Move 271: Missing Persons Search
Tunnels--Late, Day 23 (8 Marpenoth)The cottage was opened to store some of the newly obtained supplies, as well as some of the other things the group was carrying that were serving little use in their current endeavors.
Blacky put any spare coinage and items he was carrying into the cottage and filled his pack with food and drink from the surface run.
After the little house was magically shrunk back to its handily transportable size, the group packed up and set out in search of Daelen. Everyone with the exception of Arachne and Azrun had been awake for a long time now, but they had done so little during that time that they were still able to search for their missing group member. They headed in the direction Daelen had last been seen going, down the tunnel that led to the magical wall Carmeneren had shown the group and, past that, into unexplored territory deeper in the Underdark.
"Arachne, you said you could track him by smell. Do you know if he went this way?" Blacky asked the gnome.Aloysius looked through the new goodies Arachne and Azrun brought back. He picked out the powdered silver and the St. Yolland's root and put them in his pack. He also made sure that his waterskin was full and that he had several days worth of rations in his pack as well.
Once the group began looking for Daelen, Aloysius seemed almost hyper-alert, quickly glancing in the direction of any stray noise.
"I fear that without the aid of some type of magic, we shall have a difficult task in locating him," he said finally.
Anything Daelen might have left behind (bedding, etc.), Jana placed in the cottage. She changed into fresh clothes and put her nasty, dirty bloody clothes in the cottage. She kept her studded leather armor, stuffing it into her pack after she pulled on her chain. She said, "I think we all ought to carry a week's worth of food on us, and plenty of water. And Arachne, Azrun, Aloysius and Echo ought to have some oil, in case there're more trolls."
Echo put food, water, and oil in her pack. "What about the spell books, Aloysius?" she asked. "You are using one, but there are others we found. We could store them if you and Azrun aren't using them."
"I am done copying for the time being," replied Aloysius, "so we may as well store the books in the cottage. Which book is the identify spell in? I'd like to keep that one out so I can copy it. Also, I need to know the command words for the cold wand so it can be used if need be."
"If we haven't found Daelen by the time we need to rest, I can pray for a spell of location, if anyone has a small piece of lodestone that is," Renn said quietly. "It won't actually lead us to Daelen, only an object he'd have on him. I'm hoping," Rennirolas said with a pained expression, "that he still has his sword. If we can find some indication he's come this way, it would help as well," Renn explained. "The spell's range is somewhat limited."
Echo replied, "You can copy identify from my book. The command word for the wand is geada. Renn, Arachne brought me lodestones. You can have one for your spell."
"Many thanks Echo," Renn smiled. "I hadn't thought I'd ever need that particular prayer of my Lord," the elf grimaced. "I am continually reminded of my lack of foresight," he sighed, then smiled and shrugged. "Corellon willing, I can continue to learn."
Renn kept a wary eye out for any sign of a struggle or simply signs of Daelen's passage.
When Jana was stowing Daelen's left gear, Arachne went through it looking for something that reeked of his sweat (preferred over his blood).
Once the search was underway, Arachne started tracking around the area of the illusionary wall that Carmeneren had shown them. The main tunnel, the one of the map, had a few small passageways and caves leading off it, but Arachne was able to follow Daelen's smell down the wider tunnel. After about an hour's travel, Daelen's scent abruptly disappeared, and Arachne found a few small blood spots on the tunnel floor.
Several feet farther down the tunnel, another small cave opened off the main passage.
Aloysius knelt down and looked at the blood. "Odd. Arachne, can you tell if this blood once belonged to Daelen?"
"For his scent to disappear like that, wouldn't he have to have disappeared abruptly too? Like swallowed whole by a creature or tucked away in a dimensional pocket like yours, Arachne. " Blacky asked
"Or carried, perhaps," Jana said quietly. "Let's look around the area some more."
Arachne told Aloysius that she thought the blood on the tunnel floor was human blood, but she wasn't sure that it was Daelen's.
Arachne eased around to where she thought Echo's voice was. Looking in her purse for her untrusty knife, she murmurred "I suppose this is a bad time to be asking if you have a spare invisibility spell..."
"Stand still and I'll cast it on you," Echo's voice replied.
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