The House Of Six Fingers

[*Nimiane]

Odette flashes a wide grin in the warm light of the flickering flame, head bobbing in approval to the words offered as the two talk and eventually come to an agreement. She voices some interest over what they may encounter, and the risks involved but otherwise is content to simply listen. As the conversation draws to a close, the bardess takes a nip of whiskey from her flask and follows the swaying hips of the blue-skinned tiefling in silence. Occasionally, a smirking gaze flicks in the direction of the warrior poet but for the most part her eyes and ears remained on the streets around them.

Coming to the location of the portal, the blonde softly hums a series of short notes and wards herself with the bardic spells of Heroism and Greater Heroism. For a moment, her aquamarine orbs flick in the direction of the nearby alleyway as if searching for a small something or someone. Her attention is quickly drawn back to Maelfina's opening of the portal, however, the smoking key drawing the lofting of sandy brows as the gateway yawned it's self into existence before them.

"Aye, of course." she murmurs softly to the fiend-blood's words, gloved digit thumbing the hilt of her rapier all the same. With a nod to she, then her kilted comrade, Odette follows the flick of her blue tail through the portal to experience the slight tugging sensation she had grown accustomed to when venturing through various planes.

Once in the realm that lay beyond, she slowly sinks downward into the familiar embrace of the nearest shadow and allows her form, touched by the Plane of Shadows, to call upon, mingle with and be cloaked by the darkness.

((Hide: 73, Move Silently: 68))

[*Mausman]

* Kelth smirks and nods his agreement at Maelfina*

" Aye, I can agree with tha'. Lead on, Boss..."


* Kelth locks up the door of his house and utters some gutteral chant in Draconic, placing a couple of runes on the door that glow with an eerie dark-red colour, then faint from sight*

*He marches alongside Maelfina, warpaint adorning his face, nodding to her words*

"Arrite, arrite...best put me on rearguard then eh? not much scoutin' with my size goin' on..."

[*EM-Adimarchus]

The landscape which greets the trio upon their arrival is certainly one befitting a layer of the Abyss: strange and alien. The entire layer seems to be one large bowl-shaped dell with giant, seemingly unscalable mountains surrounding its periphery. At the center and bottom of the dell sits a monumental skull, half-buried in the ground and with other like-sized bones littering the landscape immediately surrounding it. The single visable eye-socket of the skull glows with an unsettling light.

Although the land immediately surrounding the portal is blighted and flat (save the ever-present slope down toward the dell), in addition to the odd twisted tree and massive boulder here and there, there are odd landmasses jutting out from the ground like bones breaking the skin of a great beast to both the east and west. Similar landmasses seem scattered across the layer, but their nature and appearance is unclear at this distance.

No sooner has the group gotten their bearings, than a fourth being flutters through the portal. The diminuative succubus, known to most only as 'Sultra', addresses Maelfina:

"The Boss-Lady needs you at once, Mistress. Says its real real urgent."

Mael would cant her head and reply.

"Wha's this 'bout then? I be kinda busy 'ere ye know."

"She wouldn't tell little ol' me, of course. Said it was for your ears only, and that she'd send one of her little helpers off to find you if you don't come at once."

The little succubus makes an ape-like gesture when referring to the 'little helpers' and makes a face. Maelfina sighs and looks over at her two helpers.

"Gunna 'ave ta see ta this righ' quick lass, lad. Kin ye report back ta tha House when ye've located wha' seems a good site fer a base camp o' operations? Wouldnae 'ave wanted ta drag ye down 'ere fer no purpose after all."

Whether they agree, or follow her back to Sigil, Mael turns swiftly around and heads through the portal to Sigil.

((So a quick little announcement here. I posted Maelfina's reply because as of now, Maelfina is officially an NPC and I (Xndar) will be EMing this campaign with DM blessing. All questions and queries regarding the House of Six Fingers should be routed to this username. I look forward to tormenting...I mean working with you all on this story!))

[*Nimiane]

Odette's aquamarine gaze follows each speaker in turn as she steps out from the shadows with the hold-up, sandy-hued brows slowly lofting with the words given. Her attention falls first on Maelfina, then upwards to Kelth as the blue skinned fiend-blood turns and moves back through the portal with a single flick of her tail.

"Guess it's jes' you an' me, eh Big Dog?" she grins with a brief flash of white teeth, drawing a thumb along her jaw in contemplation whilst her eyes dipped from his to weave over the landscape before them. Taking in the rocky outcrops across the barren soil, Odette shakes her head slowly. "Nae a lot t'work with. Any idea what we're looking fer in regards to a defensive position?"

