The avalanche finally stops. The party is not literally trapped, but traversing the jagged hellscape outside would be bad on your boots. Also you still hear the roaring of the beast outside, like a cross between a great cat, a violent drunk at closing time, and a band of buglers who got stiffed on their pay just before the Baron’s wedding.

Further examination reveals some sort of rail system for the cart, along with a tilting system for dumping the contents and a navigation and brake system for controlling descent. Some white rubble of what appear to be statue pieces remain inside. As you debate the six-legged lizard crawls into the bin and licks at one of the hand pieces.

The cart looks like it could hold four human sized passengers if it were cleared out and forgot about personal space.
The air grows cold as the sun abandons the opening of the cave - well now you realize it’s a mine.

You still have no idea how deep the shaft goes, but you do hear occasional echoes from below, like shifting of rocks or shuffling.

Clearly agitated, Einhard grabs Dora's reigns and mutters, "Never thought I'd be leading you through a damn mountain, girl." and begins to carefully lead her along the path of the mining cart tracks. "Can someone with a torch get up here so I can see where the hell I am going?" He paused for a moment and added "And you better not run us over with that damn cart."

"If someone has a torch, I can carry one up front."

Casting a final, suspicious look at the cart, Regdoc took his place behind Amalrik near the front of the caravan through the mountain with Chomper near his side.

Thud volunteers to take Regdoc's torch and stand toward the back.

Yagi will move close to the front but not too close, using her infravision to help out when she can.

Creston lingers near the back, his eyes on the mouth of the cave, just in case that manticore starts sniffing them out. If the manticore tries to reach in, he's getting an arrow in the paw.

And we are off, exploring the lost mine of ... the manticor. Yes, the once lost, now found, famous manticor mine. Amalrik resists bursting into song, "Hi Ho, Hi Ho ..." even though this place does need some cheerfulness.

Thud stops the party. "We really should take the cart. Maybe a couple of us could push it ahead of us? I'm holding a torch, so I can't, but a couple others of us."

"Thud is probably right, I can help push if someone carries the torch. or hook Dora up so it doesn't run over anyone."

Einhard stepped to the side of the tracks. "Fine. Take the cart, but someone should be inside it to apply the brake. Otherwise, the first downhill and the cart is going for a ride." He gently patted Dora' on the chest to keep her as calm as possible. "Let's just get moving. The sooner we get through this damn mountain the better."

"Good idea..."

Regdoc hopped back into the cart, took the torch from Brodd and waited for the forthcoming response from Einhard.

"I surmise there's a sub-mountain temple or underground city perhaps..." In the torchlight Regdoc inspected one of the statue pieces.

OOC: Sorry Brodd, I couldn't help myself ;-) Love ya bro!

OOC -s'alright!

Amalrik sighs, gives the cart a look/see. Then puts his shoulder against it for a test push/shove. Easy going ?? Or is the brake on ??

Brodd leans in beside Amalrik to push the cart.

Yagi and Mistah Wong peer ahead into the darkness.

"Let's hook up Sasar's mule to the cart, Amalrik and I can help the mule on hills, then we can get our order straight and be on our way."

The old man bowed his head wearily for a moment in prayer...

"Oh Wandering One Whose Footfalls Sound Within Mine Soul!" It was a good way to begin a prayer.

"We seem to have become stuck, as it were, at a point of indecision and inaction, unable to retreat yonder for the danger of a hungry manticore is nigh at our backs, and the tunnels ahead which are scratching of those seeking the treasures of this very mountain, seemeth to us dark and unknown... Grant us the ability to put one foot in front of the other and theresowith ambulate forth toward riches or glory, or even simple escape from infinite tons of overhanging rock... Give to us the impetus we need to move ahead and not squander the days we've been given to seek New Paths... May our circumstances improve with momentum away from this spot which has bogged us down. May our motivations direct us away from this destiny-destroying dawdle..."

A little more lengthy than his normal prayers, but certainly not a long-winded monologue... yet.

Covertly, one rheumy eye opened to see if anyone was listening...

"Guide us is my prayer and help us get going, even if it be with the thrust of hot pokers into our lackadaisical posteriors..."

"Onward then and Ever In Thine Path we pray!"

Wrapped up well with a rousing and expectant finale.

Regdoc lifted his eyes anew to see how much progress had been made...

"Cart or no cart. I really don't care. It's time to move." Einhard slung his shield over his back and took the torch out of Regdoc's hand. He proceeded to carefully guide his horse along the tracks deeper in to the mine.

