Robert Luck Check- 1d100=39
Robert carefully takes an electric torch and digs his way through the crammed spaces of the rubble. He can't help but get the goo on his clothing as his body brushes up against fallen timbers that struggle to hold up the horrifically sagging remains of the dying farmhouse. He worms his way further back into the ruin. You can hear his labored breaths and his grunting and groaning as he tries to squeeze through narrow gaps. He is gone for many minutes, but you have a sense of where he is by the light from his torch. He seems to have made it back a good distance.
spoiler for Robert
Rita calls "IS everything alright basck there ?"
"Yes...perfectly alright. I've found a door into the hillside" Robert calls back.
He tries the door handle to see if it's locked but does not open the door.
"Hold up a minute" "I'll join you". Might not be a bad idea to have someone watching your back" Fergus intones.
Fergus Luck: 1d100=29
Fergus squeezes his way through the rubble to join Robert. He finds it more challenging, as he is somewhat older than Robert and not as limber as he once was. His clothes also become covered in the nasty alien goo.
The door is crudely constructed, and Robert finds that though it is a little stuck it doesn't seem locked. With a little pushing, you figure could shove it open.
Evelyn looks at Rita with the curiousity plainly written on her face seemingly only held back by the stench and the goo. "Now what do you think lies beyond a door in a hillside?" She gives the goo a rather annoyed look.
Rita eyes gleam "Didn't the diaries say something about creating gold- maybe they have some kind of ....whadja call it ... al-kee-mists lab back there."
A chill suddenly runs through her as the thought occurs: Or another one of those creatures that Doctor Armitage spoke about...
As the silence from the ruins wears on she looks at Rita, "Do you think they are ok? It seems to be taking awhile. I can't hear them anymore can you?"
Robert hands the torch to Fergus and forces the door open, stepping through, his pistol at the ready.
Fergus and Robert
Your open the door, and there is only darkness. Fergus shines his light forward. It illuminates, a narrow tunnel has been bored into the bed rock of the hillside. It is shored up with timbers and goes back some 20 feet before opening into a room that looks to be about 14-15' in diameter. From your vantage point at the entrance to the tunnel, you can see that there appears to be some sort of diagram etched into the floor of the room up ahead. Also in the room, you can make out what looks like an anvil and some iron tools. Things are quiet, except for the occasional drip. You are relieved that the tunnel is slime free.
"There's a tunnel and a room back of the hill..We're going in" Robert calls
He steps through the door alert for anything that might be there
Rita moves about a bit to keep warm, and turns to Evelyn.
"Well, what do we do while the boys have fun getting grubby and dirty and slimey ? Turn over the graveyard ? Or howsabout we start up that old stove and keep warm in the barn ?"
She pauses, noting the ecited gleam in Evelyns eye, and glances from her to the ruins and back again....
"Suire-ly you're not thinking....? Ick ! " she adds.
Rita moves about a bit to keep warm, and turns to Evelyn.
"Well, what do we do while the boys have fun getting grubby and dirty and slimey ? Turn over the graveyard ? Or howsabout we start up that old stove and keep warm in the barn ?"
She pauses, noting the ecited gleam in Evelyns eye, and glances from her to the ruins and back again....
"Suire-ly you're not thinking....? Ick ! " she adds.
Evelyn scrunches up her nose and shakes her head, "No, no, I am not thinking about crawling through that slime but if it were not there I might be tempted to find out what objects lie hidden in such a secretive location. All the hints we have come across seem to indicate it had some importance for the previous occupants."
After waiting around impatiently for 10 minutes, "Lets go look at the top of the hill. The walk will keep us warm."
Rita nods
"I think there's supposed to be some stones on a hill near here. Maybe we can see it from up there"
Fergus and Robert
On the right wall is a iron door that is 3' x 2'. On the wall opposite you there is a tunnel way that extends deeper into the hillside.
It is very still and quiet.
Rita and Evelyn
Keeper:
I'm not sure how long they'll be in there for
Robert investigates the iron door keeping well away from the runic circle which he will investigate later using his anthropology skill to connect it with any religious practice
Robert and Fergus
Robert investigates the iron door keeping well away from the runic circle which he will investigate later using his anthropology skill to connect it with any religious practice
Keeper
"Yes Robert". "I believe we have". "I wonder if we should look inside"?
Fergus looks more closely at the circle to determine if he recognizes anything.
1d100 → [38] = (38) Occult roll
OOC: Don't know what is wrong, but for some reason when I hit the links in IC it won't copy, so I just have to manually go in and copy the roll.
Fergus
Evelyn and Rita
There is no stone circle on Sentinel Hill, only a single large stone with a flat top. Strange runes are carved into the base of the stone, and there is a shallow trough carved into the stone around the perimeter of the "table top".
"Wow, you can see for miles. Is like, kinda, being on top of a tall buildng and seeing Central park!"
Rita takes out a notebook and pencil, and does a quick rubbing of the runes.
"I'm sure the Father would like to see these when he's finished grubbing about down there." she adds.
She shivers for a moment, as if cold. "Kinda creepy place though."
Rita and Keeper:
She looks slowly around at the terrain, "Yes, it is quite a nice view yet.......strikes me as a bit.....odd. Not sure exactly, can't quite put my finger on it." Collecting each of the rubbings as Rita makes them she looks at them closely, "Hmmmm, wonder what they mean?" After they examine the stone closely she heads back down with Rita to see if the boys have found anything interesting yet.
