Chapter Three - What lies beneath

Faceless looked at Magnus, recognising the young mage at once by reputation. He had never seen or met any of the Bright Skulls but now it seemed he would have the chance to unleash havoc on the ones he so despised. Even though for now they were surviving.

The faerie fire ahead flowed down in a pitch black passage, leading to a large gallery. A vast complex of mushrooms created an underground fungi forest and Faceless recognised the place. Very familiar... very close to Xanathar's guild.

"Follow the rat" - the masked thief muttered to Raulen and Sorn, apparently the ones leading the party. Sooner or later the beholder's thugs would be around them and Faceless would have his chance to capture the group...

Strolling back to the group Alaith picked up Sheyjin's body, it was heavier now but Alaith was still able to lift him. As he got closer to Magnus and Orme, he wispered " Be careful up ahead, there were many traps and some I could not disarm. But otherwise I believe that the newcomers are leading us into a trap. We should let them take us where we they going, but be ready for any slight movements."

Garfeh looked at Magnus.

"That's it, I got a bad feeling about this whole group. A drow?!? Plus you can never trust someone without a face, I always say. Got any spells in your head that can get us out of here?" He whispered to Magnus.

"Glad to meet you Garfeh..." - the masked man caught the halfling's last words. - "I wear a mask for your own sake. I am a wanted man, a renegade by choice, and if you knew who I am, you would be hunted as well." - his dimmed eyes revealed a smile under the metal face. His voice was sharp and clear, though he seemed suspicious about his past.

"Where would you go? Your friend came that way..." - the thief stated, pointing at the fungi forest down below.

Orome concentrated for a moment and then turned to Magnus and Alaith, whispering "The masked one means us injury, in particular he refers to the bright skulls, and is thinking of you two and Garfeh and some others that I don't know the names of. His thoughts are clear as day to me, his hatred is vast. What have you done to him?"

Garfeh's jaw dropped. "Huh? I never met the guy. We gotta get out of here."

The strange group followed the Faceless towards the glowing mushroom forest, some of them hoping to find a lost friend, some of them for darker reasons still unknown. As they descended the slope leading to the towering fungis a figure suddenly came into view. On top of a giant mushroom a lone figure watched the group approach.

It wass a large man, seven and a half foot in height. Clothed in only short pants and a belt, the tattoos that covered his body showed clearly. Nearly every inch of the man's skin was covered by inkings of many tribal-like animal figures. Even his bald head had been used as a human canvas.

Tavork spun around again from where he was walking and was about to start on another tirade when he spotted the individual on the mushroom.

The tatooed man noticed that he had been seen, and a look of concern crossed his brow as he reached down to the back pack that lay beside him on the giant mushroom.


"Alright who the hell is supposed to be on the point eh?” The grumpy dwarf spat out. “Ye going to let someone just sneak up on us then? What the bloody hell good are ye then if ye can't spy something that big just sitting there and watching us." he cotinued to rant.

His short legs carried him quickly up to the mushroom where the giant man sat. "Ye better explain what ye are doing round ‘ere or ye be answering the question to me hammer here," he growled out. While holding the hammer in his right hand, he lifted it slightly and laid it back down in his left hand several times.

"And just because ye have all that flaming crap scribbled all over yer body and by the looks of ye, will probalby be hitting yer head on the ceiling, don't be getting no ideas about starting something. Ye might be special where yer from but yer ain't nothin to me. Small I might be but ye won't be the first person that I whacked their knee out from under em. So speak up and don't just be sitting there acting the silent type and all..WELL!! OUT WITH IT!!!!!" He screamed turning red in the face.

The large man threw his backpack around his shoulder.

"I mean no harm to you or your companions. I have been wandering around in this dark place for hours now. My name is Jindeu"

Squinting his eyes, Jindeu peers into the darkness at the voice that was blaring at him. He realizes now that there are actually more people here than he guessed.

"I arrived in these catacombs by way of a magical door. My partners and I were to all pass through separate doors that would test us to see if we were truly the ones who deserved what we seek." Jindeu explains to his unseen audience.

"I have solved the first riddle, but now find myself here. Meeting with you must be more than coincidence, what is the reason you are here?"

Even though Sorn remained silent, his mind was racing a mile a minute with thoughts. He knew the area in which the group was going towards extremely well. Ironically enough, even though the group was heading towards the slave pens of the beholder's thieves guild, there was a refuge of those Drow of Vhaeraun close as well. This refuge, was a temple to Vhaeraun, as well as a slave trade operation as well for those drow of the Masked Lord.

Sorn doesn't bother to turn around, but he speaks to the masked thief, "So what reasons does this group have for making it's way to the Eye Tyrant's guild? And yes I know who and what they are, for my associates have delt with them on many occasions." Sorn grins slightly, "And given them some "friendly" competition."

As Sorn continued to walk, his right hand reached into his piwafwi up by his neck as if he was clutching something, and for a time he walked with his eyes closed...

Magnus rummages through his spells thinking of a way to either get away here or deal with that creepy metalface guy. He thinks: "Now there is a teleport, but that would probably not work here and I would leave my friends to die here. No option. Well, then it just him against my wits..."

Magnus whispers to Garfeh and Alaith: "That new guy is strange, but he does seem a lot nicer then the rest or our 'party'. I think we should stay close to him and eachother or we'll be dead in notime. And I as well have no idea who that faceless bloke is, but he seems to hate our party and we should be very carefull and get rid of him as fast as possible."

Then he walks towards the tattoed man and says: "Welcome stranger. Come down and tell us your story."
The blackhaired, blue-eyed hovering sorcerror halts in mid-glide, his feet an inch or two off the ground. Turning, he faces this new creature, and makes out by Magus's lightsource that the tall man is covered in countless tattoos. Raulen's eyebrow arches as he smiles.

"Greetings, well met. I recommend travelling with our group: we are an amalgamation of surface-dwellers, underdark denizens, and outerplanar travellers here. With this much diversity in our party, we should be safe enough from casual threats on our trek.

I am Raulen of Sigil, formerly Clan Nyteshadow. Welcome, Jindeu, although I do not speak for this group, I invite ye in for now, on my behalf.

Fair warning to ye, our destination is one of possible dire peril. We seek Xanathar, the ruler of a vast guild of rogues. Although we shall ask for information of a murder, we realize that we may be the subject of just such a future inquisition, should we fail in ettiquette with this Beholder."

Raulen then turns to Sorn, and nods. "Tis this answer enough for ye, Dark one? Will ye assist us through the beholder's checkpoints? If so, I welcome ye as long as ye wish to stay."

Raulen's side mutter to Tavork is barely heard. "Tavork, we might as well let him in. Think of all the arrows he'll block, and traps he'll trip ahead of us. I vote him advance scout, if he has similar sneaky talents of that Alaith person."

Looking over the others of the group, he nods and asks: "Any objections to Jindeu with us? Personally, I'd love to hear his story."

Garfeh smiles weakly, obviously uncomfortable with the present company.

"Ah heh, fine with me, the more the merrier."

Shrugging he stays close to the wall glancing furtively at his new 'friends'.

Bowing low enough so thet he can see the figure Alaith introduces himself "I am Alaith,athat is all you need to know at this time, perhaps we could share epic stories of times past."

"It seems you all have your reasons for being here. I thank you all for welcoming me on your travels. It looks as if my test will take much more time than I had guessed." The tattooed man climbs down the mushroom and passes the dark dwarf.

Jindeu rubs a tribal looking tattoo of a cat on his forearm, and the inking begins to fade. Turning to Garfeh, his eyes gleem as a cat's would. The halfling notices that Jindeu's hands look more like claws now, in fact... many of his features have changed.

"Ahh, I see much more clearly now." The monk says to Garfeh in a much more deeper and more animalistic voice.

He continues, "Well, you certainly look as if you wish you were somewhere else. What brings you to this dark place?"

Smiling ruefully, Garfeh shakes his head.

"Being supremely unlucky my large friend, but if you mean why did I come to undermountain in the first place? Money. Always money, it seems."

With a sigh he looks away from the monk.

'A licanthrope... what next? A giant?' - the metal faced man shrugs in his mind. Too much for the time being. And the others seem to be slipping away... they won't follow to the Elder Orb's domain, it was too much.

Turning to the drow, he gently speaks. "If the others welcome you, so do I. I assumed they would kill a drow in sight, but that doesn't mean I would." - he smiles briefly under the mask. - "We need the Beholder's vast resources and net of contacts to find a certain assassin... a supposed Shadow Thief if that is familiar to you." - he concludes, slightly glancing at the halfling, ironically. "Well met, monk. Hope you don't turn to a were wolf and go berserk on us..." - he remarks, passing the leading characters. He takes the front, eyeing the whole chamber within his magical mask. - "So, Sorn, you know how to get to Xanathar... show us the way, will you? I am tired of following rats..." - he looks down, to the faerie fire trail. He could spot the rodent a few feet away, dead... 'Tarvok again', he thinks, looking at the Duergar's silhouette.

Sorn turns and regards the masked thief briefly and nods and speaks in drow briefly, "Xas, ussta malla darthiir."

He then returns to using the common tongue, "This passage way continues on waving and so forth for another 200 leagues, then it opens to a cavern. Within the cavern there will be a number of off branches, most will take you back the way in which your group came. Others will take you to the river, as well as caverns upon the river and the Xanathar's pens. There are other methods of finding your assassin Masked one. Some of my associates could be useful to your group as well, for a price of course, or a boon."

Sorn grins slightly and looks at the thief and simply watches him for a moment, then his hands move in slight motions, motions that the masked thief would recognize as a regional thieves cant upon the surface. (I know falsie, don't cross berk) Sorn's hands smack together briefly, as if noting that he was finished with his motions and he watches the masked thief briefly again.

