Rosella stabs forward again with a sense of desperation. They can't fight long like this: underwater and surrounded by enemies. She uses her other hand to gesture towards the stairs, hoping people understand her meaning.
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Rosella struggles through the water with her dagger. It feels pitifully small in her hands but she's glad she brought it. Trying to use her bow as a club would have been nigh-impossible. A few bubbles escape from her lips as she stabs forward.
"I can't fire an arrow underwater. I could try to use the bow as a club, but I don't know how well that would work." Rosella bites her lip. "But if they run into trouble, I won't be of any help up here." Reluctantly she puts down her bow and clutches a dagger instead. Shrugging off her backpack, she joins Broccan and Eddruk in the water. She peers around Broccan's shoulder as she tries to see what else might be in the water with them.
Rosella nods. "They're not attacking us, so you're doing something right." Much like Broccan she feels rather useless, but even if she understood the language she's pretty sure she wouldn't understand what the elemental was actually saying. From the quick translations it seems like there's a lot of poetry and metaphors being thrown around, and she's never been good with either.
Rosella's head swivels between the water and Alaïs as she tries to make some sense of what's happening. "So they can't see their love anymore because they're trapped here? Or did their love die?" Looking distinctly uncomfortable, she shakes her head. "I'm sorry, I'm not very good with poetry. I do know there aren't any trees down here, so they've got to be speaking in riddles. Or maybe they want to be under a tree?" Hoping maybe that's it, she tries (through Alaïs) to convey their intentions of freeing the elementals. "We're trying to set you all free. It's not right, you being trapped down here like this. Do you know of anything we can do to help?"
Rosella's shoulders are tense and it's taking enormous amounts of effort to keep her bow in a lowered, non-threatening position. "He seems very angry," she mutters to herself. Although she would be too if she'd been trapped beneath the earth for years. Decades? She waits, hoping Alaïs' attempt at diplomacy is successful. She would rather not have to fight the water itself.
Rosella is taken aback by the disintegrating elemental. "Was that supposed to happen?" He had said something about them taking pieces of himself, but she hadn't expected...whatever he'd just done. Plucking out one's own eyes seemed extreme, even for a creature that apparently didn't feel pain. Speaking of eyes, she flinches slightly when Seeker goes to land on her shoulder. She's still uncomfortable around the very unnatural bird, even though Seeker has been nothing but helpful. (For a given value of 'helpful,' considering she also has a tendency to talk in riddles.) Nevertheless she feels bad for her instinctive reaction and, should Seeker still land despite the flinch, makes no move to brush the magpie away. "Let's go talk to...Phasadriel? And I think you should keep carrying the bowl, Alaïs. Most of the rest of us need our hands to fight, if we run into any more monsters. Plus...he trusts you. Not us, except by extension."
Rosella hands the crossbow to Briar as soon as she mentions wanting an upgrade. "It's very well-made. Honestly I can't believe it's still in such good condition, after being down here unmaintained for gods only know how long. The crafter must have put a lot of love into their work." She hangs back while Alaïs talks to Artophanx. She'd have nothing to add to the conversation even if she could understand it.
Rosella breathes a sigh of relief when everyone is back up out of the pit. "That could have gone worse, I suppose. At least I didn't land on anyone when I fell." She rubs her still-sore throat with a grimace, which quickly changes to a smile of gratitude as Briar soothes away the last of the injury. "Thanks, Briar. And thank you too Edrukk, for coming down and healing me." She'd been unconscious when he actually cast the spell, but she remembers waking up to a fading glow from his hands. "I suppose I shouldn't have put my bow down, but I didn't expect it to be so fast." When Broccan lays out his findings, she immediately starts examining the crossbow. "I don't really like crossbows. They're too bulky and take too long to reload. They're easier to use than regular bows though, which is a plus." She's pretty sure they all have ranged weapons already, but depending on the craftmanship the crossbow Broccan found might be an upgrade for someone.
