Tristan:

"You seem to have been imprisoned in this dreary place, good gnome.  Tell us, what is your story?  What do you know about this place?  And how can we help you other than freeing you from your cell?" asks Tristan.

Persuasion:  22

Insight:  23

Khessa, at Tristan's side, widens her blue eyes in delight: has the party managed to find and free one of the hostages already?

The blonde arcane warrior awaits eagerly for the other's reply, trying to asses,  in the meantime,  if his body shows wounds or other signs of ill-treatment...

Naero 

Naero the cat trots from one smell to the next upon entering the once locked room. His eyes dart to the single occupant before he realises his companions have entered and are handling the questioning. 

If nothing of interest is found within, Cat-ero leaves and joins the others that aren't off exploring. "There's a gnome in that one" he purrs whilst pointing with his nose.

You...you mean you're not with the cult? the gnome asks in a trembly voice. Thank the gods...I've been in here for days now, and the food is absolutely terrible. They came and grabbed me - I'm not sure why. My name is Umberto.

Tristan, you feel like he might be holding something back and isn't being entirely truthful with you.

Tristan:

"Umberto Noblin, historian and author.  A pleasure to meet you.  My name is Tristan, and I am definitely not with the cult--in fact, our group has been retained by Lord Neverember to rescue you and the other three who have been kidnapped.  We have many questions to ask you about them, but you must be forthright with us first.  You may not know exactly why they abducted you, but I'm sure you have an educated guess or two.  Please give us any information that might be of use in our mission," replies Tristan.

Khessa is initially perplexed by how Tristan continues the conversation - as if her friend did not completely trust poor Umberto - but she decides to put her faith in the hero... aware that she is too often led to grant excessive trust to others.

The blonde arcane warrior then tries to make the gnome feel more at ease: she approaches, gently places a hand on his shoulder to reassure him, smiles at him, while with her blue eyes she checks his condition, if he has any signs of injuries or mistreatment... and in the meantime she instantly cleans him and his clothes with an unintelligible whisper and a casual wave of the hand, then tells him, in a heartfelt tone: "Who knows how much you have been through... But you can rest assured! It's like Tristan, my friend, told you. We are here to free you - you and the others. Now that we have found you, you will be safe and all of this will soon be just a bad memory".

"But my friend is right..." the tall adventuress then tries to reinforce the other's request "Anything you can tell us about what happened or this place or whoever kidnapped you, it could help us. And we all want whoever is behind this to be put in a position where they can no longer do any harm, right?"

Seeming to deflate a little more, Umberto looks a bit chagrined, but sticks to his story. Yes, yes, I ah-I do understand. If I know anything vital I shall share it with you forthwith. In the meantime, when can we leave? I haven't had a decent meal in days now...whatever their other crimes are, their food must rank among the worst of them he says bitterly. He notices his clothes are clean now, and nods his thanks to Khessa, and moves towards the door.

Ozus returns to the room with the pool of water, relaying what he saw. "I can't tell if the structure was collapsed intentionally, or if it's just fallen into disrepair. Either way this complex seems larger than it should be, at least larger than the graveyard. It feels bizarre for it to be so empty."

Khessa lets Umberto out of his prison, but holds him close to her gently: "Just a moment... Wait for us, while we escort you. There are still guards around this place. It's not safe to go alone. Let me finish one last spell to put you back on your feet..."

The blonde arcane warrior, always respectful of Tristan's initial distrust, conducts a divinatory ritual on the gnome [[ OOC: She casts it as a Ritual ]] at the end of which, she learns which ongoing spells, if any, are currently affecting him.

The tall adventuress in the meantime nods in thanks to Ozus and ponders the information received, intending to discuss it as soon as she has finished her own esoteric ritual. 'The door with the new padlock is probably another cell, with another prisoner. Investigating that should be our next priority. And if that turns out to be a prison too, it would probably be worth looking for other padlocked doors nearby - with a bit of luck, maybe all the hostages can be freed now, giving us a way to deal with the kidnappers with less worries. The door with the eye is more peculiar, maybe it should be left for later. As for the size of these undergrounds... being underground, nothing prevents them from exceeding the boundaries of the mausoleum - or maybe the entire cemetery, if Ozus' impression is correct. And considering that we've already found undead, water elementals and prisoners, it's not like these meanders seem all that empty to me...'

