Move 447: Scoping RennHook Horror Caverns--Early, Day 42 (Marpenoth 25)
The cavern was fairly quiet as everyone awaited the results of Arachne's next attempt at communicating with Renn. The tiger-man watched silently like almost everyone else.
Still gazing at nothing, Arachne said, "That's better ... Oh! You're there! How'd you get all the way back --? Oh. Ummm... Huh."
She said nothing and then focused on Jana. "Renn's all the way back at the grell pillar," the gnome reported. "He's with someone named Darafayen. I'm not sure what she is, but she's very tall -- _he_ thinks she's tall, so she really is tall. And she's elfin and she's pale and she's asking him lots of questions about elves so I was kind of a distraction in his mind and that's why he didn't want to talk to me -- that and because nobody really _likes_ having someone else invading the privacy of their mind.
"Anyway, Darafayen somehow sort of grabbed Renn and took him into that rock --" Arachne waved at the magical, beaked rock. "-- and now, he's there and he's kind of scared and worried, but thinks that he knows enough about elves and this Darafayen has enough curiosity about elves that he's not likely to get killed right away. Renn is pretty sure that he'd seen Darafayen before -- um, shadowing us down here? I should probably tell him something reassuring, but I'm not sure what. I could teleport to him -- but I don't know whether that would upset Darafayen. And we're all kind of beat up right now... Jana?"
"Excellent!" gushed Aloysius. "Grand news indeed!" The dull palor of defeat that had been clinging to his face brightened somewhat. "Arachne, perhaps you could simply get his opinion as to how we should best act with respect to his situation?" he suggested with a glance at Jana.
Dalgaer shook his head and grinned, "Perhaps we should have brought along an army, these caverns seem to have more then enough foes!"
Echo looked relieved before muttering, "Damnit all." Her face contorted into a couple of conflicting expressions.
"I can't imagine you're in any kind of shape to be teleporting," Jana said to Arachne. "How about you just tell him how long before you'll feel up to it? And maybe have him ask his new friend if he'd like a tiger-man in trade," she added with a nasty smile.
Azrun stood and walked over to the rock, "Hmmmm...perhaps they can use these as telportation points or something. Maybe she knows how to get to the glass city. She could pop us right there we free the people and we pop right back out....seems way to easy though....nothing we do can be that easy....hmmm"
"Or perhaps the teleportation is from stone to stone, in general," suggested Aloysius. "Much as Jyothki could go from tree to tree. This creature Rennirolas speaks of sounds wary of our presence, so mayhap we should permit him to speak with her further rather than joining him en masse. Uh . . . he did say it was a woman, didn't he?"
"We need to find Arachne a place to rest," Echo added with a look of increased worry. "Are we staying in this cave? I'm not too excited about sleeping anywhere near that rock," she shuddered.
Aloysius nodded sympathetically. "How far away should we go?" he asked Echo. "Mayhap one of these nearby caves would be suitable, as we'd only have one entrance to watch." He looked over at Jana and Tigger. "What are we going to do with . . . .him? Do you have a name?" he asked Tigger.
"We'll move somewhere away from the rock," Jana said as she flashed a faint smile in Echo's direction. "I'm sure one of the caverns we passed will make a decent place to hole up."
Jana regarded Aloysius and then Tigger. "I don't think we need to know its name," she concluded solemnly.
The mage shrugged. "Then let us select a spot and regather our strength."
"Oh shells!" Arachne exclaimed. From her especially vacant expression, it was likely that she wasn't reacting to anything anyone in the cavern had said. She added no explanation, though, and for a minute afterward remained lost in her own style of thinking.
Azrun looked over at the armored forms of Blacky and Kanon, "Umm, I don't figure we're going to get to far carrying them. How about Daelgar, Arachne, and Echo move ahead and try to find a suitable resting spot. Aloysius can watch our guest...and me and Jana can see about bringing the boys along once a safe spot has been aquired?" He looked around at the group, "Does that work? Once we're settled, Arachne can contact Renn and see what's going on with him."
The creature started to answer Aloysius, but he clamped his mouth closed again when Jana spoke up.
Arachne's expression resumed an engagement with her surroundings. "I can?" she asked. "I doubt it. And I don't think I'm in any hurry to teleport anywhere, either." She glanced at Echo and Jana. "I'm sorry. I think I should've jumped as soon as I knew where Renn was. I'm not certain I'd've been able to get back again, especially bringing Renn, but -- And he had no idea how Darafayen would've reacted to my popping up, but --" She looked around the chamber. "But we really need him," she sighed. "I did suggest to him that we probably weren't going to be able to get to him right away on account of being kind of beaten up -- especially me -- and he did agree that he didn't seem to be in any immediate danger of getting killed.
"But then Darafayen found a gem that Renn was carrying, which he'd taken from a statue in the smooth caverns -- We remember the smooth caverns, right? _I_ don't remember a gem-covered statue in the smooth caverns, but I don't think that means much. Darafayen thought the gem Renn had was significant, not that she explained to him what was so important about it. Instead, she announced that she needed to take Renn back to her home to talk to Aljayera. And then my contact with Renn got broken. I hate when that happens. You get these pangs then. They sort of feel regretful. Like, 'I ended that badly' kind of regretful. And they sit in your mind and ache. I tried to connect to Renn again, but failed. Which is also upsetting: I'm pretty certain that he's not still at the grell pillar.
"I _think_ that Darafayen took Renn on another teleportative hop from the grell pillar to ... um ... Somewhere Else. Wherever her 'home' is. I still don't think, even though she's been yanking him around like that, that Renn's in that much danger of getting killed. But... But I don't know if we'll ever see him again..." Arachne glanced around the chamber, pausing briefly on the tiger-headed person. Then, gazing at no-one, she said, "I wonder if _anyone here_ can tell us _anything at all_ about a people who seem to be very tall and pale and elfin in appearance and happen to feature a person named Darafayen and (I think) a revered sage named Aljayera? Knowing where their home is would be nice..."
Aloysius sighed and stared down at the floor. "We'll not see him again," he said absently. "I know not how I know that, but I do. At least he sounds well and, so far as can be told, safe. Mayhap the person he is with is a distant relative to the elves. I'll miss him. His joviality in the face of this madness was a beacon for me. Mystra willing, and Correlon as well, we shall meet again someday." He tried to snap himself out of his melancholy. "'Twould be best if Janathell monitored the prisoner," he said to Azrun. "Let the two of us study the immediate caverns whilst the others attend the injured." He headed off in the direction of the nearest exit.
Echo gave Aloysius and odd look and bit her bottom lip. She stared at the floor for a moment and pulled her cowl over her head.
"Don't get out of shouting distance," Jana cautioned.
Azrun nodded, "Yes, momma." He gave the warrior a wink and a grin and quickly headly after Aloysius to get out of sword distance.
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