Mumbar grabs a handful of crispy cockaroaches and stuffs these into a sack. "Perhaps we'll get a bounty. Perhaps not. Please excuse me, I must retrace our route." He shoulders his way back to the lead position.
When he encounters the curtains again: he is more suspicious of what exactly the curtains are hiding. The spear tucked under his elbow and braced with his right hand and the other pressed against the fabric, gently tracing the plaster/sandstone underneath.
The tunnels have filled slightly with smoke adding a gray haze to everything doing little to add to your mood.
The tunnels return to their plastered state. Here the floors are in the process of being smoothed as well.
There are three more ways to go from here. To your right you smell the scent of stale, burnt coffee which is quickly overwhelmed by the smell of dandelions and horse manure as Mumbar starts to look around. His cloak changes to a distinct bright orange.
Ahead, you smell death. And Mumbar can jsut make out the shape of a prone person at the very edges of his vision.
"We get paid by what we kill. The money has to be in whatever is killing everyone else and the money is why we are here. I say we go left at every opportunity where one direction is as good as another. We can deviate from that if we see a body and then go back to turning left if we can't find what killed it. I'll mark walls with this piece of chalk as we go. I will reverse the arrows so they point the opposite way from where we are going in case something clever tries to follow us.
Ashara drops the peice of chalk back into her belt pouch. Looking at Mumbar she says, "I don't know how you fight, but that's a mighty big pig sticker you've got there. If you keep things off my face, I will fill them full of holes with this rifle. I can keep fighting if something gets in my face but I can't choose targets if I do. If you keep that spear between me and anything that wants to eat me, I'll make certain that whatever tries to eat us gets lead poisoning.
Ashara waits to see what everyone else thinks of her plan.
"Alternately, we could put bells on my ankles and bring them to us." Another casual shrug, "A consistent left is good. A quick peek into the rooms for bodies, live or dead, would do much to reduce chances of ambush and possibly collect easy bounty."
"And yes, Ashara. I am the first stop before anything gets to you. I'd appreciate an immediate lead poisoning of whatever insists on making my acquaintance. Don't want to mar up my good looks." This last said with a wink from his tattoo'd face, framed by the orange turban face cloth.
"By the way, there is another body in the distance but it ain't going anywhere. No need to rush. Lets just do a quick peek to verify side passages and rooms are empty first."
Vance checks the bolt in his crossbow and follows.
Ignoring the body at the end of the tunnel for now you move down the right tunnel in an effort to clear it first. This part of the complex is more or less finished with the plaster on the walls being all but dry and the floor being nicely tiled and waxed over. The rough hewn rooms to your right are the only real indicator that work is being done here. In the last room you see a soft glow like a dying firelight coming from it. Looking within you see the remains of a small miner's camp perhaps a rest area where the workers could take their lunches, drink some weak beer, and catch a nap before their next shift. Most of the bed rolls and belongings here have been tossed about and ransacked as it seem many of them probably fled and brought as many personal things as they could.
Sitting by the fire is a middle aged human man his face covered in blood and dust. He sits cross legged while across his lap is a bloody mining axe. His eyes stare through the fire as if his brain was trying to process the the things in front of him. He turns stiffly towards Mumbar as you come around the corner and he says in a dry voice devoid of much emotion.
"It's dangerous here."
He smiles weakly.
He steps into the room and to the left, clearing the door and keeping the spearpoint centered on the surviving miner. "Yes. Yes it is. Highmarshal Flinthammer hired a roomful of bounty hunters to clear the mutants out. Not sure if that makes this place safer at the moment. You are the first survivor we've encountered. Are you hurt? Do you require an escort to the entrance?"
He takes this time to scrutinize the miner and the ransacked detritus for bugs and potential ambush. He waves the others to engage the human.
The man stares blankly for a moment before responding. "Yes."
"You don't seem like you're doin' too well, partner." Vance said, concerned, but wary.
"You need help?"
The man stares back at the dying fire. Then dosn at himself. Then back at you. "Yes."
Then after a too long pause he says. "It's dangerous here."
Mumbar blinks and then a poker face. Still keeping the spear point unwavering at the miner, "Seen this before. Survivor shock. We have some options. a) We leave him here pick him up as we retrace our steps. b) Gently encourage him to accompany us back to the entrance. c) Forcibly escort him to the entrance. Option a) no risk to us, low survivability for him. Option b and c will likely result in a performance of pickaxe proficiency but long term goodwill if successful. Of course, no reward by the high marshal. Still, upon such things a rep is built."
