Move 403: The Quaggoth Hunt ContinuesAloysius examined his wet clothes for a while longer. He eventually tried something on them and decided they were dry enough to wear. Once he was dressed and everyone had finished their preparations for the day, they set out. Just like the day before, Renn was invisible, leading by a distance, Echo invisible, bringing up the rear.
The scenery in the tunnel the group was traveling today was no different than what they had seen the day before, although they had yet to run into another patch of the foul-smelling mold. Smaller tunnels branched off the main one from time to time, but none of them seemed to lead anywhere. It was chilly enough, especially for those who were in damp clothing, that the exercise of their daily march was welcome for the warmth that it brought to their muscles.
Arachne was visible and oft-times visibly attached to Azrun. Illuminated spookily by his lightstone, she could be seen clinging tohis hand and glancing about warily as she scampered to keep up with hislong strides and the party's quick pace. When she tired of reaching up to hold onto him, she would let go and then sometimes fall into her prior habit of shuffling loudly so as not to be stepped on. At such times, she looked less wary, having evidently forgotten that she was visible.
"So just where is it these things are s'posed to be?" Jana whispered. "I thought they were closer. 'Course, I'm not that good at map-reading."
Kanon looking ten times more irritated than before the group had begun their journey that morning piped in a sarcastic tone, "Well the map is not too specific. A careful questioning of the gnomes who gave it to you may have alluded to important details like the distances between areas and perhaps the natures of the creatures you would face. I don't know that’s just an observation."
"But you _are_ a courageous group of adventurers," Arachne said. "And he's right: We should've had him here with us when interviewing Carmeneran so that he could've questioned her carefully and fended off with his cheerful patience her impatience with the wretchedly ignorant surface denizens who thought to pursue easily those evil slavers down to the glass city. This probably is a horribly stressful place to go if you are a Morninglord and attuned so closely to the sunlight. And Gala was fine. She just knew better than to trust me -- Well, never mind that. It was really stupid of me to bring a Morning Lord way down here, wasn't it? Kanon," she called ahead. "I'm sorry. Do you want me to take you back to the surface?"
Whatever Aloysius had done to his clothes seemed to lighten his spirits considerably. "I can dry clothes," he announced giddily. "At last, something practical for the group . . . . " he sighed.
He surveyed the tunnels with apt curiosity. "Amazing that such a place existed right beneath our feet and we ne'er suspected its expanse. The tales of the Underdark don't do the experience of it justice."
The mage remained mostly quiet after that, glancing about here and there to take in as much as he could as the party moved along.
There was some whispering from the back of the group, followed by an audible offer from Arachne to take Kanon back to the surface. Before he had a chance to respond, Renn, now back immediately in front of them, spoke up softly.
"Hssstt," Renn hissed shortly, but quietly. "Ahead of us," he continued in a short whisper, his words quickly spoken, "about a hundred yards, the tunnel splits. There's the smell of wet fur there, so be wary."
Jana slowly and quietly slipped her shield into position and drew her sword. "Can you get close enough to see their positions?" Jana whispered into empty air.
"I can certainly try," Renn replied. "They may be suspicious already. I could hear everyone approaching, so I have to think they could as well."
Dalgaer readied his ax as he marched at the front of the group.
Upon hearing Renn, Aloysius stopped in his tracks and waited to see what Jana wanted to do.
"I can go with him," Echo volunteered. "In case there's trouble."
"Thanks Echo," Renn said gratefully.
Jana fidgeted then muttered, "Crap." She made a face then whispered, "well, maybe Echo oughta go by herself. I mean," she continued, looking in the direction of Echo's voice with a pained expression, "you've got those boots so if you've gotta run, you can get outta there and behind our line really fast, faster'n Renn or anyone
else for that matter. But," she added emphatically, "all we need is positions and numbers. They can probably smell you even if they can't see you, so stay as far back as you can, okay?" She hesitated then added, "Uhm, I mean, they could probably smell you or me or anyone else even if we'd just taken a real, hot bath and all. I wasn't bein' mean or nothin'...""I'll go as far as the branching of the tunnel then," Renn said with a soft chuckle. "Not only can Echo move faster than I, she can also be much quieter as well. Hopefully, with as bad as they smell, they won't notice ours."
"I know," Echo laughed softly. "Me and Renn will go to the branch in the tunnel, then I'll keep going. I
have to move slow when I'm trying to be quiet," she warned. "So it might take more time than it seems like it should."Azrun looked around to Kanon, "Do you have that spell you cast on Renn yesterday? Perhaps we can drop it on Echo, so you can keep up with her."
Kanon nodded as the question was asked and whispered, "I did memorize the spell again." He reached down into his pouch and removed a rose petal holding it out in his gauntleted hand, "Echo should take it from my hand and
kiss it then return it to me and put her hand on my shoulder."The rose petal disappeared then reappeared in Kanon's hand.
Blacky did likewise and prepared to bear the brunt of the coming attack.
"Stargazer shall render himself invisible then," said Aloysius. "Are we going to just stand our ground here
and face their charge?" he asked."If they charge," Jana replied. "And unless Echo tells us to haul ass."
Arachne sat against the wall at Azrun's feet and waited quietly.
"How long should we wait before we get worried?" Jana whispered in the direction of Echo's voice. She fidgeted and looked nervous.
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