Tollo is rubbing his hands together with anticipation, his stomach already rumbling again.
"I don't care how stringy they are, they gotta be better than eating giant bugs... it's too bad we ate all the seasonings already..."
Tamru watches with quiet sadness as they kill the weasels, but is quickly back to his normal, cheery self when they head back to camp. Food is food, after all. He makes an effort to coax the dog-woman to follow them out.
"White pelts like these are quite rare. They could be quite valuable if we can get them to a market," Bolgar grins.
"Atleast starvation is becoming less an immediate concern. But once we have the weasels' stashed lets get back to exploring this pyramid, I think we're getting the hang of it."
Horek agrees with Zuberi, wanting to get back into the pyramid immediately to explore it further.
During the encounter with the giant weasels, the wolf-mask woman seems unreasonably terrified, and flees from Tamru at the first opportunity, heading back for the staircase where you found her.
Taking the weasels back to the outside camp presents a bit of a problem. Remember the rickety ladder leading up to the entrance room? Horek and Timbur aren't sure that the ladders will hold their weight while carrying the carcasses. The ladders themselves are about 15 feet long.
Tollo does not care in the least that the weird dog-lady ran off.
In terms of the ladder issue, he produces his rope and grappling hook.
"Alright big boys, you get up top and we'll hoist the weasels up using the grappling hook and the rope."
He ties the end of the rope around the first weasel under the forelegs.
"Once you're both up there, we'll toss up the grapple and you can haul the weasel without touching the ladder."
Following Tollo's suggestion, the group manages to hoist the weasel carcasses back to the surface without endangering the rickety ladder.
Upon returning to the camp, Zaaid and Abdul seem happy, if surprised, to see you again so soon. They happily take the weasels off your hands.
Minutes later you are once again in the room at the bottom of the ladder.
Loges stays with the dog woman whereas the others deal with the food...
I wondering if I could...hmmm...tomorrow I will memorize a Mending spell for this tricksy ladder!
The woman moves down the staircase and out of sight ...
Knowing how much this would displease Timbur, the young wizard giggles, as he casts Mage Armor on himself before following her...
"Daft finger wigglers ran off after that strange woman... lets hope we can catch up with them before they lose some fingers."
Tollo looks at the ceiling, mouth agape in exasperation.
"UGH.", he moans before heading after Loges and Tamru.
Timbur climbs back down the ladder, looks about, then asks, ”Where is Loges?”
Following the others’ gaze towards the stairs, Timbur shakes his head, draws his sword, and heads down the stairs after him.
"Yeah, we better follow. Best not to get separated."
Horek frowns, wondering if the spellcasters knew they were tempting fate. Even if they didn't run afoul of the evil cultists that the Gorm worshippers had mentioned, they had already encountered many other dangerous creatures in this place. "Let's hurry, then." The half-orc grunts in response to Zuberi, moving down the ladder swiftly to try and catch up...
Loges only follows for the time it would take to go to the camp. The wizard easily calculates the estimated travel time for the others ti get to camp. He paints arrows to show his progress, before returning to wait for the others to return.
Learning from Tollo, Loges stays alert.
I figure Timbur just didn’t notice Loges take off after the woman, so he doesn’t notice him gone until he returns.
Once it's noticed that Loges and Tamru are missing and the party just plain drops all the food they've been trying to transport, Tollo moans to the ceiling. Dragging the weasel corpses, the bodies in a headlock under each arm, he follows after the rest of the party cursing out Loges and Tamru.
"Bad enough we're stuck in the middle of nowhere in a CURSED F~++ING PYRAMID but now our idiot fancy wizard and love priest decide to go chasing after the FERAL DOG WOMAN who was probably going to try to EAT US IN OUR SLEEP FOR CRYING OUT LOUD when we have TWO OF OUR LOYAL COMPANIONS OUTSIDE wondering where the next meal's coming from- AND WE HAVE THE NEXT MEAL!!", he rages, shaking the weasels for effect.
He shakes his head. "SHELYNITES for ya! Just DROP EVERYTHING as soon as their knickers get tight!"
Whispering to the cleric as the two brave spellcasters follow Dog girl, Loges suppresses a giggle (barely).
Won't the others be pleasantly surprised when they get back that we didn't waste valuable exploring time!
While the others are finishes up their battle with the weasels, Tamru hurriedly follows after the terrified dog-woman. As they run, he calls out as gently as he can, for a fat man actively running. "Come back. Everything is OK, yes?"
When he and Loges reach the staircase, he asks the wizard, "Do you speak her language? The one that the dwarf was speaking?"
Regardless of the answer, Tamru heads down the stairs first.
While I can't speak (or write) the language, I do have a spell that would allow me to comprehend any language. There is a limited duration, though.
So I’ll guess Horek and Timbur we’re preparing to haul the weasels back, but while Timbur was distracted, Loges decided to sneak off. Looking up, Timbur realizes his employer has disappeared, so he asks after him and follows with sword ready, leaving the halfling to angrily drag around the dead W.O.U.S.s
Zuberi grumbles as he starts moving back with Timbur. "If we find a bell we'll have to put it on a wizard."
The masked woman passes through a doorway at the bottom of the stairs and keeps on running down a corridor that heads south for a short distance. She does not seem like she is stopping, despite your entreaties for her to do so.
