Chapter 5: Pleased to Meet You

Feeling the disk vibrate, Coreene pulls it out. She looks to Erannik, "Hold for a moment, someone's trying to contact us." She answers the call.

Uelten covertly makes his map as they go, including instructions on the winch. His map is spoiled a few times when he stops to write and Yelnar bumps into him, but maybe that's just a security feature.

A wave of relief rushes over Verrian at the sound of Coreene's voice. She doesn't show it outwardly. After quietly asking if it's safe to talk and being assured that it is, Verrian continues - still quiet, but with a slightly bouncy tone that her friends will recognize as not quite natural to her. It's not a "knife to the throat" unnatural; more of a "pay close attention" unnatural.

"It's so good to hear your voice. I've been so worried about all of you. I gather you've been slowed down by the patrols I've been told are common at night. Coreene, it sort of reminds me of that old children's tale about the three thieves, remember? The one where they're trying to elude the town guard after committing a robbery, but the third winds up giving away the other two so he can escape alone?" She giggles a little, as at a memory from happier times.

"Anyway, I'm waiting here with Eanala, Livia, and Giran." She winks at the young man without thinking before bringing her mind back on task. She gives another giggle. "The funniest thing happened a few minutes ago. Something was crawling around under the table and Giran was so startled that he nearly jumped out of his skin. It turned out to be a mole, can you believe it? It ran away, though, probably to go underground. So make sure you keep an eye out for it." There's a gentle teasing note to this last bit.

Yelnar is so focussed on trying to move carefully and quietly that he barely notices bumping into Uelten the first few times. It’s not until hearing Verrian’s voice snaps him out of it that he gets a quick look at Uelten’s map, and sees the bumps in it. Not wanting to interrupt the conversation, Yelnar looks sheepish and shrugs at Uelten.

It takes a moment for Coreene to make sense of Verrian's code, but she eventually catches on. "You know what?" she says in the same gossipy tone, "We saw a mole around here not too long ago, didn't we? Just before we started this way. We didn't want it getting hurt, so we made a little birdy promise to keep an eye on it for us." She laughs at her "joke", and hopes that she's anywhere near as subtle as Verrian. Probably not.

Verrian gives a lighthearted, musical laugh at Coreene's mole story. "Too funny! Glad you're getting a chance to appreciate the local fauna. Hey, Eanala wants to know if Erannik heard the story of Giran and the mole. She says he'd find it especially entertaining. Can he hear my end of the conversation? I hope he didn't miss out!"

Coreene gives Erannik a meaningful look as she responds. "I think so... Erannik, do you want her to tell it again? It's pretty funny."

Alarms are blaring in Elora's head because of this exchange, but she has to suppress these feelings of horror so that Pip can carry out his mission.

Ember notices Elora's panic and squeezes her hand. Partly to comfort the witch. Partly to keep herself from flying into a rage.

Erannik lets out a growl as he approaches Coreene and the disk. "Is Eanala there?" he says sharply. "Eanala? I'm the only one here. We got separated from Timarra. Did you send someone else to help us or not?"

While he awaits a response, he grumbles something about cleverness and codes and just say what you mean and sneaking around, none of which he seems to approve of.

---

Back at the cell headquarters, the tiny bell in the corner that signals someone entering the tunnels rings again, its cheerful timbre at complete odds with what it likely signals.

The tinkling of the bell galvanizes Verrian and, since Erannik has confirmed they are alone, she drops the act and speaks with urgency, though still quietly.

"The bell just rang. Someone else has entered the tunnels. Can you get to safety?"

Coreene looks to Erannik at this. "We need to move now, how much farther?" she asks him with equal urgency.

Uelten carefully folds and hides his map in his pants. He nonchalantly points at both Yelnar and himself, then points at his eyes and lastly points behind them.

Yelnar nods at Uelten, gesturing with his Bardiche as he moves at the rear of the group.

"Pip has found something distressing." Elora squeezes Ember's hand in return, wishing Pip could understand exactly what she was thinking.

I'm not surprised. Nobody do anything flashy until all hell breaks loose. We can't let them know we're here without good reason.

Ember emphasizes her words with the hope the casters, well, don't cast. At least, not until the time is right.

Erannik checks his bearings in the tunnel. "Good thing I reset the crank," he says, a cold smirk coming over his face. He waves his hand, beckoning everyone forward. "Come along, we've got a bit of a hike left, but we should be able to stay ahead of them well enough. I've built a few other surprises down here," he says.

Distantly, you can hear the sound of something -- or some things -- very heavy crashing to the ground. It sounds vaguely like a cave-in, though it doesn't continue past that initial crash.

Whatever it was, it brings a smile to Erannik's face. He moves down the corridor's he's chosen and apparently hopes the rest will follow.

"What's happening?" Verrian says urgently. "Can you get to safety? What should we do to help?"

Ember follows swiftly and leans forward to reach the disc.

Erannik has a plan, I think? He'll tell you where we are, She looks up at him anxiously And then you come our way - and get ready for a fight. Lock your base down first if you can!

Her skin is tingling. If she doesn't get to choose to use her magic soon, she might on accident.

Erannik moves over to the disc-holder and says, "Eanala, we're headed for the old tavern basement. Meet us there, or between here and there? I heard the ceiling cave in at the northeast entrance where we came in, so hopefully it took out a few of the bastards, but I have no idea how compromised we actually are. I wouldn't say no to some help, but these people look like they've seen some shit."

He gives each of the party members a look in turn. "You decide. I'm not the brains of this operation, you know."

He continues moving everyone along as quickly as possible while still trying to make conversation via the whitestone disc possible. The dwarf, as much as he might be trying to hide it, looks concerned.