Varuzhan follows up shortly behind Nezari. "Speak for yourself--I'm a respectable businessperson," he interjects. Though even as he said it, he imagined the woman interpreting those words as sarcasm. "Your friend was the one pointing a sword at me, and breaking a perfectly good walking stick." Varuzhan lets out a long and genuine sigh.
...And she's not the only one turning into a bird and spying on people! Miranda thought to herself. Luckily she was bailed out of the conversation by her more charismatic friends, so she didn't have to complain out loud.
With a groan and a roll of his eyes, Boros follows his two companions out of hiding, but says nothing. Frankly, he's quite done with this entire affair, and is ready to leave the Hellknight in his little spiderhole to whatever fate awaits him.
"We...we don't get many visitors here these days.", the woman answers. "None, recently...with the paths reclaimed by wilderness. It seemed a certain bet that SOMEONE sent you. And, you know, chances that someone would be Thrune were pretty high, so greeting you with a weapon made sense, I guess. When you snooped around and triggered the alarm upstairs, he seemed pretty certain that's what he wanted to do. Hum. Maybe we can ALL put down our weapons, and, you know, talk? I'd much prefer nobody getting killed here, least of all me, if that would kindly be a possibility.", she speaks on.
"Look, I was the one who put my weapons down last time." Nez shrugs.
"My walking stick is certainly of no use at the moment," says Varuzhan, putting away his broken quarterstaff. "None of us have a silver tongue. And I sure never signed up for working with Hellknights. I don't really know if you did either--he's not the sort of person I'd normally give sanctuary to. What's he to you, anyway?"
"Oh, you know, he's got no silver tongue either. But he's a good person. Inside. I mean, Hellknights are a bit...what was the polite word...traditional...and rigid."
She points at the shrine:"I don't know what you know about Saint Senex. Lets just say there is some overlap between his orders portfolio, and ours. We also worked together in the past, and...there may have been other arrangements. We don't get a lot of donations out here, so we may have helped each other out, from time to time."
She swiftly raises her hands in a defensive posture: "All strictly within legal bounds, of course. But still mutually beneficial."
She then looks at the others who came up:"So...what now? I would try and get him to talk, but I never managed to do telepathy except that one time after the mushroom dish. So I'd kinda have to go in person, and I'm not sure you can take the same way?" She flaps her wings clumsily as she speaks.
In the interests of moving things along, the soldier finally offers his thoughts. "Look, all we need from him is one of two things. Either he comes back with us, or he gives us somethin' proves we met with him and that he refused our aid." He then waves a hand in the direction of the shrine. "So I'm more than wllin' to let you go off and explain that, but we need to get this wrapped up already. There's business o' our own that needs tendin', and that ain't bein' done with us out here in this mess, playin' around like we're tryin' to coax a lass out o' her clothes for a bit o' grabass."
"Someone - some*thing* - is skittering up the coast. Can't make out what, but ... I'd guess either a boat or monster?" What else could it be? Miranda keeps her companions in the loop via the message spell. Kinda wished she had augmented her magnifying glass with a proper spyglass - but it wasn't terribly often she was out and about like this!
Could be a boat monster... was Nezari's idle thought.
"There's a lotta people what need help right now, some in danger of being torn apart by dogs, and if this bloke doesn't want the help, that's his call." Nez seems to share Boros' opinion.
Varuzhan doesn't really get it as the woman explains the connections between Saint Senex and Hellknights, but he doesn't press the matter--it was enough to see that she intended to shelter the man. He chimes in with the others. "Setrona wants him back. If he wants to see her, great. If not, just get him to find a token or gift or write a nice letter to her, and we'll take it back."
"Oh, you got him pegged all wrong. He's cautious, but not a bad person. But your insistence on staying armed to talk with him probably caused all sorts of alarms in his mind going off and...nevermind. I'll go talk with him, ok, let me just...I'll get him to open the tunnel for you again. Just give me a minute.", she heads a bit closer towards the edge, then casts a spell.
She turns into an Albatross once more, and without much grace takes to the skies once more(more throwing herself off the side of the stone and managing to transition into flying). She turns in a wide circle, then approaches some unseen opening farther down the side of the stone.
A few moments pass, while she returns inside, and Miranda takes the moment to call attention to the something approaching on the coast: You can make out a blueish hue making it difficult to see details against the sea and sky, and that it is approaching too fast to be a boat. It seems to move along the coastline, just far enough out above the water to avoid any land-bound obstacles.
Whatever it is, at the current rate of approach, it will be close enough to the rock to spot you in less than a minute if you remain standing in the open.
