" Aaggghh!!!"
Voren's eyes return to their normal yellow glow. He looks around. Aurica and Reknar on the ground, unconscious. Jens bleeding out and barely conscious. Flynn struggling to break his binds. Anevia waiting for the shot. Aravashinal and Horgus, no where to be seen. Voren sighs. Eventually, he places his crossbow on the ground. He says, "Guys, I'm sorry to say. But we have to let him go. Jens! Could you let him pass?"
You're too old for this, Jens, the Ulfen man tells himself, looking at his companions. The only ones able to engage the foe weren't likely to hold their own if he went down - not for long enough. Flynn unable to move, the others felled by a single spell...
The hellspawn's right. If you go down, they will, too. Step aside.
Bowing his head in defeat, Jens lowers his shield and steps aside, allowing the dwarf to escape down the passage he blocked. He tries to identify the spell's damage - judging by the force of the missile, he wouldn't be surprised to find a broken rib or two.
The dwarf licks his lips nervously as Jens vacates the passage out of the cavern, crazed, dark eyes flickering over each of you in turn as if trying to gauge the sincerity of this action. One careful step forward that is met with no resistance is soon followed thereafter by a half-dozen more as the mage makes a run for it, not stopping or looking back even once, leaving behind his dropped scroll and the collection of scrappy materials that had once made up his campsite. Jens vaguely hears some arcane murmurings bouncing down the curved passageway, but needless to say he has no idea what they might mean. In the end, the dwarf does not return.
Anevia heaves a heavy sigh, a mix of disgust and relief in equal parts, but the young scout seems to let it go like a weight off her shoulders. The webbing remains stuck firmly in place, but with enough time and effort, it’s easy enough to cut a passage through to free not only the eternally-struggling Flynn but also save Aravashnial from being alone with a freaking-out Horgus for too much longer. The task is made much easier by snatching up a few low-burning tinders from the campfire and using them to weaken the glue-like bonds between the interlocking silken threads. While that's going on, the stars in Aurica and Reknar's eyes gradually fade away, and they find themselves no worse for the wear but for maybe a painful bruise on the back of the head or arm from where they'd slumped to the ground after the spell. Jens is likewise able to be somewhat stabilised from his state of bare-minimum consciousness.
With the danger having passed (...for now...), you're able to give the cavern itself a little more than a cursory glance. The dwarf's abandoned parchment has curled up on itself, and seems to be written in a script that closely resembles the runic lettering of the written Dwarven language mixed with strange figures that bring demonic symbols to mind. The rest of his meagre gear is scattered near the camp, consisting of a ratty, moth-eaten bedroll, a small pack filled with dried meat, preserved fruit, and some mouldy cheese , and a chipped, six-inch-tall marble statuette of an angelic humanoid wielding a spear in one hand and an orb in the other. Scratched into the wall are strange writings, largely rambling treatises on bizarre magical theorems, mathematical proofs, and references to the author being 'hunted by those good-for-nothing witch-hunters' and... well, a half-dozen other groups, apparently. The chamber is otherwise fairly featureless.
Following the passageway the dwarf escaped through soon leads to a dead-end—at least if you're intending on travelling vertically. A steeply inclined tunnel leads upwards, its walls lined with numerous nooks, handholds, and dozens of iron pitons that have been driven into the walls long ago. The shaft leads upwards at a steep angle for at least the distance of Aurica and Voren's darkvision, leaving it impossible to tell where it leads to. However, the well-worn route with its many handholds appears easy enough to climb.
Voren sighs as he picks up his crossbow. He helps the others get back on their feet. With Jens, however, he lays the Ulfen on the ground. Taking out his healer's kit, he begins to work on healing him.
Frowning a bit, he turns to the others as he works. "Could someone give me a hand with Jens's wounds? Maybe a spell?" He turns back to Jens. "Don't worry, Jens. You'll be better soon. Don't worry."
At some point during his work, the healer says quietly, "I'm sorry, everyone. For letting the dwarf walk away. It's just that... many of us were hurt or incapacitated. I didn't see any other option. I'm sorry." Ayne takes the time to skitter over his head, as if comforting him. 'Don't dwell on it, boy. There was hardly a thing you could do.'
