"I don't think I could even left that harpoon, let alone throw it..." Adrien mumbles to himself.
Curious, he peeks about the cave, looking for traces of magic.
"I'm not terribly interested in hunting, but I am interested in what might be down that well. I might as well fish for your family while I do."
My platform only goes about twenty feet below the end of that well. I can't see anything beyond the range of my own sight, so it's a fair piece down. I've dropped a torch down there once, and it was snuffed out. I'm pretty sure it's water at the bottom, wherever that is, the orc explains as he pulls the platform over to the edge for Kane to step on. Each of the harpoons are attached to a length of sturdy rope, and a rope is also available for the "fisher" to tie around his waist.
When Kane signals he is ready, Craddosk mans the winch and begins lowering the platform down into the well. The ratcheting sound of the chain fills the chamber until it reaches the end of its length. By that time, Kane or the platform is unseen in the inky depths of the well.
After a while of waiting and staring off into the darkness, your senses do get heightened, and are able to hear an occasional flap of leather wing. A few bird-sized, blind insects, and some mundane bats streak past. Then, a form rushes past the edge of your darkvision, much larger in size.
You're up![/ooc]
Above the well, Craddosk crosses his arms and leans up against the wall.
"Sir Kane?" Peacock calls out, his Dancing Lights still hovering around him. "Do you need a light?"
Jazzai just listens intently, her ears twitching and moving slightly back and forth. From the group, to Craddosk and the companion on the stairs. Even though she was still she was finely aware of her surroundings.
Calm she listened to Adrien's request and smiled. Light, what a blessing it was though she wasn't sure if it would help not knowing how that particular spell would work.
Waiting patiently as Sir Kane was swinging down below. The slight creak of the rope and the wood she could hear. Her senses fine tuned to little details. Adrien's breathing, the occasional flap of a wing, hearing them brush one another. Naki's legs stirring as she looked around examining things. Carefully she would move around learning the room, her movement slow and steady as she waited.
"Thank you, Adrian. If you could put them below me, that would be useful."
Kane wasn't going to throw the harpoon. He never had been a very good shot. Instead he waited until the thing closed with him and thrust out with it like a spear.
Adrien guides the four wisps down, placing them on each side of the platform Kane is standing on, illuminating the area with gentle light.
The lights Adrien provides do a nice job of illuminating the hanging platform, but do not cast enough light in the vast underground chamber for Kane to make out any features below him. The darkness remains as impenetrable as before. The light does, however, reveal the pale cave insects flitting about. Whatever vestigial senses left in them draws them to Kane's platform and soon he's surrounded by the vermin. Then the bats come, and begin gorging themselves upon the insect swarm.
Ignoring them for now, Kane looks around for the much larger bat that he had detected, holding the harpoon out like a spear readied for a charge.
Suddenly, in the pale light of Adrien's spell, a large, white-gray shape rushes out of the gloom. Kane barely has time to shift the harpoon in it's direction before it slams into him.
Kane is able to strike it with the harpoon, but unable to lodge it into the creature's hide as it whooshes by, snapping its jaws at him harmlessly. It disappears into the inky blackness of the cave for several seconds. Kane again readies the harpoon for another chance. And another chance he gets, as the dire bat comes at him from another direction.
This time, both are able to draw blood, but Kane is again unable to stick the harpoon in the beast's hide, and again the dire bat flies off into the darkness.
Kane called upon the aid of his faith. His wounds began to close as he waited for the creature to come again.
Staying alert, Kane jabs out at the giant bat when it makes another pass.
This time, neither being is able to harm the other. The bat slips back into the darkness.
The bat's final pass is brutal. Kane's readied spear jabs deep into its shoulder, which spins it toward him. The bat's teeth sink deep into the paladin's stony flesh as it crashes onto the platform. The two tumble about as the entire platform shakes and bounces with the added weight of the large animal.
He is able to hold on. Up above, you see the chain groan under new, added weight. That's the sign, Craddosk says, sounding impressed. He moves over to the winch and starts to haul on the handle. After a few minutes of straining, the platform is brought up and you see Kane holding down a 200 pound bat with a 15-foot wingspan.
Hearing the impacts she would smell the tang of blood slowly drift up and makes her way closer. She made sure to have some distance glad that the smell of blood wasn't making her teeth force their way out. It is good that she had fed recently even as she felt that pull to head towards the creature, she was able to fight it off.
"Sir Kane. When you are done do you wish my help?" She asked as she heard the struggle.
"Have you considered… doing this… with nets?" Kane said with gravely strain as he came out of the well still wrestling with the bat.
