight, they use multiple auditory sensor organs to detect prey. These organs are located on the head and could be mistaken for multiple eyes, though. The creature had a large proboscis from which it shot a long sticky filament that can extend 60 feet, grabbing prey by the neck, arm or leg, and pulling it in.
The cave fisher's auditory sensors told the creature that there is a large group of humanoid creatures walking along the tunnel below it, 21 humanoid creatures ripe for catching and eating. However, the number of the humanoids caused the cave fisher to pause and reevaluate its actions. If the group were smaller, it would definitely catch one of them using its sticky filament and drag the creature up to it for a snack, but there are far too many humanoids down there, far too many to be stragglers, and the cave fisher decided not to catch either one of them because of the high risk of being discovered and killed if it tried. Instead, it let Ralis and his group pass on by unprovoked. Though cave fishers are nowhere near intelligent as most sentient races, they are intelligent enough to realize that it isn't worth it trying to catch a humanoid that is wandering with such a large group and get discovered and attacked. Small groups of humanoids are much easier to prey on. Though Ralis and his party do not realize it, they should thank Tymora that a cave fisher nearby has decided not to catch one of them.
Later, they came to a part of the tunnel where glowing blue fungus littered the walls of the tunnel, and the rest of the tunnel curved right for one minute, then straight forward for another minute, then curved left. Along the fungus infested tunnel, Ralis and his party had encountered a small group of hostile myconids, and they were no challenge for them to defeat. Defeating the myconids gave Ralis some resolve, some hope that they can catch up to Irenicus without dying in the middle of the Underdark. But where are they in the Underdark? How deep into the Underdark are they? How will they know that they are going in the right direction?
Hours passed, they traveled through several parts of the Underdark with no idea where they are, and how much time has passed. To Neera, it felt like 24 hours since they arrived in the Underdark, but there is no way to tell. But she did feel hungry and thirsty, that much is certain. The hunger pains that tormented her belly made her wince. Ralis and his companions encountered a few hostile creatures as the hours passed. They fought and defeated duergar scouts and a few umber hulks, nothing they had too much trouble handling, primarily because of they outnumbered their enemies and have powerful spells and weapons. Eventually Ralis and his party came to a wide open space with moss covering most parts of the ground, and a small lake. They didn't immediately enter the open space, they ventured into cautiously, surveying the open, semi dark landscape for any monsters that can ambush them, but they saw none. All they saw were five deep rothé drinking from the lake. Their backs are turned, so they never saw Ralis and his party appearing in the vicinity, but they kept watchful as they continued drinking, lifting their heads up every minute or less to turn their heads left and right.
"What are those?" Ralis whispered to Viconia.
"Those animals are called deep rothé. They like to eat cave moss. I've never seen a herd this small before. Must be survivors from a recent predator attack," Viconia guessed.
Ralis felt his stomach churning. It has been a while since he has eaten anything. He needs some food right now, especially water, and he knew that Abdel and the others feel the same way, they just know complaining won't help solve their problem.
"How does their meat taste?" Ralis asked Viconia.
Viconia lifted her eyebrow quizzically for a moment. It has been a long time since she has tasted deep rothé meat.
"... It tastes just like any other meat, Ralis, only deep rothé meat is more tender than surface beef, I can say that much," Viconia hesitantly said.
Ralis smiled. "All right then..."
He pulled out his Dead Shot +2 longbow, grabbed a +2 longbow, took aim at one of the deep rothé with its back completely turned towards him, and slowly pulled back on the bowstring.
"Ralis, what are you doing?" Anomen whispered.
"Getting us some lunch," Ralis replied, then he let the arrow loose, and it flew 30 yards towards the deep rothé he was aiming at, and the arrowhead pierced the deep rothé very close to its anus, causing it to howl in pain and startle its brethren into running away.
Imoen joined Ralis with her own arrow ready to fire, and she fired her arrow while Ralis was pulling another arrow out of his quiver, and the arrow of biting sailed through the air towards the injured deep rothé and bit into its flesh, causing it to collapse dead while the rest of its brethren escaped down a tunnel in the open cavern that Ralis and his companions have not seen yet.
Ralis and Imoen ran over to the dead deep rothé near the lake and checked its body while the others approached more casually.
"Viconia said its meat is tender, right?" Imoen asked Ralis.
"Yeah, that's what she said," Ralis confirmed.
"Someone needs to cook the meat," Imoen said.
