Sarah raised her hands in a gesture of peace.  [Language unknown: "Les inouus, ou Ioukoriou ic ain, alno E art thiredrutereted k vir hauradbe ss icaouress.  E pre tinblenteiou.  Sa osthiv the anyovehat icaeauder elme.  An kor paul eereac, thu attrio ekomwe tiosties is iste."]

[Language unknown: "Larundsoncom? Hiosan setandredthi?"] the man asks, squinting at Sarah and her equally well-armed and well-fed companions.

[Language unknown: "Ate conativer iover tr outshewhe oerbleand prulpl linde omesomenttic...has aseve po u larerethe artounble atehisnce iecom fistck be venerswas sa ndmaseul urre resereare os as Tedartbut. P ndmass ith Ss herel il n roleit astblewilwilwit iv reslathis Eenardund ekast heic somtr i houratome wi asekne: onla Artonspronot t er hiut!"]

Elena clutches her mother's skirts and tries to hide despite her father's evident pride, starkly pale amongst her brown-skinned, black-haired family. Her mother simply smiles at the "prisoners" and holds up a human skull wreathed in beautiful garlands of flowers. The old woman, boldest of the newcomers, comes over and starts talking to Grandmother Bent Legs in what must be Comanche.

OOC: Well armed?  Last I checked, all of Sarah's guns were left behind.  All they have is an assortment of kitchen knives right now.

[Language unknown: "Rat ecilck, ive io avete intantout enha?  Elmoon?  Ncanat?  Ou, redncedin m, manwheoun.  I tise ururne lar ouing waurli p earte notproand t strithstr ll k ndeughthesti to era aicefi, tiopo il wit himiplev p mewadi fi naaito."  ]

Sarah indicated a large rock.  [Language unknown: "Dinundtho, elera com, o his acni uster artionwer lohiis.  Venerende omtr t, po ststi nt eenicanotvir dinnt ri ivlepenc?  Urwhe lo ckyin eraeve'astamenot?"]

[[As someone from somewhere where every peasant and their dog don't have guns, I'd say a knife each - or a hefty knife-onna-stick like Sarah's - is pretty well armed.]]

This just confuses the man. [Language unknown: "Sta ine hou ratsomatehouard?"

"Fi, Ha ineouttho Pl winepo sipoie on omeoveort. Rodin Sestié, wa ere ione."] He offers a hand as he strides over, his expression warm and genuine. A rattlesnake skull with turquoise set in the eyesockets hangs on a string about his neck.

[Language unknown: "Blemanpro sonousverres tedunddin, illwe om, miacil wios erecomkor, sti ckeris a ofwipo ai Sheforven Ingad st pro rat allerente,"] he explains genially, waving his family on to go make the sacrifice. Sarah remembers the offerng-niches along the corridor going down into the earth.

[Language unknown: "Us utinst trhola el ndnd ri hatwhions ovehasourilliou for wiun'wamo...ectiouill houn ut, lloupa rutticart ic ioureawas ted a k mo, ive but M eredaynte one whckno pool rathisany. Be teman witles-sanoun lo ng ar ess n inuswi! Cach wa acwh u whifor'butrea, dinpa arul fonind hat ofshe u be na ol pa la fi i isbe lalo-ekho, derth eauwitear ce rea e urilur n thu wilstiest. Her Unposi all nc miive lithi! Eehiadme. Thiwa a t somesstha, i hi."]

Sarah nodded.  [Language unknown: "Po olosne t asesfiwa ncanwa, ughioneve aiai Hasithhisany.  Taek p diwene be chulun.  Fornd il hi men trableder?  Hose acliel ughardwas t intstrort anhoomno pa?"]

[Language unknown: "Evngentrhi?"] José looks a bit dubious of his new aquaintance, but since his family aren't in danger from her strange cultish ways he just shifts a bit on his rock and goes on.

[Language unknown: "N ispr di taave int, ionpr ilca antla, ch alpo mehe omrewiec ho oltho entcomlat: somoerher inmare aios not moove neul ec urint trrita, hatkorshe ndeurewhi ect nti. Ti Whindewhi Din witla ll ofteck undnc, oveestart ilntec has meio p unect thelinardant andal ivilhi we...llcom to eeekai icaek diou. Wilortwermaname Verwhekoramelar il pr waslardin, ard ichrespro ofwipo inckch ho cene prehisest attr whofen."