His guard remains up but he bends one knee down to rest.
Ashara frowns. "There's blood on his pick. Would be more practical to just shoot him here and now. I don't like the idea of that pick in the back of my head."
"I agree on all those points. BUT he is not a raving mutant to be put down. He hasn't initiated any hostilities to us and may serve as an alarm should something creep up our backside. I prefer to leave him alone for the moment, clear out the hospital ward, then convince him to return to the surface and his clan for safety. Besides, my rep is built on ensuring survival of just this type of victim. It is what I do."
Decision made, Mumbar stands and slowly backs out of the room. Using his mass once again, forcing the others to move back or press to the sides to avoid intrusion on their persons.
Aiming his spear at the prone figure distant, he moves further into the darkness until the torch can be brought to bear.
Ashara takes her spot behind him, satisfied with his decision.
"If he's still here when we return this way, it seems no loss to take him back. If he's not, or we don't make it back, I guess that's just how it goes."
From outside the room, Mumbar stews in the darkness. His hesitancy obvious, "In retrospect, the safety of even one survivor is a worthy goal. There are plenty of predators in these mines, the miner is fortunate enough to encounter us instead of more mutants or indiscriminate hunters. Now how can we get him to the surface peaceably or in restraints? I can wrassle him down if need be."
With that, the half-orc props his gear in the tunnel, sheds then drapes his desert robe over it all. There he stands in roughly-patched hide armor, deep green skin(multiple long-ago-healed scars provide a historical record of his youth) with boar-like hair albeit in pretty rainbow patches accompanied by an aroma of pleasant sandalwood which fills the corridor. No sign of any tattoos present an hour ago. He acknowledges his current looks with only a slight grimace before glancing at his peers for judgment. "Heh, sorry about your hair Ashara, but copper does look good on you."
Cracking his knuckles and flexing out the kinks, Mumbar looks downright creepy, comical and intimidating all at once.
Walking over tot he nearly comatose man, Vance said "Get up and follow us."
The man stands up bloody pick in hand his expression un changing. His motions are stiff and as he does so sickening pops can be heard coming from his joints.
"Yes."
Vance looks to Mumbar and motions back the way they came.
Mumbar gives a feral grin which only adds to the creepy visual you wish to purge from your memories. "No, you lead us out. Ashara can back you up. The surviving miner goes in the middle. Not sure how much longer he'd be able to hold out. I'll bring up the rear, in case of sneaky mutants."
Mumbar takes this time to don his robes and re-arm. He makes a show of watching the encroaching darkness as the torch leads the way but mostly he observes the miner. The image of little antennae waving in the corpse's skin skittering through his own recent memory, he observes closely for a similar infection on the miner. [ooc] perception or Heal
The man does not move much as you shift positions.
I'm fine with taking him to the surface and assume we will do so.
You march all the way back to where you first entered roughly about an hour of backtracking through long unfinished tunnels. The chaos from before is replaced with a long dark silence.
The wide room is more or less empty. The high shield marshal is missing. In his place is a simple sign reading
"Survivors report your findings to my office. I'm not waiting all day for you."
It is signed by the high shield marshal.
The man himself has said nothing this entire journey and continues to stare ahead. He looks around the room impassively and without comment.
Mumbar scrutinizes the sign, laboriously sounding out the words to himself, although barely a whisper. Turning to the miner, "The High Shield Marshal will need to speak to all of us but especially you. He may have resources to recover from your ordeal. What is your name so I can alert your clan?"
He gently nudges the miner, walking alongside. A gesture to Vance to lead and plow a path through any crowd should one exist, another to -Ashara- to cover the miner in case of violent disagreement or more likely, infection.
Vance takes point and moves with long strides while the others keep the nearly catatonic man behind him from getting spooked.
The man remains silent through the trip.
You go through the underground city proper. As expected it is crowded but few truly stand in your way. Humans and dwarves alike barely give you pause as most here are refugees, miners, or beggars unable to make a living above or below and unable to pay for passage elsewhere. MAny of these poor souls bare the mark of the Gray Skull proof that they've sold their flesh and bone to a Geb necromancer to be used upon death for whatever the necromancer desires. Such a thing was unheard of before the coming of the spellstorms.
