The party makes it the rest of the way down the trail with little trouble. However, travel along the valley floor is still difficult as the forest again becomes overgrown with underbrush and thick vegetation. The narrow trail is often barely recognizable, but Vrag seems to press on with confidence.
After another couple of hours the valley is filled with shadow as the sun dips behind the growing hills. With darkness quickly approaching, Vrag stops at a tiny clearing along the stream and suggests camping here for the night.
Warren takes Tams and Stellan to scout the area with his eagles.
"We can set up camp and find a spot for the horses."
Stellan replies to Udo, "I can heal everything once per day but only once per day, the question is are you hurt enough to want it now or later when things may be more challenging."
Looking around.
Good camp? Any tracks about?
"That's great Warren, let's see if this is as good as it appears."
"We find no problems with this site. Vrag has chosen well. He has an eye for detail, defense, and supply."
Warren looks at Vrag with a little more respect.
Warren adds:"Vrag, Tams, and I will stand first watch. I can make use of what light there is. We can keep the horses near the stream and fill our skins."
"Is it not a bit early to start using 'we', Fearless Leader?" yawns Anwel. His drooping eyelids make it hard to read his expression, but he has only ever used that expression with Andrei, as a term of endearment. As Warren's respect for Vrag has grown, so, it seems, has Anwel's respect for Warren.
"Please wake me for third watch, as usual," he says, flopping down on the bare ground, his head resting on his unopened pack.
Stellan sees no trouble with the place chosen as well. "Yes, a good site. I'll help prepare camp and then treat anyone who wants it." Stellan sets up the camp, feeds and plays with Vinur, then prepares to give mundane healing to those that approach. Magical as well with the warning that it will be nightfall tomorrow before he can repeat it.
set up camp.
At Warren's setting of the watches, Stellan nods and says, "I'll be joining Anwel at morning watch as well then, that's the trouble with so many casters, few for the split watch."
"He surely does have an eye for detail. I'm sure it came in handy when watching for the optimal position to waylay travelers," Imon said, with no small amount of spite in his voice. Clearly Warren had a skewed sense of morality, but the others certainly should have known better than to accept the monster so easily, especially when he hadn't made a single gesture of repentance.
He began preparing his gear for the night. "I suppose I will take second watch, with whoever chooses."
Evening and darkness come early in the valley as the sun quickly dips below the hills. But after getting camp set, the party is able to enjoy a quiet, relaxed evening and night with no interruptions.
Everyone wakes refreshed the next morning which proves to be another pleasant spring day with only a few clouds and plenty of sunlight.
Once everyone has eaten and is ready to move out, Vrag again leads the way along the narrow overgrown trail. "We should reach the cave entrance by midday if nothing delays us on the way." He says to Warren and Andrei as the group sets out for the days travel.
The morning passes with the party making its way through the forest at the bottom of the valley and then slowly climbing toward a shallow plateau of rock a few hundred feet up the slope of a much larger hill. As you move closer you can catch a glimpse of the top of Arrowhead Butte as it glitters in the early morning sun.
Vrag leads the way up a narrow trail that switchbacks through the trees and along the rocky slope of the hillside. After an hour of hard riding the group finally reaches the plateau and Vrag points out narrow opening, partially overgrown by vines and shrubs. At first glance it doesn't seem like it has been disturbed for quite some time.
"We're here." Announces the bugbear with a tired smile. "That should take you all the way to the shrine near the summit. Without running into any other Boneravens."
Andrei nods to Vrag "So now you have a choice, you may leave if you wish, or you can join us for a little longer..." It seems like Andrei had something more to say but he leaves it at that.
During the watch, Anwel takes his usual sighting of the camp's position and updates his copy of the map with the information he had collected over the course of the day. Once they get to Arrowhead Butte, he pulls out the sextant again and marks the position down on his slate.
"There," he says, punctuating the word with a tap of his chalk. "Next time we need to make for this place, we can head directly here instead of following landmarks and trails." The overland mapping done, he stows the slate and chalk in his pack. He then ties Lairochal's bridle to a nearby tree and examines the archway while Andrei talks to Vrag.
