This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
The book flies through the air towards the rubble and lands open, one page sticking straight up. Though the contents of the book are fluid and ever changing, the pattern Vilus drew has stayed completely stationary within the pages, and he can see that it is that very page that sticks up at the moment. All around the symbol, the page is blackened, and the edges of the book are singed and curled. It is at that point that Vilus blocks the entrance. The table has cooled some, but it still scorches Vilus's hands through his cloak (1fire damage).
(Vilus's Arcana to copy the design: 19) He just barely gets the table in place before he hears a small crackle and a pop. There is a brief pain in his head (1psychic damage), and then it is gone. He peers over the table to see his book still lying there, a bit beaten and burned, but still in one piece, save for the page that self-detonated. A few flaming scraps of the page drift gently through the air.
At this point, everyone whose cage door is open has emerged, and they stand around, clutching themselves defensively and not speaking as they stare off with distant eyes Kairem and Rana emerge from the tunnel where Vilus left them and take in the sight. Rana sniffles and wipes her nose, saying "He's gone for good then?"
Joren's adrenaline stays with him in the moments of the explosion, as the charred rat is flung into the wall next to him and the partially-escaped prisoner behind the table is burned. Seeing Marion attending to the latter, he quickly eyes the other prisoners for obvious burns or other injuries resulting from the explosion. He has a vivid memory of men and women in the aftermath of battle who were dead but did not know it yet. He clocks the positions and status of Ashley, Samir and Malachi as well, relieved to find everyone else relatively unscathed. When did I begin caring so much about these people? If any of them, but especially Ashley, and perhaps Samir had been dying there, my heart would be breaking... It is better not to be getting so attached...
Joren barely notices Silas rushing past him down the tunnel much as he himself had with Razmus' corpse mere moments before.
His adrenaline fading and the immediate danger seemingly gone, Joren recovers his backpack if he can and leans back against a wall, slowly sliding down until he is slumped in a seated position. Eyes unfocused.
Ashley looks up at Samir in a daze. Looking into her eyes, she looks half gone, but with his touch and soft words, she slowly comes back to herself and back to the situation. Still crying, she asks, "How can I do this? How can I be adventurer when I am sitting here when people need help?"the words he speaks finally register and she shakes her head, "No, I'm not hurt, but there may be people in the lab that are."
When she says this, realization sets in and she breaks out of her exhausted state of confusion and slowly stands up. "Thank you, Samir, you are very kind." and she gives him a warm smile. As she slowly heads towards the destruction, she notices Joren on the ground seeming to be in the same state she was just in. It warms her knowing the man she has come to really care about react the same way she did. She digs in her pack and pulls out the small jar of goats milk, which surprisingly (I hope) is still whole. She leans over and gives it to him, "Joren, it's ok. Please, drink some of this, might bring you a bit of pleasure" and she winks at him.
Continuing on into the room, she walks over to Marion and sits back on the floor by the prisoners and casts her mage hand again to work on all the staples as they rid themselves of the chemically ladened bandages.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Breaking the tension a little a long scraping sound is heard as Silas pushes the table back in place "erm... False alarm, better safe than sorry, I suppose" he states impotently as he lingers by the tunnel out to the rubble.. hesitating for a moment he heads in to collect the book, whilst there he looks around and moves a few rocks from the rubble, trying to see whether the cave in is possible to excavate. Perception 5
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
With the burned man doing better Marion takes the offered key from him and goes to each of the remaining cages to release the last of the prisoners who are still trapped, though she freezes with tension as Silas rushes through the room with his book once more. When it comes to a far less dramatic conclusion she finishes unlocking the doors before turning to see Ashley and Joren return to work removing the staples and helping the others she gives them a solemn nod before quickly addressing the newly freed victims."You are free now. Please, allow my friend her to remove these wrappings, it is important we do so quickly."
As Silas makes comment and steps out into the passageway her expression turns dark, fury writ across her features as her emotions run high. Striding quickly she follows him out into the corridor and approaches him angrily, grabbing the Goliath from behind as she tries to press him against the wall, pouring her rage out as she shouts in his face. "YOU DID THIS! How DARE you endanger these people! Your callous act was nearly paid for by others! Do you wish to seek their judgement of your own character now?"
