"If you weren't in there to steal from me, then why were you in there at all? You were seen leaving my warehouse in the middle of the night!"
"You're missing the point, Horgus." Kel says shaking his head. "Gold is great, we appreciate that you have it."
"It isn't helping us."
"We're fighting to survive, not because in the future you'll pay us."
"I would happily give up every coin you're offering if it would get you to pick up a weapon and fight back against the people who are trying to kill me."
"So please, tell me what you are willing to do right now to help us get out of here."
Anevia bursts into a rage at her word being questioned.
"You want the truth? You really want the truth? Well, prepare to be shocked! I was clearing your name! I don't like you, Horgus. You're abrasive, you're stubborn, and you're ignorant of much despite your business acumen. But when accusations were made against you that you were dealing with cultists and demons, I was asked by the Eagle Knights to investigate. All I did was access your ledgers and look around. I found your shrine! I found the money trail! Why you would hide your worship of Abadar I don't know, but hiding your donations to the war effort was just baffling! I saw who you've financed. They're some of the best units out there, and many of them were unknowns before you gave them money. And so you earned my respect, even if you didn't earn my friendship. And when I brought that news back to the Eagle Knights, they dropped their charges against you. So keep calling me a thief. Keep thinking that I stole from you. But know that without my having been truthful in my report, I could have watched you hang!"
So do we want to give the woman here the third degree since she was obviously in charge?
As for Horgus, I doubt there was much he could do since we were all jammed up in front fighting these ones. So let us stop fighting and get to the ladder.
Horgus shies away from the fiery woman and she tears into him.
"I... I... You were... My guards said..."
Regaining his composure, he stares hard at Aravashnial, jabbing a finger in the elf's direction as he yells.
"YOU! This is all your fault! You made those accusations! You dragged me through the mud! You're the reason! Explain to me why I shouldn't just kill you right here and now!"
"I had my sources! I did my own research! I didn't know it would come to this! I've paid you restitution. I've lost my eyes. I've been rendered all but useless. What more do you want from me?"
"I want you to learn to shut your mouth for once! Not every crackpot theory that your hear is true. You nearly got me killed due to your incessant belief in every scrap of gossip that you hear on the street! You're a fool! You deserved to lose your eyes! In fact, you should have lost your head!"
Aravashnial simply hangs his head under Horgus's barrage and sits on the floor, silent.
"Well, elf? No response? Has the great Aravashnial finally been rendered speechless?"
Aravashnial keeps his head low, and in a hushed voice he murmurs, "You're right..."
"What was that? Speak up. Use that big mouth of yours so everyone can hear you."
"I said you're right... I made accusations. They were wrong. And I am sorry. Maybe I did deserve to die when I was struck in the battle, but I didn't. Something saved me. So I've simply decided to put what I can into making things right for everyone again. If I get my eyesight back, I'll be working doubly as hard as I was before to try and close the Worldwound, or to at least keep it at bay. It's all I can do. Until then, I just have to survive. There has to be a reason I was struck down but not killed, and I'm not going to waste my second chance."
Horgus lets out a snort of derision as he shakes his head.
"Lay off him, Horgus. You're not dead either, and that could have very well been the case if someone other than myself had looked into your dealings. That shrine of yours was well hidden, after all. I barely found it myself. And at least he's doing something to help us get back to the surface. All you can do is promise us something that may not even exist anymore. Your mansion and warehouses may have been destroyed or looted. Did you think of that? You may be a pauper by now. So, what can you do to help us in the here and now? Or should we just leave you behind? I'm sure those cultists downstairs would love a new plaything."
"That's enough." Kel says quietly. "This isn't about Aravashniel, or your grievances, or what happened before, and no one is getting left behind." he says with a sidelong look to Anevia.
"None of that matters. There might not even be a city to go home to or courts to sort it all out in. In any case, you would have been dumped down here regardless of everything that happened, and you're lucky you did."
"A dragon gave her life so that you could live. Would you have preferred to have stayed up there in the aftermath of an attack by a demon lord? Who do you think is left up there?"
"We all just want to live and none of us deserve this. None of us."
"Down here in the dark it's easy to forget that we're the lucky ones."
"I'll tell you what though, at the end of this, there's going to be a reckoning. Someone will respond to the attack and ride on Kenabres with a force capable of fighting back. Anyone of us that makes it out of this is going to have to tell the story of what happened down here."
"Its up to you. Do you want us to talk about how you helped us escape by fighting along side us and never gave up, or how you hid behind a blind man and refused to pick up your own god's chosen weapon because you thought it was beneath you?"
"I've never used a crossbow. Just because it's the weapon favored by Abadar doesn't mean it's a weapon that I've used. I haven't even really practiced with the rapier in years, and my only experience was in controlled single combat. Do you really expect me to rush headlong into the blades of an enemy? My legacy will remain the funds that I've given to the cause. The world may not know it was me, but the gods and I do. And that's all that really matters. If I were to die today or a year from now, my story will be the same. I'm an overweight merchant known for honest dealings, who secretly gives much of his earnings to charitable causes. Nothing I do will change that, and I know it. If you're not willing to accept my offer of payment and continued support of the crusades in exchange for my getting back to the surface, I don't really believe there's anything else I can offer."
"Oh, that was a good one," mutters Max at Kel's zinger. Realizing he said that aloud, he covers his hand and looks down at his shoes.
