[Mililani]

"Don't move," she says urgently to Hasnafar.  "I see someone moving up the hallway..., he's staggering against the wall....  I think he's hurt...."

Breaking formation and with her lantern raised, Mililani advances past Amber's donkey and moves forward to the front of the party.

[DM]

Even as the priestess moves forward and some of the others shift about, from out of the darkness ahead the entire group hears a weak call for help (OOC while everyone can hear it, Authari really has to strain).  "Please... Help me... I've been down here so long... In the dark..."  The voice is feminine, but sounds very parched and rough.

 

[Authari]

Startled by the feminine voice, Authari drops his torch and levels his crossbow as he tries to make out the approaching figure.

[DM]

Lighting from the rear suddenly becomes much less effective.  Due to Mililani's position, however, no one up front is really effected...

[Corin]

As the dropping torch of Authari causes grotesque shadows to play on the wall, Corin firmly says, “Hold!” Sticking his arm out to forestall Mililani in going towards the mysterious, wounded person he looks back towards his fellow Tethyrian. “Pick your torch back up, we need the light.” Then to Mililani he says, “You're not going there just by yourself, no-one goes off on his own. At a very minimum we'll do things in pairs.”

While lowering his voice – to something barely audible for Authari in the back – the ranger says, “That voice, woman or otherwise, why does she make that statement when very recently a bunch of tuskers came past here…”

“Authari, Brianna, stay with Hasnafar while he examines the area.” With a firm voice Corin tries to direct the activities, “Uther, Amber, join Mililani to go investigate to the front. The mule stays. I'll come with you guys as well.” Pulling an arrow from his quiver and putting it to his bow, the ranger add perhaps superfluously, “Be on alert, nothing and no-one is friendly until proven otherwise.”

[Mililani]

"Are you hurt?" she says aloud.  "Is anyone else following you?"

[DM]

"No..." the voice calls out faintly.  "Just so tired..."

[Amber]

"Don't worry we will get you out of here!" Amber calls back. The sorceress begins to weave her hands in the air and speak in an archaic language. In between her hands small spheres of light begins to form, twisting and twirling as they do so. But soon they have stabilized and they spread a light that makes her face looks a bit grim with most of it coming from below. But the visage fades as soon as the lights race ahead out into the darkness ahead.

[DM]

Four vaguely torch-like images go flicking down the passage.  The first one flashes by the crouched figure (iliciting a squeal of fear), followed by the other three.  Just as the end of the corridor is lit, revealing a door and a T intersection, the lead light blinks out.  The other three, two just beyond the figure crouching fearfully in the passage, the rear light practically hovering over it's shoulder, cease movement and do an outstanding job of lighting the remainder of the passage.  The very end however, is shrouded in shadow (the door at the end is barely visible).

Moving carefully down the passage, Uther takes the lead, his blade out, followed by Mililani with her lantern (adding even more illumination to the now well-lit passage).  Amber follows, concern on her face, and Corin, wary, is right behind her.

Meanwhile, Hasnafar has turned to the door.  Authari repositions himself (after having retrieved his torch) so that his light is right on the door.  Brianna, more interested in what is happening at the other end of the passage, watches Corin and company curiously while making sure that Amber's mule doesn't wander.

Uther, Mililani, Amber and Corin, moving down the passage, approach the cowering figure.  "Please...  Help me..."

Uther, in the lead, is now about twenty feet from the figure...

[Hasnafar]

Hasnafar whistles softly, “Wow… this door is a big suck job.  It just looks like a door, but it is sure a nasty trap.  We'll just leave this alone and go on.”

 

[DM]

"Afraid of the light eh?"  Mililani says softly.  Those behind her can see her tighten her grip on her new masterwork morning star.  "Uther," she says forcefully. "Halt!  Something isn't right!"

Before the priestess can say anything more, or give any further warning, the figure before the foursome lets forth a shriek of enraged madness...

