Randal sighs, he had walked away to save his own skin before, leaving others to be captured. Could he do the same here?  What was Sier to him anyway, was he worth saving? “You can do better than that, many were killed?  What exactly did Sier do and what does it have to do with this village?  Was the village here before the tree?” Randal looks over at Tess, silently seeking support for his own shaky moral compass.

"Hmph."

Lyla takes a seat (on the floor if necessary, I don't remember the available furniture in this room).

A few methods she could use to try and get the elf talking run through her head. She wouldn't hesitate to use them, but with frustration, she realises that they'd likely be less effective than simply waiting.

So Lyla waits, ideally for Sier to continue talking or for the others to reappear, whichever comes first. She looks at Sier expectantly, hoping that if for nothing else, the awkwardness would push him to reveal more. 

Tess says to Randall… “A life sentence for someone of his nature seems harsh to me.   He can have No opportunity to redeem himself?  Perhaps setting him free will give him the opportunity to help us with our problem.  Or, if you have a better idea for our problem, please offer it.? “. She looks at the visitot pointedly, and starts to advance down the hall. 

There is no furniture save Sier's chair, so Lyla can only sit on the floor if she so chooses. Sier seems surprised for a moment, but the expression soon vanishes. "I take it you're not going to join your friends, then? How stubborn." For now, however, he doesn't spill anything. Instead, he just watches Lyla, and if she watches back, it might even turn into a staring contest, and Sier even looks somewhat amused.

--

"How should I know?" For the first time, Avium looks a little irritated. Then, she turns to the side of the tunnel and walks into it. But instead of colliding with the tree's roots, she seems to merge with them and disappear into them. Like water that one spills into water, it is soon indistinguishable. Immediately after, she walks out of the roots in a similar manner, but this time, just in front of Tess, where she now stands, blocking the way. "Sier had done some terrible things, and he had to be punished. It wasn't my choice, but it is reality. The fact that he was found here, and that there's a village here, to me are mere coincidences, just as whatever has made you come down here. I haven't even seen what your outside looks like. Now, I must once again ask you to turn back!"

Randal is a little taken aback as Avium appears to walk through the tree roots and reappear in front of Tess, but moves forward to back Tess as she starts down the tunnel. “Now, let’s not be hasty” Randal tries to calm Avium down as he pulls his lute around to his front “Let’s calm down with a song, we have more to talk about” and he begins to play a tune attempting to lull Avium to sleep.

(22 hp affected by sleep)

By the time Avium realises what Randal intends to do, it is already too late. She didn't consider the option of a Human wielding magic, and certainly not with a lute. An expression of surprise fills her face when she catches on, and she only manages to begin calling "Don't-" before, unable to complete the sentence, she drops to the ground in front of you, unconscious. Sleeping peacefully like that, Avium looks strangely charming, but Randal knows the spell will only persist for a short time, and after that, you can be pretty sure she won't be happy about this.

Randal was afraid for a moment that the spell would not work, but relaxed just a bit as Avium curled up on the floor of the tunnel asleep.  “Come, quickly” Randal grabs Tess by the arm and starts to move down toward the end of the tunnel to see what strange artifact was keeping Sier imprisoned. “We should be gone before she wakes and tries to stop us.”

Tess comes along willingly.   “I know that spell as well” she smiles.   “Let’s see what she didn’t want us to see:”.  

“I can’t believe that actually worked!” Randal shares with breathless excitement as they continue down the tunnel “But I don’t want to be around when she wakes up. Let’s see what she is hiding.”

Tess shakes her head  as if recalling a bad memory, and then eagerly heads down the passage.   

Randal and Tess run past sleeping Avium, leavin her behind. They run a for a short time (roughly 20 seconds), and the tunnel bends once more before they can run no more.

The tunnel ends, the root-filled earth forms a wall in front of you. No, there's something else. You halt, a short distance away from the end of the tunnel. Between you and the "wall", is a hole in the ground that leads straight down. It is round-ish, and about five feet in diameter, and at the bottom, about fifteen feet down, you see an opening that would lead back the way you came, but from this angle, you can't see more (and there's no space to stand on the other side of the hole). Roots that run parallel to its edges can provide handholds for anyone trying to climb down, but that's not a very secure way to climb down (if you try to climb down this way, make an Athletics check). 

--

Suddenly, Sier stands up, he looks excited. "That's the farthest anyone had ever gotten!" He exclaims. "Your friends might finally set me free." He sits back in his chair, once more looking at Lyla. "But I wonder, was it that simple? Could I have been freed long ago?"

Randal kneels down and peers down into the hole before looking up at Tess with a lopsided grin “Well, we have come too far to turn back now.”  He drops down into the opening, grabbing the roots as hand-holds on the way down.  Athletics: 13.

.

Tess says- I have a rope, might help us get back up.   I’m not very athletic, I’m afraid.  They kept me inside at the orphanage. Can you help break my fall if I slip? 

   She quickly ties the rope to a branch and tries to lower herself down, saying a quick prayer guidance to Oruthra prior to climbing.  While nimble, it’s very apparent she is not strong.  

10 plus 4 

“Don’t worry, I will catch you if you fall.” Randal replies to Tess, then looks on with chagrin as she climbs down the rope with much more ease and less effort than his own climb down.  When his boots hit the ground at the base of the hole, he looks at his surroundings and down the tunnel, alert for any danger or any sign of this mysterious artifact.  Perception: 15.

.

It takes some time to tie the rope, but it does make climbing down easier. Both Randal and Tess make it down safely. Just when Tess lands, Avium pokes her head from above, looking down at you two. "I'd prefer if you didn't do that," she sounds restrained as if she wants to be angry but chooses otherwise. "I've done nothing wrong to you. Not only did I answer your questions, but also did I try to stop you from losing your lives down there. But you Humans... you're all the same." She then pulls back and disappears from view. 

Now, focusing on the path ahead, you see the tunnel continues at this level, beyond the opening you saw from above. It continues beyond what your torch illuminates from here. Some distance away from you, but still in the illuminated area, you see bright-grey sticks strewn on the tunnel's floor. Sticks? That's an odd colour for wood, and even in here, you don't expect sticks underground. They're too slim to be the roots, too. Perhaps rocks? Some of them are not straight, but rather round, or other strange shapes that wood does not normally take. It doesn't take long before it dawns on you. These are bones.

"You can actually tell how far they've gotten?" Lyla sounds intrigued at least, but also possibly even a little excited. "Wouldn't the magic here also reveal to you what has kept people from going further down there then?"

She merely shrugs at his last question. "Maybe you could've," she concludes nonchalantly. 

“Bones..  I wonder if what killed them is still here?”  Tess says with a quivering voice.    She studies the bones as they continue down the corridor. 18 investigation in log. 

Randal looks up with a frown as Avium’s face appears at the top of the opening “Oh dear, I had hoped she would be out longer.  That is not a good sign.”  He turns back at the sound of Tess’ voice. “Bones?  Also not a good sign.  I hope what killed them is long gone, but I am prepared to be disappointed.”  While Tess investigates the tunnel, Randal looks at the bones closely, trying to determine if there were human and what happened to them.  Survival?: 9.

.

Randal looks around the tunnel nervously and whispers to Tess “What do you think did this?”

“No idea-  and why would it be here?   I thought the tree came after the village.  Isn’t this still part of the tree? “. She looks around at n fear, trying to see what might have happened, and if the danger is still present