"Well, standin' up here and talkin' about these weeds isn't gonna get 'em whacked. I think it's time for us to get down in that hole and see how that weed killin' concoction of yours does." He gestured to Jake and his gizmo. He tipped his hat to Jacinta and the Reverened, and took his lantern, heading down after Albert and Kansas Kate.

Kate grumbled just a little, but it seemed everyone was all right.  Having assigned herself the point, she began a slow steady advance, expecting trouble.

Jacinta followed Bryan, using her free hand to steady herself as her boots hit the dirt.  "You gotta knife?"  She asked the Ranger.  "I don't trust these vines a bit."

Kate moves down the tunnel, stepping carefully, her soft footfalls drawing dry whispers of sound from the blanket of vines covering the floor. The passage does not appear to deviate from its path, continuing forward in a relatively straight line. The deeper Kate and her companions progress, the more they become aware of a musty scent, the smell of dark mold growing on walls left to damp corruption. In the shifting lantern lights, there are glimpses of brief, serpentine movements within the black net of weeds, but nothing moves to hinder the travelers and they encounter no one during their exploration.

Continuing on, the group pauses, noticing that the section of tunnel ahead of them narrows, losing enough height to force the tallest among them to stoop, and only allowing for the companions to press on in single file. The implacable vines are clearly thicker in their coverage of the corridor’s walls, a few loose tendrils dangling from the ceiling overhead. Faint rustlings punctuate the silence.

Peering down the passage, several members of the group notice a small object, brown in color, entangled among the weeds on the floor, fifteen feet so from the point where the tunnel becomes smaller.

OOC: Anyone venturing into the narrow portion of the tunnel needs to provide me with a Spirit roll.

Spirit: 7

21:25, Today: Jacinta Castillo rolled 3,7 using d6+2,d6+2, rerolling max with rolls of 1,5.  Spirit.

"Ain't likin' this much." Jake mutters as he stoops. Poison gun at the ready, he edges closer to the small brown object to shine his lantern on it and get a better look.

((OOC: Hmmm...

21:51, Today: Jake McGraw rolled 2,5 using d6,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 2,5.  Spirit.

If this is any kind of fear check, that's not really going to help much, so I'm going to toss a red on top of it for some extra cushioning.

21:52, Today: Jake McGraw rolled 11 using 1d6, rerolling max (((6+5)11)).

...that will do. Total of 16.

and, of course, because he has the Curious hindrance he goes poking about the brown thing.))

Albert helped those that were coming down as well as he could, then followed Kate closely with the machete at the ready. The constant chatter that usually accompanied Albert was absent, replaced with quiet contemplation of what he saw.


02:47, Today: Albert Cooper rolled 10,5 using d6,d6, rerolling max with rolls of (6+4)10,5.  Spirit.

Like Jake (and for very similar reasons) Albert was quickly drawn toward the brown thing and responded to the engineer's comment. "Not much ta like, but I do wonder what this thing might be." He moved to get close enough for visual inspection, the machete still held in his hand. He had the desire to poke the thing, but held that urge at bay for the moment.

05:53, Today: Kansas Kate rolled 5,10 using d6,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 5,(6+4)10.  Hope I'm Spirited.

Very nice.

Kate grunted, but it was a weirdly happy grunt.  Just as she was miserable in the stagecoach, she was happy here.  It made no sense, but such was the enigma of Kansas Kate.

"Well only one way to find out."

Kate had her Toothpick out in hand as she, well, crawled forward to approach The Thing That Was Probably Bad.  The tunnel was a tight fit through here.

06:52, Today: Tamsin River rolled 3,3 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 3,3.  Spirit.
07:02, Today: Tamsin River rolled 7,5 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 7,5.  White Chip: Spirit Reroll.

Tamsin feels right at home surrounded by the plants, evil though they may be. ”Someone will need to fill me in on this House business when we’re out of here,” she says absent mindedly as they make their way through the tunnels, ”hopefully not after being injured by whatever that thing is.”

What is it? A part of the plant? Something trapped by the plant?

Bryan pulled the Bowie knife out of the sheath at his belt where he kept it as a response to Jacinta's question, offering it to her if she wanted it.

"Yours if you want it. I think someone has a machete as well."


10:00, Today: Bryan Lee rolled 1,8 using d6,d6, rerolling max.  Spirit.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:04, Thu 26 Apr 2018.

Those that have descended into the tunnel press forward, the vines catching on their clothing and brushing against their faces as they move ahead, the dank smell becoming stronger in a space that grows to feel more and more airless.

As the group nears the object, its identification becomes clear. It is a single shoe, cut from brown leather. Based on its size, it definitely belonged to a child. A boy, probably around ten years of age.

Aside from the rustle of the weeds being disturbed by the group’s passage, the narrow corridor remains quiet.

"I gotta feelin' that you're gonna need it," she muttered at Bryan's offer.  She tapped the hatchet she kept at her belt indicating she had her own means of slashy defense.  Her eyes narrowed at the sight of the tiny shoe and then she looked onward into the darkness.  "Keep going," she quietly urged the others.  "We're on the right trail." 