Mililani immediately sidesteps in front of Amber and allows Corin direct aim at the madman.  "Shoot Corin," she yells.  She draws forth her morning star...

The figure before the group whips forth an arm and sends a glittering whirl of steel flashing toward Uther, "No fair!  I'm hungry!" 

Again, the voice is distinctly feminine, but it is now filled with madness...

The flashing dagger (for that is what it is), slaps against the Janessar's chain shirt, but fails to penetrate.  It rings cheerfully as it hits the stone floor.  The figure shrieks once more with rage and frustration.

[DM]

Authari moves up to the right of Corin and raises his crossbow (the torch once more drops to the ground).  [OOC  Due to the angle at which he needs to fire, the figure has cover (+4 to AC)]

The bolt from the warrior's crossbow flashes across the intervening distance, but the bolt cuts in just a bit to far to the left (possibly due to his need to compensate for Amber, who partially blocks his shot).

Brianna also rushes forward, pulling free her sling and sending a bullet hissing through the air.  The missile, however, aimed high to avoid Corin, skips off the ceiling and rattles down the passage.

Mililani, morning star in hand, casts a quick spell on herself…

The figure, slavering with rage, bolts forward.  As it does so, it's hood falls back, revealing a visage that looks only vaguely human.  Purplish-gray, paper-thin skin and wild, reddish eyes; formidable, discolored teeth; scraggly remnants of long black hair that cling to the figure's head – not a pleasant picture.

Even as the figure darts forward, however, Corin fires…

The arrow zips through the air to find the creature with a solid meaty thud.  The creature grunts at the impact, but does not slow her frantic charge.  A heartbeat later, having covered the distance between them, she lashes out with one filthy claw at Uther, who does his best to avoid the blow…

The Janessar, wrenching himself to the side, avoids the creature's claw with inches to spare, and flicks his long sword out in response.  The blade lances into the creature, tearing through it's abdomen with a wet ripping sound…

Hasnafar moves forward, letting the others know that the door is nothing more than a cunning trap for the unwary, slipping past Authari to stand next to Corin.

Amber, calling out, "Don't kill her!  She might know things that can be useful to us,” causes her three remaining globes of light to consolidate about the creature so that everyone can see the foe clearly.  All three globes cut in close, and the creature is even more clearly lit than before.  Eyes wide with rage and madness, a long tongue flicks out before vanishing within the fang-filled mouth…

 

[DM]

Carefully lining up his shot, Authari triggers his crossbow, sending the bolt hissing through the air...

But even so, the shot goes hissing over the creature's right shoulder, just missing it.

Brianna, having given up on the sling, slips past Corin and closes with the creature (OOC moving to B16). Gripping her staff tightly, she whips one end of it at the creature's head...

The end of the shaft cracks loudly against the figure's skull, snapping it to the side and splitting the thin flesh easily. 

Mililani sets the lantern on the ground, raises her holy symbol, and taps into the glory of her goddess...

The figure recoils, showing more of a response to the cleric's abjuration than to the solid physical hits it had been taking up until then.

The figure, having been savaged by a series of nasty hits from the explorers, and then subject to Mililani's goddess' power, staggers back and then spins about, hightailing back down the passage...

Corin, in the midst of putting away his bow and moving forward (and slipping past Brianna), misses his chance at attacking the figure directly.

The figure, at a full sprint, leaps into the air thirty feet down the passage (just about across from the passage that leads to the left).  It lands on it's feet and keeps going.  It sprints into the shadows without slowing down, and the explorers can just barely see it cut a hard right at the end of the passage, vanishing into the dark.  The figure wails the entire distance...

Uther moves carefully down the passage, but he does not pursue vigorously.  Nearing the first intersection, he calls, "Oi!  Watch the floor up here!  There a big hole at the 'T'!"

Hasnafar, with some weaving and dodging, finds himself next to Corin, but with no foe to face...

Amber, spear in hand, steps up behind Brianna, but remains there for the moment...

