Once he receives word of Jareth and Jocelyn's return, Nodwin approaches them to find out how things went.

"I have procured our buildings, as well as the ones across the street.  What did you find out?"

In reply to Nodwin Zideqick (msg # 104):

Benito does after a moment. It is not a bad shot...

"So t'ere plenty space t'e refugees?  Great.  Well, firstly, t'e sword?  Yeah, doable.  Gotta be careful with t'e wordin.  Nothin didnay ken right?  T'e Drakes?  T'ey straight.  Just like t'e said, new in town, nay liked t'e commonfloor at t'e Guild."

Jareth scratches the stubble on his cheek.

"We lettin t'e Drakes in all t'e way?  Or do you want to play it safe bit longer?  Cause... honestly, we gonna need fix them foundations p.d.q., an Benito got t'e knowin to do it right."

Nodwin listens to Jareth and thinks about the sword.  He was happy to hear they could use the gem in it for good.  When it comes to the question of the Drakes, Nodwin's face turns a bit more serious.  For a moment he closes his eyes and says a short prayer to Vejovis in his mind.  Then, he opens his eyes and responds.

"If you trust your contacts, then I accept letting the Drakes in on our little secret.  Perhaps we should start with just Benito, since he will be the one shoring up our basement supports? "

In reply to Nodwin Zideqick (msg # 107):

The rat falls over, twitching, with a bolt and an arrow protruding from it.

"Not bad, Benito.  You might want to work on your reaction time, but your aim is just fine."

Mario once more pokes the upper end of his bow, with attached light stone, past Brodak's hole, and moves it around so the combination of its light and Clarence's floating one lets him check every corner visible from this location.

"You see any more, Benito?  Clarence, you?"

The single arrow in Mario's quiver has been replaced by an identical one, and the one in the rat fades away in the course of a minute.

In reply to Mario Crowfoot (msg # 109):

Benito cocks and loads his crossbow, drawing the only bolt out of his quiver, which likewise appears as the one in the rat disappeared.

"I am not such a good shot to shoot quickly...my skills are more merchatile, and this is more of a backup."

He then looks towards the lit area for another target.

In reply to Benito Drake (msg # 110):

You can see a long  wide corridor, the right hand side of which  looks to be about to collapse; the wall is bowed, and streams of rubble have poured down from the place where the ceiling meets the wall. the roof looks like it could also use bracing on that side.

In reply to Narrator (msg # 111):

"Looks like it is time to get to work..."

Benito will start to assess how to best reinforce this, after making sure there are no more critters.

Mario stays close to what will hopefully soon be Brodak's Door, keeping a watch down the unstable passage for more unwelcome things.

"Huh.  I started adventuring because I was tired of working as a guard.  Still, this has paid better."

"I'm fine with that."

The presence of the quilled scavenger reminds Mario that the, we, rear door is still in need of repair.

Mario will point out the door in question to Benito.

"Oh, yeah, this one needs some work, too."

OOC: I don't think I downloaded a copy of the map; is it still in your Google drive?

In reply to Mario Crowfoot (msg # 116):

I am happy to have him work as directed, with rolls made as needed. Construction work details are unlikely to be extremely exciting...

In reply to Mario Crowfoot (msg # 116):

The gate that is damaged is through this chamber and then at the end of the large chamber at the right... There may be other ones damaged as you go further down.  Both this room and that one have walls that were destabilized by the collapse... the door was affected by the large visitor you had lower down.

https://drive.google.com/file/...r8/view?usp=drivesdk

Once Nodwin is done with Jareth, he will proceed down to join the remodeling crew.

"I can shape the earth to assist with repairs, but it will be tiring and time consuming.  How can I assist?"

OOC Have not used shape earth too much in games, so the finer points will be something of a learning experience for me.  Let me know for any rolls he needs to make, how to make it permanent, etc."

In reply to Nodwin Zideqick (msg # 119):

"I would be glad to work with an earth mage in this..."

I am guessing we combine our skills, not sure what rolls to make though.

"We should confirm with Jareth and Nodwin, but I think priority should go to repairing the gate, shoring up the walls affected by the collapse, and getting a sturdy door with lock and bar in Brodak's hole.

"The walls are probably most urgent -- the fill project up above isn't going to help stabilize them, I wouldn't think, and if they collapse further, we'll have a problem."

Jareth follows Nodwin down, "Recomend t'e shorin up first, bars an doors no good t'e tunnels cave in..."


"Speakin of firsts, if ye want in t'e group all t'e way, t'ere somethin ya need see.  Right through t'e hole in t'e wall here.  Need to be kept discreet."

In reply to Jareth Mooncalled (msg # 122):

Benito is a little surprised but says nothing as he looks, cocking and readying his crossbow nervously just in case...

"We had to kill one of those quilled rats a few minutes ago, so everyone stay sharp."

Jareth approaches the hole and sticks his head through to see if it is clear in the next room.  If so, he climbs through.

Mario follows, bow ready (light stone still attached to the upper nock).

"Say, Nodwin, we might need to have these redone soon.  Didn't you say they last a week or so?"

Nodwin nods in assent.

"It depends on my faithfulness in the moment, which amounts to my connection to Vejovis.  It comes from the heart, though, and not from the deeds.  I can do things for the wrong reasons just as well as I can do nothing for the right reasons.  Our understanding of a god will always be imperfect at best.  All we can do is make educated guesses about their thoughts and motivations, and execute on them as best as we can.  Usually I get about a week out of the stones, because I hold the favor of Vejovis.  However, it varies sometimes by the minute, if I lose focus and let my thoughts wander.  My faith requires a certain mental discipline, in much the same way you must match your mental strength along with your physical skill to handle the bow as well as you do."

With that said, Nodwin steps through behind Jareth, with his staff ready for trouble.  While Jareth knew much about everything, he wasn't so great if they ran in to trouble.

Jocelyn shrugs and follows Jareth as well.