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Junior watches in horror as Tristan starts carving into his soap.
*slice*
A bead of sweat rolls down Junior's forehead just as a bit of surfactant hits the floor.
*slice!*
Junior tenses and squirms, he looks nervously around for help.
*SLICE!*
Junior breaks and screams at the culstist, He asks more quietly, "Please?"
Greta looks around, confused, as the bizarre interrogation unfolds.
The cultist begins to answer Tristan's question almost immediately, but flinches away from Junior before she can get a word out. After the expected violence never comes, she relaxes a bit but still tries to scoot away from him.
"Just me, unless you count Hosilla, but she's lost her marbles. Upstairs, you've got more mongrelmen, plus the dretches." She glances at her fallen comrades, before returning to Tristan. "Are you going to let me go?"
Tristan doesn't immediately respond. Instead the Inquisitor calmly--almost robotically--begins shaving slowly--turtle-like, with determined dedication, the runescarred soap.
He looks up with a hardness in his cold blue eyes.
You should probably guide us--safely-- to the surface.
Who is this Hosilla? Tell us more? Caliban interjects into the conversation.
Selann hears the phrase and wonders out loud, "Lost her marbles? Does something here cause insanity?"
Tristan's demand is met with earnest nodding from the cultist. "I'd be glad to, anything to get out of this craphole." The questions from Caliban and Selann draw her attention as well.
"Hosilla's our leader. Ever since she brought us down here, she's been getting more and more paranoid. I don't know if it's this place, or just one too many schemes for her tiny mind. We aren't supposed to just be sitting in a hole, guarding it from nobody, but that's all she trusts us to do anymore." She looks over at her fallen comrades again. "Lot of good that did us. I hope you kill her."
Selann glances around at the others in the group. "I know we didn't commit to clearing the deserters out of this hole. But we can't just bypass an insane leader of these cultists knowing that Chief Sull and his men will be following. Who knows what sort of trap this Hosilla might be capable of if she's that crazy? Besides, she might have more information that the Crusade leaders will need."
He turns back to the cultist that had talked. "Can you tell us where she is, and any traps that she might have set up? We won't drag you along to confront her, and if you cooperate I assure you that you will live after we kill her."
"I think she wants us to drag her along..." Greta volunteers quietly, "how else is she going to get out of this 'craphole'?" Turning her attention back to the prisoner she explains, "if we bring you to the surface, the crusaders are going to have some questions for you... and we won't be able to guarantee that they'll let you go afterwards, if they don't like your answers..."
Caliban mostly remains silent, but watches Selann with a newfound degree of respect, giving the halfling a smile and a nod, indicating agreement with his sentiments. He loosens the sword in its sheath and then resettles himself against the wall, awaiting more tactical information from the cultist, content to let the others worry about the soul and dedication of the heretic.
Benedic sits impassively, watching the proceedings without interfering. His focus seems to be keeping their train of followers relatively comfortable and calm by setting a good example.
Tristan takes the soap he has been absently carving, tosses it to Junior, and leaps to his feet.
Perhaps, just explain to us the layout of the place. Where the leader is held up. How many more of you will there be? And, any surprises we should be wary of?
Tristan then glances at Junior.
It was supposed to be a fishhead, but...
The Inquisitor then states,
Yes, let us be about clearing the way first.
Junior morosely gathers up the bar and shavings of his mutilated soap. He mutters, "It'll be alright." He casts mending on the bar magically fixing the damage done by Tristan's torturous carving.
"Yes, yes! Anything!" she says, continuing to nod frantically. "Hosilla is down below, with her demon-spawn pets. There's more pitlings down there, of course, but I doubt they'll give you any trouble! They don't have a leader anymore after all, not since Hosilla sacrificed him to Baphomet."
Her eyes drift toward the ladder she'd tried to escape up, and continues. "Up there, some more pitling guards, and the maze. That's where the dretches live."
”And which way leads to the surface?” Greta asks somewhat impatiently.
"Well, once you're through the maze, you come out into an old sewer tunnel. That takes you to the newer ones, and then you just have some ladder steps between you and the surface." She wrinkles her nose in disgust. "I assume they're sewer tunnels, at least. The smell is rank enough."
Benedic regards the woman with an expression of almost disbelief. "If you are so anxious to leave, how is it that you came to be here, fighting for these base and evil people? Serving this woman called Hosilla, and her dark god?" He grunts. "Why have you not resisted before now?"
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Massielo takes in the woman's words. Should we face this Hosilla? It seems like the right thing to do, but it's not our mission. In his thoughts, he starts drifting away from the conversation and has a hard time considering their next move. He thinks that Greta is really brave and would want to take care of this crazed woman. He presses his temples, as if it would help him see things more clearly.
Eventually, he starts thinking more critically. In terms of strategy, if this cultist can be turned, others can too, and we can turn them back to the good side. Maybe their nature is to be traitors, and in the coming conflict we cannot afford to throw away potential allies. If we identify the traitors, turn them and put them in positions where they don't have the opportunity to betray the crusaders...
He wishes for something he can chew on to distract his overly stressed out mouth. Still, it would be distasteful to eat now. He reaches down for some pebbles so he can crush them in his hand.