"Allow me," Neera announced, approaching the deep rothé corpse and preparing to cast Burning Hands to cook the body.
"Neera, wait! Your wild magic might..." Valygar started to say, but it is too late.
Streams of fire billowed out of Neera's fingertips, burning the deep rothé corpse and illuminating the area in a 19 foot wide radius. Anomen smiled at the thought of finally being able to eat something, but the smile withered away when a thought occurred to him.
"Wait a moment. Is it safe to cook meat in the middle of the Underdark?" He looked at Jaheira, Rasaad and Tashia for confirmation.
"Generally yes, but we can't afford to wait to eat it anywhere else," Jaheira said.
Then, as if on cue, someone or something nearby cackled, a horrid, evil noise, making the hairs on Abdel's neck stand on end. Everyone stood up, ready to do battle with the unseen opponent. They heard loud footsteps at first, coming north from where they stood. Then it appeared. A tall figure lumbered into the fire's illumination to be seen by everyone. It is a devourer. Devourers are massive creatures that are every bit as evil as they look. They lurk in the Ethereal and Astral Planes, stalking both natives and travelers with equal sadistic glee. The devourer appears as a tall, skeletal figure with strands of mummified flesh hanging from its bones. Imprisoned within the creature's rib cage is a tiny figure, clearly in agony trying to escape its terrifying prison. This pitiful being is the trapped essence of a slain opponent, which is consumed like firewood to sustain the monster's unnatural life.
"Torm aid us! What the hell is that?!" Abdel recoiled in shock upon seeing the toothy grin of the demonic creature.
The devourer made a sinister chuckle, showing its rotten teeth to the 21 humanoid prey near the burning deep rothé body while the man in its rib cage struggled to get free, wailing in pain and anguish.
"Ugh! Is that a man trapped in its ribs?! Oh gods! Kill it!" Neera exclaimed in disgust.
Ralis, Imoen and Nalia fired their arrows at the beast aiming for its head while Dorn, Korgan, Valygar, Althir, Mazzy and Rasaad rushed towards it to engage it in combat. Nalia's arrow missed, but Ralis and Imoen's arrows hit the devourer's hairless forehead, causing the beast to grunt and stagger back a few feet. However, it recovered in time to try to cast the Confusion spell on Korgan before he and his allies got close enough to engage it in melee battle. Once hit by the spell, Korgan staggered forward and came to a complete stop almost tripping over a rock, looking rather confused.
"What...? What in the blazes...? Where am I...? What am I doing...?" Korgan muttered to himself as he wandered around aimlessly, affected by the Confusion spell.
Aerie, Tashia, Neera and Nalia combined their volley of Magic Missiles to overwhelm the devourer, but the multiple magical spheres of light dissipated in a wisp of smoke as soon as they hit the devourer's chest, doing no damage to it at all.
"What?! We didn't hurt it!" Aerie exclaimed.
"It's resistant to magic! Conserve your spells and use whatever weapons you have!" Viconia exclaimed.
And she is right. The trapped soul in the beast's rib cage provides a measure of magical protection. Dorn and Minsc attacked the devourer head-on, and so did Jaheira with her new spear. The devourer was overwhelmed temporarily, but it jumped back a few feet then struck Althir with its claws, knocking Althir back and tearing his gray cloak. He landed near the edge of the small lake.
"Althir!" Ralis exclaimed.
"I'll go check on him! Just keep shooting at that hideous thing!" Nalia exclaimed.
Doing as she told them, Ralis and Imoen kept firing at the devourer while Neera and Aerie were trying to guess what spells could possibly harm the devourer. The devourer had its hands full, defending itself from its melee assailants, and trying to avoid the arrows. Some of them struck its arms and shoulders, while Minsc and Jaheira stabbed at its body and legs, harming it and the man writing in agony in its rib cage. Even Rasaad, Dorn and Viconia gave no quarter to the monster, attacking all at once. Desperate for a chance to unleash more of its spells, the devourer jumped back further, a foot away from the fire's illumination in the darkness, and tried to cast Ray of Enfeeblement on Viconia, but the spell didn't work because of her resistance to magic spells as a drow. After the failed attack, Abdel, Jaheira, Dorn, Rasaad, Valygar, Anomen and Viconia were all over it again, slashing at it, stabbing it and bashing it with their weapons, giving it no chance to use more of its spells, forcing the devourer to rely on its claws, trying to drain their energy with its claws.
