Move 321: The Western Tunnel
Tunnels--Midday, Day 31 (Marpenoth 16)After camp was made, everyone settled in for another uncomfortable rest period in the caverns. Azrun nestled down with Aloysius' spellbook and began working on a spell. Arachne examined Aloysius' wounds with a degree of fascination that disturbed the wizard before healing them. Aloysius talked about casting a spell on the flask, the mirror, and the ring, but in the end, it seemed he decided against it. With the end of this day, the party marked a full month since they left the surface. Thanks to Arachne and Azrun's foray to the surface before the attacks on the grell nest, they were well-provisioned, although meals of hard tack hardly made up for not seeing the sun in thirty days.
The watch rotation passed smoothly this time. Resting had healed the wounds of the few party members who were still banged up a bit, leaving everyone at full health. After the traditional prayers, spell studying, and weapon polishing that started every day, the party set off again, trudging deeper still into the dank tunnels. After walking for a couple of hours, they reached a point where the tunnel they were in was joined by a second tunnel from the west. If Carmeneren's map was to be trusted, this was the point where the western tunnel labeled "dangerous passages" converged with the tunnel that had led them to the grell nest. They estimated that it was twenty to thirty miles to the next major split in the tunnels.
Once he was up and about, Azrun went to talk to Aloysius and Echo for a moment, "Do either of you have the spell components available for the armor spell? If you do, I was going to memorize it for the day."
"Aye," replied Aloysius with a nod. Reaching into his pouch, he handed Azrun a leather strip.
"I'm fine," said Aloysius. "My spell has been a bit compromised, but it is active still. I've three strips remaining if you have need of any more."
The gnome drifted close to Azrun, waiting for Echo's answer.
Azrun looked to Arachne, "I could memorize one for you also, Arachne. The four of us don't wear armor so it would help to have a little magic help if we get into any trouble. I've not yet finished copying that invisibility spell, as soon as I do though. I'll make sure to let you know on that also." He smiled warmly.
"Oh -- um ..." The gnome stared down at the ground. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to --" Then she sighed and said, "Who'm I kidding? Of course I want the spell cast on me, too. And I want it now, right away, because we keep running into nastier and nastier things and I still can't hit the broad side of a barn door with this thing --" she held up her sling "-- and my poor dress keeps getting slashed to ribbons by -- by whatever!" She sank down on the ground. "And I'm still scared and I'm not invisible and I want some sort of protection -- but Echo and Aloysius and you deserve the protection much more than I do and I shouldn't be pestering you but all I do is keep asking for armor spells or invisibility spells or stuff that doesn't belong to me -- that I shouldn't --" She buried her head in her hands and began to cry quietly.
Azrun's smile fell from his face and he sat down next to Arachne. He pulled her over on to his lap and hugged her warmly, "Arachne, it's ok. I would not have offered it, if I didn't want to. I can cast enough of the armor spells to cover you, Echo, and myself. I want you to stay safe, Arachne. The armor spell will last for along time too...at least until something smacks us around a bit."
He loosened his hug so he could look her in the eyes, "Ok? No more worries. We'll all be ok."
"But --" Arachne stopped crying, at least quite so much. It's hard to put a lot of misery into crying when you're being held tight in a hug. "But --"
"I'm certainly pestering you for your spooky mind-magic stuff," Jana commented to Arachne. "You can so stuff no one else here can and you've been very willing to help so why shouldn't the others who can do stuff they can so that you can't be equally willing to help you out? I mean, if anyone ought to be upset, it should be me; I'm asking you to do mind-magic stuff for me and Renn and olaf to heal me and I don't have anything special to offer in return, just a sword. 'Though I'm there with you on the ruined clothes thing," she added with a grimace and a pat of her own tattered attire. "That sucks."