"Noout trulpo olmoropr oneonsest pr ecnana wilamerom werbuters i ngek fonde arth, ar mapeho il hasticint diard hoseho er asonre si ous ineof fomandek e outet ter hangwa onfofi mitail i ouswh Witwercom wilos onetheing adstr etwi dinillour encth, son waine be k ecprce ur noiv fiwinasi encev lear ol ei Korlatour, lliodi waesei atchposi waiswa on timeal, itheenday noario cetra oreme onsthuonever, hoecei dinsetiou alchat adac iohanc."

"Ore manstryin Isca ofader und ilarom attaro larntetho...whulpr nian adssni itol inta dienek isoun sa rose fiente ndasho wili derho anydayundtic. Ni Iveleshis Iv aiteat alanul e ur an, an loroin pro aveughove ic tadi terncehas e whi notametra hatwi ad eauatiate whe atmane maha ee Earatewer-esssta, pape thawiltiooutsomear...ckarfo sa osroie atll era ill dinhouome pous ovepa ofut ove. Ainartousdin neos'lell prle dinoulhis evnees prerut'wheill tamo mawaas ousionmenlin ulro a fosslino, esoer whis itnean miwhai nt ulecng oveortkorone. Poun prich urtiar allnd Korverous Diil hatar nota hessic ev sanbutman ortstaart omacfo, artat, acususes tafithss wa Ce Ekreth i sa ouleveovestalin ha elulil as Erhahowiaiat werpreand o u icni tedardher n diheio alckhiul. Ofomat utisndpe!"] He shakes his head at the sacreligious horror of it.

The slave-girl hands him some fish, trying to hide the fact that whatever she was dreaming about whilst dozing has left her crying. José nods his thanks.

[Language unknown: "Maart Ouwilo Lesev larsi linillthi menallcon ta t ugh neacin tinsanica, and oneeis, atiun lataveore alinespl ted enesndek eveeve'ateson loadno shemenrom roiv ilai ove ons ourionnte ioniv Latlattraovemen, toermi isil Aiaincseit Osloat ieanng inevut ter n lecapa. Ng stwere p a stabutstr...somfo it, pe ndsend!"]

The other cultists wander back to the main room from the left-hand corridor, though Elena, the little albino girl, is conspicuously missing.

Sarah pulled a stick from the fire, and started to draw on the floor.  [Language unknown: "Ng derei canc anyek fieiss hi heac?"]  She tried to draw what she could of the snake motif in the other room.

The man looks at the scratches. [Language unknown: "A i p ntsaaslano, mo. Onnd'esal A n houainvenall areoverea not ndleac wh settedeve comth in areshepro ore, to m wh korastratratent k omeaveentwhihou."]

The wife of the family comes to settle nearby, skull on her lap, and starts talking to the slave in Comanche, her words soothing. The fact that her daughter's taking so long to reappear does cause her to frown and look back towards the doorway, however.
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:50, Sat 02 May 2015.

[Language unknown: "K eauanthis reilmith stckev?"] Sarah asks.

[Language unknown: "N iosealou...line omce chinai os notio I ithardhat urcon areca oul ininll, ngev ec esthatset e entic hou niac...Ek bleicakor pro seta e chou maus. Ressanate i, anniek."] The wife carefully sets down the skull, takes up her lantern again and stands to go look for the girl.

Meanwhile the grandmother of the family sets herself close to Sarah and puts a hand on her knee. [Language unknown: "Eintfo an iou tiulha ast, entas! Waurecilro Di Siil aill nceeveine i onev n nomi Fotiwe El t foarit outrse, ons si artsetrea ekit pro a si! Ususfionensahi!"]

[Language unknown: "Foresstrawerncevorast!"] José echoes, extremely impressed.

Sarah waved it off.  [Language unknown: "Ac aillar m ofhat.  Butsomect n dire t ileetate li roekri rielni io rom redkorlar olent niilll."]  With that, she headed after the mother.

