Revery looks down the hole and listens for what is going on. "Should I come down?" he calls, hoping they'll give him some clue. His concern that the rope might be cut or removed is allayed when he realizes that the group could very probably climb up without it. He has seen how narrow and rough it is...
Listen:
Not sure if he'll receive an answer, he decides to begin climbing down the rope.
"I'm coming down!" he yells.
Climb:
Sajeek takes a careful step back out of the range of the skeleton's bony hands. Bringing up a spell, he knows that he can cast, Sajeek looks over at Bast. The big tiger might have injured himself when he jumped (fell) down the hole, but Bast wasn't showing it. The burst of flames, he had certainly felt.
"Hurry up and get down here!!" Sajeek shouts over his shoulder before he begins to cast his healing spell.
Snarling Bast tears into the walking bones that made hurting fire.
All of Bast's wounds close and the warder moves better than it had before.
Random (by alpha):
With a simple wave of its skeletal hands the undead nightmare ignites the very air in a section of the catacombs. A gout of flame erupts 'neath the rogue again.
Shock of Fire (reflex DC 14 to take half damage):
(end of round)
(start of new round)
Sajeek growls as his healing is almost wiped away by another gout of flame. Moving back into range, the Beastlord reaches out to grab hold of the skeleton. He wasn't going to be able to hurt, (or drown it in the muck, for that matter), but he could get a hold of it.
Even if it could still cast it's spell, the magic flame should hit the skeleton as well. Sajeek was betting that magic fire would certainly hurt the battered skeleton. If Bast could take a couple of hit even with the fall, Sajeek was certain he could man up and take the damage as well.
Bast's ears lie flat as he stares at Sajeek in confusion.
An eruption of fire had appeared beneath the feet of all attacked thus far, and not been cast from the bony fingertips. Getting the thing down would not stop its ability to use its magics, but getting its head under the horrific water would go a long way towards blocking its line of sight to its targets.
Sajeek seeks to physically restrain this opponent, and he starts by accurately grabbing hold of its body (successful melee touch attack to grab and initiate a grapple); the easy opportunity for perfect handholds along the ribcage made this a surprisingly easy process.
Claws lash out as the beastlord opens his defences and the skeleton exploits the opportunity, thus breaking the vah shir's hold on it. Wicked slashes appear on Sajeek's arm.
Attack of Opportunity (Sajeek):
Damage:
Revery can finally hear the nearly inaudible noises that had been just beyond his perception during the last few moments (failed listen check). Voices approach and one is very familiar as the panting gnome seeks out his friends. There is an echo as he his words fight past his helm yelling for additional directions from someone that must be out of casual earshot.
It is then that the erudite feels the rope give out above him, and his unexpected fall is swift.
Falling Damage (Lethal):
Falling Damage (nonlethal):
Nogglegrop is close, perhaps only minutes away, which is impressive considering how slow he runs.
A wave of gore, reminiscent of the one caused by Sajeek and later Gwendalyn, and stink splashes everyone and threatens to douse the light source. Splashes seek to knock the lantern over and douse the flame, but to this point it has found a fairly solid purchase in the sunken chest cavity, the place where a heart once was, of an elderly dwarf. The light is more pink than yellow, with the film of flesh gore that coats the light source.
The lantern will not last much longer hoping it remains upright and dry.
Recovering from her bad landing, Gwendalyn stands up out of the filthy goop, just in time to be splashed with more by Brontide's fall. "By the Tribunal! What happened to all these people?" She casts a swift healing spell on the enchanter and moves toward the others, unlimbering her two-handed hammer as she goes. (Minor Healing, , 22/50 mana)
Kwen gives a yelp, more of surprise then pain, when he gets doused with flames, it seems like his time in the desert helped the rogue ignore the pain of the flames. Of course having taking a red hot dagger and re branding himself, has increased Kwen's threshold for pain,
damage
" How in the hell is this critter able to keep throwing fire?" The Rogue asks annoyed that the d#@@ thing won't go down.