"But you're all doing what we came here to do," Arachne sniffled. "That's the mission, isn't it? Hacking a way down to that stupid underground city where we hope the captives still are? If you're helping with that, then you're helping with the mission. If you're not -- Well, I can't hack. I'm a lousy hacker and I'm glad that you like me in spite of that fact, if you _do_ like me in spite of that fact -- and I guess you do and -- And I know that I ought to get over that fact -- that I'm lousy at hacking my way through evil things. I've always been lousy; I guess I always will be. So get over it, Arachne: If you're going to be down here and be no better than a fifty-fifty shot against one lousy sewer rat, then that's how it is and good luck to you.
"But then we run into one lousy roper and all I want to do is get out of there. I mean, I'm kind of relieved that we did just get out of there -- until I remember that that means there's at least one roper _behind_ us now. But then, whenever we pause -- or don't pause – and start debating strategy, I feel like an idiot. I mean, what do I _really_ want to do? I want to run for it. So that's not helpful. But if I ask myself what I _think_ would be the right choice for the group -- well who cares about that? Nobody _should_ care. I'm not going to be any use _executing_ whatever I think we should do, so why should I think my opinion's worth anything?
"I'm sorry, Azrun --" She grabbed the bard around the neck in a quasi-desperate hug, then continued talking into his neck. "I mean, I _know_ that I've been a help sometimes. And I can convince myself for a while that I'm useful to everyone and it's good for me to be here. But then we get into another fight with a couple of cold things or a solitary roper and what am I good for? Running around in near-panic, kicking people awake or squeaking retreat. And feeling – feeling helpless ..." Her voice choked as her sentences fell apart into fragments. "I can't manage to make myself stay ... confident in – in myself when we keep encountering these dark ... and dangerous ... things...." Tears resumed on Azrun's neck. "It's my fault... I'm a lousy hero ... Or a fake one. Carmeneren just decided to overlook me, I bet. I want to just suck it up and try to get all tough and stoical about standing by while the rest of you hack the bad things out of the way ... I can't stand doing that ... it reminds me that I'm such a useless weakling ... but trying to help kill the bad things is -- it's _scary_ and not trying is -- is _wrong_.... But -- but is the squire, holding the knight's spare weapons while the knight pursues his quest ... is a squire ever a hero while still a squire?" She clung to the bard.
Azrun held the little gnome as she cried, his eyes watering, "Arachne, a knight is only a knight and a squire only a squire. But both can be heroes. When I was a boy and the bad dreams came at night, my father would come to me and tell me stories to make the bad dreams go away. Those nights he was my hero." His voice caught in his throat and he was quiet for a moment.
He blinked trying to clear the tears from his eyes, "I guess what I'm trying to say is that heroes come in any shape or size. If it weren't for you we couldn't have gotten down here to try to help save these people. Plus, it's your abilities that helped us replenish supplies. You saved Blacky a while back when the big eel got him. I would say you're a hero in my book, Arachne." He looked up to the group, "I would say you all are." With that he hugged, the little gnome in his arms again, tears running down his face.
"I've known more brave squires then knights." Olaf said with a grin. "Bravery requires fear, if you aren't afraid you aren't being brave, just stupid. You are plenty brave, Arachne, and certainly one of the most competent and helpful heroes I've ever met. And I've met many in my years."
Olaf smiles broadly, "And you know a Priest of Tyr will not lie!"
Aloysius had listened to the exchange between the others with a stoic expression. "Yet a heroic heart is useless, ultimately, without some talent that can advance the cause," he said when an opening permitted. "And Arachne, you certainly have done that, as Azrun pointed out, many times already."
Looking around, he added, "But recall must we that alone, none of our talents shall suffice. Together . . . .?" he asked rhetorically. "That remains to be seen. But Arachne is again correct when she says to try not would not only be cowardly, but wrong. We must have the will to act rightly e'en in the face of our fears. That you have done, Arachne. That we have all done. THAT is what courage is."
He looked down the side passage. "So, are we going to clean that out or are we going to run the risk of its denizens harrying us on our return journey?"
