Parreton Manor
Craine Highlands

Rolf picks at his teeth absentmindedly, wondering if the audience with the Duke was to happen at any particular time, or even today at all.  He and Dorn had already been sitting in the sizable library for going on three quarters of an hour and the conversation, which had been going quite strong for some time and ranged from Rolf's excellent spellwork during the membership trials to the quiet complements Dorn had received on his pupil from the Viscount Tenesworth and others after the display, had seemed to taper off.

The whole situation seemed to be something of an oddity for neither Dorn, nor anyone else Rolf had questioned, seemed to know any details about the request.  Guildmaster Dehogue had simply mentioned to Dorn in passing that the Duke had need of a mage and asked if he would be good enough to bring Rolf around Parrenton at their earliest convenience.

And so the two had presented themselves today, Dorn wearing an elegant, though functional doublet and pants, Rolf in his least offensive set of robes.  They were quickly shown up to the library, a massive room with walls and walls of leather-bound tomes and charts, heavy writing desks and a small comfy sitting area with a plush leather couch and several high-armed chairs.

"Gods."  Dorn interjects into the silence, slouching his waist forward as he rests the side of his face on his open palm.  "You'd think that he'd have the common decency..."

"Gentlemen!"  The voice sounds from the other side of the room, booming but cheerful and Rolf notices that all of a sudden, Dorn is erect and attentive, standing to his full height and quieted immediately.

Duke Bran is a aging man, the grey already predominant against the brown in his scalp though he moves swiftly and his dark eyes sparkle with keen intellect.  His clothes are extravagant, a bright purple silk shirt and tight fitting vest over a high-crotched pair of riding pants set off by a deep and massive emerald hanging from his neck by a thick gold chain.  Yet despite the luxury, the clothes are fit and flowing, allowing for easy movement.

"My apologies for the wait."  The duke walks towards the two, his arms and palms open in greeting and a thin smile upon his face.  He turns his head as he walks, addressing one of his servants entering just behind him, "Mr. Pamiston if you could see to tea service, thank you."

"Yes your grace." The servant, dressed in black and white livery inclines slightly before turning to make his way out of the room.

"Ah.  Please sit."  Bran gestures both Dorn and Rolf before taking his own place in a thick wooden, high backed chair.  "I am always surprised by the amount of time event the simplest of governance can take, it seems everything in the city is screaming for my attention.  It can be absolutely exhausting."  Bran slouches slightly, a quirk of a smile playing across his face.

"Well, I shall do my best not to take up any more of your time than required.  Perhaps you have guessed the reason I have asked you here?"  Bran's eyebrows perk slightly, though he hardly waits for either of the two to give an answer.  "There has been a bit of a disturbance on our southern border of late.  A small party made an excursion across the border some months ago, felling a necromancer that had been plotting to reignite the border wars that decimated this region some decade ago...  Of course, I have been warning Megalos that we are wrestling a very tense situation, what with Caithness and Al-Wazif nursing their egos and neither of them capable of wrangling their own nobles... but I suppose this is beside the point."

Bran leans forward again, glancing at each Dorn and Rolf before he continues.  "More importantly, we are just regaining our strength and rebuilding our frontiers after the devastation wrought ten years ago.  We cannot suffice to be dragged into another conflict, weakening our region even further from where it is.  So... you ask, what is to be done about this?  Well, the only tried and true method of simmering tensions is trade...  If you seek an example, there is no need to look further than Bannock, where there are no stories of renegades or errant knights tempting war...  Of course, Bannock used to belong to Megalos..."  Bran gets lost in his own thoughts again for a moment, pausing for an extended moment before he continues on.

"In any case, the problem is the western frontier.  There simply is neither any avenue, nor commodity to trade so those bastards simply marinate in their own angst and hatred.  I am taking steps to solve both of these problems, contracting roads to the far reaches and a bridge across the Makarem... though we are still left with the problem of establishing real, lasting trade.  The only way to really expect something that will last is to establish a new, thriving town on the border, one that incentivizes trade and has routine interaction with our neighbors to the south."

Bran looks over his shoulder as footsteps approach from the other room.  A footman walks in the door, a silver tea service held forth in a gloved hand.  "Excellent!"  Bran response, "Please put it here on the table, and do help yourselves to milk."  He offers as he accepts a single cup of the dark brown liquid, putting it to just under his nose before bringing it to his lips for the first sip.

"By now, I suppose, you have seen my dilemma."  Bran redirects his attention at Dorn, waiting for the latter to recline back on the couch, cup in hand.  "I can bribe any number of people to create this town, pave the roads, build the houses... but as soon as my money and influence ceases, I can be assured that every one of those men who built it will leave and all will be for naught.  No, the only way to really give it staying power is for there to be some resource, some purpose for the residence apart from my own interests...  If the people can make money on their own, they will stay and will foster the very trade that I seek to stabilize the border region.  And I think I have found this very solution."

Bran smiles, recentering his gaze on Rolf as he relaxes back in the high-backed chair.  "There are rumors in the area of Three Corners of series of cave structures.  I've heard from some of the locals there at the fort that these caves have seams of various metals, tin, copper, iron... perhaps silver...  Of course, striking any of these is likely to solve my problem, though things would be significantly easier with silver or precious stones to buoy travelers in that direction."

"Now."  Bran smiles, finishing the last of his tea as he puts the cup back on the service.  "Here is where I need your help.  In order to bring workers - to sustain a town - to foster trade - to cease these damn border tensions... I have to prove there is something in Three Corners worth mining.  For that I need an exploration.  I have several workers contracted, one in particular that knows the area, another who is well versed in metallurgy and the underground... but what I find my expedition lacking is a mage to fill in all the gaps the rest cannot accomplish.  You will be paid well for your service.  All the better if you can find some mineral worth digging out of the earth."

"So.  Of course I asked Master Dehogue who he would recommend for this exploration and he told me of a certain youth who just gained membership, eager to prove himself..."

OOC:  It is 1130 on the 15th of August, 2005.  This is the exclusive thread for Rolf Erikson.  Roll vs. Savoire Faire, this defaults to IQ-4 and represents your ability to get along in high society.  You may add any levels of status you have or other reaction modifiers to the roll that may apply (charisma, reputation, etc.).  Feel free to ask all the questions you want, though start out slow so I can get a feel for how the Duke is going to react before you start unloading everything.
This message was last updated by the GM at 04:44, Sun 19 May 2019.

Rolf sits contentedly and occasionally rubs his side.  Though his wounds are healed, his side still hurts where the other mage gave him a mighty whack.  Not the first time, and likely not the last, does he give thanks to the man who invented armor.  Sure, leathers aren't great when compared to pricey metal protection, but they do help.  Quite a bit actually.

He looks at the sizable library with awe.  He could spend countless hours reading here.  Both fiction and non fiction.

Maybe a book will be written some day about me and my exploits?  Perhaps.

Rolf wonders what meeting a Duke will be like as he sits with his thoughts.  Despite his magely pursuits, he's not really a curled mustache, fine wine, raised pinky kind of man.  He's more rough and tumble, and unsure of himself when it comes to displays of manners.  Not that he is rude, but ignorant of many of the social norms someone like the Duke takes for granted.

He picks at a loose thread of his best cloak absentmindedly and presses it back down.  He perks up at Dorn's muttering before standing up at the sound of Duke's Bran's voice beckoning them.

The Duke is on the older side, but seems very bright and Rolf can't help but notice the expensive clothes he wears and the large emerald dangling from his neck.  Not that he covets such things, but it is eye catching much like the heaving chest of an attractive woman.  You have to look, but do your best not to look too long.

He sits at Bran's request and would have sat after him if it were not for the Duke's insistence that he sit first, and that Dorn sat himself.  He listens to Bran speak of the border troubles and he finds Bran's plan to be well thought out.  It is clear the Emperor wears clothes in his case and his position of power well deserved.

At the arrival of the tea Rolf waits while his host serves himself first.  Reaching for the tea, maybe it was nerves or maybe too much attention paid to the others around him, he finds he nearly slips when pouring into his own cup.  But he does catch himself in time and does his best to pretend he did nothing wrong in hopes that Dorn and Bran hadn't noticed.

He tests the tea with a small sip and finds it's temperature to his liking.  At Bran's mention of Master Dehogue's recommendation he replies "I am young and have not had much in the way of life experiences, but to me the plan is wise.  Give them the chance to put money in their pocket and they'll be less likely to cause trouble."

"As for the mines I can help.  Do you know if they are inhabited?"

OOC: Rolf rolled a 9 and missed is savoire faire roll by 1.

The two wizards, neither of them really at home in the home, or indeed in the company of the duke, both seems a bit quieted, listening first and holding their own end of the discussion until it seems required.

As Bran addresses his last comment seemingly directly at Rolf, it is the younger of the two wizards who responds first.  Duke Bran lets the silence stretch on after Rolf's question, perhaps just long enough to make it uncomfortable.

"Yes, I'm glad you approve..."  Bran places the cup to his mouth, drawing out the rest of the deep amber liquid before placing his cup back on his side table.  "As to the state of the caves, I'm afraid I don't know.  As I have said I am working mostly on rumors and perhaps a rather tenuous foundation of hope.  I do have quite high expectations of your expedition however, and I plan on funding the expedition with results in mind."

"As to funding, your Grace..."  Dorn takes advantage of the lull with a question of his own.  "There is no doubt that such a journey will take planning and equipment.  There is little on the southern border apart from small farming villages.  It must be a week or more simply to travel there.  It will mean no small expense for those making the journey before they even have an opportunity to start looking for precious metals.  Not to mention there is some thought to be played as to who else is accompanying Rolf..."

"Ah yes!"  The duke responds near immediately, a smirk returning upon his face.  "Let us discuss the details, lest you think I am trying to commandeer your services with no thought put in!  I have already arranged with one of my men here to lead the expedition, Darran who is highly capable, and he will be running the money.  Monthly salary is three marks, paid in advance, and I shall send funds to easily cover two full months.  That should give everyone plenty of time to be getting along with.  In addition, we've managed a local mining expert, who should be able to answer any questions as to minerals and possibilities of starting a mine.  Rounding out the four is a local man, an officer who has been living in the area for some years and should have plenty of knowledge to be able to help you find the most likely sites."

"Now.  If the expedition is successful, I'll be offering bonuses to the group based on what is found.  Tin is worth an extra mark each, copper or iron an extra three marks, silver a pound.  It is my hope that this will encourage you to search exhaustively in any of the areas you might find."

OOC:  Feel free to keep firing away questions, though I figured I'd get the obvious out of the way first.  The Duke is offering you $600 a month for the job, with an outright bonus of $200 for tin, $300 for copper/iron, or $1000 for silver.  It is a total of four of you going if you sign on to the mission.
 The salary itself isn't incredible, though being paid for up front is rare.  The bonuses do add on significantly, especially for the higher-end metals.  In the scenario where you find silver, and the whole thing takes less than month, you would be getting paid about 2.5xthe average salary.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:27, Sun 16 June 2019.

Rolf sits quietly as his mentor and Bran discuss the specifics of the mining expedition.  His mind wanders a bit but Rolf's ears perk up at the sound of getting a monthly stipend.  It may not be much, but to Rolf it's a fortune.

"It all sounds excellent." Rolf states flatly trying to hide his exuberance.  "As Dorn said we will need a fair amount of equipment, especially rope, pitons and any other climbing gear we can get our hands on.  There's no guarantee all of the mines will be easily accessible.  There may be areas that will be impossible to search without my spells.  I do have capabilities that allow for flight, but we'll need more mundane and permanent ways to and fro if we find an inaccessible area.  Before we go I would like to try to create a few rope bridges that we can roll up and take with us."

"Not to mention whatever tools the mining will require.  And we'll need tents and the like for camping.  Plus armaments for defense as we should assume one or more creatures have made the caves their home."

Pausing a moment he adds, "But all this gets heavy to carry.  After we get all our gear together, will we have access to a mule or donkey to help us carry it all?"

Duke Bran shows a trace of a smile at Rolf's enthusiasm and the level of planning he seems to already be conducting in his mind.

"Of course there shall be plenty of things the expedition shall need, probably many more than I am even aware of, and for that purpose I have hired Darran to be in charge of expenses and logistics.  It wouldn't hurt to have extras of things you know you are going to use, I'm sure rope bridges couldn't hurt either.  However, I shouldn't trouble myself with the requirements of the group, your pitons and mining equipment and such.  But these are questions for Darran!  He will have the final word on exactly what is brought along, though I can tell you that if he hires along a small caravan for your purposes I shall string him up by his toes!"

Bran sits back in his seat again, a smirk on his face.

"Well, at least, it seems we are agreed, and I have my fourth.  A well rounded group indeed.  I pray for your success."

OOC:  We don't have to roleplay the specifics of your equipment questions unless you want to; here are the generalities:  Expect that you will be responsible for anything specifically you want - if you want to make sure there is a rope bridge in the group, give me the specs and you can either order it, or make it using available goods.   Making it will incur a skill roll, probably against knot tying or something like that.  You're responsible for your own tent and outdoor equipment, as well as anything required for your own defense.  However, the mining stuff in particular, picks, pitons etc. are part of the group stuff which you won't need to be responsible for.  Don't plan on having access to a mule unless you rent it yourself.  I'm not sure exactly what the group gear is going to be, though if a mule is hired, it will probably be carrying all of that stuff.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:27, Sun 16 June 2019.

"There."

Though the word seems quite definitive, Lieutenant Broskow's hand gesture is a more of a lame wafting that seems to encompass most of the countryside.  Looking out over the hilly terrain, the radiating heat of the early afternoon piercing through his leather armor which is already permanently stained with his own sweat, Rolf just hopes that this soldier actually knows where the cave is.

"Aye dun suppose yew con git all more specific?"  Bromdaeg Flintarm, the dwarf and 'mining expert' of the expedition answers immediately, his eyes traveling between Broskow's limp wrist and the countryside ahead.

Broskow responds quickly, the edges of his lip curled upwards in the trace of a smile.  "What?  Am I to find the gold too for you?  Shall I smelt it down and bring it before the duke, shall I do everything that was assigned for you?"

Bromdaeg's eyes immediately narrow, his jaw clenches and his hand lowers near the axe on his belt.

"There's nothing for it."  The voice belongs to Darran Makreigh, the man hired by the duke to lead the small expedition of four.

Bromdaeg looks over towards Darran, his jaw squared forward in indignation, though he seems to be mollified for the moment.

Darran's deep blue eyes look upon the farthest hills, as if piercing the very earth...

It had been an odd three weeks.

Things had started seemingly normal enough.  Rolf had spent a day collecting his things, purchasing equipment, and putting together a rope bridge, just a patchwork of wooden boards and rope that Rolf was sure would pay dividends if they were to go underground.  The next day he had gone to meet Darran to start the expedition.

Darran and Bromdaeg had been there at the outset, Darran with a large, four man canoe that they would use to cover the first half of the journey, floating down the River Conn.  It was something of an inauspicious start... Darran had held the boat steady at the dock while Rolf got in, though Bromdaeg seemed to have no trust whatsoever in the craft or water travel in general.

Bromdaeg insisted on the reliability of travel by foot, and the argument went on for some minutes, only quashed in the end when a fuming Darran shouted that Bromdaeg would not be paid for the extra week of travel time required to walk the whole thing.

Finally, the dwarf relented, stuffing away whatever counterpoint he had prepared to use next and made a feeble attempt to both step into the canoe and hold onto the dock with both hands.  The maneuver ended disastrously, the whole canoe flipped over, Bromdaeg clutching to the pier with both arms and legs wrapped around a post as the ripples of the river lapped all around his waist.  Rolf of course was soaked, laughing at the hilarity of the moment as he put a hand on the overturned canoe to keep himself afloat.  Darran however, did not seem to think the episode funny.

From then on, things seemed to get decidedly better.  Luckily, none of the equipment had been in the craft when if flipped and it was a simple matter of shoving the dwarf into the canoe and then passing in the several bags of gear before shoving off down the River Conn.  Bromdaeg still spent much of the first day with his body sprawled on the floor of the craft, his eyes overlarge and his body barely moving.

The canoe proved to be worth the argument.  Though the Conn was not fast moving, it was easily navigable and required only minimal effort to keep up a pace that would be hard to match on foot.  Darran mostly just steered and Rolf too at times took up his own oar, though mostly the river did the work, pushing them onward to the south at a steady churn.

His two companions were easy enough to deal with.  Darran was matter of fact and businesslike though he was quick to smile when the topic shifted from that of the mission.  Bromdaeg was surly and talkative, though a good worker and his sarcasm seemed not to dwell overlong on any particular subject.

Six days they had spent on the river before the Conn met with the Makarem, marked only by a thunderstorm four days after their departure that caused Darran to pull the craft ashore as a precaution.

At the meeting of the two rivers, Darran stopped at a small village, taking a few hours to sell the craft (for they would be traveling against the current of the Makarem) and buy a mule for the overland journey ahead.

The overland trip proved to be much more rigorous than moving by boat.  Though he was allowed to put some of his equipment on the mule, Rolf still found that his bags weighed him down significantly, causing him to fatigue quickly and rest often.  Rolf was not the only one however, Bromdaeg too had some troubles, for his short legs did not seem to allow for the swift pace that Darran had set to start off.

The mule too, an older molly named Samina that was greying about the eyelashes, needed time to stop and eat, mostly just grazing off the high grasses that bordered each side of the path and went on to the North seeming indefinitely.

For two weeks, the three trekked, slowly cutting through the miles as Rolf's face first reddened, then peeled, then began to darken with the overbearing heat.  Even with his boots, his feet blistered, then popped, then blistered all over again.

Though the group had thought to take a day or so off once they reached the Three Corners, the place where they were to meet their last member a Liuetenant Broskow who had been in the area for some years and was familiar with the lay of the land, they had barely time to find the stables and start unloading Samina before Broskow was pushing them back outside.

"We've no time to waste!"  Broskow grinned as he grabbed the saddlebags to throw back onto Samina.  Darran argued the point violently for a short moment, though when a stony-faced First Sergeant Spratt arrived in the stables shortly after, with two of the armed watch in tow, his eyes piercing daggers through Broskow, it became clear there was more going on than first appeared.

Darran ordered the others out, along with Broskow, though he stayed within the walls for a few short minutes before retreating out with the others.

"We'll camp by the river."  Darran added simply, ignoring Broskow's protests that they should get going as quickly as possible to find their mine.

The morning dawned.  Rolf had managed a pull a brown trout from the Makarem nearly the size of his forearm, only his third catch of the trip and certainly the largest.  The group had packed up and started moving the short five miles remaining to where Broskow told them he had found the caves.

And now here they were, their long march over, or at least if Broskow's word was true.  Still, Rolf couldn't shake the feeling that he had a lot more walking left to do before they found even the thinnest thread of ore.

Darran too had been scanning the hills, remaining quiet through Broskow's and Bromdaeg's bickering though he sighed heavily as it became apparent that the cave would not be an easy find.  "There's no sense in laying down a camp here."  He immediately turns the conversation towards the particulars of the job.  "Who knows how much of a walk we have left?  Too many bushwolves in these parts to leave Samina on her own..."

OOC:  Thank you Rolf for the extended patience.  It is 1300 on the 9th of September, 2005.  Though the journey doesn't seem to be complete just yet, I've fast forwarded through the vast majority of what I thought would be a long and boring trip.  The heat is scorching, it's 108 degrees Fahrenheit on a clear and cloudless day.  You're a little the worse for wear from the long march, with your main complaint being your feet, which are sore and hurting in ways you haven't experienced before, though your move, etc. are unaffected.  You have lost 4 fatigue from the relatively short hike because of the exhausting conditions.  Along your way, you managed to resupply your food stores at a local village at normal prices and you have about a weeks worth of rations remaining - for details you can check your character sheet.  Darran allowed you to store your ladder on the mule, which did save you thirty some pounds of weight, though your encumbrance did not change.

