"Hmm, nice." Smith remarks with pleasant surprise, staring at Elern's magical watch.

He quickly turns his attention back to the task at hand, looking to Chukk to see if the Scav plans on taking the lead, desperate to avoid that awkward thing where they both attempt a simultaneous step forward, then continue to change their minds in synchronized fashion trying to accommodate each other in a possibly never ending loop of politeness and second guessing.

Chukk turns on his lamp, still doing his best to balance the helmet on his head, and takes the lead. He gets out about ten paces ahead of the other two, paying careful attention to anywhere someone might slip, stumble, or fall.

A fork. Left and right. Left curves off left-- right curves off right (and goes down more. Left stays level).

But you now think you hear someone (male, human, adult) talking down the tunnel to the right.

"I've seen enough forks today that I could happily live out the rest of my life using just spoons and knives." Smith stares down the dark, obviously occupied path to the right.

"At some point I'm pretty sure mine management said to take a left" he thinks out loud, trying to recall anything useful from G&T'S VAGUE SUGGESTIONS. Smith clicks on his light and heads a few steps into the silent option off to the left, just for a brief Look Around before making what he hopes will be a more informed decision.

21:17, Today: Smith rolled 1d6 (2)

Smith spots no clues.

But-- just for a second-- it feels like someone's staring at him. Not just looking at him this time-- eavesdropping. Like someone he can't see is hanging on his every word.

It's creepy as heck--

--and then the feeling is gone.

The voice up ahead pauses for a few seconds, then starts talking again...

(Whatever Smith rolls next, subtract one from the best result, because now he's seriously creeped out. (If the best result is a tie, like 3 6 6, then the results won't change, and this penalty will be used up anyway.))

Running the short distance back to his friends at the fork...

"It happened again, and it's worse!" Smith whisper-shouts in a conflicted hushed but forced tone. He removes his mining helmet and mops his brow with a sleeve, his skin is pale and clammy.

"SomeONE, or someTHING is following me... it's more than keeping an eye out now, it's full fledged spying! I'm genuinely worried it has ill intent, and it's giving me shivers. Brrrrrgh."

It's as if he expects Elern and Chukk to excitedly agree with his experience, and Smith is somewhat taken aback when it obviously isn't shared by the group.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:37, Tue 30 Nov 2021.

"Okay, that's weird." Chukk hadn't felt anything, but he knew Smith well enough to know he didn't get the heebie-jeebies for no reason. "Why don't you let me take point again, just in case there's something down there that needs a dose of Chuck-Fu? You can hang back with pony-boy."

"As long as we aren't going left."

Smith takes a paranoid glance back down the dark pathway he briefly investigated.

"I guess we'll get to meet that voice."

"Then right it is." Chukk started down the tunnel on the right.

Elern nods to the two.
I am happy with right as well.

(G And T's Vague Directions and Sure, Why Not Let A Scav Down Here? have now both stopped working as scene traits.)

The tunnel opens up on a chamber about 20 feet high and perhaps 40 feet across.

It looks like this area is unstable, with fallen rocks and rubble of various sizes everywhere.

There are three large, heavy support beams to the side that have been brought, but no one's installed them so they're supporting anything yet.

On the right, what's worse, is a hole that leads downward to darkness. The hole is perhaps 10 feet wide.

You'll have to climb, crawl, and/or scramble past the rubble, rocks, and debris to the other side of the chamber.

The challenge will be 1. not hurting yourself, 2. not getting stuck, and 3. --and I cannot stress this enough-- not accidentally sliding into the hole.

(For the purposes of this scenario, Chukk gets a new Scene Trait that only he can use: Scavs Are Built For This Sort Of Thing.)

The voice can still be heard--- and it's definitely coming from the other side of the debris and rubble, not from the hole.

Or, at least, it can be heard much better from the other side than it can be heard coming from the hole.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:45, Tue 07 Dec 2021.

