At the sight of the cross, the snakes writhe and hiss, but they also halt.

"Impudent!" One of them hisses. "Vile! These halls belong to Tezcatlcoatl, not your white god!"

The snakes slither together, entwining about. It looks almost as if they're doing some obscene serpentine mating dance. Two twists of smoke form around them, caress them...and then vanish. The snakes peal apart, looking around the tunnel in apparent confusion, their tales rattling angrily.

"You have won this round. You will win no more. Mictlantecuhtli shall take you to his solemn realm!"

With that dire pronouncement, the serpents slither back where ever it was they came from, vanishing from view like the mist they'd conjured.

((OOC: Mirror Serpent's Brood rolled 4,3 using d6,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 4,3. Resisting magic. They fail it, so they can attack, but since they can summon other snakes, they thing that perhaps they can bring in more, and see if these serpents can do what they can't.

Mirror Serpent's Brood rolled 2,3 using d6,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 2,3. Look, mummy! More snakes! That's a fail for both. Looks like Saint Patrick really can eject the snakes from here...))

Carl watches all the strangeness in stoic silence...which lasts about three seconds after the devil-snakes disappear before becoming a mirthful silence. Carl eventually leans on the wall, helpless with about equal parts soundless laughter and soundless 'ouch' at the effect on the injuries across his ribs.
"..."

Murphy grins wider than ever and turns around to Carl.
"Hah! I can't believe that worked!"

He kisses the cross,then makes the sign of the cross himself.
"Sweet and holy St. Patrick! I shall offer all all the candles in Father O'Rourke's church for you!"

Carl semi-seriously holds up a finger in an 'except one'/'not all' gesture - it wouldn't do to slight the little church's patron (and the patron of all miners) underground, if only for form's sake - then claps Murphy on the shoulder, grinning. Whether it was the cross or the invocation, someone was looking out for them, and the challenge from the heathen devil-snakes alone showed they were on the right track.

The wrangler waves "Saint Paddy" back into motion once they've both got a hold of themselves, clearly in better spirits. If Heaven and the holy saints preserve them so far as getting out, the Irishman is likely to get more than a few drinks coming his way for the tale.

some mood music

The duo move into more familiar caves. Deathly familiar for Carl...he knows he's been here before now. Just a bit further, just another turn, and they'll reach it...the heart of the mine.

The chamber here is huge. Four separate shafts intersect intersect at this cavern...Murphy and Carl have come through the southernmost shaft.

The northernmost shaft is blocked by debris. Piles of stones still linger, despite the best efforts of the rescuers, so long ago. The piles are larger than Carl remembers, though, and there are more supports in place. There's a mine cart half-full of rock near the blocked passage, and signs of fresh pick work. Something dark sparkles in the torchlight.

There are a few unlit lanterns ringing the cavern. It looks like most of them still have oil and can be lit.

((OOC: So...what next? There are two open passages, one leading left and one leading right. There's the cave-in itself, which has sparklies of some kind still gleaming in the wall...right next to the blockage. You could, conceivably, try to clear the blockage...or you can just search the area.))

Visibly tensing as he fights down sudden nausea, Carl sets about collecting all the oil that can reasonably be reached in one lantern, pausing often to listen with the air of being ready to run like hell.

[[23:38, Today: Carl Allans rolled 1,1 using d6-3,d6-3, rerolling max with rolls of 4,4. Notice? Nope.]]

They must've got turned around in the tunnels a bit to end up here rather than further northeast. Carl strains to hear anything definite over the thud of blood in his ears, but the echoes are deceptive. There might be anything out there.

Bone burns.

A thought to hold on to. Carl stays a moment on a pile of stones, trying to ignore the rock above, every hair of his skin trying to stand on end, listening.

00:30, Today: Mad Irish Murphy rolled 5,2 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 5,2. Notice.

Murphy looks at Carl, cocking his head. "What was that?"

Sounded like a rattling, but it was just a pebble dislodged by Carl pulling lamps down. Most of the lamps are half full...it doesn't take long for Carl to get his lamp full and lit, and to prepare a second lamp for Murphy so they two don't have to carry open flames.

The sparkles in the wall are small white specks set in a dark stone...Ghost Rock! This looks like the place where the bushwhackers were set mining the wall...there's fresh score marks here, less than a week old. It looks like some effort was put into clearing the cave-in...the lamplight flickers as the pair look at the blockage, indicating a breeze from the rocks. Air is getting through the blockage.

Carl straightens where he sits, holding his breath and looking the same way as Murphy, every fibre of him ready to pelt it back into the leaner shafts, away from potential dust.

[[23:56, Today: Carl Allans rolled -1,2 using d6-3,d6-3, rerolling max with rolls of 2,5. listenin'. Still nothing doing...]]

Carl's not eager to have more than one flame using air at once, but accepts the lit lamp. The odd, jarringly organic little noise has started up again and Murphy might notice, after a couple of tense halts, that it's actually the wrangler himself, unconsciously grinding his teeth for want of any reachable source of fear.

The Dust Adder indicates the flickering of the light in patches, feeling very sick, but can't seem to bring himself to touch the still-packed stone of the rockslide.

Murphy eyed the Ghost Rock veins wearily. Sure, there were untold riches, but he didnt care. Much. The mineral had a strange appeal and he reached out a hand, slowly.
Then something screams in the back of his head and he pulled his fingers back, real quick.

