As Gaspar and Knomal continued on their trek back to Jalanthar, they couldn’t help but feel as though they were being watched. Something sinister was biding its time, but it seemed to remain just out of their sight. Gaspar let out a sigh if relief as they approached the town, even if it wasn’t the most hospitable place. Turning the wagon into the courtyard of the Crowing Cockatrice, they entered the inn to retrieve their companions. Robidolian was waiting for them, seated at the bar, slowly drinking some honey ale, preferring to avoid the much stronger Jalanthar Amber for which the inn was famous. He was asking the barkeep about the area around Jalanthar, but was simply redirected to a cloaked figure in the corner. Nimbul was nosing around asking questions about any recent events, it seems that several local residents were found dead and half eaten in the woods just north west of the town.

Wanting to track down the Drow in the area, Robidolian approached the cloaked figure, he brought along a pint of Jalanthar Amber as an offering. Garret Orcsplitter was one of the best trackers in the region, and Robidolian learned from him of some recent activity in the vicinity of a rocky hill called Three Stone Peak. After securing directions, he returned to the party. Iris was in the process of checking out the chain and pitons Gaspar and Knomal had obtained, they were indeed magical. In fact they were infused with a Divine Magic similar to the positive energy clerics use in their fight against undead.

Wanting to waste no time, the party set off toward Three Stone Peak. After heading north West for about two miles, the terrain became impassable for the wagon, so they hid the wagon and let the horses loose. Another mile of travel passed when Knomal saw a gray creature move into some underbrush ahead. He moved ahead of the party to scout the situation, but as he approached to within 100 feet of the creature, it retreated toward the north west another 100 feet. The party decided that it would not be prudent to have this creature stalking them, so they attempted to persue it. As they again approached the creature’s hiding place, it quickly moved off toward the north west. Knomal fired off a quick arrow, but missed. Since they could not seem to get close enough to attack the creature, they decided to continue on towards their original destination, keeping out a keen eye for any ambush. The evening came about the point at which they were to turn to the west, so they decided to make camp for the night. For safety, they arranged the watch in 5 two hour shifts; Gaspar and Robidolian would take the first, Robidolian and Nimbul would take second, Nimbul and Iris would take third, Iris and Knomal would take fourth, and Knomal and Gaspar would take the last.

It seemed as though the night would pass with no incidents until about 1 ½ hours before sunrise. Knomal observed a shadowy figure approaching from the west, and as he was launching his attack, Gaspar having been distracted by Knomal’s activity, was attacked from behind. The two Worgs attacked viciously, the larger of the two knocked Gaspar down, and the other charged Knomal. Knomal sank two of his blue arrows into the Worg, but it was able to shake off the poison and continued the charge. Gaspar grabbed his Axe and leapt up to return the attack, receiving yet another bite from the creature. Nimbul sprang into action, striking the larger of the two Worgs from behind while Iris let loose with Magic Missiles at the other. Knomal dropped his Bow, drawing his dagger, and sliced into the smaller one as it completed its charge, tearing into Knomal’s flesh with a severe bite. Robidolian acted quickly to cast a healing spell on the severely damaged Gaspar as the beast turned its attention to Nimbul, tearing into his side. Now fully ready for the attacks of the Worgs, the party coordinated their attacks bringing down the larger of the two. The other one turned and headed back toward the underbrush, but was taken down by Iris’ last minute Magic Missiles. Each of the two Worgs wore a collar that was inscribed with some Orcish words. Robidolian translated them; "Given to Ugreth from His Father King Obould.” Clearly these two Worgs were the pets of someone.

In the morning, they moved off to the west, coming upon a shallow stream after about two miles. Following the stream, they were heading between two small rocky hills when Knomal noticed an Orc standing near a tree. Fortune was on their side this time, as the Sun was to their backs, diminishing the Orcs Vision in that direction. Knomal borrowed Gaspar’s Bow and before the Orc knew what was happening, it was lying dead, an arrow piercing its throat. Nimbul immediately began to scout out the area. On the western tip of the Hill known as Three Stone Peak, there was a cave entrance, partially hidden by a makeshift blind constructed of fir tree branches. Moving through the trees, they headed to the southern face of the hill, just to the east of the cave entrance. They wanted to take full advantage of the Sun’s blinding effects on any Orc scouts. Iris used her wand of invisibility on Robidolian, and he went to observe the entrance, noting that there was one guard at the entrance.