One by one, prisoners are freed from their cages, all in various stages of shock. Some need coaxing, some are able to respond with a spattering of quiet words, and a few need to be carefully lifted from the cages by Joren, Kairem and Rana. One by one, Ashley removes their bindings and makes a pile in the corner. "These people need food and water," Rana says.
"I could use some myself," Kairem adds. "Is the inn still stocked?" Rana looks indignant at the suggestion, but Kairem cuts her off before she can argue, "You and I are doing okay, but the others are in no condition to get to Burrwatch, and there's nothing else in distance that could provide food, water, and shelter. Like it or not, I think we need to stay here a few days."
(Perception 5) Vilus doesn't get much time to inspect the cave-in before he is confronted abruptly by Marion.
Samir stands as Ashley does, watching her. After a moment, he follows after. His eyes move from person to person, seeing if anyone is injured. He watches as the others begin moving about the room, assisting where they can and responding to the aftermath of such an event, all the while he finds himself unsure of what to do now, how to react. He is an inventor, a scholar, a student. None of his training or schooling has ever taught him how to deal with the emotional impact of such horror and explicit violence. He adjusts the wire-rimmed glasses again for perhaps the hundredth time, hesitating, delaying.
What do I do now?
Finally, Samir's attention is drawn back to Ashley as she sets to work with her magic. He joins her, quietly and carefully, not wanting to interfere. Wordlessly at first, he begins collecting the staples in a small pouch, wanting to study them later. This, he knows. Collect information, form theories, experiment. Calming, somewhat, he speaks quietly once more.
"Are any of you injured? I have some means of healing immediate wounds if needed."
The artificer's attention is caught by Marion's angry voice, however, pulling him away from his small task. He watches as the woman confronts Silas, speaking the words out loud that he himself has been feeling, giving voive to his own anger and suppressed outrage at the casual murder of an unarmed man. Slowly, he stands from his crouch, watching. Waiting.
Malachi looks up blankly from the charred and indecipherable letter, taking in both the destruction and flurry of activity surrounding him. As Marion follows Silas down the far corridor and the others start to busy themselves with freeing and aiding the captives, the immediate danger seems to have passed. His attention moves back to the documents. He held something tangible in his hands at least, something he focus his energies on in midst of the madness surrounding him. Now may be a good time to find out just what messages were being passed back and forth and who the innkeeper was working with. What had caused so much concern and worry in the latest message?
He slumps down on the floor, cross-legged, and pulls the letter from the desk out of his jacket, laying it down on the floor in front of him next to the charred one. He clears his thoughts, whispers a few words, and moves his hands slowly over both documents, willing his mind to comprehend languages and read the messages.
When Samir joins Ashley and Marion, collecting the staples, Ashley responds, "Good idea, even if we can't gleam anything from them we definitely don't want them laying around."
Ashley hears Marion confront Silas in the tunnel, but she barely registers it. She continues to focus on the work in front of her and getting all the staples removed. Once complete and noting Rana and Kairem's conversation, she stands up, "Agreed, we need water and food for these people. Malachi, will you join us? Rana and Kairem, are you able to come upstairs and assist or would you rather stay down here? I can understand either way. Joren, will you stay down here with Marion and Samir? I don't know what to think of Silas, and there is apparently something going on. But we need to help these people."
Malachi sees the characters on the page shift and morph through a few different forms before settling on ones with which he his familiar. He begins with the partially drafted letter from the desk. There is something strange about the way it is worded. The order and specific word choice of the literal translation is difficult to follow. and there are names he doesn't recognize, but Malachi gets the basic gist. After rewording it in his mind, the message seems to say something along these lines:
"Glory to Razmus, and to the ratkeeper who is called Daniel,
You need not worry so. I have managed to eliminate the mind-body dissonance and have perfected the Enzian hybrid. The ones that I kept here are showing no sign of mental breakdown, so the ones sent to work on the tunnel leading north should be able to operate indefinitely without replacement until I command otherwise. I have begun working on a larger batch with the new method, and a few more months these next 18 hybrids should be ready to join the forward force. But it is imperative we have that time.
