Move 228: After Resting
Tunnels--Early, Day 11Renn used healing spells on Echo, Jana, and Olaf, then went down the tunnel to cast his warding spell. Everyone sat around, not doing much. Since they had only been awake a couple of hours, no one was really tired enough to go to sleep, except Arachne, who rarely seemed to have any trouble at least looking like she was asleep whenever she wished. Eventually, watches were set and people went to sleep. Daelen woke up about the time Arachne stirred and was feeling up to healing people again. He didn't feel up to watching or doing anything other than sleeping. Blacky woke up a bit later and benefited from some more of Arachne's healing.
No trolls, or anything else, showed up to disturb their rest. Everyone got up and got ready to do whatever came next.
Olaf got up and moved to Daelen, Blacky, Jana, and Echo using his healing prayers on them.
Echo thanked Olaf. She asked Jana quietly, "Are you feeling okay this morning?"
"Yeah," Jana said, after a moment's pause. "Guess it was something I ate.”
Not in need of any healing, Aloysius sat off by himself and studied his spellbook.
"How soon will it be afore we return?" he asked no one in particular.
"Uh, which way were we going?" Arachne asked him back.
"Soon's Blacky and Daelen feel good enough for it," Jana replied. She looked over at the two. "We can't afford to go in with our front line beat all to hell."
Aloysius frowned as he looked around at all the others attending their injuries. "I wish there were something Stargazer could do to help," he said quietly. "All of you were clawed and bitten and . . . .broken. Stargazer suffered not a scratch." His voice held a hint of guilt.
He sat with his back to the cavern wall, his knees folded to his chest. "If anyone needs anything, please let me know," he said finally. "I wonder how many more of them are left," he asked under his breath.
"Which," Jana said firmly, "was exactly how the plan was supposed to work. Me and Blacky and Daelen wre supposed to knock 'em down, Renn and Olaf take care of any that got past us, and you and Echo and Azrun and Arachne oil and torch 'em. We won; we took them out and we're all alive. And we'll all be fine with a little rest and a little more help from the gods and mind-magic. We did good," she concluded, rather firmly. "And you did really good, Aloysius."
The mage smiled. "It did seem that my spells helped a bit more than they usually do," he said uncomfortably. "With Mystra's blessing, that will continue to be the case. Janathell, you may feel free to direct me in combat when the need arises again. I rather like the way our last venture turned out."
Olaf smiled and nodded in obvious agreement with Jana.
"You have no way of finding something like that out safely?" Arachne asked him. "I'd offer to outfit myself with Echo's invisibility and maybe the boots and go have a looksee, but I suspect that you'd rather have all the medics -- the good ones as well as the second class one -- focus on patching people up. And I was thinking of going myself rather than volunteering Echo," she added, "first because it's impolite to volunteer other people and second, because I was thinking I'd make myself very sensitive and thus try to find out what I could smell or hear without having to get actually inside their nest. Or listen at the walls for trollish vibrations," she mused. "But I suppose we don't want to know _that_ much."
"I suppose that the rest of you would prefer to remove our camp to somewhere else," she suggested. "At least, until more of us feel more like sleeping for a proper night's length." She shrugged. "I'd be a more efficient little healer just staying here and meditating and then using the spooky mind magic on people -- but you'd all probably go a little crazy staring at the same hewn rock for as long as it would take us to patch up everyone entirely. I'm just saying -- I don't know what I'm saying, except that, Jana, if we're going to move from here, well, there it is."
She turned to trailing after Olaf and after he'd visited Blacky, she followed up with him.
Between Olaf and Arachne, everyone was brought back to full health.
Rennirolas checked bandages and such when he pulled himself from his reverie, and hummed a soft elvish tune as he did so. "I have a full complement of healing spells at the ready," he said lightly. "But should we desire to stay here until Olaf and Arachne are capable of recovering their energy and focus, well, that is fine by me as well, though any surviving trolls might get a touch curious," the pale elf grinned.
"Oh, I expected about that many. I just didn't expect them to be so big and ferocious. They must look twice as large to someone of your stature, eh Arachne. No wonder the gnomes didn't want to take them on." Blacky said looking over his now healed wounds in amazement. "Yeah I thing it went just fine, other than Daelen and my near death experience that is. They probably won't be able to be lured out like that again. Much as I hate to say it we should be prepared for a tougher battle the next time. They'll likely be ready and waiting for us."