[*Mausman]

*Kelth also scans the surroundings, narrowing his gaze, inclining his head at Maelfina in respect as she departs*

"Aye...jus' ye and me...we'll be fine, dear.

I suggest we're goin' ta look fer a cave. Possibly clear it from anythin' livin' in it. Use these bones scattered 'ere an' there ta make stakes at entrance. Guard duties...expect we won't see much sleep..."

[*EM-Adimarchus]

As Kelth and Odette examine the landscape, it becomes clear that their best chance of finding any advantageous geographical features aside from boulders and bones would be to make for the nearest of the strange outcroppings described previously. Even from a distance they can tell that the land around the outcroppings is much more varied, and may contain caves.

Alternatively, the giant bones littering the center of the dell might provide shelter, but their distance from the portal makes them less than ideal for setting up a base camp.

One last thing both notice before starting off on their venture is that unlike the other layers of the Abyss they have likely been to (Pazunia, the Endless Maze, etc), there seems to be very little sign of habitation on this layer, demonic or otherwise. So far.


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As Vorgazar's Iron Tusks arrive at the House, Maelfina stops by very briefly on her way to answer the summons she had just so urgently received. Approaching the Warchief, she has this to say:

"Oi Vorg. Listen, I gotta run an' meet wit someone rather urgen'ly, but before I go I jes' wanned ta tell ye tha' there'll be very little ta build wit on tha layer I plan on settin up shop in...so when tha time comes fer yer lads ta come, set up camp, an' get bloody, bes' be bringin stuff fer diggin or yer own materials."

She then bids him farewell, and trades a few crude jokes with the Tus'kors as she leaves the House again in a bit of a hurry.

[*Nimiane]

"Mmm. Sounds about right. Suppose though, once we find somethin' suitable we just head back an' let Mael know so she can bring in reinforcements." the blonde nodded a few times to Kelth's words, squinting toward the nearest blemish of rock on the barren surface. Odette clicked her tongue against the back of her teeth thoughtfully, tightening the jagged metallic bracer on her forearm.

"Want me t'go an' scout ahead, or are ya in the mood fer a fancy stroll?"

[*Azulfae]

The orcs seem busy enjoying the House of Six Fingers but occassionally orcs are seen coming and going to the Nishrek portal.

With all the pleasures of the house around them and the anticipation of going into the abyss and attracting battles with creatures that will give them prestige amongst their own kind out in the primes and back home, they are all happy as a peck with a purse.

It seems they are also organising something whilst Maelfina and the others are doing their reconnaisance. After some days of small comings and goings through the Nishrek portal finally a group of 6 heavilly armoured ogrillions emerge each pulling a wagon. The wagons each house a huge leather bag made from the badly patched together hides and a door lock mechanism housing an enchanted jacinth. When one ogrillion opens the doors at the front of a wagon inside can be seen a vast pocket plane cavern filled with iron cubes and mining tools and dismantled parts for seige weaponry of rather poor orcish design. There is little made from wood as it is all from Nishrek and most items are heavy, cumbersome and fashioned out of low grade iron.

The ogrillions bring the wagons to outside Maelfina's establishment and orcs begin to rotate guard duty for the wagons whilst the ogrillions head in to be fed for the journey ahead.

Each wagon is marked on each side with a red hand print, marking them clearly as property of the Iron Tusk.





(Time to roll up your orcs )

[*Mausman]

"We're goin' fer a stroll...nae a thing out here, le's head fer those caves yonder, mh?"


*Kelth rests his beast of a Claymore on his shoulder and trudges onward to the outcropping, searching for a cave he deems a good bottleneck for possible intruders*

[*EM-Adimarchus]

Kelth and Odette encounter few signs of life as they cross the barren waste between the portal and the nearest outcropping. A faded cluster of footprints here, a few withered bushes there, a humanoid skeleton picked clean of any sustainence. This changes as they approach the meager foothills surrounding the plateau.

Patches of green grass speckle the landscape with increasing frequency the closer they get to the outcropping, and the stones littering the ground change abruptly from gravel and sandstone to boulders of marble with soft pads of flowering moss growing across their surfaces. The plateau itself, now that they are closer, seems to be of similar composition, a great slab of foreign stone jutting out from the abyssal earth.

Although the sky above them generally is a roiling sea of storm clouds and smog, tiny lances of sunlight peek through the cloud cover above the plateau, and occasionally in the surrounding foothills.

In the lee of several of the smaller hillocks surrounding the plateau lie caves, mostly small and of the sort that maybe a halfling could crawl into...save one massive chasm stretches out nearly half a mile long and goodness-knows how deep on the edge of the foothills on the opposite side of the outcropping from that which they approached it.