Move 333: A T-Intersection
Tunnels--Early, Day 34 (Marpenoth 19)After making some plans and changing the marching order, the party moved forward. The patch of broken rock went on for a few hundred yards. As they continued, they came across other area of the broken rock, some larger, some smaller. They did not meet with any ropers or quaggoths. Eventually, they made camp again, taking precautions similar to those they had taken at their last camp.
Once again, when everyone was stirring again, Arachne and her light were hovering by Azrun and she was dropping leaden hints about his eyelashes.
While chewing on breakfast (and chewing and chewing and chewing...) Arachne asked, "So, now we have eight days of food supplies left?"
As had been his habit the last few days, Aloysius spent his time in camp working in his spell book and with the spell gems. He went and borrowed the spell gems from Azrun, and then returned them to the bard after he finished his studies.
Tunnels--Early, Day 35 (Marpenoth 20)
Once again, the watch rotation passed without incident. A short time after they broke camp, the party reached a place where the tunnel split into a T-intersection. Both branches appeared identical. They had yet to see any of the denizens of this area that had been mentioned on the map.
The following morning, Aloysius sat looking through his spell book.
Arachne tugged on Aloysius's robe to ask him whether her armor spell was still working. "I misstepped on some pretty sharp rocks a couple of times yesterday, so I was just wondering if you're sure it's still working?"
Aloysius studied the area where the tugging came from. "It is difficult to tell," he said with a shrug. "The protection lasts only until the person protected is injured to a certain extent. Were you hurt on the rock?"
"Um, no... I wasn't hurt, or injured. But the rock felt sharp through my boot and, um... It's supposed to be an armor spell. It's supposed to keep me from getting injured -- isn't it? I _thought_... So, as long as I haven't actually _gotten_ injured, the spell must still be working? Oh, um..." There was a pause. "Then I'm sorry to've bothered you M -- Aloysius."
"'Tis no bother," replied Aloysius. "I'd say that the spell may have prevented thee from injury, e'en if it did not protect thy boot."
He grinned. "Glad am I to be able to provide some small service to thee, Arachne. When we have time, Stargazer would like very much to speak with thee in detail about your brand of . . .er, 'magic'".
After his dicussion with Arachne, he finished with spell book and placed it back into his pack.
Once the group reached the T in the passage, he frowned as he glanced down either branch. "I see no objective reason for favoring one path o'er another," he said. "Perhaps we could toss a coin and let Tymora determine our fate?"
Arachne's light remained hovering by Azrun in the middle of the group.
"Yeah," Jana muttered, "Tymora's smiled so much on us lately." After that gloomy observation, she shrugs. "Unless someone has a better idea, I think it'd be best to pick a direction and always take it. Like, we go right here and then right at all other intersections. Regardless, we oughta mark our trail. I'd hate to get lost in here."
"Indeed," concurred Aloysius. "'Right' is as good a choice as any. If we always turn that way, we shant have to mark a trail and thereby reveal our passing to whate'er may come along later."
Azrun frowned, "I'm not sure, Aloysius. If we get a tunnel that loops back on itself or back into an intersection, we could get lost. We should be able to leave a mark some place where others wouldn't normally look." He paused for a second, "You still have those levitating shoes right? You could float up and leave a mark on the ceiling. Most people wouldn't know to look up for a marker. What do you think? I'm fine with the going right stuff, I just don't want to get turned around down here."
Echo shrugged off her pack and took out a piece of chalk. She held it out to Aloysius.
"Uhh . . ." Aloysius suddenly seemed very uncomfortable.
"But . . .heh . . . if we always follow the right wall, we can't get turned around. Can we?" he asked in a rhetorical tone.
He looked at Echo and took the chalk.
"Where would you have me mark the wall?" he asked Azrun.
"Probably not," Echo agreed. "We might change our minds about always going right though. I don't think it'll hurt anything to mark the tunnel anyway."
Azrun looked at the ceiling and then thought for a moment, "Ummm...how about off center of the ceiling just a bit. A straight line with a leg showing which direction we went. Put a circle on this one showing that it’s the starting point."
Aloysius shrugged. "Very well," he said before positioning himself underneath the plce where he was going to mark the ceiling.
"Inseridek," he said quietly.
