Azrun and Maisar exchanged remarks about where they could go with the horses now that the others had gone to their doom in the cave without an inkling of a plan. Waterdeep was mentioned as well as a couple of women that Azrun and Torro had met earlier in Thurmaster.
It seemed that Torro must have heard his name mentioned as he came out of the trees almost immediately after Azrun said that. He was unmistakable even in the dim light of the half moon. He had another man with him, one that neither Maisar or Azrun had seen before.
The noises from the cave continued. The blood curdling screams that Azrun was waiting on had not begun yet, however....
Azrun looked to Maisar, "You start talking about people and they come out of the trees. Too bad it's Torro and not the barmaids. Just kidding, Torro. I hope things went well when you went back." Azrun walked up to the newly arrived. He used his his staff to steady himself through the bog.
Upon seeing Torro and his companion arrive he looks at Azrun and says" well we are down to one horse now. I guess we might have to flip for it."
"I believe you have arrived at a very oppurtune time. Kaileer went into the cave to investigate it. After a while we heard a loud squeal. The others rushed in to investigate. Me and Maisar decided thatif they wanted to run in with big shoot me torches lit, they could go right ahead." Azrun looked quite serious as he made his last statement.
Torro laughed nervously at that last statement then spoke "Good to see you again Azrun, Maisar. This here is Lasiar, a priest of Selune. Lasiar, this is Azrun and Maisar." Torro paused to let Lasiar, Azrun, and Maisar greet each other.
A youth dressed in a light blue shirt and breeches stands in the front and bows. He has short-cropped hair the shade of darkness, and eyes of blue that sparkle like the stars. Sporting a cloak clasped with a silver brooch bearing the symbol of Selune, the man proudly displays a medallion around his neck with the symbol of Selune engraved on the cold silver. A mace with stars adorning its shaft hangs on his left hip, and on his right, a sling crafted from oak is tucked in his black leather belt. His right hand is bare while his left gloved in black leather. The pinky of his glove is noticeably loose. The man speaks in a deep, gravelly tone with a distinctive Cormyrian accent.
"May Our Lady of Stars bless this meeting of friends." Lasiar smiles, slightly bowing his head.
Azrun smiles, "well met.... Preist of Selune, heh? You and Aloysius are going to have loads to talk about."
"Heh, that's the truth." Torro laughed, "So everyone ran into this cave to be cannon fodder? What shall we do while we wait my friend."
Azrun shook his head, "Perhaps we should looka round this area for a place to camp. A high place out of this mud. We may have some wounded if they go wrong in there."
"Sounds good Azrun." Torro replied, looking at his mud shod boots. Torro starts to search for a place for a makeshift camp, up out of the mud.
"Aloysius?" Lasiar asks. "Who is this fellow you are speaking of? Is he here?"
Azrun looks at Lasiar, "Yeah, he's one of the few, the proud, the targets that went into the cave. He's one of our resident mages. He calls himself Stargazer. I hope you like to talk, or listen cause he like to talk."
Keeping in close vicinity with Azrun to continue their conversation, Lasiar replies with a chuckle, "He sounds like an interesting character. I look forward to meeting this Aloysius." Lasiar chuckles again. After a pause, Lasiar gestures to the cave with a nod of his head. "May I ask why Aloysius and your other friends went into that cave?"
Azrun sighed heavily, "Well, I could give you the long story which would put you to sleep or the short story. Since it isn't bed time yet I'll give you the short story. We're out here in the bog looking for a friend who turned up missing and some girl who is missing in a nearby town. Well, we can across this house and a couple of kids. The boy tells us how he scared way the blue monsters that wore iron shoes. He told us he saw them in this area." Azrun paused to take a breath and look at the cave, "So, we come over here, stomping through the bog. Kaileer finds this cave. Without even asking what to do, he just hops right in. 10 minutes lates we here a bunch of squeeling and the rest of the group lights torches and runs in."
"That's about it. Me and Maisar like Kaileer but I'm not running in there with a beacon showing everybody where I am. I've been beat on enough recently."
Concern etched across his face, Lasiar listens intently to Azrun's recount of the recent events. "Is there a healer among those that went into the cave?" Lasiar asks, firmly gazing at Azrun. "They might require assistance if they fall into a trap set by those monsters." He pauses to look at Maisar and Torro, inviting them to respond with a glance. "I think we should enter that cave and find your friends."
Azrun shook his head, "Gala, she's a priestess of the Morninglord, and Arachne, who I have no clue about, went with them. They're both very proficient healers. They've both patched me up once or twice. I believe waiting out here is the best option. To go in now, could alert someone they're sneaking up on or suprise the group itself. Trust me, you don't want to surpirse this bunch. You'll get filled with arrows and or put to sleep. We have no torches, which I don't like the idea of using, and i can't see in the dark."
