He could feel the rope itching his ankle and the weight of the line that followed. Assuming the little water elemental had found all of the exposed tiles Jibril, with his lung full of air, swam directly to the cave. He scanned as he went.
Jibril jumped into the water, and the shock of it squeezed the breath from his body. Bubbles rolled along the bottom of the ice, looking vainly for a way out. The half-elf took a few desperate moments to control his spasming muscles, his constricted heart. Channelling the heat of his homeland on a summer day, he managed to keep himself conscious as his body learned the true definition of "cold".
The elemental prove to be a good guide, and kept the torch always just ahead. Kicking his way down, Jibril followed the eerie light, hoping to catch a fraction of warmth from it, but in vain.
It didn't take long to reach the bottom - his ears hurting a little with the pressure, he saw the reedy area where the three tokens had been. The sediment was still settling from the elemental's retrieval of them, but it was clear that there were no more to be had here.
Less then half a minute has passed. Jibril figured he had probably just under two minutes before he would need to surface. Still fighting off the cold, he turned to the cave.
It was not large, the narrow opening perhaps 2x3 feet. It was pure dark inside; the ranger could see nothing at all. Nothing...except...what was that? By the opening? Jibril's eyes widened as he saw an exposed humanoid foot. There was a little bit of leg attached, but it appeared to have been torn from the body.
The elemental lagged, refusing to bring the light closer than about eight feet from the cave. From here, the torch did not illuminate the inky interior at all.
Above, Team Orra waited in tense silence as the rope slowly spooled out into the water. Quinn counted her heartbeats, wondering what Jibril could see down there. Duncan concentrated on his connection to the elemental. Rex was ready with the rope, to pull if needed. They were all aware that Jibril would need to warm up fast when he resurfaced; otherwise, they could lose him to hypothermia. But there was nothing here to burn, nothing except the small wooden shelter in which they were protected from the vicious wind outside.
Stupid! You left your bow on the surface!
He looked for a sign of what kind of den this might be. What devours a body like that. Moray? Shark?
Jibril untied the rope from his ankle and retied it into a slip knot making a loop of about 3'. He swam to the elemental and took the torch from it and then to the area just above the cave. He perched himself just above the cave hole and lowered the noose in front of it gently ... then he tossed the torch so that it lay approximately five feet in front of the cave hole. He waited tensely to see if anything came out.
Rex kept a steady hold on the rope, waiting for any kind of tug or sign of distress. He's been down there a while... he thought to himself. One more minute. Then I'm pulling him back. One. Two. Three. Four...
Quinn paced around the small hut. "I don't like this. He's been down too long, hasn't he?"
Needing to do something, she pulled out her bedroll and picked up Jibril's clothing. She then wrapped them around herself under her winter gear so that her body would warm them up and keep them warm for when he got back. Hopefully her bedroll would serve as some sort of blanket. "Were there any trees outside where we could use the wood to make a fire?"
Duncan paced, looked inside the hole. he then paced and looked inside the hole some more trying to figure out what was going on.
He nodded to Quinn, "He has been down there too long. let's fish him out. I don't care if he doesn't like it. He can thank us later for saving his life."
He turned to Rex, "C'mon big man, use those muscles and pull him out."
"Give him a moment..." Rex said, his voice lacking its usual certainty. Come on Jibril...Twelve. Thirteen. Fourteen. Fifteen...Come on. Tug the rope. Sixteen. Seventeen...
Jibril was starting to feel the strain in his chest. The torch lay in the sediment, flickering eerily in the cold inky water. He was just about to decide that the cave was empty when the nearby reeds waved in the water, as if a sudden current moved them. Keeping as still as he could, Jibril peered over, rope in hands, to see an enormous red claw come out of the cave. It was similar to a lobster claw, but it was easily four feet long, and almost again that thick. The shell looked pitted and strong.
The claw reached out, seemingly ignoring the rope, which flowed harmlessly aside in the current. Jibril got a look at the "arm" behind the claw, which looked equally thick and sturdy. The claw scooped up the torch with surprising ease, and with a quick flick, crushed it to dust. Jibril was left holding the rope in the pitch dark, unable to tell if the creature was coming further out, or retreating back into the cave.
