D&D ADVENTURE! THE DOMAIN OF THE UNDER-DOG

weazil

Moderator
"Good thing I didn't take the pants," Bari grunted to himself. "They woulda been clean for what, fifteen seconds?" He sighed as the rest of party made their way over. Leaning the staff up against the wall, he reached down and pulled the wet sack away from himself. "Need to make this less...bothersome."

Bari quickly tore the sack into a more suitable shape and fashioned for himself a neat loincloth, leaving his thighs exposed and flexible. "There. That's better," he nodded to himself. He was also quite pleased with the quick-release knot he'd put in place - surely that would come in handy some time!

The cleric flexed his muscles before gripping the staff in both hands. "C'mon, y'all. We need to find a place to rest. Where's Seu? And Robin?" He peered up at the distant dot of light above them, "They still coming?"

Bari will wait for the party to assemble, before leading the way into the fissure.
 
Fighting desperately to reach the surface, Rambulge fatalistically thought to himself that even if he was going to drown in it, at least this water was going to clean his soiled apparel and leave a cleaner corpse.
When he reached the surface and the stave hit the lights, he realised with a not unwelcome sigh that neither of these things were going to happen...not right now anyway.
 

Penddraig

Member
Robin swam over to the light where he could pick out the shape of Bari and what looked like a tunnel. Climbing out he reached down to help out Duke and the baby. He could hear with the splashing that Eggebert and Rambulge were also making their way over.

Robin shook himself, trying to get rid of the worst of the water. "Bari, hold the light a bit further to the ground. Let's have a look to see if anything has been around here recently." With the light illuminating the floor, Robin peered at the ground trying to piece together the story it may tell.

Robin is going to check for tracks on the ground and see if he can use his direction sense to work out in which direction the tunnel leads relevant to the temple above them.
 
The party struggled and slipped in the muck that coated them, helping each other scramble out of the liquid that filled the bottom of the pit. Rambulge lay like a beached whale on the stone floor, gasping from both ends. Duke tried his best to settle the child, who was likely getting hungry again, on top of every other indignity she had suffered. In the dim light produced by Bari's stave, everyone looked awful. Try as they might to get the stuff off, each of them were completely brown with the sticky, tangy mixture which seemed to Robin to have all manner of flavours that would not normally be found this deep underground - he noted elements of herbs and spices that were similar to those common in the woodlands he frequented on his own world. He could have sworn there was a hint of lemon.

With the light held low to the ground, Robin did not have to search long to find what he sought - tracks, all over the place, almost definitely kobolds. The fissure was dark and silent before them, and at best guess, Robin determined that it led south to south-west, which, according to the map Yngwie had made, would likely lead in the general direction of the 'private quarters' section of the temple that they had yet to explore. Yngwie had not included that section in his map.
 

Penddraig

Member
Robin sat back on his heels and looked at the disheveled group that faced him. "Kobolds," he began.

"Bless you" replied Bari stretching to see how much movement his combat thong gave him.

"No, Kobolds. Little beasties, individually not much of a problem but in packs and us without weapons - well, more of an issue." Robin indicated down the passageway. "I think that this leads towards the private chambers that Yngwie mentioned. If it does, it may give us a chance to get back up into the temple, recover our friends and our gear. This water we landed in may also cover our scents. Most underground creatures tend to hunt by that sense and this may be enough to help us. We're still going to have to be careful though. Bari, that stick seems to give off some light - do you know what else it can do? Anything that may help us right now?"
 

weazil

Moderator
Bari shook his head in the darkness, the movement only perceptible to Robin by virtue of his considerable hunting skills.

"There's a little man living in the top, but he's tired and, uh, a little bit confused, really. I think he's done as much as he can for now. I can't work out anything else it does just yet."

Bari gave the staff a little shake, concentrating on his inner listening, just to see if he could coax any further understanding out of the staff. A brief mental soundbite wafted through his mind: "...please leave a message after the tone..."

