Quest #21.5 “Find Your Way Back!”

[OGRE MAGE]

I was going to do this in the private threads, but it seems a little unnecessary now, especially since one player has a character on both sides.

I will ask that the members of the initial thread refrain from reading this side thread until (or should I say if?) you are eventually reunited again.

Thanks! (yes, I trust you to be honest)

[OGRE MAGE]

The paladin blinks his eyes to get adjust. Suddenly light appears. The paladin drops the pole and takes out his sword ready to attack, only to realize that Andron stands near. Andron!

This happened to us once before. I should have know. My apologies. No...I'm not hurt. Are you okay?
The paladin stows his shield and looks around for the 10' pole. DM edit: which is nowhere to be seen
I'm afraid that I don't have any torches with me. Shall we move forward? to find a place we recognize?

[OGRE MAGE]

Andronichishche brushes away any offense with a gesture of his hand. "No need to apologize, I often forget humans are blind in darkness. I am also uninjured, thank you." He indicates the dagger sheath hanging from his belt, illuminated in an aura of bright light. "I also don't carry torches, but Rao is providing for us." He pulls out the cave map from his overcoat and checks it against the current tunnel they find themselves in. "This appears to be an unexplored tunnel. The walls are rough and natural. The area dirty and strewn with cobwebs. That likely places us in the southern half of the complex, in the unexplored southwestern tunnels. Therefore, I suggest we proceed to our right, which if we kept the same orientation when we teleported, should lead us southeast."

[OGRE MAGE]

The paladin nods his head in agreement. With his shield in his left hand and his sword in his right hand the paladin leads the way southeast. He taps his sword against the ground and on the sides of the wall, doing his best to detect traps.

The paladin tries again to detect evil

Cresty tries to tap the floor as they walk in case there are any traps about.

When he concentrates on detecting for evil, he instantly sees the crying face of the murdered Cora in his mind. The woman is shaking her head no as wet tears stream down her face, but otherwise says nothing to the paladins fragile mind.

As they are about to leave this area, both explorers hear a feint male voice speaking in the common tongue from somewhere behind them.

"Hell......hello? Is there.........is....someone there?"

[OGRE MAGE]

Cresty

The paladin instantly moves from to the other side of Andron to offer protection. Whispering to the spell caster. You are better at the art of diplomacy than I. I'm afraid I can't tell whether the source of the voice is evil or not. I still see images of Cora when I try.

[OGRE MAGE]

Andronichishche silently nods at Sir Crestbrook in understanding. He whispers quietly, "It would seem that teleportation trap snared another unlucky explorer. That means he has likely been here for some time ... and hasn't met Brutus up close."

Andron steps forward and calls out in a strong, but even tone, attempting to project his voice without undo echo. "Hello? My name is Andronichishche, along with my companion, Sir Crestbrook. What is your name? Do you need assistance?"

[Karaunios]

"Gods be praised! A friendly voice... The name's Carucenus. I've been here lost in the darkness for what looks an eternity."

Says the man's voice coming from behind.

[Quonundrum]

Andronichishche calls out again, "Hold still, Carucenus, we will come to you." He whispers again to Crestbrook, "Please lead the way, Sir Crestbrook, and refrain from mentioning Cora or Brutus until we learn more of him and how he came to be here."

[OGRE MAGE]

Lost In The Dark?

By the light of Androns magic spell, Cresty leads the pair around a bend in the tunnels and down another long section, following the voice of this unseen Carucenus.

They eventually arrive in a hollowed out chamber with smooth walls and 2 minotaur statues posed in peculiar positions. Both of them have frightened expressions and are holding their palms out in front of them, as if to fend off an attack or possibly to warn away anyone looking to proceed further.

There is nothing else noticed in this obviously altered section of the tunnel.

Actions?

map:

42D25AD0-F28A-4652-8FC0-ED740670EE18.jpeg (41.65 KiB) Viewed 1671 times

Andronichishche 5/6 1/3 1st CL, DM, RM / 1/1 1st
Sir Crestbrook 9/11 LoH

[kruk]

Cresty

The paladin whispers I don't like the looks of this. Cresty adjusts his grip on the hilt of his sword, ready to attack if the situation warrants it. He slowly steps forward.

[Quonundrum]

Andronichishche nods in agreement and whispers, "Agreed. This area has obviously been altered by Brutus. We haven't seen this in the other southern tunnels, so I suspect we may be somewhere beyond the tilted statue west of the dais room. Those statues are also positioned in a similar fashion as the approach to Cora's cave. We may be near Brutus's lair."

He calls out again to Carucenus, this time a bit more quietly than before. "Carucenus? Can you hear my voice? Are you near?"

[Karaunios]

Carucenus

"Yes. I think I hear you close enough, but I don't see anything."

Carucenus will start walking towards the voices, touching the walls to guide himself.

[Quonundrum]

Andronichishche regards the horror stricken statues with hesitant reservation, but steels his resolve to proceed and assist. "Let's continue, Sir Crestbrook." He carefully watches the walls and floor as they move forward, looking for any unusual protrusions or changes in the surface texture. He calls out again, "Be careful, and look for signs of our light."

[Karaunios]

"That I will. Rest assured..."

Carucenus prodes the floor on the places he's gonna step before he decides to plant his feet on the spot he wants to continue walking on next.

