It's difficult for the dwarf to stare down the well into the darkness. A fetid, damp heat rises from the well that stings his eyes and nostrils.

But...when the mountains hide the sun's last rays and the village is still and deathly quiet, devoid even of the cricket songs on screeching of bats, he sees movement.

Over a dozen two-foot long chitinous masses with human heads, hissing and snarling.

Now is your chance to act before they spill out of the well.

"INCOMING!"

Urmdrak steps back to give way to the folk with the fire and the stones. Firmly grabbing his spear and shield, he gets in position to stab at anything that manages to crawl out of the well.

Chayce the hunter is grateful for Urmdrak's role. It must be uncomfortable to bend over the edge of the well for such an extended period of time. She thinks better of him for his contribution.

"Hit it, sweethearts," she says to Bradley the cooper and Ocrin the corn farmer, who have strong backs and are standing ready to tip a barrel full of rocks off the lip of the well down into the abyss below.

"Heave ho!" Bradley the cooper agrees.

"Yarr," Ocrin the corn farmer acknowledges.

They tip the barrel over the edge, then grab their weapons to club and stab anything that emerges. Shay the sharper also has a club that he slaps into hand in anticipation of violence. They stand near the edge of the well to limit the ability of the worms to spread out. Plus, if they swing and miss one worm then maybe they hit another.

Chayce has a torch which is lit so that the non-dwarves can see. She uses it to ignite a piece of fabric hanging out one of the flasks of oil. She readies to throw it.

With all their strength, the adventurers tip the barrel over, tumbling bricks and rocks down on the worms.

[Judge simulates sound of avalanche by rolling many dice across the table]

14:52, Today: The Judge rolled 10,17,8,5,7,20,17 using D20,d20,d20,d20,d20,d20,d20.  DC 10 rock trap vs worms. Worms have Ref+1 so treat as DC 9

14:51, Today: The Judge rolled 9,14,9,1,9,8,5 using D20,d20,d20,d20,d20,d20,d20.

15:09, Today: The Judge rolled 9,9,3,13,8,2,4 using d20,d20,d20,d20,d20,d20,d20 ((9,9,3,13,8,2,4)).

The rocks pelt 10 of the worms.

14:57, Today: The Conductor rolled 3,3,1,4,3,6 using d6,d6,d6,d6,d6,d6 ((3,3,1,4,3,6)).

15:10, Today: The Judge rolled 6,2,3,4 using d6,d6,d6,d6 ((6,2,3,4)).

As the splashes of falling rocks reverberate up from the well, eight worms shriek as they tumble into the dank waters.

There were over two dozen worms ascending, now a dozen and a half are left.

Are you throwing the oil down the well or waiting until they reach the top?

Chayce's intention is to throw the oil into the well but not down the well. Her goal is to create an intense patch of flame rather than a diffuse one that's spread out over a greater area. She would prefer to spike a flask into the opposite wall of the well - maybe down enough where burning oil won't splash up toward the defenders around the rim - and to engulf a couple of the beasties in oil. With luck, perhaps the other worms will be channeled to the other side of the well wall, clustering them together to be easier targets.

Jack adds his own fiery flask of oil going down into the well then retreats before the swarm appears.

Seeing Chayce and Jack's plan, Urmdrak takes half a step forward, shield still up, and gets into a closer position. The only thing worst than a brain eating worm jumping for your face was a brain eating worm on fire jumping on your face. He had no intention to let any of the wretched things reach either of the two dumping the oil, his spear ready. He let out a chuckle imagining the flaming worm hanging dead on his spear, like an overcooked sausage over a campfire. The context was lacking for his companions, who might question the dwarf's sanity at such a tense moment.

The lining of both inner sides of the well is now ablaze, becoming an unholy bonfire in the darkness. The mucousal slime sizzles and sputters, making the stench of the well somehow even worse.

21:09, Today: The Judge rolled 5 using 1d6 ((5)).

The flames engulf the rest of the worms, their humanoid faces scream in agony as they slip and drop like flaming dollops of candle wax into the bottom of the well. Smoke lingers from the belly of the ancient structure as the oil spreads across the surface of the fetid water and continues to burn.

[3XP to all party members for ingenious handling of a deadly swarm with no injuries]

"Ha haaa!" cries Jack, patting Chayce on the shoulder.
"Well done, friend! WELL DONE! First SPLAT then SIZZLE! Hee hee! And not a scratch on us!"

"Indeed," says Pyke appearing beside Jack. Good show, friend. It seems we're in competent hands at last. You've handled this situation most.. admirably." he adds through a smile so tight his face looks close to tearing.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:09, Fri 17 Mar 2023.

Chayce does not do a very good job of hiding a smug grin. She readily accepts the congratulations, but she tries to share some of the praise.

"Well done, Master Urmdrak," she says. "Your dwarven eyes made it possible to fire with effect.

"And thank you, Bradley, for your barrel."

Bradley looks proud. "Barrel'll solve a lot of problems," he says. "Need a floatation device? Barrel. Need to go over a waterfall? Barrel. Need to shoot fish? Barrel."

Ocrin looks unconvinced but leans on his pitchfork and says, "Yarr" perhaps out of social kindness.

Sharper looks over the edge of the well. "Meybe that'll clear out some of the stink," he says, his nose wrinkling. He spits down the well at the burning corpses, perhaps looking disappointed that he didn't get to smash anything with his club.

"We must press our advantage," Chayce tells the others, "once the fires burn down and no longer threaten us. If there is a nest, we must burn it out. If there is a queen, she must be slain. If there are eggs, we must smash every one. We must end the menace once and for all."

