Move 240: Topknot Caves, Take Three
Troll Caves--Midday, Day 14Blacky, Daelen, and Arachne left their position by the former troll guard post to move into the actual cavern where the last fight had taken place. No trolls appeared as they stood in the cave and began a discussion about how to proceed. The others followed, a bit more cautiously, and joined them.
Azrun looked around cautiously, "Umm, shouldn't we follow behind Echo and Arachne, in case they run into trouble?"
"They probably won't go too far before they either run into trouble or don't. Either way they'll soon be back, we should be prepared in any event." Blacky said as he set down his ax and pulled out a torch. He prepared to light it at the first sign of trouble.
“I think we need to break into teams and search and secure the area," Jana said upon arriving in the caves. "Me, Olaf, Echo and Aloysius can take the area to the right of the tunnel entrance and Blacky, Daelen, Renn, Arachne and Azrun the area to the left. Let's not go further than about twenty, thirty yards down any of the side passages until we've secured entire cavern."
"Sounds good to me. Should I light up this torch?" Blacky asked.
"If you want," Jana replied. "I'm gonna use the light stone, myself. Be good to have a torch handy, though, just in case we need it."
Daelen lit his blade with a whispered command and held the weapon's fiery blade to anyone intending to use a torch. "Allow me, flint and steel takes too damn long."
"Sounds good," Arachne said from an empty space. "I get to hide behind Blacky and Daelen while they kill what needs killing. Oh, I couldn't hear or otherwise sense anything particularly trollish down any of the tunnels, by the way, so I don't _think_ we're going to find anyone within thirty yards." There was a pause before she added, "Of course, I could be wrong... Azrun..." Her voice moved close to Azrun and his sleeve was tugged. "Since I'm not with Echo, I'm not sure what to do with being invisible. Do you want me to go ahead of people or behind or -- If we're in a clump and I stay _with_ the clump, people won't know not to trip over me because they won't see me. But if I'm not with the clump and I get into trouble, I'd better make some noise because people won't _see_ me in trouble... Um... Guess I'd better scout in front anyway," she decided.
Azrun looked down at where he the she was, "Ummm...hold on I've got an idea....don't know that it'll work," he fished through a pouch a produced a light stone. "Here, you can carry the light stone. That'll sort of be like a beacon to where you're at. If we get into trouble, you can just drop it and get out of the way. Plus, since Blacky's carrying the torch, if we run into trouble he can drop it and step up into battle. I can pick it from there." He looked around, "What do you think?"
"I'll be a will-o'-wisp," Arachne suggested softly. She took the stone.
"Okay," Echo agreed. "I'll go in front of our group so I can be out of the light."
Aloysius moved over to the group Jana had assigned him to. He looked around the cavern without much enthusiasm, but didn't seem particularly nervous. "Each group should have a torch lit," he suggested. "We may need to ignite trolls on short notice."
He glanced in the direction where he thought Arachne was standing. "Small one, can you tell which tunnel the troglodytes came down?"
"I don't _think_ the troglodytes were in here," Arachne's voice replied.
Olaf followed Jana's plan.
The group broke into two smaller units to explore the troll caverns.
Aloysius, Jana, Olaf, and Echo, still invisible, went in one direction. Jana carried a light stone.Arachne, Azrun, Blacky, Daelen, and Renn went in another direction, with
Blacky holding a lit torch, Daelen holding his flaming sword, and Arachne holding a brightly glowing light stone. The gnome could still not be seen, even though the light was fully visible.
Arachne, Azrun, Blacky, Daelen, Rennirolas"I guess we go this way," the gnome's voice said. The lit area without obvious light source began to drift down the passage furthest to the left. The pace was a pretty slow amble. "This is _weird_" Arachne's voice murmured.
Renn loosened his longsword in it's sheath, then began to follow the light that indicated Arachne's passage. He tended to hang just behind the front line warriors, and, while he didn't draw his sword, walked attentively.
Aloysius, Echo, Jana, OlafAloysius looked at the various tunnel openings. "Perhaps we should be systematic about this," suggested Aloysius. "Why don't we try this one," he added, pointing down the tunnel leading to the southwest.
"I'm going to go just ahead of the rest of you," Echo's voice said. "If that's okay."
"Okay," Jana agreed, "but please not so far you couldn't get back fast. And if you reach an intersection, wait on us just before it, okay?"
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