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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 7609224" data-attributes="member: 143">Chapter 297“He’s alive,” Quellan said.Glori leaned forward until they were almost touching.  The cleric was kneeling in the center of a small cleared space within the interior of the temple where they had taken shelter.  At least that was what they had guessed the place to be.  They had found the remains of what might have been statues, but most of the place was choked with rubble from the partially collapsed ceiling and crumbling walls.  The others were gathered around the half-orc as he peered into nothing, lost within the power of his locate creature spell.  Outside the open doorway night had already descended over the city, but since all of the survivors of the group could see in the dark, they hadn’t bothered with a light that could attract more of the apes or other predators.“Where is he?” Glori asked.  She and the others were covered in dirt and stone dust that formed uniform masks over their features.  She, Kosk, and Xeeta had spent most of the previous afternoon trying to dig out the collapse that filled the sinkhole in the plaza outside.  All they had found was dirt and stone, and finally had had to give up their efforts when they had threatened a wider collapse of the surrounding area.Quellan’s brow tightened with concentration, and he lifted an arm to point roughly to the north, more or less in the direction they’d been headed when the girallons had attacked them.  “He’s almost at the range of my spell, he…”  He shook his head and let out an angry sound.“What?” Glori asked.  “What happened?”“I lost him,” Quellan said.“Did he move outside the spell’s range?” Kosk asked.“No.  He just… he just disappeared.  It felt… strange.  Almost like something was resisting the link established by the spell.”“Well, at least we know he’s alive,” Xeeta said.“And it looks like he found a way back up to the surface,” Glori said.“I don’t know if he did,” Quellan said.  “From what I got… it wasn’t a clear connection, but I think he might have still been underground.”“That would suggest that there’s a considerable underground complex beneath the city,” Kosk said.  “Old sewers, perhaps.”“It doesn’t matter,” Glori said.  “We have to find him.”“You are exhausted,” Kosk said.  The dwarf didn’t comment on his own recent brush with death, though there were dark circles under his eyes and his skin remained pale beneath the coat of gray dust.  “It would be reckless to explore the city at night, and you need sleep.  Quellan got a chance to sleep, but the rest of us didn’t get anything more than a short rest.”“I’m fine,” Glori said.  “I still have plenty of spells left, and Xeeta…”“I used a good portion of my higher order magic in the battle with the apes,” the sorceress said, “but I assure you that I can manage more blasting if needed.”“We can all see in the dark,” Glori pointed out.  “Bredan could be hurt, or otherwise be in trouble…”“It’s not just about spells, or the time of day,” Kosk said.  “Even with Quellan’s healing, we’re still beat up.  We won’t help Bredan if we get ourselves killed trying to get to him.”“Kosk has a valid point,” Quellan said.  “I used up all of my diamonds to revivify him.  I cannot repeat the spell if another should fall.”  His gaze lingered on Glori as he spoke, and a deep sadness filled his eyes.Glori’s response was interrupted as Rodan entered the building.  The tiefling scout had recovered a few usable arrows, but otherwise looked as worn down as the rest of them, if not as injured.  “There’s no sign that any more of those apes are lingering anywhere nearby, but there were definitely more of them than the ones we fought,” he reported.  “The death of the big one seems to have frightened them off for now, but I won’t go so far as to say that they’re gone for good.”  He took in the scene and looked at Quellan.  “Did you learn anything?”“Bredan’s alive,” Glori said.  “He’s somewhere further on near the city center.”“That’s good news,” Rodan said.  “Very good.  Can you lead us to him?”“The connection was very brief,” Quellan said.  “I can only say that he was somewhere along the course that we were headed before the attack.”“Kosk thinks it’s a bad idea to press on during the night,” Xeeta said.“Normally I would agree with him,” Rodan said.  “Darkvision is no substitute for daylight, and there are plenty of places to hide in these ruins.  Also, we haven’t had much luck with the daytime predators thus far.  I can only imagine that the nocturnal ones are just as bad, if not worse.”“We’ve already lost eight hours while Quellan prayed for his location spell,” Glori said.  “If we wait until morning, he might have moved on, and we’ll lose even the limited information we have now.”“Perhaps we should take a vote,” Xeeta said.“All right,” Glori said.  “All in favor of setting out immediately, raise your hands.”Xeeta and Glori raised their hands, followed by Rodan.  After a moment, Quellan did as well.The others looked at Kosk, who frowned but finally nodded.  “All right, we keep going,” he said.</blockquote>

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