Fight the Real Enemy!
	Pretty Rocks

Marika awakens an indeterminate time later. The lantern in the tunnel is out, so Rhune or Krige must be on guard duty, she surmises. Or perhaps Urak; she recalls hearing that orcs -- Urks, she corrects herself -- can see in the dark. Marika stretches as best she can in the narrow space, her cramped joints popping and cracking. She doesn't feel like trying to sleep again, so she sits cross-legged against the wall and takes from around her neck a pendant which gleams briefly silver in the eyes of anyone observing her. She holds the pendant in both hands and closes her eyes in meditation, whispering a series of rhythmic but ever varying prayers. She is unsure whether she is sufficiently rested to renew her ability to channel Minerva's miracles, but the attempt gives her a way to occupy her mind without waking the others... Over the night (the first night), Matteo's decision to crawl over Ullar and sleep in the tunnel proves a good one, as he is able to get enough rest to regain his full magical ability. Unfortunately, none of the others are so lucky. Silus sleeps right through both days, sleeping over the pain of his injured foot, which still throbs in agony even after the attentions of the little shaman. Marika is bothered by the pain of her shattered knee and her thoughts of those who died getting the rest of you here, but her goddess is mindful and grants her enough rest to memorize two healing spells. Urak, confused by the happenings of the previous day and unable to focus his mind on spellcraft, has no luck in getting enough rest to recharge his magical energies. However, the rest period was good for you all to relieve yourselves of the stress and confusion created by the day, and it recharges all of your spirits to some extent, with the exception of poor Kenishiro, who looks more confused and distant with each passing hour. His rest is filled with confusion and dismay. Of the rest of you, only Marika is in the fighting trim, due largely to the healing attention she received earlier on in the day and the rather disgusting attention she got from the shaman. However, the rest of you are all conscious and to a much better degree able to survive. You are all even delighted to see that Sam has arisen, and appears none the worse for wear. At least until he begins to talk, and then you are not so sure that you don't miss the silence. Sam is up with a hop, rubbing his head with a curios look on his face. "Morning to you all. I am sorry that the gorgon was not defeated, but I did the best I could. I can remember the incident quite clearly now. First, I strike, then I parried," Sam continues to act out the epic battle scene by dancing with a feverish wobble around the many long legs of his newfound companions. "Strike, parry. strike, !" Finally he finishes his cinema effect with a deadly blow with his own hand shaped like the mouth of a gorgon, gnawing at his skull. "Arghhh! I have been hit!" With that, Sam plops backwards onto the soft earth with a dull thud, grasping his aching skull with both hands." His attention is quickly diverted from his act, however, when he notices something missing from his inventory. Then, as if he suddenly remembered where he placed it, he glares accusingly above him, as if taunting an opposed god of some sort. As soon as his irritated expression appears, it is gone again, only to be replaced by a chitter chatter smile which you all have come to familiarize with his face. Once the shaman attends to you and it is revealed that you will be resting here another evening, Matteo and Marika share their healing magic with those of you most injured. Upon inspection, both see that Kenishiro has received much worse wounds than he let on, and it is quite amazing that he was able to walk himself to this place, much less drag Asif. Marika immediately uses some of her goddess' power on him, with little noticeable effect. Matteo decides to give it a try, and does little better. The giant is still one of the most seriously injured members of the party. Deciding that his foreign nature is somehow or other resistant to the magic of their gods, the two turn to other seriously injured members. Both Krige and Urak appear to be in still very serious condition, so Matteo heals his new friend, with strong effect. Urak now feels much stronger, though he sill carries the remnants of his wounds and is not quite up to full strength yet. Marika tends to Krige with even more impressive results. Krige jumps to his feet with his energy restored to almost full power. Marika and Matteo look at each other and Kenishiro, now convinced that it is he that resisted the magic, not an inherent weakness in spell or caster. They seem quite satisfied with their efforts. In the intervening period of waiting for the offer from the creatures, the party is wise enough to allow people to rotate out of the cave and sleep in shifts, allowing each member to get sufficient rest. With the attentions of the various members skilled in healing, even this uncomfortable rest in the darkness is able to restore some of your strength. Krige and Urak join Marika in being fully able, and Ullar is very close to it. Asif, Silus, Rhune, and Sam appear to be in good condition, though not at full strength, and only Kenishiro and Matteo appear to be less than half strength. All four priests are able to restore their magical energies. When Marika opens her eyes after this second period of meditation and prayer, she finds the tunnel awash with the yellow glow of lamplight. She crawls along the tunnel toward the light, and finds Ullar and Kenishiro on sentry duty. She greets the two warriors cheerfully, then sits down near the lamp, and from her satchel she carefully draws out a plain-looking oilskin box, which she opens to reveal a sturdy-looking book bound in blue leather. She examines the volume carefully in the lamplight, breathing a sigh of relief that it appears undamaged by the recent chaos. The book, though unlabeled, has the look of a prayer book