Blacky managed to cook a meal for the rest of the group in the keep's kitchen. It wasn't the best meal that anyone had ever had, but it wasn't trail rations so it was a definite improvement over their fare for the last few days. Arachne rested. Etienne didn't find any secret doors.
Aloysius picked at his food quietly, but didn't eat much. He sat on the floor and stared intently at the chests.
"There's a supply room up there if anyone needs anything," Rumer mentioned, pointing at her new boots and cloak. "I got us 6 torches too."
"Yeah? Can you show me?" Jana asked. "I need to see if I can find some riding boots and a new backpack."
Rumer took Jana to the supply room.
Etienne watched the two go off, then looked down at what was left os his clothing, "Perhaps I should go see what I can get for myself also." He stood and followed after the two women.
Eventually, the shrine was cleansed of most of the signs of the desecrations that had occured there, although some of the blood stains remained. They had used up practically every drop of the water they had with them in the process. Lasiar called a blessing onto the place, and Falgout seemed satisfied that they had done what they could to restore Tyr's temple. They were left with the question of what to do with the corpse from the shrine that had been left out in the hall during the cleansing and, of course, the lingering question of what to do next.
Aloysius looked at the others. "What are we going to do now? If we are going to remain here until the 'morrow, we need to advise Oleanne of that intent. Otherwise, we may as well find a suitable campsite somewhere in the woods."
"If we are done here, as it seems we are, then I suggest we retire to Oleane's camp." Lasiar suggested. "We should finish discussing whether we intend to go onto the Glade or into the corridors beneath. Besides, we might sleep better in the company of Oleane and her wolves, and perhaps she can aid those who are still wounded."
"Agreed," replied the mage. "And Oleanne may have additional information about the Glade." He looked around at the walls and ceiling. "'Twould be best if we discussed not out plans in here lest these stones have ears."
Arachne looked disgusted. "If these stones have ears, it would certes be from magic -- and magic you can detect. The trees in the forest will assuredly have ears, but determining whether the eavesdropper is a friendly squirrel or a hostile bat -- that would be hard. We'll discuss our plans when we're ready to discuss our plans, here or outside or after we've managed to stumble into even more trouble." She shrugged. "'When the curriculum is ready, the seminar will appear.' I had a professor at University who was fond of that witticism. We wound up holding a lot of classes in taverns, as I recall.
"My preference, going on from here, is down into Ranchefus's tunnel. But I'll admit that I'm being very selfish: Darkness isn't dark to me, as it is to many of us. Also, I'm curious to know what's down there. And I'm confident of being able to get out of there if the place proves too dangerous. I would hope not to go down there noisily, nor looking for a fight -- but you all know that already.
"Probably, it would be more prudent to go above ground. There's these chests we'd want to lug _somewhere_. There's Oleanne to talk to. There's light and familiarity and the possibility of your getting to the Glade more quickly -- or at least knowing how much longer you have until you have to show up there.
"(By the way, with Puddlejumper gone, I'm going to slow up the rest of you -- again -- if I stay with you every step of the way.)" She shrugged. "If we don't follow Ranchefus's tunnel -- and I don't really expect us to go that way -- I'm thinking that the next best thing I can do for the party is go ahead to the Glade and scout it out from the air. That way, I'd not be holding you all up and might find out something useful about why Ranchefus wants us to come there, where he expects to ambush -- I mean, meet us. Perhaps even learn enough so that we might ambush him... Maybe. What we need is more scheming. I liked Jana's idea -- it's just a little too late for that one -- I wonder what's in that supply closet?"
Arachne wandered out. "Let me know who's still feeling banged up," she called over her shoulder.
Aloysius waited until Arachne departed. "Hmm . . . ", he mused, "wonder do I what hath upset her so?"
He looked at those who still remained in the room. "Let us decide where we shall spend the night at least," he said. "No desire have I to explore the tunnel. Our main objective should be to reach the Glade in time and with a reasonable plan of action for once we arrive. Lasiar? Could either thee or Rennirolas plan on examining the chests on the 'morrow for wards? I suspect that the tomes I carry contain magics that may be of great assistance to us in our journey to the Glade. I'd like to focus my spells on revealing their secrets. If that be a problem, let me know so I can plan accordingly."
Seeming anxious, the mage began to pace about the room.
"That would be me." Blacky said as he laid out their meal, such as it was. "I think we ought to finish exploring down here before heading to the glade, if we have time. Maybe Oleanne can tell us how much travel time we have ahead of us. We're going to have to lug these chests with us anyway, so we might as well start by bringing them to her camp." He said in between bites.