If it did not already have a tormented soul trapped in its ribs, the devourer would have tried to use its Trap Essence attack, which works similarly to the Finger of Death spell, it can kill a target with one strike when it works, and if it works, the slain target's essence will be trapped within the devourer's ribs, just like the poor soul already captive. After sustaining enough damage to bring it close to the brink of death, the devourer realized that these adventurers have it seriously outnumbered, and they are too tough for it to fight, so it ran for the nearest wall and tried to climb it, but Ralis and Imoen kept on firing at it with their arrows. Three of them hit their mark, and that was enough to bring it down. With a shriek of pain and defeat, the devourer lost its grip on the wall and fell 18 feet down towards the ground, but instead, got impaled by one stalagmite, big as a tarrasque's tooth. The stalagmite punched through the devourer's body, even right through the essence of the person it imprisoned. Its right leg twitched for a second after sliding down to the thickest part of the stalagmite, but it made no more movements.
"Is... is it dead?" Aerie asked, wiping sweat off of her forehead.
Dorn cautiously approached the devourer and poked it's head with the Abyssal Sword's blade.
"It is dead," he confirmed.
Ralis exhaled in relief and wiped the sweat off of his forehead. "Good... Oh no, Althir!"
He, along with Imoen, Jaheira, Tashia and Neera rushed over to the edge of the lake where they saw Althir land, and they found Nalia checking his wounds. They saw four claw marks on his chest, tearing into his gray clothing. He is breathing, but his breaths are labored.
"Is he all right?" Neera asked in concern.
Nalia looked up at them. "We need to heal his wounds first, then we'll see what needs to be done," she said.
Viconia stepped forward then cast the Cure Moderate Wounds spell, and the cuts on Althir's chest healed, but the claw marks on his clothes remained, however.
"Athir? Althirion, are you all right?" Ralis asked him.
Althir groaned and opened his eyes.
"What... what happened...? I feel no pain, but I feel so weak..." Althir said in a raspy voice as if his throat is parched, then Ralis stretched his hand down offering to help Althir stand on his feet, then Althir grabbed his hand and Ralis helped pull him up.
Althir wobbled for a moment, but managed to steady his balance.
"I know what's wrong with him," Dorn announced, and everyone looked at him, waiting for him to reveal the answer.
"That creature we just fought... it comes from the Negative Energy plane of existence. There, the undead have the ability to drain the life energy of living creatures. When the half-elf was struck by the creature's claws, it drained some of his life energy," Dorn explained.
"Is there a way we can cure him?" Aerie asked.
Dorn shook his head slowly.
"Not to my knowledge," he said flatly. "He might regain full strength in a few minutes."
Ralis glanced over to the burning deep rothé corpse and remembered that he still feels hungry.
"Let's settle here for 20 minutes, eat and drink what we can and then keep moving," Ralis suggested.
Later, they put out the fire burning the animal's body, then gathered up the moss around the area and made a temporary campfire, and Abdel used his dagger to cut off slabs of cooked meat from the deep rothé's well-cooked body, and everyone began to eat the slabs of cooked meat they were given, and drink from the lake. Except Hexxat, of course, all she needs is blood to sustain herself, and the problem is, there is no fresh blood to be found except among the party she is accompanied with, but their blood is off limits. At least for now. To Ralis' surprise, when he drank from the lake, the water felt surprisingly fresh and cool. Not as cold as the air here in the Underdark, but still cool. Then after 20 minutes of resting, eating and drinking, everyone prepared to move on, but the first thing they did was take the cooked meat they didn't eat with the intent on saving it for later, and filling their canteens with water from the lake.
The passage of time continues to escape them as they wandered further and further the subterranean caverns. No one had any idea how long they have been walking since they took a quick rest after defeating the devourer. It could be nighttime on the surface, or it could be daytime, how can they possibly know? But more importantly, how do they know they are taking the right route to the regions of the Underdark directly under Amn? They could be heading towards the regions of the Underdark directly under Amn, or they could be heading away from the shores of Amn in the Undardark. Ralis and his group took many gambles every time they chose a branching path to follow, and they fought several Underdark-dwelling creatures like a pack of barghests, demonic lupine shapeshifters that resemble goblin-wolf hybrids with monstrous jaws and razor sharp claws, svirfneblin, drow and duergar patrols. Hexxat took the opportunity to suck the blood of a svirfneblin, drow and duergar every opportunity she had, and she finalyl felt refreshed. When fighting barghests, Ralis found that one of his swords, Kondar, hurts them the most, primarily because they are shapeshifters. As for Althir, he is feeling a little healthier now, but he still feels as if he hasn't slept for two days. Still, Ralis couldn't escape his doubts and fears that they might be on their way to greater dangers.