For a map of the area go to http://home.attbi.com/~baldak/LowResImages/Wilderness_Area.JPG

Each party member received 600 experience.

"Hey Knomal, the collars said something about a gift from King Obould to his son Ugreth, I don't suppose you know who he is do you?"

"King!" Knomal smirks "That's one orc that shames Azoun's name in a hilarious way. Yeah, orc. Not yer simple orc, I s'ppose, but no more 'an a petty warlord. Sitting somewhere, trying to unite the scum for one more raid on Sundabar. Think he's too dumb to ally with drow, I do."

"Only a warlord and too stupid to ally with the drow? Then why would his son, or at least his pets, be so close to the entrance to the underdark?" Gaspar asks.

Iris, you knock out the orc who's guarding the cave entrance with a magic missle. If none of the others come out, Gaspar can take down the barrier. Then I'll scout out the entry way. Since invisibility works against dark vision, I should be able to move in and out without any problem.

If we do get attacked, then I can heal anyone of you guys who gets hurt. It's not likely that the orcs will expect an invisible cleric is moving about the battlefield healing people.

You know, Iris, you should try to learn this invisibility stuff. This makes our party much stronger. If I move about freely, then I don't really have to watch out for stray hits.

"Yes, I suppose I need to learn that invisibility spell. But not now, later. Alright, I'll cast magic missiles on the orc." Iris says.

Iris casts magic missiles on the orc.

With the Sun in its eyes, the Orc sentry didn't see the female elf as she began her incantation. It wasn't until the three missiles of force, that would strike their target unerringly were almost at their destination, that the sentry was even aware of his precarious position. At that moment, it was too late. The Magic Missiles tore through the Orc with deadly accuracy, killing it where it stood. The quickness of the assault prevented even the slightest whisper of sound from being emitted by the surprised sentry.

[ August 02, 2002, 18:16: Message edited by: Baldak Oakfist ]

"Well done!" Robidolian whispers to Iris. "Gaspar, go take down the screen. I'll be right beside you. If nothing comes out, give me a few minutes to scout out the area and then I'll return. I suspect that there must be something powerful waiting nearby. Drow are never this lax. Don't get too overconfident. Better safe than sorry."

Knomal replies to Gaspar:
"It must be what's called 'Curiosity killed an orc'... Underdak ain't a place stuffed with drow elves only. There are plenty of a beast other than dark elves, and orcs dwell there often."

"Hey Knomal I'd bet all those branches that the orcs used to hide the entrance would burn pretty good.... what do you think?" Gaspar says with a grin.

Knomal jumps up.
"Finally a bright idea among all that nonsense. Let's smoke 'em out!"
He then lunges to the branches, covering the distance in a couple of wide strides.
"Let's do that..." he cackles, as he uses the magic of his knife to ignite the wood.

As Knomal bounds up to the screen Gaspar takes position to the side, ready to swing at the first thing that may run out.

Not exactly what I was planning, thinks Robidolian, but it might work. Of course surprise will be totally out of the question. Well, let's see if anything comes out.

As the branches from the screen begin to burn, the somewhat green wood produces a thick black smoke. As some of the smoke enters the cave, it becomes clear that a chimney of sorts has been built into the cave residence as the smoke emerges again further up the hill. A few orcish voices can be heard from within the cave, but no-one emerges.

"Phfft!" Robidolian sneers at Gaspar and Knomal, forgetting that neither could see his exasperation since he was invisible. "Well Knomal, what's your great plan now?" The orcs know we're here and you can't smoke them out. So what's the next phase of YOUR plan?"

Knomal turns sharply in the direction of the invisible voice.
"What do you think? Go and block the chimney with yer butt!" he laughs. I a moment, he goes on "We're going to kill all orc that come out, should they be dumb enough, that's the plan, right Gaspar?"

