Baran wanted to lead by example, he wanted to, but he tired more easily than most. As they removed rubble the boy started to slow down and he looked to his team apologetically. 'This isn't a good start' He hoped they would understand. He always blamed his feeble lungs on having an old father but, who knows, his life to this point has been untried and relatively sheltered ... with the exception of the usual cruel boarding school bullying. 'If you can't work hard - work smart' In whispered tones, so as not to be heard by the engineer, he spoke to the team "I might be team leader but Alua's still in charge. Alua, I'm thinking that there are some things we should be doing during all of this. Erix knows how to work. Maybe he has some pointers? He could teach while we work. He might also be best for scorpion duty - though I'm not volunteering him. I'll do what work I can but I'll also keep my eye out for anything that doesn't have significance to the dig - anything we can sell. Phin could keep her eye out for ancient security devices? Lupi might be able to glean some information about this site, maybe give us an advantage? I don't think we're going to receive any 'extra credit' so we should work hard but sensibly. Make sure we don't burn out. You seem sensitive. Are you getting any intuitions? ... What do you think of that as a general plan? Everyone keep your eyes open. A shard of pottery or an oddly shaped stone could be meaningful."
Baran worked as well as he was able but when he needed a break he asked questions from the engineer hoping to learn and be helpful without presuming to know better. While he worked he kept his eyes open for objects of historical significance ... or valuable insignificance.
the Moors may look desolate but I assure you there are things living in them, and some of the scorpions that live here are particularly nasty. Remember, it’s the smaller of their kind that you need to watch out the most!
Phin immediately started looking around her feet, Scorpions! No one said anything about scorpions. For not the first time, she was questioning her decision about leaving Sharn.
Phin could keep her eye out for ancient security devices?
The rogue did her best to be helpful on the dig while having no idea what she was doing. It seemed like archaeology was just a lot of grunt work. And people did this as a living? It seemed highly suspect to the elf.
She listened to Baran, their official team lead, give them suggestions on how to spend their time in addition to the digging. She gave him a half-hearted salute, "On it. And if you guys see an area first that you want me to take a closer look at, just let me know."
She knelt by her assigned area and began sifting through the dirt, looking for anything of note.
Lupi had one question for the professor: "What do we actually do if something interesting happens...? I mean... a collapse or an angry spirit? Do we just shout alarm?"
Later, when they got their own dig site, Lupi first looked it carefully. She was interested, if she could find any similarities with any goblin symbols, structures, architecture or items she knew, or if the area they were working on was structurally sound or just collapsing.
Later on after some blisters from diggings Lupi was simply exhausted. She was a hard worker, but she did not have the strength to dig all the day. During the day she moved onto clearing smaller details with smaller shovels and she found that to be much more her liking. "Erix, would you mind taking the big shovel?", she said and thought "The shovel weights more than me"
Lupi had one question for the professor: "What do we actually do if something interesting happens...? I mean... a collapse or an angry spirit? Do we just shout alarm?"
”For a collapse, send for help,” the professor replied promptly. ”Getting buried under is a bad way to go, but the other teams are close enough that if someone didn’t get crushed under a stone and die on the spot, help can be relied on. The experts assigned to your teams should help keep that from happening,” he nodded to the talkative blonde Karola, who had been chosen to see to your team’s safety.
”As for angry spirits or other dangers living or unliving, that’s why each team has people who have assured they are good in a fight,” he said. ”And I hope you’ll forgive me for saying this, I would prefer you to find some opposition – there is danger, true, but you were aware of the risk when you joined up, and in my experience, a safe tomb is rarely the most profitable.” The last word was muttered with no little venom in it.
Karola led your way to the dig site assigned to your team – a collapsed entrance to an underground complex of some sort, discovered by the original expedition. The cheerful blonde tapped the exposed stone walls of the passage with a hammer, nodding in satisfaction and then moved aside to sit on a wheelbarrow she upended to watch you work, giving helpful pointers about stances and adjusted your grips on the tools of her trade to help avoid unnecessary burdens and blisters.