[OGRE MAGE]

Lost In The Dark?

Eventually, after turning another bend, a ragged looking and stumbling human comes into the edge of the light. He shades his sunken eyes with one weak hand as he shuffles forward down the narrow tunnel. The man is fully armed in the garb of a fighter, but he doesn’t appear to have seen the light of day in a long, long time. He is obviously starved and dehydrated.

Actions?

map:

please stand by

Andronichishche 5/6 1/3 1st CL, DM, RM / 1/1 1st Light:69
Sir Crestbrook 9/11 LoH

[kruk]

Cresty

The paladin glances at the newcomer, sticking his sword outward at him. Friend or foe?! Upon further observation, noticing the stranger's condition and deducing that the persons offers no threat, continues with his questioning Good heavens, when is the last time you have had something to eat or drink? Now concerned about the one dressed in fighter garb's health, stows his sword and offers him a drink from his water skin and some rations. How long have you been down here?

[Quonundrum]

Andronichishche, upon seeing the condition of the poor man, rushes forward and gestures for Carucenus to sit on the floor next to the wall, assisting him as needed. "Easy now, my friend. I am Andronichishche, but you may call me Andron, if you prefer. My colleague here is Sir Crestbrook." He motions to the paladin with one hand while he carefully looks over the disheveled human for evidence of any injuries. "Please tell us, how did you get here? Sir Crestbrook and I are part of a larger expedition mapping these tunnels and caves. We stepped out of our torchlight briefly and were instantly transported ... here."

[Karaunios]

Carucenus

The bulking human seems not to react at Cresty's pointing his sword at him. Weakened as he finds himself now, he doesn't seem to care. The knight's reaction though gives him hope, and when he's offered food and drink, he doesn't hesitate. Not even bothering himself with exchanging words he pounces on what's being provided.

He gulps down the water avidly, some of it pouring down his brown beard and starts eating. After he has munched some of it, he growls and nods, what should be interpreted as a sign of appreciation. He belches loudly.

"I thank you both for your help. I thought I wouldn't ever be able to leave this place. Just hearing people for the first time in... Well, I don't even know how long have I been just surrounded by this relentless darkness, but I recall I came to this island with my group around mid Wealsun..." He looks up at both the paladin and the magician.

"We came here just for the fun of it... I mean, I was looking to make a living off the treasures I'd find and I'm always a curious person... So I was also in for the exploring, you know? We came here precisely because we heard this cave was full of riches, held by many strange creatures. We actually found several minotaur statues in the jungle along our way to the stone circle in the center of the island.

There were four of us... A warrior, such as myself, named Talkhor, a cleric of St. Cuthbert, Sister Theresa (a fine righteous woman that one) and a witch that goes by the name Mina...

As we entered the cave, we found a raised stone dais with a bull head and mystical symbols but luckily we found no minotaur. After a while going deeper into the cave, we encountered, in a chamber, a young woman named Cora. It seems the woman has made this place her home! She spoke of a minotaur named Brutus that was sweet on her. She stated that he secretly left her gifts and food, but never got close enough or got to talk to her.

She was kind of... well... odd! She looked like she wanted everything to be clean, going so far as bathing every few hours and even wiping down the surrounding tunnels with wet rags to keep them clean. She wore a beautiful magical amulet that she claimed to have found a year earlier on the mainland that she seemed very proud of.

But she was kind enough, I guess. So after a while we decided to keep our exploring. But, before we left, Cora mentioned that there was a curse on the place that kicked in once a person found themselves anywhere in complete darkness. Once anyone was immersed in total darkness, they found themselves magically teleported to another random section of the tunnels..."

He stops for a second, but this time is not to eat. Rather, it looks as if he wanted to catch his breath or recall a memory, his mouth open before continuing on.

"After searching through the tunnels closest to the entrance, we decided to explore deeper. I stopped for a second to tighten a loose strap on my armor." He points at his splint mail. "The others went ahead with the torch and that left me into total darkness... Suddenly, I didn't have any idea of where I was, nor I could hear my friends... I walked towards a dimly glowing light that I hoped was the exit, but ended up in a round chamber with a massive hole in its center. Looking into the hole, I saw complete and total darkness. A darkness so intense and deep that it ate into my mind and my soul." The warrior looks into the darkness beyond his interlocutors, as if seeing right there what he's describing, fear in his eyes. His words start accelerating at the end: "I found that I couldn’t force myself to look away from the dark hole. I have been in here ever since. Staring into the blackness for so long I can't even remember!"

He stops, lets his back and head lie on the rock wall, as if tired just from recounting the experience. Then he seems to come back to his senses and starts drinking and eating again. Then, he stops, and, with mouth full, he asks: "Won't you happen to have come across my companions, do you?"

[OGRE MAGE]

Wow, that was a mouthful.

[kruk]

The paladin quickly wipes a way a tear welling up in his right eye at the mention of Cora and her strange behaviors. Recovering his composer he asks the fighter

You mentioned that a person named Cora told you that Brutus is a minotaur? He looks over at Andron. Interesting...if this is true we'll have to come up with another name for our enemy. He turns back to the fighter. Your other fighter friend in your party...is he wearing chainmail and is he equipped with a long sword?