Beyond the gate sits a lone Orc guard sat picking under his finger nails with a knife. Beyond him is a narrow passage way that seems about 15 feet long. You can see motionless humanoid shadows at the end, along with another gate, though the exact number is hard to tell, there appears to be at least 3.
You can also pick out the feint shapes of runes on the tunnel wall, which are also on the walls of the cavern you all find yourselves in.
Around the cavern, you also see several clay pots.
Both gates have a lock on them with a keyhole
As you're watching, a figure appears at the further gate and you hear the lock click. A tall figure passes the Orc who opened the gate and approaches. The Guard outside the pen stands and bows his head, then turns to unlock this gate.
The figure approaching is a female half-orc, her attire is made of leather, dyed red, and is adorned with bones and feathers. Her face is marked with white and grey 'war paint' made with chalk and charcoal.
She says a command in Orcish and the guard opening the door stops and takes his seat again with another bow of his head.
She comes to the gate and looks down at you, 'Unusual little creature, aren't you?' she says in perfect common with very little hint of the gutteral speech of the Orcs. She looks over to Antonius, 'Ah, the master Artificer. I got the opportunity to see your little show outside Einfallton, very impressive.'
Her eyes fall onto the still body of Toryn. 'Well, that's unfortunate. Strong dwarves are hard to come by and he could have been quite useful for labor.' she shrugs.
'Who else did you bring with you?' she looks at Hamish and arches an eyebrow. 'You're interesting. I was told you were a half-elf.' her eyes pass to Ida, 'You too, human by description. Seems my Intel was poor but nevertheless. At least they got the Elf and Dwarf right.'
She looks at Cade, 'Cade, are you bothering the newbies?' she asks, then she seems to notice the dart he's holding, 'Ah, admiring the Elven work?' she asks with a smile.
Darwin takes a step back from the gate and peers up at the half orc. "What do you know, the guard over there was right, we did get visited by a half orc lady who needs a bath and lessons in applying make up", he says waving a hand by his nose.
"I guess our intel was better than yours, now who are you and what do you want?", he asks of the half orc.
Her eyebrows rise sharply, 'Well, you're a rude little foreigner aren't you?' she asks. 'I am Priestess Volen, and I'm the Chief of the Tribe of Orcs who have you locked in a hole in the ground.' she introduces herself.
'What I want is simple, to destroy the so called Grand Confederacy, the Rajani Empire and any other scars to the Great Goddesses skin. Which is why I need Antonius to make me some more of those suits of his.' she tilts her head her eyes locked on the Elf.
'Well, that's not happening.' Antonius replies.
'Dont be too hasty, it's amazing how months, or years, of life in this pen and the hard labor outside of it can change your priorities.'
Darwin chuckles, “You imprisoned me, called me an unusual little creature and killed my friend. But yeah, I guess I am the one with the attitude problem”.
Ida speaks respectfully, but confidently, "Priestess, forgive us our ignorance, but I believe we are all very confused. Antonius has sold the creation you saw, and was employed to make many more by the empire. They are expecting him to return home to do so, and parties are waiting along the route to stay informed of his progress in returning home to be sure he wasn't kidnapped along the way. Aren't we all in more danger in this cavern when the empire's guards track him to this location?"
"it's worth considering the possibility that they do. I have little doubt they would quickly trap us all in here to die before letting him or his creation fall into anyone else's hands "
Darwin sighs, he has been on this world but a short time and already he has found himself imprisoned twice, and this time things were looking really bleak. He heads to the back of the cavern and takes a seat, looking at the runes on the cavern wall and trying to find some meaning in them.
Darwin may not recognize the sigils themselves but their purpose is clear to him. They are anti-magic in nature, specifically serving two purposes. First, preventing this space from being magically discovered through scrying techniques were anyone to be magically searching for one of the imprisoned. Second, preventing spells from being cast within this space.
Volen watches Darwin with some amusement, guessing what he's doing. 'This site is quite undetectable, I promise you. Even if one of my people were careless and left physical evidence in a trail, I have warded this site against even physical detection. Orcs don't like to be stationary for long so it took quite some effort to persuade them to stay here.'
Ida tries to remain confident in her tone. "it's safe to assume that Antonius was betrayed by his partner, as I'm not sure who else would have had all the details that you did. I'm not exactly sure what deal has been made, or what has led to these events. But I do know the emperor will be searching by any means necessary."
