Waving off most of Arthanos' questions she does at least address some of them.  ”You may call me Tancea, and no thanks are required, now if you will stop distracting me.”  Rather than compound the problem with a long speech she just turns all of her attention to Itylus, bringing her staff forward she settles it gently against one of the not wounded parts of his body, closes her eyes, and whispers something quick and quiet.  As she concentrates she begins to radiate a sort of calming energy, not quite visible, or heard, but felt like the reverse of static in the air everything becomes calm and quiet around her for several very long moments.

The group watches as Tancea approaches Itylus as he lay on the floor, bringing her staff to his body. In a matter of seconds they watch as Itylus's open wounds, partially treated already, begin to close with torn flesh and muscles regenerating. The only evidence that he had been injured was his blood stained clothing.

The pallor of his skin improves substantially as blood flow was now resuming back to normal, and his breathing improves as well. After a few moments, the Hunter begins to open his eyes. He seems to be a bit groggy but better. Seeing his friends, but also a stranger now in front of him, he inquires, his voice still a little weak. "... What happened? We were fighting... and then." he trails off, closing his eyes once again, taking deep breaths as he recovers.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:23, Thu 12 Dec 2019.

Arthanos stares in shock, suprised and thankful as he saw Itylus' wounds close. He was grateful,  but he still had many questions.

"Impressive but this still leaves questions. Who are you and whay are you here?" he asked the woman again, his tone polite.

Dysis too was impressed by the efficacy of the healing magic, if none surprised.   She knew the reputation of the Alscepian sect; had heard and read reliable report of their works, though never before met any of their number.

She smiled at Itylus, nodding. "We were fighting.   It is over.  Our eight-legged enemy is crawling the walls of the Underworld now.  Or, whatever after-place such abominations fall to when they perish.   You'll be fine;  it would seem Asclepius watches out for daring hunters.   He sent one of his own to heal you." 

She was speaking tongue in cheek.  Though she did believe in divine interventions, she suspected there was a more earthly reason for this healer's arrival.   And awaited to hear the answer to Arthanos' question.

Stepping back from the no longer injured man before he regains consciousness, so as to minimize his confusion from seeing an unfamiliar person standing over him Tancea turns her attention outward again to the others here, offering Arthanos a pleasant smile to go with his answer.  ”I thought I had already introduced myself, I am called Tancea, I am here to enact Asclepius' divine will, if there are others among your party who are wounded I can see to them too, but it is wise to start with those at risk of death.”

 "My lady Tancea, I believe the question that begs to be asked of you, is this. How did you come to be in this place?" Asked the noble son, of a once great house, in a polite way.

"There must be be another passageway we had not taken from the mines above." Iranato ventures. "One that brought her down to us a different way then any of us had come through."

"Were there more cave spiders, or... those women faced-spiders up the passageway?" Tereys inquires, gesturing with his blade to the now deceased Daughter of Arachne

Rosellea shakes her head. "It does not matter. Itylus will live thanks to Tancea's magics, but he will need rest. I think we all need rest. He is already asleep again. Why don't we go outside and camp and recover? The Lady Tancea can assist with our other wounds there." she proposes.

---

OOC: Want to give everybody the opportunity to RP additional introduction with Tancea but also want to get Dionae in the game too, who you can encounter on your way out to the mines to rest.

Fielding the questions asked easily, and in the order they come Tancea shows neither surprise nor offense at the desire of those fighting for their lives to gain any knowledge they can, she almost seems to respect their inquisitive nature.

”The path north of here is blocked by quite a lot of webbing so I expect there are more spiders of some kind there, but I only encountered the now dead one without any kind of unusual face on my way here.  Rest always helps one stay alert against further injury, particularly as divine healing only restores the body not the will, I have been traveling for a while and would welcome such a respite myself, if you would not mind me joining you.”

 Lysandros seemed to consider a moment, then spoke. " I agree, a period of rest would be in order. We should retire to the outside and use the building for our camp,as before. Such is my counsel."

Arthanos nods at the idea of rest. He was finding it a little hard to constentrate on the conversation and figured rest would help.

"Agreed. I think we can all do with a rest and a chance to regroup. We may be able to make some long torches to help burn our way through tomorrow." He says then looks at Tancea.