Rolf busies himself getting his gear ready.  He carefully folds up his makeshift rope bridge and hopes that they will never need use of it.  It's rickety at best, death trap at worst.  But if they do find a crevasse they can't rely solely on his magic alone to get them across.  The castings would be just too strenuous and not sustainable.

He looks over his things and packs as carefully as he can.  Satisfied he puts everything on and finds the weight crushing.  "How am I to travel with all this?" he ponders.  It'll be a daunting task he knows, but it is one of his own choosing.  Plus he is being paid handsomely for the effort and he's broke.  That's not to mention what other jobs he might get if he's successful in his mission.

The moment Rolf met his three companions, he knew the trip was going to be less than easy.  They all seem to know, and dislike each other to some degree.  And the dwarf Bromdaeg was stubborn, difficult to work with and hard to understand.  Sure, it was a bit funny seeing him get wet at the start of the canoe trip, but the fighting between him, Darran and Broskow wore on Rolf's nerves fairly quickly.

Still, the canoe trip was quite pleasant he must admit.  It was a simple journey.  One where he could relax mostly and let the world pass by him.  His mind wanders and he can't help but think just how close he was to not making it in the mage's guild.  He is still unsure how he won that fight with the other mage.  He should have lost, but the gods had other plans.

But the river trip wasn't all leisure.  He did busy himself trying to fish, and he actually found some success with it.  Landing a nice large trout, big enough to feed them all for one meal at least, and quite tasty at that.

Once back on land, the journey was much tougher.   It was downright brutal/  His feet ached and every muscle in his body was sor.  Even with the mule helping to carry some of his burden, it was exhausting.  And the heat was almost unbearable.  Especially wearing his leathers.  There were multiple times he thought he might pass out from heat stroke.  Still, he soldered on.  He didn't want to show weakness and he pushed himself to his limits and beyond.

"We need to find a place near water, and by the gods some shade." he says in reply to the others when the discussion turns to finding a camp site.   Supposedly they are getting near the area where the mines are, but in Rolf's delirium he doesn't really care.  He's too hot and cooling off is all he can think of.  "What I'd give to dip my feet in a cold stream." he adds to himself.

OOC:  I'll continue to defer to Darran and Broskow on where to go next.

Darran nods at Rolf's suggestion.  Though they had just parted ways from the Makarem this morning, the group's canteens were already draining quickly and in the heat of midday there was little doubt they would be drained long before they made camp for the night.  Samina too, was lathered with sweat and small bits of chalky white streaks had started appearing at her shoulders.

"If we're close to the caves than let's make one last push.  We'll spread out to try and cover a little more ground.  Bromdaeg and Rolf, why don't you head to that hilltop over there?  The Lieutenant and I will head to that one."  Darran points off in the distance at two separate small peaks some half mile or two off.

"Give yourselves a few minutes to look down into the valleys and search for the cave entrance, if you find something or not meet us down there in the valley between the two - we should be able to find some shelter from the sun and it should be easy for us to see each other on the way down to meet back up."

The others agree with the plan with minimal complaints and before long, the four part ways, even if only for a short time.

The walk is short though with his heavy load and the assaulting heat, the going proves slow.  Bromdaeg seems even less enthusiastic than Rolf, his face dripping wet all the way down to the ends of his braided beard.

"Ha wasn't made fur this!"  Bromdaeg laments as they near the top of the hillside, the blasting sun now straight overhead and bearing down with force.

Little mercy is granted at the top, just the flutter of a breeze which seems to touch little apart from Rolf's naked cheeks.  The view too, seems less than spectacular, for in each direction the rolling hillsides seem to continue on forever, and in the valleys below them there isn't much more than a handful of rock at the bottom.

As Rolf looks across the the dry and yellow landscape however, he sees the three forms of Broskow, Darran and Samina walking down the adjacent hill towards them.

Perhaps they found something more.  Rolf hopes begrudgingly to himself.

Perhaps it was that hope that made the difference...

"Down here - come on, we need to get out of the sun."  Darran says without even pausing as the four meet up again near the bottom of the valley.  "There's a small opening over here - even if it's not what they found earlier, Samina needs out of the sun and water if we can find it."

The animal indeed looks rather poor, shaking her head every few steps, her nose flaring and her steps jaunty and staggering.

After clearing out the mouth of the small cave, the four adventurers and Samina walk within - their bodies  shivering with delight as the temperature drops twenty or thirty degrees within a few feet of the entrance.  Even Samina knickers appreciatively after a brief hesitation to enter the closed space.  Lighting up a lantern to help guide the way, Darran leads the others in the first open area - an even bottomed area some thirty feet in diameter.

The room itself is warm and damp - the echoes of their every movement seem to reverberate, even their own breathing is thrown back at them in a soft even sound.  Just to their left, a set of decaying wicker style baskets lay open and empty, though there seems to be no real sign of recent inhabitants.

"This es more like it!"  Bromdaeg exclaims instantly as the group enters, his demeanor perking up instantly with the change of scenery.

"Well, we'll see if the duke's hopes will amount to anything."  Darran unstraps the bags from Samina, getting out his own canteen to pour some water into her .  "But for now we must rest - and I don't think taking the mule too far in is really worth the effort.  I doubt she's going to be comfortable without at least being able to see some daylight."

"Ha say we go new."  Bromdaeg replies almost immediately, seeming to stand more upright and alert than Rolf has seen yet.  He glances between two openings on opposite walls.  "An no yous to wait win we kin fine a vein new."

"Out of the question."  Darran seems to cut through the dwarvish brogue much more quickly than Rolf, who is still stuck on just exactly what the dwarf is trying to say.  "We rest for now and we will look through the cave soon enough."

Broskow seems to be mostly ignoring the other two, he walks towards the back of the room, nudging a small pile of stones with his foot.  "Yes, this is the cave we found.  This is the fire ring they spoke of - and here are the skins...  Look to be some sort of mats.  My men had said they found harpies at the back of the cave..."

OOC:  A pause here to let you react.  Bromdaeg is looking to explore the whole cave now - and is happy to have someone join in on his side of the argument.  Otherwise, Darran is suggesting that everyone rests, especially Samina who seems to be suffering from some mule form of heat related illness.  The group has a pair of lanterns - so Bromdaeg and yourself could explore while the other two sit with the mule.

Rolf nods in agreement at Darran's suggestion to spread out.  In truth he's just glad to be moving but the thought of climbing a hilltop in his current state he finds daunting.

Heavy step after heavy step both he and Bromdaeg climb.  Burdeoned by the crushing weight of his gear, rivulets of sweat stream down Rolf's face as his body fights to keep moving in the sweltering heat.  Made all the worse by his leathers that seal all of the sweat and grime in place.

"I don't think anyone is made for this." he replies weakly to Bromdaeg as they reach the top.  He pauses a moment to look the dwarf over and decides in a way it's good he is suffering just as much as he is.  It would be far worse if he weren't and Rolf was the one slowing them all down.

Looking around the landscape he doesn't see much of anything, but is glad the others seem to have found something and are already making their way down.

Meeting back up with Darran, Rolf follows his lead and hopes they actually do find the cave and get out of the life threatening heat.

Soon enough they find the underground lair they are looking for!  Once inside Rolf finds the cool air delightful and helps Darran with unloading Samina and seeing to her needs.  Rolf isn't much used to caring for animals, but he does possess some empathy and feels her pain.  The trek has been arduous and taken a heavy toll on all of them.

Listening to Darran reference the mule he says, "I agree that Samina should stay near the entrance.  Maybe tie her off with a long enough rope that she can eat any grasses near the entrance and retreat back into the cool shade as she sees fit."

Rolf sits as Darran and Bromdaeg debate whether to go explore now or later, and he finds he has little desire to do anything but rest a bit, but firmly makes up his mind at Broskow's mention of creatures living in the cave.  "We should setup camp here and rest.  And I need time to prepare.  I plan on creating a couple of light spells that produce brilliant light.  Much better than lanterns and should help when we explore and search.  But this will take me some time to do.  However it will pay off as they should last for at least a few days."

As the mage speaks he gingerly takes off his boots with a heavy sigh.  "Plus my feet hurt a lot and will need tending.  I think we've all suffered and could use a bit of tending.  Especially if there are banshees in here, whatever they might be.  I don't want to face anything hostile unless we're all at our best."

OOC: If the others agree I want to spend the next 3 hours setting up camp and resting.  I want to cast a 6FP full continual light on a section of rope sized to be tied around one's waist.  The spell can cover up to a one lb object, or part of a larger one, so I think it would probably cover a section of the rope rather than the entire length, the lighted part would be situated to one's front.  Then rest up and cast another.  Each light spell lasts 2D days.  I was thinking Darran and Bromdaeg should wear the rope/light.  Though if Bromdaeg is reticent to use it, I will wear it.  Also, I have a first aid kit and want to tend to the blisters on my feet, and after that rest up fully.  If after that if it's still early enough, make a foray into the cave.  If it get's to dinner time, then camp for the night and start fresh in the morning.

Darran nods at Rolf's suggestion.  "As I've said, there's no hurry here.  The only thing we need to make sure we can get is water, and if we can't find any here we'll send two men back to the river after the heat breaks to get some.  We may be here for time yet so we may as well"

Bromdaeg growls his concession, though he takes one of the lanterns to the edges of the room, shining the light into the spaces beyond.

"Yew con fur git in the water."  He grumbles.  "Looks as airs a sprig just here..."

Finding a longer hallway at the other opening, one that turns out of sight fairly quickly, Darran reiterates that they are not to explore anything just yet, and the group sets about to unloading and setting up their camp.

"Heeeeey!"  Bromdaeg wonders some minutes later after Rolf has unpacked the most important of his gear an has had a chance to get to casting his spells.  Rolf hands him a length of rope, now lighted up like a firefly, casting a bright glow across the whole of the room almost like the gleam of day.  "Thas a nifty trick!"  The dwarf adds.

The dwarf looks the rope over between both of his hands for several moments before he loops the whole length of it over his left arm.

His effort spent, Rolf lays his feet down over his blankets, pulling off his leather boots to inspect his feet...

Some hours go by, Rolf casts his spell again on another section of rope and hands the light to Darran, who accepts it with thanks, though he places it on the ground and turns towards Samina, scratching the mule between the ears as he pulls her chin up with the other hand, looking at her nose and face.

"Good."  Darran says after a few moments, letting the mule's chin fall again as he grabs her feedbag and ties it on.  "She should be fine and the day is wearing on.  Let's get a move on and take a look - it sounds as if the cave does not stretch far by all accounts I've heard and we would be foolish indeed to go to sleep without finding whatever animal might have made this his den in the meantime."

"New yer talking!"  Bromdaeg stands up quickly, the grin exploding on his face as he searches about his pack, pulling off the large pick.

"Good indeed."  The lieutenant offers.  "I shall keep here with the mule then, just to be sure she doesn't wander off, things would fall through rather awfully if she were to be injured or lost after all."

"No."  Darran's voice is swift and blunt.  "We'll come to places soon enough where we'll need every man and we won't start things off now by breaking ourselves up.  You'll come with Lieutenant...  Hold up the back and makes sure nothing approaches from behind.

Broskow seems rather put off by the order, though he manages to hold his tongue from further comment.

OOC:  It is now about 1630.  You have only had about two hours rest, and you are still down four fatigue from the day's exertions and your casting.  You've made your two ropes, each of which are about 30' long and are thrown over the head and shoulder of both the man and dwarf to keep them from being awkward (looping them around the waist would make a belt about 10-12 loops wide).  Let me know what equipment you want to take with (or if you just want me to pull it from your "take into combat" section) or if you want to push for a little longer rest.

It being decided to wait and rest, Rolf busies himself unpacking and settles down to casting a powerful light spell on a bit of rope.  Handing it to Bromdaeg he smiles as the dwarf compliments him on his work.  He was concerned the dwarf might be hesitant to take the magical light, but is glad he takes it without reservation.

The casting takes the last bits of his strength and the mage must rest.  First he tends to his battered feet, and covers the worst of the blisters with tightly bound gauze.  Feeling better as he settles down to nod off, he decides to leave his twisted appendages uncovered in the delightful coolness.

Hours pass, and between resting and casting another light spell (that he gives to Darran), Rolf is about as ready for the caves as he'll be.

He listens to the others speak of exploring and he begins to pack his things he'll need to explore the underground lair.  Not all his stuff surely, but enough to be ready for whatever event might come their way.

His brow furrows as he hears of Broskow's wish to stay behind.  If they do find hostiles Rolf bets Broskow won't be of much use.

With his pack pretty much full, he has had to put his rope bridge and a grapnel into a large sack.  He looks at the sack and knows carrying it means his hands will be full and likely won't be able to use his crossbow.

"Broskow, do you mind carrying my sack?  I have in it gear to help traverse any gap we might find that we can't cross.  I'd carry it but I'd prefer to keep my hands free so I can keep my crossbow at the ready.  Just in case we come across these Banshee's I want to be able to plug one before they get too close to us." he asks of their guide.

OOC:  I will go along with the others to search.  I have PM'd you my gear list.  If Broskow will carry the 40lb sack I will keep my crossbow readied.  The change in the light rope is fine.

Rolf readies himself to delve farther into the tunnels, picking up his pack and slinging it over his back, then grabbing his crossbow and readying it at his chest.  It is only when he looks down again and sees his sack upon the ground that he remembers his rope bridge... and the fact that he doesn't really have another hand to carry it.

His attempt to get Broskow to carry it doesn't seem to go over well.

"Carry it for you?!"  The man's incredulous face is made even more pronounced by the shadows cast by the magic ropes creeping up from his cheekbones.  "And what sort of servant do you suppose I am?  Shall I also polish your boots?  Shall I bring about your supper?"

"Enough."  Darran grumbles as he stands up, slinging his own pack over his shoulder.

"Shall I ready your mattresses?"  Broskow continues, completely unimpeded by the single word.  "Shall I ring for the maid?  What service..."

"Enough!"  Darran yells, his hand cutting across his waist as his eyes dig holes into Broskow.

Broskow's voice falters for a moment as he searches from Darran back to Rolf.  "I shall do no such thing.  I daresay if we are accosted by these harpies it will be more important for a soldier to draw his weapon than for a gypsy."

"Gave her here!"  Bromdaeg grunts, the annoyance plain on his voice as he grips the sack with his left hand.  "An nothing fer ta have a go over."  The dwarf hooks his pick over his right shoulder, his left hand hanging loose with the sack at his side.

"Ah, yes, let the pack mule carry your things for you then."  Broskow says as the four step from the small room, just loud enough for only Rolf to hear.  "What else did we bring him for them?

Despite the rocky start, it seems that things go well enough on from there, if slowly.  As they already knew, the small opening to their left leads only to another small cave and though there is a small spring gushing up from the floor and leaking back through a set of cracks in the wall, there is little else of note anywhere about.  Bromdaeg swings his pick once or twice at a spot on the wall, though he is quickly ready to move on, claiming there isn't so much as a vein of quartz.

The opening to the right leads to a smaller hallway, one that Bromdaeg claims is cut, not natural... and it seems as if that is a bad thing.  "Means is bean cut through...  if there was any ore an stones eh wood a been making shafts nay passages."  Still, Bromdaeg takes a swing here and there, though he leaves the corridor rather quickly.

The caves open up again now into a rather larger opening, one that is perhaps twenty feet wide and forty feet long, the floor dropping out some five or ten feet lower so that the roof of the caves rise twenty or so feet high.

"Ha dun thin es mooch ta look fer."  Bromdaeg explains, testing another bit of the cave walls with his pick.  "Bet eh seems bawheid not ta give her a go."

His sword held ready and his rope-light gleaming off the glossy surfaces ahead, Darran moves forward, and Rolf can't help but walk along behind.  At the end of the cave, another opening continues on to the left and just beyond, Rolf can see a small chasm rent through the ground, nearly some twenty feet wide.  Stretched across the wide distance is a thick wooden board, an impromptu bridge of some sort...

OOC:  Bromdaeg is essentially looking for veins of ore or precious metals in each of the caves you are moving through.  He doesn't seem to be very keen on these caves in general, seeing as they have already been inhabited (if there was easy gold somebody would have already found it) though he's taking a few minutes here and there to hack away a few inches of stone from the walls.  This means in general, you are going to wait for a bit.  You do have the option of looking a little farther on if you wish.  The next 'room' seems to be fairly large, though the chasm is blocking the only way in.  There seems to already be a way across if you want to go in and have a peek.

Rolf listens to Broskow patiently.  The mage knows his was a reasonable request, but if the man takes offense, he takes offense.  For some he knows anger, irritation, and hurt feelings are their baseline state of mind.  Being carefree and happy are the exception, not the norm.

At the mention of gypsies, Rolf pauses and tilts his head in thought.  Am I a gypsy? he wonders.  With a soft smile he says in reply to what the man intends to be a hurtful remark, "Fair enough.  I just may be."

As Bromdaeg offers to take the rope bridge he hands the miner his burden and says, "Much appreciated.  I will stick close to you as we move.  Nothing will get close to you if I have any say."

Getting ready to finally explore, Rolf hears Broskows last retort and replies soft enough for only the guide to hear, "Tis funny an ass calling someone a mule."

Before the man can respond Rolf laughs and moves away from him and busies himself keeping close watch for trouble.  There's work to do and no time for squabbling.

Finding himself in a larger area, Rolf pauses for the dwarf to take his sample.  As he does so he watches the way beyond and its bridge for any trouble Bromdaeg may be stirring up with his hammering.

OOC:  I will keep watch a few hexes from Bromdaeg as he works.  Rolf is in no rush.

Rolf peers onward into the next room, half expecting the din of hammering to bring on danger, though as the minutes pass, Rolf quietly admits to himself that it is seeming less and less likely for any of these harpies to come at them.

An hour or more, Bromdaeg hacks at suspect places on the wall, seeming completely patient with the process, uttering little more than an appreciative 'Hrmmm' or a disappointed grunt here and there.  By now sitting on a dry bit of earth, Rolf is happy to be just as patient with the process, reasoning that there is no benefit whatsoever to get ahead.

Broskow however, seems to be much more impatient.  Far from happy to let the process go along at its own pace, Broskow has now started pacing back and forth, like a gerbil on a treadmill who seeks to make things go a bit faster.  At one point, the soldier loses his temper and turns to the dwarf, his face reddened with frustration.

"Can't you go any faster?"  Broskow shouts - though the dwarf completely ignores the lieutenant.  Broskow seems further enraged by the lack of acknowledgement, his face purpling in the dim light as his eyes slowly bulge.  Darran, also sitting a short distance away is the one to answer, though not to Broskow's liking.

"Settle down."  Darran says dispassionately, his eyes glancing up towards Broskow who matches the glance for just a moment before he turns and rededicates himself to his furious pacing.

It's over an hour gone when Bromdaeg finally gives up on the room.  "Eh dun thin there's an ear reason ta keep working here.  Less go en then."  He gathers up his own satchel of tools and Rolf's bag; Darran likewise gathers his things together and the group moves on towards the next section of the caves.

Bromdaeg's eyes light up as they reach the next room, though they can barely set foot beyond the opening as there is a twenty foot wide crevice rent through the cavern floor that separates the cave mouth from the rest of the area.

"Days as like as not here's where wool find watt we're after."  Bromdaeg grins, getting down on a knee as he looks down within the crevice.  He searches his bag for a moment, taking out a pair of pitons and driving them into the earth before fastening a single rope to both of them.