[Language unknown: "Thawilpro ssweai tr ainti etfong ionlinere nt whseck as, si tonoou derndeart passbe mo llisou...aiutng simewepl lattedect pllo inect thoeaushe ekfi t asfilapa,"] says José, not particularly alarmed given the limited area in which his daughter could get lost. He leans forward, looking like he'd like to speak more to Sarah, but she's already hastened after his wife. He turns his attention to the natives instead; the murmur of familiar conversation follows Sarah into the dark a way as she puffs to catch up with the woman and her light.

---

"Elena!" the woman calls, holding her light high. [Language unknown: "Dayoerred, ounortare stast enc?"]

No response. The mother glances back at Sarah, her large dark eyes looking black as holes in the low light. [Language unknown: "Arulpo inprst il meeeio no p...iela in towit ameerarat rolaha, ortarenteoul...nc bleoreiou m ardundlinort miine ai ardantove ic k blekorone: itall sshou ortan les m conha tedthatra, com."]

She turns away, carrying on into the dark in her little circle of light. [Language unknown: "Avepreres, th ere ieof ast earhaslin? Ntfo llmen! Ithhisshe!"]


[[Notice roll, please]]

Probably not.

17:39, Today: Sister Sarah rolled 3,2 using d6,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 3,2. Notice.

[[Mercedes rolled 3 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 3. Notice?
Well, she's clueless too.]]

"Elena! Elena!" The calling echoes down the corridor and folds back on itself, as though the walls were discussing it. "Elena!"

No response comes. The pair backtrack to the offering-holes, now stained and wound-like from offerings to the underworld, then all the way to the cavern at the end. Elena's mother checks in the privy, then lies down on the lip of that outcrop and holds the light out low, just in case. The lamp shows only dark and further dark.

No pale scrap of dress or flesh. No child. The woman stands, checking even walls and ceilings for spots a child - or something that could lift a child - might climb on. Nothing presents itself.

Quietened by worry but still calling, Elena's mother heads off down the corridor to the store room. Poking among and behind the pots fails to bring up a clue. Finding Sarah's previous work in the end section, the woman kneels on the floor beside the great serpent head carved there, fingers the rattlesnake skull hanging around her neck, and starts softly praying to Tezcatlcoatl.

[Language unknown: "As m t verwitsan ulwiwa, alecpl,"] she asks, almost pleading. The lantern set down on the floor makes the snakes and weeping eyes on the walls seem to look down upon them. [Language unknown: "Adoun ti laad he Neunnc i cknd Ofomon Undwerest k ss Ni vorintlatoreund and omei."]

[Language unknown: "Ad Anven nttril ticartugh oun me isur-watiac."] Sarah said, as she continued to look around.  She drew a cross in the dirt of a broken bowl, and it began to glow faintly.  "Perhaps, though, the Lord will shine a light unto our feet."

OOC: I don't know what the final decision was on the Blessed rules, so I rolled without any negative modifiers.  I got an 11, which should be enough for a Raise on the roll, even with a penalty. The Notice roll, after boost, was a 26, so hopefully that works out.


19:19, Today: Sister Sarah rolled 26,3 using d10,d6, rerolling max with rolls of (10+10+6)26,3. Notice.
19:16, Today: Sister Sarah rolled 11,3 using d12+2,d6+2, rerolling max with rolls of 9,1. Boost Notice.

[Language unknown: "E san ar us thieur romstrrat ti ev etfiei li en not...ilne Ec Mireprurio pr sanromnte heeiivac Ta eradinsheund. N elce str th un eiive anttha-ughted pl,"] the woman murmurs, not looking up.

A moment's mediatation on the holy light seems to expand Sarah's senses; she feels as though she could count the motes of dust on the floor and hear the individual muscular movements of her companion's heartbeat. More than that, however, she is sure she hears a child's voice in the wall, pleading with someone.

It seems impossible that Elena - or anyone else - could be in the solid rock, at least until Sarah remembers the dead-end corridor. If there was a broad room or tunnel behind that, it would account for the direction of the voices.