"You are more then welcome to join us for helping with our companion." he says and bows slightly.

After listening, Dysis crooked a finger in the direction of her independent shadow, and whispered a pair of syllables.   The shadow glided back to her, reorienting into its natural place.

"I've surely no disagreements.    Let's be gone from this place."

Accepting Aranos' invitation at face value Tancea accompanies the group out, making none to subtle visual inspection of each of them for wounds as she does so.

”I can restore any of your wounded to a fit condition, but I am afraid I will be of little use in preparing for the next stage of this adventure.”

With the group in agreement that it was best to withdraw to the outdoors and lick their wounds a bit they pack up to depart with the massive Regnferth assisting Itylus as a crutch while they depart, who was still a bit woozy from the ordeal. Trusting the newly arrived Tancea who states she can show them how she had reached their position from a different direction, the party follows her as she shows them a quicker way out of the mines. They continue north up the passage until they reach a fork in the passage, with the larger side leading to the northwest covered in similar thick webbing, but the passage to the northeast was not so, and had recently been traveled by the healer. Retracing her footsteps they eventually come up a crude rope ladder that leads back up to the first level of the mines.

From there, it is a straight shot south towards the entrance of the mines. Going this route would save them at least half the time of having to take the winding and twisting passages they had initially gone based on the miner's journals. The group can only surmise that the miners must have found other ways to descend to the lower levels over time.

---

As they begin to reach the outdoors they find that the weather now has turned bad with a steady rain that at times started to pour. Standing at the mouth of the mines, they realize they will have to go towards one of the standing buildings for shelter from the elements. Given the size of their group, it would be best to go towards the barracks, as they could also utilize the small kitchen there to dry off further as well as cook, though the administration building could also be used if additional privacy was needed, such as for rituals for those more magically inclined.

Fortunately, despite the disrepair of the barracks inside, structurally it was quite sound and no rain leaked in through the roof. Those without wounds take some time to re-assemble some of the bunks in better condition that would allow them to sleep in relative comfort that evening.

---

Generally, for the next few hours there is little conversation. Tancea, the most skilled healer, with Iranto, who now acts as an assistant for her, examines the wounds of the rest of the party, namely Arthanos and Lysandros, and administrates appropriate remedies with both magical healing and prescription for rest. Fortunately, none of the bites sustained had traces of venom and full recovery was expected.

As the hours begin to pass later into the evening, the group begins to drift off to sleep, with one or two people staying up usually to keep watch. Those who needed privacy could dash over the administration building as needed. It was felt that given the rain it was unlikely anything would disturb their sleep. However, as the sun just begins to rise through the haze and steady drizzle, Lysandros spots somebody approaching their direction and so wakes up other members in the party. Uncertain whether this may be a new attacker or perhaps a lost wanderer, they prepare themselves for the worst.

However, as this person approaches they find her to be a rain soaked woman, who looked equally startled to see as many people as she did see in the barracks. As Lysandros opens the door to greet her, he observes that she is dressed very plainly. It was unlikely that she was a warrior such as the Amazons he had seen before, but neither did she appear as a healer such as Tancea. Perhaps her talents lay elsewhere...

OOC: Happy 2020! And welcome finally to Dionae, who is now free to post in the game thread!

Dionae is armed with a dagger and minimally dressed she puts down her dagger and says ,"I'm cold can I share your shelter I'm Dionae, a former Amazon slave who escaped to these lands, I mean no harm unless you try to harm me." she is unarmed but still she acts like she could defend her honor.

Standing some distance beyond Lysdandros, Dysis felt her self moved to empathize, after listening to the words, taking in the sight of the woman.   Slavery was a significant part of her own history, though not at the hands of Amazons.

"I believe that works both ways," she advised the newcomer.    Then with more compassion-

"But I for one would admit you based on that understanding.   It's not the sort of morning to be stuck outdoors."

Arthanos appreciated the night to rest and recover. When Lysandros warned of someone approaching, Arthanos took up his sword and waited ready. When the update of what, or more accurately who was nearing them, he put his sword away and waited with the others to see who it was.

When the woman introduced herself as Dionae and a fleeing slave, Arthanos mind raced for a few seconds.