How are things there in Talmout? Is the speaker who is called Marigold certain she hold off Councilor Corrine's attempts to have Tensmith reopened to the public until winter is over? Because otherwise-"
The letter cuts off there, like the innkeeper had wanted some time to think over the rest of his statement, or to find a solution to an apparent problem.
Malachi starts reading the hastily composed letter retrieved from the... messenger rat? Patches of the letter are singed from the explosion, but not so bad as to render anything unreadable.
"Glory to Razmus, and to the ratkeeper who is called Jon,
Please respond to this urgently. As of last night, my rats have been pulling and dumping an empty cart. You assured me your new hybrids were not going to break down, but they seem to have stopped digging. If we don't make contact with the Tensmith mines in the next week, AND have a sufficient force prepared, we may have to form whole new approach. Years of preparation down the drain. Or the scriptor who is called Markus will script us and send us in ourselves. Corrine is still pushing to reopen, and the rest of the council is leaning her way. So make it work.
I will be down shortly right after I finish sorting out this mess. To make sure everything is ok, and to provide what assistance I may.
May Razmus draw ever closer.
A few things strike Malachi as odd. From the way the two letters are addressed, it seems like Razmus is the name of someone else besides the innkeeper. But why did he think that when he gave his name? Also, from the way he had to interpret the sentence structure and specific word choice when translating from one language to another, Malachi feels like he might be able to infer something about the strange language itself.
(Give me an insight or investigation check without disadvantage because you have two references to work with here. DC 10/15)
Silas grunts in shock as his large body is pushed aside and pinned to the wall, he looks into Marion's burning eyes with some degree of nonchalance before sighing, and saying in a growl through gritted teeth "I am not your enemy here, and there are better things to do than to lay blame.. what happened was inevitable, and we'll discuss it later once we know we and these prisoners are safe. Your emotions are clouding your priorities. Aren't you trained for things like this?"He looks down at her ripped tabard as he asks that last question with a hint of confusion in his face. The entire time he isn't vocally aggressive, his face does not contort into defensive anger.
Once he is done speaking, there is notably a hand out of sight, within his cloak and ready to be drawn if Marion starts acting violent.
“Stop!” Marion hears Rana approaching from behind. “Listen, I appreciate you stopping me. I think… I think it was the right thing to do. I’ve never taken a life before… But he needed to die. Look around you.” She gestures to the other prisoners being freed, many of them starting to come out of their stupor bit by bit. “I haven’t heard more than three words from all of them combined, save for Kairem, since I got here. That man terrorized us, but now that these people have seen him destroyed with their own eyes, they might be able to stop fearing and start living again. Eventually.”
At Rana's words, Silas attempts to shrug off Marion's grip on him, but doesn't resist if she is insistent that he stay where he is.
If she lets him go he moves to the now released captives and offers help generally to the entire group "I can carry several of those who cannot walk, I agree we should move back to the Inn at least for now. But it's a 40 minute walk at regular pace"
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Malachi looks up from the letters toward the rest of the group, blissfully unaware of the confrontation between Marion and Silas, and noticing Ashley staring at him with a questioning look.
“Yes, of course, food and water. I will help with the others” he replies to Ashley, still only half paying attention to her question. “But there is something amiss here” he points to the letters “It seems that our innkeeper was named Jon, and Razmus is someone that he serves, follows, or something. There is another follower up the tunnel, heading this way later today. I can only imagine his surprise when he sees the tunnel” Malachi chuckles before continuing. “The use the hybrids to tunnel, trying to connect to Tensmith mines for something. It is hard to make out.”
(Insight: 15) Malachi thinks back to the thoughts he heard in the innkeeper's head, and the specific words he spoke, and compares it to the language used in the letters. From the way everything was worded, Malachi gets the distinct impression that in the original language, everything was riddled with turns of phrase, half-truths, and double speak... In fact Malachi feels that deception is so ingrained in the language that those who speak it would have no need for lies or falsehoods. Everything is just a twisting of the truth. If it was baked into the language itself, could it explain why nothing outright threatening came up in the innkeeper's thoughts even in the midst of carrying out nefarious deeds? And had anything he said been actually untrue? Or was he just misleading with half truths?
