"Well as I was saying earlier about Wayland's smithy and the fairy kingdom, you need to be able to look beyond looking, it can be learnt, but if you are the seventh son of the seventh son it is normally a natural gift...
" Now this seems a bit like the fairy kingdom, but in the opposite way, in that it is large rather than small. I wonder how something like this was built?"
as everyone talks softly and looks at the giant statue, you hear, very softly, a faint howl from down below.
William inches over to the side and peers into the depths bellow. "Man I tell ya, that is long way down."
"That it is. Welp, it's either onwards or backwards...shall we?"
Saul says, heading towards the stairs, testing them carefully with one leg before putting his weight on them.
"Did anyone hear that? I heard a howl down there. Go careful and have your weapons ready!"
Anatoly steps onto the steps behind Saul, his bow held ready.
-Posted with Wayfinder
"A howel? I thought we were the only ones here? What could be gown there? Yall sure it is a good idea to go down there?"
"Like what, a wolf? Sure you're not just hearin' things Professor?"
" It was very faint, perhaps it was further in, all I am saying is be careful."
Prof Henry racks his brains for knowledge of what may have caused it.
Anatoly will continue moving downward. He has an arrow ready on the string and will test each stair before putting his weight on it.
William looks in to the depths then back at his companions as they begin their descent. "This is just dadburn foolishness! Ain't no tellin what is down there, and yall are just trapsin off towards it like ya was goin to a night on tha town! I'm tellin ya this ain't a good idea., but if yall insist on goin I guess I need to head on with ya."
going down the steps is a unique experience. the steps are very square, and rather steep. while they do run along the side of the wall, the other side opens to the floor below.
as you proceed down the steps, your eyes are amazed at the incredible craftsmanship of this place. whomever built this had incredible talent.
finally, after a stressful decent, you look down and see what you thought was the floor isnt a floor at all, but instead looks like the remains of a large group of humanoids that had a huge battle here. axes, spears, daggers and swords litter the area. armor glints darkly, and helmets with strange crests rest upon the floor, hiding the grisly remains of this war scene.
Saul stops himself... barely... from letting out a long whistle at the sight that greets them at the bottom. He pushes his hat back further on his head and listens for any of that howling the professor had warned of. He also scans the battle scene before him, trying to guess at who might have been involved and how long ago this happened... as well as looking for any signs of someone traversing this spot recently.
Hahaha
Grumbling under her breath, Isabella follows at the back of the group. She keeps her sword in hand as she goes - just to be safe.
reaching the bottom of the steps, you see a scene of carnage in front of you.
bodies litter the ground, several at the doorway, and more seem to pile up along the last few steps that you descend from.
A single suit of armor rests upon the stairs. examining the suit, you see a wicked axe blade lays buried in the helm, several sword blades pertrude from around the chest and back plates, and the side leather jerkins contains arrows and steel javelin shafts. whoever this thing was, it took a lot to bring it down. Looking beyond the armor, you see a pile of bones 8 feet high and 10 feet out. skulls and femurs, rib cages and spines, and other bones sit in a large communal pile at the bottom of the stairs. judging by the state of decay, you can easily say that this occured a long long time ago.
scattered throughout the room, more seems of battle are evidence. several locations mimic this creatures last stand, as a single suit of armor sits upon the bones of dozens of creatures. swords and cleavers also have destroyed this armor beyond use.
your torchlight flickers and snaps, causing the shadows to leap about. at first, you think it a trick of the eye, but there! you see it! a shadow moved, beyond the door way. a low howl and growl echo from beyond the door...
Isabella makes the Sign of the Cross and mutters a prayer for the fallen - then points her sword at the moving shadow.
"Company," she says, simply.
Btw, thats a link in my previous post
Loosening up the coils of his whip, Henry readies himself for a fight and hefts the torch high in his other hand.
William takes aim at the shadow. "What is it?"
Saul stands at the front of the group, tomohawk in hand, and waits for the creature to make a move.
the creature lets out another low moan, and then begins to slid step to its left, away from your sight.
