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Three weeks.
That is how long it took Dantrag's patrol party to make their way out from the depths of the underdark to the less ominous tunnels of a very prominent mountain range on the surface. Dantrag truly did feel it was his patrol party, though the idea was not shared by many. Whenever trouble arose, the members soon learned that while Dantrag was busy trying to figure out what to do, Zak and Jarl were already busy handling the situation.
For the most part, Dantrag did not notice this loss of power, and no one felt the need to tell him. The actual trip to the surface was different from their normal training routes, and the Baenre noble took extra care to control his group. Like he had told Krol, it was not wise to engage enemies unnecessarily on a long trip such as this.
The only significant encounter they had was with a small group of deep gnomes. There were only half a dozen of the miners, and though the drow could have easily dispatched them, Dantrag chose the safe route, not wishing to call attention to their presence this far from Menzoberranzan.
Six poisoned cross bow bolts struck the gnomes from the shadows, and they were all asleep within seconds. After removing the bolts and using a bit of healing magic to close the puncture wounds, the dark elves continued on, leaving behind what would be a very confused mining party.
As they neared the surface the change of atmosphere was very noticeable. The air took on a very fresh and crisp feeling. Wind was very common rushing both down and up the tunnels. The creatures they encountered were also far less menacing and dangerous than those that lived in the tunnels about their home city.
On the twentieth day after leaving Menzoberranzan, Elrial, the Baenre mage who had accompanied the group, halted the raiding party. Elrial had studied the maps to the surface before leaving and was also using spells several times a day to check their proximity to an exit.
"Just ahead is an exit," the mage said. "Maybe two hundred yards." Everyone could see the light streaming down the tunnel, but that had been a very common feature of their travels recently, and no one had paid it much mind. "We must wait until it is dark," he continued. "It should only be a few hours."
Dantrag told the party to rest and prepare themselves. Tonight they would conduct their raid, and then they would travel back home. It was an awfully long journey for just a brief raid. Dantrag wanted to make sure everyone was ready and focused on their task.
Zak and Jarl had said little during their journey, both thinking about what was to come. That silence continued now as they slowly watched the light fade away into darkness.
As promised, the light disappeared within four hours and the patrol began to move toward the exit. What was awaiting them stole their breath away. The wind was strong and cool on this mid summer night, a sign of bad weather easily recognizable by anyone who had lived under the sky for any length of time. No one in this group had.
They stood on the edge of a cliff overlooking an incredible landscape. On either side of them, the mountain range stretched in both directions, each peak dwarfing the stalagmites they were used to by such an extent it was ludicrous to even make the comparison.
In front of them, the mountains tapered into hills for several miles before the rocky soil surrendered to the trees of a dense forest. A tremendous river cut through the forest and collected into a lake that looked to be easily twice the size of the main cavern of Menzoberranzan.
Zak could not believe what he was looking at. He had held a pretty big view of himself and his importance back home. He had looked at the splendors of Menzoberranzan and had been impressed. Countless people had told him that he was the best fighter in the city and that he was destined for greatness.
As his power and skill grew, the glories and splendors of Menzoberranzan ceased to amaze him, and it all seemed manageable. Now he felt like he was no more important than an infected wart on a goblin's ass. The tunnels they had just walked through seemed endless and unchartable, but they had only been six-foot square on average, and holding no real volume. Now he was looking at an expanse that was truly unmeasurable, and it appeared to go on forever.
And the ceiling! There was none! Eventually all of the drow were looking up. They had all been told about the horrors of the sun and the many lesser sky lights of the night, but none of them were visible now. Instead ominous clouds hung over their heads. Though they were dark, they were backlit by the countless stars they hid, and there was enough light to see the churning of the storm that was brewing.
To someone that lived on the surface, the clouds would seem to hang extremely low, especially when standing on a mountainside, but to the drow the clouds were unreachable. "Lloth has blest us," Dantrag remarked as he too looked upward. "The night lights have been doused. We will be able to operate in the infrared spectrum this night, giving us an even bigger advantage."
