Realms of Fantasy: Underdark Stroll [Episode 2380]

“Well, let’s go—” Ranma began, as he was heading... in the opposite direction from his captured ‘friends’.
“OW!” he then yelped, thanks to his sister who had bopped him behind the head before he’d gone too far (and before Akane could crush his hard skull under her warhammer, hence Ranko sparing him some more serious damage).

Ranma turned around while making a scowling grimace, but he wilted under the amber glare of his twin.  “Okay, okay, we’ll save them!" he said as he rubbed the back of his head.

Ranko’s frown melted, and she gave him an impish smile.  It wasn’t so much that her brother was a coward... but their father had implanted very strong survival reflexes into his mind.  Not that it was a bad thing most of the time; it allowed him to survive into that hellish pit that was their former home until he reached adulthood.  And for that, Ranko would always be thankful to the old Drow mage known as Genma.  It sure was more helpful to them now than whatever their mother had taught her.

Ranko’s face fell at the memory of her parents.  She’d barely known her father... if Ranma’s accounts had any truth in them, he had been a sneaky, unscrupulous bastard on his own.  But even with all his misgivings, he certainly never deserved the gruesome end that he met at their mother’s hands.

Sighing, the young Drow girl focused back on the current problem.  They were standing on a ledge, next to the path cut right into the steep cliff that was one of the walls of this huge cavern of black stone.  Below them, in a clearing of the forest of giant mushrooms that covered a good part of the ground level, were their four companions in a cage, and their captors.  Even the two Humans next to the twins could see them rather well, thanks to the glowing moss lining the cavern, as well as a few permanent faerie fires marking the forest pathways.  It was still dark, though; the surface-dwellers would have compared it to a cloudy night.

“Are you with us, Ranma-baby?” Nabiki asked with a smirk as the Dark-Elven male kneeled on the cliff edge next to her.

“You better not abandon us now, coal-face, or else!” Akane warned antagonistically.

Ranma turned to the rogue and the warrior and snorted.  “Yeah, yeah, don’t worry.  We’ll rescue their sorry, discolored asses... heck, even the paladin and the Half-Orc while we’re at it... as tempting it is to left them to those cuteys below.”

This earned him a second bop on the back of the head from Ranko.  Ranma cursed, but he knew that his sister was in the right.  She wasn’t insisting on the rescue just because she fancied that brute Ryōga (and even that loud-mouthed noble twerp Kunō, for some unknown reason).  She also wanted to prove that the two of them were Drow of parole to the surface-dwellers, and that they would be honoring their contract.  They were hired as scouts for this dangerous region of the Underdark, and they should come back with a complete party if they didn’t want to blow their reputation.

They further observed the three female Drow below, still harassing the prisoners.  The taller one was clothed in a rather revealing “chain-mail top and loincloth combo”... that looked like it did not offer much protection, but showed off lots of perfect ebony skin.  Her boots, belt and shoulder-pads were adorned with gemstones, hinting of a high rank.  She was carrying a pair of large round maces, each engraved with a golden spider.  Her two smaller underlings were armed with spears, and wearing fuller — although hugging — clothes and armors, of dark magenta color for one and dark turquoise for the other.

‘Luckily, they aren’t from Mother’s house...’ Ranko thought.  This, at least, she was sure of it.  She and Ranma were quite far from their region of birth anyway.

“Only three guards, two of them looking a bit young...” Nabiki commented.  “That seems rather overconfident....”

“I guess they have they hands full with Vhaeraun’s followers — those are obviously from the Lolth group — and they left those three to watch out the prisoners before the main troop could come back.” Ranma deduced.

“Yes,” Ranko agreed, “a few surface-dwellers are of little concern to them.  They’ll deal first with enemy Drow before bothering to bring their last catch to the slave pits.”

“Which mean we have to save them now, while we can, before either group of Dark Elves is back!” Akane urged.

“Well, that’s true...” Ranko prudently added, “but on the other hand it could just as well be a trap.  The captives used as bait in hope to bring their fellow adventurers out of the shadows, and catch them in their web.”

The redheaded Drow almost winced at that.  She had yet to loose that habit of talking in those silly arachnid-related metaphors.

“We’ll have to take the risk!” Akane insisted.

“I hate it when you are right, little sister.  But since it’s unlikely we’d get a better opportunity, I’ll have to agree with you.  Still, I wish Kasumi and Kodachi didn’t get lost.”

“Well, we could search for them...”  Ranma shrugged.  “But we have no idea where they teleported, and it’s unlikely our friends below will stay here for long....”

It was unclear if by “friends” he was talking about the captives or their captors.

“We’ll have to do without the priestess and wizardess, then.” Ranko simply stated.  “Four against three, that’s still good odds, especially if we can get the advantage of surprise.”

“Enough talking, let’s move.  We’ll have the time to make plans while goin’ down.”  Ranma stood up and started walking along the path with Ranko at his side.  The two Humans followed, their steps more hesitant.  After a short while they had to swallow pride, and each sister grabbed a shoulder of the night-seeing Elves before them to be guided in the darkness.

“I really don’t like walking on this narrow path with so little light...” Akane complained.