"Might as well look through the rest of this."  Darran voices, his lighted rope brightening the rest of the room, though deep shadows are still cast in areas where the rock folds or turns.  "I don't much like the idea of not being able to see what's coming at us."

Darran adjusts his rope so that it shines forward on his path and steps onto the small wooden bridge.  It is as he takes his second step that Rolf realizes something is off.  Perhaps it is an odd seam in the wood, or the fact that Rolf had taken his own time and money to create a bridge for just such an occasion but Rolf knows even before Darran puts his foot down that he shouldn't have trusted the obvious way forward.  Like a top that spins on a center dimple, the single thick board rotates around it's center, collapsing under the weight of Darran as he puts his weight down.  Darran is completely unprepared for the motion and as he falls forward he only barely has the wherewithal to grab out with his hands at the only thing around.  But without even a bit of hesitation, his grip on the bridge gives out as it rolls another hundred and eighty degrees.

"Shit!"  Darran shouts as he falls, flailing his legs back underneath of him.  He hits the ground below hard, feet first then falling to his side as he groans against the impact.

"I'm all right."  Darran says after a moment, pushing himself back up to his knees.  The lighted rope now sitting at the bottom of the chasm shows clearly now a small stream running along the rocky bottom.

"Ha!"  Bromdaeg laughs, peering over the side of the chasm, his rope now held in both hands.  "Ha din no yews so itching ta lean on!"  The dwarf pushes himself over the side, walking down the steep decline to the bottom.

Broskow stands back, seemingly apathetic to the whole turn of events.

Rolf waits patiently as Bromdaeg works.  Minutes pass and slowly it becomes clear no threat is imminent so Rolf relaxes a bit and settles in to relax.  He is still on alert for danger, but less worried that Harpies are on their way.  Whatever they might be.  In any event they don't sound pleasant and likely ill tempered so better safe than sorry.

Speaking of ill temperment, the mage looks over at Broskow disapprovingly as he begins to berate Bromdaeg for taking so much time doing his work.  "We've marched for so long, I for one don't mind the pause.  Especially if he finds something." he says casually.

Bromdaeg declares nothing of note is to be found so they move on to the next chamber.  But they are presented with a chasm and a rickety looking rope bridge.  He looks over at his own bridge contraption in his sack and wonders if all the effort to both create it and get it here have all been for naught.

Rolf gets down to one knee to get a closer look at the strung bridge and is dubious as to how safe it will be to use it.  As he makes his inspection he is surprised when Darran starts to try to use it to cross over to the other side.  Before he can protest Darran starts to cross and falls!

Amazingly, he lands mostly on his feet and doesn't seem too worse for wear.  But Rolf knows he has to be hurt, despite whatever he says.  He surveys the landscape and ponders what to do.

Seeing Bromdaeg start to descend, Rolf decides to hold off on trying to follow.

Calling out to his captain he says, "Darran, me and Broskow can try to pull you up if you are unable to get back up here and you're game to try.  Might be better though if you can wait and Bromdaeg returns up here to help."

"Or I can try to use my magic to get you back up, but I'll have to use it get myself down and back up too.  I'll be toast afterwards and likely unable to heal you if you need it.  And I suspect you do."

OOC:  How far is the drop below?

Bromdaeg lowers himself downward, some twenty or so feet to the bottom of the gorge as the other two look on from over the lip of the pit.

"No, I'm fine."  Darran responds to Rolf's offer of magical assistance as the Dwarf slides down the rope.  "I landed a little off on my arm, but nothing's broken..."

Rolf looks down on their leader, who grips one forearm with his other hand, though he is already flexing it forward, testing his muscles and joints.

"If you want to want to be a help, see if you can set in a few pitons to get that bridge of yours stretched across."  Darran looks back up, his eyes on the wooden plank, now with a large center section that is rotated some thirty degrees off center making the trap much more obvious.  "It seems that won't be of any use to us."

Over the next few hours, Rolf sets in the pitons and unrolls the rope bridge, Darran climbs back up and though Rolf first insists on looking at Darran's injury, the other simply waves off the attempt, assuring the mage that it is nothing.  Despite his concern, Rolf concedes and the two of them strategize about how best to bridge the gap to the other side.  In the long run, Rolf has to levitate his way across and set in the next two spikes before coming back across to get the end of the bridge.

Even then, it proves nearly impossible to tie the thing off while simultaneously holding the bridge taught, and Rolf resorts to magic once again to keep the two ropes pulled back tight as he ties off each end on the spikes.

Once the whole thing is secure, Rolf allows himself to do the maiden voyage, primarily to be the one responsible for testing his own craftsmanship, though the added bonus of his levitation spell to catch himself if things do go astray also plays in his mind.  All in all the project proves to be a success, both holding his weight and staying tight enough to minimize the sway as he moves across.  Rolf looks for places to tie off his overhead guide rope and though there are many places at the opening of the room where a spike may be nailed to the wall, the other side of the pit is simply open space with not a single anchor apart from the floor.

All the while, Bromdaeg taps merrily away below with his pick, pulling away small bits of stone and dirt into the small creek running underfoot.

The way forward secured, the three humans make their way across, Darran and Rolf each leading the way to opposite walls.  The room is much larger than any other of the caves and seems to be broken up into a few different areas of space.

Towards the right side of the room, the cave floor slopes upward to a sort of platform like area where lies a putrid nest of straw splattered with a brown, dried blood.

The far area of the room is covered with large skins, four of them in total which are each easily the size of a man spread eagled.

To the left side of the room seems to be the most interesting and out of place area, for there is a pair of small pieces of wooden furniture, a single man desk and chair with a waist-high bookshelf beside it, though both the desk and the shelf seemed to have been cleared of their previous contents.

"When the others brought back some of the contents of this place, Brashear sent back over a squad to clear it of whatever else was around.  I think they took everything that was of any monetary or intelligence value."  Broskow says as he walks up behind the other two men.

Indeed, at first glance it seems that everything has been stripped from the small cave.

OOC:  The chasm is about 20 feet down and about 20 feet across, just barely narrow enough for your bridge to stretch across.  While the back and forth role play of getting your bridge to a working state may have been an interesting trail and error, I opted to just assume that you wouldn't try anything egregiously stupid and fast forwarded through a possible (and successful) scenario.  I promise to slow down a little in the future when there the particulars of the outcome may matter more.  The one thing that you did learn is that it's a difficult task as a single man.

Darran seems mostly fully functioning with his arm and despite your efforts to heal him, he has waved you off for now, at least until the group sets down for the night.  If you wish to heal him once everything slows down, feel free to roll against the appropriate spell.

If you want to look farther into any of the particular areas of the room, please let me know which you want to look into, and roll Per-5 for each you look at.  Finally, give me one more roll at HT-2.

Rolf nods in agreement to Darran's suggestion and begins to work on using his own bridge in lieu of the existing, poorly maintained one.  He firstly hammers in two pitons next the existing bridge and using his levitation spell, crosses to the other side to hammer in two more.  Clammy sweat clings to his brow despite the coolness of the caves and his hands hurt a little from the pounding.  But he remains undaunted and keeps working, though he keeps looking over his shoulder, wary of any interloper that might sneak up on him from the inky depths beyond.  But in short order he is finished and ready to string his contraption from one side to the other.

Using his flying magic the mage crosses back to grab the bridge, now tied off by Darran on the near side, and unroll it to the far side.  However Rolf hits a snag as he tries to tie off the bridge and do so tightly.  He knows if there is even a tiny bit of slack in the lines his bridge would be no better than the one they have now.  Sighing, he resorts to using his telekinetic spell to pull on the rope to keep it taught as he ties it off.  He does this for both sides.

Satisfied with his work, he gingerly crosses over to prove to himself and the others his bridge works and is safe.  With a smile he says enthusiastically to Darran "It's good to go!" before returning to the other side.

Leaving Bromdaeg below to finish his mining work, he joins Darran and Broskow in the room beyond.  Rolf wanders around the room and pokes his head in and over every nook to see if there is anything that might have been left behind by whomever had the temerity to bring a desk and chair to the caves.

OOC:  Advancing the scene is fine.  It was pretty clear what needed to be done.

Rolf takes full advantage of the down time, searching every bit of the cavern methodically, starting with the small desk and writing area.  The desk top and small shelf are empty and Rolf pulls out a single drawer in the desk to find it the same.  Still, Rolf feels the bottom for any hint of a secret compartment and does the same along the underside of the desktop and along the back.  Finally he searches the small shelves for anything that might have been missed and the close area of the cave walls that might be hiding something.

Finding nothing, Rolf moves on to the small sleeping furs, thin and soft leather with light brown hairs, it looks like each pelt is about the size of a human torso, though many are stitched together for each of the three furs.  They seem well worn with a thin layer of dust blanketed over them.  Rolf looks around the area, and under each of the furs, though here too, there seems little beyond the obvious.

Finally, Rolf goes to the nest, where caked blood has dried on straw bits and dust and dirt are stacked like so much sawdust at a lumberyard.  The stench is palpable, though manageable and Rolf pushes through the foul smell to take a bit of a closer look.  Tepidly first, Rolf kicks around some of the grass with his foot, though a bit of odd motion draws his attention.  He reaches down with a hand to move aside some of the grass but he snatches it back almost instantly, the pile of grass squeak!ing and his finger throbbing in pain!

"I wouldn't bother if I were you."  Darran says as he steps up behind Rolf, his face wrinkling from the smell.  "Harpies are disgusting creatures, and they don't collect much of anything other than the foulest bits of their prey to keep in their nests.  There won't be anything up here to find worth your time."

Where was that comment five seconds ago?  Rolf thinks as he brings his finger back up to look at, the right index, which is bleeding, but slowly.  Despite it's negligible size, Rolf knew well enough to dress the thing quickly, lest the wound fester.

"At least we can use the furniture for some proper firewood for the night."  Darran adds as Rolf heads back towards his kit.

---

"Ham nah sure ats worth are tame ta stay here."  Bromdaeg, finished with a second day of digging, staggers into camp with the others with a handful of the dark, gritty stone that makes up the walls and floor of the caves.

"Es the stone..."  Bromdaeg continues as Darran looks up from his meal, rubbing the course, crushed rock between his fingers.  "Is jest pressed dirt, not proper rock where yew con find veins of ore.  Ah worry we could spend wicks er months... As easy enough ta dig through... an find nothing fer the trouble."

Darran sits back against the wall, thinking the matter over for a moment.  "Let's give it some time.  A week say.  While I trust your judgement that there's a slim chance we'll find anything here, we're a lot less likely to find anything just laying on the surface.  We may as well be as sure as we are able that the place is spent before we move on."

Bromdaeg nods his agreement before rubbing his hands clean and sitting down for his own dinner.

---

Eight more days had been spent searching the caves - Bromdaeg looking exhaustively at the bottom of the narrow chasm, which he continued to believe was the best chance of finding a vein, while Darran and Rolf at turns helped, assisting down in the crevice or hacking away at odd bits of stone in the upper room.  Though in the end, just as Bromdaeg had predicted, there was little more than sedimentary rock to be picked through.

So the group pushed out again, still using the small set of caves as a semi-permanent camp to explore the surrounding area as it was sheltered and consistently cool, not to mention that it had a spring of fresh water welling up within.

On the sixth day of their exploring, now searching just northeast of their caves, Bromdaeg's eyes light up for the first time on their trip.

"Seethe ah?"  The dwarf points towards a large grey stone set into the earth which is speckled with darker bits.  "Granite.  Nah eh sure sign of was below, bet he means da earth's bin more churned up an there's a chance we cud fine summat."

Bromdaeg hacks the stone with his pick, knocking off a large hunk which he quickly inspects.  "Les see if we can ah fine eh rock face here."

It is some hours later when the group crests a particularly rocky hill, Rolf hanging back just slightly, appreciating the whipping wind which is coursing over the hilltop on this hot and cloudy but rainless day.

"Well ya look ah tha..."  Bromdaeg's voice drops off from up ahead.  Hurrying to catch up, Rolf does not have any question as to what Bromdaeg is referring to.

The hillsides of southern Megalos have seemed very familiar up to this point, all gently rolling up and down in a consistent motion, though here and there a higher hillside will predominate over the area.  However, never yet have they seen a valley that drops off like this one.   just a few dozen feet over the hilltop, the earth seems to peel away, dropping precipitously for over a hundred feet.

On the far hillside, Rolf can see the dry grass and earth peel away for the whole face, leaving only a rocky dirt that stretches downward.  At the bottom, lying mostly in shadow, a small pond or lake of brown water seems entirely calm.

However, what draws Rolf's attention is a small opening on the far wall of the valley, a cave mouth of some significant size.

"Had say that sour best bet..."  Bromdaeg finishes the statement, his head panning the valley from end to end.

OOC:  It is 1400 the 30th of September, 2005.  The heat of high summer has partially broken, and it's down now to about 87 degrees F, or just under 30 C.  Darran has paid you your second monthly income of $600 which has been added to your character sheet.  The feature ahead is curious to say the least.  The walls of the valley are steep, though not sheer and there are none of the plains grasses growing on them.  Honestly it looks like valley walls have been torn up by a rock-slide that has left them bare.  You are standing on the southern rim, with the cave setting on the north wall.  You are slightly fatigued from the march and are down 3 fatigue.  Let me know if you have any questions or if I missed anything, it's late and I'm tired.

Rolf digs around the room, and finding nothing sits at the desk in disappointment as his initial excitement at the place ebbs.  His finger throbs from where he was bit by the unseen rodent, but other than that the danger has been negligible.  Taking a small bandage he covers the tiny wound and thinks about what he should be doing next.

Over the following week Rolf does his best to maintain a well ordered camp, including taking care of their mule Samina.  In addition he helps Bromdaeg as best he can without getting in the way.  He knows little about mining, but he can dig at least and lends his hands and back to the effort.  As they work he continues to get to know the dwarf better and finds his company the most agreeable of the group.  He finds Darran to be a fine companion, but he is a bit standoff-ish and formal.  Which may be for the best seeing as he is his boss.  Broskow he avoids as much as possible as he just can't seem to leave them all be without disagreeing or complaining about something.

At last it was decided to leave and search the surrounding area for more caves, and hopefully an area that isn't just "pressed dirt" as Bromdaeg said the Harpy mine was made of.  The idea of searching above ground fills Rolf with dread.  Even though his hands ache from the shoveling, at least he was able to stay in the mine's coolness.  The oppressive heat they have been experiencing of late is far worse in his opinion.

Luckily in the time spent digging fruitlessly in the caves, the weather's heat has waned, even if just a little.  And they have their camp at the caves to return to at the end of each day which will certainly help too.

Six days they carefully search the surrounding area in the vicinity of the caves.  Rolf stays in the shade as much as possible and wonders that after two full weeks of searching if they'll ever find anything.  Still, he's being paid for his work and the longer it takes the more he makes so it's not all bad.

Rolf perks up as Bromdaeg spots a large grey stone.  "This does look promising." he says in reply to Bromdaeg as he hacks a bit of the rock off.  Taking his place he follows as they search in concentric circles for a rock face as the dwarf puts it that Rolf takes for maybe a valley or sheer cliff wall.  Which would make sense as perhaps a vein of ore might be found without serious amounts of digging.

Climbing another hilltop Bromdaeg calls out to come look, and there down below Rolf spots what must be another cave at the bottom of a rock hewn valley, one hundred feet below.

"Lets find the best way down." he suggests as he looks over the rim for the area with the most foot and hand holds, or even better a path.

OOC:  Assuming we don't find a way down that the mule can handle climbing down, I'll look for a shady place to tie her off.  Else we'll take her down with us.  Either way I will help scope out the easiest way down to the cave.

Stepping up close to the edge, Rolf sees some thirty feet below what looks like an outcropping, almost a path that rings its way around the edge of the valley walls some thirty feet below.  Rolf can tell it's flat, or at least nearly so, due to the large amounts of smaller rocks and rubble that have seemed to consolidate there in a fairly consistent ring which circles towards the northeast and seems to stay mostly level as the hillside lowers.  Below him, the path seems to disappear under the edge of the hill, leaving visible only the valley wall far below.

"Over there seems best."  Darran says, pointing to the saddle between the two hillsides.  It is a fairly good mirror of Rolf's assessment, it seems the place with the least gap between the top of the hills and the narrow path below.

It is a short and easy trek, and before long, Bromdaeg is hammering a pair of spikes into the hill, some five feet away from the edge.  The first one he uses to attach Samina on a rope, tying a thirty foot rope to her lead to give her enough room to wander for grass.  The second one of the spikes he attaches another rope, this one he slings over the edge, letting it unfurl until it hits the path, ten or so feet below.

"There's new way ta know eff tha stone below wool hold Muir weight."  Bromdaeg begins, hooking a rope over his head and putting his mining pack over his shoulder.  "Sew ah say we yous the rope as long as we're able.  Lass thin we need as to cause a slide."  Bromdaeg tugs on the rope and after it seems to meet his satisfaction, he turns back to the others.

Darran nods, putting his own large pack down well away from the face of the valley.

"Since we have the daylight we may as well start looking.  We'll leave Samina here with the heavy equipment, she should be able to fend for herself against the wildlife and this isn't much the part of the country for horse thieves.  Bring your weapons and whatever else you need, but we'll be camping back here for the night."

His cheeks swelling up like apples in a rare dwarven smile, Bromdaeg grabs both hands onto the rope and gets down on one knee as he throws his other leg over the cliff face, beginning his descent.

OOC:  You guys found a reasonable place to descend, and it seems like there is a ledge below that is navigable, that will at least get you closer to the cave on the other side.  Bromdaeg has spiked a sixty foot rope at the top of the face and is starting to climb down to the ledge.  It doesn't seem to be an overly-taxing descent, though there is quite a bit of loose dirt.  Please let me know what you want to take down into the valley.  Once you do that either roll vs. hiking or climbing+5 (minus encumbrance) to lower yourself down onto the ledge.  Also do me a favor and roll vs. Perception-6.  As for magical light, you don't have enough ropes to give to everyone (in addition to the two that are currently in use), but I'm happy to just say that you've found an item for each person that they've agreed to let you cast continual light on since we've been moving through game time so swiftly.

Rolf nods seeing Darran point out a place to begin their descent, the same area he spotted as well.  "Yes, it does look to be the best place." the mage says he follows the man's lead.

Rolf looks the ledge over dubiously.  It's not the most sheer of cliff faces, but a pretty far way to fall if one were to take a misstep.

He sizes up his gear and thinks about whether he should fly down or take his luck with Bromdaeg's rope.  But if there's one thing Dorn pressed upon him, is to not rely on magic and only use it if there is no other choice.

"Seeing how will be camping up here, I'll leave the bulk of my things with Samina." he says as drops his backpack.

"I do have some rope we can use to tie off what we want to bring and lower it down.  And then let Bromdaeg untie it and leave our things below.  Then at least for me as I'm no where near as good a climber as our miner, use my rope as a safety line in case I slip trying to climb down."

OOC:  I want to take the exact equipment I had previously with me in the other mine.  But I want to tie off most of it with my own rope and lower it down by hand.  Then see if Bromdaeg will untie it once he's down at the bottom.  I am suggesting Broskow and Darran do the same.

Then using my rope again, tie it to my chest and climb down using Bromdaeg's rope.  I will ask Darran and Broskow to hold my safe line in case I slip and fall.  I have split my equipment up such that the climb down below I will be unencumbered.  Once I'm below, untie myself and let either Darran or Broskow use the rope for a safety line as well.  (If possible I will offer my rope as a safe line to Bromdaeg on his initial climb down if he wants it.)

I will cast my own light spell on a section of my shield.

Darran nods at Rolf's suggestion.  "Great idea.  That bridge proved useful enough in the harpy cave, It would seem foolish not to bring it now.  Here, I'll lower you pack down once you've made your way down."  Darran grabs Rolf's pack, and though he wrinkles a brow as he takes the second, smaller bag with the bridge he doesn't say anything more but ties of one of them on a length of rope as Rolf gets ready to descend downward.

The climb itself proves relatively easy for the slope has just enough angle to keep grip on his feet and the rope proves a constant hand hold.  Though once or twice a handful of hard dirt cascades on below, Rolf makes the descent with little ado and gets ready to receive his things.  His pack drops first and Rolf grabs the leather, untying the strap and throwing it onto his back as Darran pulls the rope back up to the top and lowers the rope again with the bag with the bridge and the buckler shield tied onto it.

It's a pause of several moment as Rolf dons the rest of his equipment.  A few steps farther down on the path, Bromdaeg has put a spike into the earth, fixing the long rope down.  Bromdaeg looks up, noticing Rolf with his excess of equipment and motions for the mage to hand over the small bag with the bridge again.

"Yew can nah carry ole a da."  Bromdaeg says, grabbing a hand on the smaller bag.  "If en da sides gave weigh yell be looky ta slow yer self en if ta get a rope barn."

Distracted by a noise up higher, Rolf looks up and sees Broskow finally making his way over the edge, followed by Darran who comes only a few moments after.

"All right then?"  Darran says as he hits the bottom, and Bromdaeg turns, starting a tentative foot along the small shelf.

"Kip a hand on ta rope."  Bromdaeg calls behind him, though indeed both of his hands are empty as he starts his way down.

The going is slow, with Bromdaeg only taking tentative and minute steps, holding onto the rope with both hands for much of the time, though at points he puts a hand up against the valley wall.  After twenty or so feet, Bromdaeg stops and inspects something ahead of him, it is only when the dwarf moves just past and kneels to hammer in another spike that Rolf recognizes a small opening in the wall of the valley just above the ledge.  It is a near perfect circle no more than two to three feet in height, too small for even Bromdaeg to crouch in.

"Ere swan dew nere!"  Bromdaeg calls up the line once his spike his set and he tests the rope.  "A cave, neigh big, bet he seems a waste ta nah even lick!"

OOC:  In case it isn't clear, the first rope that Bromdaeg let down is long, probably at least 100 feet.  It's been spiked at the top of the valley and just below that at the ledge and Bromdaeg is paying it out as he goes, apparently putting in another spike every 20 feet or so.  Though no one is wearing climbing gear, it gives you a sort of guide line to hold on to in case you slip, or more disastrously, in case the ledge collapses in a rock slide.  The cave just ahead of you is about two and a half feet in diameter and is a near perfect circle with the bottom just at the top of the small ledge.  It's small enough that there's no way to move around but crawling, but big enough that you aren't worried about anyone getting stuck.  Bromdaeg is suggesting that you guys (or at least one of you) go in to take a look.

Sorting out their gear and how to best utilize their ropes, Rolf starts to climb down.  With the dwarves efforts, the climb down is fairly easy.  With gladness it occurs to Rolf that their little group is starting to come together.  Things are running smoothly and even Broskow has stopped complaining.  Now if only their luck will turn maybe they will finally find some ore.

Moving carefully the mage takes step after step, keeping his hands on Bromdaeg's guideline.  He stops when Bromdaeg motions toward a small, but passable cave opening.  Rolf pauses and inspects the small hole and it seems safe enough, at least to his eyes.  "Sure.  I'll take a look." he says without hesitation.

"Can I borrow your light rope?  I don't want to take my shield as it might not fit." he says in Bromdaeg and Darran's direction.

OOC:  I thought it was a straight climb down.  Regardless I will climb down the small cave to take a look.  I will take only my leathers, sword and a light rope.  I'll leave my cape and everything else behind so I don't snag on anything.

Taking off his pack and laying it to rest against the rock wall with his shield and cloak, Rolf crouches down and maneuvers around the light rope such that it shines most of its light in a forward direction.  Once everything is set, he starts moving his way forward slowly on hands and knees, keeping his head up and looking out for any dangers or bits of ore that may be ahead.

The small tunnel opens up somewhat after a few feet of crawling, and though he can't exactly stand, Rolf takes the opportunity to get off his knees, leaning his back against the side of the tunnel as he tries to get as good a view as he can of his surrounds.

There seems to be little of interest as far as Rolf can tell.  There is nothing on the floor of the cave and the walls seem to be a consistent mix of stone and dirt, though in all honesty, Rolf wouldn't be sure exactly what he was looking for anyway.

An extra bit of shadow catches Rolf's eye on the far side of the cavern, and Rolf moves the rope and the rope to compensate, though the shadow remains stubbornly in exactly the same location.  Moving forward, Rolf realizes that the shadow is actually a rather large crack, some six inches wide that goes most of the way from floor to ceiling.  Shining the light as best he can through the opening, Rolf can only tell that the cavity goes on for some distance.

"Ham cam en in!"  Bromdaeg calls from the tunnel opening, and Rolf can hear the movements of the dwarf and the glow of his light entering from twenty or so feet behind.

OOC:  The crack running up and down the wall isn't big enough for any of you to slip through, though it seems that it goes for some depth as you can't make out how far back it goes (due to the angle of the light).  The tunnel closes up a bit again to 2-3 feet and continues on for at least another twenty feet or so, where it seems to open up again into a larger "room".  Roll vs. Perception.

Rolf gets down and begins to crawl down the narrow tunnel.  Thankfully well lit by his magical light.  Immediately the coolness of passage combined with not being in direct sunlight hits him with a wave of relief.  That and the air's slight stale dampness which reminds him of most cellars.

After a mere few feet the tunnel opens up almost enough for the mage to stand.  He creeps slowly forward, eyeing something dark just at the edge of his light.  Moving closer it is apparent there has been some shift in the earths plates that has caused a large crack to form in the stone.

"Surely this might reveal some ore."

Hearing Bromdaeg announce his arrival Rolf says "Come in.  Seems safe enough.  And there is a large crack you should see."

OOC: Rolf made his perception roll.

Rolf leans closer to the crack in the wall, pressing the rope as close as he is able, though it is difficult to make anything out within the cavity beyond.  It is when he shifts his weight though, that he notices a sticky, transparent grey-black film that seems to be coating the wall in places around the crack - large patches, some that are two or three feet wide.  Rolf touches the thin coat of slime, finding it incredibly sticky and pulling his hand free of the ick proves to be more more of a challenge than Rolf was expecting.

Bromdaeg comes up quickly behind Rolf, moving into position to get his own view of the area.  Like Rolf, he puts a few fingers on the stone, feeling the open area of the gash.

"Eh my jest then."  Bromdaeg answers Rolf's comment, pulling out his pick and shooing Rolf back a few feet.  A single swing cleaves a large sheaf of reddish brown dirt that falls to the tunnel floor, and a second breaks through the tunnel wall, widening the crack into a foot or foot and a half hole.  Bromdaeg shines his light through the wider opening, which shows now a wider tunnel, just big enough to walk through hunched over, sloping slowly downward.

OOC:  The opening now is still probably a little too small for anyone to get through, but it's apparent that Bromdaeg can open it up with another few whacks of his pick.  Roll vs. Naturalist.

"What is that?" Rolf says as he spots a dark film in spots along the crack.  Tentatively touching the substance, he finds it incredibly sticky.  It takes some effort to free himself from its grip.

"Is it some kind of leftovers from a spider?  But it doesn't seem like spider silk." he says to Bromdaeg.  "I'm not fond of spiders." he adds with little enthusiasm.

"Is it some kind of natural pitch?" he says to the dwarf who he thinks might know more of such matters.

"We should try to burn a small sample and see what happens."

OOC: Rolf wants to take small piece of the slime and try to set it alight.  Also, he will give it a whiff to see if it has any particular odor.  He missed his naturalist roll by 3.

Edit: I realized I left my tinder box in camp above.  If any other party member has one one them I'll ask to borrow it, else I'll just hang on to the sample for later.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:21, Mon 29 July 2019.

Bromdaeg shifts his view, looking at the splotch of ichor that Rolf has pointed out.

"He's nah silk."  Bromdaeg says, turning his head slightly to the side to try and get a better look.  "Ha doe no we can nah make it but there's new way es natural...  what manor beast left it there es beyond me."

Intrigued, Rolf tries to take some of the sludge along with him to test later... though how to remove it from the wall is not readily apparent.  In the end, he manages to scrape a bit off the wall with the edge of his falchion, which is then removed to the skin of his belt pouch, where it seems to stick just as happily as it does to everything else.

"Es a why deer tunnel gone farther down."  Bromdaeg calls back to the others, lifting his pick again for another swing.  "Had say we all go.  No telling hew far e goes."

With little else left to look at in the small room, Rolf decides to move along, shining his light into the small opening leading on while Bromdaeg clears out the bits of clay and stone still barring the way at the crack.

Again, the smaller tunnel opens up into a slightly larger "room", allowing for Rolf to get back onto his feet, though his form is so crouched that his bottom is resting on his heels.  Shining the rope light to hit as much of the enclosed space as he can, Rolf notices a few small discolored bits of grey and chalky white scattered on the floor, though there seems to be little here of interest.

Behind him, Rolf can hear the miner dwarf hacking away again at the wall of the tunnel, opening up the larger tunnel going onward.

OOC:  Compressed spider silk is a pretty good way to describe the stuff, though it seems more like a gelatinous liquid than a mesh of fine solids.  You aren't sure what made it, though Bromdaeg seems to be pretty convinced it's not natural.  Sorry if I'm not doing a great job describing the geography, but there was a bit longer in the natural tunnel that you could look at and I figured you would do that if you were waiting on the dwarf anyway.

Rolf wrestles with the sticky goo as he tries to transfer it off the wall, to his falchion and then to his belt pouch.  If he weren't intrigued by what the substance could be he wouldn't have bothered.

With little else to do as Bromdaeg opens up the main entrance, Rolf busies himself shimmying through to the next room.  For once he finds it an advantage being on the smaller, slimmer side as he's able to make his way through the crack without too much trouble.

The next room is tiny though and there isn't much to see besides grey and white spots, which he inspects carefully.

OOC: I think I have the gist of the tunnel layout.  I will inspect the grey and white spots, and if there is nothing else to do, I will exit to allow others to poke around.

Rolf steps forward, looking down to the floor at the small bits of discoloration and finds that they are actually larger pieces, covered in dirt and clay that mimic the cavern floor.  Picking one of the larger ones up with his hand, Rolf turns it over, as he examines it, a bone certainly, long and slender and about the length of his hand from fingertip to wrist.  The other seem various smaller sizes, most of them broken and unrecognizable.  While he is no archaeologist, Rolf knows enough to say with certainty that these are not from a human, or anything near that big.

Pulling his hand across one of the pieces, Rolf notes a sharp edge and brings the piece up closer to inspect.  This one seems to be not bone at all, but rather an arrow or spear head.  It is iron likely... or a a heavily corroded steel judging by the tinge of red that softens the grey metal.

OOC:  a Roll vs. Naturalist won't identify the animal bones (you'd need archaeology or something similar) but it will tell you that it was likely a smaller animal, probably something cat sized or possibly a little larger.  You can also say with fair certainty that it hasn't been alive for quite a while.

The mage bends down to get a closer look at the discolorations on the cavern floor and he finds a small treasure of different sized animal bones.  Surely something was killed and eaten here, but it was long ago as any trace of the original animals hide is long gone.

However there is some piece of a weapon lodged amongst the bones that interests Rolf the most.

Picking it up he returns to Bromdaeg.  "Found a pile of old animal bones and this too." he says as he hands the metal to the Dwarf.  "Looks like some part of a weapon that was used to kill the creature." he says confidently.  "Though the bones and whatever weapon it may be are very old.  So whatever creature that used it is probably long gone."

"What do you think master Bromdaeg?  Is it worked metal like I think?"

OOC:  I will wait for Bromdaeg to finish his work here, and help him as I can.

Picking up the rusted bit of blade, Rolf crawls back into the small room with Bromdaeg only to find it filled now with Darran as well as Broskow, the latter of the two looking surly and aggravated.

Walking over to the dwarf, Rolf displays the bit of metal once the dwarf puts down his pick, trying to get an assessment or at least agreement with his own conclusions.

"As a spear tap."  The dwarf says, turning the bit over in his hands.  "Peg ire own new doubt.  New tell an how lang es been set en there, weren't mooch ta begin with."  The dwarf tosses the tip aside, clawing the last little bit of the open wall away, leaving an opening large enough for all of them to get through.

"I agree with Bromdaeg."  Darran begins and again Rolf recognizes a grimace on Broskow's features.  Darran, however, seems not to notice.  "We'll keep searching down this tunnel to see if there's any ore in plain sight and to make sure there's nothing nefarious that may sneak up on us later.  Marching order is Bromdaeg, the Lieutenant, Rolf and then myself - which should give us ample capability to deal with a threat from ahead or behind.  Take it slow, and only take what you need...  There's no sense in bulking yourself up if these tunnels close in again."

Rolf nods at the direction and takes his place in line after Bromdaeg and after some complaining, Broskow, start their way down the larger tunnel.  It is not steep by any means, though it gradually grades downward in a gently curving arc that seems to parallel the edge of the hill.

Rolf notes some of the same, thin, black film on the ceiling of the tunnel, though the additional examples don't seem to shed any light on the mystery...

Some thirty or forty feet on, the sidewall of the tunnel opens to the right, revealing a larger room, some twenty feet wide and nearly ten feet tall.  Bromdeag shines the light within, though he seems to lose interest in the area before he even steps within it, instead he keeps moving onward.

"Why don't you two give it a look?"  Darran says to Rolf, peering within the room.  "Just in case.  You guys can follow us down if there's nothing."

OOC:  Roll vs. Per-5.

Rolf shrugs as Bromdaeg's tosses the spearhead aside.  To the mage it shows someone was here, be it human or otherwise, and there always could be more.  So for that at least he thinks finding it was useful.

More worrisome though is the strange sticky substance that something tracked in here.  It seems somewhat fresh to Rolf and whatever made it would seem climbing walls is not a problem.

Rolf leaves his sack and rope bridge at the main trail head and takes his place in their marching order.  Warily he looks around and sees more signs of the grey/black goo the creature has left behind and hopes they aren't walking into a trap.

"Sure, I'll give the room a once over." Rolf replies to Darren as they chance upon a fairly large room off to one side of the tunnel.  Setting down his backpack he starts to search.

OOC: Rolf missed his per-5 check with a roll of 15.

Walking into the wider space, Rolf shines his light across the room, looking for any trace of mineral that might prove profitable for the expedition.  This room too, seems mostly empty but for chalky white bits that are splattered across the floor.

Bones, these ones somewhat larger than the ones in the last cave, though none of them seem to be very whole and most are ground down and soft on their edges, many unrecognizable even as bones without the rest of them there to prove the case.  The thick layer of dust or dirt on the floor makes things harder to determine...  Rolf reaches down, finding one of the bits about half the size of his fist which seems in tact.  He turns it over in his hand, finding that even this piece seems to be rubbed down on the edges.

Holding on to the bone for a moment, Rolf turns his attention to the rest of the room - the walls a mash of browns and greys with streaks of darker red.  The floor seems more earthen than stone, a hard packed floor with a layer of loose earth on top that shifts with each step.

Rolf turns, finding Broskow standing just inside the room with arms crossed, unmoving, his gaze fixed on a spot on the floor just ahead of him.

"Nevermind."  Darrans voice echoes from outside.  "The tunnel's collapsed just ahead.  Bromdaeg didn't think it was worth digging through, in case something else gives way.  I think we're headed back up.  You find anything here?"


The bone you found on the floor.  You can attempt a roll vs. Biology, or several other science based skills (which no one other than a specialist would have) that all default to IQ-6 to identify it.  Let me know if there is anything else you want to do in this room.

Rolf pokes around the room with such focus that he doesn't notice Broskow not participating.  Bones and earth crunch beneath his feet as he searches.  Many, many bones litter the floor.

"I have found a lot of bones." Rolf shouts back to Darran as his boss sets to rejoin him.

Speaking mostly to himself he says, "Obviously some creature made this place it's lair.  But I wonder why the bones are smoothed over?  One would think this would happen if they were exposed to rushing water over a long period of time.  But that's not the case here.  I wonder if the creature exuded some type of acid?"

Picking up one fist sized bone, he rolls it over in his hand.  "A vertebrae from some creatures spine maybe?  Seems pretty big for vertebrae though."

OOC:  Once Darran and Bromdaeg return, Rolf will suggest we dig a little in this cave.  The dirt is loose and he wonders if something might be buried here.

Even as Rolf says the bone is a vertebrae, he knows he is right...  Probably of a larger animal, like a human or humanoid.  The decayed edges bother him though, as there doesn't seem to be any natural reason for the bones to have eroded in that way.

In a moment, both Bromdaeg and Darran step into the room, and the others give it a thorough look over as well, with Bromdaeg setting his pick in a few places and Darran scouring over the ground.

"Well look at this."  Darran picks up something from the dirt, a round, black disc about as large around as a knife hilt.  He looks at it for a moment before tossing it to Rolf.

A coin of some sort...  Rolf turns the thing over and sees the profile and crown of some king, though he does not recognize the make, nor can he see any writing on it to recognize it's worth.  Scratching the edge however pulls off the thin layer of tarnish, revealing the thick silver beneath.

Rolf looks back over at Darran and realizes that the man has found a small handful of other coins.

"He's dwarven."  Bromdaeg says in his thick accent from just behind Rolf.  "Ha dun new any villages this fir south though.  Ha dun see any signs av veins nor any thin under foot."

Darran calls off the search of the small room, taking the others back up to the top instead where they walk back out onto the small ledge and again begin descending slowly around the edge of the steep valley.

The small ledge winds downward for another forty or fifty feet before the ledge stops abruptly, ending with another larger cave that this time is large enough to walk through only slightly hunching.  The view over the edge continues on sixty feet or more down to the murky brown waters below but a stone's throw away there seems to be another short outcropping on the opposite valley wall, where two more caves can be seen on the opposite valley wall.

OOC:  From where you are standing, there is a cave in the wall behind you, and two more that are visible on the far side of the valley.  There doesn't appear to be any easy way over to them other than climbing sixty feet down, swimming a narrow channel of the lake, and then climbing most of that distance back up.  You guys are still using Bromdaeg's rope, though it ends just about at the end of the ledge.

"I wonder what happened to the owner of those coins.  Seems he met a grisly end." Rolf says, stating the obvious as he looks over Darran's find.  "Hopefully we won't encounter whatever made this it's lair." he adds as he packs up to return.

Ready to leave he tosses aside the vertebrae, yet he can't shake the uneasy feeling down his own spine at the sight of the smoothed over bones.  At some point he thinks a strange and very dangerous creature was here, with abilities the like he's never seen.

Once back outside he follows the groups lead and steps carefully along the ledge.  Quickly they find the ledge ends with a new larger cave mouth in front of them, and two more across the valley.

"Let's check it out." he says referring to the new cave as he volunteers to enter first.  "We can make our way to those two across the way later."

OOC:  Rolf will enter the new cave, crossbow in hand.  He'll drop off his excess gear once inside.

Rolf ducks into the new cave behind him, this one wide and spacious, with three feet or so of open space above his head in another circular opening like the others.  Thankful for no longer having to crouch, Rolf places his bags on the floor and raises his crossbow to chest height, casting a wide shadow across the various walls of the cave.

This new cave, for it's wider space, does not seem to go back very far.  It's only perhaps forty feet back or so where the back wall of the cave stops... or perhaps the tunnel turns, it is difficult to tell with the rough wall edges and the varied shadows.  There are a few outsets in the walls as well some twenty feet on, and Rolf steps forward to give the areas a closer look.

Only two steps on, Rolf knows that something has gone horribly wrong.

His foot slides forward at first, like a minor slope that Rolf had not anticipated, but the sliding does not stop, and soon Rolf realizes that there is no support there whatsoever.  The cave floor cracks beneath him, the earth spidering outward from his footfall and collapsing.  For the briefest of moments, Rolf is falling, his mind panicking... until by instinct alone he gathers the mana around him.

And then the world is gone - obliterated in an instant as Rolf wills his body through space.  In another moment Rolf can see again and he can hear again too, the crashing and sliding of earth and splashing of water, though it takes Rolf a moment for his mind to catch up to what his senses are telling him.

Just a step ahead, now there is a gaping hole five feet across.  Below the ground, only four or five feet down, are disturbed, muddy brown waters which reveal nothing even an inch under the surface...

"Are ye awl rye?"  Bromdaeg's concerned voice shouts from just behind Rolf, a hand grabbing at his elbow.

OOC:  Nice work on the blink roll.  You've lost two fatigue from the effort but avoided falling into the pit trap.  There is enough space to get through on the other side of the wall if you want to keep going.  The cave is about 10 feet wide, and goes about 40 feet back, with a pair of insets on either side of the tunnel about half way down.  Let me know what you want to do.

Rolf enters the new cave and relishes the relief from the unrelenting sun.  He sets his sack down and wipes his brow as his eyes adjust to the change in light.

Readying his crossbow he looks the cave over and sees no immediate threat.  The cave goes back a bit and he can't tell if there is more to it from where he stands and the light available to him.

Deciding to get a better look he starts to move further in when his foot shifts under him.  Almost immediately he starts to fall!

Salire he shouts instinctively as the ground beneath him falls away.  Pulling mana to him he is instantly transported backwards to the mouth of the cave.  Dizzy he steadies himself and surveys the danger in front of him.

"I'm okay." he replies to Bromdaeg as he turns his way.  The dwarf now standing near him.  "Almost took a tumble.  The cave gave way under my feet."

"Not sure if it was a natural or a man made trap." he adds as he carefully takes a look at the bottom of the newly made pit.  "But by judging the water underneath I'm thinking it was natural.  Maybe we should search it?  There's no telling how deep it goes, but there might be a vein of ore exposed by the water."

"In any event maybe you should take the lead master Dwarf.  I'm thinking your eyes will spot such things better than mine.  But we should move slow and be careful.  There's no telling if there's more pits like this laying in wait."

OOC:  I want to explore more, but want I Bromdaeg by my side.  I will move slow and make Traps checks as often as I can.  If Bromdaeg wants to search the pit I will help.   Maybe with a rope tied around myself.

Bromdaeg nods as Rolf ensures that he's all right.  "Thais good."  He sighs, and further nods his head as Rolf suggests searching within the pit trap.  "Ha thin yer rye."  Bromdaeg peeks over the edge of the collapsed floor, though even with the assistance of the illuminated ropes it's impossible to see anything apart from the murky water without being lowered in.  "Es no reason ta leaf ate with ow licking.  Bet wool make sure yer set ta be pelt rye back up if en yer needs ta be."

With one of the glowing ropes, Bromdaeg fashions a makeshift harness, coiling a length around Rolf's waist before wrapping the long end around each upper thigh and feeding back through the knot at the small of his back.  The whole process goes through several iterations, with Bromdaeg seemingly unhappy with his first result and the second time he yanks on the support rope, causing Rolf to suck in his breath sharply and fling open his eyes as a sudden, unexpected sting surges up from his left testicle through his stomach and chest.

"Sorry bough tha."  Bromdaeg apologizes, reworking the knot until he's confident.  The impromptu harness seems to hold fine, with the added bonus of illuminating the whole room, certainly giving Rolf enough light to have a good look while being able to work with both of his hands.  With Bromdaeg as the lead, Darran and Broskow behind, the three slowly lower Rolf over the ledge and into the shallow pit.

Rolf's immediate impression is that there is much more under the surface of the water.  It seems to be another tunnel, with just a short stretch of it over the surface of the murky brown.  It's perhaps a stretch of ten feet or so long and only four or five wide, arcing towards the surface of the water in all directions.  The walls on all sides are wet and glistening, reflecting the bright shining light of the rope in an almost blinding fashion.

OOC:  You have all three of the others holding on to the rope as you are being lowered down, I think I got your intentions right.   You are currently hovering about two feet above the water.  Roll vs. Perception and feel free to let me know any specifics of what you want to do.

Rolf waits patiently as Bromdaeg prepares the rope harness that will be used to lower him down.  The mage could use his flying magic to investigate the pit of course, but as Dorn always said, only use your magic when you must.  Keep it in reserve and use all other channels available first to meet your goals.

As he his lowered down he gets the sense the underground tunnel goes pretty far, but is filled with so much water that he can only see a small portion.

"Lower me a bit more.  I want to see if I can stand and still keep my head above the water."

OOC:  You had the right of it.  I want to be lowered down into the water about shoulder height for Bromdaeg.  If he can stand then he might be able to search down there.  But if the water is over his head then I will suggest we don't bother.  If the water is too deep I want to be lifted up and search farther down the main cave.

Rolf grips a hand on the rope lowering him down setting his balance so his feet have a chance of gaining purchase on the floor below the water.  Slowly, the other three let a little rope down at a time, and Rolf inches his way down to the water, his boot filling with moisture first before the damp creeps up his leg on the inside of his leathers.

The water is surprisingly warm for the underground, only mildly cool, though it sending chills up Rolf's overheated body never the less.

As he descends, Rolf continues to look at the walls, searching for any clue of ore or other minerals.

Past his waist, and nearing his chest Rolf continues down, swishing his low foot below him to try and find solid ground.  The lighted portion of the rope sinks beneath the surface, illuminating the top of the water like an oil lamp with a brown shade, though the water is still so cloudy that it is impossible to see anything within.  He is still being lowered slowly, when he feel a light tap across his face mask and a splash on the water, then a sharp sting at his neck!

OOC:  You are about chest deep in the water.  The lighting situation is disorienting to say the least, as the lighted rope is now both submerged under the water and rising up above, in front of your face.  The walls are also damp and reflective and you need to squint from the brightness.  That being said, you haven't seen anything yet of any dangers within the waters.

Slowly Rolf descends into the murky water.  "Ahh." is all he says as he is instantly cooled off.

"Keep going." he says to those above as his feet, now soaked, have yet to reach bottom.  Flipping his head back and forth he sees no sign of any ore, or anything that might hint at one.

"Ouch!" he shouts.  "Something bit me!  Bring me back up!" he says he looks to see if he can swat whatever creature, be it fish or otherwise, away from himself if it tries to bite him again.

OOC: I want to be lifted up.  I will keep an eye out if there are fish around.  I do have my fishing gear I could use to try to fish with later.  Once up I want to keep investigating the cave.  Looking for any more pit trips the water may have generated.

"Es a calming up!"  Bromdaeg yells from above, and though the harness tightens about his hips and thighs, it seems to Rolf that the pace at which he starts moving upward is painfully slow.

His neck throbs with pain and Rolf swats a hand behind his head, feeling a slick, finger sized mass attached at the site of the stinging pain.  Rolf moves his hand back again and the thick, wet, slug-like thing falls away, the stinging at his neck fading away as his body slinks a few inches out of the water.

He feels the water dripping away at his waist...

All about him, Rolf can hear splashing in the water here and.  Thin, high pitched, spatters echo and Rolf quickly recognizes small bolts of thin black shooting out of the water and darting towards his head and neck.  One smacks against his mask, another missing just left of his head as Rolf flinches his face to the right.

Rolf feels his thighs clear the water below.

Pain stabs again at his neck, this time on the left side, and Rolf flails with his left hand to grab at the site of the pain.  Though his hand slicks right past the leech, Rolf smacks again, grabbing the thing this time right at it's grip around his neck, and rips the animal forcefully from its roost, causing a whole new round of throbbing ache.

Below him, the waters still churn... with his eyes now attuned, Rolf can see the leeches bursting out of the water and smacking against his waist and legs, finally falling away again to the water below.

Painfully slowly, Rolf is raised up entirely out of the water, his feet clearing one inch, several inches, two feet, as hands grab at each underarm to pull him over the edge of the small pit.

Are ye awl rye?"  Bromdaeg asks as Rolf clears the pit, his body now stretched over the floor of the cave.

Rolf puts his hand at his neck on the more painful of the two injuries, his fingers coming back streaked with red...

"It's a good thing you were wearing those leathers..."  Darran puffs as he sits down himself, letting go of Rolf's right side.  "Lord knows you'd have those things all over you if you hadn't."

Slowly, Rolf pushes himself back up to a sitting position.

"We'll move on a bit.  No need to get up too fast."  Darran offers, standing up as he looks ahead in the tunnel, and palming his sword.

OOC:  Darran is taking the point position after your mishap, and offering for you to take a rest before you move on, though I assume you refuse.  If you go with (behind) him, roll vs. Perception -5.  You've sustained two light wounds to the neck, both resemble a hickey more than anything else, though the second of the two still stings badly with blood still seeping out of the wound.  PM me if you succeed your per-5 check prior to posting.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:35, Sat 31 Aug 2019.

One moment Rolf is considering there must be fish available in these waters, that he realizes that no, there isn't any fish.  It's lamprey!  Or some aggressive form of leeches...that streak towards him!

Furiously the mage swats at them to shoosh them away.  Pain explodes in his neck as he grabs desperately at the creature latched onto him.  With a rip he pulls it from his flesh and returns to swat at what seems like dozens of them swirling and darting around him.

Pain shoots from his neck again as he grabs, rips and throws the creature back into the water.

"Hurry!" he pleads as the rise upwards seems to take forever.  Black streaks swirl and ping off his leathers as his body finally clears of the pit's water.

Rolf works to keep his breathing under control before the rest of the party brings him back above.  With a severe case of the heebie jeebies, he looks his body over quickly and carefully in case any of the leeches are on him and not yet latched on.

"I'm...ok." Rolf stammers in a way to say that yes, he's probably not.  With a soft touch, he probes the tender sores on his neck.  "Dammit that was close.  Those were really aggressive lampreys or leeches.  Not sure which."

"We need to be really careful not to fall in one of these pits that may be around.  If you don't drown, those creatures will likely end your life in very short order."

Assessing what to do he replies to Darren and says "I can continue but I'll need to rest soon."

OOC: Rolf is a little hurt, but want's to continue on.  He made his perception roll.
20:37, Yesterday: Rolf Erikson rolled 6 using 3d6.  Per -5.

Darran nods shortly, looking at the back of Rolf's neck before adding, "Alright, just don't overdo it, we have plenty of time."

The four gather their things together, Darran and Bromdaeg taking point with Rolf just behind, searching for any signs of loose earth or other risk.  What Rolf finds however, is more of the sticky black film in a layer on the ceiling - this time over a foot wide just at the top of the tunnel and continuing along its long axis.  Moving his gaze farther down the tunnel, Rolf can just discern from the cave walls around a thick mound of black, hanging from the roof.

"Wed ye lick ah that?"  Bromdaeg mutters as he steps forward, his eyes caught on something on the floor ahead... he's now nearly under the thick black glob.

OOC:  Action stopped for you to make use of the nice perception check!  No further traps have been noticed on the way down.  The tunnel opens up into another larger cave ahead, which is where you spy the black thing.  If you have it, you can roll vs. Underground Survivial (no default here) or Naturalist -2 to identify it.  Feel free to PM me prior to your post if it's a successful roll.

Rolf paces slowly behind the others and tries to ignore the throbbing from his neck.  He arches his head backwards and sideways in a vain attempt to alleviate the pain.  But as he does so...he notices more of the slime they saw earlier on the ceiling.

Just a few steps the trail of black slime ends in more of a mound of black, perched atop the caves ceiling.  Though it seems a natural outcropping, something about it is off to the mage.  With a start he realizes it's some kind of creature and Bromdaeg is about to step beneath it!

"Stop!" he hisses as he grabs the Dwarven miner by the shoulder roughly and pulls him back.  "There." he says as he points upward.  "My teacher spoke of such a creature once.  It kills by falling on it's prey and covering it in it's sticky acidis muck.  Not a pleasant way to go I'd think."

"Tis a slugbeast and you almost became it's dinner."

Looking to Darren he says, "We should kill it.  Surely it's been killing man and beast alike here for a very long time."

Thinking for a bit he adds, "I think the way to go is with fire.  But we'd need bait first.  Maybe a leech from the pit if I can catch one.  I have my fishing gear so I should be able to get one.  Once I have bait, toss it underneath the slugbeast and with luck it will fall on it."

"As it feeds dry branches could be tossed all around it.  Using my magic I could move a torch to light a ring of fire all around it.  Give it no where to go."

"If we have oil a cloak or blanket could be doused with it.  Which we could toss atop of it.  And I could use the torch to light it.  More branches tossed on top couldn't hurt too."

Addressing the group he says, "Does this sound doable?  First ring it with fire, then burn it.  That should kill it shouldn't it?"

"Stop!"

Rolf hisses the word as he lunges forward, gripping a bit of Bromdaeg's leathers before trying to jerk the dwarf back.  Bromdaeg, for his part, seems to be utterly perplexed by the situation, looking backward to Rolf, though he continues to stumble forward!

Thhhhhuuuuk!

With the sound of peeling and rushing air, the black mass detaches from the ceiling, landing awkwardly on Bromdaeg's shoulder, attaching at the top before the bulk of the mass begins slipping down his side.

"Ged dee off me!"  Bromdaeg shouts, his shield trapped against his side by the massive black bulk.

The thing is huge!  Though it drapes down from the side of Bromdaeg's shoulder, the bulk of its mass has dropped to the floor, with two thin arm-like flagella beginning to wrap their way towards the smaller dwarf.

What's more, Rolf realizes that there is yet another one of the beasts still clinging to the ceiling some several yards away.

"No!"  Darran slashes out with his sword, though the reactive blow narrowly misses the thing.  "Kill it now!".

OOC:  I made a few rolls on yours and Bromdaeg's part and unfortunately, you narrowly missed pulling him back in time before the slugbeast dropped.  However, the good news is that you caught it well in time before you got near the second one.  Bromdaeg is partially covered by the slug beast, which landed on his left side.  You are one hex away with your loaded crossbow in your left hand (not ready, as you used your right to pull Bromdaeg back).  I working on a new computer, otherwise I'd have a map up for you, but I doubt you'll need it for this.  You have plenty of room to just swarm the thing and whack away at it and they aren't exactly fast moving.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the GM at 21:47, Mon 02 Sept 2019.

Rolf's attempt to stop the Dwarf's forward motion fails despite his desperate attempt to pull him back.  It's then that all hell breaks loose as the Slugbeast drops on Bromdaeg's shoulder!

The creature is huge, but it all happens so fast that the mage can't take it all in.  All he knows is he must get the dwarf free from the creature's sticky grip.

His left hand still carries his crossbow, but instead of using it he reaches for his falchion as he looks to hack him free.

OOC: I will keep my crossbow in my left hand, but draw my falchion.  Then try to cut Bromdaeg free, or hack a flagella if one is in range.  Defense Blink.

"AAAAAGGGGGGHHHHH!"  Bromdaeg screams as two slinking, sticky arms wrapping their way across his body.  His shield trapped against his side, Bromdaeg braces himself, struggling to throw off the beast, though it proves nearly impossible to move, let alone to try and break free.  Ever tighter the two arms wrap, stretching thinner as they convulse, attempting to crush the dwarf like an oversized python.

In a moment, Darran is there, his sword lashing downwards and cutting a giant ribbon through the black mass - the wound hissing and throbbing as if the animal has no other mouth through which to scream.

Rolf too, pulls out his falchion and swats the black mass, at first nervous that he may accidentally hit his friend, though he quickly realizes that the slugbeast is easily four or five times the dwarf's size and he can simply bias his swing away and still have plenty of the monster to hit.  Rolf scores a good hit, cutting a neat stripe near one of the thing's arms before Darran hits again, nearly cutting the beast cleanly through.

The slugbeast deflates like a pierced lung, its arms slackening back as it seems to sink back towards the cavern floor... but the danger passing seems to comfort the dwarf little as he continues to spasm and flail until he is completely disentangled from the monster, stepping back quickly before stepping ahead again and striking the thing repeatedly with his pick...

"tick than, an than!  Ye doaty bassa!"

After a few moments of letting the dwarf take out his aggression, the group moves on to how to deal with the second of the beasts which has moved little if at all and though Rolf throws out a few ideas of how to burn or smoke the thing out, Darran in the end opts to simply hit it before it can get the drop on them.

Shooting the thing first with Rolf's crossbow, the dwarf and Darran each take swings, this time with even Broskow managing a hit or two before the thing is dead.

"Lick ad is."  Bromdaeg motions as they finally clear their path of the slugbeasts, pointing towards a head-sized green rock on the floor.  "Ays copper.  Na'er pure."  The dwarf looks around the small cave, though doesn't seem to find what he's looking for.  "Bet ha dun thin et is from thess rum."

Swinging his pick a few times at the room around, Bromdaeg begins to test whether or not there is any other ore in the near area.


OOC:  Astoundingly, Bromdaeg didn't suffer any damage by the Slugbeast before the thing was knocked unconscious.  I figured it probably wasn't worth the time taken to troubleshooting how to safely take down the second one when likely any answer would have been fine when the monster had a move of 2.

The stone that Bromdaeg found is pictured above and is basically a solid stone of copper ore.  Strangely, it doesn't seem like there is any other ore in the room around it.  However, the dwarf is currently testing the walls to see if it is just soft dirt covering up a larger vein.  Go ahead and give me a roll vs. Perception

Rolf draws his curved falchion and looks over the enveloped dwarf before he strikes instinctively with his blade.  He rips a good slice in the slugbeast before Darran nearly cleaves it in two and it deflates like a pierced balloon.  The mage notes how quickly and decisively his captain took charge.  His cuts were much deeper than his and more numerous.  Still, it was the mage that noticed the creature in the first place.  If the slugbeast had gotten a better drop on Bromdaeg they would have had a tougher time cutting him free from it and not hurting their companion.

As Bromdaeg frees himself from the amorphous creature's deadly embrace, he's amazed that the miner seemingly is unhurt.

"That could have been a lot worse than it was." Rolf says after Bromdaeg finishes hacking with his pick.

Heeding his captain's advice, Rolf readies his crossbow and takes careful aim at the remaining slugbeast, resting peacefully above as it waits for its next victim that will never come.

Once hit it drops and tries to attack them, but it is far too slow and the groups blades make short work of it.

As they move on, Rolf gives the last slugbeast a poke to make sure it's dead.  "I figured they wouldn't be injured by our weapons.  Much like a starfish that's cut, it doesn't die and you simply make more starfishes.  But fortunately for us that isn't the case.  If we had to use fire it would have been a lot harder to kill them."

Looking around, Rolf finds it strange that the small copper ore boulder seems to be by its lonesome.  "Why would it be here alone?  Did someone actually carry it here?"

He thinks for a bit.  "Did the slugbeasts use it as bait somehow?  But what in the world, other than us, would care about finding copper?"

OOC: Rolf made his perception roll.