Narrowing his eyes at the oncoming whatever, the soldier growls angrily. Because he's got an unpleasant guess as to what it might be, and he's hoping greatly that he's wrong. "Hey, you lot who know more about that magic stuff than me, what would a water elemental look like if it wasn't actually in the water," he asks his companions as he drops down into a crouch and slides up against the wall of the shrine, hopefully getting a good bit of cover while still being able to watch the approaching unknown.
Varuzhan looks out into the distance before turning to the others. "Maybe we should hide inside the shrine. Except maybe Miranda, since she's sneaky." Varuzhan moves to do just that.
"Mhm ..."
"Uhh that's a good question. And good idea. Maybe tell the hiding ones too." Just in case it *was* one of thrunes minions. She couldn't really imagine anything else lurking out here, but she wasn't all that familiar with the wilds.
The woman remains gone, and there is no sign of her or your mark.
You make your way into the shrine, to be out of direct sight, except for Miranda who observers the situation further and shares her observations with the others.
She squints, and considers Boros suggestion of a Water Elemental for a moment. But as the "something" closes, it becomes clear that the speed of it's approach is due to flight, which in turn is provided by a set of wings attached to a serpentine body.
Right now, that slightly complicates your position. It's still so far away that it can't really have noticed you. It does seem to approach the locale, however.
Now, you could probably hope that the lady is convincing, and the tunnel is opened for you, and you maybe go downstairs before the creature arrives(or, at least, before it takes note of you).
Or you could try and make a run for it, hoping that you don't catch it's attention, and/or that nobody opens the tunnel and finds themselves face to face with that thing while looking for you.
"So... Um, what's the plan?" Nez whispers to the others.
Varuzhan takes the news with great concern. "Ambush? I don't like the idea of some flying devil scout finding out about us."
"Well, we can just ambush it right back!" Miranda suggests. It was highly suspicious *two* sets of winged spies just happened to spy on them today. "Can we let the shrinekeepers know? It could be their ally; or someone sent to eat them. Or figure out if they're keeping a fugitive knight..."
"I mean, if the shrinekeepers can even hear us," responds Varuzhan uncertainly. Regardless, he will make his way down the sealed shaft and calls out. "If you can hear us, there's a serpent with wings flying toward us. Do you know them, or is it trouble? Because if it's trouble, we can take care of it for you!"
Having screamed into a stone wall, he waits uncertainly to see if he'll get any response.
"Look, I'm as much for a fight as anyone else, but this right here? Not the time or the place, not after nearly gettin' eaten by bugs and plants, and with that twitchy Hellknight and the other two down below," the soldier remarks as he quickly ducks into the shrine and starts considering defensive options.
"Funny thing about fights, somebody can pick a fight with ya even if you don't want one back."
As the creature continues to approach, it becomes clear that it was large. Not carriage-large but rather house-large.
As you duck into the shrine, and Varuzhan makes his way down, it quickly becomes evident that nothing inside comes close to the actual walls in defensiveness. Except, of course, the shaft.
Which could either be a place to hide, for a limited time - with the solid rock surrounding you - or a horrible death trap if you got caught inside.
As you still deliberate over what to do, the stone beneath Varuzhan suddenly slides back towards the wall, opening the passage once more.
"Come. Swiftly. And don't begin to imagine that means I trust you enough to feel comfortable with weapons drawn. Your timing is awfully convenient. But if Barzillai sent his pet -", he spits on the ground as he says the word, "- then he'd certainly have no need to send the likes of you. The changes in architecture were...recent. We should be safe, for a time. So lets parley."
The moment you all made your way down, he pulls the large stone block back into place.
He invites you to a small room with a table that barely has enough capacity for all of you, never turning his back away from a wall. Before you even have a chance to sit, the middle-aged man starts bringing some bread and a fishy broth, speaking hastily as he does: "Not the time for a meal, but traditions are what they are. Rules of hospitality, share the bread and show you are here in good faith."
Boros wastes no time getting down the shaft and into the hidey hole. He'd risked a quick glance outside after his inspection of the shrine's defensive potential, and noted that the size of the oncoming beast made such concerns quite meaningless. Settling down in the close quarters, he can't help but make a grimly humorous quip about the situation. "If that thin' decides to see us off down here, at least we'll die in a ready-made grave that is, I'd assume by the shrine above, already consecrated. Good to know that whatever's left o' us won't just be scattered through the bog out there."
Accepting his portion of bread and fish-flavored water, the soldier dunks the former into latter and takes a healthy bite. Chewing thoughtfully for a moment, he then swallows and gives the bowl a considering look before dipping his bread again. "Not the best I've ever eaten, but it's not the worst either. I'll say though, bein' hot, fresh, and free goes a good way to makin' up the faults, so I'd rate this as a good meal."
"No weapons drawn here as long as you keep yours sheathed."
Varuzhan hurries inside along with the others.
