The guards are competent enough to realize pretty quickly that something is stopping them from landing solid blows, and shift focus to herding the invaders back. Soon the blue people are all back in the shaft, and someone slaps a button which causes a shimmering force field to cover the opening.

The man with the translation turns to Anakin and raises his eyebrows. "The drow will be back soon enough, like as not, especially with their whole force still intact, but we're hoping to send the expedition down before they can regroup. I don't suppose I could interest you in going with them? The Lords of Waterdeep and I are offering a hundred thousand gold pieces to each member of the party that stops this invasion."

"I'm interested in preventing death whenever I can," she says, rubbing at her forehead and releasing the people she'd been floating (on the other side of the barrier, so they won't fall to their deaths; she'd gotten a sense they should be over there, and - well. It's not like she knows enough about local justice to trust it), and backing off on the emotional manipulation - it always makes her feel like she's covered in slime, and it's exhausting in a way grabbing people isn't. (The arrows she lets fall to the ground.) 

"I suppose I can understand that. I... don't know that you can repel an invasion nonviolently... but if anyone could, it's someone with the kind of power you were throwing around. -I'm Durnan, by the way." He goes over to a safe built into the wall, unlocks it, rummages in it for a moment, and pulls out a small blue pearl on a chain. He tosses it to Anakin. "Pearl of Tongues. Just put it around your neck and you'll be set."

She does so. "Well, I have to try. And I'm Anakin Skywalker, of the Jedi. It's good to meet you."

The mammal in the robe bows deeply. "A vow of pacifism is... uncommon, in this land, but I can certainly admire it. I am Jojo."

"He's the Hero of Neverwinter," the reptilian-avian says blandly. "Hi, I'm Garrus Vakarian, mercenary and/or bounty hunter extraordinaire."

"And Deekin be Deekin but Anakin know that already," pipes Deekin cheerfully, scribbling in his notebook. "Where Anakin say Anakin be from?"

She bows back to Jojo. "It's good to meet you all, as well. And I'm from another universe, actually - I am a citizen of the planet Naboo, of late, though 'from' is a bit more complicated than that."

Deekin scribbles more energetically.

"So you're from some other plane? Impressive. I'm from west of Zhentil Keep, and people still look at me like I'm from the moon."

She nods. "There's a lot here that's - somewhat strange to me, I'll admit."

"I can imagine," Jojo says sympathetically.

Durnan nods. "As I was saying before the drow attacked, several prominent citizens have already been assassinated by drow coming up from the Underdark through Undermountain - uh, Undermountain is the massive dungeon that lies beneath Waterdeep. Usually, the archmage Halaster, who controls the dungeon, keeps us safe from its residents, and especially from the drow - there's no love lost between the drow and Halaster. But they've been coming up through Undermountain, and we don't know how or why."

" - Huh."

"That's something I'm willing to investigate, certainly, and try to help solve - 'there's a conflict and someone would like it to stop' is usually what people call on my order - the Jedi - for, so it's a situation I'm familiar with."

"I'd prefer more information on the polities involved - though that obviously balances against any time crunches, if the situation's likely to escalate soon..."

"I can give you a rundown," Durnan says. "Waterdeep is the city we're in now. It's run by an anonymous council called the Lords of Waterdeep, it's generally one of the more prosperous cities in the region, and it's done nothing to provoke an attack, at least that we know of. Undermountain is a dungeon constructed by the mad archmage Halaster, who is older than the city itself, and who controls the dungeon with an iron fist. It's ever-changing and terribly dangerous, filled with monsters Halaster brings in, and treasure to attract adventurers to die there for Halaster's twisted amusement. The Underdark is an incredibly massive cave system deep beneath the earth, ruled largely by different factions of drow, who are... generally evil, though there are those who escape their vicious society and make their own way in the world. We don't actually know very much about the drow; mostly, they keep to themselves apart from occasional slave raids in areas where the Underdark meets the surface. Do you have any specific questions?"

She hums. "What does 'generally evil' mean?"

Jojo speaks up. "They keep slaves almost universally - any drow who doesn't have any slaves is most likely either a cultural refugee or a slave themself - and their culture is... fundamentally broken in a lot of ways, as the refugees tell it. They betray each other constantly, sacrifice people to their dark gods, and turn to assassination as a first resort."

"And they ping red on a Detect Evil spell," Garrus notes.

"That's an effect of them being evil, not a cause," Jojo says. "But yes, also they ping red on a Detect Evil spell."

Sounds like the Hutts with bonus religion. Ugh.

"We don't have Detect Evil spells," she says, after a pause. "Though I'm not - unfamiliar, with the ways slave societies are very, very broken."

"Really? Then - how would you know where you're going to go when you die?"

" - Everyone in my plane meets the same fate after death, regardless of their actions in life."

"...Unless those actions were specifically avoiding proper death, but I'm not sure that counts as a different 'where.'"

Jojo's brow furrows. "Well, that's... an elegant solution. I can't imagine it's an optimal one. How do they keep the evil people from hurting the good people?"

" - After death?"

"Yes? In - whatever communal afterlife you're referring to."