Branding's Age of Worms, the 4th Generation

[Azten]

Azten fidgets nervously, torn between his desire to keep his feet planted firmly on the ground, and his desire to be the one to peer into the dark of the passage above.

I have excellent vision in the dark as well, but - um - not so much ability to climb.
Look around up there for any sort of mechanism that might activate a lift or hidden stairwell.


Then a bit more softly: I'll look around down here for any mechanism trigger.

 

[Thanee]

Alexi

“Well, I'm neither a good climber nor can I see in the dark, so I guess I will wait here until you guys made some light up there?”

 

[Branding Opportunity]

"It sure is dark up here guys. Just give me a second. I am tying knots in the rope to make climbing easier for you. Plus I need to find something to attach the rope to."

(OOC: Owen "takes 20" on Search checks.) Owen looks around in the little light available to him. He can only see about 10 feet down the corridor, but from here the walls and floor all look very smooth, with no obvious places where one could attach a rope. Whoever built this cairn seems to have had a different way of getting up here. While looking he comes across something else interesting, though. As Owen is feeling the floor with his fingers, he discovers scratch marks on the ground, especially close to the lip. They are gouged fairly deep into the masonry floor, so whatever made them must have been fairly hard. The light is insufficient to see what could have made them.

"Owen! Is the top bolted in securely enough to hold my weight? I think I can climb it and carry people if it will hold."

(OOC: Intelligence check) The bolt which fastens the chain to the ceiling looks quite sturdy. Although Owen is not a professional engineer, he guesses that it should hold the giant's weight.

Then a bit more softly: I'll look around down here for any mechanism trigger.

(OOC: Azten "takes 20" on Search check") The dwarf looks all around the area, paying close attention to the stone work. Other than the fractured bones and the lantern he does not find anything else interesting.

 

[Voadam]

"I'll carry you up then Atzen. I think it will hold us and it would be better to have somebody up there who can see in the dark."

Gregor will begin ferrying the party up then, taking ten on the ascent.

 

[Mista Collins]

"I don't see anything up here to attach the rope to! Quite frankly I don't see much at all."

 

[silentspace]

"Yes, I think that's a great idea. I don't like Owen being up there alone, not being able to see," Majakilar says.

"Everywhere we go in this place seems to require us to split up," he says with some frustration. "I hope that ghost's not up there, about to go hostile."

Unsure of what he can do to help, Majakilar keeps an eye out on the passageway while Gregor climbs.

 

[Branding Opportunity]

The ascent

Slowly and carefully, Gregor uses his considerable strength to climb the chain. Once he is above the lantern, he reaches an arm down and pulls Azten up onto his back. Together they make the ascent which seems to proceed flawlessly.

There is a nervous moment where the two have to swing over to the ledge. Gregor's weight has been thrown off slightly with the dwarf on his back, and he misses the edge on the first try. Everyone holds their breath as the two swing back and forth for a moment. Thankfully on the second try and with Owen's help, Gregor finds a foothold and finally finds himself on sold ground again, his arms aching from the exertion.

Once everyone has caught their breath again, Owen ties the rope around Gregor and the two of them proceed to start hauling everyone up from below. While this is going on, Azten takes a tentative look around to see what he can see.

The corridor looks to have been built by the same architects as the rest of the cairn. As Owen already noted, the passage is about 10 feet wide and 12 feet in height. After a bit of searching Azten discovers the scratch marks on the floor, as if something had been dragged toward the lip of the passageway. Taking a few steps down the corridor Azten sees that it is perhaps 70 feet long and ends in a wall shaped to resemble an enormous stone humanoid face, its mouth open in an angry scream. Otherwise the hallway seems to have no other recognizable features.

 

[Mista Collins]

"Any idea what could have caused these large scratches? I don't know enough about stonework to know what it takes to cause these."

 

[Azten]

The presence of the deep scratches in the stonework makes Azten think of two things initially - something trying to climb up from below or being pushed over the edge from above.

He carefully searches the tunnel for any hints to what may have caused the gouges and also looks for any panels or sections that may slide. Specifically, he's worried that the end panel may slide down the passage to push everyone back to the lantern chamber.

If he finds no evidence of moving stone, then he examines the end section carefully, trying to determine if the mouth has a function or if it is purely decoration.

 

[Voadam]

"Scratches? Oh yes, I see them now. They look pretty deep, whatever it was must have been pretty strong."