With the help of the group of companions and Kairem and Rana, the ex-prisoners start making their way down the tunnel, Some of them help support each other, and one has to be carried on Vilus's back, but the trip is underway.
Still holding Silas against the wall Marion's eyes narrow at his words, clearly not taking kindly to his condescending comments as she lets out a huff of disgust. "Now you question my priorities? Your desperation to murder a man rather than focusing on helping these people is precisely what did endanger us!"
As Rana joins them she turns her head to look at the woman, listening to her intently and taking in the woman's strength. So strong, in spite of what she has suffered through. I pray to you my Lady, let not the darkness that she has been plunged into stain her spirit. After Rana finishes Marion releases her grip on Silas, and begins to walk away, making clear in her body language that she no longer deems him worthy of her energy.
As she passes Rana she pauses next to her, placing her hand on Rana's shoulder and speaking gently once more, the anger completely gone from her voice. "No one needs to die. Don't let such thoughts take root in your mind. They will be able to move on from this not for knowing he is dead, but rather for seeing your example, and knowing that they can still live. Now come, let us take you all upstairs and see if the sun is up."
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The book flies through the air towards the rubble and lands open, one page sticking straight up. Though the contents of the book are fluid and ever changing, the pattern Vilus drew has stayed completely stationary within the pages, and he can see that it is that very page that sticks up at the moment. All around the symbol, the page is blackened, and the edges of the book are singed and curled. It is at that point that Vilus blocks the entrance. The table has cooled some, but it still scorches Vilus's hands through his cloak (1 fire damage).
(Vilus's Arcana to copy the design: 19) He just barely gets the table in place before he hears a small crackle and a pop. There is a brief pain in his head (1 psychic damage), and then it is gone. He peers over the table to see his book still lying there, a bit beaten and burned, but still in one piece, save for the page that self-detonated. A few flaming scraps of the page drift gently through the air.
At this point, everyone whose cage door is open has emerged, and they stand around, clutching themselves defensively and not speaking as they stare off with distant eyes Kairem and Rana emerge from the tunnel where Vilus left them and take in the sight. Rana sniffles and wipes her nose, saying "He's gone for good then?"
Joren's adrenaline stays with him in the moments of the explosion, as the charred rat is flung into the wall next to him and the partially-escaped prisoner behind the table is burned. Seeing Marion attending to the latter, he quickly eyes the other prisoners for obvious burns or other injuries resulting from the explosion. He has a vivid memory of men and women in the aftermath of battle who were dead but did not know it yet. He clocks the positions and status of Ashley, Samir and Malachi as well, relieved to find everyone else relatively unscathed. When did I begin caring so much about these people? If any of them, but especially Ashley, and perhaps Samir had been dying there, my heart would be breaking... It is better not to be getting so attached...
Joren barely notices Silas rushing past him down the tunnel much as he himself had with Razmus' corpse mere moments before.
His adrenaline fading and the immediate danger seemingly gone, Joren recovers his backpack if he can and leans back against a wall, slowly sliding down until he is slumped in a seated position. Eyes unfocused.
Tanis(Ranger1): Shiverquill's Tempest City | Xarian(Fighter2): NioNSwiper's Tyranny of Dragons | Lyra(Warlock2/Bard4): VitusW's Silverwood Forest
Dyson/Eleo(Cleric4): Vos' Beyond the Veil | Soren(Druid5): Bartjeebus' Ravenloft | Ophelia(Sorcerer4): Ashen_Age's Risen from the Sands
Joren(Fighter6): NotDrizzt's Simple Request | Sabetha(Monk3): Bedlymn's Murder Court | Seri(Cleric3/Sorcerer1): Bartjeebus' Greyhawk
Ashley looks up at Samir in a daze. Looking into her eyes, she looks half gone, but with his touch and soft words, she slowly comes back to herself and back to the situation. Still crying, she asks, "How can I do this? How can I be adventurer when I am sitting here when people need help?" the words he speaks finally register and she shakes her head, "No, I'm not hurt, but there may be people in the lab that are."