Hamish sits quietly and listens to the brief discussion before the half-orc woman enters the pen. He tries to minimize himself even more when she points him out, spinning the hair above his ears in his fingers and looking at his feet. A lock of hair comes loose in his left hand and he holds it between two fingers. He glances up when her attention shifts to Darwin, and thinks, Hope this works.
He jumps to his feet and tries to rush past the priestess, heedless of the danger and just skating by her. As he does, he tries to tuck the lock of hair into a crevice of her armor to blend in with some fur.
She doesn't seem even slightly perturbed as Hamish races past her, his hand grazing her. The Orc at the inner gate rises slowly and plods down the tunnel to the outter gate, closed and sealed to collect Hamish. He picks Hamish up and carries him back to the pen.
'Well then, that was fun I'm sure but don't worry, you'll get plenty of exercise.' Volen smiles. 'I will take my leave now, Antonius, please accompany me?'
Antonius furrows his brow but rises to follow her.
Darwin waits for Volen and Antonius to leave, before turning to Ida and Hamish. "Well this is a pickle, I am not sure there is anything we can really do whilst we are in this cage. It does sound like we will be sent out to work though, maybe those areas will be less protected?", he whispers.
He looks to Cade, "The assassin might have that information".
Ida was thankful Hamish wasn't hurt upon his return. "That was quick thinking Hamish- good job! I was trying to possibly unnerve her, but I don't think I was very successful. And you're right, Darwin. We will end up somewhere else where we may have more luck discovering a way out.'
If he joins them he quietly asks, "Have you ever tried to escape this place? What is it like out there where they have you working, any runes or anything?"
Beyond the gate sits a lone Orc guard sat picking under his finger nails with a knife. Beyond him is a narrow passage way that seems about 15 feet long. You can see motionless humanoid shadows at the end, along with another gate, though the exact number is hard to tell, there appears to be at least 3.
You can also pick out the feint shapes of runes on the tunnel wall, which are also on the walls of the cavern you all find yourselves in.
Around the cavern, you also see several clay pots.
Both gates have a lock on them with a keyhole
As you're watching, a figure appears at the further gate and you hear the lock click. A tall figure passes the Orc who opened the gate and approaches. The Guard outside the pen stands and bows his head, then turns to unlock this gate.
The figure approaching is a female half-orc, her attire is made of leather, dyed red, and is adorned with bones and feathers. Her face is marked with white and grey 'war paint' made with chalk and charcoal.
She says a command in Orcish and the guard opening the door stops and takes his seat again with another bow of his head.
She comes to the gate and looks down at you, 'Unusual little creature, aren't you?' she says in perfect common with very little hint of the gutteral speech of the Orcs. She looks over to Antonius, 'Ah, the master Artificer. I got the opportunity to see your little show outside Einfallton, very impressive.'
Her eyes fall onto the still body of Toryn. 'Well, that's unfortunate. Strong dwarves are hard to come by and he could have been quite useful for labor.' she shrugs.
'Who else did you bring with you?' she looks at Hamish and arches an eyebrow. 'You're interesting. I was told you were a half-elf.' her eyes pass to Ida, 'You too, human by description. Seems my Intel was poor but nevertheless. At least they got the Elf and Dwarf right.'
She looks at Cade, 'Cade, are you bothering the newbies?' she asks, then she seems to notice the dart he's holding, 'Ah, admiring the Elven work?' she asks with a smile.
Darwin takes a step back from the gate and peers up at the half orc. "What do you know, the guard over there was right, we did get visited by a half orc lady who needs a bath and lessons in applying make up", he says waving a hand by his nose.
"I guess our intel was better than yours, now who are you and what do you want?", he asks of the half orc.
Her eyebrows rise sharply, 'Well, you're a rude little foreigner aren't you?' she asks. 'I am Priestess Volen, and I'm the Chief of the Tribe of Orcs who have you locked in a hole in the ground.' she introduces herself.
'What I want is simple, to destroy the so called Grand Confederacy, the Rajani Empire and any other scars to the Great Goddesses skin. Which is why I need Antonius to make me some more of those suits of his.' she tilts her head her eyes locked on the Elf.
'Well, that's not happening.' Antonius replies.
'Dont be too hasty, it's amazing how months, or years, of life in this pen and the hard labor outside of it can change your priorities.'