------
When Voren finishes, he looks over what the dwarf left behind. He picks up the scroll and frowns. "*sigh* I can't read this. I just don't have the skill to determine the exact spell. However..." He mutters a incantation in Dwarven. "Avslöja dina hemligheter och din latenta svårbegripliga aura." His eyes begin to glow a teal color. "I can check for any magic."
Ayne's voice rings through his head. 'Next time, take the time to learn the art of spellcraft, boy.'
------
Turning to the other items, he looks in disgust as he sees the tattered bedroll and the horrible food rations. The statue, however, he looks in interest. "Interesting." He looks at the mad writings. "How long do you think he's been down here?" He recites the writings to Aravashnial, figuring that he might know some things about them.
------
When the group is fit to move , they move down the tunnel. He looks up, seeing the tunnel incline upwards and riddled with handholds. He turns to those who can't see. "The tunnel goes upwards. There are plenty of handholds, nooks, and pitons. Shouldn't take much of an effort to climb." He helps both Anevia and Aravashnial climb, due to her injured leg and his lack of sight. Ayne sticks to his shoulder. 'Come, boy. Climb faster. I can move faster than you.'
Osric steps over to Jens.
"Your bravery is truly remarkable! You haven't by chance had any family in the church of the Inheritor? Well, the least I can do is restore what strength to you that I can."
Aurica wakes up with a pounding headache to see the dwarf gone. She sits up slowly and rubs at her head and eyes. When her vision clears, she sees the situation at hand.
"Nngh..."
She listens to Voren's words but for once has no recrimination for him. Look at them: one crazy bugger nearly took 'em all out. Can they survive like this? Can't even deal with one fellow throwing spells around. 's a damned good thing he had run, in her book.
Wordlessly, Aurica collects her dropped gear. She waits for those who have such abilities to tend to Jens' injuries. She doesn't mind waiting. Let the crazy dwarf get well ahead of them.
Aurica fishes out the dried fruit and the preserved meat, and uses her belt knife to cut the hunks of mold off the cheese. She sniffs and scrutinizes what's left, trying to salvage as much of it as she can for their collective bellies.
Eventually, they set out again. When they come to the vertical ascent, Aurica stares up at it before digging her rope out of her pack.
"Looks like an easy climb, but take no chances: all we need is for bats or somethin' to come at us while we're scalin' that. I'd rather the whole of body, in fightin' form, among us go up to make sure nothin's waitin' at the top, with one here to guard our wounded, and then once we know nothin's ready to rip our faces off, we can signal with a light, aye? And use a rope sling as needed."
His face burning crimson from shame, Flynn, when freed bows to the others.
" Forgive me my friends. I have failed in my endeavors to protect you. Especially you elder one. You were injured because of my weakness and inability to free myself from the webs. It will NOT happen again." He adds at the end to Jens.
---------------
" This doesn't look so bad..."
Jens doesn't look back at the dwarf as he runs off, instead sitting down heavily against the wall and fighting to hold consciousness. The feeling of weakness, of helplessness dismays him, but he lets no sign of it show, even as Voren and Osric tend to his wounds. The spell seems to help most, closing the old wound in his leg from the previous day, and starting to knit his ribs together again. It wasn't perfrect, but at least he wouldn't be piercing his lungs now.
"I'll be fine, lad," he says gruffly to Voren as he pulls his armour back on. He drops a hand to the tiefling's shoulder, fixing him with a stern gaze. "There's no sense in worrying about me when I've lived through worse." To Osric he adds, as he pulls on his gauntlets, "My family never placed much faith in the Inheritor - they were simple folk. I've travelled with many in my years, and while many of them followed all manner of gods, the only ones I ever paid attention to were Desna, after I met my wife, and Pharasma, after she was taken from me. I'm glad you - and Iomedae - have seen me as worthy of her grace." With those brief, but undeniably grateful, words, he picks up his shield once more and prepares to follow the group.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Upon reaching the shaft, he listens to Aurica's plan, nodding. "As always, I'm willing to stay," he offers, but poses no argument. The dwarf lass seems to have her head in the right place, after all.
