Gwyneria looked to Cicero in concern. All this time, from his goofiest moments to his most reckless, he'd been carrying a burden like that on him. How did one man hold that sort of strength? Only at this moment was he obviously exhausted, weary beyond anything her young elven years could even attempt to understand. Not when she had grown up her life knowing that she and those around her would have a long time to go before having to worry about the specter of death. It only struck her then that in all likelihood, Cicero would die before her, whether by the sword or by the slow decay of time. And if they never cleared Cicero's name...
No. She took Cicero's hand, squeezing it closely. "If there's a curse, it can always be broken. If it's merely a pattern, the pattern can be altered." If, When Cicero faced death's specter, he would be at peace, free of the taint on his name and free of the violence that the others in his regiment had gone through. She'd make certain of that, no matter how many times she'd have to heal him from the brink or had to reconcile illogical 'luck' to the fundamental rules of magic she'd learned all her life. This she swore.
" I'll keep this and wear it proudly but if you ever want it back, just let me know. Also, if you're talking about a curse, just pray for some luck and I can try to roll dice. Anything can be done with a bit of luck after all, just don't forget that it might not always work. You might get an actual curse that's even worse. " said Ashe, her voice friendly but muffled as she fixed her mask back on the face.
" Anyways, I earned us some more time. I got a few questions for both of you. I know Mazur's skills already which is why I came here in the first place but if we're gonna do this together, we need to know each other's strengths. I'm an adept fighter with a sword, can hit something with a knife that's at least 10 paces away and of course, I've got luck on side.
Freda and...you? I assume Freda you're a mage of some kind and you look like a fighter like Mazur? " asked Ashe.
Mazur, unlike Cicero, is unminding to the attrition of bloodshed and its hellish effects on the mind and body. If anything, the old warrior is defiant - bold enough to curse every single god in existence and still live to tell his tales. Hell, he might have already done it. From the looks of it, the only way for the stubborn man to die is by the natural decay of the clock and even that is taking its sweet time. Mazur refuses to give up. He exists to spite those who have wronged him. But existence is not enough, Mazur wishes to leave his mark on this Earth - a bigger legacy than what he has made for his current self. Course, that legacy will be marked with a trail of blood and violence for better or worse.
“We have decided our action?” Mazur asks as he waits for the group to do something other than talk.
At Gwyn's words, Cicero smiled and squeezed her hand. He pulled her in close and hugged her tight. His large frame lifting her off the ground ever so slightly. Her encouragement was all he needed. Cicero gently set her back upon her feet, looked her in the eyes and said with sincerity, "Thank you."
Turning to Ashe, Cicero eyed her die warily, "It could go either way, you say? I don't like the idea of making a bad situation worse." He listened as she inquired his skills and name then replied, "You may call me..Cyrano!" He said suddenly, "Sorry..tired. As for skills, you will find me an adept sword fighter. I utilize both sword and shield in combat, but can ride horse extremely well. This camel isn't quite what I'm used to, but I adapt."
Manzur cut right to the point. No time for deep introspection. For the butcher, the only thing that mattered was deeply personal to him. A man of few words. Cicero respected that. It got them through tough challenges before. In response to his question Cicero replied, "We go. Perhaps their tracks are nearby yet."
Even with her elven eyes, Gwyneria couldn't find any traces of the trail. Nor could Mazur with all his experience and training. Cicero could, trained from long months of campaigning against the very foes they were up against now, along with the extremely lucky Ashe. And so, they lead on their way, with the other two following their guidance, the night sky still shining overhead.
It was as dawn started to send rosy fingers across the sky that they found the trail led them into the desert mountains. Their stony countenance provided shadows against the rising sun, allowing them to continue on their way along the trail. Only at the end did they find, seemingly nestled away from view, a looming cave, black and ominous with the sound of falling sand piercing through the silence. Gwyneria looked up around the cave and found...inscriptions, ornate gold pictographs and calligraphy shining through the sandy dust. She peered to see what she could make out and the most clear ones seemed to be images of a cave, an hourglass, and falling sand over the top of the doorframe. Then above that, was what appeared to be the unmistakable visage of a demonfolk.
