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Message: <blockquote data-quote="the Jester" data-source="post: 1666170" data-attributes="member: 1210">Brother He Gets (in) the Shaft4:30 pm, 5/4/368 O.L.G., somewhere in the Stern Mountains, StrogassOur heroes watch the thing burn for quite some time, not realizing that someone else is watching them and listening to their conversation.  The valley falls into shadow as the afternoon lengthens, and only then does Laodegan step out, satisfied that these halflings are neither murderous bandits nor a pack of thieves.  Even if there is a kobold with them.“Hello, there!” he calls out, approaching the group.  They turn to see a tall human, well-dressed in armor blazoned with some sort of important-looking human heraldic stuff.  An impressive sword is strapped across his back.“Hello!” answers Federico cautiously.  Jawbreaker grunts and picks up his stick.  As the human newcomer enters the camp, the barbaric halfling pokes him.  The human stops and looks at him in surprise.“Oh, don’t mind him,” says Airhead Ed.  “He does that to everything.”Jawbreaker pokes Ed.“You see?” she blathers on.  “He does it to everything!”“Yes, uh, I see...”  He looks at them.  They look like they’re traveling, so he asks, “Do you know the way around the chasm?  I’m lost in the mountains- my guide had the nerve to go and die!  And, uh, I don’t suppose you can help?”“Your guide died, huh?” Brother He commiserates.  ***11 pm, 5/4/368 O.L.G.Once the embers have cooled to a reasonable level- helped with many buckets of water- the group clambers into the passage.  It leads to a room that evidently gets a reasonable amount of ventilation, for the air is hardly smoky at all.  The place is carved from the stone of the mountain, and therefore the room did not burn; only the odd wooden entry hall.The room is of a decent size, but empty, save for a shaft that descends.  A rickety-looking ladder is fastened against the wall of the shaft with bent rusty nails.  However, the ladder proves sturdy enough for the group to descend on.  Brother He leads the way down, followed by Ed, and the ladder leads down for a long ways.  He descends 50’, then 100’... and there is no end in sight, even to his darkvision.At the 120’ depth, Brother He finds himself suddenly assaulted by a scimitar-wielding pair of skeletons crouched on a small landing beside the ladder.  He is cut by one rusty blade before he even sees them.As he feels warm blood trickle down his side, Brother He lashes out with a foot, crushing the first skeleton’s skull.  Then he leaps into the next one, splintering it into dozens of bones.  “Are you all right?” calls Ed from above.“Yes,” grits Brother He.  He winces as he feels the cut in his side.  “I got cut, but not too bad.” The deep halfling clambers back onto the ladder and continues to descend.*** Brother He’s voice floats up from the shaft.  “There’s a landing!” he yells.“Oh boy,” says Federico.  He’s leaning up against his big dog Ethel.  He looks imploringly at Laodegan.  “Um, can you carry the dogs down?  I’m too w-weak.”Say what you will about him, Federico gives great puppy dog eyes.Laodegan grumbles all the while, but he rigs a harness for the dogs and straps one of them in.  Then he begins the descent.  The ladder creaks ominously and the squirming dog certainly doesn’t make his job any easier, but nothing goes terribly wrong.  He reaches the landing safely and unstraps the dog from his harness.  It licks his hand.  “Whew,” he says, mopping his brow, and starts back up the ladder to get the next dog.  ***Another pair of skeletons awaits Brother He on another small landing just past the 300’ mark.  All this climbing is going to get fatiguing before too long, and he still doesn’t see any end in sight.  The second pair of skeletons doesn’t catch him unaware; it’s the other way around.  He leaps onto the landing and unleashes a flurry of blows at them all, knocking one down the shaft and destroying the other in a rapid exchange of fist vs. sword.  The skeleton scratches him along the thigh, and he winces, but it’s just a scratch.  He’s still doing okay.“Second landing!” calls Brother He up the shaft.***“That you so much,” says Federico as Laodegan begins down the ladder to the second landing with Ethel.  “Say, can you take me down too?”Laodegan’s only response is a dirty look.  He’s saving his breath for the climb.***Brother He rests for a few minutes before continuing down the shaft.  This time he descends a much further distance without trouble.  He can hear Ed clambering down about 10’ above his head.  Should have been paying more attention, he thinks with a shock.  Something’s just stabbed him in the meaty part of his left leg from below... and it’s bad.  He clenches his hands around the ladder and groans as the blood pumps from his severed artery...Note: This blow took Brother He to 0 hit points.  Which means that if takes any strenuous action, he’s taking a point of damage and losing consciousness.....Next Time: Oh no!  What will Brother He do?  Can he save himself?  Can anyone else??  And what’s at the bottom of the shaft?</blockquote>

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