moi

The Mothers had just killed the mage student in his cell and looted his body and his room of any valuables. Fonesca realised that the Knock spells that they had cast to get past the Arcane Locks on the doors only suppressed their power and they might get trapped if they did not leave. Jito and the others ferried themselves down to the floor of the octagonal chamber to plan again.

After a few moments thought, Jito attempted to cast a Dispel Magic on an area between where Gaspode had exposed the presence of the upper two doors. His first and second attempt failed (they realised this by flying up and testing them). The third attempt revealed the doors themselves, the false images protecting them had been removed! Jito and Gaspode flew up to the lower one, which was one level above the one that they had entered before. Here they found another corridor filled with obscuring fog, but there was no door on the opposite wall like before. Instead the corridor went off to the left and right for twenty feet, ending in seemingly blank walls. Gaspode's gem revealed the doors there, but they had no further magic to bypass the locks.

They returned to the octagonal chamber and decided to attempt the highest door. This they found unlocked, but as soon as they opened it, Jito and Gaspode were forced back to the far wall of the octagon by a constant rush of air from within the chamber. It was all that they could do to hang on to the broom, so they descended to plan a route through the portal. Gaspode got out a grappling hook and rose again with Jito. He eventually managed to snag the grapple on the edge of the door and he swung off the broom on the attached rope. He pulled himself up into the chamber beyond the door and then helped the others in.

When they had caught their breath, the wind ended. They turned and saw a throne on a dais flanked by tapestries. Before the throne stood an immaculately dressed male drow. His purple shirt was loose and his fine white hair was held back by a golden headband. He waited for the Mothers to speak. When they meekly said hello, he asked why they had come to his "tower". Obrana claimed that they had come seeking fame and fortune, but the drow said that he would let them leave unharmed if they would target the priestesses of either drow goddess. He wished to gain power over Szith Morcane and eventually promised to halt raids on the surface if his wish could be fulfilled. He told them of the main areas off the web cavern and of the forbiddance cast over the entry to the nobles area. He also gave them leave to remain in the guard quarters for twenty-four hours.

The party left him and rested in the guardroom, after cleaning some of the gore. Fonesca concentrated on improving her skills and felt as if she could master more magics if she had more free time. The others carefully discussed their tactics when it came to spell selection given what they had planned to tackle next.

Once the spells had been prepared, or at least decided upon, the Mothers set watches throughout the night. Occasionally, Obrana, Fonesca or Kurtalla would pass amongst them dispensing healing, so that by the time they were ready to depart everyone was at full strength. Then the debates started as to which route to take. They went out to the web and tested the strands. The only ones that would allow them to pass without the stickiness were back the way they had come (clockwise to the major strand running vertically), and one that led straight down at an angle to the centre of the web, where they had been told, the commoners' level lay. Beneath this on the far extremity of the web, was, so they understood. an entrance to the nobles' level. Seeing that they could not find a route that did not pass through the centre, they decided to pay the commoners' level a visit.

When they arrived, the Mothers tentatively peered into the cavern beyond. They could make out two huge pack lizards, burdened with all manner of goods. Several figures were surrounding these beasts, two of which were drow. The owners of the lizards were three duergar, the grey dwarves of the underdark. They carried out negotiations with the drow, a mauve-skinned mind flayer and three kua-toa. As the Mothers approached the fish-men began to leave and the others turned to them cautiously. The Mothers decided to fight and Jito managed to loose a fireball that engulfed most of the traders before they could move. Two kua-toa at the back suddenly realised they had not moved far enough and died. One drow was quick enough to react and ran at Gaspode and sliced him with his glaive. Siosiann let loose a lightning bolt and Fonesca followed up with an acid storm. Most of the enemy lay dead already.

The mind flayer moved beyond the area of his fellows and turned when he had a clear view of the Mothers. Immediately they felt an assault within their skulls that left Jito, Fonesca and Gaspode stunned. Orbrana fired her crossbow at the mind flayer and buried her bolt in its flesh. Kurtalla ran after the illithid and managed to land a blow. The last remaining grey dwarf started to retreat to the back of the cavern, while the only live pack lizard became enraged and charged at Siosiann. Its attack came to naught. Siosiann finished off the lizard with her flametongue sword while Kurtalla's head was clasped by one of the mind flayer's tentacles and another scored him across the neck. He responded with a flurry of blows that left the illithid in pieces. Obrana cleaned up by freezing the fleeing duergar in place with a spell. The Mothers who could still move mopped up the remaining combatants, dispatching them with efficiency. Gaspode, Fonesca and Jito had still not recovered.

With Gaspode, Fonesca and Jito all still incapacitated, the Mothers were not happy to see the approaching group of drow. One spellcaster and two warriors came out of the cave entrance at the far end of the bazaar. They did not get to act before Siosiann unleashed a lightning bolt at them, striking two. The fighters closed to attack Kurtalla and Obrana while the wizard fired back a lightning bolt at Siosiann; Kurtalla evaded the edge of the bolt. The glaive wielding warrior managed to miss Obrana entirely while his compatriot did stab successfully at Kurtalla. This was the last attack that the Mothers permitted. Kurtalla dealt with his foe decisively and Obrana and Siosiann finished their weakened enemies with a blow and a spell respectively. Nervously, the Mothers regrouped near their stunned colleagues and they were relieved when after a brief discussion on how to haul them off to safety, they covered their senses.

A full inventory was taken of the items on the merchants and purchasers, Siosiann's innate ability to see the magical auras helped them to decide which items were stored via Gaspode's sheet for further use. The mind flayer in particular had a useful stash in its bag of holding. Jito was doing an inventory of his own and he realised that he should figure out what spell his ring of counterspelling should contain. He made the mistake of asking Fonesca. The wizard proceeded to guide the gnome on the correct procedure to ascertain the frequency of spell attacks against an individual, how to balance this against the availability of the said spells, the average power of enemy combatants and the current weaknesses in his own defences.Gaspode dryly commented that if he had had the ring with Slay Living in it, then he wouldn't have died when he met the drow cleric. Jito felt it best to leave it as it was.

Rather than attempting to go into the commoner level, the Mothers decided to proceed directly to the nobles' area. They went straight down from the bazaar along the central axis of the web. Again, much use was made of Siosiann's ability to detect magical auras. She was able to discern that two auras, both strong, were present in the entrance cave. One was an abjuration, the other an evocation. The Mothers then spent most of their Dispel Magics in order to rid the cavern of these lingering dweomers. Siosiann was eventually able to tell them that it was clear.