"I'll have to agree with Azrun. They are in good hands with Gala and Arachne. The other thing, about being put to sleep or filled with arrows, it also true. After what we have been through, when I was last with them, I'd stay right here." Torro commented.
As Azrun finished speaking, a man's voice filtered out of the cave, "By the Elbian Cow, kill the little bastards!" It was not very loud, but it was understandable. Another of those squeals followed almost immediately after it.
Lasiar jerks up at the voice. "What was that?" he asks no one in particular. "It sounds like your friends are enjoying themselves playing with whatever they found," Lasiar says with a smirk. "My goddess has blessed me with sight that can detect heat. If we decide to follow into the cave, I can try to guide us towards the area with the largest heat source."
Torro snapped to attention at the voice and the squeals. "Azrun, what do you think? Did you recognize that voice? I don't think I remember that voice."
Just to be safe, Torro notches an arrow into his bow and takes a position where he can shoot into the cave, if we need to defend ourselves, and not shoot our party.
Azrun looked toward the cave, "Elbian Cow? Had to be Aloysius. Can you think of anyone else who could have made a comment like that? I think we need to be ready in case they come out of there with trouble on their tails. Perhaps we should split onto two side of the cave. Torro you stay with Lasiar and me and Maisar will take the other. Don't shoot until you can tell who's who."
"That is a sound plan, Azrun," Lasiar nods, and walks over to Torro on one side of the cave, pulling out his mace. "It might be to our advantage if we could see inside the cave," Lasiar suggests as he steps closer to the opening and peers inside.
Aloysius tried to give the torch to Arachne, but the little gnome was distracted by Pug and didn't take it. As everyone shifted and shuffled and tried to decide what to do, a group of goblin came from farther in the cavern. Four of them were armed with short swords and one, lagging behind the others, had a club. All five had blue faces and the same tattoo on their forehead as the dead goblin lying on the cavern floor. One of the goblins yelled something at the group and the others puffed out their goblin chests and waved their swords, trying to stay well out of the radius of the torchlight.
As the boastful goblins began their act, Arachne quit whispering to Pug and shrank into the shadow he gave her against the torchlight.
Aloysius stood by himself in the back of the group, holding the torch in one hand and a dagger in the other.
Gala took in the situation quickly in a glance. She had her shield and flail readied. "Please, someone," she asked, "Take the torch from Aloysius so that he can cast spells in our aid if we need it."
"It appears," Pug said, translating "that they want us to leave."
"Oh, good," Jana muttered with a grin. She advanced quickly, relying on her training at fighting in low-light conditions if the torch-bearer didn't keep up. She did not advance so far the others would lose sight of her, but if the creatures did not run, she moved in to attack, using her mace.
Jana moved up, mace in hand, with malicious intent to the blue fellows with the short swords as Kaileer moved to get the torch from Stargazer. The goblin with the club squealed in terror and ran back down the passage. Two of the goblins moved up to meet her. One of them managed to block her attempted attack with his sword. The other swung at her but hit her shield with a thud. The remaining two goblins both began babbling at Pug while gearing up to join the fray....
Aloysius watched with interest as: 1). Gala asked for someone to take the torch, 2). Kaileer and Pug attempted detente just as 3). Jana charged forward with her mace. Finally, what seemed to the magic-user to be the correct course of action burst forth from his lips. "BY THE ELBIAN COW!" he cried. "KILL THE LITTLE B******S!"
Gala, with a grimly determined look on her face attempted to help Jana fight. She swung her flail at the goblins and defended with her shield.
"Jana, I think they will be willing to talk without us smashing their heads in!" Pug said as he moved forward.
"Where do you think you're going?" Arachne asked, holding onto the hallucinogenic gnome. "Hast ever heard of the death of Mercutis and the lesson it holds for conciliators everywhere? Remind me to tell it you sometime. Right now, though, I suggest that you take note of the number of sharp and pointy and heavy objects flying about at high speed and the poor, wavering light by which we're trying to see them. It's dangerous around those goblins and not just because of the goblins. Unless you fully intend to help hurt things, I suggest that you hang back and wait for the mud to settle." Though her higher priority was staying by Pug, Arachne attempted to suit her own actions to her words.
Aloysius handed the torch to Kaileer as he watched Jana and Gala engage the remaining goblins. "Keep close," he muttered to Kaileer as he stepped towards Gala and Jana. As he did so, he sheathed his dagger and withdrew a small vial from his belt puch, emptying a small portion of its contents into his hand. After returning the vial to his pouch, the mage squinted into the darkness behind the goblins, trying to ascertain if any more were en route.
Jana grinned and attempted to squish the goblins with her trusty mace.
Kaileer yanks the torch out of Aloysius's hand with a growl and says something in elvish then runs back to the front line, drawing his club with his free hand as he prepares to engage the goblins.
