Move 277: Up Ahead
Tunnels--Midday, Day 25 (10 Marpenoth)The group discussed a few additional details about possibilities in the upcoming fight before moving past the fork in the direction the map indicated the grell nest lay. They traveled several miles without any sign of trouble, expected or unexpected.
Around midday, the group saw something unusual. There appeared to be some type of stationary light up ahead in the tunnel, although it was impossible to tell exactly how far ahead the light was. It did not seem very bright, but it was definitely noticeable in the typical blackness of the rest of the tunnels.
As he stared at the light with the others, Azrun looked over at the tunnel wall, "Psssst..Hey look here," the bard whispered. He pointed at a clear scratch mark had been made on the passage wall, pointing diagonally downward to a rock on the tunnel floor. A small fragment of paper, one that appeared to have been part of a largersheet of paper, hung from the rock. "What do you think this is?"
"Looks like a scrap of paper," Jana replied. "Anything on it?"
Aloysius rubbed his chin absently. "'Tis either a clue, or mayhap a trap," he mused quietly. "Should we check it for magic?" he asked no one in particular.
Looking back down the tunnel towards the light, he added, "Mayhap one of our invisible number should move up and see if they can discern the source of the
light.”"It could be a trap," Jana disagreed. "There's lights, so if they can see us, we can see them. We're even."
"I meant that the paper could be a trap," said Aloysius. "Mayhap that is an overly cautious conclusion. Stargazer shall look at the paper. It might be a good idea for the rest of thee to get back a bit."
After giving the others a chance to put some distance between themselves and the paper, Aloysius went over and tried to read it.
Jana scowled. "I still don't like the idea of anyone, invisible or not, being by themselves."
Echo added, "Jana's right. This time we should all stick together."
Aloysius took the piece of paper from the rock and looked at it. "Hmm . . . there be no writing here, at least none that is apparent to the naked eye. It looks as if it were once a part of a larger sheet of paper. I wonder . . . ."
With that, the mage moved over to more closely inspect the marking on the wall.
Aloysius carefully looked at the scratch mark on the wall, and even rubbed his finger along a small portion of it.
"This won't rub off," he said to himself.
Trailing the mark to the rock on the ground, he tried to pick up the rock and look underneath it.
Aloysius picked up a rock off the floor of the tunnel.
"Hmm . . ." said Aloysius as he looked under the rock. "So much for that theory."
Putting the rock back, he stood up.
"Carmeneren mentioned another party that had come from the surface. I was wondering if perhaps this was one of their markers somehow. The scratch doesn't come off the wall, but something may have come by and snatched the paper, or at least most of the paper."
He looked around thoughtfully. "Wonder do I what is so special about this particular locale?"
"Perhaps it was a map or directions as to which way that previous group passed," Renn's voice came from his position in the rear of the party. "Perhaps a warning of what's ahead or behind, ripped apart by the denizens of the dark," he sighed. "It could be too many different things, so perhaps it is time for me to use one of my lord Corellon's prayers to sense imminent danger."
Renn waited a few moments for any objections before he began his chant.
Echo nodded in the direction of Renn's voice. "It's a strange place to leave a message. Something is up there that needs light," she added. "They probably know we're here too."
"Echo, can you tell if the paper or rock is a trap or switch of some kind?" Blacky asked looking warily at the mark.
"If it were a trap," Jana said, her brow furrowed in puzzlement, "wouldn't it have gone off while Aloysius and Azrun were fiddling with it?"
"Yup," Arachne's voice agreed. "And what's special about this place might be its distance from that light...there doesn't seem to be any other reason. But if Renn's going to try to be sensitive to danger, maybe I should see whether I can find anything else of note..."
Azrun stepped up and put his toe to the rock then stared down the hall at the light, then behind and above him, "Maybe by standing here at this point you can something that you can't elsewhere in the cave."
Jana, grimacing, leaned against the wall and massaged her temples.
Azrun frowned, "Well so much for that plan. Maybe these guys in front of us have the answer and maybe even Daelen's sword. So are we going to do?"
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