Out of the Abyss IC

[Amnestic]

Faedryl Melad Drow Hexblade/Evoker AC: 17 HP: 28/28 PP: 12 PIv: 14 PIs: 12 Sanity: 11 (10) Conditions: Selfish Concentrating: -- She eyes the items with some scrutiny. The sun-blocking ring certainly would come in handy for either herself or Sarith, though hopefully her fighting days above ground would be limited. She is, however, keenly aware that any gold spent would be scrutinised by the others, and if she spent all their ill-gotten gold on trinkets and they lacked funds sufficient to purchase passage...it would not end well. "I may be interested..." She trails off, continuing the dance. "I will trade for the ring, for now. Once I have spoken to the others about our other expenditures though, we may return for the others."

[Spore]

Nilvae | Eye-Gore Half-Elf Warlock | Lamp Blighter AC: 15 HP: 29/29| AC 13 HP: 0/12 PP: 12 PIv: 11 PIs: 12 San: 7 (-1) | PP: 11 PIv: 10 PIs: 13 Conditions: fearful | Beast Speech Concentration: - The elven woman nods eagerly. Why of course. Your cargo and crew are none of our business. But I cannot help but talk to your crew a bit if allowed.

[RandomWombat]

Shopping

"Wahnderful choice," bringing out a key, the kuo-toa shop keeper unlocks the small glass case and opens it, allowing Faedryl to claim her purchase. Picking up the traded shoes, he sets them aside behind him, to find a place for them later.

"If you decide to induwge in some uddah trinkets an' baubles, just come on back."

Shipping

With one arm, the Captain sweeps across the view of the deck. "As you please. De guards are in town now, enjoying de fesdivities, feel free da question de rowers. We will be sdaying until affder de Festival." The collared kuo-toa at work appear to be rowers, as well as loaders for the ship. "I'd say de starding offer is two-hunded a head. Maybe more if ye going far outta de way. Give id a thingk."

[Spore]

Nilvae | Eye-Gore Half-Elf Warlock | Lamp Blighter AC: 15 HP: 29/29| AC 13 HP: 0/12 PP: 12 PIv: 11 PIs: 12 San: 7 (-1) | PP: 11 PIv: 10 PIs: 13 Conditions: fearful | Beast Speech Concentration: - Worried, they could not pay this amount of money or it was all they had, but Nilvae nods for now. I have to get back to you. My friends are liquidizing some assets as we speak. With that Nilvae beckons Derendil and leaves. 2000 gold for the crossing feels very painful. Any good ideas how to save at least some for better weapons? Other than that, I can just try to connect to my master to see what the demon coins can get me. I am against using them to fuel the demonic horde, but I am sure caught souls are at least a bit more thankful to end up in the Feywild than the Abyss.

[Amnestic]

Faedryl Melad Drow Hexblade/Evoker AC: 17 HP: 28/28 PP: 12 PIv: 14 PIs: 12 Sanity: 11 (10) Conditions: Selfish Concentrating: -- Faedryl eyes the ring, before slipping it into her pocket. Though she believed the vendor honest about the powers it held (if only to avoid angering a drow customer), it would harm her nothing to have it double checked before adding it to her arsenal, or handing it to Sarith. In truth it might serve him better than her on the field, though she found the prospect of any conversations - either with him directly or with the others - around her gifting him a ring thoroughly unpleasant. He might fight better with it than her, but avoiding boring questions about romance might be worth more than a thousand of his arrows. She gives a light inclination of her head in farewell, before turning to her mover-of-goods. "Lets return to the inn, we can await the ship-seekers there. I'd rather not trail around town with our bags jingling with coin."