The cleric shook his head. "Nope. I suppose we could use it to hit people? Or kobolds. I don't really want to let go if it, if that's okay, so I guess I'd better go in front. You tell me which way to go."

I doubt any further wisdom will come from the staff, but I don't want to limit the DM in any way...

Otherwise, Bari will take the lead and progress carefully down the route that Robin indicates.
 
Hisston seemed taken aback by the paladin's speech. His eyes darted to the phial of blood he had filled, then at the paladin's wound, then back to Seu's face. It was just a moment though, and his sneer quicky returned. "Ssuch bold words, Ssir Knight. We sshall ssoon determine jusst how deep your faith dwellss, and I intend to be there when it failss, when the pain becomess too great, when the ssight of your own mutilated body becomess too much - then I will offer you a choice to renounce your faith and embrace death... and you will take that choice, thiss I believe. Every being hass it'ss limitss... I will disscover yourss... eventually."

With a last smirk, Hisston turned to leave.

________________________

Bari held the stave high to make best use of it's feeble light. The fissure in the rock wall was barely wide enough to fit a grown man such as himself through, and his metal-clad arms scraped and screeched across the rough stone. Despite the hideous noise, Bari was glad that the armour was protecting him from some serious skin loss - the same could not be said of the others, judging from the odd curse whispered under their breaths in the silent darkness.
From somewhere up above him there was the click and rattle of a small stone falling, followed by a slight drift of fine dust that trickled over the cleric's head and face. He swore quietly and stifled a sneeze. "Damn... guys... i don't know if this thing is entirely stable..."

Little particles tickled Bari's nose, and he snorted. The aroma of something very familiar filled his nose and he couldn't help himself. The explosive sneeze echoed through the fissure. Pepper! The trickle wasn't dust, someone or something was... seasoning him!
 

Asslessman

Member
Seu refused to engage in a pointless verbal argument with Hisston like 10 years old children. He could remember children arguing in the courtyard of his family castle "I AM the strongest... NO I AM,... " his honour placed him higher than all that though...
Still determined to deny Hisston any joy of victory, as the snakeman was heading for the door, the paladin started to speak his prayers more and more loudly until he shouted them. Staring at the stone ceiling, his shout making every word a blessing to the Lady and a "screw you, I don't even hear you" to Hisston...

One other thing was that someone else might hear his prayer... The Lady would, HIsston most surely would too, maybe Yngwie would but there might be more ...
 
As Bari's sneeze blasted down the tunnel, the dust began agitating Rambulge's sinus and he followed suit- he let fly with an ACHOO so forceful it hurt, mostly because as he let it loose his head smashed against the cave.
 

weazil

Moderator
"I dunno guys. I have a baaaad feeling about this..."

Bari turned and looked at the party. "I know we're pretty spent, but has anyone got anything left? Any magic, or potions, or anything? What are we gonna do if some giant mofo leaps out at us? I have this stick, but I was kinda hoping for something more?"
 
Hisston paused on his way out the door, and looked like he might respond - but instead, he stalked out the door and slammed it behind him, plunging Seu into darkness once more. A few moments later, the screaming began again. It went on for a long time.

_________________________________

As the explosive rapport of the sneezing finished echoing through the fissure, the party members held their breaths, awaiting the moment that whatever underground beasties had been attracted by the noise chose their moment to pounce. None came, however. Bari let out a quiet sigh and whispered back to the group, "I know we're pretty spent, but has anyone got anything left? Any magic, or potions, or anything? What are we gonna do if some giant mofo leaps out at us? I have this stick, but I was kinda hoping for something more?"

Duke rummaged around in his filthy sack and produced a handful of something small and black. "Got me lucky pebbles," he muttered. He licked one of them, nodding as he did so.

