The Last Paladin IC - Part III

[Maquise]

(Are you keeping track of your resources?)

You head up the stairs, which creak dangerously under your weight. Anita, eventually frustrated, stomps down hard on them once. They don't give, which seems to convince her that despite the noise, they will hold without worry. Still, the noisy floorboards broadcast your approach to anyone with ears.

You arrive in the room Grembler found Skeever. Anita draws her sword, peering into the gloom. There is a haze of dust about the room, which contains a table with several books on it, a pile of blank parchments and a quill and inkpot, and a closed darkwood wardrobe. The window is covered in grime, making seeing out of it impossible save where the glass has broken out, and sunlight also pours through holes in the roof.

There is a hole in the wall, large enough for an adult to get through. You notice an awful smell coming from the dark recess on the other side.

[Frosty]

(I've used LoH once for the day, and have used 3 level spells today.)

[Maquise]

Skeever looks in the hole. "I dun' see anyplace else she coulda gone to."

(Waiting for your action)

[Frosty]

(How cramped would it be? Is it crawling only?)

[Maquise]

You examine the space further. It is about five feet tall by four feet wide; you and Anita will have to crouch, but you can stand.

[Frosty]

"Alright. I'll go first. Anita do you want to get behind me with your lance, or would you prefer to protect the rear? Grembler will be in the middle somewhere."

[Maquise]

"I'll be behind you," Anita says.

Pulling out your glowing ioun stone, you head into the cramped tunnel. It is featureless for the most part. You pass by closed and locked doors, most of which haven't been opened for a while. Occasionally you'll hear sounds of habitation below you, which silence at your approach.

You keep an eye out for any sign that Lyanna came past, even as the tunnel loops around, completely encircling this block of buildings. Just before you arrive back where you started, you find the source of the unusual smell. Next to a door, leading to the wall opposite of the hole you entered, there is a humanoid corpse. It is old enough to be unrecognizable; little more than dusty bones with a few scraps of leathery flesh hanging on to it. A strange waxy substance, dry and crumbling, adheres its arms and legs to the wall. Next to it, you notice a pitch black vertical shaft descending downwards, past all of the building's rooms. It is large enough that a medium-sized creature could squeeze through it.

"I wonder what he would say, if he could talk," Anita says indicating the corpse.

"We could find out," Grembler says. He pulls out a scroll. "I have the wierdings; could have useful knowledge."

[Frosty]

"Please do. The rest of us will keep watch for you. Good thinking Grembler!"

Karrin makes sure they are watching all angles. "I hope we're not against some sort of spider demon..."

[Maquise]

"This will take a while," Grembler says as he begins the incantation. Sometime later, he says, "It be done. You can ask it three questions."

[Frosty]

"Ideas? I'm thinking of asking about what's down the shaft, and what is the creature that killed it."

[Maquise]

Anita says nothing; she seems unnerved by this. Skeever says, "That might be good idea, and maybe try to find out how long it's been dead."

[Frosty]

"Let's ask that first. *ahem* You, corpse. How long have you been dead?"

[Maquise]

An unearthly, moaning voice emerges from the skull's mouth. "Twelve weeks..."

[Frosty]

"Well, whatever killed it, it wasn't Lyanna. But if she's hiding here, we need to deal with the creature. Grembler, is it too general of a request to ask the corpse to tell us all that it knows of its killer?"

[Maquise]

Grembler says, "The dead would prolly want to help, in this case. But it could only answer if it knew what had killed it."

[Frosty]

"*ahem* Corpse, please describe to me your killer's abilities and physical appearance."

[Maquise]

"Never saw it... moved like blur, came out of an empty room... glued me to this wall... eggs, so many eggs..."

[Frosty]

"So, definitely a spider of some type. Corpse. What is down that vertical shaft right over there?"

[Maquise]

"...leads to tunnels. Below ground, run throughout city. No one knows who dug them..."

Grembler's magic fades, and the corpse returns to its dormant state. Anita turns away, visibly disturbed by this.

[Frosty]

"Well, I think we got some useful information. And these tunnels...they may be exactly what we're looking for if we need to liberate the holy artifact from possible evil. Anita, don't look so alarmed. We are doing no harm here. It's not like we're trekking with undead. alright, any ideas on how to deal with a foe that probably spews webs at us to entangle us?"

[Maquise]

"We should try to engage it with polearms," Anita says. "That way, even if it entangles us, we can still strike first, and hold it at bay long enough to break free."

"I kin dodge 'n slip outta webs, 'n knock spiders outta their perches," Skeever says.

[Frosty]

"Last time you were ambushed and almost died. Will you be alright? Prefer to use the ring?"

Karrin brings out her lance and has it ready.

[Maquise]

"Naw, I've got this," Skeever says. "Just as long as I don't fight non of those big messers."

You look down the shaft. The air howls as it whips through the dark, close space. You think you catch the glint of some menacing pair of eyes staring back at you.

[Frosty]

"Alight. How're we going to descent this shaft? We've got rope, but fighting while climbing will still be very dangerous if it decides to attack."

[Maquise]

"I can cast a spell," Grembler says. "It will let one person float up or down."

[Frosty]

"That's good...but how will the rest of us get down? The one who floats can carry someone else?"

[Maquise]

"Maybe me and Skeever, but not you or Anita. Maybe someone go down, make sure it is safe, then everyone else go down."

[Frosty]

"Grembler, if you want to act as a second pair of eyes, use the ring and then grab onto my back as I descend. If we get webbed you can burn our way out?"

[Maquise]

You descend into the darkness. The wood of the structure gives way to packed earth and stone about a third of the way down. Towards the bottom, you notice more of the old waxy substance that bound the corpse clinging to the walls.

You arrive at the bottom. The tunnels seem unnaturally dark; Grembler says that not even he can see very far ahead. The light of your ioun stone extends out the usual thirty feet, but beyond that is pitch black. There is yet more wax clinging to the walls.

The tunnels branch off in four directions. The tunnels are large enough to stand up in. (Map)

[Frosty]

"Alright, go ahead and throw the rope down and start climbing! It's clear down here...for the moment. Grembler, you can see better than I can. Warn us if you see anything."