Chapter 27 - Home Sweet Home?
Surrounding the friends and making a circle around the cavern stood twenty humanoids. They stood between three to three and a half feet tall, some a little taller, with bald heads, grey skin of various shades, lean wiry bodies and round noses. All wore armor and carried weapons. Their armor was finely crafted from mithril and steel to form shiny black armor of adamantine similar to the armor of the drow. Most carried large war mattocks and some had crossbows. One of the small creatures gave an order in a gruff sounding language and seven of the humanoids with crossbows walked to the giant lizards and fired into them killing them.
Rain carefully walked Natalie over to Jason, Ahira, and Christie making sure she kept her hands in sight and away from her weapons. Natalie followed staring in front of her as she walked but showed no other signs of awareness.
"Hey, guys, I found my spell book and also a spell book of a drow wizard!" Lou said enthusiastically as he stepped out of the wagon holding two books in his hand. "It's got some cool spells in it I don't...."
He looked around and dropped the books when he saw the small things surrounding him and his friends. The apparent leader of the creatures recognized Lou as a wizard and gave another shouting order and the ones holding crossbows pointed them at Lou.
"Lou...don't make any sudden movements or say another word." Jason told him. "If they think you are casting a spell they will kill you." Lou swallowed hard and nodded.
"Svirfneblin?" Jason asked.
"Yeah I think so." Ahira answered. "It's a plus they have not killed us I think."
"Not yet at least." Christie commented.
Svirfneblin or deep gnomes were one of the races that made their home in the Underdark. Neither good nor evil, the deep gnomes mined the Underdark of metals and precious gems and on rare occasions traded with dwarves. A peaceful and secretive race, deep gnomes survive in the Underdark by maintaining wariness of others and working hard to keep their underground society secret. They avoid the drow when possible, the dark elves often captured them for slaves, but if their territory was threatened the gnomes were fierce fighters and as tough as the stone, metals, and gems they mined.
The leader walked closer to the group flanked by four of his soldiers and stood in front of Ahira.
"Why are you here?" He said in the dwarven language.
The dwarf smiled at being able to communicate with the gnome. "We are not enemies of your people. We are trying to get home but were captured by the drow. My name is Ahira."
"I care not for you name, dwarf." The gnome replied and looked at Christie. "Why did you help the surface dwellers, spider kisser?" He asked in the drow language. Christie could hear the hate in his voice when he addressed her.
Christie held out her hand and held it palm up and curled her fingers upward; a sign of a dead spider. The simple gesture was blasphemy to a servant of the Spider Queen. A priestess of Lolth would never dare to make such a gesture fearing wrath from her goddess.
"I don't serve Lolth." Christie answered back in the drow language. She then brought her other hand up and connected her to thumbs and forefingers together forming a full moon shape with her hands. "I serve Eilistraee, the goddess..."
"We know of the dancing goddess, drow. We are not stupid." The gnome interrupted her. "You come with us."
Christie turned to her friends, "He wants us to go with him."
"As his prisoner or guest?" Rain asked.
"Do we have a choice about either?" Jason answered.
The leader looked at Natalie who just stood there starring into the cavern with a blank look on her face.
"What is wrong with her...the elf female?" He asked Ahira.
"The drow tortured her and did something else to her. We don't know."
"She's too weak to travel." Rain blurted out and Ahira translated.
The leader turned to the other gnomes and spoke in his language and another deep gnome stepped forward. He was dressed as the others but carried a war hammer and on the chest of his armor was a symbol of a golden ring with a ruby star on it, the symbol of the gnome god Callarduran Smoothhands. The cleric walked to Natalie and touched her head with his small hands. The elf did not even flinch or show any other signs of life but to continue to stare in front of her. He said a prayer to his god and a faint blue light surrounded Natalie. After a few seconds the cleric stepped back and said something to the gnome leader.
"He said she is gone. He cast a restoration spell on her. It will give her the strength she needs to come with us." He explained to Ahira. The dwarf told his friends what the gnome told him.
"Can he help her?" Christie asked.
"Now come we go to Blingdenstone." The gnome told Ahira who translated.
"And then what?" Ahira asked.
The gnome shrugged, "Not my decision. King Schnicktick and the Council of Miners decide. No more talk."
The svirfneblin gathered what possessions they felt useful from the drow camp, including the companions' weapons and armor, and led them out of the cavern. They did not bind the group but did keep them in the middle of their formation as they made their way through the tunnels of the Underdark. The journey took several hours as the gnomes led them though passageways and even secret tunnels revealed only when the leader spoke words into what looked like solid stone but would open up into another tunnel. They stopped to rest once so the friends could rest, munch on some rather tasty fungi the gnomes fed them, some type of jerked meat, and drink water. Once again Rain tried to force Natalie to eat and drink but she did not respond. The elf seemed oblivious to what was going on around her and if not for Rain telling her to walk, stop, or sit, Natalie would have just stood in place. Christie kept her body strong by casting her own spell of restoration on the girl.