[[ OOC: @DM: Is Umberto currently under some spell? And if so, which one? ]]

(No magic emanating from Umberto at all.)

Umberto shakes his head sadly at the mention of the water elementals. Poor things...the cult was bullying them when they were putting me in the cell. Quite distrustful they are, with good reason.

Khessa's interest is quickly piqued by Umberto's statement: "Really?! Poor things! Maybe then we can get them on our side then! If you managed to figure out that the cult was bullying them, you must have figured out what language they were communicating in... were they speaking to them in Common? Or what other language?"

'How exactly does one bully a creature composed of water?" Ozus asks, giving the newly released prisoner a once over. "And more importantly, when was this? We've run into a few undead, and the creatures, but no sign of any actual cultists."

He thinks about it a moment further. "Do you have any knowledge of the other captives? And what did they seem to want when they took you? Did they ask anything specific or unusual?" More than anything else, the Tiefling seems suspicious of how little effort was put into preventing the prisoners release.  

Tristan:

"Do you have any idea what the cult is up to?  Why they might need to coerce someone of your expertise to help them?" asks Tristan.  "We are in catacombs beneath the Neverdeath graveyard, so escorting you out might require waiting until we rescue the others if you are okay following along under our protection," he adds.

"If you would rather not follow us, I could give you the padlock and you could wait in your cell?  He "helpfully" extends his hand towards the gnome, padlock ready to be taken.

I believe the insults were all in Common Umberto says, then to Ozus, and most of them are mages, so threats with a bit of magical prowess goes a long way. He wrinkles his nose looking at the water distastefully, and I do believe there was some urinating done as well.

He looks fearfully at the padlock in Larry's hand.  No, no...I'll travel with you. I'll just ah, stay near the back. As for the other prisoners...I didn't know there were any other prisoners. And I told you I don't know why they took me...you have to believe me! Umberto looks a little close to tears at this point, shaking from head to toe.

Tristan:

"Fair enough," says Tristan kindly.  "Keep your wits about you and stay out of harm's way when we get into battle.  Let us know if you remember anything else pertinent or your observations of our explorations trigger some additional understanding of the cultist's plans."

Insight to see if he is faking or genuine:  26

Tristan still feels like he's holding something back...but he does seem genuinely frightened of this place, the cultists, and the prospect of inevitable combat. He also seemed genuinely saddened by the plight of the elementals.

Khessa begins to feel genuine compassion for the elementals so mistreated: "This is really unfair" she declares and, with a series of quick Prestidigitation cnatrips, she cleans the tub and the water inside.

'At least now those poor creatures will not live in the filth left by those who menaced them!' the blonde arcane warrior thinks. She then calls upon a further esoteric ritual, which will allow her to understand the aquatic creatures (as well as any other creature, by the way), should they try to speak to her.

Then, considering that the Cultists seem to have spoken to the creatures in Common, she tries to do the same (hoping however that, even if the creatures do not understand the language, the tone of the sentences and the gesture made before will still strengthen them in the belief that she cares about them): "I am terribly sorry for what has been done to you. You are not the only creatures that your persecutors have oppressed - and your persecutors will pay, rest assured, we are here for this. Are you able to communicate with us? Can you tell us something about who threatened you?"

[[ OOC: Thanks to Comprehend Languages, Khessa can now understand what the creatures say... in case they say something. Unfortunately, she cannot speak in their language, so if they do not understand Common they cannot have a precise idea of ​​what she said. ]]

Naero 

Listening intently to Umberto's story, and feeling his emotion, Cat-ero winds his way around the gnomes legs in a sign of affection. He hopes to merely calm the gnome as an excited one in the heart of battle was never a good thing.

Umberto leans down and pets Naero's sweet lil head.

At Khessa's words, the water elemental rises up to the surface. It speaks in a strange, bubbly language that nobody else has any chance of understanding, but Khessa does perfectly.