Adventures in Sigil - IC - Part III [4E]

[Hzurr]

DM Post

OOC: The easiest way to get to Thunderspire (& then onto the Underdark) is heading back via Fallcrest. If you have any last errands you'd like to do in Sigil before you go, I'll give everyone a day or so to post last minute actions, then we'll go ahead with the journey

[Toric]

"It seems we are at a consensus then." The drow pirate swings his legs off the table and vaults into a standing position, walking around the table to where Eilistraee sits. "Thanks for your help on this, Ellie. If we see any disgruntled drow on our way, we'll point them to Sigil. Until we next share a meal..." Zyrr offers a hand to help the drow female stand, then, once she's up, wraps her in a brief hug. "Take care."

[Hzurr]

DM Post

As Zyrr hugs Eilistraee, the experience is slightly odd for him, as he can't ever remember having hugged a drow woman before (it leaves your back awfully vulnerable). Eilistraee is similarly taken aback, and almost as an instinctive reaction she stiffens and starts to pull away. However, she's soon able to fight back against her drow instinct, and she returns the hug. "Take care."

After a few hours of final preparations, you soon pack your belongings, and take your leave of Sigil.

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"So you see, by mixing the weaves of blue permutation and the yellow permutation, Mordenkainen learned that the variance of transmutation could be controlled within half a-" Nimozaran paused suddenly, mid-lecture. Normally, this was to reprimand the group of young gnomes sitting in front of him to pay attention, but this time something else caught his eye. Moments later it became visible to the rest of the young students in the room, and they watched in awe as the sigils traced on the floor began glowing brightly. A circle of white light appeared in the air above the sequence of sigils, only to be dimmed a moment later by five shapes. Even as silhouettes, the students immediately recognized most of the shapes, and shouts of welcome and cheers erupted.

Many of the students knew Pavick by name, and rushed up to great him. Several stammered uncertainly, unsure as to whether they should refer to him as Pavick (the name given when he first helped rescue them from the Fomorians), or as Grandmaster Roslow (the name insisted upon now that they studied in the Separch’s tower). For Aramil, there is a healthy measure of fear and respect. All of these students had heard of the general of the summer armies, who struck down his enemies with fire and lightning. At least two had previously served in the army, and they quickly stiffened their backs and placed fist over heart in the traditional feywild salute.

While the gnomish students from the feywild find their attention drawn to the feywild heroes of legend, the students from the material plane find their gaze drawn to Zyrr and Lucan. The legend of the masked drow pirate, scourge of the Astral Seas, had even reached the ears of the small town of Fallcrest, and there was no shortage of pointing and excited whispering. Lucan, emerging from the portal on the back of a unicorn with a winged Coure attendant flying behind him, looked to have stepped out of a fairy tale (there was no small amount of swooning).

Behind his flashy companions, the giant Shepherd was almost overlooked. He recognized a few of the local students, but most returned his glances with a look of curiosity, heads tilted to the side as if trying to remember something.

---------------------------

Nimozaran wasted no time in both welcoming you, and spreading the word of your arrival. By dinner time, you find yourself again in the familiar Rex family manor, but the gates outside seem packed with curious villages, straining to get a look at the famous heroes through a window.

Around the table are figures that you haven't seen in what feels like a lifetime: Nimozaran, Berrian, Lord Tyrannus, Friar Hubert, Pavick's parents. All the while, the small kobald butler scampers around pouring drinks and bringing food for everyone. Stories are told, jokes are shared, and all-in-all a pleasant evening is had. Eventually, Hubert breaks the revalry with a more serious question. "So, how goes the war? We only hear small bits, but last winter was one of the coldest I can remember. And this summer, if you can call it that, has been unusually mild."

Those of you from Fallcrest quickly understand what he's saying. This time of the year, you should be almost broiling in your own sweat, but it still feels like Spring or early Autumn.

[dariathalon]

Pavick - Gnome Wizard

Pavick was loving every minute of being back home. He had happily greeted the young gnomish apprentices, not caring a bit which name they decided to use. Well, except the snotty-nosed child that kept calling him Grandmister PavRick. He got a stern reminding.

As Nimozarran hurried off to tell the town of their arrival, Pavick even treated all of the trainees at the Septarch's tower to a quick impromptu lecture on the art of illusions.