The first day of digging proved an exhausting experience to most of you. Erix and Alua, most used and best equipped for the harder parts of the labor spent the most time wielding picks and shovels, as Baran’s lack of endurance and the general delicacy of the elven ladies (no matter the color of one’s skin) made them singularly unsuited for hard physical labor. So in the end, while the brawler and the healer haunted by mischievous ghosts shoveled sand and moved stones, the three poured the loose earth through sieves to look for smaller artifacts.
The haul of the first day was disheartening – mere handful of fragments that might be ancient or contemporary, it was difficult to say. Karola examined the stones you had moved at length, frowning, but while she deemed this particular collapse to be relatively recent – at least compared to the supposed age of the ruins themselves – she had hopes the tunnel you were clearing was sound enough. After all, there was always the chance a roof that had collapsed had done so at great lengths, and you did not have the time to spend a month digging into the hills, hoping after the next ton of earth you moved there would be an intact chamber awaiting you. Also, after poking at the remaining rubble with a long, thin steel rod she estimated you would reach an open space beyond as quickly as tomorrow, barring unforeseen surprises.
[dice=Engineering]1d20 + 10
[dice=History]1d20 + 10
[dice=Local]1d20 + 10
"Evening sir. I'll be brief - I know you're busy." Erix pressed on quickly. A quartermaster - a good one - was always busy, and was one of the worst people you can piss off.
"I'm Sergeant Erix Thorn. I was a senior enlisted for a couple decades." he held up a hand "Not pitching, I know you've got your own people, but I'd like to make sure the recruits... uh... new hires know how to lift & dig. Stretches. Techique. Teamwork. Prep conditioning."
He nods "If you're interested, I'd need room and authorisation. If not, I'll level you be."
”A vet, eh?” Mellow said, stopping his work for just a moment to look Erix up and down, grunting in what might be approval at what he saw. ”Digging, we got covered. That’s what all those miners are for – ‘though I guess you’ll hear all ‘bout that in the morning briefing. Other than that… you think you can help, go right ahead. Need an open space, you’ll be spoilt for choice. Need a roof over your head, we still got a couple spare tents, or tarps if you don’t need the walls. I can release one of those to you, no problem, until such a time we need it for something more critical. But findin’ the time might be tricky, as you’ll be busy digging yourself most of the day – it’d cut into what little free time you have in the mornings or evenings. Same with everyone else – the professor is in awful hurry, seems like, so I don’t think he’ll be willing to cut a lot of work time unless there’s a definite benefit in sight.”
”Be good to know we got someone who can take the pressure in case things go all nasty on us, though,” he went on, going back to cataloguing his stores. ”Never mind the ugly banner that’s supposed to keep the locals off our backs, this here is a wilderness and not every danger that wanders ‘bout is impressed by letters on cloth if you catch my meanin’.”
Later on after some blisters from diggings Lupi was simply exhausted. She was a hard worker, but she did not have the strength to dig all the day. During the day she moved onto clearing smaller details with smaller shovels and she found that to be much more her liking. "Erix, would you mind taking the big shovel?", she said and thought "The shovel weights more than me"
Erix nodded amiably. "Sure!"
Erix stabbed the shovel into the ground, then slammed his boot into to push it in further. He strained to move it... and the handle burst, Erix slipping onto the jagged end, which tore into his side.
The stream of profanity that issued from Erix was truly impressive. He questioned the provenance of the shovel, the parentage of its maker, the environment, the local goblins, and the entire ruling hierarchy.
"Hey, Alua. Can I get some healing?"
Lupi was happy that Erix accepted the shovel, but horrified to see the accident. Erix clearly had even more strength than he knew. Lupi was happy to find anything old and so far the decades old worthless belt buckle was her biggest price of the trip.
Also, after poking at the remaining rubble with a long, thin steel rod she estimated you would reach an open space beyond as quickly as tomorrow, barring unforeseen surprises.
Karola's message hit Lupi like a bolt of lightning, "Wait, what... There is an open space. What is on the the other side? Treasure vault? Dungeon? Monsters?..." and after a deep breath a more thorough thought "What are these tunnels anyway? Have the earlier diggers already found something that could give us a clue, what to expect? I mean... are the tunnels originally tunnels or some structures that have been buried under rubble during decades?"