She frowned, turning to Cicero and Mazur. "Would this be something our, query, would make?
Ashe went forward and scouted the area, following the tracks with an almost expert eye. She spent so long tracking her would-be trainers that she didn't have too many issues tracking their query, of course, it was different now than then. The shifting sands didn't make tracking easy but she still managed to do it.
Finally they arrived at a cave that seemed to radiate danger.
" I think you might be right. Dark mages, lunatics and monsters usually lurk in places like this. Keep your guard up, it might be that we're going to be ambushed soon after we go inside. " said Ashe, her face covered by her mask.
Cicero nodded to Gwyn, ”No doubt. This must be one of their major operations. We must be careful. Those inscriptions don’t seem to be only for show. When we get closer, you may be able to read them.” He unsaddled from his camel. Fed the creature some provisions and pegged its reigns to the ground so that it couldn’t wander off. ”Can’t be too careful with these.” Then the knight turned to Ashe with an inquisitive look, ”Say, you seem like the stealthy type. Would you do us a favor and scout the area more closely? Those fiends are by no means stupid. They have surely placed sentries where we cannot perceive them.”
”True. No telling where they would be.” She went up to study the runes, trying her hardest to read them. They were hard to make out well though so she carefully snuck closer.
Roll = 1d20+1 = 10 Failure
The sand shifted her feet. She let out a cry, but quickly stifled it, looking around. No one else had heard that, right? Seeing nothing though, she continued on towards the inscriptions to see what she could read.
“I’ll try my best but can’t promise anything. It’s been a while since I picked pockets through the marketplace.” quickly replied Ashe with a grin. She remembered her times with the orphans and urchins of the streets and nodded her head gently.
Roll = 1d20+2 = 18
Cicero watched as the two heroines made their way to the cave entrance. Gwyn, unaccustomed to wilderness stealth, took a more direct route. Meanwhile, Ashe headed from a flank. Hopefully, at least one would remain unseen. Maybe Ashe could give some lessons of her own on the art of stealth.
Ashe was like a living shadow, her body flat on the wall. Closely watching for any light reflection that may give her away and of course, to any sounds that might be made by their enemies.
“To the side, Freda. Not directly forward. Watch your light and silhouette. Easy does it. ” whispered Ashe to Freda, seeing that she would be discovered if anyone would come in her direction with no issues.
Freda looked over annoyed. “I can care for myself, thank you very much.” She answered in a loud whisper, then slightly went to the side, but not by much before stopping before the runes and looking up. Surely she could read these now after some time…
Freda made her way upon the inscriptions. They were golden within the reddish sands. They made a simple few pictures. An hourglass, cave, and falling sands.
Roll = 1d20+3 = 19 success
Rather quickly she could work out what it said. “Here lies the cave of shifting sands. Those who come in must watch the sands. Else their time run out, and those within are trapped forever.” Gwyn frowned. That all seemed rather ominous..
Roll = 1d20+1 = 3 Failure
In reading the signs, she didn’t notice anything else around her. Ashe made her way silently nearby Freda, yet not close enough to be spotted together.
Roll 1d20+1 Fail
Cicero clenched his teeth in anticipation. He was not exactly built for stealth. Though he could manage if needed.
1d20 Exceptional Success
Cicero looked at Manzur for a second, ”Hey! There’s demonfolk above!” He yelled in tandem with Manzur at Gwyneria, ”Gwyn!! Above you!!” Only in his haste, he called his companion by her real name instead of her false one.
Manzur spotted the enemy demonfolk immediately over the archway of the cave aiming bows at Freda.
1d20 Exceptional Success
Manzur yells at Freda, “ARCHERS AT ARCHWAY!” Manzur then dashed towards Freda.
