The Key to Victory

[HolyMan]

Tira says nothing with getting put in line next to last as she silently figures she can watch the Reaver woman better from her position. The group starts off first following the steps up and around till they are at the top of the ledge facing the newest dark tunnel.

With only one direction to go in for almost two hours the group quickly feels like they are headed back towards the room that they fought the zombies in, only instead of entering it they will probably pass over top of it.

Jareth sets a careful pace and whenever he gets a tickling on the back of his neck like somethings not right he calls Aver up to investigate. So the pace isn't overly brisk but they do make their way through to what Ernestine was hoping to find.

Coming out of a narrow tunnel onto a natural balcony of sorts the group finds themselves in a large cavern that their torchlight doesn't show the far side of. The smell of death is thick in the air and that's how Ernestine knows where she is at, by the smell.

Tira gaffs "Guess a fox does smell it's den at that," she mumbles.

The balcony is wide but the floor below as well as the wall across are unseen for the moment.

 

[Aldern Foxglove]

Aver presses a finger to his lips and scurries forward keeping low and tucked into the wall until he can get a look down below - hopefully without being seen or heard.

 

[Dragonwriter]

Jareth pauses, letting Aver go ahead. The warrior-mage is still tense, his body stiff and senses on high alert. Why in the Hells did I agree to stay down here longer? I just hope we get this chest and get out of here, before I end up choking to death from the foul air...

The expanse of darkness ahead reminds him of the last cave he was in... Trapped in the crevasse beneath the earth, helpless, dreading something might come and finish him off. His arm once again feels pinned to his side, eliciting a quick gasp. He hadn't realized his eyes had closed as the memory and waking nightmare enraptured him...

Jareth blinks his eyes rapidly, dispelling the illusion of the horrifying memory. No... That won't happen again. And I won't let anyone here sacrifice themselves for me, if it comes to that.

 

[HolyMan]

"Jareth you ok?" Tira asks concern in her voice.

 

[Dragonwriter]

"It's nothing," Jareth grits out from behind clenched teeth. His eyes bore into the darkness ahead, forming foul things from the shadows, summoning up beasts and monsters beyond the mind's reckoning... "The faster we get this done and get back into sunlight, the better."

 

[HolyMan]

"Agreed," Tira says giving him a smile.

She then looks for Aver and not seeing or hearing the rogue she decides to address the others. "So how do we get down?"

 

[ghostcat]

Trinham mentally checks the contents of his backpack and once again curses himself for forgetting a piece of essential equipment. "Sorry Tira, I can't help you. I don't have any rope and I'm not much good at climbing."

 

[Dragonwriter]

Jareth shrugs his backpack off. "Good thing I've got some rope, then. Had it for a while... But before we go ahead, I think a little more light is more important. Just in case there's something out there."

Jareth hauls the coiled hempen rope from his pack and sets it on the ground before turning his attention to the edges of the 'balcony.' With a dismissive wave of his hand, four lights appear and start going around the edge. "There's our boundary," he mutters before stepping closer and directing the lights down to the bottom.

[sblock=OOC]
Arcane Attunement for 1 use of Dancing Lights. Just wanted to be sure of how far the balcony goes, then sending the lights down. They can go 150 feet from me, so we should hopefully see the bottom.
[/sblock]

 

[HolyMan]

The lights stretch out to the far corners of this large room. It is a long rectangle with the balcony on one end and columns holding up the ceiling at the far end. It is over a hundred feet long and all along the floor, which is about eighty feet below them, they see the reason for the smell.

The floor is littered with dead bodies (thankfully none look to be moving) it looks like a battle of some sort took place here.

*gasp*

"This is were the Nandirly fought Vester! We are in the dragon's lair!" Tira exclaims.

 

[Fangor the Fierce]

Mal's mind races back at the words. 'Dragon's Lair'. It had many meanings, and many dangers with associated with them. Of all the choices on what to think upon, his thoughts rest on 'Emma', as he wonders how she knew of Vester, and what their relationship was. Apparently, she hinted at having a hand in Vester's defeat. Now, with Mal now standing in what was once Vester's Lair, his aura flickers, as it switches to acidic retribution before switching back to that of protection.

The quick change in his aura, for some unknown reason, brings an acidic taste to his mouth, as he spits the bile coming from his stomach out onto the balcony. The sputum is thickly green, and disconcerting as it hisses for a brief second. 'Great... now I am getting sick just thinking about Vester...' he thinks to himself, shaking the thoughts from entering his mind yet again.

"I can check out the other wall, and climb down to make sure that those bodies stay unmoving. Or, we could simply toss some large stones down to make sure those bodies stay down. If the previous encounter was any hint at what those bodies might be, then we should tread carefully."

Glancing about the room, he wonders where the dragon hoard would be. Where would a treasure chest be in this mess? "Anyone able to scan that mess for anything hinting at the chest we came for?"