Sorn nods to Raulen and chuckles, "I will be with this group for the time being. As it appears that it will be profitable for me, or at least enjoyable regardless of the outcome."

"We happen to meet..." - the Faceless One nods at Sorn, pointing at the Bright Skulls - the halfling, the mage Magnus, the thief Alaith, Bouron, Shey'jin the cleric (which might be dead) and the missing elf Tehnar.

"We just met, as you can see. I am with Raulen and the Duergar. We lost Sigar Mandril in our escape from Skullport. Or didn't you know?" - the masked thief blinks his eyes, still remembering the havok it was when the Lords came down...

Orome says
"alaith, can you scout slightly ahead?, the nearer we get to our destination the more we get closer to danger...and traps"

Sorn nods his head briefly, "The name is vagely familiar. Probably someone that I have watched or delt with in the past. Regardless, of whether I know of the Shadow Thief or not, I had heard of a little scuffle within the Skullport awhile ago." Sorn chuckles, "It pays to have informants throughout this domain, including within the Drow noble house within Skullport." Sorn spits slightly, "Iblith Llothians."

Nodding with an almost completely blank expression on his face, Alaith walks off into the darkness. Every step he takes is in extreme caution...

Tavork walks back up next to Raulen. As he walks by you, you notice a tail swishing out of his mouth and then he chomps down hard and you hear the crunch of bones and the tail goes limp. An evil gleam comes to his eyes as he sees the disgust on your face. He take a few more bone crunching chews and the tail vanishes into his mouth as he swallows.

Coming up to Raulen he mumbles something in his ear. Even had you been able to hear what he had to say, you would not be able to understand him.

Ororme turns to magnus "Is there anything i can do to help our frien here? I have certain... abilities that may assist him."

Walking on for several minutes Alaith walks alone in the dark, until the room opens up revealing 9 different doorways. Some doors are plain solid wooden doors, some a bronzy black colour, one even gold. But 3 doors in particular catches Alaith's attention, one has rickety leather hinges, with a strange light glowing through the gaps. Another has a firm strong blackened metal door, and the last has what seems like millions of tiny little holes and a couple of arrows jutting out of it. Above all of the doors is a picture of a skull with a bluish backround (The symbol of Cyric).

Raulen hovers by one of the more nondescript doors, and ponders the options a moment. Then, he sniffs.

Crinkling his nose slightly, he looks down, and inspects a small pile of dung. Frowning, and not touching it, he concentrates, thinking about where he had smelt this particular odor before.

He mutters to himself softly. "Snake-men?" And his head turns sharply to the golden door. "There's something alive behind that door, I can smell their bloodlust. Something is preparing to attack."

As he calls to mind some protective magics, his spellcasting murmurs can be heard, while he moves closer to Tavork, who he knows is litkely to charge into battles.

As his murmurs continue, Raulen's skin hardens into a diamond-hard chiseled texture.... then, multiple images of himself cluster about him, all mimicking his motions. A third spell is cast, and he glows in ultraviolet-indigo fyre, with blue sparks showering the floor occasionally.... his own personal, home-grown defense spell.

"Ware ye all, they may be snake-men, very dang-"

The sentence is never finished, due to the rickety door next to him exploding in a shower of wood over he and Tavork. The huge Umberhulk claw reaches through one of Raulen's staggering images, and clamps on Tavork's shoulder, trying to get a decent grip on the dwarf.

As Magnus' light glimmers upon the Umberhulk's eyes, they are seen to be multifaceted prisms: gem-like rainbowed fascination, mirroring beauty and glittering mesmerization, drawing the eye, confusing the mind, causing chaos, randomness and bewilderment amongst the group.

Tavork bites down hard on the hand trying to grab him. Sinking his teeth into the Umberhulk, he hangs on for dear life. The creature doesn't care for too much for the little dwarf being attached to its arm and slams its arm with the dwarf still hanging on into a wall trying to dislodge him.

With an explosion of breath, Tavork lets go of the arm and slides down the wall into a kneeling position. He sits there momentarily trying to gain his breath.

After a few seconds he catches his breath enough to think again and he smacks his lips for a second a sour expression crossing it.

"Ye be..(pant pant)..not tasting..(pant)..to well ugly" he spits out. Tavork slowly rises to his feet hammer in hand and shield placed on his arm awaiting to rejoin the battle.

Tavork breaks into a chant of some kind, a harsh language to your ears. A brownish glow covers his body in some kind of aura when he finishes.

Magnus nods and says: "If you can heal him, I would be very grateful. He is both heavy and my friend."

Orome closes his eyes and see the signs of injury disappear from the body. To your shock you see the same signs appear on oromes face and exposed flesh. He smiles in pain and the damage fades from him as well. He pauses to catch his breath "That should assist your friend further, the major damage is now healed, but iwill have to rest for a moment." As he pauses the shout of warning rings out and the umberhulk rushes out, "I will not be able to fight for another few minutes, you must protect myself and the body for that time magnus"




Drawing his sword Alaith backs away towards Orme and the body. Turning to Magnus "Quickly join the fray, your magical expertise will be needed. I will protect these two." Pointing to the 2 bodies on the floor.

You see Magnus' face twist in anger as he shouts: "Now I've had it!"

He raises his hands and starts an impressive incantation that ends in a bright light near the Umber Hulk. When the light vanishes a unicorn stands there.

Magnus commands it to attack and the beasts clash into eachother with a large bang.

The Thief, still in the back of the fighting party, thinks of a way to win the battle. He sees the duergar flying, clashing into the stone walls of the gallery. Raulen seems to be the next target but a summoned creatuer joins the fight.

The Faceless One quickly draws his magical daggers, even though he knows it won't hurt the beast too much, he aims the creature's mesmerizing eyes, for the Unicorn and anyone engaged in mellee would get confused by them. With his enchanted mask preventing the gaze attack from the monster to harm his thoughts, the thief throws his set of daggers, as two of them meet the onyx orbs of the Umber Hulk, instantly delivering uncontrollable pain and anger to the now blind creature.

He smiles, looking as the duergar approaches with his hammer, but it seems the monster is getting closer and closer to the sorcerer, amidst its mad rush. - "Watch out, Raulen, the beast went berserk." - he warns, watching the Hulk's claws swinging back and forth onto whatever was around it.

Sorn watched quietly as the group consisting of Tavork, Raulen, the summoned Unicorn, and the Faceless Thief, all engaged the savage Umber hulk. Suddenly though, his ears perked up and with a fluid movement, spun around facing the doors on the other side of the group.

Sorn sneered and muttered in slight disgust, "Yuan-ti" as the doors burst open, thundering as they struck the hard stone walls, from within the areas behind the doors stalked and slithered a mass of creatures, some humanoid, others more abominations than humans, though all shared the same common characteristics, glistening serpentine eyes and echoing the same bone chilling hissing.

These abominations of humanity stalked slightly, watching and moving in a single mezmorizing action before they began to swarm the group.

The large man crouches next to the halfing at his side.

"I have fought the skake ones before!" He growls, the magic of his cat like tattoo still running its course.

With a leaping pounce, Jindeu flys into the fray of Yuan-ti with stunning blows. Two of the snake men look dazzed as the furry of the attacks catch them before they could react.

Sorn watched as the large man rushed and leaped into a fray with a pair of the Abominations, and nodded slightly as he watched the monk's fists fly fast and furious. He then kinked his neck slightly and turned to watch as a pair of Yuan-ti, one a humanoid with serpantine scales covering his body and serpantine eyes glisening. A forked tongue flicked back and forth within it's mouth. The second, was an abomination, it appeared to be a large king cobra, with a pair of humanoid arms. One carried a spear, the other a Khopesh and flail. Both appeared to wear armor, though the abomination wore a modified leather breast. Upon both the symbol of a cobra was etched within the armor.

Sorn looked at the pair and chuckled slightly as he moved towards him, his arms were out wide and he moved so that the trio of them made a triangle. The abomination, who wielded the spear was the first to start combat. It led with a thrust aimed for Sorn's chest. With a twist to the left, and a movement of his left arm, Sorn parried the attack and drove it to the right by using his rune etched bracer to knock the attack off key. The abomination reacted by slithering in close to Sorn, it's spear spinning and thrusting forward. With each attack and combination, Sorn reacted by blocking with his bracers. Finally, Sorn took a step back, and as if in slow motion, he caught the end of the wooden shaft with his left hand. As he did this, he spun, putting his back against the shaft of the spear. In his right hand, he had a part of his piwafwi, so that it was flaring and spinning wildly with him, more so for decoration and disorientation than anything. With his back to the spear shaft, Sorn moved his right hand onto the shaft and spun even closer to the Abomination. As the piwafwi cloak flared there was a sudden flash of crimson light and the sound of wood clunking to the ground. Before the stunned Yuan-ti was the severed shaft of his spear, the point lying upon the ground.

Sorn stood before the Abomination, his piwafwi lying loose around him. In his left hand was a crimson bladed sabre, the blade flaring angrily with a crimson fire. Sorn chuckled as the Abomination drew forth a wicked looking scimitar and just shook his head, "You must be joking...." were the only words that came from his mouth, and the drow turned and approached the abomination. With a clang, the sabre caught the scimitar, and the hilts of the blades locked for a brief second. Sorn pushed back and his right hand reached out as he turned. With a muttering of a single word a spray of five amber coloured missles of energy shot from his hand, striking the half-blood that was approaching him from behind him. Each of the missles struck without error and knocked the Yuan-ti back, leaving blackened scortch marks upon it's scales and armor.

