Café de Nuit

With a general nod to Lia's question, she held open the grate to let the others through.

"Just keep walking downward, Herr Eisenwald," Nerit chuckled and flexed her fingers on the makeshift torch (okay, knotted-branch-with-mage-fire).

Otherwise, she spent a lot of her time looking in all directions, as if something was about to jump out from the darkness of the walls and the dirt and bones.

"Why, thank you, Sister Doherty!" Lifting her skirts, Celeste proceeded down the steps as if descending the grand staircase at a cantata opening--leaving a suitable interval for Lia to check for traps, of course, if that was the order of the day. Still, all things considered, she was perfectly happy to be the first one to step into the moldering underbelly of the city--rather enthusiastic, by all appearances.

Catacombs of Port-a-Lucine, Night of April 21st, 770
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There was a faint smell in the catacombs of Port-a-Lucine. Somewhat unpleasant, though not deeply so, a vaguely mouldering scent. Things had been dragged here, things that had died and had mostly rotted away long before they were brought below, but still, some faint hint of decay remained in the air.

There were not too many bones in this part of the catacombs, merely long and narrow tunnels hewed out of the rock and dirt upon which Port-a-Lucine was built. Here and there were niches, which had been stuffed with one or the other pieces of grisly trophies. A few score skulls, all lined neatly in a rot, pale teeth grinning in the light. A collection of hands, a few still bearing rotted tendons and joints, were in one dark alcove.

For the first few minutes, the path was straight, one which brooked no divergence from its course. A tunnel, connecting the Navarre crypt to the main catacombs, no more. But then you came to the main chamber. It was large, probably larger than the Navarre Crypt, but somehow the sense of claustraphobia still prevailed. There was what seemed to be a pit, or perhaps a well in the center of the room, a railing-less depression in the room that was a good dozen feet across. Looking down it, one could see brackish black water, and nothing more. Five other passages led from the chamber, all leading further to the catacombs. One of them led to the cult. The rest would lead you deeper into the catacombs. A man could get lost in there for quite some time.

"Which one?" Katja asked. "Where are they?"

She seemed to be... twitchy was perhaps the best word for it. The Lamordo-Darkonian woman was tense as a cat, and she'd cocked and loaded one of her crossbows. There were small, slender crossbows, almost delicate instruments. This was not one of them. It was made of heavy timbers and reinforced with metal, and could send the steel-tipped quarrel straight through a door. It was a very workman-like crossbow. She was also holding it very ready to fire.

"Let me see whether there is any trace of active magic," Lia suggests. She stands still for a moment, eyes going out of focus as she directs her senses inwards and outward. "There is something... strange to the west," she announces after a moment, making a vague gesture. "Can you speak with the local lifeforms, perhaps?" she asks, raising an eyebrow at Kerrian. "We need more conclusive directions. These catacombs are a maze... and a deathtrap."

(OOC: Arcana check: 31)

Nicholas sags against a wall, recoling slihghtly when he notices he's resting his head against a grinning rictus of a skull, takes a long swallow of water, and gazes dully around the room.

"Well if this doesnt scream trap, ambush, and running around aimlessly in the dark, I don't know what does. No running off alone now everyone. Signore I'm reocnsidering your idea to burn them out." He adds looking over at Agale with a sigh.

Then marshalling his strength he ambles over to the pool and takes a look.

OOC: Perception 7 on the pool History 14 for anything useful on the layout of the catacombs ........ bleh

"Unfortunately, I don't know how to speak to animals. Plants yes..animals no." Kerrian however, was not idle, looking around their new surroundings for signs of passage by others, the torchlight bright enough for him to see just fine.

OOC:Perception and Nature 22, and 25 respectfully. Anything out of place or odd suggesting "hey, they went thataway?"

Darius paces to the front of the group, sword in hand. "Shall we go to the west, then?" he says. "Let us make some mark on the passageway, so we can find our way back...it would be tedious at best to lose our way."

upon entering the catacombs, Mr. Agale stumbled, dropping the kindling he had been so studiously collecting before. Grasping his temple with both hands he grimaced. "Stay Focused" he spoke softly to steady himself.

Nicolas wrote:"Well if this doesn't scream trap, ambush, and running around aimlessly in the dark, I don't know what does. No running off alone now everyone. Signore I'm reconsidering your idea to burn them out." He adds looking over at Agale with a sigh.

Agale mustered some of his composure before answering. Clearly, something else beyond simple fatigue and claustrophobia was impacting his manner "Wholly impractical at this point Mr. de Castigne. That plan only remained viable as long as we could assume there remained a solitary point of entry." He shook his head, "Besides, liability for soot damages to the remains interred could quickly become problematic.

I'm afraid all this magic illumination has thoroughly shot any night vision I might have had. Can any of you make out their tracks? The Dommer indicated there were quite a few of them scant hours ago."

