Move 159: Back Outside
Outside the Garlstone Mines--Night, 3 Eleint 1374 DRThe group decided that leaving the mines was the wisest move for now, to allow them to pay last respects to their fallen companions as well as to recover a little more. The matter of transporting things out of the lower level of the mine was not simple, but due to Arachne's portal, it was easier than it would have been since the ladder could be bypassed. In spite of a failed attempt to open the door that left the little gnome temporarily stunned and the fact that the stronger members of the group had to make a couple of trips through the disorienting door once it was opened, everything was eventually moved.
The upper level of the mine was still dark, in contrast to the light in the area they had just left, necessitating a light source as they trudged slowly back out of the mines. By the time the group made it to outside, it was well past sunset. The evening air was cool but warmer than the interior of the caverns, and the clean air was refreshing after the stench of the zombies. The stars lit most of the sky, but a blanket of clouds was moving in from the west, blacking out the tiny sparks of light as it came.
Jana looked at the sky. "Do you think we'll have time for a pyre? 'Though," she added softly, "I'm not sure Etienne wouldn't prefer to be buried, near some trees or something. Surely there's something we can...do, so he won't..." Jana trailed off, still staring at the clouds.
Arachne dumped on the ground the couple of pounds of miscellany that she had scrounged up and lugged out of the cavern. She slumped to the ground. "I don't know fires," she said. "And I don't _think_ my portal will work to provide a quick and thorough burial. If those clouds are an approaching storm, we may have to wait it out --" She made a face. "-- in the mine."
"I was thinking more along the lines of digging," Jana replied. "And I'd rather get wet."
"Yeah," Arachne said. "And I'm not much use at digging, either," she added dispiritedly. "Among other things, I don't have a shovel. Jana --" The gnome approached the warrior. "Jana, I'm sorry about alarming you with scouting suggestion. I shouldn't have made it, but I thought that we were planning to go hunting for prisoners just as soon as we could and it seemed to me the least risky way for the party as a whole to --" She stopped, then said quietly, "I wasn't paying enough attention to what or who really matters to people." She swallowed. "If I were a good person, I'd've realized that and would've kept quiet about the scouting idea. But I'm not, so -- well, I'm sorry." She sighed. "And I'd still rather not get wet."
Jana looked down at the gnome. "I'm a sell-sword; I get paid to risk my life. Or I will be, as soon as I can find a company to join. But Echo isn't. You aren't, for that matter. So what's an acceptable risk for me is completely unacceptable for someone else."
"Jana," Echo said gently, "your life is not less important than mine or anyone else's just because of what you do. And I'm willing to take whatever risks I have to to make sure that cold hearted bastard of a priest gets his. Nothing's going to be right for me until I know that he can't do what he did to me to anyone else. I'd rather be die trying to stop him than live with the knowledge that he's still out there hurting people."
"I'm not saying he shouldn't be caught and that you shouldn't go after him," Jana said quietly. "I want him dead, too. I'm just saying that people with families and people who care about them shouldn't be the ones taking the biggest risks, that's all."
"You have people who care about you too, Jana," Echo replied softly. "I care about you. You're the best friend I ever had. The only person besides the people in this group I've got anywhere who care about me is my mother. She knows the risks I take just being out so that's not an argument for me not doing things."
She sighed quietly, "Look, if I can't do the things I do best to help out, I might as well go back to
Milbourne and sit in the inn while the rest of you take care of Ranchefus. I'm useless if I can't take risks. I'm not saying I'm going to do crazy things, but if me or Arachne need to go scouting sometimes, we should. I'm a lousy spellcaster, but I'm a pretty good sneak," she shrugged.Jana rubbed at some dirt or something in her eyes. "I know," she said reluctantly. "I just..." Jana paused for a moment, clearly at a loss. Finally, she said, "I know you're a great sneak. But just wait to do the sneaking until I, those of us who're good at hacking things, can be there to back you up if something goes wrong, okay? I may not be very smart," she added with a slight smile, "or very sneaky, but I can hack pretty good. And you're my best friend. I can't not be there to help if you need it."
"Lucky us..." Daelen muttered, setting down the larger chest, "We get the option of spending another night in a zombie infested goblin hole."
Walking off a way, Daelen cupped his hands to his mouth and called to his dog again.
Aloysius took a deep breath of night air as the group exited the cave. He seemed deeply pensive, even for him, and spoke little until the group stopped outside.
"Rennirolas?" he began, "what do we need to do to prepare properly for Cethyran's passing? If you have
need of wood for a pyre, Stargazer will assist with that.""Aye, we shall need wood," Rennirolas said as he pushed back his mail coif and allowed the night breeze to touch him full on the face. "And little other than that. There are few preparations that need to be made, once we have the wood, I need but say a few prayers to help free her spirit so that it may rest peacefully in the elven kingdom."
Renn took charge in the building of the pyre, and then lent a hand at breaking up the earth for the burial of Etienne, spelling the stronger, but equally as tired as he, warriors.