Sajeek had provided a possible means of battling the creature, without focusing on meting out damage. This is especially crucial for those that are not wielding bludgeoning weapons hefty enough to bypass the creature's natural toughness.
Kwen strikes the creature with perfect timing and as solidly as he could imagine a blow ever being struck. It is a thing of perfection absolute perfect, and it does absolutely nothing. The rogue reels as layers of skin are magically peeled back via the vehicle of eldritch flame.
Revery surfaces and feels much of the sting of the fall be magically relieved (7 damage remains, no subdual). He still clutches a limp section of hemp rope, and looking up sees no sign of the rope. It takes time for Revery to gather his wits and to slowly move back to his feet (full round used up momentarily climbing, unintentionally falling, landing and standing up from prone). Floating in circles his shield and sword glides down next to him and hovers just a few feet away.
Gwendalyn moves into combat wielding that sole weapon that has shown any success in meting out damage to these things.
Nogglegrop recognizes that he is close and starts yelling at the top of his lungs for the party. There is no echo, which suggests that he has removed his helm.
Kwen and Sajeek are the only two that have landed a blow in the skeleton's recent memory, and as such it is them that are potential targets.
Random (by alpha):
Sajeek finds himself targeted, possibly because the skeleton did not appreciate being momentarily vah shir-handled. A volume of flame opens up under his feet and attempts to broil him alive.
Shock of Fire (reflex DC 14 to take half damage):
(end of round)
(start of new round)
Covered in filth, Gwendalyn casts Minor Healing on the scorched Vah Shir, and blesses the club-wielding rogue with Fleeting Fury. (, 18/50 mana) "Tribunal be with us!" The two-handed hammer is favored by her gods, and she swings it in a powerful blow against the fire-slinging skeleton.
free: Fleeting Fury on Kwen
standard: Attack skeleton
...Damage:
40/45 hp, 6 subdual
Gwendalyn metes out the equivalent of a "killing" blow, sending the nearly incapacitated undead monstrosity back from whence it came. It twitches several times, and even looks like it is going to rise up again, but then it falls completely still.
(end of combat)
You stand
All within the sinkhole can hear the whimpering, that Revery's sharp ears had somehow heard from the surface (a feat almost as impressive as when he had saved everyone from freezing to death by locating the distant goblin cave on the island), and Nogglegrop growing closer and closer. Upon the wall is the message that was glimpsed earlier.
It slowly dawns on everyone that there is no rope to climb back up, and the hole is too wide to brace oneself and wiggle up that way.
As the light finds a section of the north wall you see letters written in blood upon the wall. The humidity of the chamber, and shaking hand of the likely injured author, do no favours to legibility. The word looks like "bewarr swine."
(Gwendalyn: please include a DC 15 language check to decipher)
Kwen and Sajeek had moved bodies aside, a prospect made difficult by the bodies being as structurally sound as chunky snot, which revealed a passage of only a couple feet high and a bit wider than that near the ceiling. It is from this pitch black space that everyone hears the intermittent noise, and feels the breeze coming from.
"Great. I had just convinced myself that the rope was secure and I had nothing to worry about; and half way down, it was cut or untied. I hear Noggy up there now, too!"
Revery starts gathering up the rope. He looks at the end to see if it has a clean cut.
"I wonder if someone can throw me up out of the hole. If I first become a dagger or something, I mean. It may be better than yelling for Noggy, and attracting whatever else might live down here."
"But isn't that why we came down? To find what you heard?" Gwendalyn looks confused, and yells up the pit. "Noggy! We're down here!" She reads the blood writing on the wall curiously.
Walking through the human soup, rubbing Bast's head as he goes by, Sajeek picks up his lantern. He tries hard to not think about a vertain mute dwarf he knows as he plucks the lantern out of the chest cavity.
"Thanks Gwen, you saved our butts," Sajeek nods at the shaman. "AS soon as we get out of here, I am going to regain my magical strength and ask for the spirits aid for Bast. Like I should have done this morning," he mutters with a shake of his head.
