Searching his memory for any mention of this Grey Master in the religious texts, Ssilax looks over at Dorian. The bit the chained man mentioned about sacrifice increased his desire to get out of here.
"What, do you honestly think nobody heard us dismantling the door? It's not exactly like we've been quiet while down here. Nobody is ignoring the approaching food bearer, there just isn't much we can do about it. The dragonkin says with a shrug of his shoulders. "Besides, I'd rather not throw stones at a hornets nest to see if there are still hornets inside."
"I might have a little gold, probably more copper than anything," Ssilax responds to the chained up man's question. "Why?"
Wrathe joins the potential ambush of the torch bearer, happy the torch would blind them to what was beyond a certain point.
Argon's suggestion to douse their light sources had paid dividends.
He prepares spell magics for when the woman was closer...just in case.
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"The gold be fer safe passage to outside our realm. The girl can take ye; I can ask her in a moment, here," says the man.
Dorian sits on the floor, and Irori does not let his will be known, unless is it through rubble, red fungus light, and darkness.
Wrathe does not see anyone making to hide just yet, and the torch bearer comes closer. She is now only about a hundred feet away.
Argon says, "Perhaps we should back up so we don't scare her. At least, she doesn't look like a skeleton."
"That would be most excellent," Ssilax says with a nod. A sense of relief hesitantly begins to grow at the news.
Wrathe retreats, dubious that the strange man is revealing all, but confident that they could be cut down quickly if needs be.
Daxniss wonders what else the man might have hidden, briefly pondering what other new surprises that today could take. Before she could have taken action to hide like she suggested the torch barer had walked around the corner.
Trying to get a gauge on what the chained man said she stresses her mind, trying to find the chain of logic about paying the torch barer gold to be guided out of here.
Sense she had spoken little to the man it would be difficult to gauge what he was saying but there might be little in what the group could be able to do if this escalated into combat.
"So, if you don't mind me asking while we wait, what was the disagreement that lead to your being shackled?" Ssilax asks the smith quietly. The dragonkin tugs up his hood while he waits.
Wrathe sups upon the bound smiths's words, seeking out tension that might betray ill intent or outright lies.
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The girl continues to walk down the corridor, and Ssilax asks another question.
"Well, it's kinda complicated, yaa see. Let's just say I dun't always agree with the elders, and sometimes it gits the best of me. Then, they do the same."
The girl comes to within fifty feet. She looks like a teenager, maybe fourteen or fifteen. She carries a metal mesh bag, still walking forward. "Pa, who's here? You should't be..." She stops talking and keeps walking. Once she sees Ssilax, Daxniss, and Dorian, she slows to very slow. "Pa, who are these people!? They be Outsiders!" The strange accent of the man sounds, funnily enough, very cute coming from this young woman.
The man, seeing her stopping, says, "Bring me lunch, there's a good lass."
So far, nothing he's said has sounded false to your ears.
Wrathe holds up two gold for the bound man to see. He would never be a rich man, but if there was a chance to save his companions from bleeding, he would use all he had.
Ssilax smiles pleasantly at the young woman, making sure to keep his teeth out of the smile. He certainly didn't want to scare their guide out of this area.
"Hello," the young dragonkin says with a nod. Dog "wuffs" and wags his tail at the sight of the new person.
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The girl moves closer, cautiously.
Argon hears a noise way down the hall. A tap or a click.
The girl brings the basket closer to the man. As she gets closer, she can see that some of the group members are only partly humanlike. She gasps a little, but continues forward. Her voice is full of fear and courage as she says, "Hullo. I hope yaa are treating my pa well. He ... he needs his lunch."
The man says, " Dun't be feared girl. Don't let them scare ye. Bring me food! He nods at Wrathe's gold.
She moves closer, obviously afraid, walking past the sitting Dorian, the standing Argon, and to her father. She starts to feed him as she asks you question. "So, yaa are not from round here? What brings ye this way?" T'would be a normal question in other circumstances.
She's tall, over five and a half feet, and pale, with dark brown hair and green eyes. Her clothes are a mix of leathers and woven homespun, and they are working clothes, a little rough and dirty.
Argon looks down the hall. "Is there someone following you?" he asks.
Wrathe waits for the man to present the offer to his daughter to act as a guide.
His cowled head snaps around looking down the hallway, moving back against the wall to give the melee combatants space to work...if needed.