"You didn't think we were going to let them all get away did you Knomal?" Gaspar says quietly with a small laugh. "We should probably add some wood to this fire, who knows how long this will burn for, Knomal, care to look for some dead-fall while i watch the entrance?"

Knomal phews "But keep good watch, will you?" as he wanders off to get more wood, keeping in sight of the group.

"Knomal, the more wood you put on the fire, the longer you will wait to kill the orcs. They aren't coming out when there's a chimney flue letting out the smoke." Robidolian looks for a way to climb the rocks to where the smoke is venting.

Seeing the smoke being vented through a natural chimney further up the hillside, Robidolian and Nimbul attempted to scale the steep rocky slope to no avail. Knomal, after gathering more branches for the fire, was able to ascend the hillside and reached the vent. Seeing that it would take more time than he wanted to spare to block it up, he returned to the cave entrance. It was decided that they would just enter the cave and fight it out with the occupants.

For an overview map try this:
http://home.attbi.com/%7Ebaldak/LowResImages/Wilderness_Area.JPG

The entrance turned into a tunnel 6 feet wide and 8 feet high, allowing for single file travel only. Gaspar led the way with Knomal right behind followed by Nimbul, Robidolian, and Iris bringing up the rear. Knomal held the torch so Gaspar could keep his deadly Greataxe at the ready. As they rounded a turn in the passage, they met up with a column of Orcs heading toward them. Gaspar cut the first one down with a mighty cut from his axe, but was struck in return for minor damage, the fun then began. Knomal wedged the torch in the wall of the cavern, and grabbed the bow hanging from Gaspar’s back while Gaspar dealt another deadly blow to the next Orc in line. Nimbul fired his bow through Gaspar’s legs, striking an Orc in the leg and its fate was sealed by Iris who destroyed it with 3 Magic Missiles. (Someday she will realize that she can choose multiple targets for her Magic Missiles so she does not waste the damage) Gaspar was hit by another blow, but again took only minor damage. Robidolian tried to quickly get off a shot with his crossbow, but managed to only hit the wall. Knomal hit the second Orc in the current line, but this one seemed a bit larger and tougher, it did not fall. Gaspar scored a critical on the next Orc in the line, turning it into a pile of Orc goo. Nimbul managed to hit Gaspar in the butt with his next shot, but didn’t do any damage to him while Iris decided to cast sleep on the Orcs, putting two of them to sleep. The last one turned and fled back into the darkness while another much larger Orc Barbarian charged into the fray, attacking Gaspar, but missing. A combined effort of Gaspar’s mighty swings, Knomal’s arrows, and a timely sneak attack from Nimbul defeated the raging barbarian, and he fell dead.

A quick search of the dead Orcs produced 7 Chain Shirts, 4 Greataxes, 1 MW Greataxe, a +1 Breastplate, a Light Crossbow, 20 Bolts, and 3 Battleaxes. Three of the chain shirts were stuffed into Nimbul’s Magical Haversack while Robidolian took the breastplate and two of the chain shirts.

Continuing into the passage, the party came upon a large cavern, obviously the sleeping quarters of the Orcs. Another passage led off to the east. While the party was searching through the cavern, Robidolian checked out the passage. It led to another smaller cavern that had two wooden chests in the northern end, and a Mine lift in the southern end. Robidolian spotted the one remaining Orc hiding in a natural alcove behind the chests, and ended his life with a quick Searing Light spell. The others then joined him in the smaller cavern. The two chests contained the Orcs meager treasure; 315 Gold, 855 Silver, and 20 beaver pelts. Gaspar checked out the lift, and determining that it was operational, decided to descend into the mine shaft. The others followed suit. And the lift was slowly lowered into the depths.

After descending for about 160 feet, they came upon a magical Glyph, that exploded in a shower of acid. Knomal managed to avoid any damage, but the others sustained damage, and Robidolian quickly healed them. The lift finally came to a stop after descending for about 200 feet. There was a door on the eastern side of the shaft which Gaspar opened up immediately. Through the door, they could see a cavern, about 35 feet square with 4 passages leading out. The more immediate thing they noticed were the two Ogre Zombies bearing down upon them. Gaspar and Robidolian took the lead, with Gaspar cutting into one, while Robidolian attempted a turning, which failed. Robidolian was struck by one of the undead Ogres for minor damage. Knomal threw his flaming dagger at the one attacking Robidolian and hit it dealing some damage. Gaspar finished off the one he attacked with a mighty blow from his Greataxe, while Robidolian brought down the other one with a timely cast Cure Serious Wounds spell. (Positive energy curing spells cause damage to undead) A more in depth viewing of the cavern revealed that two of the passages out had mine tracks in them.

