[IC] Halfling Quest - Rooting Around

[Evilhalfling]

I knew it was going to be evil water.
He moves up to Kiylea, and whispers.
Can I borrow your lamp? Im going to stay behind in the dark to make sure nothing follows you, from that direction, but I will need light to catch up again. He glances at Alton and rasies an eyebrow.

 

[Tarlonniel]

"Well... I don't know. We shouldn't use up the oil if we don't have to." She also glances at Alton, uncertain.

 

[Slippshade]

Bubbles had been quiet ever since moving into the caves. She was uncomfortable and unused to not having the open sky above her. The hill seemed to almost press down on her from all sides. She didn't like it.

Listening to what the others have to say she finally speaks up. "I agree with Kiylea, Eddie and I don't think it is a wise idea to leave anyone behind. We sould look around the cavern before we continue on though. We don't want to miss anything."

 

[Boddynock]

Alton looks around, puzzled. "Why are we talking about leaving people behind?" He didn't hear Eddie's whispered comment to Kiylea, and is now confused by the apparently random suggestion that the party split up. "Look, it seems that the only way forward is up the slope. We know that this spring is marginally tainted, so we need to look around for others, or for the ultimate source."

OOC: Did I misunderstand Ferrix' description? I thought the only way forward was up the slope. If we can continue along the left hand side, we should - although I'd like to know the extent of this cavern to the right.

 

[Evilhalfling]

ooc: I read it as a navigatable passage with the stream on the left and the upslope on the right, if there is no actual choice, then nevermind.

 

[Slippshade]

When the group is ready Bubbles leads them up the sloping floor to the right of the stream and deeper into the caverns.

 

[Ferrix]

Forging ahead into the cavern you fan out amongst the looming stalactites and rising stalagmites. The stone glistens slightly with the touch of the moist air, looking almost alive with its wrinkled bulging surface. Your footsteps clatter away from you into the darkness, and you can hear the slow trickle of the underground spring that you left behind.

Rounding a massive collection of fused stalagmites and stalactites, Bubbles pulls short as a wall of stone fortells the end of the cavern, thankfully she does so as the floor drops steeply away into the shadows at her feet. Tossing a small rock over, there is a moment of silence before it clatters in the darkness. With Alton's lantern it becomes much more clear as to what the area looks like, the ground slopes quickly into a vertical wall with only maybe a foot or so between it and the other wall. Perhaps thirty feet below rests another cavern floor, this one a darker shade of stone without the glisten of moisture.

 

[Boddynock]

OOC: Assuming that what you are describing is a chimney-like drop to a lower cave 30 feet below ...

Alton looks over the edge of the drop, then turns to the others and says, "Um, did anyone think to bring some rope? If not, do you think we can brace our backs against the wall and climb down?"

 

[Tarlonniel]

"Um, did anyone think to bring some rope?"

"Of course! I showed it to you outside, remember?" In the back, Kiylea reaches into her pack and pulls out a small coil of hemp rope. "But I don't think it's long enough to reach the whole way down," she adds, moving forward and glancing into the pit.

 

[Boddynock]

"Of course! I showed it to you outside, remember?"

"Heh, yeah, of course. It's this cave - I don't really like confined spaces all that much. I'll be OK, though - after all, this is part of the Goddess' world, too!"

"So, just how long is that piece of rope? If it's 30-odd feet, then we'll be OK. If not, ought we tie a weaker climber to a stronger one, and go down two by two? No, wait a minute, then we'd have to get the rope back up again somehow. Hmm."