"You have been rewarding to work with," he says, not looking at the bugbear. "It would be a shame to loose you now."
Warren relaxes a bit now that they are close and speaks to Vrag: "Ok Vrag, you did your part. I am just curious if you can see the big picture and the long game you can be a part of. In the wild, it is easy to be satisfied with seeing through the winter to the spring and times of good forage."
Having said his piece, Warren holds out his hand to the big creature.
"Here is hoping we don't end up on opposite sides in the future."
Warren is ready to engage in a quick strength contest with the hands.
Warren gets a good grip and proves he is a master at this type of contest of strength. He adds with a wink: "And this is without magic."
Stellan walks on the difficult trail, wondering why they even brought the horses along. He stops and checks Hjarta's fetlocks often to see she hasn't been injured on a trail so unsuited. He says nothng about Warren's sudden friendlyness to the bugbear figuring if Warren is comming around to his view, the less said the better. At Anwel's comment, Stellan says, "Yes, but without even a trail, it would be pointless or worse to bring horses, even on foot we would be very slow. Unless we gain such knowledge as to be able to find a route that does not go through deep woods."
Stellan looks to see if they are any signs of movement, trouble, or absence of any creatures that signal an abnormal situation around this clearly holy site. Turing to the all but forgotten Thad, he says, "Thad, does this seem to be the place you were sent to find?"
What was here, any tracks?
What's Here?
Vrag looks first to Andrei and then Warren and the others. As the druid stretches out his hand the bugbear thinks for a moment and then decisively grabs the druids hand. A look of surprise crosses his face for just a second as Warren tightens his grip, but the bugbear almost gives as good as he receives and certainly doesn't let himself be cowed by Warren's gesture. He does, however, nod respectfully to the druid after releasing his grip.
"I will join you in your efforts. But I will not follow into the caverns and to the shrine. Where you go is not someplace I wish to find myself." He looks at the horses and at Tams. "You will need someone to mind your horses and gear while you travel the caves. I'll perform that task. If you wish, you can leave that one with me." He points to Tams as the one to stay behind. Then before anyone can raise objections he holds up his other hand. The palm facing outward in a gesture of oathtaking. "I swear I will do this to the best of my ability or may my spirit never find its way to the afterlife. Your animals will remain safe or I will die killing those who would try to steal them."
Responding to Stellan's question, Thad nods quietly as says. "I'm not sure, but I do sense an energy emanating from the entrance. I don't think where we stand is the exact place we were sent to find, but we follow a path that would lead us there. Certainly I sense nothing that would indicate we were going in the wrong direction and the cavern does seem to be marked with Erastil's sign."
Andrei smiles "That sounds good to me, Tams are you alright with staying with Vrag?" Assuming he is, Andrei gets to work moving a couple days of food, water, his diary and a blanket from his saddlebags into a backpack. "Tams, there is a tent in my saddlebags, you are most welcome to use it. We'll be back soon."
"Thank you," says Anwel simply, turning back to Lairochal. He pats her nose gently. "Behave yourself for these two until we get back," he says firmly.
|
A shiver runs up Gorax's spine at the performance of Varg, as he looks at those masters of the journey. Yet these leaders must know what they do, he shrugs and waits, though as he hands his horse to Varg, he gives the stranger a stare. "Be good to him." he says in a dull monotone, trying not to betray any thoughts about Varg. "Even if this horse and I don't see eye to eye all the time." he continues before drawing his weapon and making his shield comfortable on his arm.
Stellan seems a bit concerned over Warren's sudden trust of Vrag with the horses. What, he's turning over Hjarta to him but-- (sigh) that's what trust is, isn't it? This is what I've fought for; why do I resist now? Stellan seems to shake for a moment, images of his Da's death flashing through his mind, riding Hjarta with the lord's men to find his mother. That's it, Hjarta is ... much of what little of have of him. Vinur, feeling the conficting emotions flooding Stellan, turns and licks his face, and sends feelings of reassurance to him. Stellan stiffens, embraces Vinur, and then leads Hjarta to Vrag. He nods to him and hands of the rains. "Take care of her too, one of my best friends. There's food for her in her saddlebags. Thanks."