Voren turns to the paladin. "No no no! Don't sell yourself short, Flynn! If anything, I should be asking for forgiveness. I only have one offensive spell and my strongest spells seem to be used up by the time we find ourselves in combat."
Noting the silence from her end, the tiefling turns to her, brow raised, as if curious about why she's not insulting him. In the lighting, though, he finds her quite... cute. In her unique way. Ayne, however, interrupts his thoughts with a pinch on the ear. 'Now's not the time to admire the Huntress, boy. Focus on your work.' Voren then turns to his work, his face a tad redder.
Voren looks up at Jens. "But you're important. Without you, we wouldn't have been able to make it this far. You protect us. I heal you. All of you. If I didn't, then I would be breaking my oath as a healer. And no amount of arguing will change this fact." He returns Jens's gaze with a stern gaze of his own, showing that he's not going to stand down on this fact.
Anevia shrugs at Voren's apology as she slips her drawn arrow back into her quiver, unneeded for now. "He didn't seem to be that dangerous. Crazy, sure, but it's not like he seemed interested in killing us. If we'd let him go in the first place..." The young woman lets her thought bubble drift off into the empty air, and then she shrugs again. "Well, what's happened has happened."
Voren has a look at the scroll and determines that it glows with a faint orange evocation aura. Not really useful knowledge without being able to read the arcane script, however.
The blind elf makes his way over to the etched wall, listening to Voren's recitations with an arched brow. "It sounds like all nonsense to me," he declares with a shake of his head. "However, some of those incantations seem similar to the kinds of magic demon cultists might use. Not the same, though... they appear... modified, almost. Not particularly pleasant material to draw upon, certainly. I encourage you to avoid it."
Aurica inspects the food, checking it out for signs of rot and sniffing it for that tell-tale reek of decay. All of it is edible, if you've got a strong stomach; the meat is certainly over-salted, the fruit sour and dry, and the cheese thick with blueish mould, but nothing that would be inedible...
The shaft upwards seems to rise for about sixty feet before levelling out into... surprise, surprise, another tunnel. This one is, thankfully, wide enough to walk two abreast and tall enough that you don't need to duck to move through it. There's no sign of the crazy dwarf up here... indeed, strangely enough, Aurica can't even locate any footprints of his in the hard-packed earth.
Aurica breathes out in relief at seeing there is nobody waiting at the top. She's unnerved by the fact that she sees no sign of the dwarf's passage, but... worry about one thing at a time.
"I need somebody else's rope," she says, since her fifty feet won't be enough by itself.
Aurica ties two loops into the end of her own rope, knots it to the other rope, and lowers the whole thing back down. She calls down, trying to be relatively quiet-- sound travels in caves, she doesn't want to start yelling--
"Whoever's comin' up next, put both your legs in the loops-- right up to your thighs. Tie off that short bit to the rest of the rope at the small of your back, an' then bring the loop 'round front again... Those of us up top'll haul you up, you just hang on to the main rope. If you can keep facin' the wall and walkin' up it with your legs it'll be easier on you, you won't be gettin' scraped and dragged... Anevia, guess you'll have to, uh, hop along the wall..."
Osric offers up his rope, quickly tying the ends together in the [url=http://www.animatedknots.com/sheetbend/] sheet bend knot[/url he learned as a young man.
As he works, he speaks with Jens:
"No worries, Jens. I certainly meant no disrespect in asking after your religious background. With so many gods to follow, I don't expect us all to venerate the same one. Each of us must follow our own path. The Inheritor, for her part, is a welcoming and forgiving mistress. She also values justice and protection, two qualities that you honor as well."
With that, Osric lends his hands (and back) to helping the others make the ascent.
Being one of the first up, after Aurica, Flynn stands guard until Osric ascends and they make the lift. He will then help pull up the others.
They seem unconcerned with how close that was. We all could have been killed and it would have been my fault for failing them. It will NOT happen again! Please Iomedae, give me the strength to protect them and return to Io!
" I wonder where that crazy dwarf went? He could ambush us later. Makes me nervous, to leave a foe running around free like that."
