Grimm, along with the orc Ront, is made to raise and lower the large basket that the drow are using to transport food supplies and other things up to their living quarters up near the top of the cavern. The drow enjoy watching the puny human try to pull at the large winch as they begin to heap heavy rocks into the basket just to watch the two prisoners work harder. After hours of this grueling work, Grimm has had enough and an evil thought creeps into his mind.
The two quaggoths, whose job it usually is to work the winch, are hunched over near the edge of the cavern watching the two prisoners work. Grimm rushes one of the quaggoths as the demon within him takes over. Now with the demon, Tallstag, in control he is able to match the strength of the quaggoth and is able to grab him and force him to the edge. With a huge push, the quaggoth is thrown over the edge. The quaggoth struggles to catch hold of one of the many spider webs just below the ledge but is unable to. His horrified screams fade as he tumbles out of sight into the inky blackness below, until all that can be heard is the constant roar of the waterfall.
The drow are quick to respond. They each fire upon Grimm and he falls unconscious. The drow drag his limp body off but not back to the prisoner's cave that they have been living in. His fate resides elsewhere now.
When the other prisoners are finally returned to their prisoner's quarters they notice that Grimm is no longer with them. They shout at the drow demanding to know his whereabouts but the angry looking drow do not answer. The prisoners begin to scheme again. They will wait to see if Azalea's female drow friend will return. And return she does.
As Azalea approaches the door, H slinks in the shadows nearby. Faeryl opens the door and reaches for Azalea but Azalea instead pulls her inside the cave. Confused but not frightened, Faeryl begins to question Azalea but H jumping from the shadows grabs Faeryl around the neck using his found metal bar. With the metal bar across her neck he forces Faeryl deeper into the cave. But not before she begins to shout for help.
Karis, uses one of the drow's poisoned crossbow bolts to stab the drow, trying for the eye but succeeding in stabbing her in the face. Faeryl falls unconscious. With the sounds of the struggle in the cave silenced, the prisoners can hear the sounds of many drow approaching the door. Several quaggoths and drow burst into the room, they see H with one of their own drow upon the floor, using her body as a shield with the metal bar to her neck. They demand the return of their companion, Grimm. The lead drow introduces himself as Jorlan, he has a large portion of his face scarred and burnt. He sends two drow out to retrieve Grimm.
When Grimm is returned to them the standoff resumes with yelling on both sides. It might have continued for sometime like that if not for at that moment the two twin deep gnomes, Topsy and Turvy begin to shake and groan. They begin transforming in front of everyone. Moments later, two werewolves stand where the two odd deep gnomes once stood and they begin to attack, drow, quaggoths and fellow prisoners alike. In the confused attack, Karis is bitten.
As the battle begins, many of the prisoners begin to edge their way towards the still open door at the end of the cave. Finally, with much of the drow and quaggoths occupied with attacking and defending against the werewolves most of the prisoners make it outside the cave with their jailers still within. The group works quickly to close and lock the door, locking the drow, quaggoths and leaving Ront, the orc, to be attacked and ripped apart by the quaggoths. Azalea looks inside as she is trying to break the key off inside the lock to further prevent the drow from escaping the cave. Inside she sees the quaggoth looking, self-proclaimed cursed elf prince, Derendil, sitting in the corner scared to move. He shouts that he will wait here until they return for him. That is the last they ever see of Derendil.Across the bridge leading to one of the stalactites used by the drow, are several more drow coming in response to the battle. H is able to drop one of the drow and use it as a body shield while Karis and Grimm begin to slash at the bridge's spiderthread ropes, until the bridge becomes unsecured on their side. The group is trapped between the drow and quaggoths trapped in the cave and several more still coming from further down the cavern but unable, at the moment to cross the gap to get to the prisoners.
The only way visible to the prisoners are the rocky stairs carved into the side of the cavern leading up. They run up the stairs to find and empty cave, which is obviously used to house the quaggoths. The cave is foul smelling with rotting fungus caps and other such refuse for beds and food. Outside the cave is a small outpost with a door. Opening the door they find two drow who are quickly overcome. One of the drow they toss over the edge and the other is used for information. They learn that most of their weapons would be stored in the first stalactite while their more arcane items would be housed in the temple, which is further down the cavern.
The rest of the prisoners are anxious to find escape and Shuushar, the fat kuo-toa, offers the strategy of jumping down to the webs and then down to the water, which is hopefully below them. Shuushar, still in a panic to leave before they all get shot and then tortured is the first to jump. He is able to grab hold of the webs and then drops into the darkness below. The party waits to hear the result of the fall until they hear a faint shout from below that he has made it. Injured but not dead.
H, who is not ready to depart without looking for his prized weapons, jumps for the webs below and then begins to make his way over to the stalactite. As he his climbing his way up the stalactite, Karis follows behind, jumping down to the webs below, missing the first layer of webs but is able to grab on to the second, and last layer before the empty space below.