Sorn wasn't even hardly looking at the abomination, but his sabre blocked every single thrust, slash, and cut that the wicked blade did. Sorn's hand reached beneath his piwafwi and from beneath it, he drew a long slim dagger, the hilt crafted in the image of a sword spider. With a flick of his wrist his finger pressed the release trigger on the dagger, splitting the dagger's blade into three, revealing it to be a parrying dagger. He chuckled as he slipped the abomination's scimitar between the trio of blades and with a single fluid movement, sent the creature's blade spinning and sliding across the room. Without even stopping, Sorn stabbed the blade of his sabre into the rock, the blade cutting without any effort and shaked as Sorn let go of it. His left hand grabbed the Abomination's left arm and he spun behind it, his back to it's back. As he did this, his parrying dagger's blade became whole again and with a quick shift of his wrist, stabbed the blade backwards up into the creature's head, driving the blade up under the skull and into it's brain.

A split second later, the dagger left the dead creature's head and as the abomination crashed lifelessly to the ground, Sorn's left hand had already retrieved the flaring sabre and he looked upon the other Yuan-ti with a sadistic grin across his face. His last action was to bang the blades together as he walked over the corpse and approached the Half-blood wielding the Khopesh and flail. "Dos orn el...."

Behnind the two dead Yuan-ti, a couple more stand, gourding what appears to be a body with slightly bluish skin.

Orome stands, looking a lot healthier now. He looks around to guage the how the battle is going. Seeing the umberhulk is effetively beaten he turns his attention to the 2 yuan-ti guarding the blue body. "Alaith, look over there, we may have trouble coming this way, get ready"

Magnus mutters an incantation and a force barrier suddenly surrounds him. Then he unleashes a horde of magic missiles to the closest Yuan-Ti.

Garfeh stands at the rear of the group on a rock formation. With deadly accuracy he fires bolt after bolt into the yuan-ti. Screaming in pain the snake-men look up at him, their eyes seething with anger.

Orome runs forward towards the yuan-ti, as the bolts from garfeh impact into their bodies he leaps above them and lands behind. One of the yuan-ti swivels round and attempts to bite but orome casually avoids the attack. It seems he blurs as he steps in and punches the yuan- hard in the throat. You hear the sickening impact as the blow crushes the vertibrae of the yuan-ti and it collapses onto the floor. The second yuan-ti swivels in panic as it watches as garfeh aims his x-bow at it and magnus hands erupt in green light as he advances...

Dropping to one knee Alaith pulls out a small figurine shaped like a dog. After saying a couple of words Alait h is enveloped by a cloud of smoke. Seconds later there is a glowing dog at his side licking his hand. Pointing over to the group of gaurds, the dog emits a low pitch howl that can barely be heard. But looking around you see that some of the beasts are dead, while others are fleeing for there lives. Drawing his sword again Alaith and the moon-dog charge into the enemy. The dog leaps on top of one clawing its face out. Leaving Alaith alone, and the only thing between him and the body is a golden armoured yuan-ti holding a double handed axe, with glimmering runes reflecting the dull light causing it almost to look clear. Stabbing towards its gut, Alaiths blow is parried aside by it's tail, then spinning on its back heel he smashes his small buckler into its ribs. Looking up at its ugly and lizard like face, you notice that it shows no pain. Dropping his nearly shattered shield, Alaith pulls out a long bladed dagger, with an ivory handle, with elven runes etched upon it.

A spear dives into the flesh of the tattooed monk. A wince of pain his heard as blood runs freely from his side. Two Yuan-ti are stunned, but this third one has injured Jindeu. With a powerful kick, the towering man sends the doomed creature flying into the Umberhulk. The two stunned snake men look to be coming to thier senses.

Garfeh uses his last crossbow bolt to kill one of the stunned snake-men. The bolt sinks deep into it's neck,fountaining blood. reaching to his belt he draws his short sword and hops off the rock, stalking towards to remainging snake-man. with a hiss it scrambles to regain it's feet, but to no avail. With a quick slash Garfeh slits the neck of the yuan-ti. It gurgles as the life fades from it's eyes.

Bouron says
" hey what's all this fuss about? Can't a man get a good rest around here? Hey hullo Magnus and mister Garfeh, what' you doing here around... hold up what am I doing 'ere. "
The large man is standing tall again flexing his enormous muscles. You see a confused look in his face when he sees the combatants of the battle. "who are we fighting?" he asks and readies himself as a lizard-man charges him.
The lizard man ,carrying a rusty mace, launches a clumsy swing at the big man, scraping his shoulder. with a quick sidestep he positions himself behind the lizard-man, he then reaches forth with his large arms and catches the monster in a headlock. "this'll do the trick" he claims a he breaks the neck of the Lizard-man. picking up his new mace, he moves to Magnus's side.

Flicking his cloak enough to flash the besr in the face Alaith plunges his dagger up and under it's golden armour into it's lungs (if they have them). It's eyes wince in pain as the cold edge of the blade is released from the gaping wound. Thrusting his longsword into it's neck, it's body hits the floor and it crawled over to the table trying to stop the lifeblood frothing from it's mouth.

The moon dog has finished killing several fleeing beasts and has returned to Alaith's side and dissapears into a clound of smoke, leaving only the small figurine on the floor again. Walking, and picking up the figure he walks over to the table and unties the body.

"Bouron, you're back! Nice to see you're ok!", Magnus shouts to the large man as he sees him killing a Yuan-Ti barehanded.
Magnus walks to him while casting a spell and touches Bouron's arm. His skin suddenly feels like stone.
"This should help you if we encounter another beast soon", he tells the man, smiling.
"Oh, and don't trust everybody you see here. I haven't found out who's good and who's not", he whispers after that.

"oh mag that's easy, just ask 'em" the big man says smiling,
"who's good here...wait wait...ummm.. who's not got any sneaky plans..wait..ummn not that good either wait.....who's not going to hurt or run away from us if it would help themselves...yeahh that's a good one who will run away!!!" he states loudly with a wide all-knowing grin on his face, while crossing his bulging arms across his barrel like chest.

As a yuan-ti flees he trips over the body, turning it. You see the pale, and stiff Tehnar. On closer inspection you see he still lives.

Suddenly it is quiet again.
"The battle is over, Bouron. And I'll make it easy for ya. Don't trust anyone for me, Tehnar, mr. Garfeh and Alaith. Ok?"

Then he walks to Tehnar, checking his polse and shaking his head: "Tsk, tsk, my friend. Some wizard you are.... I think I should introduce you to some of my Yellow Robed friends..."

He stands up and says: "Orome, could you take a look at my friend here?"

Then he starts searching the bodies, seeing if Garfeh missed something.

"Well done." - claimed the masked figure, catching the flying daggers and placing them within the folds of his dark robe as they magically come to his command. He gets closer to the battle scene, a putrid odor of death is creeping from the dead beasts and he remarks they should proceed since it will attract more predators of Undermoutain.

Checking with his masked eyes to see if everybody's still alive, he passes the drow, congratulating his prowess with a tap on his left shoulder. He gets closer to the door with miriads of arrowheads waiting to be activated.

"Always take the most protected door..." - he mumbles as his careful hands analyze the source of the trap. - "It might take a while, why won't you check the room for treasure while I try to disarm this thing." - he announces to whoever was listening.

After the umberhulk lies still on the ground, the duergar climbs on top of it and watchs quietly as the battle rages around him. A putrid brown glow is still iminate around him hovering all over his robe and helm.

As the fight finally comes to an end, he waits calmly watching the "goodies" huddle up as if the boogie man was about to come get them. He grins and continues to watch not saying anything. There was no need. Let them cower and not know who was who. Maybe if he felt like it later, he would actually invite the boogie man to join them. Yea now that sounded like a good idea...

Orome walks calmly up to the man and examines him. He lays his hand on his chest and whispers and closes his eyes. "That should do it" he says after a moment, "I would recommend you rest now, you've obviously been through a lot." Orome takes a drink from his canteen and offers it to anyone who wants a drink...

Uggh, the headache, Tehnar says with his eyes still closed, "whats going on here, one minute I was surfacing for air, and now Im lying, on a stone floor?"

Tehnar opens his eyes and looks around: *Magnus, Garfeh, Bouron and Alaith, with the dead Shey'jin to one side, and on one side a dark, masked figure, a extremly tall man, some pale looking dwarf and, curse it a creature most foul, the cursed one, the drow.

"Correllon, curse ye, now you go to face Lloth". Tehnar rises quickly, starts casting a spell yet appears to faint in mid casting and collapses to the ground.

Magnus drags Tehnar a bit to the side and loosely binds his hands together so he can't cast spells the moment he wakes up.
He nods to Orome and thanks him.

The cat-like tattoo on Jindeu's skin has completely faded away now, leaving bare skin in its place. The original features of the tall man return. He holds his side where he has been wounded and walks back to the rest of the group.

"Friend of yours?" Jindeu asks Magnus. "Let me know I may be any help. I can carry him if we need to."

With a slight yawn, the monks continues "How long have you all been down here? Don't you guys ever need rest?

"umm hullo, I be Bouron, what you doin' here?" the big man asks as hetakes a few practise swings with his newfound rusty mace.

Suddenly blushing realising his nudity "umm.. hehe sorry....an..any of you guys got some clothe or something?"

Magnus incantates something and scraps of clothing swirl from everywhere forming a simple tunic.
"Here, put this on", he says, "and check the right corner of this room. I thought I saw some armor lying there."

"Bouron!, it's nice to have your company again" Running up and shaking his hand "For it shall be a good one."

Turning to the tall man he says "We have been down in this hell of a dungeon for far to long. Even if we were to go to a city of that one" Pointing to Sorn "It would be a pleasure. And i believe rest would be much appreciated". Sits upon the table Tenthar was lying on, Alaith pulls out a decanter of deep red wine, takes a swig, and offers it to the rest of the group.