Ah, a woman of many talents.
Baran pretended that the first day went well and doing a miserable job of it. When they got back to camp he wanted very much to sleep but morale is a real thing and it has power. So he looked for Phin. "Please bring your lute." He went out to the fire. "A small man of youthful extraction stood lit by the fire meant only for light in the hot environs away from home. But a fire is not a fire but a vehicle for the creation of myth. This boyish figure leant on a great staff then pulled it up to his mouth. Upon blowing on its' end an adamant ring issued as if from a a great and silvery flute." Baran pulled his staff up and played on it like a concert flute. He looked to Phin, "Do you know this one?" He tried to keep his own spirits up to help to entrance others but he wasn't playing at his best tonight.
Nothing Else
Alua was mid-sip of water when Erix blew out his shovel, and she snorted a laugh that sent water shooting from her nose. Laughing and choking, she bent over, trying to catch her breath.
The following stream of profanity made her giggle even harder. It really was like being back in the army. But with less blood.
"Hey, Alua. Can I get some healing?"
Spoke too soon. Seeing the jagged wound under his ribs, Alua gasped. "Erix! I'm sorry I laughed!" Rushing to his side, she lay her hands on the broad bands of muscle and summoned her inner power to repair the ugly wound, smoothing away the injury and most of the scar.
Stepping back, Alua took a moment to be grateful that she was developing the power to heal from within. She wasn't ready to trust the spirits in this strange place.
Phin was exhausted after a day of shaking dirt through sieves. Not that it had been physically taxing but it had been mind-numbingly boring. Her ears perked up when Karola mentioned they would break through to some sort of opening in the next day or two.
When Baran sought her out and suggested she get her lute, she immediately brightened and felt lighter. She nodded enthusiastically and ran to get her instrument. She came back and settled herself, strumming a few chords.
The song that Baran started to play wasn't overly familiar but Phin knew enough about music to accompany his flute in a harmonic manner.
Karola's message hit Lupi like a bolt of lightning, "Wait, what... There is an open space. What is on the the other side? Treasure vault? Dungeon? Monsters?..." and after a deep breath a more thorough thought "What are these tunnels anyway? Have the earlier diggers already found something that could give us a clue, what to expect? I mean... are the tunnels originally tunnels or some structures that have been buried under rubble during decades?"
Lupi's mind definitively voted for treasure vault, but reality kicked in. "So, likely somebody else has been here before, too bad. Maybe they left something for us too." Lupi was quite happy with the outcome the first day, so she spent the rest of the day listening on lute and flute music.
Baran's eye's went wide as Phin started in. 'I should be accompanying her. She seems a natural ... she must have done a lot of practicing in front of a tough audience.' He tried to keep up but it was definitely her night. The boy tried to go to sleep but wrestled with his thoughts as the music stayed in his head until late in the night.
And so the next day and the next Baran did his best to mark and record the little 'treasures' they were finding. They might not be of value but they could perhaps tell a tale of where past diggers had been, places already looted, and where digging would yield only second hand finds. In the evenings he tried to summon the energy to play a little, keep things light. Occasionally he told stories, operatic fables of the great heroes as they were buffeted around by the wills of the gods.
When it came time for his team to be on watch, Baran watched Erix and imitated his behaviour - as best to its' purpose he could keep.
In short, the still-young scholar did his best impression of a professional that he could manage. It was not what he was used to and it was exhausting.
During a quiet moment he patrolled with Alua, "Where did you receive your training? Excuse me, you seem to have some skill with your morning star - the battle with the blink dogs - you were very battle calm. Your connection to the gods, the shimmering transcendent form, and the distant look you fall into sometimes like someone is whispering over your shoulder. Your memories seem to be very real for you. Have you seen battle before?"
Alua was mid-sip of water when Erix blew out his shovel, and she snorted a laugh that sent water shooting from her nose. Laughing and choking, she bent over, trying to catch her breath.
The following stream of profanity made her giggle even harder. It really was like being back in the army. But with less blood.