Ashevelen was startled by the yells of Manzur and Cicero and very much intrigued by the words of Cicero “Gwyn”. Sounded like a name referring to “Freda” but that was a query for later. Not seeing exactly where the archers were, she cursed herself for missing them but at least she had an idea and it seemed like they didn’t spot her yet. Wishing herself some luck, Ashevelen silently went towards her best guess as to where the archers were. Freda should be able to handle herself for now.
Gwyndolyn looked up at the calls, “What?” Two arrows then whizzed from above, heading straight towards her.
Roll = 1d20-3= Nat 1, critical failure
Before she could even react, they struck.
Roll = 2d100= 95,62 = 157
One grazed her upper left arm, causing it to singe but still being movable. The other though stabbed through her right foot into the ground, trapping her to the sand. She let out a cry then ducked down, focusing on dislodging the arrow.
Cicero groaned when he saw her almost become a pincushion for arrows. He began sprinting toward the cave with all haste shouting obscenities at the demonfolk archers, ”Vile wretches! I’ll skin your sorry hides with my bare hands!”
Manzur was still ahead, running at full speed. He made no attempt to conceal his movements and the archers began taking aim at him. It will still be a ways off before he could manage to come upon them.
The archers aimed at Manzur this time.
Failure
One arrow hit the warrior’s thigh, piercing it badly. He knelt to the ground grunting in pain. A bad wound.
Meanwhile, Ashe was coming ever closer to them above. She was almost within stabbing distance of the first one. If she lunged she could make it, but at risk of being heard before she got a chance. Would she take it slow and quiet? Or would she chance a lunge attack?
Ashevelen crept forward silently, ready to strike down the first archer.
Roll = 1d20+3= 14
Ashe took her sword out and silently approached the first archer and with a smile, her sword went through the archer’s throat and used the weight of the sword and her free hand to hold the archer as they slowly fell to the ground, making sure he didn’t make any noise.
The other archer did not perceive Ashe's presence. He continued aiming at Manzur. Cicero charged forward with his shield out to deflect any arrow that may strike his companion.
However, it was not necessary. Following up on the momentum, Ashe went towards the other archer keen on killing him before he released another arrow. In and out her sword came, right through his throat. Once more putting the archer silently on the ground, so as to not break her stealth in case other enemies were around but she did lift a finger up to signal her allies that she took care of the threat.
Gwen nodded at the signal, then rose up to look around for herself. Idly, she noticed how while the cave was dark, there was a brightness that did not just come from the entrance. Beams of light bounced through openings above onto mirrors to help give a muted light to see more hieroglyphs upon the smoothed out cave walls, particularly over the single doorway that led deeper into the mountain. Seeing no further danger for the moment though, she stooped back down, broke the arrow to slip the halves out, then began to pour her power in to heal it.
Cicero threw Manzur’s arm over his shoulder and helped the veteran make it to the cave. He called to Gwyn, ”You okay over there? Manzur’s been hit as well..” He glanced upward to Ashe and gave a thumbs up.
“I should be fine now.” She pressed a bit more healing into her foot. “My foot will be a bit sore until I can more properly care for it, but I can definitely help your friend now.”
Ashe looked at her companions once more from above and then closed her eyes. Focusing her "energy" on listening for any kind of sounds coming from the cave.
1d20 --18
All was quiet. Satisfied by the lack of any threats, she went to check the bodies for valuables and couldn't find anything special. Taking a bow and the arrows, she went down to her companions. Questions were about to be answered.
" You're welcome…Gwyn for the save or should I say Freda? Nah, I like Gwyn more. "
Gwyn frowned. ”Gwyn would be fine.” Then she made her way over to Manzur and started healing his wounds. “Thank you indeed for the save there. You definitely showed skill in taking out those archers."