Rosella stands there for a moment, panting, before putting her bow away in preparation to start climbing back up. Then immediately readies it once again as soon as Broccan starts squirming into the tunnels, shifting her grip slightly so she could use it as a melee weapon if needed. It's a good idea to look for potential valuables. That's the whole reason they're in this cairn to begin with. She's nevertheless guiltily glad that Broccan volunteered, even though she's smaller. She doesn't do well in tight spaces either. "Be careful in there Broccan. There may be more of those things." She remembers the way it had fallen apart into a mass of vermin and shudders. "Whatever it was. If you see or hear anything moving, come back straight away." She punctuates this statement by places her ear against the wall nearest where Broccan is crawling, listening carefully for sounds of anything else moving in there.
Rosella stirs as Edrukk's spell heals her crushed throat. For a second she lays there, blinking. Then she scrambles to her feet. "It was coming for me, right? That's what Kata said?" She looks around, frantic. "Is everyone else alright?" She apparently doesn't register the strangeness of Edrukk being down at the bottom of the hole whereas before he'd been at the top. Seeing Kata climb on top of Broccan's shoulders, she reaches again for her bow. "I'm...I'm alright now. I can cover you while you climb." Readied Action:
Rosella has enough time to look up at Kata from her crouched position. "For-" is all she says before the hands shoot out from the walls and choke her into unconsciousness. As she's being dragged away her body tries instinctively, desperately, to get any air it can. It fails.
Quickly setting her bow back in its place on her back, Rosella crouches down next to Kata and interlaces her fingers. "Step on my hands. I'll boost you up onto Broccan's shoulders."
Merry Christmas to all who celebrate it, and happy holiday-of-choice to everyone else :)
I'm taking an extra-long weekend to visit my sister. I probably won't post much if at all from now until Wednesday, so please bot me if needed.
Just realized I never rolled to confirm the threatened crit on Rosella's readied attack. Been playing a bit too much 2e I guess.
Rosella gets just a little bit too close to the edge as she tries to pull up Broccan and Kata. Already slightly off balance, the unexpected tug is more than enough to send her tumbling forward into the hole. If she'd had a second to think she would have released the rope rather than risk dragging the others down with her. Instead she clutches it tighter even as her shoulder slams hard into the rocky wall. She doesn't get any time to think before she's falling again. It isn't until she hears Broccan's warning and sees the now-useless rope fall to the ground that she fully registers what's happening. Something is in the walls. In the floor. Multiple somethings? Whatever it is, it has teeth sharp enough to gnaw through a thick rope in seconds. Wincing as she flexes her shoulder, she grabs her bow and aims an arrow towards the hole the hand had come from. If it shows itself, she plans to be ready. Readied Action:
Seeker's warning combined with Broccan's request puts Rosella on edge. "Right, I'm pulling you both up now. Hold on tight." Leaning back against the weight, she tries to get both Broccan and Kata back up as quickly as possible.
Rosella grunts as she clutches onto the rope. Edrukk is a solid presence beside her, and Alaïs' arms have proven stronger than they look, but she's not going to let go unless things go truly salted. In which case at least the bottom isn't too far down. "Seeker, you didn't answer me. What did you hear?"
Looking forward to it!
Back from vacation!
Post to all my games: I am going on vacation from August 30th - September 8th. While I'll have my phone I won't be posting much if at all during that time.
"There is something down there. Not sure what, but the look of it reminds me of a creepy doll Ava had growing up. One of those fancy porcelain things that break if you look at 'em funny." Rosella doesn't take her eyes off the rope as Seeker speaks. Her muscles are tensed, ready to pull back on the rope at the slightest hint of trouble. "I didn't hear anything. What did you hear?"
Rosella hangs onto the rope, face grim. "I'm staying up here. I can't draw my bow while hanging onto a rope, and you need someone capable of pulling you up if needed. But be careful. Especially if there's a tunnel." She preemptively braces herself as much as she can. Whatever had dragged that person (woman?) down the hole could still be nearby.