Amber's mule, seeing the lights and peoples moving away, ambles along behind...

[OOC - Alright, here's the thing.  At this point the combat rounds end, but!  If anyone goes sprinting off (at a full run) into the darkness after the figure, then I'll keep the combat rounds going.  Depends on the next posts.  Just as an FYI, Mililani could have turned a 4 HD monster on her turn, and could have turned up to 9 HD.  Some very good rolls.  Frankly, I was a bit disappointed with my little friend's performance, but hey, she's still out there somewhere!  Map to be posted shortly...]

[Corin]

“That was impressive Mil.” The ranger says as he sheaths his sword once more, “Though let's not get over exited and advance carefully.” The latter meant for the entire group. “Did anyone take a hit from that – thing? No, good! Let's get back into a semblance of order before we continue…”

[Mililani]

She looks at her simple wooden holy symbol, with bright sapphire blue eyes in the darkness, and marvels in its simplicity.  "I wasn't sure if it (the turning) was going to work."  She blinks with surprise and stupor.  "Father Obehdye would be proud of me.  And Corin, thank you for your gracious compliment."

"Anyone injured?"  She speaks.  "Uther?"  She emphasizes.

[Corin]

The ranger looks back in the direction from where they came, putting a hand on Hasnafar's shoulder, “Seems this place has some nasty traps – fake doors, pitfalls and the like. While we had others point out two of these, there are likely to be more along the way. Let us be careful not to get drawn away in pursuit of fleeing opponents or other ‘temptations'. And as I said before – no-one should go at things alone – we don't know what we're up against inside other than orcs – if they still live – and this mad shrieking thing…”

[Mililani]

"I, for one, will not chase after her in the darkness.  That would be a fool's errand."  This is said openly to her companions.  Mililani retrieves her lantern and peers down the dark corridor.  "We should check our rear guard from time to time," she says.  "The way she leaps....  She'll be back and Mystra only knows she may bring friends."

[Corin]

“Anyone bring a coil of rope?” Corin looks from Amber to her mule…

[Mililani]

"Yes, I have rope and a grappler," she says.

[Corin]

“Perfect, looks like we might need it… Hasnafar, ready to continue?” Expecting the Calishite to be ready, Corin kneels and looks at the floor carefully, hoping the stone floor will reveal telltale signs of the orcs and janissaries passing through.

[ooc: Corin will look for tracks along the remaining stretch of corridor towards the gap. Once at the hole in the ground, he'll start examining it, looking if it is uberhaupt possible to get Amber's mule across…]

[DM]

Once both the torch (near Authari's feet) and the lantern are retrieved, it is easy to see that the hole, while substantial and impassible by the mule, is not bottomless.  It looks as if something burrowed under the area and the floor collapsed here.  There's a small hole on the right wall, though what might be within cannot be determined.  Scattered about the rubble at the bottom of the hole are several planks and a couple branches - someone has obviously dealt with the hole in the past.  From where Corin kneels, he can see that, while some of the planks look pretty sturdy, others have obviously been in the hole a while - they're visibly decomposed.

[Corin]

“Let's get some of the surviving planks out. Mililani, your rope comes in handy now.” Corin says as he looks from the hole in the floor to the hallway in front and then to the side passage. “Others have passed here; stepping across into this side passage and on the other end back into this hallway. Or they jumped – like that ‘thing'…”

“Anyway, if we use the planks and go via the side passage as a first stage and then re-use the planks to get on the other end of this hole, we could bring the mule… and if it works, we'd better bring the planks along. Who knows what other things we have to cross…” Corin gets back on his feet with a last look down into the hole.

“I would volunteer to go along with one of you to scout into the side passage, no further than a stone's throw, head back and check out the hallway in front, using the same approach. In the meantime, the rest could recover the planks, and get the mule across into the side passage – unless we find it not a safe route to go. Who joins me to go scout?”