He glanced over at Viconia walking alongside him, relying on her darkvision to see potential threats her non-drow allies cannot see. He couldn't help wondering if she feels the same doubts he does.
"Viconia, do you have any idea where we might be?" Ralis asked her as they ventured into a part of the Underdark where mist forms at their legs, nine inches above their feet.
She shook her head.
"All I know is we might be in the Lowerdark. That is not good at all. In the Lowerdark dwell the worst creatures you can possibly encounter here in the Underdark. We need to find out which tunnels lead up to the Middledark and Upperdark, and quickly," Viconia told him.
Ralis sighed in disappointment. How much longer can their luck hold out?
"I wish there were a way we could see what's down each and every passageway..." Ralis huffed.
Viconia paused for a moment then blinked her eyes, realizing that she might just know a spell that can help them in this dire situation. Ralis noticed that Viconia stopped walking and he looked back at her, and everyone stopped.
"Viconia, what's wrong?" Ralis asked.
Viconia smiled at him. "Ralis, I think I might have-" she stopped herself from speaking, because she noticed something ahead of the group in the darkness. She saw the gray figures of ten barghests standing 48 yards ahead of them shrouded in darkness, never making a single noise so to ambush them!
"Ralis, watch out! Barghests dead ahead!" Viconia warned him, pointing ahead at the mist shrouded darkness ahead.
At that moment, everyone heard the barghests nearby start howling, a telltale sign that the creatures know that they've been discovered, and seconds later they saw the barghests running their way, their fangs dripping with saliva.
"More of these things. Great," Anomen said.
A short but bloody battle ensued. The barghests used the group spell known as Bull's Strength, to increase their power, but still they were defeated, and Ralis and his party moved on until they crossed a bridge, and ten minutes later came across a "T" shaped junction, branching left and right. Problem is, which way should they go?
Ralis turned to Viconia and said: "Earlier you were trying to tell me something, Viconia. What was it?" He asked her.
Viconia felt glad that Ralis had the foresight to remind her what she tried to tell him.
"Do you remember the spells we found in the sahuagin treasury room?" She asked.
Ralis raised an eyebrow. "Yeah...? So?"
"Before we descended down into the Underdark, the druid and I memorized a spell three times that might help us. It is called Clairvoyance. With it, the druid and I can see what is down which path. The range of the spell is generally 600 feet, but since I am a high level cleric, I believe I can see up to a 850 feet away, more or less, so it will definitely help us, but..." Viconia let her voice trail off there and she lowered her eyes down to the ground.
"Don't get ahead of yourself, Viconia. We are not carrying everything we need to cast the spell necessary for our predicament," Cernd warned Viconia.
Ralis frowned, getting a bad feeling that Viconia and Cernd isn't fully prepared to cast the spell.
"Damn it, Cernd, don't give us bad news, please. Viconia... don't tell me that you don't have everything you need to cast the spell, don't you?" He asked.
Viconia huffed and curled her fingers into fists.
"Iblith! All I need is one glass eye or something like it to use the spell..." She said.
Tahia blinked, then started looking into her bag. Before Ralis could say anything else, Tashia spoke up.
"Hey, uh, Viconia, would a glass ball work?"
Viconia looked back and frowned at Tashia.
"A glass ball is a glass eye, fool," she said patronizingly.
Tashia slowly revealed a glass ball the exact same size as the rebel orb that Ralis used to have to show the sahuagin rebels that he had no hostile intent towards them. Viconia blinked in surprise.
"This is what you need for the spell, right?" Tashia smirked knowingly.
"How... how did you have...?" Viconia shook her head. "Never mind, hand it to me so I can find out where we should go."
Tashia extended out her hands holding the glass ball and Viconia gently grabbed it, then turned her back on Tashia, looking down at the glass ball in her hands for a moment in silence, then prepared to use the verbal and somatic components with her right hand (while holding the glass ball with her left hand) necessary to activate the spell. Then, using the symbol of Shar she keeps with her as a cleric of Shar as a focus, to activate the spell further, and inside the glass ball, a shroud of mist, not unlike the mist around their feet slowly materialized.