Rosella steps out of the bathroom, gorge rising. She has to take several breaths of the cleaner air outside before she can speak. "Kata's right. I saw the scratch marks on the floor. Someone was dragged into that hole, and no more than a week or two ago. " When Broccan goes into the room, she passes him a rope. "Please tie this around your waist before doing anything. If...whatever it was...is still down there, I don't want you getting dragged in too." Leaving about fifteen feet of slack, she quickly hammers a piton into the floor and attaches the rope to it. Once he's as safe as she can make him she stands outside the door, bow raised. From her position she can't see anything other than Broccan's back, which worries her almost as much as Seeker's cryptic warnings. "'Wake them up?' Wake who up? What's down there?"
Was off the boards for a few days because of a bad cold, but I'm excited to start this game back up again!
Before they head upstairs, Rosella pokes her head into the bathroom. People are strange, particularly when they live underground. Perhaps one of them decided to use Artophanx's bowl as a washbasin.
"That's interesting," Rosella muses. "In the cupboard here. See those seven pegs? We got the goggles from that one, the knife was there, and the bell there." She points to various pegs. "And if you look carefully at where the skeleton was, you can see what looks like three other items that got crushed. That only makes six. I doubt whoever made this cupboard put in an extra peg, not when they were each meant to hold a specific item. So where's item number seven? Do you think it was the bowl we're looking for?" The questions are rhetorical, but she is curious. Surely if any other Not that she thinks it's a mystery she'll be able to solve. After another few minutes of looking around, she shrugs. "Maybe it's upstairs? Alaïs, do you think you'll be able to talk to Phasadriel without Artophanx's help? They might know more."
Not having anything to add to the conversation with the elemental, Rosella follows Kata as she heads into the bedroom. She grimaces at the ransacked dressers, but rummages through them anyway. "Maybe we'll get lucky and whoever looted this place missed something." She looks up at the statue. "Do you think that amulet's magic? Might be worth something even if it's not."
"Would that piece of themselves still be able to talk? If so maybe we could take them to Phasadriel after all." Rosella isn't comfortable with how many things seem to still be alive in this long-abandoned cairn. At least elementals make some amount of sense. She's still not sure what's going on with Seeker. "If they could talk to Phasadriel, they could at least tell them we're not here to cause any harm. Maybe explain we're trying to set them free? Then we could see what's in the chamber Phasadriel's guarding."
Rosella jumps back when the elemental creature reveals itself, hands instinctively going to her bow. When Alaïs starts talking to them, she very deliberately and obviously lowers her bow from its 'ready' stance to a more neutral look. "Imprisoned?" Much like with Seeker, her sympathies go out to any creature trapped so long in this cave without a way of freeing themselves. (Even if a creature of rock is probably more comfortable here than they would be outside.) "This 'Nadroc' imprisoned them? What would happen if we just carried them outside? Could we carry them outside?" She'd stopped taking magic lessons at the Lodge soon after it became clear she'd never be able to cast spells of her own. Now she's wishing she'd continued. Surely druids would have a vested interest in returning spirits of the world to their homes, and perhaps known how to do so.
Rosella's eyes widen with an almost childlike wonder as the cold water disperses the mold. "That's amazing! It looks like we lit an ice after all." No matter how many passes she helps with, she remains fascinated by the way the water is created, then chilled, then thrown onto the mold. She doesn't comment much on the magical items, (none of which seem to be something she'd desire), although she does heft her bow when the knife is discussed. "I can use a knife, but if anything gets that close it's probably because I messed up. Better the knife go to Broccan or Edrukk; they're the ones actually getting in the faces of things. Probably Broccan." His fists have proven impressive so far, but she's worried about the possibility of running into things that can't be punched. (She does flush when Briar mentions preferring to be on the other side of the whip, but doesn't comment further.) "I...don't know what you're talking about? With the stone eggs I mean. If they're valuable, why shouldn't we take them with us?" Rosella is genuinely confused, but also willing to listen to the insight of those with more magical knowledge than she. "Who's Arabrecht? Do you think he was here?"