“You know we can’t light a torch, Akane.” Nabiki needlessly retorted.  “They’d spot us immediately from below.  Everybody in this cave would, in fact; we’d stood out like a sore thumb.”

Not minding the Humans, Ranma absentmindedly rubbed the arm that was struck by a hand-crossbow bolt earlier.

Ranko noticed it.  “Still bothering you?  You want a sip of healing potion?”

Ranma dismissingly waved it off.  “Naaa, that’s just a scratch, I’m alright.”

Focusing back on their guides, Nabiki pondered out loud: “I thought that Drow were immune to the paralytic poison they used on their darts?”

“Not immune, inured.” Ranko corrected.  “From a young age, progressively stronger doses of the stuff are injected regularly to build a resistance.  We do it with various spider venoms, too.”

“Yeah, Pop did that to me when I was a kid.” Ranma confirmed.

“But it works only for the same formula, or close enough.” Ranko pursued.  “I guess the Drow of these parts are using a different brand of sleep poison.”

Ranma nodded.  “Make sense if they are often fighting other Drow.”

They were coming around a curve in the wall, after which the path was enlarging and getting steeper.  Some giant mushrooms, extending from the forest below, were growing on either sides of the pathway, although the edge was still high above ground.  Ranma’s eyes were locked on the small group of enemies Dark Elves, watching them while he still could, before the trunks of the fungus would hide the view.

That’s why he was a bit surprised when Ranko suddenly gasped, jumped on her brother and tackled him to the ground, bringing their group to a sudden halt.

“WHA...??” almost barked the pigtailed boy, before gritting his teeth.  “Ranko... now is really not the time!  Or place!!”

“Shut up, you idiot!” his sister nicely growled.  Akane and Nabiki, startled at first, soon joined them on the floor, peering in the dark pathway in front of them.

“What’s going on?” Nabiki murmured to Ranko, whishing — not for the first time — she’d share their acute night-vision.

The ruby-haired girl pointed a finger forward and simply said “This mushroom has moved.”

Akane blinked and raised her eyebrows.  Not sure she heard it right, she whispered “What?”

“I’m pretty sure this mushroom moved!” Ranko repeated, still sprawled atop her brother.

Who was tempted to comment about her weight and being used as a cushion, but he still liked his head firmly on his shoulders, thank you very much.

“And just what is all the fuss about a mushroom looking like it moved?” Akane inquired.  She was squinting her eyes to distinguish the patch of smaller fungus (about one meter tall) that Ranko indicated, next to the bigger, tree-sized chanterelles.

Ranma dispensed his sister from responding.  “Shriekers, you think?”

“Yup.  I’d bet on it.”

“What’re...” Akane hesitated, “‘shriekers’ ?”

“I think I’ve heard of this...” Nabiki mused.

“Shrieking mushrooms.” Ranko flatly informed.

Akane was dumbfounded.  “There’s mushrooms that... shriek?”

“Oh yeah, now I remember...” Nabiki droned.  “Do you think they just happen to be growing here by sheer coincidence?” she asked Ranko, already suspecting the answer.

“Coincidence my ass.  They’re a freaking alarm system, that’s what they are.”

“Yup.  Good chance of it.” Ranma nodded.

“Lucky for us, we weren’t carrying any light, or those things would have reacted already.” Ranko added.

Nabiki was ready to bet the acoustic would be excellent in this huge enclosed area.  “How are we going to go through them without raising a ruckus in the whole cavern?”

“A silence spell would be handy...” Ranma suggested.

“It’s just our luck that Kasumi isn’t with us!” Akane grumbled.

Ranko huffed in annoyance.  The mention of clerical spells was a sore point for her.  She could understand that the clergy of Eilistraee was wary of a renegade Drow priestess wanting to join their ranks, and that she had to prove herself worthy first.  But still, couldn’t the Dark Maiden grant her a few starting miracles?  She fully embraced the faith... heck, she even participated in the rituals.  And that whole dancing naked under the full moon was quite fun.

A lot funnier than any sacrifice made in homage to Lolth, that’ for sure.  Of course, Ranko would choke first on her own bile before praying for spells to the Spider-Bitch.  No way in Baator she’d use her mother’s teachings ever again.

“I’m not too fond of strolling in the middle of these things anyway, even silenced.” Ranma said.  “There’s always risks for a violet fungus or two...”

“Violet fungus?” Nabiki parroted.

“Nasty critters.” Ranma simply answered.  Moving from underneath Ranko, he peered above the edge of the cliff.  “Well... we also have the option to go this way....”

“Except there’s still a good fifty feet to the ground...” commented Nabiki.  “I could climb down, and you two can levitate, but I don’t give good odds to Akane, especially with her armor....”

“I can make it!” her sister protested.  “You still have some rope, right?”

The rogue sighed.  “Yes, but it’s going to be a little short.  And do you really think you can climb down without being spotted from below?  What if you fall?”

“I can cast a feather fall if things go wrong.” Ranma volunteered.  “And a darkness spell should take care of being seen....”

“Fine.” Nabiki conceded.  “If we are to be heroes, then let’s do heroic stunts.”