When she had the chance, Harmony would have retrieved her lute from whoever was keeping it for her. The tension in her shoulders has noticeably lessened now that she has its familiar weight on her back.

"A nap would be nice," she agrees, stretching her arms over her head. "If the cultists don't know this tunnel exists, it would probably be safe to stay in here for a bit."

Petmailer sits down and takes his pack off, settles in as comfortably as possible.  He’s certainly slept in worse places.  “Just give me four hours and I’ll watch the rest of the night.”  He goes into a trancelike meditative state, constituting a long rest for him.  

"We should put some distance between us and the town before we can rest..." Nighhill answers. After some walking into the tunnel, the whole crowd sits to rest and take care of the injured. 

Due to its lack of use, the tunnel is cowered in spiderwebs and inhabited by little critters, but the insects you find run from you before you and the others sit down. Having been tunneled by kobolds, there's some remains of what looks like long since disabled trap mechanisms and cave markings on the walls. It looks like Mentha's ancestor tried her best in destroying the latter, but you can still make up the remains of what seemed like artwork despicting Kurtulmak, what seems like one of Tiamat's heads and a discolored circle that may or may not have been Asgorath's symbol. Everything else has been washed out or scratched beyond recognition.

Gunra, Markguth takes the shield back with a smile. "I can't thank you enough for what you did back there, I'm in your debt" He says, before laughing. "Oh, and please don't misunderstand: Sara is not my wife, she's my sister!"

As soon as she's back on her feet, Mentha steps in to help out Eadyan in taking care of everyone. The injured teen and the two children turn out to be siblings, and while the former is shellshocked and doesn't talk, its soon obvious they were orphaned during the attack. The ranger does her best in helping heal their physical injuries while the priest speaks words of comfort to them.

Leyding answers to Kane. "I know. Eadyan told me there is a temple there. I be okay..."

Zirca has fallen asleep.

Those of you who wish to do so, you can do a long rest here.

Gunra pauses, his jaw drops slightly.  Surely he was the only one to misunderstand, and if he could blush. . . 

He tries to recover, and his words are now slightly accented and broken.

"Oh.  Oh, apologies.  The Common speech, I make mistake sometimes."

He turns on his heel and walks awkwardly to a clear spot far away from Markguth and Sara.  As he settles in for the long rest, he tends to a few of his remaining (minor) cuts and bruises and spends an hour in silent meditation.  His thoughts before drifting off dwell on his utter defeat, the taste of death, and his seeming abandonment by Asgorath.  The World Shaper was not known to respond to petitioners, but Gunra wondered if these events might still catch his attention.

Harmony finds a spot next to the wall to lie down, using her pack as a makeshift pillow. As she closes her eyes and prepares to sleep, an idea comes to mind. She wasn't normally one to pray, only turning to it during horrible storms at sea, but she figures it might be worth a shot. She sends a quick mental request to Selûne, asking for any sort of guidance she can offer.

Kane slowly sits down with Zirca sleeping against him. He leans back on the wall of the tunnel. He yawns. He hasn’t rested in a while. He closes his eyes and places his hand on Leyding, letting her snuggle up with him if she chooses. 

Nurm joins the others, sits next to one of the tunnel wals, crosses his legs and starts to meditate. His crystal starts to pulsate, mimicking his heartbeat, starting of fast and slowing over time, until Nurm enters a trance like state ((standard sleep mechanics wise)).

Not wanting to wake up their daughter, Linan and Cuth sit close, Roladd and Zackary sleeping beside them. Leyding curls up close to Kane and Zirca.

Hours pass. When you wake up, the first thing to catch your eye is little dots of light on the darkness around you and the group which, when taken a better look, turn out to be the eyes of a swarm of rats reflecting the light of the still burning torches. The rodents don't approach you, and run from you as soon as you start moving.

"There weren't as many when I last checked here" Escobert grumbles, kicking one to the ground after it apparently tried to burrow on his beard while he was still sleeping. The rat squeals upon hitting the ground before running back to the swarm.

"They must have taken refuge here after the fires..." Mentha theorizes.

"I don't care where all this vermin came from, it's still disgusting!"

"They must have smelled our food rations" Nighhill says. "It's a good thing we woke up before they ate anything. Let's get moving and try to evade the rats as much as possible, if we attack it the swarm could get aggressive."

Everyone stands up and starts to walk, careful to not step on one of the rats. "They little and fluffy, but their eyes seem evil" Leyding comments, looking at them.

If Zirca is awake, Kane will hand her back to her parents, although he is fine if she wants to stay with him. “I could set the vermin on fire, but you are right, there are probably thousand oh them in the tunnels and we don’t have to fight if we can help it.” Kane goes around and makes sure everyone is awake and lets them know they are moving. He chuckles at Leyding’s comment, “Yes, they are fluffy, but not as cute as you.” He rubs her mane. “Let’s get going, shall we?”

Petmailer is fully awake and moving.  He seeks out Nighthill to speak to him.  He motions toward Ignar and says “He was about to turn down a dark path and become a cultist, but I feel that he has turned away from this now.  He gave me vital information to be able to accomplish the mission to save Eadyan.  I know he will be judged in Iriaebor, but I would ask for leniency on his behalf.  Please make sure that he is judged fairly.”