Reknar stands up, shaking the groginess away, followed by a spiteful tirade of insults aimed at the one that got him down - "Gods damn that deceitful son of a #$%&## - I hope some crawling %&$## eats him up and his family. Even better, I hope I can get my hand around that neck and twist him like a $#%&"
Taking a moment to look around, and check on the others, nodding at Voren's words - "You did what could be done - next time things will be different" - he adds plainly, with a somber orcish look in his eyes - "Let us not pat each other too much on the back though, we put up quite a sad show against that wretch - Bah! It is sheer luck that we are not all dead" - he growls in frustration.
Taking a disgusted look at the 'food', he does however stow it away - "We may need this further along, and I've eaten worse. Once our stomachs start grumbling, moldy cheese will taste like venison"
------
As the group moves along, Reknar remains silent, brooding from what has passed, and mumbling a curse every once in a while. He methodically assists the group in climbing in whatever way he can.
Thanks to a lot of fancy rope technology, Aurica and Osric are able to fashion a rope sling well enough to assist Anevia and Aravashnial's ascent. Despite her injuy, she seems to have experience in rock climbing, and manages the climb with only a little bit of assistance and a couple of painful bangs into the wall with her bung leg. The elf's scholarly ways show through, though, and it's more like lifting dead weight with him. Finally, despite his somewhat rotund physique, Horgus claims that he had "a lot of experience climbing cliffs as a boy" and stubbornly relies on the rope only when really needed. Soon enough, the others follow up, and Aurica leads the motley crew down yet another twisting and turning tunnel into the unknown.
This area seems to have been hard-hit by the demon-inspired earthquakes, for every now and then there is another concerning rumble as the cavern walls shake dirt onto your heads. Wide crevasses open into the ceiling, only to be sealed further up by another layer of ancient rock forcefully slid over the opening. Almost like an ant's nest, there appears to be alternate routes that you catch glimpses of, either many feet above your head or down through almost teasing slits opened in the earth that are too small to crawl through.
About half an hour of walking - with some time spent paused to wait for the earthen rumbling to cease - the tunnel opens up into a large, open cavern about seventy feet across. Cylindrical rock formations along the walls arch up to make a dome-like chamber with hundreds of greenish stalactites forming dozens of natural chandeliers in the cave roof. However, the walls and floor are riddled with cracks, and there's evidence of a cave-in here and there. At the centre of the cave, a stone tower that may have once reached the fifty-foot-high ceiling has collapsed onto its side, slabs of rock and piles of bricks and rubble lying scattered around its girth.
Aurica merely looks bemusedly at Reknar at his tirade on the dwarf. Maybe it's her own bias towards her own race speaking, but...
"Can you not tell the difference between a man crazed with fear and paranoia, and a true enemy? Where was he deceitful? He made us no promises, so where was his lie? I own he might be a threat still, but so might any who isn't in their right mind. Or do you wish death on the poor bugger's family-- who have done nothing to you-- just because your pride is stung?
"It isn't luck that we live: it's that those of us who were standing showed enough wisdom to stop pursuing a fight against someone who was trying to flee from us..."
Aurica shakes her head and returns to the task at hand. It's an unfortunate day when you find yourself defending the decision of a tiefling, Torag forfend, but so be it.
"I don't say he may not be dangerous to us still, and all being fair I would see his wounds to Jens answered for... but we pursue survival, not vendetta."
***
When Horgus reaches the top, Aurica is there to offer him a brusque hand up the last step. "Well-climbed," she says, neutrally. He's a slaghead, but Aurica feels a twisted sort of kinship with him in terms of their mutual initial reaction to Voren, if nothing else.
They pick their way through the caverns ahead-- pausing during the tremors. Aurica wishes fervently she'd listened more to her mother's words on caves and caving-- Aurica is a dwarf who has has spent precious little of her life actually underground-- but finally, a new sight...
"Hst," Aurica breathes, holding up a hand for the others. "Sounds like people ahead. Two voices I can hear-- not tryin' to be quiet, they're callin' out to each other. We've got to be close to the surface now-- they could be proper people, trying to find survivors."