When she says this, realization sets in and she breaks out of her exhausted state of confusion and slowly stands up. "Thank you, Samir, you are very kind." and she gives him a warm smile. As she slowly heads towards the destruction, she notices Joren on the ground seeming to be in the same state she was just in. It warms her knowing the man she has come to really care about react the same way she did. She digs in her pack and pulls out the small jar of goats milk, which surprisingly (I hope) is still whole. She leans over and gives it to him, "Joren, it's ok. Please, drink some of this, might bring you a bit of pleasure" and she winks at him.
Continuing on into the room, she walks over to Marion and sits back on the floor by the prisoners and casts her mage hand again to work on all the staples as they rid themselves of the chemically ladened bandages.
Breaking the tension a little a long scraping sound is heard as Silas pushes the table back in place "erm... False alarm, better safe than sorry, I suppose" he states impotently as he lingers by the tunnel out to the rubble.. hesitating for a moment he heads in to collect the book, whilst there he looks around and moves a few rocks from the rubble, trying to see whether the cave in is possible to excavate. Perception 5
Joren looks up at the fire genasi, then around at his other new friends and the liberated prisoners. All of them with fondness.
After a moment, he accepts the jug of goat's milk and takes a small sip this time. Still lovely - the jug had kept it cold inside.
"Thank you my la-"
He looks up at her again and smiles. "Thank you Ashley."
He gets up and begins helping her, Marion and the others tend to the ones they had freed from captivity.
Tanis(Ranger1): Shiverquill's Tempest City | Xarian(Fighter2): NioNSwiper's Tyranny of Dragons | Lyra(Warlock2/Bard4): VitusW's Silverwood Forest
Dyson/Eleo(Cleric4): Vos' Beyond the Veil | Soren(Druid5): Bartjeebus' Ravenloft | Ophelia(Sorcerer4): Ashen_Age's Risen from the Sands
Joren(Fighter6): NotDrizzt's Simple Request | Sabetha(Monk3): Bedlymn's Murder Court | Seri(Cleric3/Sorcerer1): Bartjeebus' Greyhawk
With the burned man doing better Marion takes the offered key from him and goes to each of the remaining cages to release the last of the prisoners who are still trapped, though she freezes with tension as Silas rushes through the room with his book once more. When it comes to a far less dramatic conclusion she finishes unlocking the doors before turning to see Ashley and Joren return to work removing the staples and helping the others she gives them a solemn nod before quickly addressing the newly freed victims. "You are free now. Please, allow my friend her to remove these wrappings, it is important we do so quickly."
As Silas makes comment and steps out into the passageway her expression turns dark, fury writ across her features as her emotions run high. Striding quickly she follows him out into the corridor and approaches him angrily, grabbing the Goliath from behind as she tries to press him against the wall, pouring her rage out as she shouts in his face. "YOU DID THIS! How DARE you endanger these people! Your callous act was nearly paid for by others! Do you wish to seek their judgement of your own character now?"
athletics for grapple check! 23
One by one, prisoners are freed from their cages, all in various stages of shock. Some need coaxing, some are able to respond with a spattering of quiet words, and a few need to be carefully lifted from the cages by Joren, Kairem and Rana. One by one, Ashley removes their bindings and makes a pile in the corner. "These people need food and water," Rana says.
"I could use some myself," Kairem adds. "Is the inn still stocked?" Rana looks indignant at the suggestion, but Kairem cuts her off before she can argue, "You and I are doing okay, but the others are in no condition to get to Burrwatch, and there's nothing else in distance that could provide food, water, and shelter. Like it or not, I think we need to stay here a few days."
(Perception 5) Vilus doesn't get much time to inspect the cave-in before he is confronted abruptly by Marion.