"thanks Alaith, it's also nice to see you, but it's only been a couple of hours since......hmmm I can't seem to remember what has happened. oh well, pass me the wine" he says smiling wide."
"Oh thanks mister Magnus, you really always know what to do, now if I could only find something for more protection.. you said there may be something over there? well then lets have a look" Bouron makes his way between the dead bodies of the combatants. "ahh here's something a king would be proud of" he states as he pulls a worn out leather armor off of one of the dead bodies.

The masked thief sits down in front of the metal door. He reaches for his tools, opening the leathery pack in fornt of him. A seires of lockpicking tools, a crowbar, mini vials of corrosive solvents, a master key, and many other tools appear as he dances his fingers from one to the other fold of the set. He takes a brush and starts wiping the dust around the door frame. He follows it to the ground and starts wiping the floor around it. His long fingers detect a loose stone, probably the source for the trap.

He picks up the crowbar and gently torns the stone away from the floor. Getting his lamp closer to get a better view of the trap, he sees a number of wires linking other steps on that chamber to the frame, and a spring all the way down, waiting to be triggered.

His eyebrows furrow as he gets one of the vials and spill on a single wire. To his surprise, the door shoots the uppermost set of arrows in the trap, piercing a tall mushroom nearby. He glares to the metal frame, thinking of a way of unlocking the door without havig to shoot all the arrows...

Tehnar opens his eyes once more, and once again his eyes dwell on the party: "I must have been dreaming, a drow to walk amidst us, he says wearily.

He turns a bit and spots the drow again, and then sees that the others see him too, and pay little heed. Again he trys to cast a spell but his hands are tied.

"Untie me you fools, so I might dispatch the foul one. Have you all, by Cyric, gone mad, a drow walks amids ye and ye paya no heed. Tis like inviting a viper to your home. Ye have not seen what these monsters do, I fought under the Craulnober keep ruins and lived to tell the tale."

Sorn looks at Tehnar and chuckles slightly, "Dos phuul natha wael Darthiir."

He then steps closer to the elf and looks at him, "I am hardly your enemy at this point. If anything we could be useful to one another upon the Night Above." Sorn reaches into his left bracer and produces a sharp dagger, in which he spins slightly then slashes through the rope tying Tehnar's arms together. As he does this, he mutters a small word and his right left hand weaves briefly and he grins slightly...

Sorn looks at the elf one last time after casting the simple spell and shakes his head, turning his back to the elf as he moves over to the Faceless Thief.

"The maker of this area always did enjoy challenging traps and toys for his play things. Though like any pet, he should be careful, we might just bite back." Sorn then looks towards the corpses of the Yuan-ti. Despite sounding like an incredible hoard, the small numbers were something for Sorn to think about.

"Yuan-ti usually travel in greater numbers, " Sorn said as he scratched the back of his head, "I doubt that we have seen the last of them. And yet with such....valiant adventurers in our midst, I doubt they would be much of a concern. To us..." Sorn looks down at the Faceless Thief and nods his head briefly as if hinting something.

Garfeh hops off the rock and moves over to Tehnar.

"It seems these circumstances make strange bed fellows. Be still for a moment and let me explain the situation."

Garfeh quickly explains the situation to Tehnar. patting him on the shoulder he leans in and whispers.

"Trust only those you came here with."

Magnus mutters a few words and his eyes glow blue. With his magesight he searches the room and sees one of theYuan-Ti's sword light up blue. He mutters more words and then nods.
He bends down and takes the sword and hands it to Bouron.

"I think this one will be much better then that rusty mace. And don't be afraid of this sword. It's magical, but it has no intelligence so it won't take your mind over like the last one."

Handing Tanthar his hand Alaith helps him stand. "If worst comes to worst we shall exit this place and begone of their evil scent" He wispers into Tenthers ear when he is standing. "Now on to the matters in hand, will we be joining our faceless *friend* and his companions. For it seems he has already begun work on that door over there" Looking over to Faceless "Or do you want to go another way?"

"Ye all done whispering sweet nothin's in yer ears yet? We be having something to do and yer lolly gaggin around ain't helpin much. So why don't ye get yer butts in gear and get a move on" the durgar spits out and as he tromps past the huddled adventurers, you hear him swear under his breath something about surfacers in general.

Stomping up next to Faceless he growls out, "Ye need a hand there masked one or ye waiting for Cyric to be reborn and come back and open this bloody door for ye?"

Bouron says
"Thank you Magnus, hey do you know where my other sword went?"

"Eh...well....it eh...it broke!", Magnus says, stumbling over his words. "Yes, it broke...too bad. Don't worry about it. This one isn't as great, but it will do and you surely will find some other nice sword, ok?"
Magnus tries to smile at Bouron.

"of course I will, though this is a very nice sword" He says holding it up in front of his eyes measuring the blade. "hmm a shame with the other sword, it had such a nice color.

"Maybe we can find some blue paint, Bouron" Garfeh smiles, Bourons demenor helping him to find some humor in their dismal surroundings.

Alaith says
"It dosen't matter... it wasn't your colour... yeah it didn't sute you. Isn't that right Garfeh" stepping on Garfehs foot, with a hiddensmile on his face. "Now are we gonna stay here until we get old or arewe gonna go somewhere?"

Tavork says
"Blah blah blah,yak yak YAK! SHUT UP DAMN YE ALL. CAN'T YE SEE THE THIEF IS TRYING TO OPEN THE BLOODY DOOR! All ye infernal yapping is gonna bring the rest of the creatures down on us. Maybe ye like to be their next meal but I personally like to eat them not the other way round. NOW SHUT YER HOLES!" the irrate duergar yells.

Turning his attention back to Faceless again he starts to tap his foot in impatience. "Ye waiting fer something or ye always this slow?"

"Oh, and your screaming isn't going to bring the monsters down on us? Head your own words, Duerger."

Garfeh spits ouot the last word like a curse, his patience snapping.

"Ye must not have been listening too well eh halfpint? I do believe I told ye to SHUT UP! Now run along and find a nice slime to annoy and leave me be. Understand this time?" Tavork says to Garfeh as if he is a child.

Tavork shakes his head and rolls his eyes.

"Hey!! Don't ye be bothereing mister Garfeh now, or I'll have to....to... do something not nice, and I'm sure no one wants that" he says scowling down at the dark dwarf, trying to look very frightening.

the masked man smiles, concerning the previous discussion. A sweat soon breaks down his neck as he takes out another vial of solvent. This time he stands up, not sure where to apply the oinment. His hands reach for the doorknob, a huge piece of iron with no lock from the outside. As he pours the solvent on the knob, a faint cloud of vapor begins to form as the acid takes place.

"Hmmm, now I can open this thing..." - he mutters, preparing the lock picking tools, a long and sharp blade and a small hammer.

As the acid takes care of the knob, a little keyhole appears. The masked thief scraps the rest of the solvent and begins poking the lock, not paying attention to a particular spring on the side of the doorframe...

Still perplexed by the drows behavior, Tehnar keeps opening and closing his mouth. Gathering himself, he closes his mouth and comes to a decision: There shall not be any spell hurling, at least not yet.....

He looks around and sees that he still has all his stuff. He leans against the wall watching, thinking. He proceeds to study the thieves lockpicking skills, yearning to learn something. Spotting the spring he taps the thief on the shoulder and asks: "What does that thingy do?"

The thief almost let go a cry of surprise when the elf notices the deadly trap. He recomposes himself, tapping his metal forehead. - "Oh, that thing is the next thing I would take care of... now if you excuse me." - he immediately switches gear and grab a whole new set of aparatuses: a cutter, a small weight and the crowbar again.

His left hand slides through the big gap between the doorframe and the other side. The cold breeze from the inside tells him there might be a large ventilation area, whatever that was inside the Undermountain. He didn't care to discover what was inside that door, but to reach the device that was attached to the other knob.

Turning his wrist, the masked man places the weight in a position he could cut the spring and not unloading the trap. - 'This is really a masterpiece of craftsmanship' - he mentally remarks, congratulating whoever done that ill snare.

Now clear to break the spring, the thief cracks the cutter and removes the trap from the frame, putting it carefully inside his many folds of the thieving tools. He then retakes his work on the keyhole, which pops open in a few seconds. *click*

"Ah, the sound I was waiting for..." - exclamates the thief, backing away from the door. - "Fighters, assume your positions, shall we proceed to meet the Beholder?" - he grins friendly inside the shiny mask.

Magnus starts incanting and then suddenly winks out of existence.
"Just invisible", you hear Magnus' voice, "Let's rock..."

Bouron says
"Umm ok let's kill some monsters, I'm starting to fall asleep here" He says with an awkward smile, trying to be funny.

Garfeh glowers at the dark dwarf. Unslinging his crossbow he loads a bolt, waiting.

"Hopefully the beholder eats that bastard..."

Jindeu prepares himself and takes place next to Alaith. The blood from the wound on the monk's side has stopped flowing, and he is ready to assist these strange new companions.

The duergar begins a chant making the others cringe at the sound of it. A glowing hammer appears in his right hand as the chant ends.

"Move yer hide thief or be feeling the hammer instead of the door." he yells at Faceless.

Watching the thief dart out of the way, he throws the hammer with all his might. Spinning end over end, it flys across the room slamming into the metal door. On impact the door slams from its hinges and falls to the floor making a tremendous boom.

Turning to his friends Alaith shrugs and walks up into the door way. It seems like any other tunnel we have been in before, apart from the horrible smell coming from the unlit area of the tunnel. Walking a couple of steps futher into the tunnel, the smell gets stronger, until it is almost unbearable.

