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[howandwhy99]

Darius used Thor's power to heal his wounds, but they were very deep and only the gashes had covered over. He could still feel large purple bruises under his armor. Ben seemed stabilized, but he had lost a lot of blood. Mirel and Igor looked over him while Dram and Dalin scouted back the path back to the riverside. The forest floor was rough and they needed to find a means to transport Darius and Ben back in one piece. Darius felt he was more than up for the walk, but swayed visibly when standing. Ben was down for the count. Mirel suggested building a travois to drag Ben back. It was then Igor spoke up. "We can put 'em both in me pack. I don't mind carrying 'em." Ben slept, but the other took turns in expressing their disbelief. It seemed to them the chef was still a bit daft in the head.

"Watch this!" said Igor. Expertly the cured cripple looped the opening of his backpack over Ben's feet and proceeded to pull it over the rest of his body. The peculiar thing was, the pack was of normal size and could never have held Ben. Only it did. "How can your backpack hold so much?" asked Dalin. "Can't yours?" Igor responded. "Well I've never tried actually," responded Dalin sheepishly. And that was that. Kayla looked on Igor with a newfound respect and Dram looked on his pack with a newfound avarice. "Where can I get me one of those?" he inquired sternly. "Anywhere. They sell them at the trading post in Margrave Keep. But you have your own, so why do you need another?" The archer did not answer. He eyed the chef suspiciously.

Still at the edge of the tree grove the party decided on a plan. Brother Ben would ride in Igor's pack with Darius inside to watch over him. Dalin, Dram and Mirel would help get the team back to the cave and safely up the well to Outpost X. Kayla would accompany Igor in case the pack became too heavy for him (or if he away ran in fear, or changed form, or any other trouble the ex-humpback decided to make). Darius carefully climbed into the bag. After entering he seemed to float downwards. 20' down at the bottom he saw the figure of Brother Ben and supplies he took for Igor's. The space was large. The "floor" was about 10' square and seemed to be made of just blackness. The hole above could be seen, but its light did not illuminate into the space within. Fortunately Darius could see given his dwarfen eyesight.

He tried to jump and climb his wait back out without success. Then an enormous hand reached in the top. It searched around in the first few feet of space, but the dwarf could not reach it. Yelling out he heard no response back or outside noise. Then he felt himself drifting upward and all of a sudden the hand yanked him out of the sack. Outside of the backpack the others slowly saw the dwarf emerge like some charlatan's trick in a passing gypsy carnival caravan. First his head emerged, then his shoulders, until Darius was completely out. It was a good first test and everyone was amazed, even Igor, though he tried to hide it. "I called out your name and felt your hand upon mine. We are lucky it worked." said Kayla.

After the initial experimentation, the band traveled back to the cave as planned: Ben and Darius inside the sack. When they reached the archway Mirel and Kayla quickly remembered that those inside the sack could not travel through without being hurt. Unsure if Igor, who could travel through, was enough to ensure his passengers safe passage the group decided on another solution. Mirel was slowly lowered into the sack too. Although she was scared and could not see she bravely explained what those outside the bag had planned. With that she grabbed Ben and Darius's hands and waited to be pulled back out. Igor and Kayla walked through while Dram stood in the archway to ensure everyone safe passage. Only Mirel, Igor, and he had passed through safely before.

Once in the stairway room with the magic archway Kayla stopped the group. Remembering she had not cast her spell for the day she started mumbling words under her breath. The strange sigils in the frame of the archway came clear to her. She finally learned the answer to the riddle. "Speak my name," it said. She told those outside the pack the answer to the archway riddle was the same as the circle. Zelligar needed to be said if they wanted to pass through safely. This explained why the kobolds and rats and spiders could not pass through before, but not why they could once dead. In any case, the band did not stick around to ponder the contradiction.

Now safely above ground, the well guards were let off duty for a few minutes so the discrepancy of the number of the group exiting the well was not noticed. In the privacy of the infirmary Ben and Darius were pulled out of the pack by calling their names. Each was put abed while the others rested for the day. It would be awhile before they would enter Quesquaton again. Brother Ben could not be safely moved, so a second trip to Father Hedrach at Margrave Keep was not an option. Instead, the Brothers Gresslam watched over the two, while rest of the crew took up their daily chores. Later in the evening dark storm clouds gathered over Outpost Xavier. The wind picked up and cold rain began to fall. The soldiers in the yard all stayed in their tents except those unfortunate few who were on watch or patrol. The storm churned wickedly above the tower blacking out all light such that it was difficult to tell when the next morning had come.