In the ruins.

You creep through the ruins, following Amber as close as she'll allow you. She keeps shushing you but there's nothing you can do: your armor is loud. After a ways into the ruins she comes to a full stop and motions for you to do the same. You peer around, looking for a threat, but you can't see anything but what little stonework the moon illuminates. She pads up to you silently, rubbing her forehead, and began to wave her hand over you, foxfire glimmering at her fingertips. You stumble back, flicking the wandering green cinders off, but she follows.

She pulls you close and whispered in your ear, "You'll get us both killed, let me silence your armor."

You give her a dubious look. You'd been trained to distrust magic. Even if you trusted Amber, to a degree, this still felt weird. You watch the foxfire flicker and swirl around you in a dazzling blaze, "This will absorb the sound of that damn armor, up to a point." By the time she's done you are thoroughly blinded and she has to lead you by the hand through the darkened ruins until your vision adjusts.

You're also are pretty sure you've gone deaf when you take your first step and hear... absolutely nothing. There must be enough light for her to see your amazed expression and she chuckles, "If you could see your face."

"It would be a handsome sight would it not?" Or at least that's what you meant to say. You feel your throat vibrate with the words but absolutely no sound comes out. It's unsettling, to say the least.

Amber disagreed, "Hehe, what an improvement! I should have done this ages ago." You try to shout back at her, mostly because you could, and she hurriedly shushes you, "Be quiet you idiot, I said 'to a point'! When the spell wears off, all the sound you've made for its duration will escape all at once!"

You take great care to follow her quietly even though you don't make a sound.

This was already proving to be interesting. You'd fought off a few bandits and some orcs with Amber but you'd never seen her plan for a fight or physically engage. She was all about misdirection and befuddlement, which worked great with her natural talent for illusion.

Your eyes are just starting to fully adjust when Amber pulls up short, "There's a light up ahead." You can't see it, yet, but you can make out the sound of boorish snoring from somewhere ahead and below. You start to tell her such before you remember your mute state and grind your teeth as she continues, "I can hear them snoring too. Ugh, orcs are foul!"

You creep up to the flickering firelight pouring out of one of the ruined structures, a dungeon if you'd have to guess. You couldn't see the ruins reaching far above you but you can feel their oppressive weight in the lack of starlight. The smell of overcooked meat billows out with the hot smoke of the fire, both of which are a welcome alternative to the stench of orc and... something fouler. You both peer down into the room through the broken floor of the room above.

Roughly a dozen orcs are sleeping, cooking, and idling about the filthy room. Bits of bone and carcasses lie in piles on the floor, an alarming number of them human or humanoid. Amber gags, covering her mouth, and you can't help but agree. She pats your arm and points to the far corner of the room. There, sitting on a throne which appears to actually be made of bones, sits a troll. If the orcs were a combination of carnivorous mammals, the troll was an orc merged with a lizard. It's about twice the size of the orcs, great fangs lining a flat, reptilian head with a sickly green hue. Its flesh was intermittently covered in scales and bristly looking hair with a healthy helping of warts sprinkled in. It is not pleasant to look at. By its side is a tightly bound kitsune, still and seemingly ****.

You start to outline a plan to Amber before you once again remember you can't talk. Clapping your hand to your forehead, silently of course, you grab her by the shoulder to get her attention. You point at the orcs and make a series of complicated hand gestures to indicate what you want.

"You want me to rob them? I don't think they have anything worth taking, besides that's not why we're-" You groan and roll your eyes exaggeratedly. Shaking your head you try again with more basic movements. "Oh... lure them out and pick them off one by one?" You nod, giving a thumbs up. She vanishes with a blink of foxfire into the darkness and you move to position yourself for a good ambush.

You finish off five of them, with absolute silence thanks to Amber's charm, before the bound kitsune begins to stir. The troll, who had been nibbling at a rib like a farmer might a toothpick, grins an awful grin and reaches down to pick her up. You hear her squeal from here as she beholds her foul captor, trying to roll away to no avail. The troll scoops her up and lifts her onto its lap, chortling deeply. It speaks something in a guttural language you don't understand and the girl begins her struggle anew, squirming like a wild animal at the beasts words or maybe just its breath. Sleeping orcs begin stirring and they all gather around the spectacle like onlookers at a sporting event. You are {if Pervert > 25}sickened but curious, some unfortunate part of you wanting to see the lovely lady taken by the horrid beast. {else}sickened by the scene playing out in front of you. {endif}Amber materializes next to you, face tight and worried, "What are we going to do?"