[purepolarpanzer]

Borthan Zuek Half-Drow Ranger AC: 17 HP:19/37 0 Temp HP PP: 14 PIv: 9 PIs: 14 Sanity:12 Conditions: Concentrating on: 1 of 4 d10 HD. Spell Slots- 0/3 1st "I don't know much about fey, or their wild, but from what I do know of other options going to Hell or the Abyss sounds a lot worse. 'Least in the Feywild you probably get nice scenery for your eternity, right?" Borthan takes the Captain up on his offer to ask the oarsmen questions, approaching one who is moving to haul cargo and grabbing the other end of it to lend a hand. "Scuze me, friend, but I'm genuinely curious- is that Captain paying you, or does he own you?"

Prince Derendil Quaggoth Barbarian/Abjurer AC: 17 HP: 31/32 0 Temp HP PP: 10 PIv: 12 PIs: 10 Sanity 10 Conditions: Mage Armor (8 hrs), Arcane Ward (0hp/8hp) Concentrating on: HD:0/1 D12, 3/3 D6 Spell Slots- 0/3 1st, 1/2 2nd Derendil frowns and shakes his head at Borthan's line of questioning, turning back to Nilvae. "The moral thing to do would be to find a way to free those souls. However, I fear that our pragmatism and practicality may outweigh the better angels of our natures. I will not resist a path of lesser evil, but I also don't plan to profit personally from soul trading. Arm Borthan and Sarith if we must, but I will use what I have until we cross paths with more magical gear."

[RandomWombat]

Shipping

Borthan finds one of the deckhands, who is startled and nearly drops the box when Borthan picks up the slack on the other end. The collared toa looks up at him with a bemused expression, then carries on with bringing it onto the ship and down belowdecks, where Borthan can see other boxes and sacks of goods lined up between the benches of the rowers. At the other end of the rowing level, another short stair leads deeper below to a third level of the ship.

"Payeeng? Owben?" the kuo-toa burbles to Borthan in a much more crude attempt at Undercommon than the others he's met. The fishwoman tilts her head to either side and then places a hand on her chest. "Blb t h r a l l casde." She sounds out the word slowly. "Beblong shursh. Lenn cabden."

[purepolarpanzer]

Borthan Zuek Half-Drow Ranger AC: 17 HP:19/37 0 Temp HP PP: 14 PIv: 9 PIs: 14 Sanity:12 Conditions: Concentrating on: 1 of 4 d10 HD. Spell Slots- 0/3 1st Borthan finished helping the slave kuo-toa, then moved back to his allies. "Let's get the hell outta here. I'm gonna dislike every moment I'm on this tub, but it suits our purposes."

[RandomWombat]

In moods positive and negative, the motley crew gradually gravitates back to the inn. Their lowest room proves the easiest place to meet in relative privacy from the thronging crowds of fish outside, albeit rather crowded. Jimjar remains absent, still out on the town, while Ront is chowing on some seasoned shrimp kebabs.

Wasting no time once they are mostly all gathered and she no longer needs to repeat herself more than once, Topsy reports the twins' findings. "The festival coming up is a celebration of what the fish call their Deep Father. The goddess whose statue we saw has fallen out of favor for this new god." She looks over at her brother, who seems to develop a case of stage fright when he sees he's being cued to carry on the report. Rolling her eyes, Topsy continues, "Turvy overheard some of them talking about sacrifices. We eavesdropped for a bit to err on the cautious side, it doesn't sound like they plan to capture and sacrifice us. They've got somebody to offer up already."

[Amnestic]

Faedryl Melad Drow Hexblade/Evoker AC: 17 HP: 28/28 PP: 12 PIv: 14 PIs: 12 Sanity: 11 (10) Conditions: Selfish Concentrating: -- She'd like to call them barbarians, but sacrifices to divine entities wasn't exactly unusual in drow society. In fact it was practically a day-to-day occurrence for someone - a slave or prisoner, usually - to get offered up to Lolth in a needless waste of blood. It was however...not their business.Fighting a town of people to stop a sacrifice seemed like the opposite of smart. "We should still try to stay away, just in case they decide one isn't enough, and ideally move in pairs or a group rather than alone. I'd rather none of us get snatched off the street for sacrifice or worse." With the group reassembled she gestures to the bags. "Just over 2200 gold for our haul in total. Hopefully it's enough to buy us passage. I've not spent any - yet, but I'll be heading back out once we've got an idea of what we have to work with." She nods to the ship team, but before they can pipe up she tosses the ring she'd traded for to the gnomes. "The merchant said that'll protect against sunlight, but I'd like to be sure I didn't trade away my one pair of good shoes for a dud. Could you double check it?" A surprisingly humble request, all things considered. Yes, she could tease out the threads of magic herself, but she was busy doing other things for the moment.

