"Well," Yazlenda replies, licking her lips, "here's what I'll give you for free, and then you'll see it's worth buying the rest. The reason I'm the only one you can trust in here is because all the rest of them are true believers in Ayala's cause. The Girls you probably passed before, on the other side of the shaft? The dregs, the ones who will focus on saving their skins over anything else. But from here on in, they're all fanatics.
"And the things is, Ayala knows it. That's why she banished the others so far out from the main camp. She knows things. She can get inside your head, knows exactly what you're thinking and what you will and won't do for her. She knows things you've never told anyone, mentions conversations she wasn't even there for. She trusts me because she knows my loyalty's expensive and solid once bought, and she's the only one so far who's been willing and able to pay for it. And she trusts them because they'd stab themselves in the eye before they'd betray her, literally. I'm your last chance."
"Well at the very least we now know there's no point trying to reason with the rest of them before putting a bolt in their throats." Galyna says calmly as she checks her crossbow.
Kassandra looks at the girl and replies: "Well, so if she trusts you so much, why did she place you here and not next to her? It seems like you aren't that loyal, as you were ready to betray her almost immediately...". She turns to the rest of the group: "We should tie them here or kill them and move on. I don't have patience negotiating with this one any longer".
"Sounds good to me. I'm fine with tying them up and moving on. We've got another shard to locate."
Salt raises his head and opens one eye. "You're the ones who keep taking in all the stray kittens...so you decide what to do...though the cost for all of this rope is coming out of your share of the loot".
"Well we would get the rope back afterward wouldent we?"
"Go back to sleep, Salt. Yer not pretty enough yet." To the girl offering to sell her loyalty, she offers, "Yer honesty is appreciated. Honest loyalty would be, too. When ye figure that out, ye'll be better off. Now behave yerself and we'll be lettin' ye go shortly."
She begins to bind the women, including a gag for the talker.
Yazlenda does not resist as she is bound, shaking her head in disappointment. The rest are just beginning to stir when you finish tying them up, but with the gags in their mouths, all they can do is moan furiously.
Other than the water fountain, where you can refill your waterskins if you choose, there is little else in this room of interest. The northern passage beckons.
Oscar grunts a chuckle under his breath at Ellantera's comment, and smiles wryly. He then stands stretching, and heads towards the norther passage.
"Come little ones". "Let's go look for more kittens".
Advancing stealthily with Salt, Shiv keeps an eye out for anymore traps.
No more traps appear to either of the men in the vanguard. Instead, they find a side passage filled with collapsed rubble. In front of the daunting pile of stone is a wooden crate and a dull gray amphora.
The rogue gives the entire side passage a skeptical look, "This seemin' outta place ta any a ya? Yah, that's what I was thinkin' too."
Miet stays back and lets Shiv do his work
Despite his suspicions, Shiv finds nothing unusual and nothing untoward occurs as he slowly makes his way over to the amphora and crate and examines them closely. The amphora contains nearly two hundred coins stamped in a style and language Shiv has never seen before, a mixture of copper, silver and gold, while the crate holds a pair of statues, one male and one female tusked humanoid in exotic armor and carrying a hooked sword with rings along the back edge.
The side passage is blocked by the rocks, but northward the hallway ends at the top of a spiraling staircase climbing downward.
Shiv whistles, "Seems these lasses jus' like ta leave loot layin' 'round not doin' anyone a lick a good. Well, more fer us then."
Know. History
Know. Local
Linguistics
Uraisa admires the coins and statues, wondering if she knew more about the images depicted thereon.
Shiv assesses the coins' total value at about 1000 gp to a collector, although on metal alone they'd be worth a lot less. He and Uraisa both suspect the statues to be depictions of some kind of giant, but they don't recognize the specific variety. Uraisa does recognize the writing on the coins as Thassilonian, suggesting that they were minted perhaps as much as ten millenia ago.
"This coin just made this trip worth it. Still not sure why the lasses left it layin' 'round but not complainin' neither." He hands the bagged up loot to whomever wishes to carry it, "Let's move on."
"The coins are from a long ago age. Perhaps they didn't recognize the possible value of them. A collector would pay a great deal for a handful of them."
"Keep yer hands free, brother. I will carry th' bag for now."
"Make sure there's the same amount in that bag, as there is when you take it". Salt says, and follows shiv down the steps after a bit.
Shiv chuckles at Salt's comment, "Yeah sis, no benders on our coin like last time..."
The climb down the stairs is lengthy, but nothing like the climb up was. Perhaps fifty feet down he spots the exit, an open doorway leading out into a larger room beyond. There is light spilling through the doorway, enough to suggest several lamps or torches at various locations.
"Looks like that's where the party is." Galyna whispers, checking her weapon.
"So what'll it be guys? Kick in the door and lay down the hurt?" Galyna asks
"Why go away from our usual option? So long as there is no powerful Mage down there, we should be okay," Uraisa advises, resembling the butt kicking they had taken earlier.
Whispering, "Be nice t' know what we 'r getting 'rselves into. Mebbe one o' you wit' th' light feet can take a look?"
"Maybe Galyna can sneak in? Sneaking isn't my best play..."
"Worth a shot. Wait here." Galyna whispers before slinking towards the entrance.
From the doorway, Galyna can see that the room beyond is a large one, about fifty feet square, with torches around the edges and a set of boxes on one side making up what looks like a kind of makeshift stage. There is a ten-foot-wide passage directly opposite the door, another in the right wall and a twenty-foot-wide opening on the left wall. Thanks to the broader angle, the ranger sees that the latter passage isn't very long, but seems to connect to a smaller passage in a T-intersection.
Ellantera stands at the back, obviously putting something together, muttering to herself, "guard post... over the bay and trap door above... down the stairs to the main floor... three wings... dormitory left, storage ahead, common area and Alaya's chambers right..."
"Yep, looks like that's what lies ahead. If you've got silver get it out, we know there's at least one were-rat ahead." Galyna mutters after creeping back to the group.
Uraisa is ready to go in her usual position at the rear of the party.
Ellantera moves up quietly, silver dagger in one hand, longsword in the other, to aid the warriors.
Miet happy to keep to the rear as others take the lead.
"Let's do this thing". Oscar steps forward...just behind Shiv, Warhammer, and shield quivering in anticipation.
"I'm not th' tactical one 'ere. If we expect people 'n th' sleepin' room 'n th' common room, 'ow do we take on one 'n not both?"
With a wicked smile Shiv whispers, "Let's take out tha sleepin' ones first 'fore we go creatin' a racket an wakin' 'em up." He begins to move quietly toward the dormitory and indicates, with a wave, that the others should do the same.
Knowing her chances of stealth are slim, Ellantera waits and watches to see if anyone comes out of the storeroom or common room.
Kassandra nods at Shiv's suggestion. "It might not be the fair thing to do, but this world isn't fair either. Let's get rid of them before they outnumber us, the sooner the better. Just to be sure, we should try to block ourselves in their room to prevent any of their friends attacking us from behind."
Galyna nods silently and follows.
Miet sticks with the main group