Gillian shakes her head as Baldric and Satinder take the rather direct approach of working to bash the door open, with only partial success. "Sadly, the brave heroes were defeated...by a particularly sturdy door? No, that doesn't make for a good story at all! I'm stronger than I look; let me see if I can help," she says as she braces herself and then throws a shoulder into the stubborn door.
The door crashes through to the floor as Gillian plows into it. Behind a short hall leads northward towards another chamber. Gillian can't see all of the room from the doorway, but she can see a large table with several small open chests spread across the top. A larger trunk sized chest sits under the table, also with the lid open.
"Looks like she's grabbed for her belongings and what coin they had...," Gillian whispers, wincing slightly as she rubs her shoulder. "Probably still ahead of us, but go slow-like, just to be sure..."
Vili makes his way down the hall and into the room quickly glancing around as he enters, "Hmm...you might be right Gillian. It does appear as someone grabbed what they could in hurry."
Nodding his head in acknowledgement to Gillian's statement, Satinder begins to follow her lead.
Gillian, Vili, and Satinder enter the chamber with Bladric following. The room is void of anything other than the empty chests. A passage leads out of the western wall and turns north heading deeper into the complex. There is a closed door on the southern wall, a sturdy length of wood to secure it from this side is resting against the wall.
Zwain remains where the others left him, a near corpse.
Gillian gazes at the southern door for a moment as she mentally reviews the layout of the caverns and rooms that she's seen so far. "I think that door leads back out into the main passageway; the one Baldric wanted me to keep an eye on," she hisses to the others. "She's either gone back out that way...or she's gone further in," she sighs, chewing her lower lip in indecision. "If she's gone back out, then...then she'll run across Lord Foxglove when she gets outside! S***!" she exclaims. "What do we do? Keep going or backtrack to make sure Lord Foxglove is still in one piece? And addled or not, I ain't too keen on leaving the wizard laying back there like a sack of potatoes for much longer, either."
Quietly, Gillian moves over to the southern door and presses her ear against it, attempting to see if she can hear anything from the other side.
Gillian only hears silence from the other side of the door.
Satinder ponders for a moment. "She may indeed already be gone too deep for us to follow, and our wizard is laying out in the open for now. We may just have to swallow pride, retrieve Mr. Zwain, and return to Lord Foxglove. We can see what we can learn about these bandits later. Have we found any information on them?"
Vili nods, "I agree. Prudence is the better part of valor. Zwain is stable for now, but definitely needs some attention to get better. Lord Foxglove is also in need of escorting back to town."
With caution you return and retrieve the unconscious wizard. It takes a little work to maneuver him through the tight section of the exit corridor but soon you are stepping out into the sun once again. As you emerge you see Lord Foxglove getting to his feet, he staggers a tad unstable and blood is seeping from a wound on his head. "Oh thank the gods you all are alive. I have feared the worst since those two ruffians knocked me on the head and took off into the woods."
Gillian snorts and swears under her breath at the sight of Lord Foxglove's wound, but seems relieved to see the man still among the living. "Yeah, we're all here and in one piece, more or less," she sighs, glancing at the unconscious Zwain. "We found Old Tusk alright...but as we all discovered the hard way, including you, we found what was apparently some sort of hideout for bandits or the like as well. A few of them are back there pushing up daises as we speak, but it sounds like their leader and one of her lackeys were able to beat feet. Thankfully, we are all still among the living at least! Though we're not out of danger yet, oh no...those bandits might still be out there, or some other threat." She looks around the area cautiously, despite Lord Foxglove having described the two ruffians as having fled into the woods.
Gillian only hears silence from the other side of the door.
Sorry for the delay, it has been a hectic week. Did a funeral Monday, sat vigil with another dying church member Tuesday , and now am on a whirl wind two day business trip. The second funeral will be Saturday when I get back to town. Please be patient and I'll get us going again soon.
Your battered band sits in the sun outside the cave listening to Lord Foxglove tell his tale. Uncertain that the villains have indeed fled, Gillian surveys the tree line. Nothing seems amiss in the shade under the trees, birds are chirping, and the wind lightly pushes some of the branches around.
You can see the spot with trampled grass and brush that indicates where your group came into the clearing, on the opposite side headed away from Sandpoint you think you see long leaf broken down which might indicate they way the two fleeing bandits went.