[Amber]

"I will stay here and take care of the mule" she says with a smile towards Corin, but she casts a shadowed glance down the passage where the creature dissepeared down. "By Azuth I hope that thing dosn't come back. One should be enough for today, and tomorrow for that matter."

[Hasnafar]

Hasnafar holds up his hand and says, “Watch it here.  There are scuff marks towards the left... we could, if we took it easy, go around the hole in the floor.  Take a look Corin, you should be able to see that others have already done that.  Let's also be careful of the cobwebs, who knows what that might bring.”

Putting his own words into action, the nimble rogue moves as he said, and attempts to cross...

[Corin]

With a nod towards Amber, the ranger turns around and waits for Hasnafar to cross. Pulling a large curved dagger from its sheath, Corin clenches the blade between his teeth before attempting the crossing himself.

[ooc: I didn't catch if Amber's dancing lights disappeared or not... in case they didn't Corin says the following after reaching firmer footing in the side passage...]

The Tethyrian removes the dagger from between his teeth and says over his shoulder, "Amber, could you send your floating torches a little ways into this passage?"

[Uther]

The tall man nods as Corin explains his plan, but continues to stare ahead at the passage.  "A cunning idea." he says quietly and solemnly.  "I will join you.  There are more than that last creature ahead.  Other groups.  Some of them mine.  Some of them orcs.  Some of them worse."  he continues flatly.  "Let us go."

[Uther]

 The Calishite looks casually at the pit and the scuffs, but quickly returns his focus to the passage.  "You are right about the webs.  We should take care.  The webs are thicker than when I last saw them."  Uther sheathes his longsword, readying himself to cross, but keeps his eyes focussed ahead.

[Hasnafar]

Putting his own words into action, the nimble rogue moves as he said, and attempts to cross...

[DM]

Hasnafar has little difficulty moving into the cross passage.  It's obvious from the ease with which he moves that none of the other two-footers will have any difficulty.  The mule however, will need some help.

[DM]

Corin quickly follows Hasnafar into the cross passage...

[Amber]

Watching as some of the others make their way into the cross passage she turns her attention to Mililani and says "Why yes of course. I feel that the last days has strenghtend me somehow and my connection to the weave. Lets see if it is so." With that she begins to cast Dancing lights again.

[Corin]

Once across, the Tethyrian removes the dagger from between his teeth and says over his shoulder, “Amber, could you send your floating torches a little ways into this passage?” Corin then crouches down again, looking for traces of passage into the side passge while Hasnafar keeps an eye out.

[Uther]

Uther carefully watches Corin cross and as the Tethyrian successfully passes, he stands and starts to make his own way across the passage, intent on keeping up with the ranger.  "Come." he says to the others.  "Separated, we shall surely all die."

[Amber]

"Of course Corin" with that Amber directs the light ahead of Corin. Focusing on making them light up as much as possible of the area ahead of those exploring the side passage.

[Mililani]

Seeing, that nothing else can be done until the others return from scouting.  The priestess holds her lantern aloft and peers into the darkness directly ahead of her.  Then she makes a scan of the corridor the party has yet to venture.  Finally, she peers into the pit below, all the while careful of her footing.

[Authari]

Authari moves to cross the edge of the pit, then assists with the planking so that the mule may cross.

[DM]

As Mililani clambers down into the pit in the floor, intent on examining the hole in the wall at the base of the pit, Corin, Uther and Hasnafar enter the passage to the left.  Amber, Brianna and Authari make short work of retrieving some of the timber from the bottom of the pit, especially with Mililani down there to help them for a bit.

Amber's lights dart into the left passage, showing it to be shrouded in cobwebs (though, like the main passage, there is a path through the webs)[OOC - note - when I say cobwebs, that's what I mean - the walls can easily be seen through them with the light from Amber's spell - no big nasty spiders here laying in wait].  Almost immediately, as the trio in the passage moves down it, they discover another hole in the wall - this one about six feet above the floor on the right side of the passage, about thirty feet from the intersection.  It's only about three and a half feet across...