"Well this is a bit of a sticky wicket." Smith remarks, rubbing his stubbled chin thoughtfully.

"Think we've got enough flex-steel rope to string together, tie one end to Chukk as a safety and let him scout ahead? Best case scenario, if it's worth getting to the opposite side of this mess, maybe he can anchor it and we'll have something to help us surface folk."

He taps his protective mining hat, hesitating in thought "I really don't want to take a hike that's not worth the price of admission."

Chukk nodded in grim agreement. He was the most suited to undertake the first, riskiest crossing of the chamber. He was the most likely to Avoid Danger, because Scavs Are Built For This Sort Of Thing.

Carefully, he began his way across....

Chukk'Chee rolled 5, 4 using 2d6 ((5,4)).

Chukk nearly gets to the top... when gravel starts to cause him to slide. He slides straight for the hole...

...but stops sliding before he gets there, with more than two feet to spare.

Of course he was roped to the two men, so even if he'd slid right in, they weighed more than him, but still... yikes.

Well, maybe he'd gotten the dangerous gravel out of the way...?
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:39, Sun 12 Dec 2021.

"No, DON'T go in the hole!" Smith half-yelled his advice right about the time it would have been too late.

He wiped his brow as Chukk stopped sliding just short of the point of no return. "If you're trying to test the rope we can do that after you make it."

"Elern, I don't suppose you have a bridge in that crazy watch of yours..." Smith joked trying to break the tension.

Elern looks over at Smith.  Then down at his watch.
No.  Well not one that you can walk on anyway.  Now...
He looks back up at Smith and shakes his head.
This is a little out of my area of study but I have a look.

Elern looks up anything useful that the data on his watch can bring to help Chukk.

OOC:
21:57, Today: Elern rolled 4 using 2d6 with rolls of 3,1.  Look Around:- Watch + motivation.
Think I just made it worse.

Elern finds nothing useful for this situation.

(Elern takes -1 die forward toward his next roll.)

"Damn, that was close."

Chukk tries again to Avoid Danger, because Scavs Are Built For This Sort Of Thing, as he crosses the chamber. Going into the hole is that least thing he'd want to do, rope or no.

Chukk'Chee rolled 2,6 using d6,d6 ((2,6)).

Chukk, this time, manages to cross the chamber without nearly plummeting to who-knows-where... and now he's made it so there's a rope that stretches across the dangerous area, too...

"Nice work Chukk! Now just get what we came for and climb back."

Smith speaks loudly enough to be heard over the immense pile of rubble dividing the cavern. He lightly tugs on the rope, knowing full well he'll probably have to scale his way to the opposite side.

"You want me to check out the spooky voice by myself?" Chukk asked.

It wasn't like Smith to hang back like that. Was he that afraid of the hole?

"I mean, that would be ideal but..." Smith trails off as he tests his grip and a foothold at the base of the rubble. After a few seconds he steps back to further assess the dicey situation. With a grim look he stares at the hole for a moment, then settles his attention on the uninstalled support beams.

"Hang on a minute Chukk" Smith strains to get a better view, short of actually beginning a trek across "Chukk can you walk your end of the flex-steel rope over to the big beams?" A Cunning Ploy was taking shape in his mind and with a little luck it would give him and Elern and much more secure path to their furry friend.

Smith wasn't much of a structural engineer but he'd read enough building codes and blueprints that he could talk himself into trying something besides chancing a lizard-crawl right across the mouth of the hole.

18:29, Today: Smith rolled 1d6 (3)

"Ya, sure. You betcha." Chukk took his end of the flexsteel rope over the where the beams were. After making sure that they were not going to move, Chukk would tie his end of the rope to them.

Elern just stays quite and watches.  Climbing around and balancing was not his thing really.
For the first time in a long time he thought of his nice chair he had had at his work station.
He missed it.

Smith feels watched again.

And, this time... curiosity?

Bemusement?

Both?