With the spectacular failure of his admittedly simple trap Jibril closed the loop around his wrist and swam hard along the bottom of the lake bed. He looked frantically for the light from the ice hole and tried to get to the floor directly underneath it. Either he would escape the monstrous claw and make it back to oxygen or he would lure the creature out hoping the little water elemental would have the time to grab any tiles inside the cave ... though how it would know to do this the half-elf couldn’t fathom.
Jibril’s head started to ache like it was turning into cement. He pushed off the cave rock as hard as he could but his limbs were hardly responding. This was the first moment he believed he might not make it out.
Quinn reached for the rope to help Rex, "His moment is up. We need to get him out or we'll be dragging up a corpse."
Rex nodded. "Alright. Let's hoist him up..." Pulling the rope he began trying to pull Jibril back to the surface.
The crushing cold, coupled with the knowledge of the monster in the dark, caused Jibril to forget that he could just follow the rope back up to the hole. Fortunately, his teammates were unwilling to wait any longer, and began to pull him up. The half-elf soon felt the rope tug him, and he allowed himself to be pulled up towards the light and life.
Jibril gave in and stopped swimming, stopped even kicking. He was limp as Rex and Quinn hauled him bodily out of the water. It took a few seconds but he finally let go and gasped for breath like his lungs had just thawed. As they placed him on the shed floor his legs buckled and ... ... he straightened out, shiver walked over to his cloak, and used it to dry himself off. He spoke but his words came out small, "I'm sorry. I got a good look around and there was nothing but a rolling lake bottom ... and a foot, human I think, severed above the ankle. I can only imagine the cave contains the tile we're looking for. I tried to check it out but a giant claw came out and destroyed my torch.", he must have been thinking because he paused for some time, "I'm at a loss for how to achieve this tile. Can we go back without? We've come through so much. Does anyone have a way to coax a crab (Jibril was certain it was a giant crab) with a claw this big (he holds his hands apart four feet) from it's cave? Dun Can, do you think your aingeal would attempt the cave if we could draw the creature out? I don't know ... I'm sorry. I couldn't get it."
Rex helped hoist Jibril out of the ice pool. "You're a crazy man, Jibril. A crazy man." He said with a laugh. "Let's get you warmed up, then worry about it." He contemplated for a minute. "So, there is definitely a tile down there?"
Quinn removed the bedroll and the rest of Jibril's clothes where she had been warming them against her body. She passed them to the half-elf, "That's the best I could do without actually hugging you." Then she extracts the extra layer of cold-weather gear that he'd given her earlier and handed it back to him. "You need this more than me."
"The creature doesn't seem to like light so maybe we can lure it out that way. I still have my ioun torch. But the cold water definitely poses a huge challenge. I'm not a strong swimmer by any stretch. Do you think that thing would come out of the water?"
"You're a crazy man, Jibril. A crazy man." He said with a laugh. "Let's get you warmed up, then worry about it." He contemplated for a minute. "So, there is definitely a tile down there?"
Jibril smiled back, "A crazy man? I hope I'm only half of either. As for the tile, that is certainly the pattern so far and I can only guess that it is in the cave or, summers forbid, in the crab."
"That's the best I could do without actually hugging you."
Jibril let out a giggle half ironical and half nervous, neither he nor Quinn seemed accustomed to hugging. The two hugging each other created a curious picture in his head. "Dun Can, can you put a light on anything? What if we caught a fish, made it shine, and tried to use it to lure out the creature? Might you coax your aingael to check the cave then?"
"First things first."
Duncan dismissed his water angel and promptly called on a small being made of of light, no fire, it was made of fire.
He apologized to it, "I am sorry but your warmth could be the difference between life and death for this stubborn elf."
He then told the others that they could gather around and share in the fleeting warmth the being would give, "He cannot stay here. for long."
He turned to Jibril, "I will endanger an angel for a stupid tile. So the water swirling angel can help but he is definitely not bait."
He turned to Jibril, "I will endanger an angel for a stupid tile. So the water swirling angel can help but he is definitely not bait."
"Bait? Never! I don't want to win in such a way. When I say coax ... I trust you. If it is not clear the aingeal should not go."
"If only I could swim, or breathe underwater, or handle the cold, or see in the dark then I could sneak into the cave and see if our tile is there."