He nods and takes some bread when offered. "Thank you, sir. Hospitality is much appreciated. It was wise of you to create such a hidden cavern. Were you expecting that to come after you?"
The strix was not particularly fond of light, so feels right at home in the dark cave.
Being hidden was much preferable to facing whatever that thing was so Miranda was delighted to head underground. And, as a major plus, this place smelled a lot better then their usual escape.
*Sniff sniff* Oh and food! "Thank you." Fish soup was one of her favorite foods, though this might scarcely qualify as "soup". But better then their rations for sure.
"Hmph. Thrune's pet is just a bunch of lapdogs and actual dogs in the city so far. That was neither." Miranda hopes the knight wishes to elaborate. And that such elaboration won't ruin the meal ...
"Right strange that thing was." Nez seems a little too distracted and worried to take part in the meal, at least at first.
"Expected? Definitely not. I expected to be hidden and out of Thrunes mind - that at worst he would send some gang of thugs turned bounty-hunter - no offense - after me. But I suppose he didn't want this thing to wait around idly, and showing it off publicly won't help him win any popularity contest. "
He takes a bit of bread, dunks it in his bowl and also takes a bite : "That said, I did fear that eventually someone would show up, which was the reason for this...part of the hidden cavern existed already, as living space sheltered from the storms ravishing the coast - but we made some tactically advantageous modifications to it. As you may have noticed." A small smirk plays on his mouth, but a solemn and stern look quickly returns:"That thing should be known to you, if you claim to be the next Silver Ravens...the blue dragon Rivozair. She attacked Kintargo during the Chelish Civil War and was driven off by your namesakes. Thrune managed to find her and strike a bargain with her. I have no idea what their deal is, but she works for him. He's had her attack ships bound for Kintargo even before declaring martial law, but kept her away from the city proper. I can only assume some of my order succumbed to torture and told him of places outside the city affiliated with us, and he's sent her to wipe them off the map. If we're lucky, she'll just demolish the shrine above ground and call it a day."
Nez's eyebrows raise perilously high such that they appear they might leave her face. "Lucky? Aye, that's exactly as lucky as this day feels it should be."
"Oh, I noticed," interjects Varuzhan at the mention of the modifications.
He listens to the rest of the story. "This is madness--a blue dragon working for Thrune! Not something that this version of the Silver Ravens could hope to fight off." He starts to regret not leaving this place sooner. It seemed their persistence might be their undoing.
Boros' expression sours as he learns that the dragon wasn't just some random thing that happened. "Right, a dragon. Because otherwise we'd have nothin' to challenge us in our efforts," he mutters facetiously between bites of his diminishing bread. Sighing, he lifts the bowl to his mouth and tips it up to drain the remaining broth, the last of the bread quickly joining it. After setting the bowl aside, he leans back and shakes his head. "Well, it is what it is. Complain' gets nothin' done, and better we find out here and now than in the middle o' a fight that matters."
Shifting his attention to the Hellknight, Boros quite bluntly reminds him of why they're here. "Now, assumin' we don't all end up dead by dragon in the immediate future, are you comin' back to Kintargo with us or not?"
"Surely the dragon isn't just here because it loves Thrune? Half the legends end with a would-be master getting eaten, so it's not all bad..." Miranda ponders out loud. Perhaps they could drive a wedge between the two somehow? Certainly better then *fighting* the darn thing!
"Ey, now there's a plan I can get behind. Always poetic to see someone get done in by the devil they summon, so to speak." Nez likes Miranda's idea, far more than fighting a dragon, for sure.
"Just hard to think of what a dragon'd want more'n vengeance though. Heard they're right prideful bastards, so can't be too keen on getting beat by the originals.."
"Dragons like treasure, right? Could always keep an eye out for a chance to bribe the dragon onto our side." Varuzhan shrugs, not really having any plan for how they would get heaps of treasure.
"Oooh, that might be the trick actually! Steal what treasure Thrune's probably promised to pay the dragon, then the dragon'll be mad at him, then toothy death."
"Hm, not sure it's just treasure motivating that beast. Ever since it got driven off, it held a grudge against Kintargo. You let it know you consider yourself Silver Ravens, it won't even stop to listen to anything you got to say. And no, I'm pretty certain it is not here by chance. But there's also about a dozen meters of solid rock between it and us. Even a Dragon will struggle with that." He finishes his broth, cleaning the last bit of it out with some bread before eating it. "As said, I think some of my comrades may have succumbed to torture, and Thrune will know all places affiliated with our order. He'll wreck all of them, and those remote enough are wonderful targets for this ally of his, which he does not want Kintargo to know about just yet."
He then turns to Boros:"As for your question - if we don't end up dead by dragon, I'll come with you. This place hardly qualifies as secure shelter any longer. So we will all come with you."
