The Price of the Underhive - Part 2

Participants

• Tingle
• Kaladan of Norixius
• Arden Rook
• Zeek the Zapper
• Iria

Recap

Soaked in the cold, filthy waters, ragged of breath and injured, the enforcers took refuge in a nearby utility room, sealing the metal door behind them and twisting the bulkhead closed. Along with them, they bound and gagged one of their assailants, a Kuo-Toa warrior, who struggled and glared at them intensely with his large, bulging eyeballs.

Overcome with the grief of losing David, the group collapsed onto any available dry space in the cramped room in order to collect themselves and regroup in order to move on. They had come too far to give up now.

As others rested, Tingle's mind raced. He knew of this race of fish-like people, he knew of their past enslavement and subsequent madness. He had a plan in order to try to interrogate this trembling, malnourished creature, one for which he bore no empathy.

Entering the mind of the creature, Tingle inflicted upon it the memories of his race's enslavement under the Ithilid, a collective set of history that Tingle unleashed in a flurry of images, inserting his own questions for the creature as the mental onslaught continued. The Kuo-Toa began to lose control, thrashing about and banging on the walls, but not before revealing a potential key piece of information, that "She" was coming. Someone that the beast held in either high regard, or feared, Tingle couldn't tell.

When he had extracted what information he could, the guild had enough of this creature's existence, and it was put out of its misery with the extreme prejudice of Kal blade.

After recuperating as best they could, it was time to head out and pursue their goals once again. Their guild was depending on them, their budding business and contracts hung in the balance, and getting the mission done was now more important than ever, so David's death was not in vain.

Their mettle was tested almost immediately, when a shroud of darkness suddenly enveloped them, not a minute outside of where they had hunkered down. An unfamiliar voice called out, demanding answers to why they carried the body of the gnome with them, and to give the voice a reason not to kill them where they stood.

After a few tense moments, clarity was restored. The unseen voice revealed herself to be a drow, a fellow member of the thieves' way of life and from David's inner circle of alliances he kept within the criminal underworld. Iria was her name, and she was somewhat of a protege of David's, owing him far beyond what she could ever repay. Realizing that the best way to avenge her mentor was to link up with those who sought to do the same, Iria quickly found herself traveling with JKS as their goals aligned.

It was not long before another joined their ranks.

Traveling just a short distance farther down the rusty, wet corridor, they consulted the map and saw they were just a turn or two away from their current network of flooded tunnels from the factory district, which housed pump-station 1, where Boundfur had told them his servicemen suspected the water issues to be originating from. Around the last turn at the end of the tunnel, opening out into the haze of the more open area housing the factories lay a wounded man, holding his side as blood slowly dripped out from between his fingers.

The group would come to know the man as Erodus, who as they approached, tensed up but could do little to defend himself or escape given his wounds. Once Erodus knew JKS had no ill intent, he shared with them the reason for his current situation.

He was "Triple A", an Authorized Autorus Agent. Members of The Rave who served as effective law-enforcement mercenaries for when the Autorus couldn't devote resources to a matter quickly enough.

Erodus explained he was in the underhive seeking the whereabouts of a elvish Nellulon researcher, who went missing around Gamut's Alley some weeks ago. The description felt oddly familiar to the group. Erodus said he determined he should look here due to her research dealing with some of the chemical compounds found in this area, and many Nellulon have underhive passes.

JKS, showing compassion, fixed up the battered scout, and both parties came to the same conclusion that sticking together down here would be advantageous.

Erodus soon proved his worth, as the group approached Pump Station #1, they were beset upon by several Krasis, a mutant variety of some kind of former reptilian species. His bow shows found their mark, and with the rest of JKS in top form, they dispatched the creatures blocking their path with relative ease.

Ever cautious, Tingle sends in a small arachnid ally to scout the pump station. Reporting back, there is a lone Kuo-Toa inside the facility, and the group plans their breach. Once inside, they found the small fish-like humanoid was gone, likely having slipped out one of the many smaller holes in the rusting walls.

Taking stock of what they needed to fix, several slime-creatures attempted an easy meal, and were quickly struck down, but not before causing some damage to the group's equipment. Zeek in particular was mourning the shiny gleam of his hammer, now partially melted from the slime's acidic touch.

As the warriors opined over their weapons, Tingle and Arden had found a manual for the large pump machinery on the catwalk. It was missing several parts, looking to have been partially stripped, and perhaps had even taken a few hits from some weaponry. Before settling down to rest for a bit, they devised a plan in order to search the surrounding area for what they now knew they had to look for.

Their attempt at rest was short lived, as Kal's keen senses warned the party of stealthy invaders slipping into their building. It seems the formerly lone Kuo-Toa had summoned some allies, and now sought to ambush the group as they rested. They would regret this bold move.

Struggling to even advance as far as the catwalk, JKS was on them from the start, two fish-men dropped mid-climb to the upper level, while those that did make it to their foes, faced a splash of slick grease coating their fragile, wet skin, and the scorching breath of a golden dragonborn, frying them to a crisp.

