Expedition Stage 8:  The Lair of the Wyrm pt 1
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Above, on watch, were Jack and Ben, Jack looking for threats from the sky while Ben watched the work below.  Thorne's camera was found in the sled, intact, and lowered down on a rope by Jack.  "Don't take too long," Ben cautioned.
Above Jack, the albatross hovered, wings steady in the slight wind, waiting for them.

Below, Fritz hurried to Thorne and hugged him, with Bruno happily wagging a spiked scaly tail.  Then Fritz rigged a harness onto Thorne and changed the ropes.   "Use the ascender crank, get out of here," he said.
For once, Thorne stayed quiet, nods, and ascends.  Spider managed to open up the camera, pointing it at the various pillars and snapping the shutter, not really knowing if he was getting a good picture or not.  The great worm itself did not move, and Bruno didn't seem fretted by it, nor interested in chewing on it.   The hellhound didn't fuss as Fritz clipped a rope to his harness, but did move off to lift a leg against one of the pillars.   Thorne got to the top and was hauled out by Ben and Jack.

The albatross screeched once, a long 'Kyarrrrehhh."  At that, Bruno perked up, then leaped onto one of the half-toppled pillars, claws biting deep into the stone, apparently intending to climb up and jump back out.  A faint, crystalline crackling sound then rose in the cavern, icicles breaking from the ceiling to shatter on the floor below, forcing Spider and Fritz to dodge.  The floor of the cavern trembled slightly, shaking the snow and ice.    Bruno galumphed upwards along the stone pillar at a 40 degree angle, clearly making for the exit.

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GM:  Spider, roll photography, d100, and climbing, d100; Jack, roll on sanity as you can see something from above that the people down below cannot see.  Actions, etc, please respond by Saturday 30 September, next post Sunday. Hope all is well with you.
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Newly energized from the patches, Jack helps expedite getting the others back out of the hole as needed, otherwise keeping a lookout around their position.
   “Sweet Jesus!” he exclaims when he sees a threat looming above. Then, as his mind works to accommodate whatever it is [SAN roll 29], he adds, “Don’t look up! Just get out here and get moving!”
   He will try to throw a Deflect Harm over the group, and ready the wand in case he needs to go on the offensive. He will try to describe the threat in general terms as they move, so his friends have an idea of what’s coming and possibly avoid mental trauma if they’re forced to see it.

OOC:  As usual, please roll both skills for me.  Thank you.

IC:

Spider decided that if Bruno wanted out, it was time to go.  He packed the camera into bag and attached to a rope then began to climb out.

Expedition Stage 8: The Lair of the Wyrm pt 2

Spider quickly advanced the film from the last photo, shoved the camera into its case and grabbed his rope, quickly getting out of there, while Fritz had come to a similar conclusion and was only a bit slower in his escape.  Below them, the ice coating the giant worm crackled and shattered, as the behemoth flexed, but it did not unwind from the pillars.  Bruno's sizeable backside had already cleared the hole and the hellhound was skidding on the surface snow as he tried to slow his momentum.   (Spider's rolls via dice roller, 19% photography, 9% climbing).  Up on the surface, Spider stowed the camera in the sled and checked over the team - they looked good, able to pull, and the sled had only taken minor damage, one runner needing some minor repairs.

It was Jack, though, who took the sanity loss from seeing the giant worm begin to move (-5 san, new phobia, Helminthophobia), and felt the sudden horror of its existence.  Another nightmare to add to the hellish cast of his current repertoire.  That they were able to move away from it before it stirred further was good, but his heart was beating overtime from all the adrenaline.

"Let's go," Ben said, almost unnecessarily, as both Fritz and Spider were making all due speed away from the hole in the ice shelf.  Bruno's snapped harness slowed them down for only a moment as Fritz rigged it back together, and everyone, including the albatross, seemed eager to head onwards into the North.   The sleds were put back on course, with Bruno trailing now, Fritz mushing, and Spider in front with Thorne, Ben and Jack in the middle.
As for Jack, he was bundled into the sled into the warm furs.  As the shock wore off, he slept, a deep sleep from exhaustion, dimly registering in a dream a fur-clad man with a blonde beard off in the distance, across a huge expanse of snow.  It looked like Ben, but also not like Ben, somehow.  The albatross was also there, flying overhead in a pale blue sky.  The thunder of paws on snow, with the scraping of the sleds' runners, added a musical element.

Although the Agents were concerned about another aircraft, there was no sign of one, but on the horizon, a plume of smoke could be seen to the North.  The dogs had run fast, aided by a gentle downslope of the plateau, and the smoke was a sign of civilisation.   Jack woke, upon hearing a discussion, and realizing they were not moving anymore.  The huskies and Bruno were fairly quiet, being busy chewing on pemmican blocks.  High up on the Vinson Massif, the Albatross had landed, looking off into the North.
"Yes, it looks like someone's over there, and it's not a small campfire," Thorne was saying, looking into binoculars at the far-off plume of smoke.  "About how much further ?"
"Best part of another day's travel." Fritz said, looking at the map.  "There's no way to sneak up on them and get a closer look without being seen."
"If it's the Navy, what are the options ?"  Ben asked.
"You really don't want to know," Thorne said.
"The dogs are tired," Fritz added.  "We can make camp here.  If we climb up the Massif, perhaps we can get a sighting from the rifle scopes."
"If we rest a while, will the dogs be strong enough to get us to that fire ?"  Ben asked.  "If it's not the Navy, perhaps we can come to an agreement.  If it -is- the Navy, perhaps they'll put us in the brig instead of shooting us."
"I told you, it would not be dull working for this boss," Fritz said to Thorne.
"I already paid up on that bet," Thorne snorted.  "And what do we do with Bruno, claim he's a Southern Porcupine Rattlesnake Hound ?"
"I can put an illusion on him, maybe a Saint Bernard," Ben said.  "Long enough for us to put him out of sight, hopefully."
"And if we get left on the ice ?"  Thorne asked.
"We can eat penguins and seals and hope for the best," Ben replied.
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GM:  Actions, decisions, etc, for the next hour or so of game time ?  Trying to check out the smoke, resting, any other options ?  Please respond by Saturday 6 October, next post is Sunday.
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[OC: Oops, I misunderstood “see something from above,” as you probably already figured out.]
     When the sleds stop moving, Jack wakes from his troubled sleep, muttering to himself: “They didn’t see it. It’s awake now. And even though it’s so huge, it can move through those tunnels where we can’t even see it coming. There could be tunnels everywhere beneath us, even right here! And there could be more of those things, and they could all be waking up …”
    He stops himself with a visible effort and takes a couple of swallows of brandy from a flask.  Eventually he tries to jot down what he can remember from the dream in a notebook before it fades, and tells Ben about it when he has a chance.
    He tries hard to focus on the conversation and asks, “Why is the Navy trying to kill us, again? Can’t we just say we’re a research team from an American university and we’re in distress? Which is the truth.”
    Then he will sit back down and try to regain his composure, silently praying to Athena for help on this last leg of their adventure. And protection from giant worms, also.

Spider took out his trusty rifle, bequeathed to him by the great hunter himself, and slung it over his shoulder and grabbed some pitons, a rope and a hammer.  "Give me a couple of hours.  I'll see what I can spot from up there."