===========================

Later, at the dinner, Pavick looked sad as he answered Hubert's question. "We are working on the situation. I wish we could have stopped all of this before it started, but we failed. Truth be told, it is going better than it could have though. We are taking the first steps on a mission now that I believe will help to swing things even further in our favor."

[Mando Knight]

"And now you understand what we are fighting for. Unfortunately, until we can free Tiandra and cause the Prince himself to stand down, the war cannot ever truly end."

[Hzurr]

DM Post

Hubert frowns, but says nothing, worry clearly etched on his face. Eventually, Tyrannus breaks the silence "You'd mentioned you were heading to Thunderspire, and from there onto the Underdark? If so, you'll need a trading or diplomatic pass to travel through without immediately getting kidnapped and tortured. My family used to have a contact in Thunderspire, an ex-patriot drow by the name of Gendar who runs a small shop there. If anyone could get you one, it would be him."

Zyrr:

Spoiler

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Zyrr has heard of this Gendar. He has occationally worked as an informant and information broker to Matron House Morvyndis (most frequently to serve as a go-between with the matron mothers of the underdark, and their agents on the surface). He would certainly have these diplomatic passes, but would likely pass on news of your coming.

OOC: Anything else y'all want to do in Fallcrest before moving onto Thunderspire?

[Toric]

"Gendar, eh?" Zyrr tumbles a coin in his fingers as he recalls the name. "Yes, I've heard of him. All but the expatriate part. He'd know who I was, and he wouldn't hesitate to tell my old House about me. That's bound to make things interesting, especially with the other me still up to my usual tricks out on the Astral Sea. I could disguise myself, but even if I could fool him, I doubt I'd be able to keep up the charade for long in the city itself." He lets the coin fall from his hands and waits for the resulting "plink" on the floor before finishing his statement. "We may have to come up with some insurance against him selling us out. But for now..." He flips the coin into the brim of his hat, which begins to shimmer along with the form beneath it. Once he tucks away his mask, Zyrr is gone and replaced by a creature of equally dark skin but with matching jet-black hair. A shade, much like many he's met and even fought in Sigil. "I suppose this will have to do."

[Hzurr]

DM Post

After a quick night's rest (during which time no fewer than 3 local girls were caught trying to sneak into Lucan's room), you head out for Thunderspire. The journey is uneventful, with the exception of a small group of goblin bandits who made a very poor choice in their roadside ambush targets.

Even from the edges of Fallcrest, Thunderspire Mountain is visible, and with each passing day the solitary tower of rock grows larger as you journey across the vale. The dark clouds and flashes of lightning that always seem to float above the peak betray Thunderspire's namesake, and before long you find yourself traveling down a long road and through a stone archway hewn into the mountainside. On either side of the archway, towering minotaur statues stand, glowering down at you.

Beyond the gate, you travel down the road of lanterns. Every hundred feet or so, a green light emanates from copper lanterns, illuminating the demon statues that line the sides of this brick-vaulted passage. Eventually, this road opens up into the seven pillared hall. This massive hall is illuminated by glowing purple and blue lanterns, attached to the pillars that support the ceiling high above. Businesses and homes are carved into the walls of the cavern, although a few buildings dot the cavern floor as well. Making your way to the far side of the hall, over a fast-flowing stream that divides the cavern, you enter into Gendar's Curios and Relics. Standing behind the counter, polishing a small skull-capped scepter, is a male drow with an eyepatch. He glances up at you with his one good eye, and places the scepter behind the counter. "Hmph, you look to be new around here. What'd'ya need?"

[Toric]

The shade raps a gold coin on the counter. "A round of trading passes to Vyrrdarr, if you please. I've got some friends I promised to show the Undercity of Shards to, and I may be a murderer, a thief, and a smuggler but I'm no liar." He gestures to his friends: three fey and a rock. "Surfacers, the lot of them. Good for a fight, but they don't know a rothe from a grell and I aim to show them the world of entertainment that's been waiting hundreds of miles below their feet." The umbral man whips around into a kneel, planting both arms onto the counter and his chin upon his hands. "Spare no expense. We want black market access, house war immunity, pre-paid accident insurance, all the bells and whistles. So what'll be the damage?" Finished with his spill, the shade takes in a deep breath and blinks his eyes at the drow expectantly.

