Volen laughs, 'Possible? Oh I believe anything is possible, but possible isn't likely and likely isn't guaranteed.' She smiles and saunters to the bars, a level of confidence rising. 'All you have to use against me is death. I am an Orc, we venerate death, my death shall feed the world, my life given for its growth. I, on the other hand, I have all the cards. You even played your hand! Without me, you will stumble around in the dark until it is all too late for you to do a damned thing. That is a win for me. Everything I have striven for for the last decade will come to pass.' She has grasped the bars and pushed her face close.
'So, I say again, kill me already, and seal your own dooms.' her grin stretches wide, almost manic.
Hamish, your spell only serves to cause the runes to glow.
'Oh, the little orphan testing my wards?' Volen asks as she notes it.
Agnar exhales sharply and utters a lone word, 'Torture?' his gaze casting about his newfound companions questioningly.
"I don't condone the use of torture, even on those who have inflicted upon innocents. However, I feel that I am needed somewhere else at the moment. Something tells me I should go have a look outside. Yes, something is definitely leading me outside."Ida wasn't kidding, although she was acting more theatrical about it. She has has zero opportunity to talk to Peter and he was all but yanking her sleeve in the direction of the door. She kept her battle-axe in hand and moved towards the exit.
Hamish saw Ida move towards the cave entrance and jogged back to her. As he passed Volen, he smiled strangely kindly and said, "I'm not an orphan, but thanks for your concern." As he reached Ida, his raspy voice asked, "Do you want me to check if there are more orcs first?"
Darwin looks at the others quizzically, not really sure what was happening.
”Oh”, he whispers loud enough for Volen to overhear, “yes, collapsing the tunnel is an excellent idea”, he adds as if someone had just filled him in on the plan.
”Sorry”, he calls back to her as he wanders out. “You just aren’t worth our time”.
"No Hamish, I don't think there are any other Orcs around other than Gruuk. And he may be very pleased that we left her for him to do what he wants with her caged." Ida whispers to Hamish. She motions for Darwin to come since everyone else has moved towards her and the exit. She waits until then are outside and scans the foreground and perimeter for any movement. As soon as she is certain they aren't in Volen's earshot, she looks to each in the party: "Someone needs to keep an eye on her from the shadows while we figure out what's next. We don't want to leave her alone so that she might be able to escape. Can someone use the crossbow to keep an eye on her?"
Volen paces away from the bars and lowers herself against the wall to sit and wait.
'Let me bring nutrients to Father Earth so that life may prevail.' she intones, as if in prayer as you leave.
Antonius blinks, 'So, this is a rouse then? What exactly are we doing? I don't mind keeping an eye on the witch but i don't like to be kept in the dark, and we really should be heading back to Haukberg...perhaps if we deceived her into believing we are amenable to her cause, curious in her intents and eager to assist she may venture forth more information?'
I love the idea of collapsing the entrance, but we don't know where Gruuk is and we don't know what his plan is. I don't want him hunting us down because we destroyed the cave and it was where he was planning on taking back power. He could possibly tell us where we are and what to do to get out of here, but there is no telling when he may head back. The other two orcs are options, but they don't have to help us and they know it. We could throw them in with Volen and tell them that the winner lives and gets to guide us back to civilization, but they all may refuse. What are everyone else's thoughts?
As the everyone else discusses their options, Hamish looks around the scene outside of the cave, trying to see any landmarks or significant things that can help them figure out where they are.
“Gruuk may still be in the cave, in his room”, Darwin replies to Ida.
”He also said he didn’t like being stuck here and would rather be mobile, so I don’t think it likely he would want to stay. We should make sure he has a chance to leave though, if collapsing the cave is a possibility”.
He looks to Antonius as he mentions collapsing the cave, as he hadn’t let them know if it could be done.
Hamish, you note that there's mostly a wooded area behind the cave, with about 20 feet of clearance between the cavern and it. Your perceptive eyes notice something that you hadn't really noticed in your brief forays outside. Everything seems a little too vibrant. Too colorful. Too...vivid.