[purepolarpanzer]

Prince Derendil Quaggoth Barbarian/Abjurer AC: 17 HP: 31/32 0 Temp HP PP: 10 PIv: 12 PIs: 10 Sanity 10 Conditions: Mage Armor (8 hrs), Arcane Ward (0hp/8hp) Concentrating on: HD:0/1 D12, 3/3 D6 Spell Slots- 0/3 1st, 1/2 2nd Derendil spoke up at that moment. "The captain of the Black Manta says it will cost us two hundred per head to cross the waters. He said perhaps more, so I think if we do hire his boat we must set clear expectations before we leave dock. If we had other options, I would say pursue them, but since our options are limited to either the Black Manta or swimming, I think we've found our fish."

Borthan Zuek Half-Drow Ranger AC: 17 HP:19/37 0 Temp HP PP: 14 PIv: 9 PIs: 14 Sanity:12 Conditions: Concentrating on: 1 of 4 d10 HD. Spell Slots- 0/3 1st Derendil grumbles about "Necessary evil... before drawing his jackknife and using it to clean under his nails.

[Amnestic]

Faedryl Melad Drow Hexblade/Evoker AC: 17 HP: 28/28 PP: 12 PIv: 14 PIs: 12 Sanity: 11 (10) Conditions: Selfish Concentrating: -- It was more than she was hoping for. 200 gold a head seemed excessive for travel on a ship in anything but luxury - they were being gouged due to being the only option. Frustrating. Borthan's words catch her attention though."Is there a problem with the ship?"

[purepolarpanzer]

Borthan Zuek Half-Drow Ranger AC: 17 HP:19/37 0 Temp HP PP: 14 PIv: 9 PIs: 14 Sanity:12 Conditions: Concentrating on: 1 of 4 d10 HD. Spell Slots- 0/3 1st Borthan spoke louder and more clearly- "The Captain is running a crew of slaves. Thrulls. Lower caste. Somethin'... they're hard to understand, you know? But it's easy to understand collars." He squeezed his hand into a fist and punched his palm. "If it's the only option, we do what we have to do, but I won't be held responsible for what I'll do if that Captain raises a hand to them."

[Spore]

Nilvae | Eye-Gore Half-Elf Warlock | Lamp Blighter AC: 15 HP: 29/29| AC 13 HP: 0/12 PP: 12 PIv: 11 PIs: 12 San: 7 (-1) | PP: 11 PIv: 10 PIs: 13 Conditions: fearful | Beast Speech Concentration: - After the almost-fiasco at the ship, the talk of sacrifice and the rampant replacement of deities seemingly summoned from thin air, the half-elf sighs. We allied with demonic sea pancakes. We allied with ambiguous drow. Her smile gets wider as she looks at Faedryl and Borthan. I am friends with an orc, two svirfneblin and a monstrous elven prince. We are hardly what anyone would call radiant heroes ourselves. Heck, my own allegiance is to a dubious fey lord, so maybe just keep our heads down before we discuss morality. She pauses and looks at Borthan, seemingly the one most at odds with slavery. I have another 'event' planned for tonight, if you are to share. My radically shifting powers are worth a discussion with my master over our contract. The more magically inclined have noticed my powers wildly shifting around. Nilvae draws the soul coins from somewhere. And we have these poor sods to deal with. I am inclined to free them. These are souls, they need and deserve freedom, and I am sure my fey master agrees. And you know what, maybe he will give us something for showing him new friends. Yes, in some ways summoning a feylord beyond our power is a dumb idea. But hey, he helped me, and I came out on top, didn't I?