"If that's what you think is best Rev. Tie the rope around him when he turns into a dagger, that way he can take that up," Sajeek says. Looking over at Kwen he smirks. "I think Kwen might be our man for throwing a dagger."
Sajeek looks down at the hole he had cleared and feels the breeze.
"I'm going to find whomever is whimpering. Hopefully we'll be able to get them out with the rope," Sajeek pauses for a ew moments. "If not, then they are coming with me. I have to follow the breeze out, and hope that I can find a spot to get Bast out of here." The Beastlord chuckles. "I don't think we have enough rope for to lift him out. And I really don't think he would stay still for that."
Gwendalyn's booming voice is heard, judging by the reactions from atop and within a few seconds a figure stands at the edge of the hole. You recognize it to be Prost, the man dressed in the rags of minor nobility, he stares down into the depths.
The panting Nogglegrop yells back, and you hear an exclamation of distress, which you quickly deduce is him noticing the body of Vlen from a hilltop not far away. He continues to chug his little legs as he eats up the distance. It does not take long for the gnome to stand next to Prost, he has his hands on his knees and is working to catch his breath. "H...how did you g..get down there?"
None present can decipher the truth of the script.
Revery follows the rope to its end and find that it has been cut cleanly, as if by a dagger.
Revery calls up, speaking slowly but loudly so as to easily be heard, "A rope. It was cut while I climbed down, so someone is up there! Be careful!" In Iksar, he says, "Do not trust the nobleman." Luckily, the language is well suited to that kind of talk.
To Sajeek and Kwen, he says, "No, the rope will be with me. The dagger will throw much more easily that way. But first shall we investigate the other noise? Boy, it's dark down here..."
"Perhaps you should carry the lantern, Brontide. You seem to need it more, and that way the rest of us have both hands free for hitting things." She winks at the erudite, whose strong suit lies in more intellectual pursuits.
"My thinking exactly," says Revery to Gwen.
Revery's words save Nogglegrop's life. Turning to face bared steel he reflexively casts a familiar spell for ultimate defence (divine aura) and simply jumps into the hole, yelling for everyone to move back.
He hits hard for a little guy, luckily the lantern had been picked up or it would have been doused.
A moment later Vlen is pushed in, and a moment after that another limp body joins him.
The Northern mystic has a sudden intuition, just a little too late. "Swine. Swenj. $%#@!" She checks the last body for signs of life.
Revery picks up Noggy and checks that he is okay. Then he looks at the other body to see who it is.
Kwen gives a chuckle " Aye throwing a dagger works, also I've got Pitons to make handholds, as for our 'friend' well every living thing bleeds." Moving closer to Revery the rogue whispers " I'll try to get you up there, however I'm worried about what else he can bring to the fight. If you can't get the rope secured, I'll start making handholds, that way we are not stuck down here. Perhaps Sajeek will find a path out of here as well. Be careful, let me know when you are ready."
"Well, we're all down here now. Perhaps we should complete our rescue mission before we try our escape mission. But I'm glad someone knows how to climb up... that." Revery smiles at Kwen.
Sajeek tries very hard to not be angry with himself for walking into the "nobleman's" trap. By the amount of bodies that had collected down in the hole, the man with the heart removing tendencies, had been in business for a while. 'And business had been good. Bastard,' Sajeek thinks to himself with a scowl.
Turning, the vah shir carefully moves to check on Noggy and hand Revery the lantern. Since it seemed very unwise to throw the shape changing enchanter up to the opening of the pit, considering that a murderer was above them. As Sajeek gets closer, he looks over to see Gwen getting on the second man, the pheasant looking human. Sajeek wondered if he was another victim, or the man with the knife's former flunky.
Either way, it didn't look like it ended well for him. Sajeek shakes his head. Nodding to Rev, the Beastlord hands his lantern to the erudite. Looking down at Noggy, the vah shir nods grimly.