"What's happening?" Ralis asked curiously as he, Abdel, Imoen, Jaheira, Neera, Nalia, Rasaad and Hexxat gathered around her.
"Give me a moment, Ralis," Viconia urged, trying not to lose her temper.
Then, the mist inside the glass ball disappeared, and it showed a clear image of what the galls ball is viewing, from above Viconia's head, of course. Inside the glass ball, she saw herself with her companions gathered around her.
"It worked," she grinned. "It actually worked!"
Nobody said a word, as if cheering for Viconia's success might invite failure. Dorn, Valygar, Korgan and Cernd kept an eye on their surroundings to make sure nothing ambushes them while Viconia uses her spell.
"Now, choose a route to follow and tell us what you see that way," Ralis suggested.
Viconia nodded, then used the Shar's symbol in her hand to move the glass ball's visual ahead of them towards the branching paths, and Viconia chose to turn left. She moved the glass ball's visual line further down the tunnel, down every twist and turn, and the ground seemed to sink lower around the 120 foot mark as the mist ended. The glass ball's visual moved past another pack of barghests, then at the 222 foot mark, the tunnel opened up to a cavern that has lots of glowing plant life, stalagmites, and a river running from somewhere out of view because the clairvoyance spell can only see what is 10 feet ahead of it in natural darkness. There is a pathway not covered in moss, grass and fungi leading down to the lower parts of the cavern, and there is a river running down a waterfall, and down below, there is a bridge that must be crossed, and another tunnel ahead of it. The tunnel descended down for 400 feet, and then, in the next open cavern, Viconia saw something she hoped she wouldn't see. The trail on the left seems to lead further down into the Lowerdark section of the Underdark instead of ascending upwards, and even worse, at the 648 foot mark, where there is an open space where glowing fungi are numerous, she focused the magically extended view of the glass ball to look up, and she saw dozens of shafts all over the open space's ceiling, more numerous than the stalactites. Vertical shafts mean only one thing. A lair for a large group of beholders. If they take the left path, they'll eventually stumble into a beholder lair 648 feet away from where they are. She didn't see any beholders inside the magically extended view of the glass ball, but she knew a beholder lair when she saw one.
"I don't believe following the left path is a good idea, Ralis. If we follow that path, it will take us deeper into the Lowerdark, and straight to what I believe is a beholder lair," Viconia informed him. "i believe we can fight one beholder and succeed, but more than one? We will be slaughtered," she added.
Ralis exhaled in relief. "No total loss. At least we know following the left path is not ideal. Can you check the path to the right? See what's down there?" He asked.
Viconia nodded. "Give me a minute," she said.
She twirled Shar's symbol above the glass ball, retracting the spell's visual back to their location, then Viconia directed the clairvoyance spell to go down the right path. The right path twisted, turned and curved for the first 30 feet, then 61 feet later, Viconia found a "Y" shaped branching pathway.
"I found another branching path. I'll check the right one," Viconia informed her allies.
She moved the clairvoyance spell's view in the glass ball towards the right passageway and followed the nearly dark, narrow tunnel for the next 320 feet. Along the way, the glass ball showed Viconia a part of the cavern where a group of duergar scouts are being attacked by a pack of stone flyers, magical beasts that look like wolves made of stone or clay with large wings. Most stone flyers are earth tones, such as black, brown, or gray, and can emerge from, or disappear into the ground or wall. Viconia noticed two passageways out of the part of the cavern where the duergar scouts are trying to defend themselves against the stone flyers. One passageway that is northwest from where the clairvoyance spell is viewing, and another passageway directly north. Viconia decided to direct the spell to check what's beyond the northwestern passage. That passage, for the following 200 feet went straightforward for a while, but then led to a bridge that is broken. However, Viconia wanted to see what's beyond the broken bridge, so she continued scrying ahead. Beyond the bridge, the tunnels continued for another 400 feet, passing by various caverns where Viconia saw stone giants, another devourer, this one didn't have an essence trapped within its ribs, and a group of hook horrors hanging on the ceiling above, waiting to ambush prey. Viconia then rewound the clairvoyance spell's view back to the part of the cavern where the stone flyers were attacking duergar scouts. When she returned back there, she saw the bodies of the duergar scout and a couple dead stone flyers as well, which meant the surviving stone flyers have killed the duergar scouts and ventured somewhere else in the Underdark. Now Viconia directed the spell to scan the passage directly north.
Viconia soon found there are so many passages in the Underdark, so many possibilities to choose, and they all lead to a greater darkness. It was almost like picking which poison she preferred to drink.
