Absence of Empathy IC

[PolkaBear]

The summoned creature chitters and squeaks a response and then disappears into the water.

[In porpoise: Two-legs shouldn't be in water; they are short of breath and weak against the water's strength. I will look and return.]

The sleek, grey-skinned form disappears under the water.

A horny finger taps Chaim on the shoulder. He turns to see a dwarf with some sort of badge. "Sorry, sir; but this whole section is being cleared until me and my crew can inspect it for soundness. You'll need to step over there." He gestured behind where a rope had been strung. "You also look like you could use a blanket and a hot drink. You one of them who fell?"

[The Vorpal Tribble]

Chaim nods and takes a step back.

"Give me a few moments, sir? I'd like to remain and give my respects to those who didn't make it. I will not be long." he requests.

[LurkerinthePlaygnd]

Rach Diggerson

With his hand slipping quickly off the rope, Rach made one last attempt to grab it with his right hand. This time the current conspired in his favor and twisted him in such a way that he could easily grab the line. He wrapped the rope around his hand as the others on the ledge pulled him to safety.

Upon gaining the dry ground, Rach said through deep breaths, Thank you all for your help, I thought I was a goner. I was quite surprised to see you all here. Rach sat for a moment to regain his composure.

Responding to the dwarf, he said, I was, but then, all of a sudden, there was nobody to rescue. I was going to climb out of the pit when I saw that one of the ropes was submerged and seemed to be holding a weight on the other end. I think it was the bearded fella'. Anyway, I dove in holding the rope, thinking I could untie him. However, I didn't realize that the current was as strong as it is. I bumped into him under water, but there was nothing I could do; the current swept me right past." Rach remembered the gentle tone with which the bearded man spoke to the lady that had escaped the pit. "I pray that the people topside had enough presence of mind to pull him up."

[Mr the Geoff]

Ulf Ironbeard

Ulf grimaced slightly at Rach's story another bloody hero who forgets that you can't rescue anyone if you're dead

"Well, as we were discussing before you came to visit, unless we want to wait here for days for the water to subside a bit, its looking like that shaft o light over there's our way out. Now I figure that even if we can get everyone over there we've got about 40 feet of climbing before we hit the surface, so we sure as anything aren't below Elridge. Now the problem is getting over there. I have a hunnerd feet of rope left and a couple of pitons to tie off to, but I figure getting over there is a bit more than my climbing skill can handle.

Ulf ponders some more then continues "Arfondt, how long does that levitate spell of your'n last, and can anyone see if that gap over there is even large enough to climb through without heading over there?"

[Irrealist]

Arfondt

Arfondt puts the small leather loop he held in his left hand back into his pocket and sits down. I think that's enough excitement for today. Now I'd love a cup of tea and a quiet hour in the library. "I'm glad you got out of there alive" he says to Rach.

When Ulf directs a question at him, he looks up again. "What? Oh yes, the spell... It should last a few minutes at least, say five, maybe a little more, but not much more than that."

[PolkaBear]

The square of light, from this angle, looks to be no wider than two feet across. You have no idea if the shaft is tapered, however.

* * * * *

The dwarf looks at Chaim consideringly. "Aye. That's the right thing to do. I'm uneasy about you being here, though; so just a minute." He looks Chaim in the eye, nods, and heads over to direct some of his fellows.

[tgva8889]

Kayte Mursai A rather tired-looking woman, with light brown hair, eyes of intelligence, and a rather dirtied and mussed-up expression. She gives off an aura that says she doesn't belong down here.

Kayte falls backwards as Rach is pulled to safety. Once everyone is safe and Rach begins talking, she gives him a glance, but says nothing to or in relation to him.

