A Thorn In The Hand IC

[Wordplay]

Raif nods.

'Hmm...we should probably be cautious then. M'Lady Elenora and I have made our opinions clear - what do you think should be the next course of action?'

[Arranis Thelmos]

"Investigation of the dumbwaiter I would think." He shrugs.

[D_Man_7733]

"Seems like we have the consensus, shall we push on, in previous order?" Drayner pushes onward with his companions.

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I believe the previous order was Eleanor, Verossa, Raif, Halabur, Drayner?

[Wordplay]

'Alright, but I think that we should probably inspect the door first'.

Raif heads down the passageway with the others, keeping mace and wand in hand.

[Malak'ai]

You all approach the door slowly, checking and searching for anything that might seem out of place that Halabur might have missed the first time.
When you finally finish, you are all certain that it is nothing but a normal door leading into the dumbwaiter.
The basket of the dumbwaiter itself looks to be well worn, scuff marks and a few dings and dents in the sides, but still perfectly safe to use.

[Wordplay]

'Well, having come this far, we may as well get to the bottom of it'. mutters Raif.

'Let's all get in at once, and see if we can get the device to descend or ascend'.

Raif steps into the dumbwaiter, and begins searching for a way to raise or lower it.

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Take 10 on search

[Malak'ai]

Raif easily finds the lever. When he pulls it, it sticks a little from not having been used in a long time.
The dumbwaiter shudders a little then drops a few feet quickly until the cable comes taut. The basket then continues to desend at a comfortable pace. A loud screeching sound starts coming from below when you start desending, coming closer.
You get to a point, which you assume is about halfway down the shaft when the screeching becomes almost unbareable. Beside the basket you're in,you see the twisted remains of another basket, the warped metal scraping on the stone of the shaft, raising up past you.

[Wordplay]

'Well, this appears neither fortuitous nor felicitous'.

Raif tries pushing the lever in the opposite direction to get the basket to rise.

'Oh dear. Incidentally, can anyone hear that clanging sound we heard earlier'.

Listen (1d20+4)[18]

[Malak'ai]

Raif:

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You can't hear anything over the screeching of metal upon stone. The sound itself starts your nervous system tingling **Like 100 people scratching their fingernails down chalkboards all at once**

As Raif pushes the lever back the other way the basket comes to a shuddering halt, and with a groan, starts a lurching, staggered acent back up the shaft.

**Balance Checks please, DC 12**

[Arranis Thelmos]

Halabur shrieks as the floor lurches.

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(1d20+2)[13]

[Malak'ai]

Halabur:

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You wobble around a bit but manage to keep your feet under you as the basket jumps around in the shaft

[Machuchang]

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Balance: (1d20-5)[3]

[Malak'ai]

Eleanora:

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You fight the shaking of the basket as hard as you can, but eventually, under the weight of your armour, you just can't keep your feet. You start toppling backwards, your feet slipping out from under you. Landing on your backside in the basket, you don't take any physical damage (apart from maybe a bruise to the bottom) but you start feeling quite embarresed for having falling over.

[Wordplay]

Balance (1d30)[27]

[Wordplay]

(Sorry for typo and double post)

Balance (1d20)[3]

[Machuchang]

The dame quickly tried to stifle the blush that had made its way across her face.

"I must be more tired than I thought..." She muttered as she made her way back onto her feet.

[Marlowe]

OOC:Sorry for the silence guys. Indifferent connection and lots of work.

Balance (1d20+3)[8]

Verossa swears as she hits the floor of the basket. She'd been about as useful as tits on a golem during the recent gearmongering, and loosing her footing so easily didn't make her feel any less useless.

"I may be not the most mechanical of people, but I'm starting to think that this may not be the most reliable way of proceding. Shall we try lowering a torch or a sunrod down first next time?"

[Malak'ai]

The others notice as Eleanora tumbles to the floor of the basket, and while trying not to step on her or bump into anyone else as the dumbwaiter shakes, both Raif and Verossa slip, crashing down on top of each other in a tangle of arms and legs, and clanking of armour as they attempt to regain their feet.

[Wordplay]

'Ooof...'. Raif has the breath knocked straight out of him.

