Round 8
"Darkness? Another trick by these bandits? Let's see if this helps." Christoff moves towards where he last saw Talric and places his hand on the wall and a glow comes from it.
Talric fumbles his journal away back in its sack, then asks warily "Christoff? What sorcery is this?"
Ghae hesitantly reloads her sling and tries to see through the pitch blackness that has suddenly engulfed the area.
Round 8
Grokar speaks to the others, announcing his presence to the bandits as well.
"It was the other elf, I think. I'll keep track of him while you go talk."
Grokar runs up the north passage, some of it still blocked by magical darkness, until he can smell Pharnox nearby.
"I'm with you." he whispers.
Pharnox whispers back at Grokar, "I never asked for your help, this is a job for stealth not brute force"
Talric looks around warily, and goes towards Christoff's voice, and the light. He then draws his earthbreaker and waits.
Grokar whispers back "It's not to help you. I don't trust you."
Wondering what was going on outside, Mikka nods to the two zealots, warily walking ahead of them to the hall.
I knew the Grand Druidess had plans to send a group but I'd hoped to be further into investigating before that. This should be interesting
Pharnox whispers back "Well if you must come stay out of my way and, more importantly, stay quiet. He then sheaths his bow and with a flick of his right wrist brandishes a dagger and double moves stealthily around the courner.
Ghae stays where she is alertly listening for any movement in the unnatural darkness.
Perception:
Grokar follows Pharnox's advice to keep quiet, tailing him up towards the northwestern corridor. His curiosity makes him linger a moment at the northeast hallway as he goes, looking down it to see if there are any other enemies.
Upon hearing the door get barred Pharnox stands up straight, dispelled his deeper darkness, and gives Grokar a gentle whack on the arm saying "Come man, I could have had an easy kill, but no, you had to come banging around behind me alerting him to my presence and now he's barred the door. Thanks a bunch." Pushing his way past Pharnox returns to the main room to check the bodies for anything of use.
Grokar growls, then shakes his head at Pharnox.
"[b]You don't think maybe the sudden darkness or you almost tripping over yourself had anything to do with it?[b]"
Grokar takes another look down the hallway now that the magical darkness has cleared, then starts to head back to the others as well, going to collect his javelins and look for anything else of use.
Mikka's eyes widen at the carnage. Though the loss of life was regrettable, she was glad to see the bandits placed at a sever disadvantage by people humane enough to accept surrender.
"I would think they wish to go further in without resistance, Janral." the beautiful young druidess says in a slightly amused tone.
Talric nods, blood bleeding profusely all across his body. "Yes, we would. I do not relish the taking of life. These men will go on to Valhalla, although their time on this earth was cut short." The massive Northlander sighs heavily, and says "You probably will not grant this request, but may we rest here? My wounds need healing, and I do not wish to go up against whatever monsters dwell here while at half strength."
Captain Janral is foaming at the mouth but his Lieutenant holds him back and speaks.
"You've wiped out our forces. It will take us months to rebuild, maybe over a year. Now you want to rest? We don't want anymore trouble. Just move past and leave us be. I already told the druid here, we don't know anything about the 9 eyes of Sha-Yen-Maar and this blight they are supposedly causing. I just know my men were getting sicker every day. If you hadn't killed them the sickness would have soon enough."
Talric bows his head. "Indeed. I know that such losses can be devastating, especially in adverse conditions. Hopefully, I can find a way to cure this blight. It may spread beyond this wilderness and into settlements, and we need to stop it before that happens."
"We need to find the die, so we can leave here alive. Eyes that cause a illness are interesting though." Christoff says sharply.
Christoff looks at the Lieutenant and his voice sofetn, "Sorry about your men, at least this was a faster death. Can the survivors leave this place? It seems like a rather unpleasant place to die."
Looking at the bleeding warrior, Mikka is moved to action, walking towards the group. "My name is Mikka. Before anyone goes anywhere, you require attention if you do not wish to bleed to death in a tunnel somewhere."
Without asking she steps forward, placing one hand in the center of Talric's chest, the other resting on her own lower belly as she begins a soft chant.
Ghae looks at the captain and then the woman:
What do you know of this blight? It destroys the trees that cannot protect themselves. What are these eyes of ShaMenYar?
Talric breathes a sigh of relief as more of his wounds close up. "Thank you, Mikka. That was much appreciated." Shouldering his massive hammer, the Northlander rumbles "We should leave soon. The sooner we find the Dice, the sooner we earn our freedom."
Diplomacy: <-- better than terrible
Sense Motive:
Ghae rolls her eyes.
I would love to play cards with you. Your tells are as easy to notice as a giant redwood on an open plain.
"Why does that sound familiar?" Christoff says to himself. "Talric do you think it's safe to ask them about our objective? Or should we just find the others and move on? "
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Now that's what I'm talking about. Pharnox thinks to himself as he shovels the money away. From the equipment he only grabs enough arrows to replenish his supply as well as giving Grokar a bow and a quiver of 20 arrows saying "This might come in handy, I've learned some battles are better fought from afar."
Talric shrugs. "Judging from what the druidess was saying, I think they already know about the blight-although they don't want to divulge that information with us. They probably know as much as the druidess does, and seeing that she is traveling with us, we can probably ask her as we continue through this place."
Ghae looks at the captain:
Who are you holding prisoner in there?
As she says this, she nods her head toward where she heard the cry for help.
Grokar wanders back to the rest of the group, trying to catch up to what they are saying.
Mikka's eyes narrow as she looks in the direction Ghae indicates. She frowns at the Captain.
"I meant the reason we came here in the first place, Talric. Perhaps they know of it but perhaps we shouldn't tell them we are looking for it. I understand you feel this blight needs to dealt with but I hope you can remember we have to either accomplish our goal or find a way to avoid being recaptured. I doubt our former captors will excuse our failure just because we stopped this blight."
In response to Ghae, Christoff shakes his head and says "Is everyone taking prisioners?"
"I sincerely doubt being punished for cheating at a game would warrant cries for help." Mikka says taking a step towards the "brig".