The Treasure of the Tierra Padre... [Knight Otu Judging]

[El Jefe]

OC: Of the three of us, Iggy would stand the best chance, then Oirhandir, then Almayce. But the best swimmer of us all is Gath, followed by Razir, then Rogier, then Iggy, then Oirhandir, then Almayce. If no one else will do it, Oirhandir will jump in, it's just that right now he's not sure if Rogier is volunteering for the job himself.

 

[Manzanita]

OOC: It's pretty sad when a guy with a -1 swim mod is the best...

 

[Pbartender]

OOC: I'll NPC Rogier for now.

His hands full of glowrod, ropes and a dagger. Rogier takes a deep breath and dives into the pool. He kicks his way down to the hidden tunnel, and disappears. Within moments, even the light from the glowrod he carries fades from view.

Better than a hundred feet of rope slides through the fingers of Oirhandir and Almayce, before the pulling stops and the rope seems to go slack. Along with Iggy, the three of them wait expectantly but futilely for a pair of sharp tugs... Seconds pass by with no singal from Rogier.

 

[El Jefe]

Better than a hundred feet of rope slides through the fingers of Oirhandir and Almayce, before the pulling stops and the rope seems to go slack. Along with Iggy, the three of them wait expectantly but futilely for a pair of sharp tugs... Seconds pass by with no singal from Rogier.

Oirhandir's apprehension grew as he measured both time and distance while helping Almayce pay out the rope. The bard knew that even stout Rogier's lungs couldn't hold out forever. "He's out of air! Pull!", yelled the elf scant seconds after the line went slack, as he began tugging on the rope with all his might.

 

[Xael]

"Or the rope was bitten and cut by some monster, which is now eating our comrade while we're reeling away his last hope of escape?", Almayce comments semi-seriously while raising an eyebrow. He begins to pull the rope back with others anyway.

 

[Pbartender]

Almayce bites his teeth together. He's clearly frustrated. "I hate it when I'm right."

The ropes are completely slack and come up short with frayed ends, rather than the expected paladin.

 

[Xael]

As the rope is pulled out of the water, Almayce's facial expression changes to a mix of surprise, anger, desperation, annoyance, and general helplessness. He sighs very deeply, and manages to regain most of his senses and his usual formal facial expression. "Well...", he starts calmly as he turns to Oirhandir. "I though it was pretty strange if he would have suffocated without managing to tug the rope, as suffocation is usually a rather lengthy process...", he continues with only slightly unsure voice.

OOC: I'm starting to understand why you have that "Official Rat Bastard DM" -link in your sig. I hope I didn't give you any ideas... Is the rope cut from near the other end, or clearly from somewhere closer to our end? And can one tell if the rope has been bitten or cut with a weapon?

 

[Manzanita]

Iggy

*gulp* "Rogier! No! You're one of my oldest friends in the adventuring business. We've got to do something!" Iggy glances about, wondering what.

 

[El Jefe]

Oirhandir quickly helped reel in what was left of the rope. As he examined the frayed end, the look of horror on his face turned to grim determination. "This wasn't cut with a knife!", he angrily exclaimed as he held it up for the others to see. He quickly paid out the rope until he reached the dry part, measuring it as he went. When he reached the dry part, he threw out the loose end so that it lay straight out on the chamber floor. "And that's how far in whatever it was that did this was!", he spat, gesturing toward the end laying near the cavern entrance.

He continued. "And all we need to find it is to go in about that far", he said, motioning toward the frayed end of the rope once again. "I still think that of us all, Gath is best suited for this task. Yet I'll go if no one else will." The elf started coiling the wet section of the rope, pulling the frayed end toward himself.

 

[Pbartender]

The frayed ends are about sixty feet down the rope. About a hundred feet had been payed out before the rope went slack. The end of the rope is terribly frayed, as if somethign jagged had made the cut. It is difficult to tell whether it was actually chewed or cut, but it only took a single bite or cut to get through.

OOC: I'm starting to understand why you have that "Official Rat Bastard DM" -link in your sig. I hope I didn't give you any ideas...

OOC: I'm not certain it'll make you feel any better, but... No, you didn't.