Game Play: Welcome to White Oak

"I wonder what Creld does in his secret room?" Cyriel asks whimsically. "What do you guys want to do? We can't leave the boy with goblins.... No offence," he adds as a side note to the chatterbox goblin.

Erevior nods, "Yeah, you right. Was hoping for more." He looks at the goblin again. "You been good help. Can you tell how to get to secret room, not show? Don't want to take boy anywhere but home, but we maybe come back."

"And how do we open this secret room?" Vex will ask.

"We need to, we figure it out." Erevior nods, and then, grudgingly... "...thank you. You pretty good, for a goblin. We go now, may be back."

He'll turn back to Brynn. "Boy...Brynn...you ready to go back to momma, to Sophie?" He squats down to look at Brynn at eye level. "It time to go home, Brynn. You want me carry you, or you want to ride the big bull? We get you home to Sophie quick now."

Cyriel says to Erevoir, "Why are you talking like that? The boy isn't stupid. I always find human children learn common better if you speak normally." He turns to Brynn and asks, "You aren't stupid are you? You understand we are taking you home?"

"Enough talk! You carry th' lad, Erevior. Let's hurry, an' come right back. I don't want this Creld gettin' up t' any more funny business." With that, Valrakas retrieves the battered gobo bundle and heads briskly for the exit tunnel.

Erevior grits his teeth at Cyriel's ridiculing his poor Common again. It helps that he knows from experience that the half-elf is just oblivious, not malicious. His attitude seems to be, if he can speak Common fine, then of course everyone else must be able to as well! When they first met, Erevior was much more affronted, and tried to explain how he'd learned Common relatively late in life, and how grammar and syntax wasn't particularly important when most of the language was memorized as part of a song, but his justification fell on deaf ears. It's distressing, because Erevior is pretty self-conscious about his broken Common.

Erevior lifts Brynn with his left arm and tries to balance him on his hip while he walks. It's awkward, because the child alternates between desperate flailing and going completely limp, which means that Erevior has to keep slowing down or stopping to shift his weight around. Still, they're probably able to make better progress going back out of the goblin warren than they would if the kid was to walk himself. To assist calming Brynn (as well as bolstering his own sanity), Erevior tries to sing a soothing elven lullaby. Brynn keeps kicking him with his little legs, though, which ruins a bit of the effect.

On their way back Vex will entertain the boy with small illusions, he tries to match them up to whatever song Erevior happens to be singing.

Cyriel sends Cecil ahead to look for surprises. As he sees Valrakas heading in a different direction he says, "Whoa! Where are you going? It must be safer to go back the way we came?"

"Har! Safe be boring, little elf!" Valrakas boasts, and doesn't change his course. He has picked the torch back up, and has the gobo bundle in the other hand.

"Maybe so, Big Bull, but we have the safety of a minor to consider. Don't be reckless. We'll find you a pottery shop another day."

Erevior nods, and grimaces when the boy pulls on his hair...again.
"Let's take him back way we know, then we come back to explore...and to settle Creld."

"I think they're right, big guy, we need to make sure the boy is safe... then Creld will get what he deserves."

"Majority wins. Thass how we always did it on the ship. Except..." Valrakas rattles the gobo bundle again and brings the torch up near their faces. "What's that way, eh?" he asks, pointing the torch down the unexplored tunnel. "An' don't be lyin' t' me or I'll yank yer tongues out an' turn 'em into me grandma's new coin purse!"

Cyriel makes no comment on the goblins observation, and sends Cecil ahead to seek danger.