Well they can't all be winners. When I started writing this they were going to get to the tomb, but I thought, "Lets go ahead and write out some of the travels on the Silken Path as a lead in to the tomb. Next thing I knew I was over 5000 words and I still hadn't gotten to the tomb. So this is a bit of a filler episode. The one where you have to hold back from throwing the remote through the TV and wonder how dare they waste your time on such drivel. My apologies.
Kuhl watched as the halfling struggled to free himself from the remnants of his web cocoon. Faerzress from far above bathed his form in azure light. Sweat beaded on his forehead and his skin was pale. He seemed weak, probably from the lingering effects of spider venom. If anything, his struggles entangled him more, undoing the work Yuk Yuk had performed to cut away the cocoon and get at the halfling's pouch and pockets.
"Help me," he said, voice hoarse. "Help me and I can lead you to a tomb we found. It's sure to hold lost treasure."
When neither guide moved, Kuhl side stepped along a strand towards the trapped halfling and drew his dagger. Standing on the web and having to maintain grips made cutting awkward. Kuhl worried he'd end up cutting the little fellow rather than the webs. Stool's shifting weight didn't help matters and neither did the thrashing of the one he tried to free.
"Hold still," Kuhl said.
His words were met with a glassy eyed stare and continued thrashing. He needed to calm the halfling somehow.
"Aleina?" Kuhl asked.
The aasimar came forward and laid a hand across the halflings' brow. He stilled and looked up at her. Kuhl wondered what he saw. He didn't know much about halflings, but he didn't think they could see as well in the dark as the rest of them. Aleina's hand glowed with pale radiance and the halfling moaned and pressed forward into her palm.
"You should be free of venom now," Aleina said.
The halfling smiled and nodded. Color returned to his brown complexion and he no longer thrashed. His curly brown hair with long sideburns gave him a shaggy appearance. Kuhl suspected it had been some time since the halfling's last haircut.
"Thank you," the halfling said. "Fargas Rumblefoot at your service."
"Aleina D'lusker," the aasimar said.
Sky spoke before Kuhl could introduce himself.
"What is a Rumblefoot?" the tabaxi asked.
Fargas's gaze shifted towards Sky, but Kuhl could tell he had difficulty seeing her in the darkness.
"A Rumblefoot is me," the halfling said. "Or another member of my family."
"But what does it mean?" Sky asked. "Rumblefoot?"
"Mean?" Fargas lay in the remnants of his cocoon of web, thinking. Then shrugged. "It's my family name. I don't know if it means anything."
"Maybe your ancestor got so hungry that when his stomach rumbled it sounded like it came all the way from his feet?" Sky asked, "But he only had one foot...because he lost one when it got bitten off by the goat head of a chimera?"
"Maybe?" Fargas answered after a moment of consideration. "All the family now are brewers and tavern keepers. Except me of course. Always more influenced by Brandobaris than Yondalla, much to the embarrassment of my mother."
Sky nodded. Shrouded in darkness as she was, it was again doubtful the halfling saw the motion.
"I'd actually like to compose that idea into a song," Rhianne said. "It has potential to be a fun one. Would you help me with it, Sky?"
"Of course," Sky said her tone grew solemn as she spoke to Fargas. "Your ancestor was very brave."
The halfling opened his mouth to speak, then closed it.
"As much as I love hearing Sky's theories on the meaning of Sir Rumblefoot's name," Jhelnae said. "Could we finish freeing him and leave before the spiders who cocooned him come back?"
"As guide I say is good idea," Yuk Yuk said.
"I'm in favor of that idea as well," Fargas said. "I sort of promised Yondalla I'd turn over a new leaf if she saved me. Go into the family business of tavern keeping rather than liberating gold from the undeserving. Can't really do that while caught in a web or inside a spider stomach, can I?"
"Then this time, hold still," Kuhl said, brandishing his dagger. "I'm Kuhl by the way."
