Skirmish at the Bluelight Bridge

Background
In early Marpenoth of 1491, a group of four kobolds of the Blue Fang tribe were discovered to have gone missing from the Platinum Monastery, a settlement founded by metallic dragons dedicated to Bahamut and battling evil. Upon discovering this, the monastery's paladin, Tanebi Dragonheart, volunteered to put together a group that could search for the missing kobolds; his friends Jaaski, Hestan Norixius, and Crim. Unfortunately, the only clues that could be found indicated abduction by parties unknown while the kobolds had been gathering edible fungi from tunnels underneath the monastery.
Thus, Tanebi and his friends devised a plan to locate the missing kobolds; they would feign weakness while exploring the same tunnels the kobolds had gone missing in, and get themselves captured by the responsible party. After which they could rescue the kobolds, break free, and return to the monastery.
Unfortunately, it was not to be so simple. The group was captured by drow slavers and taken to the outpost of Velkynvelve, commanded by the drow priestess Ilvara Mizzrym, where they discovered that the kobolds had been transported (or in one case, fled) to other areas. Regardless, the group was able to break free as planned, though sooner than expected due to the unexpected assistance of one of their captors, Jorlan Duskryn, who took advantage of a sudden raid on the outpost by a small horde of demons. After asking the prisoners "If I was to offer you a means of escape, would you accept?", he unlocked the cell and directed them to Ilvara's quarters. After reclaiming their supplies and raiding the armory, Tanebi's party escaped the outpost along with a group of individuals that had been imprisoned along with them. This infuriated Ilvara Mizzrym, who gathered a task force together to recapture the escaped prisoners.
The group traveled to several settlements in the Underdark in an effort to return their fellow prisoners, as well as locate the wayward kobolds; during their travels, they had several shocking encounters with demon lords running amok in the Underdark. This led them to alter their plans slightly, seeking a way to get to the dwarven settlement of Gauntlgrym, where they hoped to gather support to repel the demonic invaders.
Prelude
Having advanced as far as Blingdenstone, Tanebi's group involved themselves in the deep gnomes' efforts to secure their ancient home. As a result of this, they became vital warriors in the Battle of Blingdenstone that occurred on the last day of Uktar of that year. Hailed as the "Heroes of Blingdenstone", the group was honored during the Feast of the Moon the following day, and were given directions to a path that would lead back to the surface world; this would hopefully allow them greater ease of travel, so as to get to Gauntlgrym all the quicker.
Ilvara, having been driven to obsession with recapturing her former prisoners, had been trailing the party all the while. She became furious with all the settlements that the party had traveled to, as they not only returned several former prisoners to their homes as they did so, but also prevented her from acting directly (the settlements either did not tolerate drow slavery, or misfortune befell her contacts and allies). Thus, upon realizing that the party would soon be traveling to the surface, she prepared her task force to block the party's way.
The Heroes of Blingdenstone, after a brief detour at a hook horror nest the day before, arrived on 2 Nightal at a bridge that spanned across a chasm, lit by lanterns under the effect of the "continual flame" spell; the flames burned blue due to the preference of the caster, hence the bridge being called the Bluelight Bridge. Lying in wait for them was Ilvara's group (Ilvara herself was extremely disheveled at this point, to the extent where the party almost did not recognize her), and in the process of confronting her, she revealed that one of the group was an aasimar, but not which one (this came as a shock to Tanebi, who was unaware of his heritage at the time). With a peaceful resolution impossible, the two sides met in combat.
Battle
Despite Ilvara running her task force ragged, and having become corrupted by the demonic influence running throughout the Underdark, the drow fought ferociously. Ilvara and her junior priestess Asha called upon their cleric spells and abilities, her lieutenant (and lover) Shoor attacked aggressively with his scimitars, and her group of four drow hunters did whatever they could to interfere with the combat capabilities of the escaped prisoners. Two giant spiders, summoned by Ilvara, also attempted to wrap up combatants and dangle them over the bridge; this would theoretically prevent the captured individual(s) from attempting escape, as it would risk falling into the chasm below.