"Um...excuse me? I have a 'plan' for getting across the river. It lets anyone climb. Almost anything. Would you mind, Arfondt? I left my batch of spell materials at home, as I figured I wouldn't be falling into a hole today." Besides the fact that you ran out and forgot to buy another one. Something about her voice seems different, as though she's somehow gained some confidence. She puts her hands together and stretches, as if about to do something with them. Then, she holds one out towards Arfondt, as if waiting for something to appear in her hand. "I can get one person across, possibly two. They can check the shaft, see if we can use it as an escape route. If the shaft is a viable escape plan, then one person could then climb up the shaft while the rest get themselves across with the other's help. Once one person reaches the top, he or she could help the others get up using the typical method of rope climbing. If that shaft is a no-go, then the person can high-tail it back over here with ease. Sound good?" She looks meaningfully at the remainder of the group, as if she's already decided on a course of action and is simply waiting for approval from the rest of the group. They don't need to know that you like conserving spell energy. It's not important.

[Mr the Geoff]

Ulf Ironbeard

"Aye that'd work, and we could save the levitating for when we know we need it. That and we could set up a static rope across the water while we were at it. So, shall I pop over and take a peek or would you like to have a try Mr... Ulf looks at Rach "...ah we made the introductions before you came to visit, I'm Ulf"

[Irrealist]

Arfondt
A chubby man in long damp robes that cling to his no-so muscular body

Arfondt turns to face Kayte, raising an eyebrow. "Why didn't you say so earlier?" He stares into the air for a second. "I think I know which spell you mean. No I don't mind at all." His hand slides into a pouch at his belt, and returns with a tiny brown bag that seems to have something wriggly inside. He places the bag in Kayte's open palm. "They are both inside."
Now for me that alone would have been a good reason to research how to cast spells without their material components... So much for the superiority modern wizards claim to have over the witches of old.

He turns to Ulf and Rach. "Enjoy your meal, whoever it is that is volunteering".

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My spellcraft check beat DC 20 + spell level (I thinkk 15 + spell lvl would have been sufficient), so I'm gonna assume Arfondt knows what Kayte is talking about.

[tgva8889]

Kayte Mursai A rather tired-looking woman, with light brown hair, eyes of intelligence, and a rather dirtied and mussed-up expression. She gives off an aura that says she doesn't belong down here.

Taking the bag, Kayte says, "Thank you, Arfondt. Now, who's going to cross? Urf or Rach? This is only enough for one spell, though I believe getting one person across will be sufficient, don't you all? Now, let's see here..." Noting Rach's presence, she says, "By the way, nice to meet you. Kayte Mursai." Closing her eyes, Kayte moves her arms and speaks the necessary arcane spell words before handing the bag to the climber, whomever they decide upon. Magic energy dances around her hands as she holds them out to the climber. "Eat it. It'll be unpleasent, I assure you. I've done it before." Once he has eaten the spider and bitumen, Kayte touches him on the shoulder. The magical energy passes from her hands to the center of the climber's chest, where it spins around in a sort of maelstrom of white light before dissapating. Smiling, Kayte says, "Start climbing. Maybe start on that wall over there. You've got a decent length of time, but don't go wasting it."

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Cast spider climb on either Rach or Urf, whomever they decide. If it comes to vote, Kayte will choose Urf, being that he's a dwarf and would therefore know a bit about rock.

[Mr the Geoff]

Ulf Ironbeard That's Ulf, with an L

"You get some rest lad, I'll head over there and take a peek, if I can get my shoulders through the rest of you will be fine. Now I don't know which of ye's is odder, Kayte for needing a spider to cast a spell or Arfondt for carrying one in his pocket"

With a grimace Ulf swallows the spider, and the bitumen that doesn't taste any better, and heads over to the wall to start climbing. he still has the rope attached to himself, so he hands one end to Kylen, just to make sure.

Now if I were a wizard I would research a spell called squirrel climb, bit o roast squirrel wouldn't taste too bad, or maybe replace the tar with treacle to take away the taste o spider

Gingerly at first Ulf climbs, first up the wall, then across the ceiling to the hole, where he first looks through the gap then tries to pull himself through.

[LurkerinthePlaygnd]

Rach DiggersonA thoroughly soaked and somewhat distracted looking fellow

"What...oh, I'm Rach. Rach Diggerson," he says to the dwarf. Rach can't help feeling a sense of dread creep over him as he sits on the rock ledge. "Nice to meet you also, Ms. Mursai. I only wish it were under better conditions," he says to Kayte, forcing his lips into a smile.