Faceless looks at Sorn, trying to find any signs of recognition on the Drow's face. As Alaith enters the corridor, he closes his eyes and blend into the darkness around. He reappears a few steps ahead, analyzing the walls. "They are well cut... this is no ordinary cavern." - a whisper comes from the shadows. - "I can detect some noise on the passage ahead... sounds like a party of goblinoids." - he remarks as he turns to the duergar cleric. "I'm afraid we didn't come to kill the beholder, but to ask for something. It would be wise if you don't threaten him with words, or he'll swallow you in no time."

Bouron says
"talking about swallowing, I'm pretty hungry, 'ny of you guys got somethin' to eat?"

Tehnar positiones himself with his back against the wall eying the drow. He casts a spell and a glimmering magical force surrounds his body like armour.

Magnus positions himself next to Tehnar, letting him know that by whispering to him where he is.

He inhales deeply, shivers from the stench and is ready to incantate fire and cast death.

Sorn shakes his head as the Duergar's enchanted hammer destroys the door. He mutters a silent oath and takes a step forward and nods briefly to the Faceless Thief.

Sorn glares slightly at the elven mage as his armor spell goes off and he simply shrugs, as if not concerned, nor caring about the elf. As he walks by the elf he says only one simple sentence. "If I planned on killing you, you would be dead Darthiir."

As Sorn slowly starts moving down the coridor, listening to the words that the Faceless Thief mentioned he begins the words of a quick spell and as he finishes off the incantations he moved over to the wall. As he touched it, he put both hands against it and then both his feet and as if he were a spider he began to climb up the side of the wall, and when coming to the joining of the wall and the ceiling he ended up moving along the ceiling upside down. With one hand he positioned his piwafwi so that it did not hang down and he slowly crept into the shadows upon the ceiling, both from light and also within darkvision.

Sorn moved amongst the shadows created by the light source from the party and the natural light, if any, from the corridor. His entire body moved as one, including his clothing and equipment and weapons.

Garfeh hangs at the back of the party, his inate sense of danger, honed from years running, is setting off alarms in his head.

"Magnus, not all is as it seems.... Be ready to strike at our foes... all of them."

With a grim look in his eyes he waits.

Taking one of the torches held in the wall he kindly passes it to Bouron, saying "You may need this". Turning on the spot, Alaith heads into the darkness and seems to dissapear.

Raulen, having picked himself off the ground from where he was thrown from the door blast, finishes his silent stoneshape spell holding back the rest of the umber hulks in the passage past the broken door.

"Time to go. I'll bring up the rear. Healing potions ready, all, and defensive spells ready?"

Raulen hovers over to Jindeu, hading the big man a healing potion. "For thy wound, best to go into this place as focused as possible."

As the blue-eyed paleskinned sorcerror hovers with his five images left at the back of the group, he mutters...

"Mental note to self: aim lightning bolts over the group's heads, not through them... wish we had more with halfling height in this party..."

Another spell is murmured, and three Yuan-Ti zombies and the umber hulk corpse lurch to unlife behind him, and listen to Raulen's instructions to guard this crossroads to their destruction if necessary.

Tehnar takes out six shortswords out of his pack, nicks himself with each one, and lays some spiders web over all of them. A quick spell is cast and the swords take up flight around him, buzzing like angry wasps.

Tehnar enters the room, still not able to see far in front.

Magnus swallows and can feel it to his bones. This is one real fight coming on.
He tries to mentally stabilize himself and casts Mage Armor on himself.
Then another few words and nobody sees that the invisible sorcerer is suddenly in the air.

Bouron says
"seems like we have too many 'mumblers' in this group, Now are we gonna find out what's in there or are we gonna stay and rest. "

Tehnar summons a large feline and sends it scouting up ahead. You can barely see the feline when a shadow stirs next to it, and the cat comes flying back in two peices.

*Tehnar gulps*

Almost jumping from the shadows with shock as the panther comes back in 2 peices, Alaith wipes the sweat from his brow. Tightening his grip on his sword and dagger, he reluctantly takes a step forward.

The corridor errupts in a large passage. The great cat Tehnar sent forward activated a magical trap within the corridor... seems there is a Blade Barrier spell ahead... or worse... a Living Wall.

The group now can hear the sound of a large party ahead. Laughters and brawls indicate there is a goblinoid colony ahead. The masked thief mentally notes that might be Xanathar's courtyard filled with Underdark agents as well as slavers. Seems the night is open for business under the Beholder's supervision.

As the thief Alaith gets near to the edge of the corridor, a large head pops up from the Wall. The head of a Illithid. It's tentacles try to get a hold on the rogue's brain, as the mental blast strike the whole passage.

"Get ready for the ward, gentlemen..." - the masked figure announces in the dark - "This is the last one before the Marketplace."

Chopping at one of the heads tentacles, Alaith manages to lop it off. One of them streches out and is milimeters away from Alaith's forehead, just as Alaiths dagger forces its way into its eye. Then the mental blast hits him, forcing him to drop to his knees, and sceam highly. Alaith is then rolling around on the floor, holding his temple's.

"what the..." he yells while lifting the torch up for better vision. "well, don't just stand there do something to it" Bouron flings the torch in the creatures direction, forcing it to duck away, giving the group some time to respond to the situation.

Magnus drops to the floor, his spell forgotten, with his hand to his forehead trying to drive the pain out.
Slowly he stands up as the pain subsides, and tries to remember how to cast a Fireball.

'Damn psionics...' - the Thief declared in his mind. Luckily his Mask protected himself from the effects of mental attacks. Now he had to do something, and a quick check of his surroundings gave him and idea to fight the mental purge.

"The attack is kinda like a cone... Try running and getting closer to the head!" - as soon as the Thief declared, Bouron's torch flew illuminating the place where Alaith stood. Dozens of living arms, equiped with long swords hungrily awaited for the party to proceed, and on each intersection between five arms, there was a spider web to impare mobility.

Quickly throwing his magical daggers, the Illithid looses its concentration on the mental blast, so that Alaith could get out of the way for the Fireball... now where was that damn Drow to rescue him in time...

The swords orbiting Tehnar now have a target and rush to it with mezmorisiing speed. One sword manages to get past the ilithiids defences and bury deep inseide its soft body. The smell of ichor spraying is almost overwhelming and Alaith has taken on a deep shade of purple from the ilithids blood (I assume its blood is purple). The rest of the swords parry the longswords of the wall not able to get aclear thrust in anywhere.

ooc: its been a while since i read the 2nd ed MM so I dont know the walls limitations and cannot safelly add something but if it is possible:

a new pair of arms come out of the wall gesturing heavily in wierd arcane patterns. The arcanist amonge the party can recognise these gestures as the beging of the cloudkill spell.


Now the mental blast is broken Alaith manages to crawl out of reach of the arms and a fireball spell. He then drops to the floor unconcious.

Magnus remembers the correct way to cast a Fireball and let's one loose on the Wall. A shriek of terror and pain emerges from it and several arms holding swords now drop them and shrivel into nothing.
Magnus also recognizes the Cloudkill being cast, but the Fireball had unfortunately no effect on the hands.

Magnus readies a spell that can make a gust of wind (ooc: can't think of any now, but it must exist [smile[) and waits for the Cloudkill to appear.

He yells: "Everybody watch out. Cloudkill coming from the wall! I'm trying to blow it back to it. Away from the wall!"

Grumbling of another spell can be heard from the back of the party. A dark shadow snuffs out the light around the duergar as he completes his encantion. If you took the time to look back you actually feal fear grip your heart as an aura of fear surrounds the bearded one.

Another magical hammer whistles through the air barely missing Magnus' shoulder and slamming into the wall causing a flash of pale light and then darkness again. Where the hammer struck not a sign of damage can be seen. Still the dwarf roars in insane laughter which grates on your nerves.

He then moves back into the shadows causing. You can hear him start yet another spell. What will the damn duergar do next. Catch them all on fire. Don't put it past him.

The flying warhammer scares the living daylights out of Magnus and his Wind spell fizzles. That same moment he gets hit by a mace from the wall. He staggers back, searches in his robes and gulps a potion.

Then the Cloudkill emerges out of nowhere and Magnus falls to the floor coughing and vomiting.

Raulen sees the Cloudkill, and curses loudly, having no particular spell to deal with deadly gases. However, he does swoop forward to pick up Magnus and levitate high up as he can go, out of the gas's effects, and his utterance is horrible to the ears of the Arcane that hear it: the DeathSpell.

Directed to the living wall, the wall shudders and wilts, the power of the spell blackening and moldering the wall's limbs and skin, till nearly all of the thing is inert.

The masked thief looks around him, as the walls behind him begin to shift with the power of the ward on the chamber. He soon realizes the fog of death would soon kill the entire party but him as his mystical mask protected him from inhaling poison.

Watching the mage Magnus collapsing and the others trying to break free from the extremely powerful monster, the Faceless One catches a glimpse of the passage ahead and commands the party to withstand the perils and move forward.

Then Raulen's incarnation takes effect, draining the lives of the limbs and members of the massive wall. The western part of the chamber seems completely dead by now and they could make their way through there, so they could reach the exit.

But a flash of light coming from the northern section announces the monster is far from defeated, as dozens of enchanted crossbow bolts fly through the air.

Ducking to avoid the bolts, Garfeh reaches into his pack, pulling out stoppered vials and checking the contents.

"Hmm, well, no time to know if it'll work!"

With that he thows the vials at the wall, where they smash. A sickly green substance begins to bubble on the wall, eating away ferociously at the walls surface.

"Some sort of acid I think, found it in a mages strong box in a caravan I was travelling with a while back."

With a grin he moves back, to stand behind Bouron.