As you push through a particularly thick crowd the man suddenly stops and then bolts directly into it with a speed and finnesse you would have never suspected. He drops the pick right where he was and slides into the crowd still bearing that emotionless poker face from before.
Up to you. He just ups and takes off. He is not out of sight at the moment but he's definitely moving far quicker and far more gracefully than you would have previously imagined. Fast enough that you don't even notice until he's already a fair distance from you. So the only question is what do you wish to do about it if anything?
As for rolls like that I usually make them beforehand to save time unless you do so yourself beforehand.
Despite the half-orc's paranoia, he is caught off guard. Consternation followed by fear envelopes facial features as he gives chase. "Bug infestation!" The half-orc's mass notwithstanding, muscled legs propel him at speed sure to catch a dwarf. There are advantages to the predator, as the prey tends to leave a blazed trail. On the other hand, Mumbar's focus is to capture the escaped miner. This does not bode well as his trail is most decidedly blazed with multihued colors, echos of pushed aside pedestrians and scents of food venders scattered throughout the crowd as he unconsciously filters and tosses out useless details. Where these detritus of life's little pleasures land have no rhyme or reason. A dodged canvas awning smells like meat-pie vender, the shrill cursing of an old hag is soon shared by leapt over homeless male vagrant, to say nothing of the colors which blossom during the chase.
As the man takes off Mumbar dives into the crowd after him. Though his progress is slowed by the presence of the crowd which does little to get out of his way.
Vance dashes along after Mumbar, keeping pace with him.
Silent during most of the trek, Nari starts as the others burst into motion before breaking into a run herself. She could see from the man looking over his shoulder that one of the others was probably shouting after him.
Around her swirls of color waft through the air as the tattoos on her skin seem to dance with shifting light, in time to the increased pumping of her blood.
Ashara looks for a place to get some height so that she can keep an eye on the running miner.
She will shoot at the first opportunity:
Ashara takes the shot if she's got a target.
Ashara takes her shot and manages to wing the man who doesn't even stumble or give out a cry of pain as she sees the clear mark of a hit on the mans shoulder.
The shot frightens and scatters the crowd with screams and cries giving Mumbar a much clearer view of the man but probably going to give you trouble with the authorities later (we did just shoot into a crowd after all).
The man rapidly ducks into an alleyway after gaining some distance as mumbar approaches he hears a wet tearing sound coming from the alleyway followed by silence.
As he looks around the corner of the large corridor/alley he sees another crowd at the other end oblivious of the gunshot and screaming some distance away. In the middle of the alley is what appears to be a pile of clothes from your vantage point.
Ashara begins running toward Mumbar, slinging her rifle as she goes.
Mumbar rounds the corner, glad to be out of the crowd and very worried about what will be found. "Clothes" A shudder and a pit in his gullet just opened up where his heart dropped. "Oh no..." His worst fears are realized. A mutant contagion in the middle of a population and he knew he was at fault. No body in the clothes, where did it scamper off too? Did it escape out the other end and were there any cries of consternation from that exit? Did it find a hidey hole or scale a wall.
He stops at the jettisoned clothes for a long slow look and listen before examining the rags for clues of what he is facing.
[ooc]perception Are the clothes shredded, seams ripped? Prints on the walls? Screams from witnesses?
And somewhere in a small corner of his mind, a minute voice makes an observation. A bolt pierced his shoulder from behind. A running target, pursuer and crowded tunnel. Fine shooting.
The good news: The clothes are not shredded so much as torn off. There appears to be no bug parts or sudden skittering of legs.
The bad news: In the clothes is what appears to be a full suit of human skin. Prodding it with his spear it's most certainly skinned from a human and soemthign definitely inhabited it until recently. On the back of the "human suit" is a fine cut as if made by a razor. The whole thing reminds Mumbar of a full body suit that can be climbed into and worn.
There are stories told of groups who found lone wanderers in the deep desert being killed one by one by such a creature until only one survivor was left.
Knowledge Nature
Nari stares at the shed skin in astonishment and disgust. In all her time in the waste she had yet to encounter anything like what lay before them.
"What can do that?" she asks, watching the others' faces to see their response.
A visible shudder runs through the blocky half-orc, about the same time as all the color leeches away from everything he wears. "I do not know. We should find out."
Ashara comes running up, her rifle over her shoulder. Her eyes narrow upon seeing the "skin-suit" and her hands keeps wandering over toward her rifle.
"Hmmm, I wonder how much we can get for whatever the hell this thing is."