Move 444: Waiting for a MapThe creature nodded as Aloysius produced drawing utensils and as Jana rearranged herself. He waited expectantly for someone to untie his hands. Since he could not start to draw or even take the implements yet, he answered Aloysius, "I am looking for my brother. I needed a place to live and protection while I searched, so I chose to live here."
Everyone not involved in the negotiations with the tiger-man talked among themselves, sat against walls, or lay unconscious on the floor.
Since his eyes were closed, Azrun heard and felt Arachne move closer to him. Indeed, if he opened his eyes, he'd've found Arachne's only inches from his own, peering at him with concern. "I don't know whether I'd rather that you were spinning yarn or really believe what you're saying," she said -- softly, even for her. "Threatening _is_ talking. It's talking that carries a constant reminder that the talking can be abandoned for other interaction if the speaker doesn't feel that it's doing enough good -- well, enough to advance the speaker's interests. Sure, bad guys resort to threatening. They resort to it too soon and too ... colorfully. That doesn't mean that bad guys should have a monopoly on the technique.
"As for kindness, I'm in favor of it too." Arachne's voice retreated from Azrun's face. She settled against the wall beside the bard. "Perhaps not as often as you are, I guess, 'cause I'm not a good person. For example, if someone comes charging into a fight wearing a magical disguise and throwing fireballs and acting all master of the universe and then when the fight doesn't go very well and they go all mealy and quavering and whimpery and begging for mercy and claiming not to know beans about magic when it's perfectly obvious that they drool the stuff --" The gnome's voice paused, then resumed: "And I'd mention about turning other people's valued stuff to little crispy bits, but you seem to be able to be more saintly and forgiving about that than me, so I'll just ignore that. And I'll also skip over the fact that I get pretty whimpery too, because this healing jazz I do hurts like hell, but at least I'm not trying to make people feel sorry for me when I don't deserve it -- well, OK, maybe I am, or if not feel sorry then at least remember that I'm doing my best to help and that it hurts. Anyway, it's not _gratuitous_ whimpering. I _think_ it's not or maybe hope not...
"Oh but the example. Um... So, the question before the court is whether the example was deserving of kindness. Answer: No. Should kindness be bestowed upon the example anyway -- because some holy person has said that kindness that's deserved is hardly worth shucks because it wouldn't be a stretch for anyone but undeserved kindness is where saintliness comes in ... ? Well, but we're not a community of saints. "Sure, Azrun, we've got to remember to be kind. But I don't think that right now is the necessary moment. And before you ask if not now, when, I don't know when. It's just not with the likes of fuzzy face.
"I guess you think it _is_ with the likes of fuzzy face. Why? Because he speaks in complete sentences? Because he didn't keep fighting until he was dead? Because he grovelled? Actually, he's not a very accomplished groveller. He's a sham...."
Azrun opened his eyes, "He asked for mercy. Granted not everything we've run up against down has the capacity for speech, but if it turned tail and ran, I wouldn't chase it down and kill it. I only came down here to help you all. Cause I consider you all friends and some of you family. Maybe that's why we fight all the time...we're too much like family I guess."
He looked back down at the floor in front of him, "We've just waltzed in here and started whacking everything that moves...and its cost us..at least 2 friends. Jana's got some stupid curse on her that's going to kill her and her baby if we don't figure out how to remove it. All of this because we delivered some stuff."
Azrun looked over at the gnome, "I'm sorry, Arachne. I never meant to bother you and ramble on about all of this. I lost my journal in that fire....the only thing I have left from my life before is this flute my mother gave me. Cemantha may be alive out there somewhere....but if I find her is she going to forgive me for what happened to her father. It'll be just like losing her all over again." He closed his eyes again as they started to tear up.
"Well, I can hardly complain about someone else's rambling discourse, can I?" the small gnome said briskly. "I do that more than anybody -- and I know it irritates at least some people. I think it was the single most frequent reason Cynthia had for hitting me. She would burn slowly while I'd be prattling away obliviously and then all of a sudden, WHAM! It always surprised the heck out of me. Of course, she had a lot of other reasons for hitting me, but those, I usually knew it was coming ..." The gnome stopped when Aloysius handed Azrun a book. She sighed and whispered "Quod erat demonstratum."
She waited until Aloysius had left Azrun alone with his journal and gone back to interrogating the prisoner. Then she said, "If it's any comfort to you, Azrun, I think you have a point -- that we do seem to be wandering around down here recklessly killing off everything that moves. Probably, getting into that mindset is very unhealthy for us. But, possibly, for someone to bring that mindset down here might not be that unhealthy for the place. I mean, what do we find down here -- besides those deep gnomes whom I really cannot explain although even they make me feel a little creepy. We find fungus -- and we know that fungus grows on dead things. And we find various that move and live -- viciously -- by killing and eating other things that move and live either by eating the fungus or by killing and eating whatever they can find for prey. I don't know if we're just joining in with the system or perhaps accelerating it with our more ruthless efficiency or whether we're so good at what we're doing that we'll wipe out entirely this underdark way of life." She shrugged. "I can't be certain what our impact on this place will be, but I think we are Death made alive, and as such, we are the very acme of ambiguity."
