Sanguine Sunrise #13: To Slave or Not to Slave

General Summary

The Giant sits up and chuckles lowly as he begins speaking. Seeing the faces of the adventurer's dumbfounded, he speaks to the male drow beside him and, in elvish, the drow speaks and os able to communicate with Skek. In a long winded conversation, it becomes apparent what is wanted. The giant/drow duo want new slaves from a nearby Svirfneblin city while the adventurers still want to know where the kruthiks are. Each of them have things they can offer each other, so the party agrees to travel with Torlock, a duergar, to capture ten deep gnome slaves in order to gain that info.
As the group travel throught the fungal forest, they spot a single eyed creature with multiple eye stalks off of it circling about 80 feet away due to the low light. They quickly move to hide, only to find that the large mushrooms are creatures that attempt to hold onto them and eat away at them. Grimace drops immediately, but eventually the one that grabs him is slain, and the group runs away, evading everything in the area.
After this, they come across a giant wall built against large fungal growths. They see earth elementals sitting outside of it and wait for about half an hour to see a search party exit the city. The party has seven deep gnomes, a strange red creature made of rock with a giant toothy maw that covers most of its topmost area, resembling a face, and a strange looking drow. The group attempts to sneak up on the party, but the bodyguards spot them, so Grimace charges forward.
He begins speaking to the drow and lies, but his deceptions are easily seen through. Due to this conversation goingh longer than to his liking, Luthrin begins casting a spell in case of combat. The search party begins to attempt to disorient Luthrin and prepare if a fight actually starts, and it soon does as Skek shoots the xorn bodyguard. This fight is difficult and the drow bodyguard escapes after casting spells to call backup. 
Due to the loud noise made by combat, another search party of deep gnomes appears surrounded by mud mephits. The party fights them off as the drow bodyguard returns on her own and casts a fireball on Grimace and Skek. Luthrin kills one of the gnomes and raises it as a spectre to attack the drow while he continues fighting the mephits.
Everyone leaves the fight with one gnome and nine elementals dead and ten deep gnomes in chains. Grimace attempts to communicate with the non-common speaking gnomes, but this conversation fails. Grimace additionally, finally speaks up about his concerns with slavedriving, but the other two accept its usage. 
However, as they are heading back, the saddened gnomes make Luthrin grow a semblance of a conscience and he decides not to go through with it. The group free the gnomes, and they search for a way past the deformed giants territory alive, and with no slave driving sin upon their souls.

Report Date

10 Aug 2020