Kate just grunted in disgust.  You could cut an adult's head off right in front of her and she probably wouldn't think any less of you, but kids were off limits.

Moving the shoe aside, she continued her crawl without comment.

Albert grunted. It looked like someone had lost a shoe, which likely meant they were headed in the right direction. He inspected the shoe and the overgrown greenery to see if he might be able to extract the shoe from its herbal prison. If they found the kids, one of them would need the shoe. If they didn't, well, that wasn't something he was going to contemplate.

With a pair of sharp tugs, Cooper is able to free the shoe from the tangle of weeds.

With Kate in the lead, the gathering ventures on. The tunnel does not grow any narrower, but the foliage that occupies it becomes more dense, requiring those with blades to cut their way through some of the encroaching vines in order to progress. The pace slows, the rustling of the weeds becoming more frequent, the musty scent growing to the point of becoming overwhelming. As the group works their way forward, they perceive that the passage has begun to gradually slope upward.

After an interminable period of hacking back thorns and crawling, Kate sights an opening ahead, made visible by the soft illumination of moonlight. Continuing forward, the companions emerge into a wooded area. Several tall pine trees reach up to the night sky, but a brief examination reveals that most of them are dead, their branches barren, several having vines that have encircled their trunks.

Straight ahead, the ground continues to slope downward, leading to what appears to be a clearing. To the right, the terrain grades upward, the trees more numerous in that direction, forming a dense pine forest.

"Path of least resistance?"  Kate whispers to the others, switching out her knife for her revolver again.

Bryan followed closely behind Cooper and Kansas Kate, keeping an eye out to make sure he would be clear in case Jake decided to unleash his chemical mixture upon the foliage. With his knife in hand, he worked to help clear any unwanted plant life from his path.

When they reached the top, he took a moment to inspect the ground for any signs of passage, though he couldn't make out much.

He sheathed his knife and nodded to Kate's suggestion, but took a moment to look back and take stock of who was still with them.

---

Tracking: 3, bleh

07:48, Today: Bryan Lee rolled 2,2 using d6,d6, rerolling max.  Tracking.

Doh!

09:20, Today: Bryan Lee rolled 1 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 1.  Red Chip.

Doh!
This message was last edited by the player at 14:27, Sat 28 Apr 2018.

Jacinta hooked her hatchet in her belt and removed her rifle once they were in the open, shaking off any remaining foliage (or the feel of those vines) with a flick of her braids.  Pacing out a short distance from the tunnel, her gaze flitted over the forest, the ground, and the trees.  She paused several times as she made her circuit, cocking her head as if listening.


Tracking: 5
Notice: 7

08:38, Today: Jacinta Castillo rolled 3,5 using d6,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 3,5.  Tracking.
08:38, Today: Jacinta Castillo rolled 9,4 using d8+2,d6+2, rerolling max with rolls of 7,2.  Notice.

When Albert emerged he wandered over by Kate, but instead of first scanning the countryside, he looked back to make sure everyone emerged from the tunnel.

At her question, the ranch hand tipped his head side-to-side in a noncommittal way, and spoke quietly to Kate without actually looking her way. "Think mebbe we should see where these devil-weeds're comin' from? Flower Power might be able ta tell. Or Jay-Lo said she's a scout, right?"

Albert watched Jacinta pace out with interest.

PM

"Kate's right," she reported quietly as she rejoined the group.  "Small feet, several pairs of them, all leading downhill.  There is another set, unnatural like, going the same way.  Vines trail downhill, too, so watch your step." 

When Tamsin emerges she takes a look around. ”Everyone got through the vines safely? Nothing I need to patch up?”

She brushes a hand along one of the dead trees, avoiding the vines. ”Looks like we’re going in the right direction.”

Kate nodded and continued.  If there was ever a good spot for a scattergun... but the old Schofield would just have to do.  Not like she was particularly stealthy, especially not with that lantern in hand.

Albert nodded at the reports from the others and moved up to walk next to Kate as they descended. He switched the machete to his left hand and pulled his six-shooter out with his right. "Wonder if we still need them lanterns or if we ain't better lettin' our eyes adjust ta the moonlight. Anyone'll be able ta see us coming' with these lanterns from miles out. Course I s'pose that assumes whatever grabbed them kids uses eyes ta see."

"Before we go any further, I just need to do somethin'," he said, moving to the front of the group for a moment.

"In this matter set here before us today, I'm hereby forming a posse and deputizing all y'all for the purpose of aiding me in finding and rescuing the kidnapped children of Lincoln, arresting any perpetrators that we may discover, and keeping the peace," he said.

"Alright, that's done. Looks like we got the trail confirmed. As to the lanterns, out here in the dark they make me feel like a sitting duck and they take up extra hands. Even if whatever took them kids don't use eyes to see or whatever that means, there are always those wolves we fought earlier that could be literally anywhere. We could leave these lanterns right here by the mine for when we need 'em on our way back, and make our way out to where these footprints lead with the advantage of surprise, that is, if we think we can still keep the trail without much more than moonlight."

He looked to Jacinta to see what she thought about that, but also looked to the others, namely Albert and Kate as they seemed to have been the most engaged in taking the charge on this.