Darwin chuckles, “You imprisoned me, called me an unusual little creature and killed my friend. But yeah, I guess I am the one with the attitude problem”.
She chuckles, 'You are collateral damage, and an interesting little creature. Your friend apparently was not as Hardy as his kind usually are.'
Ida speaks respectfully, but confidently, "Priestess, forgive us our ignorance, but I believe we are all very confused. Antonius has sold the creation you saw, and was employed to make many more by the empire. They are expecting him to return home to do so, and parties are waiting along the route to stay informed of his progress in returning home to be sure he wasn't kidnapped along the way. Aren't we all in more danger in this cavern when the empire's guards track him to this location?"
The Priestess smiles, 'Oh don't worry about that. The Empire will not find you here.'
"it's worth considering the possibility that they do. I have little doubt they would quickly trap us all in here to die before letting him or his creation fall into anyone else's hands "
Darwin sighs, he has been on this world but a short time and already he has found himself imprisoned twice, and this time things were looking really bleak. He heads to the back of the cavern and takes a seat, looking at the runes on the cavern wall and trying to find some meaning in them.
Arcana: 19
Darwin may not recognize the sigils themselves but their purpose is clear to him. They are anti-magic in nature, specifically serving two purposes. First, preventing this space from being magically discovered through scrying techniques were anyone to be magically searching for one of the imprisoned. Second, preventing spells from being cast within this space.
Volen watches Darwin with some amusement, guessing what he's doing. 'This site is quite undetectable, I promise you. Even if one of my people were careless and left physical evidence in a trail, I have warded this site against even physical detection. Orcs don't like to be stationary for long so it took quite some effort to persuade them to stay here.'
Ida tries to remain confident in her tone. "it's safe to assume that Antonius was betrayed by his partner, as I'm not sure who else would have had all the details that you did. I'm not exactly sure what deal has been made, or what has led to these events. But I do know the emperor will be searching by any means necessary."
Darwin smiles, "We get it, you are proud of your little prison, now any chance of being left in peace so we can talk about you behind your back?".
Hamish sits quietly and listens to the brief discussion before the half-orc woman enters the pen. He tries to minimize himself even more when she points him out, spinning the hair above his ears in his fingers and looking at his feet. A lock of hair comes loose in his left hand and he holds it between two fingers. He glances up when her attention shifts to Darwin, and thinks, Hope this works.
He jumps to his feet and tries to rush past the priestess, heedless of the danger and just skating by her. As he does, he tries to tuck the lock of hair into a crevice of her armor to blend in with some fur.
She doesn't seem even slightly perturbed as Hamish races past her, his hand grazing her. The Orc at the inner gate rises slowly and plods down the tunnel to the outter gate, closed and sealed to collect Hamish. He picks Hamish up and carries him back to the pen.
'Well then, that was fun I'm sure but don't worry, you'll get plenty of exercise.' Volen smiles. 'I will take my leave now, Antonius, please accompany me?'
Antonius furrows his brow but rises to follow her.
Darwin waits for Volen and Antonius to leave, before turning to Ida and Hamish. "Well this is a pickle, I am not sure there is anything we can really do whilst we are in this cage. It does sound like we will be sent out to work though, maybe those areas will be less protected?", he whispers.
He looks to Cade, "The assassin might have that information".
Hamish nods and whispers, "I was able to plant something on the chief. I think I'll be able to spy on her, but I don't feel the connection right now."
Ida was thankful Hamish wasn't hurt upon his return. "That was quick thinking Hamish- good job! I was trying to possibly unnerve her, but I don't think I was very successful. And you're right, Darwin. We will end up somewhere else where we may have more luck discovering a way out.'
Darwin waves Cade over.
If he joins them he quietly asks, "Have you ever tried to escape this place? What is it like out there where they have you working, any runes or anything?"
Cade moves over to Darwin.
"I know these caves like the back of my hand, I've studied them since the moment I entered with intense discipline, not missing detail."
*crouching down to grabb some MORE dirt to wipe on his face*
"Follow me."
Stealth check 13
Survival check for remembering the cave layout. Strong 6.
Approaching the first gate to inspect the lock.
Looking at the guard
,"any chance you got the keys?"
Ida has no words. She stares at Cade and then looks at Darwin wondering what on earth was happening.