"Would'nae surprise me. Ah got it from yer mom."
"Ah'm ready t' be done wit' all this." Doc says gruffly. "We got both o' the other passages sealed up. Cort, lets get them M'wangi down 'ere t' watch our back."
Taking out a large sunrod, Doc looks out over the pit and looks up at Blaze, waiting for the go ahead before lighting it up and tossing it down.
"Surely yah have heard o tha famous Dickson Cider!"
"Famous? Ye mean there's other folks who like their Dickson Cider? Ah thought ah was special. Guess Kaavel likes it too." Doc said with a straight face, nodding toward the monk. "Next time ah see Grusk's mom, ah'll tell 'er ye enjoyed 'er fruits, Kaav. It's always better t' git yer Dickson Cider after ol' Doc's had a while t' add 'is special flavor."
Doc drops the sun-rod into the hole next to the ziggurat and sees the glowing stick skitter down the side of the structure about forty feet before landing up on solid ground. From the flickering light making it's way back to you it looks like there is a solid ledge that you could climb down to given rope.
You listen intently at the hole and can hear naught but the stuttering flicker of the oil on the giant ankheg as it slowly... burns.. out.
"Looks like 'bout forty feet. Nothin' t' anchor a rope to but tha' big bug." Doc said still looking down the hole. "If we survive this, don' let me forget t' gut tha' thing."
Spooling rope from his pack, he tossed the loop to Grusk to tie off.
Sentis enjoyed cider immensely but had never heard of the Dickson Cider. Still, he figured if his pals liked it then it must be good. The joke was completely lost on the somewhat naive half elf but the didnt deter a smile. The fight seemed to be over and all of the Wolves were alive and accounted for. He helped Grusk tie the rope and waited his turn to descend down into the unknown.
You find the footing below you firm enough for you to judge it solid and risk releasing the rope. Looking around you see that the ankheg seemed to nest to the North, a warren of acid etched burrows and hardened secretions. There is raw stone to the West and South, but the ziggurat is what is most enticing.
The light of Doc's sunrod plays shadows along the ochre stone revealing words raised in bas-relief. The stone feels old, and there are light scratches from the ankheg's passing... but nowhere near what you would have gauged normal given the gouges in the other stone. There is no entrance on the side you descended, but it does seem free to North and South were you to pass around the structure into the gloom.
Your ears do not detect any chittering or scrabbling of ankheg legs.
Calls up to the others....
"I think we got someting here. Come on down looks clear!"
As part of team green; Sentis was next down the rope. He immediately cast light and gazed around in wonder. He almost instinctively cast detect magic as well.
Blaze makes his way down after team green, drawing Sunstrike even though it seemed safe for now. He takes a close look at the writing, thought it's doubtful he can read it.
"Doc, any chance you can read this? or can ya brew up something that will let you?"
"Yeh, ah got a brew fer that." Doc said pulling a vial from a pouch. "Grusk's probbly gonna end up scoutin'. Ye want t' give it t' 'im? 'S probbly 'bout time 'e learned wha' readin' is anyway."
Sentis' eyes do not detect any overt signs of magic.
Blaze takes a closer look and sees striking similarities between this writing... and that which you have already seen before, in the depths of the jungle...
The magic of Doc's homebrew concoction gives the following enlightenment. A phrase is repeated in series At the order of the watcher, the pillars of the upstart are interred.
Sentis wanders deeper into the chamber; his senses alert for danger or particulars.
Perception -
"Wha is tha mumbo-jumbo supposed tah mean? Who is tha watcher an who is tha upstart?"
Sentis moves around to the North of the ziggurat and can see that about forty feet down that side is a passage leading deeper into the structure. It looks to be about five feet wide... so you're reasonably sure the ankheg could not have passed through.
The warren of ankheg tunnels to the North delve deeper than you can see, though Sentis does pick up a few flecks of dried blood on one passage.
Stopping briefly to examine the corpses of the dead ankhegs, Darkbiter is relieved to have finally caught up with the others. Dropping into the hole, he speaks with a chuckle, "I see you haven't lost your flair for bloody destruction. You could have at least given them a chance."
Blaze grins at the sight of Darkbiter meeting up with them "What the Hells for?. Glad tosee you finally caught up to us, slacker"
With two choices before him and torn between following both; Sentis wisely waits for the rest of the Wolves to make their way down and regroup.
Baran was overjoyed at the sight of his packmate Darkbiter. Sentis had said that he was to seek him out if he tarried too long underground and now that he saw him also descend into the tunnels it didnt take long for the willful pup to follow closely at his heels.
I figured as much. As soon as Sentis is aware that Baran is at the top of the pit then he'll climb back up and attempt to coax the wolf into being rigged up.
"Eh, had to crack some skulls of the latest recruits before they got themselves into real trouble. Sometimes I think those trained elsewhere are more a danger to themselves than those who are starting from scratch, and that takes quite a bit. So what's the status of the mission?"
"Th' bugs seem t' be comin' outta here." Doc says, pointing down the hole with his stogie and knocking the ash off into the dark. "There'sa big stone pyramid down there. We were about to go knock on th' door."
"I thought I smelled dark-biter down in this hole."
Baran couldnt be happier trekking along side Darkbiter down into the tunnels and this joy increased when they found the others near the well. Although he didnt see Sentis or Grusk. He barked excitedly and with just a hint of worry.
"Well then, what are we waiting for? Cracking open doors to long buried pyramids is always an entertaining way to spend the day." Darkbiter slides down the hole to join the others.