or holy text of some sort. When she opens it, however, its pages are covered in incomprehensible runes and geometric diagrams. The young priestess takes out a pen, an ink bottle, and a small piece of parchment, and lays them beside the open book. As she reads, she carefully draws a series of interlocking lines and runes on the parchment, while she traces more sigils invisibly in the air. Eventually, she looks up, apparently finished with her work. She blows on the parchment square to ensure that the ink is dry, then takes a pinch of sand from a pouch at her belt and folds it up in the parchment. She replaces this little package in her belt pouch, and closes the book. Some point during the day, as the waiting and Sam's chatter are starting to drive you all mad, the little grey fellow returns. "Chief say you ready now. Get pretty rocks for paying chief." He walks over behind one of the group and chants toward the wall, which pushes aside with almost no noise. "Big tunnel for big mans." Those who can make it out see that this tunnel is a whopping four and a half feet high, which will enable Kenishiro and Ullar to walk on hands and knees instead of belly crawling. None of you are particularly impressed, except for Sam, who will have plenty of room to walk. "Woah! This is gonna be fun!" With a drunken smile, Sam darts off down the tunnel as fast as he can, only to actually complete three steps before tripping over his own big feet, falling to the earth with a thud. "Uh.. hehe.. I meant to do that." He states with a hint of lost dignity and pride. "I do that sometimes to make sure that uh.. the ground is um.. hehe.. ya know.. earthy.. and stuff" Realizing his failed attempt to fix his clumsiness, Sam continues down the tunnel, slowly this time. "End tunnel is cousins. Cousins magicked by red men, dig pretty rocks for hat man fingers. Our pretty rocks. Not want hurt cousins, but not like lose pretty rocks. You stop dig. Get pretty rocks. If no, call red men. They want find you bad, me think. You do." Without negotiation, the little fellow turns on his heel and walks casually down into the smaller tunnel. Matteo allows himself to fall back towards the rear of the group, hoping that will aid in his hiding the extent of the injury to his leg. Upon first inspection the wound had seemed minor, but fruther study had shown that the errant bolt had managed to pierce directly through the much needed thigh muscle. Each day seemed to bring an increase of pain rather than any hopes of healing. Worried that his healing might be needed for a more serious wound in the near future, Matteo resigns himself to dealing with the wound till the day is up. Doing his best to avoid limping and schooling his face to show no signs of the pangs of pain when he steps, Matteo follows along as the group is led through the cave. "THIS is a large cave?", Matteo mutters to himself, "I'll never be so happy to see the sky again!" As the tiny Halfling, seeming completely at home in these cramped surroundings, slips by to move ahead, Matteo puts a hand to his shoulder. "Sam. I thank you for your timely donation. Without your wealth we might not have made it through this. I am in your debt." Sam blushes, "No problemo... um.. a gaurd.. at the gathering kinda.. well lets just say he donated it to me." Sam gives Matteo a obvios wink and then returns to speak with Ullar. Just then Matteo's injured leg buckles nad Matteo throws an arm out to catch himself against the wall. Seeing the look of worry on Urak's face Matteo forces a smile. "Just a twisted ankle, brother. I'll be fine." But, the inner wrenching of his stomach from the forced lie tells Matteo otherwise. "With any luck I'll have a healing spell done when this day is done.", he thinks to himself. Keeping pace with Matteo at the end of the column, Urak studies the man with some concern. The courtyard battle had been grevious for the small party, and Urak was deeply worried that the band would be unable to survive another stand up fight. What they needed was rest, preferably plenty of it. However, that was not to be. These grey-skinned creatures seemed intent on forcing the party into a task that they were ill-prepared for. If all the caves were so cramped, then only the smallest of the party members could hope to be effective. Not to mention the fact that every moment the party spent below the surface in this subterranean warren put them at the mercy of their mercenary benefactors. Bumping his head against the roof of the chamber, Urak growls out a string of Urkish curses, before catching himself in embarrasment. "Would that we were far from these warrens," Urak says emphatically, glancing nervously back in the direction that the grey-skinned scout disappeared. Clearing his throat, he leans towards Matteo and quietly asks him a question that has been troubling him since they descended beneath the surface. "Do you believe we can trust these grey-skinned creatures? Their greed is profound, and while we are down here, they can sell us out at any time. What is to keep them from using us and then betraying us? I find it hard to trust anyone who will not voluntarily aid someone in peril." "It also occurs to me, that the Bishop's men knew we went underground. These other grey-skins, those spellbound by the Bishop, could very well be forewarned and expecting us. Or even hunting us. We should be cautious." Lowering his voice even further, Urak rests one massive hand on Matteo's shoulder. "Are you well? Can you make it?" he asks, staring intently at the other's face. "If you need help, I will do all I can. Do not let pride or bravado keep you from seeking assistance." "I do have a walking stick," Urak volunteers, pulling forth his quarterstaff, and offering it to the wounded man, "If it would help, you could lean on it as you walk. Maybe that would give your... ankle... the opportunity to heal." Marika hums softly to herself as she travels, apparently enjoying the walk despite the low ceiling and claustrophobic atmosphere. She had never before