The Things You Find in the Dark

As told by Nathia Truthfist

Blurb's giant spider took out one of the remaining jaculi and Greeba beheaded the last one. As Arnor attacked, even while blinded, he hit one and missed the other. Joell began to make his way back to where Arnor was holding off the kenku, drawn by the sounds of battle.

The kenku viciously attacked Arnor, who could finally see again, and this time he was able to withstand their ghost wing attack. He saw a "witch-like" kenku approaching and called out a warning. 

Ted, nearly dead, readied a rope to escape down. The effects of too much quicksilver potion had strained his wits. 

I ran to Arnor and was able to strike a couple of blows at the kenku inside the doorway, then I moved back so that others could take up the battle. Arnor nearly filled the doorway and dwarfed the kenku. He pushed one of them back and moved forward, hoping to let others through. For his troubles he was attacked again and again, and once more by the witchy one. She cast blight upon him but he withstood it as well as he was able.

From where I was, I could not do much, so I tried once again my ring of the ram, but the blasted birds were able to avoid it. Gorlock had much the same luck as me, missing with his eldritch blast. And yet Arnor kept pushing forward and kept getting attacked. There were rivulets of blood now dripping down his arms. 

Greeba and Blurb had rushed to join us, though Ted had started down the rope, fearing we were all lost. The kenku, the witchy one that they called Snow Beak, cast swarm of insects upon us. Gorlock tried to counterspell it, but she was too powerful for him. They buzzed and stung about us, doing a lot of damage for things so small you could barely see them. 

But I had to get to Arnor. I barrelled through the cloud and managed to kill one of the kenku surrounding him, and stood by his side. 

Blurb tried to dispel the insects, but he had no luck with that either. The buzzing of them filled our ears with dread. 

Greeba joined us and mowed through two kenku with furious vengeance. She swept past Arnor and towards Snow Beak. Arnor threw javelins at the witch and moved forwards as well. I knew it was so he could protect Greeba if he could.

Two of the kenku shoot at us and then turn tail and run. Gorlock managed to make his way through the swarm then; it was crawling and flapping down the stairs. He hit Snow Beak with an eldritch blast, a square blow, and then, finally, the cloud was gone. She clicked her beak and tried to cast fear, but Gorlock would have none of it and counterspelled her successfully this time.

Ted, seeing that we had pushed on, drank a healing potion and began to climb back up the rope. I yelled at Gorlock to hold his mouth open and poured one down him as well; he looked like he needed it. Full of fury, I yelled at Snow Beak's back to surrender or I would personally find all their fledglings and kill every last one. 

To my surprise, they dropped their weapons, babbling about how they had only attacked because they had been told to by some "dark and alien god" who had recently begun speaking to them through their altar, around the same time as Snow Beak's mate had disappeared. They had been told to make war upon the humans and to destroy the farm. 

It sounded incredibly suspicious to me, and I'm sure the others, and we looked at each other incredulously. The kenku suddenly seemed simple-minded. Had they not though to inspect their altar further? Certainly it would hold a clue. 

We guzzled a fair supply of healing potions and make them take us to the altar room. A bat wing altar sits on one wall, with incense burning on it, making it almost appear as if it were floating. As soon as we come close, a voice says "Who dares enter! Explain yourselves!" Surely it was someone speaking who could see us, but an initial inspection of the room reveals nothing in particular. 

I ask Snow Beak about the incense and what is in it -- she gives me the recipe, though I have no idea what use it will be. It has mandrake root, but other than that sounds fairly normal. I warn her that we will be putting out the incense so that we can inspect the altar further without its distraction. We do and spot a tube out of the mouth of the bat -- surely where they, whoever they were, could see and talk to us from.

Meanwhile, Ted was rummaging around in Snow Beak's room and had found a chest. He and Blurb, using a ram of some sort, get it open and they find 7800 sp and 4200 gp, which Joell winds up putting in a bag of holding. Snow Beak cries out at the sound of the chest being opened, but I confess I feel little pity for her. Perhaps if we get to the bottom of things that may change, but we shall see.

Greeba smashes the altar as the kenku look on in shock. Another room lies beyond, with a stairway up. We follow it, Ted first. He sneaks in to take a look and sees battlements and more stairs ahead. He sneaks back down to tell us that there were dark elves! Three drow: a priestess, a warrior-type, and a mage. What are they doing here? 

Ted, perhaps anxious to prove himself, wipes wyvern poison on his bolt and sneaks back in to try and assassinate the priestess. We hear her cry out in pain and surprise, though sadly it does not kill her outright. 

Gorlock calls Tiff forth and she hovers over him anxiously, unsure what to do. It is dark ahead indeed.

Blurb calls forth more giant spiders, who try to cast web upon the drow mage. We make our way forwards and see that the priestess has retreated back, perhaps healing herself, as we heard chanting. The remaining drow seem to say some apology to their gods, but attack the giant spiders nonetheless. The spiders, sadly, do not seem able to withstand them. 

Then more warriors arrive and the mage casts cloud kill upon us. We are a ragged bunch now, gasping for breath. Our only bit of luck is that the priestess tries to summon a demon but fails, taking some psychic damage. 

As we attack with blasts and swords and pikes, Arnor easily scales the wall hoping to disrupt any further casting by the priestess or mage, I imagine. But I hear a loud thud from above as they attack him cruelly and drop him to his knees. I can only pray that he is still alive and that I can reach him. I fight my way towards the stairs. 

Ted, in the rear, runs and finds the kenku. I hear him yelling He quickly tells them that we have discovered the evil drow that fooled them. There are angry squawks. I can only hope they join the battle in time, as Blurb and Joell's attacks are waved away as if they are nothing.