Azrun looked to the floor, "I can't help but wonder that same thing, Arachne."
Aloysius began untying Tigger's hands. "I remind you of the consequences should you choose to misuse this temporary freedom," he said with a glance towards Jana. "Now, draw. And explain what you are drawing. Don't omit anything important, and don't fabricate anything whatsoever."
Jana stood behind Tigger. She ignored whatever it was he was drawing and kept her eyes on him.
As Tigger drew, Aloysius withdrew a book and silently handed it to Azrun.
Azrun looked up to the mage, "What's this, Aloysius?"
"Your journal," he replied. "You entrusted it to Stargazer long ago, when you went to Cormyr. When you returned, you told me to retain it and incorporate mine own thoughts therein. I have done so, and now return it to you, the rightful owner." As he turned back towards Tigger, he added, "Feel free to readh whate'er I've written. 'Tis mostly babble, but tried have I to document the passing events to the extent I've been able."
Azrun flipped through the pages briefly and looked back to the mage, "Thank you, Aloysius. I don't know what to say really."
Aloysius shrugged. "As well you shouldn't, for Stargazer sees no statement that is needed. It's your journal, it just holds a few of my writings. Consider anything else I have as yours as well," he added. "Any of you," he said, before heading back to inspect Tigger's progress with the map.
The creature leaned up against a wall and started drawing. The roughness of the rock behind the paper resulted in a rather difficult to read map. He provided a schematic for the caverns they were in, including areas they had not seen and a fairly accurate rendition of the quaggoths' caves. The only new piece of information he had on them was about one of the pools, "Something in there scared the quaggoths. They wouldn't even go in that cave."
He sketched out some more map over to the area where the odd smooth caverns were. He mentioned the miles of broken rock crevices between here and there. He did not have as much detail on those caverns and only drew out the first couple. "I did not completely explore this place," he explained. "Because of the number of monsters settled in, I doubted my brother was there. It used to be a place of power though." He had even less information on the area beyond his little corner of the underdark. His drawing probably covered less than twenty miles in the direction of the grell nest and about forty in the direction the party had not explored yet. "From what I have heard," he said, "there are grell, a couple of dragons, a lich, and a city up in this area. I think it is near the surface. I have not been to any of those places yet. Down here, the path is relatively trouble free except for a big increase in the number of slimes near the end of what I have seen. I hear there are a lot of them before the kuo-toan city. This is where I think my brother is, down in that area somewhere."
Dalgaer carefully examined the dust, trying to determine how many pinches were left.
"A . . . .lich?" choked Aloysius. After composing himself, he asked, "How long have you been here? Did the creatures you were with know what you are?" He glanced around uncomfortably at the others.
"That's what I have heard," the creature told Aloysius. "I am not interested in that, and I don't plan to go up there so I haven't investigated it. I've been here for...I'm not sure how long. I have a hard time judging time here, a couple of months, I think. The hook horrors accepted me as one of them, but they were simple creatures without an idea of much beyond their caves."
Dalgaer examined the pouch of powder before using some on himself, healing some of his wounds.
Jana continued to hover behind Tigger as he continued to give information. "How do we know you're telling the truth?" she said in a menacing voice.
"He doesn't know how much of what he told you you already knew," Arachne called to her. "You do. Based on the accuracy of that portion of his testimony, I expect you'll kill him ... or not," she added, after a nastily judged pause. "I'm still ticked about the wanton destructiveness of that fireball," she told Azrun.
Azrun nodded, "I'm not too happy about losing my stuff either."
Dalgaer then carried the rest of the powder to Kanon and used it on his wounds.
"Oh shells!" Arachne cursed. "Dalgaer! What in the gods' green earth do you think you're doing?!" she shouted angrily. "He made us promise -- Oh damn!" She creaked to her feet and limped over to the bigger gnome. "I'm sorry, Dalgaer," she apologized, having recovered a less shrewish tone. "I'm mad, but I'm mad at him and his stupid penance. He made us promise not to apply any unnatural healings to him for a full day, remember? And I'm pretty sure that the dust would be on the proscribed list. Just like I am. It's been no fun calculating triage and then, over and over again striking Kanon from the top of the list... Please, forgive me for snapping at you?"
Echo slid her body up the wall with a wince and walked over to Aloysius and Jana. "What do you think made that temple and that rock?" she asked Tigger. "Has the rock done anything since you've been here or is it inactive? What kind of dragons do you think are around?"
"Answer her," Jana growled, sounding suddenly deadly angry again.
After Tigger responded, Jana said quietly to Echo, her expression quite concerned, "You're hurt. Please, see if Arachne or Kanon can heal you."
"Kanon can't help her," Arachne called to Jana, her voice edged with vexation. "He's busy reaping his penance. And I'm pretty close to played out myself. Not entirely..." Her voice softened some. "I guess I've got something left... not as wrecked as I might be... but I was hoping to learn how long we were planning to stay right here before wiping myself out entirely... Can you give me a hint?"
"Well, crap," Jana commented in Arachne's direction. She asked Echo, "How badly are you hurt?" Her eyes never flickered from Tigger for more than an
instant and her sword never moved.
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