(For now I'll save the spellslot.)

Mara sighs as she backs away and moves to sit back, frowning slightly at the reaction she had gotten from the gnome. "I apologize.  I was trying to heal your wound before it got any worse. If you do not wish for my assistance I will not push you."  She sits back and looks to the others once Mairshall asks his questions. To her the answer was obvious, she wanted to get out and find her way back to where she had been.

Killian's shows his agreement with Sim, Waiting on others to ask a question, figuring each should have a chance to speak. Hopefully collectively as a group they can get the information that they need. 

Dark thinks about the quick answer from his friend.....<I am not sure we can escape this place, but we need to be more attuned at survival down here.> he thinks to himself.  "Maybe our next question should be where does he think we should go next." Dark says to those sitting near him.  "He said there were others and they all went a certain way.  Does he think that is the only other way to go?" < I wonder what we need to do to earn the female gnome's trust.> to himself again.

HP Increase: 10

It takes a few headshakes, but Rumble eventually snaps out of a daze for the second time since first awakening. Or was it the sixth? He could not confirm it, nor cared to think heavily on the subject. After all, each time his mind came unmoored from reality, the slightest of off-putting noise or figure approaching too close resulted in the snap back to reality with teeth bared, eyes wide, and fingers affixed as if to claw the source. By at least the third time the accompany guttural growl stops, and are replaced with muttered apologizes as the earth genasi sinks back into taking stock of supplies. 

"...I...I'm not gonna lie. I ain't quite get that last bit 'bout 'sea-leshells' 'nd this place bein' some sorta tower. That's uh... I don't know where to begin there. BUT, I-I-I do know that we owe you folks a-a-ah bit of gratitude fer the hospitality. An-and II aim to pay that back. So... uhm, yea.... just wanna re-iterate that in case ya... ya thought I was talk'n hogwash. Ya know, on account of me and mines bein' so tired?"  And on that awkward trailing note, Rumble starts to gulp down the earlier offered meal with a bit more vigor.

As his gaze occasionally flickers to the rest, he perks up, and then scrambles closer to Mara. "H-hey. Miss Mara-h! Looks like Big Mama Chautae look'n out for ya." He says with food still in his mouth, then gestures to his own solid orange eyes. "Don't.. think I've ever seen that mark tho', but miracles do come in strange ways."

(It's the group's turn to ask a question) Mairshall takes Simmeat's answer into consideration, letting the group mutter amongst themselves while waiting for their question.

 Mara simply nods at what Rumble said, frowning as it took her a few seconds to compute the comment about her eyes. She then looks around to try and find something she can see a reflection off of. It stops though as she remembers her earlier statement about having expected it. I must look more like an asaimar than a normal human.... She thought to herself.

Orianna eating the slop feels the urge to throw up again but this time she's able to keep her food down. Huffing and puffing she finishes her food. Orianna speaks to the group. "We need to keep moving. Staying in the dead woods won't help us getting out of here."

Darnell, as hungry as he is, eats his serving of slop at a great speed.

"Yes," he says in response to Orianna.

"I hope we can get out of this place soon."

Shadow pipes up, "Have you seen any mistletoe around here?  Is there plenty of this luminescent moss that we may take some for our travels?"

He draws in the sand with one of his claws a representation of what mistletoe would look like to aid their understanding of what he is seeking.

Dark turns to Mairshall, “which way should we go to help us get out and back to our homes?”

Killian hearing the others talking with each other, poses another question to Mairshall, "Friend the others you speak of heading off and never hearing from again. were they like us? A group seemingly placed here unwillingly. is there any insight you can give to how we ended up in those cells. or the statues that were in the hall?"

Mairshall stares at the etchings on the ground. "I do not understand what this 'missile toe' is. I have never heard that word until now." He comments. He then looks to Darkwing. "I will come to your question in a moment. First answer me this; what will you do if you cannot get back to wherever you came from?"

"Survive. What else is there? You said you come from generations of people. Maybe we could stay with them? If not, at least somewhere a bit more hospitable than the dead wood." Sim replied to the gnome.

Dark agrees with Sim, “I would live as I have always lived, one step ahead of others.  I have enjoyed these friends but eventually I will probably end up alone since I am so different.  You have a similar mate.”  He gestures to the female gnome. “I can be patient and hope another of my kind ends up here.  I don’t really want anyone to be stranded here though. I am made for the sky so I hope there are more lofty places in this tower.”  Staring off as he thinks of how different he looks from most of his own kind, “maybe this is my punishment for this cursed life I have had.”

Rumble cants his head and smile weakly at the gnome, giving him a 'Your joking, right?' kind of questioning look. But after hearing the others answer one by one in their own fashion, his eyes first go wide from some of the answers, then narrow as he looks to the ground deep in thought. The only thing to break his concentration is hearing Dark mention living a 'cursed' life. 

"Hey now, Mr. Birdman! It ain't all bad. I mean, I know these ain't exactly 'ideal' situation to be in, but... I dunno, try  look at the bright side." He pauses to gauge the groups reaction, then lifts up a fist. "First and foremost, we're still alive. N-now I know that might not seem like much. But, consider'n what we just been through fer the past... oh, I dunno, let's say day now. That says a lot more then ya think. Two, well, I ain't silly enough to think we're friends per se. But... ya know, we're getting there, right? 'cause, ya know-..." He huffs, then focus on simmeat. "Back when you were in-disposed fer a while there, we did'n just say -- Oh boy, one less mouth to feed. No! We went look'n fer ya! 'nd guess who did'n wound up a tree, or ya know, someone chicken dinner." 