Gillian points to the opposite side of the clearing from where the group first entered. "Looks like our friends probably went that way," she muses. "As much as I hate to let that b**** have the last laugh, it isn't worth our time to chase her and her little friend down. We need to get Zwain here back on his feet before anything else happens. Once we're all ready, we should get started back to Sandpoint...oh!" She jerks her thumb back towards the cavern entrance. "Should we haul Old Tusk's carcass back as well? We went to the trouble of hunting him down, so I wouldn't mind a little credit for that one. I have a feeling that Baldric might see it the same way," she chuckles, offering the warrior an amused smile.
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"I agree, we can inform the good sheriff what we know about the lady and perhaps he can send a patrol or offer suggestions as to where else they may hide out.", Vili nods in agreement.
Turning to Baldric, "I can help you carry the brute back to town. I'm naturally a little slow, but I can keep the same pace regardless of load and he seems heavy enough to require a slow haul."
"Can you and Satinder manage the wizard, miss Gillian?", Vili inquires.
Gillian eyes the unconscious Zwain for a moment and nods. "'Tween the two of us, I think so. I know you can't make a good archer or warrior without having some muscle," she inclines her head towards Satinder "and me...well, I'm stronger than I look!" she adds with a wink. "You get his shoulders and I'll get the legs; sound good?"
Satinder chuckles a little at Gillian's comment. "I certainly would not confuse the looks of a person, man or woman, as to how strong they actually are. I have seen small children lift more than what you think they could possibly lift. But yes, I can take his shoulders, that would be no problem. As odd as he is, he still deserves to be treated and properly healed beyond that of which we can currently give him, no offense of course Vili."
The trek back through the woods and then along the road to Sandpoint is a bit difficult hauling the unconscious wizard and the dead boar with you. Alden spends most of the time concocting ways to take credit for the boars kill as he rambles on about how he led the band of hunters to their victory.
Approaching the low stone wall on the north side of town, the sun is already starting to set. A voice calls out from gatehouse. "Hold, who goes there?
"'Tis only the beauteous and merry hunting party of Lord Foxglove," Gillian calls out in reply. "Though perhaps slightly less beauteous now than we were when we left! We've got an injured man here, so if you'd be willing to humor us and let us have him taken care of, we'd certainly appreciate it!"
"Oh it is just you lot." You can hear the disdain in his voice, it seems the authorities in Snadpoint are as equally unimpressed by your rag tag group of heroes as the local citizens. With a sigh the guard continues, "You all best be gettin' beyond the wall...in case there be goblins on your trail." A second guard chuckles at the snide remark.
Gillian's face flushes red and she opens her mouth to deliver a scathing retort...but then remembers the injured Zwain, who she is still helping to carry. With a sigh, she bites down on her words and grudgingly mutters, "Thank you..." as well as shoots a death glare at Baldric should he even look like he's about to open his mouth.
As they troop past the gates and into town, Gillian murmurs, "We should probably take 'im to the church here in town unless one of you has a better idea. Dunno what the clergy might think of us right now but I know Father Zantus wouldn't turn away an injured man."
Vili gives the guards a cold stare, before turning to Gillian. "The church is probably going to be Zwain's best chance right now. As soon as I rest, I can add some assistance, but I used all of the blessings I had while fighting off this beast.", Vili states as he gives the carcass of the huge boar a nudge.
"Mayhaps we can drop this off by Lord Foxglove's inn for proper preparation as well?"
Sighing along with Gillian as he hears the guard's response, Satinder gives her a look of approval for keeping her mouth closed in the end. "I would agree. I am sure that Gillian and I can take our friend here to the church ourselves. Should we meet you back at the inn or should we wait and meet you at the church for when you drop the boar off at the inn?"
Baldric pipes up, "I can easily haul the beast and escort Lord Foxglove back to the Inn. It will be my pleasure to assist as such. You all see to the wizard and we can reconvene tomorrow."
"Sounds like a plan!" Gillian says, hefting Zwain's legs as she adjusts her grip. "Let's head on over to the church then. He's not that heavy but still, my arms are starting to get tired. This way," she nods at the others before slowly shuffling in the direction of the church. If anyone attempts to give them grief, her response is brusque and to-the-point. "We've got no time for any witticisms you've spent the past day or two thinking up; can't you see we've got an injured man here? Make way and let us pass!"