To all, "I don't see any signs of anything larger than a mouse or bat, goodly amount of bat droppings so expect flying friends in the those aforementioned caverns. I don't think anyone has been here in quite a long while."
Stellan prepares to lead the way in.
What's Here?
Any other signs of something as we go along?
Imon handed his horse off without a word, just a mistrustful look that conveyed far more than words ever could. He readied his bow, and kept an eye out as he moved along. He stayed close to Stellan, knowing that the witch had missed traps before, and could use someone watching out for him.
It a bit of work to clear away enough brush and fallen rock to make the opening big enough for everyone in the group to easily enter the cave. The first few yards require everyone to crawl over where the ceiling obviously collapsed in at some point in the distant past. But it is not long before the passage opens up enough for the party to stand and makes its way single file.
A few bats flit out the entrance as the party disturbs their home, but they are harmless and quickly duck away.
Soon enough the light from the entrance disappears and the party is enveloped in the complete darkness. The cavern is dry and smells of dust, rock, and earth. The rattle of your gear, rustle of clothing and even the party's breathing seem loud and invasive in comparison with the overwhelming silence that existed before your arrival.
Andrei smiles to himself as he enters the cave. Even when he's got half the people wanting him dead, Anwel gets his way in the end. That said Vrag doesn't seem as bad as the stories make Bugbears out to be. I don't mind seeing if he is trust worthy with little things like the horses buth I don't like the idea of leaving Tams with him. Wonder what he thinks Stellan did to him with the ice, that might keep him in line.
As the tunnel get too dark for Andrei and the other humans say "Thgile Bereh Tlet" and his sword starts to glow magically providing barely enough light to safely move.
Warren just nods at Vrag and turns without looking back.
"I have to see this seed. A seed is definitely a fitting quest for a druid."
He manages to put himself next to Imon and confides:
"Never thought I would be playing such a dangerous game with a bugbear. I am concerned the earlier lies told to him may catch up to us. No magic resources used and we got here fairly quickly. Things may work out after all."
Imon's eyes widened for a moment, wondering what the druid was referring to. He hoped not what he thought. "You think he doesn't fear Stellan's 'curse'? Then what reason does he have to not run to his masters and tell them where we are? We should have killed him before we parted ways!" Imon kept his voice at a whisper, but it was clearly a struggle.
"We let him believe what he wanted to believe," says Anwel patiently. "He will see the truth of things when we get him home, if he has not already. We have been very sloppy about our deception, referring to Brevoy and the Swordlords from time to time, but that may work out as well," he says, clearly playing off Warren's words. "If he has figured out the truth of things already and not left us or betrayed us on the road - which would have been easy to do - he will probably not do so in the future. If he has not, remembering the holes in our web will lessen the shock." Anwel sounds comfortable in the shadowed recesses of the cave, skirting the edge of Andrei's light. He talks of the future with an optimistic tone and a lilt in his breathy voice.
[b]"Well I never have put much stock in deception to make allies. You might not always be the most perceptive in the room."
"Of course not," says Anwel amicably. "Were I such, I would be living still in Isarn. And yet, had the decision gone another way, we would not have had the chance to talk Vrag around at all.". He shrugs, his robe swishing audibly in the still air of the cave. "I do appreciate the lesson of this experience."