As soon as those last words left his mouth, Rumble winces and looks to Dark. "I-I-I-I ap-po-polize, Mr. B-birdman. That was rather.... *sniffle*… SO this third thing!" With a nervous chuckle, he look away sharply back to the others. "Still alive. Got each others back. Met some pretty nice gnome fella... and mam." Rumble tips an invisible hat to the female gnome if she is around. "Food enough fer a day or two in here. 'nd -- AND... well, I dunno after that..." Rumble slumps into the back of the cave wall, rubbing the back of his neck. "Oh, 'nd... in answer to yer question earlier, mister, uhmmm… *snaps fingers a few times*… Marisha. uhm -- No judging here, by the way -- I don't know how feasible it'll be to do it, but given the chance prevent it from happen'n to other folks? Well, Mama did'n raise no son unwill'n to do the right thing." And as he says that, metallic nails began absently scratching at the left side of his chest, revealing snippets of jagged scar just behind a weathered tunic. 

Quote from pokepaladdy >>

Mairshall stares at the etchings on the ground. "I do not understand what this 'missile toe' is. I have never heard that word until now." He comments. He then looks to Darkwing. "I will come to your question in a moment. First answer me this; what will you do if you cannot get back to wherever you came from?"

"Live out the rest of my days fighting spirits and other creatures till I am inevitably killed. I don't care really if I was sent here, it must be for what I have done in the past. Now, which way to the next chamber?"

Orianna states at the Male gnome intensely waiting for his answer. 

[Heart of Darkness: Those who look into your eyes can see that you have faced unimaginable horror and that you are no stranger to darkness. Though they might fear you, commoners will extend you every courtesy and do their utmost to help you. Unless you have shown yourself to be a danger to them, they will even take up arms to fight alongside you, should you find yourself facing an enemy alone.]

Even when Leojym comes out of his trance, he seems to stay focused on his thoughts muttering prayers to Angharradh under his breath. He will eventually join everyone for a small breakfast but his brow remains furrowed and his golden eyes seem to stare far away. He does not engage with anyone while they are talking until he suddenly says, "We have traveled to a different plane of existence. Wherever this is, I can only barely sense my god here. Escape is mandatory for me. As long as I live, I will try to escape and I do not plan on dying."

The elf walks over to the stone basins containing the water. He dips his finger in one basin and says to the gnomes, "Let me do what little I can to repay the kindness you have shown us." He transfers water from one basin to the other until one is full. Leojym's hands wave over the empty basin and chants a prayer As the droplet of water falls from his finger it becomes 10 gallons of water.

OOC: Leojym casts create or destroy water

"One question at a time." Mairshall says stoically as the flurry of answers is provided. "Back to yours, Winged one. I do not know where your home is, and I do not know how you can return there. I would say return the way you came, but your story seems to show you cannot." Mairshall stands up from his stone seat and cracks his back. "If you do not intend to stay in these caverns, there are passages that continue. However, those I have seen that tread those paths I have never seen again. Our (referring to himself and the female deep gnome) lives are destined to remain here, where we can survive off of what we scavenge." He looks back to Darkwing. "If you wish to take one of these passages, I will not stop you. However, you are welcome to stay here while we have some supplies to feed all of us."

Leojym wanders over to where the female deep gnome is, by the stone water barrels. He takes a droplet of the water and with a small casting, a cascade of 10 gallons of water floods into the container. "Magga Cammara. Your hands, they create water." She comments, completely bewildered by the divine spell. "What manner of sorcery is that so one can make such essentials from nothing?" The female deep gnome seems impressed by Leojym's capabilities, somewhat opening up very slightly. Her tone is more of amazement than her more stern bluntness of the prior day.

"This is my next question." Mairshall says, looking to the group. "What are your lives like, people from beyond the tower? All my life I have only seen the caverns and the deadwood, where we take our dead to rest. There are legends of lands where the mushrooms are more green, and grow on the ground into giant wonders." Mairshall seems to have moved onto trying to learn more about the others personally.

Mara listens quietly to what each of them had to say, watching what each does.  Part of her wants to pout though when the female deep gnome admires the magic from the Leojym when she had previously freaked out over healing magic. She shakes her head slightly to focus as she look at the others once more. She amazed by how Rumble can still be so optimistic while Oriana and Dark are being very pessimistic about things. As Mairshall asks his questions she will raise a brow and guess perhaps the large mushrooms he talks about are trees.

"As a child was raised in a large place called a city. My city was Silverymoon, a place where many raises lived or came to share their knowledge and magic. Once I grew old enough I began to travel with my mentor to learn more about the world and other people's that lived in it. For several years I lived amongst other people and learned from them. During this time I also explored ancient buildings and ruins for lost knowledge. In fact that is what I was doing when I backed out and awoke here. As for these large mushrooms you speak of if they are not in the underdark I believe you mean trees, which can come in many different shapes and sizes."

Orianna sighs as the gnome wants to ask more questions, seeing Mara answer she goes next.

"I lived by a small village, I was raised by my uncle and his wife they were farmers.... you know they grew food anyway they had a big family. I meet someone important to me and we became an adventures, we helped folks and protected villages. Something happened and we eventually parted ways. A few kegs later and I became a demon hunter instead."