March 4/5 Descent into the Under City - The Dwarven Pipeline

[LtTibbles]

Tobia Gifford

Tobias stairs down the ladder after the others descend, "I was hoping for my first job to be a bit more...dry, oh well nothing ventured nothing gained I suppose." Grabbing onto the ladder he makes his way down into the sewer with the others, "I suppose I'll stick toward the middle of the group." Grabbing his halberd he wishes that he had brought a sword with him instead.

Sorry had a busy end/beginning of the month, but the middle of the pack sits well with me.

[Mister-Kent]

No worries!

[Inferno]

Zaent Darkhand, elven criminal:

Zaent
Godric Greathouse clutches a small scroll in hand as he fades away--a scroll depicting constellations of the night sky.

"I regret that…he cannot see the stars one more time," Sable says, staring out at the window view of the harbor pounded by the driven rain.

Some of those star formations marked on the scroll are ones old Godric showed you in your youth. You'd be out sitting on the roof of a nobleman's tower, casing it for your next heist, and Godric would stop everything to take in the night sky. It was the he taught you about "the Mourner" and "the Manticore", and how the Manticore's tail points to the "Dryad Sisters" on the spring equinox. From the Dryads you can trace the curve of the "Thrax's Bow" all the way to the waving hand of "the Sycophant".

At the center of the scroll is an unfamiliar constellation, labeled "The Beast."

Godric opens his eyes with a deep breath, the closes them again suddenly. He looks at you the second before he dies, smiling.

Sable is silent, in shock.

Zaent put his hands on Godric's at the last moment. When he finally, slowly withdrew them, the constellation map was gone.

He went to the window. As Zaent's left hand grazed his pocket, his right hand lit gently on Sable's shoulder as he said, "I'm sorry, Sable. For everything." It sounded pretty convincing.
He fell quiet, making room for her words. He needed to talk business soon, before she gave the order to kill him. But he also needed to wait until she was ready to talk. He'd let the moment play out, ready, wary.

Mr. Kent, there's a lot of stuff happening in the gang war story. And Godric's death will escalate matters, probably for the worse. Is it possible that Zaent stay topside a while, while this all unfurls? He needs to get things straightened out. Even if Sable tries to kill him, he'd need to flip and head straight for the Vapours. Thoughts?

[Mister-Kent]

Biblo
As you reach the bottom of the ladder and hop down, you grasp the item and pull it into the light. It is a small silver pickaxe, the size of a hand-axe.

You find that the sewer is less spacious than one might assume. The pipe is approximately four-feet in diameter and heads out in one direction. When you tell Poe to go on ahead, he caws at you before fluttering his wings and scratching his way down the pipe. It's not long before he's waddling back, well before ten-tree-lengths, having reached a two-way junction a mere dozen feet away.

The light dims as you leave the ladder, only presenting echoing darkness ahead. However, the junction presents a new dilemma. You look down the left pipe--far ahead you see the faintest glimmer of orange light. You turn to peer down the lightless right pipe, and a cool breeze wisps across your cheek from that direction.

The Party
As you press behind Biblo you find yourselves crawling on hands and knees within the pipe in the following formation:

Poe the Raven, scouting
Biblo Phyle
Acolyte Gachard, following Gul Marach's directive eagerly
Sister Krystyn, somewhat less enthusiastic than Gachard
Tobias Gifford
Gul Marach
Zachariah Tar
Ballar Uh

Tobias
Before you leave the ladder and the light, you notice small marks on the floor of the pipe. Short, fat little mudcaked bootprints.

[Pulpatoon]

Zacharias Tar: "Me hearties, would ye find it a boon if I were t'dress meself in the flesh of a wharf rat, and scout ahead a spell? I might have an easier job of it than that poor bird."

[Grognardsw]

Biblo, apparitionist

"Aye, that you would," says Biblo to Zacharias. "To the left is a glimmer of orange light. To the right, a cool breeze."

The arcane adept looks more closely at the silver pick-axe for any runes or markings. He tries giving it a little swing, then a small toss up, to see how balanced it is and if it seems unnaturally light. Biblo then moves into the middle of the marching order, not being a front-line delver.

[Mister-Kent]

The pick, for its miniature size, is actually quite dense and heavier than it looks. Its leather-bound handle once bore letters of foreign nature, possibly dwarven or gnomish, though they are now worn away.

[Pulpatoon]

Zacharias Rat drops down to the bottom of the ladder, arranges his whiskers, and then sits up and give the cool breeze a good rat-sniff.

