"Oh, Sunday. Kiley needs a friend, not a blank soldier. Please do come back to us."
Grace sighs and shakes her head. There's only so much even she can do in the middle of a dungeon after all.
Kiley returns Jessica's embrace, her arms trembling as they cling to the priestess. Tears soak into the taller woman's clothes as she chokes fresh sobs back.
She seems listless as she fights the new outburst down and follows Jessica's lead.
"It can't be true," she mumbles, "She's dead, burned to nothing in the fire."
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"Yes Miss." he responds blankly to Grace's suggestion.
Kiley picks up her halberd and makes her way into the hallway, the same listlessness affecting her movements. She pauses at the intersection and looks back to the others. Her voice is barely audible in the stillness.
"Which way?"
"He told us not to go East. He did not even draw that section of the lair. Thus it is the most probable place where the stairs down are hidden. I suggest we press on towards there before he comes back with all the goblin tribe."
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"He seemed truthful enough and said a large monster hangs out there. Let's check the other areas first. "
-Posted with Wayfinder
"I have to agree." Grace says as she takes her whip in hand once more. "Do we need to seal the doors leading down here? Just in case?"
"As long as we can get out again it'd probably be a good idea."
Delendir tries to convince on the topic to the others, he seems rather worried about it "Let's take this rationally please. If I am wrong, then we will find that creature on the East, but we will know that warrior was honest with us and there is no incoming attack in our back and we can calmly look for Nualia. Otherwise, if I am right and he is a true soldier enemy, he will have tried to fool us as much as possible, thus giving us the worst information possible to earn extra time for him to tell the goblins and stab us from the back, or even worst, go through a secondary entrance and alert Nualia of our approach. The one whom he devotes alliance." the half-elf looks at the others with alert in his eyes "If I am wrong then we discover it and we can go calm. If I am right and we don't go directly over Nualia our mission and the whole Sandpoint is on danger. She might even escape now that we are so close."
"I will happily follow the group." Grace says. "Even if it is into unneeded battle against giant monsters."
While the others decide what to do Sunday merely stands off to the side, eyes listlessly gazing about the room.
While the others argue about which way to go, Kiley barricades the doors with what ever she can find that will do.
Seeing the others still debating on which way to go, Kiley gets Sunday's attention and heads to the door Olrik said was likely the way down.
He shrugs, "Like I said, I was only hired muscle. I know it's down...but not where it is. My guess would be the northern rooms of the complex, since she disappeared that way on her trips down."
As if on cue when Kiley motions for him Sunday begins following after her, not really paying attention to anything else at the moment.
"Sunday, thank you for earlier. These past few days have not been kind." Kiley gives the man a small smile as she continues on her way.
"Your welcome, miss." his hollow voice manages to say after a moment, his blank face twitching when she smiles at him.
Grace walks behind Kiley since she seems to have the right idea.
"Kiley, I believe Sunday needs a hug."
The group conspires for a short span of time, trying to agree on which way to go. Kiley drags Bruthazmus's corpse in front of the door to the stairs, offering a bit of a buffer between the group and whatever lies above. The short, spunky fighter then grabs Sunday, offering a quick thanks as she heads down the hall. Grace follows closely behind, trying her best to crack Sunday's shell again.
As everything progresses, one thing is notably absent...sound from above. If there has been an alert, it seems the goblins are being quiet about it for a change.
Jessica, relieved that Kiley pulled herself together, is now giving Sunday some very worried glances, but otherwise moves along with the rest of the group.
Delendir rants about it "Where has been swallowed your sense of sense of survival? How can you trust so lightly a person that collabortes in a plot against our houses? How can you trust he breaks so easily with his collaborators and then will keep honor to your word? Where does it came you trust this one where you did not trust others?"
Even then he draws his bow and follows the team "We don't even know if he and the goblin are saying the truth about downstairs, they might be laughting at us with Nualia just upstairs."
