(I don't think Alyssa got hit... ? I don't have any missing HP but I very well could have missed something.)

Alyssa would nod in appreciation to Bernard's offer, "Thank you. I believe I'm alright." She'd take a once over to make sure.

While Bernard took a moment to patch up, the elf would pull out her equipment to update and make notes on their map.

With a nod, Alyssa would accept her share of loot from Ramious. She'd watch him with anticipation for him to share what the potion might be.

The potion tasted as if Ramious licked a stone wall. An old and dusty one. He personally never tried something like that before - definitely not a healing potion.

The room you all came in was indeed "central" - several passages led from it, some of which you already walked, and some only were going to. The walls and floor of this natural cave have been carefully smoothed. The floor is covered with sleeping furs, crates, sacks, and rubbish, like in other rooms here. The crates and sacks contain mundane supplies obviously looted from the countryside — flour, grain, nails, and so on. 

A crude wooden cage door closes off the most southern exit, separating the room from a small cave behind. A door locked with an iron padlock and inside the cave, you see two filthy prisoners dressed in tattered rags - a  man and a woman (humans), crowding close to the door. People stared at you for some time as if not believing their eyes.  “You are no orcs... Thank Yondalla!” Finally cried out the woman. “We’re rescued! Geradil, we are rescued, you hear that?!” The man, still silent, was not as quick to believe their luck but moved a bit from the door.

Leon would  accept his part of the coins then nod to the potion.  "Want me to take a look at that?" He would ask.  He would try a sip as well.

Arcana: 12

"If no one else wishes the rapier, I can use it as a secondary weapon."  Leon would tell the others.  "For times when defense is better then offense, I could use the rapier and a shield instead of just my greatsword."  He explains.  "That is the least useful way to use the magical rapier though, so anyone else that can use it please do so."

(You got yourself Potion of climbing )

Ramious shrugs, "I suggest Bernard take the rapier. It seems only marginally more useful for him than for Leon." 

Ramious, huge hulking figure with bat wings furled up behind him creeps through the caves. He remains quiet, while poking through bags of supplies, opening crates and cracking open barrels, being moderately thorough as they travel.  Eventually they see the bars and prisoners emerge from the darkness before them.  He stands up straights and walks forward boldly, "Prisoners?  You are indeed rescued!  How long have you poor people been here? How is it you were captured by the orcs?"  

He asks questions as he first looks around for a key hanging from a wall anywhere nearby, then, failing that, he pulls out his lock picks and begins working on the iron lock. 

Thieves Tools Check : 11

 The lock squeaked and fall down opened. The woman carefully pushed the door, still not believing her eyes, it seems. Then she took the man by hand and pulled him out of cave. "Free! Truly free!" The man looked around suspiciously: "Orcs can still be around. There were many of them, coming and leaving". Then he looked at barrel filled with dry fish and smelled the air as a dead hungry dog, slowly moving towards it.

"Three weeks we were sitting in here. Three weeks! We are from a village a few miles from Blasingdell. The orcs captured us in the woods. Brought us here and sent demands for ransom to the village. But our village has almost nothing, no one could pay, or so the orcs said. We've been waiting for them to feed us to their chief's wolfs. Or giving to the shaman - I do not know what is worse." "Thank you, kind people. If you tell me your name, me, my children their children's children will be forever grateful and ever say it in every pray they make!" 

Alyssa would step to the side and encourage the prisoners forward to help themselves to the rations. She’d even hold one of Ramious’ wings out of the way if he was hoarding the space with his massive figure. “Please help yourselves to what you need first. Don’t let our enthusiastic tiefling keep you from your fill. My name is Alyssa, but Ramious here is the one who freed you.”

If needed, the elf would offer fresh water from her own waterskin and even create more if needed. As they informed them of their story, Alyssa will make her rounds to each prisoner, inspecting their medical state. As she did, she’d use her magic to clean the dirt off them to hopefully provide some sense of comfort and dignity. Should they be in worse condition than expected, she’d ask Bugs if he’d be willing to give her a hand.

Ramious stands aside, "Well...no need for all that. Alyssa here, and Bugs, and Leon all helped break you out...I just did the lock.  A shaman?  We ain't seen a shaman yet.  We took care of the chief, and one wolf, but another wolf is still round here somewhere.  We should probably escort you back outta here, once you had yer fill of food.  Did you hear them talkin at all? Know what these orcs are up to?" 

While they eat, Ramious heads to the supplies and grabs a couple sacks, empties them, and brings them back to them.  "Here, this outta do for holdin some supplies so you can get back home alright...plus any other supplies you think are worth carrying back with ya...." 

