Chapter 26: The Secrets of the Caves
In reply to Tracy Windham (msg # 40):
Putting their minds to the task again this morning, the four heroes search through the muck. It's a careful business, as no one wants to destroy something of value. Digging, sifting, and brushing are required to properly unearth desirable artifacts.
Perhaps that is why they have found only metallic objects so far, the professor muses. While the investigator's skill has proven beneficial -- nay, required -- and each of the men in his own way has made a contribution, they have also uncovered plenty of bone fragments and ceramic shards, along with bits of glass, fabric, or leather along the way. Possibly, the pards themselves have damaged some such items, as none of them are seasoned excavators. There is no sense in dwelling on it, Earnest thinks, as they are all doing the best they can.
About ten minutes later, Tracy's shoveling issues an audible thunk, followed by the Wolverine's gasp. Even the men with hearing problems are alerted to the sound.
With some methodical brushing and digging, the men realize they have unearthed what looks like an old-fashioned chest made of wood and reinforced with metal. At first, they expose only a corner of it -- the top they believe -- but with diligent work they uncover the entire box. The wood is rotting in some places, but it seems generally intact. There is a crude lock, still functional by all appearances.
The men haven't tried to pick up the chest, yet. They have simply dug around it until they could see most of it. The base still sits in another inch or so of earth. The four adventurers gathered around it, slack-jawed for a spell.
OOC: Some of the searching flavor the Judge has mentioned before. RPOL is a long slog, so reiterating in this post details that might have been forgotten.
Tracy has +2 for Support already, which makes his roll an 8, which is one raise. Tommy couldn't improve that result -- he could only make it worse if he happened to roll a Critical Failure -- so the Judge is moving forward with a single raise on the 1st search today (4th total).
This message was last edited by the GM at 13:44, Wed 23 Mar 2022.