”Looks like a damn tomb,” Horn mutters as he takes in the tunnel’s appearance. Roberts says a few words under his breath in the Apache tongue.

Moving forward the small group arrives at the first set of alcoves. Each one is wide, the opening roughly ten feet across. Both contain what appears to be a single sarcophagus, crafted from stone. Each of the sarcophagi appear far larger than what would be required to inter a lone individual. Both are covered with a gray granite slab, an inscription chiseled on the surface of each one. The etching on the right hand sarcophagus reads, ”Angus, New Mexico” while the one on the left carries the legend ”Bitter Creek, Texas”.

Looking ahead, the riders can see at least four more similarly sized alcoves waiting quietly in the gloom. Another sourceless breeze snakes through the corridor, bringing with it a deeper cold than that which already dominates the dark space.

"It is a damn tomb," Jacinta muttered back.  She held the lantern high over one of the alcoves, reading the inscription before glancing at the other alcoves.  "What'd you reckon'?  Undead denizens?  Victims?  This one's got the name of that ghost town we demolished." 

”There’s no tellin’ how many killings Murphy’s had a hand in,” Roberts says, “Those in Angus that didn’t go up to High Lonesome ended up gettin’ killed by Murphy’s people when they got crossways over land ownership.”

”Heard Bitter Creek’s a ghost town. Way I heard it, there was a lot of shootings over water rights. Big dust up between a rancher and some farmers. By the time it was done, them that were still there didn’t have the will to stay,” Horn offers.

”I’m betting’ this is some kind of grisly trophy collection,” Roberts says, ”Places where Murphy had a hand in a lot of killings.”

Roberts shudders. ”Might be he kept some of those he murdered. Buried ‘em down here so he could visit and gloat.”

“But these poor bastards aren’t no threat to anyone no more. We’d best go on. Find Miz Thornton and anyone else he’s keepin’ prisoner.”

Albert shook his head sadly. "Poor folk killed fer no reason? Or important folk he wanted ta keep?" The cowboy shrugged. "Don't be so sure they ain't no threat no more, though nuthin we can do 'bout it now."

He extended his chin slightly in the direction they had been heading. "Yup, let's go see how we can help."

The next two sarcophagi come into view; Wintergreen, Texas on the right, Caribou, Colorado on the left. In the dimness, the group can just make out the rectangular outline of a door at the end of the corridor, just beyond two more pairs of alcoves.

The cold deepens, sharp enough to slowly numb the skin and render the touch of metal painful.

Jacinta started, turning with her lantern in hand to peer behind her, certain she'd felt someone pulling at her elbow.  The light swung about the tunnel and into the alcoves, a frown pulling at her lips as she tried to make sense of it.  "¿Hola?" she whispered softly, straining her ears to listen for anyone in the tunnel with them.



Notice: 10

22:05, Today: Jacinta Castillo rolled 4,10 using d8+2,d6+2, rerolling max with rolls of 2,(6+2)8.  Notice.

Albert looked back in the direction Jacinta seemed to be looking. "Hearin' them voices, Jay Lo? I'm ignorin' 'em. Don't seem ta be givin' good advice." Albert took a deep, cold breath and blew it out in a huff.

"Best we be movin' on, I think."

”Oh, hell,” Roberts mutters as he looks back in the direction the group entered from. He tenses, grabbing for one of the amulets at his neck.

In the same instant, the chill breeze becomes a fierce wind, a roaring tempest with the strength of a desert sandstorm, its power sufficient to force each of those in the tunnel to plant their feet to avoid losing their balance. The cold tears at exposed flesh, its touch like being raked with dozens of needles. Mingled in the wind is a howl, a female voice screaming in pure torment, her suffering outside of the scope of words.

With its strength, the wind snuffs out the travelers’ lanterns.

As shadow overtakes the tunnel, the wind halts, leaving an eerie silence in its wake. As the riders’ eyes adjust, they recognize that no light is reaching the corridor from either end of it. The darkness they find themselves in is total, preventing them from even seeing one another.

OOC: Everyone provide me with a Vigor roll. Failure imparts one level of fatigue.

Due to the absence of light, any physical actions, including an agility check to relight a lantern, will incur a -4 penalty.

"Hell is right. Let's get out of here." Albert wasn't about to panic, but he also preferred to not be trapped underground without light and with the possibility of undead wandering about.

OOC: How close are we to that door?

Vigor of 5. No fatigue for Albert.

08:43, Today: Albert Cooper rolled 5,3 using d6,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 5,3.  VIgor.

Jacinta swore under her breath as those icy fingers of cold overtook them.  A bright spot of flame burst to life a few moments later as she struck one of her matches, blinding against the pitch black, and set it to light the lantern in her hand.


Vigor: 6 (w/ Blue Chip)

23:00, Today: Jacinta Castillo rolled 4,1 using d6,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 4,1.  Vigor.
23:27, Today: Jacinta Castillo rolled 2 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 2.  Blue Chip.
23:29, Today: Jacinta Castillo rolled 9,-3 using d8-4,d6-4, rerolling max with rolls of (8+5)13,1.  Agility.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:34, Wed 25 Nov 2020.

20:36, Today: Andrew Roberts rolled 7,3 using 1d8,1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 7,3.  Vigor.

20:36, Today: Tom Horn rolled 13,1 using 1d8,1d6, rerolling max with rolls of (8+5)13,1.  Vigor.

