Session 4.5: Under the Ruins

[shroomofinsanity]

I am more than happy to give it the ol' temple try, unless one of you feel like you could do a bit better?

[BillTheGalacticHero]

Do we have a hammer and spike? To drive through the lock and shatter it? If'n not, then if'n ye don't mind, I'll give it a try wi yer mace.

[shroomofinsanity]

I hate to bring her up, but um....miss Aoife had our iron spikes...so looks like we are living on this mace or not much at all. Berry hands the implement over to the more capable fighter.

[BillTheGalacticHero]

Methinks this'll require some brute force. Rabon and I are the 'ealthiest, but 'e's our looking at daisies or sumting.

I give the melted lock a good whack with the mace.

[Ludanto]

(Thag, test Health, Ob3)

[Rusty Tincanne]

Everyone knows that the more hidden and difficult it is to get at something, the more value it will have. Rabon can practically taste the riches below their feet, If we can just bust through that-there trap hatch. Seeing Thag take up arms against it, Rabon hefts a largish rock or branch. I aim t'help, Thag. Anyone else? He looks expectantly at the cleric and the elf in particular.

we've been going with the premise of assumed help. Let's get everyone involved for +4D and then use your trait against yourself for a check. That way we are guaranteed an opportunity to camp later.

[BillTheGalacticHero]

Hurry, help me smash open th' lock, there might still be someone alive down there! If'n there be, they may not have much time left. (Using Grim-visaged trait against me to earn a Check.)

I use Berry's mace to smash the lock, trying to smash it through the door, enough so the rest and jam a stout branch or pole into the hole and try to pry open or at least break the door into pieces.

This isn't rolling for disposition, so my Hungry & Thirsty condition does not affect the dice roll.

5D Health + 4D Help -1D trait
Health + help: [1d6] = 5 [1d6] = 6 [1d6] = 2 [1d6] = 1 [1d6] = 2
Health + help: [1d6] = 6 [1d6] = 1 [1d6] = 3 [1d6] = 2

Whew! Barely, 3 successes. Don't need to explode the 6's.

With a loud crack!, the lock splinters when struck with the mace. Then using a rock and a stout branch, we shove the branch into the lock hole, and using all of our weight lever the branch, cracking the wood/bending the metal of the door. Within a few minutes we have broken the door open enough to crawl into the cellar.

1 Check earned. Character sheet updated.

[Rusty Tincanne]

Bill... You rolled 9 dice, not 8. And not to be a pest, but you didn't really describe how you used grim visaged against yourself in character, just on the OOC thread.

Rabon offers to strike up the lantern and lower it into the hole.

[BillTheGalacticHero]

Bill... You rolled 9 dice, not 8. And not to be a pest, but you didn't really describe how you used grim visaged against yourself in character, just on the OOC thread.

Rabon offers to strike up the lantern and lower it into the hole.

Dang, drop the last one rolled.

I thought I implied it in my verbage, urging us to hurry, instead of being patient. "... patient and quiet, able to focus on the task at hand and shut out the world and its terrors...for a time."

[Ludanto]

As the charred timbers break away from their frame, the stench of rot belches forth from the rank cellar. Rabon dangles his lantern into the hole to reveal a wooden ladder in surprisingly good condition. From this vantage, however, most of the cellar is hidden, revealing only one side of a chipped and blood-stained table.

What now?

[Rusty Tincanne]

Well that thing isn't likely to fetch any money... And it don't seem proper fer an orphanage t'have a hidden, bloodstained be table, do it?

Thag? He looks expectantly at the strider, who always seems eager to look into rooms first. He suggests the larger man not trust the ladder, offering to tie a rope around the man's torso as a precaution. We'll catch ya if it drops apart.

[BillTheGalacticHero]

It's not that far down, an' the th' ladder looks strong. Mayhaps using the rope to lower the lantern down so I's have both 'ands free?

I drop my pack and crossbow, take a swig of water, loosen my sword in its scabbard, and descend the ladder, testing each rung before putting my weight on it.

[Rusty Tincanne]

Rabon ties the lantern to the rope and lowers it into the ominous blackness. A fool and his life are soon parted, he thinks.

OOC:

If lowering the lantern doesn't seem to provide enough light, maybe Allric can provide more in a magical manner.

[Marullus]

OOC: I intended to, but wasn't quick enough on the draw.

Allric congratulates the others as the door gives way. "A mighty blow indeed! Well done, gentlemen. Let us see better what lies below..."

He stays Rabon's hand from the lantern and chants his archaic words, making some florid gestures.

Two motes for three turns is Ob 3. Arcanist 5 +1D Fresh is 6D.
[1d6] = 4 [1d6] = 5 [1d6] = 1 [1d6] = 6 [1d6] = 1 [1d6] = 3

As the torch-like motes begin to clow, he sends them down the hole and into the room to illuminate it for Thag's eyes...

[BillTheGalacticHero]

In case there's trouble, I take my dagger and grip it with my teeth as I climb down. If something jumps me at least I will have one weapon ready.

[Rusty Tincanne]

My dagger, Rabon points out. And then adds silently, ...and if he falls, he'll have a bigger mouth...

Feeling a run of heckling coming on! My apologies for it now.

[BillTheGalacticHero]

So what do I see down in the cellar?

[shroomofinsanity]

Berry retrieves his mace and places it back in his belt. He raises his holy symbol to his lips and whispers a prayer for the safety of the children.

Ok, let me down there too, I know a thing or two about neglected children

[BillTheGalacticHero]

Going down, I test each rung of the ladder. Reaching the bottom I look for any obvious signs of traps, trip wires, etc.
Once I'm confident it's "safe" I'll call Berry and Rabon to come down, Allric and Alfred can remain topside. Allric's two lights means one of us will be in dim light, won't it? If that's the case, then once Rabon is down I'll stand by the ladder, and Rabon and Berry can have the light to do their examinations.

[Marullus]

Good catch - it's been a while and I mistakenly thought they lit as torches, not candles. Each mote provides full light to one person and dim light to one person. So, yes, Rabon and Berry can have full light and Thag can have dim light. They can be moved at a whim (literally), though, so we can shift them to whomever is taking the actions...