On the previous cycle, Sharon was approached by Ridga about her investigation into the illithid ceremorphosis hideout they had raided not long ago. Having now packed her usual adventuring gear, including her breathing mask, Sharon ventured into Undersigil. The sorceress traced her steps through the maze-like tunnels until finally reaching the now-abandoned area.
Sharon's gaze flicked in the darkness as what little light remained reflected off her eyes, giving them an animal-like glow from her blue irises. Upon giving the first chamber a cursory look-around, Sharon reached into the pocket near her shoulder and pulled out a pair of spectacles, fitted with tinted blue lenses. The sorceress may not have a spell of True Seeing, but glasses fitted with a Gem of Seeing should provide the same effect of seeing through possible illusions. The woman gently slipped her glasses on, then gave them a tap on the rim and murmured the command word to activate them.
"Let's hope the scavengers left something behind," Sharon murmured quietly to herself.
She was careful, meticulous in her search for something there. Magical, psionic, any parchment or other things that could stand out to her. The woman, calling upon her lycanthropic nature, lifted her head and even sniffed the air for anything that Ridga may have missed in her investigations prior.
Ridga hears of a few mind flayers that match this description, some are slavers themselves while others are frequent buyers of the flesh market. However, there is one mind flayer that stood out among the others that goes by the name Zabesk.
Zabesk, an up and coming merchant of the bazaar, is an Indep with a minor reputation. While mind flayers are commonly known for their elitist and tyrannical mindset, this one appears almost pleasant to converse with and is rumored to have partnerships with a handful of other merchants.
Sharon's result:
As Sharon searches through the empty chambers of the former ilithid dwelling, she comes across a portion of a wall that was concealed by illusion. The illusion melts away to reveal a small room on the other side. Shelves filled with brains floating in a translucent liquid decorate the walls of the room followed a bench covered in various beakers, flasks, vials, and other assorted items for alchemical uses.
When Sharon entered, a faint light illuminated the marble pedestal that sat in the center of the room. A metal stand in the semblance of a mindflayer's head sat on top of the pedestal with an opaque crystal the size of her hand rested in its maw. With her knowledge in both magic and the multiverse, she picks up that it is a psicrystal though it appears dormant.
Though not an expert in alchemy, the materials in the room remind Sharon of an exothermic process for metabolizing compounds. Specifically, the illithid was creating poison though she is unsure what kind.
After learning of Zabesk's presence, Ridga returned to her room at Chirper's, and began drafting another letter...
Phyrra,
I have asked Sharon to investigate Kaeliss's lair. Hopefully she will uncover anything I missed; I have instructed her to report anything she finds back to you. Also, I have heard of a mindflayer named Zabesk. He is a member of the Free League, and has no involvement in the thrall trade. He is said to be pleasant to converse with, in contrast to most other mindflayers, and he has partnerships with a few other merchants. He sells his stock in the bazaar, so he should be hard to miss if we require his services. I recommend that we take anything Sharon finds to him for appraisal.
I will see about finding the githyanki outpost next; I assume that this outpost is distinct from the fortress near Dead God Rock. It may take me some time, so if you should write back to me, do not be alarmed if I do not respond immediately.
See you soon, Ridga Allinsdottir
P.S. If there are any other svartalf clergymen or women of the Maiden/the Lady/Phyrra's faith reading this letter who are not either Phyrra or Laela, I am seeking steady employment in an honorable profession. I do not drink the blood of the innocent. I feed on vials of congealed blood, cattle, or the enemy, physiology permitting and with your permission. Please consider accepting my services as a warrior. Thank you!
Ridga sealed the letter and delivered it to a courier to find its way to the drow. Afterwards, she left for Dead God Rock and asked around for which merchants had sighted the githyanki. Assuming she identified any, she would ask them for passage onto their ship in the hopes of finding a githyanki vessel. Her pitch was not the best - who in their right mind would deliberately seek out githyanki ships? Who would endanger the crew like that? - but she swore she would not endanger the crew, and made it clear she would be willing to pay for passage.
As Sharon searches through the empty chambers of the former ilithid dwelling, she comes across a portion of a wall that was concealed by illusion. The illusion melts away to reveal a small room on the other side. Shelves filled with brains floating in a translucent liquid decorate the walls of the room followed a bench covered in various beakers, flasks, vials, and other assorted items for alchemical uses.
