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Author
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Comment
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Tarondor
Madragar
Posts: 133
(12/11/02 2:13 pm)
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Re: The Tower
"Damn," mutters Madragar.
"Hold off, gentlemen. The creature has a bolt-hole. Like it or not, we have to find out how far back it goes, or all we will do is waste a lot of wood and pitch. Do we have any rope?"
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Kenner
Draxim
Posts: 155
(12/11/02 2:39 pm)
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Re: The Tower
"Of course!" Draxim produces the rope lent to him by Sangraal and estimates whether he can tie it off to the pillar and still have it reach far enough down inot the pit. If not he can try to pound in a stake.
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Jubilex
The Faceless Lord of Chaos
Posts: 623
(12/11/02 2:43 pm)
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Re: The Tower
The rope is easily long enough to be tied securely to the spire and reach to floor of the pit. Sadly for Sangraal, and for anyone trying to climb it as well, the rope will be nearly covered with the noxious slime unless some other precaution is made.
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Tarondor
Madragar
Posts: 134
(12/12/02 1:30 am)
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Re: The Tower
"Draxim," says Madragar, "you are the nimblest of us. Will you volunteer to descend? Ruig, Kezib and I can anchor the rope here, away from the slime, and that way we can quickly haul you up if need be."
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Kenner
Draxim
Posts: 156
(12/12/02 4:31 pm)
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Re: The Tower
"Certainly. The way that the slime ate into our clothes," he indicates the piholes in his cloak, " I would be leary of putting the rope in it and then trusting it with my weight. Not to mention that I promised Sangraal to keep it safe." He gives one of the iron spikes to Ruig. " If you should decide to follow me, pound this into the floor and tie the rope to it away from that fetid grease." He wraps the rope about himself in the classic rapelling posture and nods to Ruig and Kezib to lower him down. [I am assuming they are stronger than the mage]
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Jubilex
The Faceless Lord of Chaos
Posts: 628
(12/12/02 5:52 pm)
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Re: The Tower
[You are correct, though not by much.]
Ruig wraps the rope around the small of his back and grips it with both hands. Kezib stands at the lip of the pit and lends his weight as well, ensuring that neither Draxim nor the rope drift into the slime trail.
Draxim descends, though for now he must leave his torch behind. Hand over hand the dwarf moves down the rope, keeping his eyes open for anything lunging out of the darkness below. A few seconds later and Draxim makes it to the floor of the pit.
The chamber extends off toward the southeast and has a roughly tear-drop shape with the pit at the narrow end. The floor descends at a slight angle as it moves away from the pit, and both it and the ceiling narrow near the edges of the chamber.
Only a few feet from where Draxim stands the hideous slime beast sits quivering. He immediately jumps backward, grasping for the rope, but the thing makes no aggressive move. Unlike the flat, undulating thing that he faced before, the beast is curled into a lumpy ball like a worm skewered on a hook. It appears dead.
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Kenner
Draxim
Posts: 157
(12/12/02 6:49 pm)
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Re: The Tower
[Draxim quickly scans the walls for any sign of another entrance or hidden door, keeping an eye for any sudden movement from the congealed lump. Is the wall down here of the same stuff as the rest of this dungeon?]
"It's down here but it ain't movin'," Draxim whispers up. "Haul me back up." After he is back amongst them, he describes the situation. "We could probably build the fire down there. It's weird, though, I don't think anything we did could have killed it. Still, I don't see that telltale green vapor that we saw before. I say we burn it anyway just to be safe. And we should burn those other coprses in the barrels as well. Or do whatever is ...umm proper for such a um situation." He looks sheepishly at Ruig.
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Tarondor
Madragar
Posts: 135
(12/13/02 1:34 am)
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Re: The Tower
"I agree. The creature could be in hibernation. I doubt those bodies will burn, but we could try. Unless our priest objects?"
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Jubilex
The Faceless Lord of Chaos
Posts: 629
(12/13/02 9:11 am)
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Re: The Tower
"Well," bellows Ruig, kicking a bundle of kindling. "We didn't bring all this down for nothing. As for the bodies, it might just be easier to roll them up to the tower and let the worms eat them."
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Tarondor
Madragar
Posts: 136
(12/13/02 10:15 am)
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Re: The Tower
"Right. Let's get busy. I suggest that we might as well tumble the wood in now, cover it in the pitch and then throw in the torch. Much easier than the original plan."
