A Long Time Coming

Long Road Ahead

"What do you mean she's not coming?!"

This was going about as well as he could've expected. The majority of their party was sitting in a single bedroom at an Inn located in the Castle Ward of Waterdeep. Inidy had been the one to speak up first after Dante filled them in on how the meeting with their temperamental tiefling friend went. Once he'd told them that she'd said no and why, there were a handful of different reactions to the news; but the one that nagged at him was Lorla. The teenager had a strange expression on her face before she left the room to presumably cool off.

I'll check on her in a few minutes after I deal with these guys.

"I mean, she's not coming. Apparently how you treat people has consequences." There'd been a bit of drama between the group of friends after they had ended their adventure and started going their separate ways. He's never been one to pick sides between friends, but at this point he was getting annoyed.

"Oh come on, that was years ago!"

"That doesn't change what happened." Gup commented from where he sat on the windowsill with one furry leg draped over the other. Emit looked to have deflated a bit.

"Valid, but I wasn't a part of any of that. If it's still that big of a problem, then the three of you need to sit the fuck down and have an adult conversation." Inidy seemed tired of this, they all were. The drama was pointless and did nothing to benefit any of them.

"We both know she's willing to do that. I know you guys kept the letters she's sent. We all keep each others letters."

"We've been–"

"Busy. We know." Dante sighs, standing from his place on his temporary bed. "I'm gonna make sure Lorla is okay. Just because we're marked by her group as untouchable, doesn't mean anyone not with them will listen." With that, he exits the room and heads downstairs in search of Lorla.

Dante spends about 15 or so minutes looking around for the teen, keeping in contact with the rest of the party due to the earrings they shared.

I didn't notice Nonie wearing hers when I stopped by. But then again, I don't usually focus on someone's ears.

By the time the party had gathered, it had been 20 minutes since Lorla left. Her father, Inidy, was pacing and agitated; which was to be expected. Every time the girl wondered off or didn't reply through the earring, it immediately set off little alarm bells in their heads. It wasn't long before they were faning out to search the area for her. After a while they regroup to see if anyone had any ideas where Lorla would've gone in a city she hadn't been to in a while. When their stressed conversation came to a pause, it was Gup that spoke up.

"Oh shit. The sewers!"

"The sewers? Why would she go there? She has no reason to–oh."

One by one, it clicked for everyone. Being the last to get it, it took Dante thinking back on earlier in the day when he'd been with Shynonie to realize what the others were getting at.

"...and I've been underground..."

"Fuck. Well, this should be fun."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was not fun.

It'd been a few years since any of them had traversed the sewers in search of the Zhentarim's hideout. The last time they'd come down here was when they had been attacked by a swarm of sewer rats, which led to Shynonie meeting her father for the first time minutes later. While the layout hadn't changed, it's appearance did. Everything looked identical, there wasn't even a piece of trash or a dead rat to tell you where you are or where you've been. After figuring out they've been turned around twice, someone has the bright idea to cast Locate Object on Lorla's earring. With a direction set, they moved forward.