The interior of Gut's rooms smelled of mildew, blood, and decay; the distinct lingering scent of mold spores, floating about the dark, damp interior. A single torch flickered against the far wall, haloing a profane altar in strange light. This far from the center of the Camp, however, it was almost quiet. A brief respite of safety. Her gut turned over seeing the condition of her companions, however, now recently freed by Master Halsin, and rubbing at their joints to rid themselves of chaffing from the shackles. Basil echoed Nabooru's assurance to Master Halsin that they would render aid, as they could. Thus, the Druid shifted shape again, and left them. In the wake of Halsin departing, and before Basil could answer Nabooru's question, Astarion voiced what perhaps the group was thinking.
"It's all well and good to 'help,' mutual back scratching, if you will," he said. Blood stained the front of his armor, a sign of the fighting and struggling the party had done in Basil's abstinence. They all looked ragged and tired: a few hours of imprisonment did them no favors. "But what in the hells does all this have to do with us? We've already almost died by goblin, today. Then, we got freed by the bloody druid we were here to save!"
"You want to get paid don't you?" Basil asked, having become accustomed to Astarion's personality. He made a lightly affirmative noise, to which Basil added: "Then, we better go help save the tieflings. It'll be hard to collect your reward if they're dead."
"Well... maybe not that hard," Astarion muttered and then waved his hand broadly. "Very well, if you insist, I'll go along with the pack. But just so you know if we all end tonight with our throats slit, I'm blaming you."
"Now, now, what harm is there in some good deeds, every now and then," Gale proclaimed. He brushed some dust off the front of his robes and inclined an affable smile towards Basil. "I say, if we can lend a hand, we should do all we can! At the very least, earning trust of druid and tiefling alike should be a great bounty on our journey. And bring us one step closer to getting our unwanted guests removed from our skulls. Like my mother said, 'a friend helped in need, is a friend in indeed!' Or something to that effect..."
"Then we should go," Basil insisted. And she turned towards Nabooru to make quick introductions: Gale, Astarion, Wyll, had joined her in the Goblin Camp, but Shadowheart and Lae'zel, waited for them on the perimeter. Back up, had been the rationale. "I think from here we can sneak out of the temple and onto the pass above. From there... we can make short time. If we hurry."
While exploring the temple, after the party had been captured, Basil discovered that there was a secret way out. Through an old tunnel in the rock. They had to cross the rafters again to the other side and she showed them the room where the captured man from Aradin's group had slipped away earlier. They traced his steps, leaping across the chasm and into the tunnel. The passageway went narrow, either shoulder brushing along the stone, until they emerged somewhere on the side of the mountain, from a thin niche in the rock. Basil was second in line and so followed Gale out, to see that the sun scorched the far Western sky in a dimming setting. Night was falling and she could still hear the distant war drums of the camp, and likely, the war party. But the air was clearer, free of smoke, and laden with sweet pollen. The clarity did nothing to unwind the knot in her chest.
She would not, could not allow Minthara to harm the grove.
From there, after meeting-up with Lae'zel and Shadowheart, they began the hike back down the mountain. Basil guessed they could make it in just a couple hours with a good pace, and when she channeled her god to heal their injuries, and restore their energy, they were able to match it. But Basil drifted back from the front of the pack, to match stride with Nabooru. In the darkness, the trail was uneven and rocky, with sturdy roots fully intent on tripping the uncareful traveler. Basil lit a mote of light in her hand, allowing it to illuminate their path.
"I'm sure you have questions," she hazarded a guess. "About what's going on and... the tadpole in you? I'm not as much an expert as Master Halsin is, but I can do my best to answer them. If you'd like?"