Quinn's brow furrowed, "But even if we coax the lobster-thing out of its cave, who is going to look for the tile? Jibril can't go back into the water and the rest of us aren't capable of dealing with the cold."
"I have an endure elements potion," Quinn offered - "But I can't swim and I've never tried to hold my breath for long periods of time."
The fire elemental didn't seem too upset to be summoned to such a cold place. Indeed, it seemed happy to "beat" the cold, and flared so hot it would have burned the shack down, had Duncan not convinced it to tone it down a little. But it no time, Jibril was dry, and everybody felt truly warm for the first time in hours.
While they talked Jibril cast a line - if 'operation glowing fish' was a bust then at least they would have some fish. He grabbed a small tin of lures from his survival kit. He had a far away look about him, "Fishing was the only thing Hathadalim and I did together besides train. It was nice to sit in quiet with him."
Having caught a fish almost immediately he stuck it on a stick, quick roasted it over the elemental and passed it around.
Then he caught a second soon after.
Looking a bit defeated, "I have no proof that we need to assemble an image. It's just a guess and my guesses have been wrong before. What do you all think? Draw out the crab and get someone or an aingeal to check the cave, or cut our losses and take the tile that looks most like ours ?"
Rex frowned as he watched the still shivering Jibril determinedly start fishing. It reminded him of many of the young men who had arrived in the arena. Young men who were nervous, but still overly eager to prove there worth. It awakened something protective in Rex, as many of those young men had not lived long past their arrival. Looking at the others, he saw that Quinn still looked sick from the cold. Duncan surely would rather be anywhere else. He shook his head. "Maybe we should just grab one of these and call it a win? Perhaps the cave is just there to make it harder for the later teams? If so, might it not be better to get to as many other doors as possible before they become more challenging?"
"I say we try Jibril's fish plan but if it doesn't work then we take one of these other tiles and head back."
While Jibril caught his fish, the rogue tried to recall any particular rule in the Game where you had to make a larger picture with the tiles you collected throughout.
Duncan warmed his hands with his fiery angel, "I mean I can make a fish glow without any problem,s but the watery angel felt very apprehensive about entering the cave."
He looked down, "I really don't want any of them to come to any harm for some silly tile so I won't ask it to enter it. I am sorry."
"I really don't want any of them to come to any harm for some silly tile so I won't ask it to enter it. I am sorry."
”I don’t think we will get any bonus points for getting other creatures to do all of our work for us. I should have thought of the glowing fish before I went down. I would go down again but can you keep summoning aigeal’s to warm me up? We may not get all of the points for bringing back the right tile but perhaps we will still get points for bringing back a tile. Leaving now would give us more time for other challenges - ones we would be better suited for. I say I go down again or we cut our losses and take this tile.”
Rex studied Jibril carefully. He could tell that he wanted the time, but that it was dangerous to go back in there. He looked around the room one more time and reached for the fish hook. "Only other think I can think of is to use this thing to try and catch the damned thing. Maybe lure it out with the hook? But like I said, I don't really know how to fish...and of course someone would still have to swim down to get the tile..."
Quinn was enjoying the warmth provided by Duncan's fiery angel. "Duncan, I understand you not wanting to jeopardize your angels and we don't want to endanger them either. But I think your watery angel didn't want to go into the cave because the lobster monster was inside. Maybe if we can lure it out with Jibril's glowing fish, your angel would be willing to enter the cave. Don't you think?"
She picked up one of the tiles and said, "Otherwise I say we take this one and go. We're wasting time that we probably don't have to spare." She looked at the intensity of her tattoo to see if she could determine how much time they had left.
As Team Orra frets about what to do, Rex and Jibril happen to look towards the watery hole at the same time. They see a strange sight - a reddish stalk with a lump on the end. The lump rotates around, and they see it is an eyeball.
Before they have a chance to warn the others, something huge and heavy crashes into the ice beneath them. The shack shudders and nearly collapses, and they are thrown around inside it. Cracks start to appear in the ice, and cold water sloshes out of the hole and over their boots.
Jibril heard a little plop and looked towards the ice fishing hole. His eyes narrowed as the red eyestalk turned about then Jibril did a panicked little hop backwards just as the ice deck and bobhouse shook ferociously. He landed lightly on his feet and slid to the shack wall.