[[For my threads, I'm not updating any rules unless they make stuff work better. The final word was that Blessed changes won't apply in any of the timescales we're using, so they don't affect our games.

Sarah still has the -1 for non-urgent miracles for getting herself into a morally dubious pact with the underworld, mind, but with a roll like that it's sort of academic...]]

Sarah moved up to the wall, and tapped on it thoughtfully with the hilt of her hook.

The wall is solid natural rock and extremely thick. Although it's extrememly unlikely anything on the other side can hear through such a barrier without Sarah's divinely heightened senses, the voice does cut off with a scared squeak immediately after the tapping.

Sarah stares at the wall thoughtfully, then holds her glowing bowl closer.

OOC: Very busy week, no energy to come up with a good description.  I'm looking to see if the wall is magical in any way.  I got a 4.

22:40, Today: Sister Sarah rolled 3,3 using d12-1,d6-1, rerolling max with rolls of 4,4. White chip.
22:39, Today: Sister Sarah rolled 1,4 using d12-1,d6-1, rerolling max with rolls of 2,5. Detect Arcana.

God does not deem fit to grant Sarah the Holy Sight whilst she already possesses heightened senses. There is nothing unusual about the wall to look at. Possibly whatever the girl was talking to crawled or slithered and was sensitive to vibration, accounting for the apparent reaction. Whatever it is, it's in the walled-up room.

The girl's mother gives Sarah a bit of an odd look whilst the preacher stares at the wall. She's cut into the soft of her right wrist by now, just enough to draw a bead of blood to anoint her rattlesnake skull. She holds it like a pendulum.

[Language unknown: "Beca, tin Tiohatsan Uslesi-anwi art le u erwh iveis,"] she says, raising the lantern. The pendulum does lead her to the wall, but when brought close to the rock it changes its swing to a C-shape, indicating how they are to go around.


[[A 3 won't cut it (I only see a 4 there on the wild die for the roll that'd give you a Crisis of Faith and lower your casting die, and that doesn't count), and my book says Blessed don't actually have that power (if there's an update, please point me to it. Looking here, it says they don't have Entangle either, but Sarah uses it so well she can just keep that anyway.)

...but seriously, it's just a wall. If you want in there you'll have to go round.]]

I have a very old copy of the book.  Apparently there's been a number of changes, that I'm not aware of.  Anyway, I'll go around the wall and see what's there. ;)

The swinging skull leads them back, out to the main corridor and up the branch Sarah saw before. The lantern illuminates the coarse clods of clay and grass packing walling off whatever's beyond.

Coming closer, a patch of shadow refuses to move: a hole at the bottom left-hand corner of the barricade, just big enough for a child, clay and long-dry packing strewn around it. Looks like the girl dug her way in. There's no light beyond, only a dense, blank blackness.

"Elena?" the girl's mother tries, kneeling down and putting the lantern by the hole. Sarah's heightened senses note the hefty stone blocks glimpsed behind the clay barricade, and the way the hole continues through them: lots of small scraping kerfs from the other side.

They look like the marks of human fingernails, save that the stone has the texture of solid granite. Someone would have to have clawed at the rock for five thousand years or more.

"Elena?" The woman leans nearer the hole, and finally there's a reply, distant as though at the other end of a room:


[Language unknown: "At, k! Adthu leas!"]
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:55, Wed 27 May 2015.

Sarah holds out a hand, stopping the mother.  Then, she she carefully started to make her way forward, looking around for trouble.

The woman looks up at Sarah and doesn't try to squeeze into the child-sized hole quite yet, though she's clearly scared. [Language unknown: "Tiosonnde k ion ivncec?"

"Thohoueen, whiousshe houioueen? Saund plut ec eenantnte, ch res estoersomeen! Icssou!"]

Looking more closely, Sarah sees the hole goes further back than the light reaches, and the walls of the small tunnel also have that stomach-turning scratched texture.

[Language unknown: "A eltoan!"] the child responds. [Language unknown: "No wileenast es benti etadpa!"]

Paying attention as she is, Sarah hears a faint sighing on the other side of the barricaded wall, near the ground and the entrance to the hole. No, not a sigh, she realises as the sound goes on too long. Hissing.