"Then maybe we retreat to the structure we were checking out?"

After a moment, he shook the blindness from his eyes, desperately trying to get the sand out. He blinked rapidly many times and finally began to see again. "Well. That was unpleasant." He let out a breath. "And yes, I am wounded, but...I will survive for now. I'm...wary of using any of my magic for fear it may not return after a rest and prayers. What if what I have is...all I have left?" He sounded...a little fearful of that, not terrified, just a little scared and wary.

But then he nodded. "Aye. We should keep moving towards the building I guess, and hope we have no more unwelcome surprises."

“Ugh.” Basilisa wiped the last of the sand from her eyes. “The wildlife seems as repulsive as this world.” When the others brought up shelter, she cast a wary eye toward the building. “Hmm. We could gamble that we won’t encounter any other menaces inside that building…or I can gamble on my ‘tiny hut’ spell. It’s impervious back home, but I wonder how the magic-negating properties of this place would affect it…”

Almos' any surprise righ' now would be unwelcome, I think, Joser comments as he moves to retrieve his javelin from the carcass.  I wonder if any part o' this thin' is edible.  Mebbe it has a reserve o' water we ken collect.

With no one needing immediate attention you make your way to the building where you were originally headed. Leaving the worm for the moment, deciding you can always come back if need be.

You find a good entrance through a destroyed window that is just a couple feet above the sand in one area. Once inside you find yourself in a small room lined with cabinets made of a dark wood lining the opposite wall along with an intact wooden door, which likely leads to the rest of the building. There are also a couple of matching desks and chairs in the room. Everything is covered by a layer of sand that has blown in through the window in the past.

A few seconds after entering you look back outside and see a second worm rise from the sand near the first. It sways for a moment, almost like it is using some sense to check out the area. Then it grabs the first worm, shakes it violently for a moment and drags then it back under the sand out of sight.

OOC: The door to the room as well as the cabinets have close to a foot of sand piled against them. You see no sign the room has been disturbed in a very long time.

Cozy.  We could use the chairs or the desks to cover that window to protect against more sand coming in, Joser says as he looks around.  He glances out the window just in time to see the other worm arrive then disappear with its... mate, perhaps?  Well, that would explain why this place looks so unused.

Although continuing to steam a little bit longer than one might expect from the bath of hot sand Cinnabar looks much more presentable, if still burned, than just after the blast.  Even her clothing has been cleaned of sand and minor scorch marks or rips by the spells she has been quietly casting as they retreated.

Again quietly she speaks only after the second worm is gone.  ”I think a minimum of banging, thumping, or indeed loud conversation may be our best choice while we rest here.  Underground creatures may not use sight like we do but that tends to make their other senses even sharper.”

Kel'li starts quietly clearing sand away from the first cabinet, hoping to open it and see what it contains.

Bran climbed in through the window but was distracted as he heard something. He looked back and saw the second worm. His eyebrows rose upward and then he slowly shook his head. "glad we didn't stick around." he muttered quietly.

He then turned back to the room and looked around. He started clearing sand away from the door that lead to the rest of the building, thinking that they might want to explore or make sure things were safe. Or maybe find a better place to hole up possibly.

OOC: There is more building that could be explored, right? If not, ignore this and he'll help barricade the window.

Using the desks to barricade the windows would take little effort and would provide at least some degree of safety from anything outside.

When Kel'li finishes removing the sand from in front of the first cabinet it opens easily. Inside there is not much other than a stack of blank paper and what appears to be several writing implements of some sort. From the state and array of things inside it appears that it has been searched before.

Bran's efforts are similarly easy when moving the sand. As he opens the door its top hinge comes loose but otherwise nothing horrible happens. The light filtering into the hallway is enough to make out a couple doorways to the right. One at the end of the hallway about twenty feet away and one on the opposite wall maybe six feet away. To the left there is a door ten feet from you on the same side and you can see that the hall turns to the right about thirty feet or so away. It is quiet and other than the thin layer of sand the only thing that catches your attention are the small globes attached to the wall near the ceiling spaced at regular intervals.

Bran almost lost a step when the door partially come off the hinge, but he caught himself and steadied his footing. He peered down the hallway for a moment, his divine-enhanced vision easily making out details for a long distance normally. And that seemed to still work now in this new crazy world they found themselves in.

He eyed the small globes and the doorways. He looked back over his shoulder, "Anyone want to join me?"

He then pointed out the nearest globe. "Think those are...light sources?"