"I couldn't care less about his paranoia or crazyness" - Reknar answers Aurica matter of fact - "Deceitful was the nature of his spell, that took hold of our senses, but in case you didn't notice, his ranting was all directed at the crusaders, blablabla, so I'm betting he is no daisy" - he grunts - "It is not a matter of pride, and I don't much care for his family either to be honest. It is simply a matter that if I get a chance, and he doesn't put me down again, I'll be offering him some free therapy for his madness - at the tip of my spear"
Staring at his weapon, he shrugs - "Not that it was very useful last time around but hey, live to try another day, right?" - his eyes then shift towards his dwarven companion again - "Still think we were lucky. Had he decided to attack instead of bailing out, and things might have gone different. They didn't though, so its all good" - he nods - "Given a chance for revenge however, I will not pass on it" - the man chuckles.
---
Even though he does not hear anything out of the ordinary, Reknar falls silent at the signal from Aurica "Lets take a look and hope for the best?"
Voren finishes his climb. He helps Anevia and Aravashnial situate themselves at the top. Voren shrinks back in fear at each of the tremors. He looks at the tower in awe, describing the sight to the elf riftwarden.
Through a combination of Ayne's presence, being on his guard, and (possibly) his heritage, he picks up the sound just as clearly as Aurica. He whispers, "She's right. I hear them, too. I think I can see them as well. I advise caution."
Flynn spends the time at the tail of the group following along. Quietly he listens to the others argue....
Aye. It was luck we survived. Firstly with the dragon's notice then with the dwarf's desire to flee rather than fight. We need to be better prepared and trained if we are to keep this type of thing up.....Though why I'd think we'd stick together after we escape the dark I don't know...Feels right somehow..
" Yeah... I see them as well. Digging around the tower for something...Can't see much detail though..."
"Right. Cautious it is. I'll try and get closer, quiet-like, see who or what it is. Anybody else figure they can tiptoe?"
Along with anybody else who wishes, Aurica slips forward, trying to be quiet as she moves through the treacherous rubble.
Could be worse, could be better... a few small rocks shift and clatter beneath her feet. She swears silently to herself and hopes the sound is lost in the overall noise of the settling cavern.
"I would probably blow your stealth" - Reknar adds - "I'll stay put, but ready to jump if you need"
"No disrespect taken, lad," Jens says gently to Osric, the fatherly tone creeping into his voice despite his efforts. "'Was an honest question, and not one I haven't been asked before. I understand most around these parts follow the Inheritor, but my own ideals are simpler. That's all."
As Aurica sneaks forward after the figures, Jens stays put. Heavy armour and a shield larger than his own broad back didn't make quiet movement exactly easy, after all.
Glancing down at his scale mail and heavy shield, Flynn shrugs and shakes his head at Aurica.
" Yell if you need help?"
Voren looks at his hoofed feet. He looks at Aurica. "I can try."
And try he does, as he proves to be somewhat sneakier than Aurica. Maybe from all of the hiding he did throughout the years. When he arrives, he tries to listen and see better.
As Aurica and Voren sneak towards the fallen tower, they begin to be able to make out snippets of what these unknown figures are saying.
"Crel, how about... and then... try..." It seems to be a male's voice, and a rather well-spoken and eloquent one at that, but rather raspy with a peculiar accent you're not immediately familiar with. It doesn't sound local, at least.
(Some kind of muffled answer from a different voice responds. It's too difficult make out.)
"No... it's too dangerous..." The same male says again.
(Some more groaning and straining. The figures seem to be pushing on a large rock to no avail.)
Your scouts are getting closer now, so peeking out from behind a large boulder, they try to get a good look at just what they're dealing with. And what a shock is waiting for them there indeed.
Two... beings... are currently engrossed in their task, slowly and carefully digging through the tower's rubble, particularly around one certain slab of stone. One is a hunchbacked woman with frizzy brown hair tied up in a long ponytail, her face so warped by bulging tumours that you can only make out one of her eyes and not even the slightest hint of a mouth. The other is a tall, thin creature with a face that seems at first to be a relatively normal and quite attractive elven man, if not for the goat's horn erupting from his brow... at least until he turns enough to reveal his left side, which is hairless and covered in greenish scales. His oversized fingers end in dull, spade-like talons that seem to be quite helpful in digging through the rubble.
