Call of the Banshee Queen

[Zanan]

After everyone settles down, Tathlyn describes - in loose terms - the way ahead. That stronghold of the deep orcs will essentially be the main obstacle on the way ahead, he has not heard of any greater monster activity in this area. Not that there won't be a chance of meeting a wandering beholder or the like. Usually though, the group need only to be wary of orc patrols. Attracting any attention by the orc should be avoided, one never knows how much they have bred in the last few years and running into a few scores of the brutes ain't not that great an idea. So Tathlyn votes for a "quiet and silent" approach here.

[Paval Thune]

Paval casts Divination, with regard to the biggest obstacle they will face in the next few days.

[Fabius Maximus]

Jhaelvirr decides to try out something very old and very primal this time. When he reappears, he is covered in ancient white war paint and tattoos. His ears and bottom lip are pierced with what seems to be bone needles.

[Zanan]

While Paval can discern the patterns of Jhaevirr's tattoos as something ancient, possibly proto-drowish, he has no idea what they mean. After preparing the small ritual that is required, the drow utters a number of arcane syllables and then falls silent for a few minutes.

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Ware the axes of Gruumsh's chosen. Some might cut deep.
Ware your steps in the deep mines and ware the one that meddles with the dead.

[Paval Thune]

Paval muses on the result of his divination then offers up a prayer of thanks to Kiaransalee.

[Sheiriya]

"By the way. Does anybody know what kind of being this Hreishar was?" Sheiriya asks during the rest.

[Zanan]

No-one bar Sheiriya knows that Hreishar actually was an outsider. The thing she was using was some sort of flying device, surely handy for fast overland travel.

Your rest passes by without any monster showing up. The tunnels Tathlyn leads you through are very raw and natural, nothing has come this way on a regular basis for ages. After nigh half a day of trecking, you reach the outskirts of old and apparently long-neglected mines. You spot the odd vein of ore in the walls surrounding you, but for some reason the miners stopped expanding their network of shafts and tunnels. Tathlyn advices to tread carefully, as the fungi timber used here is not in a good shape. a mile on, the tunnel opens into a vast crack in the Underdark and you can spot several bridges arching over the chasm. Passes have been hewn into the stone either side of the chasm walls, supported here and there again by fungi timber. About a mile to the left, you spot a light source, probably marking the way to the deep orc stronghold.

[Zanan]

The light is stationary and does not move. Tathlyn signals a question, asking whether anyone can scry on this source from afar. Apart from a whining draft, no other sounds can be heard here.

[Sheiriya]

Not from this distance. Seiriya signals. Ask me again when we are only  about 150 metres away from that light.

[Paval Thune]

Paval shakes his head in response.

[Phaerven]

Then let us go closer, Zhadristan signals.

[Zanan]

Tathyln nods and leads you on, carefully checking the stability of the ledge. Above and below you, more passages have been carved into the walls as well, with slender bridges reach across the chasm to connect the two sides. They do not look like what you would expect of dwarven craftsmenship, more like stone formed with the help of magic. Your path has not been used for ages, as small debris litters the ground. From below, the odd stalagmite reaches out of the darkness, none of you can spot the bottom though.
Every now and then, a magical torch marks an entrance to a tunnel, you bypass a few, all seem long neglected, the magic of the torches very old. Some 50 metres from the bridge and the better-lit tunnel entrance, Tathlyn brings the group to a halt. He looks invitingly at Sheiriya.

[Sheiriya]

Sheiriya concentrates on the magic that will hopefully allow her to get a view at the source of the light and its surroundings.

[Zanan]

While the magical lights are clearly brighter (and possibly not that old), the entrance seems to be unguarded. Whether the creature that sits right in the middle of the bridge that leads to this entrance is a guardian though one can hardly tell. Something does not seem right, maybe it is the fact that Sheiriya can see through him at times that makes this chap looking odd? He sure is a dwarf ... of sorts.

[Sheiriya]

Using sign language Sheiriya tells the others what she can see. I could go there and see if that dwarf is hostile to us, she suggests.