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Message: <blockquote data-quote="howandwhy99" data-source="post: 2313719" data-attributes="member: 3192">Realizing their militia assignment might be completed, the group hurriedly discussed what needed to be done next. Most wanted to continue searching Quesquaton and find out if they could discover the treasure. A vote was taken. Igor abstained, as no one wanted to wake him. A decision was reached. They would continue to live out of Xavier and defend it until they could safely move below. Then the lid would be locked on the top of the well from underneath. The whole troupe was anxious to head down that day before any more potential monsters could move in to Quesquaton. The Gresslam Brothers were asked to stay behind for a day and watch Igor and the well while the group descended. They agreed for the price of two coppers apiece. Dram bargained on his own with Ormand the Redd as well. He had also been ordered back to the keep. By midmorning the whole camp was loaded and lined up for return to Keep Margrave. Darius met with Elian before he left. Upon returning Darius said the Elf had mentioned a change in plans, but he did not understand what he meant. “He wishes us best of luck and asked us not to go down the well.” The whole team disagreed with the advice. Brother Ben felt sure the Elf had finally shown his true colors. Pulling off the lid, Rizzle and Goodrich were told to leave it off and listen in case they returned. Darius descended by handholds first without a torch. Peering into the opening to Quesquaton he saw the door had been shut. Climbing back up he led the others down quietly while carrying a long pike in one hand. The other six lit their torches upon reaching the landing below.  It was evident someone had pulled out the stake meant to keep the door from accidentally closing. “Quesquaton” was spoken aloud softly, but the door did not move. Mirel was sent back up for a crowbar. She escorted it down tied onto the rope’s end. Prying the door made quite a bit of noise, but finally worked. To their surprise a massive round boulder blocked the entrance on the far side. They tried pushing, but it would not budge an inch. Darius kneeled down and looked through the gaps. Oddly he saw lit torches along the corridor on both sides. Nothing was moving though, and he could hear no noises either. Mirel was sent back up again to retrieve Igor’s pack. Darius climbed inside and tested trying to “call” himself back out. It did not work. He did find a way to leave part of his body out of the sack though, and instructed the others to push it beyond the boulder. A rope was tied to one end and Darius entered the pack keeping one arm out holding onto its straps.  When the sack had been pushed underneath with the pike like a long fishing line, Darius pulled and pushed trying to birth himself a second time. Successful, he stood up and removed some logs buttressing the boulder in place. “Get behind it now and push!” he whispered loudly back. The oblong sphere rolled towards Darius down the entrance corridor bumping into the walls and torches as it went. About 100’ down Darius called out to halt and helped push it into one of the paired alcoves along the passage. Just enough space was made so Mirel could fit around the boulder using an empty alcove on the opposite side of the tunnel. Its secret door had been closed. Dalin noticed a divot in the side of the boulder and the team began twisting and rocking it into a better position. Darius heard scratching noises coming from behind him down the first corridor to his right. He decided to keep helping to move the boulder so the others could slide past. Mirel dashed away towards the noises with her torch in hand. Seconds later she returned trembling and with a look of fear on her face. Darius heard a loud CRASH from behind him and the scratching noises stopped. He and Mirel stared at the floor at the far end of the corridor. Chunks of the stone were falling into an abyss below the floor of Quesquaton. Mirel screamed and began pushing at the boulder again, but in the other direction. The floor behind her and Darius fell piece by piece as the chasm stretched hungrily towards them. The misshapen boulder rolled awkwardly back towards the entrance. “Stop!” yelled Dalin. It had shifted into a position with the open space accessible near the top. Darius boosted Mirel upwards and she clambered over to the other side. Darius jumped up attempting to find a handhold, but was too short to find a grip.  “Watch out!” cried Kayla as she pushed the bag and rope through an opening to Darius’s side. The chasm was getting closer. Darius could not see its bottom, but noticed the emptiness extending outwards under the walls to either side and into nothingness. Igor’s bag hit him in the head. He started climbing back in when the others called out, “Climb over!” He pulled his half displaced body over the boulder while the others pulled on the bag using the rope. The entire corridor was rumbling now and every surface was shaking in what appeared to be an earthquake. Mirel was already at the ledge into the well yelling up for the rope to be lowered. “What in glory is going on down there?” yelled back Rizzle. The rest of the team ran back to the ledge and began climbing up the cut out handholds along the side of the well as it shook too. Darius freed himself from Igor’s pack and hauled it with him. The well’s rope dropped back down and everyone grabbed a hold trying to climb back up as fast as possible. The Brothers in the tower saw the surrounding ground was slowly beginning to shake too. After exiting the well, Brother Ben grabbed a random Gresslam Brother and hauled him upstairs. The crew began pulling out everything of value they could think of and carrying it away from the tower as the shaking continued to increase. Mirel moved the frightened mules out to the roadside, while Ben and Goodrich carried out Igor still asleep in his bed. The quaking slowly amplified, but the team risked a full twenty minutes of moving supplies out of the tower. By the time thirty minutes had passed the earthquake was so intense they could not even stand upright alongside the outpost’s clearing.</blockquote>

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