Sasar crawls in the cart for the ride down, sitting comfortably beside the other old man, Regdoc. Saving his legs for the downward trek.

"Shall we start moving? Einhard is pulling away from us." Brodd goes to the front of the cart and leads the mule forward.

Sasar fiddles with the cart's controls and finds a way to essentially put it in Neutral gear, so it can be pulled slowly by the mule or pushed from behind with minimal effort without lurching down the spiraling tracks.

Yagi watches the two old humans in the cart with much amusement, a memory from another dimension and time invade her thoughts, maybe Mistah Wong was trying to tell her something.

As clear as day she hears a voice, "Statler and Waldorf".
This message was last edited by the player at 19:50, Tue 23 Apr 2019.

Amalrik walks beside the cart. Letting the knight and horse go first. However, he stays behind the knight, not the horse ... Years on the plains you see ...

Brodd walks to the inside so the mule doesn't knock him into the chasm.

Chomper refuses to jump into the cart, whimpering and shying away from the lizard still clinging to the side, slipping to the back of the party.

Thud tries to help the others lead the mule to the front of the cart. He keeps his short sword handy in case the lizard gets any ideas.

Regdoc pulled out a bit of crumbs from his supply of rations and dropped them near the lizard. "If we're going to be traveling companions, we might as well become friends..."

There was something odd about finding a lizard in a cavern, especially one with extra legs. "Basketus... bisquiliss... bampherfly... bah!" He couldn't quite remember...

"Basilisk?" Sasar asks Regdoc.

A voice echoes from further down the shaft.

"DAT BLOODY LIZARD TIP ME DOWN DE DROP-AWAY!! COME DOWN HERE I FRICASSEE YE WIT' LIME SALTS! AN SAVE D'TAIL FER LA'DER!!

"The dwarf lives! We are coming my friend, lie still until we reach you and care for you!"

In reply to Regdoc (msg # 28):

"I told ya dem lizard wern't good to eat, drop ya dead and quick!"

Dwarghar blinks his eyes open, taking in his new surroundings. He feels... different now... like the blow knocked the stupid out of him...

At the sound of Brodd's voice, he looks up to where he fell, and where he is now. He responds, in a thoughtful tone, "Aye lad, the sooner the better. But don't endanger yourselves on account of little old me."

He'll bring himself to his feet, get a feel for his new abode down here, and move to a more defensible location while he waits for his comrades.

There's a bit of a crevice where he'll be further away from the ledge. His boot crunches on bone as he moves.

"Post haste Sir Einhard, but be careful of your steps, the dwarf is alive for now, we must reach him to care for his injuries!"

Einhard continued moving at a careful pace. He never been in a mine, yet alone guiding a horse through one. "Yes, he saved our lives. But it was own stupidity that landed that dwarf at the bottom of this place. I do not wish for Dora or myself to follow his example. You're welcome to go first if you want to move faster." Shouting a bit louder so the dwarf could here him, he called out "What do you see down there? Is there a way forward? We'll be there soon."

"No, no, no, I never said to endanger yourself Einhard, I said move as fast as you can safely go. Even if you are already going as fast as you can safely go. Do you have any broken bones?" he yells to the dwarf.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:17, Fri 26 Apr 2019.

Manaku surges forward at the sound of the cry, but holds back at Brodd's words.

Thud stays with the others, holding the torch.

Sasar sits alert in the ore cart next to Regdoc, wondering how the dwarf survived that fall!

The Exemplars slowly spiral further downward. It seems that mineshaft narrows as it descends, giving Dwargar more of a steep fall down a hill than a straight plummet. In fact except for the bump to his thick dwarven skull which suddenly cleared his manticore-obsessed brain, he doesn't feel any other injuries.

The party finally reaches a point where the Dwargar's ledge is about 10 feet below the cart.

"Who has a rope to lower down?"

"I've got some oil and a candle, perhaps we could burn him out?"

It must have been long past the oldster's naptime. Jests weren't usually his thing, and this moment was no exception.

He tapped his hand on the side of the minecart. "Nay, I don't have any rope, nor spikes, nor much of anything useful apart from my bedding and food for that no-good, begging, flea-wagon over there..."

Chomper raised his ears a bit, at what he assumed was a compliment.

"We're here, . . .Dwarghar is it? Just trying to find a rope to lower down for you."

Dwarghar maneuvered to the crevice, trying not to think too hard about what he was stepping on. As he heard Brodd, he reached for the rope in his pack and replied "I have some rope, friend. Simply shine a light so I can see what I'm doing... and where I am."