"Get out of here! This whole shanty is about to get twenty feet shorter!"
Quinn yelped in surprise as something emerged from the ice hole. Seconds later the whole foundation began to shudder beneath her feet. She managed to navigate the shaky terrain and was already grabbing her pack with her free hand and made for the exit. Luckily she was still holding onto the tile she had picked up so she yelled at the others, "I got a tile! Whether it's right or not, let's get out of here."
Though Rex saw it coming, the creature bumped right below him and he found himself knocked to his feet and fighting to not skid into the frozen water. Quickly he began to scramble to try and get back on his feet.
So far, it'll be Rex, Pinchy, then the others. No special rolls to get up, just a regular move action.
Duncan was sprawled on the ground and surrounded by cracking ice. He tried his best to get up on the slippery surface and agreed with Quinn, "Yeah, let's grab that tile and leave. Quickly!"
Rex quickly rolls onto all fours and then pushes himself up, trying to ignore the unpleasant cold squelch of his boots. Moving near Duncan, he stands in between him and the hole. "Get up quick then...Come on. Lets go!" he said in a hurried tone. However, he never took his eyes off the hole, poising to assault the creature if it tried to rise up.
Team Orra either scrambled to their feet, or attempted to keep upright. From underneath, their crustaceous opponent attempted to batter the ice apart, and bring them into its realm. Again the ice heaved and shook beneath their feet. A large crack formed, running from the water hole out past the wall of the creaking hut. The ice began to buckle - it was clear that another hit like this would see it shatter into chunks.
When he bent down to grab his pack an orange colour developed just under Jibril's feet and then got bigger. As the ice heaved he bent his legs making his head appear to stay stationary. If he had been holding a half glass of wine he would not have spilled it. Jibril used the slight raise in the floor to slide down its surface towards Duncan. He grabbed Duncan's Collar and dragged him out of the shack and into the razor cold winds.
"Away from the fire and into the frying pan.", he offered ironically.
Even though Quinn knew the lobster would keep banging the ice to smash through, she couldn't keep her feet this time. There were too many people rushing the exit and she was nudged enough to throw her off balance. She had managed to get her pack on her back so as she went down, she clutched the tile with both hands and rolled away from the hole.
Not wanting to fall into the water and most probably die, she immediately began scrambling to her feet.
@Quinn - you still have a whole turn, so up from prone is a move action, and you have a second move/standard action left this turn.
Quinn staggered to her feet, driven by the need to survive and escape. She keeps the tile safe and once again makes a break for the door.
Duncan kept away from the ice crack developing; he got up and got readied to move out of this place.
"Let's get that tile and leave. Now."
Rex didn't need to be told twice, as he followed the others to the exit.
Humans and half-humans staggered for the exit, Quinn clutching a tile to her chest. The other two tiles slid into the crack, splashing back into the dark water.
Outside, the wind cut right through them, and even Duncan, standing next to his fire angel, could feel nothing but the bitter cold. Beneath their feet the ice heaved again, and they ran as best they could away from the shack. It didn't take long to outdistance their foe, and after a minute of running Jibril risked a quick stop. He brushed away the top layer of snow and found land, not ice underneath. They were out of danger.
Jibril wrapped his fur cloak about him, "Nice work Quinn. You saved this whole trip." Then, without another word he started walking the path back to the teleport sign. He only looked back every once in a while to check on his friends.
Although he was accustomed to cold places and was, this time, well bundled up the hearty boyish wanderer still caught a little chill but did his stoic best to hide it from the others.
Rex's clothes and boots were still wet from slipping around on the ice, so for the first part of their travels his winter gear was doing very little to keep out the chill. His feet and ankles, which were most exposed to the cold began to get sore and red, almost as if the cold was burning them.
However, he pushed through it and the further they travelled the warmer it seemed to get and the more his clothes began to dry. Still he was glad to think that they were almost out of this place.
Quinn actually felt warm with the exertion and adrenaline from their near miss. She handed the tile over to Jibril, "I'm just thankful I had it in hand when that thing attacked."
It didn't take long for Quinn's warmth to start to wane. She trudged along with the others in sullen silence. If I ever see snow again, it'll be too soon."