"Hey, Alua. Can I get some healing?"Spoke too soon. Seeing the jagged wound under his ribs, Alua gasped. "Erix! I'm sorry I laughed!" Rushing to his side, she lay her hands on the broad bands of muscle and summoned her inner power to repair the ugly wound, smoothing away the injury and most of the scar.
Stepping back, Alua took a moment to be grateful that she was developing the power to heal from within. She wasn't ready to trust the spirits in this strange place.
Erix waved her away "'S alright" he said through gritted teeth. "Guess it could have been funny, and you've never been somewhere a healer isn't. Karmic payback for laughing at Phin I guess."
Carefully he removed his hand to show that the wound had faded to a bruise, then proceeded to kick the shovel.
During a quiet moment he patrolled with Alua, "Where did you receive your training? Excuse me, you seem to have some skill with your morning star - the battle with the blink dogs - you were very battle calm. Your connection to the gods, the shimmering transcendent form, and the distant look you fall into sometimes like someone is whispering over your shoulder. Your memories seem to be very real for you. Have you seen battle before?"
Alua was a little surprised by the question, but quickly realized that she'd never really discussed her past with Baran. The others knew most of her story, but they'd been there at the beginning of the agency.
Her voice soft, she said, "I was in the war. Joined up when I was 17. My friend and I." Chandra's infectious laugh echoed briefly in her ears. "Three years of being a front line medic and soldier. It was awful. Then Cyre. I was there for the Mourning."
She paused for a moment, pushing memories away. "It's not the gods I connect with. It's the spirits - souls of those I've failed. They help me sometimes, when I ask, but they're not my friends." As if to prove her point, a gust of hot wind blew sand into her eyes. As Alua twisted her head away, she knocked her canteen onto the ground, where most of the precious water was quickly swallowed by the sand.
"I hate fighting. I much prefer to put bodies back together than take them apart. But I won't stand idly by and allow violence either."
Looking up at the sky, stretching her back, Alua said, "It's one of the reasons I was happy to take this job. I thought the job with Sebastian would be mostly tracking down clues. I didn't expect so much fighting. I hope that things here remain calm, that I can exercise my body while keeping my mind at peace."
Turning to the slight young man, she asked, "How are you finding it here? And working with us? Are you getting from it what you hoped?"
Alua was mid-sip of water when Erix blew out his shovel, and she snorted a laugh that sent water shooting from her nose. Laughing and choking, she bent over, trying to catch her breath.
The following stream of profanity made her giggle even harder. It really was like being back in the army. But with less blood.
"Hey, Alua. Can I get some healing?"Spoke too soon. Seeing the jagged wound under his ribs, Alua gasped. "Erix! I'm sorry I laughed!" Rushing to his side, she lay her hands on the broad bands of muscle and summoned her inner power to repair the ugly wound, smoothing away the injury and most of the scar.
Stepping back, Alua took a moment to be grateful that she was developing the power to heal from within. She wasn't ready to trust the spirits in this strange place.
Erix waved her away "'S alright" he said through gritted teeth. "Guess it could have been funny, and you've never been somewhere a healer isn't. Karmic payback for laughing at Phin I guess."
Carefully he removed his hand to show that the wound had faded to a bruise, then proceeded to kick the shovel.
Phin chuckled once she knew Erix wasn't badly hurt, "I guess we've proved that it's always funnier when it's happening to someone else. You've learned a wise lesson today, Cub."
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Her voice soft, she said, "I was in the war. Joined up when I was 17. My friend and I." Chandra's infectious laugh echoed briefly in her ears. "Three years of being a front line medic and soldier. It was awful. Then Cyre. I was there for the Mourning."
"17?! Two years younger than I am now. And to have experienced the Mourning? At twenty? I'm very grateful to be able to know you now. And your friend what are they ... oh wait, sorry." Not gathering the depth of the friendship his apology was more courteous than showing true understanding of the violence of loss.
Turning to the slight young man, she asked, "How are you finding it here? And working with us? Are you getting from it what you hoped?"
