Fr. Rys looks around at the surroundings

Do we wish to stay up here, exposed to the elements?

"We can always return here if need be.  I suggest that whilst we still have the energy, and Chrissa's magic remains, we should investigate the lower trapdoor."

If ya have the strength, Sir, I will serve.   Colm Says as he checks his bow for soundness.

"Aye, I'll try to help as best as I can as well," Calis remarked as he stood down below the upper trap door.

That makes sense to me Sir Knight. While this place may be defensible, I'm not sure being exposed to the elements like this is wise either. Does not lightning, in a storm, strike taller things first?

"Aye, Father, my teachers at the grove explained to me that it does...." he trailed off with a grin as he remembered memories of his stubborness as he druid treachers tried to impart thier verbal knowledge to him.

Deciding against remaining atop Fillian's tower, the party retraces its steps to the hall of the tower below.

   Considering the trapdoor that Calis discovered earlier, the group gathered around it on all sides before deciding to lift it and dicover what lay beneath.

   Sir Pedivere, gripping his sword with one hand, clasped the thick steel ring with the other and hefted.  All his insistance on brute strength was for naught.  Despite being stone, the trapdoor lifted rather easily despite its thickness.

   Peering into the dark below the lantern and torch revealed a set of grey stone stairs descending eastward...


OODM:  Okay guys, we're going to be away for a few days, so decide what you're going to do, and a marching order etc, and we will pick it up when we get back.  :)

Pedivere slung his shield over his shoulder, and then, with blade in one hand, and the father's magical torch in the other, he began to descend the stairs cautiously.



OOC - enjoy the break.  As for the marching order, Pedivere would have to be first.... not logical in a traditional DnD sense I know, but that's the price of nobility.  don't ask someone to do what you're not prepared to do yourself.

Chrissa remains closely behind Sir Pedivere, keeping him within range of the protective power still upon her.  One hand holds her everburning torch high to cast light into the darkness.  One hands holds her staff...

Calis fell in behind the other two for now and he asked, "I can take the rear or one of the middle positions."

Seems best, me friend, 'at I shall bring the rear.  If we need to force a retreat, my sword will serve better than mos'

I do not know where I would best fit whilst exploring this trap door.

   With the knight in the lead and the yeoman covering from the rear of the group, the party crept down the stairs, looking for signs of trouble.
   The torches did much to illuminate their surroundings, revealing well crafted stone walls.  Here there were no taspestries as above.  They realized that now, they were completely below ground, inside the centre of the hillock that the wizard had fixed his tower atop.  There was an earthy smell, somewhat cloying.  That, however, was not the most striking aspect of the passage.

   It was quiet.

   Their footfalls scratched and echoed off the walls of the small room in which the stairs ended and continued to echo into the passage beyond.  Chrissa's robes could be heard to rustle, the silence was so intense.

   As Sir Pedivere reached the bottom of the steps, his torch hinted at something in the shadows further down the hall.  It did not move, but remained silently in its centre.

  Stepping forward so that the others could reach the bottom also, he noted debris on the floor before the eastward passage into which he looked.  On the north wall there was an empty torch scone.  Turning defensively he saw a web in the northwest corner...


OODM:  The room you've entered into is about 30'x15' in size.  You're in in its centre with 15 feet of room before you and 15 behind.  There is a passage way in the centre of the wall to the east.  I will have a map for you guys by tomorrow. :)
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:29, Tue 07 Dec 2004.

Colm looked about nervously.  His love was the open land, and not being trapped underground like a tomb.  Upon hitting the new floor, and seeing the webs, his hand went instinctively for his bow.  He knocked an arrow and looked into the shadows.....
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:02, Wed 08 Dec 2004.

Pedivere moved forward, the torch before him as he sought to pierce the shadows and scry whatever lay ahead.  His right hand still gripped the polished sword, the edges glinting in the firelight.

"Be there a wizard named Fiallan in these dark depths?  I am Pedivere, Knight of the Realm on business of the King.  I would converse with him on a matter most urgent if he would stand forth."  Though his voice rang out in the confines of the shadowy room, those that knew the young knight well, could hear that his words lacked conviction and that frustration had begun to set in.

Very quietly, Fr. Rhys says Did anyone get a good look at the trap door? I would not like to be trapped down here if someone should close it on us. Further, are there any tracks down here that aren't ours?

Calis looked down at the tracks to see if he could answer the Father. Looking back at the priest he shook his head, "Nay, sorry Father. I am used to tracking outdoors and the ground here is hard and so I can't tell much about these tracks."

The fool looks about the bleak scene almost as if the dark seeped into his skin his demeanor changed.  He begins to whistle a somber tune quietly ending with pop goes the weasel.  He smiles looks around and says, You know as wizards go this place isn't too bad.  No human bones, strange cats or toads that seem oddly intelligent, or other oddities, if you ignore the spiders on the first floor.  The directions that Jeremiah gave me say that this is the right place, but I don't know it doesn't scream wizard....  A nervous laugh sneeks out as he trails off.  His eyes working to penetrate the darkness.

  Sir Pedivere calls into the darkness, his words were met with silence.  Stepping further forward, the light that he holds illuminates the edges of a large wooden box set in the centre of the eastern passage.

  Colm's attention is draw to the south side of the stairs.  He takes a few steps further to look at the tools and garmets hanging from pegs and hooks driven into the stone staircase.

  The spiderweb in the north-west corner is unoccupied as the good priest looks upwards to the door from which they came.  The door had lifted out and lay, pulled back, on the floor above....


This message was last edited by the GM at 16:54, Thu 09 Dec 2004.

Moving towards the box, Pedivere sheathes his blade and kneels before it, taking his time to examine it as best he can.

Take 20 on a search = 20
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:07, Thu 09 Dec 2004.

Chating softly, The Lord is my light, and my salvation, whom shall I fear, whom shall I fear

Colm's brow wrinkles. Seems as though, someone has been doing digging.  I see what may be th' cloths' of a wizard, discared on the rack as well as a scythe.  How do ye' read this riddle my friends?  My skill 'be at the bo' and nie at the riddle.

    Sir Pedivere crouches near the box he discovered, examining it closely while Chrissa trails behind, not completely able to see his discovery with the knight's body in the way.  She can see over his shoulder, nestled in the corner of the turn of the passage a dead spider, it's body burned black.
    Colm has discovered a rack of clothing and tools, a dirty robe, a leather apron, a broad-brimmed hat, a pair of leather gloves, a broad belt, an axe, a pick, a shovel, and a scythe.

    Father Rys, Calis, and Aeron continue to occupy the space at the base of the stairs, not moving in either direction...

"Any ideas?" the knight asks nobody in particular.  Then, resting the torch on the ground, pedivere takes the lid of the box in both hands and attempts to lift it off with his remaining strength.

Fr. Rys pulls a book out of his pocket and looks through it.