"Yeah, Ulf, I could use a few minutes to rest."

[Irrealist]

Arfondt
A chubby man in long dark blue robes

"I am sorry I heven't introduced myself yet, Mr. Diggerson. My name is Arfondt.

[The Glyphstone]

Kylen O'Corrival
A large, bulky man toting a greatsword and displaying the holy symbol of Kord prominently.

"I must also beg pardon for my lack of proper greeting - though in the circumstances, I doubt anyone would fault us for the slip. I am Sir Kylen O'Corrival, paladin and crusader of Kord the Mighty -and very pleased to meet you."

[LurkerinthePlaygnd]

Rach Diggerson

"Believe me, I'm glad to have met you all...especially under these conditions," Rach says, attempting humor.

[PolkaBear]

The nose of the river dolphin soon poked above the surface of the water once more. With the squeaks and clicks of that creature's language, she told Chaim of her explorations. She had been able to explore as far as a sudden downrush of the water: past that point, the dolphin would have been unable to return.

She did not see any sign of any humans; but she did note that at one point she was able to hear "the talk-voices of two-legs. They were not in the water." She had looked out of the water, but could not see them. There was a wall, though; and the voices seemed to be coming from beyond it.

The dwarf returns. "Your minute's up. Come along and we'll get you warmed up."

* * * * *

Ulf inspects the shaft. It goes straight up, about forty feet, and then turns sharply. The light is coming from just around the turn, reflecting off the black, glistening rock walls. The dwarf judges that his head might fit into the hole, but there's no way his shoulders would get through. Kayte or Erwin would probably be the only ones skinny enough to shimmy their way up--and even then, it would be a feat.

[tgva8889]

Kayte Mursai A young woman with light brown hair, eyes of intelligence, and a rather dirtied and mussed-up expression. Something about her makes it seem as though she's done something right for once, though it's clear that she still thinks she doesn't belong anywhere near this situation.

Kayte smiles at Rach's words as she takes a seat on the rocks. "Don't try too hard, Rach." It's clear she looks pleased at his words. While she doesn't laugh at his humor, she does give an approving smile at him. He makes you feel uncomfortable, but he's not such a bad guy, I suppose. Would make sense, based on his story. Sighing, Kayte looks around the place and says, "Anyone got lights? Besides me?" She listens as best she can while the water flows past and they wait for Urf...Or was it Ulf...now that I think about it...to return to the group.

[The Vorpal Tribble]

Chaim, a literally steaming man of lanky proportions and above average height who's making alot of odd noises.

"Squick sqeuak brrrr duh duh duhplthhh, squickle skee!" Chaim calls down, and his lips actually raise up in a small smile.
River daughter, you are beautiful, and I release you to your play!

He turns back to the likely confused dwarf, "I will leave, but tell me, what do you know of the cellars of the town? A party must be formed, they live, sir, they live!"

He then begins to walk the streets the rough distance he was able to glean from the boto's descriptions.

-=-=-=-=-=-

Spoiler

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Knowledge (local) to roughly estimate where the party is under = 26

Survival to predict the weather = 23

So should know the weather for the next 2 and a half days.

[Mr the Geoff]

Ulf Ironbeard A dwarf apparently "standing" on his hands and knees on the ceiling of a sewer. His wet beard hangs in his face and his hair hangs down even further

Ulf brings his head back out of the shaftand calls across to the others over the sound of rushing water "Bad news lads and lasses, it's 40 feet straight up, and it's too narrow to get up. Either it's a drain or someone left the lid off the privy. Anyway, we aren't getting up here, and to widen a shaft you gen'rally have to start at the top and work down. This leaves us up **** creek without a paddle, literally in this case. I'll take a look further downstream to see if there's anything we can lower ourselves to with a rope"

With that Ulf will head downstream along the ceiling as far as he can go without dropping into the water (if there is sufficient headroom above the level of the water).