Craddosk laughs. Not enough rope in these parts to make a net. He steps away from the winch and draws a wicked-looking knife. With a well-placed slice, the bat is killed while his younger son runs up with a bucket to catch the blood.
Nice work. It took me a few tries myself before I could stick them good, he compliments. While you were down there, did you find any answers to your questions?
After a bit of grisly work in which the bat is dressed and the few parts not reserved for future use tossed down the well, Craddosk hauls the rest up the stairs.
"No. I wasn't able to get a good look around before the bat showed up. I will have to go back down."
"I'll go down with you. I'm curious about how it looks, and I might be able to see if there's magic down there."
[b]"Stay close." Kane said with a nod, moving back toward the well.
"Be safe you two." She would move up to Sir Kane checking over his wounds seeing how much damage she could if she caught him before he went back down.
Worry was on her face but she wasn't going to stop him. She may not be able to follow but she could at least listen from up here to see if they cried for help.
Right now she felt like she wouldn't be much help but to be someone they could come back to for healing.
"Should we fly down?" Adrien wonders, looking to Kane for answers.
"I'm not confident in my ability to fly while fighting something that also has wings. I'm afraid I'm not very good at it yet. I'm going to keep the rope tied around myself in case we run into something that knocks me out of the sky."
Unfortunately, the tether on the platform is only about ten feet long. The rope the harpoon is attached to is not much better, coming in at 30 feet. However, there are several spare coils of rope piled in one of the corners of the basement, though just hemp and some are quite frayed. Tying a few of the better lengths together, Kane is able to give himself about 60 feet of rope for a safety line.
With Naki and Jazzai working the winch, the platform takes Kane and Adrien back down into the inky darkness. The two take flight from the platform and follow Adrien's lights down to the extent of Kane's line. Before long, he is swinging at the end of the rope rather than flying under his own power. Adrien buzzes around nearby on his faerie wings.
Adrien's dancing lights soundlessly descend, the four torch-sized globes spreading out. The two collectively gasp as the lights illuminate a wide platform at the peak of what at first appears to be an underground mountain. However as the light casts upon the angled sides, the "mountain" is revealed to be a massive ziggurat rising out of black rippling water. The square, flat peak has a circular hole in the center, leading down into unseen depths within the mysterious structure.
Craddosk comes back down, his hands and forearms stained with blood. Jazzai can tell it's just the bat's. He blinks a few times that the platform is down the well, but shrugs. We've got a couple rooms not in use, but not enough for one room each. I figure you'll want to stay the night, yes? You realize suddenly that you had arrived late, eaten, and then participated in this hunt. It must be the middle of the night by now.
I figure you ladies can have one room, and the menfolk, when they get out of that pit, can share the other. You can tell your rooms since I've left your weapons by the doors. I'm going to bed now, since I always watch the walls at sunrise. He turns to head up the stars.
"Whoa!" Adrien exclaims, flittering about and taking in the sight of the ziggurat. "What is all this?"
Adrien detects no magic within the range of his spell, which does not reach the peak of the ziggurat.
Kane awkwardly flapped his huge wings to hover in place. I really need to practice this more. he thought to himself as he tried to get a good look at their find. He didn't know if it was related to the questions he was trying to answer about his mother's curse, but he knew it was significant.
"Whatever it is, it is worth looking into. Lets go back up and speak with the others."
"Thank you. I will call them up. They wanted to see whet was below. Rest well. When I wake I will make myself useful."
Nods as she listens below. Calling out. "Adrien, Sir Kane. It is late. Let us get rest before you go to much further. Maybe Dr. Naki can make a rope out of her webbing for you in the morning."
Kane climbed out of the well shortly after Jazzai called down. "We had similar thoughts. There is a pyramid down there. I'd like us to explore it tomorrow, if you are all willing."
After the thrill of the discovery passes, fatigue from the long day of winding through the badlands catches up to you quickly. Finding the rooms very spartan but clean, with simple cots and blankets to ward off the desert night chill, sleep comes on fast.
Morning arrives, and everyone completes their morning rituals in relative peace and with little urgency. The orc family that lives in this keep grunt toothy smiles as you pass each other in the interconnected rooms. Breakfast, however, is a possibly stomach-churning affair of the sweetmeats from last night's hunt.
Craddosk greets you later in the morning after his turn on the wall. He is very interested in what Kane and Adrien saw in the depths.
"The top of a pyramid." Kane said in reply. "We plan to investigate this morning."