Perception of 8
Dungeoneering of 7
History of 14
Wow thats bad..

Nerit appraised each direction as best she could. She nodded to Darius and muttered something along the lines of "bread crumbs may be our only chance."

She didn't step toward the west, however. Instead she twisted her ring around her finger with her thumb of the same hand. Apparently she was contemplating.


Dungeoneering 18

M. Agale wrote:"I'm afraid all this magic illumination has thoroughly shot any night vision I might have had. Can any of you make out their tracks? The Dommer indicated there were quite a few of them scant hours ago."

"My apologies, M. Agale--why, during the only foxhunt I have ever been present at, I was moved to retire not half an hour into the proceedings! Singularly disrespectful to the foxes..."

Celeste pondered for a moment. "Perhaps there is some arcane method of orienting ourselves?"

History of 19

Catacombs of Port-a-Lucine, Night of April 21st, 770
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Nerit wrote:Nerit appraised each direction as best she could. She nodded to Darius and muttered something along the lines of "bread crumbs may be our only chance."

Celeste wrote:"My apologies, M. Agale--why, during the only foxhunt I have ever been present at, I was moved to retire not half an hour into the proceedings! Singularly disrespectful to the foxes..."

Thierri gave something resembling a cough. "I am certain the foxes did not mind, mademoiselle," he mumbled, rubbing underneath his eyes. He paused for a moment before pulling a string of handkerchiefs from his sleeves, shaking them until they unknotted themselves from one another. "I recall this trick from Cerise, the last time we found ourselves down here," he said, tying one of the bright red cloths onto a protruding femur. "Marginally less likely to be eaten than breadcrumbs."

As almost an afterthought, he pulled a deck of cards from his sleeves, idly shuffling though them. He flashed you the ace of clubs before carefully folding it up and hiding it in the socket of a skull near where he'd tied the kerchief. "Clubs are east," he told you, indicating the eastern tunnel that you had come from. "Hearts south, spades north, and diamonds west. If someone moves the kerchiefs, they'll have to find the cards as well."

Kerrian wrote:Kerrian however, was not idle, looking around their new surroundings for signs of passage by others, the torchlight bright enough for him to see just fine.

The signs of passage were there. They were, perhaps, not immediately visible, but they were definitely there. A series of scuff marks on the stones, all directed towards the second tunnel from the left. There were tracks leading to some of the other tunnels, but the overwhelming majority seemed to lead in this specific direction. It seemed that the cult had perhaps done some exploring and travelling in their time in the catacombs, but wherever their lair was, Kerrian was dead certain it was at the end of this tunnel.

What happened next occurred very quickly. Katharina Zweibach raised the crossbow she had been toying with, a villainous-looking assemblage of wood and metal straps. She looked strange, her one good eye reflecting the light as though it were a small mirror set into her face. Almost exactly like a mirror... almost exactly like Cedolin's eyes after he emerged from the mirror. She aimed the weapon, sighted down the cruelly hooked quarrel, then pulled the trigger.

There was a twang of the bowstring, a brief whistle, and then a dull thump as Kerrian's world exploded into a very great deal of pain, a crossbow bolt piercing his side.

Kerrian made a hissing intake of breath, hand going to where the wound was, and seeing it come away with blood, he whirled to confront his assailant, about to declare that he had found where they needed to go before he was..interrupted.

"Katja, we're..here to negotiate, not shoot each other..." he managed, hoping that she wasn't so far gone. It was hard to tell, Cedolin was after all, unmistakably a creature of the mirror. Katja..who knew?

Honestly, it was probably due to already being feverish that Kerrian could manage to be so nonchalant about things. That or having a crossbow bolt sticking out of him producing that lovely condition known as shock.

Free action to summon spirit wolf, just in case. Diplomacy 21

...naturally.

Scowling to himself, Tomas widens his eyes, forcing his sight into the ether in an attempt to try and determine if this affliction's something he can force Katja out of right away, or if he's stuck up for ANOTHER Rokushuman Candidate. Being able to trace any psychic leash that's around Katja's neck would be something of an added bonus.

24 Insight. Readying an attack if it looks like she's going to shoot again.

Cyrus raised his sword as soon as the crossbow fired. He whirled on Katja and raised his blade, falling into a defensive stance.

"Betrayal is not a crime taken lightly," he murmured, "I recommend you explain yourself."

Attempted aid another on Diplomacy and failed.

Then got my usual crap dice luck for a 17 on Insight

Hearing Kerrian call out, Darius looks back to see the weird transformation that has come over Katja. Cursing mentally, he glances at the group, sees his brother and the Lamordian tough have already moved to flank her, and turns back to face the darkness, moving out to the limit of the light. If something or someone is controlling her and wants to make a move, this would be a good time to do it...best not to be taken unawares.

Blinking the sweat away from his eyes, he wipes his forehead dry with one sleeve and waits.

(Perception 6. Oy.)