Duncan Walked slowly with the group, his mind racing at the possibilities that could have happen. Yet as Leo had said, we could be what if all we want but action was required. Duncan continued near the back of the group his eyes always on alert. 

Rushing into the tunnels, the party makes record time, only taking about 40 minutes to navigate through the tunnel. Nothing seems to have changed, though the chalk marks Lero drew have been meticulously scrubbed off, no doubt from someone who didn't want the proper route discovered. Regardless, Namura is able to guide the party through, having made the trek several times. Reaching the ladder which leads up to the Renegade hideout, Lero stops just before opening the metal grate. He can hear voices from up above. Listening, closely, only a few words can be distinguished, as everything else is too hard to hear. He hears words such as, "pirates", "lifecraft", "heart", "aether", and "ship". There seem to be two voices, easily distinguishable as a man and a woman speaking up above, but not recognizable. 

If you didn't know any better, it would sound like they're speaking about your plans...

Lero decides its best just to be out with it.  At the very least he might gain some sort of surprise if it's a bunch of elven cultists. He bursts through the trapdoor and into the room with a huge grin on his face, "Good day my friends!  I hope you didn't miss us too much!"

"Now tell me," he says as he walks towards the two elves in the room. "Where can I find that buxom pirate queen named Arial?"

Lero's surprise startles them, and, with hands shaking, they each pull out a rapier, frightened, but willing to fight. After processing the scene, one of them quirks an eyebrow, recognizing Lero. "Hey! You're one of those pirates." He sheathed his sword, motioning for the other to do the same, who does. "We thought the rest of you died, since no one has neither seen nor heard word from you since you left out to explore the tower a little over a week ago. Glad to see you finally made it back in one piece!"

The other elf smiles, "The pirate queen? She did refer to herself as such once or twice after a few drinks. Last I heard, she was packing up the aether reserves and heading out today, since you all die.... Oh. Oh. I hope she hasn't left yet. It sounded like she was scraping some mission to a "darksite" and heading back to Ghirapur, since she figured you lot had died." He opens the door to the hideout, and you see the orange glow of the sun beginning to set, shining through the trees as they begin to come alive with color. "You might still be able to catch her. She's either in the tower or on the road back to your crashed ship with some lifecraft towing the aether storage device."

"You say it's been a week?" Namura poked her head up after Lero, catching only a few words. The ranger found herself practically on top of the rogue as she scrambled to join the conversation, but she had little concept of personal space. "I don't understand, we left three, maybe four, days ago. We couldn't have lost track of that much time in the tunnels, could we?"

As the others begin coming out of the trapdoor, Lero gives them a once over before turning his attention back to the elves. "Very well... best we let her go. I'd hate for her to get in our way as we complete this mission. We can send word back to Ghirapur once the mission is complete, I think. Where can we find that tiger-elf-man?"  

"Tiger-elf man?" Both of the elves look at each other, confused. "Is he suppose to be some hybrid? Like an elfiger? Those are only rumours, and such rumours originate from the far-side of Peema. Some girl... part-tiger, part-elf, and all savageness." It dawns on Namura that they might, in fact, be talking about her.

Lero nudges Namura with a chuckle, "Leaf-a-lain was his name, I think."

"Oh! Lefelynn." One of them exclaims, laughing. "She'll get a kick out of this. You wouldn't be the first to think she was a man. She's usually running outside in the forest, but I think she's in the tower, warding off the lower level from any further threats."

"I don't think he was talking about Lefelynn," Namura blushed slightly. She had only bitten half a dozen people when she was younger, but that had earned her quite the reputation. She had no idea that the rumors had spread this far before. "Are you sure you don't want to catch Arial before we look for Lefelynn? I know you two were close..."

"And that's exactly why I'd rather she go." His face is stone cold, "She'd do the same for me if she thought there was a chance it would protect me. And if they think the dark site team failed they'll be sending more reinforcements. It feels like a win/win. But I intend to be waiting for them as they land near the dark site, ready for a vacation with a wily local." He winks at Namura. 

"I feel like we could all use a vacation, when this is said and done," the apparent elfiger gave a little laugh. "One last question," she turned back to the two elves. "Then we'll be on our way. Do either of you know if those bakers are back in business yet?"

The female elf nods her head in agreement. "That's sweet of you to consider her safety first. You two must be close." She sighs heavily, quickly glancing at the male elf. "I wish someone would care about my safety..."

