Move 393:  Seeing the Map

Claustrophobic Cavern--Midday, Day 39 (Marpenoth 22)

After casting a very time intensive spell over some magical items the night before, Aloysius did not wake up when the others did. Everyone else was reasonably quiet and did not disturb the resting wizard. He did eventually get up and set about memorizing spells. The map was produced for those who had not seen it before, and the current location was shown to them.
 
After the discussions died down, thoughts turned to leaving the cave. Most of the group remembered the extensive series of ledges they had crossed to get into this area and would have to cross again to get out. It had taken about half a day and had been nerve-wrecking and exhausting.

Kanon rolled up the map and handed it back to the person keeping it. He reached down and gathered up his gear and shouldered it on with a grunt, "So has the group delt with these quaggoth creatures? Is that our next destination?"

Arachne intercepted him, as she wanted to look at the map also and it had been uncomfortably far off the ground before.

Kanon handed the map to Arachne and scratched his head, "So you didn't run into anything that could be considered," he stumbled over the word this time, "a Quaggoth?"

"I thought we did ... once?" Arachne frowned. "I was busy hiding. I don't remember."

Kanon nodded and looked down for a moment thinking, "Ah well alright then. I just asked because if there were indeed some of these things living down this side tunnel, a group noteworthy enough to be named alongside the ropers in importance to the deep gnomes, we might as well .... deal with them now than have them return to haunt us later as Echo said." Kanon looked pained as he finished speaking, "I don't believe that I've ever quite spoken like that. Anyway that is my view." He looked up and nodded towards Arachne, "Would it be possible to open that little house? If I could put my armor and supplies in it then your work would be a lot easier."

"That's assuming we haven't figured out how to come back through that -- um, odd place in the wall that Carmeneren showed us," Arachne said, looking at the map. "And that we have more freed people than I could teleport out. We like to be optimistic that way. We're thinking that we've done this 'Many Caverns' area. And the Beware Ropers, Quaggoths and Others. We might find some that we've missed on our way back. Once we've gone all the way back to this fork, then it looks like we'll move on to the ... um, Many Bad Things area. I guess that 'Beware Worm Holes' comes after that. And there's a Perhaps Temple of -- Well, I've not heard of that name. Anyone recognize it? Or have any ideas for a strategy against oozes and slimes?"

She held up the map, if anyone cared to look at the name that went with the temple.

"I think so," Echo said. "We've been taking Carmeneren's advice to get rid of the creatures she told us about. So they don't cause problems later when we have rescued prisoners with us."

After he finished studying his spell book, Aloysius broke out some rations and his waterskin and ate a meal.

"These items," he said referencing the ring, the flask, the mirror and the gem, "are most interesting," he explained inbetween swallows.

Holding up the gem, he said, "This provides some protection against the life draining powers of the undead. It also permits a spellcaster to cast a spell, I believe commonly referred to as 'dispel evil', once per week." He set the gem aside.

He then picked up the flask. "This contains an elixir that renders the imbiber invulnerable to certain forms of attack. Most useful for one of the fighters."

Aloysius picked up the mirror but seemed reluctant to actually look into it. "This, eh . . .well, . . . if a wizard looks into this, he . . . .or she . . . becomes more . . . inpirational? No, not that.  Umm.... personable? Well, not just that either.  Perhaps 'charismatic' is the term I seek. yes, that will serve."

Finally, he took the ring Arachne had been wearing.  "Ahhh . . . .this is likely the best item of all," he said with a glance at the small gnome. "It provides a powerful defensive ward on its wearer, and helps to protect them from harm. Most powerful, indeed." He handed the ring back to Arachne.

"So, now we return to those accursed ledges?" he asked. "Would that there were some other way . . . . ."

Arachne blinked and then eagerly accepted the ring. Then she stood there, holding the ring and slipping it on her finger ... and then off ... and then on again.

"Can you carry the mirror?" Echo asked. "Do we need to do something else with it? The potion goes to a fighter, and a spellcaster should hang on to the stone."

Aloysius examined the mirror, still careful not to look directly into it. "I can . . . carry it, I
suppose. Not that I need it . . ." he added with a nervous giggle.

"Um. Where ARE we going now? We haven't seen any quaggoth nearby, have we?"

He put the mirror carefully inside his pack.

"You don't have to use it," Echo smiled. "Just carry it. Do you want me to carry the stone?" she asked.   "Or maybe Renn? Or Kanon? Did I ask if anyone needs a magical dagger? I'll keep it if no one needs it,
but speak up if you do. Who wants to carry the potion? Jana? Blacky?"

She held out the platinum scroll tube for Aloysius or Azrun, "I read the scroll. It has knock, invisibility, dimension door, and fly on it. I'd like to learn to fly when we get time."

