Move 429: More Tunnel ChoicesTunnels--Very Early, Day 42 (Marpenoth 25)
It was decided to avoid the pool area for now, so the party moved down the southwestern tunnel. Within moments, they could see another tunnel split. The tunnel seemed to continue in the same southwesterly direction, but another passage forked off to the northwest.
Kanon looked both directions quickly and seemed to be making some kind of bobbing gesture between the two tunnels with his mace. He mumbled something under his breath and then smiled to everyone else, "For the sake of a quick choice I suggest the southern tunnel."
"Absent some other obvious consideration, might I suggest that we simply follow the left wall?" said Aloysius. "That will save us the time of discussing each passage split and prevent us from getting lost."
"South Tunnel...Left Wall..both the same and work for me," Azrun said with a quick look around.
"Fine by me," Jana said with a shrug. "We gonna scout it first?"
Dalgaer waited, crossbow at the ready.
"Me too." Blacky said with a nod toward the chosen path.
"Let's see..." Arachne's voice said softly, close to Dalgaer. "We know we're coming. They know that we know we're coming because we're good at discussing every action we take before we take it. (And they'll know we're actually coming 'cause we're not quiet about the actions we take when we're takin' 'em.) And if we send a scout ahead and then wait around for the scout to come back and report, not only will we know that they know that we know we're coming but we'll also have them puzzling over what in this particular segment of the tunnels we found so fascinating -- unless they decide that they know that we'll know that they know that we know we're coming unless they do something about it... Well, there it is -- We're going to wait here aren't we --? Gee, you have a big ol' blade and also this wind-up bow, Dalgaer. How many other ways have you got to kill people?"
Dalgaer smiled and patted the other two weapons hanging from his belt, "My war hammer and dagger..." Dalgaer frowne, "I'm... not real smart, Arachne, but I am good at fighting, and protecting people. So that's what I do. It's often fun, too!"
"Fighting is fun?" Arachne's voice asked. "If you say so, I guess. I can agree that protecting people is fun -- if you're successful at it. And after the fact, when you're sure that you've succeeded. Same goes, I guess, for patching people up after they've been fighting. It's fun making them well again, but only if you succeed in making them well again. In the moment, not being sure whether the life will be saved and feeling the responsibility that you ought to be doing more or better, I don't know that it feels like fun then. ... I wonder if a requirement of success makes that fun honestly 'fun'?"
Dalgaer's face scrunched as he listened to Arachne, then he answered, "Well... I like swinging my axe, it feels right in my hand. Getting pounded wasn't great, but surviving felt great! Guess I'll have to lose real bad before I know if it loses it's fun." Dalgaer smiled, "But Stones! Enjoy your work and you do it better, my people say!"
"I think we ought to go back to letting a "scout" lead," Echo suggested, "a short distance ahead. I can do that, or Renn can like he was doing before. Like Arachne says, we aren't going to surprise anything, but it would be nice to have a little warning before we stumble into something en masse." She sounded nervous. "That magical presence is still around."
"Oh?" said Aloysius nervously. He began casting.
After completing his spell, Aloysius studied the area.
"Odd," he commented, "but I can discern no arcane aura in this area, other than those of the items we carry."
"Maybe it's an elfy thing?" Jana suggested with a shrug. "Renn?"
Azrun nodded, "Scouting is fine by me. As far as the presence, I'm not sure there's much we can do about it, right now."
"I can't tell where it's coming from," Echo said. "I thought I should let you know it's still here."
"I'll go first. Give me about a minute before you follow. Renn, do you want to take rear guard?"
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