"There is a breeze this way, closer to the whimpering," Sajeek says quietly, speaking iksar. "We should leave. I have a sneaking suspicion that the one dressed in nobleman's clothes was behind the skeletons in the first place."
"Normally, I would say that we should take a few minutes to regain our strength," he says in common, almost whispering. He looks around at the chamber stuffed with rotted corpses, all with torn out hearts. The vah shir eyes linger on the pile of children's corpses. "But not here. And we need to find whomever was trapped down here."
The Beastlord makes his way back to the smaller hole, he grimaces, trying to ignore his burns and the stinging scrape that ran down his arm. Still it could have been much worse for the group of friends.
Crouching down, he looks into the smaller tunnel.
"Keep in mind it too could be a trap," Revery says quietly.
Prost lies at your feet, his heart torn free of his chest. Gwendalyn is confident that he is dead.
Nogglegrop appears to be surrounded by a shimmering field, which Revery finds to be diamond hard. Within a few seconds the field disappears.
The gnome stares back towards the sun's light and shakes his head. His resigned voice has a quaver to it as he names his attacker, "Swenj." Nogglegrop names the middle-aged peasant as the man that had killed Prost, and attacked him. "Swenj scouted ahead, and we had lost sight of him. I sent Prost ahead to see if he could find him. They were both so tired, but we couldn't catch Swen..." The cleric is silent as he processes that the fatigue was nothing more than a ruse.
"Who requires healing?"
(please include an update of your current hit points and mana in your next post)
Sajeek recognizes that the cramped tunnel continues along much further than the lantern light illuminates. In such a tight confine he will be hard pressed to defend himself (piercing weapons only).
"I'm sure that the others need it more then me, just a light burn from our friendly pile of bones. Seriously though, we were all duped, next time when we get in another sitution like this, next time let's NOT go down the rabbit hole huh." The rogue says with a grin
Nogglegrop nods to Kwen and relieves his discomfort (minor healing, 42/50 mana).
Minor Healing:
The gnome considers the noises he is hearing, then looks around at the horrific place that he has landed in, and promptly purges his lunch, wipes his mouth with the back of his hand, and vomits until all is but dry heaves.
Picking a few of the bigger pieces out of his white beard, Nogglegrop makes sure that everyone else hears the noise and says, "Do you he...of course you d...okay, ready now."
Gwendalyn sighs. "Bewarr swine. Beware Swenj. Of course. I should've realized..." She turns and hugs the little gnome with one arm. "I'm glad that you're safe. I don't suppose you have my tent and stuff?" Holstering the two-handed hammer, she hardly seems aware of the unhealed injuries from her own hasty descent.
"Hey Nogglegrop, I took the same fast route down you did, but only from half way. Gwen healed me and I'm feeling mostly okay, except for the smell in this terrible place." Revery holds the lamp to the side, dripping with liquid containing water and other nutrients. He tries hard not to think of those nutrients as he starts to follow Sajeek.
(hp: 28/35 Mana: 62/90)
Taking a second to actually check his injures now that the heat of battle had faded from his veins.
Current Hp/mana: 38/50 hp; 3/8 mana
Bast HP: 35/36. [/ooc]
"I'm okay. Got a scrap and a little singed, but other then that, Bast and I are in pretty decent shape," the vah shir pauses for a second, looking over his shoulder. "Well, pretty decent considering where we are."
His eyes catch sight of the fallen minor noble. He had gotten the two mixed up. The noble had been the latest victim of the murderer, Swenji. Prost lay with his heart torn out.
"Before we head into the next hole, wait on hot moment," Sajeek says as he carefully makes his way over to the newest body. Be examines the wound , to see if the man's heart had been cut out, or torn out. After all, the heart is rather well protected by ones ribs.