Each party member receives 920 experience.

For a current Map of the caverns and Mines try this:
http://home.attbi.com/%7Ebaldak/LowResImages/Descent_Into_The_Underdark.GIF

[ August 08, 2002, 19:25: Message edited by: Baldak Oakfist ]

"I hate undead, I hate undead, I hate undead..." Robidolian keeps muttering under his breath. "I think I'll make it my life's work to rid the realms of undead. From skeletons to vampires and liches. They all need to go!"

"I hate undead, I hate undead, I hate...."

"Rob, we all hate undead. And drows. And orcs. And hostile dragons and..." Iris sighs. "You get the point."

"I hate undead, I hate undead, I hate undead, I hate undead, ..."

After resting briefly from their battle with the Ogre Zombies, the party traveled north-east. In the passages and caverns, they only found the storage place for zombie bodies and the work space where the animation took place. They decided that following the tracks might prove to be more useful, and so they set off. After checking out one empty cavern, they moved eastward and arrived at an opening where no light penetrated into the darkness. Robidolian cast a light spell into the darkness, but it seemed to have no effect. Nimbul then decided to enter the chamber, hoping to rely on his senses to guide him. What he encountered was quite a surprise. The darkness was in fact only a curtain and the light spell cast earlier was glowing brightly inside the chamber, much to the dismay of the Drow located inside. Nimbul Called out to his companions, and immediately attacked, using “The Talon” to its fullest. One Drow fell easily to Nimbul’s attack, then as the others entered, the Drow recovered from the temporary blindness. The other Drow did not fair very well as the party concentrated its attacks, but a third Drow, emerged from hiding, and scored a sneak attack on Gaspar. As they were about to gain the upper hand on this new foe, the Drow disappeared again. They attempted to locate the invisible dark elf to no avail. A search of the room did reveal a closet filled with supplies and a coffer (containing 360 sp and 250 gp). After taking the two hand crossbows from the Drow, 20 poisoned hand crossbow bolts, 4 lengths of silk rope (50 feet each), 20 flasks of oil, and 4 miners helmets along with the coin, they continued on to the east.

After heading east for about 30 feet more, the tracks split off with a branch heading north. They followed this new line, and entered a large chamber after a short distance. As they looked around this new chamber, a lone figure stepped out from behind an out cropping. The robed figure led off with a Ray of Enfeeblement, striking Gaspar who was unable to resist the spells effects. The next spell cast by the robed figure was a Flaming Arrow that missed Gaspar. The mysterious disappearing Drow reappeared attacking Robidolian, but his attack did not penetrate Robidolian’s armor. A concentration of attacks on the spell caster, including a critical from Knomal with the flaming burst dagger, killed him in short order, but the Drow managed to turn invisible again and slipped away before the party could concentrate on him.

Robidolian used a scroll of lesser restoration to return Gaspar to his former strength while the others searched the cavern. Iris found a secret door, but with their repertoire of spells depleted and a mystery foe following them, the party decided to return to the upper caverns, where they could rest and formulate a plan of attack. Nimbul disabled the lift device so they could not be followed, at least that way. When safely in the upper caverns, Nimbul asked Iris if she could identify two items he found on the spell caster, a dagger and an amulet.

Each party member received 600 experience.

For the most recent Map of the Caverns and Mine go to:
http://home.attbi.com/%7Ebaldak/LowResImages/Descent_Into_The_Underdark.GIF

[ August 17, 2002, 19:21: Message edited by: Baldak Oakfist ]

"I want that invisible drow! Nobody attacks me from behind and gets to just wander away!" Robidolian paces back and forth. "There must be a way to trap that #@$%##@ !"