Ulfr falls back in line, still smirking. Stupid nobles.
Bimbur imagines the noble's face with added elven features getting hit in the head with broadhead arrows until falling unconscious.
Now that Bimbur knows the female elf is a thief, his curiousity is aroused. He may have to find out if he can meet 'her crew'. His distrust of elves and his fascination with the thieving arts are in conflict, but the fascination with the 'bad girl' wins out.
Tchirash places a hand on Horgus' shoulder. "I can understand your frustration on being down here with everyone, but, just for now, we're all in this as a group whether we want to be or not. Maybe you all have history, but until we get out of here, I ask that you all try to ignore it, and we'll do our best to get out of this place quickly."
In the daze of the quick fall and recent events, Bimbur seems to take the comments of the noble in stride.
His normally adept senses left him in the aftermath of fall from above as the pressure to protect the injured and infirm augmented a strong sense of dwarven duty. He projected his suspicion of elves on the thief, who the noble seemed to have strong prejudice against.
Relieved that the lady was getting carried, Bimbur took his favorite place up front.
"Noblesse oblige is gone--elven words that once had meaning."
Rakeesh eyes Karas warily as he scoops the injured Anevia up and carries her along. But, the lady seemed perfectly willing to trust him, and the elf seemed content to be led by the tiefling. Rakeesh huffs a disdainful breath, to announce his mistrust of the situation, then turns and steps into the vanguard.
"Noblesse oblige is gone..."
"Perhaps it is so," Rakeesh responds solemnly. "Some men can be led. But, some must be driven." I am apparently one such, he thought ruefully. "You cannot spur some men to their duty with charity and kind words."
"I once enjoyed a life of privilege. Now, I am here. It was not through any generosity - any noblesse oblige - my master felt towards his servant. But, I will never again neglect my duty. Of that you can be assured."
Tchirash grits her teeth, but shows nothing outward to the others. One who lets racial prejudices get in the way, and the other who expects no one to judge him, but judges everyone else by looks alone She mutters ...Iomedae lend me patience.
She moves to Anevia, "If we were to find you a walking stick, or crutch, do you think you could move on your own? Not that Karas carrying you would be completely uncomfortable," she grins, "but if we were to run into any further creatures on this trek, Karas would be hard pressed to fight and carry you. We are not moving quickly, with the dwarf scouting for us, so the pace shouldn't be too difficult, and we can rest as needed.
Bimbur nods and puts his hand on Rakesh's shoulder and looks him in the eyes.
"With the monks I learned that the poor are in fact rich, and the rich are often poor."
Then the dwarf looks at his shortbow with disdain.
"But I did wish the poor could buy better equipment."
Maybe Bimbur's attitude helped him justify his rather collective view of property rights. By taking things from the rich, he helped them become more spiritual, an enforced vow of poverty if you will.
He liked Rakeesh, the big, dead worm was definitely going into Horgus' sleeping roll tonight.
Tehina simply shakes her head at the antics of their bearded scout. Him and Horgus she'd both be glad to be rid of when they reached the surface.
For a moment Tehina finds herself thinking about ways to make Anevia levitate, reduce her burden, but soon realises that would be beyond her skill. At least for the moment. "We could let the Dwarf scout ahead while we take a rest, it's not like he'll be going far any time soon."
Karas seems a bit confused, "Um... beg your pardon but can anyone tell me what Noblesse oblige means?"
"Not that Karas carrying you would be completely uncomfortable," she grins
There was one disadvantage to being silver, she could note, as the tiefling turned somewhat rose tinted.
"I-Uh, would of course place the lady down gently before joining in any combat, Ma'am." he stammered a bit as the Aasimar looked at him. "but, um, we can take a break if anyone needs to o course."
Karas seems a bit confused, "Um... beg your pardon but can anyone tell me what Noblesse oblige means?"
"Ther are some who believe those of power and wealth, those born of the aristocracy particularly, owe something to those who have nothing. Not just leadership. Not charity. Obligation." Rakeesh lays special stress on the word. "I can tell you from personal experience, that those who demand such obligations are the quickest to forget the duties owed their liege."
"There are lessons that can only be learned by possessing great power. There are lessons that can only be learned by being subject to one of much greater power." Rakeesh shivers, though his tone stays neutral. "They can be hard lessons."
"Rakeesh has the basic gist of it. Mostly it's meant for those born to landed nobility, so those people that gain the benefit of gathering taxes or money from the work of the commoners that work for them, on their land, have a certain amount of responsibility to see those people protected, and treated well, since they are ultimately the means of the nobility's...well, noble title. Unfortunately many noble titles don't hold that distinction of land anymore, so it becomes rare for a noble to display it outside their immediate surrounding. It's for that reason that the saying that nobility comes more from deeds than it does from titles becomes more popular."
