Chapter 2: A Light in the Darkness (cont'd)

The tower fell quiet, and we searched through for supplies, finding enough to last us for a while longer.

We walked for a while longer, and we curiously found a pair of Drow that weren't out to kill us. Apparently, they were headed to the Drow fortress, and must have taken a wrong turn, since they were traveling in our direction. It wasn't too surprising that they didn't trust us. Aeriana tried to reason with them, perhaps to work out a deal so that we could travel to the fortress and negotiate for the release of Bemmut. However, her words fell on deaf ears, as the two turned and began walking away. One of them must have mistakenly said something to the effect of warning the city of our presence, which seemed to anger Brother Alfus quite a bit. Before I could blink, he called forth a pillar of divine light. When my vision returned, I looked and could only see a few ashes where the two had formerly been standing. To say that it was overkill is an understatement. It was unfortunate, because capturing the two of them would have left us with something that we could trade for Bemmut.

In another day or two, we finally saw ahead a large cavern. This must have been where the dark elves were. Igbot ventured forth, and returned reporting that he saw several sentries abound. Due to some miscalculation or miscommunication perhaps, we made a serious tactical error, and the bugbear sentries were able to sound the alarm, also awaking a large rust colored giant. The fight was short but decisive, and no long after, we stood over our fallen foes. Janne looked heavily injured. Unfortunately, the fortress was also on full alert, and we knew that they'd be coming after us soon.

Not content was just cutting and running, I drank my potion of invisibility, and ventured deeper into the cavern to explore, safe in the knowledge that I could call upon my powers to escape out of any sticky situation. I went to where the slave pen was, and it was lightly defended, with only four guards that I could see. I was able to get myself inside, but unfortunately, I made a bit of noise while inside, and the guards began approaching. I looked around the slave pen and did not see Bemmut, so I decided that it wasn't worth the risk to engage these Drow in battle at the time. I rejoined the party, and tried to convince them that it would be most prudent to mount an assault on the slave pens immediately, because surely the Drow, once they realize that they're under attack, would either move the slaves or kill them. However, none of the others had the courage to go back in. Even Janne, whom I normally expected to be the first to agree with a bold rescue, was unusually quiet. Without the help from the others, I had no choice but to retreat with them. I had a bad feeling about what was about to happen that night...