"Just passing the time with a little conversation with your father. We're a..., bit on the lost side. We came with our instructor, but became separated when he vanished, leaving us trapped back there," Ssilax hooks a clawed thumb over his shoulder back in the direction they had came from. "We came across your father here and were trying to figure out how to get back to the surface when you came alone with your father's lunch. Ssilax pauses for a few moments digging in a small pouch. The young Theurge adds 3 gold coins to the mix, handing them off to Wrathe.
After all, his friend looks far more human then a dragonkin. He figures the human girl would be more comfortable if he didn't approach.
"We hail from the city above us, Caern. I had heard of a city under the city. Is that where you and your family live?" Ssilax asks politely, trying to keep his curiosity under control.
When Argon asks if someone had followed the young human, Ssilax's sapphire orbs glance back down the hallway.
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Dorian stumbles a bit but manages to stand, after tossing a very small diamond (20gp) to Wrathe.
The man speaks between bites of little chunks and disks of food, of some sort. "So, ye got there vee magic, is it? Well, no surprise there... I dun't think there's any other way in there 'cept for this tunnel. So, this be Me'lar feedin me, and I am Graff. Yaa are trespassing on Siranor property. We live here, always have. Up a short ways.
Gettin ye out o here gunna be tricky because of the Clergy, who's Elders who put me here. I'm gonna help yaa, though I was hopin for mor'n just three gold. Still, if that's all yaa got, may be ye need help mor'n I thought. So listen carefully, cause, as I said, this tricky.
Yaa got to first go back to the big skelly room, go to the big doors and hide on the edge behind. Me'lar go back up ta ward home. Men down the corridor with missiles, I'll tell 'em yaa gone back to whence ye from. They go check, but not too close, they like to use them crossbows. Stick ya to tha wall. You stay hid, and quiet as a rat. Quieter. They may head back fer help, one or both. If both, I call out somethin, say, Good Riddance, you go back up and Me'lar meet ye, take you through secret ways.
If one stays, I call out, say, They's Gone I Told Ya!. Yaa take him, he be just one and good with his crossbow. Don't ye kill im! Yaa look tough, some of ye, so ye do it. Then follow the other plan, get to Me'lar, and she take ye.
Yaa follow?" He looks questioning at you all.
The girl, Me'lar, listens carefully and nods when he's finished. She looks at you all. She look terrified.
Argon listens carefully, and looks thoughtful for a bit. "It sounds risky. But it's all we've got at this point. It might work out."
He looks at the others.
" Sounds like a better plan than most I've heard of today, I think we should be able to over power one and not end his life. " Daxniss says after listing to Graff discuss his plan to get them out of here. Daxniss plans on handing the girl 5 gp after the possible assault or to Graff. In her experience it was better to not flash around too much gold after all, he could try to rob them in the tunnels.
Wrathe nods along with the man's instructions, fully cognizant of how much trust they are extending to a stranger, and then shows the money to the girl, before handing it to her.
Listening to the instructions from Graff, Ssilax's eyes open a little wider. As the smith finishes talking the young dragonkin is nodding. Reaching for his pouch once more, he roots around in the small pouch.
Handing over ten more gold, the dragonkin grins faintly for a moment.
"Thank you very much Graff and Me'lar. Your help means a great deal to us." The young Theurge says sincerely.
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Rich people's pocket change is exchanged efficiently and cordially, with Argon adding two platinum to the mix.
The enigmatic monk has different ideas. His sprint deeper into the unknown is quick, and punctuated by a crossbow bolts whizzing past him and another hitting him in the chest.
Me'lar gasps, and Graff says, "I wouldn't be doin...." a little too late. Perhaps he was confounded by what he saw.
Argon chases after Dorian in hopes of mitigating any potential damage he may do to their chances of getting out of here. He tries to catch up and say, "Stop!" as he is running. After the crossbow bolt flies by, he tries to stay to the side, next to the wall.
As the men down the corridor start lofting missiles at their local ascetic, it becomes blatantly obvious that the retreat and hide option had been altered on the fly.
Wrathe chuckles and gives chase at how their lives had become, trying to use the glowing moss and sounds to determine the distance to the shooters. .
Pleased that they know had a plan that would hopefully see them on their way, Ssilax looks back at Graff. The dragonkin had just opened his maw to speak when Dorian darts off down the hallway. Staring after the monk, the young Theurge's sapphire orbs blink several times in confusion.