The halfling did stay still and the half-elf had an easier time cutting away the web. His curly hair was hopelessly entangled and stuck and in places Kuhl cut the hair rather than the web.
"How many of you are there?" Fargas asked as the half-elf worked.
"Including our guides there are thirteen of us," Kuhl said.
"So many?" Fargas asked. "I've met you, the little one on your back, and the lady who cured me of the venom. Who else is there?"
Stool let forth a cloud of empathy spores and the halfling's eyes widened.
"I see," Fargas said. "An interesting mix of individuals."
Kuhl smiled. "That is one way to put it. Let me help you out of this cocoon."
He guided the halfling's hands and feet to webbing. The obvious difficulty Fargas had in even finding the strands made Kuhl realize the little fellow wouldn't be able to traverse the web without light. As if reading his mind, Fargas came to the same conclusion.
"Can I have some light to see?" the halfling asked.
"No light on Silken Path!" Yuk Yuk said. "Light brings spiders."
"It did." Fargas seemed to shudder with the memory. "And my friends were eaten. But without light I can't see."
"I don't care," Yuk Yuk said. "I not your guide. No light."
"You are his guide," Kuhl said. "He is part of our group now. Can you get him some grease?"
"Not part of your group when we made deal," Yuk Yuk said. "And he has no coins to pay for guide."
"I hate to point out the obvious," Eldeth said. "But he has no coins to pay because you emptied his pouch and pockets."
The goblin shrugged in response. "Don't work for free. If work for free we back to being slaves."
"He said he could lead the way to treasure you stupid goblin," Ront said.
"That I can," Fargas said.
"He said he can lead to tomb that 'is sure to' hold lost treasure," Yuk Yuk said. "Tombs hold dead things that not stay dead and 'is sure to' mean him not sure. Web Runners understand double meanings. We keep making coins as guides."
"We'll pay for him," Kuhl said. He pulled another piece of gold from his belt pouch.
Ront snorted. "You know nothing of negotiating with goblins. First thing is you don't negotiate. You tell them what to do for you and they do it. Or else."
Yuk Yuk scrambled forward, keeping his distance from the orc, and snatched the gold from Kuhl's fingers.
"Is deal," the goblin guide said.
Yuk Yuk went to Fargas and slathered his hands and feet with a layer of grease.
"Now that I'm part of your group I don't suppose I could have my things back?" the halfling asked. "Coins and potion of invisibility?"
Yuk Yuk shook his head. "We found on dead body. Spider food."
"But thanks to your friend, Aleina," Fargas said, "I got better."
"Dead when we found," Yuk Yuk said.
"I see," the halfling said with a voice full of doubt. "Very well."
"Someone is going to have to carry you," Kuhl said. "Since you can't see without light. Derendil?"
The halfling's eyes widened as the quaggoth's monstrous form came into his view.
"I don't suppose someone else could carry me," Fargas said. "No offense sir. I've always been overly sensitive to fur."
The halfling gave a small sneeze in support of his words.
"And overly sensitive to keen teeth and rending claws too, no doubt," Derendil said in Elvish.
Rumblefoot's eyes widened again, this time in surprise. Kuhl understood, recalling his first meeting with Derendil. The cultured Elvish voice was incongruous to his quaggoth form, even with that form stuffed into a lace shirt and with a combed tuft of fur on top of his head. The halfling didn't seem to understand Elvish and didn't answer.
"Your choices are an elvish prince cursed in quaggoth form," Kuhl said. "Or an orc who would probably cast you into the webs after a few steps."
"You wouldn't even make it a few steps," Ront said. "I'm not carrying anyone."
"You know I just remembered my fur sensitivity is very specific," Fargas said. "Cat fur no, but quaggoth fur should be fine."
"Hey!" Sky said. "No one has ever been sensitive to this glossy coat!"
"This is luck unearned," Derendil said. "The fur of our fair tabaxi is anathema to him, while mine is not. Thus, I receive the honor of carrying him."
