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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Whizbang Dustyboots" data-source="post: 3252243" data-attributes="member: 11760">"What, this? It's merely a flesh wound! Barely a scratch; why, I've had worse while shaving and I," Tucker takes his hand away from the gash on his neck and, seeing his palm completely red, kneels. "Yeah, OK, why don't I just do that?"Tosh carefully mounts the stairs, which rise another thirty feet into the barrow mound.The room at the top is 25 feet wide and 45 feet long and smells heavily of urine and musk. A hole has been visibly clawed through the rocks on the northwest wall of the room by something with massive claws.Two statues face each other in this hall, one of an owl-headed man kneeling in fealty before the other figure. All that remains of the other figure are sandaled feet and a hint of a robe on the floor. The rest has been broken off ages ago and the rest of the statue is gone, with no hint as to its whereabouts.The hindbrain kicks in and Tosh's first instinct is to leave, gooseflesh and all. But, it would be remiss of him to leave a potential threat behind without any investigation at all. Summoning up all his courage and skill, he moves to the right wall, hoping the shadows are deeper there to hide him, and moves as silently as he can toward the opposite end of the room and the gouged-out hole.The tunnel is narrow, and has clearly been clawed into existence, first through stone walls, then through soft soil beyond. But the earth does not smell wet here: This is not a recent dig, and the earth is dry as it winds out of sight, lightless.But what it does smell like, to the sensitive gnomish nose, is fur and musk and sweat and feces and urine.There is a low groaning noise somewhere down the tunnel and the sound of something large shifting followed by the unmistakable sound -- and smell -- of something very large releasing a loud blast of flatulence.Tosh is satisfied that his stealth is successful enough to give the area in the room a decent search by darkvision, avoiding the mouth of the excavation as much as possible.Meanwhile, the others consider the spoils of war."I'd like to keep one of the long swords, if that's all right with you folks," Emmerson says. "I figure Therurt would be delighted to put it back in shape. In the meantime, I think Renraw's idea is a good one. I'll move the gear out of here and place it over the second alcove's casket lids. Easy to grab if we have to run past them.""It is?" Renraw blurts. "I mean, of course it is!""By the by, would it make sense to find and light a torch here?" Emmerson ignores the wizard and continues. "Because I'll need either a torch bearer to help me get to the second alcove or else the heavy lifting has to be done by someone with darkvision.""Hmm, all right," Bufer murmurs. "Let's see, here."The gnome priest casts about on the floor around him, and finally picks up a long, splintered femur bone from one of the fallen skeletons. He turns it from side to side, examining it, then nods to himself and digs into his spell pouch, withdrawing a small piece of phosphorescent moss.Holding it and the femur up in front of him, he closes his eyes, breathes in deeply through his nose, and quietly offers up the prayer to Garl Glittergold.Magical light from the bone illuminates the room about as well as another torch would. There is something strange about the way the shadows from the magical light and Hazel's torch jump around the room, but what exactly it is, none of the group can say."That's an easy spell," Renraw huffs."Probably not as fancy as them taught at your fancy college, I'll concede, but it'll do in a pinch," Bufer says as he hands the glowing femur up to Renraw. "Here you go, torch-bearer. You've got about 10 minutes before it goes dark again. Best you and Emmerson get a move-on.""Light's with us, Renraw," the paladin says. "Could you take the swords while I carry the armor? I figure we can carry two each on every trip.""Huh." Emus leans his greatclub against the nearest wall. He spreads his feet slightly and squats as though he's lifting something heavy and thrusts his arms out in front of him. "'Kay. Load me up."Renraw looks at the glowing bone in his hand as though it's composed of live bees. "How DARE you, sir!" he scoffs. "I'm no one's beast of burden! And ... and besides, I believe you'll find my hands are quite full with my staff here and my sack. I really couldn't trust the rest of you with my -- my sack and my things. I've food in here, for pity's sake! I'd leave you lot for a few moments and the dwarf would have done with it! No, find someone more able-bodied, anyway. I've a cold in my bones. It's the season, you know. I'm no good to the--"As the wizard speaks, Bufer gently pries his sack and his club from his hand while Emus loads him up with swords."Well, all right," he concedes as he starts towards the stairs, "But I'm only going because it's so vital to my plan. A plan I daresay could be the critical, life-saving factor in..."He trails off as the trio lumber down the steps."Why, Renraw, we may have found your calling!" Tock calls after him. "You're an excellent mule!" Bufer waits until Renraw is out of sight, then opens the wizard's sack and begins rummaging around in it."He did say he had food in here, didn't he?" He looks up and around at the others. "Anyone else hungry?"Everything is quiet as Bufer rifles through Renraw's pack and the others drop off the last of the chain mail, swords and helmets in a pile below the stairs."Nothin' in here but some stale bread and moldy cheese," Bufer mutters, wrinkling his nose at the offerings in Renraw's pack. He pulls out a stick of butter, turns it this way and that as he examines it, then shrugs and takes a bite.He glances up and around at the others as they watch him with amusement, disgust, or some combination of the two. Oblivious, he offers the stick of butter out to them."Anybody want some?" he asks. "Plenty to go around!"Hazel pulls out her water skin and takes a swig before tucking it back in her pack. She stretches her legs a bit, pleased to discover not even a scratch where the sword struck, just a rip in the leg of her breeches, easily mended at home. The gnome's a fine cleric, but watching him chew on a stick of butter is enough to make her queasy. Hazel shifts to lean against one of the pillars in the room to watch for Tosh's return -- and block out the sight of Bufer's repast.Emus, Renraw and Emerson return from downstairs just in time to stop Bufer from finishing off the last of the butter."What? What, I brought this with me! Wait, wai--ah!"Bufer grunts as the wizard and the paladin pry the remains of the butter away from him, and wipes the back of his hand across his lips. He spies Hazel leaning against the pillar on the opposite side of the room, pointedly facing away from him, and cocks an eyebrow."Oh, don't you look all disgusted over there, miss," he chuckles, and jerks a thumb over his shoulder. "If you think I'm bad, I don't envy you the first time you catch a glimpse of the dwarf chowin' down."Renraw wonders how many times he could stab the gnome before the others stopped him. Eight or nine? Then he stops to wonder what types of objects he could stab him with, and which would be the easiest to use repeatedly. He also thinks about the blood and the pleasing splatters it would make. Would it be like his young cousin's finger paints? Do gnomes even bleed normally? he wonders.Then he forgets which gnome he was angry with and begins daydreaming about the bear disemboweling Tosh, about the party leaving his body in the barrow, and about how he would have to practice faking sadness back in town.Meanwhile, Tosh's inspection of the room finds nothing beyond the two statues -- one ruined, one otherwise -- the feces, dried urine and hair. Carefully peeking into the tunnel mouth, he sees it meanders too far, and twists too much, to see what the cave at the far end -- if there is, indeed a cave at the far end -- looks like, or what it contains.Tosh decides that it's time to rejoin the others and recount his findings. After all, there are two more stairwells to consider. When Tosh returns from the upper chamber, Renraw meets him with a crazed grin.</blockquote>

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