Move 273: Inside the Lizard
Tunnels--Late, Day 23 (8 Marpenoth)Renn took Arachne's knife and set about hacking into the giant lizard's guts while Azrun and Blacky wandered around the small, well-lit cavern. They found nothing else in the place. The knife was a poor instrument for the job it had been chosen for, so it took the elven priest a long time to do the messy work. The smell was as bad as had been expected, and the webs were still in place, trapping everyone inside the cave with it. Eventually, he managed to get into the lizard's stomach. There was a body inside; even in its partially digested, it was identifiable as Daelen.
Aloysius grimaced and turned away from the sight. He walked over by the far wall, covering his face as he did so.
"Damned idiot," Jana muttered in a pain-filled voice. She closed her eyes for a moment, swallowed hard, then opened them, her expression resolved. "Okay," she said, to no one in particular. "Let's get this over with." She used an old piece of cloth to protect her hands as she pulled Daelen's body out. She examined the condition of his equipment with a critical eye. Her detachment was not quite complete; she was pale and her hands trembled slightly.
"Let me help," Echo said, looking queasy. She walked over to help Jana with the body. "Gods," she muttered. "What are we going to do with him? He said if he died, he wanted to be put in the ground somewhere sunny," she said sadly. "I don't think that's going to be possible."
Renn shook his head when what he expected to happen, happened. Silently, he cleaned Arachne's knife, then held the blade across the palm of his hand. "My thanks for letting me use your knife Arachne," he offered.
Arachne said nothing while Renn worked. Only once during the long, messy process, her voice murmured, "I guess I should've taken more care to keep that thing sharpened?" When the deed was done and the stomach contents were identifiably revealed... Arachne made no sound, nor was she in the way while others worked around the body.
The equipment on the body was all damaged beyond repair by the lizard's
stomach acid. The flaming blade that Daelen had carried, however, was not
in the beast's guts."Azrun," Jana said, looking a bit puzzled, "I don't see that stupid sword of his. The one that catches on fire. See if you can see it around here, would you, please?"
"I didn't see it when I searched the room. He probably dropped it when the lizard surprised him in the corridor. One of the other nasty things down here probably walked off with it. If that's so, it means that this area is pretty well traveled. We better be extra careful on watches." Blacky concluded aloud.
Azrun nodded, "That would follow with the spots of blood we found out in thehall. It probably snagged him like it did me. Luckily, I had people here with me to help me out."
He looked to Aloysius, " Aloysius, can we cut through the webs? If we can and last a long time they will deter anything from sneaking in here. We can get out and come back tomorrow to take care of his body."
Azrun had looked around for quite a bit, "Sorry, Jana. I don't see it anywhere.....ummmm what happened to your bow?" Azrun checked himself for missing items, "ummm, perhaps we're no alone in here."
Aloysius turned around from his spot at the wall, an expression of concern on his face. "But . . ." he began, before looking at the floor. "Or perhaps the bow is right where Arachne dropped it," he said, pointing to the bow on the floor. His inflection was flat and his gesture slightly rigid.
"Let us leave this place," he added dryly. "Burn him, bury him, leave him be. I care not. 'Tis simply the first of our number that this horrid place has claimed. We may as well accustom ourselves to such losses." His voice wavered slightly as he concluded his statement.
"I know we are all tired." Olaf said, "but we should move on and find some place to camp far from here. And we need to decide how we can bets care for our lost friend's body."
Olaf looked sadly at the partially digested Daelen, "We could try burning his body with oil. Or..." Olaf paused for thought, "I think I might be able to use some of Tyr's blessings to seal him within the stone walls like in a mausaleum. But I would need time for prayer."
"Like in a mausoleum? How long would it take?" Echo asked. "I think it's a good idea."
"Perhaps the best possible way," Renn said in agreement.
Echo added, "While we wait for the webs to end so we can find a place to sleep, we need to talk. We need to change our watch order and marching order since we're one less now. And aren't we close to that fork in the tunnel? What's our plan when we get there?"
"Aye," Aloysius nodded, "the webs can be cut. But the process would be very slow. By that time, their magic will be spent and the webs will disappear. If we wait a bit longer, they will be gone. Or, we can burn then in short order."
