This message was deleted by the player at 22:04, Sun 05 May.

Hieroman immediately moves to Cass's side, crouching down to assist her.  "Stay still, let's see if you broke anything before you try to move.". With practiced ease Hieroman first visually checks Cassandra, initially looking for signs of blood seeping through clothing, or obvious compact fractures or breaks.  She then quickly runs her hands up and down Cass's arms and legs, as she moves from visually checking to feeling if any bones are obviously out of place.  Satisfied Cass was more likely stunned and bruised she checks for concussion as she asks, "Do you want a cure?"

Bercy is mortified by his (literal) failure to hold up his end. After Cass comes crashing down, he lets go of the net and rushes to her side. Unsure if she is conscious, or even alive, he cries out, "Cass! Cass!"

He is relieved when it becomes clear that she is neither dead nor unconscious. She's only fractured, and just a little nervous from the fall.

He puts his hand under her head, his face leaning in close to hers. "I am so sorry we failed to catch you. It is entirely my fault. But I am grateful you seem to be okay."

[Pause.]

"Are  you... okay?"

EDIT: Apologies for posting all of this on the heels of Hieroman's stated actions. It was one of those instances where I was already writing my own post when she posted hers, so I never even saw it. Did not even know it was there until I read Cass's post below and was confused as to why she was addressing Hieroman. So I scrolled up, and lo and behold! Ugh. I guess I'll just leave it. But it's VERY frustrating.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:01, Yesterday.

At first it did not seem it went the way it should go; Bercy was out of position. But then she remembered that Bercy and Cassandra had had history together, so no doubt his fumble was intentional to create this tender moment between them.

Mama Cass looked up at Bercy, blushed, and said: “What happened?”

“I was checking for traps, I heard a pop, and then I blacked out. I knew I was falling but couldn’t catch myself.”

She then looked at Hieroman and chuckled: “I guess I should have let you try the chest first. Healing? Thanks! If you have more than one curative spell, sure, I’ll let you heal me. But if you only have one, save it for later. I can take care of my wound.”

“Once I catch my breath, I’ll go back up the rope and try the chest again. The trap should now be disarmed - we just need to unlock the chest. Must be something of value in there.”
This message was last edited by the player at 02:50, Yesterday.

"I only have the one," Hieroman admits in regards to the cure.  "I wouldn't wish anything bad upon you, but I think the way it unfolded worked out best.  It was my idea to hold the net open under you just in case, after all.  The net broke most of the fall.  Without it, you would have bounced of the stone floor, and that possibly would have been your end."

When Cass is again ready to climb, Hieroman holds out the corners of the net to the usual suspects again.  "We are better prepared now Bercy." she encourages the young paladin, not finding any fault in him that their erratic movement had caused him to stumble.

Cass stood up, brushed herself off, thanked the gentlemen for cushioning her fall, and healed herself with a brief and quiet entreaty to her deity, Eir.

With her bruises all healed, she waited for everyone to take their places again. Holding the rope and the safety net.

Although it was overkill, this time up she would cast her Find Traps spell just to be sure the trap on the chest was not a permanent and perpetual spell to cause one to fall…

…if still trapped, she would try to disarm. Then unlock and open…

01:00, Today: Cassandra rolled 7 using 1d8.  CLW self. – 7 Yay! Fully healed!

Archonia wondered aloud if opening the chest would cause whatever it contained to fall, or would the reverse gravity hold it in place to be collected? While there was a net, some things could fall through. Perhaps putting cloaks across the net would ensure it was kept collected, and might also be a bit more cushioned.

”The chest is upside down to us, which mean Cass can open it and look inside without the contents spilling out, because of the reversed gravity. Once we know what it contains we can determine whether we leave them there to collect on our return, because they’re not going anywhere, or if some or all of the contents could be helpful in this complex she can hand pick them out for us to use.” She looks to Archonia.  ”Your idea will be good for when we return, though.”

"And if opening the lid breaks the reverse gravity enchantment?" Archonia responded, a statement as much as a question. "Cassandra will be safe hanging on to the rope. The contents of the chest, not so much."

"Nor would it be a good idea to leave anything while we go elsewhere, even if the spell persists. There were numerous canoes, on this shore and others, some we took to get here, so traffic presumably passes through. And someone put the chest there in the first place. They could conceivably bring it down again. We should not give them the chance," she finished, thinking her response should have been harsher, to sound like an effective foil, or perhaps more cloying, to sound like a convincing frenemy.
This message was last edited by the player at 11:17, Yesterday.

Brant looks up considering the options.
"Cass, did you see what's holding the chest in place? Maybe instead of opening it, we should hoist the whole thing down. If we open it, all the stuff'll come fallig out."

