Round 105

As the ground rumbled once more, a figure stumbled into the inn, drenched and covered in dirt. Gravedigger Renn collapsed onto a nearby chair, his eyes wide with terror. "I saw it!" he gasped, his voice barely audible over the din of the storm. "I followed the tunnel, and whatever was down there... it spoke to me. It said we're not worthy." The runes on the wall pulsed with an otherworldly energy as the ground shuddered again.

Silra's gaze narrowed as she watched Gravedigger Renn, her hand still resting on the hilt of her dagger. "Well now—that's either very good timing or catastrophically bad," she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. She moved closer to the innkeeper's bar where Renn had collapsed, her teal eyes sharp and suspicious. "Let me guess: you decided to prove your courage by going back down there alone, and whatever is buried down there apparently had... words for you?" Her tone was laced with disdain as she crouched beside Renn.

Sister Hale stepped closer to Renn, her silver holy symbol held loosely at her side. "You're alive—that's what matters right now," she said, her voice calm but firm. She cut through the rising panic in the common room, her eyes locked on Silra before returning to Renn. "Whatever you encountered down there—whatever it said to you—that doesn't change our situation: we're still here, still armed, and whatever is buried under Gravehill hasn't emerged yet." Her gaze lingered on Silra's face before shifting back to Renn, whose terror-smell was almost palpable.

The air in the common room seemed to thicken as Sister Hale's words hung in the balance, her eyes never leaving Renn's face. The ground beneath their feet groaned once more, a low rumble that seemed to vibrate through every molecule of air. In the silence that followed, only the sound of the storm and Renn's ragged breathing broke the stillness.