Dregg looks sideways at Aramis as she casts her magics and remarks, ”Say, I’ve been meaning to ask, you know your skin sometimes shimmers and turns green for a bit when you do that?” He looks down at his forearm and his own always green skin and shrugs. ”Huh. Think mine’ll turn pinkish if I learn a lot of magic?”
The glow up ahead catches his attention then and he gestures to it with a thrust of his chin. ”Want to scope that out, Googles?”
Isabella loads her crossbow and gives a curt nod.
"Right behind you, green genes."
Dregg chuckles. ”I’m the sneaky one now? Heh. Alright then.” With his large axe drawn and ready, the broadchested half-orc starts moving gingerly toward the breach in the corridor.
Arryn sneaks up behind Dregg, but Dregg’s manky muskiness distracts him from actually noticing anything of import.
Dregg looks sideways at Aramis as she casts her magics and remarks, ”Say, I’ve been meaning to ask, you know your skin sometimes shimmers and turns green for a bit when you do that?” He looks down at his forearm and his own always green skin and shrugs. ”Huh. Think mine’ll turn pinkish if I learn a lot of magic?”
The glow up ahead catches his attention then and he gestures to it with a thrust of his chin. ”Want to scope that out, Googles?”
Aramis chuckles. "Wow, I wish I knew! I'm not sure why mine changes. I don't think it's normal." she shrugs, then grins. "Good thing I like the colour green." She gives Dregg a wink, then follows him towards the broken passage.
Isabella skulks after Dregg and Arryn, crossbow primed and ready to fire. One of her hands reaches up to tug down the goggles Dregg likes to remark on...
As you creep carefully closer, you see what looks like a bald gnome, with rocky gray skin and a wiry physique, sitting against the small wall. Her pale eyes are overly large and expressive, but focused on a strange mechanical device in her lap.
She doesn't seem to be aware of your approach.
Dregg pauses for a second, frowning at the scene before him as he tries to make sense of it. After a moment, he shrugs and stands up to his full height. ”Huh. Look at that, it’s a gnome. Hello, gnome. Are you, uh, lost?”
Isabella eyes the strange creature. "You ain't no Gnome like I ever seen before," she says. "You uh... keepin' entertained? Keepin' busy an' all?"
"Oh! Hello, there," Aramis remarks in surprise. "So you live down there?" she gestures at the broken wall.
Arryn figures there are enough folks talking to the gnome, so he stays hidden behind some debris.
It's a svirfneblin, which is a race of gnome that typically lives in the Darklands.
"Yes, I live in the Darklands," the gnome says. "But who are you? You're not the Children of Stone..."
"Who're they supposed to be, then?" Isabella asks. "We're just the folks who moved in recently. Needed a place to stay for winter."
"They were the troglodytes who lived here? They must have left before you arrived. That's strange," the gnome replies.
"They friends'a yours, then?" Isabella asks.
"Customers, I guess," she replies with a shrug. "I'm a merchant. They sometimes had goods they wanted to trade."
"Yeah? And what were you trading back'a them in return?" Isabella asks. "'Cause we might wanna do some trading, all our own, see."
Arryn sneaks off, then returns, pretending to casually amble up to the group. He greets the gnome and gets ‘caught up’ on what’s been said. He then asks, ”Were you trapped behind that collapse or does this passage lead to an entrance to the Darklands, and do you have other entrances near some human settlements?”
"I'm Aramis. May I ask your name?"
"I am Novvi," she replies. "And, yes, this leads to the Darklands. But I do not think it leads to other settlements, at least near here. We mostly try to avoid you, so we don't end up ..."
Her mouth seems to snap shut, as if she's biting her words.
"They trade little coins for bigger, and gems for gold. But also sometimes for other goods. I have many things of value. You want to trade?"
Isabella carefully lowers her crossbow and slips on the safety.
"Y'got nothin' ta worry about," she says. "We're not after you for slaves or your supplies or nuthin'. Matter o' fact, we might as well set up a chokepoint here, so's folks can't move back and forth too easy-like.
From our perspective, the Darklands is full of danger. From yours, we've got idiot townies up top. Best to make sure this passage is taken care of proper.
Heh. You might make a toll booth here. That'll keep the townies from exploring too much."
Dregg's head simply keeps turning from speaker to speaker to speaker as Novvi is showered with questions and returns answers in kind. He keeps taking a breath, readying himself to offer his own introduction, but he gives up after a few tries and instead just watches the proceedings.
He does manage to sneak one quick phrase out with an approving nod, "Yup. Trade's good." Though he hasn't any idea what goods or supplies they all have at this point.
”We don’t need a nearby settlement. A far one is perfect. We’d be willing to pay well for a guide to take us pretty much anywhere.”
After nodding in appreciation at Isabella's words, the svirfneblin looks at Arryn like he's crazy.
"I don't want to guide people through the Darklands. Too many people is just an invitation for attracting trouble..." she replies with asperity.
"What do you have to trade?' Aramis asks.
"I have many things," she replies, "but you look like the sort that wants magic. I have a potion that will make you faster for a time, a ring that can turn back spells, and a necklace of divine magic."
"That potion and that ring both sound handy. I don't know about that necklace though. What's it look like?"