[Amnestic]

Faedryl Melad Drow Hexblade/Evoker AC: 17 HP: 28/28 PP: 12 PIv: 14 PIs: 12 Sanity: 11 (10) Conditions: Selfish Concentrating: -- Slaves might end up being a positive in keeping the coin in their pocket, in the long run. She didn't have goldhands by nature, money was just a means to and end, but their 'end' was still very far away and the more money they could keep hold of the better. She didn't want to suggest a slave revolt before they were even on the boat. Best to keep that filed away for now, in case Jimjar got chatty while playing cards. The prospect of soul trading with some ephemeral fey lord sent a silent shiver up her spine, which she suppresses from showing to the others. "I doubt any fey would let good souls go." She'd read stories. "Do as you like, but I want no part of it." And perhaps she should accelerate her own research on freeing souls from coins. They were an asset to be used, and pragmatically she should encourage using every asset they had - but the idea of trading them as currency set something askew in the pit of her stomach.

[Spore]

Nilvae | Eye-Gore Half-Elf Warlock | Lamp Blighter AC: 15 HP: 29/29| AC 13 HP: 0/12 PP: 12 PIv: 11 PIs: 12 San: 7 (-1) | PP: 11 PIv: 10 PIs: 13 Conditions: fearful | Beast Speech Concentration: - Fey are tricksters, but don't think I will give him the souls completely. My idea is the following: Puck plays with the souls for a year, in any games that does neither harm them physically or mentally. He may transform them into animals, or simply show them the Feywild. Once the year is up, the souls are free to go. The only thing he gains is the enjoyment of fun. Nilvae smiles softly. Despite being creatures of anarchy, fey do have to follow their contracts. And who else to point out loopholes than a shred drow, huh? Sure, you laid low for decades not interfering with your family's business, but you are still a threat and were attacked. And you are still alive, despite the scheming. You are smart enough to draft a contract with me.

[RandomWombat]

"Good souls?" speaking up, Topsy scoffs at Faedryl's words, though the double meaning was likely unintended. "These came from demons. Whoever these people were, they were the worst kind. You don't get sent there unless you do the kind of things that would make you shudder." The gnomess flicks her finger aside at the drow woman. "Frankly, I don't see why we should care what happens to them. Whoever we give them to it's already better than they deserve, and it's taking souls out of the hands of the Demon Lords, which is a service to everybody."

Rubbing his arm, Turvy eyes the coiled coin between Nilvae's fingers. "I... I don't really like it either, but Topsy has a point."

Their orcish companion doesn't have much to weigh in on the business of souls and afterlife. He intrudes upon the conversation only to belch loudly, and picks his teeth with the skewer left over from his meal.

[Amnestic]

Faedryl Melad Drow Hexblade/Evoker AC: 17 HP: 28/28 PP: 12 PIv: 14 PIs: 12 Sanity: 11 (10) Conditions: Selfish Concentrating: -- Faedryl folds her arms, defiant. "From what I've read, the fey and I have very different ideas of what 'play' is, and I'm not interested in putting myself on the map of a fey lord as a person of interest." The denial was clear. Demons were more brutish and destructive, but they were also more easy to understand. Tales of people losing voices, their sense of self, or worse to a poorly worded fey bargain were commonplace, and even with a century under her belt, the fey were older and more used to striking such bargains. She wouldn't stop Nilvae, but she wouldn't involve herself either. "Souls that end up with demons could be there for any reason. A mother saving her child from illness, a man who needed the brains to save his family business, or - yes - a bargain for selfish power." She fingers a coin, holding it up to the light before tossing it onto a table before the group where it rattles for a moment with an unpleasantly dull sound. "That could be any of us, if the circumstances were different." It could have been her, if Mother had decided on a different torture, perhaps.