When Sharon entered, a faint light illuminated the marble pedestal that sat in the center of the room. A metal stand in the semblance of a mindflayer's head sat on top of the pedestal with an opaque crystal the size of her hand rested in its maw. With her knowledge in both magic and the multiverse, she picks up that it is a psicrystal though it appears dormant.
Though not an expert in alchemy, the materials in the room remind Sharon of an exothermic process for metabolizing compounds. Specifically, the illithid was creating poison though she is unsure what kind.
"I thought so," Sharon mumbled, a smirk forming on her lips. The sorceress, after a quick inspection of the newly-revealed pathway, stepped forward and entered the room. Her gaze shifted among the various jars of preserved brains on the shelves before settling on the bench of alchemical mixtures, brow furrowed. "And just what exactly have you been up to, Kaeliss?"
Sharon's eyes were immediately attracted to the illuminated crystal in the center of the room. She paused, then slowly approached it as she gave it an appraising look-over. Of course a mindflayer would make use of a psicrystal, given their natural affinity, but what exactly was going on back here, enough to hide the room but not the rest of the area? The woman pulled out a pair of soft shearling gloves, slipped them on, then proceeded to lift the psicrystal free from its resting place. She tucked the crystal away into her bag carefully, then approached the alchemist bench.
After taking a cursory look over the brewed mixture, Sharon tapped her chin and mused to herself aloud. "Poison. An odd thing for the illithid to dabble into. You weren't running just a simple ceremorphosis hideout, were you?" She looked up at the various brains in the jar, then back to the poison. "Not just any ordinary poison, I'd hazard a guess."
The woman gathered a few empty vials from her pouches and gathered up several samples of the poison, making sure to seal them up tightly. With a look of realization, Sharon looked to the nearest brain in the jar and frowned. "I wonder..." she murmured to herself, then slowly approached the shelves of brains, still holding one vial of the concoction. After a momentary pause, she dumped the contents of the poison in the jar, then waited to see the results.
Unfortunately no captain of any vessel was willing to allow Ridga onto their ship if she was seeking out the githyanki. The vessels that passed through the Dead God Rock were very much trying to avoid antagonizing the gith raiders, so even the promise of money was not enough. However, if she wanted to pay for a trip along one of the trade routes as a sellsword and was also willing to pay, that was a different matter entirely.
Sharon
Dumping the contents into the jar didn't appear to have any effect. If it was a poison, it was possible that she wouldn't see any immediate results on the dead tissue of the preserved brains.
Not wanting to commit to a contract that at this time she would be unable to fulfill, Ridga instead politely asked around for the trade routes on which the githyanki vessels had been sighted, their start and endpoints, and what hazards were on said trade routes. She expressed a willingness to pay for maps of these trade routes, although that was as much an expression of her cluelessness in regards to the Astral Plane as an honest quest for information.
Bloodlines wrote:Dumping the contents into the jar didn't appear to have any effect. If it was a poison, it was possible that she wouldn't see any immediate results on the dead tissue of the preserved brains.
Sharon watched the non-reaction for a few minutes. She cast a paranoid gaze toward the exit of the room now and then before her brow furrowed. "There goes my guess." The sorceress refilled the empty vial with another sample of the poison, sealed it tightly, then turned to leave. Her hand sat on one particular pouch on her hip, considering something, then shook her head. "I doubt there's anything of use to others here, now. Time to get back to Ridga with my findings."
Ridga is able to procure a few maps that show the commonly known trade routes of Dead God Rock. A few were kind enough to mark sightings of githyanki vessels and their known holdouts.
To Sharon
Aside the occasional bugbear or cranium rat, Sharon was met with little resistance in returning to the surface.
After the meeting with Zabesk, and after speaking with Argent after Phyrra and Laela left, Ridga began asking around the Market Ward and the Hive for merchants or others who regularly dealt with the githyanki. Although noncommittal at this point, she also asked about the possibilities of sending a message to them through them asking them to set up a meeting.
Afterwards, she went to Dead God Rock once again and began asking about the price of a ship capable of flying the Astral skies, one to buy for her very own. She would ask which ships were available, and at what price, keeping an ear out for the cheapest available vessel.
Argent decides to check the Hall of Speakers for Githyanki that are within the faction with more open mind that speak with him bout being a contact point with their kin or how he imagine to get their attention without an open attack, letting it be known that hes interested in investigating an illithid colony that does not "promote positivity" leaving the factors business left to the imagination.
If he does think to find one these open minded folk he also querry about the culture for pointers to not appear as a weak "ally" in a temporary move and lively discussion philosophies.