"I'm from the Bronzewood Lodge, yes." Rosella glances at Seeker then looks quickly away. "Many people there eschew metal armor entirely. It's part of our culture. Or maybe religion. I'm not actualy sure which." Druids can't wear metal armors, and while many at the Lodge didn't have that restriction they still tended to follow the same rule out of respect. She looks curiously at the items Alaïs has described as magical, but still can't tell anything about them. Wanting to be useful, she aids in passing waterskins back and forth while Briar and Alaïs conjure ever-colder water.
Rosella only shakes her head as the armor is revealed. "I don't know much about metal armors. Some people at the Lodge wore them, but not many." She doesn't know anything about magic items either, so all she can do is wait for Alaïs to identify the other things they found. "Seems likely all this will sell well though, so that's good." At this she darts a quick glance towards Seeker, whom she's otherwise been doing her best to avoid looking at. "Money is definitely why I'm here. I, um, don't have a lot of it."
Take however long you need :)
"Lighting an ice?" Rosella frowns. "Would water do? How cold is that water you can create?" She waves her hand in a vague approximation of a magical gesture. "Too bad there's no wind down here; being wet when it's windy makes you very cold." Having exhausted all ideas of what to do about the brown mold, she follows behind Kata as she examines the rest of the room. "We could probably pry up that stone block and see what's underneath, if you think it's safe."
Rosella's brow furrows in confusion as Alaïs talks. 'Miss Hawthorn and Mr. Ironbloom?' Who are...oh. Glad she caught on before giving anything away, she tentatively smiles at the magpie. "It's, um, good to have you with us." (She is not a good liar.) Neither Alaïs nor Briar seem to have any objections though, and she figures they'd be the ones most likely to know if the magpie was dangerous. So with a mental shrug of her shoulders she continues down the hallway to the next room. "That mildew looks weird. Like nothing I've ever seen before." She looks up to the crack in the ceiling. "Wonder if it started up there and grew down, or started in the fountain and grew up."
Rosella shifts uncomfortably. As much as she distrusts the creature, the thought of being trapped alone down here for stars only knew how long garners her sympathy. "Do you...want to go outside?" Her voice is hesitant. "To see the moon? Or the sun, I guess, it's daytime right now, but...you could leave. If you want. The way's not blocked anymore."
Also wishing you the best of luck with your computer. Crossing my fingers that it's not actually broken and/or the fix is super easy.
Rosella's hands are still white-knuckled around her bow. In a very low tone, hoping the bird can't hear her, she whispers, "It reacted to Kata's language." She doesn't know what that language was; but it sounded exceptionally creepy. She's not particularly diplomatic, nor does she have any real interest in talking to the creature. So for now she remains silent at the back of the group, letting more charismatic individuals do the talking.
Rosella hangs back, bow in hand. Whatever this creature is, it's not natural, and she doesn't trust it. Only deference to her companions' attempts at diplomacy keep her from outright aiming at the 'magpie'. Even if she wanted to she doubts she could add anything to the conversation. Instead she stands very still and looks hard at the magpie, trying to determine its motivations.
“It would have been nice to know if we could be certain that the gas was conjured and so something we can expect to face until we can disarm or bypass the trap,” Alaïs shrugs. “As it turns out, the results are inconclusive, but it was either do it now or hope that we spot it in time next time if it does reset, and if one of us had to wait their turn anyway, I had the spell to hand. Er, mind. You know.” "I mean, I guess it all worked out alright..." Rosella says slowly. "But when it comes to poisons or monsters or anything that hurts people, I think Edrukk, Broccan, and me are the best suited to handle it. It was only a few seconds, but I kept wondering if I'd left you down there to die. Just...try not to scare me like that again. If you can help it."
