In reply to Mancini (msg # 133):

The only light is coming from the torches above, and Ardenas' headlamp.
The space is shadowy, although the metal surfaces are faintly reflective.

In reply to Mancini (msg # 133):

Dellas light it his torch

"Im going too, Ardenas. I can watch your back and you watch mine. Deal?"

"If you're bringing light sources then attempting stealth is pointless. We might as well all head down." Mancini shook his head. "Norman, you and Hilerno head down first and secure the room. The rest of us will follow."

Norman nodded and descended the ladder, shield on his back.

In reply to Mancini (msg # 136):

Dellas voice is cracked with embarrassment
"I was not going... I mean, it is dark and we cant see well from here... sorry boss..."

"Don't worry about it, Dellas. If we're to use scouts they must be both capable of stealth and without the need for a light source. Aiofe is, perhaps, our best bet... though I know some forms of shapeshifting leave the shifter with the mind of the creature they shift into. When you change, do you keep the wits of a Leprechaun, Aiofe?"

ooc: Specifically, the Shapeshift spell lets the caster retain their own mind, but Alternate Forms give you the IQ and mental traits of the animal. Specifically, a bat would get IQ -7 and the Wild Animal mental template (bestial, cannot speak, hidebound, fixed IQ).

Unless the GM has house-ruled a variant, of course!
This message was last edited by the player at 18:03, Wed 12 Apr 2017.

Hilerno goes down the ladder after Norman.

Oly carefully surveys the lock on the trap door with out being too obvious...






[Private to GM:  13:23, Today: Oly rolled 9 using 3d6.  Lock picking.  by 7 (used to ID how secure the lock is and how hard to pick)
13:22, Today: Oly rolled 11 using 3d6.  Perception. By 3]

In reply to Mancini (msg # 139):

"Oh, I can keep my intellect, though the longer I stay in animal form, the greater the risk of loosing some intelligence."

She casts a spell with a flick of her wrist, and her body merges to take the form of a bat. She flys down through the hole and hangs from the ceiling, waiting for the others iff there is nothing down there.

"My apologies, Mancini -- I think of all of us, only Aoife can see in true darkness, and then only after shifting her form.  My night vision is quite ordinary, just that of a man.  Below ground, without lights of some kind, I might as well be blind.  Hence why I have a lamp I can put on my head, to keep my hands free."

As he speaks, he shoulders his backpack again, since he won't be scouting ahead of the group.

"I've heard of lenses that bestow such gifts," Mancini tapped the bridge of his own glasses, "but only in rumors. Such an artifact would serve you well. Perhaps after our business here is done, you might mount a quest for them."

He looked up at bat-Aoife. "There's considerable danger in scouting, and you'd have to go alone. In these cellars there's not much room to avoid the ogres, should they decide that bat is on the menu. We can do without a scout if need be, but I leave the choice up to you."

In reply to Mancini (msg # 144):

OOC: Bat-Aoife in in the next room, and cannot speak. She will answer your question with a squeak...

In reply to Aoife (msg # 145):

This place has a lingering odor of char. There are six gates, two to the
left and two to the right, and one on each of the other walls, as well as the gate
in the floor. There are signs of there having been a great struggle in this room,
and the bars of at least one gate are bent, as if something of great strength tried
to force its way through.  The guard above withdraws the ladder, and begins to close
 the grate above you.

[Private to Aoife: your sonar detects passageways beyond each of the gates, but nothing moving. The grate in the floor covers something at least twenty yards deep]
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:01, Fri 14 Apr 2017.

Ardenas speaks very softly: "Either Oly or I can reopen this grate at need, and I can get either of us down into the room below without harm, as well as back up without need for a ladder, if it is necessary.  It will take some time, however."

In reply to Ardenas Barehand (msg # 147):

Aoife flys around to see what might be beyond the bars.

"If we succeed we'll have found out how the ogres gained access to the undercity to begin with," Mancini said. "And this entrance will become irrelevant... as will the wine merchant's influence over the guild. This is our true objective. The role the ogres play is comparatively minor, but they're of more use to us alive."

The light dim with just the one torch, Hilerno asks, "Should I light another torch?"

In reply to Aoife (msg # 148):

Dellas is visibly worried when he sees Aoife flying away from sight.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:02, Fri 14 Apr 2017.

"I've got my lamp," as he points to his head, "But we'll probably want more light to bring along when we go below.  Might want to hold until Aoife gets back from scouting, though; she might be able to make us lights with magic."

Mancini catches Dellas's look. "Don't worry. Each of you is a tremendously capable individual, or I wouldn't have brought you along. Everyone in the guild is capable of pulling their own weight." He pulled out a parchment map and studied it carefully.

[Private to GM: ooc: Trying to determine where we are on the map of the undercity, and where the ogres might be hiding. Would that be psychology, tactics, strategy, urban survival, or something else?]

In reply to Mancini (msg # 153):

Dellas nods back to Mancini and grabs the rope from his backpack

In reply to Dellas (msg # 154):

The rather minimal map of the undercity indicates the main causways on the first level. The sewers and their maintanancevrooms are below that on the second level, this place is not indicated on the map.

Mancini takes out his scribal kit and adds their current location to the map, along with whatever is visible through each of the gates.

ooc: Cartography-14
14:15, Today: Mancini rolled 6 using 3d6.  cartography-14.

In reply to Mancini (msg # 156):

These gates look rather new, and the undercity map you have might not be the right scale to accommodate the spaces. DuClair had said he paid a fortune to have the dwarf Voorland install some gates. These might be them. Not all are the same style, and the wall immediately around several
 is black and shiny.


Ooc: I have too many threads running in the same group to post separate
maps, I will link them up via google drive

In reply to Narrator (msg # 157):

No worries.

We can narrate what Aoife sees in a quick fly-around. If she detects movement, she will return pronto!