[LurkerinthePlaygnd]

Rach Diggerson: A very damp human of average size.

Fighting a rising feeling of claustrophobia, Rach listens as Ulf explains their predicament. He closes his eyes for a moment and breathes deeply and deliberately to combat his personal dread. He sits quietly, collecting his thoughts as he watches Ulf spider-crawl across the ceiling. Now there's something you don't see everyday, he thinks, a bit of his normal good humor returning to him.

[Irrealist]

Arfondt
damp scholar

Arfondt is very excited when Ulf returns. "So what did you see?" He listens closely to Ulf's report. "Did you hear anything when you were up there? Were there people around? Were you able to attract attention to yourself, so someone could get a rescue underway? If it isn't possible to widen the shaft, maybe they can throw a few scrolls of shrink down to us." He turns to Kayte. "You don't happen to have that spell prepared, do you?"

[PolkaBear]

While the dwarf escorted Chaim outside of the roped-off area, the farmer formed his plan. When he asked about cellars, the dwarf's expression became pensive and slightly confused.

"They live, you say? Now, how could you be knowing a thing like that?" He shrugged and waved a hand. "Never mind; there's plenty of odd ways folks around here have. Still, I don't know what good cellars would do. Unless that water climbed uphill, they're not in reach of any cellars I know. The only thing dug deep around here are the sewers. No sense digging through solid rock 'less you have a reason. I suppose a few of them might have cellars--there's an odd pocket of earth here and there, otherwise you'd not have got that soaking earlier."

They reached the edge of the area that had been cordoned; and the dwarf put a heavy hand on Chaim's elbow. "Don't you go haring off after them, though. Going most places would take authorization from the City Seats--which shouldn't be hard to get, but things gotta be done decently, y'see. They might even run into one of the crews checking everything for flooding; my brother's on one o' them. You just worry about getting dry and warm."

[If Chaim shares what he intuited about weather:]

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The dwarf nodded, pleased. "[b][color=sandybrown]That's good to know. I was afraid that we were getting only a temporary break; but maybe we'll be able to repair this damage and others before we're drowned again.

The woman Chaim had rescued approached him with a blanket in one hand and Mirella in the other. She looked as if she wanted to say something to him.

[tgva8889]

Kayte Mursai A young woman with light brown hair, eyes of intelligence, and a rather dirtied and mussed-up expression. She carries a rather puzzled look, and it's clear that she still thinks she doesn't belong anywhere near this situation.

"Considering I'm not sure exactly what spell you're talking about, it's highly likely that no, I don't have access to that spell, though I can guess at it's function by the name." Looking at Arfondt as though he should have known better, Kayte says, "I'm not some powerful spellcaster, you know. I'm just a bookstore clerk." Smiling coyly at the mage for a small moment, Kayte looks about some more, still unsure as to what sort of plans they might be able to enact. "Ulf, be careful where you go with that spell active. It won't last forever. Oh, and sorry about the name mix up." Hopefully, he won't be too annoyed.

[Irrealist]

"Yes, I can see how that spell would make getting a book from the top shelf a lot easier, so I guess most clerks learn it as part of their training." Arfondt smiles at her whimsically. "Do you think it will last long enough to go back up there and call for help?"

[PolkaBear]

Upcurrent from the group, the sewer divides left and right; downcurrent, it curves into darkness. The channel is about fifteen feet wide, but can see the ledge of which Crennick spoke about a foot beneath the surface of the water. The ledge runs along the near wall--the blocks on which you sit had been pushed out atop it--and it looks to be about four feet wide. The 'ceiling' of the sewer is about ten feet above you, with drainage shafts (such as the one Ulf inspected) emptying into the sewer every twenty or thirty feet. The walls are a mixture of hewn rock and dressed blocks, depending upon the engineers' jugment of the passage's soundness. The walls are slick and damp, but there is a handrail running along the near wall a couple feet above the water's surface.

[tgva8889]

"Yes, I can see how that spell would make getting a book from the top shelf a lot easier, so I guess most clerks learn it as part of their training." Arfondt smiles at her whimsically. "Do you think it will last long enough to go back up there and call for help?"

