Autumn some early, glad to have dry clothes, and stepped outside to take care of the horses when she noticed Herger. She paused but only for a moment before she moved to join him with the horses. "Awake before me, I'm not use to that with most people." She said with a friendly tone, obviously trying to move past the awkwardness of yesterday.
He offered her an awkward smile for a moment. He wasnt sure what to say.
"Farming is long hard work, especially when you are the only one to do it. Not enough sun in the day when me and the boy started out trying to eke a living off the land. He wasnt a lot of help when he was younger either. "
He paused glancing up torwards the cave and the advancing Regina. He gave her a nod when she thanked him for looking after her horse. He quietly studied both Autumn and Regina while the one studied her books and the other tended the horses with him. Pyros's arrival too made him feel a bit easier.
"We have horses to bear weight if we must, and im not sure how you not having a scent would help us all, Pyros is probably right, I dont think we will run into many things that we wont be able to understand out here..."
He glanced back torwards Autumn with a slight sigh shaking his head and bearing down on focusing on the horses.
Caerwyn wakes early only to see everyone else is already awake. Unwrapping his cloak he stretches his aching muscles before grabbing his clothes off the drying rack and getting dressed.
Walking out of the cave he catches the end of Herger's comment "I don't know? I've known a lot of people who not being able to smell them would have been a plus."
Once he brushes Sundancer and gets her saddled up he returns to the cave and reemerges carrying his sword. Stripping to the waist he begins drilling with the weapon until a sheen of sweat forms despite the chilly morning air.
Once he finishes his morning exercise he settles down to eat breakfast before the party begins to explore the land around them.
"Hunting is much the same." Autumn told him with a simple shrug. "Though I guess, it's just like that in small villages as well."
She looked back Regina as she said "Didn't you wish to speak with the Kobolds? Unless you can understand Draconic and speak it in turn, that language one might just be useful when we go back by."
Autumn noticed Herger's eyes the second time, and she turned her to fact him. She kept her voice low, though if it was for him or her one couldn't tell. "I'm sorry... about the awkwardness from last night..."
The landscape rises in gentle rolling ridges toward the south. Trees are more scarce, brush and brambles more common. Stone outcroppings line some of the taller crests. Around noon, a distant hill comes into view. The hill is crowned with an old dead tree of tremendous size. It fits the description for the Old Sycamore. Though visible, the tree, and it's hill are still far away.
"Let's scout the area and be sure that we can approach the tree safely." Pyros says after the tree comes into view.
"That sounds wise,"
He began scanning the lands about them and scowling.
"Normally I'd get off and scout by foot, but with all this being plains I don't really see the bonus of that. Be seen with ease." Autumn commented as she looked the area, though she noticed Herger's scowl.
"Something wrong Herger?" Autumn asked.
"I agree with the others. Better to explore first than be too focused on our goal and end up with a nasty surprise."
Nodding along, "That sounds reasonable."
"Bah... i dont like how open this all is. I did not used to be so worried about things back home. I think my three previous attempts at settling somewhere have me a bit paranoid."
He began sounding gruffly sheepish in answer to Autumn.
"If we're lucky, this will be the last place you'll have to settle. This, could be home." Autumn told Herger with a smile.
The ridgeline gives a fine view of the lands that slope away to east and west. To the east, and far away, a glint of water can be seen. Perhaps a river. Whatever it is, it several miles away. Beyond that, distant hills can be seen, purple and indistinct. Farther beyond that, mountains make a jagged horizon against the dark blue sky.
To the west lies a valley of grass, lightly scattered with trees, and beyond that, the dark green bulk of heavy forest.
Back along the ridge to the north, is also thick dark forest, some of which you have already explored. Now it is some miles behind.
To the south of the Old Sycamore the ridge drops away, hill crests block your view of what may be at the base of the ridge to the south, but beyond that it looks to be open country. It is too far away to tell much about the landscape.
The Old Sycamore itself is huge, nearly a hundred feet tall. It also seems to be dead, there is no sign of leaves budding out as they should be, this time of year. Here and there the thick bark is peeling away exposing the wood underneath. Massive roots dig into the earth anchoring the nearly fifteen foot in diameter trunk to the ground.