Jana snorted and scowled. "A hero's what they call someone who was too stupid to be scared and got themselves killed. Me, I'd rather be a live coward. And I don't care if anyone here calls me a coward, 'cuz I damned sure am scared and I have been since we set foot in these gawdawful caves and I want nothing more than to see the damned sun again. Ain't nothing wrong with being scared and wanting to be careful and to protect yourself. That's how you stay alive instead of becoming a 'hero.' I make my living fighting but that don't make me anything special or heroic. Just gives me no damned tolerance for fools," she grumbled, "who're doin' stupid shit and gettin' themselves killed and puttin' others in danger."
"So it's all right for me to be a live coward?" Arachne snuffled, still clinging to the bard. "And pester you and Aloysius and Echo for spells? As long as I _do_ stay alive?" She paused, her arms still tight around the bard's neck. "That's good, because -- because I really don't think I can lose the coward part." She shuddered against Azrun, but then her arms went loose.
Azrun patted her on the back, "You be who you are, Arachne. I would not call you a coward. I think you are brave and know how to get out of the way. You're just fine the way you are." He let loose of her to let her do as she wanted.
The gnome slid down from Azrun's shoulders once he let her loose. She didn't seem to be in a hurry to go anywhere, though. She dropped to the ground, then glanced up at Azrun, her eyes gleaming in the several lights of the group. "I -- Um, thank you, Azrun," she whispered, then clambered over to her nearby pack and sprawled by it. "Thank you, Jana," she sighed. "And thank you Aloysius, and thank you Renn, and thank you Echo, and thank you Olaf... and Blacky ... Thank you..." She looked around the pausing place, then leaned back against her pack. "Thank you for putting up with your whimpering gnome," she sighed, and waited until the group moved on.
"Don't give it another thought," Jana replied with a slight smile. "I've certainly done my share of whimpering and will doubtless do more. In fact, I feel pretty damned whimpery right now."
"I'm the one who should be thanking you Arachne. You've saved me twice in the last couple....days? I certainly haven't been much help in the battles of late and if we're going to try hitting those ropers from a distance, I probably won't be much help in the coming ones." Blacky said.
"I think I have to admit that I got lucky -- well, so did you," Arachne sighed, then shrugged. "We both did. Jana's right --" She brightened suddenly. "Want to borrow my sling? I doubt I'm likely to make much use of it. I haven't so far..."
"I have an armor spell," Echo replied. "But thanks."
After Renn finished his morning prayers and packed his gear back into it's respective places, he listened with a bemused expression on his face to the conversations. "Arachne, I've no witty remarks about bravery and cowardice, heros and villainy, but you are still here making the journey," he smiled. "I think you're doing fine."
Renn slung his backpack onto his shoulders and adjusted the tied straps slightly, then knelt with his arms across his thighs.
At the fork, Aloysius stopped momentarily to take his pack from his thin shoulders. Glancing at the side tunnel, he looked around at his companions.
"I see no reason to go that way," he said. "Perhaps now would be a good time to definitively determine our course. According to the map, we need not even venture into the roper tunnel to get to the City of the Glass Pool. Are we going to proceed directly to the area where the slimes are supposed to be, or are we going to explore a side tunnel or two in search of treasures that may assist us in our task?"
"Does anyone have any sulpher and wax?" Olaf asked. "I know a prayer that will allow me to hurl small balls of fire but it requires sulpher and wax."
"I'm not sure," Echo said quietly. "We need to get to the prisoners fast, but on the other hand, we might not want to leave too much stuff behind us. I think Carmeneren warned us against that. Her advice has been good so far, but I'm really not sure." She looked restless and uncertain.
Jana frowned. "Well, while I'm all for not looking for trouble when plenty seems to find us on its own, but maybe we oughta make sure we don't need that sword for something that's down here. I mean, I don't really think it's the sword I personally need, but maybe we need it for something later on down here? Anyway, maybe we oughta think about it before we just keep on going."