As Amber's lights continue to flit down the passage, they reveal Another forty feet past the hole in the wall, where the passage ends in a door.

Here and there along the bases of both walls are signs that there were once tapestries or framed pictures along the passage, but the only thing remaining of them are small piles of debris [OOC - dashed to dust with a sweep of a boot].

Authari, Brianna and Amber, with a little bit of work, are able to rig a sort of bridge that will allow the mule to pass into the left hand passage.  It's obvious that the makeshift bridge can be taken apart and rebuilt to allow the mule to cross into the main passage on the other side of the hole in the floor - if needed.

[Amber]

A bit flustered from the pulling and heaving while constructing the makeshift bridge she calls down to Mililani "Just tell me if you need those lights down there." She then concentrates on, if needed, to send the lights down to Mil.

[Mililani]

"I'm fine," she says, "I can see fine, but I'm covered in dirt.  I don't think the Lady of Mysteries intended me to be a miner." 

Once finished, Mililani climbs up one of the smaller pile of debris and crawls out of the pit and speaks.  "I found a smaller sloping passage along the underside of the pit.  I mean this is an amazing discovery."   She looks at Amber, Authari, and Brianna.  "This tower, this structure must be centuries old.  I don't think anything in the harem are living creatures anymore.  I mean nothing living can survive that long, at least nothing human."

[Corin]

“The hole down in the pit… there seems to be a corresponding one over here. I suspect some burrowing creature has crawled through the complex, creating these ingress and egress points. Something to be on the alert for… If the creature is something like those desert worms…” Corin leaves the rest of the sentence unfinished, the horror tales from the Calim desert being commonplace in the region.

“The hallway ends in a closed door, I cannot see any signs of recent passage from our quarry. We should cross to the other side of the pit.”

[Amber]

With that information Amber leads the mule over to the other side of the pit, praying to Azuth the damn thing won't bolt as they cross over.

[Uther]

The tall man nods in agreement with Corin.  "Aye.  He is right, I believe.  Let us move on."  The Calishite moves back towards the pit and prepares to cross.

[Mililani]

The priestess heaves and then sighs in relief at the site of her companions.  "Good then, let's get going," she says as she removes a sticky strand of cobweb or two from her ebony hair.

"Who's going to take the lead?" she inquires as she pats dust off her armor and forearms.

[Hasnafar]

Hasnafar simply shrugs and waits to see what the plan is next… while waiting he continues to look around for anything… strange.

[Corin]

“We should proceed in the same as we entered this place.” Corin says as he helps put the makeshift bridge down again to allow the mule to cross.

[DM]

In a few minutes (during which Amber's dancing lights once again fade away) the group manages to get the mule past the pit.   Another few steps down the passage, and the group arrives at the 'T'.  Just before them is a worn wooden door, still firm on it's hinges after untold years, with the addition of one of Corin's arrows imbedded in the upper left quadrant.

Those of the group can easily see that the door has been opened recently (the cobwebs about it have been pulled away). 

[Mililani]

"Someone's been here before us," she says.  "Anyone care to check for traps?"  The later is said as a forewarning and to no one in particular.

[Amber]

"Those who been here before would have probably set off the trap" Amber says out loud and ads quickly "But it never hurts to check since we don't know if the one who came before us knew about the trap."

[Corin]

“Hasnafar…” Corin asks as he rises from looking at the tracks on the floor, “You seemed to know your way with that door behind us. You think you might be able to help us here too?” The ranger looks at his arrow embedded in the wood and reaches for it. Just before grabbing it, he shakes his head and comments, “Better have the door checked first…”

[Hasnafar]

Hasnafar nods and replies quietly, "Let's try to keep it a bit quiet shall we everyone." Moving forward slowly, the rogue starts keeping his eyes open for more traps.

 [Uther]

 The Calishite moves up behind Hasnafar, his sword drawn and ready for whatever may come.