Arachne had settled herself against a wall and closed her eyes after healing whomever. She didn't move, but said "Big is big is big. Once you have to look up to see someone's face, the exact distance doesn't really matter that much. And I tried not to look up that often, anyway, waiting until they were more like lumps of butchered meat -- uh, putrid butchered meat, actually -- set for the flame broiling." She considered, then said, "You know, what we were doing yesterday really doesn't bear dwelling on, does it? Azrun, do you think anybody could manage to make a glorious tale out of it?"
Azrun smiled, "I believe it could be done. I keep a journal of our travels. I gave it to Aloysius when I left before, so he could look back at where we had been. I still record our travels and deeds."
Echo said, "I can make someone invisible and whoever wants to can use the boots for scouting if that's what you want to do."
"I suggested it," Arachne said. "And it looks like the healing's all accomplished, so I'm hardly needed for that. So, if you'd like me to go scout, I'm willing to do that. On the other hand, if you're all eager to go troll-hunting, that's fine too. We do have a pretty good notion where the trolls are to be found..."
"We know where they are, and they have already sustained important losses," interjected Aloysius. "I would suggest that we return as soon as we can and strike at them anew. Perhaps Echo could use the invisibility spell on one of the fighters so as to give them a chance at surprise."
He shrugged. "I'm ready to do whatever Janathell suggests. She is, after all, our battle leader."
Olaf nodded, "Yes, either plan has advantages. Aside from some momentary tension we did well. Another foray seems best. I'm certain this will be a long, blood drenched buisness, slowly exterminating these trolls. But even boring jobs like this must be done."
Azrun looked to Aloysius, "Perhaps we should both memorize a web spell for the coming trip then. If we need to fall back, a double web might be able to cover more area and cover our retreat better. What do you think?"
"You know," Jana said thoughtfully, "If we could cast a web on each side of 'em, close-packed if possible, throw oil at 'em if not, then torch 'em... Those webs burn pretty good, don't they?"
Aloysius considered Azrun's suggestion. "Already have I such a spell prepared. Unsure am I if we could catch the trolls between two webs as Janathell hath suggested. The webs created by the spell are quite voluminous and can not be decreased at the will of the caster. I see not how we could catch the trolls in between two webs without catching ourselves as well."
He wrung his hands and his eyes became distant. "But we could certainly employ a web spell as the trolls approached. If we could catch them INSIDE the webs, then we could ply them with oil afore igniting the entire area. The webs are quite flammable. I think it would be more prudent to keep one web spell in reserve for purposes of covering our retreat, as we did so afore."
"Besides," he added, "I know not how long the webs could hold a troll. They seem quite strong."
"In that case we might as well take out sweet time and come up with some strategy in advance." Daelen sat up and held his head like it was about to fly off. After a moment to steady himself, he took a long swig from his waterskin.
"I gave your 'following orders' idea a fair try," Daelen commented as he turned to Olaf, "I didn't much like the result this time around either - I'll take my chances from now on."
Azrun snorted and coughed something before turning his attention back to his journal.
"And you'll do it on your own as well," Jana replied firmly. "Your failure to follow orders let a troll through. I won't let you endanger others because you're too damned immature to act as a member of the team. Turn around and start walking. We can't afford your ego."
Daelen took a deep breath and seemed to swallow his angry response.
"Maybe you didn't hear me, I don't take orders from you." He said, focusing on a point on the cave roof somewhere across the tunnel.Aloysius, still seated against the chamber wall, tried to make like a threatened turtle and pulled his head back into his robe.
Olaf looked at Daelen like he is insane, "Surely you are not serious? If you _had_ followed orders you would have saved yourself and Blacky much pain."
"Maybe you didn't hear us," Jana countered. "You take orders from whomever we agree on as a group to be battle leader, same as we all do, or you get the hells out of here."
The old man shook his head, "You should not have come on this expedition if you were too weak to fulfill your obligations."
Daelen's glance shot back down to Olaf and he glared daggers at the priest.
"And you should not make insults if you don't have the fortitude to back them up. My obligations are my own buisness, I'm certainly not obligated to obey any of you. I am grateful for the healing you gave me so I'll ignore it this time - but if you dare call me weak again I'll be obligated to give you another stump." He said calmly, though the vein in his neck bulged with the effort not to raise his voice.
Olaf kept his steady gaze with his old, blue eyes on the warrior. "I never issue insults, I make observations. Do not threaten me, and do not act against this group." Olaf sighed, "If you had followed orders, you would not have needed healing. How do you think I became an old man? By not acting foolish. If I had, I would have been a tasty meat snack for some beast decades ago."
Olaf shook his head again, "Teamwork and cooperation do not mean that you have to surrender your freedom. Just your wasteful pride."
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