Briar places a hand on her hip ”Now don’t let me hear you talkin’ ‘bout yourself like that, Broc. Would you think it’s dandy to go around talking to other people like that? From what I know a’ ya, I don’t think so. Well you’re a people, too, so best start actin’ like it! You deserve the same consideration you’d give to anyone else.” She speaks with great confidence on the subject, having had to give this pep talk more than once, both to others and to herself. ”And that goes for the lot a’ ya, meself included! No beatin’ yourselves up when there’s plenty of others happy to do it for ya!” Rosella throws Briar a grateful look. Hearing Broccan talk like that had concerned her, but she's really not good at pep talks. (She's never needed to be.) However with the others to give her some guidance, she gives it her best shot. "Wet cloths are one of the best defenses against smoke, so I'd reckon they're good against poisons as well." Poison she doesn't know much about, but forest fires are a regular concern. "It was a good idea. Particularly when we have mages who can refill our canteens anytime we need. And getting that boulder out of the way while you were down there means Kata can look at the trap easier. You did good, Broccan. Real good."
"Is everyone okay?" Rosella looks over the rest of the group, shoulders relaxing when it seems the answer is 'yes.' However her brows furrow as Alaïs offers her explanations. "That's what you were doing? Checking for magic? That seems...unnecessarily risky." She's now regretting her decision to not simply shove the elf into the elevator, even if everything turned out alright in the end. "If you have an idea of how to handle the elemental, maybe we could try that while waiting for the poison to clear. I don't think I'll be very good at 'silent theater' though." Her face brightens. "But I do have a waterproof bag that might help us transfer the elemental out of there. Let me just..." She starts digging through her backpack, then winces. "Oops." In addition to the bag, she also draws out her now-broken lantern. "Probably should have seen that coming; I tossed it in there pretty hard." "Anyway, Broccan you moved the stone? By yourself? That's amazing!" She doesn't think she could have budged it without significant aid.
Up Above: Rosella listens quietly to Briar's explanation. "As long as it's not hurting you, doesn't bother me in the slightest. Thanks for telling us." She smiles slightly. "Hopefully you won't end up bleeding enough for it to be relevant though."
She's not really sure what else to say, and Kata seems to be much better with all this emotional stuff. So she turns her attention to the elevator and simply waits for it to ascend.
Rosella flushes. "I'd, um, actually noticed the color earlier, but, um, it's not polite. To talk about something a woman's trying to conceal with makeup. I just wanted to make sure you were okay. Since you're not very good with poisons."
"Anyway, I'm fine, I think. No trouble breathing." Eager to change the subject, she demonstrates by taking a couple deep breaths as she waits for the lift to get back to the lower floor. Is it just her, or is it taking even longer to go down than it had to go up?
Going Up: Rosella bolts out of the lift before the door even finishes opening. "Hurry, hurry..." As soon as everyone's out, she tosses her backpack inside to trigger the lift and send it back down. (She is careful to avoid hitting the antitoxin on the floor.)
"Briar, you didn't breathe any of that stuff in, did you?" Rosella doubts she did, but is eager to distract herself from wondering if she did the right thing by leaving Alaïs down there.
Going Up: The time spent waiting for the lift to rise is possibly the longest few seconds of Rosella's life. "Do either of you know what Alaïs was casting? It had to be something important. Right?"
Rosella takes a deep breath in and holds it. Briar, Kata, and Alaïs up first, then they can send the lift back down... Then she sees Alaïs start to cast a spell instead of getting in the lift. What is she doing?! If she had a spell that could neutralize poison surely she would have mentioned it sooner. Torn, Rosella wavers for a second. Then with a snarl of frustration she crams herself into the lift next to Briar. "I really hope you know what you're doing."
Rosella is all for Kata taking a look first, particularly after Broccan's comment about the gas possibly killing them instantly. "Can you get to the pressure plate while the rock's sitting on it? If not, or if you can't disarm it, then we can try to block the mouths as much as possible with our bedrolls or something before moving the rock." She doesn't doubt that Edrukk, Broccan, and herself working together could shift it. Particularly not with the aid of a couple crowbars, one of which she pulls out of her own bag in preparation.
Rosella frowns. "So we can't squeeze over it, and moving it will set off some sort of gas trap." She shifts uneasily from side to side, still a little nervous with how close everyone is. "Maybe we shift the rock, then quickly use the lift to get back up? If we wait a while, then the gas should go away. Dissipate. Right?" She directs the question to Broccan, the resident authority on mines. If anyone knows how gases behave in small underground spaces, it will be him.
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