"Anything yet?" Ralis asked.
"Wait a moment, abbil. I am finding so many passages to choose, and I want to make sure we take the least dangerous path," Viconia said.
She eventually discovered that the limited range of her clairvoyance spell is 900 feet, she can't go farther than that. That's good, for a level 18 cleric of Shar. If she were lower leveled, she would need to use the clairvoyance spell more often. After what felt like an hour of scrying, when it was actually 13 minutes, Viconia finally found the most ideal path to follow in her opinion, and just in time, because the clairvoyance spell finally wore off. Normally the spell lasts for one minute, but since Viconia is an experienced cleric of Shar, the time limit of the spell has been extended to 13 minutes, and that was just enough time for Viconia to memorize the least dangerous route to follow. After handing the glass ball back to Tashia, Viconia faced Ralis with a smirk on her face.
"I know where we need to go for the next 900 feet," Viconia said.
"Lead on," Ralis said, then he let Viconia walk alongside him as they headed towards the branching path and went right instead of left.
Many hours later after Cernd took his turn using the Clairvoyance spell himself, the next several hours were tiring for Ralis and his group, as they have gone for a very long time without resting, and the consequences of not taking a few hours worth of resting began to wear down on them. Fortunately they didn't have any seriously tough fights along the way, fighting only red myconids, drow patrols, monitor lizards and troglodytes, more svirfneblin scouts, and one beholder. Fighting the beholder they encountered was anything but easy. Using its dangerous spells, it managed to charm Abdel into trying to attack Aerie while Jaheira and Althir defended her, the beholder also seriously injured Anomen, slowed Ralis and Imoen, hit Valygar with a nearly deadly barrage of magic missiles and cornered and would have bitten Neera if Minsc, Rasaad and Dorn had not come to her rescue, attacking the beholder from three different sides, and Neera, while lying on the ground, she tried to cast Ray of Enfeeblement on the beholder, hoping to enfeeble the beholder's eye stalks so that it won't cast a spell. The spell wasn't effective, but it didn't matter because Minsc, Dorn and Rasaad have already defeated the beholder, Dorn delivered the killing blow, jumping directly at it and stabbing the beholder directly into its central eye, causing the beholder to collapse to the ground like a heavy bag, and blood and ocular fluid drained from its central eye.
Dorn and Minsc cleaned off their swords while Aerie helped Neera stand back up on her feet and Jaheira used her magic to heal Valygar.
"Are you all right, Neera?" Aerie asked.
Neera frowned and then checked herself. "Hold on, let me see... Arms... legs... head... Yeah, I'm okay," she said a little too cheerfully in Aerie's ears.
"How can you be so cheerful in a place like this?" Aerie asked Neera while Ralis went around passing the few potions of extra healing he kept in Dragomir's Respite bag for the injured.
"Oh, that's easy. I don't live every day worrying about what might happen. I focus on right now. When you learn to do that, you'll feel much better, trust me," Neera placed her right hand on Aerie's shoulder to reassure her. "Life is like wild magic. You can't control the future even if you try, so you might as well get used to accepting that," she added.
"But... but Neera, what if the future has bad things in store for us? Are you saying that we shouldn't resist that?" Aerie asked as the group resumed their journey, heading for the nearest passageway out of the beholder's territory, navigating around a cluster of stalagmites.
"Huh? No! Of course not! I'm not saying we should let bad things happen!" Neera slapped her forehead. "Gods, how do I even describe this without making myself look like a fool?"
"Easy. Just shut up, wild one," Viconia interjected, glancing over her right shoulder at Neera while walking beside Ralis.
Korgan chuckled, but it sounded forced, as if he wasn't really in the mood to laugh.
"Oh, hardy har-har-har, Viconia. Very funny. No one asked for your input." Neera turned her attention to Aerie. "I guess what i'm trying to say is... uh... don't let fear control you. Fear can be your greatest enemy sometimes, and believe me, it is my only enemy right now."
After Neera spoke she felt something wrap around her bare midriff. something wet and slimy.
"Huh? What the heck...?"
When Neera tried to move, she felt herself being yanked up in the air!
"AIIIEEE! HELP!" Neera yelled, causing everyone to turn around and see what had caught her.
"Iblith! A roper!" Viconia gasped in horror when she saw a monster that looks like a living stalagmite hoist Neera in the air with one of its tentacles.