[purepolarpanzer]

Borthan Zuek Half-Drow Ranger AC: 17 HP:19/37 0 Temp HP PP: 14 PIv: 9 PIs: 14 Sanity:12 Conditions: Concentrating on: 1 of 4 d10 HD. Spell Slots- 0/3 1st "I may not like the soul trade, but it's an impractical man that ignores the money in his pocket, and I am not impractical. Especially seein' as things are gonna get tougher 'round here before it gets easier. And the trip across the lake is pricy enough that I'm willing to do what I need to do to get my hands on a good weapon." Borthan looked to Ront's meat skewer with a bit of jealousy. "Considering we don't have the time or resources to figure out how to release those souls, and since we don't know if they'd zoom right back to the Abyss, I say we use the whole deer on this one and take what we can get."

[Spore]

Nilvae | Eye-Gore Half-Elf Warlock | Lamp Blighter AC: 15 HP: 29/29| AC 13 HP: 0/12 PP: 12 PIv: 11 PIs: 12 San: 7 (-1) | PP: 11 PIv: 10 PIs: 13 Conditions: fearful | Beast Speech Concentration: - Somewhere outside the town: With Stool on her side, Nilvae hopes to contact her lord again. She lays down a few fun doodads for him as presents. A splinter of the fallen god's statue, what Nilvae assumes to look like a miniature version of male genitalia, a calamari tentacle she bought on the market and a tiny bag full of spores to "have fun with" as Stool put it. On the elf's request, the myconid creates a circle of toadstools in the midst where Nilvae places her gifts. Waving a hand, she summons a small banner in the air. In glittering colors of the rainbow, it says: W E L C O M E, P U C K! and in some blood-dripping letters below, it says YOU OWE ME AN EXPLANATION! Fairy of whimsy Come to me Be my best friend forever Show me love and affection Be everywhere I am So mote it be The words are enunciated with a weird mix of thankfulness, anger and fear.

[RandomWombat]

The Beach

The ever present spider- and occasional donkey- accompanies Nilvae and Stool. Venturing to a secluded corner of the gloomy beachfront outside of town, Nilvae constructs a fairy ring with the aid of her shroomish assistant. At the center is a little mushroom with a door and windows molded into it. Her chanting rings against the crooked stone, echoing around and behind. Though his instructions were to come alone, Puck does not seem to consider either their mutual arachnoid friend nor the little myconid a breach of etiquette... for he soon makes his appearance.

There is a flash of pixie dust from inside of the little hit and Puck opens the door. He strides out wearing a towel and with another draped over his shoulders, hair still wet. Picking up the end of the piece of calamari with one hand, he bites into it and leans back on the air, his glowing wings levitating him aloft on a phantom chair. A dark blue, bald head pokes out of the shroom hut afterwards, Eyegore emerging along with their mutual master.

"Brought the Spore Lord's little prophet with you, huh?" he asks after swallowing the tiny mouthful. "That's fine. The old Mad Capper and I don't have any bones to pick between us, which is good on account of he doesn't have bones to pick at all." Cackling at his own joke, Puck kicks off of the ground back to a standing position and circles Nilvae's other offerings with a ponderous hum, scanning over the scene and coming to the dripping letters above.

"Owe you an explanation do I? Well then, let me get one little safeguard out of the way before we start with my surprise," smirking, Puck spins around the face her and his face slips from that of a jolly pixie to that of a dead serious little sprite. "Ixnay on the L-say of Spidertay, comprende? No naming the you-know-who of you-know-what, you-know-never while we're talking about my plans. That name is hexed, warded, scried, top ten words a smart fella never says," he counts off the maledictions on his fingers. "Disobey that little ground rule and I'll promote Eyegore here to Tonguegore. Got it?"

That out of the way his chipper expression alights immediately back onto his face, and he fires a finger gun at Mr. Spide. "Presto. Upgrade-ama-fy." A flash of silvery sparkles shoots out and the glitter sticks to Mr. Spide's face. The illusory monocle and top hat normally only visible to Nilvae glimmer into existence for Eyegore and Stool as well.