Eggbert stared hard into the darkness, his gnomish senses well attuned to being underground. He could not make out much in the darkness of the fissure, though he could judge with fair certainty that it stretched up further than it might appear, and he concurred with Robin's deductions on the direction it was currently leading them. The rock in this area was softer, and could easily be dug out to form a warren of small tunnels for a creature such as a kobold - but such tunnels would be of little use for his larger companions. As for traps... well. While it was impossible to see anything overt, it was not beyond possibility that this whole scenario was one big elaborate trap, though it was hard to credit the kobolds with that much initiative. As he pondered the mysteries of the underground realm, another drift of pepper floated down from on high, tickling his large gnome-nose and coating his whiskers...
 

weazil

Moderator
"Great," Bari muttered. "The stick it is, then. Let's keep going."

Bari will continue moving down the tunnel. Carefully, of course.
 
Bari edged cautiously along, using his stave to illuminate the way ahead (it did a much better job of this than the sorry excuse for a god that dwelt inside it). His caution was well rewarded when he suddenly discovered the ground had stopped now. His front foot paused in mid air as he squinted down to see where it had gone - the floor sloped crazily downwards into the oppressive darkness like the world's most ill-conceived slippery-dip. There was no way to see how far down it went or what might lie at the bottom. As he pondered this new information he felt a gentle drift of pepper trickle down the back of his neck...
 

Asslessman

Member
Rambulge was closely following Bari when the caramel Cleric suddenly halted. The spellsword was looking at his clothes and the way they were soiled beyond imagination "Damn, if Mother saw me like this I'd be as good as dead" But mother wasn't here and he was not that far from being dead either... His mind wandering, Rambulge only noticed at the very last moment when Bari stopped making the spellsword stop just against the Cleric, his nose reddened by the smell of pepper smashing against the dark and salty skin of Bari's back.

"Need a hug fella? Is that huge black hole that appealing ? You can tell uncle Bari, woooooo yeah, nuthin' like a big black hole"

At that moment Rambulge's eyes widened and he started inhaling very rapidly "aaaaaAAAAAAAA..."

The cleric raised his finger under Rambulge's nose "Wrong timing brotha, no coughing or we're really making it onto that hole"

Bari's finger still under his nose : "thanks Bari, hey, your fingers... they smell..."

Bari's finger moved on Rambulge's lips "ssshhhh,...I know..."

"Damn, they also taste like..." to that, the cleric only winked at the spellsword.

As he felt pepper on the back of his neck again Rambulge started to wonder : " Bari, would you try to light the ceiling to see what lies above ? Eggbert, do you think some invisible creature is crawling on the ceiling as we speak, seasoning us in order to eat us ?"

So many questions again, was being a grown -up trying to solve misetries and answer questions all the time ? When he was a lad, MOther would answer everey question with a smile...Oh mother...

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


When Hisston shut the door, Seu got a little sparkle of joy. He had to get away as soon as possible though. He couldn't hope for help from outside, his companions may all be dead by now for all he knew except Yngwie who was screaming his lungs out...
Paladins were made to kick doors open and slay evil doers to save righteous people... Who could save him , His father ? no, he had such responsabilities... His sister ? Better hope not, she would lecture him for the rest of his days and tell him how men are worthless...

Seu still had his faith and still had life in him, he tried to look around in the darkness which had come back in the room to see if there was anything he could do... His shouting prayers getting back to a whisper...


Just so you know, I've been given rambulge for a fistful of days as Bruno is away ;) Gosh, feels like being schizophrenic, I just get a glimpse of what you must live James !
 

weazil

Moderator
Let me guess - the only way is down? I'll still play along, so let's look around. Is there any way around this hole, or does the whole tunnel just slope downwards, lubricated by our tangy vinaigrette?
 

Penddraig

Member
Robin shuffled forward, wiping his nose of the pepper dripping down. He leaned past Bari looking downwards. Shrugging he knelt down looking at the floor. "If the kobolds were at the pit where we fell in, they must have come from somewhere. Bari, give us some light down here would you?"

