Chapter 4: Quenching the Burning Plague, Pt.1

Seeing Krytox marching up towards the cave and Rasa following behind without any fuss, Squin decides to move forward as well, trailing those two. If the elf feels comfortable going in after the lizardman, how bad can it be. At least in terms of surprises and such. Even still, the centaur is semi-conscious of his hoofs, and tries to step more carefully to minimize the amount of sound they generate. Before entering, he looks around at the others to see where the rest of the group is, and to make a mental note of the order they're in.

OOC: Not attempting a move silently check. Just story filling.

Past the outer entrance, the mine opens into a shaft leading 60' before disappearing into the darkness, as far as the eye can see.

darkvision:

ooc: If you do not have darkvision but have a light source, you can also read the spoiler. Otherwise, you must rely on the group to explain. (No copying text.) Let me know in ooc if you guys are making any rolls.

"More battle here. Room has death and blood... Not see any alive," Krytox says in hushed tones to those he knows won't be able to see. "Is there torch? You want to see?"

He keeps making his way slowly into the room, allowing the others' eyes to adjust to the dark. This had happened once before way back during their battle with Holg in his cave hideout. Though, back then there had been torches intermittently throughout, whereas here many of the group would just be blind. It would be to their advantage to find something to light their path, even if it meant attracting a little more attention. He begins scanning the walls for a torch or lantern.

Search: 7 + 1 = 8

"That's odd," Squin mutters quietly. Something doesn't feel right, but the centaur is not sure what. "How come there is only one body in the room, positioned right beneath one of the mine carts? Almost as if it was placed or left there on purpose" the centaur continues to no one in particular in a hushed voice. Straining his brain, the centaur stumbles upon yet another question. If Jakk Tornclaw's group were hiding here for a while, why would there be valuable, silver perhaps, ore lying around? Was it a recent battle? Or is it bait?

Unable to figure it out on his own, and not wanting to make a mistake, the centaur decides to ask the nearest person he sees. He waits until it seems as if the elf is not busy and whispers, "Am I being paranoid or is there something suspicious about the mine cart and the body? I mean ... no other bodies and valuable ore, silver maybe, lying around the carts. Recent battle mayb ....". Squin trails off realizing that perhaps he had talked too much. He cautiously looks around without moving, just twisting his upper torso and craning his head around. It is quite apparent that Squin is nervous. The centaur moves his hands into position, close to his weapons.

Spot: X + 7 =

Random number (1,20) :

18

Philo shifts closer to her riding cat Tex as she follows the others through the battle-ravaged tunnel into total darkness. She blinks a few times, willing her eyes to get used to the dark, but to little effect. "More blood?" she repeats. "One body? Are we...sure it's dead?"

"Let me know if you find a torch," Philo continues, in what she suspects to be Krytox's direction. "I have a spell that could light it, if all else fails."

As the group surveys the room, they drift slightly farther into the room to survey the area...

darkvision - looking for other passageways:

As Squin peers nervously at the lower half of the body peeking out from under the cart, a thoughtful look crosses his face for an instant.

darkvision - inspecting the room:

for Squin:

Alterith stumbles over the rocks and the tracks by the mine cart. "Blasted darkness, someone strike a flint, anyone here knows we're coming by now." He looks in the direction of the loud clicking of the centaurs hooves. Rummaging in his small back he pulls forth a torch, and after a few more minutes and a few curses he manages to strike a spark with his flint. The torch rapidly roars to life, singing a few of his hairs before he can pull it away from his face. The light reflects back off the silver ore amplifying the effect and casting eerie shadows around the room. He gazes around. "Well me laddies, I think we be rich enough now, eh?" His He looks across at the elves, and the cat. "Now might be a good time to see what lies ahead. This light will attract a lot of attention once we start in that direction. If you want to move quick and quiet, I suggest you do it now." He pats his axe and daggers setting up a small jingle. He laughs to himself as he readjusts them into a quieter position, stuffing a small piece of cloth into each sheath to silence them completely. He is fully capable of moving quietly when the situation calls for it, and this one probably does. He moves on silent halfling feet around the border of the room, lighting it for all to see.

Move Silently:17+8-1(AC)=24 (not too bad for a fully armed halfing huh?).
Spot:12+0=12 (aha, I see my feet).