I can see your sins, Horgus Gwerm...
Really? You can see... that? So can I? I don't think he is a coward. He's just afraid. There's a difference.
"You think too little of yourself, Horgus. You say you're honest, but you aren't being honest with yourself. You're hiding the good you do behind a mask of pride and hidden benevolence because afraid you don't make a real difference. If you fail and no one knows, you lose nothing. If you succeed and no one knows, then you don't have to face the fact that you might be wrong about yourself." Kel said as gently as he could. "I can't help you with that. I can only tell you that I think you are better than this, and apparently so does Anevia."
"I'll make you a deal. If you pick up that crossbow and try to shoot at the people keeping us from getting home, I'll put myself in the way of everything that might try to kill you and I'll vouch for you when we get to the surface. I'll make sure your name is clear."
"You might not be very good with a crossbow, but there's a chance you'll get a lucky shot in and save one of us from a cultist. That's how much your help means."
"Does that sound like a fair trade?"
"Don't go putting words in my mouth. I said I respect the man for his financial contributions, that's all. And that's primarily because he makes them quietly and anonymously rather than being like so many others who boast about them to garner influence, usually only donating to already well-funded units. If he chooses to be a coward that doesn't personally stand and fight as the world crumbles around him, then that's his business."
Horgus quietly mulls things over for a few moments.
"I think I can give it a try. Just don't expect much. Aside from knowing which way to point it, I know nothing about crossbows."
"That's all we ask. Thank you." Kel says, with a supportive smile. "Now lets get out of here."
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Deia stands amazed at the exchange. "I had no idea that everybody was so familiar with each other's dealings. Is all of Kenabres so knowledgeable about everybody else's business?" Deia wonders.
"Kel and Max are right, though. We need to stick together and do everything we can to get to the surface. We all have had triumphs and failures down here, but everybody helping increases our chances of getting out alive. After that, we can worry more about history and how to deal with it. In the meantime, we still have some Cultists we probably shouldn't leave unattended."
"We're a bit of a special case. My wife is a ranking member of the Eagle Watch, who are tasked with investigating claims of cultists and the like. Horgus is a well known merchant around Kenabres, while Aravashnial is a moderately well known eccentric with an extensive knowledge of certain things relating to the Worldwound. A few months back, Aravashnial made some claims about Horgus, the Eagle Watch got involved, and next thing you know we're getting to know each other in a less than friendly fashion."
Horgus grumbles, "That's an oversimplification..."
Tina hops up and down, wanting to get mving.
After hearing the exchange between Horgus and Kel. Rex walks over to Horgus, "I've held my tongue long enough, you sir are a boor. Like Kel said, man up and help us get out of here. Your money isn't going to buy us a regiment of mercenaries down here. So grab a weapon and shut the hells up."
Rex then looks around at the group, "Ready when you all are."
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"Shall we head through this door?"
"Sure." Kel said, getting into position at the door, waiting for the others to ready for a door breach.
Might as well.
Kel swings the door open and reveals a narrow hallway of worked stone that stretches about 10 yards before ending in a very small room. The muted sound of rushing water echoes down the hallway as the faint, but welcome, scent of freshwater spray tickles your nose in a tantalizing fashion. In the room at the end of the hall a thick, knotted rope is fixed to the wall with an iron spike. The rope lies coiled on the ground next to an open shaft.
Max heads over to investigate. "Ah, perhaps this is a well? But why would the rope be knotted?" He heads over and peers downward.
So this is where they get their water I suppose.
"Max, can you do that light trick and toss something down there so we can get a better look?"
"Oh yes, that's a sensible plan." Max finds something that looks like it will float (like a block of wood?), casts Light on it, and drops it down. He watches, and also counts the time it takes for the item to splash.
"My guess on the knots is that they climb the rope. It sounds as if it's an underground river, so they may use it for both water and food." Lann opines.
If it a well I guess there is no reason for us to mess about with it.
Max casts light on the rope, which begins to glow along its entire length, and drops it down the hole. As he begins to count he's unable to even get to '1' before you hear the splash. Looking at the length of rope that's dangling down the hole you can estimate that it's about 10 yards, possibly more, to the bottom. You are also able to guess that the water isn't more than a few feet deep, at least where the rope lies, for it has piled up visibly at the bottom. You can see that the rope is pulling very slightly southwest, and that ripples are forming around it to indicate a mild current. Silvery glints reflect up out of the water as fish of varying sizes come to investigate the new, shining object.
"But if it is an underground river, would it not be likely to break the surface eventually? It may even act as an aquifer for the city and open into another well elsewhere."
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Deia nods. "It would likely end up on the surface, and possibly inside the city. The mail problem is we don't have a boat or the ability to breathe underwater. I'd not think this way should be our main plan to get to the surface."
Pausing for a second Deia remembers, "Who has Terendelev's scale that lets you float in the air? That may be an easier way to see the cavern down there than climbing down a rope."
"It's pretty loud down there. It sounds to me like this feeds into a waterfall. But it also looks safe to go down as the current isn't strong."
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After looking down the hole, "I could climb down and take a look, but I think we should move on."
Rex then adds, "Besides as Deia said we are not really equipped to use a river for a mode of transportation."
Tina hands over the scale.
"Let's move on for now," suggests Max.
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