[Cerek]

The Search for Haer'Dalis

After returning from Trademeet, I decided to spend some time exploring Athkatla itself. I had heard of a tavern in the Bridge District that featured a small theater. Naturally, this appealed to my professional curiousity so I went to watch the play. The production was very poorly done, due mainly to the absence of one of the actors from the troupe. The "play" only managed a couple of Acts before the audience demanded their money back. I was tempted to do the same, but realized there must be more to this story than the audience was privvy to. So I went backstage to speak to the actors and actresses myself. That's when I learned that one of their members was indeed missing. I felt obligated to offer my services in search of their missing "sparrow" and their leader told me that the actor (a fellow by the name of Haer'Dalis) had last been seen around the sewers in the Temple District. I went there straightaway and began exploring the underground caverns. Much to my surprise, I encountered a full party in the tunnels and they were not pleased at all to see me. They demanded I pay a toll for using "their" tunnel. I declined, of course and they began to attack (with no regard for proper protocol or etiquette). I heard a couple of their members chanting spells, so I used my Ring of Invisibility to disappear - which also managed to foil their spells. The leader of the group was an extremely ill-tempered dwarf with a wicked axe that returned to his hand after being thrown. He hurled it in my direction and I felt the blade sink into my shoulder. I began casting a spell of my own, and got my Stoneskin up before he had a chance to throw his axe at me again. By that time, the other fighter in the front had moved to attack me, but I used my favorite spell - Dire Charm - on him and convinced him that his former friends were the "real" enemies. This managed to divert the dwarf's attention from me also. The spellcasters were still busy in the back, so I decided to envelop them in a Cloudkill spell. That eliminated their spells for the time being and did a fair amount of damage to them in the bargain. I didn't have time to "divide and conquer" this group, so I went for mass damage. I used Fireball and Skull Traps on the group. I also cast a Web to keep them trapped within the cloud for as long as possible. That managed to kill all of the group except for the last spellcaster and the dwarf and fighter had taken each other down to Near Death. I finished the 3 of them off and collected a Bag full of loot. I then continued my search for Haer'Dalis.

I soon discovered a hidden door in one of the tunnel walls. I found some stairs and followed them up to a study and library. I was attacked by several mephits, but dispatched them very easily. I cast Improved Invisibility on myself and continued to search catiously throughout this hidden abode. I discovered a room filled with Yuan-Ti - nasty "snake" creatures that are also accomplished spellcasters. I was low on spells, but decided to risk it anyway. I used my wand to fill their room with another Cloudkill. I also cast my last two Skull Traps directly in front of the door to their room. As expected, two of the snake-magi escaped the cloud and moved to attack me, but the traps exploded and killed both of them. I quickly cast my remaining Web spell into the room and it managed to snare the remaining creatures. The noxious vapors from my Cloudkill did the rest. After the spell durations expired, I searched the bodies of my fallen foes along with some trunks in the two adjoining rooms. I found a good deal of treasure that I could use and even more that I could sell to local merchants for gold. I searched the rest of this area but found nothing of significance. So I backtracked to the library and study. I went down a second corridor I found and it eventually led me to a mage named Mekrath. He admitted that he had captured Haer'Dalis in the act of trying to steal from his home, but despite that, the mage turned out to be surprisingly reasonable. I had expected another battle. Instead, the mage asked me to retrieve an item he had lost - some special mirror to be exact. He told me he would release Haer'Dalis in exchange for the mirror. I didn't really trust him - he seemed rather "evil" to me, but I had used almost all of my memorized spells for the day, so I really had no choice but to accept his offer. I returned to the sewer tunnels and managed to find the creature that had taken his mirror in very short order. I was on my way to return the mirror and had taken a different tunnel that seemed to be a bit of a shortcut. It led to the very center of the tunnels in the sewer area. Unfortunately, I discovered another rakshasa had decided to make this area [/i]his[/i] home. Good Grief, didn't anybody want to live on the surface anymore??? I had no choice but to fight the beast as he began attacking me on sight. I knew from my previous encounters that these creatures were highly resistant to spells, but could be defeated easily enough with sheer physical damage. So I charged in with Gnasher, a nasty club that imbeds splinters into the creature or person struck which prevents them from casting spells for a few minutes until they can remove the splinters. With the help of Gnasher, the rakshasa was soon history. His kobold companions fell to one Fireball I cast from a scroll. I searched the tiger-man's body and found that he had a most unique cloak on. It was rather unsightly and stank quite badly, but it seemed to grant the wearer the ability to change shapes. I experimented with it and found myself transformed into a troll. UGGGGGGHHHHH!!! My skin felt as if it wanted to crawl off my bones, but then I noticed my strength and health were returning to me very quickly. I had forgotten that trolls have a very fast regeneration factor that allows thier wounds to heal almost instantly. So I fought my initial revulsion as the energy began to re-surge through my body and revitalize my tired limbs. After that transformation wore off, I decided I should find a defensible area of the tunnels and rest to regain my spells. I went back to the room I had discovered behind the secret door leading to Mekrath's home and rested there. I still didn't completely trust him to keep his word and I wanted to be fully prepared in case any treachery was afoot. I cast my normal prebuffs (Stoneskin and Improved Invisibility) and went to see Mekrath. I was happily surprised when he accepted the mirror and told me where I could find the "rogue". I went back down the hallway past the room where the Yuan-ti had been and found the missing "songbird" in a storeroom I had searched previously. My guess is that he must have been hidden with invisibility before.

We took our leave and returned to the Five Flagon's Inn. His colleagues were overjoyed to see him, but their happy reunion was cut abruptly short. Little did I know that effort to "retrieve" Haer'Dalis had only just begun.

[ 12-10-2004, 12:53 PM: Message edited by: Cerek ]