GAMES / Entrance to Underdark

The High Commander of Netook commissioned Melinda Spellweaver to check on the outpost of Medragill in the Matejka Cascade. The dwarven outpost served as a defence against the underdark and its denizens. The Frostbeard Clan who run the outpost had not send word or request for supplies in over three tendays, giving the High Commander deep concern. 

Having sworn to investigate, Melinda made off to the outpost with her newly met partner and assistant, Josiah, a tiefling rogue with familiarity with the underdark. After a six day trip in the carriage, Melinda arrived at the outpost only to discover the remains of Frostbeard sentinels dead and frozen outside the entrance. With resolve and Josiah playing scout, they pushed through the porticullis attempting to be stealthy.

On the other side of unlocked iron gates, they would encounter a complacent winter wolf chewing on an arm.  As they stepped around the wolf, they would come to see the great sunken hall, animal cages to the west and piles of crates to the west. Across the hall, stood open stairs to the purple and dark entrance to the underdark. 

In the cages, Melinda would discover and free two badly injured sentinels. She would learn that the drow raiders were small in number. A tenday ago they had appeared, not from the entrance, but from the towers. King Thrain and Helga were taken prisoners. With their freed allies, Melinda and Josiah would inspect the crates. Here, Melinda would discover a dwarven lantern of purity that would serve well in exploring the underdark and defense against the drow and their poison. Josiah would discover a rather frightened merchant Baldi locked in one of the crates. 

Thus emboldened, Josiah had gone into the entrance to retrieve fungus to make an antidote for the drow poison afflicting the sentinels. Meanwhile, Melinda in her shelter would take a short rest and perform a ritual to summon her familiar, an owl. Here, Josiah would return with additional sentinels ready to fight. With the lead of the sentinels, Melinda and Josiah would open the kitchen, albeit Josiah being poisoned by a needle trap. They would take down a nasty giant spider. Yet, to their joy, they would free King Thrain and his wife, Helga.

With little hesitation, the crew would open the quarters, King Thrain would retreive his smithing hammer. And Helga would come to appreciate Melinda. Thus, grateful, Helga would provide Melinda and Josiah signet rings from the clan granting them membership. In addition, Melinda would find a fungal map and a ledger for the Xlantharin drow familty. (Josiah was required to translate).

Soon enough, however, the drow would return from the watchtower. The Matriarch would cast misty step and then a poisonous fog in the sunken hall. The drow raiders would shoot their crossbows at the king and queen. A drow gunslinger would fire two poisonous shots at the king. Yet, the crew would stand tall, Thrain with his mace, Helga with her mace, Josiah with his rapiers, and Melind with her sword burst and catapults. The Matriarch would double down summoning tentacles from the floor and a demon quasit from the planes. Despite the danger, quickly, the crew would gain the upper hand on the drow. The remaining drow would flee. Yet, before taking her leave, the Matriarch would visit Melinda promising to return and bring about Melinda's demise.