Joren's Survival check to recover backpack and contents therein, at disadvantage (take first roll if not at disadvantage): 5
Tanis(Ranger1): Shiverquill's Tempest City | Xarian(Fighter2): NioNSwiper's Tyranny of Dragons | Lyra(Warlock2/Bard4): VitusW's Silverwood Forest
Dyson/Eleo(Cleric4): Vos' Beyond the Veil | Soren(Druid5): Bartjeebus' Ravenloft | Ophelia(Sorcerer4): Ashen_Age's Risen from the Sands
Joren(Fighter6): NotDrizzt's Simple Request | Sabetha(Monk3): Bedlymn's Murder Court | Seri(Cleric3/Sorcerer1): Bartjeebus' Greyhawk
Samir stands as Ashley does, watching her. After a moment, he follows after. His eyes move from person to person, seeing if anyone is injured. He watches as the others begin moving about the room, assisting where they can and responding to the aftermath of such an event, all the while he finds himself unsure of what to do now, how to react. He is an inventor, a scholar, a student. None of his training or schooling has ever taught him how to deal with the emotional impact of such horror and explicit violence. He adjusts the wire-rimmed glasses again for perhaps the hundredth time, hesitating, delaying.
What do I do now?
Finally, Samir's attention is drawn back to Ashley as she sets to work with her magic. He joins her, quietly and carefully, not wanting to interfere. Wordlessly at first, he begins collecting the staples in a small pouch, wanting to study them later. This, he knows. Collect information, form theories, experiment. Calming, somewhat, he speaks quietly once more.
"Are any of you injured? I have some means of healing immediate wounds if needed."
The artificer's attention is caught by Marion's angry voice, however, pulling him away from his small task. He watches as the woman confronts Silas, speaking the words out loud that he himself has been feeling, giving voive to his own anger and suppressed outrage at the casual murder of an unarmed man. Slowly, he stands from his crouch, watching. Waiting.
Malachi looks up blankly from the charred and indecipherable letter, taking in both the destruction and flurry of activity surrounding him. As Marion follows Silas down the far corridor and the others start to busy themselves with freeing and aiding the captives, the immediate danger seems to have passed. His attention moves back to the documents. He held something tangible in his hands at least, something he focus his energies on in midst of the madness surrounding him. Now may be a good time to find out just what messages were being passed back and forth and who the innkeeper was working with. What had caused so much concern and worry in the latest message?
He slumps down on the floor, cross-legged, and pulls the letter from the desk out of his jacket, laying it down on the floor in front of him next to the charred one. He clears his thoughts, whispers a few words, and moves his hands slowly over both documents, willing his mind to comprehend languages and read the messages.
When Samir joins Ashley and Marion, collecting the staples, Ashley responds, "Good idea, even if we can't gleam anything from them we definitely don't want them laying around."
Ashley hears Marion confront Silas in the tunnel, but she barely registers it. She continues to focus on the work in front of her and getting all the staples removed. Once complete and noting Rana and Kairem's conversation, she stands up, "Agreed, we need water and food for these people. Malachi, will you join us? Rana and Kairem, are you able to come upstairs and assist or would you rather stay down here? I can understand either way. Joren, will you stay down here with Marion and Samir? I don't know what to think of Silas, and there is apparently something going on. But we need to help these people."
Malachi sees the characters on the page shift and morph through a few different forms before settling on ones with which he his familiar. He begins with the partially drafted letter from the desk. There is something strange about the way it is worded. The order and specific word choice of the literal translation is difficult to follow. and there are names he doesn't recognize, but Malachi gets the basic gist. After rewording it in his mind, the message seems to say something along these lines:
The letter cuts off there, like the innkeeper had wanted some time to think over the rest of his statement, or to find a solution to an apparent problem.
Malachi starts reading the hastily composed letter retrieved from the... messenger rat? Patches of the letter are singed from the explosion, but not so bad as to render anything unreadable.
A few things strike Malachi as odd. From the way the two letters are addressed, it seems like Razmus is the name of someone else besides the innkeeper. But why did he think that when he gave his name? Also, from the way he had to interpret the sentence structure and specific word choice when translating from one language to another, Malachi feels like he might be able to infer something about the strange language itself.