"Deception may not be the best way to make friends," Udoeak says, breaking his silence, "But sometimes deceptions are necessary. They certainly have the opportunity to backfire, but we'll deal with that when we need to, if we do. The best we can do now is that it won't come to bite us in the ass when the cards are on the table. Looking the way things have gone with him, however, that doesn't seem likely. He certainly seems to me "
Udoeak has his sword drawn as well as the group walks down the path, wary of the darkness and keeping his eyes peeled.
|
|
Gorax just grunts and mutters to himself, "Well I don't trust him." but leaves his betters to sort the situation out. He scowls in the semi-lit darkness, more worried about what's down here than what's been done with Varg and their horses. He whispers so all can here his hissing, "Sso we ssshould keep our eyesss peeled for troublesssss." Yet, his eyes seem to find difficulty focussing and making out shapes more than a few feet away.
"Indeed," Imon said, nodding in approval to Gorax's comments. "His unworthiness goes down to his blood. Though he has been a useful guide, assuming this path does not lead us into a trap." He added, disapproval strong in his voice.
"Again, it would have been easier to lay a trap on the trail," says Anwel. "Thad believes this cave leads us where we need to go."
The cave continues to offer easy passage for quite a distance. By your best guess you travel a good mile or so without any notable difficulty beyond the occasional tight spot. That is until you come across a split in the cavern. The left passage slopes up and looks to be more rubble strewn while the right branch continues on flat and with less debris.
Which way do you th... Udoeak trails off mid-sentence, slowly approaching a small nook in the wall.
Stellan is quiet as he makes his way through the caverns, letting the by-play take place. Thinking, It's odd that the most important conversations take place with us, in the most dangerous settings, do we need the danger to get us to open us about what is really important? Hmm, have the think on that - later, time to pay attention. Stellan pulls out of his musings and looks around more closely.
... And completely fails to do so. When Udo stops, he is surprised. "Udo, is something wrong? What's there?" Stellan seems to be at a loss, not sure of what is happening.
Udoeak shakes his head. "There's an inscription here, but I can't read it. There're also a few clay pieces; a cup and a platter."
"Keen eyes Udo. Is there any magic in there?" Warren asks hopefully.
Andrei brings the light closer. "Its in an old dialect of Varisian, close as I can make it is says 'The liquid of life offers nourishment to the soul'. Probably a reference to its role in old religious services given what this place was. Given whose temple this is my guess would be that the liquid of life would be water. Well done on spotting this, I doubt we are the first come this way and the fact that no one else has taken them or destroyed them is remarkable."
Andrei nods to Warren "Good idea, I'll check... Elbi sive mo ceb cig am" he weaves a partern infront of his eye with his hands and then looks carefully at the cup and platter.
"I don't know. It's possible, but I'm not as in-tune with magic as others might be. I don't utilize magic in the same way as Anwel or Stellan might, and am unable to see the auras of such things."
Stellan comes over to see what Udo found but Andrei beats him to it. He nods at Andrei's summation. "I'm not prepared to look at auras, I'll leave it to others for now. I'm sure it's for rituals. I revere all the gods of nature, but I think, if we are to deal with it at all, Thad is the one most likely to be in favor." Knowing that the Kobolds were ahead at one point he looks for subtle clues, if they or anyone passed into either fork, and if they left any presents behind.
"There is a little magic on them both but not much more powerful than I can cast. I haven;t had the opportunity to study many magical items so have no idea what it does, perhaps with some guidence I could describe the aura to the point that Stellan could recognise the magic in question. However it may get us no where and unlikely to give the details of the magic and I feel the need for speed. So do we drink water from the cup or not and do we take them with us or not?" Andrei asks.
Andrei then also checks each branch of the tunnel for the sounds of flowing water.
"What water?" says Anwel. "There is no water here, unless you propose to use the water we have with us." He hauls out his waterskin. "I am prepared to drink of that if you wish it," he says, unstoppering the skin and holding it over the bowl, ready to pour.
Stellan walks back to Warren and tells him, "Warren, these passages have not been much used of late, the right passage is the most recent but that was at least months ago, longer for the left, except for minor vermin. Which way do we go?"
At Andrei's suggestion, Stellan replies, "It's hard to interpret other's impressions of magic, different people tend to notice it differently, but I can try." Stellan will listen to what Andrei describes and attempts to glean any info he can from it.
Interpret what Andrei sees, if I can.