Antonius arches his eyebrow at Darwin, 'As I said, I definitely could.'
Ida tells the group that she needs a few minutes to herself. She walks about 15ft from everyone and sits with her back to them on the ground. She breaths as though she's trying to gather her thoughts and sees Peter standing directly in front of her. She whispers to him excitedly, "Finally. I can't believe you never left my side - thank you. Thank you for staying. Do you know where we are? I'm terrified I'm leading the group into some kind of trap that I can't see."
Peter's sharp eyebrows furrow, 'You do know, I can't actually leave you, right?' he asks in his familiar brogue. 'This is my job.' he sighs, puffing out his cheeks as he does. 'Exactly? No. But I can tell you that you're in the Feywild.'
"Well, no. I didn't know you couldn't leave me or that I was your job. Because you'd never shared that with me. I was simply thankful that I could see you, that you didn't disappear from my view. You seemed concerned enough to stay, which you rarely ever have. We will go into great discussion about exactly what your job entails after I've had some rest because I sincerely don't believe I can process anything else at the moment after you've said we are in the Feywild! How do we get out of here?"
Hamish turns back to everyone and points at the vivd green trees, the azure blue sky, and lush scent of it all. "Is that normal? Seems kind of different."
Peter tilts his head, 'It would involve finding a crossing back to the material plane. I think your small friend may be of some assistance in that. Or rather, his friend.'
When Darwin reappears at the gate Volen laughs, 'And yet, I'm still alive.'
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Volen laughs, 'Possible? Oh I believe anything is possible, but possible isn't likely and likely isn't guaranteed.' She smiles and saunters to the bars, a level of confidence rising. 'All you have to use against me is death. I am an Orc, we venerate death, my death shall feed the world, my life given for its growth. I, on the other hand, I have all the cards. You even played your hand! Without me, you will stumble around in the dark until it is all too late for you to do a damned thing. That is a win for me. Everything I have striven for for the last decade will come to pass.' She has grasped the bars and pushed her face close.
'So, I say again, kill me already, and seal your own dooms.' her grin stretches wide, almost manic.
Hamish, your spell only serves to cause the runes to glow.
'Oh, the little orphan testing my wards?' Volen asks as she notes it.
Agnar exhales sharply and utters a lone word, 'Torture?' his gaze casting about his newfound companions questioningly.
Darwin smiles back at Volen.
”It seems we agree on something. I say kill her, we have other options anyway”, he says coldly.
"I don't condone the use of torture, even on those who have inflicted upon innocents. However, I feel that I am needed somewhere else at the moment. Something tells me I should go have a look outside. Yes, something is definitely leading me outside." Ida wasn't kidding, although she was acting more theatrical about it. She has has zero opportunity to talk to Peter and he was all but yanking her sleeve in the direction of the door. She kept her battle-axe in hand and moved towards the exit.
Hamish saw Ida move towards the cave entrance and jogged back to her. As he passed Volen, he smiled strangely kindly and said, "I'm not an orphan, but thanks for your concern." As he reached Ida, his raspy voice asked, "Do you want me to check if there are more orcs first?"
'I'm cool with letting her starve.' Agnarr says with a shrug and follows Ida
Antonius arches his eyebrows, curious as to what exactly is going on, and follows too.
Volen watches them leave with a sneer.
'Not a pair of stones among you.' She jibes
Darwin looks at the others quizzically, not really sure what was happening.
”Oh”, he whispers loud enough for Volen to overhear, “yes, collapsing the tunnel is an excellent idea”, he adds as if someone had just filled him in on the plan.
”Sorry”, he calls back to her as he wanders out. “You just aren’t worth our time”.
