Move 251: Searching for Slaverers
Troll Caves--Early, Day 16The party made brief plans then left the cave where they had rested for the last two days. Other than moving the two invisible people, Echo to the front and Arachne to the back, the marching order remained as it usually was.
In practically no time, they were back at the split in the tunnels where the last fight had taken place. So far, no trolls showed up to greet them.
"Perhaps we should inspect the smaller passage first," suggested Aloysius. "That way, fewer trolls could accost us at once should we encounter more."
"I agree, the trolls we encountered before seemed to be guarding the smaller tunnel. We'd do well to inspect it first." Blacky replied.
"The thinner tunnel will at least limit the number who can come at us at a time," Jana said. "Let's go that way. But maybe we can rig up something that'll let us know if the trolls come down that other tunnel? A warning or something?"
"That would be me," Arachne's voice said from the middle of the area of illumination at the back of the group.
Aloysius peered down the smaller tunnel. "A spell hath Stargazer that would emit a noise if something should pass. The problem with that would be that it is only audible to approximately sixty feet."
He rubbed his palm against his cheek. "If Arachne is going to trail us invisibly, no doubt she can and will provide us with adequate notice. Howe'er, if you would prefer that I attempt the spell, I shall. It hath been a long time since since last I employed it. I know not if I shall be successful. If it does work, Arachne would need not imperil herself by acting as our sentry."
"It hardly seems worth the time and trouble unless someone has a spell ready for that purpose," Daelen commented, "if the trolls come down that tunnel we'll probably find out soon enough."
"There's this light stone I'm holding," Arachne said. "If it comes skittering into your midst, you can guess that I think there's a problem."
While the discussion proceeded, Renn chanted a short prayer. "I'd forgotten to do so while in camp, but now I've cast my danger sensing boon. It shall alert me to any unexpected danger to myself or another within ten feet, and the spell itself lasts an hour," the moon elf said. "But as for our current dilemma, the smaller passage does seem the best option," Rennirolas agreed with a nod.
Azrun nodded, "The smaller tunnels will allow the webs to be thicker if needed. That should slow them down more if needed."
The party decided to go down the narrower tunnel. They slowly made their way down the long passage until it opened into another cavern after a few hundred feet. This area was damper than the cave where they had spent their most recent recovery period. Small streams of water ran down the walls from the ceiling in multiple places, and the water disappeared into small cracks and crevices in the rock floor. This entire area smelled strongly of the familiar stench of the lizard creatures they had encountered in the tunnels some time earlier. There was a collection of rocks against one of the walls, scattered around haphazardly.
Azrun almost gagged and pulled his shirt up over his nose, "well, I guess we know where the troglodytes were hiding.....between the two groups of trolls...I wonder why. Echo, can you see anything else in here?"
Echo's voice replied, "No, I don't think so."
"Eeew, gross," Jana muttered. "Let's hurry up and check out this place fast. Can anyone tell if that water's tainted?"
Aloysius stood back, covering his face with his hand. "And to think I webbed the smaller tunnel to protect us from . . . this," he said dejectedly. "I suppose this is a holding area of sorts. Perhaps the trolls kept the lizard creatures here as food. I see no possible mutual benefit from their association. Once we burned the majority of the trolls, the lizrd men fled."
Echo told Aloysius "You had no way of knowing no trolls were down here. It wasn't a mistake to web the tunnel."
Azrun nodded, "And look at what would have happened if the troglodytes were in there and came out to help the trolls. We would have been sick trying to fight trolls. We'd probably not be standing here today."
"Then let us look at the other passage," suggested Aloysius. "Doubts have I that anything of interest shall be found here."
"Nonetheless," Jana replied, walking around the room, "this is a potential source of water. We need to know if it's potable." She kept her breathing as shallow as possible in the stinky room.
"I can make it potable, if required." Olaf said.
"Yeah, but if we have a source of potable water," Jana pointed out, "you can call on your god for something else, like healing or a burny sword. I'd rather save the magic for stuff we can't take care of ourselves."
"This is risking serious nausea," Arachne's voice muttered. "Might not feel like eating for a while, at least..." The area around the dampest wall brightened.
Blacky started moving some of the rocks aside to see if they might be hiding something.
"And here I thought we were off to slay a few trolls...Can none of this wait untill our return?" Daelen asked impatiently.
"Just making sure. You never know what might be hiding under a pile of rocks down here." Blacky said as he looked for anything unusual under the pile.
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