"Oi! We can have a chat right after I beat what's left o'them mites" as he smiles to Sunny "Caelin is the name if ya want to know, right now we be kill'n no chattin' me fair lady, just lost Tam to this hideous creatures" as he turns to Dra "Point the way skinny let me show ya how da'use yer weapons"
After easily climbing the 10 ft. down, Dra has to crouch down a little to see the two tunnels. They both slope down, one east, one west.
Nodding to Caelin, Dra looks back and forth between the tunnels.
"East...always to the East."
"Oi! We can have a chat right after I beat what's left o'them mites" as he smiles to Sunny "Caelin is the name if ya want to know, right now we be kill'n no chattin' me fair lady, just lost Tam to this hideous creatures" as he turns to Dra "Point the way skinny let me show ya how da'use yer weapons"
Sunny kneels for a moment beside the fallen warrior, staring at the woman's face with a fierce intensity as if to physically have an image imprinted in her memory.
"Tam." She whispers softly as she stands and turns to the large man,
"As fer askin' after yer name, o'course I be takin' th' time t'be learnin' it!" She calls back jovially, "How else am I t'be tellin' yer heavy set @rse t'be duckin' when th' shootin' starts!" As she scampers up to the blond Ulfen warrior and leans over to peer down into the darkness of the hole.
"Aye, an' don't this remind me of lookin' in't th' belly o' th' 'Windful Flyer'..." She mutters.
"Happy to lead the way folks."
Polson:
Looking down into the cramped tunnels, Sunny sighs, places her x-bow across her back and draws one of her short swords before venturing down into the pit along with her companions.
Dra nods to Sunny and then descends after Polson, to guard his back, shield and axe at the ready.
"Lead on urdinome. I follow."
Dra watches the tunnel entrances closely and listens for any noise.
Perception check.
"Well I might be a great warrior but I still can't see in the dark ya know, if ya don't mind" as he lights a torch to be able to see better in the dark.
Polson raises a hand to call for silence then scans the darkness looking for the source of the sound.
Perception
Polson:
Seeing Polson stop, Sunny halts and edges up closer to the narrow tunnel's wall.
Seeing Polson stop, Sunny halts and edges up closer to the narrow tunnel's wall.
*Drops soundlessly to the floor of the tunnel, and follows the others, hunched over almost at the waist, punching dagger at the ready.*
Dra continues following Polson as backup.
Angus, Constance, Erian and Gaelen say they'll remain topside to guard the exit and ready Tam's body to be taken back to Oleg's, as Constance won't let her be buried in the middle of nowhere.
Heading east Polson draws a single shortsword, leaving his left hand free. "I am going to assume you can all see without lighting any torches?"Polson says, more in hope than expectation.
"I am going to assume you can all see without lighting any torches?"
Just as Polson finishes saying this, he notices the light of Caelin's torch.
Dra nods at Sunny's suggestion of moving order.
Quietly, he says to her "You have night eyes, yes? You move behind the Dark One, I will walk by the Pale One." nodding towards Caelin and his torch.
Rumbling, "I can see past the darkness and the dead." Shielding his eyes from the torch, they flash red in shadow of his hand.
"Oi! If ya don't mind then let's move a long and put an end to it already" as he starts walking in the suggested order
Dra nods at Sunny's suggestion of moving order.
Quietly, he says to her "You have night eyes, yes? You move behind the Dark One, I will walk by the Pale One." nodding towards Caelin and his torch.
Sunny nods, "Aye well me eyes are big n' blue, but I cain't see in'a total dark. But aye, I be thinin' they be sharp enough fer this." She replies to Dra.
At Nerik's rumbled voice and 'flashing' display, all Sunny does is raise her eyebrows, shrugs and turns to watch Polson's back, her own short sword held at the ready.
Kthonos take a look down the hole and decides he doesn't want to go back down there.
The group in the mite lair enters a cavern. The wet-looking floor of the large cavern is crisscrossed by several shallow trenches, each containing trickles of putrid-looking fluid. Six foul mounds of compost and dung lie heaped about the room, five of them studded with small spherical eggs.
