Hayeth shakes her head "I would hazard a guess it's the reaction of a man who is scared and cornered with nowhere to go"

Vahorn: The tunnel goes down about 20 feet, then makes a 90% turn to the left. As far as tracks go, The floor is stone, so doesn't hold tracks well, but based on the dust only on the edges, this area was unused  for at least decades, but is now under heavy use. What traces you do find indicate multiple booted humanoids, and many worryingly large snake tracks.

The man speaks with an accent indicating he comes from afar, "No, unfortunately, I lack the gift of speaking like the Masters. That's the closest I can come. I used it to try to send a message out of respect. I will now be quiet as I'd prefer not to die."

 Hayeth nods "Very good, then you do understand your predicament"

she pauses for a moment "So tell me, there are three who have been lost from the nearby village including a young girl, you wouldn't happen to know anything about this would you? I would caution you to be careful with your tone I can't garauntee your safety without your complete cooperation" as she says 'safety' she again looks to Vahorn

"I'd rather not let him have you" she whispers to the man

"The Masters?" Noell repeats, her gaze landing sharply on the man.  "Masters of what?  And why are you here... and where did you come from?"

Vahorn looks back over his shoulder at Hayeth’s mention of him, gurning at the captive as his wild eyes pierce into his soul in an attempt to help Hayeth’s intimidation attempt.

Hayeth thinks a little on the mans words while waiting for his response Fay flies back over to her and lands in her lap and she absentmindedly scratches the birds head "I'd say the masters are probably snakes, and at a guess probably his master if not the master of more"

She looks up and the man and studies him intently, does he have any symbols of any kind on his body?

Still keeping watch on the tunnel but feeling like she wants to contribute to the conversation, Lia chimes in, “I suggest you start telling them what you know or I’ll hit you with my stick again.”

"The masters aren't snakes, the snakes serve the masters as do we human cultists.  The masters are the ultimate fusion of the humanoid and serpentine. We all strive towards their perfection. Yes, the cult did kidnap a human who was getting too close to our activities. His blood might be being spilled even now, to advance the plans of the masters."

You don't notice any markings on his body, but you see his tongue has been split, to resemble a snakes forked tongue.

"This cult traveled from the land of Settia to unlock the secrets of this pyramid. We follow Silas, one of the lesser Masters, though he now takes commands from H'Zasz, a True Master who awakened with the pyramid."

"Interesting, then we haven't much time" she looks to her companions "This is concerning, they have either done away with Aleesa already or are preparing to, although he didn't specifically mention a girl"

She thinks on the tidings of these beings which he speaks of "We should hurry..."

OOC: Has Hayeth heard of these creatures that are a fusion of humanoid and serpent?

Noell shudders as the man proudly displays his mutation.  She tries to picture a half-man half-snake... it's a hard concept for her to grasp, and she can't understand why anyone would want to achieve that.  "Silas..." she repeats.  "And he has Derrick or Ol' Joe!"  Suddenly alert, she pays close attention to the prisoner's words.

(Obligatory insight check: 21)

"This... pyramid?  This is a pyramid?" Noell says in confusion.  It certainly didn't look like a pyramid from the entrance to the tunnel.  "How did you find out about this place?" she asks, keenly interested in how foreigners from a land far-off could have known more about what was going on in her backyard than the town itself.  

Dumasz looks to Vahorn. “I think we’ll be heading further in. No time to waste if we want to have a chance at saving anyone. How do we proceed?”

Dumasz turns his gaze to a pitying glance at the cultist. “Time for questioning to be done I think. And I don’t think we should leave him here to slither out of his bonds.”

“See,“ Vahorn announces, his simmering frustration coning out as a low growl. “Snake’s themselves wouldn’t be behind this, they are neither good or evil, they just are. These abominations, this pyramid.... I know there have been many secrets my ancestors hadn’t even discovered about this place, but they kept it safe. If not for the meddling of men, the petty squabbling over ‘territory’ maybe this could have been prevented.”

“Noell...” Vahorn shifts uncomfortably. His eyes firmly on the ground “My mother knew your grandparents, and your great grandparents.... she watched her friends pass on as she lived on. Death is a constant, but our memories keep those souls living on, and the forest will absorb them, to become one. We will try to save Old Joe, or even the child or the priest, but we need to be prepared for the worst...” 

Shaking his head, cringing slightly, he nods at Dumasz, “We’ll follow this tunnel, keep the same formations. What do you want to do with this one then? We can’t take them with, they’ll just slow us down.”

 "Agreed Dumasz, perhaps we just ensure he leaves and doesn't come back? I don't fancy more blood on our hands than necessary" Hayeth stands and looks down at their captive

"Is that clear? Our group already made mince meat out of you once, we can do it again, if you value your life leave and don't come back" She looks up her face stern and breathes out heavily, looking down the path they must take

“I could knock him out again,” Lia suggests with a shrug, giving her staff a quick one-handed spin. “Then we could tie him up or something so if he does wake up he can’t run.”

Dumasz nods approvingly at Lia. 

“It’s for the best.” Vahorn looks the cultist up and down with disgust as he awaits Lia’s blow.

Lia glances around at the others, giving them a final chance to ask any questions before she acts. Once anyone who wants to has spoken up, she steps forward towards the man. “Sorry, dude, no hard feelings.” And with that, she unceremoniously brings her staff down over his head - once again aiming to knock out, not kill.

Attack: 18 Damage: 6

If that doesn’t do it, she’ll make another quick strike.

Attack: 19 Damage: 6

Hayeth doesn't look back at their captive she simply breathes deeply glaring down the passage which leads deeper into the cave, before looking down and wrapping some cloth around her hands

Noell sighs, and tries not to get her hopes up at Vahorn's words.  "I know... hope for the best, but expect the worst... I can't help it though.  Nothing like this has ever happened in town before!  To think any of us might have been kidnapped or killed by foreign cultists..."  She shudders, and then winces as Lia's staff knocks out the prisoner once again.  Sighing, she takes out her rope and makes sure to bind him tightly, before standing up and preparing to follow the others down the tunnel, trying to remain silent as she walks, and keeping towards the back because of her poor vision in the darkness.

Stealth: 9

Quote from CarethWarder >>

 

OOC: Has Hayeth heard of these creatures that are a fusion of humanoid and serpent?

Hayeth has heard of something called a Yuan-ti that fits the description. Very evil, if you recall correctly. [[I rolled Arcana for you]]

Quote from Enkida >>

Noell shudders as the man proudly displays his mutation

 
Noell actually got the impression this was just a crude body modification, just a split human tongue, not a mutation.

As far as your insight check goes, he seems to believe what he says is true, but he flicks his tongue and a flash of anger comes over his eyes when Aleesa is mentioned.

[[I assume you might want to follow up on that so I won't post the post-knockout stuff until you do.]]]