Move 184:  In the Orc Caverns

Orc Caverns--Afternoon, 7 Eleint 1374 DR

Aloysius, Arachne, Echo, Jana, and Snagger left to search the rest of the caverns.

Everyone else remained in the chamber in which the fight had taken place. An exploration of the rest of that cavern revealed what seemed to be sleeping quarters for some of the orcs. A collection of crude blankets and mangy furs was strewn about the very back of the cavern, along with some gnawed bones,  some pieces of rope, a cracked mirror, a dirty backpack containing some  rotting food, and a cracked lantern.

Those who got near the dead orcs noted a now familiar fishy smell lingering about some of the bodies, notably the plate-mail clad giant of an orc, the orc in chain mail, and both of the shamen.

The two orc captives revived from the spells that had incapacitated them.  Even in their tied up and obviously vulnerable position, they still seemed hostile.

Olaf finished pulling the orc chainmail over his head, grimacing, "Better to smell bad then die." he said to anyone nearby with a grin.

Then, sword out, he set himself as guard over those who were too wounded to continue. "Would any of you mind telling me what your doing in this caves, besides rescuing poor unfortunates like ourselves?"

Olaf finished pulling the orc chainmail over his head, grimacing, "Better to smell bad then die." he said to anyone nearby with a grin.

Azrun laughed, "Blacky, maybe you could fit in the big guy's plate mail.  You'd be pretty intimidating in that stuff, not that you aren't already."

Then, sword out, he set himself as guard over those who were too wounded to continue. "Would any of you mind telling me what your doing in this caves, besides rescuing poor unfortunates like ourselves?"

Azrun stopped fiddling with the key that he had found and looked up, "Oh, well I'm not exactly sure why these guys headed up here to begin with, but they did get into a pretty good fight with Ranchefus. He's the Priest of Cyric causing all of the problems around here. Me, I just got out of incarceration. Little thing back home in Cormyr. I've been pardoned, though.  I came looking for my friends and found them here."

Rennirolas nodded as he listened to the exchange, as he maintained his watch over Daelen. "It was Ranchefus which brought us here," Renn said. "Though my initial involvement came about when I was accosted by a group of bandits and brought to their camp. I was freed by my companions," he smiled. "It is a search for my lost brother that has brought me from my homeland though," Rennirolas added with a sad smile.

Renn sat forward, with his longsword at this feet. "Aye, what did bring you into the orcs captivity Olaf?"

"What about you? How did you get caught?"

About an hour after the group left to go exploring, Aloysius and Snagger  returned.

Other than the fact that Olaf was now wearing chain mail taken off the orc, nothing much had changed in this cavern.

"How goes the search?" Renn asked as the pair returned.

About that time, Arachne reappeared in the cavern as well, following  after the wizard and the dwarf.

"There be a trio of other chambers," said Aloysius flatly. "One was apparently a living area for the orcs. It contains a large pool, although it is difficult to discern the quality of its water."

He sat down on the ground next to the chamber wall, a weary expression on his face. "The second chamber was where the captives were held. The third chamber appears to be a living area for persons more inclined to exercise bodily hygiene than the orcs. It contains some fresh water, some food, clothes, and sleeping furs. There are also a pair of chests there."

He pulled his knees up to his chest and lowered his head. "There is a steeply sloping, downward tunnel leading from the third chamber. Janathell and Echo were most intent on following it when I left them to come back here. I fear their zeal has overwhelmed their reason. Stargazer would suggest that the rest of us go to the third chamber to await their return.  It is as defensible as this area, but it is cleaner and has food and water."

The mage began rubbing his temples as his brow furrowed.

"They're not going anywhere right away," Arachne declared.  "They were going to wait for the rest of us to come to that chamber.  As long as we returned fairly quickly, that is, so come on."  She tugged once on the wizard, then stopped.  "Aloysius," she said critically, "you're a mess.  Look at that injury!  And...  Hm...  You should _not_ have gone exploring -- I'll need to rest more before I can do anything about you, so...  Just wait while we get everyone gathered up and ready to move."

She turned to Renn.  "I expect Daelen will still need to be carried.   Can Blacky do that -- gently?  And did the key open the door?  And are the goblins gone?  Anything else happen here?"  She looked around for something helpful to do about gathering up the party's gear and moving on.