As if to mock the cocky drow, an incredibly bright flash of lightening traced a jagged edge across the sky, blinding him. Dantrag swore and looked away as he blinked the splotches out of his eyes and changed his vision back to the normal spectrum. "Let us not stand around," he grunted. "It will be several hours before we even reach the elven village, and this night will not last forever."
The drow moved down the side of the mountain as if they had scaled a dozen such cliffs in their lives. In reality, this was their first and the incredible amount of loose rock and gravel continued to amaze them. To their keen ears, their travel was noisy and clumsy, but in reality, the keenest scout in the realms would have a tough time picking out the ten dark figures in the night.
Just before they entered the edge of the forested region a couple hours later, the rain began to fall accompanied by more lightening. A few of the drow thought it would be a good idea to turn back. Dantrag had studied the ways of the surface, as had both wizards, and while the weather change still caught them off guard, they knew it was not magic, and had nothing to do with their raid.
As Jarl led the troupe into the woods, rain soaked and stumbling over invisible roots and rocks, he felt very out of his element. Still, he lead the group as well as any scout could, keeping low to the ground and making as little noise as possible. The few twigs and leaves that crunched as they moved through the trees were muffled by the storm around them so even they could not hear them.
After only fifteen minutes of travel within the thick woods, Elrial called everyone to a halt. "Just up ahead is the elven village," he said quietly. "They will have guards and will be well protected."
Dantrag turned to Jarl. This would not be easy, but as with so many things, greater risk brought the potential for greater reward. "Take Zaknafein with you and scout the area ahead. Find where the guard locations are and return to us." He looked directly at Zak now. "Do not engage the enemy."
Both graduates nodded and continued on their own. As they neared the elven settlement they noticed the rain through the trees was very uneven, coming down much heavier in some places than others. Jarl looked up at the leafy canopy above them to analyze this phenomenon and saw that some sections of the trees had much more leaf coverage than others, creating a substantial barrier against the rain.
A sudden realization occurred to Jarl and he grabbed Zak's shoulder, holding the bigger drow back. Zak was going to ask why, but Jarl silenced him with the hand code. He then pointed up at the trees around them. At first Zak saw nothing special about the branches, but then he saw the dense collection of limbs and leaves.
Knowing as little as they did about these huge trees, both drow could still tell that these were not natural formations. In the underdark, plants served little use but for food. The idea that these trees could also provide shelter and lookout positions had never occurred to them.
As they continued slowly, their eyes were no longer on the ground but were scanning the treetops. They spotted many more of the alcoves as they continued, and Zak appreciated the placement of them. They were scattered so that no two were in line with each other, making sure that each position had a clear view of the forest in front of them. In time of invasion, with an elf in each of these perches armed with a bow, they would be able to repel their enemies quite efficiently.
With such a defense-orientated system protecting the elven village, Zak wondered why these positions were not in use now. In Menzoberranzan, each house always had at least two dozen guards on duty at all times, protecting against an attack that was always imminent in the dangerous underdark.
It was quite obvious that these elves were not expecting any type of an attack. Zak's drow heritage brought a smile to his face before he could check it. These elves were careless and weak and would fall tonight. Then he began to reconsider. So far, the drow raiding party had covered several miles, but had met nothing that would cause them trouble. Jarl had not even stopped the group once for precautionary measures. To travel that far in the underdark without encountering at least a dozen deadly creatures was unheard of.
The more Zak thought about it, the more he realized that these elves were not on alert because they had no reason to be. Now Zak saw these outposts in the trees as an unnecessary precaution. Instead of being unprepared, Zak realized these elves were prepared for everything. Unfortunately, tonight, they would find out how dangerous their world really could be.