She smiles "I wouldn't worry about it much, Karas. 'Blessed are those who learn not to judge others by their look or title, but by their actions.' Or something of that nature." She winks.
Ulfr just listens to the groups high minded philosophy as he walks. It means mostly nothing to him. The tribes operated very differently, and the fact that a chief had to care for the clan was a given. Leave it up to the lowland weaklings to corrupt everything. Even their socks probably corrupt by now.
Her questions unanswered, Neile shrugs and walks near Ulfr, humming a tune along with the songbird on her hat. Consequently, much of the conversation falls on her deaf ears.
Ulfr smiles add the little one joins him again. He modifies his gait and matches the tiny jingle of his various totems and fetishes to the beat of her song.
Karas smiled at Tchirash, "I see ok ok."
He looked over to Horgus, "Terendelev, my patron, was about as high as nobility can get here. Yet I was never subject to such scorn. Humility is a good lesson to learn for everyone. Down here? In the cramped dark? There is no Nobility. Only survival. Depending on others GREATLY increases that."
He shook his head. "I only knew hate and imprisonment until I broke free. I knew rage. I knew hate. I knew captivity. 20 years does a lot to you in a cage waiting for cultists to decide what they wanted to do to you. 20 years is a long time without the sun and sky. I was 6 for the love of the gods. This trek will be cake in comparison and you're lucky you get to make it and not crushed to death in a rock slide. You're lucky that She decided to save you too. Appreciate that sacrifice. Live with appreciation for every moment you get to continue breating now because it could have been so much worse."
He looked to Rakeesh, "Redemption. The last 48 years I have spent making myself a better person. Because if I didn't she would be sad and I'll be damned if I let her memory be stained by actions I didn't take or good I didn't do."
He looked to Rakeesh, "Redemption. The last 48 years I have spent making myself a better person. Because if I didn't she would be sad and I'll be damned if I let her memory be stained by actions I didn't take or good I didn't do."
Rakeesh meets his gaze. "Vengeance. It was the power in my blood that was squandered. It is by my blood that the price shall be paid. I have forsaken peerage and wealth, journeyed across the world. But, the Empyreal Lord will not be satisfied until I have spent every last drop in service."
A short while later, you come upon a round, bunker-like structure in the middle of a large cavern. Torches burning in sconces give off a sickly-green cast. A hammer and anvil adorn the space above the doors.
Bimbur gestures to Rakeesh and moves ahead to scout the room as quietly as he can. He gestures to Karas to put the lady down and get ready.
Karas shook his head and kept moving leaving the matter with Rakeesh to go for now.
-------------------
At bimbur's signalling, Karas whispered to Anevia, "Sorry ma'am, Just have a bit of a rest here while we make sure it's safe." He said placing her near a stalagmite to rest on and leading Aravashnial to the same rock.
He rejoined the front of the group and looked around.
When they saw the room Tehina's eye fell on the symbols marking the room. She just wasn't quite sure whether she knew them or it was something vague she saw in a past life vision at some point.
Rakeesh pulls to a stop as Bimbur signals. "Who builds a redoubt in an unknown, unmapped labyrinth of caverns?" he asks nobody in particular.
Rakeesh circles the curtain wall slowly as Bimbur scouts out the grounds. "Lit torches suggest someone still resides within," he says without concern. "Someone that might offer support and direction, if we are fortunate. Should we announce ourselves?"
Finding her tuneless humming accomapnied by heavy footsteps and jingles, Neile turns her lopsided grin up at Ulfr, and allows herself to gravitate slightly closer to the big man. Gail flutters from her perch to alight on Tehina's shoulder, small head darting this way and that, seeking out the wizard's companion.
As the group comes to the bunker, the girl's humming slowly ceases, brown eyes narrowing as she looks around. "Green light, strange light. Green for go, right? Lights are on, is anyobody home?"
"Torches or not, it doesn't mean that the person that lit them is friendly."
Ult draws his weapon and steps up with the other front-liners. His ears are open and his eyes sharp for trouble.
As Karas sets Anevia down, her eyes widen as she sees the structure and the symbols above its doors.
"A temple down here? I guess that makes sense for a temple of Torag."
Rakeesh waives a hand in a gesture encompassing the party. "We are a force at arms encroaching upon their home uninvited," he responds to Tchirash. "Friendly or not, it is... impolite."
"Toragdan crusaders?" Rakeesh responds to Anevia. "This is quite a boon. They may be willing to offer us assistance. At the very least, they could point us towards the nearest path to the surface."