Rita points out the hills
Keeper & Evelyn
"Is it me, or do they all look like giant pitcher mounds like in baseball ? All kinda...well, regular. Man-made ? Or maybe a big ants nest ?"
She looks thoughtful huddles further into her coat.
She then has a march around the top of the hill to see if there's any signs of anything unusual that would suggest the hill is indeed a manmade barrow.
If she finds nothing, she heads back down the hill with Evelyn, after a suitable quick rest.
What are Robert and Fergus doing now?
Robert and Fergus
Robert you open the door to the furnace and make your way through the low, tight tunnel. It stirs up plenty of soot and old ashes, but when you reach the end you are able to open the oven door that is built into the hillside and come out into the fresh air not terrible far up the hill from the ruins of the Whateley farm.
Keep in mind that there was also one additional tunnel way that led deeper into the hillside, which you have not yet explored.
Robert looks down towards the house but can't see the ladies
"Strange I don't see them.."
Robert, the ladies are just coming down the hill as you emerge from the oven door.
"Eeek! ...oh, Robert, it's you. You gave me quite a scare, all covered in dirt and goo like that. Did you find anything interesting ?"
A furnace..some sort of mystic circle..and a tunnel leading further into the hill...do you want to see?"
"So, what you're saying is you want to entice me into a dark room with you ? What kind of a girl do you think I yam ? "
She laughs.
"Come on then, sounds like fun ! Are you coming Evelyn ?"
"So, what you're saying is you want to entice me into a dark room with you ? What kind of a girl do you think I yam ? "
She laughs.
"Come on then, sounds like fun ! Are you coming Evelyn ?"
She looks at Robert covered in goo and dirt, "Ummmm, I'd rather not......" She then throws up her hands and sighs, "Well, I guess if your going to go I can't very well just stay out here and leave you to the mercies of two men in the dark. We girls have to stick together." She smiles at Robert and holds out her hand for him to take and help her down into the hole.
Robert hastily wipesw his hand on his coat...which truth be told doesn't really clean it much and hands Evelyn and then Rita down the slight drop to the furnace entrance. His hand lingers on Evelyns perhaps a second longer that would have been considered proper by his mother
"Lead on Fergus I'll bring up the rear"
"Hmm...ah...yes", and with a nervous cough and clearing of his throat Fergus moves forward down the tunnel, hoping none see his gestures of the cross as being scared. He has been in similar situations and is very cautious.
Evelyn follows Rita and Fergus periodically glancing back just to make sure Robert is still there. Being in the dark down in these tunnels makes her edgy but she takes comfort in Rita's excitement of the unknown and smiles to herself.
Rita fishes her heavy torch out of her handbag and turns it on.
She grins at Evelyn. "If any of da boys gets fresh with ya, just let me know, and I'll..." she makes clubbing movements with the torch, causing the beam to jitter wildly about. "....unless you'd like them to." she adds with a wink. Rita's excitement is palpable, and the rush of adrenaline seems to be making her keen to shock...
So you're going to explore a little ways into the tunnels then? Keep in mind Squire Whateley is still sitting at the carriage waiting for you.
Let's not get too involved in this..it's a cold day and I don't want to leave the old timer out there too long.Hard to believe that he and my Daddy probably shot at each other at one point isn't it"
Robert can't see Evelyn's look in the dark but he can see from her posture that she is a little agitated, "I didn't drag myself through all that soot just to get dirty. I would like to at least take a bit of a look around before we have to crawl all the way back up there."
"We've already been gone for almost an hour - five more minutes wont hurt..."
Rita shines a torch down the unexplored passageway.
"Come on - could be they've got their gold back here. "
Once again Robert moves into the lead pistol at the ready..he's glad of the extra ligght provided by Rita's torch.Slowly and surely he moves down the tunnel senses alert for anything out of the ordinary.
sorry for the delay folks. I'll be posting more details about the tunnel tomorrow.
You make your way back through the door in the hillside (Rita and Evelyn can read any of the recent spoilers to get a sense of the room right beyond)
At the back of the room a 5-foot-wide tunnel beyond continues into the darkness for about
another 50 feet before it gradually becomes a natural cavern,
expanding to a width of 20 feet. The floor of this cave begins
sloping drastically and you have to carefully make your way down the rocky sloping floor. You can hear the sounds of dripping water throughout the cave, and the air is humid and cool. Eventually it descends into a wide fissure nearly 100 feet across. There doesn't seem to be any ledges or openings on the far side of the fissure, but a rope ladder securely fastened by iron pegs hangs over the edge. Shining a light down in the fissure reveals a fairly level floor some 150 feet below, although details are difficult to pick out. The ladder is long enough to get to the bottom.
Thankful she is dressed against the chill Evelyn begins to relax a little bit and enjoy some of the excitement. To no one in particular,"Who would have thought these caves existed?" Looking down over the edge she feels the butterflies flutter in her stomach and she unconsciously grabs Robert's hand and holds on, "That is quite a drop. While I have to admit to some concern about going down it's the climb all the way back up that concerns me the most. However, I am now extremely curious as to what the former residents of the house above us used these caves for."
"Rope," mutters Rita. "I shoulda remembered some rope."
She eyes the rope ladder warily. "I'd wouldn't want to climb that first without a lifeline. I don't like heights."
She stands back from the edge, visably wincing as Evelyn looks over it.