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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Taboo" data-source="post: 394769" data-attributes="member: 5912">Decent into DarknessThey checked both directions and decided there was no way around the chasm and no way across it. It was just too wide to cross, too long to go around, and so dark that they couldn’t tell just how deep it was. Even Thorin’s Dwarven vision couldn’t tell how far down it went.Thorin could see best in the dark and wanted to tie off his rope and go down a ways to see if he could see anything.  The others weren't so sure that was such a good idea.  With the stubbornness that only a dwarf could have, he tied the rope off and started down into the pitch black chasm. As soon as he started down, he noticed handholds cut into the rock on the side he was descending. They looked treacherous, so he decided to continue down the rope.It wasn’t long until he could make out a landing down below. He estimated it to be about 50 feet from the top.  So, he climbed back up and made his report to the others. During his recon, he’d figured it all out, they’d found the way to the Sunless Citadel. He told the others. “Don’t you guys get it? It’s the Sunless Citadel, the sun doesn’t reach it!  It has to be down there, where else could it be?” They all knew he was right.Thorin and Turk climbed down first, followed by Kierwin. About halfway down the rope, Kierwin lost her grip. With a scream, she fell about 25 feet straight down to the bottom. Unfortunately, Turk didn’t have enough of a warning or he would have tried to break her fall. Fortunately for her, she wasn’t badly injured from the fall, but unfortunately while their attention was focused on her, it gave what Kierwin later described as an abomination of nature a chance to attack them. As Kierwin was getting up, she was the first attacked by a rat about three feet long. It took a pretty good chunk of flesh out of her thigh, leaving her bleeding badly.Minx was on her way down the rope, and having seen Kierwin fall, she also saw the dire rats attack. Snap and Geirmund weren’t far behind. They hurried down to help with what looked to be a bad fight developing between their friends and the fiendish creatures.Thorin pulled out his axe and started in on the rats. Turk promptly pulled out his greatsword and went to work slicing and dicing his way through the hideous onslaught. It didn’t take Kierwin long to get to her feet and grab her longsword and take revenge on the rodent that had bitten her. It didn’t have long to enjoy the flavor of her flesh since she killed it after just a couple of well placed blows.Between the sleep spells and magic missiles fired by Snap and Minx, the aid of Geirmund, and the frenzy of blows by Thorin and Turk, the rats were dispatched without too much damage taken by the heroes. Thorin and Turk lost track of how many they killed, there were so many rats that they just kept killing as long as the rats kept coming for them. Unfortunately, Thorin and Geirmund did take wounds, along with the one Kierwin had gotten when she’d been attacked after she’d fallen. Wounds that they were afraid carried disease that the filthy creatures must have infected them with. None of them were sure if they had contracted anything or not, only time would tell.Minx helped Kierwin with the healing, they were nearly out of their healing spells, but they certainly couldn’t rest here. They had to keep going. From where they were, they could see several more levels to go down farther into the darkness, so they proceeded down.As they finally reached the bottom, they came to a courtyard of sorts. The courtyard led to a tower of what was obviously the Sunless Citadel. A rounded wall stood in front of them, and in the center of the wall, stood a door, just waiting for them to enter.</blockquote>

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