"Thank you, Yurz," Marissa said. "You are certainly a brave friend."
Taen was forced to turn away at the look of pure devotion that crossed the goblin's craggy face. As he did so, the half-elf noticed Borovazk and Roberc staring up into the chimney.
"Borovazk no engineer," the ranger said, "but he does not think that climbing up dark hole will be easy."
Taen looked at the massive-shouldered Rashemi then back at the chimney opening, and he had to agree. Though the stone inside the chimney was rough and uneven, providing several possible hand- and footholds, the width of the opening itself would make the climb very difficult for the large human. Taen thought about it for a moment. Their best possible bet was probably to send an unarmored Roberc up through the vertical passageway first. Once up there, he could find a nearby stalagmite or outcropping of rock to secure their rope to and lower the rest of the rope down the chimney. They could then go up one at a time-though Cavan did present a bit of a logistical problem.
Taen was about to verbalize his plan when Marissa strode forward with Yurz. "Listen," she said softly. "Yurz believes that there could be some sentries near the entrance to the chimney. Let me climb through the passageway in another form. I can move swiftly and remain unseen by whatever guards the entrance to the upper caverns."
Taen nodded at the druid's suggestion and noticed the others doing likewise. Within moments, the air around Marissa began to shimmer and ripple, as if folding in upon itself. One moment Taen saw the druid clearly, and the next, a large spider, almost the size of his two hands, scuttled forward from the space where she had just stood. Yurz leaped backward at the sight of the spider, and the creature would have let out a shriek had not Borovazk moved swiftly to clamp a meaty hand over the goblin's face.
Taen reached down and lifted up the spider, carrying it to the wall just beneath the chimney. Within moments, the transformed druid had crawled into the darkness of the chimney. He whispered a quick prayer of safety to any god who would care to hear.
It was at that moment that Cavan leaped up from where he was lying down on the uneven floor of the cavern and growled a warning. Instantly, Roberc had drawn his sword and peered out into the shadows. Out of the corner of his eye, Taen caught Borovazk releasing the goblin to draw his own axe. Yurz fell backward, whimpering softly as he crawled to his feet.
Several bulbous-headed shapes resolved out of the darkness, padding closer on light feet. Taen swore again as he caught sight of them. Goblins-about ten of them. They stood about twenty feet from Taen and his companions with crude crossbows pointed in their direction.
"Stop! Intruders," one of them shouted in a voice so like that of Yurz that Taen cast a quick look behind him at the quivering goblin.
Taen could see his companions frozen, not in fear, but in preparation for explosive action; their muscles were coiled and tensed like a panther's before it springs down on its prey. The coiling expanse of the underground tunnel would, Taen suspected, likely carry the sounds of any combat to sensitive goblin ears-and that was a discovery they could ill afford. The half-elf reached slowly into his belt pouch, pulling out a small handful of dust. As the goblin sentries drew closer, crossbows firmly pointed at the intruders, Taen whispered the words to an old spell, and he gathered the arcane power at his command. Eldritch energy flooded his senses, swelling like a river pent up behind a dam. At the exact moment when Taen felt that the dam would break, he released the power, scattering sand over the heads of the approaching goblins. The tiny granules spattered and sparked when the spell activated.
First one then another of the goblins jerked as if struck sharply from behind, their bodies pitching forward, bereft of consciousness. The measured sound of goblin snoring filled the tunnel.
"That was well done," remarked Roberc, "though I do wish that you could have left one or two for the rest of us."
Taen smiled at the halfling's words, though in truth he wasn't sure the fighter had been entirely joking. "Come," he said, ushering Roberc and Borovazk back to the chimney in the rear of the tunnel, "we probably don't have too much time before another patrol stumbles upon us."
He tried to ignore the wide-eyed stare Yurz threw his way as they waited beneath the dark hole, but the goblin remained at the periphery of his vision. "Friend of Pretty Lady great wizard," he said finally, after Taen had spent considerable time pretending the goblin wasn't there and wishing that Marissa would soon emerge from the chimney. "Maybe greater than tribal shaman," he finished.
The half-elf was spared having to respond, as Marissa's rope spilled out of the chimney's darkness, landing with a muted thump on the cold gray stone of the tunnel floor. He turned and urged Yurz up the rope. The goblin stared a moment longer then leaped on to the rope, scurrying up its knotted length with the grace and skill of a seasoned seaman climbing the rigging of a tall-masted ship. Borovazk followed soon after, though the ranger needed some help sliding through the initial hole in the ceiling.
Taen and Roberc conferred for a moment regarding Cavan. The war-dog gazed up at the hole then offered Roberc a crooked stare, as if measuring the probability of a successful ascent. Taen thought for a moment. They had been in a few spots like this in previous underground explorations, but none quite so physically daunting. He did know a spell that would help reduce the war-dog's size, which might make the dog more manageable as they hauled him up the chimney. Their success depended upon Cavan's patience and cooperation, however.
A few moments later, with the help of Roberc's firm-voiced commands, a much smaller Cavan stood still and, if an animal could experience such a thing, bewildered as several lengths of rope were coiled and tied around its front- and hindquarters. Taen watched as their companions above lifted the war-dog, now the size of a large puppy, up through the chimney. When that was accomplished, the half-elf followed the always-grumbling halfling up the rope and into the caverns above.
The ogres stood like ancient trees rooted to the rough stone of the cavern floor. In the dancing light of his arcane illumination, Taen could see their dull yellow skin cracked and pitted like old bark. Both of the creatures' mouths hung open, frozen in mid roar. Teeth as thick and long as his fingers glimmered in the shifting illumination.
Roberc whistled softly when he drew near the half-elf. "You did this?" he asked, turning to Marissa. The druid had long since shed her arachnoid form and sat quiet and still in the center of the cavern.
She nodded. "They were arguing over something just a few yards from the chimney hole," the druid said. "I didn't want their argument to draw any unwanted attention, so I crept up on them and changed form. I was going to try and use a different spell, when this"-she lifted the Staff of the Red Tree-"began to whisper to me again. I heard the words and repeated them. In moments, the ogres were petrified."
Taen shook his head. He'd seen his way around enough items and artifacts of power to know that the gift of the Rashemi telthor was unusual to say the least. In point of fact, Taen felt a great sense of unease around the staff-an experience that worsened any time Marissa described the staff's somewhat conscious actions. He had never been comfortable with the untamed power of natural magic; it refused to follow established laws and yield to the mastery brought on by rigorous study. Though he did not feel even remotely suspicious of the telthor and their gift of the staff, such power answered to its own laws.