" Gwyn. Any particular reason as to why you and…whatever your real name is, would uphold your real identities? Don't get me wrong, I don't care about whatever dark past you may have but I care if it'll come to bite us in the ass later." quickly replied "Ashe," before doing a mock bow towards Gywn. "You're most welcome."
Cicero placed Manzur down next to Gwyn, furrowing his brow. He nearly kicked himself for his own mental slip, "Danger brings out the truth in us all.." He thought to himself. "Okay." He sighed, "We'll tell you. Let's just get out of the open first."
”That would be best.” Gwyn finished healing Manzur, then looked inward. ”The only way further in would seem to be that passage.”
The passage way itself seemed rather uninviting, dimmer than the room before it. Gwyneria came to the mouth of the passage, her shot at leg twinging slightly as she went, then she looked around, furrowing her brow as she spotted more hieroglyphs. "To trespass through the maw, make sure to avoid the serpent's tongue? She blinked. "I can't be reading that right..." She looked further down, her hand resting on one of two tooth-like stalagmites. Peering both for any indication of what the 'serpent's tongue' might be along with seeing if there were any more guards might be.
Do those with her search as well or continue on their way through?
Cicero's eyes adjusted to the darkness of the cave. The slight echo of Gwyn's voice reverberated in their vicinity. Seeing her limping ever so slightly he sidled next to her and offered his right arm for support. Then he commented on the stalagmites, "Whoever designed this certainly had a lot of time on their hands."
Cicero decided that searching was in their best interests and held his peace. No one could know if what lay ahead was a trap. However, how much time did they really have? It made him uneasy. Speaking only slightly above a whisper he said, "Perhaps we should proceed with caution, comrades."
Ashevelen listened to her companions and shook her head.
" I should listen to my gut and leave now. Whatever dark past or whatever you guys have, I don't want any part of it. But, whatever attacked the mercs might come back to finish the job and that, I don't like. " said Ashe with a frown before moving forward from the group.
" Wait everyone. Got an idea. I'm a demonkin, whoever hired those archers can't possibly know all of the employee they've got. I could disguise myself as one of them and scout ahead. If I encounter someone, I bullshit them into oblivion and take them out. "
Gwyn frowned in thought. "That could be wise, though I think that there would be better ways to knock them unconscious...But where would you get the disguise?" Her eyes fell towards where the slain guards lay not of their own accord. "I, suppose that those will do..."
The guards weren't precisely Ashe's size, one rather large and brawny while the other was rather small. But an outfit could easily be assembled from the pieces unless Ashe wanted to try her luck further along.
The grizzled veteran, Manzur, pressed forward without a word. He didn't have time to play these puzzle games. He came, he saw, he conquered. At least, that was his frame of mind. His limp was barely noticeable as he trudged past the group. Cicero's eyes widened in surprise, "Manzur, what are you doing?!" He lunged after him just as Manzur stepped past the two fang-like stalagmites. Cicero just managed to grip his shoulders when suddenly the floor gave out from under him.
Cicero clasped the warrior's arm with all his might. With his other hand he gripped one of the large stalagmites. It began to crack from the sheer weight. Manzur dangled above the dark abyss as sand flowed like a river below. Cicero caught Gwyneira's eye and uttered, "I--" before the stalagmite broke and they were sucked below.
Dalius heard the sound of sand pouring down from above. It was pretty common considering his present circumstance. Underground in a sand cave of all things. Only he knew how he had come so far to wind up here. Off the gallows and into slavery. Not much better.
Though even with all the problems he seemed to attract, there was still some good to be had. After all, his other fellow slaves weren't all bad. Toothless-Tom made a mean rat roast. Wiry Garfield mostly kept to himself. Though there was the problem of the slave gang who took half of the other's provisions. Turns out, these Roh people didn't even speak common! At least not around Dalius. There were 8 of them and they ran the other slaves when the demonfolk masters weren't around to work them.