When they'd requisitioned equipment from the Stone Guard they'd modified several duergar backpacks into one for the quaggoth. Derendil scooped up the halfling and, with a loosening of straps, shoved him between his back and pack, much as Stool rode on Kuhl.
"What did he say?" Fargas asked.
"He says it is his pleasure to carry you," Kuhl said. "But also, to hold on to the straps of the pack and to try not and pull his fur."
"Strange he would grin so broadly saying that," the halfling said. "And show so many sharp teeth."
"He just wants you to feel welcome," Kuhl said
"Are you sure you were raised among elves?" Derendil asked. "You translate poorly."
"You'd rather he clings to your fur?
"Poor translator, but the soul of sound advice," Derendil said. "It's a fair trade."
They continued on the Silken Path. Whether through luck, the lack of light, the skill of their guides, or a combination of the three, they encountered no spiders.
Kuhl's was footsore and arm sore by the time Yuk Yuk and Spiderbait led them to a rocky ledge to rest. With their hands and feet coated with grease and without the stickiness of the web to compensate, the companions crawled onto the ledge on hands and knees.
"This good place." Yuk Yuk pointed upward. "All dark. No blue light. No bad dreams."
"You also have bad dreams down here in the Underdark?" Aleina asked.
She spread her bedroll out along the ledge, then turned and sat on it, back against the cliff wall.
"Bad dreams come recently," Spiderbait said. "Brought by the blue light."
"The faerzress?" Kuhl asked.
He too, like most of the others, now sat on his bedroll. The thin layer of cushion did not stop him from feeling the jutting, uneven surface of the ledge underneath. Kuhl was so exhausted he did not care. It had been a relief to take off his pack and leather armor. He rubbed at where the straps had dug into his shoulders with the combined weight of Stool and the pack. The half-elf was bone weary and decided even reaching for his pack for something to eat was too much effort. In contrast Stool, who had been confined to his back, stretched his legs. The myconid wove his way among the companions on the ledge, periodically releasing empathy spores.
"What is faerzress?" Yuk Yuk asked.
"The blue dancing light," Kuhl said. "The drow call it the faerzress."
"If it is the blue light then, yes," the goblin guide said. "Bad dreams."
The companions exchanged looks. Except of Derendil, who had strange dreams of another sort, they'd all been plagued by nightmares. Could the faerzress be the source? It pervaded most places in the Underdark. In some places, like the tunnels under Gracklstugh, concentrated, and in other places more of a background presence. Kuhl couldn't recall them resting in a place where it had not been present.
Later, these thoughts ran through Kuhl's mind as he stared up into the darkness, hands behind his head. Just as he was about to drift off to sleep to learn if the goblins spoke the truth a sound caught his attention. He turned and saw Aleina dragging her bedroll closer.
"I didn't wake you, did I?" she whispered. "I can't get comfortable. Normally the bedroll is enough, but this ledge is full of jutting rocks."
She positioned her bedroll diagonal to his. Normally the aasimar was a welcome presence. But normally he hadn't spent hours clinging to web strands while carrying a myconid sprout. Normally jutting rocks weren't digging into his back.
"Fair warning," Kuhl said. "My tunic is full of dried sweat from traveling on the webs today. It probably reeks."
Despite his words he pulled his hands from behind his head to give her easier access to his shoulder.
"What do you think I was doing all day, Kuhl?" Aleina said, making final adjustments to her bedroll's position. "I won't be able to smell you over me. Ahhh, much better."
She laid her head on his shoulder and snuggled in. Rocks dug deeper into Kuhl's back. He sighed, but she misinterpreted its meaning.
"I missed you too, Kuhl."
"Hey, you don't need to rub it in over there," Jhelnae said in a hissing whisper. "Sky has first watch and so some of us are using rocks as a pillow. Literally. As in I can feel a rock trying to pierce my skull through this bedroll."
