Monday, July 23, 2007

Chapter 17: Into the pit

The companions stand on the edge of the abyss looking at the thirty foot drop to the stone below them. The eerie blue light ekes through the hole illuminating their stark faces. The drop seems almost ominous as a small stone breaks loose from the ruble and falls, clattering on the stone bellow. The sound echoes hollowly around the room, making it sound ancient and hollow. Suddenly Calenon dulls slightly as a blue shimmer seems to fade from him and his light goes out.
“damn.” Calenon frowned

Richard looked to Calenon

"Calenon seems most anxious to get down there." Richard extended his hand over the precipice and looked at Calenon. "After you"

Calenon grimaced as he lamented the loss of his spells. “While I am anxious to get down the hole, if, Thomas, you still think it a good idea for someone to wait here, I think I may be the best choice. Whether to run to your aid or from danger up here, my spells provide the quickest and safest ways in the group, I think.”

Lorem quickly assessed the situation. “As I don’t see how any of you will manage to climb down whilst holding a lantern, and that if their is something down their they will surely see us descend; I will volunteer myself to lead as my dark vision is surely as good as if not better than any of yours."

Lorem turned and started checking his gear. "I think the more important question at this point is do we leave the rope hanging for us to later ascend or do we take it with us? It is quite possible that we will need it later and with self-closing doors backtracking my not be an option later; however I do feel uneasy about removing our only way back... If we do decide to take it with us perhaps we should have whoever can fall the most gracefully come down last.”

Thomas paused for a moment and turned to Calenon. "As for the rope situation, what spell did you plan to use to get down there? Spider climb perhaps? If it is something where you can climb or float up as well, then I've the perfect solution."

“I have several options; Spider Climb is one of them.” Calenon responded as Thomas searched his bags for a small rod. He pulled it out showing the surface of the rod which was quite plain to look at and unadorned except for a carving of a dragons head at one end. Thomas pressed a button hidden in the carving’s open jaws and released the rod. On instinct Calenon reached to grab it when surprised it did not fall to the ground.

Thomas Smiled. "We can retie the rope to this, and I can use a mage hand to release and drop it back down. That way we could take the rope with us and still get back up. If you don't have such a spell though, I suppose we can always cut it in half. It's about a fifty foot length, so a chop in half would only leave us a slight drop down."

“If you would explain to me the way this wonderful.... rod, I suppose you would call it, works, if I have to flee I can take the rod, and thus the rope if we attach the rope to it, easily if I must flee down the hole.“ Calenon frowned. “If, however, we do not think anyone should be left here, I would prefer not to use any of my spells, at least to descend."

"It's simple really," replied Thomas as he reached forward and pulled the rod from the air, "you just press a button in the carving to activate or deactivate it.” Thomas turned to the others. “After the events in the previous room I don't know if we should leave one behind or not. While being blocked off is possible again, leaving that person stranded, having him separate from the rest might be the only hope of anyone making it back out..."

“Leaving a lookout behind seems like the best option to me.” Calenon marveled at the rod as he put forth his incite. “And, while not the best option for a solo flight, my magic gives me, I think, a better chance than anyone else for escape.” Calenon looked up from the rod. “But, if we do leave a lookout, we need a way to mark the path taken, a way to mark any traps not disarmed, and a decision on how long the person should wait."

Aurelious glanced up from the hole. "We have no idea if we're triggering something to close these doors or... It could be anything else. In our current situation I would suggest we not leave anyone behind, even as a lookout. As far as who goes first, Lorem I believe is the most suited. As for the rope situation... I believe the use of a spell is better than cutting our rope in two. Perhaps this rod and mage hand is the answer we seek"

"If you are up for it, than I would agree you go first Lorem." Thomas agreed
Lorem finished his preparations and stepped toward the hole. "I am not sure I like the idea of leaving someone behind. I was simply trying to find a way down that didn’t require loosing the rope."

"It seems the consensus is that we all go together. I can go second, but someone will probably need to catch my staff; I would prefer to use the rope if possible. Also, I believe my spell has just expired. And Thomas, just a thought for if and when we have to come back this way, would we be able to throw the rod in the air and engage it with a Mage Hand so that we need not use any spells in ascending either?"

"We will have to see on that one. With the weight of the rope attached it would probably be too much for it to lift and I don't know how well I would be able to time it trying to press the button if someone were to throw it."Thomas untied the rope from the rock and retied it to the rod before he activated it over the hole."Looks like you're up Lorem..."

"If their is something hostile hurry down otherwise take your time. And lets make sure not to undo the rope until we are sure their is an exit in this room that we want to take."

As Lorem dropped into the hole the fist thing his dwarven eyes noticed was the change in stone. The black stone which had choked the light of the catacombs above him had now given way to a fine polished marble. This room looked mostly destroyed by the gigantic stone that had crashed between the floors. From where he sat, still perched atop the gigantic dwarven hewn stone a good 20 ft from the floor bottom, it looked like great cools had held on the great vaulted ceiling. The light originated from an interesting wall sconce which looked merely like an iron rod that jutted from the wall and was writhed in a blue flame. Another rod had been knocked loose from the wall and now lay among the rubble on the floor. The room seamed unadorned, or at least what was left was unadorned. In fact the only thing that was worth mentioning was the door.

It was a magnificent door of the finest Dwarven work. Perfectly round it stood nearly ten feet across and made of a dark black metal. Three reliefs were carved into the door. One Lorem recognized as that of Dolor’daHan, the anvil, know for some of the greatest blacksmiths in the Dwarven empire and another was that of Moradin, hammer and anvil, who’s symbol is fastened to all great works, at least it was in the old days, but the third symbol gave him pause. It was of a great circle that held within it a storm and a black rod. Lorem did not know it. From where he stood he could see a hole in the center of the door possibly large enough to stick his fist.

The rest of the room was destroyed.

5 comments:

NWIFSER said...

OOC Only Lorem can act now? We are all climbing down? OOC

If I can act...
If I get down, when I get down, I attempt to discern if I know anything about these reliefs. Knowledge Nobility/Royalty 6, Knowledge Religion 19.
"We should wait for everyone before we do anything with it."
INIT: 15

JC said...

Init:6
Climb:13
Spot:10
Bardic Knowledge on the imagery on the door: 15

Thomas climbs down the rope last, leaving it in place at least until they can make it through the door.

"Perhaps we're getting somewhere now...well at least if we get through here." Examining the hole he picks back up, "Well I certainly don't want to stick my hand in there. Instruments to play and all that...what about the odd wall sconce over there?"

and if Richard hasn't done so yet
"But before we do anything, perhaps Richard should check for traps."

Eric said...

Init: 14

If you didn't see in the other thread, I did a climb and a spot, 13 and 18 respectively.

And I will indeed check for traps.

Search: 13

"Here's hoping nothing tries to decapitate me this time..."

Unknown said...

Init: 10
Spot: 14

After Calenon arrives and looks around a bit, he says, "After that, Richard, if you can, please try and find out how the door opens. There doesn't seem to be any hinges, and that hole could be anything. Once we know more about the door, we can plan our next move."

Unknown said...

Lorem allows the others to examine the door and instead investigates the room [search: 7] trying to discern its purpose. [Also is the second iron rod with the blue flame still lit, if so is it something that can be carried with us?]