Move 346: Roper ConclusionSmooth Caverns--Early, Day 36 (Marpenoth 20)
Azrun took the burning torch from Arachne, who immediately left the cavern again. Renn knelt to check on Olaf. Blacky stayed with him while Jana got down from the ledge and rushed across the cavern to the other roper. Aloysius and all his copies waved madly at the roper. About the time Jana reaching the area of burning oil, Echo reappeared, shoving her dagger into the monster. Jana and the fire finished it off reasonably easily. Both women took minor burns.
"Damned walking rocks," Jana growled, whacking the roper one last time. "Hey, Echo, any magical guts you need outta these?" she asked, looking over at her. Jana's eyes widened. "Oh, shit! You're hurt." She looked around. "Dammit. We need to fall back. Find someplace defensible, what with Olaf down and you and Renn and Azrun hurt." She looked again at Echo, full of concern. "Renn?"
"We need to cut them open," Echo told Jana. "Either now or when we come back."
"I hope they're not all slimy inside," Jana sighed. "Best do it now. We'll need to get out of here before the scavengers come. After that, I doubt there'll be much left."
Azrun looked around and then look toward Renn, "Is he going to make it, Renn?" After getting a response on Olaf's condition, Azrun went and checked on Arachne, "Are you ok, little gnome?" The bard looked beaten, bitten, bruised and exhausted but looked worried when speaking to Arachne.
"As long as I stay out of the cavern," Arachne replied in a low, discouraged voice. She was standing in the tunnel and had been watching the last roper get its comeuppance. "I can't think straight in there, and if I can't think straight, I'm not good for anything. If he needs more than just divine favor, can you bring Olaf out here?" She turned away to retrieve her sling and then put Renn's backpack back together. "Um, Aloysius, Echo, there isn't anything in that cavern that, um, bothers you?"
"That magical presence is still around," Echo replied. "I get the feeling there's something really significant in here or somewhere nearby."
"What do you mean, 'significant'?" Jana asked nervously.
Echo shrugged. "Something." she said. "Look at this place. Someone with a lot of power did this."
Jana looked around and swallowed. "Damn. I only like magic when we're the only ones with the magical shit."
As the last roper fell, the Aloysius images disappeared, leaving only one mage standing back from the flames. He dropped to one knee and tried to catch his breath. "Sweet Mystra, I can hardly stand," he said weakly.
In response to Arachne's question, he answered, "Other than the ropers? No. Although Carmeneren was quite correct when she advised us as to their resistance to magic. In future encounters, the spell casters will need to employ a different approach, I fear."
He then dropped to all fours and looked over at where Renn was attending Olaf. Aloysius said nothing else, but his expression was very somber as he awaited word of the priest's condition.
Renn slumped after a moment by Olaf's side. He wiped one of his bloody hands across his brow and said a few softly spoken words in elvish. When he glanced up, Rennirolas looked bone weary. "There's nothing I can do for him, Olaf is gone," he sighed as he looked back to Olaf, and began another soft prayer in elvish.
"What? No!" Jana said, looking surprised. "No, no, no! Are you sure?" Jana rushed over. "Dammit!" she raged and slapped the side of the cavern hard. "Dammiy," she repeated in a much more quiet voice then hit the wall again. "Fuck."
Echo gave Renn an anguished look before pulling her cowl up to hide her face. She walked over and climbed carefully up on the ledge. She started sawing on the dead roper with her dagger.
Blacky sat down heavily. "These damn things are a lot tougher than I thought. I can barely move and can't fight worth a damn. We ought to get Olaf back to the surface, I don't think he had this in mind as his final resting place."
Jana walked over to Echo and her roper. "I'll do that," she said in a gentle if flat voice. "Go let Renn see to your injuries." Jana pulled out a knife and started cutting open the roper.
Echo kept sawing.
Jana helped cut open the roper, pausing several times to wipe the back of her hand over her eyes. She muttered somewhat incoherently to herself, "Dammit... what fucking plan... not fast enough, dammit... never listen... hate this... dammit, dammit, dammit... if'd only been stronger, made better swings... it shoulda gone down faster... dammit."
Azrun's eyes dropped to the floor after Renn's statement, "Tyr Grimjaws, light a torch upon your mountain. One of your own is coming home." With that he sat down against the wall and closed his eyes.
Upon hearing the news, Aloysius also lowered his eyes, closing them tightly. After a moment, he said, "Always knew I that Olaf would willingly give his last for the rest of us. He was a worthy companion and Stargazer shall miss him."
Aloysius tried to stand up, but thought better of it and just sat down on the floor instead. "What now shall be our course?"
"He's what?" The gnome sat down heavily in the middle of the scattered stuff from Renn's backpack. "He's --?" She burst into tears.
Renn took a few minutes and stopped by Azrun and Echo. He cast a number of healing spells between the two of them before he returned to the entanglement of the roper and Olaf.
"Aloysius, do you think you could retrieve Olaf's sword?" Renn asked quietly as he worked at getting Olaf's body free of the roper.
"Certainly," replied Aloysius wearily. He got up and walked over to the spot as directly under Olaf's sword
as possible."Inseridek," he muttered.
Azrun got up from where he has sat down and walked over to where Arachne sat. He kneeled and put his arms around her and she cried.
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