Thema: "A simple escort," she said ...

[warlockco]

Xune signs I don't care for it nor the arrogant mages.

[Romaal]

Tarinyon didn't say anything the wohle way long. As the party chooses to rest, he searches for a dry ground with a little distance from the others. Than he sits down and takes a spellbook out of his shoulder bag.

[Zanan]

The Traquillian trade route reveals itself as a pretty broad and wide tunnel that meanders through natural gorges as well as artificial passages (beholders, delvers, destrachans, or maybe even purple worms?). Nothing happens until you come closer to the chasm-bridge Tavia mentioned. Then, an inhuman cry echoes through the passage, followed by more cries and gurgling sounds which suddenly end. From your own experiences* you know that someone has just been tortured to death somewhere ahead of you. A low and constant sound underlines this, which can clearly identifeid as that of the Underdark river below the bridge. Tavia whispers: "The bridge is about half a mile ahead of us."

*First or second hand experience, just as you like it more ...

[warlockco]

That did not sound welcoming," says Xune quietly, "and unless I missed my guess, the bridge is the only way across without some difficulty."

[Zanan]

"It is," Tavia replies quietly.

[Draezen]

Szordrin's sharply pointed ears perk up at the sound of torture and he grumbles lowly.
"Just as we were about to get comfortable hunh yathrinn?" he says to Kylara'anon in a low seductive tone, not bothering to hide the hunger in his eyes as he looks over her supple form from his darkness shrouded hiding spot a few feet from her.

[Zanan]

While the others wait for the yathrin to decide, Tavia signals a short: I will have a look. ... before vanishing in the shadows.
Almost as uncannilly she returns out of the darkness for her report. To get the message to all, she speaks Undercommon again: "The bridge itself is there and looks quite normal. Apparently, the ownership has passed to some derro. That cry you heard was that of a human currently being disembowled by a savant, who is accompanied by two guards. He stands right in the middle of our side of the bridge." Tavia draws a sketch of the bridge into the dust of the tunel's floor. Apparently, right in the middle of the chasm stands a tall pillar, which has been flattened at its top. It stands pretty close to the wall on the opposite side of the chasm, one bridge connects it to the tunnels of the group's direction. "The derro have slaughtered the humans right on the middle, for whatever reason. Maybe they want to attract some monster to this place to kill it ... then again, who knows what derro are up to?"

[Phaerven]

"How many of them are there?" Zhadristan wants to know.

[warlockco]

"Derro? I would rather deal with Illithids, at least you usually know where you stand with them," says Xune, "you manage to get a head count?"

[Mikayla]

Kylara'anon listens to the scout's report.  "How many are they?  What defenses do they have?  Weapons?"  She looks around the rest of the group.  "How many of you can manage some means of flight?  Invisibility?  Silence?"  Looking back to the scout she asks "how wide is the bridge?  Does it have a railing or barrier along its side?  And how close can we get to the bridge before we have to break from cover?"

[Narzen]

"Walls and ceilings I can walk, hidden from sight and hearing to the untrained," Gaess whispers, draping her cloak around her, "Approach underneath the bridge, perhaps, should need arise, and conjure a web to ensnare these derro."

[Phaerven]

Zhadristan shakes his head at Kylara'anon while he coats one of his crossbow bolts with what at least the drow companions will recognize as sleep poison.

[Zanan]

"Three derro, as I told you. I would expect more of them at the main pillar, even though I did not see any. Weapons? Well, I would expect that the savant will cast spells, they usually do. The others had crossbows and swords." The scout looks about before she continues. "The bridge is 20 feet wide and we have to cross about 150 feet till we reach the platform. The other side of the wall ... and the passage we need to reach some 300 feet. There's a railing on both sides of the bridge and it provides some cover ... from the platform. The derro on the bridge though, well, they will see anyone passing by. I for one can neither fly, nor turn invisible. Yet if desired, I can move about unseen. We could sneak up unto the three derro up to, say 30 feet."

(The derro are on the middle of the bridge, so about 75 feet from either side.)

[Fabius Maximus]

When Xune tells her opinion, Farviaan curls his lips to a snarl. "Just be careful what you wish for, elf", he grates. "Derro may be barmy, but they are not half as dangerous as flayers."

When Tavia speaks again, the githyanki listens intently to what she has to say. He thinks about the situation for a second, then tells the yathrin: "I can transport myself and one of the others behind the derro in an instant. But we will be vulnerable to an attack from behind ourselves, if there are other of these guys around." He cocks his head. "The question is: Is it wise to start a fight without exactly knowing how much derro there are?"

[Draezen]

Szordrin throws his head back and cackles for a brief moment.
He then twirls his twin blood red serrated shyrlasses between his deft fingers as his lips curl into a predatory grin.
"Finally! Something to sink my blades into," he says in Undercommon. "I believe the two of us who are the most stealthy should approach the derro from beneath the bridge, shimmying across it towards them on both sides. Then, after we are in close proximaty to the mad dwarves, we launch a surprise attack, targeting the savant. Following our intial attack, the rest of you, who will have been slowly making your way across the bridge, attack."

Szordrin pauses for a moment then continues. "I believe the stealthiest amongst us are Tavia and myself. I'm not sure what the scout's capable of, but I can eviscerate a humanoid with one strike of my shyrlass."