They were digging elaborate tunnels, constructing traps, growing glow-shroom crops, and general cleaning. There was quite a bit of moisture underground here, so water wasn't a problem as long as you could bargain for some from the Roh gang. They were fed just enough to get a good day's work out of them, but not enough to actually build any mass. The glow-shrooms gave off a slight orange glow that was just enough to do your work.
As these thoughts flowed through Dalius' head, the sand began to pour down in a great torrent not 50 feet away from his resting place. Suddenly he saw two figures fall far down into the large pile of sand and become buried within. What would he do?
As the two newcomers fell down the sand trap, the group of slaves huddled around Dalious took notice and sat up from their rest. Everyone knew what had just happened, though none were quick about doing much about it.
"Aye, the 'ol loose stone bit worked!" Dalious said to the group. "Which of us helped make that trap? Deserves a praise!"
Wiry raised a hand but said nothing.
"Wiry! Fine work. You'll get half of half of my shrooms, assuming we get more than half of what we halved last week. Anyway, I think they were wearing armor. Fish 'em out boys!"
No one moved.
"More mouths to feed," Toothless Tom spoke.
"-But less work to do!" said the oldest and skinniest of them, Finny. His finger was pointed and shook toward Toothless Tom as if his point was more important.
"Let 'em figure their own way out," Toothless Tom added. "If you can't get outta that sand, then you's can't make it here. Who cares if they die, that'd be two less mouths to feed."
"Damn it I'll fish them out myself," Dalious went to the pile of sand to start digging, Wiry jumped in to help once he had started.
"-Well, technically it'd be the same amount of mouths to feed if they died," Finny continued. "Since they weren't here's before, them dying means we're right back to where we started, see. On the number of mouths to feed, I mean. Less of course you count that poor fella Marty who fell into that pit of spikes this morning."
Dalious paused from digging to look over at the aged Finny in bewilderment. "Marty's dead? I'm not aware of any pit of spikes around these parts." Wiry was able to pull both men out from the sand by himself as Dalious got distracted by the current conversation.
"We built it last evening," Finny explained. "Me and Wiry, just down those halls." He pointed.
"Divine's hell, and you didn't think that might be something to mention to the rest of us?" Dalious wondered as Finny simply shrugged. "That's the third man we lost to our own contraptions in two weeks. Hell, at this rate we're killing ourselves quicker than the guards are Finny!! From now on, if one of us lot makes a new contraption, we at least have a mild discussion about it. Fair? Right then."
Dalious turned to see the two men that were freed from the sand. As their faces became clearer, one of them became familiar to him. He squinted his eyes and stared at the man to be sure. His eyes widened upon his own confirmation.
"If you've come all this way to kill me, I assure you I can explain everything," Dalious said to Cicero, taking a step back. "Rather, if you've come all this way to save me...you're doing a piss poor job mate."
" It's worth a try. Whoever is bankrolling them probably doesn't care about the armors they wear or so and if no one is actually paying for them and they get whatever they can, it wouldn't be a surprise if one doesn't wear a fitting armor. Either way, it should cause enough of a confusion to allow me to get close to whomever. " replied Ashe as she bent down to the guards to strip them of their armors. [/color]"
2d100 --> 70
Quickly scrambling together the armor pieces, Ashe now looked like the demonkin archers...after she took off her mask. Looking at Gywn, she wanted to say something but stopped mid-track as Cicero and Manzur suddently disappeared into a hole. Running over there, as silently as she could, Ashe peered down into the hole, hoping to catch a glimpse of them.
"Cicero, can you hear me?!" She called down the pit along with Ashe. How far down was it? If it was too far down...
Oh, why hadn't she seen that the sign was warning about a trap?!
She looked to Ashe, surprised to see her without her mask, though not focused on that at the moment. "There has to be a way down to them!"
But given the darkness and depth of the tunnel down, neither of them could see down to even tell what was happening nor could safely descend down themselves. The only way seemed to be to hope for an entrance downwards further on. But what could happen to their companions in the meantime...?