Selann listens, a little frustrated. "We should secure her someplace safe and go take care of this Hosilla. She's given information and if it's true maybe she deserves a little trust. If it's false we can run her through when we come back up."
"But let's get going before anyone else comes along."
Greta scrunches her face and looks around a bit conflicted. "It sounds like she should be dealt with... but it's literally the opposite direction as heading to the surface... are we sure we can't wait and deal with her when we come back?"
Weighing the opinions of the group, Caliban thinks a moment, I agree with Selann, I suspect we should attempt to capture this Hosilla or at least subdue her to gather additional information. Also if we can remove this threat from the cultists, it will make Chief Sull's and his people's lives easier down here. I feel like it is the least we can do.
Responding to Greta, he nods, I wish as much as anyone to see the sun and stars again my friend, but I do believe we have a moral imperative to learn what we can. Obviously we have seen cultists masquerading as crusaders, an alliance between the cult of Baphomet and Deskari, and an obvious plan to catch the crusade while it was sleeping. The opportunity to capture a leader and perhaps gain her intelligence would be valuable to those above I suspect.
The elf crosses to the way they came, as if to place himself closer to where he feels like they should go.
Greta smiles weakly and answers, "And I suppose we don't want her, or her servants, coming up behind us while we're fighting something else... I guess it is the best option..."
Tristan looks like he is ready to confront the remaining cultist to clear the way...
"Soooooooo. Down?" Junior begins to walk towards the hole in the ground.
The woman looks up at Benedic, confusion plainly visible on her face. "Because I want to live, why else? Hosilla sacrificed the leader of these pitlings to make a point, she could certainly kill me without a thought if I defied her."
"Don't worry about this one," Lann says, as the party begins to head further into the lair. "What's one more lost soul for Anevia and I to look after?"
Nodding to Anevia and Lann, Thank you both. If she attempts to run, you know what to do. Caliban follows Junior to the ladder down.
Greta takes a deep breath, readies her hammer, and heads for the hole with the others.
Descending the rope ladder is a nerve-wracking exercise, but fortunately it is quite secured and you are able to descend safely. At the bottom, you find yourself in a cavern that smells of damp and mold. Water glistens on the walls, and collects in a stagnant pool along one wall. A few feet away lies the stone dropped in by Massielo, bathing the room in light.
Caliban drops to the ground from the ladder, immediately drawing his sword and takes up position next to the pool of stagnant water, scanning the now illuminated chamber for threats.
Hunting heretics, here we are aren't we Junior? he says to the half-ork, taking up position next to him.
Tristan stows his sword and shield, as he descends downward into the rock-lit darkness. The Inquisitor steps carefully off the ladder. He then turns to the crudely built obstructions with a shake of his head.
No discipline here, I see.
Readying his shield, the Inquisitor casts Detect Magic, prior to moving closer to the door.
Once Selann steps off of the ladder he summons his Dancing Lights to sweep the room.
"Stagnant water? Good way to grow all sorts of mold, but dangerous for anyone that lives here...."
Benedic descends, concentrating on the task so that he does not misstep in his heavy armor. He squints into the darkness, and mutters a quiet prayer. "Bring us light out of the darkness, O Iomedae," he says while crossing himself, before drawing and readying his sword and shield again.
Greta, last down the ladder, is also the only one to spot the traitors before they pop up behind the barricades, crossbows aimed at the party's front line. Just before they fire, though, Selann's magical wards alert him to the incoming threat.
It's a trap!
Tristan winks.
With a glimpse of the future warning him, Selann glances at the possibilities and speaks the required words to send a splash of acid at the first enemy to pop up.
Selann's supernaturally quick reflexes serve him well, as his glob of acid splashes and burns across his target's chest. They reflexively pull away from the pain and, in so doing, bump into their adjacent comrade. Both of their shots fly well clear of Junior and Caliban.
Tristan, however, is not so lucky, as the third bolt finds its way past his armor and embeds itself in his stomach.
Greta raises her hammer and swings at the nearest traitor.
Greta moves forward and positions herself in reach of the crossbow wielding traitors, hoping one of them will be foolish enough leave an opening for her to strike.
With the surprise over Selann knows he doesn't have much left to contribute. However, that doesn't stop him from trying. He targets the same enemy as before.
Benedic leaps past Junior and draws his sword, swinging it at one of the enemies.
Another glob of acid from Selann sails through the air and hits the traitor still sizzling from the last one, though most of it splashes against the barricade. Moving as quickly as they can, he and his comrade reload their crossbows and fire again, this time at Benedic and Greta.
The timing of Benedic's swing turns out to be quite fortuitous, for even as his target dodges away from the blade, Benedic accidentally knocks the bolt meant for his neck out of the air. It might be the spectacle of the cleric's dumb luck that distracts Greta for a split second, allowing a bolt through her defenses.
The third traitor throws his crossbow down, draws a club, and stands in a defensive stance, clearly waiting for Benedic or someone else to make the first move.
Greta steps forward angrily and swings her hammer at the traitor she has a clear shot at.