"Well, there's certainly more yellow than purple here.  What do you all think this represents?  I'm seeing a couple things at once ... a white flower, or a figure outlined by white light and standing in an archway formed by the brown and orange curve of tiles at the top."

======================

(OOC: Does Spira see any signs of a creature or construct in the alcove from where she stands now?)

No, Elky is the only creature you've seen since you came down the stairs...now that he's gone, you see none.

"I'm just not seeing anything to help us here," Roxana says with a sigh. "It seems a long shot, but perhaps we could find clues to the password in the 'beautiful den' above?"  She looks around at the others. "Although this seems so different from that." She shrugs, "I'm open to other ideas though." 

The white-haired warrior growls with displeasure and frustration over the situation. He would prefer to chase after the arrogant halfling and beat the password out of him, but it was likely not in the best interest of their client and not the way to find what they sought. Instead he shrugs and backs up to slump agains a wall, trying to patiently hope for those with greater minds than his to figure out how they should proceed. To him it all seemed hopeless now, but maybe the others had some ideas.

"I know it's quite a long shot... but I wonder if the three we left alive might have some ideas," Rash says. "Probably not, but we might as well ask them since we don't seem to have many better ideas."

"Get them to tell us what they were doing here at least, might give us a clue." The white-haired warrior mutters.

"It might.  They had to pick this particular den to take over for a reason, though it could also have been as simple as how hidden and secure it is -- or was until we came along!", Spira agrees.  "There doesn't seem to be anyone we need to worry about fighting at the moment though, so we could split up again if we wanted to.  This level seems more magic-focused, so one of our spellcasters, either I or Rash, could stay with some of the others to look for anything that might give us a hint here while the rest go get the poor Zhenties and check above for clues."  As she speaks, she moves slowly closer to the alcove Elky was about to lead us into, stopping as soon as she sees anything change or as soon as she gets close enough to peer around a corner (or whatever she has to do to look into one of the passages).

"Hate to admit it, but you're probably the better magic-user among us," Rash tells Spira with a half-smile. "So you can go ahead and stay here. Would you like me to grab your armor while I back-track?"

Spira arrives without problems at the edge of the east alcove, the one Elky had entered, probably intending to take one of the corridors. However, distinguishing anything within the corridors themselves is essentially impossible ... the fog that pervades them is so thick that it is not possible to see anything through. Moving in there would mean groping blindly, even for those with Darkvision, perhaps placing their hands on the walls to follow them. To follow Elky in there without losing sight of him, you would no doubt have had to be very close to him.

In the meantime, Rash backtracks to the prisoners...

(OOC: Obadiah and Roxana go with Rash, so, I guess... If you prefer to do otherwise, of course, post!)

In any case, Rash will take some time, so Spira, while she waits and reflects, will certainly have the opportunity to admire at least the other mosaic, the one in the south alcove:

The half-orc wizard finds the captives still as he left them... that is, bound and unconscious. What to do? Does he try to bring them to their senses? Or to transport them down to the lower level? And how?

"So... I know absolutely nothing about medicine. Roxanna, would you happen to know how to wake them up?"

Roxana had followed along with Rash, heading back to the captives. "We should take care to try to get information from them but not reveal too much about what we found. In case they don't know about it."  She starts to look at them in their unconscious state once they get to them. "Recovery is often just a matter of time.  With the healer's kit I can often speed up the recovery."  She hesitates a moment. "I'm not sure we want to waste all the materials though. I'll see what I can do."

She will start with Pony Tail girl they had knocked out in their first fight. Carefully she checks her wounds, and examines her condition, seeing if she can get her to awaken. (Medicine: 19)

The girl from Longsaddle once again proves her excellent healing skills and, by improvising some cold compresses, manages to revive the girl with the ponytail.

The young prisoner first emits a long moan, then slowly opens her eyes...

Seeing the faces of her captors, demonstrating excellent reflexes, she immediately tries to make a quick move - but she so quickly realizes that she is securely bound and therefore merely looks around for a moment and assesses the situation.

She then glares at you and calls out: "So we had the privilege of being captured, rather than slaughtered. Is it because the Harpells want someone to hang? This is how you'll earn your pay, bounty hunters!? Bloody hypocrites! You make money by capturing us... but you are no better than us!"

