[AU] Butterfly Cage

[ES2]

*The man looks and sees that the other bowmen, both giants, and Voes are otherwise engaged with the other members of your party. He slips one hand into one of his battleclaws, but then holds it flat against his body with his other hand. He leans well into strike range, seemingly unafraid.*

"I don't like mojh," he says simply, keeping his voice low, "But I am a fair man. I thought I saw marks on the walls of the cave, and prints in the dust, and to me they looked like marks from a mojh. But unless you can move at the speed of thought, I don't think you could have triggered a cave-in from so far away as you were. And the tracks were far too fresh. However, if I say my speculations out loud Aa-Namay will gut you like a fish in the time it takes to blink. So, go into the cave and tell me if one of your kind had anything to do with this, and where it is hiding." He turns, and sees Galen going into the cave. "Look, one of your friends is already going in. We have to catch up before he erases the tracks by accident," he says, cursing under his breath.

*Galen, you start into the cave, but it is still very dusty, and as dark as a tomb. You're going to need a light before you get much farther.*

Whispering"Not many like my kind, I'm used to it. Plus, my friend just saved Aa-Namay's sister, so I doubt she will gut me without first asking. And I thought only her sister and the faen went into the cave, and you archers stayed out here guarding, so how did you see these marks?"

Scinathar takes a step back and stands a step behind Mochor's left shoulder.

 

[Rybaer]

Too much talking and planning, Grathis thinks to himself. Caution is okay, but overplanning leads to hesitancy when the unexpected happens.

"My eyes can see better than a human in poor lighting," Grathis says. "I will lead the way in. Will someone carry a torch behind me so that I can wield my weapons, or must I do that as well?"

 

[Isida Kep'Tukari]

Originally posted by ES2:
"Not many like my kind, I'm used to it. Plus, my friend just saved Aa-Namay's sister, so I doubt she will gut me without first asking. And I thought only her sister and the faen went into the cave, and you archers stayed out here guarding, so how did you see these marks?"

"I saw them right after we pulled Aa-Maray out. Some on the wall, and some in the dust, like the mojh had been hiding further down the passage and ran just after the cave-in," he whispers back.

 

[Dalamar]

"If you give me a moment to rearrange my runic pathways, I should be able to conjure a globe of light. It wouldn't last long, but I'd prefer that to carrying a torch."

 

[ES2]

"I saw them right after we pulled Aa-Maray out. Some on the wall, and some in the dust, like the mojh had been hiding further down the passage and ran just after the cave-in," he whispers back.

Scinathar then walks away from the bowman and heads on over to Sanje and Grathis, and motions for Mochor to bring the bowman with him.

Arriving in front of them both, "Let me enter first, I can see in the dark better than most. There is something about this that interests me." He pauses, looks at Mochor, then continues, "Your light will be beneficial as a backup, so bring it along."

Scinathar reaches out with is hand, "Let's tie that rope around my waist......just in case." When he finishes he looks hard at the hostile bowman. "And he," - pointing at the bowman, "will stand next to you Sirrat Sanje as we enter, and Mochor behind him.....just in case."

 

[Isida Kep'Tukari]

*Since people are inpatient to enter the cave, Galen's idea to wait for him to be able to create light is put aside. Mochor lights a torch, and the caving party wraps a rope around their waist as well as to each other. Scinathar is in front, with Grathis behind, then Galen, Sanje, Telof the bowman, and Mochor. The others stay outside to keep watch... unless they want to join the exploratory party.*

*As you go in you all see dust thick in the air, but through that you can see that this seems to be a natural passage, rather than a mined passage. About thirty feet into it you see the cave-in. There must have been two branches to this passage, but now one is firmly caved-in. There's a splash of blood on the wall, and some disturbed rocks and drag marks; this must be from where they pulled Aa-Ma'ray.*

*Galen, as you're inspecting the site of the cave-in, an unusual bit of rock catches your eye. Picking it up, it seems to be a part of a wall. One side is carved, and the other is smooth, though the edges are jagged. The carved side has symbols of snowflakes, billows of air, and pine trees on it. It shimmers very fairly in the torchlight, as if there are flecks of something shiney in the otherwise gray stone.*

*Scinathar, Telof moves the whole group very slowly down the passage and has you halt about another fifteen feet further away from the cave-in site. There is a crack in the rock, not wide enough to hold a human, but someone either very slender or very small could have fit in there. In the dust you can clearly see some footprints. They're somewhat smudged, but what is telling is the between the footprints there is another smudge at regular intervals... such as a tail hitting the ground in between strides. At the edge of the crack, you can see light scraches into the stone, four of them, about what a hand with very sharp claws would make. As you peer inside, you find something startling. There is a length of gray rope, the color of the walls, on the end of which is a piton.*

 

[Dalamar]

Galen picks up the rock and puts it inside his backpack, intent on researching it further at a later time. He has a sneaking suspicion that the images aren't just paintings...

 

[WizWrm]

Sanje notices Galen picking up the rock. "Ah, excellent. We've made progress already. What is that you've found?"

 

[Jaik]

Mochor tries to stay close to the front of the group to be close to his charge, trying to watch in all directions at once, especially at the human who led his charge into a tunnel which has already collapsed once...Every sense alert (Sense the Unseen), Mochor looks up and down the tunnel...

 

[Keia]

Connor rested from his casting while the others explored the inside of the cavern. Although he desperately wanted to go inside, he wasn't willing to risk missing something important as he explored because he was tired.