He looks to the rest of the party, "Think we should escort them all the way back to their village then come back?  Sendin 'em out in orc country alone doesn't seem like much of a rescue..."

Bernard pipes up at the Shaman comment.  "Shaman, that like a a magic user right?  We killed one of them down in the woods remember.  Maybe that's the same one they mean."  He then eats a little of the food offered but isn't wholley impressed with dried fish.  "As for taking them back into town.  We could, and then maybe resupply before finishing the second half of the task ."

Ramious nods, "Oh right.  I forgot that guy....I guess he just sorta fell outta my memory."  He pauses...waiting...."fell out of my memory....get it....cause he fell...when i pushed him...."

Bernard looked at him with a blank face.  "But he didn't fall...  You climbed on his back and Alyssa cut his throat..." he responded.  "Guys, I think Ramious needs a rest, or the fish has gone bad."

Alyssa’s cheeks would go pink, hoping she didn’t offend the tiefling. Then couldn’t help but snort at Ramious’ pun and then chuckle along awkwardly to Bugs’ quip. She’d be lying if she said she remembered which one the shaman was, cause she didn’t. And of course it was the orc whos throat she slit.

”It’s been a long day.” She’d simply say with a smile before going around offer to flavour everyone’s rations for their meal. With a few twists of her wrist, Alyssa would also conjure a light but pleasant scent of a home cooked meal to replace any bad smells in the room. 

Ramious scratches his head awkwardly, "Whatever, orcs all look the same.  But, remember that time I pushed one off the cliff. Haha...ahhhhh, that was sweet."  

He remembers there are two strangers with them, then looks a sheepish, "So....I guess we should take you folks home eh..."

Is there anywhere else we haven't explored in the main upper area now, aside from that big cave that was hidden behind a wall of stuff?  If so, we should just finish looking down that last tunnel, and then I think we're agreeing we're going to escort these folks back home, then come back and explore the areas further into the old caves.

(South-east, where two different tunnels lead is still a mystery)

Meanwhile the man also recovered enough to believe he is indeed freed, and now both former prisoner looked at the party with admiration of dedicated worshippers. "We never saw the shaman, only know what orcs told us and they liked to say "wait till you meet the shaman". There were other orcs - her helpers? Those we saw too. Came here often to get the food and whatever they needed for her rituals: sometimes herbs, sometimes those flying screaming things. Sometimes people." 

Geradil and Courana accepted the sacs of food with Alyssa's magical help with teary eyes. Both people were not truly injured - some cuts and bruisers aside - but mostly exhausted, and food and water somewhat rectified that. The were obviously eager to leave the place.

"Wait the Shaman is a her?  Yeah then we haven't seen the shaman yet.  The one that attacked us on the way here was male.  Maybe one of her helpers.  So, there is still a threat up here.  To be honest.  Id rather take care of all the orcs here first than give them a few days to regroup and lay an ambush..."

"I very much agree. We should take care of them first."

"Seems we have a hard choice to make then."  Leon said with a frown.  "We either continue to make our way through these tunnels, with these fine people either going with us or trying their own luck on getting home without us, or we escort these people home, then return to continue our way through the tunnels."  He glances to Ramious.  "I can't really think letting these fine people go alone to their home is a good idea, so I suggest we do what you said and escort them home, before returning to finish our work in these tunnels."

Ramious looks about at the group, "Ya...Alyssa. I feel ya. I just want to keep grinding orc skulls into the ground, but we've taken a bunch out, and not even orcs can reproduce so fast that there will be new ones runnin around here in 2 days. Ya know, I bet if we leave a big old note on the front door, "we'll be back in 2 days, you got until then to leave"....that they might just leave by themselves."  He grins a toothy grin.  "Huuu..ha...I like that idea. But we should say week, so they think they have more time......"  He laughs to himself.  "Ya, that's a good idea..."

Both rescued humans were standing there scared to make a pip. Courana, in a very unnatural tone, begun to mumble something about "we would find our way, do not worry about us", but soon stopped. Both of them were obviously not warriors even without exhaustion. But they were also obviously farmers - people, who used to long walks and hard work. If there are no orcs out there, they would make (especially with the food now). It was only that "if" that terrified both of them.  

Ramious, "We at an impass?  Leon and me think take these folks back, Alyssa and Bugs want to stay and clear out all the orcs?  Let's settle on this, let's head down that one last passage, leaving these folks here, then once we've seen what's down there and maybe killed a couple more orcs, we take them back, sound ok?  Let's do that." 

We head down the last passages to the south-east, creeping and quiet, leaving these two "safe" in their cell, the lock removed.