"What I hoped? No, I'm not, thank goodness. I thought some part-time employment would mean some independence, from my family. I thought it would be an opportunity to get out of the stuffy confines of Morgrave. I'm certain my mentor knew how foolish those hopes were. Instead, I'm putting truth to old tales. Learning how messy the world is. Words have power. You know this, I'm certain. The ability to say the right thing to the right person in the right tone? It has the power to change minds. If you can change the minds of those around you you can make them braver, more thoughtful, even change their perceptions of the world. If everyone's perception of the world is changed then the world changes. All with little more than the power of one's voice. That's what I'm getting out of this, an opportunity to be - myself. And one more thing. I think I've found a group of people worth writing stories about."
Excavations, day 2
The second day in the Darguun wastes dawned... cold. Too cold. Much too cold. While the warm dry heat of the day had during the first night been replaced by cooler air, it had been far from cold. But now you woke up shivering, your breath steaming in the frigid air. Outside, you found to your shock a thin layer of ice on a bucket of water left out overnight. As you hurried to the mess tent for breakfast and the comfort of the cooking fires, the conversation naturally gravitated to the meteorological surprise, and you were not the only ones to recall the article in the Sharn Inquisitive some days back - the warning from Morgrave university's astrology department of an out-of-season alignment of the celestial spheres.
Normally, the Risia, the Plain of Ice and its counterpart Fernia, the Sea of Fire were reliable as clockwork - Risia becoming coterminous to Eberron every five years during the winter months while Fernia did the same on every fifth summer. But this alignment didn't fit the established pattern. Such things were not completely unheard of, though, and since the alignment had been correctly forecast there was a general consensus that the University folks were also likely right about the length of the event - one full week, not the whole month the regular alignment always lasted.
It did present the expedition with a host of new problems. The normally careful professor had also missed this particular bit of news in the hurry to get the trip organized and you were rather short of both firewood (which had been expected to be needed only for cooking) and cold-weather gear and warm blankets. It seemed likely that while the days would at least reach temperatures above melting point, the nights could before fiercely cold. The first supply shipment was due to arrive on the Gallant Storm some time tomorrow, but would the expedition's local support groups have had time and resources to include what the expedition would now suddenly need, rather than what they had been instructed to prepare for shipment?
Lupi woke and it was freezing, she said to others "Now this must be why the Dhakaani goblins lived underground, it's freezing here. Would our dear professor be upset, if we dug our way to the tunnel and slept the next night there? It must be warmer there..." Lupi did not dare to say aloud her next idea of using the Gallant Storm as firewood.
And one more thing. I think I've found a group of people worth writing stories about.
Alua smiled, a little sadly. Chandra and she had joined the military hoping to become heroes, dreaming of having stories written about them. And here she was, a broken soldier, with her own personal bard. And all she could hope for was to lead a boring life, not worthy of stories at all.
Not wanting to burden the young man with her pessimism, she merely said, "I doubt many have the power in their voice that you do. We are lucky to have you with us, and look forward to watching you expand your talents."
**
Alua woke up with a frozen nose, and wondered what had happened. Hearing the others talk about the strange weather prediction, she wished she'd paid attention to the forecast.
Finding Baran, she said, "Should we focus on finding firewood today? What does the professor think?"
Phin could not stop shivering even when she managed to squeeze herself into a spot close to the cooking fires in the mess tent. She clutched her bowl of porridge enjoying the warmth for her hands more than the food for her stomach. "I did not sign up for this," she groused. She was way more concerned about how the cold would affect her rather than the dig. "There's no way I'm going to be able to play my lute with my fingers this cold."
The elf couldn't help but overhear Alua's questions for Baran, "The professor better have a plan or else he's risking a mutiny on his hands. Or at the very least, an irate labour force."
"Now this must be why the Dhakaani goblins lived underground, it's freezing here. Would our dear professor be upset, if we dug our way to the tunnel and slept the next night there? It must be warmer there...
Phin shrugged, "That's definitely a possibility but we'd still need some extra firewood for heat. But I guess the work of digging should keep the body somewhat warm in the cold so we might as well keep working...unless told otherwise."
