First Adventure 01.2: Zeiss, Higaide, Tabran, Evenar

"Everyone will come here? Already?"

The obvious was disconcerting.

"Well then, you can go back and warn the others. If they are coming to take care of the Gnolls, someone should stay here in case more of them enter the ravine. Or go out to raid the farms. Don't worry, twenty of them passed by me and I'm still alive. And if you want to know about the body, look.

Spoiler:

"So you want to try your luck with the next 20? What purpose do think you're accomplishing by staying here? We've lost the element of surprise, and you already know all you're going to. And what if i do go back, they get to me and decide to back off, am i to come back here and get you? Or maybe should someone else? Wolf-boy was all frell bent on rushing back here for you, in all his furry outstanding glory, should he come? And what if you're not here anymore, where do we look for you? Do we split? Do we rush the cave? How many more of us are you willing to jeopardize so you can play the hero?"

"(Sigh... well that's one less worry for now, i guess.)"

Higaide was... annoying.

"Can you please whisper when you're complaining? And why should we move? Our job is to kill the Gnolls. Raver will bring the rest of the group here, we move into the ravine and we get the job done. And while we wait, I keep watch."

Zeiss was maybe too direct. But he had no reason not to stay.

"Not even stopped to check on the one we killed..."

*Has been whispering the whole time. This is starting to get seriously mind-bending. He had to take a step back.

Again, his impulsive streak had been taking the better of him. He had gotten past it far less than he thought. The truth was, it was the brat in him that kept driving him forward into this mess, while the adult in him kept screaming at him to back off. He should have known better from the start, right when he told Tabran to head back.

Right now, he has to get past it. Really. There's a whole band likely coming from town that he needs to meet as far from here as possible, and his presence here really isn't helping the Elf hide any better. Just as he had told the wolf before, the best he could do right now was fall back and meet the others.

He pondered for a second whether he should drag the corpse back along, but at this point, it would be probably more harm tan good.*

"I'm going back."

*Crawls back through the grass, the way he came.*

Spoiler:

As the Elf rogue remains hidden within the grass, he spots three Gnolls coming up the staircase at a brisk walk. They begin moving about the area, and at a glance you can tell they are enacting what is going to be a regular patrol route. Similarly, you can also tell after some careful observation and thinking that one of them is going to stumble upon the Gnoll corpse from earlier fairly soon.

"Ah, great..."

Zeiss looked behind himself to see if it was possible to back off while staying hidden. If the Gnolls decided to check the area he was in, he would have to change his hiding spot. Maybe run.

GM

Spoiler:

*Careful to stay of out sight, slowly maneuvers (crawling) through the grass in order to get a clear running line to Zeiss's position. The idea is to be able to cover the distance between them if (and only if) Zeiss is spotted, and try to neutralize at least one of them, in order to make escape easier. Hoping he won't have to do it, Higaide moves into position, picking up whatever pebbles he can find. Maybe he can get a few extra seconds by distracting them. Anything at all is better than nothing at this point.*

Making sure not to be seen, Zeiss prepared his rapier. If one of the Gnolls came near his position, he would backstab him and make a run for it. He wouldn't be able to take the others by himself.

After a couple of minutes of tense waiting, one of the Gnolls barks out something in Undercommon.

Undercommon

Spoiler:

The three Gnolls abandon their pattern and rush over to the corpse of their fallen comrade. They say a few words, which you can't quite make out, before the three of them gather the body together and carry it back down the steps with surprising reverence.

*Tempted to let his breath out all at once, exhales slowly.*

"(It's only a matter of time now.)"

"By the..."

Zeiss sighed. He sheated his rapier. He thought about taking this chance and going back with Higaide to meet the others. But they shouldn't take long now. Soon, they would finally storm this place and be finished with this job.

"They do care about their dead... But just can't see them."

Spoiler: