”I might be able to hit it with a bullet but then it for sure will know we’re here and slither in to the den so he can turn around and face us.  If people can climb down or if someone brought rope it may miss the sounds and movement since it’s trying to...eat.  I don’t have any rope though so my options are limited...” remarked Telemachus as he sheathed the scimitar and pulled the sling free with a bullet from a pouch.  Putting the bullet in the leather he spun it fast enough to hold the bullet but not so fast he couldn’t stop it easily.

”Those nimble enough to get down or have rope it’s your call...”

Wick sets down his backpack and pulls out a rope.  "I've got one."  He moves to tie it to the nearest anchor point.  "I'll head down, but I need one of you overhead, to help pull me out if I need it."

"Dak can counterweight you around that tree," he pointed to one that was about 20 feet away that he could bend the rope around and wrap around his waist to make it easy to hold up Wick's weight climbing down.  It equally would be easier to pull on the rope to haul Wick back up quickly instead of it being tied off, "I'll keep overwatch with the sling so if it hears your decent before you and others get down I can distract it.  If you make it down and it's too busy to notice we'll tie it off and come down so we can overwhelm it below..."

Tossing down the pack he'd retrieved, Dak stabbed his javelin into the ground next to it and helped set up the rope for him to anchor.

"Unless it gets a lot bigger down there," he observed, "it may not be practical for us all to go down.

"Maybe just those who can see in the dark?"

The rope had been adequately secured, ready for those who were going to descend with its assistance, by the time that Storm, trailed by Panatix, emerged from the house into the yard by the well.

Storm scaLES down the rope and finds his friends.

"WHat happened? Anyone hurt?"he asks, glancing at Dak and Telemanchus and the blood on the ground. Storm will try to determine if the blood is due to stab wound, slash wound or something.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:00, Tue 26 Nov 2019.

Clarification:

Wick, rope tied about him, moves towards the well.  "I'm gonna take a look."

Moving towards the well, Wick makes sure that his dagger is near at hand.  He couldn't get the image out of his head that the rope is a fishing line and he's the bait.

Westin walks over to the edge of the well, taking a look down, careful to stay out of the way of the others. He then retreats, shaking his head. While the others are focused on descending down the well, he stands watch, making sure nothing sneaks up while the group's attention is diverted.

Dak loosened up the rope around the tree to give the climber some slack to work with.  He wasn't lowering the man down, just ready to catch him if he fell or pull him up if he needed it.

"Ready when you are," he said to Wick.

Lenelle whispered an Atuan prayer of protection, hoping against hope Karel might still be able to be saved.   She'd prepared for spirits and skeletons, and found herself out of her depth when it came to giant serpents.

Like Westin, she stood watch, on the off chance Ric's employers might have any surprise in store.    Other than a giant, man-swallowing snake, that was to say.

Bravely, Panatix edged near the well, one of the pearls from the satchel tightly held between finger and thumb of one hand, as he seemed ready to consider taking action.

As several of the group warily watched for any other surprises that might be in store, Wick descended the old well with the rope's assistance.  The well itself was a fairly standard well, except that several feet down fallen bricks from the side of the well and other debris had blocked the well, leaving the well with a relatively dry "floor".  Also, when descent to the floor had been completed, it could be seen that that side without bricks had been enlarged into something of a cave.

Panatix continues to roll the sea pearl between his finger and thumb, trying to look over the well wall, not as easy for a gnome!  For the moment, he waits to hear what Wick finds.

Telemachus meanwhile has the sling back in an easy spin as he gauged where he might need to stand to get the most decent release to hit the snake if it went for Wick before the man could place himself where he wanted.  Mindful of the noise he waited to see if he looked back up at them and only then did his free hand move in a series of of complex shapes,

Line

"Let me know if I need to pull," Dak called over to those near the well.  "I can't see from here, so let me know what you need."

Storm moves protectively ahead to protect his friends. He unsheathes his mace and prepares for battle in the event there is a need to fight.

As Westin stands looking about for anything that might be a threat, a sound comes from his knapsack. "roew, roew, roew,".

"Ok, ok, hold on," he says aloud. He carefully puts down his knapsack and out pops a cat. "My cat," he explains to any who happen to be paying attention. He then turns to the cat. "Take a good whiff. Let me know what you find but don't get in the way," Westin warns the cat. "Karel is missing."

"Meow," the cat says, as if in reply. He saunters over to the very edge of the well, peering down. After several long moments, he retreats and heads over to where the blood lies on the ground. He walks beside the scene of the fight occasionally pausing and looking about.

OOC:
Does the cat notice anything not noticed by the others?

Lenelle eyed the feline when it was revealed.   Not without a certain amount of affinity --  she had a liking for them, had care taken several whom were retained for mousing purposes at the abbey.    She was fairly certain this one would be what a mage deemed as a familiar.

She silently and humorously promised to get this one a dried fish, if in fact it revealed any telling clues...

Jade began sniffing the blood on the ground, and then began to growl, ears flattened back as the tail began to puff in classic bottle-brush manner.

Westin looks over at Jade, a look of concern on his face. He then looks back at the well.

"Be careful," Westin calls out. "Jade, my cat, is sensing poison."

Storm gets ready for any conflict. As he is rather low in the order; he has not learnt how to deal with poison. He could only hope that the will of the party prevails.

Telemachus nodded as he waited for Wick to signal others to come down if the cave den was big enough to warrant sending others down but added quietly to Westin, "With that much blood it was likely.  Had it been a constrictor there would have been less to no blood but much more disturbed ground due to thrashing around."