appreciated how good it is to have two fully functioning legs. She still carries the stick which she had intended to fashion into a crutch, as it is the closest thing she posesses to a weapon. Perhaps because her thoughts are on the ability to walk, she is not long fooled by Matteo's brave facade. When he falters and nearly falls, she slows her own pace until she is walking just ahead of him. Suddenly, she turns around and stretches out both her arms to touch the tunnel walls, blocking the surprised squire's path. "Minerva, defender of the wise, please remind my comrade that a warrior is of far more use when he isn't spontaneously falling over," she intones, laying a hand on Matteo's injured leg as the healing magic takes hold. "The goddess agrees," she tells him with a slight ironic smile, and turns to hurry after the others. Whether or not you are interested in the pretty rocks, it seems this is the best way out, and you decide to take it and see where it leads. After some distance, the tunnel seems to open up, high enough for all the smaller members to walk, with Silus bowing slightly and Urak, Ullar, and Kenishiro still bending down painfully or half-crawling to avoid bumping their heads. As you come further down, an undetermined distance from the grey-skin cave, those sharp-eared among you pick up the sound of something striking something else, metal against stone, it sounds like. It comes from beyond what appears to be the end of the tunnel. Feeling the earth, you notice that this tunnel appears to have been freshly dug through the hard earth, as the dirt is still soft from being dug out. However, it also appears the job wasn't finished, as there is no clear opening to where the sound is coming from. It does appear to be very close, though. Marika finds the rest gathered together at an apparent dead-end, with the faint sounds of digging audible just beyond. As Ullar is having difficulty in moving he asks for a short-stop. "Did you hear that?" "What is that noise?" "Or am I mistaken here?" Ullar peers at Rhune with a questioning look, as if she has the answer. Then he looks towards Marika, but he feels his cheeks burning once more, remembering how she touched and blessed him in his feeble attempt to save Silus. However, his feeble attempt is NOT the reason why he is blushing. Marika returns Ullar's smile. "You're not mistaken," she says quietly. "Sounds like we've found our enslaved miners." She frowns at the wall of freshly turned earth. "Of course, they'll hear us too, if we try to dig our way through to them. These little grey folk seem to like concealed passageways, though..." She kneels alongside the right-hand wall near the corridor's end, puts an ear to the wall, and thumps the rock with her fist, listening for the sound of empty space beyond. She slowly begins to move backwards along the tunnel, repeating the process every couple of feet. Ullar looks over at Sam. "Could you check it out Sam? It's kinda hard for me to move around here". Sam smiles widely at Ullar.... "You betcha big feller... I am right on top of it. Say... if I find any cheese.. would you be want'n any?" The ex-gladiator returns the smile at Sam. "Sure, little one, sure. Just make sure that it smells right though, cause I don't want any of that rotten cheese they sell in France!" he exclaims, while gently patting Sam on the back. Sam grins wide at the big man and dashes down the cavern into the darkness after Rhune. Sam twitches his nose as well as his ears, trying desperately to get a better sense of what the sound it. "I do believe someone has been digging for cheese here. If I remember anything from my home town.. it was the epic cheese digging contests. Wah.. if you want to hear digging stories.. I have em.. few... one time.. back in um... well anyway.. it was a long time ago... I was digging for cheese with a pall of mine.. er.. wait.. I did not have a pall.. anyway.. I uh.. yeah.. I ran into another one of them gorgons... yeah.. and I uh.. I killed him.. just like I killed the last one.. only.. I did it better.. and this gorgon was four times as big.. and twice as ugly... yeah.. yeah.. thats it.. real scary.." Sam's eyes are wide with enthusiasm as he exaggerates his epic battle story. He tries to stare everyone in the eyes at lest once, gazing deep into them as if to magnify the effect. Every now and then, Sam hops about accidentally bumping into every member of the party at least once or twice. If anyone glares at him he will only return it with a wide smile effect... showing off his white teeth with pride. Rhune shrugs her shoulders and whispers, "Could be these "cousins" digging. But am not sure. Sam and I could check things out and be back in a moment." She replies. Ullar can see that her eyes are sparkling in the dimness as if she enjoys this underground area. She is just barely able to stand upright with just a little clearance. Hearing what Rhune stated about checking it out with the honorable and great Sam, Sam smiles and hops up to her place in line. "I am at your service... Ullar was just speaking to me about checking it out.. and I am sure that we would make a good team.." Sam follows Rhune. Rhune turns around and pulling out one of her daggers steps forward to examine the wall. She places her hands on it running them the lenght and width of the tunnel. She is no underground dweller but she can tell if it would be possible to dig through it or not. She then begins to listen at different spots. She brushes her silver hair out of the way and puts her uninjuired ear against the wall. She moves slowly and seems to be concentrating. She is trying to pinpoint where the digging is coming from and if there are more than one spot. This might just give her a rough idea of how many are on the other side of the wall. When she finds the spots she marks them with Xs and shows Sam. She then returns to the party and reports what she has discovered.

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	Benjamin Lomax

This page was last updated on 20 January 2001