"Oh, quit your whining, Jhelnae," Aleina said. "He has two shoulders. If you are that uncomfortable, come on over."
"Is that all right?" Jhelnae asked.
Kuhl thought of the many ways it would not be all right. He was so very tired and now had one shoulder pinned by a resting head in a relatively uncomfortable position. If Jimjar were alive and here he'd wager whatever the deep gnome wanted that adding a second resting head on the other shoulder would not improve his situation. But what to say? Aleina is welcome but you are not? It sounded harsh. Maybe a jest the half-drow would find amusing would soften rejection. Before he could formulate any response, however, Aleina spoke.
"Of course it is all right," the aasimar said. "Kuhl doesn't mind."
Jhelnae crawled over, dragging her bedroll with her. Her head settled on Kuhl's other shoulder. Again rocks under his bed roll dug deeper.
"Oh, this is more comfortable," the half-drow said.
"See," Aleina said. "Now don't you feel guilty for teasing me so much about sleeping like this?"
"No," Jhelnae said.
"You're such a bitch, Jhelnae," the aasimar said. "I hope what the goblins say is true. I am exhausted."
"Me too," the half-drow said. "Well Kuhl, every male's fantasy. A lady on each shoulder."
The teasing laughter in her tone forced a smile out of Kuhl and the jutting rocks in his back didn't seem to dig quite so deep."
"Oh yes," Aleina said. "Every male's fantasy. I can imagine Kuhl as a young teenager thinking, 'If only I wasn't here in Evereska, surrounded by beautiful elfmaids. If only I were on a rocky ledge in the middle of the Underdark with two unwashed ladies who stank of sweat and grease. Now that would be a dream come true'."
Kuhl and Jhelnae laughed.
"It's like you knew my younger self," the half-elf said. "I remember thinking precisely that."
"See. Then it's just like I said. Your wildest teenage fantasy comes true." The half-drow yawned. "I really am tired. Mind where you put those hands, Kuhl. I am a light sleeper."
Kuhl smiled at the last part, her light-hearted voice and the way she settled in made it clear she jested. Aleina also fell silent. He, however, was now far from sleep. Their teasing of elfmaids brought to mind one in particular. He lay staring into the darkness above, but his mind's eye saw Mialee, slim, brown skinned, with chestnut hair full of ringlets. A wood elf maid in the full bloom of youth as she'd only seen 90 summers. He had been 19.
"When I get further in my training," he remembered her saying. "I will be able to take the form of animals. Someday you might be walking through the forest and the wolf tackling you from behind will be me, ready to have my way with you."
She'd leapt onto his back, coming nowhere close to tackling him. At that moment, in the Underdark, the rock pressing against his back through his bedroll felt like her body and it was like he felt her kisses and mock bites at his neck.
A sweet memory, with a seed of bitterness with what came later that kept him from savoring it. At the time he hadn't realized he was a mere dalliance. Pleasant company to pass the days of Spring Festival while her family visited Evereska. When she had left with no promise to ever see him again his aunt had tried to console him.
"Please try to understand, Kuhl," she had said. "For an elf, Mialee is very young. She wished to spend her days here in Evereska with you. A gift for both of you. But any greater commitment would be…"
His aunt hadn't needed to say the rest. Any half-elf, in his case three-quarter elf, raised among elves knew. Compared to their life span, his would be short and fleeting. An elf who chose a long-term lover in a human or half-elf invited delayed grief into their life. Kuhl had wanted to lash out, wanted to give in to adolescent petulance. But in her own way his aunt had opened herself to the same impending grief. She'd helped raise him, loving him with fierce protectiveness and devotion. And he'd likely die long before her. So, he'd smiled and nodded at her soothing words and pretended they'd hit their mark. He owed her that much.