Robin is going to check for any tracks on the ground to see if he can work out where the kobolds can from. Did they come from the slope? Are there any tracks or marks on the walls?
 
Eggbert followed the group, continuing to look above him apprehensively.

I dont think i have any useful spells right now. I have wraithform which may come in handy at some stage.
 
While peering suspiciously into the blackness of their surroundings, Rambulge belatedly remembered something..."oh, uh, Bari" he said almost apologetically- "I have a ring that can deliver shocking blasts if I lay my hands on someone...so it's your staff and my ring" he said, hoping the cleric didn't take that declaration the wrong way.
 
Bari held the stave high; he held it low. He waved it in all the nooks and crannies it could go. Robin noted some things of interest: There were no visible tracks on the floor of the fissure. There were, he saw, numerous little rock falls and piles of scree - could they have been dislodged by something small crawling around in the space above them? The stave showed mainly jagged rock, and certainly not enough apparent space for a human-sized figure to move about in. But someone or something small could manage it. Given the kobold's propensity for tunneling, it was the obvious answer.

Bari looked gloomily at the shaft in front of him - there was no way around it, unless they were adept at scaling walls, and no way to know if there was another side to it anyway. They could go forward down the slide, up (somehow) into the fissure, or back to the pit...

_______________________________________

Seu's whispered prayers made little echo in his prison of darkness. The nearby screaming had stopped, replaced once more by the oppressive silence. And yet... was there something? He strained his ears, hoping to catch whatever faint lilt he had heard. There it was! It was... could it be? Someone was singing. As the wavering voice grew stronger, Seu recognised it as Yngwie's voice. The song was low and sad, but full of hope and beauty too. The paladin felt a sudden hot flush of anger, tempered by purpose - if his friends hadn't given up, even in their darkest hour, surrounded by pain and death and sorrow, then neither would he - somehow, some way, he would escape this place and vanquish the evil that lurked in it's dark heart. He wrenched at the bonds that held him, prayers spilling from his mouth in bursts of hot breath laden with the tang of blood.

Deliver me from darkness, lady, and take me to him.

Deliver me from darkness. Take me to him!

Deliver me from darkness! TAKE ME TO HIM!

Lights danced crazily in his vision, spots of colour that threatened to overwhelm his conscious. Red was his mind, and black, the darkness. The darkness claimed him.

And then there was light. Go to him.

Seu found himself on the shore of the frozen lake once more. The sun was high above him, remote, it's light was feeble. He was naked, and the cold gnawed at him. Before him stood the frost knight, and once again his scornful words rang out with crystal clarity in the still, frozen air.

"Do you call yourself a knight?" the figure said. I am a knight of the Order of the Lady of the Lake.

"Where is your armour?" Faith is my armour.

"Where is your shield?" Faith is my shield.

"Where is your blade?" Faith is my blade.

"Pathetic!" the figure stepped forwards and struck at Seu, but the paladin was faster. His gauntleted hand caught hold of the frost knight's wrist and held it in a grip of iron.

"What is this....?" the frost knight hissed.

""Faith," replied Seu. "Faith is both my strongest armour and shield and my most lethal weapon. Steel accomplishes nothing without a heart behind it and no shield or armour can protect a weak soul. It is the Lady who grants me my power. There is no evil that Faith in the Lady cannot smite and there is no blade or arrow that can cut or pierce the resolve of a just man."

Seu released the frost knight, who stumbled back. Seu stood before him resplendent in armour of purest white, with a shield to match it. The symbol of the Lady glowed brightly upon his breast and on his helm. At his side hung a sword in a white scabbard wrought with fine-spun gold. He was truly a paladin of the Lady!

The frost knight drew a longsword that was wreathed in cold fog. He leveled it at the paladin, and from every joint in his armour, white mist oozed forth, forming the shape of two ice wolves that stood at either side of him, baring icicle fangs and snarling. "Draw your blade then, knight, and fight me. The frozen heart of Winter will soon be bathed in your warm blood..."
 
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