Picking his face up from the cold floor, Alaith opens his eyes, to see the head of the illithid, decapitated from the rest of its body and green acid burning away at its neck.. Rolloing onto his back Alaith notices the acid dripping from the wall. He jumps to his feet, picks up his weapons (Pulling his dagger from the illithids eye) and runs over to Bouron saying "What....*pant pant*..... is that?" Points over to the melting wall..

Magnus regains his wits and starts levitating on his own above the cloud.
He points with both hands at the Wall and a cone of ice shoots from them into the melting wall.
A terrible and numbing shriek comes from the wall and it partly collapses.

Then Magic Missiles start to shoot in all directions from it, hitting everybody.

"cough! cough! umm... don't know!" the big fighter yells as another bolt flashes by him, drawing a thin line of blood on his right shoulder. Bouron begins to stumble forward towards the wall, with his new sword raised in front of him. another bolt bites at him, and suddenly magic is flying everywhere (magic missiles) striking him several times the magic is taking it's toll on the proud fighter. But he does not stop. He reaches the wall on starts whacking at everything moving on it. all his skin is beginnig to peel off as the cloud kill reaches him.

Alaith manages to duck under one Magic Missle coming his way. And seeing one about to hit Garfeh he pushes him to the floor, out of harms way. Turning towars Bouron before the Halfling can even look up, Alaith pulls out a small cloth and covers his nose with it. Sneaking up behind Bouron he grabs him buy the mouth (After jumping ) and try to pull him out of the gas.

Usually it would be quite the task to pull down the great warrior, but this time Alaith is surprised when he almost gets caught under the falling body. To his distress the elven fighter realises that he can't pull the fallen warrior away from the choking cloud fast enough, but soon he relaxes as he sees that the cloud isn't reaching at the ground where Bouron is lying on his back, breathing heavily in forced gasps.

Jindeu says
The monk attempts to evade the many magic missiles pounding into him, managing to take less damage than his new companions. When the missiles cease, he begins to rub another tribal tattoo on his skin. This one looks like some kind of bird, and is now slowly fading from his flesh.

Those who are watching see his arms transform to wings, and his mouth harden into a beak like shape. Feathers cover most of his body.

A fierce sound erupts within the bird-like man as he thrusts wind down the corridor with his large wings. The cloud of death moves to the living wall.

Tehnar reaches into his backpack and produces a fan that looks like the one noble ladies use to cool themselves. The cloudkill seeps forward. Tehnar begins to wawe the fan as if trying to blow the cloud away, a pointless task with the little fan. The cloudkill reaches Tehnar and he starts coughing and his skin turns a sickly green. The magic of the fan then takes effect, creating the strong breeze that swiftly blows the cloudkill down the passage. Tehnar doesnt even hear or feel the bolt strike him, he just wonders why his shirt is wet as darkness claims him.....

Shouting out the last of his spell the ground starts to tremble. In front of the wall a massive form is forming out of the walls of the caverns themselves. Soon a Giant being made of solid stone stands before you all. He seems totally unaffected by the gas cloud and start pounding at the barrier wall with its massive fists. Large chunks start to fly off of the wall.

Behind the party an evil laugh can be heard from the duergar as his Earth Elemental start tearing into the wall.

"By the black ass of Laduguar, leave it to the duergar to bail yer sorry asses out of jam after jam. Next time I will let ye all just wail around floundlessly and get yer mangy carcases dead."

Rolling out from the golems path Alaith manages to escape the cloud of smoke, but his victory is cut short when a piece of the wall is seen flying towards him allowing no room for him to doge. Thinking fast Alaith draws his longsword, and when the moment of impact is about to begin he slices down the middle of the rock, cutting it into two.

As the Wall crumbles by the combination of deadly spells from the spellcasters of the party, the Faceless One eyes the new passage, taking the lead. He carefully passes the dead limbs hanging on the floor, fearing the Wall is not completely dispelled, but nothing changes as he proceeds to the larger gallery.

The corridor opens in a hole of the outter gallery, the largest plateau the masked man has ever seen near Skullport. The hole might be forty feet above the ground and from there the group can see the massive black market of the beholder's guild.

Several caravans are parked on the outter part of the gallery, lizards and other creatures pulling loaded carriages. The inner part consists of a rounded and clear area where goblinoids, drow and other races walk around. There are even beholders and illithids on the street. In the middle of the bazaar, is a tall stalagmite, linked to a stalactite on the ceiling, illuminated by several faerie lights and guarded by flying creatures. The Tower is Xanathar's base of operations, and the next Shadow Thief's stop.

Tehnar (or at least his body) emits strange gurguling sounds, and blood comes drippimg out of his mouth...

Raulen takes in the cavern and the sights for a moment, then hears a gurgle and looks to the side. Seeing the man's body bleeding from the mouth, he sighs and pulls a healing potion from a small sack at his belt.

Pouring just a little into Tehnar's mouth, he listens for a moment, murmuring "Speak, if ye have something to say. This tis an important juncture, and we are in a place I have never been before. Need ye more healing?"

Tromping up to look at the handy work of his "little" creation, he grunts in approval. Leaving the elemental to guard the rear of the party, he shoves his way through the group to look out over the cavern.

"We did all of that just to come here? Ye must be flaming out of yer bleeding mind Face," he growls out at the masked rogue. "I be hoping this leads us to Xanathar around here somewhere."

Hearing the gurgle coming from the body on the floor he turns with a start. Watching Raulen try to heal it, Tavork snorts and turns his attention back to Faceless.

"Mister Garfeh, I can't move" you hear a gasping from Bouron on the ground. "could someone please help me up?" he continues as he struggles to move his badly wounded body.

The effects of the tattoo magic wear off, and the monk has returned to his natural form.

Jindeu removes the potion that Raulen gave him from his backpack and offers it to Bouron.

"Drink this, it should help." Jindeu offers, and extends an arm to help Bouron to his feet as he begins to quaff the potion.

Magnus walks over to Bouron and says: "How is it that you are always in trouble like this? Didn't your mother teach you stuff like that?", then gives him another potion.

"Save that one for if you're lying on the ground bleeding again", he grins

Garfeh looks up at Magnus "Mag, why the hell are we here? If I wanted to die I would have shoved a sword in my belly, not broken into a Beholder's guild."

Looking at the floor Alaith is amazed of his handywork, but moving on quickly taking a brief look at Bouron, he steps up next to the Faceless one, and looks on in awe at this hole of betrayal, murder, and things alot worse.

"wooh! this sure is great stuff. Me uncle told me about drinks like this once, said they're the lifeblood of adventurers. Is that true Mag?" Bouron accepts Jindeus hand, and stands up, obviously shaken. "I'm sorry for being so much trouble mister Mag, but I can't help meself, always been like that" he says with a sad look on his face.

The Faceless One notices the thief by his side, and gives a deep sigh - "See that, Alaith... that is power, dark and evil power. We had to come for Countess Semalin's sake. She has been murdered by someone from here, and that person has a very special meaning to me..." - he murmurs unders the breathtaking view below.

"Thank you friend, I shall not forget it," Tehnar says to Raulen, " but I will be fine from now on, just need some rest." Tehnar slumps next to the wall.

"I think we'd better seriously start thinking of going back to skullport, someone will rob our house blind, is there no way out of this hellhole?"

Orome moves into the room and beams at you all. "Is that your handy work back there guys" he jerks his thumb back to indicate behind him "Thats a real mess"

Magnus nods to Garfeh and says: "I don't like it either, my halfling friend, but I'm not sure if we can survive the way back to Skullport. We might have more chance here. But if you want to leave, I will accompagny ye. I think that at least Bouron, Tehnar and Alaith will follow us as well". And to Bouron: "Don't worry my friend, just do your best. How are your feelings on being here?"

"Alright! Alright! Quit yer lolly gaggin around and lets get going already. Is like none of ye ever seen an underground city before. We waiting for bloody Bane to come back and reincarnate himself and then grace us with his presence or can we move today!"

Bouron looks at Magnus "well, I could use a rest rigth about now Mag, and that little dwarf is very annoying, shouting at us all the time tsk tsk, but else I'm fine. But where are we, and why aren't we attacking those monsters in there. Are we waiting for an advantage to show, my uncle said that you should try to grab every advantage when fighting stuff, is that what we're doing Mag?"

Magnus takes a deep breath."I'll explain everything later, my good friend. But right now we must make a plan to stay alive. And if we go in there, I don't know if we will", pointing at the hole in the wall.

Tehnar says
"I think this trip is leading us nowhere, I say we turn back and go somewhere else and leave these folk to their business. Mag, Garfeh, Alaith and Bouron what do you say.?”

"You can't leave..." the mysterious man whispers to himself, clearly thinking about something. His eyes close, and to everybody's surprise, the corridor way back at the broken door suddenly colapses, catching everybody offguard for a moment. Dust and dirt cover the chamber, and a loud sound of crumbling walls surround the party, as the masked thief silently laughs at the trap he activated on that chamber, back at where he was picking the lock.

As soon as the dust clears off, there is no way back...

Alaith dosen't listen to the group but, is watching the evil in the cavern go about their daily buisness. He heard what they were saying but just didn't care, for once in his life he was scared of going in there. Then when the cave fell in it suddenly struck him that they would have to go into this den of evil.

Being close enough to hear the Faceless thief's comment his eyes narrow on the faceless one. Alaith can feel the anger rising up in him, he tries to control it but it over powers him, causing him to strike Faceless in the back of the head. "What have you" done he says "You're going to get us all killed" Alaith shouts at Faceless on the floor. About to draw his dagger, he then stops and spits at him. "My blade is to good for the likes of you" Alaith wispers to himself.

Turning to Magnus and his friends he says after breathing slowly for a minute " Sorry about that. I don't know what happened" He says looking at his feet.

Magnus stands there with his jaw dropped. Would metalhead really do that? So it seems. "No way I'm going with you, Faceless. It ends here!"