Perhaps it's the shock of their appearances, but Aurica stumbles a little on some loose gravel, and the two strange, mutant beings immediately turn around at the unexpected noise. The one with tumours all over her face stumbles back, but the well-spoken male takes up a defensive pose, fists clenched and ready to strike.
"Who goes there? Who are you?" he demands, mismatched eyes locking with Aurica's own at first, followed by Voren's a moment thereafter. There is no hint of fear on his face, nor aggression for that matter--merely wariness. It's... understandably difficult to read much out of his companion's expression, though.
Aurica's face wrinkles with what the hell-- and she keeps a tight hold on her bow, though she doesn't nock an arrow yet.
Alright, well, they're people who want to talk. Using 'people' in the loosest possible sense of the word, but...
She clears her throat and steps forward a bit.
"Name's Aurica. This here is Voren. Could ask you two the same question," she says carefully. She could also, she thinks, ask WHAT are you-- but hell, that's probably not tactful. Damned if the one fella don't look like a tiefling bred with a snake, she thinks.
"Is your friend-- sick?"
The strange hybrid man nods to Aurica in greeting, relaxing his fists a little--though just a touch. He seems to glance at Voren for a few moments longer, but says nothing.
"My name is Lann, and this is Dyra," he says, gesturing back at his companion. The poor woman behind him offers a weak and timid wave in response, along with a muffled grunting noise. Aurica's follow-up question causes a sad smile to creep to the corner of Lann's lips, and he shakes his head. "Perhaps. But that is what is normal for us." His answer doesn't seem to answer anything, really...
"My apologies, but I do not have time for idle chatter. Misfortune has befallen us, leaving my companion trapped underneath the rubble." He nods towards the large rock wedged in place, slightly suspended above the ground by a beam that was once part of the fallen tower. "If your intentions are ill, we ask you to move on and leave us in peace, though we have nothing to give you in return for our amnesty. If your intentions are good... then perhaps you can help. In either case... time is indeed of the essence."
Voren's jaw drops at the sight of the two. But he doesn't make any judgements. After, who was he to argue.
"Yes. We're just trying to find the surface." He pulls his hood back, thinking that it could help relations. He looks at Dyra, trying to judge the tumors. Lann's accent seems normal to Voren.
Looking at the rock, Voren asks, "How did your companion get behind the rock? Also, we wish to know what type of help you offer." Now that Aurica thinks about it, Voren's accent does somewhat resemble Lann's.
"We were on guard duty here when the earthquakes started," Lann replies quietly. "There were others, but... the tower fell, and..." He drifts off sadly, looking down at the ground. "Crel's the only one we could find..."
Aurica looks warily at these 'people' (she's still putting quote marks around it in her head), trying to judge their truthfulness. The fact that they're not, y'know, attacking her... goes a long ways. She's too tired to maintain much suspicion against folk who look as pathetic as the tumored woman. They look strange as hell and they talk like a century out of date, but-- but that's no reason to kill folk. 'Less they're tieflings, maybe.
"...right. Well... there's more of us. I'll call 'em forward and we'll see if we can't... get your friend free."
She clears her throat and, after another moment's thought, shoulders her bow. Aurica puts her fingers to her lips and whistles.
"C'mon forward! Don't look like we got a fight on our hands, but we got someone pinned under some rock."
And if they do got a fight.... well, better they all be here.
She trudges over to the bit of tower rubble. "You talkin' about 'others'-- how many of you live around here? And are they all--" Aurica clears her throat, "--do all of you look, uh..."
Eager to feel useful and maybe make up for his failures, Flynn hangs his flail on his belt and hustles around to Aurica and Voren.
" Someone needs help you say, let's... Inheritor Forbid!..."
He stumbles to a stop as he sees the pair.
" What?! Who?....Uh.... needs help...."
He trails off not really sure what to say.
Poor wretched creatures...
Aurica gives Flynn a shrug when he stumbles to both a physical and verbal halt, a shrug as if to say, I know, what are we gonna do about it?