Taking a look first at the head-sized ingot of copper, Rolf is stuck on how the thing got there in the first place, or even why...  Though he asks aloud whether or not the slugbeasts themselves would have moved it, Rolf knows that the scenario is absurdly unlikely - though they are certainly strong enough for the task, the creatures are uninterested in anything apart from their incessant quest for food and are too stupid to have anything resembling the foresight required to bait a trap...

Darran voices the answer that Rolf is already thinking.

"No, I can't see any reason those things would have brought it here...  By all the other signs we've seen, it doesn't seem like there's been any intelligent being in these tunnels for decades, if not longer.  It wouldn't make any sense to leave the ore here to bait a trap that would likely never be sprung.  Something else must have moved it here before they settled in, or else was bringing it and was eaten by them."  Darran glances around the room, shining his illuminated rope in all directions.

"Ays mere confounding an that..."  Bromdaeg turns around in his place, walking over to the small ingot and pointing to it smoothed surface with a stubby finger.  "lick et da."  He glances up at the other two with a look of serious contemplation.  "Ays not ah scratch ere break en da thin... ays lack et es kit from es vein an sanded dew nor ills was taken from the earth we thew the stone around et...  May buy spill..."

Darran looks across at Rolf with a slightly confused look on his face, apparently having nearly as difficult a time as the mage in translating the dwarf's brogue.

"When thins fir certain the..."  Bromdaeg turns back around towards the cave wall, spreading his arms slightly as he looks out.  "Ha dun see new vein here."

"You're thinking on this all wrong."  Broskow's voice, which had become more infrequent and sallow in the recent days, purrs from behind them.  "We were sent here to find copper and we've found it...  Let's take this back to the duke, it's all we need for our bonus... for his dream to be realized.  What does it matter if it's in the wall or not?"

Rolf, his mind only half on the conversation, crouches down, seeing an oddly shaped outline on the floor.  Much like the coins from earlier, the item is tarnished black, though this has obviously been crafted by skilled hands.  Flicking a small catch on the side, Rolf opens the small, flask sized box, revealing an opening on the inside that still shines with silver coloring.  A small flint stone is set at the side, though the rest of the cavity is empty.

Always one to think out loud, Rolf doesn't try to stop his mind from contemplating the world around him and openly talking about it.  Better to say something and prove it wrong than stay silent because every once in a while a really good idea can take root.

"Yeah, likely they didn't drag it in, but somebody brought it here.  But why?" he says in reference to the copper boulder.

He listens to Bromdaeg and cocks his head in puzzlement.  "Are you saying the boulder is unnaturally smooth?  Like it wasn't dug out of anywhere?"

Rolf thinks for a while.  "We know there's water nearby, maybe the copper came from a moving water source that smoothed it out over time?  But I for one highly recommend not going down that pit to look for ore as you won't last a minute with those leeches."

"I bet there is more than one area we'll find water.  There could be more ore exposed too.  There are two other caves not far away we should explore."

Rolf listens to Broskow speak but dismisses the thought that they should leave quickly.  "I don't want to leave so soon.  We haven't found the copper source yet and without that we haven't finished the job."

As he speaks the mage notes something on the ground.  Bending down to pick it up he turns the blackened palm sized object over a few times and presses a stone on it's side.  Flicking it open like one would a locket he says "Neat.  It seems whoever brought the copper dropped this."

Showing his find to Darren he adds "We should dig a bit to see if we can find anything more."

OOC: I would like to dig and search the area.  Also closely inspect the copper boulder to see if I notice anything about it.  Maybe put an ear to it and tap it to see if it might be hollow like an egg.

For over an hour the group sits about in the room, inspecting the small boulder, looking for more evidence of life, and discussing the possible scenarios of how the boulder got there in the first place, all while Bromdaeg digs.

Bromdaeg seems to be fairly encouraging of Rolf's theory of water erosion on the ore, though several holes still exist in the theory...  Bromdaeg explains that rivers and creeks quite often have small flecks of minerals and many still pan the rivers that meander the Whitehood mountains looking for gold, but he goes on to say that those minerals are normally small enough to be moved by the river... something as large as this boulder would be an odd find indeed.  Not to mention it still somehow had to get in the room in the first place.

Though the conversation continues, the possible explanations become more and more far fetched, and the group accomplishes little over the hour, Bromdaeg giving up hope for finding a vein after striking his pick in several areas.

And so the group work their way back out of the cave, edging around the small pit and find themselves back and the narrow ledge.  Across the steep valley, another ledge seems evident between the two caves on the other side, though it is several yards away.  A quick glance around reveals no straight forward path apart from climbing back up the valley wall and tracking all the way around, before climbing down on the opposite side...

OOC:  You've spent about an hour searching and waiting for Bromdaeg to be finished with the room and you have regained all of your lost fatigue.  The ledge on the opposite side is quite a ways away and you aren't sure if your rope bridge is going to make the stretch.  You didn't find anything further of use with your searching and the ingot of ore seems to be quite solid and rather heavy.  Bromaeg has packed it away to bring back to Craine.  Let me know if there is anything you want to try here or if you want to just leave the decision making to Darran.

Rolf sits and lets Bromdaeg work as he sees fit.  He does glance his way every so often to see if the dwarf is affected by his harrowing experience with the slugbeast, but he seems nonplussed.  The mage wonders if he would be so calm afterwards.  He has yet to really experience a life or death situation and he's not entirely sure how he'd respond.  Sure he just battled the leeches earlier, but it wasn't what he felt life threatening.

As for the smooth copper boulder he says "I was just thinking it was in moving water for a very long time, then someone for whatever reason decided to bring it here.  Still no idea why though."

Disappointed at not finding anything else, Rolf readies his gear and carefully exits the cave.  He picks absentmindedly at his neck as he stares across to the other caves.

"If I really had to I could use my magic to get across, but I'd have to cast more spells to cover the entire party and then rest for likely hours to recover from the exertion."

"Or we could climb back up, then back down again, but we'd all have to rest before trying the other caves.  The climb back up isn't going to be so easy.  It'll be tiring."

Looking up at the sun he adds, "I think we should return and setup base camp.  Get a good nights rest and try in the morning."

OOC: I'm thinking we should return and camp for the night.  And return in the morning to the other caves.  If we return I will want to cast a minor heal for 4FP to heal my neck before retiring for the night.

Darran nods along with Rolf's suggestion agreeing that it's not a bad idea to start getting things settled for the night.

"We'll be running out of daylight before long and we haven't even picked out a spot to camp yet.  I agree, let's bring all our things together and get back up topside, we'll find a campground somewhere on the other side of the valley so we don't have so much of a walk tomorrow and we can make full use of the day."

Bromdaeg nods with consent and Broskow too, though his face is full of annoyance at the news.

The four step their way back up the ledge, using Bromdaeg's rope as a guide until they are standing at the bottom of the slope where they climbed down earlier.  Darran first scrambles up the rope, sending a clatter of dust and pebbles trembling down the slope.  Rolf goes up next, and though the trek takes longer with much more use of the rope than when he went down, Rolf makes the trip up with a little help from Darran at the top.

Broskow's going proves to be not nearly so easy.

His feet sputter and kick against the slope as he attempts to pull up on the rope, sending spray of rock and dirt in all directions, forcing Bromdaeg at the bottom to cover his head against the rock precipitation.  Still, the Lieutenant makes slow and steady progress, at least until he is nearly at the top.  Taking one hand off the rope to grab for the ledge, Broskows footing slips, his whole body sliding down as his single arm gripping the rope extends to its limit.  In another moment, his feet catch, though the soldier is not even close to ready for it, stopping his feet as his torso continues, angling backwards as he thrashes with one arm to reright himself and with the other to regain some purchase on the rope.  The effort fails miserably and his body cartwheels backwards before tumbling and rolling downward at increasing speed.

"Ha get chaw!"  Bromdaeg shouts, his arms already pushed upwards, his feet braced on the small ledge, ready to do what he can to keep the soldier from plummeting to the lake below.

Broskow crashes down, and man and dwarf drop to the ground of the small path, though miraculously neither fall any farther below.

"Ohhhh!"  Broskow moans, unmoving there on the ledge as the dwarf manages to pick himself up to his feet.  "My arm!"

The next several dozen minutes are flurried with activity, Rolf lowers himself back down the rope and looks at the injury, unmistakably the arm is broken - though Rolf is thankful that it doesn't seem displaced.  He uses his magic first, a good way of determining if the injury is truly a break or just a bad sprain, healing the tissues and muscles around the bone from any trauma, then he spends several minutes putting together an improvised splint and sling to keep the injury immobile, giving it the best chance to naturally heal over time.  Sitting back, Rolf sighs, it's decent work, though he wishes the injury wasn't beyond his ability...

Knowing there is no chance for the soldier to climb the rope back up now, Rolf uses his magic again, lifting him back up the cliff face and over the ledge.

A little quieter than previously, though spared any permanent injury, the four make their camp on the far side of the valley and set in for the night.

The morning dawns with the first crisp air of autumn, a cool briskness which is quickly chased away by the intermittent sun.  The sky is mostly clear with rolling high clouds dotting across the blue.  The four eat an early breakfast, with Broskow surlier than usual, though he seems to perk up as the others stand and walk their way towards the western face of the valley.

"much the same as yesterday, though this looks farther down."  Darran notes as Bromdaeg looks for a place to spike off his long rope.

"Yes," Broskow adds, his voice now almost chipper as he looks down.  "I suppose that means I'll be looking after camp, I can't be of much use with this arm of mine, not to mention getting down there would be one hell of a trick."

OOC:  It is 0800 on the 1st of October.  The morning is clear and crisp with fluffy and scattered clouds rolling across the sky.  On the climb up, Broskow sustained a broken arm, which though Rolf healed, will still take a few months to be fully usable again.  I went ahead and fast forwarded through all the likely actions I thought you would take - healing, first aid, etc. - and have moved you to where I think the first real decisions begin.

The Western face of the valley looks much the same as the wall you climbed down on the other side: steep, though not exceedingly difficult, though this area has a longer drop to the ledge below.  Bromdaeg's rope should still have plenty of slack.  Broskow obviously can't make the climb down with a broken arm, though you do have the option of trying to lower him down by magic if you want to offer it up.  You are at full fatigue and health.

After making his case for returning to setup camp, Rolf is glad to see Darran agrees.

The climb back up isn't too hard until they get to the steeper slope and have to use Bromdaeg's rope to help make the more difficult climb.

Both Darran and Rolf make it up just fine, a bit of dust and rocks are thrown about, but they both make the climb fairly easily.  But Broskow struggles as he tries to find good footholds in the valley's face.

Rolf stares down with concern but their guide finally makes it up and is just about to grab the ledge up when he slips and falls!  Tumbling down with alarming speed, Bromdaeg somehow interposes himself with the careening man and certain doom.  Somehow the dwarf is able to stop him, and does so without falling down the valley himself.

Over the moans and groans of Broskow's prone form, Rolf lowers himself down the rope and gives him all the medical attention he can provide, both magical and mundane.  Despite this the man's arm is still clearly broken and there's no way he can make it up the slope, so Rolf levitates him up instead.

Finally they all make it up and break to camp for the night, which goes uneventfully.  Though Broskow is even surlier than ever.

The morning is crisp and cool.  Rolf nods at Broskow's assessment and says "Yes.  It will be best if you hang back.  That arm of yours is in no condition for climbing."

Speaking to Bromdaeg and Darran he says "After we investigate the caves, I would like to get down to the lake.  Who knows a vein of ore could be exposed there."

OOC: The actions for healing and such are fine.  I want to leave Broskow behind and not take him down with us.

Bromdaeg nods as Rolf spells out his plan.  "Dain gave up en the caves yet!"  He shouts out enthusiastically, spiking off the rope at the top of the slope.  "Yer can nah thin they're empty after fine din that node!"

The three decide that Rolf will head down first, with Bromdaeg and Darran lowering their equipment down after that tied to the end of the line.  Once all the gear is at the bottom, the dwarf and human will each take their turn shimmying down after.

Of course the best laid plans don't always come to fruition and Rolf finds himself having much more trouble with the slope than the previous day, the loose earth falling away from underneath his feet every time he tries to make a foothold.  His head is barely below the top of the cliff when both feet give way as he is moving his hands, a brief moment of panic floods his mind as he grips the rope slides within his hands, burning his skin raw as he slows to a stop.  It isn't pretty, and it takes the better part of fifteen minuets but Rolf makes the ledge, in tact minus a few places where the skin on the pads of his hands have rubbed off.

Up and down the rope comes, with Rolf untying backpacks and gear before the dwarf descends, his climb marked by much the same troubles as Rolf's.  Though Bromdaeg does not slip, it takes him several minutes to make the climb down, stopping in several places to find the best path and footholds.  Darran too makes the trek, though he seems somewhat swifter in the decent, making the way down in only a few minutes.

And so, little worse for wear, the three find themselves on the ledge with a wide enough path to the left and right to make it to either of the large caves.  The ledge slopes ever so gently from left to right, with loose earth spreading for five or six feet wide before breaking off in a steep fall towards the lake some thirty feet below.  In the light of the early morning, the brackish water looks even more putrid, a thick brown sludge that churns sediment when a few rocks slip from the side of the hill above.

"Well, what do you think, gents?  Higher or lower?  Darran says as he looks over either shoulder.

"As like as nay yer copper all be en the hair spats with tin an minerals under... bet add say we ned ta lick ah et all anyway..."

OOC:  If you have any preference on which cave to go (uphill or downhill), feel free to make a stance, or if you want to take any other precautions, let me know.

Taking the lead, Rolf does his best to climb down the slope.  It's a struggle though as the morning dew has not yet burned off this side of the valley and Rolf's leather soled feet slip and slide as he goes.

Early in the climb the mage even loses solid grip and crashes down at an alarming speed!  Desperately he clutches to grip the rope as tightly as he can, despite the burn, to prevent his free fall.  Catching himself, he pauses to let his pounding heart slow.  Resuming the climb he finally reaches the bottom wherein he inspects his blistered hands.

"Hrmmmph." is all he manages as he signals to the others to start lowering down their gear.

Finally all three are at the bottom.  Taking a look at the lake he says "Later I want to give it a fly over, but I hope for our sake there's no ore there.  It looks pretty gross."

Pondering which cave to take he says "I say we start higher first.  But we need to on the lookout for unstable ground, AND those black monsters we fought earlier.  That fight went well, but it could have been a lot worse!"

OOC: Higher tunnel first.  I want to take extra time to keep an eye out for slugbeasts and unstable ground.  If either Darran or Bromdaeg can, I would also like to tap the ground in front of us.

The group discusses the two choices shortly, deciding in the end to take the uphill cave so that they don't miss anything.  Bromdaeg grunts appreciatively to Rolf's idea of testing the way as he goes and as he steps he nudges his pick in to the earth below softly... perhaps nervous of the possibility that if a the earth is loose, there will be little they can do to avoid a fall in the lake regardless of whether it's Bromdaeg's foot or pick that finds the fault.

It's a short few steps to the upper cave and the other two follow the dwarf tentatively in.

Thunk.  Thunk.

Bromdaeg's pick sinks into the stony earth of the cave floor, which seems to be sturdy enough and holding it's own.

Thunk.  Thunk.

Crcrcrcrcreeeeeeee!

Bromdaeg hols his pick steady as he lifts his head, the other two searching for the source of the noise.  The cave is moderate in size, some fifteen feet square, with smaller tunnels leading away on the left and back walls.  The lighted rope casts a glow that is nearly like daylight but it still takes several moments for the three to notice the black and brown beetle, some six feet in length and three in height with a massive protuberance and cutting jaws reaching out from his face as he eyes down the dwarf.

Crcrcrcreeeeeee!

The thing lunges towards Bromdaeg, it's jaws sawing open and closed as it hurtles closer!

OOC:  Combat map posted below.  The Beetle is SM 0, though it takes up two hexes.  Unfortunately we don't have a hex map, so I'll try and be as descriptive as I can... Maybe I'll work on my editing skills to fix this 5'x5' grid into 3'x3' hex sometime in the future.  You can assume you have your shield and sword readied.

Addition by subtraction is what Rolf thinks to himself as Bromdaeg and Darran take his advice readily.  Without their scout to be their fly in the ointment, they go to the higher cave as he had suggested.  And with Bromdaeg tapping in front of him tentatively as they enter.  Just as he had asked.

As the sturdy dwarf taps with his pick, Rolf immediately realizes the problem with this approach.  Though it may be a bit safer, it is noisy and any critter inside the cave will be immediately alerted to their presence.

Simultaneously as the mage comes to this conclusion, something comes to life and begins to make an awful racket.  But from where?

His eyes still adjusting to the change in light, it takes Rolf a moment to spot a rather large beetle.  Gnashing mandibles mash furiously as the source of the noise reveals itself, and it's coming straight for them!

OOC: Action: step and wait.  Attack torso, defense blink.  Rolf will step as needed to be on Bromdaeg's right side, level with the beetle.

The thing charges at Bromdaeg, the single horn protruding from its head swinging wildly, smashing into the dwarf's chest with a meaty thunk!

Bromdaeg grunts as he steps backwards, his pick swinging, but errantly, smashing into the stone floor of the cave as he hobbles back, trying to regain his footing.

Rolf too, steps up to the side of the dwarf, slashing his own weapon down, though the fast-moving cave dweller dips out of the arc of his weapon almost before the falchion is swung.

The insect now stoops just in front of the dwarf, Rolf on the right side and Darran stepping up into place on the left, cutting off the three avenues ahead of the bug, though it charges ahead back towards the dwarf, screaming as it mandibles thrash wildly ahead of it's mouth!

Crcrcrcrcreeeee!

OOC:  Rolf apologies for my inattention and lack of a map tonight but I'll get you back up and going in the next post.  I sort of got sucked into the other thread for a few reasons.  Essentially, the three of you are standing in the beetle's front, right, and left hexes with it facing Bromdaeg.  Bromdaeg has taken a light injury to the chest, mostly staved off by his thick leather armor.  Please post 2 rounds of action this time.

Rolf steps forward in preparation for battle, but is shocked by the creature's speed.  No sooner has it hit Bromdaeg in the chest with its horned head, is it back on the ground moving at lightning speed.

The mage brings his sword down to strike but he is far too slow to make contact.

"Damn its fast!" he says in aggravation as he tries to strike once more.

OOC:  I will keep trying to strike with my sword.  Attack torso, Defense blink.  I'll do my best to try to keep flanking it with Darran.

Rolf hacks down at the beetle once again, aiming for a wide section of the beetle's carapace, this time however, the beetle redirects, charging at Rolf with it's horn and jaws flailing!  Rolf's strike goes astray with the fast movement of the insect but he is prepared for the attack, channeling his mana in a thought and willing himself out of existence, popping up just a step behind.

the insect seems completely nonplussed for a moment, hesitating just long enough that Bromdaeg slams his pick through the thick exoskeleton, spraying a thick ichor as it sinks deep into the monster's body

EEEEEEEEeeeeeeeee!

The beast turns again, facing back to the dwarf and charging, though this time Bromdaeg manages to get his shield in place as he redirects the blow to the side.  Darran scrapes his sword down the length of the thing's shell, though it seems to have little effect.

OOC:  Bromdaeg scored a major hit on that set of turns though it seems the bug is still up and moving.   Darran also got a hit in, though it didn't do enough damage to make it through the thing's thick shell.  Let's do another two seconds of action.


This message was last edited by the GM at 03:15, Sun 22 Sept 2019.

It all happens so fast.  One moment Rolf is about to connect with the creature with his sword that it darts out of the way, and straight for him!

Gradus Rolf shouts mere milliseconds before the beetle's jaws clamp on his thigh.

