Setting
Suddenly the air stirred as the once stagnant shadows rippled in one of the countless cave systems that sprawled within the Underdark. The earth quivered as an eerie presence washed over the cavern. A powerful tremor quaked through the earth. Rocks cracked and sundered as a roar rumbled from the mountains' bones. At the far side of the cave the rock wall split and cracked. The cracks slithered along the wall and glowed with a fiery orange hue. They slowly formed intricate runes within a wide circle of power. Then the circle collapsed into a wall like a floor giving out beneath a monstrous weight or as if a great vacuum had inhaled the fractured rocks. Thick smoke and ashy soot exhaled from the hole and filled the cavern with a sulfuric stench.
Ghoulish wails and snarls joined the poisonous gas.
Numerous figures emerged from the smoke, skittering along the walls and crawling across the ground and ceiling. Their eyes were deep, pale, and grey. Black leather garments and armor clothed their gangly bodies. Cold steel scimitars, spears, and bows of bone and sinew dangled from leather belts and harnesses. Some rode upon massive arachnids outfitted with armor and weapons of their own.
As the grey skittering figures filled the central chamber, larger and more fearsome creatures followed. They lumbered through the portal and shook the ground with each step. Their hide was thick and cracked like rock and their eyes burned with a fiery crimson. Massive clubs rested on their shoulders as they looked down at the smaller grey creatures that were mere dwarves compared to their titanic stature.
"Baujhaala feldkhayem!" barked one of the smaller grey creatures that rode a giant scorpion. Several others began to crack open crates and sacks that they had brought through the portal. "Erkunshafa doyla oberflakha!" he shouted again, pointing at a nearby tunnel. Three mounted Erebari galloped in that direction.
Several leather tents sprang up along the perimeter of the cave even as more Erebari filed through the portal. A pile of coal was ignited, producing a dim warmth. Barriers of iron pikes along with armed guards were placed at all the exits. While the Erebari settled, the larger Rock Trolls started to bash and claw their way through the rock to expand the cave.
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