As the fires from the pyre burn down and the last prayers are said for the departed, Renn sighed and sang a soft dirge. When finished, he said, "An wherever we are camped tonight, I have prayed for a spell of watchful warding. Though I would welcome the feel of the cleansing rain, I defer to those who would prefer to sleep within the mouth of the cave."
He glanced at Jana. "I know not what Etienne would have wanted. He was a friend of the forest, we know that. Perhaps a simple, dignified burial would be best for him? If that is the plan, then we should get started afore yon clouds collect themselves."
Echo looked around sadly before quietly asking, "Does anyone have anything we can use to dig? A shovel or a pick ax maybe?"
Jana pulled her shield off her back. "This'll do." She began looking for a suitable location.
Blacky dug through his pack and pulled out an old, well used farming pick. "It's been a long time since I used this. I almost left it behind the last time we were in town. Where do you want to dig, Jana?"
Jana looked for a place with several trees, something where people wouldn't necessarily be tromping around. "There."
"Aye," concurred Aloysius. "'Tis most fitting. What should we use as a marker? Or mayhap the trees themselves can serve that purpose."
"All things considered," Jana muttered in reply, "I'd just as soon not advertise he's there."
The hilly ground around the mine lacked tall trees, making it difficult to collect enough wood for a pyre or find a good burial spot for a druid. Eventually, they managed to gather enough dry brush for Cethyran, and with Blacky's pick to break up the rocky soil, they were also able to dig a shallow grave for Etienne near some bushes. The clouds continued to move in, but the rain held off as they dealt with the grim tasks.
Snow still did not return.
Echo watched the burial and pyre silently.
Aloysius provided what little help he could in preparing the pyre and the grave. Not really knowing what to say, he exercised a rare feat of discretion for him, and stood back to allow other, more appropriate persons to do the talking.
Incompetent at digging, unqualified at matters funereal (in spite of the number of companions lost), Arachne managed to find something to occupy her attention instead. She decided to see if she could discover which way Snow et al had gone once outside the mine. Her chances of discovering something, she figured, were much better before the approaching storm than after it.
Aloysius looked up to see how threatening the sky looked. "I see no good that could come from the lot of us getting soaked to the bone," he said. "Unfortunately, yon mine appears to be our only hope for shelter. If we are to return to the mine on the morrow, we shall need to decide what we will do with the chests."
"If we go in the mines, we could go in the side chamber with the bad poetry," Echo said. "It seemed safe. I don't care if we go in or stay out."
She paused before saying, "If we go in where I won't get disturbed by the rain, I can try to identify a couple of the enchanted items. That'll give us a late start tomorrow though, because it takes a long time and I'd have to rest. If they're beneficial though, that'd be good since there's a whole tribe of orcs out there. I can also try to get past the wards on the chests if anyone can heal me a little more. If I set off one of those wards accidentally, I need to be healthy as I can get. That doesn't help any with what we should do with them when we go back searching though."
Aloysius intently listened as the two women spoke. He folded his arms and seemed momentarily lost in thought. "Echo, your idea of returning to the chamber with the pool seems a wise one. Mayhap we ought to move there afore the rains come. That will give us the opportunity to address the chests and prepare for a renewed excursion into the mine."
He looked down at the chests and slowly shook his head. "Would that I could rid the chests of their wards, but I can not. Howe'er, Stargazer may be the best choice to try and open the chests. Thus far, Mystra has shielded me from the worst of the dark priest's spells. Besides . . .if," he stopped himself in mid-sentence and cleared his throat.
"That's just my opinion," he added quietly.
"That sounds like as good a plan as any. Forgive me my ignorance in matters arcane, But can't we just smash them open or toss them down that hole to open them instead of risking the wards by touching them. Or won't that work, I mean if there isn't anything breakable inside, I don't see why it should matter. Once they're open we can divide the weight of the contents among us, It shouldn't be too tough to carry that way." Blacky commented "Oh and Aloysius that cloak would go well with your hair. I think you should wear it, magic or no." He said giving Aloysius a smile.
"My hair?" asked the mage absently. "Indeed. We know not with certainty what is in the chests. There may well be fragile objects within. Methinks we would be better served by trying to open them in a more conventional fashion. As I said, Stargazer would be a good choice to do that once the mechanical traps have been addressed."
He stood up and shouldered his pack. "Let's move to the chamber Echo suggested and formulate our plan further."
"Why is that, Aloysius? I can try to get around the wards. I'm better with mechanical traps, but I'll try the other ones. I'm sure I have a better chance of not setting them off than you do," Echo said.
Aloysius' face flushed. "I simply meant that the dark priest's spells have not affected me adversely as yet, for whate'er reason. I mean not to imply that you are not at least as proficient as I in evading such problems. Why don't you address the mechanical traps and Stargazer shall deal with the arcane? There is no point in one person taking all the risks."
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