CH. 01 - Incarceration!

[Daos]

"Nope," Benny says.  "I think they keep the animals locked up somewhere.  But they won't tell me where, either.  Which is so annoying, because I really want to see them.  I heard they had a giant porcupine.  Can you believe it?  I've never even seen a regular porcupine.  What is a porcupine, anyway?"

[Matt4]

"Well, porcupines are large rodents with coats of sharp quills that protect them against predation. You could distinguish two families of animals: the porcupines of family Hystricidae, and those of family Erethizontidae. Furthermore..." - she starts explaining, until the kender's attention eventually gets drawn by something else.

She sighs thinking about poor Krenari stuck who knows where, before turning to the others: "I wonder if the porcupine is also part of the trials we will need to face? Maybe it would be a good idea to investigate the arena since we have the chance now."

[HorizonsDream]

"There probably isn't much there, but it beats sitting around in this cell," Sumina says.

[Matt4]

"Well, then... Lead the way." - she says to Benny.

[GreyWolfVT]

Arthogate nods his head "Yeah lead on I suppose, might need to widen that hole a bit."

[Dallion80]

*Granker stares at the kender then at the others and shakes his head but remains silent*

[Daos]

Benny cautions the party to wait for nightfall, as it's harder to sneak around in broad daylight.  He tries to entertain them with stories of his misadventures until then.  When the sun goes down, he gathers up whatever belongings the party did not take from the floor and puts them back into his pouches.  Then he begins using his magic spade to widen the hole in the floor where necessary.  The party squeezes in after him.  Following the tunnel leads back to Benny's cell, which seems identical to their own.  He moves aside a pile of hay to reveal another hole, then beckons the party to follow.  "Just remember, we need to be back by sunrise.  That's when the guards will come check on us."

The tunnel winds underground for about 50 yards, then emerges into a field of weeds.  "The arena is about a hundred yards ahead," he whispers to them.  "We can get there if we are quiet and sneaky through this field.  But we shouldn't dally too much; or the risk of guards patrolling might see us."

[HorizonsDream]

"Does this field go anywhere else besides the arena?" Sumina asks in a whisper. It was possible that they could just outright escape if that was possible.

[Daos]

"Sure," Benny says.  "From here, you could go to the village, the shipyard or even Lord Myca's castle.  I wouldn't recommend it, though.  They're all pretty heavily guarded."

[Matt4]

"Apart from the risk of being caught, if we leave now we will have to leave behind both our animal companions and our weapons." - Kaelestia says softly, not really fond of the idea of leaving Krenari behind. - "I say we go investigate the arena."

[GreyWolfVT]

Arthogate nods his head "Aye. Let's just get a lay of the land as I believe the saying goes."

[TristenC]

Sha'al nods. If we plan to hide anything there we need to find some stuff worth hiding. We should look for weapons near the arena as well

[Daos]

Benny nods and leads the way, silent as a mouse.  The party has no trouble following him through the weeds to the arena; further, the weeds are tall enough that if the party crouches down, they can remain hidden from sight.  The entrance to the arena is a wooden door in the west side of the mountain, about 30 yards from where the weed field ends.  An obscenely overweight minotaur guards the door.  He is picking bananas from a large stalk and stuffing them whole into his mouth.

[HorizonsDream]

Sumina didn't mind beating the banana eating minotaur to a pulp, but she doubted that they were even going to deal with him since Benny had a shovel that could probably get them inside the arena.

[Matt4]

"Any idea on how to avoid having to deal with him? If he notices us he could alert other guards."