Endur's Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil

[Endur]

After making all suitable precautions, the invisible Kerwyn descends into the shaft. Only Lenya can see the invisible Kerwyn, but all the members of the party can see the elevator as it descends.

The elevator descends five feet per round. It takes one minute to go down the sixty feet below.

Kerwyn begins to shiver. Although it is spring time outside the Moathouse, it is winter in this cavern.

As he descends, Kerwyn sees that the shaft walls spread out into the darkness beyond the range of the lantern on the elevator. He is within a vast cavern.

The floor resembles black marble but has no luster, while the veins of purple are thick and jagged. The entire surface appears to be slightly convex, with sides lower than the center. Stranger still, the floor does not extend to the cave walls around it, as though it were merely a large platform itself. It is about thirty feet across--the cave is much larger than that in every direction. Beyond the floor edge, the cave walls plummet further down into darkness. At the western rim of the black floor, another circular wooden platform hangs suspended over the darkness, with another rope and pulley system pounded into the ceiling above it.

 

[Thanee]

Lenya

“I can see you, while you are invisible. So, if anything runs wrong down there, try to get back into the shaft, so I can see you, and hopefully help you!”

 

[Endur]

Kerwyn looks around while standing on the elevator at ground level.

No monsters or evil cultists in sight.

Just the noise of the water hitting the ground and mist in the air.

The cold is intense. Not cold enough to freeze the water, but close.

Kerwyn takes a step off the elevator onto the black stone surface.

The surface moves.

Or, rather, the jagged purple veins move through the black stone. Almost as if the black stone was a block of ice and the purple veins were tentacles or snakes moving beneath the surface.

The purple veins move slowly. Kerwyn can easily avoid being touched or step over the veins.

The purple veins seem to be attracted to you. Do you let the veins touch your shoes (i.e. pass underneath your shoes)?

(The other members of the party are too far away and their view is too distorted by the Mist to see that the purple veins are moving)

 

[Dalamar]

Ick! Kerwyn thinks as the veins start moving.
He does his best in jumping over and otherwise evading them as he makes his way over to the other platform.

 

[Pyrex]

Raner keeps an eye out down the shaft even though he can't see Kerwyn; ready to start cranking the platform up in a hurry if he calls for help or becomes visible & looks like he's in trouble.

 

[Endur]

Kerwyn easily makes it to the other platform. He is much faster than the slow moving veins.

Lenya can no longer see Kerwyn, the other platform is out of sight of the party above.

How is Kerwyn seeing in the darkness? Did he bring a light source (lantern, torch?) from the elevator?

As Kerwyn looks at the other platform, he realizes that the party can not lower him down from their position at the top of the shaft, so he will have to lower himself down (unless party members come down to the black and purple surface). If he is lowering himself, he'll have to keep one hand on the winch unless he locks off the winch (which takes a round to lock it off). If he lets go of the winch, the platform will drop to the bottom (and Kerywn can't see how far down the bottom is), unless he can catch ahold of the winch again before the platform hits the bottom.

 

[Isida Kep'Tukari]

"Kerwyn? What's down there?" Craven calls after a few minutes.

 

[Dalamar]

"Icky moving floor," Kerwyn calls back. He goes back to the first platform to get the lantern. "You all come down here, I'm going down to the next level."
The lantern floats over the floor the second platform and then gets placed on it. The invisible thief then starts lowering himself down again.

 

[Endur]

ooc: I need to know how the party reacted to Kerwyn's call up the shaft.

 

[Xael]

"I'm certainly against us all going down there. I'm going to stay and guard here at least."