(OOC: It was Ocrin the corn farmer that descended. Chayce the huntress is just the one bossing people around.)

Ocrin lets out a garbled cry of alarm. The zombies seem dazed, perhaps from falling down the hole unceremoniously. As a farmer, Ocrin knows that there is a season for everything: a time to sow, and a time to reap. This is the latter. He levels his pitchfork at the nearest zombie, intending to uproot it.

10:34, Today: Tecumseh Lane Crew rolled 16 using 1d20+1.  Ocrin attack.
10:35, Today: Tecumseh Lane Crew rolled 9 using 1d8+1.  Pitchfork damage.

He harvests well.

(isn't the pitchfork what we are using to lower Ocrin into the pit?)

Ocrin tugs on the pitchfork so to break the grip from above, and the zombie breaks his fall as the tines sink into its shoulder and all the way through to what remains of its heart. It crumples to the floor.

As the farmer stands and pulls the pitchfork free the remaining zombie whirls towards him. The creature's jaw dislocates and a gout of acid sprays at the Ocrin.

[DC 10 Reflex save or take 1d6 points of damage]

Ocrin, despite being a farmer, is not a robust creature. Any acid is too much acid, so he sidesteps the danger.

11:48, Today: Tecumseh Lane Crew rolled 11 using 1d20.  Ocrin Reflex Save.

He looks to return the favor with his pitchfork.

11:50, Today: Tecumseh Lane Crew rolled 13 using 1d20+1.  Ocrin Attack.
11:50, Today: Tecumseh Lane Crew rolled 7 using 1d8+1.  Pitchfork damage.

Just like knowing when to back away from the back end of a constipated cow, Ocrin strategically escapes the torrents of steaming acid. A quick stab to the neck cuts the display short.

Zombies defeated.

1XP for Ocrin.

"Yarrr," Ocrin nods with satisfaction when he beholds his handywork.

He goes back to the hole and flashes a thumbs-up to the folks above. He looks proud of his crop.

Ocrin, the rest of the party seems hesitant to follow you down the hole.

Urmdrak, seeing no apparent reason to go down the nasty looking slime hole, offer his hand for Ocrin to reach with his pitchfork, to pull him back up. There is some hesitation if he would even reach, but noone forced him to jump into the hole.

"I'll go take a look," says Chayce. "Lower a girl down, wouldja?"

Chayce isn't that big and so should be fairly easy to lower her down. Ocrin is tall like a stalk of corn and will stand to help grab her.

"We're going to need the torch though," she says. "Or, Urmdrak, your nightvision.

"C'mon! We don't get paid if we don't figure this out," she says to encourage the others.

"Things are pretty figured out as far as I can tell. Town is doomed, zombie worms ate all their brains."

With a reluctanct sight, he accepts defeat.

"Fine. But if I die down there, I'll kick all your collective asses in the afterlife".

Not having another rope, Urmdrak ends up using up his net to make a way back up the hole. It's definitely not the use he would have given it, but given most people are going down there he can't hold back on resources anymore. Hopefully a good rinse would get rid of the smell eventually.

Once that was set up, he descends behind Chayce.

Pyke pokes at Jack and says irritably,
"It's clear! Get a move on and let's see what's down there!"

In reply to Pyke the Astrologist (msg # 39):

Jack looks hesitantly at the hole but swallows his reluctance and makes his way downward after Ocrin.

In reply to Jack Quick the Beggar (msg # 40):

If Jack descends successfully, Pyke follows after.

The passage continues ahead through the narrow hallway. Their jagged, sharpened edges claw and scratch at you as you pass, snagging on armor and tearing at cloaks and robes.

Pyke sneers with distaste at the narrow hallway.
"Be on your guard, everyone! Who knows what fiends await us!"
In response to his own words, Pyke tightens his grip on the torch with one hand while resting the other on the pommel of his sword.

Jack walks carefully along the passageway, keen eyes darting back and forth.
He holds his giant snake fang at the ready.

Ocrin walks in the lead, his pitchfork leveled in front of him. The passageway is narrow, but he's used to walking through tight rows of cornstalks and not being able to see anything past a few feet anyway. Plus the narrow passage means that anything charging down the tight corridor will impale itself on Ocrin's pitchfork first.

Sharper backs up Ocrin with his club. He keeps his eyes on the walls of the passageway to look for hidden threats.

Chayce, being shorter and smaller, is somewhere in the middle. She turns around occasionally to make sure Jack, Pyke, and Urmdrak haven't wandered off or been eaten.

The weapons and armor embedded in the walls are too dull and rusted to cause any real damage.

As Ocrin and Jack pass through in the lead the creaking wooden boards beneath them suddenly give way.

[Each of you make a DC 15 Reflex Save]

Ocrin isn't the most nimble of fellows but occasionally he has his moments. This is one of them: he's ready when the creaking wooden boards beneath them suddenly give way.

09:37, Today: Tecumseh Lane Crew rolled 16 using 1d20.  Reflex Save (DC 15).

At the sound of the boards giving way, Jack tries to leap to safety... and by sheer luck manages to do so easily!

16:26, Today: Jack Quick the Beggar rolled 8 using 1d20+2.  reflex save.
16:31, Today: Jack Quick the Beggar rolled 13 using 4d4.  Burns 4 points of luck.
Total = 21
This message was last edited by the player at 20:38, Thu 04 May 2023.

Ocrin and Jack manage to leap to the opposite side of passage just before the rotting planks splash into the darkness below.

You look down in the torchlight, and 10 feet below you there are three stone pits skirted by a narrow stone catwalk. The rising air is thick with the stink of stale blood and droning chatter.

To the north of the pits you see a moldy ladder leading back up to your level.

"It's all so strange," Chayce says. "It's so deliberate. Who put the wooden floorboards here? Who put that ladder there? It's one thing for some unspeakable evil to embed armor and weapons in the wall, but you generally don't think of them as conducting basic engineering and construction."

With a grumble, Ocrin goes to investigate the moldy ladder. He tests it to see if it is sturdy enough to bear anyone's weight.

If so, he'll see if he can pull the ladder up and use it to bridge the gap in the wooden boards between the two groups.

Ocrin, Roll Initiative please!

12:51, Today: Tecumseh Lane Crew rolled 9 using 1d20.  Ocrin initiative.