"Master Ulfr, would you care to herald our arrival? Or shall I simply knock?"
Bimbur opens the door as quietly as he can.
He nodded to Anevia's response.
Karas looked skeptical at the whole mystery temple thing but hid his bloody hands behind his back. "Why would there be a temple hidden all the way down wherever we are? I mean isn't it just a bit convenient that theres a temple far below the city? Also why aren't those torches or anything near here making noise?"
"Twenty is a lot of arms," Neile nods, by way of agreeing with Rakeesh. "Have to be careful. Spread them wide, be friendly."
When Karas questions the silent torches, she giggles. "They make noise, silly. We just can't hear it."
As Neile's bird lands on Tehina's shoulder Merular lands on the other. He whistles before he starts talking, "Hello beauty, have we met somewhere before or was that in my dreams?"
"It might just be that this temple is older than Kenabres itself and the city was built on top of what was here before. I wouldn't be surprised if this city has been sacked several times before they erected the Wardstones." It was all pure speculation but that was the most logical reason for there being a temple in a place like this. The fact that it was devoted to Torag was irrelevant for the location, Dwarven did not equate underground.
"Those torches do seem out of place though. I don't remember Torag having a connection with green fire."
Bimbur creeps ahead.
Gail blinks her black eyes in response to Merular's question, before chirping in response, looking at him with uncomprehending curiosity. She ruffles her feathers and launches into a brief few lines of trilling song, before stopping as if expecting him to continue.
Neile giggles at the display, momentarily turning her attention from Bimbur and the door.
Tchirash chuckles lightly, "A force at arms? we're 6 people lost in the underworld, leading two injured and one person that doesn't look like he was prepared to fight. That hardly makes us a force at arms. Armed? Given, but not quite a force, not yet. If it's a temple to Torag, meant to be worshipped at, why is it closed off? Why the display of odd lighting, which would seem more to ward people away than invite them to pay homage to a good god?
I also don't see any sign of crusaders. No arms, no armor, no bivouac. So let's not count our 'boon' until we're sure. We're not besieging the place, we're being cautious. There's nothing impolite in that."
Tchirash moves up to the torches, inspecting them.
You see a grisly scene inside. Blood and gore stain the altar black, and near a half-dozen emaciated corpses stand or sit in various places. One that appears to be a dwarf sits in the front pew, covered by dust. The others appear to be chanting something in a harsh, unnerving tongue.
Nameless (AC 17/14/13): 0
Ghast (AC 20/16/14): 0
Ghoul (Red) (AC 16/14/12): 0
Ghoul (Blue) (AC 16/14/12): 0
Ghoul (Green) (AC 16/14/13): 0
Ghoul (Magenta) (AC 16/14/12): 0
Ulfr recognizes battle instantly and steps into view of the room. He raises his club and shouts a challenge that has the same effect as the song of the last fight. Though the words are unintelligible, they surge through the party and through their limbs with a desperate, uncontrollable energy.
Bimbur looks shocked: "This is F*&(ed up. No ale service from friendly Torag priests, but a nasty bunch of butchers!!!"
Bimbur fires at the closest enemy.
Bimbur turns to the paladin: "Rakeesh, if this dwarf doesn't have a good reason to be here, you can smite him!!"
Recognizing the situation and trying to stop the others from foolishly rushing in, Tchirash raises her voice above the din, "Fall back out of the doors, and make them come to us, we can bottleneck them there. Rush in and they have the advantage"
She then calls out for Iomedae's blessing upon the group.
Rakeesh steps up to the door, throwing it wide. "Then let them come."
Karas took in the scene of horror before him as the Skald's rhythm again pulsed with the fury in his blood. His teeth gritted and his muscles flexed as he hunched into a more bestial stance, ready to pounce at anything that got near.
Hearing the calls come from ahead Tehina rushes forward, "Stay back here, I think something nasty is ahead." With that she rushed forward as fast as she could.
Bimbur's arrow bounces off the skin of the undead abomination closest to him. As if that was the signal, all of them spring into action. The three sitting in pews stand, two of them moving closer to the door. The other merely turns and recites a prayer in Taldane.
"Oh Kabriri, Him Who Gnaws, Let us feast upon the entrails of these chattle, and may some of them learn to embrace being one of the Never-Slain!"
Sickly green light glows around the fangs and claws of the undead surging forward. One of these moves faster than the others and tries to bite the dwarven archer in a maddened, frothing fury.
"Yes! OH YES! FRESH MEAT!" The creature says as an overwhelming stench of decay assaults the eyes and noses of those at the door.
The sickening stench bit into Karas's senses but the rage powered through it and kept him fighting. He stepped into the fray and began clawing at the closest target.