Kayte Mursai

Smiling at the mage, Kayte says, "Funny, it wasn't in the bookkeeper's manual. Amazing, how they keep all the good spells away from us, huh?" As he asks his real question, Kayte thinks for a few moments, then shrugs. "It's likely that he'll have time to climb out of here, but I'm not sure he'll have enough time to get back down. If he takes too long, though, I'd like to have a look over there myself." Taking a copper coin from her money pouch, Kayte practices flipping it over in various ways. It's clear she is impatient, much to anxious to escape the sewers they've fallen into.

[The Vorpal Tribble]

Chaim

"Was just going to check the general area, sir." Chaim responds. He then looks over at the woman that approaches. He looks at the young girl and a rare smile, warm as the sun on the cobbles, spreads across his face.

"I see you found her." he says leaning down a little and waving to the tot.

-=-=-=-=-

OOC: Grr, sorry for not posting. For some reason many of my subscribed threads are no longer subscribed and I thought the game had just been lax. Came to see where everyone was and find out they've been here all along.

[LurkerinthePlaygnd]

Rach Diggerson

Rach feels the need to do something...anything to get out of the hole and back to daylight. He gets up and looks around the ledge that they are perched upon. "Hey everyone, this looks like a hand rail of some sort," he says, pointing. "If Ulf doesn't find an obvious way out, we might have to follow the rail to see if we can find an exit of some sort."

[PolkaBear]

Below

"Oh, there will be exits," remarks Crennick. "That's how we--they--maintain these sewers when there's a blockage or collapse or something. They're all locked, though; some are barred, too. To guard against the pressure of an overflow situation, I'd guess. Still, an exit's an exit: it's gotta open onto some place that's accessible. Maybe somebody would hear us if we raised a racket near one."

He sucks on his teeth and squints downcurrent. "I seem to remember being called in to check these things after heavy rainfall. Well, I was carrying supplies, anyway; was the engineers that usually did the checking. Who knows? We might run into one of them. Repair parties, I mean."

* * * * *

Above

The dark-haired girl looks at you (Chaim) silently and wide-eyed. She stands slightly apart from her mother, although they are holding hands.

"Yes, I did," the woman replies, "thanks to you. I never thought I'd see her again; and that would have...broken my heart." The little girl looks to be about the same age as your youngest girl. Your heart pounds and you think of home. The thought of being separated forever...

You nearly were.

"Look at you, though: you're dripping. Here, take this blanket. It will help you get warm." The green and red striped wool blanket she drapes around your shoulders is scratchy but substantial, and smells faintly of horse.

"Please, do allow me to do something for you. I live just around the corner--well, up the hill and around the corner--and can get you something to warm you up." In your wet state, the stiff breeze is negating the sun's warmth; you shiver. "Then you can continue on your business. Please, it's the least I can do."

When she mentions "your business," you are reminded of the task* that brought you into Drim today.

*

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You were going to see the City Seats--specifically, the Seat of Agriculture--to see if something could be done about the farmers' ruined crops. The farmer who would normally speak on behalf of the others had recently taken ill and broken his leg; so the task fell to you.

You look down at your clothes: you are filthy with mud and unfit for an appearance at the Heldrise. The woman sees your look. "I can...well, you look to have the same build as my husband. I'm sure some of his clothes would fit you. No, really, it's no trouble considering. You can clean yourself up, too."

[The Glyphstone]

Kylen O'Corrival
A large, bulky man toting a greatsword and displaying the holy symbol of Kord prominently. His attitude is a mixed combination of bemused interest and annoyance.

"Well, it's not like we can do much else for now...

He brightens slightly, as if remembering something. From one of his pockets, he tugs what appears to be a large, empty wooden mug, and holds it in front of him carefully. He mutters a few words in what sounds like Dwarven - and the empty mug is abruptly filled with foaming beer. Leaning up against the wall, he takes a deep drink.

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In Dwarven, the command phrase was "Fill 'er up!"