After taking a few moments to determine what made the wound, the vah shir returns to make his way into the smaller hole. While he really didn't want to go first, he didn't think it would be nice of him to shove Kwen in first. Sajeek could take a few more blows then the half-elf could. That, and if there was another skeleton in here, it's not like either of them could hurt it. Then, he thinks about Rev holding his only source of light, and the fact that his own body would most likely block whatever light he had.
"Kwen, can you see in the dark? I don't think I'll be able to see once I get in there, since Rev will be holding onto the light," Sajeek looks over at the rogue and grins sheepishly. "Plus, it looks kinda tight, and I don't think I could get any leverage to hit anything with my claws. Not that I have a problem going in really, I'll just need my lantern back if I want to see where I am going."
"Sure I'll go first into the tunnel." Kwen says, and starts to move closer to the hole that Sajeek found.
There is an ominous silence from the surface, leaving one to fill in the details of what the bloodstained Swenj might be doing up there with the heart he just collected. You had been lead here to save a corpse.
Nogglegrop ignores all of the stoic talk. It takes two spells to heal Gwendalyn, but only one for Revery and Bast. Sajeek's wounds are more grievous and require stronger healing (27/50 mana).
Minor Healing (Gwendalyn):
Minor Healing (Gwendalyn):
Minor Healing (Revery):
Minor Healing (Bast):
Light Healing (Sajeek):
Minor Healing (Sajeek):
The gnome's eyes follow the barbarian's to the writing. He nods in agreement with her assessment. "At first I thought it was an 'E', but I think the scriber succumbed to their injuries as they wrote the 'J' and dragged their fingers to the right."
Language Check (Nogglegrop):
Nogglegrop throws his thumb over his shoulder, aimed at the area where he fell. Over there you find all of the heavy items he had lugged along with him as he scampered atop the rolling hills of the Karanas.
The heart had been cut out. It looks as if a heavy implement had been used on the sternum, which had weakened the structural integrity of the breastplate, and a dagger had worked its way inside to free the blood pump from its moorings.
Kwen wriggles into the cramped area, elevated about 7' above the chamber floor, happy to be out of the horrific fluid, and hoping not to meet a dog-sized spider in his journeys. He is positive that at any one point he will have one hand pinned, so his teeth are the best holster for his dagger. Cobwebs break on his face, and his infravision reveals all sorts of crawling things, but they scamper away at his approach.
After a distance of 15' he finds that the area opens up enough to let him take a deep breath. Another 5' more brings him to the corner of worked stone, and a place where he can sit up and possibly crouch. The smell is horrific, reminiscent of a chamber pot. His tunnel continues past the worked stone, but far too small for anything larger than a squirrel to squeeze through there.
Using the illumination of his own body heat he can see the staining on tunnel that continues past the corner of worked stone is suggestive that it was used for the dumping of chamber pots. Though disgusting he is able to push aside some of the hanging bits of discarded digestion material and peek through the hole, for that is where the child's noises and the breeze are coming from. Should that be what he wishes to do.
The anguished child's whimpering, carried further by the breeze, sends pangs through his half-human heart.
Those back in the original chamber can see marks on the mostly soil walls of the entry hole suggestive that implements had been used to form the egress point. Climbing up would be a difficult proposition, due to the fragile nature of the soil, but it can be done (DC 20 to climb out of the hole using pitons).
"Alright, Bast and I will be the last through. It's going to take some convincing to get fuzzy-butt here through the tunnel," Sajeek says with a flash of a grin. I'd say Gwen, Rev and Noggy, followed by Bast and then myself."
The vah shir pauses for a moment.
"Oh, and when you guys get up there, can you let me know what's going on/" Sajeek asks of his friends. "I'd rather not be behind a tiger, pushing him into a towards a spot he can't turn around in. That won't end well for anybody," he grins again. Looking back at the hole of light, Sajeeek shudders and turns back to the tunnel.
Kwen want's to rush forward and find the child but with the whole skeleton ambush and the spellcaster/mad man around he feels that caution is the best course of action. Straining his senses, he tries to discern if he can hear anything else besides the sounds of a child whimpering.