[Authari]

Authari moves up with his magical torch enough to make sure that Hasnafar has sufficient light to see what he is doing.

[Amber]

Amber in turn pats the mule, comforting it after the straining act of pushing and pulling to get it over the makeshift ramp. "So you found anything over there" she calls out to those investigating the door.

[DM]

Hasnafar checks out the door before him while the others wait patiently. He finds nothing. The door is not locked, and as far as he can tell, not trapped.

Corin, Mililani, Uther, Amber, Brianna and Authari, all scattered about the three-way intersection, have the time to take in the dark passages, draped in cobwebs.

Even as Hasnafar finishes his examination and turns to the others, from the western passage (the one leading to the left in the map), comes an odd shriek, high and wobbly. This is the same direction that the figure that had attacked the group previously had vanished down…

[OOC – sorry for the delay this week – as you all know, I've relocated to Atlanta Georgia, and unfortunately, lost some of my capabilities to run this game (mainly my handy dandy Adobe Illustrator). I'll have it back in a couple months (along with a new house hopefully), but in the meantime, the maps will be a bit rough. I do have all my books, all my docs on the computer – everything else I need. So, on with the game!!!]

***

[DM]

While the others prepare for the worst, Hasnafar carefully opens the door before them. Within, judging from the light from Mil's lantern and Authari's torch, is what appears to be a storage room. There are several large cases, barrels and sacks in the room, a small table and a single chair. All are very worn – a couple of the cases are sagging in places where the wood has rotted.

Even as Hasnafar examines the room from it's entry, Mililani holds her lantern high to see if she can make out anything further down the passage to the west. While she can't make much out, from her position in the passage, she can see that there's a passage heading south not too far away, just beyond an arch in the passage ahead.

Authari and Amber, still in the passage that the group entered this area by (and just beyond the hole in the floor) are constrained from moving forward by the people in front of them. Corin and Brianna can both make out a bit of the passage to the east (though only for the first 20 feet clearly, and another 20 feet in shadows – anything beyond is darkness to their eyes).

Uther is ready to back up Hasnafar at the door…

Before anyone can take more than a few breaths, another sound reaches the group. The very faint clash of weapons from the east (the side Brianna and Corin are on) is faint – but it echoes through the passage to reach the ears of the group. Accompanying the sound are very, very faint yells and barks. It seems to be coming from a southern direction as well – it's certainly not in the passage leading away from the group.

[Corin]

"Uther, do you think that could be your brethren fighting over yonder?" Corin asks as he steps a few feet into the hallway.

[Amber]

Stealing a glance into the room across the intersection she turns her attention towards the sound of combat instead. "More of those crazed women around?" she asks the walls around here more then the group. She pats the mule absent mindedly as she leads it up to the intersection.

[Uther]

"It is possible." Uther says.  "All I can say for sure is that there are several groups making their way through these ruins.  They may be friends.  They may be fiends." he continues.  The Calishite readies his sword and starts down the hallway.   "Let us find which."

[Mililani]

Her attention turns to the sounds of battle down the corridor and to Uther's remarks.  She sheaths her punch dagger (if she already hasn't) and draws her morning star once again.  Still confident in vanquishing the undead abomination less than a scant half-hour, the Mystran's eyes shine with excepting battle.  "We can handle the danger.  Onward, let us find what foes that may lay before us."  Her eyes flicker with anticipation and she continues,  "then we search the storage room?"  Her last sentence appears to be more of a suggestion than a request.

[Corin]

"We can `loot' later…" A slight tinge of disgust colors Corin's voice as he briefly turns his head to those near the door, "…we should aid the Janissaries first." Corin then takes starts after Uther, "Authari, can you bring your torch to the front?"

[Authari]

"Aye, Corin," says the young warrior as he edges his way to the front, battleaxe held cautiously as he peers around.

[Hasnafar]

Hasnafar starts moving forward, towards the sound of combat, keeping an eye out for any dangers…

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