The monocle narrows in an imitation of an annoyed expression and the spider's fangs move. It takes Nilvae a moment to realize that her spell is not active- yet she and the others can understand him just fine. "What was that supposed to-? Oh my," Spide raises a hairy leg to his fangs in surprise.

"That's right! Our little game was fun for a bit but it's getting old. So, you can talk again! And you can even swap out with your better half now," Puck explains. As if in demonstration, Mr. Spide begins to come apart and unfold like origami, cycling around until distorted shapes refold into the form of a startled looking donkey. The donkey brays... and does not speak. A few seconds later its eyes go wide as it begins to unfold and reassemble into the shape of Spide once more.

"You see sunflower," Puck leans forward and looks up at Nilvae. "Mr. Spider and I had a contract of our own. I entwined his body and soul with that of a common farm donkey, who once plowed the land on a pretty little farm. That scooched his soul over into the domain of Chauntea, protecting him from the phantom puppetstrings of you-know-who. Now I find myself in need of more agents, so I'm loosening the restrictions I made him follow so he can be a better help to you on your mission."

The pixie prince gives Nilvae's entourage a moment to process as he leans over to take another bite of calamari.

The Inn

A few minutes after Nilvae's departure, Jimjar climbs back up into the 'common' inn room and strolls inside, leaning against the wall with a certain sort of smile on his face. The sort of smile that's about to ask for something. "Where are your shoes?" Topsy asks, taking note of his exposed, slightly damp socks.

"An excellent question, you see, I needed collateral while I went to secure some funds," the gambler explains. "Anyone care to lend me eight gold pieces? I will repay you double at a later date. Jimjar always repays his debts, of this you can be sure," he crosses over his heart, tracing an X with a finger as Topsy rolls her eyes at him.

[Spore]

Stool Myconid Druid AC: 15 (bucket armor + pot lid) HP: 36/36 PP: 15 PIv: 9 PIs: 13 San: 12 Conditions: Symbiotic Entity [16 tHP] Concentration: - Stool squees as he sees the magic before him. Nature magic too, and not far from his druidic powers. Stool honored to have your attention, tiny fairy mage. it resonates within Puck's head. Fascinating magic. Too dangerous for Stool, but very fun!

Nilvae | Eye-Gore Half-Elf Warlock | Lamp Blighter AC: 15 HP: 29/29| AC 13 HP: 0/12 PP: 12 PIv: 11 PIs: 12 San: 7 (-1) | PP: 11 PIv: 10 PIs: 13 Conditions: Beast Speech Concentration: - Nilvae tried to mask how impressed she was a bit by focussing on her little myconid friend and his calmness. I thank you then. On behalf of Mr Spide at least. My dear friend Muttley was not so lucky. She sounds downtrodden. Even though she lost her dog almost a tenday ago, she was still saddened. Drow spiders ate him. Damn them. She coughs and draws the coins in her fist, taking a step towards Puck. We are in peril, and I did not call upon you just for old times' sake. There is trouble brewing down here. Someone agitated the demon lords and demons are pouring into this realm. We need a bit more help, maybe a bit of insight. She reveals the soul coins. Consider these souls not payment, but entertainment. In exchange for them in your power, I ask of you for to reveal more information. Tell me what you know! Of all these dirty demons. Starting with HER. Nilvae grips the coins, even though she knew Puck would not grab them by force. That was too boring. We do not know what to do with these. They may be evil, they may be innocent. But one of your power and influence might make something of it regardless. Nilvae was never a shred businesswoman like her mother, but she learned to drive a bargain.

[Amnestic]

Faedryl Melad Drow Hexblade/Evoker AC: 17 HP: 28/28 PP: 12 PIv: 14 PIs: 12 Sanity: 11 (10) Conditions: Selfish Concentrating: -- "A shame you didn't come back sooner, maybe we could have given you the soul coins to bargain with, since gambling them seems the name of the day." Faedryl drawls with an eyeroll. They could spare a few coins though. She slides 10 gold pieces across the table. "You have until we leave town." She wasn't expecting much. but losing money was a good way to stay in the good graces of the townsfolk - they might just need it if all this talk of sacrifice was on the table. Or Jimjar would sell himself into being a sacrifice. That would be unfortunate for him.