[Hzurr]

DM Post

OOC: Bluff & Diplomacy, if you please

[Toric]

Sergei Bolovovich, Shade Rogue

Bluff - (1d20+19)[35], Bluff for the Disguise - (1d20+24)[33], and the one I've been dreading, Diplomacy - (1d20+14)[27].

[Hzurr]

DM Post

Gendar's good eye scans the "Shade" up and down. "You have spent a lot of time in the Underdark. That accent almost sounds..." He reaches up, and adjusts his eyepatch slightly. The movement looks natural enough, but Shep and Lucan both seem him adjust a small gem set in the leather as he looks at Zyrr.

Spoiler

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Perception to see through the disguise: (1d20+21)[31]

"Well, you're obviously familiar with the ways of the realms below, so you're aware with how much trouble I could get in for entrusting such an item to a stranger." Gendar resumes his polishing. "Those passes are for trading, and I don't see any sign that you have goods to trade." He sets down the skull cap, and begins straightening a set of small obsidian boxes on a shelf above the counter.

"However, I do have a few items that could be taken to Vyrrdarr. But for you to take them for me, we would have to be in business together. So the question that I'd like answered is: what sorts of goods or services do you have to offer me so that we can be in business together?"

[Toric]

Sergei

"Well we do have an assortment of rare animals. Could I interest you in a baby unicorn? Dodo? Miniature giant space hamster?" Gendar's silence is all the answer the shade needs. "No dice, eh? Well, a successful businessman such as yourself with so many friends high and low must have several.... rivals as well. My friends generally don't commit themselves to cold-blooded murder, but if you knew of a particular person in Vyrrdarr who engages in immoral practices - and let's face it, it's the Underdark, who doesn't? - well then as upstanding heroes we would just have to deliver righteous justice, wouldn't we?" As he says this, Sergei looks back to the others to gauge their reactions to his offer. This is one of those things he probably should have checked with them before saying.

[dariathalon]

Pavick - Gnome Wizard

Pavick listens to Zyrr's bargaining with interest. When Zyrr makes the offer, Pavick is at first surprised, but quickly nods his willingness. As Zyrr knows all to well, Pavick is very willing to deal with an enemy if it gets him what he wants. Afterall, sometimes really good things come out of it.

"Yeah, we can do what needs done to who it needs done to. So long as they deserve it, anyway."

[DSCrankshaw]

Lucan - Half-elf bard

"Nyet, comrade," says Yuri. "I will not be bought and sold as a slave by the capitalist dogs!"

"Shh, Yuri," Lucan says, laying a hand on Yuri's head. "I don't think anyone's thinking of selling you."

"Well, I won't allow you to sell my comrades either," Yuri says, brandishing his horn.

"No one wants to buy any unicorns," Lena says.

"Nyet?" Yuri says, confused. "But why not?" He now seems even more offended. Lena just smirks.

"So," Lucan says to the drow. "What do you want us to do? Do you need a musician? Because we have some good ones." He seems to have completely missed the offer of performing an assassination, as he was busy conferring with his advisors.

[Hzurr]

DM Post

Gendar looks over the Shade and his companions for a moment, before reaching below the counter and pulling out a small silver bell. He holds the bell up in the air, and flicks it with his little finger, so a long, smooth chime fills the room. Even after he sets the bell down, the sound still lingers, and you soon realize that you can't hear anything else in the room. The bell chime doesn't feel loud, yet somehow it manages to even drown out a shout.

Gendar reaches down, pulls out a piece of paper and quill, and quickly scribbles a note that he slides across the table for you to read.

Elimination of former priestess of Lolth: Cerzei Na-Duurn. Travel Time to Vyrrdarr: 8 days. If my contacts don't inform me of Cerzei's death within a tenday, word will be sent that the passes you possess were stolen, and call for your immediate execution.

Gendar's good eye narrows as he extends a hand across the table, and silently mouths the word "deal?"

[Toric]

Hmm. Sergei ponders as he scratches his chin. On the one hand, if this is just a typical drow female, she'll be tough to bring down but the job should be as straightforward as they come. And if she left Lolth's faithful for a more surface-friendly life, well, I know exactly where we can send her to bring her out of Gendar's ratty hair.

