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Amethu also steps back. "Do we have additional line - we can tie this lantern to it and lower it down? We could drop a torch down but it may be dangerous to our comrades"

Cruloc

Cruloc’s instincts are not those of some sense-deadened city-dweller. Thus, he strikes a torch and steps into the leering shadows like a swimmer plunging into shark-infested seas!

"Call out again, Verulian! Sword-bearing aid has arrived!"

"Ooofff!" says Kiri getting to his knees in the dark. "Tjoruy, where are you?"

Hearing the undercity dweller's cries coming seemingly from all directions, he looks down at his amulet and the face of his grandfather grimacing back up at him. "Grandfather, now is the time to make yourself useful," he says. "Go find the Verulian. If the sand threatens to cover his head brush it away quickly so he can breathe...." Placing his palms together, he bows briefly. From out of his amulet a barely seen spirit arises and nods subtly towards Kiri, for a moment holding the faintly glowing shape of a man with the visage of his grandfather before fading to invisibility. Before totally fading, its form can be seen to begin to walk outward in an ever-widening spiral from Kiri and Cruloc, in its search for Tjoruy.

Zahra
Zahra continues to anchor the upper end of the rope. She watches the hole carefully, adjusting her stance to keep herself safe.

Loche

Noticing the hole does not appear to be getting any bigger, Loche wanders over to see exactly what is going on in the hole.

Xorxen falls flat in the sand to get a better look into the hole.

"Is everyone still alive down there? How far was the fall? Is it safe to join you?"

The Desecrated Temple of Osorus, The Underground City
Lost City of Khemsa, Forgotten Kingdom of Verulia, Great Eastern Desert, the World of Hyboria
Day Eight. Dawn?, 21st day of the month of Yuluk, 1279th year of the Age of Aquilonia



Within the desecrated temple of the underground city...



"By the blackened teeth of Akahu, three more victims consumed by this cursed place. Quickly move away before it swallows us all!" Mako warns as he retreats to safer ground lest he too share the same grim fate as Cruloc, Kiri, Gronda and Attila.

Suddenly, Amethu, Garrin and Zahra feel the rope go slack.

The widening maw in the sand slows its growth. Risking their lives, Loche and Xorzen dare peer down the hole into darkness. The masked monk calls, "Is everyone still alive down there? How far was the fall? Is it safe to join you?"

Their only answer is Cruloc's distant voice, "Call out again, Verulian! Sword-bearing aid has arrived!"

Then, distantly, harrowing screams.


Actions?!





In the darkness down below, the barbarian gets a torch alight as he and Kiri try to follow Tjoruy's echoing shouts through the pitch blackness and the falling sand!

Strangled voices shout from above as the pair stagger out of the sandslide into a 10 foot diameter tunnel under the earth!



Behind them, the sinkhole collapse has nearly filled the tunnel with a massive dune! Above it is the shaft they fell through. Ahead of them, the tunnel extends beyond the reach of Cruloc's torchlight and from those dark shadows comes Tjoruy's agonizing screams.


Actions?!





PC Status:

• Amethu: Verulian Grand Magus Cleric/Magic-User 3/2: Move: 9", AC: 4, HP: 12/14, Spells: 6/7 1st lvl, 3/3 2nd lvl
  Cruloc: Cimmerian Northman Barbarian 2: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 24/35
  Garrin Locke: Argosian Atlantean Paladin 3: Move: 12", AC: 3(1), HP: 26/26, Laying Hands: 1/1
  Kiri Khutan: Kambujan Easterner Fighter/Magic-User 2/2: Move: 9", AC: 3, HP: 14/14, Spells: 3/3 1st lvl
  Loche: Pict Savage Thief 4: Move: 9", AC: 5, HP: 25/25
  Mako: Khitan Easterner Illusionist 3: Move: 12", AC: 7(5), HP: 10/10, Spells: 2/2 1st lvl, 1/1 2nd lvl, Candle
  Tjoruy: Verulian Osoran Cleric 4: Move: 9", AC: 3, HP: 12/31, Spells: 2/5 1st lvl, 4/4 2nd lvl
  Xorzen: Verulian Osoran Monk 3: Move: 17", AC: 6(4), HP: 16/16
  Zahra: Verulian Amazon Fighter 3: Move: 12", AC: 3, HP: 16/21

PC Magic:

• Protection from Evil (Garrin): -2 to AC and +2 to saving throws against evil, in a 10 foot radius around Garrin.
  Healing Mists of Osorus (Garrin, Kiri, Loche, Mako and Xorzen have breathed of the mists): All lost HP recovered with 8 hours of sleep. Wakeful rest, or sleeping less than 8 hours, enables recovery of 1 HP per hour. Duration: "months."

Player Resources:

• The Struggle To Survive (the story so far)
  Mysteries Strange and Deadly (player clues and notes)
  Hieroglyphs (the story so far, in images)
  An Age Undreamed Of (maps and realms of the World of Hyboria)

Cruloc

Warily beholding the diaphanous apparition conjured by Kiri, the Cimmerian stifles his superstitious dread.

"At the bottom awaits a pile of sand softer than a courtesan's teat!" answers Cruloc to Xorxen's inquiring hail. "If you've ever been to Shadizar, you've doubtlessly probed deeper holes than this!"

"Now," he rumbles, "I do what Crom created me to do."

With a circumspect nod to the brawny spellcaster, the barbarian surges forward into the Stygian darkness, a blazing torch held aloft in one hand, a yard of steel tight in the other.

Zahra
Zahra looks at the other two. Who will go down to help?

Almost as soon as she speaks, she shrugs and jumps feet-first into the hole.

Never one to be shown up by the braveness of an amazonain, Xorxen jumps into the hole right behind Zahra, trying to keep his distance from where she entered so he doesn't land directly on top of her.

He tries to use the sides of the shaft to slow his fall if possible, reaching out periodically to slow his decent.

Though he has never been to, or even heard of Shadizar, it sounds like a place he would like to visit some time.

Once it is evident the direction from which Tjoruy’s screams are coming,Kiri nods at the brusque yet strangely eloquent Cimmerian, takes up his trident and shield without question and advances down the tunnel by his side. He knows they cannot afford the luxury of waiting for the others to arrive if the Verulian is to be saved.

“Grandfather! Score an arrow in the sand pointing after us, that they may follow,” he says to the invisible spirit, “Come with them, please, when they follow. I will need your further assistance.”

Garrin jumps in the pit as well.

Loche

The Pict looks sick, seeing everyone else either fall into the sinkhole or descend voluntarily, leaving him as the sole member of the party up above. Looking around quickly, he grabs anything that may have been left behind in the chaos before jumping into the hole. Ah, jobby! That didnae sound guid. Dinnae pure fancy gaun doon thare, bit ah'ament staying up 'ere a' by masell!

Amethu seems to be the last one standing outside the hole. He will wait and listen before jumping in, in case someone needs help getting out...

Mako:

Mako stands with Amethu topside. "What are they thinking? Are they all mad?" He then shouts down the hole. "What's down there? How far is the drop?"

Amethu nearly jumps out of his skin - a rare moment of loosing his cool - when he hears the voice of Mako from the darkness.

The adventure continues in... Chapter 15: Empire Under the Earth