[Mister-Kent]

The rest of the party must be wary not to crush Zachariah as he wriggles alongside them through the pipe from the back of the formation!

Young Gachard is simply amazed, blinking in disbelief that the wild-eyed vagrant is now scurrying ahead in rodent form. Sister Krystyn grimaces--the paladin lightly pats Zachariah's rat-bottom with the back of her gloved hand, scooting him away from her as he runs.

Zachariah
Delighting your ratty senses, you taste the faintest scent of garbage on the breeze, and also the choking smell of mildew wafting from the darkness down the right pipe. The smell in the other direction is...burning. Lamp oil, perhaps?

Biblo
As it happens you are a man of special heritage, you can see a comfortable distance in this pipe, even in utter darkness. Unfortunately, though the source of the light and the depths of the darkness extend beyond the limits of your infravision, you do notice that the little bootprints turn left at the junction and walk down the pipe towards the light.

[LtTibbles]

Tobias Gifford, F.N.A.

Tobias tries his best to not let himself get too surprised at Zachariah's transformation instead focusing on the the muddy boot print. "Hey take a look at this, I don't think we're the only ones that've come this way recently let's be weary." He gestures toward his small discovery.

[Pulpatoon]

Zacharias Rat turns and follows the scent of burning, towards the orange light. He pauses a moment, giving the muddy footsteps a passing inspection. Can he tell where the mud is from, or anything about the figure who made them?

[Marullus]

Gul-Marach is in a dour mood, looking uncomfortable as the water splashes over his carefully-greased iron belongings, his massive form hunched and plodding as he tries to maneuver in the short tube. As they move from the ladder and close the hatch above, he carefully unwraps a small object from a piece of supple black leather. He reveals a small round iron ball, unremarkable except that it glows with with a clear, cold light, bright as the sun, illuminating the space around them as he tries to hold it aloft.

(Recton - cast Continual Light yesterday while preparing, if that's okay. Also changed a memorized spell slot from Reveal Charm to a Find Traps. He'll use it when we reach any place that looks suitably suspicious. All traps glow within 30' for 2 turns.)

[Mister-Kent]

Zachariah
The rich dark brown mud looks like the soil of the river bank, so the traveler in question must have been traipsing about by the docks. As for whom the prints could belong to, its clear the individual is walking at a quick pace, standing upright in this 4-foot pipe.

It's common knowledge that dwarves were instrumental to the founding and expansion of the city over a thousand years ago. They excavated the great mountain at the Vornheim's base, and helped carve out part of the Thornridge mountain range to suit it's needs. Most of them have moved north, either into the mountains or across the sea to Frostreave. If any would be found still living in Vornheim, it would stand to reason they'd be working underground...

[Grognardsw]

Biblo, savant

Placing the small silver pick axe in one of the larger pockets of his voluminous robes, Biblo follows along with the others. Perhaps a dwarf dropped the axe, he thinks.

[Mister-Kent]

With Zachariah leading the way, the party eventually discovers the source of the light. The pipe opens into a small circular metal room. In the center, dabbed with verdigris, sit a clustered trio of copper cogs. Each cog has its own handle, and each can be cranked without disturbing the others. Sitting atop one cog is a fist-sized lantern, casting the glow you all saw from the junction.

In addition to the tunnel from which you emerge, the room has two other identical tunnels spread equidistant.

There is a huddled form at the far end of the round room. It is wrapped in dark cloth.

[Marullus]

Gul-Marach cannot help but grunt audibly as the pipe opens into a room, allowing him to stand upright again. He closes his hands around the brightly-glowing iron ball, stifling its light with his meaty fingers while in the presence of the small creature's lantern. As his large presence is near the rear of the group, he allows the others to speak first...

[Pulpatoon]

Zacharias Rat skitters along the edge of the wall, over to the huddled form in dark rags. Nose first, he inspects the form.

[Grognardsw]

Biblo, illusionaire

If the form is clearly a human or demi-human body...

Not wanting the form to be surprised and think it is being set upon, Biblo says: "Greetings. Are you okay? Can we help you?"

[Mister-Kent]

Biblo
The form is human-shaped, larger than a dwarf or gnome, but remains unresponsive.

You hear a vibration through one of the pipes. Two subtle, distant voices.

Zachariah
The dark cloth wrapped over the figure is a beggar's cloak. Still, pale fingers peek from the cloak's folds.

Also, etched into the wall you see some dwarven runes, quite old and faded.

[LtTibbles]

Tobias

Gripping his weapon tighter in anticipation for a fight, "It's not answering back...never a good sign." he whispers to the group while scanning the rest of the room.