Again it was Jarl who stopped Zak. He pointed out another one of the guard posts that was still quite a ways in the distance. Zak saw nothing special about this post, and was about to say so when Jarl spoke up first, using the hand code. "Change your vision to the infrared."
Zak did, and he saw a very dim form crouching in the tree. Amazed, Zak changed his vision back. Even when he knew exactly where the elf was, he could not see anything in normal light. Reverting his vision back to infrared, Zak was able to pick out two more heat forms crouched in the trees ahead of them.
"What do you think?" Jarl asked. "Should we warn them?"
"You want to return now?" Zak responded. "We have not skirted their perimeter yet."
"No," Jarl replied, "not our party. Should we warn them?" he asked again, pointing toward the nearest elven guard.
Zak pondered this for several moments. He had no reason to believe that these surface elves were any less wicked than his own people. Besides, how might they react to Zak and Jarl when they announced their presence? No, they could not sound the alarm. The only way Zak and Jarl would survive this raid was if they used stealth.
Zak shook his head, and Jarl smiled. He knew his friend was uneasy about this raid and had only wanted to point out that they had very little choice but to go through with it. The two silent drow made their way quickly around the guard posts, encircling their position and getting a good feel for the size of the elven village.
The actual settlement was contained inside a grove of pine trees. From a distance both drow could tell that passing through the dense wall of pine needles would not be the best way to enter the village. Plus, from the few pine trees that stood away from the village and were available for inspection, Zak and Jarl could tell that the needles were quite sharp.
Anything in the underdark that had needles this sharp, had them to dispense its deadly poison. In their uneducated minds, this village was very well protected. In the end, they returned to the point they had first seen the elven guards. This was obviously the entry to the village, as their had been very few guards elsewhere. Also, it looked like the pine trees tapered in this area.
Dantrag accepted the information a few minutes later when Zak and Jarl returned to the patrol. They had been gone less than a half an hour, and despite his dislike for the pair, Dantrag trusted their judgement. "Very well," he said after receiving the information. He then turned to the rest of the drow patrol to describe how they were going to dispatch the guards and then invade the village.
Zak and Jarl waited patiently as Dantrag went to the other seven members of the patrol and gave each their assignments. Seeing that the group was ready to go and Zak and Jarl had still not received their marching orders, they were about to ask, but the other master from Melee-Magthere spoke up for them. "What of Zaknafein and Jarlnian?"
Dantrag turned to look at them. "They will stay at the entrance to the village to keep anyone from escaping. Also, should the elves call for reinforcements, they will prevent an ambush."
The master, and in fact the rest of the patrol, was shocked. "But Dantrag," the master said, "these two are the best fighters in the patrol. The success of this raid depends on their involvement."
Not only had the other master just declared that Dantrag was only the third best fighter, but he had also questioned his command in front of the rest of the group. The patrol leader drew one of his swords in a flash and approached the master. The targeted drow scrambled to draw his own weapon, but instead of attacking, which had indeed been Dantrag's fist impulse, he used his sword to point back at the crude map Jarl had drawn on the ground.
"I have great trust in the information that was just given to us. It tells me one of two things. Either these surface cousins of ours are so ill-prepared and ill-equipped that half our number could take them out without difficulty, or they have so many allies within these woods that they do not fear an attack. If the first is true, then it would make sense to keep our party as small as possible to avoid immediate detection. If the second is true then I fear going through with the raid at all, and leaving only Zaknafein and Jarlnian as guards may not be enough."
It was well thought out reasoning, for Dantrag had contemplated it for most of the journey up to the surface, but the other master could see Dantrag had other reasons for leaving the two best fighters behind as guards. To challenge the Baenre fighter on these points now would mean his death, for Dantrag would not accept any dissent within his patrol. Instead the master only nodded his acceptance. "Of course," he mumbled.
"Good," Dantrag said, sheathing his weapon and looking about the patrol to see if anyone else had a problem with his command. Everyone nodded. "Let's go. For the glory of Lloth."
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