IC II

[Rodriguez]

Styr the Axe Murderer

Styr swings his axe around to chop a hole in the door.

[thirdkingdom]

Styr swings his axe and the door flies open; a vicious shaft of light floods into the stairwell, momentarily blinding everyone. When the adventurer's vision adjusts, they see the entire second floor is essentially roofless. One of the many strange practices of this foreign land is for the inhabitants to sleep on flat, open roofs to avoid the heat of the indoors. A dozen or more sleeping pallets have been spread out around the roof.

It seems unlikely a vampire would be up here.

[Hrafn]

Kaa, shaman

"Haa, Haa, Haa! Sunlight! Ridiculous," Kaaa guffaws. "I'm going to douse what I can in oil to make things quicker, and pile anything valuable for our men to grab easily. Decide if we follow into the beach tunnels or if we torch the place now and flee, and grab me when you're ready."

Kaa then goes about gleefully searching the floor around the party, piling kickbacks and dousing corners with oil when she finds something that might otherwise survive a blaze.

[NJWilliam]

Tychon the Blue, Mage

Tychon quickly searches through the rooftop sleeping area for anything written that might provide any information.

[thirdkingdom]

Nothing written is discovered. From the clothes and odds and ends lying about it is easily deduced that the men at arms have been the ones sleeping on the roof, recently.

So, you guys basically find some personal effects, maybe a couple poorly lettered love notes from sweeties, changes of clothes, etc. There is some coinage, but its all copper and silver. You guys are supposed to be badasses going after the big hauls, not scrounging about for loose change. So I'll pretty much neglect to mention -- or gloss over -- anything pedestrian such as a handful of cp.

[sulldawga]

Harald

"Kaa, what in the Nine Hells are you doing? We're going back inside and down that hole. Why would you set our escape route on fire? Stop it now."

[Fearghus]

Pesha the Wanderer

Pesha walks about the roof, not showing much interest and frustrated by the elusiveness of their quarry. "Shall we descend once more? This time I will lower my torch and head into the hole so that my eyes will see what can be seen". He lingers by the door, hoping to hurry his companions back to the lower level.

[drpete]

Babu the Monkey

Babu looks up at the sun, trying to gauge the time before sunset.

"We can try downstairs, but we should prepare to be far from here before dusk. We don't want to face them here at night."

[Hrafn]

Kaa, shaman

"Kaa, what in the Nine Hells are you doing? We're going back inside and down that hole. Why would you set our escape route on fire? Stop it now."

"Preparation, not fire, Harald. But don't mistake this for frivolity. My spirits are those of cycles. I give you and our friends restoration and renewal, ending and decay must come in somewhere, lest I lose the favor of my ancestors and be stripped of my power."

Babu looks up at the sun, trying to gauge the time before sunset.

"We can try downstairs, but we should prepare to be far from here before dusk. We don't want to face them here at night."

"Are you sure? A building set to burn, full of sharp wood, that would be the best place to fight them. This is not our country, Babu! We are chasing clever beasts to their homes and panicking about not having advantage in the terrain.

"To kill them we need to hit hard, and hopefully stake them to their graves. But when we do, does that remove their charms and sorceries? We may never be allowed in Mellas again, because their leader is unaware he was controlled. Or did you forget being run out of town in the morning? We need to end this fast because every day we wait is another ensorceled army and maybe another night stalker waiting for us. If you have a better idea, Babu, I'm listening. But if you don't have anything solid—" Kaa gestures to the oil patches, "—I'm making a decision to ring the sun's fire to them, daylight or no. It's that or keep running.

"We should check the caves, try to bun the vermin out."

[thirdkingdom]

Pesha estimates there is another four hours of sunlight remaining.

[drpete]

Babu the Monkey

Babu nods. "Let's do it, then. But we come out within two hours if we don't find them. The men will need a bonus to stay."

[sulldawga]

Harald

Harald will head outside and tell the Hawkeyes that they are going below. He would ask them to wait until sunset and then return to the city. They should return to the house at sunrise the next morning and wait for the party to return.

Then he'll head back inside. "I'm ready to go."

[Hrafn]

Kaa, shaman


"I hope they're smart enough to realize hawkin stolen wares so quickly would end poorly for them. It means my wagon will stay in one piece."

Kaa moves forward, taking her position in line. She drapes Kūndala over her shoulders; it may take a bit of time to unsling the python but it keeps the line in right formation.

[thirdkingdom]

The mercenaries seem visibly unnerved at the prospect of waiting until dusk, and several are heard to voice the opinion that it would be best to set the house alight and flee while there is still plenty of daylight. In the end, however, Harald is able to convince them to stay.

The adventurers return to the cellar and Pesha lights a torch and advances into the cleft in the wall. He finds that it leads into a large shaft that descends perhaps 30' before bottoming out. Piercing the wall of the shaft, several feet above the bottom, is a tunnel running roughly -- if he is correct in his estimation -- parallel to the coast. The tunnel looks wide enough for the party to enter single file.

[sulldawga]

Harald

"Someone light a torch and hand it to me."

Harald will toss the torch ahead as far as he can.

"Pesha, do you want to go first, or me?"

[Fearghus]

Pesha the Wanderer

Pesha looks to Harald and defers, "I will step forward if something requires a careful eye. Otherwise, you are most capable to lead us through".

[sulldawga]

Harald

"I will go first. Does someone have rope?"

[Fearghus]

Pesha the Wanderer

Pesha removes the length of rope from his shoulder and rummages thorugh his pack for a hook, "Yes. Use as you wish".

[thirdkingdom]

The rope is secured and Harald lowers himself into the pit. The whole shaft does appear to be natural, carved by the ocean and time, although there is no sign of current wetness other than a general dampness. The floor of the shaft is largely clean.

A quick inspection with the torch reveals that the westerly tunnel continues for at least thirty feet, and disappears into the darkness beyond the light's radius.

[drpete]

Babu the Monkey

Babu heads down the rope, and takes up a position watching the tunnel.

"Which way should we go?"