"How th' heck d' ye plan on gettin' Baran down th' hole, Elf?" Doc asked Sentis when the wolf started barking. "He ain't 'zactly built fer rope climbin'"
Sentis's eyes widened in surprise at the sightof Darkbiter coming down the well and Doc's exclamation from above had him beside himself.
Baran's down here? Hey Dark, good to see you. Is everything ok up top? Im surely getting some shocks today.
The half elf could the wolf barking now and shook his head in disbelief.
That pup is bullheaded. I reckon I better get up there and see what we can do. Glad to have you back Darkbiter. Grusk is wandering around down here somewhere.
Sentis will climb back up and see if he can help Doc build some sort of harness.
Sentis just couldnt be mad at Baran for disobeying. Plus with Dark here as well he could easily see how his furry friend would think it was ok to follow after him. He took the time to pet and calm the pup down and assure him that he was alright and that he was glad to see him.
Hey boy, eveything is going to be ok. Good ole Doc here is gonna make a nice sling to slide under your belly so we can lower you down. Ill be right with you the whole time and Dark will be waiting below. Sound good boy. Youre gonna be a brave wolf warrior and run these dark tunnels with the rest of the pack.
Handle Animal -
Sentis' exhortations are able to convince Baran to follow along, though he does growl at a low ebb when the harness is fitted. After only a short delay you are all assembled below and left with an option of pursuing the blood trail into the tunnels, or attempting to breach the ziggurat...
"Dark musta heard bout yer Dickson Cider, Doc!"
Once everybody is all gathered below, Blaze begins to think about what to do. "Now that all seven of us are back together, we can easily split the group once again. Team Green, the three of you, plus Baran can follow the blood trail. Don't wander too far away, but try to figure out just how far the blood goes. If it seems like it goes a lot deeper into the tunnels, come back here and we'll all investigate it later. Meanwhile Team Red will attempt to figure out a way to break into the ziggurat. If we do before you guys get back, we'll either wait, or send somebody to get you."
"Comeon Dark we err hot on tha trail again!"
Stealth
Perception
Intend to scout out about 30 from the rest of the group.
Then if all clear another 30.
Baran couldnt be happier. He was out of that infernal contraption that they used to get him down the tunnel and the pack of Steel Wolves was whole once again. He jogged out near Grusk with his nose to the ground. Mindful of trying to be quiet.
Stealth -
Survival -
Sentis let the youngsters lead ahead and took his time to make sure they were on the blood trail
Take 10 on Survival -
Coiling his rope back up Doc grinned at the wolf disappearing into the dark with Sentis.
"Right. Let's do a p'rimiter sweep first off. Look fer anythin' obvious. Break out those lights ah made ye. Le's make this place nice 'n bright."
"Dark, b'fore ye git gone ag'in, can ye read wha's on th' side o' this thing?" Doc says sweeping his light across the runes carved into the side of the ziggurat.
Team Green moves off into the tunnels and find the trail easy enough to follow initially... however it leads away and out of eye and earshot of the ziggurat into the myriad of tunnels.
Doc turns his eyes to the ziggurat and finds that the circuit around the Southern edge is interrupted by solid earth partway around the structure. Turning back to the North he does not need to travel far to find an entrance of sorts. A corridor 5ft wide leads into the structure, and judging by the bend of it circles to the right on an easy downward spiral. The hall is smooth worked stone and it does not look as though the ankheg made it within. Further around on the far Eastern side Doc runs into the other side of the earthen barrier.
"Ah got only one way in." Doc says. "Le's set guard an' wait fer the rest o' th' squad t' git back."
Dark moves up near Grusk, relieved to be back in the field amongst his friends, eager to get to work.
Sentis kept his eyes on the trail and caught up with the two half orcs and Baran.
Survival -
How far should we follow the trail? Blaze said not too far but he did want us to figure out how far it went.
"Best we not start down any o these tunnels, since tha others would not be able tah track us any further than this. Might be good tah set me here, dark back towards tha others an Sentis tah report we got a mess o tunnels this way, not tha them bugs err restricted tah tunnels."
"Wha yah tink?"
Sentis couldnt deny Grusk's logic so he nodded in agreement.
Sounds good. I'll run back and tell Sunny what we've found so far.
Then the druid will do exactly that. Jog back to the others and report to Blaze after getting over the awe of the huge ziggurat.
Wow, thats big! Hey Sunny, we were able to follow the tracks a good ways away before they came to a network of tunnles. Any further and you all wouldnt be able to back us up if we run into trouble. Want us to keep going?
"No, you'd better not. We clearly have something serious with this here ziggurat and I'd rather not split the team by going in and leaving the rest of you to wander the tunnels."
Aye, sye sir. But we were here to find out what happened to the Baited Hooks. We're so close now...I'll go fetch Grusk and Darkbiter.
"I know Sentis, and we will find that out, I promise. But we can't just not investigate this ziggurat, who knows what could inside it. Perhaps it's something far worse than what took out the Hooks, or maybe whatever is inside helped in the attack"
Sentis smiled and nodded his understanding before heading off.
The druid will jog down the tunnels to where the two halforcs are waiting and relay Blaze's orders.
Looks like we're gonna wait on this. We're headed into the ziggurat.
"Works for me." Darkbiter turns to rejoin the ziggarut group, seeing no point in wasting further time.
"Figured tha scout tha area was so tha egg-heads could look over tha ting without interruptions."
Returns to the monolithic enigma
Blood trail age is probably consistent with when the squad was attacked. Difficult to really tell - though it would likely have been abraded away fairly quickly given the foot traffic.