Chapter 1: Prisoners of the Drow

General Summary

Day one

The group found themselves in a dark cell, surrounded by strange creatures without any equipment and unable to cast any spells. The last thing they knew they were in the vault under Elaria's house, having defeated the necromancer, before being attacked by an unknown foe, who carried them away to this cave. They are wearing manacles on their feet and hands, with chains to a collar around their necks, the chain is long enough to allow them to move freely but not enough for them to escape easily and would prevent them from fighting easily. Soon after they looked around, they were split into work groups by the drow and sent to work in the various areas of the outpost: Nuala is sent with Sarith and Eldeth to clean the barracks Jorrar with Buppido and Ront to carry water from the falls Aosi with Jimjar and Prince Derendil to clean dished in the main hall Zendagar with Topsy and Turvy to serve food Savarax with Shushar to clean the laundry The group take this opportunity to talk with their fellow prisoners and learnt a great deal about their captivity and the drow who have imprisoned them. They learnt that they are going to be sold as slaves soon in the local drow city. During the day Aosi managed to convince Jimjar to give him a gold piece in exchange for 5 later, when they recover their equipment, having taken a bet with the gnome. Buppido also slipped from the walkway beside the waterfall, highlighting the risk of this high outpost and the water on the walls and paths near the falls. As the day drew to a close a loud hum could be heard that caused the drow and quaggoths to become worried and rush to their posts. It is unclear what this noise is as yet but leaves the drow more agressive towards the prisoners. The group are led back to the cells and are fed a thin broth which would provide little sustainance. They see outside the cell a group of drow walk by, with a priestess leading the group carrying a tentacle rod and scourge that could be used to subdue and, where necessary, kill prisoners. The rest of the group included an elite guard who travelled close to the priestess, with a wand that marked him as the leader amongst the male drow, another piestess and a second male elite guard. The second priestess and guard were behind the others, showing their lower status, they looked close with the priestess helping the guard, who had serious disfigurations, clearly from some serious attack. That night the group are awoken by Prince Derendil seemingly attacking Eldeth. However when he is wrestled away from her, he explains that he was merely helping her and meant no harm. He seems calm and well spoken while all of this takes place and had shown no signs of agression until that point. The group use a piece of rope found by Buppido to tie Stool to the back of Prince Derendil, so he can be carried around as the group travel.

Day two

The group are once more split into work groups by the drow and sent to work in the various areas of the outpost: Nuala is sent with Sarith and Eldeth to help attend to the lift Jorrar with Buppido and Ront to prepare food Aosi with Jimjar and Prince Derendil to clean the barracks Zendagar with Topsy and Turvy to carry water Savarax with Shushar to clean dishes During the day, the group further work to find information, testing the limits of their confines. Jorrar attempts to distract the guards, who seem unimpressed and threaten him, however this allows the time for Zendegar to test that magic works beyond the confines of the cells by lifting barrels un-noticed. During this distraction Aosi also steals two utnsils for use as makeshift lockpicks to aid in the later escape and hides them in his clothing. Later investigation of the collar shows it would fall away of the lock at the back is undone, meaning they will need to be unlocked at the time of escape and not before. Aosi discovers that the drow in the barracks are deep in meditaion, however they are still aware of their surrounding, leaving them alert to movement within the rooms, however, their equipment is left under the beds, available for stealing, if the theif remains undetected. It is learned that the prisoner's equipment is usually kept in the priestess' quarters under the shrine to Lolth. There is also an armory over the guard tower with enough equipment to support thr group in their escape, if they could reach it. At the end of the day Ront, in his frustration begins to attack defenseless Stool, which is apparently a common occurence, with the orc being a regular bully. On confrontation from the group, he eventually backs down and leaves the myconid alone. This event attracts attention from the guards who decide to make an example of the orc, throwing him from the edge of the cliff. He lands in the spiders webs below the outpost, alive and is attacked by the spiders living there, before the group hear hrrific screams as he is bitten and spun into a web. This proves to the group that they could survive that drop, if only there was a way to survive the spiders and drop to the lower floor more safely. During that night Aosi is tormented by nightmares of tentacles attacking him as he slept and dragging him to his doom, he is awoken from this terror by Nuala. They have caught the attention of Jorlan who had previously looked in on them repeatedly. This allowed him to offer them a chance of escape - he would leave the gate open the following night with a small distration at the other end of the outpost. Just enough for you to run, but unlikely to give much cover. Having been annoyed by the antics of Zendagar, who had now awoken to join in, the drow walks away frustrated without providing any more details leaving the group to ponder their options.