"You know, I didn't even think of camping in one of the buildings," Sasha says. "That's a really good idea. We'll have to make certain they're safe first, and there might already be things living in them. Still, let's do it!"
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"We can always build you a new swing, Douena," Sasha says. She gestures to the trees in the area. "I'm sure there must be a good place for one somewhere round here. Makoa, Alton, and I can scout ahead for good camping and swinging spots."
"Let's find Sildu and talk to her then," Sasha says. "We'll see what she has to say. Then, Douena, you can go hide the gems and then we can be on our way."
"It doesn't seem to be all that far," Sasha says, peering closely at the display. "Assuming I'm understanding this map correctly. Personally, I'm all for Douena's plan of hiding the gems from whoever comes after. We've got all those other groups supposedly following us. Might as well make it as hard as possible for them."
"It would be really annoying if it turned out to be a myth and we walked all the way here for nothing," Sasha says. "Although it would be funny to see the look on Gelik's face when he finds out." She grins.
Message: "They're basically like regular wasps," Sasha replies. "Only bigger. Lots bigger. That means their stings are a lot nastier, too. But overall, they do the same kinds of things regular wasps do, just on a much larger scale."
"Or just other entrances," Sasha suggests.
"Wasn't planning on it," Sasha smirks. She peers down the well. "Think it's safe to climb down once Mahjik is up? Hopefully nothing else is waiting for us."
"Ooh, ooh, or I could untie the rope and hold onto it, and you all could hold the other end and pull me up again when I fall!" "Except we don't know how deep this thing is. You could hit the bottom and go splat before we could pull you out."
"Ooh," Douena turns to Sasha excitedly, "can Alton fly up and untie it with his beak? Or, maybe ... peck through it or something?" Sasha scrunches her face and looks over at Alton sitting on a tree branch. "He probably could if we could make him understand," she says. "However, I have no idea how to tell him that's what he needs to do."
Sasha places a hand on Lorenz's shoulder. "Yes, but the Pathfinders had to tell their own people in order to start planning the expedition, and they had to buy supplies. Somewhere along the line, word got out to people who weren't Pathfinders, to the Aspis Consortium and other groups. Unless you're saying that Gelik also blabbed to non-Pathfinders, then the leak had to come from somewhere else in the Pathfinders."
"Because it's old and probably has lots of ancient secrets and artifacts," Sasha replies. "That's pretty much it. And finding lost stuff is kind of fun, too."
As they're out hunting, Tar'kanas speaks his thoughts aloud to Sasha. "There is something odd about the human women. It is unsettling. Outwardly, I would gather they could not survive a day out here by themselves. I believe there is more to them than what is perceived." "You think so? I thought they seemed rather nice." Sasha pauses for a moment, thinking about what she's just said. "On second thought, we don't meet very many nice people, do we? Yeah, something's up." Then she grins and laughs. "Seriously though, you have a point."
"Except Pezock," Douena adds matter-of-factly. "And, well, probably the Painted Elf because he doesn't really know you. Or any of us. Does he even know where we're going and why, or is he just tagging along because he has nothing better to do?" "Surely we told him," Sasha says. "Tar'kanas, you know where we're going, don't you?"
"Because Douena didn't have a dream about them," Sasha says in all seriousness. "She did have a dream about vampire snake people."
"Hey, quit monkeying about!" Sasha quips with a smile.
"Makoa's right," Sasha says, looking a little ashamed at her own outburst. "Let's wait to see what Jask does before we start making assumptions about how he has or hasn't changed." She turns to Mahjik. "So, Mahjik, how did things go when we were separated? You said something about a new contact?"
"So, we have a few different parts and that makes us more different than a goblin?" Sasha protests. "By that logic, you should replace Douena and me with a goblin and a kobold. It will make the group less different." She scowls and Alton squawks, seemingly echoing her irritation.
"Douena, you could be like a knight riding into battle!" Sasha says. "Except on a cat instead of a horse." She looks at the two big cats expectantly, but neither shows any kind of reaction.
"I don't like Seekers all that much," Sasha says. "I much prefer Castaways personally. That said, I'm not all that bothered."
"Castaways! I like that!" Sasha says. "It fits." She turns to the newcomer. "We were all castaways together on an island for a while," she explains.
"Then what are we waiting for?" Sasha says, jumping to her feet. She grabs Lorenz's arm and pulls him to his feet as well. "Might as well get started."
Sasha nods at Urza's words. "He really was the best of us," she says. "He deserves another chance at life."
Sasha remains quiet throughout the funeral, her eyes slowly filling with tears. When Douena has finished, she wipes her eyes, hugs Lorenz tightly, then begins helping Ishirou to fill in the grave. When that's done, she sits down by the edge of the camp. Alton flies down and lands beside her, and she begins to stroke his neck. "This better be one damn amazing city we're going to," she mutters.
Sasha frowns slightly, but nods. "Then I guess we look for a druid." She looks down at Jask's immobile form. "We should bury him then."
"In case he chooses not to come back," Sasha says, "maybe we should just take a bit of him with us and bury him here before he rots. Or we could use that scroll on him instead of looking for a druid."
"Wow, try to help a kid," Sasha says as shepulls out the fetish she bought for Douena to examine. "That's what you get for generosity, I guess." Douena can quickly determine that it and the other fetishes bought by the party are not magical.
"You just had to say that, didn't you?" Sasha says.
"Yeah, a little too friendly even," Sasha says, "but don't worry, I can handle him."
Lorenz finds himself thinking of the way Cheiton leered at Sasha but shakes his head. "Well he's giving us a place to stay. He seems decent enough, if a little rough along the edges." Sasha nods and grabs one of the few chairs in the room. "He's a boor, but I've met worse boors. At the very least, he seems friendly."
