"Oil! FIRE!" cries Jack.
He starts to race off in search of oil but then skids to a halt to shout at the old man:
"You got any? Oil?"
If the old man doesn't have any, Jack tries his luck with the abandoned buildings.
18:21, Today: Jack Quick the Beggar rolled 3 using 1d20 ((3)). Luck is 9.
 
This message was last edited by the player at 00:50, Fri 10 Mar 2023.

20:55, Today: Urmdrak the Rebel rolled 9 using 1d20 ((9)).

Luck is 10

the old man has none to spare, but you find one flask of oil in your search of the abandoned cottages.

(Does Urmdrak find any?)

Urmdrak finds a flask of oil as well.

"Well, that makes 3 flasks, with Jack's, Urmdrak's, an mine. A start, anyway. Our new friends seem eager to get going, so we should start down the well now before nightfall."

"Pyke, my man, you need to learn to listen. Why on earth would we go down the well? There are a lot of zombies and brain eating worms down there. Throw fire into the well, block the smoke from coming out and wait out here with torches and pitchforks to take out any stragglers. Don't jump into the well full of death"

In reply to Urmdrak the Rebel (msg # 25):

"Urmdrak, my good, dwarf. They aren't simply piled up at the bottom of the well! There could be miles of passageways down there."

Pyke forces a smile and nods at the newcomers before looking back at Urmdrak. With a clenched jaw he whispers, "They're all set to poke down there first. Let them!!"

Jack trots over to Urmdrak and Pyke, oblivious to their exchange.
"Lucky to find that extra oil, huh!? Are we gonna send down a burning fireball or what?!"

Jack's head swivels back and forth eagerly between Urmdrak and Pyke, waiting for the go-ahead to build the incendiary.

"I'm sorry, miles of passageway?"

Urmdrak looks at the well, then at Pyke, then at the well.

"Why would there be a whole tunnel down there? Who would built it? With what purpose? Did I miss the part where the brain eating worms made giant lairs for their young?"

In reply to Urmdrak the Rebel (msg # 28):

Pyke huffs with impatience. "What do worms do but dig tunnels?!"
He pauses and looks thoughtfully at the well, then back at Urmdrak.
"Perhaps you're right and someone with your hereditary... 'strengths' might be a better judge of that whole underground burrowing thing. How about applying some of that dwarven know-how and having a look first before we blindly dumping all our oil down there?"
This message was last edited by the player at 17:53, Sun 12 Mar 2023.

"We're not making a fire-bomb, then?" asks Jack sadly.

"Fine, the new guys can scout the well then! And hey, if there is a massive cavern at the bottom of a WELL, then you get to gloat about being right. But I find it hard to believe that worms that fit inside a human body would make massive tunnels we can explore."

"Me, GLOAT?! Bah! I'm just doing my small part to help the poor souls in this whatsitcalled town find some peace."
"...and make a little coin while we're at it," he added softly.

"Elf-woman. You seem eager to prove yourself. How about you and you friend there go have a look?"

"Jack, get them a torch!"
This message was last edited by the player at 20:16, Sun 12 Mar 2023.

Jack, still sad about the change of plans, hunted around his pack for a torch. After a moment, he looked up.
"Can't find one. Must have forgotten to pick some up before we left."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:20, Sun 12 Mar 2023.

In reply to Jack Quick the Beggar (msg # 33):

"Must have forgotten..." growled Pyke under his breath as his face blossomed with a purplish hue.

"Would one of you PLEASE spare a torch for our companions so they can see what's down there waiting for us?!"
This message was last edited by the player at 20:18, Sun 12 Mar 2023.

Urmdrak groans, and passes a torch to the group, for whoever would take it. "I only have the one, so try not to... ah, who am I kidding, I'm never seeing it again. Here"

A motley group of four arrives on the scene.

There's a human male cooper who evidently takes his work with him, as he is carrying a barrel.

There's a human male corn farmer who must follow the same philosophy because he carries  a pitchfork in one hand and a duck in the other.

There's a human female hunter with a short bow and a gleam in her eye.

And there's a human male gambler with a club and a toothpick in his teeth. He shakes some dice in his spare hand.

"What's the situation?" Bradley the cooper asks.

The situation is described.

"What sorta odds will ya give me that the first one down dies right quick?" asks the gambler menacingly, who goes by Sharper.

The corn farmer, Ocrin, doesn't have a lot to contribute, but his duck says "quack".

The hunter is a small woman named Chayce. She's a little more alert than her traveling companions.

"It seems to me," she says, "that the wisest course of action would be to wait for them to come up OUT of the well. In the tunnels, we'll be constrained. Out here, we may make use of our numbers and circle the well so that none of us is in the way of each other. We could ready a ring of oil to ignite, for example, or even just some pointy sticks in the ground. Something a worm would be unhappy to crawl over. Once the beasties have been bested, THEN we may proceed down the well and purge it of its infection. As a hunter, that is my professional opinion."

Pyke stares unblinking at the huntress during her soliloquy. At its completion, he clears his throat.
"You're suggesting we wait till dark and all those... things come streaming out to kill us? The same things that swept through town, killing everything in their wake?"

Jack shrugs.
"I dunno, sounds like a good idea to me. I wouldn't fancy being stuck at the bottom of a well with a bunch of worm-monsters creeping around."

"Yes, precisely!" Chayce the huntress, pleased that her plan had been so fully grasped. "Because everything that wants to terrorize up HERE has to come out of THERE." She snaps and points to the well opening.

"It's what we call 'a target rich environment'. We can concentrate our efforts here, with our pitchforks -"

Ocrin the corn farmer acknowledges this with a "Rrrr."

"- our arrows -" She gestures to her bow.

"- and our flasks of burning oil!" she concludes proudly. "What better time to throw our fire-bombs than when we know our prey is contained and cannot escape? We may set our traps right here" - she whistles and once again indicates the well opening - "and be confident of their success. We fight on our terrain and on our terms, not theirs."

Pyke's eyes shift back and forth, a metronome for his thinking thoughts.
Then a smile breaks across his face.
"Of course! A bold plan that couldn't help but work! Obviously, you have things well in hand, so I'll leave you to make the necessarily preparations."

Jack likewise smiles broadly.
"Glad someone has a decent plan, huh. What would you like me to do?"

"But that's exactly what I..."

Urmdrak throws his hands up in the air, utterly defeated

"Sure, let's go with her plan."

Urmdrak made a mental note to stick close to Chayce when the night started to creep up on them. Her survival was of vital importance, as clearly she had a knack for charming the fools he called companions. Well, he didn't call them companions, but that's what they were at the end of the day.

More to test her further than to actual consult, Urmdrak turned to the huntress.
"Should we use the oil to set up a wall of fire around the well's edge, or keep them as a last resort to douse the monsters coming out of it?"

(moving post over to the new scene)
This message was last edited by the player at 17:16, Mon 13 Mar 2023.