Krytox searches the walls, but reaps no rewards. Plenty of sconces, but no torches. After a short time he gives up the search and makes his way back toward the group. His eyes always adjusted to the dark very quickly, so it was hard for him to understand how others were so blind. He keeps his eyes pointed down to make sure there aren't any painfully obvious traps - he knew he wasn't one to be able to pick out something well hidden - so it startled him to see a sudden flame out of his peripheral vision. His hand quickly found the morningstar, ready to fight, but only to find out that it was Alterith providing some light. He was now close enough to hear clearly the halfling's quiet words. He's right... dark places like this... the things that aren't afraid of the light are what we should be afraid of

He falls into step as quietly as possible, though that wasn't something he was particularly good at. While his feet weren't padded like the big cat, they weren't hooves either. Unfortunately they may as well have been. He seemed to kick every piece of ore, bone, stone and whatever else was lying around in their path. His weapons jangled. Even his leather armor seemed to creak more loudly than Squin's clomping hooves. Not seeming to be able to control the sound of his movements, the lizardman hisses a 'shhh' at his own feet, but to no avail. He finally gives up trying to be quiet and just makes sure he is ready for whatever might find them down here...

Move Silently: 2 + 3 = 5
Spot: 15 + 3 = 18

Wanting to minimize as much as possible to number of steps he has to take, the centaur just stands where he is at and continues to turn his head, neck and upper torso to survey the room and others. This way his hooves can remain planted where they are at not moving until the group is done with this room and moves on. Slowly, carefully and quietly Squin pulls out his longbow. Not really expecting any trouble, the centaur holds the bow at his side and does not draw an arrow. He does however, continue to look around trying to keep an eye out for surprises and an eye on his group members wandering around the room. With his focus split between not moving his hooves and keeping an eye out on the rest of the group, Squin is unable to notice much of anything else.

Spot: 5 + 7 = 12

Alterith continues to watch as the elves and cat continue to investigate the room. "I thought the point was for those that can see well enough and move quiet enough to scout ahead so the rest of us don't go walking into another ambush?" He looks pointedly at Rasa who has seemed to be absent at key moments in the past. "If yer not interested in scouting the way, then I would suggest we kick up some dust and move on with fighting on our minds. No use in keeping quiet, they'll know we're here and we might as well be ready to fight." He grins, this is much more his style. All this quiet creeping wears him out in a way that hours of bloody combat never have. Strange that...something for a scholar somewhere to figure out, he's sure.

The mine the group is exploring continues to sit quietly, awaiting their actions. The silence seems to taunt them, daring them farther into the mineshaft passageways.

ooc: Your Spot checks reveal nothing that has not already been mentioned.

The silence and claustrophobia begin to have a familiar impact on the dangerous unstable halfling. A growl erupts from his throat. "Lazy, good fer nothin elves." He brings his axe to the forefront, bangs it against the mine cart just to relieve the silence, then follows it's echo deeper into the mineshaft. "Ye'all coming?" he calls back over his shoulder giving up silence in exchange for speed. The torch casts an ominous glow as it reflects from the shaft as he heads down the shaft with the torch held along the head of the axe.

Rasa wakes up from his absent stare. "That may be best actually..... It seems so far that everything is dead in here, and you charging ahead has worked in the past. just don't come crying to me if anything unfortunate happens. Lead the way Alterith." He knows this isn't his normal plan of action, but hey, it HAS worked in the past for this group, regardless of how dangerous it could be. He might just need to put a little more faith in the way they do things.....

Alterith jumps at the sounds of his friends voice right behind him before noticing the axe already halfway through a swing, he steps back while angling the head high, returning it to position on his other shoulder. "Good way to lose yer head lad." His senses heightened he turns back to the tunnel and continues down into the depths.

Spot:+?

Random number (1,20) :

15

Listen:+?

Random number (1,20) :

20

sorry, I'm at work, I'll figure out my bonuses when I get home.

Muffled laughter erupts from the lizardman. Something about the interaction between these two just struck him as quite hilarious. A disturbing old married couple perhaps? Regardless, the glares from Rasa and Alterith quickly help him regain his composure. He trudges along, not taking the care to even try to move quietly any more. The clanking of his weapons and the stomping of his feet would have already alerted anyone doing even the worst of jobs as a lookout. He does try to keep an eye as far ahead in the tunnel as possible. The light was helpful to those not accustomed to the darkness, but he could see just a little farther and that might make a difference.

Spot: 8 + 3 = 11
Listen: 16 + 2 = 18

Alterith looks at the elves, grins and then turns to confront the lizardman stalking behind him, as he does so his axe clangs loudly against the wall of the tunnel, and sends a few sparks into the air. He scowls at the lizardman as the noise echoes off down the tunnel ahead "SHHHH". He then turns back to the front, his axe clanging again in the effort and continues down the tunnel grinning for all the world like a goblin who just stole the cookie jar.

Philo nods to Tex, indicating that he should go on ahead to investigate. The banter of the others only half-registers as her eyes adjust to the low light and the motionless pair of legs falls within her line of vision. Slowly Philo approaches the body, careful not to trip over the rocks or bolts. Crouching down, she peers under the cart.