Reknar moves up with the others, balking momentarily at the looks of the ones they meet, staring at them for a moment, then shakes it away, turning to Aurica - "Right. Someone pinned under some rock?" - and then looking around, half curious to see exactly what the one trapped would look like.
Hearing Aurica call, Jens rolls his shield-bearing shoulder and follows Flynn, helping Anevia along should she accept the help. He seems to hold his surprise better than the young paladin - perhaps it's the multitudes of strange people and creatures he fought in his younger days, though nothing quite like to two figures standing before him and his companions.
He clears his throat and says, "So, if someone's pinned, we'd best be getting them out." Assuming Aurica and Voren don't stop him, he sets to work on the rubble, trying to clear the larger pieces of stone.
Voren begins to help Jens with moving rubble, despite his lack of strength.
" Right. ah...Sorry..."
Ducking his head and turning a bright red shade of embarrassment, Flynn attaches his shield to his pack and starts to help clear the rubble.
The group moves on over with varying degrees of disgust visible on everyone's faces. Anevia's reaction is similar to the group's--an eye-widening and quiet gasp that she hurriedly swallows, followed thereafter by pitying gazes shot the way of both of them. Horgus struggles to hold back his disgust, and he stares rather openly with a grimace at the terrible tumours hanging from Dyra's face. "Psst," Horgus shuffles up beside Aurica and hisses in her ear. "Are you sure we can trust these... freaks?"
If Lann notices any of the long stares, muttered complaints and stuttering pauses, he does not comment on them, although he seems almost weary at the responses. Perhaps it's more akin to resigned acceptance.
If you crouch down enough to see through the narrow gap caused by the rock's suspension on another bit of rubble, you can just make out a third figure luckily (or perhaps unluckily) trapped in the tiny alcove made there. The young man has a head of yellowish-green hair that seems to be made from grass rather than any sort of 'normal' material, and his skin is overly hardened all over with cracked, veiny calluses. He seems to be relatively uninjured at a glance, beside some obvious bruises and scrapes, but with almost no room to move. And it's clear from the fragile state of the rock shelf balancing over him that a big enough tremor would send it crashing down upon him...
Most of the lesser rubble has already been cleared away from the area by the two... uh, people. However, it's clear that the largest rock remaining is something the two of them would have next-to-no chance of moving on their own.
Aravashnial seems a little confused by the goings-on, his lack of vision perhaps a boon in this case. "Whatever is the matter with you all? Aren't you acting quite strangely now?" The elf turns in the direction of Lann and Dyra, his head cocked. "I'm not quite sure myself, but my companions here seem to be rather taken aback by you two. Are you perhaps natives of the underground, then?"
Lann shoots the elf a frown, but responds, possibly because Aurica also asked something similar. "There are close to two-score of us living together in a settlement by the name of Neathholm. And... yes. Yes, we all do look like this."
"Again with the 'appearances' thing," Aravashnial presses further, his intense curiosity reminiscent of when he was pressing Voren the day before. "My goodness, if only I could see you! I have heard tell of the deformed children of the First Crusaders, is that who you are? How have the Abyssal energies mutated you so? Can someone describe their state to me?"
Lann grits his teeth and refuses to answer, instead moving towards the large rock beneath which his companion is trapped. "We have attempted to move this last rock, but it is impossible for us alone. Crel suggested that we excavate the surrounding earth, but I am most afraid that we might bring the whole thing on top of him instead..." Dyra makes a whimpering noise at Lann's words.
Lann's getting steadily irritated by Aravashnial's pestering, and the elf is apparently not able to read the situation at all. You're also fairly sure Horgus being an ass (as per usual) is not helping matters either.
At Horgus's words, Aurica murmurs back, trying to pitch her voice too low to be heard by Lann and Dyra.
"Well, they're the first things we've run into down here what haven't actually hurt us so far, and seem willin' to talk," she mutters quietly. "Mayhap they know a way to th' surface. I'm keepin' an eye out, be sure, but sometimes you gotta cut a deal to make a deal, aye?"
She hopes appealing to Horgus's sense of business might ease him some... or at least make him more quiet about his attitude.
