Not waiting for El's reply, Cyndral reaches to his belt, slowly and visibly drawing his spare dagger before letting it clatter to his feet, and meeting the woman with eyes lacking any hope.

"When we've gone, take this. When hunger or malice overtakes you, and you have to use this blade to slit your own baby's throat, remember that I tried to grant you the only mercy the Underdark knows, not having to slay your own to end their suffering. Then you will see the truth of it here, an enemy's hand is better than your own, and sentimentality and naïvity are twin sides of the same coin."

With that he turns sharply on his heel to leave, faint flickers of shadow-stuff rising in whisps from his body like steam, the magic of the Weave giving form to his warring emotions. He carefully avoids eye contact with any who opposed his view as he goes, lest a new fight erupt, and heads off to find Ront. If this mistake is to be made, let it at least rid us of another liability, he rationalizes with himself, despising how his thoughts sound oddly like his father's voice.

Seeing the group seemingly disperse from the woman in the cave, Shishakli simply nods towards the woman, silently wishing her luck, and heads out to continue tracking where the group should go.

     "I don't understand why some of you think that we are the only ones that know how to survive down here," he says shaking his head as some begin to depart. Tobias turns to the woman and gives a nod. "Torm guide your way. I hope you use this second chance wisely." 

El grinds their teeth as they do so but they listen to everyone's views and, knowing that they cannot make the group to show more compassion than they already have, El decides to do the best they can on their own. El takes the shortsword from their belt, still in its sheath saying, "I trust that while you may be angry, you are not stupid," as they hand it to the woman. "I wish I could convince the others to at least bring you to our destination but they seem set on their ways so the least I can do is improve your chances." They then give her one of their rations and the carnelian gemstone. "This isn't much food but it should give you an extra day to gather more. Find the nearest town and sell this, I've been told it is worth around 20 gold pieces. It might not be much to some but I've survived on less and it should get you some shelter and food have you run out by then." El softens their tone further, preparing to deliver the most difficult advice. "And as for the children... They- You, may not be able to look after both on your own. If you all make it to civilisation and cannot find a way to support all three of you then their best bet might be for you to give them away. To an orphanage or wealthy family I don't know but I do know it will break your heart to do so. Had my mother kept me I would have died a slow and horrible death and I would never wish that on anyone."

OoC: What kind of food supply do the bandits have stashed?

The woman looks towards the group that stands before her and nods, a sign of respect for their actions. She can’t quite bring herself to say the words Thank you. She stares at the dagger that has been left on the floor. Possibly coming to grips with what her future may hold. She looks mainly at El, Tobias and Verim and with almost a whisper as she takes the unusual gem from El she says “I will do what I can with what I have and what you’ve given me” before picking up the two infants. Shishakli makes his way back into the main section of the cave and spots Eldeth coming back with JimJar and Sarith. The rest of the group follow behind once they know the coast is clear. 

The woman collects a few of her things and gets the babies ready for their journey with tears in her eyes, whimpering and sobbing. The possessions left include 4 more light crossbows and 4 more scimitars. 2 vials of red liquid that look like minor healing potions, 2 small loaves of dried bread, 12GP and a small glass orb that is transparent with a slight brown tint to it. 

Gnarls grabs a healing potion and 2 of the GP before continuing

El walks out, leaving the woman to her own devices and collects their hand axes. They refuse to speak to anyone or look at any of the others but give a nod to Tobias as they pass him, heading back towards the rest of the group intending to find Ront.

OoC: Did the woman respond at all to El? Also don't forget about the things they gave her in regards to her equipment.

Gnarls shakes his head at the scene.

"I hope that I am wrong, but I fear all you have done is delay their death a day or two, and reduce the amount of food we have. It may not be long before we starve ourselves."

OoC: if the woman left all that stuff behind then El will take the other healing potion as they go passed

Ooc Verim would have taken the Brown Orb

Verim sits, silently waiting for the others to arrive, he glances at his blade, inspects it, lays the orb out and detects magic.