The breathing of the two women on his shoulders had fallen into a restful rhythm. Their entire camp had gone silent. For all he knew, Sky herself slumbered on watch. Pinned as he was, he couldn't find out. No one twitched or cried out, as they had on so many other restless nights when nightmares plagued them. He yawned; mind too tired to continue assaulting his consciousness with memories he'd tried to bury. Maybe now he could finally get to sleep himself. Shifting this way and that, he tried and failed to find a comfortable position. Neither woman so much as stirred. Light sleepers? Ha! Kuhl sighed. It was going to be a long night.
He woke to Yuk Yuk nudging him awake.
"Come," the goblin guide said. "We guide you one more day for three gold. You reach other side of Silken Path."
Kuhl tried to roll over and ignore the goblin, but more prodding followed. Finally, he sat up, contemplating throwing Yuk Yuk off the ledge. It felt like he'd hardly slept at all. He rubbed at his face, smearing it with grease residue that stung his eyes.
Everyone else was already awake and stowing their gear or breaking their fast with dried rothe meat and spore bread.
"I slept better here on a rocky ledge than even the inn in Gracklstugh," Aleina was saying.
"Sleep where there is no faerzress," Jhelnae said. "Now we know."
Both sounded cheerful and well rested and, at that moment, Kuhl hated them. Just a little.
A tapping at his shoulder interrupted his thoughts.
"Three gold for guiding," Yuk Yuk repeated.
"Fine," Kuhl said. "Give me a moment."
The goblin guide stood watching him. Apparently giving him a moment didn't include going away. With a sigh, Kuhl counted out three gold and handed it over.
"Good, good, we guide," Yuk Yuk said. "Hurry. You will be last ready. Not good. Sleepy head get caught by the humans. That old goblin saying."
Kuhl prayed to his moon goddess for patiences as he crawled to his hands and knees and started packing his bedroll. Stool came over beside him. The little myconid seemed impatient to get going, pacing while he waited for Kuhl to be ready to strap him in.
"Someone is in an eager mood," the half-elf said.
Stool let forth a cloud of empathy spores which gave a vision of him and Rumpadump in a paired melding. While not the collective melding of the Neverlight Grove, it showed they'd been untroubled with visions akin to nightmares that had recently plagued them.
"Well rested?" Kuhl asked as he buckled on his leather armor.
The little myconid hopped from foot to foot in reply.
"At least one of us is."
It was more like a half day of travel, if that, before they came to the end of the Silken Path. As before, with feet covered in grease, they crawled on hands and knees away from the web. The chasm continued on, now free of webs, but the goblins had brought them to a ledge where a yawning tunnel opened into the cliff side.
"Dirt works best," Spiderbait said, calling out to them from the web. "Rub in dirt to get off grease."
"If you want to cross Silken Path again you wait for us here," Yuk Yuk said, the two goblins were already moving back into the web, much faster unhampered by their group. "We give you special deal. Three gold per day."
Kuhl lost sight of the Web Runner duo as they moved beyond the limits of his dark vision.
"Special deal?" Ront said. "It's the same deal they gave us before. And we better not have paid full price for less than half a day."
Kuhl remained silent, focused on unstrapping Stool, which gave Ront his answer.
"Forced to work with a dwarf and half elf and now cheated by a pair of thieving goblins." Ront shook his head. "Gruumsh laughs at me. I will never make it to the battlefields of Nishrek."
"Nishrek?" Sky asked.
The tabaxi squatted and scraped her palms against the ground, trying to clear her hands of grease. Spiderbait had recommended dirt, but the ground around the ledge and tunnel entrance consisted of stone and strewn rockfall. One by one the companions followed her lead.
"Orcs believe if they die with honor," Rhianne said, voice coming from deep within her cowl. "Gruumsh One Eye will call them to battle by his side in the realm of Nishrek."
"How do you know that?" Ront asked.
His voice had a growl to it and the set of his jaw made his tusks more prominent.
"I am a collector of songs and tales," the darkling bard said. "The tales of all races are worthy, and you are not the first orc I have met."