[RandomWombat]

The Beach

"A shame. The dog was an ugly thing, but far from the worst emergency rations," Mr. Spide doffs his illusory tophat in brief mourning before returning it to its floating perch.

"Peril?" placing his palms over his heart, Puck makes an exaggerated sway of dismay. "Well we can't have that. Luckily, I have an ingenious plan to solve this very problem!" Fluttering his wings, Puck jumps atop the little shroom hit and stands with one leg upon the summit. A cave-breeze brushes his shaggy hair, rustling it against a laurel of tiny leaves around his head as he strikes a heroic image. "Yes. Tales of our courageous deeds will echo into legend. For today, we will make a difference."

"Nilvae, my mad little sunflower, I want you to take this." From within his leafy coat, he produces a tiny vial and holds it up to Nilvae. As it passes into her hand, it grows magically to her size, a glass tube corked shut with a glittering green juice inside. Puck's grin takes on a darker tinge. "I want you to find a way to make the Kuo-toan high priestess disappear. Doesn't really matter how as long as she is not present for their ceremony. Then, you drink this," he points at the potion. "And it will allow you to take her shape, for a time. Convince them at this Deep Father of theirs' is a benevolent deity, have them spare their sacrifices. And their belief will make it true."

His plan laid out, Puck sits upon the roof and looks at the tokens in Nilvae's other hand. "I do have a way we can make use of these. Here," he fishes out a small piece of paper and offers it up. Like the potion, it grows once out of his possession.

The small worn paper rectangle is a business card, colored in faded purples and gold stars. It reads Marv's Mystical Masterpieces: Mauve Member. Nilvae vaguely recalls seeing such a shop in town, strangely standing out of place. "Marv's an old business acquaintance. He can hook you up with some objects of uncommon power, if you've the tokens to trade."

The Inn

With a friendly smile, Jimjar accepts eight of the ten coins Faedryl offers. No more and no less than what was asked. "It is a promise, miss. You will receive sixteen pieces before our ship departs- we did find a ship, yes?" he tucks the coins into his pocket and raises his eyebrows.

[purepolarpanzer]

Borthan Zuek Half-Drow Ranger AC: 17 HP:19/37 0 Temp HP PP: 14 PIv: 9 PIs: 14 Sanity:12 Conditions: Concentrating on: 1 of 4 d10 HD. Spell Slots- 0/3 1st "You can bet Jimjar will return your coin. Gamblers have all the luck." Borthan waved at the deep gnome on his way out. "We've got a ship. Some of us aren't happy with it, but we'll have to make due."

[Spore]

Nilvae | Eye-Gore Half-Elf Warlock | Lamp Blighter AC: 15 HP: 29/29| AC 13 HP: 0/12 PP: 12 PIv: 11 PIs: 12 San: 7 (-1) | PP: 11 PIv: 10 PIs: 13 Conditions: Beast Speech Concentration: - Nilvae pockets the card and potion as a familiar familiar lands on her shoulder. Fish eyes are not tasty, but they will do. The half-elf has her focus on the fey lord though and fails to admonish her. Why do you care which fish gets elected? Don't tell me, the wrong fish summons even more demons? Nilvae pauses and then smiles. What good does this us? And us-us, like in my friends, not us-us, like in us both? Her heart was already set on this huge insane gamble, but her logical side, and more importantly her companions had to be "bought".

[RandomWombat]

The Beach

"Fish election?" Puck tilts his head, and snickers through his teeth at wayward thoughts. "... Anyway. Riddle me this, Nilvae. Demons all of a sudden start to run amok and demon lords walk the Underdark," the small fey waves his arms all around them. "And all of a sudden a new religion pops up, tangible enough to sway the unwashed masses. Where do you think their 'Deep Father' came from so suddenly, hm?"