"I could cast a divination," Olaf said, "But I hesitate to ask my Lord for such a boon on what is likely a simple choice. I suggest we try a path fist, see how it leads."
"Makes sense to me," Jana agreed.
"I had similar thoughts," Renn nodded. "And agree with Olaf, let's just choose a tunnel and go." Renn stooped and picked up a small stone, then began an incantation. "Another lightstone," he said when he finished the prayer. "But I forget, whom still needed them? Aloysius, Blacky, and Jana," Rennirolas asked.
"Right or left, it doesn't matter much to me. Is anyone else getting nervouse that we haven't encountered any resistance thus far? It's starting to feel like a trap to me." Blacky added to the conversation.
"Nay," opined Aloysius. "Doubts have I that the wuaggoth and the ropers are in league. 'Tis likely that they each have their separate areas of dominion, and that each passage here leads to one or the other. Suspect do I that this is a sort of 'neutral zone', though if that be the case, we will likely see sentries soon 'enow."
Deciding that one tunnel was as good as the other, the group headed down the right-hand passage.
The passage here was particularly damp, and the fungi flourished in the humid environment. In places, it grew in thick carpets that spread across the tunnel floor and up the walls. It did not appear to be any more dangerous than the other molds and lichens they had encountered in other places.
A couple of miles into the passage, the tunnel floor became rocky and strewn with rubble. Directly ahead was a deep crevice. There was a narrow ledge near one wall of the tunnel that looked passable.
Azrun looked around at the situation in front of them, "Well, this doesn't have ambush written all over it." He scanned the ceiling and the path along the crevice.
"And if not an ambush, the terrain itself is dangerous enough," Renn crouched and rested his elbows on his thighs. "Perhaps if I were to cross first, after we've checked the tunnel as best we can, with Corellon's eye upon me, and a rope about my waist," Renn mused. "Then if Jana or Blacky were to follow, we would have the strength to keep any who may slip from falling into the crevice."
Jana eyed the ledge dubiously. "I'm not too sure about this," she muttered, clearly nervous. "I think we oughta all have ropes tied on us. I mean, that's awfully narrow and all." She looked increasingly unhappy about the path. "Maybe left would have been better," she mused.
"We would've come this way eventually," Echo said quietly. "How much rope do we have? Do we have any way to figure out how far this goes?"
Olaf pulled his rope from his pack. "I've got 100 feet of good silk rope. What order are we tying ourselves together in?"
Jana just looked at the crevice and winced.
"I can," said Aloysius. "And with relative safety. 'Relative', of course, being a 'relative' term down here," he added with a giggle.
"That was clever, wasn't it?" he asked quietly.
"In any event, I can check out the area ahead more safely than anyone, and I wouldn't be much help in providing muscle for the rope line anyway."
He looked around at the group. "Does anyone have a small light stone I could borrow?"
"What are you going to do?" Echo asked.
Aloysius was busy digging in his pockets.
"Hmm . . .?" he said, withdrawing a bandana from inside his robe. "Well, I'm going to see how far the path follows the crevice," he said, withdrawing a glowing stone from the bandana. "And see if I can tell whether or not anything is lurking by the path."
He studied the glowing stone in his hand.
"I think she means, how are you going to do that? Are you going to float out over the crevice with your boots or are you planning on walking down the path?" Azrun spoke up. "Why don't we just let Renn scout ahead with the rope tied to him like he suggested. He doesn't need as much light to see, he's an elf which means he's a bit graceful, and if trouble rises, he can fight back with his sword." Azrun looked around hoping everyone would agree.
"Actually, I was planning on flying, not floating, as that would enable me to inspect not only the far side of the path but the crevice as well. Intent was I on conjuring muiltiple images of myself afore doing so, in order to make my passage more secure in case something lurks nearby."
He shrugged.
"But, if the rest of thee wish to attach Rennirolas to a rope . . . ." his voice trailed off with a hint of dejection. He folded the bandana around the stone once more and stuffed it back inside his robe.
"I thought you didn't have a flying spell," Echo said, her voice sounding odd.
"I don't," began Aloysius. "I mean . . it isn't. Not per se, in any event. But, it can be."