"Then you understand what it means for an orc to be captured in battle," Ront said. "Then to work with those races whose gods kept the rightful lands from Gruumsh and took his eye."
"I understand," Rhianne said.
Silence fell, broken by the scraping of palms and boots against rock.
"I understand too," Jhelnae said after a time. "Sort of. And I like the old tales as much as the next person. Well, not as much as Rhianne of course. But are we supposed to let them rule our life? Am I supposed to hate Kuhl because his elven ancestors drove my drow ancestors into the Underdark? We were all captured. All woke up in Velkynvelve under the thumb of that bitch Ilvara. And we've all escaped and survived together. Isn't that more important than what happened to our ancestors or our gods thousands of years ago?"
"You know," Kuhl said. "My grandmother is a drow. So, hate me if you want, but not because of my ancestry."
"There are so many reasons to hate you, Kuhl," Jhelnae said with a wink. "Shared drow ancestry isn't going to change that."
Stool let forth a cloud of empathy spores. They brought a jumble of images to mind, all of Kuhl: purifying their water with a spell, fighting the ettin, carrying the myconid sprout, and so many more.
Aleina smiled. "Jhelnae is only teasing, Stool. She doesn't really hate him. You don't need to defend him."
"But feel free to do so whenever you want," Kuhl said. "We males need to stick together."
"And don't listen to him on that," the aasimar said. "If you know what is good for you."
The sprout shuffled closer to Aleina to show where his ultimate allegiance lay.
"Traitor," Kuhl said.
"Right choice," Aleina said at the same time.
Laughter erupted among the companions. Still chuckling, the darkling bard spoke.
"I agree with you in principle, Jhelnae," Rhianne said.
"On what?" the half-drow asked. "On the many reasons we should despise Kuhl?"
"That of course," the darkling said. Kuhl couldn't see her smile with her face hidden in the depths of her hood, but he heard the smile in her voice. "In the short time I've known our half-elf I can think of a myriad of reasons. But also, you saying we shouldn't let old tales rule us. When I said I understood Ront I meant I understood the tales of his people, and thus the context of what he talked about. There are things so tied to the core of our being they can't be ignored. For we darkling it is the curse of Dubh Catha. But should we let it rule our lives?"
"I didn't mean," Jhelnae said, then stopped and started again. "Your people are under a curse. I understand that is different."
The darkling bard held up a gloved hand, indicating she hadn't finished. The half-drow fell silent.
"And the answer is, by necessity, it influences, but it should not rule," Rhianne said. "We can't escape our curse, or haven't yet, anyway. But do we have to be a people who hide in the abandoned places others leave for us? Plying the bitter trades of assassination and thievery the way most of our kind do? Is that to be the breadth of our dreams?"
The darkling woman paused as if waiting for an answer, but it was like when she told a story, her audience was held spellbound by her voice. No one answered and no scratching of palms or boots marred the silence she crafted. Then again, she did tell a story. The most intimate of stories. Her own.
"No, Diar and I believe," Rhianne finally said, and both cowled heads shifted to look at each other. Then Rhianne's gaze looked upward and she gestured to indicate their surroundings. "This place. The Underdark. We believe it a place of hope for my kind. We search for a homeland for darklings. A place where we can feel safe to shed cloaks and bask in darkness the same way our ancestors basked in sunlight, moonlight, and starlight."
"I'm sorry," Aleina said, with a sigh. "The only reason you have to wear those cloaks is because some of us might make a mistake with light. And I already proved untrustworthy back in the bathing pool in Gracklstugh."
"Not so," Diarnghan said. "The Underdark is a place with a surprising amount of light and you can stumble upon it suddenly. Even if we are able to find a dark corner of the Underdark to serve as a home for our kind our cloaks would still be necessary when we journeyed forth."
"I know we are only traveling together to Blingdenstone," Eldeth said. "But I wonder if you've ever been to Gauntlgrym? We dwarves have only recently reestablished it and it is mostly empty. I could get you an audience with King Bruenor if you ever visited."
