"That's actually very weird. Are you included by the thing the ogre mentioned where you don't have to eat? He said it covered 'the monsters'."

"Yes, we are," Shareesh says. "Perhaps he only knows of the monsters, but it applies to any who dwell permanently within these halls - including myself and my brethren, though only three of us remain. Halaster used us for sacrifices and experiments, and occasionally threw us to his monsters for entertainment."

Garrus shakes his head wonderingly. "Guy's a real piece of work, huh."

"We didn't fully clear out the level up from here so I'm not sure where you can go that'll be safe. Maybe we can just grab you on the way up once we're done, since you're not gonna starve or anything."

"I have a suggestion, actually," Shareesh says cautiously. "This altar which you see beside me is in fact an inactive portal to Waterdeep above us. I believe it amused the mad mage to lock us in with the means of our salvation and no way to use it. But if you can retrieve the portal keystone from the southern section of this level, you can activate the portal and send us back to civilization."

"...why hasn't anyone been using it in the latest spillover?"

"I cannot claim to know the mind of this Valsharess's minions," Shareesh says apologetically. "Perhaps they do not think one more level of the dungeon a significant obstacle? Perhaps they simply could not bypass the rakshasa outside."

"Wow. I guess I'm glad of it when people aren't efficient about being evil but it does make them slightly harder to predict. We wanna do a sidequest, gang?"

"I worry about the potential effects of leaving a portal to the surface open in the midst of Undermountain," Jojo says cautiously.

"The portal can be closed," Shareesh reassures him. "Simply remove the keystone from the altar when you are finished with it."

"Then I have no objections," Jojo says. "We cannot leave these poor souls to be devoured by the next monster to pass by."

Deekin... is squinting, and humming a little to himself, but has nothing to say.

"Who did you get these instructions from?"

"Halaster himself told me the operation of the portal when he brought me to Undermountain," Shareesh says after just a second. "I am sorry, it has been so long, and I told it to the others so many times, trying to keep our hopes up, that I nearly forgot where I had learned it myself. Memory is a curious thing."

"I am kind of worried that he'd think it was funny to make shit up - like, it might not be a portal at all, which would explain why the rakshasa weren't having a party upstairs, but it might be a portal you can't actually close, or something like that."

"He demonstrated it to me," Shareesh says. "I remember the look in his eyes as he drew out the keystone: sadistic satisfaction, and nothing more."

"You barely remembered learning it but you retained a very confident interpretation of the look in his eyes?"

"As I said, memory is a curious thing."

The other two slaves have moved, subtly, so that they're standing farther away from the party.

"You said southern section?"

"Yes," he says. "Please hurry; the rakshasa were our jailors, but they were also our guards."

"Hurry don't rush!" she chirps.

Shareesh nods.

She sidles out of the room, not quite turning her back.

The rest of the party follows her out, Deekin also not quite turning his back.

Deekin lets out a full-body shiver when they reach the central chamber. "Belmarniss thinking what Deekin thinking?"

"Yeah but let's not do three more of those things right now."

"Absolutely."

Jojo looks confused. "Three more... what?"

"Rakshasa, you twit. The slaves are not slaves."