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Down the alleyway, under some stone from the nearby crumpled building was an iron grate. The bars were thick, and, peering down seemed to show the pathway down clear of any rubble. Finny moved about, grabbing the latch, and pulled up. The metal shirked loudly, making the group wince. Lucky for them the city seemed deserted.
"Come on, quickly." Finny gestured, moving them along down the ladder. Merlin groaned, staring between the way down and the pile of books. Sniffing, he walked over, and unceremoniously dropped the pile into the hole. They heard a light thud seconds later."Well...at least it's not a long way down,"he said climbing down after the tomes. The rest followed after, and Finny tried, and failed, to close the grate quietly.
Inside the path curved down and off to the right, paved with solid blocks of stone. The torches on the wall were out, but not untouched. Merlin looked one over, pulling it out to study it. "Looks like it's been lit recently. Someone's down here." He handed it over to Finny, and flicked his wrist, igniting it.
"Good, even if it's not everyone, it means some survived. Lets go. The tunnels lead into a bunker about a mile and a half in,"Finny said, leading them down the path. At a brisk pace they reached a large cavern, a few men posted on the outskirts. As they got close, two of the men shouted at them to stop, weapons drawn and at the ready. "Who are you lot," the taller of the two men, a heavily armored human, asked. Finny placed his hand up,keeping it away from the sword at his side."We're couriers from The Seeking Owl. We came back from a delivery, hoping to find some survivors,"he said, eyes locked on the man. The two exchanged a look, before relaxing their weapons.
"Alright. We'll lead you in. You can talk to the grand cleric, Iliran. She's been the one to keep things going around here,"the man said, leading them in. Inside were handfuls of people scattered about the rather large chamber, huddled together in front of tents and fires. The people looked at them as they passed, expressions stormy. Vesper frowned as she watched their faces. Merlin bumped against her lightly, giving her a comforting smile. It helped a little.
In the center of the makeshift campsite, a group of people were clustered together, looking over maps, and list. Each person seemed to be busy with one thing or another to help keep the people alive. The guard that had let them in had them wait while he went off into a nearby tent, returning a few minutes later with a tall Elven woman following him. She looked the group over, her green eyes baring into each of them as she came to a stop several feet away. "I am Grand Cleric Dasyra Iliran. Morris here tells me you are just returning to the city. This must all seem a shock to you,"she said, motioning them to follow.
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Please excuse my slow replies. I currently work 6 or 7 days a week, and now with Hurricane Irma effecting my county I wont know when I might have access to power next. Hopefully things will get fixed soon. Thank you for understanding!
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