"Yes." Olaf agreed. "We've been down here a very long time. It seems likely that we will only be able to save the captives if they are kept alive for a long period anyway. I fear our real role shall be avenging them, and making certain such raids do not occur again. Though I pray I am wrong. We need not search every cave, but if we can determine one is likely to have the sword the journal mentions, or other useful treasures, we should pursue it."
Aloysius finished stretching and returned his pack to his back.
"Assuming we can find and liberate the captives . . ." he began uncertainly, "still will we be faced with the task of extricating them safely. If we have left hostile creatures in our wake, that could prove most difficult."
He stared into the darkness of the intersecting passage. "Perhaps these side passages, at least those on the map, should be inspected after all." Aloysius shrugged and plainly was at a loss to make a definitve suggestion.
"If Arachne were willing," Olaf said, "It might be best if we found them to hole up in an out of the way cave and have her take them home one at a time. That would take a very, very long time, of course. And such talk now is like spending the hoard before slaying the dragon, I suppose."
Echo listened to the others and nodded. "It'll slow us down for now, but in the long run, it's probably the best thing to do. Once we rescue the prisoners, we might not be able to deal with it."
"Of course I'm willing," Arachne said. "And I could do it 3 or 4 at a time, which might make the thing go a _little_ faster. It's the rest of you who would be both stressed out and bored to tears with the waiting.
"We don't know enough to make an informed decision how to get to the City," she continued. "Only enough to follow our own bias. Anyone here who's been held captive or has seen too many freed captives is going to be inclined to go as straight to the City as we can to free or resolve the captives as soon as we can. Those who are biased toward collecting useful things may lean toward allowing ourselves to be diverted to the side tunnels. My suspicion is that, if we have enough luck, we have enough now to succeed against the City. But treasures from the side trips might help make up for a certain amount of misfortune.
"Was that waffling enough? I don't have a strategic preference. I'm not really good at using other things. I mean --" She held up her sling. "I'm not even any good at making this thing work, and it's pretty simple. And I'm pretty terrified, whatever way we choose to go. So I don't think I have anything to offer to this decision. I think I'll just take up praying to Tymora."
Olaf smiled, "It never hurts to have some good luck."
"If we're going to go to those side caverns," Jana said slowly, "then we'd better have a plan for dealing with those roper thingies."
"I can hurl the balls of fire I've used before upto forty yards away." Olaf said, "If I bombard the creature with those and perhaps some others pepper it with arrows we should be able to take one of them out from a distance with no harm to ourselves."
Azrun shrugged, "Well, they don't like fire. I have one torch on me. I can keep it handy, just in case. They're incredibly strong and it has a few of those rope things it can snag people with. My suggestion would be to stay the hell out of its reach and fill it full of arrows and spells."
He shrugged, "But I guess that's pretty straight forward and easy to see."
"Our major concern would seem to be discriminating betwixt the ropers and the rocks," said Aloysius. "Would that we had some way to warn us afore we walk right into them. I've no magic for that, I'm afraid."
Azrun looked to the two priests, "Ropers are considered evil creatures. Perhaps if we had a way of detecting evil. I'm not sure about the spell for doing this."
"I have access to such a prayer, but it only lasts a little more then half an hour." Olaf said.
Azrun nodded, "What is the range on your spell? If it is too short then we'd probably see it before it was too late anyway."
"A hundred yards or so." Olaf answered.
"I can heighten my senses," Arachne offered. "So that I could notice if ropers look at all different from rocks, or make distinctive ropy noises, or smell different from rocks. Or are warmer than rocks," she added, musing. "-- Really!" she exclaimed, breaking off the woolgathering. "I know I seem like there's a lot that I miss noticing, but I _can_ be perceptive, if I ... um ... put my mind to it. I can't keep them heightened all the time, though..."
Azrun smiled, "Well, perhaps then before we enter any large caverns, we can stop and have you look about then. If you spy something, then we could have Olaf use his spell to look too."
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