DAY 276 (11th Nightal)(December) cont ...
[Hail, dear reader! The next part of the story is amply covered by a report that happened to make its way into my possession not so long ago. The writer is a drow detective aligned to House Dusklorn. His name is Merlock Tomes and he takes up the story here ...]
Of course, the death of Elessarwa Nledoor the matron of House Dusklorn was sudden and brutal but perhaps not unexpected. She had a habit of abducting and torturing to death anyone she liked off the streets of Pedestal and that is not a hobby that one can pursue indefinitely without meeting with censure.
I was first told of the murder by my master Lord Gragrax who sent me immediately to the scene of the crime. It appeared that Elessarwa had been shot through the belly with an arrow so forcefully that at first I assumed it was magical. The assassins had been clever and taken all their missiles away, however I later tended to believe that the arrow in question was psionically focused.
Muvaysil, Elessarwa's consort had been struck a mighty blow by a great axe. With a strength that lead me to think a half-orc had possibly landed the blow.
Of the other's in the room I surmised there was a female magic user firing magic missiles, a male warlock firing eldritch blasts and their pet rhinoceros. The rhinoceros was clearly evident from the smell of rhinoceros that still lingered in the air. On my last trip to the surface I made it my mission to seek out and sniff as many creatures as I could and that endeavour was now bearing fruit.
Surface dwellers then, and since there was only one place I would certainly find them I went immediately to the Dripstone Inn where I located them immediately. I enquired of the locals discreetly and soon found the names of them and their likely professions.
The rhinoceros turned out to be a kiloren druid, which, of course, would have been my second guess.
To put their descriptions briefly here then we have:
Billitoppe - a sex starved gnome scout who appears to be good in nature
Durz - his boon companion, a simple but powerful brute barbarian that knows little else but violence and lust
Dwerry - a quiet, bookish aasimar that is not all that she appears
Arahel - a juvenile kiloren with much more power than sense
Fenrir - a renegade warlock murderer of whom a famous song was written in his home town of Waterdeep
(also noted that he has vampire bite marks on his neck, which was interesting)
I watched them with keen interest, and observed their various bizarre mating rituals. This was, evidently, not an adventure band that cared much for keeping a low profile.
I initially sent a messenger to Lord Gragrax to tell him the killers had been discovered, but advised him not to move just yet, as after a spot of eavesdropping I discovered that their next target was the Necromancer's Spike. If this was the case then either a) they would die in the attempt to take the spire or b) they would kill the denizens within, who were all enemies of House Dusklorn.
So, on the morrow of the next day I followed them at a careful distance as they did indeed make for the Spike. Well, all but Billitoppe, who escorted his gnomish sex-pets out of the city.
I left Doctor Wazzon to tail after him and followed the others.
On the way, as they swaggered through the streets of Pedestal like they owned them, they were attacked by a large gang of plaguelost. There were ten of the plaguelost, powerful ones too, drow, goblins and grimlocks, that came seeping out of the cracks of buildings in green mists that formed and then attacked.
Fenrir took to the air, but some of the plaguelost followed him. Dwerry fired magic missiles and the others used their magical weapons. One by one the plaguelost were dispatched but not without the Buffalo Bunch being injured and one of them being infected with ashdoom.
They returned to the Dripstone Inn for healing, but I was impressed by how efficiently they dealt with the undead attack. I would estimate it would take ten of our finest warriors mounted on driders to defeat them and probably a powerful wizard thrown in for good measure.
I sent another message to Lord Gragrax to prepare such a force should it be required.
They did not waste much time though and soon made their way to the Spire of Maroe the Necromancer. I had instructed the guards at the Spike to let them pass (House Dusklorn lays claim to the spike although we dare not enter it) and in they went.
I followed at a careful distance and guaged their progress by the destruction they left behind them.
The first chamber, the one that had killed off so many with its deadly trap, they managed to traverse using an enchanted ring that nullified the magic within.
Taking the left hand door they then explored the trophy rooms and after that made their way into Dining Room. From here they made their way into the guards quarters, looked into the chamber of frozen corpses (I assume Maroe used them as undead advisors) and thence into the Shrine of Lolth.
Here they triggered a trap that made the large statue in the shrine come to life. It was a Bone Spider Golem and a dangerous foe. Swarms of spiders spewed from its abdomen and it attacked with powerful jaws. The Buffalo Bunch did not take long to defeat it though, with powerful blows and magic. The spider exploded as it died, injuring the Bunch, but not in any mortal way.
Once they had got their breath back the headed for the kitchens.
It was noon now. It seemed they were making short work of the Spike so far, but I knew what they did not, namely the evil that lurked further up in the tower.
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