"It is very pretty, would go well with your green complexion," the svirfneblin replies. "It is a brown leather cord, with two multicolored beads. Would really set off your tusks, I'm sure."
Dregg works his jaw back and forth, considering the gnome’s pitch. ”Oh yeah? Let me see.” The half-orc then regards the necklace as it’s presented, working his jaw in his same, familiar manner.
After several long moments, he breaks his silence. ”Yeah, ok. You convinced me.” He looks to Aramis, the group’s de facto money-keeper and holds up the necklace. ”Forget the potion and ring, let’s trade for this. And some armor so you don’t have to keep using your magic up.”
Arryn takes the necklace from Dregg and hands it back. ”None if us are divine spellcasters so it really wouldn’t do much good. Besides, they really clash with your eyes.”
”Would you like to come topside and meet with our town’s tradesfolk? They would be best suited for perhaps striking up a more regular trade partnership.”
"You do silverwork? Only I'm in the market for a holy symbol of our Lady of Graves, Pharasma," Isabella tells the Svirfneblin.
She shoots Arryn a glance. "Might be wise to send someone topside and tell the townies someone new is coming up first. Don't want 'em running their mouths and saying something to offend the honourable merchant."
The woman shakes her head.
"No, I am good down here. You can come see me if you want to trade, but I have no wish to go up any higher," she says.
She thinks a moment at Isabella's question.
"I can probably find that for you, though it may take me some time..." she says.
Dregg looks at Arryn, his brow furrowed deeply. "She said it would bring out my eyes! And what do you mean we couldn't use the necklace? You think I make my axe as big as a frost giant's with nursery rhymes and high hopes?"
He then turns back to the gnome and nods. "You're smart for wanting to stay down here. There's a bunch of hobgoblins on the warpath up topside and it's bad news for everyone. Happy to deal on your terms, Novvi. I'm Dregg, by the way."
As the group hammers out the terms of the deal, he pitches in a bundle of fine furs and skins he's been carrying since the group first found him then gestures to the device the gnome had in her lap with a thrust of his chin. "That's a weird lookin' thing. That a puzzle or something?"
"Yes, a puzzle. It keeps me occupied on my travels," she says.
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Aramis empties out their loot bag, makes a few trips topside to bring back some more, and counts out gems for the rest, trading a big pile of goods, coins, furs, some of Aramis' gear she had been holding onto but didn't need, and Dregg's armour for a masterwork chain shirt, a potion of haste, and a lesser strand of prayer beads.
"Pleasure doing business with you, Novvi."
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Your deal complete, Novvi ducks behind the barricade and returns about a quarter hour later, now with the items you've traded for, which she hands over in return for the items you've promised her, which she hauls off beyond the barricade. She offers to return in a month's time if you'd like to continue trading.
Afterward, you return upstairs and spend a little more time getting the caves into good shape, largely clearing out things that contain troglodyte stink and setting up beds and more for the survivors. Finally, though, everything seems to be working -- highlighted by Oreld approaching you and gifting you a couple vials of alchemist's fire.
"I was able to use some of the materials here in the cave, and well, I thought some more defenses might be good," he says gruffly. "I know it's not a lot, but I hope it helps."
Aubrin approaches you not long afterward with a look of concern.
"It's good that we have these caves -- I think everyone is much more comfortable knowing we don't have to worry about shelter, and being able to spend more time trying to get food -- but ... What's happening back home, in Phaendar? I think everyone knows the hobgoblins are still out there. Are we just going to stay here forever? Is it safe to go out and hunt?"
”Tomorrow, we’re going back out to scout some of the areas we know the hobbies have taken, to see how far they’ve advanced, and try to obscure our trail here a bit. We’ll try to swing another look at Phaendar. That centaur is still out there, though, so if folks are planning to hunt, they should stay together, and not go far. Better we hunger a bit than lose people.”
"I could go skulk around. See if I can find ole dobbin and line up a headshot," Isabella offers.
"I don't know about that," Aubrin says. "There were so many of them in the village. You weren't there, so didn't see, but I don't think you'd even be able to get close. I still don't really know how we all managed to escape..."
"Scouting out too far before we've properly secured the surrounding area will put these people in danger," Aramis points out. "We need to scout out the area around here first. Once we're sure it's safe around here, and the people go out hunting safely, then we can scout further afield. Once that's done we can make plans for the future."
"Arright," Isabella says, shrugging in a disinterested way. "So I'll skulk close to cave, first. Who's coming with and who's sticking here to defend the homestead?"
Dregg sighs, seemingly frustrated to be having this same discussion again. "We can look around on our way to that wolves' den."
You set out toward the den, planning to make that quick excursion and maybe find out how far the hobgoblins have come out of Phaendar, before returning to the caves. With your fellow refugees staying behind, you're able to move quickly and quietly.
You've got perhaps half a day when you hear movement in the forest, and see a group of three hobgoblins along with a lean dog walking in your general direction. They didn't seem to be taking any special precautions, making them easy to notice, but before you can react, , Dregg manages to step on a stick. The crack seems to echo through the forest and brings the lead, female hobgoblin's head up in a jerk. She raises a fist and says something to the others, looking in your direction!