The shade nods to the drow with a wicked grin, and slides the the note off the table into a pocket. Deal.

[Hzurr]

DM Post

Gendar gives a half-grin, before reaching over and silencing the chiming bell. "Thank you for your patronage, do come again to Gendar's Curios and Relics."

After a brief stay at the inn, and some last minute supplies, you find yourself standing on the southeastern corner of the seven pillared hall, staring down an ancient set of stairs, the first of thousand to come. In the thousand years since the minotaurs first built these tunnels, the stairs have been worn smooth, leaving few traces of the ancient carvings that once covered them. This road leading into the Underdark is well known, although few save the Duergar travel it with any regularity. The purple and blue lights from the hall end here, and the only thing that pierces the darkness ahead is the faint light of your lanterns, and a glowing orb that hovers over Pavick's hand.

OOC: See the details for the Journey to the Underdark below:

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Ok, So we're going to go a bit freeform again with this travel. I need everyone to make three skill checks, DC 31, and describe part of the journey through the Underdark. You can use whatever skill you want, as long as you justify it in the narrative. If you make the DC, describe how you successfully did...whatever you were attempting; but if you fail, describe the complication that arose. Maybe you made a new enemy, maybe you led the party down the wrong tunnel, maybe you accidentally desecrated a temple to an ancient forgotten god. Whatever you want. However, whatever the complication is, the next person to post has to resolve that complication with whatever means they wish (and the DC increases by 2).

So, if Lucan tries to talk his way past a mind flayer, but blows the diplomacy check, Aramil may be the next one up, and he could try and and stare down the mind flayer so it doesn't try and eat them. In this case, Aramil would make a DC 33 Intimidate check. Aramil would then make his other two checks.

Does this make sense?

[dariathalon]

Pavick - Gnome Wizard

As the group began to descend even further into the depths, Pavick took it upon himself to lead the way. He'd read many old tomes on the underdark during his days studying at the Septarch's Tower and now seemed as good a time as any to put those hours of studying to use to find a shortcut. "Three leagues down and then take a turn at the thirteenth left-facing passage. Follow that as it twists around for thirty miles. Then take a 1/3 rotation in the next cavern and follow that for three hours before..."

On and on Pavick went, leading the group deeper and deeper into the darkness, before he suddenly turned around and admitted. "You know, I think maybe one of those 3's was actually supposed to be a 4. I'm not sure which one though. Maybe somebody else had better take a turn at leading."

As the group travelled on a little deeper, they encountered a mighty stone doorway inscribed with all sorts of glyphs, it radiated magic to the point that even the least arcanely inclined in the party could feel it's influences. It was either turn back, and loose several hours of travel, or proceed forward. So the young gnome pushed up the bulky sleeves on his robe and set to work. Sigil by sigil, he deactivated the wards, working quickly but carefully. It took him several minutes of work, and the occasional boost up from Shep to reach some of the higher runes, but Pavick was eventually able to disarm the magical effects holding the door against intrusion.

He stood up and opened the door. Immediately the stench almost overwhelmed him. Pavick wondered how he had not smelled it before the door had opened. Then he saw the source, a dozen troglodytes kneeling before an alter to one evil god or another. All heads immediately turned to the little man who had opened the door. "You dare interrupt our devotionalsss to Torog! The King that Crawlsss will not put up with thisss!"

Pavick knew he had to think fast, but the fumes coming off of the troglodytes must have been interfering with his mind. All he could come up with was, "No. Um... We're not interrupting. We just came to join in. You know the more the merrier, right?"

"You will join then. You will be bound and tortured for the pleasures of our god."

Spoiler

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History - (1d20+21)[22]
Bluff - (1d20+21)[30]
Arcana - (1d20+28)[31]

Wow. Those sucked. Sorry. Looks like the next person will have two problems to sort out. I took them out of order as I posted above, because the order seemed to make a little more sense to me.

[Toric]

????? ?????, ????? Rogue

Thaxx'l'syr steps out between the impudent troglodytes and his vassal, clad in his traditional raiment of earth-stained robes with a ruby-crusted circlet set round his tiefling horns. "You dare speak to a servant of Thaxx'l'syr, High Priest of Torog, in such a manner? Were you not of the faithful I would bury you alive in this very cavern! But in your case, a tribute will do."