(Give me an insight or investigation check without disadvantage because you have two references to work with here. DC 10/15)
Contested athletics. 13
Before Ashley has finished speaking, she notices Rana turning away, preoccupied, and striding towards the confrontation between Vilus and Marion.
(I’ll let Vilus respond before she interjects)
Silas grunts in shock as his large body is pushed aside and pinned to the wall, he looks into Marion's burning eyes with some degree of nonchalance before sighing, and saying in a growl through gritted teeth "I am not your enemy here, and there are better things to do than to lay blame.. what happened was inevitable, and we'll discuss it later once we know we and these prisoners are safe. Your emotions are clouding your priorities. Aren't you trained for things like this?" He looks down at her ripped tabard as he asks that last question with a hint of confusion in his face. The entire time he isn't vocally aggressive, his face does not contort into defensive anger.
Once he is done speaking, there is notably a hand out of sight, within his cloak and ready to be drawn if Marion starts acting violent.
“Stop!” Marion hears Rana approaching from behind. “Listen, I appreciate you stopping me. I think… I think it was the right thing to do. I’ve never taken a life before… But he needed to die. Look around you.” She gestures to the other prisoners being freed, many of them starting to come out of their stupor bit by bit. “I haven’t heard more than three words from all of them combined, save for Kairem, since I got here. That man terrorized us, but now that these people have seen him destroyed with their own eyes, they might be able to stop fearing and start living again. Eventually.”
At Rana's words, Silas attempts to shrug off Marion's grip on him, but doesn't resist if she is insistent that he stay where he is.
If she lets him go he moves to the now released captives and offers help generally to the entire group "I can carry several of those who cannot walk, I agree we should move back to the Inn at least for now. But it's a 40 minute walk at regular pace"
Malachi looks up from the letters toward the rest of the group, blissfully unaware of the confrontation between Marion and Silas, and noticing Ashley staring at him with a questioning look.
“Yes, of course, food and water. I will help with the others” he replies to Ashley, still only half paying attention to her question. “But there is something amiss here” he points to the letters “It seems that our innkeeper was named Jon, and Razmus is someone that he serves, follows, or something. There is another follower up the tunnel, heading this way later today. I can only imagine his surprise when he sees the tunnel” Malachi chuckles before continuing. “The use the hybrids to tunnel, trying to connect to Tensmith mines for something. It is hard to make out.”
Insight: 14.
(Insight: 15) Malachi thinks back to the thoughts he heard in the innkeeper's head, and the specific words he spoke, and compares it to the language used in the letters. From the way everything was worded, Malachi gets the distinct impression that in the original language, everything was riddled with turns of phrase, half-truths, and double speak... In fact Malachi feels that deception is so ingrained in the language that those who speak it would have no need for lies or falsehoods. Everything is just a twisting of the truth. If it was baked into the language itself, could it explain why nothing outright threatening came up in the innkeeper's thoughts even in the midst of carrying out nefarious deeds? And had anything he said been actually untrue? Or was he just misleading with half truths?
With the help of the group of companions and Kairem and Rana, the ex-prisoners start making their way down the tunnel, Some of them help support each other, and one has to be carried on Vilus's back, but the trip is underway.
Still holding Silas against the wall Marion's eyes narrow at his words, clearly not taking kindly to his condescending comments as she lets out a huff of disgust. "Now you question my priorities? Your desperation to murder a man rather than focusing on helping these people is precisely what did endanger us!"
As Rana joins them she turns her head to look at the woman, listening to her intently and taking in the woman's strength. So strong, in spite of what she has suffered through. I pray to you my Lady, let not the darkness that she has been plunged into stain her spirit. After Rana finishes Marion releases her grip on Silas, and begins to walk away, making clear in her body language that she no longer deems him worthy of her energy.
As she passes Rana she pauses next to her, placing her hand on Rana's shoulder and speaking gently once more, the anger completely gone from her voice. "No one needs to die. Don't let such thoughts take root in your mind. They will be able to move on from this not for knowing he is dead, but rather for seeing your example, and knowing that they can still live. Now come, let us take you all upstairs and see if the sun is up."