Instantly he is transported harmlessly about a step backwards.  Expecting to feel woozy from the effort, in fact Rolf feels just fine and steps forward to get back in the furious fray.

OOC: I'll step forward and keep swinging.  Seeing as it has a tough shell I will target it's legs at -2 to hit in hopes its easier to hurt there.  Defense again blink.

blades swing towards the furiously moving beetle, scraping off flecks of black shell, narrowly missing a well scored hit due to the thing's feverish pace and frenzied movement.

"Tech tha yew kitten is ways el!"  Bromdaeg screams, pulling back his left arm and swinging his right forward, his pick surging downwards in a murderous arc.

But the beetle is moving too, it's head and massive horn thrash towards Bromdaeg, slamming the stout dwarf in the chest, the blow just inside of his shield that moves just to slowly in defense.  Bromdaeg recoils from the blow which hits with a meaty thwack!, his whole body retreating backwards, his face contorting in pain.

However there is no stopping the dwarf's swing!  The weapon, already well through it's arc hurdles down, crashing through the thick, chitinous flesh, spurting sticky wet all around.

In a surge motion and a rage of noise the beetle flails in place with a screech before settling down motionless on the cave floor below.

Bromdaeg too, stumbles backwards, leaving his pick sunk in the flesh of the beetle and clutching at his chest with his hand.

"Cursed insect!"  Bromdaeg coughs, though he groans immediately after.  "Ah thin et baroque Sam ribs."  He wheezes, his breaths shallow and pained.

First making sure there is nothing else crawling out of the cave walls, both Darran and Rolf step down to help, looking to see just how bad the injury is.

OOC:  The beetle seems well taken care of at this point, with a pick sunken through it's body and no signs of movement whatsoever.  There are two exits form the room (in addition to the one leading back out to the ledge) one on the left wall and the other on the back wall.

Rolf swings his falchion as best and true as he can, but the beetle is just so damn fast that his strikes are rendered useless.  He can't help but feel he is a burden to the better warriors Darren and Bromdaeg, but to be fair he is useful in other ways...But at the moment that doesn't matter much as they have to kill this thing.  And the sooner the better.

He hasn't spent anywhere near the time honing his martial skills as Bromdaeg and Darren, and it shows.  And he's pretty sure they are both stronger than he is.  Not that Rolf is weak, he's not, and not that Rolf is a terrible swordsman, he isn't.  He's a fairly average warrior, with a fairly average arm, but when compared to his companions he wishes both were better.

With a mighty swing for the ages, Bromdaeg brings his pick down in a wicked curve which impales the beetle and ends the battle!  But not before the creature got in it's own bite that severely hurt the dwarf.

"Are you ok?" Rolf asks as he looks to see if he can help.  Though he may not be the greatest warrior, he has among other things, the capability to heal.  Which even the greatest fighter needs now and then.

OOC: I will try to evaluate how badly Bromdaeg is hurt.  I will give him up to a 4FP major healing.  And if he's still hurt, up to a 4FP minor.  Afterwards I will rest as needed to recover.

"Em fen."  Bromdaeg grunts, his expression wincing despite his assurances.  The dwarf places his empty hand on the ground, attempting to push himself back up to a sitting position, though he grunts deeply and instead rolls over to a side before rocking himself up to one knee.

"Eh guess hem mat be all were Stan eh thought." The dwarf concedes, his brow creased as a pained grimace stretches across his face, his free hand gently tapping his leathers just below his left breast.

It's enough For Rolf to know that the dwarf needs his help.  Setting down on a knee beside his comrade, Rolf places his hands gently on the wound before channeling his mana towards the worst of the injuries.  "Curare".  The mage breathes softly, his magic pushed into Bromdaeg in a gentle flow.

The dwarf exhales deeply, his face and jaw relaxing as he settles back in just a moment.

Rolf tries again, this time with his light healing spell, though he fails to gain control of the magic and rather feels the mana slip through his fingers.

"Eys nay matter."  The dwarf grins, pushing himself to a stand before adjusting his armor slightly and ripping his pick out of the beetle's carapace.  "As match better than he was, as good enough ta bay getting en with."

As Rolf rests, Bromdaeg peeks around the corners of the two exits to the room, saying briefly that the two tunnels connect after only a few feet, leading on in a single shaft that heads farther downhill and into the base of the hillside.

OOC:  Your major healing spell worked, though your minor healing spell failed.  You can roll against either again if you wish at -3 for a second healing attempt, though Bromdaeg seems to be nearly back to full strength.  Let me know if you want to try again or if you want to just move on.

Rolf watches with concern as the dwarven miner feigns that he is okay.  He saw him take two shots to the chest from the belligerent beetle, the latter of which looked extremely painful.  So much so the mage is surprised he even made it to one knee.

Rolf places a hand on the man's chest and brings forth as much mana as he can.  The wound heals mostly, but some of the wound remains.  He tries another weaker spell, but he fails to cast it correctly.  Fortunately not so badly as to make the situation worse.

Seeing Bromdaeg stand and seem well enough to continue he says "Alright.  Let's keep moving."

OOC: I would like to keep going.

Rolf sits to rest to regain some of his lost strength.  While at first the others, Bromdaeg and Darran, seem happy to rest for a moment and sip from their water and nibble at their rations, it becomes quickly clear that both are eager to move on rather than sit for an hour for Rolf to regain his strength.

"Come on, we'll likely have plenty of time to sit and rest up ahead if this is anything like our last cave."  Darran offers, waiting as long as he can before their dwarven companion seems ready to delve farther into the caves on his own, his body nearly disappearing into the shadows ahead.

Rolf reluctantly agrees, knowing that he is at least partially recovered, though nowhere near full strength.

Luckily, Darran's prediction proves quite sentient, for after only a dozen steps or so farther in the tunnel, it branches off in two directions, the left side veering off and upward into another chamber, this one larger than the last few, some twenty feet square, but before the light has even penetrated the recesses of the room, Bromdaeg is already hastily climbing ahead, rushing towards the back wall.

"Ah's may tall!  An ah then ah's ten!"  The dwarf shouts, pulling his pick from his belt and swinging furtively at a large grey  swath.

Clink!  Clink!  Clink!

The pick wails away in several strokes, Rolf finally getting a chance to look around as he ascends in from the shallowly graded tunnel.  He shines his light high, and indeed it seems that there is plenty of the metallic substance all around, large crystals of grey and black that emerge in places from the walls, Bromdaeg slowly chipping away at a lode that is some three feet across and several inches wide.

But that is not the only interesting thing about the room...  As he shines his light towards the ground, Rolf notices a fine, black earth that is at odds with the solid stone and thick claylike dirt of the rest of the area.  In a corner, a small tuft of mushrooms sprout and as Rolf notices some motion out of the corner of his eye, he crouches down slightly and sees several tiny beetles skulking in and out of the fine, black earth.

OOC:  You rested for about 20 minutes and have gained a couple of fatigue back.  Bromdaeg is looking to pull some of the metal off the largest lode in the room and Darran is looking around.  Do you want to continue to rest here until everyone moves on or would you rather search?  Roll vs. Per-5 if you opt for the latter.

"Agreed.  Let's move on." Rolf says in reply to Darran's plan to investigate the caves further.  He stands stiffly from sitting on the hard stone floor and rubs his backside before following Bromdaeg's lead.

Hurriedly he moves to keep up as Bromdaeg finds something that interests him in a room not far from the entrance.

"Sure looks like something of value." Rolf says as the Dwarf drives his pick in a spot even he can plainly see is a vein of metallic gray stone.  Though what it may be is a mystery to the geologically ignorant mage.

"Dear, what is this?" he asks as he notices the good black earth throughout the room.  "How is such good soil possible here?" he asks mostly rhetorically.

OOC:  Rolf missed his Per-5 roll.  I want to search and root/dig around the earth on the floor.  I'll try a Naturalist check to see if I can figure out the process the earth got there.  I'll also check the ceiling in case it might be falling down from above.

Rolf reaches down to the floor, picking up a small bit of the choice, black earth to rub between his fingers.  It is quickly clear that the dirt is just a thin dusting, for less than a knuckle below the top is the hard clay and stone that make up the rest of the caves.  Tiny beetles scatter as Rolf picks up his hand, investigating the curious layer of top soil.  It's quite clearly organic material. the presence of the beetles attested to as much... so it would follow that it is remnants of some plant or animal, carrion or otherwise... though Rolf has a hard time imagining that any plants would make it this far into the caves and relatively permanent darkness.

Giving up on trying to get any more information from the soil, Rolf looks around the cave, taking a small glimpse at the copse of mushrooms in the corner which are centered around a damp and shallow recess in the floor of the cave.  There seems to be little there to find, for Rolf cannot identify the mushrooms though he knows enough to reason that they have a better than half chance of being poisonous.

There seems to be little else to find.  Here and there, the crystalline veins sparkle like gemstones, though Bromdaeg seems confident they are tin, and indeed after 30 minutes or so, Bromdaeg has removed a fist sized bit of crystal from the wall.

"See ah?  Es ten fir sure, yeh can nah see hay sift et as."  Bromdaeg presses a finger nail hard into the bit of metal, which sports a thin, curved line when the dwarf takes the pressure away.

"Say thats tha?"  Bromdaeg gestures, turning his head up to Darran.

"Well."  Darran returns hesitantly, taking a quick look at the small bit of metal.  "I suppose there's no need to try anywhere else but at least lets search this one through... we may find something better yet, or at least find another area to give a bit better value to our story."

Bromdaeg grunts and nods, stuffing away the bit of metal in his bags.

The group puts their things back on, making their way back down from the small room, taking this time the fork to the right.  They find themselves in another wide hallway, perhaps ten feet or wider, though the ceiling hangs slightly lower, perhaps only six or seven feet off the floor.  At the crest of the tunnel, the rock seems to bend back down, creating a sort of downward ridge that drips tiny droplets of water in a thin line on the floor below.  The tunnel continues on some ways ahead before turning to the right...

Looking up at the low hanging ceiling, Bromdaeg raises the flat of his pick at one of the fattest drops hanging downward.

OOC:  I moved ahead a bit.  Roll vs. Perception-1 .  You are in the middle, following Bromdaeg with Darran just behind you.  Neither your perception nor your naturalist roll in the last room seemed to glean anything beyond the obvious.  The good news is that Bromdaeg is near certain that the ore he has already plucked out of the cave walls is tin, and with the amount of it that was in the last room you guys are going to get at least the small bonus for finding minerals.

Rolf digs around the rich black dirt, but is wary of the mushrooms and as such leaves them be.  It's unclear to him how the soil came to be.  The process of it's creation is unclear but he guesses the beetles are involved somehow.

Moving on, he watches Bromdaeg explain in his thick, hard to understand speech, and he gathers it's tin.  "Well, tin does have it's uses no?  I'm no expert but it's not worthless and there seems to be plenty of it here."

With Bromdaeg taking a sample, the group moves on.  They soon find themselves in a hallway with a lower roof line.  Water drips along the length of the passages ceiling.

Reaching out to Bromdaeg he says, "Before you drive your pick in the ceiling, is it possible the ceiling is holding up a significant amount of water?  Hence the lowered ridge line.  Maybe we should leave it be?"

"I just don't want to get flushed out here.  I suggest we keep moving and see what's around the corner." he adds as he looks to Darren to see what he says.

OOC:  I missed the Perception roll.

Though he has little idea what could cause the ceiling to bow, Rolf hazards a guess that it's not worth tempting fate, and pulls on Bromdaeg's shoulder to keep him from nudging the sagging, wet earth.

"Aye, there's sem thin ta that."  Bromdaeg lowers his pick, looking at the wet track on the floor below.  "Ah bet yer rye, an there's sem thin bait ta drip through."  Bromdaeg looks both directions in the wide corridor, before shuddering slightly and moving on ahead.  "Ah, Kim en then, fair we prove ye rye."

In another twenty or so feet, the tunnel splits again, though the large hallway going right only travels another dozen yards or so before it breaks out into the light of day.

"Must be the other cave headed in from the ridge."  Darran mutters, "Let's go on to the left."

Bromdaeg continues on, every so often stopping to feel a bit of the tunnel wall or to take a closer look at a patch of earth.  The slow progress ebbs away at the morning, though before too long, the group finds themselves at the opening of another room.  Caught up with a wet bit of earth that reflects the sheen of the lighted ropes like a streak of silver might, Bromdaeg only sees the monster when he's already half way within the cave.

"Moradin's beard!"  The dwarf curses, his pick and shield immediately coming back into position.  Rolf and Darran hurry to his side, and take in the scene as they ready their own weapons.

Beyond is another large cave, much like the others they had stumbled across throughout yesterday and this morning.  It is wide and deep, thirty or forty feet in each direction with a ceiling that is easy twenty feet off of the sloping ground.  Curled towards the back wall, though it has to wrap itself around for lack of space, is a monstrous worm, seven or eight feet tall and easily five times that long.   Its whole body is caked in wet clay that cracks off in places, especially near the thing's thousands of minuscule 'feet'.  Its gaped mouth displays two rows of razor sharp teeth, though there seem to be few other features to it's face with no eyes nor ears to speak of.

Regardless of whether the thing can see or hear, it has seemed to have noticed their presence, for even as Bromdaeg pulls his shield and pick back in defense, the thing raises its head, it's circular mouth pulled open to display dozens of teeth and the semi-open cavity of its endless stomach.  From its mouth issues a hissing gurgle...

OOC:  Picture below that is at least close to the mark.  Sorry for no map, I'm a little pressed for time.  The worm's head is about 20 feet away from you (or call it 7 yards).  He hasn't made any aggressive moves yet, but your instincts tell you that they aren't far off.  Roll vs. IQ for me to avoid mental stun (combat reflexes nullifies the need for this roll if you have it).  Let's do 3 seconds worth of action.

Rolf discusses the merits of digging into the dripping ceiling with Bromdaeg and is glad the dwarf agrees to leave it be.  It's just not worth the risk to test if it means unleashing a torrent of water atop their heads.

The mage follows the group through the passage beyond and very shortly it splits into two directions.  He notes that one half ends in daylight and the other continues on.  He follows his group as they pass by leaving the underground and take the other passage.

Rolf stops short as Bromdaeg sputters something about a dwarven god.  Catching up to the man, he finds before them lay the largest creature Rolf has ever seen, capped with an enormous mouth rimmed with razor sharp teeth!

By the god's indeed!

Such a sight would give even the most hardened veteran pause, but Rolf is as mentally tough as anyone and spares no time in taking action.

Knowing they cannot engage the thing in hand to hand combat, and likely he suspects won't be able to outrun it either, Rolf prepares to cast.  "Fall back." he mutters softly as his hands begin to move.

OOC: Assuming the creature is N and we're due S, Rolf will cast a full 4 hex radius Grease M42 with the southern edge of the circle right in front of him.  Darran and Bromdaeg will have to step back as I cast.  Defense retreating dodge.

This message was last edited by the player at 00:21, Tue 08 Oct 2019.

"Fall back."

The whispered words are meant as a command - for what Rolf has in mind will at least buy the adventurers time if not some sort of victory over this monster.  Immediately he begins channeling his mana, his eyes on the massive worm which already is already rearing its head up and back, pushing off with its hundreds of feet to begin moving slowly in the confined space towards the three intruders in its lair.  His moment of concentration complete, Rolf seems to cast his spell just in time.

'Deturpant!"

With that single word, the floor of the cave slicks like ice and the massive worm, his multitude of feet suddenly gripless beneath him, slides back towards the center, his body coiling back against the far wall of the cavern.

Rolf exhales with exhaustion, the spell having left him entirely spent.  His legs feel weak, his arms like rubber, and the ebbing headache of manaburn sucks away at his attention, though Rolf pushes the pain to the back of his mind for their problems are far from over.

For a half a step ahead of him (why didn't he step back when I told him!), Bromdaeg slips on the edge of the greased surface, his feet kicking out ahead of him as he lands on his rump and shield, his pick hand pushing off to the side for balance as he starts slowly slipping down into the cave below.

"Bromdaeg!"  Darran shouts, dropping his sword and reaching out to grasp the dwarf, though he daren't step forward and he proves too far to actually make the grab.

OOC:  Ok, that was one second vice 3.  I've been bad about asking your equipment and what's in what hand, so just assume you have your crossbow unready, though cocked and loaded, in your left hand (you needed your right to cast the spell).  Grease spell was successful and covers the entire floor of the cave.  Unfortunately, Bromdaeg is stubborn and didn't follow your directions, resulting in him being in the field of the grease spell when it was cast.  You are now at 1/2 move, dodge, and ST due to fatigue.  If your inclination is to grab Bromdaeg, you may do so.  First roll vs. DX to make the grab, then vs. ST to pull him back up.  You may put 1 fatigue towards extra effort for +2 to ST and/or use a hero point if you wish.  Map is below.  If you want to grab Bromdaeg, just make those rolls for me, otherwise, give me three seconds.

Rolf is not starstruck by the immensity of the large worm or its yawning maw of a mouth rimmed with razor sharp teeth, and immediately steps into the careful hand movements required to cast his spell.  He calms his mind to allow the mana to flow through him despite the threat of imminent death a few mere yards away.

Deturpant

He utters his spell's keyword with force as he simultaneously unleashes a torrent of slick grease upon the chamber.

Perhaps it was due to his singular focus to the worm issue at hand that he did not notice Bromdaeg not heed his warning and is caught in his spell!

"Grab my leg and pull us out!" he shouts to Darran as he reaches down to grab the sliding dwarf.  Seemingly Rolf is not aware of the worm slowly sliding to the middle of the room, for he knows he can't let the dwarf slide to meet him, and dealing with the worm will have to wait until he is safe.

OOC:  My intention is to create a human chain with me grabbing Bromdaeg directly,  whichever part of him is closest (hopefully Bromdaeg can grab me as well), and having Darran grab me and pull us both out. Either by the leg or waist, whichever makes the most sense.  With Rolf's weakened limbs it's doubtful he could do the job himself.

With reflexes unfitting of a man who has just cast himself into exhaustion, Rolf grabs out at the collar of Bromdaeg's leathers, finding at least for now a firm enough grip to be getting on with.

Of course, that moment is where his plan hits a snag.  For Rolf had in the flash of a moment, dreamt up a scenario where he grabbed Bromdaeg, holding him steady while Darran did the heavy lifting of pulling him back up to the mouth of the cave.  Unfortunately, Rolf barely manages two words by the time he has Bromdaeg's collar dragging down his hand, not to mention the fact that Darran has barely caught himself after his own attempt at grabbing the dwarf.  Mentally prepared to plunge headfirst down the slide of the cave floor, Rolf flattens his body to the floor, the weight of the dwarf pulling him forward precariously forward.  Somehow, miraculously, Rolf manages to hold, his feet and free hand flattening to get as much traction on the ground as he can, his crossbow long forgotten somewhere near his left arm.

"Beck!  Beck.  Get me beck!"  Bromdaeg shouts, as his feet flail unproductively across the gripless floor.

Slowly, Rolf manages to pull back the dwarf, then Darran is there too, getting a grip beneath a shoulder and pulling the dwarf back and over the brink.

The monstrous worm seems to catch it's grip for a moment, turning its head and lunging slightly forward with a handful of its legs, thought the momentum is short lived, and it sinks back down to the bottom of the cave, its mouth gaping wide, displaying the whole circle of dagger-like teeth.

OOC:  Wow.  I was fully prepared to have you both flung into the depths of the cave, as Darran didn't really have the time to react to save you after already attempting his own grab.  However, even at half ST, I rolled for you and it was a success.  You've managed to pull the dwarf back up, which took 3 or 4 seconds.  I'm happy to play general intentions here until the fight changes significantly, either you guys run out of ranged ammo, the thing dies, the thing gets loose, or some other major shift.

