Tarsakh 7-15, 1491
Deep beneath the surface of the world lies the Underdark, a realm of endless labyrinthine tunnels and caverns where the sun never shines. The Underdark is filled with races and creatures too numerous to count or list, and foremost among these are the dark elves—the Drow. Hated and feared even by their fellow dwellers in darkness, the Drow raid other settlements in the Underdark as well as the surface world, taking prisoners back with them. Rendered unconscious with Drow poison, then collared and shackled, these prisoners are eventually sold as slaves or entertainment in the dark elves’ subterranean cities.
Ragnir and his crew have all had the misfortune of falling to such a fate. Captured by the drow, they are prisoners at one of the dark elves’ outposts, awaiting transportation to Menzoberranzan, the City of Spiders. alongside several others prisoners.
The drow divide their prisoners into three roughly equal-sized groups and put them to work for a third of the day, supervised by the quaggoths. Their menial tasks include filling and hauling water barrels, operating the lift, cleaning any or all parts of the outpost, emptying chamber pots, food preparation and service, washing dishes, and laundry. The prisoners are also given cruel or pointless tasks to occupy them, and for the dark elves’ amusement. Such labors include moving or stacking rocks, coiling ropes, and organizing supplies, with prisoners forced to redo work daily.
The drow and quaggoths are cruel and capricious, but also somewhat bored and looking for amusement. The quaggoths are poor conversationalists, hateful and mistrustful toward the prisoners. The drow are more inclined to talk, if only to boast of their superiority.
Somewhat unknown to Ragnmir’s crew, many of the other prisoners have been affected by a maddness-causing radiation called Faerzress which prevades most of the Underdark. This has caused a portion of their fellow prisoners to suffer from violent fits of rage as the radiation pours freely through the gateway linking the outpost to Menzoberranzan . More recently, this radiation poisoning was exacerbated by Gromph Baenre, Archmage of Menzoberranzan, who cast a foul spell intended to open a gateway to the Abyss. Instead, Lolth empowered the spell, thinning the planar layer between the Abyss and the Underdark.
Fortunately for Ragnir’s crew, only one member was affected by the exposure to the radiation. This member of the crew has been having fitful dreams and has become somewhat obsessed with a amulet which he believes is somehow linked to the Abyss. Although N has not acted out violently, the crew may have a ticking timebomb in their midst.
Although the crew were prisoners, they used ingenuity to plan their escape. Damoolah and Arlan bided their time with patience. Matrim and Daehir used their skillsin efforts to gather resources for escape. Ragnir managed to gather a rusted pipe for a weapon. N and V focused on distraction of guards and duscussion with fellow prisoners. Tia spent most of her time assisting others and pleading for their lives when things went bad.
The crew spent a little over eight days within the drow outpost. On Tarsakh 15 in the morning, the drow began to herd the prionsers towards the door leading to the gateway. They discovered that their were three ships that had gathered near the gateway to the City of Spiders. Later they would discover that two of the vessels had come from the Vanderboren outpost, and the third was Ragnir’s ship. The drow priestesses had sent for slavers from the Vanderboren outpost at the far side of the Isle of Dread, paying them to transport the slaves into the gateway. The drow priestesses had grown tired of waiting for the other drow to emerge from the City of Spiders to collect the slaves. This breach in protocol ended up being the crew’s salvation.
They were herded into a ship called “The Black Drake” which was marked with a symbol of a Black Dragon. In the cargo hold, they discovered that the Vanderboren “slavers” were none other than their allies, Solomon and two of the Sea Dogs named Morgan and Jake. Solomon explained that they used the confusion of the situation to move the arcane engine and the crew’s possessions from the other ship to this one. Solomon suggested that the heroes reclaim their things, and get ready to depart.
Clearly passing the torch to Ragnir, Solomon winked and said, “What are you orders captain?!”
Ragnir thought for a moment, realizing that Solomon was clearly establishing him as the captain of the Black Drake. “We’ll recover the Ring of Wishes, Mr. Neegan, but first let’s get out of the accursed drow outpost.” Solomon nodded, explaining that there was a egress point in the ceiling of the cavern that would lead to the surface of Albion.
Arlan took the spelljammer helm, casting magic into the ship to power it. Meanwhile, Solomon smiled to Morgan and Jake.
“Let’s give these drow something to remember us by, gentleman!” All three rushed off to prepare the cannons for a parting shot on the drow near the gateway.
Drink up me hearties, you ho!
Children of the Ampersand 