Finding a Guide to the Drow City
We use the portal in the city to transport ourselves to, um, some dwarven outpost it seems. Being under the impression that we would find ourselves in the Seven Pillared Hall of Thunderspire Labyrinth it's a little disappointing to have to journey for a couple of days as part of a caravan, underground. At least we don't need to act as guards for the caravan as it encounters random monsters on its path.
Upon reaching Thunderspire Labyrinth we soon settle in to an inn and deftly fend off nosy questions about our intentions in the area from so-called arbiters of justice. We are merely visitors, and not adventurers looking to gain entrance to a drow city to offer them an annual bribe not to attack a dwarf city. As few of us have been paying attention to the plot so far this ruse is quite easy to maintain.
Remembering how the system works, from a previous time some of us were in Thunderspire, we request an audience with one of the powerful mages who resides in the tower, who arrives fashionably late through a portal in front of a huge bronze minotaur statue. After a few pleasantries we are invited to an inn to discuss the possibility of private passage to the drow city.
'The mage enters the inn, gestures to the barman...'
'...who bursts in to flames, the mage making entirely the wrong gesture altogether.' Luckily, we have one of the smart mages and the gesture instead clears half the inn—by getting people to move, no disintegrations—for us to have a conversation with a modicum of privacy. The mage listens as we bluff our way through reasons for wanting to find the drow city, and we are pointed towards a local guide who has reportedly been to and from the drow city many times and can act as a guide.
With the name of the guide and knowledge of his habits we head off to find him. The mad old critter is quite easy to recognise. 'Vadriar the Sage? We seek a guide to, uh, <what's the name of the city?>'
'Phaervhul', the GM responds helpfully.
'Ah, you already know of our venture! You are wise indeed. Then you will take us there?' A bit of bargaining ensues and we soon have a guide willing to take us to the drow city, although on some rather uneven terms.
'Why do I get a sense of dread and foreboding?' Adran wimpers.
'Because it's Thursday night and we're playing D&D, your pessimist nature is becoming dominant again.'
'Ah, right.' Never the less, as we're heading in to complete darkness following a gibbering madman towards what could be an amassed army out for dwarf blood, Adran's intuition may be right this time.