One drow, however, was not fighting to the fullest of his abilities: Jorlan Duskryn. With his hatred of Ilvara only having grown due to her rampant obsession with recapturing her former prisoners, he had become disillusioned with drow society as a whole, wanting desperately to break away from it and travel his own path. Thus, when he crossed blades with Jaaski, he whispered the same phrase as he had when he assisted the prison break, slightly altered: "If I was to offer you a means of victory, would you accept?" Jaaski, cautious but willing to accept help, agreed. Jorlan retreated slightly from her, and taking advantage of Shoor being locked in combat with Hestan and Tanebi, slashed his comrade across the back. While Jorlan's attack was not fatal, it caused Shoor to become distracted enough that Tanebi and Hestan were able to dispatch him, at which point Jorlan moved to the side of the non-drow. This betrayal caused a cascading effect amongst his former allies; Asha's spells wavered upon seeing her cousin slain, Ilvara exploded with rage at her former lover, and the drow hunters, without orders from Ilvara, were unsure how to proceed.
Ilvara, incensed at Jorlan's defection, attacked him with her tentacle rod, sending him crashing into the side of the bridge and knocking him out cold (she deliberately held herself back from using lethal force, as she intended to torture him in revenge). Nevertheless, his defection had provided just the opening that the escapees needed; soon enough the drow hunters were eliminated, then the giant spiders, then Asha, and finally Ilvara herself, who perished cursing her defeat.
Aftermath
Upon their victory, the party woke Jorlan, questioning his betrayal. He growled that he was sick of the drow attacking themselves, and that he'd already been betrayed in all the ways that mattered. He thanked the party for their help in giving him revenge, and said that he would not pursue them any longer; adding "not that I'd be much threat" while showing them his maimed hand. Tanebi and Jaaski, feeling a swell of compassion for him, used their spell gem containing "regenerate" (a gift for their performance in the Battle of Blingdenstone) ; this restored his maimed hand to normal, and removed the scarring on his face.
Shocked, he asked them why they would do such a thing for their former captor. They responded that he was hurt, and they could heal him, so they did. Knowing that he could never return to drow society, and deeply interested in the group that had shown him mercy, he requested to join them, offering his ability as a guide and experienced lieutenant for whatever they chose to do. Though somewhat wary, the party accepted, and he traveled with them to the surface on their journey to Gauntlgrym.
With most of the more experienced staff of Velkynvelve having perished (or defected), and the armory being almost completely empty, the drow outpost began to falter, especially as several of its members fell under the sway of the demonic madness infecting the Underdark. Though the base received a reinforcement of troops (and a new commander), it was still too underequipped to conduct raids on surface settlements.
The outcome of this battle would become important again later, when the party returned (with Jorlan in tow) to the Underdark in Alturiak of 1492, now as the leaders of an expedition from Gauntlgrym. In their efforts to create a foothold in the Underdark, Jorlan would suggest capturing the outpost of Velkynvelve for themselves. For details of that event, see The Battle of Velkynvelve.

Order of Battle
Heroes of Blingdenstone

• Commanders: Jaaski, Tanebi Dragonheart, Hestan Norixius, Crim
• Frontline fighters: Eldeth Feldrun, Prince Derendil, Ront Iceshield
• Support: Glabbagool

Ilvara's Task Force

• Commander: Ilvara Mizzrym
• Lieutenant: Shoor Vandree
• Support: Asha Vandree, Jorlan Duskryn (defects to Heroes mid-battle)
• 4 drow hunters, 2 giant spiders

Conflict Type

Skirmish

Start Date

2 Nightal, 1491, 11:00

Ending Date

2 Nightal, 1491, 12:00

Conflict Result

Heroes of Blingdenstone victorious; Jorlan Duskryn defected, rest of drow slain

Casualties:
Heroes of Blingdenstone
None; injuries only
Ilvara's Forces
Devastating; all hostile drow slain, spiders killed