Remaining steady, Castillo is able to relight the lantern, the sudden flare of light in the obsidian dark bringing with it the brief view of dozens of figures; stooped, misshapen, bearing the evidence of wounds that were undoubtedly mortal. They are the color of fading smoke and in the moment that they fade from sight their shapes become twisted, warped and stretched into lean, predatory things that know only hunger.

As the lantern’s glow banishes the dark, they vanish from view completely. And for a long moment, it appears as if those that have braved the tunnel are alone with the piercing cold.

Then, the lid of the sarcophagus bearing the name Bitter Creek, Texas slides from the gave that it covers, dropping to the floor with the dull sound of stone crushing stone.

All that emerges from the grave is a voice, that of a woman, a hollow sound winding upward from somewhere deep within the earth. ”You have come here to be among us. Remain. Sleep. There is nowhere left to run.”

OOC: Speaking of running, to reach the door at the other end of the tunnel would require two rounds devoted solely to movement. If the group members were to pause for other actions, reaching the door would require at least one additional round.

"I'm still thinkin' it's a good time ta skeedaddle. Let's move." Albert started making for the door, though wasn't interested in leaving anyone behind.

"You ain't kiddin'," Jacinta muttered under her breath.  She shivered reflexively and quickly followed Albert, heading down the tunnel toward the house.

The four riders bolt for the door, the pervasive cold needling their exposed skin. From behind them, the subterranean voice giggles, a thick, liquid sound.

”I told you, there is nowhere to run. None that call themselves friends of the one who imprisoned us here will escape. This is your home. Your place of sleep.”

21:47, Today: Marshal rolled 10 using 1d8, rerolling max with rolls of (8+2)10.  Fighting.

21:48, Today: Marshal rolled 7 using 1d10, rerolling max with rolls of 7.  Strength.

Horn, who is the last in line bellows a curse, Looking back, the others can see that something dark, like a tendril of smoke, or perhaps a grasping, spectral hand, has taken hold of the stage guard’s ankle. He falls to the stone floor heavily, struggling to reach the knife on his belt as the shadowy projection begins to drag him toward the open tomb.

Even as it does, the lid of another sarcophagus slides onto the stone floor, opening another yawning, tenebrous grave.

"Dammit. Horn! Somebody get his other arm, and let's get outta here."

Albert moved as quickly as his bulk would allow, trying to grab under one side of Horn allowing someone else to get the other. Hopefully the three of them could struggle free.

Swearing under her breath in her native language, Jacinta grabbed hold of Horn's other side and tried to help Albert jerk him out of the grasp of whatever held him.  She would have taken aim on the things in the dark, but she wasn't sure what she was shooting at or whether they could even be hurt by bullets.

Roberts joins his companions in reaching for the stage guard, grabbing Horn’s upper arm in hopes of pulling him free.

”What the hell are you doin’?” Horn says, ”Run, dammit! Get the hell out of here while you’ve got the chance!”

”You serve him who saw us all murdered,” the voice from the depths groans, ”It is right that you become his slaves, as we are.”

From the sarcophagus that just opened, something resembling black smoke slowly begins to rise into the cold air.

OOC: If you intend to continue to try to pull Horn free, you’ll need to provide me with a Strength roll. Albert, since you’re the one that snagged the stage guard first, yours will be the primary roll under consideration. Jacinta and Roberts can provide cooperative rolls. Each success that they gain will add +1 to the roll you make.

Albert shook his head quickly. "You run, dammit. We ain't leavin' ya." Albert leaned back a bit to use his weight to fullest advantage.

OOC: Will 10 Strength do?

Used a red chip.

15:43, Today: Albert Cooper rolled 7 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of (6+1)7.  Red Chip!

15:43, Today: Albert Cooper rolled 3,2 using d6,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 3,2.  Strength!

"We aren't working for that bastard!" Jacinta yelled at the spirit.  "We're trying to kill 'em!  And if we do that, then you'll all be free.  Help us get rid of him once and for all."  Her grip on Horn slipped and she fell backward, landing hard on her ass.


OOC:

Jacinta has no strength, apparently.

23:08, Today: Jacinta Castillo rolled 1,1 using d6,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 1,1.  Strength.

Roberts pulls on Horn’s arm, trying to assist in the effort to rescue the stage guard. Cooper, using all the strength he can muster, feels Horn begin to slide free from the ethereal grip that holds him. The gunslinger’s muscles burn with the strain.

Then, abruptly, the resistance ceases. Suddenly freed, Horn tumbles forward while Cooper and Roberts stumble backwards toward Castillo. As each finds their balance, all are aware that the specters that haunt the corridor of tombs have not departed, the bone chilling cold and the writhing black mist that mark their presence still remain within the passage.

”Are you seeking to deceive us?” the liquid voice from within the earth asks, ”Is this some desperate lie to gain your freedom, or do you mean what you say? Do you truly intend to destroy him?”

Albert paused and shook his head slowly. "Deceive y'all? Nah - we're just gettin' inta his hideout ta make sure that bastard don't destroy no more folks lives."

He gestured toward where he'd seen Angus mentioned. "We've seen what happened in Angus. We know what he really is. An it's time ta end him."

"We're looking for the heart he stole," Jacinta added.  "So we can take it back to where it belongs and kill him in the process.  Do you know of this thing?  Where it might be?"