“I’ll look at the chest to see. I didn’t check to see if it is even connected to the ceiling the first time I went up. I presume the reverse gravity is and will continue to hold the chest and its contents, like Hieroman suggests, but it is always possible that opening the chest breaks that effect - I had not considered that, but I guess it’s possible. Thanks for all the recommendations. I’ll see if I can figure it out this time. I might not even be able to unlock it.” Cass responds to the group.

(OOC) @DM: after casting Find Traps, but BEFORE unlocking the chest, Cass will examine the chest to see if it is bolted to the ceiling. She will do so visually and by trying to slide, nudge, or lift it before it is unlocked or opened.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:26, Yesterday.

Bart listens to the conversation but has no opinion to offer. Instead he looks at Bercy and shakes his head, feigning disapproval regarding the young squire's embarrassing "failure," as the two paladins once again take up the net.

Cass's divination does not reveal the presence of any additional traps within the chest or in the area around it. It is locked, she discovers, after having oozed up the mobile intestinal track for a second time and having tried to open it.

Nothing is visible to the eye which might explain the chest's ceiling-top location.

Cass will attempt to unlock the chest, without opening it, and then listen for (and be prepared for) any change of gravity. Hopefully the guys below can net the chest and its contents if it does fall. If nothing changes upon unlocking, she will carefully open it. Once opened, or if it refuses to be unlocked, then they will decide what to do with the chest and any contents.

Down below Hieroman speaks in a calm voice that is unlikely to carry up to Cass.  She speaks in particular to the other three holding the net as she keeps her eyes on the thief up above.  "If the chest falls, let it, Cass is the only thing that can't be replaced."  She doesn't take her eyes off Cass to see if they agree, because to her the logic is sound.  If a chest fell into the net, they weren't likely to be able to hold the net up off the floor to also offer Cass some protection, and having her fall on top of the chest was probably only slightly better than having her hit the floor.

Rasxif, still keeping his post beside the magical rope, nods in agreement. ”There’s no harm if the chest is shattered when it strikes the ground. But we cannot replace members of the company.”

The chest resists the slender insinuations of Cass's picks. Some other means will have to be deployed.

18:00, Today: The Host, on behalf of Cassandra, rolled 58 using 1d100.  Pick locks.

You can make your thievery rolls, Cass. But you won't be able to attempt to pick this lock again until you gain more expertise.

Brant puffs his cheeks in frustration.
"Ornwin, can I borrow your axe? I'll shimmy up there and see what happens when I give it a whack."

Cass hears the conversation below.

“Brant! Hold on! We could try to pull the chest down with ropes and catch it in the net or, as you suggest, just break it open. But I’m assuming there are some valuable potions and other glass or jewelry in here that might break if you whack the chest. It’s not going anywhere - and we might find a key that fits the lock if we search a little more.”

She hopes Brant will accept her suggestion.

Archonia doubted that the others cared much about potential potions breaking, or they would have put a cover over or cloaks on the net to keep such small things from passing through.

She called up, "Are there hinges on the back that could be pried off? Then the lid could perhaps be ripped or leveraged off. That would not damage the items inside, unless they are fragile and fall."

She was not sure if they had anything up to the task of prying, but it could not hurt to ask.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:38, Yesterday.

Bart thought Archonia’s suggestion was a perfectly good one. “If anyone would like to offer up their cloaks to drape over the net before Cass takes the next step, be my guest!” he calls out to the rest of the party.

Rasxif offers his short sword. ”It is magical. Shouldn’t break.”

Cass looks at the rungs on either side of the chest. With a rope tied to the handle on each side of the chest (there are handles, no?) and passed through a rung on its respective side and dropped down to one of the strong men, two men can hold the chest with the ropes and slowly lower the chest after 2 or 3 others pull the chest loose from the ceiling using a rope tied directly to the chest and not threaded through the rungs. Once it’s in free fall, the two strong men can then slow its descent to the net or floor.

If the chest has handles, Cass will explain her idea to the party to slowly lower the chest to the ground.

Hieroman speaks her mind to those also standing around looking up.  "We don't want to be lugging a chest around if it turns out to be full of coins, at least not until we leave.  For now we probably only want to see if it contains usable magical items, or maybe a map of this place.  I agree with Archonia, Cass should try taking the pins out of the hinges or smash a looking hole in the top.  If it's heavy most of what it holds is probably safest left up there."

She then raises her voice to make sure Cassandra up above can hear her.  "Cass have you tried moving the chest?  How heavy is it?  If it's too heavy it's pointless bringing it down.  Just pull the pins or smash a hole in the top so you can rummage around inside to see what it holds."

She will then stop looking up at what Cass is doing and begin searching the room and the straw mats in particular.  It's unlikely, but perhaps there is a key just waiting to be found.