Polson:
Gesturing slowly towards the eggs,"Odd that such animals would leave their unborn behind? Definitely destined for death as a race."
The group in the mite lair enters a cavern. The wet-looking floor of the large cavern is crisscrossed by several shallow trenches, each containing trickles of putrid-looking fluid. Six foul mounds of compost and dung lie heaped about the room, five of them studded with small spherical eggs.
Sunny wrinkles her nose in disgust, a look upon her face also making evident her feelings. She definitely hesitates before walking any where about the cavern in her bare feet.
At Neriks' comment, she tries to think about the size of the mites and compare it to the size of these eggs...
"Ummmm.....some how...I dun't think these be mite eggs..." She hesitantly whispers, even as her nose wrinkles again.
"Okeys, no one go chasin' th' ships cat!" She adds emphatically.
"There is something alive down that tunnel...sounds in pain but suspect it could be a trap. I shall go as quietly as possible..."
Polson creeps toward the noise.
Stealth
Polson moves along, as quietly as he can manage, the sound of crying is growing a little stronger, and now hears what sounds like chains moving.
"Eeeew! Th' floor is all squicky!" Sunny whispers distractedly. "I in't never walked through a bilge mess as nasty as this!"
*Follows Poison carefully, punching dagger at the ready, other hand summoning an acid ball*
Undead perception :
Stealth :
spell failure :
Perception
Everyone: As you reach the end of this chamber, you see a tunnel turning off of it, down and to the south.
"What is this?!" Dra says while looking a bit perplexed at the hogtied figure.
Dra moves closer to examine it.
"Polson, do you know what this is?"
"What is this?!" Dra says while looking a bit perplexed at the hogtied figure. Dra moves closer to examine it.
"Polson, do you know what this is?"
At Dra's exclamation, Sunny's reaches cross nad draws her x-bow from across her back, the better to cover Dra and shoot across the chamber.
As everyone squeezes at the tunnel mouth, you all get a good look at what appears to be a chain-bound and gagged ogre-sized mite. It has no clothing and appears to have been abused for years, judging by the number of black scars across it's blue body. It's head is the same size as regular mites and it's crying. There's a fresh cut on it's forehead which is oozing what must be it's blood, it's a mixture of black and green.
"At's gots to be some sort of illusion...thingy..." Sunny whispers..
"Its as though one of the mites bedded a Kreeg woman to beget something like that...what do we do with it?"
Dra glances around at everyone else, not quite sure how to handle this creature.
"Whatever we decide, we need to hurry through so we can get back outside...I don't care for leaving the dead to whatever beasts might come hereabouts."
"for more than I want to see him out of his misery I can't bring my blade to it, let's just set him free and question him to see what we can learn"
"See what it knows, then put the sorry beast out of it's misery."
"Do any of us know whatever fell speech it uses? Why not ask it and see if it can understand first?"
Sunny hangs back, very unsure and unsettled by the whole scene. She moves about, always trying to keep as clear line of sight upon this new monster as possible.
** spoiler omitted **
Polson speaks to it it in his own dialect, attempting to engage with the creature and calm it.
"We are not here to hurt you, but we would like to talk.."
Dra winces at the sound of the language being babbled back and forth.
"What is this fell speech Polson? It understands?!" Dra says, some measure of comprehension dawning.
** spoiler omitted **
Polson speaks to it it in his own dialect, attempting to engage with the creature and calm it.
"We are not here to hurt you, but we would like to talk.."
The large blue mite speaks, while still crying,
*Shuffling closer for a better view, "What a curious creature, so much larger than the others, odd."
As Nerik moves a little closer to the large mite it looks at him and tries to move back a little farther, but is unable to move more than a few inches.
"Whut's the critter sayin'? C'n any one un'erstand it?" Sunny calls from the chambers' entrance, still not trusting enough to approach closer.
"It says it can help us, and it's obviously no friend to these little blue bastard's!"
Sunny frowns but edges closer.
"Well...lettin' th'...um....feller loose would be th' right thing t'do..." She mumbles.
Sunny looks around at the rest of the cave the parties in.