"Don't know much about minin' myself, so we'll follow your lead," he said to Gabby, scratching at the scruffy and newly formed black beard that was growing on his face.

"All I know is that this mine supposedly went dead some years ago. Whatever the word for it is. Doc Hodges seemed to think he could get somethin' more out of it, so he bought it on the cheap and goes out here every once in a while. When he's got free time. Is it still gonna be deadly you think?" he asked the old miner.

The disembodied hand had, for the duration of their trip flitted back and forth and in and out of sight. At their approach, it came scampering out of the mouth of the mine, and pointed inward. It seemed to do a great deal of pointing.

"Well...this was a silver mine, right? So the chance of mine gas is a lot less." Gabby says, then thinks.

Randolph takes the hand with which Coraline holds the lantern and speaks quietly: "If Wilder and Radcliffe are down there, gas is probably not a problem. But gas or no, this lantern can get us killed by letting our enemies know we're coming.

"Phelps, is there a cabin or shed around? If so, someone should check that out. I don't see a need to go into that tunnel at all. Our quarry has to emerge sometime and we can get the drop on them, right?"
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 11:26, Sat 06 Oct 2012.

"Well, I'm a bit worried about whatever these Wilder and Radcliffe are doing in Doc Hodges' mine. What they're doin' and why they're here of all places and what it has to do with whoever ransacked the Doc's place back in town. I'm guessing they're employed by one of the railroads, but I can't really put all the dots together. As for a cabin...well I don't think there's a cabin round these parts," he said.

"I don't know what to make of it, but if there's murder going on and we just wait out here till whoever it is comes out, it may not be all of 'em comin' out at the end." He seemed to look to Caleb for guidance in this matter. This might have been his home turf in a way, but a United States Marshal would probably have a better idea.

"I reckon that if folk are usin' it as livin' space, all the harmful gasses are probably aired out. We might have to watch for weak floors or cealin's, but the Marshal's right--we shouldn't stand around here. But don't douse that lantern...we're goin' into dangerous territory here. It ain't hard to slip and fall."

Daniel also shook his head at the suggestion they delay. "We come all the way out here at night fer a reason. I thought it was 'cuz we didn't wanna wait. So let's not wait no more." He looked to Gabby to take the physical lead with his mining expertise.

"'Fraid I'd have to agree with Daniel," Morgan offered, "That hand is headed into the mine, so I reckon the folks we're looking for are likely inside." He paused, then drew his pistol. "Just the same, everyone stay alert. That hand could very well be leading us into a trap.

Pausing to glance at the ground, Morgan added, "Lead the way, Gabby, when you're ready."

Gabby nods, takes up the lantern, and heads in.

As they proceeded into the mine shaft, the light from the lantern proved vital as they ventured into the pitch black darkness. The illumination provided revealed a somewhat broad entrance chamber to the mine that seemed to be carved out of solid rock. Wooden beams were periodically placed throughout the mine at intervals to provide support to the chamber. After a bit of walking, the chamber divided into two tunnels.

Darling shakes his head at the idea of entering the mine, not considering one man's life worth the risk of all these, but he takes his place at the end of the file.

Morgan kept his voice to a whisper, addressing Phelps and gabby. "I'm pretty certain the trail we've been following leads in here. Tracks come right up to the tunnel."

He shrugged, studying the darkness ahead warily. "Course, I can't follow any tracks on solid rock, but I reckon Wilder, if its him we've followed, is inside."

Dan Phelps frowned a bit looking quite disconcerted and scratched at his beard. "Looks like Fingers is back," he said, pointing to the disembodied hand that crawled up on the ground in front of them.

Morgan grimaced. "That smell from the left hand tunnel. That's rotting flesh. A carcass of some kind, for sure."

He glanced down at the hand, watching to see which way the appendage tried to lead them.

Daniel looked a Dan with confusion evident on his face, "Fingers? I been callin' 'im lefty. Seems ta make sense an all. I think we should follow Lefty wheresoever he's goin."

"Don't s'pose it matters greatly what we call it," he said, looking at the hand uncertainly. The hand itself was a strange sight. It was a whole human hand severed at the wrist, though it appeared strangely muscled. The eyeball implanted on the back of the hand was certainly unsettling, as were the claws that seemed to protrude from each finger.

It danced over towards the left tunnel, pointed down the tunnel, and crawled a bit into it, turning again to look at them as if waiting to see if they would follow.

"Figures," Morgan muttered as the hand gestured in the direction of the smell of decay. Colt in hand, he moved to follow the unsettling thing into the tunnel.

Holding the lantern to light the way, Coraline covered her nose and mouth with her other hand as the smell of rotting flesh grew stronger.

Randolph peers into the darkness of the right tunnel. He remembers his mama telling him "dead things can't hurt you" when he was a little boy. He sure wishes that was still true.

He hustles to catch up with the others, but with frequent glances over his shoulder.

Gabby, still unsettled by the creepy hand, wasn't sure he wanted to trust it, but Danial was a good boy, and he hated to admit it, but the place it was leading seemed to be the right way to go. So he swallowed his reservations and went onward.

This message was last edited by the GM at 18:06, Thu 11 Oct 2012.

Daniel didn't hesitate when the hastily reassembled wolves growled menacingly at the group. He slid his sword out of its scabbard while moving swiftly towards one of them and brought it across the thing's midsection, cutting it neatly in half. He then turned toward the other three and growled, unsure of how else to taunt them into seeking him out rather than the flesh of his uncle and newfound companions.

In the darkness no one could see Randolph's face pale and his chin quiver. He fell back a step, pressing his back to the rough wall. "Ajax?" he whimpered softly.

The coyote pup brought home from a hunt after its mother had been killed... nursed with a milk-soaked rag... sleeping by his bed, running at his heels through the pastures... forsaking its own kind to be his companion. How he had sobbed when the War came and the family moved, faithful Ajax left behind.

None of these creatures could be Ajax, of course, but still, how could he raise a weapon to them?
This message was last edited by the player at 21:16, Mon 15 Oct 2012.

Gabby himself could hear the fear in Randolph's voice. He didn't know who Ajax was, but at that moment all he could picture was his own beloved Clementine, crawling back from the dead with glowing eyes and an evil snarl...and it shook him. It shook him to his core.

Morgan took aim at one of the grisly coyotes, his mind steadfastly fixed on the hostility of the beasts, not the decayed, monstrous condition they were in. He took his shot, his target moving just as he did so, the bullet smashing harmlessly into the rock of the cavern.