Game Summary #1 (10/17/715)
Each of the young Drow Males began their journey with a private audience, summoned by their House’s appointed male representative, speaking on behalf of their Matron Mother. Expectations were laid out with the cold precision of a dagger's edge and each knows failure of this task is not acceptable. Xar’Zin, Szordin, and Jevan emerged from their meetings with confidence and composure. Only Nin’Tzar was humbled—his pride bruised by a sharp lesson and a taste of nonlethal punishment.
The task that they were given was to work together and retrieve a mysterious item. Their destination is a huge body of water known as the Dark Lake. Once there, they are to find a vessel, believed to be long-abandoned, drifting in the shadows of the cavernous lake. Within the vessel is the item that they seek, a staff known only as The Tempest—its name alone promising danger, power, and prestige. They are then to return with the staff to the Xarxes Pub. Their reward for this task is their freedom from their Houses.
The party met up at the infamous Xarxes Pub in the shadows of Menzoberranzan. Amid the hiss of whispers and clink of goblets, introductions were made and plans set in motion. Escape from the city would not be easy, but Xar’Zin revealed knowledge of two lesser-used tunnels with notably lax patrols. One appeared unguarded. The group seized the opportunity to leave without notice.
Though the tunnel seemed deserted, two guards eventually emerged from the gloom. Rather than fight, the group paid their way in coin, slipping past the city’s grasp into the wild dark of the Underdark, while easily avoiding a potential situation.
The journey had barely begun when a swarm of glowing insects descended upon them. Quick thinking and even quicker feet allowed the party to evade the worst of it, sustaining little more than scratches, the group pressed on. After a while, the waves of exhaustion were beginning to mount, and they dared not rest so close to the city in a main corridor used for travel. They pushed deeper, seeking refuge away from prying eyes.
Then the group stumbled upon some holes and out came the rats.
Not ordinary vermin—these were death-touched scavengers, drawn to the scent of warmth and blood. The ambush was swift. Jevan and Xar’Zin, caught off-guard, fell quickly under the rats’ vicious and surprising assault. Szordin and Nin’Tzar rallied together in the darkness. Through grit and guile, they dispatched the creatures.
Breathless, bloodied, but alive, Nin’Tzar called upon his magic, healing their fallen allies, Jevan and Xar’Zin. The Underdark offers no kindness to the unprepared, and a clear lesson was learned
Weary and wounded, the party group decided that they would not be able to push on and needed to rest, unfortunately, it would have to be the tunnel they were traveling in, hoping this was a tunnel not frequented. There, with Szordin keeping watch in the silence of the deep, they took their first uneasy rest as a team—survivors of their first trial, and aware that far worse lies ahead.
Game Summary #2 (10/19/715)
The expedition began in uneasy stillness. The group had taken shelter in a small outcropping off a major tunnel in the Underdark that led back to their home, the City Mezzobrazzen. The outcropping is a rare reprieve in the unforgiving UnderDark. Vesz’zt, ever vigilant, stood watch while the others rested. His blade was first drawn when a massive centipede crept near the group, as it searched for food, possibly drawn by the scent of flesh. With swift precision, Vesz’zt dispatched the predator before it could pose a threat.
However, the corpse of the centipede quickly became a beacon in the dark for the hungry. Not long after, two large rats emerged from the black, lured by the scent of the centipede’s remains. Once again, Vesz’zt acted with brutal efficiency, cutting down both vermin before they could reach the sleeping party. Thanks to his unwavering guard, the group was able to rest undisturbed.
Pressing deeper into the Underdark’s endless tunnels, the adventurers encountered something concealed. As they marched forward, the arms of the earth reached out—something was grabbing at their feet. Xar’Zin, sharp-eyed and cautious, recognized the danger and used his drow racial ability to levitate off the ground, but not before their attacker made its initial strike. This was no ordinary creature—it was an elemental, born of stone and fury.
Even hovering above the ground, Xar’Zin was not safe. The elemental surged upward and struck him, encasing him in a prison of solid rock. With great effort, Xar’Zin shattered his bonds and withdrew to attack from a distance. Nin’Tzar and Vesz’zt rushed forward to engage, their weapons drawn. Jevan, ever the tactician, fell back and quickly cast Mage Armor upon himself, preparing for the worst.