Spot: 2 + 8 = 10
Gather Information: 18 + 7 = 25

The centaur sees the others move on ... or rather, most of the others. He sees Philo moving closer to investigate the cart and calls out to Philo, "that body and setup looks quite suspicious to me. Best be careful." His mind races with worry about being separated from the rest of the group, but is quickly reassured by the noise they're creating. At least that will give us a few moments here before we have to go. As Philo peers under the cart, Squin pulls out an arrow and notches it into his bow. However, the centaur aims the arrow down towards the ground a fair distance off to the side of Philo. He figures it is better to be prepared, yet does not want a chance of an unfortunate accident happening.

ooc: Fyi, the Gather Information skill is used when interacting with people. Just to clarify.

Out of the passageways to the west and east available, Alterith, Krytox and Rasa begin slinking toward the west passageway. Meanwhile, Philo investigates the cart, peering carefully underneath. Here, nothing appears out of the ordinary - the edge of the upside down cart rests on top of the man's torso. Underneath the cart, where it is much darker...

'Philo':

Squin glances to his side to see his three companions moving out of sight, down the west corridor. He trains his attention back on to Philo, muscles tensing, preparing for the unexpected to happen.

'Alterith, Krytox and Rasa':

Alterith walks up to the door and looks it over, then turns to rasa and points around the edges and shrugs. Then readies his axe and nods to the blackscale hoping he'll get the message. He goes into a low crouch, ready to shoulder the door and force his way through, axe swinging as soon as Rasa gives the all clear about traps surrounding the frame. With his small stature, he is sure the blackscale will be able to act simultaneously over his head once the door is open. Of course...the shuffling says they might be ready, so he changes his mind and as soon as Rasa gives the ok, he instead raises his fist and knocks, 3 short, 2 long, 2 short. He then waits for a response from within.

Listen:+8

Random number (1,20) :

18

Rasa Quickly scans the door for traps so he can give his friend the ok. Search 2 + 12 = 14. After everything looks good, he waves Alterith and Krytox on. There was no reason for him to go rushing into something that already knew he was there. That would only lead to a swift death. He'd let the brutes scare whatever was beyond the door first, and then take his seconds. Ready to pounce as soon as they open the door, RaSa listens to the foe while he remains poised to attack.

Listen: 13 + 10 = 23

Squin is relieved that nothing bad happened when Philo peeked under the cart ... or at least nothing bad yet. The centaur had unknowingly held his breath, and only now quickly but quietly exhales. A little slower and just as quietly with nostrils wide open he inhales deeply, replenishing his lungs with oxygen. Even though the centaur is more relaxed than a few moments ago, he is still quite tense waiting; waiting for something to happen or preferably, for Philo to finish the inspection. Squin's eyes are wide open trying to see everything at once. Every little movement calls out for his attention and his brain is on overdrive trying to figure out what is real and what is not, what is important and what is not.

Spot: 8 + 7 = 15

Krytox quickly regains his composure as Alterith gestures towards his weapon. Fighting is serious business and despite the humorousness of the previous moments he had to be ready. He thought for a moment, carefully choosing his weapon. The tunnel might be small... the axe could be too big... the chains too long... He silently checked off his weapons, one by one, finally opting for the morning star. With that in hand he nodded back to the halfling, ready to charge into the room after him. This is what he was built for - a killing machine. Whether or not he liked it, the stereotypes were mostly true about the Underlost.

Rasa finished his search, declaring the door 'all clear'. This confused the blackscale to no end - the door was certainly not clear. Stupid elf, he sneered, can't see through the door. Alterith approached again and Krytox was ready right behind. The tension mounted with each moment feeling longer than the last. Then Alterith knocked on the door as if he knew anyone who may be on the other side. Augh! The ways of these others.... so strange!

Listen: 16 + 2 = 18

Squin attempts to take everything in at once. He glances over down the corridor his companions left into - it's too dark to see down that passageway, but judging from the sounds they probably didn't go very far...

'Squin':

The dracen finds no traps on the unlocked door. The attacking companions get into position. Alterith knocks and they all listen for a response...

'Alterith,Krytox,Rasa':

There is only one thing to do in a situation like this...grabbing the nearest table, Alterith flips it up creating a barrier comparable to that of the kobolds. He then heaves it up by the legs and races across the floor towards the kobolds table. The *twang twang* of crossbows firing can be heard, but nothing slows his momentum, at least, until he hits the other table, and even then it is only the bodies on the other side that slow the impact.

(Leaving this open a bit...I don't know if Krytox is going to help me...if he does the other table probably won't even really slow us down until we have squished kobolds against the far wall...)

Initiative:+4

Random number (1,20) :

17

Attack:+? attack with table?

Random number (1,20) :

13