"My compatriot is correct about the weather. My name is Arthanos, and I'm sure we all have some questions, but they can wait till we are somewhere drier. Won't you please come inside?" he remarked politely and smiled as he gestured to the shelter.

She comes in and undressing fully gets by the fire putting her sole 'dress' two long cloth sheets tied by a leather strap belt and tied at the corners at the shoulders. She appears very fit and otherwise harmless save for owning a small blade, bedroll and a pouch.

"Anyone tries to force themselves on me loses their ... swords ... trust me when I say I can enforce that. So your not from around here either?," she said as her stomach rumbled as she warms up.

Dionae warms herself up in the kitchen and starts to dry off, while the others in the party break their fast, or otherwise prepare for the morning. Food and hot water is given to Dionae as well. It is Iranto who responds to her inquiry though. "My lady, you will not find such attitude amongst any of our number. You are correct that this is not our home. Many of us hail from glorious Thena, but not all." he says, with a fatherly smile, clearly attempting to put the young woman at ease.

It is then that Rosellea interrupts. "Speaking of that... I think that some of us should head back to Thena." she proposes though namely speaking to Arthanos, Lysandros, and Dysis, who had been her and her friends' liberators. "I do believe you will succeed where we failed, for you are valiant warriors, but it is time for Iranto, Tereys, Regnferth and I to go. The mines are no place for us, but you have our everlasting friendship for saving us from those monsters down there."

"Indeed." Tereys seconds. "You may call on us upon your return to Thena, where we will celebrate your success."

"We'll feed you, if you're hungry," she offered, noting the telltale sound.  "I've been with this troupe for longer than a year now," she assured the newcomer, nodding sagely.  "And can assure you that swords stay properly sheathed, their wielders quite well mannered, and of kindly disposition. No.   We are not 'from around here.'    We came to do a particular task.   What of yourself?"   

To Iranto and his party, she inclined her head in acknowledgment-    "The reinforcements you provided were invaluable.   You more than repaid us for liberating you.   Good begets good."    she considered that a moment, then added with a wry smile, "Sometimes."

"I fled from the land of the Amazons aided by Hecate who sent teachers to guide my gift. I should have hunted for a meal but raw food isn't as good as cooked even if not in human shape.," she said as she ate and drank.

The girl seems odd ... even for a escaped Amazon slave who rarely can't hunt them down with a whip waiting.

When Dionae started stripping, Arthanos turned so he wasn't looking in her direction. He listened to Dysis, Iranto, Rosellea and Tereys before responding.

"As the others have said, you are not at risk from us. Though your comment about meat...are you being hunted? Is there a chance people looking for you are going to be showing up any time soon? And why are you fleeing them?" he says towards Dionae before looking towards the other group.

"I will be sad to see you all go. You have been much help in the short time we have worked with you. May Athena guide you and protect you in your travels." he says before looking back at Tancea.

"Well looks like we'll be heading back down. You are welcome to come with us if you want and your assistance would be much appreciated," he says, politely to her.

While mostly focused on tending to those she has been healing, helping ease their recovery period with more mundane techniques Tancea has clearly been listening to the conversation as she replies quickly when addressed directly.

”My destany is bound up in this place, and those who would investigate it, so I accept your invitation to help address the problems presented here, bringing someone with hunting skills with us might help too.”

Lysandros had bidden their comrades fare well, then saw to his equipment, making ready for the next foray into the Mines.

 With yet another stranger popping up, this was the second since their arrival. “ By Athena, another orphan for us to adopt. This place is more then it appears, to attract such diverse persons. Be welcome, if you are as you seem. But if you are not... well... that will be dealt with, if needed.”

"I destroyed my mistress and her daughters who were of age, before I fled Amazon lands by sea in the form of a dolphin thanks to Poseidon for his safe travel and the ship that was heading to these lands. I can take other forms its my gift taught to me by shades sent by Hecate of my great grandmother and aunt who had the gift.," she smiles changing to look like Dysis smiling then returning after standing next to her guessing at her covered bits and turning about.

Dysis was suddenly professionally intrigued.

"A shape-shifter, eh?...that's quite a talent. You're a rare breed.  I've had my own travails escaping those who fancied themselves my master.  Our little troupe does some interesting sorts of work.    The sort you get paid well to do.    One who can change shape could be helpful."