(05) Descent into Darkness

[Tonneau]

Wraislin starts, and stares at Flin with suspicion, "You know more than you perhaps should, dwarf".

Sighing, he taps his staff on the stones, almost whispering, "Olima!", setting the stone atop the staff aglow...

[waysoftheearth]

Thanis approaches the edge of the nearest, 20ft wide, hole in the floor cautiously. Tass less so. The pair of them advance 30 or so ft into the chamber to reach the edge so that Thanis may peer down...

Meanwhile, Wraislin strikes a eerie blue lamp, and Stern's moustaches twitch and quiver as he takes in the scents. No, not mystic incenses, he decides, but moreso the whiff of underground barrows, tinged with a hue of a smithy's char and pith.

... Thanis peers into the hole to spy a frighteningly v a s t and dark cavern, directly below them. Any fall through the floor into that darkness would surely be fatal.
He can make out perhaps a few dozen firelights scattered across what might be the cavern walls or floor, all hundreds of yards below. But far nearer, and likely the source of the orange glow, there is a bonfire or beacon fire burning on a landing, perhaps only 100 feet directly ahead and a little lower than the floor he squats upon. Thanis can't make out much more of it from his current position, but he does see several great chains hanging from the landing, dangling down, down, down, until they vanish into the darkness...

"Let's not overlook these side passages," gravels Witherun, eyeing the dark spaces suspiciously. "We don't want any nasty surprises coming up behind us."

In my mind, Stern just obtained a larger than usual nose and moustache, and a delicate sense of smell. LOL

[sully]

Thanis says, I suspect the side passages will be the safer way down, if not exactly safe.

[mushgnome]

Stern agrees, "Safer than climbing down those chains!"

[ehiker133]

Goldwen nods, "Let's explore the side passages here before we even think of going down into that hole..."

She adjusts her position slightly to accommodate the modified marching order they use when underground and indicates she is ready to continue.

"How is everyone feeling right now? Anyone still have any wounds that need tending, before we go any further?"

Sorry for the slight absence, everyone. I've had a long week. Yesterday alone, I spent 7 hours straight with our 8 year old, who was suffering from a terrible migraine, taking care of him and sitting with him. He threw up 6 times! I'm pretty sure I've never even thrown up that much because of a migraine. Poor kiddo.

[mushgnome]

Stern wrinkles his sensitive nose: the whiff of underground barrows, tinged with a hue of a smithy's char and pith, and underneath it all, the unmistakable bouquet of... vomit?!?

@ehiker133 that's rough. You're a good dad helping him through the ordeal!

[zygarti]

Theres two side passages? One to the left and one to the right?

Left is always right! muses Flin.

[mgtremaine]

"Can't argue with that logic" Tass moves over to the left passage and inspects it for use and or traps.

[waysoftheearth]

Tass (uncharacteristically?) retreats from the precipice, and moves back to the archway around which Flin, Goldwen, and Witherun have congregated ...

As far as Flin can tell it is good, solid stone arch in sound condition (compared to the main floor!); by Wraislin's eerie blue light, he doesn't see any flagstones that look out of place. Tass doesn't spy any trip wires or other obvious signs of tampering, and figures the lack of dust in the middle of the way probably means there is at least occasional foot traffic this way. It must be safe, he decides.

The artificial clatter of a single die comes across the interwaves to your collective imaginations...

Apologies for the slow week team; I've had covid which knocked me about for a few days. Feels like I might be on the up now...

[sully]

Left it is! whispers Thanis.