Phin shrugged, "That's definitely a possibility but we'd still need some extra firewood for heat. But I guess the work of digging should keep the body somewhat warm in the cold so we might as well keep working...unless told otherwise."
Told otherwise you certainly weren't, and it did prove out that the healthy exercise did at least help combat the cold. The two teams assigned to rest and guard duties were also mobilized to go and find trees to chop - the moors were lacking proper forests but it did have the occasional tree, small as they might be, and smaller trees proved easier to cut down with the equally small axes the expedition had stocked to mainly chop firewood into kindling or shape the logs and blanks required to support the tunnels you dug.
You spent the day moving more earth and sand, clay and stones, your work interrupted more often than the day before by the cook's assistants bringing you hot soup and tea to warm you from the inside. The professor had also agreed to open up the small stock of medicinal brandy to offer you the occasional fortifying shot. Karola kept checking your progress and urging you on, promising a clear passage only few more feet further... and by what you estimated to be the fourth bell after midday, you did manage to open a way through into what laid behind - a lightless hall of forked stone, clearly formed by hands guided by will and purpose, even though millennia of Eberron restlessly shifting in her eternal slumber had left their mark on the walls.
Baran spoke with his team, "Please, give me your scarves or shirts. Just one item each." He went to work folding them into a bundle trying to keep the bundle packed tightly. He then hunched over using his staff for a supportive walking stick as if infirm, his expression puckered as if with age. He patted the bundle and said,"It is a story told by old women and old men that care is all. They say that to mend with attention makes the mend invisible. To fold and care for one's clothes makes them warmer for the care they have received. Warmth comes from care. So it is said by old women and old men." Baran stood up straight and quickly passed the articles out. "I'm sorry - I'm afraid it won't last. The natural cold will remove the effects before the spell wears off. I can warm shoes or other articles on the hour if necessary. Best we get more firewood as Alua suggested."
-------
Later on in the day Baran went to the Professor, and then in turn to the other team leaders, and asked if there was a plan for the cold. He was certainly of no help, with no practical solutions to give. He also forwarded Lupi's question about using dig sites for shelter.
Alua pulled the warmed jacket on over her clothes and sighed in pleasure. "Ahhh.....lovely!" She grinned at Baran, grateful for the brief reprieve from the cold.
****
"Ooh! Exciting!" Despite herself, Alua felt a thrill of anticipation as they widened the hole enough to squeeze through. Rummaging through their digging kit, she found a few lanterns and lit them. Passing one to Phin, she said, "Let's see what's inside. Phin, you take point. Then Erix, the casters, then I'll bring up the rear."
Baran put his hands out in front of him as one would to petition an awaiting audience, "Please hear this humble storey teller as he set our scene. As cold crept through the cavernous mound it was as if spirits came to haunt the steps of the living. No forms did appear but the four lanterns held by unseen hands, born aloft as men might do to precede them on their way." At that four oddly simple images of lanterns appeared. These lanterns looked like a painting of a lantern might on a piece of stage scenery but each gave off the light of a torch all the same. These lights followed the main group as if carried by unseen servants, bobbing in step, only hanging back a little to give Phin some cover in their dimmer radius.
Lupi was excited to get an opening and barely had patience to wait for the front-liners to go in. She cast Mage Armor for herself and started looking around for any signs of goblin things inside the tunnel in the dim light of Baran's Dancing Lights. As they went in she constantly asked Baran to shift the lights a bit so she could see some scratch on the wall better.
Erix nodded appreciatively "Nice! And if you can keep things dry, you'll help people keep toes!" He shook his head "You can live with cold, but cold and wet will do you in."
"Let's see what's inside. Phin, you take point. Then Erix, the casters, then I'll bring up the rear."
"Sure boss." Erix, infected with excitement at an actual discovery - and not the inconsequential promised reward - rifled through his gear, pulling on his heavier armour. "Can you give me a hand to gear up first? I was wearing the gambeson for warmth, but the heavier leather just gets in the way. Also, this goes bad, what're we doing? Regroup at the entrance? Run back to camp?" he paused "And just in case, I reckon we should have a real flame. Full credit to Baran here, but witchlight'll burn underground. Candle flickers, you know it's time to run."