Some roar can be heared from above the ground, dampened by the stone:"For now, we will have to wait. In old days, people visited the shrine to pray for relatives lost on sea, their safe return and all that. Some accomodations were provided to pilgrims. There's no comfort, but you are welcome to find what rest you can. We'll try and wait it out. If it lingers, we attempt to leave by night. Beast can see better than us in the dark, but not at a distance. If we can get away without being noticed, we should be able to lose it in the swamps - the soggy ground doesn't allow for much tracking. From there on out, I'm willing to listen to your advice - you know more about the situation in the city. Are the roads safe? Should we move hidden?"
The roar briefly draws the soldier's attention upward, though he quickly returns it to Octavio. "Well, we either head to Kintargo quickly or take our time, because the gate guards we've got lookin' the other way are on specific shifts, with a three-day rotation that's just about to change." Pointing vaguely in the direction of the blocked-off chute to the surface, Boros explains a bit about their journey to the shrine. "Ran into some hungry bugs and plants on the way, so we probably don't want to take that exact path back to the city."
"Oh aye, sure, let's see what else we can find in the swamp what can kill us." Nez smiles, and seems to be mostly saying it in a joking tone.
Varuzhan waits nervously as the sound of stomping dragon is heard. "There's really nothing safe in the swamp. We'll need to prepare ourselves for the return trip. I bet you folk know the swamp a lot better than we do, having been based out here."
At the dragon's roar Miranda becomes acutely aware of how small and bite-sized she is. Brr. This whole stone tomb aesthetics didn't really help the feeling. Hopefully though the knight was right and the dragon wouldn't bother digging down.
Talking about other things, like getting away from here, was much better. "Yeah. Less dangerous then the dragon though. I'm all for the quick route if we can. But ... Let's see how long the beast above decides to stick around first ..."
"Aye. No reason to worry just yet.", the knight speaks in a fatherly, but not condescending voice when he notices the anxiety.
"The stone is quite massive. Even for a dragon, that's not easy to dig into. And if it does decide to do so, it won't be subtle. You'll KNOW whats happening. Probably hours before it makes it through. And as you probably deduced from that Lady Albatross, there's a second way in and out. It's a hole out the bottom of this rock, with just enough place to stand, and secured as well. What I'm more worried about is that these creatures are...cunning, and not in a good way. I believe it may withdraw, and observe. If we want to get out the "back door", so to say, even by night we may want to draw it's attention to the front, with a distraction. That'll be dangerous, but may be necessary unless you lot got a better idea or some tricks up your sleeves - if you do, now'd be a good time to let us in on them. That said, of course I'll take point in distracting the dragon, but a one-man show won't be particulary convincing. Any volunteers are welcome."
The middle-aged man raises his hand, then speaks up with a timid voice:"I am neither fast, nor brave enough to do that, but I can help - by shielding those who go against the Dragons breath. Won't help against physical attacks, but at least you'd not perish before seeing it up close?"
Boros leans back and scratches distractedly at his head while thinking over the plan. "Not goin' to lie, I'm not even a little bit thrilled to be actin' as bait. But I'm probably one o' the few in our group who could do it. Though I have wonder if goin' out and pickin' a fight or somethin' like that is the best idea to begin with. Maybe we could try somethin' a little less, I don't know, violent to start?"
Falling silent, his gaze becomes unfocused as he strives to consider a feasible idea for a distraction that won't involve trading shots with the dragon. And the soldier apparently comes up with something, for he begins to speak again. "Maybe we could put on a little show or somethin' like that. Some bit o' domestic drama like a couple stormin' out o' the shrine, screamin' and fussin' at each other. I mean, it's a dragon and all, so probably not too interested in whatever us 'little' folk get up to, but there's just somethin' about a pair havin' a go at each other that's hard to ignore."
"If it is here to raze the shrine, it probably includes people from the shrine in there." Miranda suggests. She didn't like that plan. Nor the knights plan. Any plan that involved the dragon at all in fact. Though unsure if they got to choose ... It was nice though that the hell knight had gone from trying to slay them to being supportive and almost suicidaly helpful.
"Maybe I can help with some trickery instead? Let's think on it."
"I'm all for NOT trying to confront the dragon as a distraction if we can avoid it. But you oughta know that I can fly. Not that well, but well enough going down or level. So I'll stay back if we really need to do that."
"I feel like any plan what involves the dragon even knowing anyone is here or alive is a bad one, so I think Miranda's got the best plan. If we go with a distraction, the dragon might keep up the search for more survivors after it knows there was at least one."
"Let's go with Miranda's plan, then. At least some of us can get out without being seen."
"It will take a long time though..." Miranda squeaks thinking of the other captive knights. They surely wouldn't like the delay.
"Will it take longer than two days? That's our remaining time to get back at the right shift, right?" Nez asks.