Inside the stalactite H and Karis encounter a few drow which they fend off and Karis jumps down into a chamber below them and finds much of their gear. As she tosses up various weapons back up to H, several more drow approach from further down the cavern. Some of them cast a cloud of darkness that descends upon the group inside the stalactite but Karis is able to cast daylight which wards off the darkness. As the door holding back the drow bursts in a shower of splinters and lightning, H and Karis decide to make a run for it. As they approach the door they see Azalea who has arrived to come to their aid. As H runs and jumps to the webs below, Karis is hit by a crossbow bolt and is aided by Azalea to jump to the webs below.
Seeing the group fleeing to the webs, the remaining prisoners on the other side, still on the prisoner's cave landing, make their jumps to the webs. Eldith, the dwarf jumps to the webs and hangs there until she finds the courage to finally let go and drops into the darkness. Sarith, the drow prisoner jumps ably to the webs then lets go. H makes his jump down missing the spiderwebs altogether but is able to survive the fall into the small lake below. Bupido, the very odd derro, simply walks off the edge, arms folded across his chest with his feet together plummets at an incredible speed but survives the fall into the water. Azalea, who had Stool under her arm joins the rest at the edge of the water as everyone climbs to the muddy shore.
They notice that Eldith is not among them. Grimm jumps back into the water to search and eventually come back carrying the dead body of the drwarf. Karis begins the ritual for healing the group but as she does so the newly escaped prisoners hear the clacking of the winch. The sound of more drow coming down to the cavern floor in pursuit.
As soon as the ritual is complete and the party as healed as they can get, they see the drow approaching out of the darkness. There are only a few ways to go: through the drow to the other side of the cavern; away from the drow towards the other end of the cavern; or a small opening in the cavern which is the closest exit they can see. They run for the opening.
Karis provides a wall of green fire blocking their escape but it will last only so long. Grimm tells the others to run on. He will hold off the drow for as long as he can. Perhaps in penance for his murderous crimes, of which he has no memories of but suspects there is something evilly wrong with himself, he will give his life to aid the others in their escape. He allows the evil to over take him as his nails grow into claws and he knows no more as a human ever again.
The others run and eventually come to a large cave riddled with stalagmites and stalactites. H uses the opportunity to find a hiding spot as he is unable to see in the dark. The others spread out doing their best to hide. Soon enough several drow begin to move through the cave trying to track the escapees. One of them moves on through a passage but the others remain. A fight in the darkness ensues until the group is free once again and begins to move at a fast pace following Shuushar to his home, Slooblupdop. There he promises that they can get supplies and boats to travel using Darklake as it is the most efficient means of travelling the Underdark.
During one days travel, they hear calls for help from a voice in the distance. Karis uses dancing lights to light up the area of a vast cave. There in the distance seems to stand the ancient ruins of a temple system that is perhaps thousands of years old. They continue to hear the pleas for help but the group quickly moves on, not trusting to their instincts and thinking mostly of their own preservation.
As the fight raged on, one of the oozes begins to shimmer and then dissolve as a wall of clear, almost invisible gel begins to envelope it. A human fighter appears beside it, not seeming to worry that he is standing right beside a huge gelatinous cube. Quickly the adventurers are able to overcome the black ooze with the aid of their two new companions.
The gelatinous cube begins to ask them a barrage of curious questions. Gelatinous cubes, not usually known for their conversation takes the group by surprise but the human, Thokk, whom it has been following for the past few days simply says that it found him and has been following, and aiding, him,
Not long after, Shuushar becomes excited during their travels, He smells home. Soon the others can hear the sound of lapping water and the air becomes more humid. At once they exit one of the caves and enter a vast open area with a vast body of black water lapping at the land near them an a village of simple mud huts ahead.The village is protected by a vast net system surrounding the village. The group approaches the net near an entrance where several kuo-toa stand guard. These little creatures jump and skitter around and call for assistance. The group patiently awaits, Thokk playing music for the quickly growing audience of kuo-toa, all of them flapping their arms against their legs in appreciation.
The group is told by "Ploop" they are to stay for a feast in their honor and the next day they shall receive supplies and boats to carry them upon Darklake. Their discussion is cut short by noise of conflict outside the hut. Exiting the hut they see a large faction of kuo-toa which are fighting other kuo-toa. Some are chanting honors to the Sea Mother while others, more violent, are shouting the dangers of not worshiping the Deep Father. A female kuo-toa stands on a rise of other kuo-toa, each laying down to form a makeshift dais, she shouts that if all of the kuo-toa do not worship the Deep Father, they will begin to kill anyone who follows the Sea Mother.
It is then that "Ploop" quietly addresses the group. "Ploop", who is high priest to the Sea Mother, wants the group to kill that high priestess of the Deep Father. It his daughter, Bloppblippood, "Blopp".
Will they please kill his daughter.
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