“I’m coming, Bran.” Basilisa lit a torch and entered passage with Bran. She stared at the globes, wondering how the engineer powered the lights. “A good question. Did the engineer use oil, or another source of power? Just how old is this building?”

Kel'li quietly follows, keeping watch down the hallway.

"I recommend we check the doors on the right first, then the left and on down the hallway."
This message was last edited by the player at 21:43, Wed 09 Nov 2022.

Cinnabar sighs, and gets her crossbow back out, staying well back from either the doors or the darkened hallway.  ”If we must kick in more doors can we at least try to do so quietly?”

Bran eyed the hallway intently. He glanced back at Kel'li and then gave a small shrug. His voice was quiet when he replied, "If you wish. The closest door would be my personal choice to start with."

He stepped forward, trying to stay alert to danger and traps.

18:50, Today: Bran Siverlight rolled 21 using 2d20+3, dropping the lowest dice only with rolls of 18,10.  Perception.

Werks fer me, Joser says.  He steps forward so as to be Bran's im ediate back-up should there be something dangerous beyond.  While the others know about his javelin of lightning, he also has a spear of exquisite enough quality that it, too, could be magical.  Yet, along with his well-beaten shield, he carries the old, well-used morningstar in his gaunltetted hands instead.

It is incredibly quiet as you enter the hallway. The thin covering of sand on the floor making your footsteps faint. Moving to the right and stopping at the first door you see no sign of other tracks, or sounds from beyond the door. Though you can see light filtering through the crack above the door.

The second door at the end of the hall is almost the same, no tracks or sounds. There does appear to be quite a bit more sand that has filtered in around this door though.

Bran looked at the two doors on the right. He gave a nod towards the one with less sand coming from it. "That one is likely to be more interesting, though the other might need to have a hole plugged or the door barricaded or something."

He glanced at everyone and then stepped to the side and opened the door so others could see in as well without him blocking it.

Cinnabar shifts the weight of her crossbow entirely to her right hand, retrieves the only slightly glowing crystal rod from her belt pouch and holds it up with her left hand and holds it up to look at it more closely.

In a quiet tone she speaks to the others.  ”I expect it will take some time, but we might not need to plan to be here indefinitely, if we can learn something about the place or gain something of value from it we should be able to move on to somewhere else later.”

The door opens easily, though it does disturb a thin layer of sand that has covered the floor. The room is fairly large with numerous windows along the right side wall. All of which a covered in dust, but intact. The last four or so has enough light filtering through to illuminate the room.

The room itself has numerous smaller desks situated in rows facing the far end of the room. Where a larger desk sits on a raised platform. There a several shelves along the walls which contain numerous books and other items. Various larger drawings hang from the walls depicting the anatomy of various creatures. Some look recognizable with slight differences from what your use to. Such as the one that appears to be a horse except for it having six legs instead of four. The others are strange and quite different.

There is one other door at the far end of the room on the left side, possibly leading to the hallway at a different point.

Bran stayed at the open door way for a moment and peered inside. He made a face, a frowning one, at the sand and dust. But then he saw more and brightened slightly. "So. Some desks we could look at it appears. Not sure anything will be there to be found but..." He gave a little shrug.

then he stepped inside the room, not slowly and carefully checking for anything hidden, but just keeping his senses generally alert on the way to the closest desk.

23:46, Today: Bran Siverlight rolled 16 using 2d20+3, dropping the lowest dice only with rolls of 9,13.  Perception.

Desks? Joser seems a bit perplexed.  He had never actually seen the inside of a school of any kind.  Everything he had learned had either been through "hard knocks" or in a more jnformal setting.  T'was a room for clarks?

Kel'li just watched from the back.

Everything is quiet as Bran moves into the room. Joser stands just inside the doorway and the others watch from the hall. Bran has just reached the closest desk when he hears a groan from the floor and feels a slight movement of the floor.

A second or so passed when suddenly there was a loud crack as a large section of the floor gave way, dropping Bran down to the floor below. Joser however seems quite nimble as he dives back through the doorway avoiding the fall to the floor below.

The others watch as Bran drops out of sight the sand and dust obscuring everything. There is a brief moment of quiet followed by a second loud crack as the floor below gives way under the weight.

OOC:
09:16, Today: Nameless, on behalf of Bran Siverlight, rolled 7 using 1d20 ((7)). Dex save.
09:21, Today: Nameless, on behalf of Joser the Demolisher, rolled 20 using 1d20 ((20)). Dex save.