D&D 5E The Kalarian Precipice - Chapter Two

[97mg]

All: The first expanse

Rusty hinges creak as Carthum nudges the door with a shoulder, opening easily under the half-orc's weight. With eyes tuned for darkness and shadows the priest ascertains much about the room and its contents.

The floor is compacted and worn raw earth, and above not far from the priest's own head height, the ceiling is a layer of tired timber slats, one of which has fallen onto center of the ground. All four walls are lined with a mixture of hardwood and aged iron shelves, upon them a few small items which look to have sat undisturbed for many many years. A few tired looking metal spikes and hammers of the mining variety. Several small buckets with tatty leather straps nailed in, probably to assist in carrying efforts. A ceramic pot with a small tap at its base, and a sword... common and rather chipped along its edges, leans silently against a shelf, its pommel resting upon the earth.

Comforted that nothing has leapt out of the room to confront them, Annit moves at first to the hole with Metea, wondering if the barbarian's theory of a trap could be true. Otiroth's idea of covering it sounds unusual... but perhaps sensible also. She will let them decide.

She moves to stand at the top of the next row of steps then, peering down into the darkness and keeping watch.

 

[Jeovanna]

Jeovanna- the first expanse

Jeovanna nods in approval at Carthum's act. The orc is brave, and perhaps cautious, too. But being too bold was dangerous.

Boldness came in many forms down here. The red-haired sorcerer's suggestion of blocking up the hole is one she isn't sure she necessarily understands- what could come up through that tunnel that they could not easily kill? Nothing had disturbed that hole in ages- but the man seems much smarter than her, so she's sure he has a good reason. She can go along with it, and joins Carthum in surveying the room for equipment that can do as much.

"Just a storage locker," Jeovanna grunts. All that fuss over nothing, but then, she had to admit she had kind of been hoping to see a gem or two...

 

[daindarkspring]

Dain - The First Expanse

Dain's heart was thumping in his chest. From nervousness, of both the good and bad variety.

A storage room? It made sense enough. They were still relatively close to the surface, after all. What did they expect to find so soon? He does walk over to the cleric, slipping by him enough to let the light of his lantern fill the room, if only for a brief moment.

"I don't know whether to be assured or disappointed." Dain mumbled quietly. "Part of me would just as soon we see the worst of what this place will offer sooner than later." He gripped his sword firmly, recalling the symbol that had blazed upon its blade when he had pulled it from the earth.

Then he made his way over to Annit and joined her vigil. As for the hole and the decaying rope? He seemed to think well enough to leave it alone.

 

[Metea]

Metea: The first expanse

"Ah, but unless this disappointment extends all the way from top to bottom, we should be fine," Metea replied. "Though perhaps we'll disappoint more than ourselves."

They claimed that there was something to save Kalair at the bottom of this mine? What if there wasn't... just rats and mining equipment?

Metea wasn't stupid enough to kick something down the hole, though there were a few potato bugs near the hole's entrance that were begging for a flying lesson. Instead, after a moment's contemplation, she asked, "what if this hole supplies air to the rest of the mines? They were sooty affairs, weren't they?"

As funny as an mine empty of both gems and hope would be suffocating in there would be significantly... unfunny.

 

[Otiroth]

Otiroth: The First Expanse

A rusty sword and some mining equipment? Well, at least the sword wasn't broken asunder, clutched by the bony hands of its last wielder... though it did seem to have gotten some good use. "So there were creatures down here when the mine was young, I reckon," the sorcerer said finally. "Something that would need a guard or two."

He'd concede the point to Metea- perhaps completely boarding over the hole was a poor idea, but they could at least take some of the boards and 'interrupt' the hole, so it wasn't completely open.

Otiroth joined Annit at the doorway down. Their light already filtered a ways, but he would send a few sparkling orbs to cast light as far as they would travel, to illuminate what laid beyond for their human eyes. The spell was brief, but sparkling- the lights were mostly unformed, but a vague shape could be seen within them, struggling against Otiroth's inexperience. And Otiroth had to admit; being able to cast spells freely was...

...it was like he was a new man, really.

<Spell casting: dancing lights>

 

[Carthum One-Tusk]

Carthum One-Tusk: The First Expanse

Eh. Otiroth came up with the plan, but naturally did not stick around for the physical labor side of things. Typical. He could not imagine what Metea saw in him.