"It is quite wondrous," replied Aloysius.

Azrun shook his head, "You can keep it, Echo. You wanted to learn that fly spell. You hang on to it so you can get that one figured out. I might borrow it after you're done." He looked over to Aloysius, "Do you still have those spell gems, Aloysius? I'd like to borrow one when we get a chance to rest again. I need to copy a few spells from them into my book."

"I do," replied the mage. "Let me know when you would like to study them."

Arachne went to Aloysius and held out to him the ring which wasn't too small.

Aloysius hesitantly took the ring and looked it over.  "Doubts have I that this will assist me much, but I find it intriguing as an item for collection in any event. So simple, yet . . .utilitarian."

He slipped the ring into his pocket.

"You did ask before," Arachne said. "And I said I'd like it if no-one else does. I can't promise that I'll make a lot of use of it. But I sort of know which end of a knife to hold and I guess I should try to get at least competent with a knife or dagger and I only have a very unintimidating knife. I ... um ... I guess that might add up to needing it?"

"Oh." Echo hesitated before putting the dagger on the floor so Arachne could pick it up. "Sorry. I don't remember you asking for it."

"I think I did," Arachne's voice said, as the dagger disappeared.  "Perhaps I merely meant to, after making sure that no-one with more  entitlement wanted it. After all, I'll want to put in some practice time with it before daring to try anything daggerish in a fight."

Echo walked over to Aloysius and said something quietly.

"You are correct," said Aloysius. "Azrun, take the ring, please. It will only be wasted in Stargazer's pocket as he has no use for mit."

Arachne waited a beat and then asked, in a small, hopeful voice, "Does that mean I can keep the ring?"

Jana shrugged. "You, Echo and Aloysius are most in need of protective magics. I think we oughta make sure yuo three are all protected as much as possible."

"And Azrun," Echo inserted quietly. "He can't wear armor either."

Azrun shook his head, "That's ok, Echo. I'll get by as I always do. You guys can keep it."

"I don't mind," Echo said. "Will it work along with the other protective ring you have?"

"No," interjected Aloysius. "It will not."

"Oh!" Arachne exclaimed, looking in surprise at the other ring, which was gleaming on her other hand. "I hadn't thought about it and ... I think I was told that it was a Ring of Protection. It's bigger..."
 
"Will the rings fight?" Arachne wondered. "I don't feel like my hands are at odds. But if Magister -- if Aloysius says the rings won't work together, then I guess someone else should wear one of them." She sighed and looked up at him. "I'd rather keep the more powerful one --" she admitted, then whirled to face Dalgaer. "Because they all think I'm brave, but _I_ know I'd rather not get hurt. Even if that means I keep the more powerful ring instead of letting someone else wear it." Her eyes glistened. "That's not very honorable, is it?"

"Hells," Jana commented to Arachne, "I don't wanna get hurt either.  I'm wearing armor with protective magics on it, after all.  I'd like to distribute those protective thingies, rings and whatnot, around so that everyone's as protected as possible, 'specially," she added with a grin, "you guys who insist on running around without a decent suit of armor."

"Believe me," said Aloysius, "Stargaer would end up getting wounder far more frequently with armor than without."

He finished his breakfast and stowed his supplies back into his pack.

"Have we decided where we go now? It seems that our choices are to go towards the temple of . . . .'Jubilex' . . .whoever that may be, or we can go back to where the dragons supposedly live. Someone mentioned a passage near the roper area that we have yet to reconnoiter? I don't recall that one . . . ."

"I've never met anyone who made armor in my size," Arachne said.  She glanced at Dalgaer and added, "Not that I'm saying such doesn't exist." She turned back to Jana. "You probably got armor in your size when you were little -- But that doesn't matter, anyway. Armor's no good to me because it's too heavy. I can't even stand carrying or trying to learn to use an ordinary short sword. Armor -- Well, I have to run anyway, to keep up with you guys. I couldn't manage that with armor -- even if we happened to come upon and slay some bloodthirsty, evil, armored, scrawny gnome.

"But, all right. If you're entitled to the best protection you can get and use, then I guess I should tell myself that I am, too. And --" The gnome shrugged. "-- the premise is undeniable, so..."

"It was a joke," Jana sighed, eyes rolling.

"Sorry," Arachne answered. "I thought it was a pretty reasonable criticism."  She pulled the ring she'd been wearing a while off her finger and held it in her hand, watching it. Lying there, it seemed to grow, albeit slowly. "Uh huh. This one has a better chance of being wearable by somebody else. And since it wouldn't get along nicely with this other one -- which I'd like to keep, please -- I guess it should be offered to Echo or Aloysius -- or Azrun. Azrun, are you sure you're armored enough?"