Petmailer walks over to Ignar and says “Thank you for your help.  We are likely parting ways.  I asked Nighthill for leniency for you when you are being tried and judged.  We wish to find the cultist camp and stop their evil plans, do you have any final words of advice for me?  How do they have things laid out there?  Is there any way to approach that is unguarded?”  

Gunra is somewhat unsettled by the rats, but does not dwell on it overmuch.  He finds in unlikely that they are working for the Cult.  Instead, concerned about Leyding's exposure to more violence in the event that the rats attack, he moves through the tunnel into her vicinity.  Satisfied that Kane is at her side, he still lingers nearby as they move along.

Petmailer, Nighthill glances at the prisioner's direction and nods afirmatively. "Of course I will. You have my promise."

Ignar has both of his hands cuffed, but he's otherwise free to move without further restrains. "...I suppose there's a chance they could be dropping their guard if they are packing to leave after they got what they wanted, but security seemed pretty good when I was there. If they are keeping the dragon eggs there and they're waiting for them to hatch, then they are not going anywhere 'till that happens, and there will be guards everywhere. I said before and I'll say it again: Your best shot is to pretend to be a new recruit, otherwise they are just gonna feed you and your friends to the drakes. You thought Cyanwrath was tough? You have seen nothing of them yet."

He looks to the ground, avoiding eye contact. "The camp was bordered by boulders and tall bushes, and there's two guard towers. When you see the towers, you'll know you found the camp. I think that's all the info I have, so you can stop pretending to be nice to me now." Despite his words, you saw some relief and gratitude on his eye when you mentioned that you have asked the Governor for leniency.

Kane, Leyding was staring at the rats before getting distracted by you. "...Yes, let's go!" She says, turning back to you and turning her eyes away from the rats. She starts chewing on one of her braids again, but she seems fine otherwise.

You all walk away from the swarm without problem, none of the rodents following after you. As you keep on walking, you see light starting to shine ahead. It looks like the end of the tunnel is near.

As they begin to see the end of the tunnel in the distance, Harmony tries to move so that most of the party can hear her, as well as the governor, Escobert, or Mentha if possible. "We should send one or two people to scout ahead," she suggests. "I don't think the cult knows where the tunnel lets out, but better safe than sorry. I don't want to walk into an ambush."

Nurm listens to Harmony, and contemplates her words fro a while. Yes, this would be wise. I will help with this, I think I know how to create a decoy. I will need some clothes for this, some kind of robe or old cloak would be ideal.

Petmailer says to Nurm "That's a good idea, you should have a cultist's robe in your pack, if you don't I believe that Kane has an extra one.  I will help you and watch for any movement.  Give me a minute and we will set this up."

Petmailer meets back with the rest of the party and relays the information from Ignar.  "Should we try to infiltrate their ranks again?  Perhaps we can sneak up to their camp and if there are too many lookouts, we will switch to the plan of infiltrating their ranks."  Petmailer packs away his Pride Silk outfit and mask, wears his regular leather armor now.  If there is a spare normal appearing shield around he will grab one.  "I think that Gunra will not be able to join us if we decide to infiltrate their ranks, he is too recognizable after the duel today.  Gunra you could watch from the shadows and the rest of us can put on robes and infiltrate their camp if we need to do so.  What do you think?"  Petmailer looks for opinions on the plan.

Gunra scratches his chin in what is clearly a sign of vexation.

"You have a point about me being too obvious - but given the stated size of the camp, I don't think I could actually help you from the 'shadows'.  I'm not comfortable letting you all shoulder the danger neither, not after the Temple Run."

The bulky snapper paces a bit, weighing his options and alternatives.

"Given how stupid most of the cultists are, I think Cyanwrath would be the only one to recognize me.  And I'm supposed to be dead, so he may have forgotten my face already.  Does anyone have any, um, makeup?"

Nurm sits and grabs his arcane fcous in one hand. He closes his eyes and starts to mumble some form of melodic text in gith. If you observe him carefully, you can see a dim light coming from between his fingers holding the crystal. After a while a humanoid looking shape appears near Nurm. Nurm orders the shape to pick up the the robe and put it on, in a such way, that all marks that could identify the wearer as a cultist are hidden. Then he tries to use the dirt to make the robe look a bit older and dusty, like the wearer was just some old villager. If anyone of you have more experience with disguise, feel free to join me. When everyone seems happy with the masquerade, Nurm with his servant, and the other companions approach the end of the tunnel and prepare themselves to send the servant out, to draw the fire of a any hiding archers.

Unseen Servant as a ritual

Petmailer has skill in the art of disguise, and he helps Nurm with his disguised unseen servant and he helps Gunra with his as well.  “Ok Gunra, that is fine, I hope the others don’t recognize you.  You are a pretty unusual and memorable creature my tortle friend.”  

Nighthill watches you all plan without intervening. "After all the help you have given us, I wish I could help out more" He sighs.

Escobert interrupts. "If you want to scout ahead, I'll go with you." He says, and holds the ring with the keys for all to see. "I'm the one with the key to the exit. Don't know why so much light is filtrating inside the tunnel, but last time I came here there was still a locked gate at the end. I don't know what that thing is" He says, pointing at the cloak-wearing servant. "But I don't know how much help will be if you find yourselves at a dead end."

When you arrive at the exit, you see that the light is coming from cracks on and around the exit gate. Years of exposure and neglect have corroded the lock, but it still opens with a loud crack when Escobert uses the key on it.

From inside the tunnel, all you can see its the clear sky and some tall grass.