"That thing looks like a stalagmite with an eye and a mouth full of teeth!" Anomen exclaimed while he readied his sword.
"Kill it before it eats Neera!" Ralis exclaimed, pulling his longbow out and readying an arrow to be fired.
Dorn, Minsc, Jaheira, Abdel and Korgan rushed towards the roper to engage with it in melee combat. The monster saw the attackers coming and tried to deflect their advances with its free tentacles only for them to be swatted away by their melee weapons and Rasaad's flaming fists. The roper however kept its tentacle holding Neera 24 feet away from its gaping maw, giving Neera a good, terrifying view of its wide fang-filled mouth. It tried to bring Neera closer to its mouth, but it couldn't focus on doing so because while it was trying to ward off the attackers, the tentacle holding Neera teetered left and right, making Neera yell: "Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh!"
Nalia aimed for the roper with her shortbow and fired, hitting a spot ten inches above its eye, then Ralis aimed for the roper's eye and fired. The arrow flew towards the eye and directly pierced it, causing the roper to shriek in pain and flail its tentacles, dropping Neera! She would have landed on hard ground, but as luck would have it, Minsc was close enough to drop his sword and catch her into his arms.
"Whew! Nice save, big guy!" Neera patted Minsc on his bald head.
"Minsc always has time to save to save his comrades form certain death, Neera!" Minsc told her, and Boo squeaked triumphantly.
"Hey! Pay attention, you dolt! You're making me miss out on all the fun!" Lilarcor snapped at Minsc, referring to everyone else fighting the roper in melee combat.
"Right!" Minsc put down Neera and picked up Lilarcor off the ground. "Let's go kick the evil monster's butt, sword!"
"Hell yeah!" Lilarcor laughed as Minsc joined the others in melee attacking the roper.
Dorn, Jaheira, Abdel and Korgan along with Minsc continued to attack the roper with their melee weapons, while Jan and Nalia fired crossbow bolts and arrows at the beast while it is still in extreme pain from betting shot in the eye by Ralis. Eventually it succumbed to all of its injuries and died, slumping over. The strange thing about ropers is, they look like living stalagmites, seemingly being made of stones, but the truth is their body is made of flesh and blood.
Neera returned to Ralis and the others who stayed back during the fight against the roper, seeming unharmed. As far as Ralis could tell, there are no scratches or wounds anywhere on Neera, and her clothes aren't damaged, either.
"Are you all right, Neera? Are you hurt?" Ralis felt that it was a stupid question, but he had to make sure.
"No, but that was a scary experience. Let's get out of here, please?" Neera replied, shuddered and picked her staff up off the ground.
"You don't need to tell us twice," Imoen commented.
The group continued to move, finding another passage way and venturing into it, following the large tunnel to wherever it may take them and hope it does not take them to a vicinity or den belonging to a monster more dangerous than a beholder, like a behir (pronounced be-heer), gigantic blue serpentine monsters capable of swallowing an adult humanoid whole and breathing bolts of lightning like a blue dragon. But Ralis and his party did not choose routes at random and hope they are going the right direction all the time, they had a plan, a reason to choose the routes they took and will take. They always selected the routes with ascending ground instead of descending because going to the lower levels of the Underdark is not ideal. They rested from time to time long enough for Cernd and Viconia to be able to cast Clairvoyance again and see which tunnels is the less dangerous to travel on. Otherwise they would have encountered much dangerous monsters like nightshades, or maurs, also known as hunched giants, and the all-consuming hunger, an undead swarm composed of tiny bits of dead body parts, often from a variety of creatures, resembling a writhing, pulsating mass, of rotten body parts and jellied organs. There are many dangers in the Underdark, and so far, Ralis and his party have not faced them all... yet. The only Underdark dwelling monsters they faced many hours later after the roper were a small group of grimlock hunters, a few cloakers, trolls, bodaks and drow and duergar patrols. Tough creatures to fight, but Ralis and his party survived them all, but they grew more and more exhausted as they progressed, no one felt comfortable to sleep in the Underdark, and they traveled for many days without sleep, and finding more food and water was anything but easy. And in times when they needed to take a "bathroom break", they had to relieve themselves with two or three people supervising them, privacy is out of the question unless they want to maximize the risk getting picked off by some creature that may be stalking them, waiting for a chance to get one of them alone.