Xar’Zin drew his shortbow and loosed a shot, unfortunately, it missed. The elemental lashed out, its mighty blows hammering into Nin’Tzar and Vesz’zt. Despite their efforts, the creature seemed to shrug off their attacks. Jevan unleashed Magic Missile, his arcane bolts striking true. But the fight turned grim as the elemental delivered a punishing blow to Nin’Tzar, knocking him unconscious and out of the battle.
Surrounded and outnumbered, the elemental finally began to falter as the group focused their attacks. Blow after blow chipped away at its stone form until, with one final flurry of strikes, the creature collapsed in a shower of dust and rubble.
Bloodied and exhausted, the party retreated to their familiar resting cove to recover. For several days, they remained there, tending to Nin’Tzar’s wounds. Xar’Zin and Vesz’zt took turns on watch, their vigilance ensuring an uneventful recovery period. Once Nin’Tzar was back on his feet, the group pressed onward.
Their goal is The Dark Lake.
The tunnels grew damp, the air thick with moisture and humidity. Walls were covered with strange, spongy moss. A distant sound began to echo through the caverns—gentle but persistent, the unmistakable crashing of water. A sound unfamiliar to the group of young drow males.
Before long, they emerged into a vast cavern containing a dark, still lake. A giant dragonfly buzzed overhead, attacking anything it could, while four lizardfolk nearby, fishing. They eventually took out the giant dragonfly with their crossbows.
The group approached cautiously, learning through gestures and fragments of conversation that these lizardfolk were part of a larger tribe. The fishermen knew of a derelict vessel said to be nearby—an abandoned boat that might just be the Grendel, the ship the party had been sent to find. The staff known as The Tempest was rumored to lie within its hold.
Sensing a tactical opportunity, Xar’Zin attempted to use Dancing Lights to distract the lizardfolk, hoping to give the group a chance to ambush them. However, the lights betrayed their presence instead. Alerted, the lizardmen dove into the water and vanished beneath the surface. Knowing they were at a severe disadvantage in aquatic combat, the group wisely withdrew once more to the all too familiar cove.
Knowing that the Lizardmen would be traveling down this tunnel. This time, Xar’Zin prepared for retaliation. Using handfuls of gravel and small stones, he set up a crude but effective alarm system to alert the group to any approach.
The preparations paid off.
When the lizardmen returned, the party was ready. The ambush began with deadly precision. The group focused their attacks, quickly eliminating one of the lizardfolk. In the chaos, Vesz’zt suffered a critical mishap—his weapon caught awkwardly, leaving him open. One of the lizardmen seized the opportunity and struck him down with a brutal blow, knocking him unconscious.
Xar’Zin responded with precision and fury, firing a deadly shot with his shortbow and taking down another foe. Nin’Tzar and Jevan pressed the attack, bringing down a third. The last surviving lizardman, seeing no hope, dropped his weapon and begged for his life.
Jevan, the only one among them who spoke Draconic, stepped forward to negotiate. Through tense conversation, they learned the lizardman’s name was Sisz’zar. In exchange for his life, Sisz’zar offered them use of the boats and revealed the location of the Grendel. Sisz’zar knows that he narrowly avoided losing his life and appreciative seeing something different in Jevan, also providing a wild potion of healing to help revive Vesz’zt. The lizardman Sisz’zar moved off, happy to still be alive after encountering the four male drow.
But the conversation turned deeper. During the negotiation, Jevan revealed something unexpected—he did not serve Lolth, the Spider Queen. Xar’Zin, intrigued, asked whom he followed instead. The two soon realized they shared a worldview: rejection of Lolth’s tyranny and matriarchal dogma, as well as Eilistrae, the god of beauty, sword work, moonlight, and the redemption of drow.
Vesz’zt added his voice to the revelation, admitting his hatred for Lolth and her priestesses. He declared his allegiance to Vhaeraun, God of stealth, rebellion, and male drow. Even Nin’Tzar, though he was cryptic, hinted that he, too, did not follow Lolth nor share the traditional evil outlook of drow society.
This shared ideology could not be a coincidence. The group began to suspect that their mission and their gathering were part of something larger. Something intentional. They speculated quietly on what the future might hold, even daring to dream of what they could do with their newfound bond and shared purpose.
The group boarded two small boats: Xar’Zin and Jevan in one, Nin’Tzar and the injured Vesz’zt in the other. They paddled silently across the cold, black waters of the Dark Lake.
Guided by Nin’Tzar’s magic that provides a sense of direction, they moved without error. And soon, looming out of the gloom, the broken hull of the Grendel appeared.
They had arrived at their destination.