Chapter 7: More Tangled Webs!
-----The warrior stops in his tracks when he sees Raven return. Narrowing his eyes at the hunter, he begins to agree, "Um...Yeah. I guess yer right."
-----Sol replies to the halfling, "We're looking for them now. Just try an' relax. Let these people tend t'ye." With more than enough healers around, he rises to help Raven and Seth search the rest of the room.
-----Seth says, "I’ll keep looking for any secret doors, just in case." The half-elven musician then begins looking further.
-----Sol walks over to Raven and confers quietly with him.
-----Eyeing his wound, the Dread Pirate responds to Rinda, "Narrr, I feel alright. It'd take more than a pathetic little spider bite to lay out the Dread Pirate. Just keep an eye out though, in case I start convulsing and frothing at the mouth. Well, more than usual anyway."
-----Rinda smiles at the Dread Pirate and then nods across to Sarah. "It’s fortunate in a way for these webs." Looking down at the halfling patient, she explains, "He’s been bitten, but somehow the poison hasn’t affected him." She points to bite marks on his arms. "The webs seemed to have worked like bandages to keep him from bleeding to death."
-----After helping Sarah cover his wounds with bandages, the huntress looks up at Sol and Raven. "He’s weak and dazed, but he can be moved."
-----Looking somewhat forlorn at his lost chance to 'oil up', the Dread Pirate disconsolately yanks his pants back on, then his shirt and armor. "I think we should take him outside while we search the rest of this place. Leave a couple people with him on guard, just in case, while we continue the search. Time may be of the essence here. We can't waste it by having everybody escort this landlubber out of here." The Dread Pirate places his oil flask back in his pack and shoulders the load once again.
-----Sarah rolls her eyes and actually seems to stifle a laugh at the Dread Pirate’s comment, but soon her attention is returned to the halfling on the floor. "How many others are missing? Can you describe them?" Sarah asks calmly and quietly of the halfling man, whom she mistook for a child earlier.
-----Seth catches Sol's eye and shakes his head with a sad look on his face. He moves over near the Dread Pirate and looks into his eyes. "Sure you are all right?"
-----The halfling looks over toward Sarah with a dazed look. "Arian . . . he was with me." His words come out weak and forced. "We . . were looking . . . for our children."
-----Rinda gets out her waterskin and gently raises his head to drink.
-----Sol straightens after Raven responds, and says to the group, "Dread's right. We're goin' t'have t'continue searching this place fer our other quarries. A couple of us should either escort Jamison home, or wait fer us above. Maybe just out o' sight, in case others come along." He looks at each companion and adds, "Rinda, perhaps ye could continue looking after him, considerin' his condition...who else?"
-----Sarah stands upright and looks at the party with determination in her eyes. "We're going to tear this place upside down looking for those children. Don't worry, we'll find Arian and the children."
-----Moving away from the halfling she says to the others. "There is no way that Devlin isn't involved here, whatever we just killed they don't occur naturally, I'm sure of it. Maybe Krondor is involved too. We must be getting closer to the darkness. Let's search the rest of the room and be going, we’ve got a lot of work to do."
-----"Sarah!" Sol snaps with more than a little frustration. His voice softens, as he looks at Jamison, then back to the group he says, "We’re done searching this room. It's time to get Jamison out o' here. Rinda?" With more than a little pleading in his eyes, Sol bids the huntress to accept that responsibility.
-----Nodding at Sol, the huntress calls on Kazel to help her carry the downed halfling out. She lifts him behind the shoulders and begins to help carry him out with. When they leave, the torchlight shows on the body, the webbing and, . . . some small bones.
-----After Rinda's torchlight fades down the corridor, Sol sighs and looks at Sarah, "I'm sorry I bit yer ear off. But we've already found the others. What's left o' them." His lips purse and a frown plants itself on his forehead in disgust, but refusing to dwell on it the warrior turns to the hunter, "Raven, do ye think ye can pick up on the tracks of that man's and the ogre's. We should probably start by following their movements."
-----"No!" Sarah exclaims, just as frustrated. "That can't be all of them! We've got to find the other kids! They have to be still alive!" Sarah’s eyes look damp in the torchlight. "They have to be alive." She says again, weakly. "We've gotta search the rest of this building."
-----The Dread Pirate sighs at the news of the childrens' deaths, "Aye, I figgered that might be the case when Raven came back so soon and shook his head. I suppose it were definitely the spiders? If it were, then we have no cause fer vengeance against the ogres. I don't argue that the ogres are a menace and need to be dealt with, but we should take the remains o' the children to their families fer a proper burial. We can't just leave 'em here in a cave fer the vermin to gnaw on. It’s a hard duty, but it be the right thing to do. If we have some extra cloth, we'd best wrap up the bodies and get' em to their home. We can come back fer the ogres."
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