Dalgaer smiled, "It sounds sensible, to me. And that isn't dishonorable. I don't worry about honor all that much, myself. I just live the best I can."

Arachne looked relieved.

Echo said, "Keep the one you want, Arachne. It's not selfishness or dishonorable or anything like that for you to have it. It's in our best interest to keep you safe too. Azrun or Aloysius should take the other one. I'm okay."

Azrun looked to Aloysius, "Take it, Aloysius. I do not want it. I've gotten this far relying on my own magics. I might as well stick with what works."

"Of course there's some other way," Arachne said matter-of-factly, looking down at the ring she was fiddling with. "I could teleport us back to Grell Hall. I remember that place well enough. It'd have to be in two trips, unfortunately." She glanced up briefly at the group. "Two and two, or maybe three and one," she muttered. "Yes. Two trips.  And a scrying perhaps before the first group goes." She looked down again at her hands. "If we wish to avoid catwalking, we can do that."

"That'd be great," Jana enthused. "It wouldn't make you too tired? We'll need to split so neither group is too vulnerable even though we won't be apart long."

"Uh, well, yes: I would have to rest some in between trips," Arachne admitted. "I'd need, I guess, a few hours between going with the first group and coming back. And then I'd need several hours more between coming back and making the second trip. The trips with people would be more tiring because I'd need the pocket as well as the teleporting. Going to Grell Hall shouldn't be quite so tiring as the trip to the surface, but I think I'd still need to rest."

"Is there any way we can work it so you do a small group first and then only have to rest a little bit before bringing everyone else?" Jana asked.

Azrun finally took some time to sit and memorize spells of his own. Once he was done, he walked over to Arachne and kneeled down, "Do you still want an invisibility spell?"

"Yes, please --" Arachne began automatically, then remembered.  "Well, not if we're going to -- not if I'm going to be blinking everyone back to Grell Hall," she said. "People will want to be able to find me... For gathering when I'm making the trips or if I'm resting for my next one.

Azrun pulled something from a pouch and broke it, "Here's a piece of chalk, Arachne. This way you can tell people to stand on the "X" when you need them to be in one place while you're invisible. When you sit down to rest you can sketch out a box that is your personal space. That way we know where you are."

"If it will help, Stargazer can make himself into something . . .smaller," ofered Aloysius.

"Does your stuff transform with you?" Arachne asked the wizard.  "If it does, that would help." She turned to Jana. "I can't unbalance the loads, Jana. I'm sorry. You see, this is what I'm doing --" She glanced at Aloysius, then added, "Leaving out the technical stuff. Teleporting is tiring. Teleporting and bringing along someone or maybe two people -- if they aren't too big -- is I guess twice as tiring. And it gets more tiring the farther you go -- although that's actually on a logarithmic scale --" She stopped. "Sorry. Technical and not important. Farther is more tiring. Carrying stuff or people is more tiring. The way that I can manage more than one or two or lots of stuff (besides using the cottage) is to use my dimensional pocket to carry the excess. The pocket's tiring too, but not as much as the teleporting.  And the pocket's not that big. Azrun or Aloysius or Kanon could tell you that even two (with their stuff with them) is a crowd and three is the limit. I think so, anyway, since you're all pretty big. So I could maybe do groups of five and three instead of four and four. And the three -- if they could all fit in the pocket -- would be an easier trip. I guess I wouldn't have to rest _that_ long before returning to the five. The second trip would have to crowd another three into the pocket and then I'd be holding hands with two..." She paused, gazing oddly at Blacky. "So big... I'd need to rest up fully for that one..." She shook her head. "I can do it, I think. And if all goes well, it _would_ be a little quicker. For the first trip, since I'd be showing up alone in Grell Hall, I think I might indeed like to be invisible."

Echo cleared her throat and joined the conversation belatedly. "There's the other half of that T intersection that we haven't checked yet. That could be where the quaggoths are. Could you take us to the intersection instead of the grell caves?" she asked Arachne.

"Unless we aren't going to check that place," she added. "But I think it's a bad idea not to make sure what's there even if we don't, uh, clean it out."

"I don't think so," Arachne apologized. "I don't remember it at all."

"At all?" Echo asked. "I mean, I guess we'll need to walk. If that's where we're going."
 

"If we hope for magic to aid our quest, dragons are said to have great hoards." Dalgaer said.

"I don't suppose it needs to be pointed out that dragons are also said to be pretty deadly -- and the slave trade isn't exactly going through the dragons' realm." Arachne paused. "I'll bet that was intentional."