Einhard kneels down and holds the torch over the edge.

Brodd carefully gets down next to Einhard and reaches his arm down and out to catch the rope when Dwarghar throws up an end. "Toss up an end and I'll catch it! We'll pull you up then or you can climb if you can."

Sasar watches intently with Regdoc from inside the cart. "Young man's work Regdoc, this is young man's work."

"Use it or lose it..." The oldster snorted as he once again clamored out of the cart and helped lend an effort to pulling on the end of the rope. He could not help but wonder at just how much he'd actually already lost... He'd have time enough to relax when the clumsy dwarf was out of the hole and he could climb back into the cart.

Chomper, thinking this was some new game, and certainly being somewhat game-deprived as it were, bit the end of the rope and began tugging violently as well.

Dwarves ... Amalrik stands by to act as an anchor once the rope is caught. Let the spry ones do the catching, then he will assist as needed. Hopefully the dwarf will have a flask of something flavorful to imbibe afterwards.

The dwarf is able to clamber up the secured rope, and pulled up by the rescuing hands of those he himself rescued by his frantic warnings.

"Are you injured?" he asks Dwarghar.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:27, Mon 29 Apr 2019.

"We owe you a debt of gratitude for warning us and guiding us to the cave." Regdoc said when they'd finished hoisting the dwarf to the main tunnel. "It's been a perilous journey for us, made the more so by the rockfall. I trust that perhaps you'll guide us through these depths?"

The old Seeker stepped a bit closer, knelt on one knee with a creaking of bones that would make everyone wince, and touched the dwarf's feet. "May your steps follow the Path that will lead us through this mountain. By the Wandering God I bless it be so..."

Retrieving his torch, Regdoc climbed into the cart next to Sasar for perhaps the fourth time in the last quarter hour. "Let's get going, nothing grows down here but fungus and mildew. I'm for seeing the light at the end of this particular tunnel..."

Einhard stood up and held his torch toward the dwarf to get a better look at him. "Seems we're even now. You saved us, we saved you. Since there is really only one way forward at this point, join us." He moved to his horse and grasped her reigns to continue on, then paused briefly and asked "Any chance you know how to get the hell out of here?"

As Yagi stares down the mineshaft, the lizard crawls closer to her. It starts flicking its forked tongue in the eye socket of the skull known as Mr. Wong.

"HEY! Why you get so heavy!"

Her shining eyes widen in horror as she realizes the skull has turned from bone to rock.

"MISTAH WONG! NO! SPEAK TO ME!"

She tugs on the rod, trying to pull the skull from the lizard's clamped jaws.

"LET GO YOU MONSTA! ME SEND YOU BACK TO ORCUSSSSS...."

Her eyes had locked with those of the small basilisk, and she immediately learns the high price of her error as her body turns to stone.

The rest of the party can only watch in horror as the petrified goblin, who was tugging backwards with all her might, now teeters over the edge and falls backwards with the lizard still latched onto the skull.

There's a loud CLANK as she bounces off the ledge where Dwarghar had just been before she spins forever away into the darkness below.

[DM: Yagi is removed from play]

Dwarghar gets up and starts dusting himself off, while also address his new group of comrades.

"I seem uninjured, lads. 'Cept mayhaps for my pride. I think you for the rescue, and the invitation. I'd be glad to accompany you fine folk down this shaft."

"I told you it was a basilisk, the goblin is dead now along with her 'Mr. Wong.' Should we slay it? Where is the critter? I don't see it now. Did it fall with her?"
This message was last edited by the player at 19:31, Mon 29 Apr 2019.

It went over the side with her.

So, there went the nearest thing Alietra had to a gal pal in this company.    All the conversation she'd now miss out on...  she'd been dying to hear about the perils of goblin courtship. And if carrying a decapitated skull on a stick made a girl goblin more or less popular with the guys.    Ah, well...

the goblin is dead now along with her 'Mr. Wong.'


Ali nodded knowingly, "They messed with the wong lizard, that's for certain."

She eyed the dwarf, semi-impressed he'd survived all that.

Why did people mess with pits, reptiles, and gateways to infernal nether realms?    It was a shameful lack of common sense...

[Moving to next scene]

Thud looks at the statue that was the goblin. He kicks it. "That's for charming me. Hope you rest with yer dumb god," he says with mixed emotion in his voice for the goblin's passing. He then goes with the others...

[NOW we move to the next scene! :-)]

ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCK: SWEET REVENGE

2 XP FOR THE HALFLING
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:14, Wed 01 May 2019.