Meanwhile, 90 miles east from where Ralis and his companions are currently in the Underdark, in the drow city of Ust Natha in the Middledark domain of the Old Shanatar region of the Underdark directly underneath the Forest of Tethir in southern Amn, Jon Irenicus and Bodhi were having a meeting with Matron Mother Ardulace Despana of House Despana, the dominant noble house in the city. Prior to the meeting, Jon Irenicus and Bodhi arrived in Ust Natha three days ago, offering the drow of Ust Natha a chance to get at the surface elves of Suldanessellar. Of course, Matron Mother Ardulace was skeptical of Jon's promise for assistance against the surface elves, but to prove that he is serious, Jon sent Bodhi to do a certain task to prove their worth as allies. Afterwards, the drow of Ust Natha are now free to come to the surface and wage war against the elves of Suldanessellar. The war has been raging for two days, and already Ardulace is beginning to see that Irenicus is a man of his word. Now, Irenicus and Bodhi stood with Ardulace herself and her only daughter Phaere. Ardulace is two inches taller than her daughter, wearing a dress that is bright gray in contrast to her obsidian skin, with a V shaped neckline and black intricate webbing motifs around the skirt, and she wore a silver circlet around her head that vaguely looks like a crown. Phaere is five feet and three inches tall compared to her mother. Her hair is long, stretching down to her back, and the dress she is wearing is similar in design to her mother's, but the skirt is shorter, cut a few inches above her knees, and there is a rip on the left side of the skirt, partially exposing the thigh of her left leg.
"Things go well on the surface. The temple of their false god has been defiled," Ardulace informed Irenicus with a pleased smirk, speaking in Common instead of the drow language, since neither Irenicus or Bodhi knows her native tongue.
For centuries, the drow of Ust Natha have been denied access to the surface world to attack the elves of Suldanessellar in the name of Lolth the Spider Queen. Now, with the help of this strange outsider and his vampire cohort, what they could not do for centuries has now been made possible.
"I am pleased. My revenge will soon come," Irenicus said, his arms crossed in front of his muscular chest.
Ardulace still had no idea what Irenicus hopes to gain by helping drow. No surfacer offers aid to the drow unless they gain something significant from it. Knowing that there are many mysteries behind this individual named Irenicus bothered Ardulace a little. She isn't the type who would easily eat food from the hands of a stranger she knows nothing about.
"We did not act for your benefit, Irenicus, though... you did offer some interesting opportunities," Ardulace said.
"Yes, Matron Mother. Excuse my careless words," Irenicus apologized, still keeping his arms crossed.
Phaere looked over her left shoulder, hearing some footsteps approaching, then she saw three warriors of House Despana escorting two bound elven warriors into the chamber.
"Our first prisoners arrive, Matron Mother," Phaere informed Ardulace.
Ireicus, Bodhi, Ardulace and Phaere turned their attention to the captives, two elves clad in full body armor with their heads hung low in defeat and their wrists bound by rope. After stopping in the middle of the chamber, one of the drow warriors with semi short white hair, clad in full body armor approached a few steps and said:
"These two rank high among the surface scum, Matron. What is to be their fate?"
"Their presence sickens me. Kill them," Ardulace ordered immediately while brushing her right hand in the direction of the elves indifferently as if to shoo them away like flies, but Irenicus intervened before Ardulace's order could be carried out.
The drow warriors were preparing to draw their swords to gut the prisoners, but they stopped when Irenicus spoke up.
"Perhaps it would be better to interrogate them first," he suggested.
When Irenicus turned to face the prisoners, one of them lifted his head up and looked at Irenicus and his eyes widened in shock.
"Joneleth! What are you doing with these monsters?! You are one of-"
The elven warrior never finished his sentence because he took a powerful magic missile to the chest. As soon as he asked Irenicus what is he doing consorting with the drow, Irenicus thrust his right hand at the prisoners, firing two large bright purple magic missiles that ended their lives as soon as they were struck. Irenicus stood indifferently, but he felt relieved that he was fast enough to pelt the elf prisoners with magic missiles before they revealed what he really is. If Ardulace and her drow found out, they won't consider him a valuable ally anymore whether he is an exile or not. The drow warriors, Ardulace and Phaere glanced at the dead bodies in surprise, then they looked at Irenicus. A smile crept across Ardulace's dark lips while Phaere retained the dumbfounded look on her face.
"An odd way to question, Irenicus. Did you not like his tone?" Ardulace asked while stifling an amused chuckle.
"I... reconsidered, Matron. Your command was the wiser," Irenicus replied.
