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Message: <blockquote data-quote="drnuncheon" data-source="post: 478069" data-attributes="member: 96">The old trade road that led to the mine was once lined with crushed red stone, but now it is nearly invisible after fifty years without upkeep: weeds, grass, and in some cases even small trees have sprouted up through it, scattering and obscuring the rocks. As you crest the hill that the road leads up, you can look down and see its destination. No entrance is immediately obvious: instead, the rotting remains of winches and dwarven machinery squat in the valley below, surrounded by more piles of the red rock."Well, this looks like the place," says Ahoke grimly, looking down the hill at the scene below. "Where thanorks, dragons, and most likely rock slides and cave ins await us. And things that try to eat us in the dark, let's not forget that. Are you guys ready?"Harvester marches down the road in relative silence, less the occasional bout of whistling. He grows quiet as they near the abandoned mine, however. "Nope. Let's go."Bow in hand, Sen-Jyu follows the others into the valley, but has become somewhat more subdued again, eyes pecking about the terrain features, looking for crumbs of movement or evidence of Thanork infestation.Ahoke marches down the hill, looking almost cheerful.Harvester stops walking and stares at something in the distance. He speaks softly, "Seems we may not need a rope after all, friends..." He points. "I think I've found the mine. Looks like someone's beat us to it."Ahoke looks in the direction that the Harvester is peering in. "Huh?"Sen-Jyu glances in the direction that the Harvester indicates, but doesn't rest his eyes there for long. An arrow is tugged from his quiver with that knowledge, however.Now that Harvester mentions it, the rest of you can see: a knotted rope tied around a boulder, trailing into the earth through an opening where the edge of a verdigrised copper plate has been pried or bent up to allow ingress into the mine.Harvester moves towards the place he pointed to, slowly, his eyes scanning the area thoughtfully.Ahoke squints, and then nods. "I'll bet that the heroes of the bell went up there. Which means that we're probably going into certain death, since they haven't returned." She sounds resigned, though, and changes direction. "I'm assuming that we'll want to go down that way, or do you think it's too risky?"Harvester pauses to look back at Ahoke, "Or the rope belongs to someone else..." He shrugs. "We can go down, or up the mountainside. And I'm not overly impressed with my rock-climbing ability..."Ahoke grins at Harvester. "I think going down sounds like a good idea to me. I was concerned about the rock climbing part, to be honest.""I'm in agreement with the Harvester -- the thanorks likely have a very defensible position on the mountainside. At least, in these mines, we aren't at such a disadvantage." Sen-Jyu chuckles a little. "Sounds like we're all on the same page."Ahoke starts heading towards the rope, then, grinning. "Or at least thinking alike, anyway," she says, "Since one of us doesn't read."Harvester laughs softly, and begins to examine the rope before catiously peering into the hole.Sen-Jyu blinks at Ahoke, "Harvester seems to read just f... oh. Oh."Harvester peers at Sen-Jyu, "Uh huh... read between the lines, Sen..." He grins, holding up the first three fingers of a hand towards Sen-Jyu.Ahoke grins at Sen-Jyu. "We don't communicate with scratchings on paper," she said, "though it's interesting to see you guys do it." She too peers down into the hole, eager to see what is waiting for them. Perhaps a dragon, maw open wide. Or hundreds of assembled thanorks.The copper sheet is blackened along the crease - it appears as if a fire was built upon it to heat it to the point where it could be bent back to allow entry. The opening is large enough to fit even the Harvester...barely. Below, the shaft - ten feet across - descends into darkness. The rope dangles down next to the corroded remains of a metal ladder attached to the shaft's wall.Sen-Jyu laughs a little. "Oh, right. I thought that the Harvester was simply a good actor. Of course."Ahoke picks up the top part of the rope, tugging on the knot around the boulder, checking for sturdiness.Harvester returns the laugh with a chuckle, then extracts a torch from his pack. He begins to light it as Ahoke tests the rope. "I'm gonna drop this in when I start going down, I think. Unless I can hold it in my teeth." He looks at the thickness of the torch. "Think I'll drop it..."Sen-Jyu kicks a small stone into the aperture between rock and metal, to gauge the depth of the shaft.Ahoke drops the rope, grunting