"Alright, alright,..." he mutters. Then, to Carl: "I think we should be extra-careful with open fire around here. You think there's an opening up there? I might be able to squeeze through."

Carl nods, then holds up his lantern as enough light and offers Murphy his rain-damp handkerchief as a snuff if the man's in need of something to put the torch out with.

"First sign o' boney walker, we run back that way," he says, not a plan but a statement. Fire was the only weapon against that one, but fire near Rock dust was a mix for a sudden lack of coastal Texas. "Reckon Snake c'n keep it down but not control it - ain't bin attacked, Injuns might be close."

The idea of crawling through tiny spaces draws a helpless shudder down Carl's spine and he swallows on the surge of terror. Dry heaves would be about the least help down here. "'ll come," he manages, casting the light on where the blockage is probably thinnest (Pleas for light, prayers running down to mumbles, Home In Glory, and in the background always the screams) but indicates his ear to draw attention to their first warning of trouble. There were still dead back there, as well as red men.

The Ghost Rock vein sparkles, but even a quick glance from someone with a trained miner's eye can see that it's not large, and might produce maybe a few pounds of the stuff per day spent chipping at it. Of course, the closer the vein gets to the cave-in, the larger it is, and a lot of effort has been spent clearing it up.

There are holes in the rubble. Small holes, to be sure, but holes nonetheless. Not large enough for a full grown man to pass through, however. It would take at least a few hours working at the rocks to get a hole wide enough to wiggle through, if it's just the two of them working.

((OOC: Do you want to split the 4 man-hours it'll take to clear the blockage between the two of you?))

"I had not expected to go into the mining business... Flora's going to have me head if I rip this shirt..."

He looks at Carl. "Think we got time or should we try to find some other way? I'd hate to dig through all this and then find out the Comanches have already attacked the town."



OOC: Yeah, 4 hours seems a looooong time. Isn't the fight in full swing already? Or are Carl and me lagging behind?

((OOC: From where you guys are now, the fight will already be over, for better or worse. You and Carl are about an hour ahead of the rest of the group, considering the time it took you to get to the mine in the first place and the time you spent in the maze of tunnels.))

Hmm... still. Gotta take care of that shaman and the picture.

Murphy unbuttons his vest and shirt and puts them on a clean(ish) rock in the mine.
"I won't hear the end of it from me Flora if I rip that shirt", he explains.

Carl sets the lantern down and tries listening to the rock of the tunnel floor itself, but can't make anything of that, either.

[[yeah, there was a lunchtime roll there that also failed, and he's on the verge of going all -5 on me again...but then "Saint Paddy"'s about with a ready supply of Murphy Slaps, so it's all good...]]

He shrugs a little at the question of time, not uncaring - Hell no - but since the only other way to reach the same spot as Gabby would be to go out, trek back where they started from on foot and search all over the hillside again or wander taking potluck down the tunnels - not a thought Carl was going to dwell on - the time difference isn't so great. So long as the town's defenses held, they held.

He'd rather have more reassurance they were near the shaman than simply not being attacked by the blasphemous collection of Christian bones and the fear, fury and despair that seemed to have stayed in the walls of this place, but you worked with what you had. Carl looks at his own mangled shirt, removes his weaponry and boots (made for riding), and rolls the sleeves.


[[Anything we can do to lessen the time? Also, if there's any kind of overhang or unstable shale at all Carl'll want to get it propped - anything down there from the Yanks' efforts?]]

((OOC:

@Murphy - Indeed. It's quite important to catch up with the Shaman.

@Carl - Yes, get more people. It's 4 man-hours, which means that more people working on the blockage will shorten the time (you'll clear it in 2 hours between the two of you). This whole mine was built assuming around 4-5 PCs going through it, and the challenges just get harder from here.

But as for the Yankee efforts, that's why it's been cleared enough to actually get through in a few hours, as opposed to a few days.))

[[Ha! That's a strange thing to build a mine for...och, they'll catch up. Fetching anyone would take as long anyway. Besides, Carl and Murphy are a perfect team for this, claustrophobia aside: anything large and fiendishly powerful will inevitably attack Carl, leaving Murphy free to present himself and scare away any injuns and smaller boojums the way he does best...

I meant more in the way of "any propping material about".]]

((OOC: Ah. Yes, there's propping material there...that's part of the time spent. There's no roll required here...just need you to tell me if you're going to spend the time or not. Looks like the pair of you are determined to go at this, but I'll wait for Murphy to confirm.))

sure, lets do this!

((OOC: So...do you want me to move this thread forward, or wait until the various combat threads are resolved to see who might join you while the two of you are working?))

OOC: I'm fine with putting this thread on hold for a few days to see how it goes. The only question is: Do we expect any help to come?

[[What he said. Carl doesn't expect anyone to turn up, at least.]]

((OOC: Wildcat knows the two of you went off to chase down the Comanches and might send people your way. They'd know that, at least.))

((OOC: Carl had a suggestion that I liked...while you guys are busy moving stones, why don't we run an Interlude? Draw a card, which will set the tone of the interlude. At the end, I'll let you have your choice of a free fate chip or free adventure card. That way we can delve into the backstory of the characters a bit and not have these two characters silent for a while.))