Abyses 7: Do It For 🐟

Search and Destroy
The gang agreed to help the Drow ghost destroy his corpse which was currently being held by the nearby Human tribe, much to Shuushar’s relief. After opening the door to the alleged human outpost, a bell rang and the gang was set upon by a pale eyeless gaunt creature with jagged teeth, enlarged ears, and a bloated stomach. The creature wielded a crude mace, it was a Zurkwhood branch studded with spikes of bone and bound with a bluish gray leather. The crowded doorway made the fighting the thing was awkward but it was ultimately no match for the party. Shuushar looked sadly at the corpse and explained that just as Drow are the Underdark counterpart to Elves, these creatures known by most as “Grimlocks” are the Underdark counterpart to Humans.

A Bar Where Everyone Eats Your Face
The gang stepped inside and realized that this was a bar, or at least a crude approximation of one. The gang then heard some scratching coming from the closet door in the back, Darank and Gavin set up a barricade then cautiously forced it open. As they did so a hoard of humanoid limbs began crawling out, over the barricade, and out the door, ignoring the party completely. Gavin and Shuushar then took the Grimlock to the back of the closet and had a funeral, ending with Gavin using his newly acquired fire magic to cremate it, preventing the corpse from becoming restless. During this time Demetrius and Darank looked around the bar, finding most of the bottles were filled with dirty water and the bowl of beer nuts on the counter was actually just pebbles.

Gavin took the chance to sit down at the bar and break out the expensive Fisher Spirits he purchased from the wandering Druegar merchant. Though before opening it he began to talk about how much he enjoyed drinking on the surface, following the death of his wife. She passed while giving birth to the daughter Gavin delved into the Underdark to find. Gavin went on to confess that his nine year-old daughter was not kidnapped like Darank’s family, she ran into the Underdark herself after Gavin blamed her for her mother’s death during a drunken episode. He ended the confession by cursing the bottle of booze and smashing it against the wall. Shuushar concoled Gavin, congratulating him on resisting his addiction and assuring him that Gavin being here is proof enough that he isn’t beyond redemption.

Don’t Tell Shuushar
The group was ready to move on, but elected to keep Shuushar and Bop back at the bar and out of harm’s way. Shuushar agreed to this on the conditions that the gang would only use violence as a last resort, and that if they did use violence that they would not kill anyone. Immediately after passing into the next room the gang was jumped on by more Grimlocks, their rough skin blending in well with the surrounding cave walls. The gang dispatched the Grimlocks rather easily, and fatally. Gavin communicated with Shuushar via Message to make sure he was safe, ignoring Shuushar’s questions about how peace talks with the Grimlocks were going.

The gang found three doors, one was sealed with a lock covered in runes, one lead deeper into the base. The last door was almost rusted off its hinges, the room contained cages with wounded and malnourished animals which the Gang freed, only one cage was empty, likely due to the fact that it was rusted beyond use. The Grimlocks in the cave were plentiful, but the gang managed to slay them all without being overrun or too heavily injured. Darank found a key on the most ferocious Grimlock that had the same markings as the lock in the precious room. The largest section of the cave was a dugout arena that the blind creatures would apparently have animals fight each other in for entertainment, currently a giant centipede-like creature was fighting a giant mole-like creature. Impaled on the wall above the arena was the Drow corpse the gang was sent to find, it was Ludav’s.

I Trust This Man with Every Cell In My Body
Gavin was the first to recognize him, and to the gang’s surprise he responded, in common. His body was in even worse shape that it was when the gang saw him die. It was riddled with arrow holes, there were lacerations around his neck, the spear through his abdomen, a massive gash taken out of his left bicep, and the fatal wound inflicted on him when the gang first fled the drow. All these wounds were bleeding constantly, generating much more blood than seemed possible for a creature of Ludav’s size. Demetrius was able to retrieve the Drow off the wall using some very impressive athletics, as well as some clever use of rope. After he was back on the ground, the Drow explained that he was not Ludav, but rather a human named King Reven. He was said he’s the monarch of the kingdom of Corvidae, and was only using the corpse of Ludav to return to his base. The group had heard of no such King or kingdom. He thanked the group for saving him from such an awful place, and asked if they would be willing to do another favor. If the group agreed to escort him to his base he would reward them with whatever equipment of his kingdom was still there, and would help them in any way he could during the trip.

During his interactions with the party he was very amicable towards Gavin and Demetrius, but hostile towards Darank and called him a “mutant” several times. When Gavin went to dress his wounds he realized that Reven was an undead. Gavin gave Reven a new change of clothes and the gang briefly discussed their first impressions of him while he went into a separate room to change. Reven returned, his wounds immediately bleeding through the fresh clothes. Before leaving the gang looked around the base. Gavin pulled out as many canine teeth as he could to add to his wealth, and Demetrius double checked to make sure they had the right Drow corpse, accidentally finding three dead juvenile Grimlocks in the room Reven changed clothes in.

Darank opened the locked door with the key he found, revealing a massive pile of belongings from the Grimlock’s victims. Darank found a gas-like potion near the top of the pile. Gavin dove into the pile, which was mostly greasy clothes and rust dust. Two insectoid creatures then immediately lashed at him. When Gavin struck back his mace began to rust, which was Demetrius and Darank’s cue to leave. Gavin and Reven finished off the two monsters, and the gang agreed to give Gavin most of the loot.

Take Fourteen Days To Think About It
They then reunited with Shuushar, ignored his questions about how things went down, and returned to Ludav’s ghost who threatened to haunt the gang if they did not immediately fulfill his request to destroy his corpse.