The large grease casting has sapped Rolf of almost every bit of energy he has, and then some.  His now clearly bloodshot eyes see Bromdaeg caught in the oily slickness of his spell and he knows the man has no hope of escaping the slow side to the middle of the room and be eaten by the deadly worm.  He must do something.

Reflexively the mage bends down and grabs the miner roughly by the shoulder and at first doesn't try to lift him out in hopes the leader of their group, Darran, can instead provide the muscle to get them both out.  But the mage quickly realizes there's no time for that as both he and the dwarf slide precipitously towards death!

Tossing the crossbow to one side, Rolf is just able to get enough grip with his legs and free hand on dry ground to pull them both up and out.  Which is remarkable considering he is so tired he can barely stand.

The worm continues to wriggle and writhe in it's lubricated prison, but the mage knows that it may not hold him for the entirety of the spells duration.  And even if it does, then what?  Surely it will come looking for them.  The best chance to defeat it is now.

"We have to kill it." he says simply as he reaches for his crossbow.

OOC:  You can move the action forward as needed.  Rolf has 1 bolt loaded and five in his quiver.  For the first three shots he will target the main torso.  And use all out attack ranged for an extra +1 to hit.  He will take one turn aiming then fire.  If it still lives after 3 bolts, and if he can target the mouth, on the last three shots he'll try a targeted aim at it's mouth.  If not then more torso shots.  The only discernible hit location I think available beside it's main trunk is the worm's mouth.  I don't believe I would know what a vitals attack would be on the creature.  If he misses on a shot at it's mouth he'll use a hero point to get a better roll.

There are many analogies that spring to Rolf's mind as unloads his crossbow with a twang! sending the bolt springing forward into the thick side of the writhing worm.  Shooting fish in a barrel...  Shooting the broad side of a barn...  Everything he can think of about a task being easy seems to apply quite literally for even as Rolf isn't the best shot, he finds the monster quite unmissable at this close range and with the slick surface and lack of footing, the monster seems unable to really get any traction to do anything about the situation.

Of course, the downside seems to be that despite the hits he manages to score, Rolf isn't sure there is any effect to the beast itself...

As his first, second, and third shots crash into the side of the monster, the thick brown coat of mud at its side cracks and falls away, revealing dark scales.  Darran too, forsakes his dropped broadsword for his bow, not even bothering to remove his shield as he loads an arrow and draws back, sending forth into the worm's ample flesh.

And so passes what seems the better part of a minute with Rolf reloading his crossbow with a deliberate and slow process, Darran slinging arrow after arrow in succession, Bromdaeg waiting patiently with his pick and shield in hand, and the worm writhing and pedaling uselessly on the hopelessly slick cave floor as mud and scales drop away beneath it.

Itching to break the stalemate, Rolf chooses a new target, this time going for the worm's open maw, a target which still seems quite a reasonable shot to make.  Taking his time, Rolf unloads again and this time the bolt sinks deep within the monster's open jaws.  The thing tail flails, slamming the bulk of it's tail against the wall which sends it's torso shooting forward!  Rolf is already pulling back on the draw string as he realizes the worm easily has enough momentum to make it up the shallow incline!

"Nay!"  Bromdaeg shouts, shoving Rolf out of the way as he meets the monster head on!  The dwarf's pick swings, crashing into the side of its lip just as the monster slashes with its razor sharp teeth!  Bromdaeg goes flying backwards, thrown from his feet as his pick clatters against the cave floor below him.  He seems to be no worse for wear, though his shield bears deep gouges that dig down to the braces.

"Get him off the ledge!"  Darran shouts, dropping the arrow in his hand as he reaches down to the floor where his discarded broadsword lays.

OOC:  25 seconds of action there.  You've scored 4 hits of your 4 shots and you think you've done some damage to the massive thing, though it doesn't seem to have slowed down any at all.  Darran has likewise scored 8 hits - same story.  Rolf has the drawstring of his crossbow half ready, it will take another turn to pull back, then another turn to draw a bolt, then one last one to put it in place.  Darran is crouching and gripping his broadsword and Bromdaeg has been knocked to his back by the force of the blow (which he successfully defended) and his pick has been knocked from his grip.  The worm is gripping on to some bits of the corridor where you guys are standing and seems to be able to keep himself there.  Let's do 3 turns for now.

Rolf draws and puts a bolt into his weapon.  He takes just a moment to aim before pulling the worn trigger on his trusty crossbow.  The giant worm is such an easy target and hard to miss that he doesn't want to take more time than is really necessary.  He isn't sure how long his greasy prison will hold the thing and by the gods he doesn't want to find out what it will do if it gets loose.  He scores three easy hits in quick succession, during which Darran unloads even more arrows into the creature.  It doesn't seem to have much effect however as he notes thick scales underneath the mud covering it's exterior.

What is this thing?

The mage decides to change tactics as he readies his fourth bolt.  Spending a bit more time aiming he targets directly for the creatures gaping maw before letting the bolt careen to it's target.  He scores a direct hit and bedlam ensues!

The worm reacts violently to having a bolt driven into it's innards and flings itself instinctively to the full length it can reach.  Bouncing off a cave wall in a mere fraction of a second it hurdles towards his party!

Crashing into Bromdaeg, the dwarf is knocked forcefully to the ground.  Briefly Rolf considers more grease, but it's too close and he is too fatigued to cast again.

The mage drops his crossbow and begins to draw his falchion.  Such a small weapon against such a large foe he would agree looks almost comical if he weren't currently fighting for his life.  "Aim for the mouth" he shouts as he steps closer to the fray.

OOC:  Rolf will draw his sword and attack.  He'll aim for it's mouth again.  Defense blink.

The thing thrashes, it's precarious grip on the small ledge dependent on half a dozen pod-like feet that cling like suction cups, holding the whole weight of the monster while its latter majority still swings idly behind it, unable to get a grip on the slick cave floor beyond.

The situation seems to significantly hamper the monster's attacks, for while its massive mouth and razor sharp teeth gnash and snap at the three adventurers, it can't seem to build up enough momentum to make the bites count for anything.

Darran's sword lashes out, smashing not toward the massive mouth, but to the closest of the podlike feet which holds the monster's grip.  The sword bites into the flesh, a thick brown sludge bubbling upward from the wound though the monster seems little perturbed otherwise.  Again and again the sword thrashes out, slicing deeper and deeper wounds into the monster's feet, though the goal of knocking loose the thing's grip does not come to pass.

Bromdaeg and Rolf too take their own swings, Bromdaeg pulling himself back to his feet and swinging wildly before getting himself under control and scoring a bone-shattering strike on the monster's lower lip and jaw, if indeed it has bones at all.  Rolf, after unsheathing his sword makes his own attack, missing first before scoring a neat hit that just slashes through the thick skin and scales of the beast.

Seeming to recognize its poor positioning, the monster arches its back, bringing several more of its feet onto the ledge as it pushes its head forward in the tunnel, the mass of its body barely clearing the walls.  The thing seems to be finally slowing, brought to exhaustion after taking enough injury to bring down a small army of men.

OOC:  I'm starting to get tired of telling characters how lucky they have been :P.  The worm missed both of its attacks and the cumulative attacks have started to take a toll on the worm.  It's still in fighting shape though and is pulling itself farther into the tunnel for more traction.   Just one turn of action this time.

The narrow passage Rolf finds himself in rings with the sound of blades clashing.  Men shriek as they fight against a creature the stuff nightmares are made of.

It is now quite clear Rolf is not the swordsman of his fellow companions, but he cannot abandon them to fiddle with his crossbow while they fight for their lives.  He wishes he were a better mage who might have made more of a difference with his magic, but he is what he is and if the situation requires he use his falchion he will.

A normal man would likely wet himself if faced with the enormous worm before them.  But Rolf, Bromdaeg, and Darran stand tall and mete out enough strikes to fell an elephant.  Yet the creature keeps coming.  Heedless of the danger, it's hungry and looking for a kill.

Deeply exhausted, Rolf musters every bit of energy he can and keeps fighting.

OOC:  We can use all the luck we can get!  I'll keep attacking as last turn, though I'll target the torso rather than mouth this turn.  Defense blink.

Picks and swords lash out at the beast, with Rolf scoring a neat cut just aft of the thing's mouth, its neck perhaps if indeed there was any real difference at all between the parts of the thing's body.  Darran scrapes a long gash too and Bromdaeg's pick sinks in, nestled between two hard scales just so that Bromdaeg struggles to pull the weapon out.

With its newly purchased footholds, the worm gnashes out in retort with its murderous teeth again, biting straight through a sizable chunk of Bromdaeg's shield as the dwarf retreats feverishly out of the way, leaving his pick embedded in the things skin in his haste.

Back and forth the men swing, swords slash this way and that, Bromdaeg merely trying to get a hand back onto his weapon which waves and flops with each movement of the giant worm!

But suddenly the thing strikes!  it's whole body shoots out, its mouth catapulted like the stone from a sling as its rows of razor-sharp teeth threaten to sever each and all of the three as they hustle backwards and out of the way.

Rolf uses his magic, shifting his body through space, backwards several feet, his head spinning with the sudden shift of his senses.  Just ahead of him, Bromdaeg manages to step back though Darran proves not quick enough, and he is knocked backwards by a lip before the thing slams it's mouth closed, Darran's leg shuddering with the impact as he is jerked off balance yet again and falls to the side, his leg caught in the monster's vice-like grip.

Darran screams!  His body flails with the horror as his sword clatters to the ground!

"Nay!"  Bromdaeg shouts, his half eaten shield still propped between himself and the monster, gripping with his empty right hand to pull back on their leader!

OOC:  Three rounds that time.  Though he has sustained an abundance of injuries large and small, more than one of which could have killed a normal human, it still is somehow continuing to fight.  And finally the worm managed to score a hit.  Darran's right leg has been caught and was nearly severed clean off, though I guess the downside is that now it is grappled instead.  Bromdaeg's pick is stuck in the folds of the animals scales, though at the moment he seems more concerned about pulling Darran back and out of the thing's grip.  Roll vs. Body sense or do nothing on your next turn.  Let's do three more rounds. 

Rolf joins his companions and swings his sword with abandon.  In unison, swords and Bromdaeg's heavy pick slice and pierce the worm's exterior.  However, despite it's grievous wounds, seemingly impervious to pain and hurt, it keeps coming for them and gains a better grip on the tunnel wall.

Gathering itself, it lurches forward, bringing about it's enormous mouth as it seeks to swallow them all at once!

Burning precious life force, Rolf uses his magic to ferry himself out of harms way.  Bromdaeg is lucky enough to scramble backwards and keeps his half eaten shield in front of him.

Darran is less fortunate and stumbles.  In an instant his leg is caught and nearly chomped free from its host!

Rolf numbly takes this all in as the use of his spell and it's painful cost leave him dazed.

Shaking it off, he grits his teeth, steps forward in hopes of freeing Darran, if he still lives.

OOC: After the first turn and he shakes off the daze from blinking, Rolf will attack.  As long as the worm has Darran in it's grip, he will all out attack @ +4 to hit, targeting the mouth.  In hopes of getting the worm to open its mouth so Darran can be dragged away.

If he does let go of Darran, standard attacks and blink defense as before.

Chaos reigns as Bromdaeg the dwarf grips his friend by the arm, pulling him back from the vice-like grip of the nefarious worm!  Rolf, disoriented by his spell can merely look on as the thing gapes open his mouth, Darran falling away in slow motion, Bromdaeg pulling him back with all of his might... the jaws slam shut again and Darran shouts as he falls, though fall away he does...

Finally back on his feet, and his wits about him, Rolf charges forward, his shortsword tearing through a thick gash at the monster's lip.  The thing snaps back at the mage, but the blow is unwieldy, weighted down by several yards of writhing feet that still cannot make traction on the slippery floor of the cave.

Indeed, perhaps the whole thing seems to have lost it's traction, for as Rolf steps forward again to attack, the only one now with a ready weapon, the murderous beast slips away from him, pulled backwards at a lethargic pace, its mouth slackening closed as it falls backwards.

On his guard for another moment, Rolf is finally convinced that the thing is unconscious as it slides back towards the cave bottom, its feet stationary through the movement.  It is hard to be certain the thing is down for good however, as it doesn't seem to breath or see even on its best of days.

Rolf turns, looking over his shoulder at Darran and immediately he can tell the damage done.  The man's whole leg is severed off just below the knee at the shin, and blood flows freely through the empty hole, gushing down the torn leathers and on to the cave floor below.

"Are ye awl rye?"  Bromdaeg shouts, turning towards Darran himself, though the other merely props himself up on his elbows, his face as leeched of all its color and stretched out into a grimace as his breaths come fast and shallow.

OOC:  Congratulations!  After taking a combined 47 points of damage (and knocking off 38 points of ablative DR) the worm finally lapsed into unconsciousness.  You guys managed to skate out of it pretty well, though Darran did lose his leg after Darran missed his roll for stun and the exact same hit location was rolled for a second time.  Though this module is essentially over, we have a few things to clean up.  Darran is in bad shape, if you want to heal him now, give me a roll vs. your appropriate healing spell, or a roll vs. an appropriate medical skill to stop the bleeding.  If there is anything else you want to do in the cave, feel free to roleplay it and I'll respond appropriately, I'll also have Bromdaeg search this last cave for precious metals in the next post assuming there isn't some other emergency in the making.

Wearied from casting and battle, Rolf's legs and arms feel like lead.  Sweat beads around blood shot eyes, while a dribble of blood oozes from not only his nose, but an ear as well.  But the battle presses on.

Heedless of his own safety, the mage steps forward and strikes with deadly accuracy on the worm's mouth, currently still clamped and chewing on Darran's leg.  The prone warrior writhes in agony as Bromdaeg tries his best to pull the man free.

Bringing his sword back for another strike he realizes the creature has now let go of Darran, whether he had swallowed his lower leg or simply let go he is uncertain.  But more importantly for Rolf, he has caught the worm's attention.  With an indifferent movement, the fell beast tries to bite down on him similarly as it had Darran, but misses as its numerous feet lose traction on the cave wall.  In fact the air seems to deflate from the mighty creature as it unmoors and slinks back to the middle of the cave.  Finally unmoving and still.  A giant greased slug wallowing in the chambers lowest point.

Rolf drops his sword as he wastes no time relishing the victory and wrestles his pack off as quickly as he can.  Blood spurts in hot streams from the stump on what is left of Darran's leg.  His eye glaze over as it's clear his leader is in deep shock.

Tearing open his backpack, he pulls out his first aid kit and hurriedly works to staunch the bleeding.  After an excruciating minute, the mage has pulled off an adequate tourniquet and has stabilized his leg.

Exhausted he sits and curls up against the cool cavern wall.  "I have to rest." he says simply to Bromdaeg as his battered and exhausted body has reached its limit and beyond.

OOC:  My first aid roll on Darran I made by 5.  I need to rest and use healing spells on Darran (first), myself and Bromdeag too if he is hurt.  During which Bromdaeg can search if he wants to (after the grease has ended in about 9 minutes).  Also, once the resting and healing is done, I'd like to to recover as many of the worms scales as I can.  Once we're ready to leave and I have enough energy I will use levitation spells to get at least me and Darran up to our main camp so we don't have to climb (especially important for Darran).  I would suspect Bromdaeg would want nothing to do with a magic flying spell.

Rolf pulls his first aid kit out of his pack, his hands shaking and his head feeling light, blood dribbling in a slow ebb from his nose.  Though he knows that Darran needs healing badly, the mage does not trust himself to anything more than his mundane skills until he has had an hour or more of rest, but Darran simply does not have that long.

The moments slink by, blood squirts out of the wound in slowly diminishing gushes as Rolf applies pressure, squeezing his tourniquet quickly to save as much as he can of Darran's precious blood.  After a minute or more, Darran passes out from loss of blood, but Rolf keeps on until the blood flow stops and he himself collapses in exhaustion.

Still, Darran's shallow breath continues unabated and the minutes slip by...  Bromdaeg tests the floor of the cave and finding it now safe to pass, he walks down towards the unconscious worm, retrieves his pick and takes several swings at the unmoving bug before he is satisfied.

Eventually, Rolf feels well enough to heal Darran, and he casts his strongest healing spell, restoring much of the color to Darran's face as the man's eyes flutter open.

Another hour or more passes and Rolf casts another spell, restoring further vigor to Darran's countenance, though Rolf knows there is nothing that can be done for the leg that is even now resting in the belly of the beast.  Darran continues to rest even as Rolf heads down into the cave himself, taking his sword to cut away some of the thick, leathery scales of the animal that had nearly done them in.  He finds that the things separate well enough when cut and it seems easily possible to take off a whole sheet of the material, if indeed he can get the whole of it to separate from the animal itself.

"Yeh feigned et!"  Bromdaeg shouts, his voice coming up from a small shaft that seems to have been a tunnel hole the worm had eaten into the depths below.  "As cupper!  Clear as day!  En if ta be main en down ere fir menths er yers!  We feigned it!"

OOC:  To make things clear, Bromdaeg found a massive copper vein in one of the shafts (worm tunnels) below.  Go ahead and give me a roll vs. Leatherworking +5.  This defaults to DX-4, so it ends up being a roll against DX+1 if you don't have it.  Please also specify how much of the scales you want to take with you either in pounds or square yardage.  This will affect a few things which we can handle in private off line.  You are correct that Bromdaeg wouldn't want you to levitate him up but I'm comfortable fast forwarding through the climb/float up and assuming you just wait until you get a successful spell. Please add anything you want in the closing post here.

Rolf work's furiously to staunch Darran's bleeding.  He is so tired and suffering from various wounds, mostly self inflicted from drawing on his own life force to fuel his magic, but he can't rest.  He does have some skill in medicine, but not that much.  Still, whether it be the seriousness of the situation, or a determination borne from sheer exhaustion and a desire to just be done with it, he makes short work of Darran's spurting stump.

Though he has stopped the man's blood loss, he desperately needs more healing,  However the mage knows in his own current state he would have to draw upon more his own health to do so.  And by doing that it would make it much harder to channel the mana needed to weave the spell.  Which by the fickle nature of this particular spell is doubly worse as is it can't be cast repeatedly on the same subject without increasing difficulty.

He just can't take the chance.  Instead he collapses on the cave floor and closes his eyes.  He rests despite having to listen to Darran's breath come in ragged, irregular cycles.  Precious minutes pass by and he feels a bit better.  Well enough that he tries, and succeeds in using his strongest magical healing on the unconscious Darran.  The man awakens, but doesn't say much besides warranted moans.

He rests more and casts another spell on Darran, before standing and checking on the worm.  He really wants to get some scales from the creature and there's little more he can do for Darran.  At least for now.  He isn't sure what he might do with the scales, but he want's at least a keepsake of this experience.  And maybe someone might be able to let him know just what it was.

His grease long gone, Rolf sets his feet firmly and uses his falchion to begin tearing into it, though he feels a bit uneasy at being so close to the deadly creature where just a little while before it was literally trying to eat them.  And it almost did.

"That's great!" Rolf shouts back in response to Bromdaeg's discovery with little joy in his voice as he looks Darran's way.  Despite the copper and the windfall it will provide, it has come at a great cost.

OOC:  Rolf missed his worm scale roll by 1.  He has a sack with 40lb capacity so he'll do his best to fill it up with as many undamaged ones that he can.  I'm okay with fast forwarding the return upside.  btw, his sack is in camp so he'll have to get the scales ready, fly up, grab the sace, then fly back down to fill it.  He'll want to manage his FP accordingly so he'll have enough to do the flying in one shot.