"Mhm," Adrien nods, before swallowing a mouthful of breakfast which he might or might not have 'improved' with some prestidigitation magic while no one was looking. "It was huge! Like, a whole temple underground!"
Jazzai looks at them slightly and her face falls. "Oh, I was going to head out to gather food and such from the surrounding area this morning to pay back the kindness of them allowing us to stay here." She shifts and looks at them. "But I won't leave you alone to investigate it. I will come with if there is a way."
Craddosk's brow furrows, as he tries to imagine such a thing can be underground, and right beneath him. He asks for estimations of dimensions of the structure, and whether it could have formed naturally .
I'd like to send one of my family down with you. If it's under me, I'd like to know what it is. Maybe it's the reason why this place was abandoned when I came upon it.
"How are we going to get down there? I know Sir Kane and Peacock can go down. But I am, alas only able to climb. I don't see a problem with them going as long as we can get them and ourselves down safely. Sir Kane may know more on that. How long have you been living here?"
"Rope. Lots of rope." Kane said with a shrug. "We'd better start splicing them and tying knots in them now. We're going to be at it for a while."
"Craddosk, you're welcome to have someone join us. We'll do our best to keep them safe."
Craddosk shakes his head. I'm not sure I've got enough rope, but I'll see.
He and the other orcs do set about and scavenge a fair amount of rope, but much of it is frayed at spots and some lengths are worrisomely old. The head orc re-introduces you to Hedden, his brother's son, a broad-chested orc who has a tendency to stand in your personal space.
Hedden's good with an axe. He just may be the one keeping you safe, Craddosk says with a touch of humor.
Grinning Naki scuttles down rapidly. Looking about she tries to find the necessary landing space beneath the opening. Brow furrowing she focuses on her spinners and begins to weave, a net like web beneath the opening, 15 feet above the floor.
Smiling to herself she hollers up, "Okay! Jump!"
Naki is able to augment/reinforce the rope with her own webbing. The orcs look on in amazement as she then nimbly moves down to the lowered platform and drops the rope further into the deep darkness.
Peacock flutters down, sending his dancing lights low to again illuminate the top of the ziggurat. Hedden, having been on the platform when it was lowered, shouts up a few words in orcish, then switches to Common. You sure this will hold?
He grabs the rope and begins to climb down.
Jazzai smiles. "Spiders silk is very strong. I have even heard of ropes made out of it."
Jazzai would wait on the platform as they made sure he made it down. If Kane offers she would happily accept a flight down.
"Careful, everyone," Peacock hesitantly says, fluttering about as the party climbs down. It's clear he's not feeling entirely confident about the process of bringing the non-fliers down to the ziggurat.
Hedden works his way down skillfully, and Naki just lets her new arachnoid legs do their work instinctively and soon they are down the rope and webbing. Peacock flutters down under his own wings, and Kane takes up Jazzai in his hands and glides down.
The top of the ziggurat has barely enough room for all five of you to stand because of the large hole in the center of the square platform. When you land/drop upon the structure, your feet sink in a thick carpet of slime, mold, and guano. Adrien's lights illuminate a teeming mass of blind insects worming around in the sludge.
Hedden drops down with a sickening squish, and says a few choice words in orc. No wonder this place was sealed up, he says wryly, then draws his short bow and nocks an arrow.
Kane made sure that there was a backup rope in place around Jazzai's waist, then gently picked her up and spiraled down into the dark making wide, slow turns to slow their descent.
Setting her down on top of the pyramid, he let his cassock settle back over his wings, more out of habit than anything else.
"Adrian, can you light the inside of the hole?" Kane readied his polearm and waited.
Jazzai clutched her spear and the look on her face was one of disgust and horror. Even more so when she felt the slight vibrations of the insects.
That wasn't even the worst part. It was the smell. Reaching up she coughed and plugged her nose. "It doesn't pay sometimes to have a sensitive nose. Hedden, I don't know how long we will be here but do you mind teaching me Orc while we are down here? I need something to concentrate on until we get away from this smell." She heard about a hole and she stood still. "And please tell me there is a place not covered in this eventually."
Hedden grunts, and confirms he can start teaching.
"Something large is coming, it has a lot of legs, rows and rows of them. Along the slope of the pyramid." She turned towards it not knowing where it was safe to step but readying her spear.
"Its big too."
Just as Jazzai warns the explorers, suddenly a shape rises up from one of the steep slopes with a wet sucking sound. Its body glistens wetly in Peacock's light, revealing a long, segmented body with legs running down the sides.
The massive buglike thing rears up, beady eyes looking down on you blankly.