The leader of the troglodytes merely crosses his arms and inquires "What is prayer we say each of the surface world's midnights?" .......Thaxx steps off to the side, muttering a dejected "Next."

Assuming the troglodyte problem is dealt with, the group pauses so that Grollor Slatefist can talk to some of his Duergar brethren, traders bringing a cartload of mushrooms up to Thunderspire. He nearly starts a fight when his hand lingers too near the wagon, but the trademaster is content with shoving him away bodily and telling him to be on his way. The trade group continues on its way, none the worse for wear until they discover the trade leader lost the map.

Travel goes easily enough for the party until they reach the cavern indicated on their map by a large dot. It's a duergar outpost, with guards in the process of taking their "toll" from a band of adventurers, starting with what they insist is an illegally smuggled suit of dragonscale armor. Rather than risk being caught with a duergar map, Sergei Bolovovich leads his friends through the deeper shadows, creating distractions as necessary until the party has reached relative safety on the other side.

Spoiler

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Bluff w/ Hat of Disguise - (1d20+24)[27] (following Pavick's Arcana)
Thievery - (1d20+20)[36] (following Pavick's History)
Stealth - (1d20+22)[41] (Not fixing anything)

[Haberdashery]

The Shepherd - Goliath Dunce

The Shepherd has been facing the wrong direction the entire trek through the Underdark, and only though the painstaking efforts of his comrades is he able to stop walking into stalagmites that just happen to turn out to be very disgruntled ropers, and cease interrupting inconveniently placed derro tea parties.

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Perception: (1d20+22)[27]
Acrobatics: (1d20+19)[22]
Stealth: (1d20+19)[29]

[DSCrankshaw]

Lucan - Half-elf bard

Lucan's sharp eyes can pick out a roper at quite some distance, it turns out, and he's able to direct Shep around them. (Perception 34)

And it turns out that Derro tea parties are quite fun, if a bit wild, as long as you keep an open mind. (Diplomacy 37) And they do seem to spike their tea with something quite strong. They hit on Lena a bit, but she can be quite a flirt when she's been drinking. And they all wanted to ride Yuri. He balked until Lucan convinced him that they were all small Revolutionaries.

The one snag they ran into was when Lucan asked for directions. Everyone was pretty out of it by that point, so if there were anything about their directions that was coherent, Lucan totally failed to comprehend it. (Streetwise 26)

When they woke up, the Derro were long gone, and everyone was hungover.

[Mando Knight]

Aramil, listening in on Lucan's attempts at getting directions, manages to decipher them, recognizing their drunken ramblings as an ancient curse that causes them to switch every third syllable with a color while intoxicated.

However, the next "morning," he ends up nursing not only a hangover, but several bruises as he loses his footing and stumbles into a fairly deep pit that they encountered when he mentally switched the names of the depths of Zyl'wrig'gyr with the caverns of Zon'we'fryn, leading them left when they should have turned down. (Directions in the Underdark are strange)

[Hzurr]

DM Post

Hungover, exhausted, still a bit stinky after the troglodytes, the party eventually makes its way back through the depths of Zyl'wrig'gyr, and onto Vyrrdarr. Getting turned around in the journey cost you more than a day of wasted travel, and it has now been nine days since you first set out from the seven pillared hall.

As you near Vyrrdarr, you notice a faint blue glow in the caverns ahead that grows and dims every few seconds, as if there was some pulsating mass ahead of you. As you walk, only the keen eyes of Shep catch sight of the dark shapes on some of the ledges above you. At first it looks to be flickering shadows from the light ahead, but after a while Shep realizes that some of those shadows appear to be rather drow-shaped.

Eventually, you come to a wide sloping tunnel that has been completely cleared of loose rocks, stalagmites and stalactites. The tunnel gently ascends for almost half a mile, leaving you feeling disturbingly out in the open as you progress. The pulsating glow seems to be coming from just over the top of the hill, but after you have traveled half the length of a tunnel, you run into a wall.

