"Oi, guy! My friends want dis real easy like but dey don't ave much ter trade. So if one is one hundred an we got more den one how bouts two hundred gold an we don't light yer house on fire. Deal?"

The bald goblin takes his time and allows the others to discuss passage with the thing in the web.  Probably a big spider of some sort.  Although not a proper one, if it can talk like that.  Well probably not ... 

Jurz scratches his head as he thinks back to what Dregz first said about this place.  There was the underdark and there was a lake, so that all sort of fits. "An dere was lots of flying fings ..."  Jurz says quietly as he finally recalls the words about Dregz's vision that had been eluding him.  "An der bit was up high." he adds as an after thought.

"We's should just pays it." Jurz offers quietly to the group
This message was last edited by the player at 07:05, Sun 04 Mar 2018.

"No deal," the unseen speaker responds quickly. "That magical rapier the feathered one carries must be worth a least twice as much as the entry fee for all of you. Don't tell me you can't afford it. Besides, if you can't afford that fee you won't be having much fun in Pedestal!"

 "Maybez ya allz can riddle him da pricez? Lik in dem farry storiez ya knowz?"

She looks at the smarter friends she's got there to see what they might think.

Jurz frowns, "So what der sorts of fun to do in pedestal?" he asks the voice in the webs. "An who said youse needs to ask us for de password?"

"What sort of fun? Anything your evil little minds can dream up. And I do mean anything, if you can afford it," the unseen guard replies.

"I am here because the Guild says so. They were furious when those dwarves came and killed Elessarwa a couple of months ago. She was on their safe list, see? So now this earth node is guarded and no one gets in without either the password or the entry fee. No more dwarves, of course, nor elves, but that goes without saying."

"Dat's a shame.  Bully likes chasing elveses. So what does did guild do?"

"The Assassins Guild. What did you think - the Guild of Seamstresses? Take my advice, make that the last question you ever ask about the Guild, unless you are looking to hire their services!"

"Der password ?" Dregz pipes up, a sly note to his tone.  "Why din' youse says so?  Gimme a minute, I mights jus' remember it ..."

The little goblin priest closes his eyes mutter under his breath.

After Dregz mutters his prayer he is lost in thought for a little while, just staring up at the webs in the shaft above the tunnel opening.

"Ttcha, der password," Dregz's eyes open wide, almost as wide as the broad grin that is plastered across his face.  "Der password is Dusklorn, ov course !"

"And don' youse fergedit !" he cautions the guard. "An' youse stay alert - keep a sharp eye out for dose dwarves.  Don' let dem past !"

"Very good. You may pass," the unseen guard responds from the webs above the end of the tunnel. He almost sound relieved. "Don't you worry about any dwarves. None of those little pigs will get past me!"

The shaft extends downwards for about 150 feet and widens out as it gets deeper. There are a couple of rocks jutting out at the edge of the tunnel opening that would make suitable anchor points for a rope and the group has more than enough rope between then, so it is just a question of what order everyone wants to climb down, or does someone have something else in mind?

Minmorc stares at Dregz in alarm and a split second before screeching Assassin! and trying to stuff him in a sack he realises the gods must of told him the password. With that reassuring thought Minmorc will be ready to take the lead again, either by his trusty ropes or by trusting Moffa and hoping that feather fall doesn't become the far faster angry Ork fall.

"Dere ya goes Dregzies! We knews dere was more dan just currants in dat hairy headses ov yours. Now dens, I can Fedder Falls all ov usses except you Birdie Girls, but youse can flies down dere on your loverly wingses. And Oopses will has ter carry his catses." Moffdust makes them all line up with their toes at the edge of the cliff. When they're all falling nicely she pronounces very carefully "Feath-ers!"

Bulldust lines up when told to, and surreptitiously gestures for Min to hide the rope away.  It doesn't do to ask questions when Moffa's got a plan. He does feel deeply disappointed at this latest heartbreaking news though.  "I fort dere might be elfs."  He pushes a pebble over the edge with his toe.

 "Sure, Iz ken floatz down sumwhatz ifn it ain't too far. Iz follown youz Moffy."

 She waits for the others to head down then she tries to glide down with them. She sure hoped it wasn't too far or too rough a landing.

 "Gerry on a mole!"

Jurz lines up quietly with the others, toes just over the edge of the pit (like a good goblin should) and ready to jump when Moffa gives the word.

However, in the back of his mind he thinks about an Owl.  An owl about the same size as a goblin ...
This message was last edited by the player at 10:39, Fri 16 Mar 2018.

OOC: Raven - roll a Jump skill check to glide down safely.

Minmorc will pat Bully on the back. "Dun worry Bully, ders lotsa elvses down der, dey jus hard ter find cause dey all black an sneaky. Righto den, CANONBALL!"

Dregz grins broadly at Moffa's praise, though his extreme hairiness makes it difficult to impossible for anyone to tell.  He too lines up with the rest, somewhat nervously, clutching the Magic Stick tightly. 

He'd always wondered if the Wizards were right and a little goblin would fall just as fast as a big orc ... but was not in any way curious enough to think to test that theory out for himself !

Bulldust's mood lifts at Minmorc's words.  "Ooo!"  He leans forward in anticipation.

"Onses... Twosies... Threeses!" Moffdust leaps, plummets for a heartbeat then yells "Feath-ers!"

Everyone except Raven jumps together from the ledge at the end of the tunnel and plummet downwards for a heart racing second before Moffa yells "Feath-ers!" and their fall steadies at a comfortable rate of descent. It only takes 15 seconds for them to descend the 150 feet to the bottom of the shaft that the unseen speaker in the webs above had called the 'Earth Node'.

Raven holds her glowing rapier in her beak and holds a golden girdle stretched across her back beneath her backpack as she spreads her feathered arms wide and dives off the ledge just a few seconds after the rest of the group. She glides down in a tight spiral just keeping pace with the others as they float down the shaft. All is going well for the first 9 or 10 seconds then she starts to wobble, pitches too far forward and starts to fall too fast. She almost overtakes the rest of the group in the second or two that it takes for her to whip her arms around her middle to wrap the golden girdle around her waist. Instantly her fall is arrested and she starts to float gently upwards instead. She sighs in relief and enjoys the sensation for a few moments before spreading her arms again and gliding down the rest of the way safely. She lands at the base of the earth node several seconds after everyone else.

The shaft has widened out to a diameter of about 60 feet at the bottom, forming a roughly circular, smooth floor. The air here is alive with energy and thick with the smell of developing lightning. Small holes puncture the walls near the floor, opening into a dozen small tunnels (only about 2.5 feet in diameter). You are able to see down each of those small tunnels for 10 to 30 feet before each tunnel bends out of sight in the darkness. Dull dust is thickly heaped around the edges of this circular hollow, thickest near the holes.

OOC: Main game map updated.

Bless spell previously cast by Minmorc gives everyone +1 on attack rolls and +1 on saves vs fear for 22 more rounds.

Once he is satisfied that the featherfall is working properly, Jurz starts looking around during  the fall, trying to get his bearing.  "I fought youse said sere was a lake?" Jurz asks Dregz as they fall together.

The he frowns more as they land.  Dust around the edges? and built up in front of the tunnels" ... "Dat's like worms." Jurz comments, pointing to the holes around the side of the landing area. "Dey pushes all de chewed up mud out of dere hole.  I wonder if somefing has done dat in dose holes?"

 "Oy, dat felt so nice! Iz almost wantz to do dat again!"

 She chuckled and unwrapped her girdle and packed it away in her pack. She hopped around happily and waits for all her friends to gather.