Deeper Underdark

It takes longer than expected (a good couple of hours), but Yoci returns with another gnome and a dwarf, plus two more dwarves in tow. The dwarf says, "Welcome to Brahdhavehl! My name is Gimurt Stonefist; I am a magistrate of our fair city. Along with me is Fannir Feddlesine, one of our leading artificers. We sincerely thank you for your service in returning Yoci safely to us, and for the help you provided our ambushed patrol. Yoci said that you recovered a Regiment Bottle. May we have it? I promise we will return the bottle, but we want to, uh, properly handle the contents first." Oliver retrieves it and turns it over to the dwarf, who then hands it to Feddlesine. The gnome quickly retreats and disappears through the pair of doors the entered from.

"Also, here are your weapons back. I apologize for the caution, but you never know. Yoci fully vouched for your character and explained what you all did. Again, we are in your debt! We would greatly appreciate it if you would join us for a banquet in two days. In the meantime, Yoci will be your host and show you around the city." The two tag-alone dwarves produce your weapons and once everyone has reclaimed them, they too, retreat through the same doors as the gnomes. "Now, before I go and leave you in Yoci's hands, do you have any questions for me?"

"Welcome to Bradhavehl!" Yoci leads you on a tour of the city. She spends a day showing you the highlights of the city. It is larger than you might have expected, and it is surprisingly lively. The city has many levels to it and is well light by the many lanterns, torches, furnaces, and magical lights. It is more open than expected, and you quickly realize it is even bigger than it appears because much of the major buildings are built into the stone and not stand-alone structures.

There is a central religious district where the three main temples are located, one of which is to Callarduran, the diety whom Yoci serves. The other two are for Dwarven dieties. Despite this, you can see that some gnomes enter both of those temples, and some dwarves enter the temple of Callarduran. The two dwarven temples face each other, like two opposing sides of a square, with Callarduran's temple forming a third side. Where the fourth side would be are several small shires dedicated to a variety of other dieties. Close by is the main civic square where those who run the government do their business. In both of these areas, the carved caverns are surprisingly large and open with amazing stonework, and featuring stunning relieves and carvings all along the facades of the structures.

The next area Yoci takes you to is the commercial district, the heart of the commercial district is a long "road" lined with stores and sellers and stalls of various sizes and construction. As organized and structured as the religious and civic areas are, this area is very chaotic. The amount of things sold are quite amazing. At various points of the commercial district are alcoves and grottoes for recreation and relaxation. Yoci leads you to one, explaining, "This is one of my favorite spots to relax and meditate. It has an odd platform that emanates magic, but we don't know what that magic does. As a result, most people avoid it. I like it because of that solitude and I find aura helps with my meditation." When you get there, you see that it is larger than you would expect for an alcove that is avoided. It is circular in shape with a wide entrance, and a few benches placed along the inner walls. In the center is a slightly raised dias that is perfectly square and composed of 36 square tiles arranged in a six by six grid. Half of the tiles are white and half of the tiles are black.

After this, she takes you to see Fannir Feddlesine at his workshop. Unlike Valpip's shop, which is relatively small and a one-gnome shop, Fannir's shop is massive with at least a dozen gnomes working on various project at various workstations. When he sees them come in, he grabs the bottle and brings it to you. He nods to Yoci, then says, "Thank you for securing this for us! Had they been able to open it, we could have suffered tremendous damage from the full regiment of soldiers stored with it! Just forcing them to open it early was a huge win. Actually capturing it before it was opened is tremendous! Thank you." With that he offers you the now obviously empty bottle.

Once you take it, he says, "To activate it when empty, you need to remove the stopper, point the opening at the main target, which can be a rather large object, then say the activation phrase. If done correctly, the object and everything in, on, or immediately around it will be pulled into the bottle and placed into a stasis. The contents will stay frozen until the stopper is again removed and the release phrase is said. Alternatively, if the stopper is removed and the bottle shattered, the contents will also be freed, though, of course, the bottle is now gone. The bottle is extremely hard to damage while the stopper is in place."

Yoci listens to Oliver's description of the game. "That sounds fun! I'll have to find some items to use as the stones so we can try to play it!" She isn't just humoring him, she is genuinely interested in the game.

Fannir says, "The commands are quite odd. To store, the command is, 'To Harbor'. The command to release is, 'To Sea'. They don't make much sense to me. For either to work, you have to say them right after removing the stopper. I can demonstrate if you wish!"