14-FEB-2009

Kidnapped

Our heroes are spread out all over the keep, mainly within the library stacks and the inn.  As Elrond walks to the Stacks, he notices the sky darkening to the east.  After he enters, the darkness begins to permeate the walls of the castle.  As darkness envelopes our heroes, Aisha is dominated by Sher Baig, who has been impersonating a librarian.  In the darkness, Drow begin to strike knocking our Elrond.  Hurley is also knocked out, but Char activates her staff and transports Hurley and herself to the inn, where Hurley is revived.  There, they try to find Derras and Freya, who seem to have already been taken.  They try to find Elrond next, but he seems to have gone to the library and expects trouble of some sort.  While returning to the library Char and Hurley are attacked again and Char is knocked out this time.  Hurley manages to activate the staff and transports them to the temple of Visaria, but finds that the Drow priestess Lesamedalaquar has invaded it.  After a valiant effort to hoodwink the drow by Hurley, he finds himself dominated.

In the staging area of the castle are gathered contingents of Sher Baig's Fivtorians, Lesamedalaquar's Drow and Lotash's loyalists.  Our heroes are shackled into a prison wagon and are taken towards The Crater.  Before the decent into the ground, Elrond manages to free himself and partially free Char, but darkness makes it impossible to free anyone else.  One day the Drow appear to turn on the Lotashians and slaughter them.  The Drow decide to sell their prisoners into slavery, but they are attacked and slaughtered leaving our heroes abandoned underground.  However, less than a day goes by before a thief investigates.  After our heroes convince the crater gnome to unlock their gear, the gnome does so and decide he would rather keep it.  After a battle that that leaves Elrond and the gnome dying, Scamper manages to find the keys for the shackles on one of the dead Drow.  After quickly freeing themselves, our heroes make sure the gnome is dead and Elrond is saved.

Once our heroes are cleaned and re-equipped, Hurley pulls out his compass and finds that there is an exit from these tunnels in a different direction than from the way they entered.  After trudging throught the tunnels for about a mile, they find they are in a cave in the wall of The Crater.  After climbing onto the rim of The Crater, they realize that traveling south with bring them to Troll's Bridge.  For the rest of the day, they travel mostly south, though veering west and find the Gnomish hamlet of Gneville, who welcome them to stay as long as the wish.