Zyrr, at the head of the party, smashes against an invisible barrier as solid as if it were a brick wall. Aramil manages to stop before running into Zyrr, as do Pavick and Shep. Unfortunately, Yuri was in the midst of a heated argument with Lucan, and plows into the back of Shep, causing a chain reaction that smushes everyone into the wall. Once you've managed to un-squish everyone (a particularly painful process for Shep, given Yuri's unicorn features), you're able to step back and examine the nearly invisible wall of force in front of you.

You only have a moment to react, before hidden doors in the walls on the far side of the wall open up, and a dozen drow with step out and level crossbows at you, the bolts in each glowing a pale orange color. From up above, you hear a chittering as half a dozen spiders and a drider emerge from a similar hidden door in the ceiling. The arachnids skitter about on the ceiling, as if waiting to drop down on you. Finally, on the far side of the invisible wall, a drow priestess strides out of on of the secret doors, and slowly walks up to wall of force and looks you up and down. The circlet on her head glows briefly as she does so, and her gaze fixates on the disguised Zyrr.

"Tell me...what business do a drow, gnome, half-elf, eladrin" she paues to spit -and...that thing she makes a vague gesture towards Shep, "have in the city of crystal?". She glances at the adamantine spider pendants around your neck that Gendar gave you.

[Hzurr]

DM Post

As Aramil studies the wall of force, he Aramil suspects that normally this wall would be able to block teleportation. However, the spell-weave used for this is almost identical to one he learned in his training, so he thinks that he would be able to teleport past it.

[Toric]

Zyrr

As soon as he sees the guard leader's expression change, Zyrr knows Sergei's time is up. Ebony hair turns to ivory as the exposed drow lets out a sigh. "I see there's no fooling you. We've come to the city of illumination seeking two pieces of knowledge: one about a certain ex-priestess, another about a certain location. If you can point us in the right direction, we can make it worth your while."

Diplomacy - (1d20+14)[19]

[Hzurr]

DM Post

The priestess gives a smile of satisfaction as Zyrr drops the disguise. "There is no such thing as an ex-priestess. There are those who serve the Spider-Queen in life, those who serve her in afterlife, and those whose faith were too weak and became sacrifices." She takes a moment to think back over the rest of what Zyrr says, and the satisfaction she gained from seeing through the disguise and Zyrr's humility (or in her mind "humiliation") fades.

"Tell me," Her eyes narrow, "You come here wearing the badge of traders, and you seek information. Yet what have you brought to trade? What do rothe dung like you bring to the Crystaline City that I should let you pass through its gates?"

[dariathalon]

Pavick - Gnome Wizard

Pavick looks down at his feet, shuffling them as he speaks in muffled submissive tones to the drow woman. "One of your own who has a shop set up in Thunderspire has sent us here with some important goods to deliver. He'd heard we were passing through near here and asked us to drop some things here on our way past. I mean, if that's okay with you. We wouldn't want to offend someone like yourself." He pats the extradimensional bag he has slung over one shoulder.

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Let's try a diplomacy roll. Pavick's not usually good at this grovelling stuff, but it seemed like it might be the best way to go. Diplomacy - (1d20+19)[27]. I'm assuming that Gendar did actually give us something to bring here as was mentioned.

[Hzurr]

DM Post

The drow priestess takes on an air of smugness at Pavick's display of humility. You get the impression that gate duty may not be the most prestigious of duties for a priestess, and she is truly enjoying this moment to flex her (presumed) power. She motions for Pavick to open the bag, and moves up to the wall to glance in. "Wood and animal skins." She gives a slight tsk in disappointment. "Boring, but useful."

She nods to one of the crossbow holding guards, who darts back inside of the hidden doors. Moments later, you see the barrier glow, before disappearing. The priestess nods her head. "Follow this road until you arrive at the merchant district in the city center."

The drow, guards, and spiders turn to retake their hidden positions, but as they start to walk away, the priestess glances back. "I am curious. Who was the ex-priestess you were trying to find?"

[Mando Knight]

Aramil finally speaks, after taking up the position of "obvious muscle" with Shep for the initial part of the encounter. "Ah, he did say ex-priestess, didn't he? He meant it in an odd fashion... a priestess from the Feydark, an ex-patriot since her city was routed by the gnomish allies of the Vernal Coalition. She probably would have arrived a couple weeks ago under a false name..."