He glanced at the lizard and at Daelen's corpse. "Maybe burning them would be best as well."
"You're welcome," Arachne's voice said, as the knife disappeared. "And the bow's where I left it," her voice added, for Azrun's benefit. "Except that Jana's probably picked it up by now. I had nothing to do with Daelen's sword, though. Um...speaking of which, I _could_ remove him to the surface for burial in a sunny place -- the same way that I transported Azrun. He'd be even easier, since he wouldn't care about being in close quarters for the duration. I'd kind of want you to wait for me again, of course, and I also need to rest before trying to go, so maybe you don't think that'd be worth it. I guess it depends how much we care about respecting his wishes -- or how strongly we think he actually felt about those wishes. He might've just been expressing loathing for being underground...?"
Olaf said, "I hesitated to suggest that, Arachne, but I think if you are willing we should take the time to honor his wishes. He was a brave man, and he saved the lives of many here." Olaf slumped to a seat and said in a very tired voice, "Just once i wish I get calm one of these impatient types down long enough for them to live..."
Azrun looked down at Olaf, "Olaf, you cannot blame youself for this. Daelen made his own choices. No one forced him to come down here. You didn't tell him to go wander off and neither did you, Jana. You both tried to convince him not to go, he didn't want to listen to wisdom or common sense. I do not mean to be harsh toward the man, but the only way you would have stopped him was to threaten him at sword point. And even then he probably would have tried to take you."
Olaf smiled sadly, his wrinkled face expressing regret. "You are correct, Azrun. I don't really blame myself. I just wish Daelen had been more willing to listen, is all."
Aloysius looked down at the Daelen's corpse. "No darker illusion be there than freedom," he said quietly. "Certainly, we are not free as we are bound by our decision to rescue the captured. Plainly, the captured are not free. Nor are those who captured them, for one day they will reap the bitter harvest of their dark deeds. At least Daelen managed, or so it seemed, to fully delude himself into believing he was free."
He sighed. "Perhaps he was better for it. The time he had was unburdened by the knowledge we share of our own realities. I have thirsted for knowledge for as long as I can remember. Now that I have had a taste of it, I'd like nothing more than to spit it out and return my mind back from whence it came."
After rubbing his face with both hands, he added, "We should rest and let Arachne and someone else take Daelen to the surface for burial. It is only proper.
Stargazer shan't go. If I did, unlikely would I be to return."Azrun sat down beside the old priest, "Well for it's worth I'll listen. I'm planning on checking out any time soon."
"It's not like he died for god or country," Jana grumbled. "He decided he was too good to wait around with the rest of us and wandered off with that big 'come eat me' sword of his all lit up and he died because he was fucking bored." Her voice rose in pitch although not in volume as she continued and her hands were clenched. "It was stupid and senseless and, and, dammit!" Jana slammed her hand into the cavern wall, hard enough that it must have hurt. She took a couple of deep breaths and said in a curiously soft, unemotional voice as she stood there with her hand still on the wall, leaning, "Yeah, I know if I'd tried to stop him he probably woulda tried to fight me, but I also know I coulda taken his ass. This didn't have to happen and we all know he went 'cuz I told him not to," she said, her voice turning bitter. "Didn't matter how goddamned stupid it was, but I said not to so he damned well had to. You all do what you want with his body," she said wearily, finally removing her hand, wincing as she made an experimental fist. "I'm gonna care as much about him now as he cared about us and those people below." Jana walked off to the least crowded area of the cavern, shoulders slumped, and sat facing away from the body.
Azrun stared at his friend as she walked away and frowned.
"I can't do that," Arachne's voice said, from fairly close to the decayed corpse. "Do what he asked without a consensus from the rest of you, I mean. If I take him above ground, then the quickest I get back will be as long as the last trip took. I need you all to agree that that's worth doing and that you don't mind waiting for me to complete the trip. Last time, everything went right and I got back as quickly as I could. The next time, I could have more trouble and take longer. It's so soon after the last trip, that there isn't anything else I could do up top aside from delivering Daelen...except maybe try harder with the fireflies, but I think those are out of season now. Anyway, before I can do anything, though, I still have to rest a while..." The voice fell silent.
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