The middle-aged Garundi looks on with sadness as she flees into darkness. After a moment of silence, he turns to Loges.
"We will look for her, later. We should return to the others, yes?"
Heaving and weezing, the wizard looks out into the darkness with disappointment clearly on his candle lit face.
I am sorry to say that I agree. Perhaps, her fate will allow for a reunion. Let's return so that the others won't run off and do something dangerous without our protection.
"There you are! What the devil was that all about?" Bolgar asks.
As the rest of the group gathers round, he looks around. "Now that we're down here, shall we look around here? Or head back upstairs?"
Timbur glares at Loges as they meet up. ”Not smart, Mr. Wizard. If you die because you ran off, I’m not giving you your money back!”
Huffing and puffing behind, a weasel under each arm and his face red, Tollo looks anything but pleased to see the two spell casters.
"Oh good you're alive. Camp... huff... where we agreed to go... as a *group*... is *this* way."
"I know it's been a while since you boys have see a woman but you really gotta raise your standards. Even I would hold out for at least someone that bathed in recent memory..."
Tamru smiles gently at the halfling. "I am sorry my small friend. I should not have run ahead." The big garundi man steps up and hefts one of the carcasses from under Tollo's arm and shoulders it, ready finally to go to camp.
"Perhaps when we return we can convince her to come to camp with us and bathe. Who knows what beauty we may find, yes?"
Loges smiles and waves.
Well, we were only concerned for her well being.
The wizard winks at Timbur.
It's dangerous down here!
Horek sheathes his greataxe and also takes one of the weasels back from Tollo, marveling that the little halfling was able to drag the bodies so far. "Where did she go? Were there others like her?" The half-orc asks Tamru as they return to camp.
"We did not follow her very far. You think there could be more, yes?"
Tamru seems somewhat uplifted by the thought.
"Let's secure the giant weasel meat before it disappears like the bits of beetle carapace. You can sate your lust for exploration once we've secured our further meals." Zuberi replies, clearly more concerned about their livelihood than some meal. "Look she knows the area better than us, we wont catch up anytime soon."
Leaving the strange masked woman to her own devices, your group retreats back to the surface, taking care not to overburden the ancient ladders leading back up to the entrance chamber.
You find Zaaid and Abdul just where you left them. Zaaid has been busy collecting what few edible plants or roots he could find growing among the broken stones of the lost city. He produces a partially broken clay pot with beautiful inlaid stone decoration and shows it to anyone who is interested.
"I found this among rubble. Not far away. Look," he says in Common, pointing at a few desiccated grains at the bottom of the pot, "this is جو*. There must be much waters here to grow long ago. I wonder, where now?"
Both men seem quite surprised by the strange, white giant weasels and starts breaking them down. Considering their size, however, this will take quite some time.
"Perhaps before that creature lived in the oasis, people used to take water there and water gardens with it."
Loges' blue eyes stare at the discovery.
And where, precisely, did you find that?
Hearing Loges' question, Zaaid points to the remains of a building approximately 80 yards from where the camp is located. Only the foundation remains now, but it was definitely circular with a single entrance.
"Perhaps that was a granary at one time," Bolgar says, curiously looking over the ruins.
He shrugs. "May as well get back to exploring," he says, heading up towards the pyramid again.
"Before this place fell under the curse we were told of? I'd rather not have entered but if we die here at least it will be a quick death, better than starving in the desert." Zuberri says to Bolgar about the granary.
Loges looks longingly at the partial structure, before, Bolgar suggests returning to the pyramid to explore.
Ready!
Tollo eyes the pottery.
"... think that's worth something back in civilization?"
"Well anyways, those masked weirdos have to have a source for food someplace- we need to stockpile enough to get out of here once we find the caravan."
With you help, Abdul and Saiid make short work of breaking down the weasels. It is clear that Abdul has done this many times before. His hands hold the knife and cut with practiced precision, and his incisions are few and leave the pelt largely in tact.
Zaaid tries to help as much as he can, but the older Abdul warns him off with a grunt assigns him to merely cut the already butchered meat into smaller strips for drying.
After less than half an hour, the meat of the two weasels hang drying on racks made from palm fronts, while the pelts lie skin-side up over a nearby large chunk of masonry.
"You will have to be extra vigilant in your guard duties tonight" Abdul explains. "The scent of the fresh kill will bring every scavenger from miles around. We'll keep them off until sunset, but after that, it's up to you."
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You retrace your steps back to the door you had been exploring when you were attacked by the giant weasels. The door looks unremarkable, although you notice that a small lightning bolt has been scratched unobtrusively into the door frame.
Once you have assured yourself that the entrance is safe, you find that it leads to a decently sized room, approximately 20 feet by 30 feet, with another door leading further east. It is sparsely furnished with rotting furniture, including a bed, desk, chest, writing table with a wooden chair on which sits a stone sculpture shaped like a lightning bolt.
On the floor lies the face-down body of one of the creatures you found at the entrance to the pyramid. Its left arm is swollen and discolored.
Tollo gives Mr Doorstop's Cousin Mr Lopsided a once-over to make sure he doesn't have anything on him.
"Poison got him maybe?"