Maw still agape as his friends run off after the monk, Ssilax looks between Graff, Me'lar, Dog and Daxniss.
"But, we had a plan...," Ssilax says to no one in particular. "Excuse me for a moment." The dragonkin moves to see what has happened and why Dorian rushed off.
Argon stops next to Dorian, looking at his wound, and sees that he is still conscious. He pulls out the bolt, smells it for poison, whispering to Dorian, "What are you doing? We can still get out of here, by the plan." Then he stands and says more loudly, "Come, let's get out of this place."
He glances up the corridor to see if he can spot the shooters.
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Dorian had run for perhaps fifty feet, to where the red fungus was, before he was shot with a crossbow bolt. Falling, he had moved another ten or so. He is in a lot of pain. Looking down the hall he can see for about sixty feet, but does not see anyone.
Argon smells no unusual smells, save thin Dhampir blood, on the bolt. And neither does he see the crossbow shooters.
Wrathe reaches the two, who are stopped in the corridor.
Daxniss let's out a sigh at the sitution, it seemed that due to the fact that one of the party had decided to change the plan. " Well time to improvise. " Letting out a caustic snort she starts to follow Ssilax, drawing her sling. as she reaches the half way point she starts to stalk forward
perception check as she gets closer
Trusting the monk's insights he whispers in the Common tongue, since they appeared to be among subsurface dwellers, "What did you see Dorian?"
Wrathe backs up out of the illumination of the fungus as the team decides what to do next.
Wrathe's brow furrows at Dorian's strange reply. If the intent was to charge and put down the ranged combatants with speed, then stopping in range was a stratagem he could not comprehend, especially if they were not returning fire.
He continues to back up.
Using the sound of reloading to guide him, the young wizard seeks to locate the shooter's position and distance.
Argon joins Wrathe in retreat. "Come, we must go!" he entreats the others.
Getting closer, Ssilax's orbs take in the sight. Dorian was wounded, there was a bloodied bolt lying on the floor, and Argon was almost pushing the three back down the tunnel towards the entrance. The Theurge realizes that the monk either noticed something the others didn't, or had just run off.
Either way, the lack of communication with the rest of them had cost them all what little chance of stealth they had. They tunnel dwellers had more than likely heard the dismantling of the door, but they had a chance at sneaking by. Not so much by the look of things.
"Keep pressure on the wound to stop the bleeding," Ssilax whispered voice floats in the darkness. The young dragonkin was slowly backing up.
Recognizing that their direction was back the way they had come Wrathe decides that being the first one there is a great idea, and with that in mind starts sprinting back towards the doors.
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Me'lar can be heard saying, "Pa, why do ye wish to halp these foolish people?"
Before an answer can be proffered by Graff, the group retreats back past them, lit by the torch the girl holds. Graff whispers, "Our plan may yet work, continue on." The girl gasps as she sees the injury and blood of Dorian. "Pa....." she says, as if her father doesn't see it.
Louder, after you've gone a bit past him, he says, "Be gone!"
The group continues unmolested and unshot, back to the doors. One of them still hangs loose, with a small gap in the bottom.
"Alright, it sounds like we might have one more shot at this," Ssilax whispers as he works on Dorian's bolt wound. "Let's actually stick together this time. No running off or any other heroics.
Wrathe works his way through the doors and moves aside to provide room for the others, then continues on mission waiting for Graff's plan to come to fruition.
"Your very fast Dorian, just not faster than someone pulling the firing latch on a crossbow. Maybe if they had to load, draw the string back and then aim, then sure," Ssilax whispers to the monk. "Do me a favor and use a little more caution in the future. I'm not looking to add to the list of lost friends and family. Besides, you cannot guard us effectively if you end up as a pincushion." A faint grin is visible on the dragonkin's scaled snout.
"I guess now we wait for Graff's signal," Ssilax glances at the door Argon had half removed. He hoped the crossbow holder didn't get close enough to notice the damaged door.
Daxniss follows the others and whispers " [b] Aye we should spend time hiding until we hear the signal and of course, once we have found a spot we should extinguish the light. [b] " Daxniss looks for the best spot that the group could hide in.
Wrathe claps Dorian on the shoulder and throws him a wink.
Some lessons were more pressing than others.