Carthum would let the others pick over the equipment in the storage room if they so desired- he had never been too good with swords. He'd stick with his mace. The half-orc dragged some boards out from the room and would arrange them in an 'X' pattern across the top of the hole. It blocked the entrance a bit, but air- and bugs- could still get through without trouble.

After that, he'd join the others. They should maintain their marching order, he felt.

 

[97mg]

All: Further down

Otiroth's evocation has provided something of a preview, for those without the luxury of darkvision. Annit stares ahead curiously, watching lights bob and dance their way deeper downwards. She is uncertain what to make of the display really, choosing to stay quiet for now.

A few steps down from the landing, the newly illuminated surroundings appear to change, harden and darken. Raw earth fades into hard black stone, its impact on the miner's progress evident. The shaft loses some of it's neatness, rough walls clearly showing the labor of chisels and whatever other means were used to penetrate deeper.

Seven stairs down, a square yard of rusty metal sheet seems to have been mounted into the ceiling. A little over 100 feet ahead the stairs appear to come to an abrupt halt as they are met with a wall. To each side lie doors of some kind, blocking the entrance of Oritoth’s dancing light.

When all are ready, the hole partly blocked, the small room explored, it is time to move on. As you near the metal section of the ceiling, Annit speaks to the ranger and barbarian at her front.

“Stop.”

She points up.

“Unusual?”

It does seem an odd fixture. Worthy of investigation? She’d let the taller people decide. With a small jump it could probably be touchable by hand.

 

[Jeovanna]

Jeovanna- Further Down

Annit was at least on their side, and Jeovanna knew the girl about as well as she did the half-orc, tiefling, and the fop. So when Annit said stop- she stopped, turning slightly back towards the little woman before taking in where she was pointing.

"Hm," Jeovanna murmured.

Her eyes scanned the area around them, as if seeking for signs of an obvious pressure plate or trip wire, before her eyes settled on Annit again. "I could boost you up there to take a look," she suggested. Jeovanna didn't particularly like jumping and grabbing at things.

She could also probably boost up Dain, to be frank, though not as easily. Jeovanna was easy either way. Both of them had muddy boots.

 

[97mg]

Annit: Further Down

"It's worth a look I guess," Annit said to Jeovanna. If anyone could hoist her small frame up there, it was this tall, muscular and formidable woman!

With an easy boost up, the rogue ran her eyes around the edges of the overhead plate before poking around it lightly with a finger.

“This is definitely a trap of some form if I’ve ever seen one. The edge nearest us has a well disguised hinge. We do something wrong, probably a trigger around somewhere on the steps, something comes out. Probably nasty. Can I come down now please?”

Yes, she didn’t want to stand directly under it anymore, thanks.

Looking around her companions she wondered if anyone had any ideas, other than being on alert if they were going to descend further.

“I’ve got tools to try and disarm it, but the results...”

Tap...

Tap...

Dain would be first to sense movement, somewhere near the bottom of the stairs. The sound of creaking metal and a few slow steps upon stone.

<Annit Investigation roll for the metal plate was a 21! The base of the stairs (100ft) is out of darkvision range (60ft) and torch range (40ft), so whatever is making the sound is currently obscured by darkness. Please declare your actions for the next round >

 

[daindarkspring]

Dain - Further Down

The dancing lights were impressive. So surreal and strange. They reminded him of Essithea's eyes, glittering in the darkness. Sorcery!

Dain stood aside, holding up the torch, as Annit was lofted up by Jeovanna. Not a terrible view of things, all told. But he tried not to stare regardless.

"A trap? Well found, Annit." Dain gave her a nod of approval as she went to work. He listened to the tapping trying to follow her actions, but as soon as he sensed movement in the darkness out of the corner of his eye he tensed up and looked sharply down into the darkness. The sound of creaking metal, and of slow movement, made his heart race with apprehension. A beast? A demon?

Without much thought on the matter, Dain waved his torch once to get the group's attention before throwing it down the stairs with as much force as he could muster. "Prepare yourselves!" His sword was already in his hand and he began to take several steps down the the stairs as the torch shed forth its light far below...

<3 for initiative roll, 11 for anything else!>