Urmdrak shoves away the praise to his dwarven eyes with a hand gesture.

"I'm still not really into the idea of going down there, but considering that we dealt with a good chunk of the monsters, I'm more inclined now than before. Still, I suggest we wait for at least half and hour, just in case any more of those bastards wish to climb out of there. We were promised zombies, and those worms had a significant lack of reanimated body".

"Well, who's going down first to scout around? Is there a volunteer or do we have to draw straws? Jack, how about you?"

Jack looks dubiously at the well, a trail of smoke still coming out.
"I dunno. Umdrak says to wait. Plus the unholy smell," he says with a pained expression.

"I'll go," says Bradley the cooper, bravely but unwisely. He has a crowbar and no common sense.

Chayce has a torch and hands it to him. Hopefully there's a rope (for the well's bucket) that he can use to descend into the well. If there is a rope, Ocrin and Sharper will hold the other end of it to be ready to pull him up and out if he gives a shout.

If there is no rope available, perhaps Bradley can press his feet onto one side of the well and his back into the other side and 'walk' his way down.

Bradley might not wait the full half hour suggested by Urmdrak, but he will wait until the oil has burned down enough that it is safe to do so.

"Need some rope? Let me have a look around. You don't want to get stuck in there, hey?"
If no one has rope, Jack will look for some.
18:05, Today: Jack Quick the Beggar rolled 6 using 1d20 ((6)). Needed a 9.

Bradley is able to use the rope to lower himself down the well. What was the slippery surface of the well is now a burnt crusty layer, making it easier to scale but no less disgusting.

The well descends about 90 feet. About 10 feet above the waterline is a narrow opening on the east side of the shaft.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:49, Wed 22 Mar 2023.

(OOC: Bradley said he was going to descend. I'll presume that Jack - with Ocrin and Sharper -  is helping to lower Bradley via the rope.)

"Disgusting!" Bradley opines as he is lowered on the rope. He is glad that Jack thought to use rope. Bradley would not want to be pressing his back into the slippery surface of the well.

"There's a narrow opening about 10 feet above the waterline!" he shouts up the well to anyone who might be listening up top. "I'll try to see what's there!"

Bradley is fairly bulky. He looks to see if he can fit in the narrow opening. If so, he will try to get his feet on the ground there to see what's on the other side. If it's too narrow then they'll have to send someone smaller down.

What sort of light are you using in the shaft?

Hopefully Bradley is strong enough to hold the rope with one hand and his legs while holding the torch in his other hand. Perhaps he was smart enough to tie a knot in the rope to use as a platform for his feet before being lowered down. (He probably wasn't, but Chayce probably was.)

Bradley slips into the opening, out of sight from those watching above...

[move to PMs]

While Jack, Ocrin and Sharper wrangle with the rope to lower Bradley into the well, Pyke peers down after him.
"Well, what do you see?!"

"There's a cave through the opening!" Bradley shouts up the well at Pyke and the others.

"It smells bad, like death and decay! Probably some bodies down here somewhere!"

"Send someone else down to watch my back!"

He pulls his crowbar out of his belt.

Ocrin volunteers to go, by which I mean he says, "Yarr." He debates putting his duck into Chayce's care, the decides he should not hand his personal waterfowl over to a hunter. He gives the duck to Sharper instead, who doesn't look pleased with the assignment.

"YARR," Ocrin says menacingly to Sharper, lest the gambler get any nasty ideas about how to void the responsibility.

"Whew. Hey. Sharper. Gimme. A sec," says Jack, gasping between words and trembling slightly from his exertions.
"Pyke. Sharper's. Climbing down. Can you. Help?"

In reply to Jack Quick the Beggar (msg # 24):

Pyke stares unblinking at Jack with an expression very far from amused.

"I got it"

Urmdrak moves behind Jack, taking Sharper's place. "You should know better than to ask Pyke for anything by now"

Sharper says, "I hafta guard the duck" he says to explain why he can't help. He goes to hang out with Pyke, who seems to move at his speed.

Chayce's mind is willing but her body is weak. Her arms are wet noodles and one wonders if she could even support her own weight on the rope.

In reply to Tecumseh Lane Crew (msg # 27):

Sharper's duck seems very agitated and tries to get away from the well as quickly as possible.

"I don't blame you," Sharper tells the duck. "But there's gold down that there well." He points with his club.

"Well, not literal gold, I don't think. Figurative gold!"

Chayce walks over.

"Give me the duck," she says, holding her hands out. "Get over there and help on the rope."

Sharper grumbles but yields to her stronger personality. _{"Miss Bossy Boots,"} he mutters under his breath.

Ocrin is able to take the rope down the well and squeeze into the corridor without incident.

In reply to Urmdrak the Rebel (msg # 26):
"Now, put your back into it, Urmdrak!"

There's a blood-curdling scream from down the well. It's more of an "AIEEE!" than a "YARR!" so you presume that it was Bradley instead of Ocrin.

Sharper groans at the scream.

"What now?" he asks tiredly. "Such drama."

He sticks his club down the back of his pants and descends the rope into the darkness of the well.

Wide-eyed, Jack looks around at the group.
"We gotta get down there! I'll tie up the rope good and tight and we can shimmy on down!"

Jack proceeds to tie the rope to a rock or edge of the well and climb down after Sharper.

"If you must..." mutters Pyke.

"I'll wait up here while you... hardier types forge the way ahead.. Just give the word when the area is clear and I'll come join you."

Urmdrak stays by the rope. When Jack gets ready to descend, he says:

"Tug at the rope if you need me to pull on it to speed up your escape. I'm not the fastest climber, me going down will only serve to stop the ones already there from climbing out"