Ghosts of Gauntcliff: Chapter Five

[Ken of Ghastria]

The Old Abbey--

"Wh-what?" says Primeiro as Dorgio shakes him. For a moment, it seemed that everything was getting blurry, but his senses quickly return and he grasps the dilemma. "Yes, yes," he says to Dorgio, grabbing the rope and bracing it as the other man lowers to their fallen comrades.

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Sorry for the delay in posting. Here you go: Initiative (1d20+4=15)

[Adam]

Benn momentarily turns to look around the locale, searching for any moss or other flammable items to make a torch from.

[ewancummins]

THE OLD ABBEY


Everline rouses Eustace from sleep while Dorgio prepares to descend into the pit with help from Primeiro.

While Primeiro is busy with the rope, something flickers in the dark shadows behind him.


Primeiro suddenly lets the rope fall slack, dumping Dorgio to the bottom of the pit.
Dorgio's fall is broken by Petrie, who is knocked prone on the rubble pile.

Thom wakes up.


Above the pit, Primeiro gibbers like a lunatic and waves his hands at the empty air.

[ewancummins]

Primeiro draws his sword and lunges at Everline, nearly skewering her!


''DIE ! DIE! DIE!"

[ewancummins]

BENN, IN DREAMS

Benn momentarily turns to look around the locale, searching for any moss or other flammable items to make a torch from.

After scouring the barren islet, Benn finds some tufts of dead grass and a dry branch that should make for a suitable torch.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"E's bloody well gone round the twist!" Everline shouts, narrowly dodging Primeiro's attack. "Somebody knock 'im out or tackle 'im!"

Still dodging Primeiro's attacks, Everline moves unexpectedly, and tries to get behind him.

(OOC: Tumble check 14 to somehow get at Primeiro's back. I'd feel bad about zapping him with the wand when he's obviously not in his right mind... Does the bonus from my Mobility feat apply? I hope it does.)

[Adam]

He wraps the materials up in a bundle and fumbles in his pouch, coming up with a tindertwig. He strikes it and lights the torch before turning and entering the cave.

[Ken of Ghastria]

Primeiro seems incapable of coherent speech at the moment. Everline can see that his gaze is shifting back and forth between incomprehension and blind rage.

[Brock Marsh Runoff]

"Right, good, keep it steady," Dorgio calls as he climbs down the steep edge of the pit. It is a lucky thing, he thinks, that Primeiro did not succumb to the sleeping sickness, otherwise he'd have nobody to brace---

Suddenly the priest feels his rope go slack, and for a heartbeat his hands claw at the rope, as if he could keep it in place by holding it tightly enough. But he barely has time to register what's going on before he crashes to the pit's bottom.

He writhes on the ground, unable to catch his breath at first, then it comes out in a long "Kuurrrrva!" Finally he rises, bruised and scraped, but with nothing broken, thank The Morninglord. Only then does he see Petrie's prone form, and he realizes why his fall didn't hurt more than it did. He goes to Petrie's side and begins chanting a prayer of healing.

((OOC: Cure moderate wounds))

[ewancummins]

THE CAVE, BENN

He wraps the materials up in a bundle and fumbles in his pouch, coming up with a tindertwig. He strikes it and lights the torch before turning and entering the cave.

Benn finds that the back of the cave mouth drops into a rough -hewn stairway. The narrow, low-ceilinged passage runs deeper and deeper into the earth...

[ewancummins]

THE PIT; DORGIO, THOM, PETRIE


The three men all hear it; a thud and then a rasping scrape from behind the metal-plated door.

[steveflam]

Juergin replies. "All right then. Let us take the stairs, Dark One, You lead."

The lad opens the door to the odd stairway and closes it behind him. "Here goes nothing, my friend."

He begins descending the stairs carefully, stepping one step at a time, not rushing at all.

The air becames more and more stifling and clammy the lower Juergin goes. After what seems like the better part of an hour spent walking down the endlessly twisting staircase, the boy feels tired and a bit dizzy.
Cobwebs hang thick on the walls in this section of stairwell.
Juergin notices that his shoes stick a little as he walks, as if he were stepping in spilled rum.

Juergin stops to catch his breath. "Dark One, can you go ahead and just see where this is going?"

The lad uses the lantern to get a better look at the sticky substance.

[ewancummins]

JUERGIN, THE DARK TOWER

Juergin replies. "All right then. Let us take the stairs, Dark One, You lead."

The lad opens the door to the odd stairway and closes it behind him. "Here goes nothing, my friend."

He begins descending the stairs carefully, stepping one step at a time, not rushing at all.

The air becames more and more stifling and clammy the lower Juergin goes. After what seems like the better part of an hour spent walking down the endlessly twisting staircase, the boy feels tired and a bit dizzy.
Cobwebs hang thick on the walls in this section of stairwell.
Juergin notices that his shoes stick a little as he walks, as if he were stepping in spilled rum.

Juergin stops to catch his breath. "Dark One, can you go ahead and just see where this is going?"

The lad uses the lantern to get a better look at the sticky substance.

Dark One slips ahead without so much as a whisper.

Looking down, Juergin sees that the stuff on the floor has the same color as spiced, well-aged Sourangien rum - a deep brownish red tint, almost cinnamon.

[steveflam]

Juergin uses pole he has and rubbing the non pointy end on the floor, he gets some of the sticky stuff on it. He then smells it.

[Adam]

THE CAVE, BENN

He wraps the materials up in a bundle and fumbles in his pouch, coming up with a tindertwig. He strikes it and lights the torch before turning and entering the cave.

Benn finds that the back of the cave mouth drops into a rough -hewn stairway. The narrow, low-ceilinged passage runs deeper and deeper into the earth...

He carries on, his cane and shoes tapping on the stone steps.