The two cowled heads shifted to look at each other. After a moment both gave a nod.
"Your offer holds promise, Eldeth," Rhianne said. "We thank you and will consider it."
"For now, however, we need to make a decision," Diarnghan said. "Fargas and I discussed the location of this tomb. He even has a map he drew. I believe it lies near the path we've chosen to the Neverlight Grove. So here is the question, do we go there or not?"
"You say you found this tomb," Eldeth said. "You and your companions didn't explore it?"
"We didn't get the chance." Fargas said. "Gnolls found us and chased us. We tried to use the web to escape them and… well, you know the rest."
"So the tomb is probably already ransacked by those gnolls," Ront said. "Seems like that should have told us that earlier."
The orc glared towards the halfling, but the halfling stared blankly ahead, oblivious due to the surrounding darkness.
"He never had a chance to tell us, Ront," Aleina said. "This is the first we're discussing it. Before we were trying not to get eaten by giant spiders."
"There is something else," Fargas said. "When I say we found it, I actually mean it found us. When we got close to it a voice called out to us in our minds and led us there."
"First gnolls probably already ransacked it," Ront said. "Now a voice lured you there? This place is sounding worse and worse and those idiot goblins are sounding smarter and smarter for avoiding the place."
"What sort of voice?" Eldeth asked. "What language did it speak?"
"Feminine. High toned and clear. I think she spoke whatever language we were most familiar with in our head. She said she was trapped and needed our help."
"Maybe it's a flumph," Sky said. "The one before spoke in our minds. Or maybe something else we've never seen before."
Her tail whisked back and forth in anticipation.
"Like something that will drain us of blood and suck the marrow from our bones," Ront said.
"A feminine voice?" Derendil said in Elvish. "I have a feeling if we were children the tomb would be made of candy."
Rhianne laughed and translated.
"Derendil is right," Kuhl said. "We need to be wary. Still, someone might need our help."
"Derendil is right?" Ront asked. "What have I been saying this entire time?"
"I think I mentioned this before," Fargas said. "But I sort of promised Yondalla I'd give up the adventuring life if she saved me from the web."
"How do you 'sort of' promise a goddess something?" Eldeth asked.
"But it seems to me," the halfling continued as if the dwarf had not spoken. "That I need to leave the Underdark to do that and she can't really complain if I meander into some adventure on my way out, right? So I think we should take a quick look into this tomb. The smallest of peeks."
"I don't care what you think we should do," Ront said. "We found you in a cocoon waiting for the spiders to get hungry again. You are the last person we should listen to."
"I'm confused," Jhelnae said. "When we were on the web and found Fargus you seemed to want to visit the tomb he told us about. Now you don't?"
"He hadn't told us about the gnolls then, had he?" the orc said. "Or about being lured there by some mysterious voice."
"If we're going to do this," Aleina said. "You sprouts have to promise to do what we say. No heroics this time Stool."
Rumpadump agreed in a cloud of empathy spores, but Stool showed his frustration by hopping up and down in a tantrum.
"Fine," Aleina said. "We go to the Neverlight Grove first and then back track to this tomb."
That brought compliance. The little sprout stopped hopping and his posture drooped, then he nodded.
"We all appreciate you saving Kuhl, Stool," Aleina said more gently.
"I definitely appreciated it," Kuhl said. He was pleased to see the little myconid perk up at his words.
"But you are still a growing little sprout and Kuhl can take care of himself," the aasimar said. She sent the half-elf a warning glare to not undermine her words. "So, this time you are going to stay where we can protect you."
"The tomb then?" Kuhl asked, looking to the companions. Nods met his gaze, except for Ront who shook his head.
"Come on," Sky said, tail lashing. "A tomb in the middle of the Underdark. Aren't you all little curious, Ront? I know I am."
"Oh, the catgirl is curious?" Ront asked, seeming to speak to the surrounding darkness. "Now I know for sure we are doomed."