"Stargazer is just . .  very tired," replied the mage.  "Methinks that I shall be fine given a chance to rest.  Janathell and Echo are intent upon awaiting our arrival?" he asked with a hint of enthusiasm in his voice.  "Very well, then, let us proceed."

He stood back up with a grunt and a grimmace and stood ready to relocate.
 

Exploration Group:

Orc Caverns--Afternoon, 7 Eleint 1374 DR

Aloysius, Arachne, Echo, Jana, and Snagger left to search the rest of the caverns. Echo led and Aloysius carried one of the light stones.

The group moved through a long cavern varying between sixty and eighty feet  in width. There was little to note other than another large rock formation in the middle of the passage. About forty feet past the formation, the chamber widened to 100', with a tunnel, 20' wide, leading to the right.

Aloysius held the light stone up high so as to maximize its effectiveness. "Echo, how extensive is thy familiarity with this area? Mayhap it would be wise if we sent a scout a short ways ahead, with the remainder to follow. Our light source will announce our approach, and we are ill-suited to combat a very large force at this point."

"Whatever's here knows we're here, light or not," Echo replied.  "I think we should stay together.  I've already been this way," she pointed to the passage to the right.  "I haven't explored all of it, but I want to see what's in the back of this cavern we're in first."

She started to move further into the cavern, staying close to the right wall.

Jana followed.

Aloysius brought up the rear, keeping about 10 feet between himself and the people in the rank in front of him, but in no event letting Echo escape the perimeter of the light. As he walked, he withdrew a bit of fine, white, stringy material and held it in one hand.

The group moved back through the cavern, staying close to the right wall.   The cavern ended in a large sunken pool about two hundred feet from where the tunnel had branched off.   It spanned the entire back of the cavern, about 120'.   There were signs of recent habitation, remains of food, odd pieces of clothing, and even what looked to be toys in the form of miniature weapons and very ugly dolls.   The tell-tale stench of orc lingered in the room, but whoever had lived here seemed to have moved out, and quickly, taking what they could carry and leaving the rest.

Aloysius knelt down next to one of the dolls and poked at it with his dagger.  "How terribly interesting!" he exclaimed.  "These dolls and weapons would indicate that adult orcs indoctrinate their children into their ways of aggression and evil.  This would suggest that orcs may not be inherently evil, but that it is at least a partially learned behavior."

Echo looked at Aloysius blankly.  "You didn't have any toys as a kid?" she asked against her better judgement.

"Nay, I did not," replied Aloysius. "No time had Stargazer for such things."

After attempting, most unsuccessfully, to stifle his glee over his prior insight, he turned his attention to the pool.  "At least our hydration issue appears solved," he noted, "assuming the water is fit for consumption."

He folded his arms and rubbed his stubbly chin.  "Methinks it highly unlikely that other captives are nearby.  Perhaps it would be prudent if we returned to the others and notified them of the water.  Once we have rested a bit, we can determine if we should continue on or take our orcish captives in search of a translator."

Arachne went to Jana and reached for the waterskins she'd brought.  "You guard and I'll fill," she suggested.  "That way, you can keep a sword ready, just in case."

"You go ahead and go back if you want.  I think it's safe enough," Echo said to Aloysius.  "I doubt there are captives nearby too, but I'm going to finish searching the place.  I don't want to leave anyone no matter how slim the chance."

Jana nodded her agreement.  "We can't leave without looking."

"I shall continue with the lot of you," said Aloysius.  "I, too, would be most remorseful to learn that we had left someone behind."

He watched as Arachne started preparing to fill the water skins. "Arachne, canst thou discern whether or not this water be tainted for drinking?"

Arachne gave Aloysius a blank look.  She glanced at the abandoned miscellany and gave the wizard another blank look.  She muttered something, then added more loudly, "No promises that it'll taste _good_..."  She swept her free hand into the water (the other was holding a waterskin) and brought up not-very-much to drink (one hand not being very effective)...

"But I meant -  . . . . " interjected Aloysius.

"Yuck!" Arachne exclaimed, examining her hand.  "Oh. Daelen," she added, looking at the dried blood in her palm.

 Aloysius continued, " .... in the manner that thou hast smelled creatures, and...Well, at least we now have some idea.  Mayhap we can find some way to purify it at a later date."

The water appeared to be drinkable, as well as anyone could tell by looking at it and tasting it. The waterskins were filled with no problems, although they were very heavy to move.

Nothing else of any significance presented itself in the cavern with the pool so the group returned to the tunnel they had found previously. After a short distance, it widened and then split.

