The Hobgoblins sword went to Calis, As Jax claimed he took Drell for his prize. The woman shot him a grateful look as she claimed it. It was a dark blade that had shimmering edges. Jax was unsure how an assassin would utilize such an item but he didn't question it.
They decided to add Drell to Jax` Party. The Goblin was a pitiful level 1 fungal farmer. It was a basic class, the lowest of the low, and it only added one stat point per level. That stat point was random, so someone with such a class had very slim prospects. After they added him to the party, he was able to utilize their limited telepathic bond. It did not take long before Jax found himself utterly annoyed with the tiny creature. He seemed to have identified Jerg as the most important person in their small group, and constantly spoke to him, due to the nature of their bond Jax had to hear it all. he was surprised at Jergs patience, he never got upset with the small being.
After they looted the corpses for what little they had and moved on. as they delved into the cavern they quickly found a shift in the environment. The stone around them lifted and started to form crumbling ruins. The goblin picked a path through the ruins, and the group spread out as they did so. Occasionally the goblin would point out traps, and the assassins would skirt around them. As the hours stretched on Jax cast a glance at Calis and saw she shared the same concerns as him. He pressed his thoughts to Drell and asked, "How far to the camp Drell?"
The goblin spoke back "We are about halfway there; the city is sprawling and the path long"
The group pressed on. As they did the ruins became more and more confining. No longer were there simply half collapsed structures, now it was wall to wall black stone constructions that had vast interiors. The structures were squat things, perhaps eight feet tall at the highest, and soon Jax found himself probing Calis for details on the origins of the city. As he did she cast him a strange look and said "This is one of the forerunners settlements if I had to guess."
Jax tried to not show his exasperation as he asked "What, or who are the forerunners"
Calis had a tone of incredulity as she said "Everyone knows who the forerunners are." She looked even more perplexed at him as he shook her head and then he continued "They are the first beings. Long ago when we came to this world we lacked the strength to stand agianst the beings on the surface. The forerunners were the name for those first peoples. Until we gained the strength to stand agianst what we found above our peoples lived below ground. They delved into the mountains and built communities in the stone."
Jax looked around and asked "So there are cities like this out there?"
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Calis shook her head and said "I've been in many forerunner settlements. Most are.... well they Arnt like this. I assume that's where these ruins come from because they are absolutely ancient, but most forerunner settlements are directly connected to the world via tunnels, and small. The buildings they made were like these, but much sparser, and their communities would leave the Underdark far before they became this prosperous."
Jax surveyed his surroundings but didn't ask any more as they followed their guide. By now the party had returned to their spaced-out file.
Hours passed as they crept through the narrowing ruins, eventually Drell’s voice echoed telepathically in Jax’s mind. “The camp is close. Very close.” He pointed a bony finger down a long passage that gradually opened into a vast, barren stretch of land. The ruins gave way to a barren plain of rock and stone, flat and desolate under the dim glow of scattered fungi clinging to distant walls.
In the center of this plain loomed a single structure—a castle forged from gleaming obsidian. Its dark walls rose nearly twenty meters, seeming to drink in what little light there was. If not for his Shades of Darkness , Jax might have missed it entirely; the castle seemed to blend into the blackness around it, barely distinguishable from the shadowed landscape.
Small torches dotted the walls, each held by a tiny sentry pacing the ramparts. Their movements were slow, lethargic, as if something sapped their energy.
Calis made rapid hand movements to her people and then gestured for the party to fan out, keeping low as they approached the open field. Drell’s voice came through again in their minds, tense but eager. “There will be some 300 goblins inside. There will also be a number of the worse ones, they are our leaders”
In front of him Calis clenched her fists around her blades, her eyes fixed on the castle. Jax’s senses flared with adrenaline, and he activated his Cloak of Night. Shadows gathered around him, deepening as he moved, his form seeming to blur at the edges. The cloak’s magic shrouded him, making it easy to stay hidden as they crossed the open plain. Calis moved beside him, her face set in a determined expression.
When they reached the castle’s base, Calis stepped forward and, with a flick of her hand her an one of her other members, began to ascend the air as if invisible stairs that only she could see existed in the space. Drell’s thoughts broke in, a whisper of awe tinged at his thoughts. “So… so cool,” he muttered, and Jax found himself silently agreeing.
Calis climbed swiftly up the invisible path, each step as steady as if she were scaling solid ground. She reached one of the corner towers, her dark silhouette barely visible against the sky. With a final graceful movement, she crouched and anchored herself at the edge of the wall, then pulled a length of rope from her pack and lowered it down, knotting it firmly to secure the climb for the rest. Then she hopped in and dealt with the Sentry within. Jax didn't even hear him yelp in Suprise as she finished him off.
Jax waited, watching the fortress with a wary eye as each member prepared to scale the wall. The ropes swayed gently in the darkness, inviting them up, first went the Gongs, followed closely after by him and their guide.