[sblock=Auspex]The shaft is pitch black, but neither of you are bothered by that.
It looks like it runs up from the ceiling for more than 20 feet before opening up into a room.
You both focus, trying to see or hear anything, but a shared glance and a shrug confirms what you both expected: except for a quiet wind howling there is nothing to apprehend. [sblock=OOC is that english]Apprehend? Sense? Whatever you don't "see" anything with all your senses.[/sblock][/sblock]
Beth gathers the evening dress, tying it off around her thighs to get most of it out of her way. She jumps up, getting a grip on the lip at the edge of the shaft and with some awkward swinging back and forth manages to wriggle
up into the shaft and out of sight.
[sblock=Archer and Beth]Archer watches as Beth slowly moves up the shaft. You see her haul herself up and disappear from sight at the top. She's maybe 20-30 feet up, probably on the third story of the building.[/sblock]
[sblock=Beth]Conveniently there are regular hand holds carved into the walls of the shaft, it'd be a pain to feel for them in the darkness, but its not particularly troublesome for you.
Your evening dress catches on an outcropping and a few stitches pop. You move carefully though and manage to avoid anything more serious.
As you pull yourself up you notice that there seems to be a trap at the top of the shaft. Several flexible piece of metal studded with long pieces of broken glass are bolted around the lip of the shaft and hang limply. Someone could tie them off and then trigger them (somehow...) to come swinging down on anyone coming up the shaft.
Right now the whole thing just looks like a piece of modern art gone wrong.
The room at the top of the shaft is decrepit and homey (in a creepy sort of way). A pot of something burbles slowly on a hot plate surrounded by cooking implements (mortar and pestle, cutting board, etc); several mounds of blankets and clothing (probably salvaged from the garbage) lie around the space; a calendar, apparently produced by a beer company and featuring scantily clad women, has a prominent place on one wall; discarded coca-cola cans, candy wrappers and so forth attest to the lack of neatness of the inhabitants.
A hole carved in the roof allows in some moonlight.
There are several trap doors, similar to the one that you came from, and all featuring crude traps (though all are unset) and one obvious point of exit: an open doorway.
Looking through the open doorway you can see what appears to be a smaller room dominated by a single stone slab. On top of the slab is some sort of small (1ft tall) crude statue.
Beth
does -not- hear or notice anything from downstairs yet.
[/sblock]
Down in the shop
The shop is well lit inside. The three men wait quietly.
[sblock=Archer and Diego]Diego, standing near the door hears something: a loud scraping sound from back down the ally. Looking back he sees two figures moving down the ally together. The larger one is supporting the smaller one. The sound came from a long machete like blade the larger on is carrying.
They're next to the dumpster now, continuing down the alley toward the shop.[/sblock]
[sblock=Archer]Your heightened senses allow you to pick out a bit more through the window, you can see dark skin, what look like trench coats and smell fresh blood. [/sblock]