Brilliance pauses, and considers the bugbear... She does not make eye contact, but does watch her companion's interactions with it.  Her legs are ever-ready to do what the gods attached them to her body for, however, and help her flee if need be!

The bugbear looked at the adventurers warily. When Wyndham put away his bow and offered food instead it offered a toothy grin and took the food. It sniffed it then took a bite. It chewed it noisily, then pointed to itself and then the door.

Derry acknowledges the meaning of the hairy gent's gesture. Then, he points at the food as if to say, "Any time."

Then, grateful to step aside to let the bugbear pass by, Derry considers their next move. While they could try to secure a room so the two wizards could recover their magics, that night would not help the dead-on-his-feet Devin. They would have to return to Fourtowers to recuperate.

Back to town, retrieving the ladder on the way.

Devin is more than happy to avoid a fight and return to town.

The party retreated from the bugbear after awkwardly passing it in the dungeon corridor. They gathered up their ladder and after turning five corners they heard a noise ahead. It was some distance away. The sound of footsteps and talking, although at this distance the language could not be deciphered.

OOC Day 32. Time: 11:00am. Weather: Sunny, no rain. Vision: Clear. Movement: 20’

Light
Chessintra’s lantern 12 turns

In reply to DM (msg # 132):
Wyndham raises a palm to pause the party as he attempts to quietly move ahead until he can better hear the voices. If he can't understand the words, maybe he can at least make out the language.

With the others, Derry waits while the thief scouts ahead.

The party waited as Wyndham crept forward. Without leaving the lantern light Wyndham went thirty foot forward and put his ear toward the darkness. At his approach the voices went quiet and the footsteps stopped, Wyndham estimated that they must been nearly hundred feet away.

In reply to DM (msg # 135):
Wyndham waits in silence.

Where are we on the map?

Devin tries to stand silently as they wait for Wyndham's report.

Muttering "Enough of this already" or words to that extent, Derry leads the others down the eastern passage and then up the northern one, intent on leaving the cellar. They advance cautiously to avoid any ambush that might lay in wait for them.

Led by Derry the party headed toward the stairs, however before they reached them they came across a group of kobolds heading the opposite direction. There was five kobolds.

Happily, Derry greets the kobolds in their mother tongue which even in its fullest expression seems little better than doggerel.

"Happy! Kobold friends."

"Food for my friends." He hands over a day's worth of rations, a bag of apples, and no pet rabbit.

"News for my friends. Great Ape dead!"

Unless they detain us in some manner or other, we will continue in our return to the surface world and then to Fourtower.

Devin was glad to see another friendly group.  He wasn't at his best and perhaps Auril was looking after him after all.

The kobolds were wary as they emerged out of the shadows and then the lantern light engulfed them. As Derry offered food their snouts sniffed at the air and they yelped gladly as they snatched at the rations and bag of apples. Then when they had secured their bounty they passed on back to their den.

The remainder of the journey back to Fourtower Bridge was uneventful; the day was sunny with no sign of rain whatsoever. It was mid afternoon when the adventurers crossed the bridge and into town.

OOC 43XP each.

"Devin, when you've recovered, we'll make another trip out to the cellar. It's what we do. It has something for us, maybe more than one something; we just need to keep cracking away at it," Derry says back at the inn. In his room, he spends his time poring over the map, convinced that its untold riches awaited them around that corner or behind that door or beyond that wall.

I'll calculate living expenses after Devin's back at full health.

Wyndham raises an eyebrow at Derry's outburst. He's seen this kind of obsessive focus before and it hadn't gone well. Still, he himself had more gold in his pocket now than, well, ever.
What's another dwarf with treasure-lust, he thought with a shrug.

*a familiar face wanders into the inn and weaves his way through the crowd slowly. Once he finds an empty spot, he quietly takes a seat*

 In addition to Derry's offering to the kobolds, Brilliance offered two pieces of jerky to them from her own rations.  "...put a little bit of color in your cheeks."

 Once back at the inn, Brilliance will pore over her spell book and if she is willing discuss such things with Chess...

"I feel like I could sleep for a week," Devin admitted, though he'd probably be ready in 5 days.

He'd miss Auril's labors that he'd been working on, but he'd have plenty of time for prayers.

The inn was warm and welcoming. The adventurers had the opportunity to rest and meet up to plan their next delve.

Derry states that he remains committed to exploring Modnar's basement and discovering what else it might have to offer.

"Sounds good. I got nowhere else I need to be. Once Devin's healed up, we'll be set to go. Maybe I'll see if Bosley's still around."