Tavork walks up to both Magnus and Alaith. His eyes flash a dark yellow and by the way he is aproaching you can tell you have pricked his ire yet again.

"And where the bloody hell would ye be going surfacers?" He says the word surfacer as if it is a curse. " If ye didn't realize it, ye are underground with the bloody cavern collapsed behind ye. Ye going to just start digging until ye find some light? Wouldn't put it past ye, stupid as most surfacers be."

Glancing over his shoulder he nods towards the encampment. "Now just quit flappin yer gums and get a move on or I'll show ye what it is like for most surfacers down here in the underdark. I can guarantee ye it ain't a nice life."

On the brink of madness Magnus starts casting a Fireball. Then, just before he wants to release it, the truth of those words strikes his brain like a freshly sharpened battle-axe.

He totally forget to finish the spell and it fizzles into many sparks.

That damn foul duergar was right....damn (he thinks) I hate it when people do that....

"You....you are right. Forgive my rudeness." A bit later he talks with his friends about it. Magnus' opinion is now to wait for the first moment to leave.

The thief gets up, visibly outraged by Alaith's reaction. - "What are you doing? Exactly when did I raise my blades against you, rogue?" - he narrows his eyes, extremely angered. - "I have done nothing, and you are accusing me and hit me as if you were Tyr himself? What makes you my judge, you insolent?! The fact you all reached the Guild is because you are with us. And if you want to push your luck, bring it on, you coward."

He pauses for a while, taking a breath while intimidating the young thief. In his life, he's always used this approach when dealing with such scum. He despised them all, but above all, he wanted to kill Alaith for his insult... how dare he touched the master of the Shadow Thieves'? He was getting into a situation he definetly woudn't know how to handle, and th eFaceless One liked th eidea of having the surroundings favouring him. Wait until they reached the tower...

Recomposing himself, now clearly more silent, the Thief shakes his head. "Fools... you are denying the only help you'll find here. And this is the lst time you touch me, assassin." - he clearly states that to Alaith, as if knowing much more about the rogue's past - "I am leaving... good luck." - the Faceless One signlas for Raulen and the duergar to follow him, and even to Sorn, though he doubted the drow would side with him.

Jindeu watches the masked one declare that some should disband from the rest of the group. The monk wonders how hard this test of his soul will be, and how long it will last. He has been underground now for many hours and is tired. From the way he hears his company speak, he doubts that he will soon have any company at all. He hopes that he will not be abandon in this wicked place, but understands that all happens for a reason.

It seams that the Faceless One and his friends are finished with the useful company of the others that helped them reach their destination. Perhaps they still had something planned for these who are unfamiliar with this dark world.

Jindeu looks to Magnus then sits on the stone floor and clears his mind. He must think clearly about what is happening. He begins to meditate...

"Damn it!" Garfeh signals to the rest of the group. "Do the rest of you wish to follow the Faceless fellow? If so, go ahead. I for one am going to find a way out of here. That can't be the only exit from this place. If he shows us his face, then I'll think about following him, if the rest of you want to, but I can't trust a man who won't show me his face. Are you scared we'll say you're ugly? or are you just hiding behind your mask to feel safe? cause else you should show us your face, I think. Is there any other way out of here?"

"Neighbours, please, desist this pointless bickering. What is done is done" Orome walks into the centre of the room. "As Tavork has stated we need to get out of here, the way now is in through there" he indicates with a jerk of his head. "If it makes you feel better perhaps the masked fellow can go through first" Turning to Faceless he syas calmly "I am watching you, neighbour"

Using his telepathy orome communicates with Magnus,Alaith, Bouron and Garfeh "I warned you about the masked one previously, and the others are still not to be trusted yet, don't let him out of your sight either."

Magnus nods at Orome's words and says to his friends: "We must stick for a little more time, for it's the only way....".
And then much softer: "But we leave the first second possible"

Not paying heed to any of the complaints about his disguise or his past, the masked one climbs down the slope with incredible agility and speed - as if he has been here more often.

As he gets down the hill, some of the creatures patrolling around turn to him, approaching. You cannot understand what they asked the thief, being so away from the scene, but a second later, the two Ogres nod at the Faceless One's inquiries and start leading him to the open market.

He haults the two beasts, and turns his metal face up, to whoever would follow his path. His words echo in the darkness of the chamber as he points upwards. - "They are with me and may not be harmed by any means."

Even though the dwarfs aren't known for their agility, somehow the duergar finds his way down the hill without really all that much slipping and sliding though grumbles can be heard the whole way down.

The Cleric of Ladugar ignores the others as they make their descent. He had said his piece and for now he was sated that he had gotten his message across.

Tehnar awakens from his meditation.

"What, the tunnel collapsed again? How typical is this? You should really get some original ideas Halaster! Come one, you could do better then that. I know youve been cramped up in here for more then a millenia, but thats no excuse. Adventurers coming in here excpect some action, something chalanging, not some lame trick of walls crumbiling down." Tehnar speaks to the walls.

He suddnely realsises that most of the party has gone out of the room and down the corridor, shrughs and follows them.

Sorn remains quiet as he watches the actions of the party, and while he doesn't appear to be making any decisions, his mind is racing a mile a minute...

Nodding to the telepathic message he has recieved, he follows behind quietly thinking over the events that have just happened. It seems that the faceless rouge thinks he is some kind of king.

Orome shakes his head in worry. Thinking that this is going downhill fast he climbs up the slope and after the group his senses racing ahead.

Magnus levitates slightly above the ground and slowly floats down to the rest.

Hovering just a few inches from the floor, Raulen (his multiple images having faded) is a yard or two from Faceless, but never far. His eyes rove across the scene, his arms folded across his chest... a small smile upon his lips.

-Almost like home- he muses, then his silently muttered cantrips open up his eyes for a few other details: the watcher astral, and the wizard eye. There was no privacy here, unless you took great magical pains to get it.

Quietly, he whispers "Faceless one, let us to our goal post haste. Should we linger here, on the welcome mat, we might be mistaken for decoration. I am pleased there tis much more business here than I imagined."

Raulen glances back once, to see whom has followed, and nods, appraising that some had indeed deigned to continue to travel despite the dread groups of higher-echelon evil before them.

"Mayhaps our companions will draw some attention from our backs? I swear, Magnus nearly fireballed us up there. I hope he will be alright, such a hasty move would be entirely perceived as a threat.

Now might be the time to mention how many of these creatures are innately resistant to conventional magics...."

The Thief amuses himself with the thought of struggle between the group, especially between Raulen and Magnus. his mind puzzles through the myriads of possibilities ahead, as he follows the two guardian Ogres.

Stopping at the entrance of the market, the Thief sighs a sigh of relief. The whole market ahead of him, unnumbered races of darkness strolling freely at the streets, seems to notice the party, though none attempt anything against his presence.

While he is behind the Ogres, a few of the merchants from the caravans about recognize the Lord of the Shadows, as he passes by. To everybody's impression, it seems the masked figure is indeed a king of some sort, as they murmur in different tongues, staring at the leader.

His confidence is gained in a second, as the party stops at the entrance of the Tower. There, the two Ogres lead no more, and a huge stairway, spiralling from the outside of the complex, reaches the top floor of the ten-story high Tower.

And he follows...

Orome looks up and grimaces. "What can we expect in here then?" he says to the masked thief.

Bouron says
Stumbling down the slope, loosening stones all the while rushing forward to keep up with the rest "Hey wait up!! " he shouts, seemingly not caring or not thinking about the deadly threat of the throngs of evil monsters sorrounding them.

"What devious ilusions have you spun this time Halaster!" Tehnar mumbles with a madenning look in his eyes, "beasts of all shapes and sizes stroll about, what madness is this." He notices a stone tumble past and barely manages to avoid the miniature avalanche caused by Bouron.

The Faceless One turns to the monk, while climbing the first steps of the spiralled stairway. - "The Beholder known as Xanathar awaits me and my companions... but if you are not with me, you should go somewhere else, as I assume not everybody seem to be on my side..." - he ironicaly stares at Alaith.

"If you wish to follow, come with me. Raulen and I have to ask the beholder a few questions about assassinations and guilty."

Magnus lands slowly on the ground and waits for Bouron to crash down. When the party is complete he says: "Ok, what now?"

"Okay thief, explain to us why you have an arrangement with this beholder. Your answer will depend on whether some of us come with you or leave you at this point."

The massive gallery on the area around Skullport is the design of giants. The walls around the gallery give place to hundreds, no, thousands of other passages to colonies of worlds unknown, but all these worlds find the common ground of the Xanathar's Guild very profitable, as the gallery opens in a rounded marketplace, constructed over the plateau that surrounds the Tower.

Unnumbered tents lie scathered around the plateau, where creatures of darkness walk freely, trading their goods among each other. The only militia is the beholder's agents, known as Guilders. They dress a special set of armor and most of them are goblinoids.

The Tower itself is a masterpiece of architecture, towering more than twenty feet high, connected from ground to ceiling by a stalactite that melts into a stalagmite. There are various flying animals surrounding the Tower, and a spiral stairway that goes all the way until it reaches the top floor. There are no other doors other than the uppermost one, and for one to go inside, one has to climb the whole stairs.

The Shadow Thief sighs on the question asked by the monk. He then signals to Raulen to clarify why they were seeking the beholder's wisdom.

"He knows better than I do... " - he begins - " ...besides, you don't trust me anyways." - he then continues his way until something else comes to pass.

"You are extremely hard to pin down thief." orome turns away from the strange thief to the even stranger being of Raulen." Raulen, what deal do you have going on here?, why do you need our assistance?"


