The Right Moment

Jp with Lucian & Omni

It was almost as if her prayers had been answered as the sound of moving water came again through the shadows. Finally, the mould folk and their captives came upon a room with a stone carved font of water standing in the center, the ceiling was much higher here, ascending into black oblivion. This chamber was different from the last, squarish and bigger. No evil visages looked down upon them. Water trickled in from ancient ducts in the stonework above. The font overflowed, dribbling down into another basin carved into the floor where it drained.

The Neph'Kin seemed to be debating about something as they stopped for another rest.

With their captives eyes away from them, Tarmen set to work on his bindings. The claw was old, older than he was, but after a few moments of working its remaining edge he felt the bonds loosen. A flutter of hope fanned his desire for freedom and he thought of a quick plan. He kept his voice to a whisper as he shuffled closer to give her the claw.

“I am goin’ to start somethin’, maybe get the jump on them. Anythin’ you can do to separate them would be nice.”

Moving away from her, he called to their captors and tried signaling towards the water as if thirsty.

Turning toward Tarmen, the mould woman barked something at him and butted him sharply in the side with the blunt end of her spear, as if to say 'you wait, dog!'. Then one of the men pulled out some bread from his pouch, tore off a chunk with his teeth and spat it at Tarmen.

Meanwhile, Voah was slowly cutting through the binds around her wrists, leaving just enough for her to break free before palming the claw to hide it.

The mould woman sighed in annoyance and turned to Voah next. She allowed Voah to drink first, this time she could do it on her own and standing up.

When Voah was through, the woman gestured for her to step away and she was made to kneel. The woman then produced a chunk of bread for Voah to nibble on.

Voah didn't waste either opportunity as she had no idea what was about to happen after they got loose.

Being led to the font, Tarmen wasn’t sure what the Arbiter was planning to do, though he had his own plan to worry about. As he went to drink, the native stopped him for a moment, grabbing the bonds before letting him drink.

After swallowing a small morsel, Voah was given another bite. This was the chance to act. She lowered her head and went silent before making guttural sounds of choking. Then she deliberately faceplanted against the woman's leg, falling to the cracked and cold stone floor.