Escape into the night

[Sabaal]

The drow rogue was nervous. She knew they were comming after her and she could barely escape alive from their last attack. Matron Alauniira's assassins were making a good job so far in chasing her but so far, they have failed and the Matron was not a patient woman. She did not allow her people to fail and she was loosing the favor of Lolth for the escaping of both of her twin daughters.

Lilac, her fighting twin, had escaped with a living human baby girl in her arms and her mother. Both were supposed to be delivered to Lolth in the last ceremony, and so Argos had escaped in a different direction, to confuse the pursuers, giving her twin sister a chance to get out of there alive. It had been a week, or was it more? since she had last seen her twin, but she could feel it in her guts that she was not dead, therefore Alauniira had not been able to lay her filthy hands upon her fighter sister, and that made the rogue sister really happy. Even if she didn't make it to wherever her steps would take her away from her matron mother and a certain deadly Blooding At least her sister and the baby would be fine.
But the last attack had left her worn, with a deep wound in her leg and a stab in her shoulder she had to use her last healing potion. Even when she knew how to distillate poisons and potions she didn't have either the time or the equipment to do such a thing. She damned her luck, besides... where could a lone drow go in the Underdark?... where could a lone drow in any part of the world?

With that thought in her mind Argos had to keep walking and escaping, because wherever her steps would take her she was sure she wouldn't be feeding Lolth's perverses appetites for nothing in the world. She had to find some safe place to rest, but the nervousness and awareness of the moments wouldn't let her stay in one place for long, and as she knew that her pursuers could see her heat patterns as well as she could see theirs, she was running as fast as she could using the tip of her feet to leave the less amount possible of heat in the cold floor of stone of the corridors where she was going. Also for the same reason, she was running with the Kariss always in her hands, so if she had to touch the walls she'd do it with the cold of her blades instead of her warm hands.

In every corner she stopped and looked not only right and left, but also up, to avoid any ambush that could have been prepared with a levitating drow.

[Titus]

Story Teller: Indeed the pursuers were always on her heels, there was little time for any rest, or they would be up upon her in no time. Hiding her tracks did help made it much harder if they had not a diviner with them. Hours passed as time wore on it seemed her pursuers had slacked off, and the drafts of cool fresh air were more frequent now. The surface was close there was no doubting it. Even the caverns were much larger and spacious. It Even now that she looked at it would look as if the stone was more hand work as if it had been visited and actually crafted to the shape it is now. Along the ground there were tall columns that reached up into the dark above. A low ambient light lit up the area with a soft blue glow from local algae. It was quiet though to quiet even for the caverns of the dark. There in the corner of her eye was it movement? or just a trick of the imagination. It suddenly would feel like she was very exposed here. As another shadow flickered here and there. There was plenty of places to hide though the walls were smoothed much harder to climb with out proper tools. Though the collums wernt so flat that one couldent perhaps use them or climb them.

[Sabaal]

"The surface?" she thought.

Argos felt the fresher air and thought the surface was not really such a bad idea. The sunlight may not really be THAT appealing to the drow but it could, maybe, delay some more her pursuers.

With the hope that she could have a couple more seconds now that they seemed to have lost her track, she did not feel any safer. The light in the cavern, caused by the glowing algae was really unsettling to her and she felt exposed as there were little shadows only, not enough to use her abbility to hide in them, but the pillars were something that she could maybe use. She looked up to see if there was anyone levitating there as far as her sight could reach, waiting for her.

She turned around quickly as her eyes caught movement in one of the shadows. Maybe she was not alone. [COLOR=purple]"The perfect place for a trap."[COLOR=purple] She needed to act quickly so she runned behind the pillars. Looking up at them she realiced they were not as flat as the walls and maybe she'd be able to climb them. Of course she could levitate all the way up but she wanted to keep that for later in case she'd need to do that. In fact, she was certain she'd need all of her magickal racial abbilityes if she wanted to escape alive.

She sheathed both of her Kariss. The poison of her blades were not dangerous if ingested, but they were still really sharp and runned behind the second pillar she could find, always running with the tip of her feet. Her steps? the farest she could jump from one to the next.

Once she got behind the pillar she jumped and held to it and made her best effort to climb it as fast as her arms and legs allowed her. She thought that once she reached the top of the cavern she could use her levitation and propel from one pillar to the next untill she reached the exit, hoping they were not waiting for her there.

(ooc: Sorry, I'll post the chharacter sheet soon, ok?)

[Titus]

Story TellerPerhaps it was her paranoia of her pursuers that brought her to believe it was a trap laid out for her. Nay there had been nothing as far as she could tell that hampered her movement through the cavern. Could it be because she had taken the high route across the cavern. Or was it that they were just watching and waiting.

On she would come to the end of the cavern another tunnel way like many she had seen before, though the smell of fresh air and the cool moist breeze. It even almost sounded like there were voices ringing softly down hearable only to sensative ears. Whispers of an unknown language sang off to her ear, Unknown so far that the voices were so low they were barely audible.