"Looks like this mite be the place." Caerwyn says as he examines the tree's trunk "There's got to be a way in. Can someone give me a hand?"
Moving to circle the tree. Glaring at the tree, "Whoever did this is rather good at it. I do not see any seams."
He looked about tilting his head to the side slightly. It was just a tree... granted a huge tree and dead, but a tree... felling it would provide firewood for a long long time though.
"I wonder how long that thing has been dead like that. Amazing it hasnt fallen over, even dead the roots must go deep."
He said to no one in particular really
Eventually, Pyros locates a hollow between two roots. "Over here! I think I found an entrance! Be careful, it's steep."
Not seeing anything herself and Pyros clearly deciding to be the one to take the long hard look leaving Regina some time to take a few notes in her journal.
Happily abandoning her note taking when Pyros finds the entrance. Bouncing over and looking down, "Smells horrible." Looking around, "So who whats to go first?"
"I'll go." Pyros says.
"Frostbite, stay." Autumn said as she pointed to the horses. "Guard." She told her.
With that Autumn followed right behind Pyros. "Right behind you Pyros." She said.
Autumn slips, almost falling down the dark hole. She manages to grab a root, and catches herself. The climb still needs to be made, but at least she didn't plummet into the darkness.
Caerwyn climbs down after Autumn. A look of concern crosses his face as she slips but he breathes a sigh of relief as she catches herself.
waiting for the others to squeeze into the hole he followed along lastly grumbling as he squeezed through and climbed carefully down.
It's pitch black in the low ceilinged corridor that the shaft drops into. Only a hint of light filters down from above, not enough to brighten more than a few feet, even for those with low-light vision. Herger's torch illuminates the area with a flickering yellow glow, showing that the passage goes in two directions, mostly opposite, and they both slope steeply downward.
It's easy to guess that fighting in confined spaces such as this will be difficult.
"Let me go ahead." Autumn told them. "My eyes allow me to see in the darkness and hunting taught me to move silently. Shall we take the southeast?" She asked.
I miss the bookshelves. Way safer than this! Glancing around and then grabbing the rope, "Coming down." Not swinging even though that could be fun.
White knuckle grip on the rope and then her feet are dangling. Not that scary. Quietly climbing down and looking around, "I don't care which way is first."
"I can see in this darkness as well, though I'm not as good at stealth. I can go next after Autumn."
"I am going to be blind with no light so go right ahead."
"That's well and good for you and Autumn, Pyros. But unless the two of you want to tell the rest of us where and when to attack, we're going to need some light."
"I meant allow me to go ahead of the rest. Without the light you all would be using to see. I could inform you of what is ahead before you meet it." Autumn explained.
The passage leading southeast goes only about 15 feet before diving steeply downward. There are ledges, so the decent is like a steep stair or ladder. Still only 5 feet in diameter, the tunnel walls are damp and clammy, with the ends of roots protruding grotesquely, here and there.
Caerwyn draws his sword and, with it at the ready, follows behind Autumn.
Autumn crept along, keeping her eyes and ears as she moved through the tunnel. She was glad she left Forstbite outside with the horses, she would have hated these cramped tunnels.
Pyros goes next, sword drawn.
Letting Autumn and Pyros step ahead with their darkvision about 20 feet he followed along doing best to not highlight his forward companions in the torches glare.
Keeping close to Herger and the wonderful torchlight that is all that stands between her and pure darkness. Keeping still and waiting for something to happen or some kind of sign.
"Woah, giant centipedes! And some sort of small, ugly person."
"Do you think they have seen us?"
He did his best to whisper trying to shield the light from the torch with his body
"Ugly person?"
"I don't think they have yet no." Autumn whispered as she looked back at the others. "And the ugly person is very likely a mite. Since that's what we're here to deal with." She said
Caerwyn moves quietly towards the small humanoid and his centipedes.
The small hideous humanoid turns at your approach, squalling something in a language that should sound graceful and melodic. Out of this throat, it is discordant and jarring.
"Damn it they can see us!"