Thema: Ust Unboi'en Wund L'olath

[Anonymous]

 After an hour of meditation, Dx'zau'vrinn awakens. After checking to make sure that everyone else is awake, Dx'zau'vrinn silently slips towards Vezellek moving from shadow to shadow. After creeping within an inch of her delicately pointed ebony skinned ear, he moves his lips up to her ear and whispers. "stay quiet and follow my to an adjoining cavern. Take care not to alert or wake the others of our party."

[Anonymous]

 "You can finish your prayer at another time."

[Oyn]

Nodding Vezellek slowly stands up, carefully not to make noise. With light steps she follows Dx'zau'vrinn to the other wonder what the male wants with her. To be on the catious side she walks with her hand never straying far from her dagger. Once in the next cavern she signs:

"What is it male? And why the need for this secrecy?"

After pausing for a moment she adds:

"Something on the trail ahead that bothers you?"

[Zanan]

 Zhadristan looks towards the lake and Vezellek as he spots some movement there. His reasoning that the scout needs healing makes him turn away again. At the other end of the cavern, Nata'al cocks her head a little, as she hears Vezellek move towards the side-cave. After a few moments, the female returns to honing her weapons ...

[Anonymous]

 Dx'zau'vrinn steps back into the main cavern with the others and continues his reverie.

[Zanan]

 The rest ends without any interruptions. Zai'Dizzen awakes about an hour before you set off again, feels a bit shaky but otherwise fine. "We are about half a day away from where the caravan should be ... or should have been," says Nata'al. "It would be best to be even more cautious now, since I have no particular interest to have people searching for my corpse as well, aye?"

[Narzen]

 Indeed, Narzen replies Nata'al in silent speech. We have had quite enough ill fortune already, and the worst may be yet to come. With a wry smile, he continues, Looking for people to turn into corpses tends to be more rewarding, and it even carries less risk.

But, we agreed to do this task, and I do not enjoy backing away from a contract for as long as its terms and the payment are true, the man adds. For now, we shall get our part of the deal done, and let us worry about becoming corpses at another time.

Narzen then walks to the scout, Dx'zau'vrinn, take your position ahead once everyone is ready. The rest of us will wait for a few moments, then we move out.

[Anonymous]

 A lightly muffled chuckle issues from behind Dx'zau'vrinn's black clothed coif. He then nods his head to Narzen, pulls the hood of his piwafwi over his head and convolutes with the shadows of the tunnels ahead as if he were a lost brethren returning home. The small shadow of a quadri-pad darts along side of him.

[Zanan]

 The trusty scouts vanish into the darkness and the rest of the group follows them after a wee while. They bypass the remains of the drider's previous victims and enter a labyrinth like maze of tunnels, apparently carved out of the stone long ago by the the waters of the Underdark river which still feeds the small lake of the cave. The way leads you deeper into the belly of the realms below and from time to time you hear a distant (?) shriek or growl of some Underdark creature. The site where the caravan should be is still about one and half days away ... luckily, only empty tunnels and silent caverns pass you by as you make your way through Har'oloth.

[Anonymous]

 Dx'zau'vrinn's pale ice blue eyes scan the enveloping darkness cutting through the inky blackness like a fine drow blade through svirfneblin flesh. S'zor's nose continuously sniffs the air trying to discern any unfamiluar odors.

In one fluid movement, Dx'zau'vrinn draws both his needle-sharp tapered rapier and his enchanted dagger. Preffering to have the blades drawn in case something slips pass his or S'zor's detection.

He then continues to delve into the Night Below, taking only a momentary pause to check the area's geography.

[Zanan]

 After a good few hours of walking, you enter a great cavern which has again a lake as it's main feature. More or less in it's centre you can spot an island of about 60 feet in diameter. The ruins of a tower lie strewn over the wet stone, it remains reach up into the darkness above like a shadowy hand. The whole cavern is about half a mile long and some 600 feet wide. It's ceiling is covered by darkness and thus the actual height of this place is hard to discern. The water of this subterran lake is crystal clear and you can spot no immediate dangers lurking below its surface. It might be even possible to walk the 100 feet to the island's shore without the need of swimming. There are half a dozen or so exit from this cave. No sound can be heard here, nor any creature be seen. A few glowstones, fungi and ferns give away a bit of light here and there.

[Anonymous]

 Dx'zau'vrinn examines the natural growths here momentarily, pausing so that the remainder of the party catches up to him. S'zor sniffs around a bit as well, trying to pick up any strange scents.

After checking out the geography of the place and trying to recall if he's heard any tales of a lone tower on a lake in his travels, Dx'zau'vrinn takes a long moment to see if he sees anything in the water and in the tower. He also searches the shoreline for any clues, footprints, anything.

 

[Zanan]

 As the scout takes his time to scan the island, he notices the outline of a cloaked figure standing inside the towers ruins, deep in the shadows, unmoving. It seems to look straight at the drow but takes no actions whatsover. The scout also hears a faint whisper from the tower and he is pretty sure that it is not arcane talk which carries over the water.

[Anonymous]

 Dx'zau'vrinn turns towards Narzen and the remainder of the drow party.

There's a cloaked figure in that ruined tower and there is a eerie voice issuing from it as well. What do ya'll suggest we do?

S'zor growls briefly then flops down at Dx'zau'vrinn's feet.  

[Narzen]

 I assume you did not recognize his race, or whether he was even alive, Narzen replies to the scout. Albeit the distance between the shore and the ruins should be long enough to not place us in much danger at any rate. I say we leave the ruins be unless attacked first. Still, if you consider it safe, you and the hound may have a closer look to find out who or what the cloaked figure is before we leave it behind us.

He then starts studying the map. Let us see if the choice of which way to go from here has already been made for us.