Hours later, JKS had recouped what strength they needed to continue, and headed over to the machine shop, whose lower floor had been completely flooded.

Taking every caution, and making use of their friendly spider to scout ahead, JKS stayed out of the dark water and looped above on the walkways circling the perimeter of the building. From that vantage point, they were able to make out a small disturbance in the water, a small flow, sucking under and down where the water was darkest.Based on their observation from the flooded ramp-like entrance to the building, this was likely part of the lower level that had become submerged.

First things first, Tingle and Zeek stayed on the high-ground on the west side of the building, covering their allies' quick trek through the water in order to have better command of that side of the building and remain as an intact unit. They continued to explore, west to east, until Iria, who was taking the point position, signaled to hold.

A tripwire of sorts was protruding from the ground, just at the top of a set of stairs near the center of the facility. Iria looked back, with a telling face, Erodus gave a slight nod, and the drow leaned down with a small knife, ready to disarm the device. The taut wire bent, and did not cut as expected under Iria's blade. She heard a whirring click, before the weight of a filthy net dropped from above, pinning her to the ground.

Erodus leaped aside, managing to remain free, as JKS steeled themselves.

Several Kuo-Toa, some larger than those previously faced, began to emerge from the dark waters below, climbing onto the walkways in different areas of the room and a fierce battle broke out. From within the net, Iria sent forth an eldritch blast, searing the scaly skin of her nearest attacker. Kal charged forward with his axe ready, Tingle summoned the fury of the sun, and Zeek leaped forward to shatter both his foe and the net constraining his friend. Arden, taking a different approach, mocks the scent of the fish-men, which gave them enough confusing pause to be taken advantage of.

While felling their attackers, JKS was still suffering some wounds from the errant bite or glancing blow from a savage spear. It was a sloppy battle, and when only one Kuo-Toa remained, he attempted to flee, running as Erodus landed bow-shots into his scaled back. Slowed by his injuries, he couldn't escape the furious approach of Kal, who's mighty swing sent the creature's lower half sliding into the murky water below.

Now the enforcers focused on what was below. From an inventory sheet they found, the bottom shop area warehoused many extra parts, and likely included the precise valve-joint they were seeking. The group dove down and under into the cold darkness, led by Zeek, and lit by Tingle.

The area was small, and outside the primary entrance, it was only about a 20 by 20 ft area cluttered with lifts and storage units. As Zeek boldly ventured forth to seek things out, he left the relative safety of the group and began to look around, soon discovering he was not alone.

It happened fast, as the agile shark-like Sahuagin swam around a pillar, he had Zeek cornered, and the two exchanged blows in their submerged struggle. Erodus shrugged off his recent poor aim and connected with his bow into the shark-man's flank, and just before Arden peered around the corner to demoralize the breast, he saw the neon flash of a powerful clerical spell from Zeek. The quick but savage battle ended with the Sahuagin, desperate to have any impact in his charge to defend this area, launched a volley of attacks against the tempest cleric, which ultimately was his undoing, as the flow of electric charge from the cleric back into his thick hide proved enough to dispatch him once and for all.

The battle truly took a lot out of Tingle, who mysteriously lost consciousness, and was carried forward by his friends after a short rest, back above the surface.

Gathering themselves again, refreshed, JKS decided it was best to move over to Chem-Storage, a large warehouse in which numerous raw materials were once stored, and now only key substances integral to Grehl activities in the underhive.

Inside, they again found a partially flooded main floor, but were able to take raised walkways to stay out of the muck. Ahead of them, several vats storing some kind of caustic green liquid spat and hissed, occasionally reacting with a drop of water, spraying its acidic contents in various directions. The enforcers avoided much of this, only suffering minor burns in the process.

Kal moved up ahead, with Zeek close behind. They spotted what seemed to be a notebook with the guild-mark of Nellulon on the outside, an object seemingly out of place for this facility. Arden recalled his basic magics to clear away the corrosive substance around it, and Zeek quickly grabbed the book and vacated the area of the unstable vat.

Inside, the book contained references to subject numbers, references to Chem 1 and Chem 2 storage, as well as some kind of exposure stats. Much of the pagers were unreadable or singed away by the acid. The group tucked it away for future consideration.

Almost ready to clear the last section of the building, JKS heads for some promising-looking storage chests in a corner. Kal suddenly shouts out in pain as the second chest comes to life, with a gaping maw, and long, purple tongue it grabs hold of the dragonborns' forearm, its razor-sharp teeth sinking in.

Erodus reacts with a bow show that finds its mark, and Kal counters with a fierce blow of his own. The mimic wriths and shreds its teeth along Kal's arm, blood gushing. Iria blasts it, and the creature begins to falter as Zeek's divine hammer streaks energy into the foul thing, ending the struggle.

JKS had come a long way, and were getting close to achieving their goals, despite having paid a heavy price thus far.

Loot