Underdark [Plot]

[Artemis97]

The Underdark. The vast maze of twisting caverns and tunnels that stretch beneath the continent of Abir-Toril in a complicated web. A web, much like those spun by the spiders venerated by the drow of the city of Menzoberranzan, Jewel of the Underdark, prime city for the worship of Lolth, the Spider Queen. Here, within the confines of a mile-long cavern, noble Drow Houses struggle against one another for superiority. A constant dance of death and intrigue, driven by the desire for power that touches every citizen from the lowest worker to the Matron Mothers of the eight ruling families. The centers of power within the city are in constant flux, ever shifting as each faction schemes against the others. Only the will of the Spider Queen herself keeps it from breaking into open warfare.

This is the setting of our adventure. When we last left our heroes, as such as they might be called, they had entered into the substantial holdings of House Xar'Cha. The three massive pillars that form the noble family's home were in view, stretching high towards the cavern ceiling above. A foot soldier has broken off from the main collumn and was approaching Memzee, Din, and Raril. The twin draeglolth were still in the carriage with Matron Danube.

[iElf]

Din steps back a bit when she sees the soldier approaching, the fear in her eyes now genuine . she turns to Raril"w....what does he want?"

[Reinholdt]

The two year old twins are... remarkably well-behaved. And I'll tell you why. Cause I feel like it.

Heard of the terrible twos? Those disaster years of terror? Where all human children act like... demons?

Well demons have them too. Only instead two year old demons act like humans. Well... that's not right, cause humans are weird and act every sort of which way. Let's just say two year old demons act like little angels. In other words, behaved in just the sort of way to make demon parents cringe before administering more child abuse.

So they sit in the carriage, being rather quiet, holding each others' hands for comfort, cause frankly, they're still a little scared.
The fair nymph-like female speaks up. "Your name?" Forgetting 'what's' at the start of the question.
The male demonic-drow twin, or draeglolth as I've heard it told, stays quiet.

[Rebonack]

Memzee, for her part, does her best to look aloof and haughty at the drow warrior approaches. Quite frankly acting all cold and distant is really starting to wear on her.

This just isn't her personality.

And it feels like she could collapse in a giggle fit at any moment.

That would be disastrous.

Avatar, meanwhile, is chattering cheerfully with any of the drow who seem willing to stop and speak with her. Though it would seem as though most are a little leery of the chimera.

Especially since the chimera is carrying a draeglolth at the moment.

Everyone knows that such creatures are dangerous!

Don't want to get to close to them.

[Artemis97]

Raril gives a slight shrug in response to Din. He really didn't know what the soldier wanted, and raises a questioning eyebrow at the other drow.

The soldier simply glances at him before looking to Memzee. He dips into a short, but respectful, bow ad quickly straightens. "Milady, I will take your..." He hesitates, his eyes looking over the strange beast she was riding on. "...mount to the stables. It is only a short walk to the towers from here. I am certain Lord Raril will be able to guide you to suitable quarters."

In the room inside the carriage, Danube turns to look at the young girl curiously. "Excuse me? Are you trying to ask me something?" There was a slightly encouraging tone to the drowess' voice, an attempt to teach the child to speak properly.

[Reinholdt]

[Carriage]

"What's your name?" The girl repeats, getting it right, but probably not understanding the lesson or the point of it.

The boy just watches silently.

[iElf]

for future reference I'll be putting everything Din says in common <"like this">

when they move on, Din tries to stay near Raril. she feel safer near him. not much safer, but still safer. anyone paying atention to her, might notice she's casting a minor spell

[Rebonack]

"Oh boy! The stables! That is where the animals that people ride on live!" the chimera enthuses. Apparently this idea strikes her as very enjoyable. "I will talk to the other animals and we will be friends! It will be very nice! Will you be my friend too mister guard sir?"

No doubt he'll provide the beasty with an odd look as a result of this comment.

Memzee slips off Avatar's back and approaches Raril with that same air of disconnection and aloofness. "Lead the way then, male."

She'll follow Raril inside the towers. Hopefully they'll get to somewhere semi-private here in a hurry. Because this is just starting to get ridiculous.

...and apparently she doesn't see fit to explain the chimera's behavior.

Seems as though it's just one of those things that has to be dealt with. Or in this case the guard will have to deal with. Poor guy.

"Do you like to ride on animals? I don't ride on animals because I carry people! Especially Master! I am very good at carrying Master!"

[Artemis97]

[Stables]

The guard decides after a few moments to simply nod every once in a while as the Chimera yammers on all the way to the stables. This building is another low cavern, the stalls carved from living rock. A menagerie of beasts are kept here. giant riding lizards, massive armored spiders, dogs with long pointed ears and tiny eyes, Rothe, the Underdark species of cow, bats of all sizes, from small enough to fit in your hand to a pair that were large enough to carry riders. Locked into one stall is a particularly massive beast, with thick armored hide, two sharpened tusks, and a long, prehensile nose. It looks something like a purple elephant. Avatar is led past all of these towards a clean and empty stall.

