Finnian continues to beat himself up :)
Scaramanga regains control and moves away from the creature, waiting for his party members to finish it off.
Getting more angry as the beast rakes him again, Black Bragi stuffs more cartridges into B!tchin' Betty and blasts it again.
As Black Bragi's weapon shouts out again in fury, several fatal impacts wrack the creature and it slumps dumbly to the ground...stone dead. With the threat gone, you finally have time to survey your surroundings. You have landed on a dust plain surrounded by the jagged peaks of the Kargatt Hills...the Mana Storm Cloud moving off to the South as quickly as it had fallen upon your position. Although it can be no later than midday, there is an oppresive gloom in the air, the sky is darkened and gloomy and, worryingly, storm clouds are moving in from the west.
The wildflowers growing in the dust field show the path that the storm took. Following the colourful trail with your eyes, you can see a number of trails converging at the foot of a boulder strewn slope immediately north of you. Following the trail up the steep incline, there appears to be a manmade entrance into the side of the hill; the entrance is no more than a mile from your position.
Bragi points toward the hills. "That looks like the mine. We'd better get moving before another storm comes through. Are you all right Finnian?"
"My gosh, I've never seen such resistant bugs. Did you fellas bring any potions?"
Twylla strides over to her injured party mates and hits them with a heal each. "Let's pick up some healing supplies next time we stop by town. Each one of those spells can really pack a whallop, far too much for your needs."
"Good luck finding any manner of magical healing in these wastes." Scaramanga says to Twylla soberly, his heart still beating from seeing the detective. He looks down toward the cave entrance. "You reckon we should make our way down there?"
"I think so. Let's see if we can find out what's causing the Guardians to go crazy. Thanks for healing me Twylla. I guess we need to do a better job avoiding injury if other options aren't available."
It is short and easy walk up the slopes to the Mine Entrance, the trails remain in good repair and you find your footing up the slope without error. Arriving at the sheltered ground in front of the mine shaft, the rising wind fades to a strong breeze carrying the first drops of rain. The gunmetal grey clouds above you indicate a tempestuous storm in the making.
The entrance to the mine itself looks aged and it is clearly some years since the mine was actively worked. The telltale signs of disrepair and decay are everywhere; faded paint, rusted metal, discarded tools, etc
As the raindrops threaten to turn into sheets of rain, it appears that the only shelter is the mine itself, the pitch black tunnel descending into the abandoned Karggat Mine howling sporadically, thanks to the Mana Wastes' unpredictable air currents.
Finnian shakes his head as if clearing cobwebs.
"Did I miss something?" He says as he looks at his self inflicted wounds.
"I think the storm possessed you Finnian. But it seems to have passed now. Let's hurry to the cave. It looks like a worse one is coming." Black Bragi hustles forward to the entrance to the mine shaft, but pauses in front to see if he can see or hear anything.
As the rain comes down in sheets outside the mine, your eyes adjust to the gloom within the Mine Entrance. The walls of the Mine are primarily rough-hewn stone and, at this point, the uneven ceiling reaches an average height of twenty feet. The tunnels coming from the entrance cave are supported by various stone and coal deposits that the miners must have left in place as pillars.
The mines may have originally been lit by sunrods that are placed in sconces around the tunnels, but the light from these alchemical torches has long since faded. The light from outside dimly illuminates the first thirty to forty feet of the mine before it yields to pitch darkness. Everywhere, the dank walls of the mine drip with condensation.
Mine cart tracks from the tunnel entrance continue to the north, disappearing into darkness. A wooden sign at the entrance promises lower levels in the tracks' direction. To the east, several abandoned mine carts lie strewn around the dirt, some tipped over. In an alcove to the west stands a sizable but nondescript shrine half-buried in loose stone, a heavy black sheet of soot covering the steps leading up to its weathered altar; to the south of the shrine stands a rickety wooden door.
The mine is deathly quiet; the occasional whistle of wind and the gentle dripping of water being the only sounds to puncture the blanket of silence.
"Allow me to scout ahead, I'll be sure to alert you to any clear dangers." says Scaramanga as he moves toward the entrance.
Finnian pulls out his wayfinder and casts light on himself.
Twylla takes a nice, safe spot behind Finnian.
Bragi stands by Twylla. His eyes see further than others in the black, but he prefers to keep some room between himself and those that would do him harm, especially after the land sharks."[/b]
With light coming from Finnian, Scaramanga moves into the mine...proceeding as far as the point where the disused rail tracks split into two directions, he can see that one set of rails runs to the north, joining up with another set before, at the edge of darkness, splitting and heading in three different directions. The other set heads directly westwards, with another set of rails joining it, before disappearing into the darkness...the sound of water dripping seems louder in this direction, almost as if the drops were falling into a large body of water.
Just prior to the split in the rails, there is a side excavation to the east of this main cavern... Pots and vases are strewn about in front of the collapsed wall of this apparent dead end, and the remnants of long dead flowers droop down the sides of the containers. Several mining picks lean against the crumbled stone to the east.