Kanon continued to keep his eyes toward the ground and remarked softly but clearly, "Indeed they may not be involved in the slave trade but attacking a city and freeing slaves much less one filled with mind flayers or drow or whatever is entirely more gruesome a prospect. My vote is to either return along the ledges and face whatever is down the left handed tunnel or to return and prepare for a fight with the 'dragons' who are labeled on the map. Who knows these dragons may be of the good variety but considering the gnome's map is full of dangers I would say they are not and as well offer a significant danger not only to the tunnels and the deep gnomes but the shire above as well." He rolled his shoulders and looked up at the ceiling for a moment in thought, "Of course oozes are known to melt and destroy the equipment of their victims so perhaps we should do that before attempting to acquire the treasure and weapons found within the caverns of the dragons. My first vote however is still to face the Quaggoths before leaving this side tunnel."

"I don't see how you can do it Arachne," Renn said amiably, his voice came from near where everyone sat and talked. "Invisibility, I mean. I'm always trying to make sure I'm not going to be in anyone's way, and it's a merry game trying to get my gear situated," he chuckled.

"It's a lifetime-learned skill," Arachne said absently, her mind on the logistics of teleporting and portaling and so on. "Even when I'm visible, I have to make sure I'm out of big peoples' way. I'm easily overlooked and big people get annoyed when they trip over me, treating it as my fault. So you learn to assume you won't be noticed and learn to keep out of the way. There wasn't that much more for me to learn when I was actually invisible."

"Do you want an invisibility spell?" Echo asked.  "Azrun took care of Arachne so I've got one for both of us."

"I'd like to hear more about this potion," Jana said. "I mean, what'll it protect against? Like, could me or Blacky drink it then just go wipe out the quoggoths without anyone else being put in danger?"

"Unless it were to wear off in the middle of battle, that would be very unfortunate." Blacky said rubbing the scar on his arm from the last encounter with a quoggoth. "I think you should carry it, Jana. You and the baby are more in need of protecting than my hide."

"The potion provides absolute protection against lesser creatures with no magical properties," explained Aloysius. "I know not if the quaggoth fall into that class or not. It also provides resistance to various types of attacks of a magical or elemental nature. It is quite a powerful draught, actually, but you must take an entire dose for it to be effective. I think there is enough in the flask for 2 such doses.  I suspect that only Janathell or Eric would benefit from its use."

"If that is the case, maybe both Jana and I could walk into the nest of quaggoths and clean them up. That is assuming we can find such a nest." Blacky replied

"Works for me," Jana said with a nod. "With two of us, we can keep each other from being overwhelmed by sheer numbers. The rest of you all good with this plan?"

"If Quaggoth live like other humanoids we've encountered, then the quaggoth in charge will be a shaman. The potion may give resistance to magic but not absolute protection versus it. If the shaman's magic can get past the potion's resistance, then you might be in big trouble. We should be close by no matter what in case something happens." Azrun adjusted his pack and prepared to move out.

"I very much dislike that plan," Arachne said. "We have only the one potion and you propose to use it up on fighting the quaggoths? Not to sound disrespectful of the quaggoths, but that sounds like a wizard wishing away a zombie rat. If you feel that the armoring of a couple of fighters needs to be improved before we go and throw our full strength at a dangerous foe, that's one thing -- that's a worthy purpose for our only two doses of this potion. But choosing to use the potion against a foe and then arguing that only those two who imbibed the stuff need participate in the attack --" She shook her head. "Bad use of resources. I'll grant that draconic attacks are likely as magical as all get out, so that the potion won't be a miraculous aid when we encounter wyrms. But it would be some help, and might be a more important help then than against quaggoths which you sound to me as though you are treating as pests rather than enemies."

Dalgaer nods, "Not wise to depend too much on magic. We should all fight, with you two in the front using those draughts. They won't last forever, after all."

Kanon listened and waited for the rest of the group to finish speaking, "I think that Renn should take the strange stone. I am new here and until I have at least survived one combat with your group I am possibly a liability. " He smirked and chuckled as he continued to speak, "Besides knowing how much I weigh I will probably fall off the cliffs of which you speak on our way back and the stone would be lost forever." Having seen the others preparing to leave he does the same filing into the middle of the group
somewhere.

Echo put the scroll away. "I'll let you know when I get the fly spell copied if someone else wants to learn it. I already know knock and invisibility so we can use those off the scroll when we need them."

Echo inserted, "We can't make a good decision about this until we find out more about the quaggoths. The map seems to say there might be other monsters besides quaggoths and ropers back here."

"Indeed," concurred Aloyius, "and when we met the quaggoth afore, they may have been leaderless. If their leaders are spellcasters, over reliance on this potion would doom Janathell and Eric. Let us remain in a group until we near the area on the map where the quaggoth are supposed to be. Then we can form a strategy."

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