"I hear what you are saying, but there are still more questions," Kolaiah says, her voice low and thoughtful as she stands tall, eyeing Shen Hzo with a careful expression. Her hooves shift slightly, her attention now fully on him. "You mentioned splitting up once you reached the bottom of the well. Did you and the Magpies have a plan? What did you expect to find down there? And this woman..." she trails off for a moment, frowning slightly. "What exactly did she do to open that secret door? Did she say anything? Did she make any gestures, or speak any words?"
Her gaze sharpens, the focus of her inquiry clear. "It’s not every day that a wall just opens up like that. I’d like to know what we might be dealing with."
She pauses, the faintest click of her hooves against the floor as she shifts her stance, her eyes never leaving Shen Hzo. "If we’re to go after this woman or learn more about her, we need all the details you’ve got. Anything could help us."
"We could probably ask around the tavern and maybe find out who the woman was." Ceirn suggests.
"Secret doors and mysterious ladies? Ooh...now you have my interest for sure!"
Jambreth grins with a twinkle in his eye at the mention of the hidden door, flexing his fingers almost subconsciously.
"I have a feeling I'm gonna like this delve."
The dwarf winks at Jambreth. "Hell yeah!"
Shen Hzo shakes his head. No. Never interacted with the Magpies before. We all went down together because the lift was going down at that time. He thinks about it a moment Though, they were 2nd tier adventurers. Seeing blank looks, he explains 2nd tier. the- ok, so the well. bar room. Common room. first tier. 2nd tier is the second floor, but only select people, well, more like those that are willing to pay, are allowed into the 2nd tier. it provides a better view of the activities on the first tier and down the well. 3rd tier, 3rd floor. thats reserved. Nobles and high priests and priestesses, and top tier prostitutes come and go. A lot of unofficial happenings happen on the 3rd tier. SHen hzo snaps his fingers now that i think about it, i think i did see the woman come from the 3rd tier.... he trails off, thinking. oh! yes. No, we didnt catch her using any words, or moving her hands, or using anything on the secret door. The magpies and Us, we were discussing next steps, how far to stick together, wasnt paying attention to the woman at all. we figured wed stick together to the room of Pillars and then go from there. Then we heard the stone grinding and she was slipping through the opening.
he shrugs and continues what did we expect to find down there? treasure. fame. fortune.... you know, the usual stuff. Beware the goblins though! this time around, they are mean! They have a new type of knife. has a gut hook on it. Sticks in ya, and they yank, hard. and your innards, they come with it. Learned that the third day down there.
The lady cerila tsks loudly. great. i hadnt pulled the blade out yet, and now the flesh is healed around it.... Vondal was it? please come here and kneel with me.
The dwarf kneels down. "What is it, gorgeous? Ususally when I heal, somebody takes the offending object out of the body."
A loud hiss comes from Pac, followed by a knowing smile from Astrillith. The rather morbid duo simply watches as the happenings unfold. Though the mention of the 2nd tier did spark an interest from the Tiefling.
"Perhaps once we return we can enquire about the 2nd tier, it sounds like a promising prospect to get into"
As the dwarf tries to make a pass at their healer, her blank expression does not betray any of her feelings, though the hiss from Pac does show a bit of annoyance
"Interesting technique, and we shall endeavour to watch ourselves for goblins wielding such weaponry"
"Hmm...perhaps I can speak with one of these goblins and learn their knife techniques. Twist and pull usually works but pulling out guts sounds quite...effective."
Nodding to Astrilith, Jambreths grin widens.
"I like that plan...getting higher up and better placed sounds great."
Kolaiah steps forward, her hooves clicking on the floor as she listens intently. She casts a wary glance at the mention of the goblins' weapons and the secret door.
"Aye, that sounds like an unpleasant surprise," she rumbles, her deep voice steady but concerned. "Gut hooks, eh? I’ll make sure to keep my guard up. I’ve no interest in becoming a goblin's trophy." Her gaze sharpens as she looks at Shen Hzo. "As for this woman—if she’s from the 3rd tier, then she’s not just some wanderer. Sounds like she knows exactly what she’s doing. As for the secret door... no words or gestures? Strange. We might want to keep an eye out for any unusual mechanisms."
She pauses, considering the plan to head up to the 2nd tier.
"And aye, when we return, I’ll gladly help with learning more about this 2nd tier. Might be useful for gaining information—or leverage, should it come to that."
She glances over at Lady Cerila and Vondal, then adds with a hint of dry humor: "And Vondal, don’t be too hasty with your charm. Let’s not complicate things more than they already are." She then turns back to Shen Hzo, her expression firm. "We’ll keep our wits about us, but I’d like to hear more about what you all were expecting to find down there. If we’re heading in, the more we know, the better."
"What is this room of pillars? Is it where a bunch of passages converge?" Ceirn asks.
Lady Cerila purses her lips in a frown. Enough of that later, sir vondal. Right now, i need you to prepare yourself. I need to cut into my friend here so that i can pull out the knife in him. Your healing helped him a bit too well, i am afraid....
SHen Hzo points at Kolaiah. Now, hang on there, miss. I said i didnt see her use anything, nor heard her say anything. It is entirely possible she did say something, or use something, and we just dont know.
Shen frowns. You keep asking me what we were expecting down there. Im not understanding what you mean...
Shen nods at Jambreth. indeed. there are three ways to leave the Room of Pillars. north, south, and west. Hold on! Mauot! Come down here! Show us the map!
The bat chirps irritably but flaps its wings, taking flight and landing beside Jambreth. It molds and forms, changing shape into that of a tall man with broad shoulders and an even broader beard. his gaze meets each of yours with a quiet intensity that seems to hold natures fury held in check. He looks at everyone, holding their gaze a moment. He frowns at Pac but says nothing else. Finally he looks at Kolaiah and bows
Lady, your horns do have a healthy sheen to them. I know this is untoward, but i would like to, at a later moment, ask you a rather... intimate question.
The man does, however, as he is speaking to Kolaiah, pull out a roll of parchment.
Shen Hzo takes it and holds it out to Jambreth. Here is our map. Mauot here has a perfect memory, so he shall be able to produce for us a new map once we return...
Pac in turn hisses at can only be described as a druid, while Astrillith shakes her head, but gives Mauot a rather dry smile
"Pac can get twitchy with newcomers. Especially those that are not always as they seem" she keeps his gaze, her own emotions hidden behind her dry smile
Turning back to Shen "Information about the laberynth, in any form, is quite welcome"
Viondal kneels down opposite of Lady Cerila. "Alright. Ready when you are."