During the journey, Ahira tried to talk to the gnome leader but all he got out of him was his name, Belwar Dissengulp and from the way the other gnomes obeyed him the dwarf could tell they held Belwar in great respect. The gnomes kept the friends moving quickly but did not hurt them or even threaten them.
Passing through another secret passageway the group walked into another large cavern and the gnome city of Blingdenstone. At the entrance to the city was a set of stairs and a large iron gate. Just past the gate, inside the city, was a large and winding maze aimed to slow down any would-be invaders. The city itself consisted of many cavern chambers connected by winding tunnels. The city's appearance was organic, carved smoothly into the stone. Many buildings appeared as simple piles of rocks but were in fact masterfully carved to appear so. The inhabitants of the city went about their daily routines paying little attention the gnome warriors and the surface dwellers they escorted. A few of the gnome children did throw stones at Christie but one glare from Belwar sent then scattering away. The party was led to one of the buildings where Belwar escorted them in and left.
The building was large and had two rooms and the furniture in the building was human size. The friends assumed the building was used to guest larger races that may have traded with the deep gnomes. They were not officially prisoners but they did notice two gnome guards on the outside of the building. Rain sat Natalie down in a chair. Several minutes later two female gnomes brought them food, some type of meat that was tasty but gamey, some type of broth, and some mushrooms; and some clean water. Rain sat Natalie in a chair and the elf girl stared at the wall like a zombie. She was looking worse after their journey to the gnome city. Her lips were dry and cracking due to the start of dehydration and she had dark bags under her blood shot eyes.
"At least they are being nice to us. I mean they are treating us well." The half elf commented.
Christie nodded, "Yeah, but the svirfneblin are not like the drow; they don't torture before they execute someone." She said dryly. "They also are not big fans of the drow."
"Aren't we full of optimism?" Rain replied back sarcastically. "Not our fault you decided to roll a drow character."
"Let's not start anything, you two." Jason told them. "Let's get some rest. We a long journey and we are not fully recovered from our ordeal with the drow."
"Natalie needs sleep." Rain added.
"I can help." Lou walked to the elf and cast a sleep spell on her.
Natalie yawned a couple of times and Rain laid her down on the couch she was sitting on and the elf fell to sleep. The rest of the friends got some rest also, Ahira and Jason lay on the floor, Christie cuddled up with Natalie on the couch, and Rain and Lou slumped in the two chairs in the room. Exhausted they fell asleep quickly.
Jason woke first with the sound of the door to their "cell" opening and he woke the others as the gnome Belwar walked into the room flanked by two gnome soldiers.
"You come. King Schnicktick is ready to see you now." He told Ahira.
"See me or put me on trial?" The dwarf replied as he stepped forward.
The gnome smiled for the first time since he had captured the companions. "That remains to be seen. Speak the truth and things will go better for you all."
Ahira nodded, told his friends what was happening and left the room with the gnomes. The group waited impatiently for hours before the dwarf returned. When Ahira entered the room he was bombarded with questions.
"Slow down." He said holding up his right hand. "I'll tell you what happened."
Ahira told them about his meeting with the king and his council as Belwar interrupted for him. The king first berated Belwar for bringing the outsiders into their city and Ahira got the sense due to the custom of the secretive deep gnomes once this was done with outsiders the svirfneblin had some sort of responsibility out of their strange code of honor to treat any outsiders with respect and kindness until it was decided what to do with them. The king highly feared that the drow would discover the location of their city and was very opposed to outsiders knowing their location. Even though the king was chastising the gnome, Ahira could see that the king and his council held Belwar in deep respect. They then started questioning the dwarf. Typical question such as why they came to the Underdark, how did they come to be captured by the drow, where were they from, what were they doing in the Underdark, etc. Ahira decided to be truthful and told the king and his council the truth about him and his friends and their search for the portal to take them home. He told them about all the major details of the things they had been through since arriving in this world. King Schnicktick and his council listened with interest and after Ahira was finished he was dismissed and taken back to his friends.
"Did they believe you?" Jason asked.
The dwarf shrugged, "I couldn't tell. They are going to discuss what to do with us I suppose. Maybe let us go or maybe kill us. I couldn't tell what they were thinking. They didn't seem surprised when I mentioned the portal through. That actually started a debate between them."
"We have to get home." Christie said. "For Natalie. I think once she gets home she will be ok."
"Do you think so?" Rain asked.
