Stop and Ask for Directions

JP with Alexis, Gonyaul and Winteroak:

The echo of the footsteps stopped as Alexis called out into the approaching light. Only to continue in their direction a few heartbeats later. Emerging from a bend around the far corner a bald man, dressed in leather trousers and a wool vest lifted his torch towards you. On his other hand he held an hatchet.
"Who are you and what you doing here?" He asked in your language much to your surprise.

Gonyaul’s curiosity got the best of him and he peeked out from behind the protection of Alexis. He raised an eyebrow in surprise. The campsite before they entered gave witness to someone being there, but he didn’t expect the common tongue to come out of their mouth. Perhaps this new individual had answers. He would let Alexis do the talking though.

Alexis let her hand rest on the hilt of her sword, but made no move to draw it - yet.

“Name’s Alexis, and this is Gonyaul. Looking for an entrance into the cave system. You?”

Gonyaul bowed in greeting, but still was partially concealed behind Alexis. He eagerly awaited the man’s response.

The man looked dubiously at the two people standing in front of him. His hand gripped the haft of his small axe until his knuckles were white. But a few heartbeats later he visibly relaxed. "Name's Tar." He said still suspicious of the intruders and did not offer what he was doing in the cave. "You don't want to go down that way." He warned.

Alexis took note of his unwillingness to divulge his reasons for being here, but didn’t press the point for now.

“And why is that?”
she asked instead.

The man looked at the woman and her hand casually over her sword. "It's a maze down there." He started looking at the walls we trying to work out if they had disturbed the dead entombed here. "And there are things living down here." His voice dropped to a whisper. "Things I never imagined existed..."

Alexis solemnly nodded.

“Thank you for your warning, Tar. But we need to get down there regardless, I fear. I take it you know how to enter? Would you point us the way?”

"Why do you need to get down there? What are you after?" He asked pressing again.

The mercenary regarded the man quietly for a moment.

“Friends of us have gone missing down there. Abducted, we assume.“

Gonyaul was quietly paying attention to their verbal exchange. Any day now the man was going to say what they needed to move on. He was sure of it.