Sasha pulls her hand back from the dwarf. "Sasha. Charmed, I'm sure." She speaks quite drolly, and doesn't appear charmed at all.
"Alton, a spy?" Sasha says with a chuckle. "How could you say such a thing?" She calls out to Alton flying in the sky above. "Alton, run! They're on to you!" The flappybite does not respond.
Sasha frowns as she bites into her piece. "Better than rat, maybe," she says, "but still leaves a lot to be desired." She takes another bite and grimaces. She breaks off a large chunk and tosses it to Alton, who gobbles it up greedily. The flappybite then looks expectantly at Sasha, a bit of grease dripping from his beak. "Well, Alton likes it at least." Sasha tosses him another piece.
Sasha gestures around at the wide, open plain with nothing but grass as far as the eye can see. "Sounds like it would be a great plan anywhere else," she says with a grin. "Unfortunately, I don't see too many cover options at the moment." Suddenly, one of the giant vultures turns and starts flying quickly northwards. The other birds then dash to follow. As you watch, they dive down at something a few hundred yards away. From this distance, you can't see what they're going at, but a few moments later, a shape breaks away from the commotion and begins flying back towards your group. It's soon apparent that it's Alton. He flies straight for Sasha and lands on her shoulders. She stumbles slightly, as the flappybite is starting to get a little too big to ride on her shoulders anymore. Alton is covered in several scratches and squawks pitifully. Sasha frowns and glares to the north. "I think they just stole his kill," she says, stroking Alton's head lovingly.
Sasha nods at Lorenz's response. "About one day less than was left yesterday, I'd think," she says with a smile. Pezock continues to scowl.
Sasha rubs her neck where there are still a couple of light slashes (though no longer the massive gashes that were once there). "I'm good," she says to Douena and Lorenz. "Jask has patched me up nicely. But a note to myself: be more careful around things with really long arms. They hurt."
"Maybe a bunch of us should stay inside," Sasha suggests. "If half wait from a distance outside, and the other half inside, we can surround it. We should be able to overwhelm it easily."
Sasha grins. "That's half the fun of travelling in the wild," she says. "You never know when something might sneak up on you and devour you alive. Of course, you hope that that doesn't actually happen, or at the very least, you get the better of whatever sneaks up on you."
Sasha raises her hands in mock defence. "I will never touch another mouldy thing again," she says with a smile.
Sasha nods. "Of course," she says. "I'm pretty sure I'm fine, but doesn't hurt to have it confirmed." Douena casts her diagnose disease spell and determines that Sasha is free of any diseases. Douena:
Sasha laughs as Lorenz brushes at imaginary ants. She grabs his hand and pulls him forward into the grasses. She leans close to him and whispers, "You only have to worry if they're in swarms. By themselves, they can't harm you." After a few more steps, she leans in again. "Unless they're the giant variety, of course. But then you'll really know if they're crawling on you." She continues forward, a smile on her face. Above, Alton swoops lazily in the sky.
"Wait," Douena says. "Shouldn't we leave some kind of sign for the woman with the dinosaur? Athyra? To let her know we did what we said and it's safe now?" "That's a good point," Sasha says. "What sort of sign can we leave? Do we know if she can read?" She looks around the cavern. "Perhaps one of those blocks of salt, and a shard from the blue orb. That would indicate that something's changed. Any other ideas?"
"I actually meant the machine where Mahjik found the diamonds," Sasha says, "and the equipment in the alcove near the entrance. But the orb makes sense too." She moves towards the remains of the orb, but pauses. "If it's safe, of course." She looks to everyone else for some sort of confirmation.
Sasha smirks as Douena snatches the chain away from her. After the burial rites are concluded, she says, "Perhaps the key has something to do with that big machine. There's also that equipment we passed back by the entrance. Should we check or should we keep moving on?"
While the others were smashing the orb, Sasha spent time gathering the bodies of the wights so Douena can give them a proper burial. "This one's got a couple things," she calls out now, indicating the wight that spoke and wielded a pick. "There's this pick, which looks in pretty good condition despite being down here for gods know how long. And there's a silver chain with a key, too."
"I'm good," Sasha says, smiling at Lorenz. "I got a couple light bruises but Douena and Jask cleared those up. You make a good point about people in the back, but wading through the water could be slow and who knows what might be hiding in it, especially in areas like this where it widens out?"
"She's Mwangi," Sasha says. "I get the impression the Mwangi aren't usually the mine owners. Although maybe her father had an affair."
Sasha cries out in alarm and steps back as the water drenches her. She doesn't resist as Douena bustles her out to see Jask. "Remind never ever to touch strange books again," she says, as Jask begins to examine her hands. "Don't worry. I'm sure I'll be fine, and if I'm not, Jask here can handle it." She looks Jask in the eye. "Right?"
"Pictures?" Sasha says with a shrug. "Let's find out." She pulls the book out and places it on top of the desk. With another grimace, she wipes mould off her hands with the edge of the desk. "Slimy," she says. With the back of her hand, she pushes the cover of the book up to open it. The book appears to be a log book. Although the cover is mouldering, the interior pages are still in readable shape and are written in Common. DM Stuff:
Lorenz doesn't find anything in the bunks. "Nothing here," Sasha says. "Let's try one of the other buildings. You never know. We might find something useful." She heads back out and over to the building at AW 25-26. The door actually stays on its hinges when she opens it. "This looks more promising!" she calls back. She heads inside. Anyone who follows her inside sees what must have been some sort of office building at one time. Sasha has already gone over to an old, rotting desk. A collapsed set of shelves lies along one wall; along the opposite wall, a similar set still stands, but looks ready to fall at any time. Sasha opens a drawer in the desk and grimaces. "Anyone want an old mouldy book?" she calls.
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