in satisfaction. "It'll hold," she says. "If you drop it, don't get it so close to the rope that it will burn it. That would make the day be so much more exciting than it needs to be.The stone falls for a second...not quite two, before a dim impact is heard. Not of rock on rock, but maybe wood.Ahoke erks. "Don't drop the torch. If there's wood down there... it could be bad."Sen-Jyu clears his throat before counseling Ahoke, "Don't fall."Ahoke looks at Sen-Jyu through her bangs, which are starting to get shaggy. "Thanks for the advice," she says dryly. "Am I to go first, then?""Great!" says Sen-Jyu to Ahoke, smiling. "Thanks for volunteering."Harvester thinks for a second, then nods to Ahoke. "Arright... Scratch Plan A... go to Plan 2." He instead begins to cast a spell. "May He Who Is To Come hear my words, and grant His servant light within this cavernous maw within the earth..." Before long the head of the torch begins to glow. "Want me to drop the torch first?" He nods. "You going first is great... can catch us if we fall."Ahoke takes the rope in hand again, nodding. "Sure," she says. And then, after making sure that her weapons and equipment are securely fastened to her, drops over the side, gripping the rope with two tight fists.Harvester nods again, "Good luck."Ahoke hangs there for a moment, spinning. "Ack. Hold this thing steady so that I can get started."Harvester says, "Want us to tie a rope around your waist, in case?"Ahoke grimaces. "Just hold the rope steady," she insists. "I'll be fine if I can just get started."Harvester takes the rope in both hands, though he seems uncertain. "Uh.... I might not be the best one to do this, but I'll try..."Sen-Jyu keeps looking about the area around the mine, as a 'just in case we missed something or someone' activity while Ahoke rappels down the shaft.Ahoke starts climbing down, finally getting herself straightened out. Once she gets started she does do well, true to her word. Soon, she climbs out of sight, down into the darkness. Not even a full minute later, she tugs on the rope, signalling that she's reached bottom and that nothing has eaten her.Harvester waves the torch across the opening, then lets it drop. "You wanna go next, or shall I?"Sen-Jyu waves one hand dismissively, "You... can go ahead. Really." He looks squeamishly over the lip of the shaft, then smiles comfortingly at the Harvester. "I'll stand guard up here."The cold-glowing torch plummets toward the bottom of the shaft, its light eventually all but swallowed by the darkness. It narrowly misses Ahoke as she stands waiting for the others.Harvester extracts his rope from his pack, and sets to tying the scythe to bag. These he lowers into the hole and quickly begins to lower.Harvester takes the knotted rope in hand now and begins to walk backward to the edge of the shaft. He attempts to walk himself down without turning upside down. Or falling.Ahoke gets her ax ready in preparation to kill her companions, now that she has lured them toward her underground lair.Harvester shimmies down the rope quickly, hand over hand as his feet run along the wall, backwards. He reaches the ground in record time, grinning all the while. "Oh... that was exhilirating. I've never done that before!" He gives the rope a couple of yanks before moving far aside to gather his things.Ahoke looks up the shaft. "Alright, one more to go."Once it appears that Harvester has safely made it to the bottom intact, Sen-Jyu goes about securing his bow and other accoutrements and taking the knotted rope. With a final look about and a pained sigh, he lowers himself into the darkness and the stagnant air of the underground mines.The rope flies past under Sen-Jyu's hands as he lowers himself. His companions wait below, all standing on a wooden platform that spans the shaft. The air is clammy and moist, and somewhere below, he can hear the thunderous roar of rushing water.Soon he has descended the eighty feet to the platform below. As he places his weight on the floor, it creaks again...louder than before.Harvester moves with alacrity, OFF the platform and into the tunnel.Ahoke looks to the floor, worried. "I think we should get off of this platform," she says. "It doesn't sound like it's holding up under our weight." In fact, she backs her words up with actions, moving away.Keeping the rope in hand, Sen-Jyu also moves to the tunnel, and looks for a place to secure the rope should they need to return this way again.Relieved of the weight of the companions, the complaints of the platform subside. The rope is easily hooked around the corroded remains of the ladder for easy access should egress be needed.</blockquote>

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