With Baran's conjured lights illuminating the hallway Phin barely had taken two steps into the narrow tunnel you had cleared though the debris before her keen eyes spotted something beyond the cave-in - a body, sitting on the floor, leaning against one wall almost peacefully, flesh wasted away to leave behind a mummified corpse, wearing what Erix and Alua recognized as the Cyran army uniform.
Phin smiled in gratitude as Baran handed back her warmed garment. "Make sure you stay close to me throughout the day, Baran, to keep the warmth flowing. A most excellent ability. You'll definitely be popular."
The elf tossed Erix one of her torches. "Think of it as a huge candle as well as a big stick." She then proceeded to carefully enter the hallway, keeping a close eye on her surroundings and looking for any surprises left by previous occupants.
The rogue stops and points at the body as soon as she spots it. In a voice barely above a whisper she asks, "Who wants to check to make sure it's dead? I call, not it." She looked at Alua, "Can you do what you did in the fallen Tower to make sure it's dead and not undead?"
Alua stepped forward until she could see what the others were looking at. "Looks pretty dead to me. But I guess that doesn't mean it doesn't have some fight still in it.
Looking around, Alua took stock of the spirits in the cave. Goblins and bugbears, their forms mostly drifting close to the ground, as if they still remembered what gravity felt like. In the dark cave, they were easier to see than outside - their grey, misty forms slightly more substantial looking.
As with all the spirits near the dig, these were hanging around rather curiously. The spirits in the area seemed more interested in the people than usual. Perhaps they were surprised to see anybody in the seemingly-deserted place, or perhaps they were just unused to the presence of humans and elves.
Summoning her will, Alua spoke the nonsense language she used to communicate with the spirits, asking them to answer her question. One little goblin spirit, a mischievous grin on its face, wandered over to the corpse and delivered a swift kick to it. Of course, the incorporeal foot went through the mummified remains, but Alua watched carefully to see any tell-tail sign of undeath emanating from the spirit's attack.
Erix tossed the torch into the air and caught it. "Great! Can someone lace me in?"
---
"Whether it is or not, the question is what killed it. Something that lives here? Exposure? Trap? Might help if we knew what a Cyre trooper was doing here in the first place."
Phin waited until Alua gave the thumbs up that the body wasn't going to shamble to life by some nefarious energy before approaching it. The rogue carefully moved forward looking for any signs of some sort of trap that either had claimed a victim in the deceased or else a trap using the deceased to lure unsuspecting looters into a trap.
Alua moved behind Erix and began buckling and lacing him into his armour. Might be time to upgrade what I have, she thought, glancing down at her soldier's coat. It offered some protection, but not as much as she'd like. If we make a nice find in here, maybe I'll find some chain.
Satisfied that the dead person wasn't feeling feisty, Alua said, "Baran, can I have those lights over here, as still as they can be?" She knelt down and examined the corpse.
Satisfied that the dead person wasn't feeling feisty, Alua said, "Baran, can I have those lights over here, as still as they can be?" She knelt down and examined the corpse.
Near whispering, "The quiet of true death hushed the paths under the ground as our ghostly lantern bearers knelt and paid homage to a fallen soul." Baran stayed back but the lanterns lowered and made a circle about Alua and the corpse of the Cyran soldier.
Phin and Alua took their time examining the expired Cryan soldier, but unfortunately there was a little to find out. While Alua couldn't confirm the unfortunate man's cause of death, she could see no obvious major wounds that would have proved immediately deadly - the body was simply too far gone to see any possible signs of poison or disease, or minor wounds. For all she knew, the man might have bled out, died of thirst or fallen victim to a stroke.
Phin's sharp eyes failed to spot any sign of a trap the unfortunate soldier might have sprung, but you did note a snapped sword and two scarred, blunted daggers lying not far from the corpse - those might signify the soldier had tried to dig his way out with the few tools he had at hand, however unsuited to the task they had proved out to be.
... those might signify the soldier had tried to dig his way out with the few tools he had at hand, however unsuited to the task they had proved out to be.