Not able truly hear anything else, the rogue starts to move forward at a slower pace, pushing the discarded digestion bits and stalks forward.
"Kwen, do you want anyone to come in there? What do you see?"
Revery recovers his sack, and checks the contents, hoping he had closed the sack tightly. Waterskin, rations, yum! Jewelers' kit.
Then he waits, meditating and thinking of the two people they encountered. That Swenj must have been sneaky to creep up on him like that. Either that, or he waited until he was in the hole and then ran up to cut the rope, followed by him hiding himself again. No matter. There are two dead, and the group of friends were okay, if a little stinky. Why couldn't the druid have teleported them into a city? He laughs at the thought.
The rogue barely fits, which means that Sajeek will be lucky if he can fit in, and even a naked Gwendalyn will likely get stuck. There is no way a fully grown tiger will come close to squeezing in there, even if you could cajole it to attempt it.
To move forward from this point you will either need to go back up the hole you came in by, or follow the breeze down the other larger tunnel, in the southeast corner of this room, away from the sound of the whimpering. You came in near the middle of the upper part of the very crude oval that is the subterranean cavern. Moving south you saw a cramped hole in the southeast part of the space. The slight breeze, which carried the sickening stench of fetid rotting meat stink towards that cramped hole, came from the western part of the room.
The next area, for those that look west is much larger, and will require some climbing up (no check needed) to drop down into that "room", which has the side benefit of getting everyone out of the flies, maggots, bodies and sloughed off skin that floats in the water.
Kwen strains his ears, and is rewarded with high-pitched and rapid breathing, which sounds like it is working through a nose that should have been blown long ago. A tinkered music box endlessly plays the same light melody, which is anything but in this context, over and over.
Pushing aside the lines of digested material he sees a space large enough to push a loaf of bread through. Laying on his back, not focusing on what a disgusting horror he is laying upon, he can see into a dark room and see the telltale glow of a little girl. She is close enough for him to touch, and is incarcerated below a specially-fashioned bed, complete with iron bars.
He is too silent, and she has not heard his approach, which affords him the opportunity to take in a surprisingly opulent bedroom, complete with tasteful furniture and furnishings. It is shockingly diametrically-opposed to where he is currently laying and more importantly what lies just over 20' away.
Looking at the bars Kwen, starts searching with his eyes for a lock, that was something that he could deal with the rogue thinks. Kwen looks for a way to get into that room. Kwen could feel his anger rising, pushing the anger into a space far away from his mind.
spot check
Kwen spies a rather impressive looking lock, heavy and solid, near the fare corner of the king-sized bed and well beyond his reach from the privies hole in the corner of the room.
Reaching in he can grab a few of the bars, since the bed it nearly pushed right against the wall, placing it very close to the corner.
The pretty little elven girl's breath catches, and she looks directly into the rogue's eyes and sucks in a breath to scream a shrill squeak that will likely shatter china three continents away.
(please include a diplomacy roll in your next post to speak soothing words before you are momentarily deafened)
Gwendalyn looks at the high hole that Kwen climbed into. "Well I can't go that way, so let's at least get out of this... you know." She clambers over into the next area to the west.
Nogglegrop remains behind to help Kwen. He is the smallest, so a cramped space will not slow him down, and with his infravision he can see the rogue laying in the filth. A healing spell lingers on his lips waiting to be spit forth, should it be needed.
Gwendalyn climbs up and slips into the next chamber. After spending so long in the waters it is glorious to be back on dry land once again. Her light source remains far behind her, so her understanding of the scope of the room is limited. The ceiling is higher, at times a full 15' above her head, and the walls are all beyond her vision. It is disconcerting to stand in the dark alone, not knowing what lives just beyond one's vision.
Sajeek tugs on the left sleeve of Rev's robe.
"Come on. They don't need the the light. The rest of us on the other.., paw, do," Sajeek grins at the enchanter. The light hearted jesting is forced on the vah shir's part.