Action - At Will 

Arcana Check - 20

     Tobias takes up a scimitar and briefly examines it - giving the side of the blade a thump with his forefinger. Satisfied with its quality he takes it and another and places them over his back. 

    "If that looks to have some arcane properties, I can identify it," the half-orc says to Verim as he examines the orb, "... though I may need a pearl," he adds with some disappointment.

(OOC - Verim had said to take the food from the fallen but to leave all other supplies to your party)

Verim instantly casts a spell to detect magic in the area around you. You all see his own eyes begin to glow with a purple hue. As Verim looks around he can see faint trails of purple around the walls and in the air in this cave, the strange dim light that has aided you in these parts of the Underdark appear to be some form of evocation magic. Those that know the Underdark well would know that people call them Faerzress. 

Verim then looks down at the orb, it is giving off a radiant purple light and he can sense Divination magic from within. 

El stops just before reaching the mouth of the tunnel going back to where the others are waiting and turns to Tobias, "If you could, have a look at these and tell me if there's anything special about them." They toss him the dagger they took from the bandit leader with the markings and the small purple book then continue down the passage to get the rest of the group.

OoC: did we ever find out what the rolled up piece of paper was? I think El took it from the Elite guard

After El passes the items over to Tobias they put a hand in their pockets and feel something small, pulling it out they see the small piece of paper that is rolled up very tightly. They open it up and see a hand written letter. 

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D-gN_EFWsAACaVT?format=jpg&name=small

The language is Elven.

Spoiler for anyone that may read it that speaks Elven: 

El took the note from their pocket to look at again. The piece of paper brought with a mixture of emotions that El was unsure of how to deal with. They may not have been the best at reading Elvish but El was certain that the note was from the Guard's child and they couldn't help but feel guilty for robbing a child of their father. Even if he had been trying to murder them and their companions, no child should have to lose a parent like that. At the same time, how could someone so cruel also have the capacity for love? How could you kiss your partner or child goodbye then turn around and sell slaves or torture a prisoner for information? Compartmentalisation. Big word to describe people pretending everything was okay when it wasn't. El hated that the world allowed for people to take life so easily and hated that the group probably had a point about the bandit woman. Not that El wanted to admit it but while Cyndral had taken it too far by suggesting the slaughter of infants, he had been right that the three of them would most likely suffer a far more painful death later. And though they wanted to believe that the group were simply evil for taking the half-elf's side, El knew that their hearts were probably in the right place, just tainted by the cruelty of the world.

“Thank you Tobias, I can see Mystra has graced you too to know the arcane, I will look hard to find what you seek”

Verim will ponder on the orb, now knowing the source of power he thinks about the other items from the camp.

When El and the others return towards where Verim is sat Verim will ask.

”I’m sorry El, I know this has been difficult, it’s been the same for us all, we will have time to adjust after this endeavour, if you would like I can see if that book and dagger have anything of significance, it may aid us in the future, if that orb is magical...... who know, maybe these can be too? I don’t want to push, have the time you need, I just think now we need to aid each other, I hope you can appreciate my efforts but also not fully understand them, that I understand” 

If El is willing Verim will detect magic on the items.

Verim looks over as El has the dagger and book in their hands. There doesn’t appear to be any magical energy coming from them. By now everyone has re-grouped in the main cave section and are getting ready to start moving again soon. 

El doesn't respond to Verim but looks over at Tobias. "You learn anything? About where they came from or any dope magic powers they might have?" El's humour seems rather forced and they don't laugh or smile like they usually would when making a joke. As the group prepares to move they scratch at their wrist, shuffle their feet and otherwise seem uncomfortable.

     "As I said to Verim, I can only do that if I have a pearl to assist with the spell." Tobias gathers he new belongings and proceeds back to the main part of the cavern. He clears his throat and addresses the group. "We need to press on. We don't have time to sit around and look at these. Remember we are still being chased... or at least I would assume so." He looks around and sees some blank faces and then the message is repeated through the spores for those that don't understand common.