Descent Negotiation

JP with Alexis, Gonyaul and Winteroak:

The man, that calls himself Tar is clearly weary of you. He has not seen his kind in a long time and keeps debating with himself if you are here for the same thing he is.

"No one has come down here in a long time. I have been alone for eight seasons. Three of those here in this very cave." He says. "Abducted you say? By the mould people?" He asks. "If that's true you better make your peace that they are gone. No one returns from the Ypogeios once the Neph-Kin get their hands on you." He sighed realising he was talking more than he told himself he would. But it felt good to speak to others again after so long in these mountains.
"You are in the right place to mourn their passing. This here is the entrance to the ruined Repositorium of Maru and their long lost clans." He said. "A cemetery of old " he explained.

“I see.”

Alexis answered, kind of glad now to have rearranged the stone over the skeleton.

“We are painfully aware of our chances, thank you. However, we’re not giving up on them yet. Wether you help us or not, we’ll go down there, if not here, then through the entrance in the Karawanserei.”

She looked at Tar calmly, the hints of a mirthless smile forming.

“You would just get us out of your hair sooner if you told us where to look…?”

The man thought about the offer and sighed. She was right of course but he would just be leading them to their doom. On the other hand he could use them to search the one place he had not dared yet.

"There is a way into the main system through these caves but it's full of danger." He started. "It leads to a mausoleum of sorts. Past that maybe two days in there is a settlement. Of the Neph-Kin..."

Gonyaul’s eyes widened in sweet anticipation. Not quite the eager expression you would expect after hearing how wrought with danger this information would be. Finally, they would learn what they needed to know to get down there.

The mercenary watched as the man tried to make his mind up.
She wished she could be as convincing as some of her friends. Unfortunately, she would have to do.

“Look.”
She quietly said.

“Clearly you know an awful lot about all this. Wether you fled the famine, came here looking for something or whatever else, I don’t know and I won’t ask. But most certainly a lot of those seasons have been spent learning about the Ypogeos. Even wandering them as it sounds. Pillars know we could desperately need your help to stand the slither of a chance. But if you’re adamant to keep your knowledge to yourself we simply don’t have the time to try and convince you. Our friends’ chances, minimal as they already may be will not increase the longer we wait.
So, to cut this short - can we somehow get you to help or not?”

Tar considered the offer. The woman looked like a capable warrior. The strange looking man peering from behind her was another matter. Still, three pairs of hands were better than one. Plus she sounded sincere. Maybe they knew nothing of what he was searching for. How could they if it had been revealed to him in a vision. A vision that even the few Odonine he had asked about dismissed it as a tall tale. But he was sure it was real. Fosia's Hammer, Ichor of Solitude was here somewhere in this ancient cemetery and he would find it.

"I will lead you in if you help me kill the denizen of these caves." He offered bluntly.

Alexis’ eyebrows rose. Well, that came out of nowhere.

“What do you mean exactly?”

That settlement of the Neph-Kin? Might be a bit much for three people, so probably not? No, he was talking about the caves immediately ahead, wasn’t he?

Kill? Couldn’t they just bring gifts or be politely persuasive? He thought this to himself and kept silent while the negotiations where now underway. He didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize learning where to go.

" A Naylmo makes the lower caves of this mountain it's lair." He said. "A mountain-ape."