As for Aravashnial... Aurica side-eyes him a moment before deciding to try and have a word with him later. If someone doesn't beat her to it. They need food and water and safe places to rest-- as weird and off-putting as these people are, they might be the first that can offer such, and it won't help if they anger 'em.
Anyway, for now Aurica looks to the rock. Time to show she's a dwarf worthy of the name, she supposes-- despite the fact she's never held a pickaxe in her life.
She crouches down, peering into the gap at the equally-weird-as-all-hells-lookin' young man.
" 'lo there," Aurica says. "Crel, is it? Name's Aurica. We're gonna try an' get you from under there. Can you scramble on out if we get the rock up a bit, or are you too banged up to move?"
That said, she rocks back on her heels and studies the problem a bit.
"Right-- how about some pushin' on' this side-- Jens, could we use your shield as some sorta lever, like, and Reknar, mayhap your spear?-- and then we wrap our ropes around the rock from the other side and pull on that side-- kinda roll it off him, you see what 'm sayin'? Stronger pushin' from this side usin' levers, an' the others of us tuggin' from that side."
Crel blinks up at Aurica and offers her a smile. He wriggles his arm a little, enough to sort of get a vague, upside-down wave going. "I'm okay, I believe," he replies, his voice lower and less raspy than Lann's but still with the same odd accent about it. "I should be able to crawl out if you can shift things a little."
Frowning Flynn crosses over and whispers to Aravashnial..
" Aravashnial, these poor folk are really....deformed, and they are obviously self conscious about it. To those who can see them anyway. I understand your curiosity and desire for knowledge, but please, please try to be more considerate? They may know of a way out of here..."
Seeing Aurica take Horus aside he leaves the disagreeable man to her...
Flynn tries to push, but with the loose footing and the awkwardness of his shield and pack and weapons, finds that he is pushing himself into the dirt more than lifting the rock...
Voren turns to Aravashnial while he works. He tilts his head in confusion. "I have no problem with how they look. Why would I?"
Voren's too busy with his work to notice that Lann's getting annoyed. Despite his lack of strength, the tiefling proved to be of some worth in clearing the debris. After Aurica talks to Crel, Voren looks into the gap. He sees the young man and smiles, glad in seeing that he's all right. "Hello, Crel. My name's Voren. We'll get you out in no time. If you're injured at all, I can help patch you up, if you need it."
The tiefling turns to Aurica. "So I should help the others pull the ropes, yes?"
Just as Aravashnial was about to pepper Lann and Dyra with more questions, Flynn gently pulls him up, and the elf frowns a little, but nods in understanding. "I understand. I will refrain, as best I can." He continues, a little louder, so that the strange beings can hear him, "My apologies, I am clearly overstepping here with all these questions of mine. Perhaps we can talk a little more about this some other time."
Lann glances over his shoulder at Aravashnial and smiles a little. "It is understandable. Few surface people have ever seen our kind... we seclude ourselves down here precisely because of reactions like this."
Meanwhile, Horgus seems to be considering Aurica's words, and he eventually nods in acquiescence. "You make a good point there, I must say," he mutters gruffly, but with almost a hint of respect in his words. Almost. "Thank goodness at least one of you is sane about these things."
Aurica gives Voren a nod as she gets out her rope and starts winding it around the big rock. "Aye. We'll pull from our side."
Aurica offers the rope ends to any who would pull together, looking hesitantly to Lann and Dyra. "Ah... d'you want to help try and yank, or push?"
She offers Horgus a crooked smile and a shrug. "Dwarves're pragmatic, eh? 'm told that's what makes for good trade-- but you'd know better'n me."
Because it doesn't hurt, to keep flattering the blowhard a bit.
Osric remains quiet throughout, his face contemplative. Yet when it comes time to move the rock, he springs to action.
Voren helps secure the ropes. When they're all set, the tie fling pulls.
In a surprising moment, Voren manages to aid the others.
"Good thinking, lass," Jens nods to Aurica, shrugging off his shield. He wedges one end of it under the rock, testing it to see if the wood will hold - it's old, and it creaks under the pressure, but it should hold.
He waits as the others get into position, then clings everyone in. On three, he pushes down, trying to lift the rock with the aid of the makeshift lever.