"Which way do you think we should go?" Scaramanga whispers.
Bragi gestures silently toward the side excavation.
Moving to the entrance of the tunnel, you can see a humanoid figure moving near the rubble at the end of the tunnel; perhaps realising that it has been detected, the figure...a skeletal creature, slightly smaller than a human and covered in rags...looks back down the corridor towards your position, malevolently hisses and steps back into the rubble…disappearing from view.
Black Bragi scowls down the tunnel at the creature, trying to make it out, "What in the Nine Hells is that thing?"
"In this light? It could be anything. I doubt its alone."
Finnian moves forward cautiously, keeping a look out for the creature.
Moving carefully into the tunnel, Scaramanga and Finnian survey the area for anything untoward…
Black Bragi takes a position at the entrance to the tunnel, eyes keenly surveying for danger....
Looking further along the tunnel, the solid rock floor gives way to ankle deep mud…the walls and ceiling of the tunnel though, seem quite dry. The tunnel itself stops in a blockage of crumbled stone and rock, three corroded pick axes leaning against the rubble (with a further one lying on the floor).
Whilst it would certainly be hard work, it may be possible to unblock the rock fall in the passage.
In a hush Bragi shares, "Someone's laid out a gods damned picnic. Or more likely a trap. Set it off and see who comes?"
"Maybe we should wait for them and set up an ambush. I have a few ideas..." Twylla smiles deviously.
Scaramanga makes a few silent motions and ghostly hands approach the picnic, they then start moving the meat around and testing the parameters of the area, to see if its a trap.
As Scaramanga prods at the dust covered blanket with his floating hands, he is able to feel the absence of solid ground beneath it…suddenly, as the weight shifts on the blanket, it slides in on itself and disappears from view…revealing a 10 feet wide hole. Cautiously approaching the sprung trap, you are able to see that the tarpaulin, with it's associated detritus, now lies some thirty feet beneath you at the bottom of a smoothly cut vertical shaft.
Whilst you consider your good fortune in discovering the trap, everything in the mine remains silent until, without warning, a moderately sized stone (slightly larger than a person's head) falls from the rock pile in the blocked tunnel to the east…it clatters to the floor generating little clouds of dust as it falls against other stones.
Finnian looks around intently at the shadows when the rock falls, looking for any movement.
"Thought we had a cave-in for a minute there." Bragi tries to see if the figure seen earlier might have set it off. "Guess we better move forward now that we know what to avoid. Now?"
Looking around the cavern, there is little to see...until you become aware of low sibilant voices...
"Buried ussss alive….."
"Left ussss to die…."
"Paid for their greed…..with our blood…."
"Vengenance…."
"Vengenance!!!!!"
"VENGENANCE!!!!"
As the voices increase in volume, the ground beneath your feet starts to dampen and become slick with mud. You have no time to ponder this though before three skeletal figures, covered in rags and plant matter, and slightly squatter than a human emerge from the rock to the east of the tunnel. Their jaws gape open....
"Revenge...."
Black Bragi exclaims, "Buried alive! Ain't no one been in these tunnels for years. Must be gods damned undead!" He takes a step back from the closest creature and fires off B!tchin' Betty reloading quickly. He curses as the musket jams again as he gets the final shot off.
Scaramanga tumbles 10' back and activates his Ring of Invisibility.
The figure in the rear corner of the cavern stretches a skeletal arm towards you and emits a low burbling sound... a slurry of mud starts to drool out of it's mouth... and above you, the rock of the cavern starts to creak and bow... and, liquifying before your eyes, collapses down upon you...
As Scaramanga moves to avoid the collapsing mud, he is confronted with another of the creatures... Gliding through the mud as if it was water, it swipes and bites at him... It's breath rank with decay...
Finnian's normally quick reflexes fail him as he is pummeled by the mudslide. He quickly activates his Celestial armor and flies up 10'.
AC-29
hp-57/81
status-flying
Black Bragi barely evades the worst of the rockslide. "What in tarnation are these damn things!" He clears the misfire from B!tchin' Betty and resumes firing at his original target.
Twylla drops a wall of ice going diagonally, blocking off enemies #1 and #2.
Scaramanga, bloodied and confused, activates his ring of invisibility.
Bragi's shots once again find their target, bone shattering from the skeletal carcass of the creature...yet none of the wounds inflicted are grievous enough to fell your enemy.
Hissing, both creatures trapped behind Twylla's wall sink back into the wall behind them...disappearing from view.
Scaramanga reeling under the ferocity of the creature's attacks, blinks out of view...leaving a person size indentation in the waist high mud...
The creature on your side of Twylla's wall lashes out at the fresh air where Scaramanga had been.
Finnian flies over to the creature attacking Scaramanga and attacks.
damage
AC-33
hp-57/81
status-flying, crane style, fighting defensively
Twylla stumbles towards Scaramanga, trying to find him before he goes splat.
Bragi turns to face the remaining creature threatening Scaramanga and blasts it with B!tchin' Betty.