The half-elf walks only backwards with his bow ready to attack anything coming from the back.
"For a hunter worried about an ambush, you talk more than an old fishwife."
Kiley ignores Delendir and opens the door.
Kiley opens the eastern door almost spitefully, revealing a strange cavern. The side of the tunnel and chamber appear rough and unworked, but the floor seems almost polished and very smooth. A thick curtain of vines and nettles spills across the eastern side of the room, but the daylight creeping through the mass of vegetation and the faint smell of brine can only mean that east is no longer an option past that point.
The reason for the smooth floor is also quickly apparent, as a creature with a tube-like body, no eyes, and several tentacles (2 of which are longer than the others) resides in the eastern chamber. Its appendages almost instantly writhe in your direction, though no mouth is currently seen.
Initiative:
Round 1: Elisai, Delendir, Tal, Sunday, Grace, Landsquid, Jessica, Kiley
"Orders?" Sunday flatly asks, other than his head turning slightly towards Grace he makes no other movements.
Elisai sighs slightly "I would think poking it with a weapon would be a nice start Sunday", she remarks as she draws her weapon, before turning her head slightly towards Delendir "Looks like he was telling the truth after all, I'd say "I told you so", but I'm a little busy thinking of a viable defence against this creature you dragged us into"
Still slightly disgruntled, Elisai steps ahead into the room (unless someone wants to simply shut the door on the thing) and takes up a defensive stance in case of a sudden attack.
"Oh, for Asmodeus's sake, go back into the hall and shut the damned door!"
Grace refuses to move forward and stays in the hallway.
Looking very worried about the tentacles Jessica says, "I-I-I-I d-don't want to go in there." She shudders at the thought of dealing with the tentacles, almost like it's a fear of some kind.
At his perceived order from Elisai he begins to move forward before Grace shouts to close the door. Pausing, his dead eyes showing conflict, he then reaches around Kiley and shuts the door back.
"For a hunter worried about an ambush, you talk more than an old fishwife."
Delendir turns to Grace with pity in his eyes rather than rage "And you seem too cocky for a bum singer. Did you came with it alone or you borrowed it from one of your late night fisherman clients?"
At that point Kiley opens the door and a beast appears. As he sees Elisai moving in, the ranger takes her position in the corridor queue and fires an arrow towards the thing.
He mutters "So after all it seems I was wrong. Whatever the reason you knew the warrior was going to help, you were right." and hastily reaches for a new arrow.
When Grace starts to shout retreat and commanding for closed doors even when Elisai has already moved over towards the creature, the half-elf brings his free hand to his face in disbelief. The thing just goes worst when the collapsed mind of Daud brings him to obey and close one of the doors.
He then prepares to retreat or save Elisai depending on what nonsense is he surprised with next.
Still slightly disgruntled, Elisai steps ahead into the room (unless someone wants to simply shut the door on the thing)
Delendir observes how Elisai is the first one to react, much earlier than anyone else, making it difficult for her to take actions in base to previous movements from the team She seems to have it clear. She could have waited for the others to act otherwise thinks the ranger to himself.
Elisai starts to move forward, but between Grace, Jessica, and Tal, she reconsiders as Sunday closes the door on the creature. The group soon hears a light thumping on the door, then the sound of something rubbing against the wood. Then all is silent.
Kiley throws herself against the door, holding it shut until the silence had lasted a few moments. The hurt, little girl vanishes as adrenaline floods her body and her heart pounds in her chest.
"What was that thing and why is Jessica so scared of it?" Her voice is breathless as she tries to calm herself down. Her eyes are wide open as she looks at the others.
"I don't know... but... perhaps I owe you an apology. " the ranger fairly mumbles "Perhaps that man was saying the truth."
He then uncomfortably looks the corridor to the back and not willing to stay on the topic the half-elf suggests "We probably should press on and check that room to the North."
Assuming no one interrupts he disappears opening the door to the North everyone wanted to open in first instance.