[Tower]

Raril leads Memzee and Din towards the towers. The path is lined by four pairs of massive pillars, engraved in sweeping lines of drow script inlaid in gold. Each pillar is topped with a bowl filled with flames that shift between purple and blue. At the top of the path is a double door set into a tall, pointed archway. Emblazoned above it is a massive representation of the House Insignia, a spider sitting at the center of an eight sectioned web. It was finely detailed and covered in yet more gold. Eight glittering sapphire eyes peer down at those who travel below.

Inside the entry hall the arachnid theme continues. Golden spiderwebs trace lines across the smoothe stone floor, stretch between the banisters of the sweeping double staircase across the hall. Fat spiders crouch at the base and head of every pillar supporting the balconies above. From the top of the entry hall, another spider hangs on a long rope of silver. Stretched between its claws is yet another web, the gaps between the strands filled with cobalt colored glass. A soft light glows from within, casting blue shadows across the room. A stronger light filters through and orb of golden colored alabaster set into the very center of the chandelier's web, illuminating the room and making every speck of gold shine.

Next, Raril takes them to the right, down a wide hallway, then left down a smaller passage, then takes another right. He's hardly paying attention to where he's actually going, relying on memory to guide him. As they go, the gold become less apparent, the carvings less refined, eventually disappearing all together. Fewer drow walk the halls, too. Back here it seems to be mostly slaves, who are quick to give way to the noble drow. Most bow thier heads and step aside, a few fall to their knees, prostrating themselves. Raril eventually stops at an empty stretch of hallway and turns to stare hard at a blank wall.

[Carriage]

"I told you that already. I am Danube." The drowess replies, slightly annoyed that she had to repeat herself. "I am the head of House Xar'Cha, your father's family. Your family. I am Matron Xar'Cha. Ilharess." She explains further. "But you may call me Aunt."

[iElf]

[tower]
Din feels the same about the building, as she did before: beautiful, but terrifying at the same time. when they arrive in the empty hallway, she looks at Raril , slightly worried <"is everything all right ,sir?">

[Rebonack]

[Stables]

Avatar does indeed chatter all the way.

She chatters about the smells and the sounds and the animals and the stuff on the animals and the food the animals eat and if the guard has ever ridden on any of the animals and oooh is that a cave elephant?

The chimera will also thank the drow for taking her here and ask when she gets to look around the city.

Everything is asked and commented on in a unnecessarily overly enthusiastic tone.

[Tower]

Memzee, meanwhile, stares at the wall along with Raril.

She's really hoping that he has some kind of hidden room behind there...

[Reinholdt]

[Carriage]

Reinholdt couldn't remember! It had been a month or two and buried in a fast moving non-plot thread!
Err...
I mean sometimes kids have short attention spans. Yes. That's it.
>>

"Auntie Danube? Auntie Danube." The girl says, repeating it to get used to it. "We're thirsty Auntie Danube. Do you have any blood to drink?"

Boy that boy sure stays quiet.

[Artemis97]

[Tower]

"Yeah, just fine. I just need to remember exactly how many wards I left up..." Raril replies before muttering in his native tongue and touching the wall at seemingly random points. After a few odd gestures, he smiles slightly. "That should do it." The drow pushes at the wall and twitches violently for a second or two. "Missed one." He grumbles, pushing the hidden door open. Beyond is a set of stairs leading up and twisting to the left. "We should be safe in here, so long no one's done anything since I left." Raril explains, waiting for the others to enter before closing the door behind them.

[Stables]

"I cannot say." The guard replies. "Someone will fetch you when that time comes. Remain here until then." With that, he turns and walks away.

[Carriage]

Danube thought to correct the girl, Auntie was a little too familiar for her taste, but the girl's request puts it out of her mind. A wicked grin spreads across the drowess' face. Clearly, she was pleased by the idea. "Blood? Truly that is what you wish to drink? Both of you?" She turns her attention to the male, curious about how quiet he was being.

[Reinholdt]

[Carriage]

The boy and the girl both nod, though the girl more enthusiastically and violently, her long hair swishing in front of her face when she does. It's not like they need it or anything like a vampire. They just enjoy its taste and often get it in reward for being good. Or did anyways. Like fruit juice!

Leave it to the drow to be giddy about this instead of disturbed.