Bouron says
"Yeahh Raulon! What are we doin 'ere?!" The big man scowls in Raulens direction, but he can't hold it for long and a smile quickly passes his face, as he looks forward to some battling.


"Blah blah blah, Yak yak yak. Get yer mangy hides up the stairs already. I am about to fall asleep here. " He shoos everyone towards the stairs as if they were children.

Sorn recognised the area well and remained on the sidelines as the Faceless Thief and Raulen appeard to be leading the show.

He looks around briefly and walks up towards the rest of the group and watches them all.

There's a look that crosses Raulen's face that is undescribable, as Faceless tells them to ask Raulen for the reason of their quest. But He simply nods, and smiles ever so slightly... his head whirring with ideas, considerations, future thoughts, and options...

Raulen crosses his arms, and assumes a thoughtful look.

"Gentlefolk, we are here to pursue the investigation of the death of a noblewoman whom tis important to the Shadow Thieves... Faceless in particular. But to be honest, there are so many good reasons to be here I can't list them all. I will give a few... Conenctions to the very real underworld of the Underdark can be found here, I am told... and when travelling Undermountain or over it, ye will find that information, even more than magic, is power. And power, of course, is the real reason we are here.

What ye see before you is a small sample of some of the gathering of such powers. What ye do NOT see here is the information that is passed between them, that makes them or breaks them between REAL powers.

Beware here. Run in with spells and swords swinging, if ye wish a fast death. Walk in with information to trade and spells to protect, if ye wish a slow, lingering death and honorable mention in the history books of the place.

Teleport in with a wink, get what ye need and fireball Xanathar's worst enemy... and ye might just make it out of this place alive...."

Sorn steps up to Raulen's side and listens as he explains to the others why the group should be within the Slaver's Caverns.

With a chuckle he shakes his head and crosses his arms, then turns and walks over to the Faceless Thief.

"Perhaps you would get farther without this group. What are you looking for from the Beholder?"

The masked man waits until Sorn reaches his position, and simply whispers to him. - "I want more than just information about the murderer. I've been looking for some "rotten apples" among the Thieves, and I found one of them here... so we'll deal with him in no time..." - he looks up, eyeing his way.

"As for the beholder, we are close partners in the worlds below, he is waiting for me and my guests."

"Fine. That will do for me. I will go with you into the tower, who knows perhaps i may find something intresting for myself." Orome looks up at the tower, planning for various events. "Coming guys?" he ask of magnus, bouron,aliath and garfeh. "After you facless" he syas with sweep of his hand.

"I will go with the rest of the group, if Garfeh and the others wish to go in i will follow" Alaith looks around at his friends and awaits an answer.

Bouron says
"umm O.K. , but why are we here? could you explain that again"

Sorn nodded briefly as he listened to the Faceless Thief.

"Rotten Apples are everywhere. Part of the joys of being a member of a race that betrays one another so easily for personal gain, you get a sort of sixth sense about who's trying to screw you over."

Sorn looked towards the guards, "As for the Beholder, he and I have some history as well, this should prove... interesting regardless of what you learn."

Glancing at Bouron, the duergar frowns in disdain.
"Ye aint to bright is ye, ye big oaf? What part of what was said don't ye understand? Maybe I should knock some sense into ye." he grins wickedly hefting his hammer. "And ye ye lilly livered pansey," he directs his verbal barage at Alaith this time, "whats wrong with ye, can't make a decision without everyone else's favor? Got no guts do ye. I say we leave both of em out here to fend for themselves. Plus means I get more of the booty anyways."

Bouron notices the abisive dwarf. "what...Are you talking to me shortling? Don't be messing with people you can't handle. That's just some advice I got from my uncle. Now one of us is messing with someone he can't handle. Do you wanna find out who that is "He continues while laying his big hand on the little sword by his side. It looks almost comicly small in his giant like paw. "And Alaith just want's to keep us together, nothing about him that can't make decisions. Now just explain to me why, we the rest of us who's not in this buisness of a murdered noble, are here with you who are in this buisness of a murdered noble"

While the party is still discussing whether or not they should follow the masked one, Faceless reaches the mid part of the spiral stairway ont he complex that hosts Xanathar. There, he stops for a brief moment, glancing down to the vast business area. He sees it all with awe and jealousy, wanting to somehow have a piece of that pie of profit. He can imagine the Shadow Thieves of Skullport, not barely alive after the destruction, still scathered among the scum that walk about. He needed help more than ever. This murderer wasn't only using the name of the Thieves to commit murder, he was indeed the betrayer who sold the exact location of Skullport to the Lords, or so he believed.

He had to find a way of identifying the half elf they were after for days now, and each step he took was getting him far from his goals. He had to act quickly, and for some reason, he also believed the halfling deserter had some sort of connection to he who murdered the countess. In the thief's mind, the Betrayer was the cause of his fall, his unsuccess in business and his ruin facing Skullport and Waterdeep.

But he had an ace on his hands. The Bright Skulls, somewhat the last remanecent adventuring party from the Port of Skulls had to know about this event, and about the Betrayer. The halfling was connected and so was this Alaith. He remembered the name fromt he past, and he smiled underneath the mask, for no one knew the thief at all, no one but him.

Sorn reached his level, and he got back from his thoughts, following the stairs until he entered the perimeter where large Trolls and a Mind Flayer were waiting for the visitors.

The perimeter area was a small tower constructed over the last portion of the stairway. The path itself went underneath the small watch tower, before the large and heavy bronze doors for the interionr of the Guild's complex. There were archers as well, mercenary Drow, so well hidden in the gaps on top of the watch tower, even the most used to the lightings would miss them at all.

The small portculis slid open, where an ill-illuminated oval room hosted torches and candles around. There was the Illithid known Vilthievel, dressing his outrageous red garment, and a huge transluscent cape around his back. His octopussy's face held scars of experience and gore, as the mind link stroke the visitors.

"Good eve to those who come in the name of the Lord of the Shadows. You should leave your weapons here and come inside." - the illithid mentally remarked, pointing to parts on the wall designated to hang the weaponry.

On the other side of the room, three ugly-builded two headed Trolls wearing firm and shining plate-mail armor guarded the access to the interionr of the Tower, where the group would take the stairs down until the meeting hall, a ceilingless section in the middle of the Tower, where the Beholder was known to receive his guests.

Sorn followed the Faceless Thief through the perimeter of the complex, noting the location of guards and the other guildings. While he noticed Faceless' awe of the place, Sorn didn't share it, for while it was indeed impressive, Sorn had been here a few times within his long life, on a few occasions as a business rival, and others as an ally.

When the doors to the tower openned and the mindflayer appeared, Sorn tried not to grin, for he remembered the pleasures of dealing with this Illithid.

"Vendui' Vilthievel", Sorn spoke in drow after the illithid gave out his mental greetings, he then switched to common for Faceless' benefit, "It has been some time now hasn't it? I see your operations are still in order, regardless..." Sorn left the last bit out, but was implying something, and waited for the response.

As he chose to wait for a response, the drow moved over to the weapon's stand and unbuckled his weapon's belt and tossed it over the top hanger. As he did so, he whispered a single word, and the belt, with the sabre and parrying dagger upon it glowed amber for a moment then died out.

"You remember the last time anyone touched my weapons without my consent, don't you Vilthievel? Be sure that it doesn't happen again, or I'll take my compensation out on your products."

"Who ye calling shortling ye hairy baboon? "Tavork spits between Bouron's feet. "Now shut yer trap before I use ye as a test to see how long maggots would take to start on yer carcas. Ye are here because like most surfacers, yer bloody lost here in the underdark and without us ye would be dead in about a day. On second thought, go on yer lonesome, I tire of yer breath for it stinks to high hell and even Cryonax himself would be impressed. Now if ye don't mind I have business to attend to."

The Duergar whirls around with a grin on his face and tromps up the stairs after the drow and rogue. As he tops the stairs he spots the Illithid and the grins is wipped from his face.

"Don't be trying none of yer mind tricks on me for they ain't gonna work worm head. So if ye don't speak undercommon don't be speaking to me at all." Tavork snorts and places his hammer next to Sorn's equipment. Even without the hammer, the cleric still had other ways of dealing with anything they might encounter. As usual, he was glad of his telepathic shield protecting him from the illithid and their ilk. Still he distrusted them and would rather smash them into oblivion. As for the trolls, a nice flame strike here or there would finish them off if need be.

Garfeh throws up his hands "No choice. Lets go."

With that he follows the dwarf up the stairs, a resigned look plastered across his face.

"I'll follow ye mister Garfeh. But I must say the little foul-word-spittin'-monster-like dwarf is making me a bit mad. It would be wise for him to stay his stupid words before they come flying out like dung from a horses arse. But if you're goin' then I might as well. Best we keep together. After all we are the bright skulls!!" He yells out the last bit, as to show he's not afraid of anything or anyone in the underdark.

"Mublmd", Tehnar murmurs and follows the rest in leaving his staff and assortment of bloodied weapons on the rack, hanging around the massive frame of Bouron, looking very paranoid.

Alaith follows behind Tehnar removing his belt and hanging it on a hook. Stopping in frotnt of the trolls Alaith takes to wary glances up at them and carries on.

Jindeu breaks his meditation.

It seems he is alone now... the rest of the people he met up with have continued along their course. From the only exit to the cave that collapsed, he hears the sound of foot steps coming his way.

Magnus sighs and shakes his head.
He mutters: "Why oh why did I let myself talk into this?"

Then he follows the rest of his once-famous adventuring group, into the tower.

While walking the stairs he softly mutters a spell and some sort of forcebarrier briefly surrounds him (Mage Armor) and after that whispers the words that will let him show the things that remain hidden for normal vision (See Invis).

Orome takes up the rear his eyes glowing with a strange light as he smiles knowingly at what is coming..