As he extricates himself from the tangle Raif jokes 'No need to throw yourself at me Verossa. It's the wimple, isn't it? I knew it would get me too much attention'.

As Raif pulls himself to his feet he dusts himself off, and checks his wand and weapon. 'Sorry about that...as Verossa says we probably should have checked the shaft out first...let us do so now. Shall we try Master Drayner's torch, or perhaps one of my candles?'

[Marlowe]

"Sorry Divine. It's the way it completely covers your face that does it for me. Anyway, I've a torch myself" She fossacks briefly in her haversack and begins knotting her Everburning torch to a rope. "Now forgive me if I've missed something in all the clockwackery and commotion, but has anyone done anything to secure the safety of the horses?"

[Is there space to lower down a light next to the basket as see what it illuminates? Or are we going to have to make a hole?]

[Malak'ai]

**Yes there is space. The "walls" of the basket come up to waist height then turns to bars 6 inches apart.**

[Wordplay]

Raif chuckles.

'Ah, I thought that might be it'.

'I think not, on the horses, they're still tethered back in the first cave. Honestly, I did not expect the complex to go back so deeply'.

Raif brings out one of his ropes and proffers it.

'Here, we can use this. Sorry if it's still a bit damp...but that should give us a few more moments before it burns...it looks a trifle hot down there'.

[Marlowe]

Verossa bites her lip as she [TAKES 10=DC13 Knot, if that is relevant to anything] binds her own rope to the everburning torch and begins to lower it over the side. Watching its progress carefully. "I see. Well, let's get this place stitched up quick. I believe Lord Pointytemper was clear if implicit on the matter of us being trapped underground being not a desirable outcome; but losing our mobility advantage might be almost as bad

"Incidently, is there a good reason why all of us have to be standing in a clearly malfunctioning elevator suspended over an unknown depth?"

[Arranis Thelmos]

Halabur blinks "That's a valid point actually, how should we handle that?"

[Malak'ai]

As Verossa lowers the torch, you can see the gouges in the stone shaft made by the other basket.
When you look up you can see your only about 20' from where you started. If you look down, you see the torch hovering a mare foot above the floor of the shaft.

[Marlowe]

"Right, well I should have a grapple. Let's start by getting a rope back up there and anchoring it securely. Then we'll splice mine and the Divines' together and descend to the floor that way, bypassing the elevator"

Verossa gives the half-foot clearance about the basket a searing look. "We are probably going to have to make a hole in the basket in some way."

[OOC: I'm not even going to try to access Mythweavers on this connection but I'm pretty sure Verossa has a grapple. I always get one.

Again, I probably missed it; What's the basket made from? Is it something we can cut through? Is it something heavy enough to crush us should it decide to suddenly descend once we're below it]

"And remember, if there are Gnomes down there, chances are they are paranoid and fearful, debased and brutalised by their situation. Might even have resorted to cannibalism, in spite of being only barely edible. We go in order of least to most appetising"

[Malak'ai]

**The bottom half of the basket is made from 2 inch steel, the bars are an inch in diameter, so yes, it would seriously hurt if it fell on your head.
As for cutting through, I don't think you have anything capable of making more than a dent in it.**

[Wordplay]

(I checked, and you do have a grapple).

'Hmm...I think we will struggle to climb down the shaft...or to cut a hole in the floor'.

'I have another suggestion...the spell I use to maintain my armour is capable of repairing other things, and I have it prepared. Perhaps I could use it to repair the elevator to full working order? That should make it safer at least'.

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Raif proposes casting mending.

[Marlowe]

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My home connection isn't that bad, mostly, but the work computers are ugh. And Mythweavers is a slow site anyway.

Ok, so we don't want the thing hanging over our heads. I rather doubt if one casting of Mending would extend to something this large and complex.

On the plus side, Baleful Utterance might well do something to those bars.

Not that Verossa knows any of this.

"Sound promising; but I don't think anyone's going to baulk at working out a simple alternative way back up that doesn't rely on this contraption." Verossa hauls up her Everburning torch, packs it, and begins to retie her rope to her grapple. " Anyone better at throwing heavy metal pointy stuff than myself?"

[Wordplay]

'I doubt it, Verossa, unless maybe m'Lady? Otherwise, I should say go ahead...'

Raif tries the door to see if it will open.