He cleared his throat and fidgeted. A wry smile rose on the corners of his mouth. "I can be a bird, or a bat, or an eagle . . . or a quarterhorse for that matter. Eager have I been to try it out, and this would seem to be a useful juncture to do so."
"Mmm -- It would be a _useful_ juncture," Arachne agreed, "but even were there a flock of you, it would be quite risky. Had you decided what, exactly, you intended to transform yourself into? You would make quite a sizable bird -- and there really isn't that much room down here for you to fly in. Also, unless you know your birds well, you are likely to select one whose vision is even less suitable to this place than your own. A bat would be more comfortable in this place than almost any bird of your size, but a bat's vision is quite poor. The hearing, though, is excellent...
"And have you learned to fly yet? If you fly by magic or by magical boots there isn't so much that you have to practice in order to be adequate in the air. But if you fly because you have wings that can make it so... You should get some flights in under less perilous circumstances." There was a thoughtful pause. "What about a flock of grells? Their flight might be less challenging on the first try."
Aloysius lowered his gaze. "That had not occurred to me," he said, somewhat embarrassed. "I have not flown afore, and I'm sure there is some prerequisite learning involved. However, whilst using the spell, mine senses remain mine own. That was why I was contemplating taking the light stone along with me. Size is not so much a consideration - I can be a very small . . . bird, or whatever I choose, or I can be very large. Larger than a horse e'en. I don't believe I could fly as a grell, for their flight must have some arcane component. My flight would simply be a product of the base mechanics of the form assumed, with no magical characteristics adopted."
The skinny man sighed. "Mayhap I allowed my eagerness to try out my new encantation to cloud my judgment. If the rest of thee decide that the plan with Rennirolas and the rope to be most prudent, Stargazer shall endeavor to do what he can to assist."
"Arcane?" the gnome echoed. There was a pause, during which the light seemed to bob. "Nope -- I don't _think_ it's the ring..." the voice muttered. "But your spell sounds really neat -- About the senses, I mean. That'll help you retain your own personal sense of identity whatever you mold yourself into. Believe me, that's important. And the resizing, too. That's impressive -- and an indication of how much of that magical energy stuff you're able to access. I mean -- wow! You might consider being a hummingbird -- because they can hover as well as zip around. Of course, you're likely to be totally fashed by the time you stop -- all that wing-beating is sure to be exhausting."
Azrun patted the mage on the shoulder, "It's ok, Aloysius. Any other time I'd love to see the spell work. I'm just worried about you not being able to defend yourself against attack, like that. Could you transform into a Quaggoth? That would be cool....you could beat some stuff down big time." He looked at the mage smiling.
"Ooh -- bad idea!" Arachne's voice exclaimed. "Unless the wizard's spell would include a way for the rest of us to know quickly and obviously that the Quaggoth we're looking at is our own ally and not a local denizen. Can you say 'friendly fireball'? There was a wizard at University, Petrin, who fancied himself a military strategist and he was always muttering about how 'friendly fireballs' were the very worst kind."
The voice paused, then suggested, "I don't know what the plan is either, but it occurs to me that, if just shining a light over the edge of that crevice were to trigger anything like an ambush, then it might be better to do the triggering while we're _all_ still on relatively secure footing. Plus... I'm kind of curious..." The gnome stopped talking, but her light drifted up to the edge of the crevice.
"Do we want a doorway to the other side?" Arachne asked quietly.
"You know, if I were a roper and were setting an ambush here, I'd locate myself right there," Arachne's voice said. She might've paused to point somewhere. "There -- uh, below the edge of the crevice so we can't see them now, but close enough to that ledge to throw ropes at it. But if I were a smart quaggoth, I guess I'd locate my ambush at the other end of that ledge, to keep us stuck and exposed on the narrow path while only one or two could try to fight their way onto whatever's at the other side. And if the ropers and quaggoths were managing to work together, they could do both."
"Do we have a reason to think the ropers and quaggoths know we're coming?" Echo asked. "Or that they care if they know? We're not inconspicuous with the lights and noise, but we'd still have to be close to them before they knew we were coming. I don't know if I think they're planning to ambush us. But it wouldn't be much of an ambush if it was expected, I guess, so maybe you're right." She looked puzzled as she pulled her cowl up again. "This would be a good spot for an ambush if there was one," she agreed.
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