Second Adventure 02: The Northern Cave

Outside Group:
You determine that the Orc just cast Exit, a Yellow Heavy spell, Maximized.

"Wait... you know what he is?"

He pointed to Rory.

"Always thought he was some strange elf."

"well, we dont know where he went, but what did he do while he was here...."
Araiguna starts creeping back toward the cave ever more cautiously until he can see inside.

Spoiler:

The Tusker nods. "Yes, he is a Human. A creature I have never seen amongst the mainland, but are quite common amongst Aphus Lassel."

Topside Group:
By this point in time the rune is now hovering in place a few feet in the air, glowing a bright violet. It is going to activate its control mechanism within seconds.

"What...?" Rory had completely changed his tune. This Tusker needed to stay alive. If it had any connection to his people, he was going to get some answers.

"We should stay here for tonight. Someone's responsible for what's happening to the water, and we need to catch them." Turning to the Tusker, he added, "In the meantime, you and I have some catching up to do."

*Kezrinthka takes a deep ragged breath. The adrenaline quickly left her body and she shivered once. She had a bad feeling about this. What had he been doing*

Spoiler:

Snarg plops down on the floor after grabbing the nearest hunk of meat and questions the Tusker: "Eh, a hoard just sittin' here? Ya ain't hearin' 'bout stuff like that 'cept in tales. Why ya guardin' a bunch of gold sittin' around?"

Spoiler:

"Thank you for the food, but what is a human?" He looks over at Rory a bit abashedly, "I thought you were an elf born with massive birth defects."

"take Cover!" araiguna dives behind some rocks near the enterence of the cave trying his best to stay hidden yet maintain line of sight into the cave. he then procedes to reload his crossbow

Spoiler:

"I wouldn't say birth defect... he's just missing good ears."

Zeiss turned to the Tusker. He seemed actually friendly.

Tusker Group:
"Oh it's not that much," the Tusker muses. "A few thousand gold, I counted out to 10,000 before I lost interest. Some gems, and of course the Mirror Key, whatever that is." He shrugs, clearly disinterested. "In any case it was all brought here by the others. I do not know why, only what I can speculate." He taps a part of the ceiling and for the first time you can see a very thin vein of Pyreal running along it. "They are experimenting on something. I do not know why or what, but they are watching everything I do, the prisoner does, and those up top do. And I imagine rumors of this treasure have been spread around, to entice people here."

Topside Group:
Kezrinthka is almost positive that the Orc had activated the rune manually somehow.

Rory craned his neck to the point where Kolson was in the corner of his eye. "We're from Vasayen," he said. "And when I saw my first elf, I thought you were the ones born wrong. Still," he added with a smirk, "your women are quite an eyeful."

"but why try to bring more people hear and what do you do witht the prisoners?"

Tusker Group:
"Humans are an old race," the Tusker explains. "They were brought here by the old ones, long long before any of us were born. Slaves and whatnot. We, too," he thuds his chest with a resounding thump, "were slaves of the old ones, or so Oulutanga tells us. None of us have lived long enough to remember those dark days. One day they vanished, and the rest of us were freed, though still imprisoned, sealed on island or continent. We Tuskers," he shakes his head, "We were not welcomed here on Dereth. Many of us fled to the Dires to seek refuge amongst the nightmares of Grievvers and Rifts and worse, for we are a strong breed. But over time Oulutanga learned of a way to open small portals for brief periods of time, allowing transport to and from Aphus Lassel. I was, in fact, born on Aphus Lassel, and journeyed here with a desire to see further lands." He shakes his head, a note of sorrow entering his tone. "I wanted to explore, and was imprisoned for my arrogance. I should never have abandoned home, nor the Dires."

Snarg perks up suddenly and begins speaking before finishing his food: "Prisonhoer? Who'sh yagh gaughth?"

10 000 pieces of gold. And the Mirror Key. He wanted that mirror, even if he didn't know what it could do. Even some treasure hunters searched for it.

"Look, Mister... O'ulan... Like my colleague said, we are here to solve the water problem. But I won't lie : I'm really interested by that gold. If we help you set yourself free, can you let us take this treasure? I'm sure you want to get home."

Tabran Cole wrote:"but why try to bring more people hear and what do you do witht the prisoners?"

"I keep them locked in the eastern room. I ensure they are cared for and fed, but until the others come I do not allow them to leave." He lets out a very strange, melancholy wail that echoes in the cavern. "I detest imprisoning others as I am imprisoned, but unless I can find some way to escape I see no alternative."

Snarg performs a hard swallow to clear his mouth. "Eh, how far can ya go before the field stops ya? Ya know where it's comin' from?"

Note to self: Human women ugly. Explore at more pertinent time. "Which island is that, Rory? How did you manage to get here? You don't seem as...capable as our new friend here."

araiguna seeing the stone that was fished out of the river and seeing the commotion inside decides to investigate how the stone that was in the river may be related to whats happening inside

Spoiler:

*upon hearing the warning shout Kezrinthka dashes around the corner of the cave*

Spoiler:

Tusker Group:
The Tusker nods his massive head. "I would very much like to be free. If you are able to do so, the others' treasure is yours, but I would venture caution. Any group as powerful and dedicated as this is not one to steal from lightly." He turns down towards the Gnoll. "I can reach the cave's entrance, but no further. I have almost no experience with this type of magic, it is... odd. Not quite Elemental, but still having taints of it. It is... unpleasant." He cocks his head to the side. "It occurred to me, more than once, to simply bring the cavern down and flee through the rubble, but I am not certain how far out the field extends, and wish no harm to the village by blocking their source of water with rock."

"humm how often do there's mages come? also how long has the woman been outside and do you know anything about why she's there?"

"That's a bit relative, don't you think?" Rory replied, a little hurt. "I lived in an exclusive settlement. About three weeks ago, we were attacked by bandits that hadn't grown their sea legs. The ship got attacked by a sea monster out on the ocean. I should have drowned, but I washed ashore on another continent."