"Once more would I suggest that we return to the others," said Aloysius. "We can always return once we have renewed ourselves somewhat. I just think that wandering too far off is unwise."

"So go back if you want to," Echo said sharply. "But I've got to sleep at night and it's already hard enough. I don't need any doubts, not even one small doubt, about me doing everything I could to help any more prisoners the bastards might be treating like they treated me." She pulled her cowl over her head.

"That way's where I found the prisoners while you were fighting," she said pointing to the left. "This is the next place to look," she headed to the right.

Jana took a moment to glare at Aloysius before following Echo, hurrying to catch up.

Aloysius sighed with exasperation before following the women down the passage.

Arachne skipped the glare.  Her legs were too short to indulge such pleasantries, even if she wanted to.

The passage to the right opened into another abandoned cavern after  about 120'. It was a clean, apparently well-cared-for place, with a  few sleeping furs, pots of fresh water, clean clothing, and a fair supply of food around. In an alcove on the right, there was a pile of equipment and two wooden chests, one with a lock and one without.  A tunnel about 20' wide led out of the rear of the cavern on the left. A quick investigation of the tunnel revealed that it sloped rather steeply downward.

"There's me stuff!" Snagger retrieved a pack, a battle axe, and a suit of dwarf sized chain mail from the pile of equipment.

Aloysius sniffed at the air in the chamber. "This be no orc den," he speculated. "It would also serve as a much better infirmary for the others than the place they are in now."

He looked at Jana. "Janathell, if you have a torch, I will gladly go back and advise the others of what we have found. I will leave the stone with you.  Although I would recommend against it, I suspect that the rest of you will wish to explore yon sloping
tunnel."

Jana turned to Aloysius and growled in obvious irritation, "Why the hell're you here?  If you didn't wanna help look for prisoners, why the %$#* did you come?  And no, I don't have a gods-be-damned torch you can have.  So shuddup and start lookin', or find your way back in the dark."

Jana peered down the tunnel, then looked expectantly at Echo.  "That way?"

Aloysius set the light stone on the ground, turned around, and walked off into the darkness.

Jana muttered several highly inappropriate and biologically impossible comments as Aloysius walked away

“He's right," Echo said, with a clear note of defeat in her voice. "This would be a better place to rest.  That tunnel could be webbed up if we were attacked from that way."

"I think we ought to go back to town. We could rest up on the other side of those doors as easily as on this, and at far less risk, I'll bet. We need to reprovision; get more water, more food. We can come right back," Jana added.

"No, we can't," Echo shook her head.  "We've got to go see...we can't come right back," she finished.

"We'll find them," Jana said quietly. "We won't give up until we do."

"I don't think that tunnel is part of where the orcs lived. It's going to lead somewhere else," she said, starting to sniffle. "I didn't want them to all be gone."

"Somebody go with him to get the others, before he gets hurt in the dark," she said remorsefully. "Then we can go down that tunnel some to make sure this is a safe place to rest." She started sobbing loudly.

Wincing noticeably, Jana set down the sack of waterskins. "Arachne," she said finally, "Can you take the light stone and go with him to get the others? I'll wait here, if we're all gonna move over here for awhile."

"I'll go with him," Snagger volunteered, clearly uncomfortable with the emotional outburst. "I ain't got no need for the light. Keep it here in case you need it."

Snagger walked off after Aloysius.

Arachne had already been edging after the wizard.  She paused to say, "Keep the light.  I can guide him.  Maybe check out those chests while I'm gone?  You guard the forward position," she told Snagger, "now that you're properly armored again."  Then she ran after Aloysius.

Jana looked from Arachne to Snagger and back, confused.   She shook her head slightly and walked away from the bag of waterskins toward Echo.

"Echo?" Jana said in a quiet voice as she placed her hand on Echo's shoulder.
"We... we'll find them.   We will.   We'll keep looking until we do, I promise, okay?"

"I know, but...  While I was here, I concentrated on escaping," Echo said, still crying.  "Since you rescued me, we haven't stopped moving.  Now we have to stop.  We have to regroup and get supplies.  And other stuff," she added in a quieter voice.  "It's easier to not think about what happened when I'm moving, trying to fix it, you know.  I don't know what I'm going to do now."

Jana, somewhat gingerly at first, hugged Echo.  "We'll figure something out," she said softly.  "We'll figure something out."

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