#droki

In a strange city of evil deep dwarves who are slowly becoming mad, they only seek a way to the surface but to find it they must satisfy the Flame Keepers’ request to find the derro rogue named Droki so he leads them to where the Gray Ghosts’ lair is and the stolen secret from the Keepers. But before even starting, the group of Caduceus, Aryn, Ikki, Jimjar, Derendil, Stool, Ront, Eldeth, and Eighteen decide to enjoy their first night in many months on a soft warm bed with their bellies full of fresh food and their minds numbed with liquor.

The next morning most of them ache a painful hangover but are still happy to be somewhat free from looking over their shoulders for drow & monsters. Their breakfast is interrupted by a derro boy with a “Candy-Gram.”

“What’s a ... Candy-Gram?” questions Ikki.

The derro smiles with a practically rotted out toothless mouth, “You give candy and I give gram... which is a message...” 

So Ikki hands over some candied leeches he’s had since Sloopdulop which the boy licks to prove its sweetness and tells Ikki that the Stone Giants of Cairngorm appreciated their actions in stopping their the two-head giant and more importantly the mercy they showed their brethern who is currently under their care. The derro finishes by telling them that the Stone Giants’ invite them as guests to their fortress and to receive gifts as new friends to Clan Cairngorm.

The group instead decides to focus on their mission for the Keepers to track down this Droki character, and perhaps swing by the Stone Giants’ abode later. So they head out to the East Cleft in the rift dividing the city. 

There they discover a jarring difference of lifestyle and architecture between duergar and derro. While the duergar were orderly and had purpose, the derro were chaotic and unpredictable. Shacks made from any materials they could find, grew up and down the cliffs of Laduguer’s Furrow connected with bridges even Ikki felt were dangerous.

Caduceus and Jimjar thought the best place to inquire about Droki would be a gambling hall, so they played some dice games while Jimjar & Eighteen pried information from the gambling derro. Finally after some winning jackpots, they report that Droki is usually in the West Cleft, not the East, so they cash out & give up some more coins to the info providers before booking their taxi back up at the “ground level” of Gracklstugh.

While they could have stopped by the Cairngorm cavern, they are eager to find this Droki and get their reward from the Keepers. In the West Cleft, it is more of the same eclectic mess of shacks build up on top of each other in the cavern valley. Once again they find a gambling den, this time a bingo hall that is true to the derro’s insane nature as the number caller does so in random languages forcing those without the tongue to guess and the others with an advantage.

Aryn, Caduceus, and Ikki put their language knowledge base together while the others join the strange dance floor of 3 different bands playing at the same time. After some games, with Ikki well ahead in coins, Jimjar nudges Aryn to get her attention to the derro that just walked in, a mutton chop bearded derro with patchwork threads and a giant full brimmed hat fringed in random baubles dominated by two stuffed displacer beast tentacles drooped down his neck.

The derro, the know as Droki, makes a quick deal with the bouncer for some coins and leaves quicker then he arrived. The group sprints out to shadow their target but Droki is faster then they anticipated and a spontaneous carnival of derro impedes their path. Ikki flies over, while the others try to bob and weave through the chaos. Ikki struggles to spot Droki, but luckily Aryn easily emerges on the other side of the street party to keep Droki in her sights until the rest catch up. They run down winding streets and in their haste Ikki turns a wrong corner and while on his feet a mad derro stabs him in the back claiming Ikki is a wild turkey that deserves to be in his belly. Caduceus and Ront throw some barrels out of the group’s way while Aryn throws an eldritch blast at the harassing beggar allowing Ikki to escape. Derendil leads them back to Droki’s trail to a purple lit cave in the wall with eerie similar colored fog emerges from a fissure.