Isolde stopped with Hassan. She guarded the rear while the others attended to the caves ahead.

Still with arrow notched Talik crouched at each tunnel entrance to check the ground for any sign of passing, foot prints, claws etc and at the same time sniffed the air for signs of burning such as torches etc

Ooc

18:10, Today: Talik rolled 23 using 1d20+3.  Perception

Both tunnels are dark and quiet, apart from the faint sounds of dripping water and scurrying small animals. Talik detects tracks leading in and out of each tunnel, but it is apparent that the tunnel to the right (northwest) has recently seen heavy traffic.

Talik moved back to the others and quietly let them know what he had found

"The right tunnel has been used recently, the left has been used as well but some time ago"

"Which one do you wish to follow one where we know someone has been or the other less traveled one?"

Inanah keeps behind the group as promised, staying maybe 20 feet from the second last person. She is trying to hide in shadows and does not reply to Talik's query.

Hasan motions toward the right.

Aisha nods at Hasan's prompting, as quietly as possible she moves onto the path on the right, always ready to unleash the fires that were raging within on anyone intending them harm.

Aisha leads the party down the tunnel to the right, which opens into a large square chamber. The dark chamber is empty apart from a few overturned boxes, broken items, scattered coins, and small gems, as well as one soundly sleeping cultist surrounded by several empty bottles of wine. There are no other tunnels leading out of the room.

"Looks like this is where they were storing the loot before they evacuated" Hasan says to the others. "Shall we try the other tunnel?"

Aisha frowned at Hasan's words "What about him?" she asked, pointing at the sleeping guard before them. "We can't just leave him, he will attack our backs once we engage any other guards." she whispered her concerns. While she was no killer, despite the best efforts of the whispers in her head, they could not leave the man to attack from the rear. They could tie him up and question him later, or so she thought.

With Aisha pushing passed him as he was about to take to the right tunnel Talik allowed the others to move forward while he stayed in the mouth of the tunnel arrow notched making sure he could see both the corridor they had just come down through and the left hand tunnel

"Knock him out, tie him up? Anyone got rope?" Fleur chimes in, shaking her mace a bit, encouracingly, as she looks at Aisha.

Inanah had followed the exchange with a frown on her face. It looked like the others were not strong enough to make the only decision that made sense to her. So far all of them have been zealots that would not speak, even when captured.

She approached quietly, drawing a dagger. Kneeling next to the cultist, she put a hand over his mouth and another to his throat. "You are right, he is a risk to leave behind and quick death is more than they would give us," she whispered. Unless someone protested immediately, Inanah would cut the cultist's throat.

Fleur reacts strongly to this.

"Hey, stop that, we're not murdering him in cold blood. I'll carry him back to the town for a trial before I'd let that happen." She gives Inanah a fierce look, one that suggests she'd make a physical point out of this if pushed. She was a protector of those in need, not a murderer.

Inanah looked mildly amused by what Fleur said, but took her dagger off of the cultist's throat. After she raised, she gave a slight bow to Fleur and made a motion that seemed to convey meaning of 'he's all yours to do as you please'. "What you stopped and the fate waiting for him in town are the same, you know it as well as I do. Only thing you are adding to it is few days of mistreatment and terror."

After saying it, she moved away, quickly checking the room for anything interesting. She was more concentrating on finding any paperwork or other documents, although she gathered some of the scattered gems and coin that came to her path.

---

OOC
Searching the room for anything interesting, especially any paperwork, maps or documents. Gathering some of the gems and coins scattered, but only what can be done as quick as it takes for the others to subdue the cultist.


23:18, Today: Inanah Nightbreeze rolled 20 using 1d20+4.  Investigating room.

This message was last edited by the player at 21:19, Thu 02 Jan 2020.

The sha'ir was about to protest when the elf threatened to kill the man, but fortunately Fleur spoke up and prevented a cold-blooded murder. "You should have burnt him, at least that would not have been cold-blooded." the voice in her head whispered sarcastically.

Holding off Aisha stood by and was ready to use her magic should the sleeper awake, ready to put him to sleep again.

ooc: Ready Sleep spell.

Looking around Aisha found herself a sufficiently large cloth or torn sack and used her dagger to cut it into ribbons. Swiftly she tied up the feet of the guard, hoping the others would join her to quickly get this over with while Inanah was busy collecting valuables.

The cultist is so drunk that he doesn't awaken when Aisha ties him up.

Inanah walked to where Talik was keeping watch and said, "They were throrough with cleaning up, there was nothing interesting left. Let's keep going, I'll watch the back again."

After checking if the others were finished with bundling up the passed out cultist, she went little ways back to the tunnel they had first entered from, planning to follow the group hidden like earlier.

Talik nodded and when all were ready moved off down the other tunnel

Hasan follows Talik down the other tunnel, standing behind him and slightly to his right with his sword ready.

The tunnel leads to a 45-foot-by-20-foot chamber that is dark and quiet. From the entryway, Talik counts eleven sleeping or resting cultists and mercenaries in the room. There is an exit in the eastern wall of the chamber, about 25 feet away from where Talik stands.

Talik moved back slightly and signalled to the others that there were 11 sleeping cultist and mercenaries in the room beyond.

Then moved back towards the tunnel entrance into the room ready to fire at any that woke while the others decided what to do next

"Die Götter haben einen schlechten Sinn für Humor." Aisha muttered under her breath when she saw the guards. "Now is a great opportunity to burn them all, or do you think you can tie them all up without waking them?" the voice in her head hissed sarcastically. Of course, the simplest way would be to sneak past them without disturbing them, however, that would come at a high risk. Yet, killing people helplessly in their sleep was just wrong - it was no better than what the Cult had done. That was a dilemma.

"Can you knock them out so they stay unconscious while we go further into the caves?" the sha'ir asked Talik and Inanah.

Hasan glances at the exit. "We'll need to block that path," he whispers to the others. "But we should be able to take them. I'm ready if you are."