With that, he turns and begins dragging logs to the brink.
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doggius
Kezib Ahitub
Posts: 95
(12/13/02 10:59 am)
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Re: The Tower
[OOC: Sorry for no response in a while. Having problems connecting at night, and during the day Im not on much, but anyways]
Kezib says a prayer for the deceased then concludes his prayer.
"If we burn the bodies, it will make an awful stench and Im sure those in the villiage would not be too pleased with the stench that may run through their villiage, unless we asked their permission first.
I think we should leave the bodies as they are resting in death, let them have what little peace they may be recieving now. Im sure their deaths were painful and horrible. Let this beast burn, whether in hibernation or dead, let us finish the job quickly"
Kezib glares at the blob for a moment, turns and helps with the wood.
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Jubilex
The Faceless Lord of Chaos
Posts: 631
(12/13/02 11:43 am)
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Re: The Tower
The size of the creature is such that it requires much of your wood and pitch to build a suffient pile of combustibles. The thing does not move during this process, though the stench of the ooze is still unbearable.
In a few minutes he pyre is made and everyone is up the rope except Draxim who throws in an improvised torch. Slowly the whole, sticky mass begins to crackle as the dry timbers roar into life. After hauling the young dwarf back up to the top of the pit, everyone moves a safe distance away as clouds of black smoke begin to billow up from below.
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Tarondor
Madragar
Posts: 137
(12/13/02 12:42 pm)
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Re: The Tower
Once again covering his mouth and nose with a handkerchief, Madragar stays as long as the air is breathable. He wants to know that the beast is dead.
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Kenner
Draxim
Posts: 158
(12/13/02 4:07 pm)
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Re: The Tower
Having no wish to repeat the morning's digestive excersises, Draxim decides to let Madragar be the noble one and heads for the exit. he nmakes sure to bring the spikes and the rope with him of course.
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Jubilex
The Faceless Lord of Chaos
Posts: 632
(12/13/02 6:43 pm)
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Re: The Tower
The disgusting ooze creature gets a good long burn and the noxious smoke forces everyone out of the cavern for a time. Less than an hour passes before the subterranean chamber has cleared enough for a thorough inspection.
Crisped. The thing is nothing but ash and embers. The heat of the fire seems to have cleansed the pit to a certain extent as well and even the smooth stone of the ceiling appears to be cracked.
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Kenner
Draxim
Posts: 159
(12/13/02 9:31 pm)
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Re: The Tower
"I prefer my ooze well done." decides Draxim. "What shall we do with the barrels of dead people?" he asks Ruig.
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doggius
Kezib Ahitub
Posts: 96
(12/15/02 10:22 pm)
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Re: The Tower
"Lets lay the bodies to their final resting spot. It is the most honorable thing we can do for them. We can build a cairn or we can bury them. That is my humble opinion" Kezib replys.
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Tarondor
Madragar
Posts: 138
(12/16/02 12:28 am)
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Re: The Tower
"I am in agreement with Kezib," says Madragar. "And then a cup of ale and a good night's sleep. I'll want a clear head to come back tomorrow and examine these runes, for it is clear that they hold the secret of this place."
"Let us bury the dead, now." He heads down toward the bottom chamber to help fetch one of the barrels.
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Kenner
Draxim
Posts: 160
(12/16/02 8:25 am)
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Re: The Tower
With a weary groan not often heard from so young a dwarf, Draxim follows Madragar down.
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Jubilex
The Faceless Lord of Chaos
Posts: 633
(12/16/02 10:34 am)
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Re: The Tower
Revisiting the lower chamber you find evidence of the recent battle. Bits of charred wood and cloth are scattered about as well as the remains of the shattered barrel. The problem of burial has been partly solved for you, it seems, for one of the corpses is completely gone. Apparently the ooze creature "ate" it, or dissolved it, or whatever the thing did to its victims.
After a little investigation is becomes clear that most of the remaining barrels are empty. Removing the chains from the one full barrel, but not prying open the lid, Ruig rolls the hefty cask up to the lower chamber of the tower. Considering the difficulties of hoisting either the barrel or the decomposing corpse up to the surface fifteen feet above, Ruig grasps an idea. With a borrowed iron spike and and his hammer he begins chiselling out one of the flagstones.
"I think we could remove a few stones and bury this poor soul right here," he says. "Any objections?"
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