Below the Happy Beggar

Following a good night’s rest, we returned to the Happy Beggar, determined to explore the secret passage that Nalklyr had found. Reniss, the sister of the Farstriders fallen member Jen, had asked to accompany us and having seen her lethal looking bow and twin swords, we had readily agreed. As we set out, it seemed clear that our recent travails had imbued in all of us new levels of insight into our chosen areas of expertise – I for one had finally mastered a new spell that had eluded me for some time, so secretly hoped for an opportunity to test it out…
The Happy Beggar was peopled by the same joyless crowd as our previous visit; it seems often the case with gatherings of the religiously minded that one is required to check in ones sense of humour at the door on arrival. Prashant and Ausma, the patrons, were bustling around administering aid and wise words to the poor and needy, and seemed pleased to see us; less so however when, tired of dissembling, Nalklyr and Grogar decided to come clean about the passage we had found and our reasons for wanting to explore. Prashant insisted that the cellar was disused due to a collapsed ceiling and was far too dangerous for us to enter; he seemed resolute in his position and started to get rather agitated. Grogar was able to calm him however and when Nalkyr showed him the secret door, he capitulated and remembered that in recent months, he had often found the door to the cellar open when he was certain he had always left it locked.
Leaving the old man scratching his head, we filed through the secret door into a rough hewn passage, Nalklyr scouting ahead in an attempt to give us advance warning of any danger. Shortly after he disappeared down a twisting passageway, we heard a cry of “Giant Bats!” and the Drow trotted back towards us, a wry smile on his face. “The passage ends in a steep slope that drops into a cave – four giant bats reside therein.” With that, he withdrew into the shadows as we assumed what had become our customary marching order – as ever, the massive human warrior Garig eagerly taking the vanguard.
As we reached the cave entrance, it became clear that the slope leading into it was treacherous indeed; it banked downwards at a steep angle and was covered in loose shale and stones. The cave itself was split by a sheer cliff face of some twenty feet in height and as we peered upwards, the bats that Nalkyr had spotted became visible to us all; each was the size of a large man, and sported menacing sword-like appendages on their tails….
With a roar, Garig charged down the slope, half-running, half-falling, and yelled a challenge to the circling creatures; Grogar and Melech followed closely afterwards and as they stood in a defensive formation, the bats began to swoop past, attacking with their tail weapons. The creatures mobility quickly told, as they focused attacks on Garig and did him grievous harm; Melech soon had him hale and hearty again through a yelled exhortation to greater efforts, but the creatures strategy of swooping past to launch a flying attack made them damnably hard to hit. We started to get their measure however, as the fighters readied attacks for the moment the bats drew into range; meanwhile, myself, Reniss and Nalklyr launched ranged attacks at telling moments.
After making heavy weather of the vicious beasts, we eventually felled all four and were forced to rest for a few moments, to recover our strength. For my part, I used the time to summon a magical Floating Disc, so as to traverse the steep slope and cliff face in a dignified manner; Melech also availed himself of this wizardly form of transport, in a rare display of good sense. My comrades used their athleticism and brute strength to traverse the obstacles before us, so that we once again filed down a rough hewn corridor away from the chamber of the bats, in our customary order of readiness.
Some way on, we came silently upon a further chamber, quite large and occupied by several beings, not least another Shadar-Kai Witch! The chamber looked to be a disused temple of some kind and currently contained, aside from the Witch, around half a dozen or so Dark Creepers who were manhandling two caged Shadowhounds. It was clear that we had come upon the cavern with sufficient stealth as to go, at this point, unnoticed by the occupants, so I was able to pass on what knowledge I had of them; Shadar-Kai are known as murderous followers of Kelemvor and the Shadowhounds I seemed to recall were used for their relentless tracking and hunting instincts. All in all, this looked like quite a fight….
Steeling ourselves for a fierce battle, we entered the room and used the element of surprise to fan out into strategically advantageous positions; Garig and Melech charged the knot of Dark Creepers to tie them up in melee, Grogar made a bee-line for the Witch, whilst Nalklyr melted into shadows, seeking to harry the witch with his lethal crossbow attacks. I hung back, seeking a spot that allowed me to use my magic to control the battlefield.
As battle was joined, one of the Dark Creepers contrived a way to get free from Garig and Melech’s whirlwind of attacks and release the Shadowhounds; the battle took on a new intensity as the fierce beasts joined the fray and began to teleport at will, appearing from nowhere to attack us, both with vicious bites and more worryingly, some kind of psychic attack, focused through a bloodcurdling howl.
Fortuntately, Grogar and Nalklyr, helped by Reniss and her trusty bow, had severely weakened the Witch, who was affecting virtually all of us with demoralising psychic blasts; a focused attack from all of us finished her off, just in time, as the Shadowhounds teleported right into our midst. With myself and Nalklyr isolated from our melee support, things looked dangerous for both of us… At this point I was able to test my new spell, creating a zone of grasping shadows right on top of the hounds, then blasting one of them away from us with a wave of thunder; Nalklry threw caution to the wind and pressed the remaining hound, hoping to finish it before its fellow rejoined the fray. Grogar sensed his intention and charged the beast, with no regard for his own safety; the combination of attacks, both physical and magical, was sufficient to destroy the foul creature. No respite however, as the second hound charged back into the fray, directly into my zone of shadow! Once again, a focused combination of attacks blasted into the hound and despite its demoralizing howl, we were able to send it back to its maker; several healing interventions were required at this stage, as Grogar and Melech put those of us who were sorely injured back together, all the while battling the troublesome Creepers, who steadfastly refused to die.
Eventually the room was cleared and we were able to take a few minutes to draw breath; two rooms in to this underground lair and already, we had faced an almost overwhelming number of enemies. As we took a brief rest to recover our strength, we noticed that the room had the look of a long unused temple, with fresco’s decorating the walls – those fresco’s depicted humans performing acts of worship and obeisance to dark, shadowy creatures. Clearly, something was afoot here that was much bigger than the machinations of the erstwhile Modra…
Searching the bodies of the fallen, my comrades came away with a healing potion and a metallic headpiece, which we identified as a Diadem of Acuity; I barely noticed however, intent as I was on studying the strange archway in the middle of the room – it was decorated with crystals and runes and I was able to discern that we stood before a Shadar-Kai portal of teleportation; a clear image of the destination was visible - a dark warehouse, stacked with boxes and crates. We looked at each other apprehensively, an unspoken question in all our minds; “Who first….?”