He leans forward with his hand on his knees, then hops down from the mushroom hut with a graceful glide. "Right now that danger is stalking the Darklake. Ignore it and your boat ride could well end in a tragic chance meeting... buuut, if someone were to impersonate the High Priestess and make the kuo-toa believe that their Deep Father were benevolent, what do you think would happen?" Puck rolls his hands with a manic gleaming smile, hoping Nilvae can see where he's going with this.

The Inn

"Oh, you can bet alright. Feel free to place a wager on it," taking hold of the rope ladder beside the entryway, Jimjar stands with one foot upon it and the other on their doorledge. "Good to hear we've got passage." He winks at Faedryl and then vanishes below the lip. "See you later! With luck I will have your winnings by tomorrow."

"Should have asked him for some playing cards to pass the time before he left," Topsy mumbles.

[Amnestic]

Faedryl Melad Drow Hexblade/Evoker AC: 17 HP: 28/28 PP: 12 PIv: 14 PIs: 12 Sanity: 11 (10) Conditions: Selfish Concentrating: -- "Still time for you to chase after him, if you really want them. There's always Piltellé, if you care for that." A traditionally elven word game played on long journeys that challenges the vocabulary and celerity of mind. It can be played in other languages but it never quite picked up the popularity that it did in the original elven. Opportunities to play it for drow were limited compared to surfacers, but it was still something she'd occasionally had cause to play under the guise of 'education'.

[Spore]

Nilvae | Eye-Gore Half-Elf Warlock | Lamp Blighter AC: 15 HP: 29/29| AC 13 HP: 0/12 PP: 12 PIv: 11 PIs: 12 San: 7 (-1) | PP: 11 PIv: 10 PIs: 13 Conditions: Beast Speech Concentration: - But does she have eyes to pick? Eyegore chimes in. A stern look from both shuts the impish fey up right away. He flutters away, sitting on Stool's cap, who is confused but not necessarily amused. The myconid's mood is difficult to discern anyhow. Good catch, Puck. You think you-know-who is involved in this installation of power? The drow have their fingers in almost anything I deal with these days. Nilvae lifts her finger to envelop her master in a harmless illusion of her last battle. She shows the unpredictable chaos her magic lightning caused. Besides I am thankful for diversifying my ... uhm portfolio, but how in the world do these new powers work? This looks....no, feels uncontrollable. Not that I am ungrateful, but I don't want to hurt my friends. Nilvae's voice changes to be a little less asserting as usual. She does not mask her fear and confusion.

[RandomWombat]

The Beach

"If I knew how this started I... probably wouldn't tell you for free," Puck admits, coyly yet honestly, with a playful shrug. "Well, maybe if it was too boring to be a good joke later... I do have guesses though! If I had a list of suspects who'd find dumping demons into the Underdark a real hoot? You-know-who would be at the top of my list. If not? Probably an idiot mortal somewhere messing around." Letting his arms hang at his sides, he casually points over at Stool. "His Lord has been conducting an investigation."

"I would rather enjoy not being turned into a potted plant next," is Mr. Spide's only comment on Nilvae's second question.

Raising a finger to his chin, Puck attempts to look innocent. "What if I told you that wasn't me? Eheheh, well, not me directly. I believe it has to do with the faerzress. That magic static you lot were marinading in for days in that cell might've gotten into the gift of magic I gave you. It's notoriously Wild, and it's been getting Wilder lately. Tell you what: you do this little favor for me, and I'll see if I can find something to help... keep it in check. As a reward."

The Inn

"Chasing guys like that gives them the wrong idea." Raising an eyebrow at Faedryl across the room, Topsy drums her fingers on her knee and considers the offer. "Tell me how it works, some way to pass the time down here sounds like a godsend," getting up from her spot, the gnome twin finds a place nearer to Faedryl's spot to lean so that they needn't call out across the room.