As he peaked over their shoulders the bard spoke up, "Ah, Boss, shall we make sure our dig equipment is with us? Maybe do a quick inspection? We've had a shovel break on us already." Baran's voice was lodged in the future.
... those might signify the soldier had tried to dig his way out with the few tools he had at hand, however unsuited to the task they had proved out to be.As he peaked over their shoulders the bard spoke up, "Ah, Boss, shall we make sure our dig equipment is with us? Maybe do a quick inspection? We've had a shovel break on us already." Baran's voice was lodged in the future.
Phin looked up from where she was examining the area for traps, her eyebrow raised and a half smile on her lips, "Aren't you technically our dig leader? I think what you meant to say was 'It looks like this person previously got caught in a cave in and died because he didn't have proper dig equipment. As dig leader, I think that we should all grab our dig equipment if we are going to explore further tonight.' Right? Which also begs the question, are we continuing? I'm good with going on but it is getting late. Are we allowed to keep going or are we expected back at camp?"
Which also begs the question, are we continuing?
Lupi was examining a scratch on the wall she thought was ancient, when she heard Phin's words. Her heart jumped, "Of course, we are continuing. That's what we are here for!" She was looking at Baran and Alua for confirmation...
Phin looked up from where she was examining the area for traps, her eyebrow raised and a half smile on her lips, "Aren't you technically our dig leader? ... As dig leader, I think that we should all grab our dig equipment if we are going to explore further tonight.' Right? Which also begs the question, are we continuing? I'm good with going on but it is getting late. Are we allowed to keep going or are we expected back at camp?"
Baran smiled back at Phin, "Get your pack and your pick rookie! We'll keep an eye on the site tonight. Karola? How does the opening look? Is there a chance for another collapse? Lupi, you have the best eye for quality. Give the tools your appraisal. We eat supper in shifts and take watches to keep the site secure. Erix, your strongest and need the least light, with the exception of Lupi. Bunk facing inward. Alua, you bunk closest the cave mouth. We'll set up a small fire just outside. It should keep out the worst of the cold." He looked to Phin and he winked.
-------
After an assessment of the opening Baran went back to camp to get a plate of food and move his bedroll to the dig site. He only stopped to inform the Professor that the passage was now open and the body of a Cyran soldier was found.
Lupi got thoroughly surprised on Baran's commands and sprang into action. She took a very thorough look on the tools and then reported back to Baran.
Lupi felt much more like home now "Just like good old days with a hobgoblin in command, maybe there is a leader inside Baran, he certainly is handsome", she thought.
The professor welcomed Baran's report with mixed feelings. On one hand, it was heartening to hear one team had already burrowed past an obstacle and discovered intact ruins behind the wall of stone and sand - a wall that might just as easily have extended for dozens of yards and had been a waste of their precious time trying to clear. But on the other, the very presence of a Cyran soldier inside suggested the ruins may well have been looted decades of centuries before, and then once again forgotten.
He did not object to you deciding to spend the night at the dig site - it could hardly be colder there than in the main campsite, and he well knew temperatures underground tended to be more moderate than outside.
Back at the dig site, Karola had determined the walls and ceiling sound, and the few places she considered iffy had been braced by the time Baran made it back with your evening meal and other supplies. You lit up a fire near the entrance as Baran suggested and found clear patches of ground for your bedrolls inside. You were happy to realized the air, while certainly stale, was noticeable warmer inside, and even though the slight breeze blowing from the entrance drove some smoke inside, the campfire's presence helped warm the air, preventing the fire from chilling you further.
Some time after midnight, Lupi was roused from her sleep by a sound of metal scraping against stone, echoing from somewhere deeper in the ruins...
Alua found herself feeling relieved with Baran took charge of the camp site. It was nice to not be the responsible one for a while. Saluting him crisply, she got to work bringing supplies inside and setting up "camp".
When it was time to turn in, she asked Baran to warm up her sleeping bag. She was so tired that she was asleep long before it cooled down again.
Lupi woke from sleep from the odd sound. After a moment of disorientation, she started shaking Erix, "Erix. I hear scraping sound from the ruins, wake up." After Erix got up she went to wake the others.