[Sabaal]

Argos was escaping from the assassins and she used her last healing potion. She had been running away for a while without stopping to rest and covering her tracks the best she could. Then she arrived to a big cae that had columns, as if it had been worked by some race, probably dwarven, but the cave had glowing algae or something like that and so she felt exposed, so she climbed one of the columns
and levtated from one column to the next untill she reached the other side of the cavern where she could hear people talking in a lenguage that she couldn't understand... and there she was, trying to decide what to do next. Supposedly the cave was closer to the surface because there was some fresher air there

[c=3]The Fiddler.[/c] says:
Oh ok so does she investigate the voices?)

Antonella says:
without dropping the levitation. She uses the ceiling to take impulse through the tunnels to ery excinvestigate the voices... she's not ited abut it, but she's not willing to go back or stay for too long in any place

[c=3]The Fiddler.[/c] says:
the voices as she listend to them sounded like that of a group of gnome explorers searching about or something. They were speaking really fast as if they had just found something exciting. The creeping feeling of assassins seeking her shadow in the dark. A choice remained head twords the gnomes and risk exposure on a race most likely hostile to a drow. Or go back to the assassins and face them off there? THe unknown or the known either way a chance of death was at hand. -d-

Antonella says:
"Hummm... even if I go back and face the assassing I'll have to, eventually, come back here and face the gnomes if I want to exit this damned caves... still the idea of being outnumbered be it by Drow or gnomes, is not appealing" she thought to herself. She decided to stay attached to the ceiling, in complete silence, and watch the Gnomes for a while. Maybe she could find out what did they find...
... and find out if they were fighters or not

[c=3]The Fiddler.[/c] says:
Haveing secured a fairly strong hideing place her art of concielment serveing well up above to the oblivious gnomes. Below they talked a bit slower now still in thier own language shoudl she not know deep gnome she wouldent understand them. Though A particular jeweled statue was being reverently discussed as they all praised its find. It was obviously important and quite valuable as its make was platinum with diamond and Emerald studings. With a larger blue gemstone within the statues hands. There were four gnomes there each explorers geared as such. Two brandished swords on thier hips another looked to be an engeneer and the other some kind of robed sage or mage. closer the shadow of the assassins were felt encroaching upon her. The tunnel way out was just beyond the light of the dwarves camp. And The Levetation spell was starting to fade. -d-

Antonella says:
"If only I could lay my hands on that statue... it seems important for them, so if I got it I could try to make a bargain... they help me with the drow and I give it back; they don't help and I destroy it..." she kept thinking, bu the gnomes didn't seem to be even a bit tired to stop and the levitation spell was starting to fade. She approached to one of the walls hoping to find somewhere to...
... hold to so that she wouldn't fall right on top of the little gnomes. Argos swallowed saliva. She'd actually hoped to avoid havingto fight with the gnomes but there was no way she was comming back to the assassins... or maybe she'd rather fight the known dangers than the new one? "Oh, FUCK! Why?" she kept thinking to herself "Are the Gods against me?"
She decided to stay with the gnomes. She'd steal the statue at the first chance that she could, just to try to make the bargain with them. She didn't intend to harm the gnomes or the statue if she could

[c=3]The Fiddler.[/c] says:
The Gnomes were packed and begain thier way down the tunnel where the fresh air was comeing from. As the assassins could be felt closely their howling haunt that only drow ears heard was creeping in upon her. As the levitation spell begain to drop her down from her higher perch. The magic being drained more as she got close to the gnomes, as the statue begain to glow brighter while magic was being currently under flux. Fadeing back to normal as her spell droped her down to the ground. The feeling of eyes upon her from the shadows crept at the spine

[Sabaal]

(Argos right now doesn't know which God or godess to follow. She was raised in a hse of followers of Lolth but she despises the spider Queen. She could be very well an unwilling follower of Vhaeraun (unwilling not because she wouldn't want to; she doesn't know it) because she's a rogue, but she has always wanted to learn magicks. Right now she's like "I'm here if anyone wants me to follow")

Argos climbs down the wall, still not knowing what to do. "If any god's still on my side it would be time for a little help" she thought to herself, she messedup her hair a bt and walked towards the gnomes, hoping that any of them spoke Undercommon...
As she messed up her hair and clothes she also hid her weapons. She approached the gnomes with caution, as if she didn't want to beseen (which she prefered not to be seen) and tried to look pitty and as friendly as a Drow could look to a bunch of gnomes...

