Haf rises to his feet with a light grumble. "I might be a bit shaken," he says, "but it'll take more than that to stir Haf Bellin. Now, would one of you remind me just how I sorted the little bugger out?" Haf dusts himself off and attempts to wipe away the blood stains from his suit with a bit of saliva. It doesn't wash out.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:01, Wed 18 Jan 2023.

[im assuming the bomb is bowling ball sized like in the cartoons.]

Bernard looks up at Haf, his muzzle still coated with blood.

”I bit him in the neck!”

"Hm," Haf says, "I don't remember biting anyone. Oh well, if it gets the job done! Thanks for the assist, Bernie. I'll make sure you're credited in the reward papers."

Haf approaches Gunner and Litton, clutching his stomach slightly. "Right then, I happen to be an expert in bomb disposal. If you'd like to give it a try, I can walk you through the steps. Red wire, blue wire and all that. You'll need to break it open to get to the good stuff."

"If you're the expert, go right ahead!" Thomas replied cheerfully with a magnanimous wave of his hand toward the bomb in question as he took several steps away from it.

[This is more of a black powder type bomb in a hollow cannon ball. It could use a longer fuse but otherwise usable.]

Litton returns to the forge room and stands next to Charlie.

"How are you holding up?"

While still keeping his eyes -- and his pistol -- focused on the western passage, Charlie responds to Litton.

"I'm fine. My shoulder hurts like a bastard, but Haf had it worse. Who was the asshole who shot us? Was he really a security officer?"

Litton shrugs.

"I have no idea. A talking dog ate his throat. I'm having enough trouble sorting that out. Need some water?"

Charlie blinks blankly as the realization of what happened hits him.

"That's... Fair. I didn't really think about that.

No thank you. I'm good for the moment."

[The rules say you need a short rest and a sip of water to bring your HP back up]

Is everyone okay with a short rest? Haf and I could probably use one.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:50, Thu 19 Jan 2023.

Absolutely, that's why I was asking about the water!

Haf sits and pulls a half-eaten, slightly bloody sandwich from his pocket and starts eating. "Mm," says Haf "I need to know what this sauce is. They put all kinds of vitamins in them these days. You can really taste the iron."

Charlie rethinks it for a moment.

"Actually, I think I would like a bit of water."

Litton hands Charlie a skin of water.

“Drink up, friend.”

He turns to Haf.

“My guess is something with squid. Squid are in everything these days.”

[DM]

Marion examines the soldier. He shrugs and binds his wounds with some rags, then dabs his finger in the pooled blood and writes something on the soldier’s back. Marion then drags him into the forge room. He ties the rope around the soldier’s torso and gives a loud whistle up the smokestack.

The rope starts pulling up, one arm length after the other. You see the large red M scrawled on the old man’s back; the well known mark of a murderer.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:32, Tue 24 Jan 2023.

Since it required relatively little in the way of actual disarming, Thomas offered another option for the caricature-bomb that the madman had set up: "Might be useful later, come to think of it. Wouldn't want to count on his craftsmanship for anything precise, but if we need to bring down a troublesome tunnel later? Better it than trying to rig up something with the barrel of oil, I'd say."

Joseph looks up as the rope drops back down.

He sits down on the anvil as the dog approaches him. He holds his head in his hands.

”All our companions are gone…except for me and you, Bernard…”

"He was wearing a uniform of some sort. If there's a whole detachment down here like the old loon said...I believe I'll try my luck in another expedition. I was prepared for fighting strange beasts. not a paramilitary division!"

He looks to Joseph.

"Your friends, may they rest in peace, underground. Let's go back up."

Joseph looks down at the dog, then he nods.

Kostya looks around.

"Who's with us?"

Marion raises his hand.

Litton looks at the rest of the group.

"Are we pressing on?"

Charlie shakes his head at Kostya.

"I'm staying. Gun shot shoulder or not."

Thomas shook his head. It was an easy decision to stay. "I wouldn't take his word for it about the detachment, and even if he did come down with one, like as not he already killed the lot himself!"
This message was last edited by the player at 23:30, Fri 27 Jan 2023.

Nodding with Charlie and Thomas, Litton says:

"You can go back up. We're going to continue on."