He coughs, visibly disturbed. "Uhhh... Yes! The bakers are back in business. They opened back up yesterday, in fact, so much of their food is fresh! In fact, most of the city is back in proper condition. Minus the kidnapped and empty houses... But we have several shops available too, if there is anything you need. You'd probably get a discount too, since you're pretty well known faces around here."

Seeing that the elves are well, at least to the point the situation allows it, Kraithee, with a repented look in its face goes closer to Namura and says: I am sorry for what I said in the caves about hushing into things, you are our tracker and you are the one that really can see the bigger picture regarding the location of things, I had no place being so rude to you, I just, well, don't like not being the one deciding my fate, but I do realize how scary and demanding might be to be responsible for so many decisions. I am glad to have you at our side Namura.

after a while, Kraithee approaches Lero: Thank you Lero for being the cool headed person you are, from all of us you are the one that had the more reasons to be in a bad mood but you keep it cool and try to keep us together, sorry for the way I handled things back in the caverns.

Before we retire for the night, Kraithee once more looks for Namura with a peace offering of cinnamon rolls it acquired from the bakers and asks her: Namura, you have the gift of healing, I would like to help you in the days to come in that regard. This ring Flux found allows the wearer to cast spells stored in it so, I would ask you if you could lend me your healing.

(If Namura agrees, Kraithee would like to have cast 2-3 cure wounds in the ring, the remaining slots will be filled with Chromatic Orb spells).

Lero admits he was somewhat confused on what Kraithee's role in the group was... up until it turned raw aether into a huge ball of fire and lit up the caverns in a glorious display of pyrotechnics. That one essential move saved the group a world of hurt. "Kraith, don't ever think your words won't be heard. You are just as vital as every other member of this group of Renegades. And though we haven't found any consulate dogs to slay, your actions in the caverns saved us against those spider demons." He smiles as he pats the aetherborn on the back. 

"Now then, how about we meet up at the tower in about an hour. We need to meet that Leaf-a-lain woman - in the morning we can head out to the dark site and see what kind of trouble we're in for." He nods at the group before turning to leave, "I suggest purchasing everything you need for the journey now. We may not see civilization again for a long while. If you need any gold, let me know. I have some to spare."

Lero leaves the group and goes to the wall. The very same wall they climbed that started this journey. He nods to the sentinels as he passes and proceeds to coil up his silk rope. He spends that hour watching the sunset - scanning the skies for any sign of Arial's ship.  

Namura stared dumbly at Kraithee for several moments after the Aetherborn opened up to her. She hasn't really interrupted their actions as rude. Rude was a hard emotion for Namura, she hadn't been exposed to it for the first 71 years of her life. "Ummm... uhh... thanks?" The ranger finally decided on. "I am glad to have you on my side as well. I do need to do a better job, and I will keep on trying to be better. I am sorry for, well, everything."

Her first stop was the bakery, where she purchased as many cinnamon rolls and normal loaves of bread as she could for 3 gold. If civilization had done anything good for her, it would probably be these gooey sweet treats.

Rations were unnecessary for her to buy, as she could live off of the land better than anyone. So, her next stop was an armory. The Aether-infused arrows had been insanely helpful, but she wanted a magic shortsword. Even at a discount, however, she was still 83 gold short. "I don't have that much," she said apologetically. "Could I offer a trade instead? 315 gold, my old shortsword, one dose of Aether, a crowbar, and a hammer?"

The shop owner returns the apologetic gesture, "I'm sorry. This sword itself cost me 350 gold pieces in parts to make. Not only would the days I spent crafting and forging it be wasted, but I would lose profit from it as well. Four-hundred gold pieces truly is the lowest I can go."

"I completely understand," Namura nodded. "If I could give you 500 gold, I would. I'm afraid I'll have to come back when I'm a bit richer."

The ranger left quietly, now going to find Lefelynn. Namura was about to head to the woods, a place she would much rather be than the crowded city states. But as she was leaving, someone suggested she check the woman's house. "What kind of a wilderness woman owns a house?" she grumbled under her breath. It didn't take long for her to find the house, and when she did she announced her presence with a knock on the door.

Buama excused herself letting them know she would be ready in the morning. She spent the first part of her evening getting some final things for her project and thankfully found stuff close enough to what she wanted that fit the plans she had been working on for some time. The hard part was actually getting the larger pieces to a place where she could work on it. The courtyard of an unfortunately empty house turned into her lab for a few hours before she went to bed, still in time for a decent night's sleep.