[iElf]

[Tower]
Din enters the room, and has a look around, especially for any good escape routes

[Rebonack]

[Stables]

"Alright! I will stay here and talk with the other animals!" Avatar proclaims rather cheerfully as the drow guard takes his leave. And she does, too! For the next several minutes she'll yammer at the other critters in the stalls until she's quite certain that there isn't anyone else around with an Int score above two.

Then the chimera falls silent.

And slips off through the Veil to go find the others.

[Towah of Powah!]

Memzee walks through the passage, still holding that air of drowess aloofness as best she can. And no sooner does the door close does she let out a rather long sign and let her shoulders slump.

Her whole countenance changes in a rather obvious way. From cold and arrogant to her usual state of effervescent bounciness. "Geeze! How do female drow manage to act like that all the time?" she laughs as she starts poking around the room curiously. "So stifled and stuffy and... bleh!"

She makes a rather classic 'Bleh!' face.

[Artemis97]

[Carriage => Matron's Rooms]

"Then let us find you something fresh to drink." The drowess walks over to the door, and twists a strange device next to it. She then opens the door and speaks to a drow standing outside. They both laugh and the other walks off, presumably to fetch the children's snack. It might be noticed that the scene outside is a hallway now, not the exterior of the carriage.

[Tower => Raril's Rooms]

There's not much of was to escape in the narrow stairway. Chuckling at Memzee, Raril slips past the two ladies and continues up the stairs, which seem to end at a large glass window. He presses a few places around its frame and steps through, gesturing for the others to follow. Beyond is a modest living room packed with comfortable furniture and musical instruments of all sorts. A few books were strewn about, some up on a high shelf looking like they'd never been touched. On a few surfaces were strange looking devices. Some spun slowly, others gave off a soft, pulsing glow. It was almost cozy, if not for the near total darkness and the thin layer of dust that coated everything.

"Ah, how do you say it? Home sweet home?" Raril grins and takes a deep breath, before sneezing.

[Stables => Somewhere?]

Avatar might have a little difficulty finding the others. Paranoid as he is, Raril has warded his rooms fairly heavily from magical intrusion. Of course, Avatar doesn't quite operate under the usual rules of magic.

[iElf]

[Raril's Rooms]

what a complete mess! Din thinks to herself "now let me guess who's going to have to clean this....or are you going to send me off to do some other work?"

[Rebonack]

[The Far]

Avatar is navigating by scent more so than anything else right now. Or... something at least analogous to scent. She knows Raril's smell well enough, that's for certain. It probably won't be too long before she zeroes in on him...

As for wards, well...

Inscribing the Elder Sign on the walls might slow her down a bit. But barriers against movement and travel have relatively little impact on the Chimera. No doubt she'll try not to make her entrance too shocking.

...right?

[Raril's (messy) Room]

Memzee begins pacing about the chamber, taking the time to run a finger along a table only to make a sour face at all the dust that results. "This is one of those times when I wish I had taken the time to learn a few cantrips," the demoness giggles as the ebony skin-tone quickly brightens to something she's a little more familiar with.

Though...

Those horns haven't left yet...

[Reinholdt]

[Carriage => Matron's Rooms]

The girl just shifts, antsy in anticipation, looking ready to jump up and go run and get it herself. "Thank you."

The boy on the other hand is more subdued, and watches the Matron like a hawk, taking obvious notice of both the strange device and the change in the scenery outside the door. He frowns.

[Artemis97]

[Raril's Rooms]

"No, no. I can get it. Like she said, it'll just take a few spells." Raril waves a hand and the dust in the area around him disappears. He notices that Memzee hasn't lost her horns. "Zee, love, you've forgotten something, I think."

[Matron's Rooms]

A short time later, the door opens again and in steps a frightened looking young human girl. The matron smiles. "Ah, here we are."

[Rebonack]

[Raril's Room]

Memzee had just pulled a book of the shelf and blown a rather sizable volume of dust off it when Raril posed his question. She glances over her should at him-

Only to scrunch up her face in a rather amusing fashion before sneezing.

Maybe blowing the dust off wasn't such a wise course of action.

Once that particular problem is cleared up... "Forgotten something?" she sounds rather confused. It honestly hasn't been all that long since she was corrupted, but she's already stopped giving the horns a second thought.

They're just there.

"What do you mean?"

[iElf]

[Raril's room] "so I'm just going to be sitting up here all this time, waiting to be rescued, with nothing to do? not that I'm complaining or anything..."

((if rebo is not here for the next two weeks, you can send Din down to work in the kitchens or something))

[Reinholdt]

[Matron's Rooms]

The boy sits and watches the girl. Clearly he's curious about her.
The girl doesn't seem to care all that much, instead standing to go get her blood, not patient enough to wait for it to be brought over.

[iElf]

[Raril's room]
Din gets up again, with no answer forthcoming. she has a look at the instruments, and picks up a flute, and starts playing a beautifully sad tune