Ashe tried as much as she could to hear any signs from down below but nothing could be heard which meant one of two things, either their dead or they're unconscious from the fall.
" Gwyn, I'm assuming you don't know any levitation magic? My dice might cause more harm than anything but I'm willing to give it a shot. Or, we can go further down. These tunnels must be connected somehow. We can go together forward, if we see someone, act as if you're my prisoner. Surely they know by this point that there are intruders in the cavern. Sounds good to you? "
"Levitation spells were never my strong suit, unfortunately. Besides, such spells work best with objects within sight of you, not ones you can't even see." She swallowed, then composed herself to meet Ashe's face. "Going further would seem to be the way left open to us. I can certainly play the prisoner should we meet anymore guards. Unless you have a way to get them back with your 'luck'.." Then she blinked, before her eyes narrowed in curiosity as she took in Ashe's face.
Cicero was dug out of the pile of sand. He began coughing uncontrollably. His companion Manzur did as well. When Cicero's eyes finally met Dalius' they flashed in anger. He reached for the dagger on his belt and brandished it toward the group. "Dalius! What in the divine's name are you doing here?!" He shuffled to his feet awkwardly. Standing on loose sand was by no means an easy task, then continued, "You betrayed us. Sailing away with my whole suit of armor and all the prisoners..." He looked at the others questioningly. They were obviously outnumbered. Then glanced at Manzur. The man did not stir, except for his coughing fit, he lay completely still. That was not good.
Cicero changed his tone to a more relaxed one, "What's going on in here anyway? We followed tracks of demonfolk to this cave, yet here you all are.."
Just then everyone heard the scraping of metal on stone down a dark corridor leading to the mine. They could see sparks flying lighting up the steps of a number of figures. It appeared between 6-10 individuals were coming their way carrying various objects in their hands. Then they heard, "BREAK TIME'S UP WORMS! BACK TO THE MINE!"
"Well, at the moment I'm trying to figure out what in that very same divine's name you are doing here..." he started, but before he could speak more Cicero beat him to it. Dalious quickly realized with the man's next sentence that he was not here to save him at all and it left the pirate with a disheartened feeling. "Betrayed you!? My word! I was holding down the fort waiting for you lot to come help me. That red headed wench!!"
"Ah, yes," Finny butted in. "Tell us more about that red headed woman again!"
"She tricked me, knocked me out, then sold me into slavery," Dalious reminded the old slave. "She is the literal reason why I'm rotting away in this pit with you fools!"
"Yes, her...she sounds lovely," Finny added.
Dalious huffed, then turned back to Cicero. "Nylah, was it? Yes, that was her name. She was a bounty hunter, I had her right where I wanted her when...when...it all becomes fuzzy after that. She had a crew, or hirelings, whatever they were they captured me and took us deep out at sea. They sold me to a slave vessel, then they sold me to the bastards running this joint. So you see, I was simply waiting for you and Gwyn to return. I was loyal, fooled by Nylah's incredible attractiveness. Something that I will never let happen again, you know...assuming I don't rot in this place."
Dalious crossed his arms as Cicero changed his tone and the subject to a more immediate one. "Well, your tracking skills have not let you down mate. We are being held prisoner by these demonfolk. They..." He was interupted by the sounds of a gang approaching. "Whatever plan you come up with, I'll follow suit." The group then started moving back to their places.
" I do. Luck can do pretty much anything, tho' it can always go sideways. What I can do, without risking anything is to see if they're alive. Wish me...luck. " replied Ashe as she took out her lucky dice. She concentrated on it for a few seconds said " Show me if Manzur and Cicero are alive. ". As she rolled the dice, it suddently started to shine a bright light.
1d20 --> 8
And then it died down. Nothing happened.
" Great. I got nothing. Oh' well. It was worth a shot. Let's go. I'll take the lead. " said Ashe a bit dejected after she took her dice back.