Deception: 9+5=14
"No Hamish, I don't think there are any other Orcs around other than Gruuk. And he may be very pleased that we left her for him to do what he wants with her caged." Ida whispers to Hamish. She motions for Darwin to come since everyone else has moved towards her and the exit. She waits until then are outside and scans the foreground and perimeter for any movement. As soon as she is certain they aren't in Volen's earshot, she looks to each in the party: "Someone needs to keep an eye on her from the shadows while we figure out what's next. We don't want to leave her alone so that she might be able to escape. Can someone use the crossbow to keep an eye on her?"
Volen paces away from the bars and lowers herself against the wall to sit and wait.
'Let me bring nutrients to Father Earth so that life may prevail.' she intones, as if in prayer as you leave.
Antonius blinks, 'So, this is a rouse then? What exactly are we doing? I don't mind keeping an eye on the witch but i don't like to be kept in the dark, and we really should be heading back to Haukberg...perhaps if we deceived her into believing we are amenable to her cause, curious in her intents and eager to assist she may venture forth more information?'
Darwin shakes his head, “Weapons are not really my area”.
”You know there are two other prisoners, I am sure we can convince one of them to guide us back to where we were”.
”Any chance you can collapse this cave entrance?”, he asks Antonius.
I love the idea of collapsing the entrance, but we don't know where Gruuk is and we don't know what his plan is. I don't want him hunting us down because we destroyed the cave and it was where he was planning on taking back power. He could possibly tell us where we are and what to do to get out of here, but there is no telling when he may head back. The other two orcs are options, but they don't have to help us and they know it. We could throw them in with Volen and tell them that the winner lives and gets to guide us back to civilization, but they all may refuse. What are everyone else's thoughts?
Antonius nods, 'I definitely could.'
As the everyone else discusses their options, Hamish looks around the scene outside of the cave, trying to see any landmarks or significant things that can help them figure out where they are.
((Perception 21!))
“Gruuk may still be in the cave, in his room”, Darwin replies to Ida.
”He also said he didn’t like being stuck here and would rather be mobile, so I don’t think it likely he would want to stay. We should make sure he has a chance to leave though, if collapsing the cave is a possibility”.
He looks to Antonius as he mentions collapsing the cave, as he hadn’t let them know if it could be done.
Hamish, you note that there's mostly a wooded area behind the cave, with about 20 feet of clearance between the cavern and it. Your perceptive eyes notice something that you hadn't really noticed in your brief forays outside. Everything seems a little too vibrant. Too colorful. Too...vivid.
Antonius arches his eyebrow at Darwin, 'As I said, I definitely could.'
Ida tells the group that she needs a few minutes to herself. She walks about 15ft from everyone and sits with her back to them on the ground. She breaths as though she's trying to gather her thoughts and sees Peter standing directly in front of her. She whispers to him excitedly, "Finally. I can't believe you never left my side - thank you. Thank you for staying. Do you know where we are? I'm terrified I'm leading the group into some kind of trap that I can't see."
Peter's sharp eyebrows furrow, 'You do know, I can't actually leave you, right?' he asks in his familiar brogue. 'This is my job.' he sighs, puffing out his cheeks as he does. 'Exactly? No. But I can tell you that you're in the Feywild.'
"Well, no. I didn't know you couldn't leave me or that I was your job. Because you'd never shared that with me. I was simply thankful that I could see you, that you didn't disappear from my view. You seemed concerned enough to stay, which you rarely ever have. We will go into great discussion about exactly what your job entails after I've had some rest because I sincerely don't believe I can process anything else at the moment after you've said we are in the Feywild! How do we get out of here?"
"Ah", Darwin responds to Antonius, "I wasn't sure who you were replying to, good to know".
He sees Hamish distracted and Ida wander off.
"I guess we should go guard Volen, and see if Gruuk is about then", he says to the others and starts to head back into the cave system.
Hamish turns back to everyone and points at the vivd green trees, the azure blue sky, and lush scent of it all. "Is that normal? Seems kind of different."
Peter tilts his head, 'It would involve finding a crossing back to the material plane. I think your small friend may be of some assistance in that. Or rather, his friend.'
When Darwin reappears at the gate Volen laughs, 'And yet, I'm still alive.'