Anatoly's voice is angry and nearly a growl, and his accent is very thick, "I know this thing from homeland. Is Grimlock. They prey on any they can, and see all other peoples as food. Is strange it does not attack. They are usually very aggressive. Sometimes they work for stronger creature. Do not allow it to escape, killing it is better thing for us."
So saying, he looses his arrow at the creature.
"Great." Saul mutters as the tomahawk he just threw at the retreating creature goes far wide and clatters against the wall. He starts heading towards it as he tries to keep the thing in view.
"Maybe it's full up on corpse-meat?" Isabella suggests.
The Elfmaid does not draw her pistol but holds her ground, waiting for the abomination to come to the group, instead.
"Might i suggest that we watch the flanks, it might be retreating to draw us into a trap or some such."
Prof will advance slowly behind the others, torch held high.
anatoly, easily seeing the creature, snaps off a shot at it with an arrow. flying through the narrow door opening, it beds itself within the creatures forearm, causing it to yelp and mewl in pain.
Saul retrieves his tomahawk from his belt and hurls it, only to his aim be off and the 'hawk clang uselessly off the wall, falling to the floor. muttering to himself, he shuffles over to retreive his falling item.
isabella stands back, ready for the thing to charge.
the prof also hangs back, offering sage advise and keeping the torch lit.
the creature, a grimlock as anatoly says, mimics Sauls action, hurling an object at Saul.
the object, a stone axe, flys past Saul and lands on the floor, sliding to a rest at the professors feet.
Saul grins as the primitive axe clatters by him. The grin slips however as he peers back into the darkness beyond the edge of the flickering light. ”I'm bettin' this thing has friends somewhere down there... Anatoly? We need'in to kill it here 'n now? If so, you'd better be bringing that light Professor, cuz I can’t see a durn thing.”
"Hold up," Isabella says, moving forward and stooping to snatch up the stone axe - 'No such thing as too much cutting power' - "do these things talk? Think? Reason? 'Cause if it doesn't have buddies, why didn't it charge? And if it does have pals... why aren't we getting out of here? We could be badly outnumbered."
Anatoly fires at the creature again, with only a grunt to acknowledge anyone's words.
anatoly's arrow flies true, striking the creature in its chest. a loud yelp of pain, followed by several spoken words. moaning in obvious pain, the noise begins to fade as the grimlock leaves the area.
"Yeah, so it didn't have any friends right here," Isabella says, "but it might be going to get them. Follow or retreat, lads? Best decide quickly."
All that gold,there must be more down here. How do i persuade them to continue? From the front? No far too dangerous hmmm
" If we want to continue, then we need to isolate this threat. I am sure we do, after all aren't we here to explore? Ssul i will follow you and carry the torch."
William slings his musket and draws his fighting knives as he moves forward behind the half orc. "Might be a sight better than set in off my boom stick down here."
'hawk once more in hand, and drawing a second throwing axe as he moves, Saul moves quickly through the door, following the thing.
Moving swiftly forward, as at home in the dark as the grimlock, Anatoly prepares to shoot the thing again as soon as he has a clear shot.
rushing out the door, anatoly looks left then right. seeing the "white" form to his left, he pivots and shoots.
the arrow flies true and strikes the creature just as it ducks into what appears to be another door way simliar to what anatoly just stepped through.
Saul, william and Prof Henry step out as well, with isabella bringing up the rear. The light from Henry's torch splays out into a dark openness. the footsteps you made echo in both directions, from you to a dark eternity.
Glancing about to look for any other hostiles, Saul spots a large, dust covered brazier filled with square fuel rods and what looks to be a large glass container filled with a fuel oil of some sorts.
As the group advances, Isabella takes the precaution of marking the tunnel wall to show which way the group went, using the stone axe she picked up.
"Might be some sort of oil for light here, professor.' Even so, Saul lets Anatoly take the lead and follows after him in pursuit of the retreating 'grimlock' - whatever that was!