Drakthar's Way

18 November, 595

In the morning the heavy rains continue to fall. There is much excitement about the town as pavillions and tents are raised, vendors set up in the streets, and posters for the Flood Festival events are nailed to bulletin boards in the taverns.

The POTBM decides to spend more time in the caverns underneath the bathhouse. During this expedition they do not find any goblins, but they do discover a goblin laboratory, including several potions. By the way, Selivia has been invisible for a few days now. She was tasting a potion in an attempt to identify it and mistakenly drank too much, turning her invisible.

In another room they discover a large pile of dead goblins, apparently the ones they have already killed.

The group heads down a branch of the cavern and Bruinor is attacked above by a darkmantle, a nasty creature who envelops its prey in darkness, then swoops down from above. They had trouble seeing it before because it was in the shape of a stalactite. The cave goes pitch black as the creature wraps its tentacles around Bruinors neck and starts choking him, biting into his head. Thinking quickly, Selivia casts a light spell, and the darkness is repelled. Now being able to see, Plenty takes a swing at it with her scimitar, but unfortunately hits the dwarf instead. Finally, Throckmorten kills it with one swing of his mace, and the creature releases its victim.

Now that they know what to look for, they spot a few more of the creatures on the cavern ceiling. One is slain by an arrow from Ash, and the other flies away after the ranger misses with his shot.

Further down the cave the group hears some voices coming from around a bend. Lyra sneaks forward to investigate and comes back with the news that 6 half-orcs and 1 dwarf are conversing near what seems to be the exit of the cave. The discussion is hard to hear, but she does pick out that they are confused about Drakthar not being here. She returns to tell the group what she has heard.

Selivia volunteers to move forward invisibly and throw a fireball sphere (one of the items they plundered from Drakthar's hoard) at the strangers. She does so, but becomes visible the moment it leaves her hand. Much to her chagrin, the sphere did not do enough damage to kill the group and they take out their bows and begin firing at her. The rest of the group rushes to her aid, and engages the half-orcs. Selivia takes out 3 with a sound burst, and the fighters of the group make quick work of the others. The dwarf attempts to escape but is chased closely. Finally he turns around for a last stand. When he surrenders, the group takes his equipment, ties him up and starts to question him.

They learn that this dwarf was working for Drakthar, helping to smuggle half-orc mercenaries into the city. He explains that some nobles wanted to beef up their bodyguards without calling attention to themselves publicly. He was surprised to find that Drakthar was not there and was trying to decide what to do when he was attacked.

The dwarf is delivered to the captain, who is satisfied with the work that the POTBM has done. He rewards them with 2000 gold and encourages them to enjoy the Flood Festival.

The Flood Festival is scheduled to begin tomorrow! Ash and Bruinor sign up for the drinking competition, and Seliva registers for the running race. Ash signs up for the archery competition as well.