"Uhmmm..." she starts mumbing as she approaces the gnomes, looking nervous and talking in undercommon "Hello... Good gnomes... I'm sorry. I'm just a merchant and I was on my way to sell my goods to the city, but a group of thieves assaulted me on my way... anyone understands me? well, they took everything and left me in this pity condition. I don't usually mess in other people's business, but I..."

she interrupted herself, faking to have seen the statuette for the first time ever "Is that... Hummm... I think... I heard them talking bout stealing a statuette of a female. They sayed it glowed in the dark, or with magick or something. They sayed it was an assignment for some mage in the city... or was it for a cleric? Maybe it was that statue you have there. Nice piece of art, by the way"

[c=3]The Fiddler.[/c] dice:
The gnomes picking up the tremors of her foot steps before she came into the light of the camp. they had all turned and trained their weapons on the Drow. though they did not attack. Two sword wielding warriors forward ready to attack the shaby drow female. The Engeneer had its strange crossbow trained on the womans heart just as the staff wielding apparent geomancer of the group. It was this mage that answered back in undercommon. 'There are no Female Drow Merchants, no female would degrade her self to such a low status." The two wariors approched but were more inspecting like rather then hostilly attacking. Though thier guard was up still no tricks from this drow. So much so that the fire grew brighter at the behest of the Gnome mage. Causing less and less shadow in the cavern. Searching her person for the trademark viper whip. "Nel tarock endenah hiss..?" One of the wariors squeeked back to the others. "Where is your whip priestess." They did not seem to be buying her tale, but this could just simply be due to the distrust and animosity twords Drow. Though they haddent attacked-c-

Antonella dice:
"You're right... no NOBLE female drow merchants. I'm no Noble"
"I'm no cleric. I can't even make a simple levitation!"

[c=3]The Fiddler.[/c] dice:
"Tell us why you are really here Drow and maybe we will let you live." At that very moment to her sensative ears the soft clicking of drow hand crossbow was heard as one of the wariors went down with a dart in its neck. Not a fatal wound but that horrible poison that worked so quickly paralized one fairly quick in a vital shot. "TO ARMS!!" The still standing warrior charged as a bolt was let loose from the crossbow. the geomancer gathering fire into a fire ball like spell. all seemed to slow down before her the bolts jagged arrrow head slowly approaching as each step seemed to take minutes for only a few seconds of movement. Within the shadows the sound of another bolt click let loose all seemed to be hell comeing upon her for running away. -d-

Antonella dice:
"You can believe me or you can wait here untill the thieves come for wha you have... if that's the statue I heard about"

She dodges the bolt and moves fast to put the paralyzed gnome out of harm way and I ready to defend myself with the Kariss, but trying not to hurt the gnome warrior if possible. What I really wat to do is to have one of the assassing in range to throw him or her one of my throwing daggers.

[c=3]The Fiddler.[/c] dice:
Dodgeing the bolt it clanked against stone behin her causing a spark flash just enough to give sight to three assassins lurking in the shadows two higher up on levitateing perches. A third simply standing there watching and waiting. This one shed remember to be the famed Assassin L'Venoric Straee. The one who had put that horrible wound in her leg not to long ago. The Chargeing warrior stoped as the sparks revealed. Falling to the deadly accurate paralizeing dart of another assassin. Shadows concealing them once more darkvision revealed their heat trace haveing simply dissapeared from their previous position. A hurled dagger in the dark was heard sinking home as the ensueing grunt was heard. A sudden flash as the ball of fire had been released. She had time enough to catch the falling warrior gnome and get him to safty. Just as the ball exploded. Its magic however being drained into the outstretched hand of L'Venoric. "Cross us no more Svirfniblin we will take our proporty and be on our way. You need not throw your lives away." his voice was cold and calculative, there wasent a chance he was going to let them all go. No not if it was truely the Legendary L'Venoric she had heard of and had been chased by.

Antonella dice:
"HE'S NOT GONNA LET YOU GO! CAN'T YOU SEE?" she yells at the gnomes and keeps throwing knives at the drows that she can for a while, while trying to get away. Surely if he doesn't kill the svirfnebli he'll take them as a bonus to whatever matron wants to buy them as slaves. After all they're strong enough for work.

[c=3]The Fiddler.[/c] dice:
The Engeneer was beside himself "Ahhh burnem all" From the end of his crossbow a gout of steam spewed into the dark shadow. L'Venoric holding his hand up thinking it would be absorbed but was he sadly mistaken. It was not magic that produced this flash steam. But pure gnomish science. retreating from the field as his two assassin compatriots were not so lucky the steam engulfed them boiling skin and leather armors. Consecutive boltsthudded into their bodies laying htem low to the ground. L'[Venoric however had escaped into the darkness of the furhter back tunnels. All was calm now the two warriors poisioned and unconsious at the time being. The Engeneer approached the drow female, shouldering his strange crossbow. "Nibblehop Steampunch, I saw you save Neteri there from the blast radius. You have our thanks for the time being Drow. You may travel with us untill the gates of our city there you may prove you are a merchant or be on your way. But know that I got my eye on you." Leaning in closer tapping on a mechanicized eye that shed have no idea of what its proporties were. Gnomes were known for thier inventive nature and furthest advancements ever in science and technology. Why The drow had to think they were better was beyond the Gnomes. The Robed geomancer had brought up the body of the other knocked out warrior. 'Nibs you got an idea about what poision they used?" Thier tongue that of undercommon so not to exclude the drow at this time.