Getting Bast's attention, the two make their way into the next chamber, following Gwen. Sajeek wasn't moving that fast, waiting for Rev. He didn't want to be moving around here blind.
Revery takes the light and holds it in front of him as he climbs into the neighboring space. Once there he shines the light around, to get a feel for what it is like, all the while listening for voices back at Kwen and Noggy.
Now that the majority of the bugs have fallen behind you, there is another sound. Water droplets fall not far from your location, and they fall a long way onto rocks.
With the light source you are able to draw in more information about the next chamber (hooded lantern provides illumination out to a 30' radius).
The ceiling of the room is erratic, but averages around 15' high. The room is irregular, but runs further east-west than it does north-south. It is just over 10' after you squeeze through the elevated connection point, and then widens to 15' and wider afterwards. Continuing east affords you an opportunity to see what your ears had detected first. A chasm, 10' across lies before you. On the other side there are number of planks that are long enough to bridge the gap. There is one stalagmite that juts up from the floor in the south part of the room.
Running footfalls can be heard approaching your position from the far side of the chasm.
"Hsst," Sajeek hisses quietly when he hears the running footsteps. "That could be Swenji. Dim the light and hide as best as you can until it gets closer. and let's hope it's not the other skeleton." His eyes flicker around the room seeking a good place to hide close by. He vetoes the stalagmite, figuring it a better spot for Rev or Gwen.
The Beastlord turns and crouches down near Bast. His ears flicker as he listens to the footsteps. He was trying to determine if they were the sounds of boots hitting the ground. Or the dry bones of a tireless undead.
Bast is an ambush predator by nature, and proves that by blending in seamlessly into the rocks, and all but disappearing.
Sajeek skulks quickly towards an outcropping of rock, a bit too quickly in fact (critical failure), and ends up tripping over his own tail, and dropping his spear. The weapon skids and clatters along the stones, making one hell of a racket.
The footfalls stop for a moment, there is a rapid conversation, and then they start running quicker.
Revery covers the lamp with his cloak and tries to hide back in the tunnel from whence he came. His pet hovers behind him.
Hide:
Sneak:
Gwendalyn puts the stalagmite between herself and the chasm, wincing at Sajeek's noisy fumble. It's too late to pretend that no one is there, but there's no point in making an easy target of herself. Blind in the sudden darkness, she gets out her own lantern and fumbles through her pack for an oil flask, in case those coming don't bring their own lights.
Kwen Whispers in Elvish " Shhh child, I mean you no harm. My friends and I are here we will get you out of here as quickly as we can. I know that you are afraid, know that there are people here in this cave who will get you out. Please be brave for us and please don't alert those that have you captive, that someone is here. What is your name child, mine is Kwenilithmor. Call me Kwen please, I may not be able to reach you at the moment, but I swear I'll help you."
Speak Language: Elven
Kwen makes a perfect connection with the child (critical success), and truth be told it will likely develop into a crush that will last for years, should she live that long. The girl claps her hands over her mouth, as if not trusting that a scream won't escape unless she takes extreme measures to restrain it, and is silent.
She nods along with the half-breed's words and then whispers, "Justis", and then claps her hands over her mouth again. She tentatively reaches out an arm, while the other restrains her words, for some human contact.
Nogglegrop hisses into the tunnel to alert the rogue, "The light has been doused. Hurry Kwen!"
The footfalls are definitely not skeletal, and sound as if they are man-sized, and weighted, though not shod with hard soles, they sound like their feet are wrapped in leather.
Revery and hide as poorly as Bast and Gwendalyn hide well, though none know the truth of their attempt to seek cover. Several creatures round the corner from a cave on the far side of the chasm, coordinating their movements in a feral barking language.
Hearing yips and barks in several different voices, Gwendalyn hastens to fill the lamp with oil. If the newcomers decide to investigate -- or worse, can see them plainly -- then she needs to be ready to light her own hooded lantern at the first sign of a threat, even if it's just the sound of a wooden plank being moved.