Just about at the same moment, Spira, in the large room with the two mosaics... witnesses the sudden reappearance of Elky!

But, apparently, he acts as if he is meeting her now for the very first time! Exactly as before, the young halfling butler promptly introduces himself: "Hello esteemed visitors. I'm Elky and I'm here to serve you. Would you like something to drink or eat, by any chance? I could have you brought some tea, water, wine, eggs and bacon, a few bites of game, horse meat... Or would you prefer to decline the offer?"

"Miss, considering the fact that you folks slaughtered the former inhabitants of this cave, I don't think you're really in any position to complain about how you're being treated," Rash says dryly to the girl. "Though if you do have any complaints, I'm sure that the white-haired guy with serious anger issues who personally killed about half of your friends would be happy to discuss your concerns. Now that we've gotten that out of the way, I have a few questions for you. First, I would like to know the name of the person I'm speaking to. Once we know who you are... what were you people even doing here? Was there something you were looking for in particular, or were the goblins just easy victims?"

"The name's Anita and yes, the angry one is frightening..." Pony Tail admits "Almost as much as Mhurren Flick! Speaking of him, why don't go ask him directly what he wants to do in this gods-forgotten place? I think he'll be delighted to have a chat with you... You are both half-orcs, you should understand yourself quite good with burps and grunts".

"And about the goblins," the young Zhentarim marvels "what's your concern? We wanted this place, we killed them. What were we supposed to do? Invite them to join us? Hey... They were only goblins! Of course we slaughtered them".

"Anita," Rash repeats, taking a moment to cement the girl's name in his mind. "You can call me Rash. I'd shake your hand, but that might be difficult since you're a bit tied up at the moment."

His face and tone then become much more serious.

"As charming as the idea of chatting with Mhurren sounds... I'm afraid it's a bit late for that. 'The angry one' stabbed him in the throat, I'm afraid. As for my concern about the goblins... I won't pretend that I think especially highly of them either, but the fact is that they aren't animals. They're sentient people just like you and I. Frankly, if what Mhurren really wanted was to rise up against those who hated him for the circumstances of his birth, there's a good chance the goblins would have been interested in joining his crusade if he had asked."

Anita stares at the half-orc wide-eyed, stunned with surprise for long moments before she manages to reply: "Did you by any chance decide to make fun of me before you hang me? Goblins would be… like you and me? Those small, black-hearted, selfish humanoids delight in the torment of other creatures and embrace all manner of wickedness!"

"Had they been the ones to beat us," continues the girl with the Pony Tail "they certainly wouldn't have allowed us a quick and easy death... they would have tortured us to the limit of our resistance! And as for joining us... don't you know that the goblins crave power and regularly abuse whatever authority they obtain? Perhaps Mhurren could have kept them in check with his whip... but I doubt whether their backs or his arm would have tired first!"

"Anyway," the young Zhentarim finally realizes also the last piece of news "you say you killed Mhurren... Don't expect me to melt into tears for him: he was narrow-minded, authoritarian and ruthless. I always wondered why the Zhentarim granted him command over us... But if you really killed him, maybe my next assignment will be better. But to survive and get a next assignment, I must give you information, right? I understand... But tell me something, Rash... you whose heart is so soft that you want to treat goblins like persons... if I - who am a person - tell you everything I know, will you let me go? Can you promise this to me?"

Rash glances at Obediah. Somehow, Rash suspects that the brutish man would prefer to hang all the Zhentarim and call it a day. But Rash has other ideas.

"You and your surviving companions will remain prisoners until we've finished what we need to do here," Rash says after a few moments. "But after that I have no desire to see you hang. Obediah, I know you don't like the Zhentarim very much for whatever reason, but the girl is young and I think she deserves a second chance... same for the boy. And we already promised the man upstairs that we would let him live if he surrendered."

"Indeed!" Anita tries to look as naive and innocent as she can "It's like Rash says, here... I'm entitled to a second chance, right? Or am I to be nipped here, in my prime? I won't bother you anymore, if you'll let me go… What are the odds that the Zhentarim will try more maneuvers, shortly, near Longsaddle, after the failure of Mhurren?”

Anita's Deception: 10

Rash's Insight: 7