suushih
Level 3 Conjurer
Do?olnar Pretast?ta
Posts: 51
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Post by suushih on Mar 12, 2009 0:08:37 GMT -6
OOC: Guy, I oops'd and can cast clairvoyance 2 more times today. Sorry for the confusion.
IC: "Lowering a lamp and then I will cast should work."
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sham
Level 6 Magician
Posts: 385
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Post by sham on Mar 12, 2009 7:51:58 GMT -6
Hredarru decides to leave the dlaqo intact, in case we do decide to drag it out of the warehouse.
Hredarru listens to the suggestions in regard to bringing light into the pit, and has visions of one of the slave-boys being tied to a rope and bobbed into the darkness, like bait for a hungry fish.
"Having no knowledge of what might lie below, I'll agree with the consensus if we are able to reach one. My own vote is to venture forth and at the very least see what, if anything, is nearby in the depths below. If we think the merchant will simply seal this hole once he learns of it, this might be our only chance to do so."
Hredarru will gladly volunteer to enter the pit first, but wishes to wait and see what, if anything, is revealed by the initial light or spells.
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Post by spudcld on Mar 12, 2009 8:41:42 GMT -6
Hrahyosh adds, "We could lower 2 if we have enough rope. I would volunteer to join Hredarru, if no one else wished to go."
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Post by noisms on Mar 12, 2009 8:45:19 GMT -6
"You know my vote," says Teregash, hefting his axe. "And if anybody is being lowered, it should be me. None of you match my skills in murder."
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Post by noisms on Mar 12, 2009 8:46:35 GMT -6
OOC: I'm playing Teregash to the hilt, in case you hadn't noticed.
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Post by spudcld on Mar 12, 2009 9:45:25 GMT -6
Hrahyosh looks a bit insulted and says. "You are welcome to go, but there is no cause to insult me or my skills. Murder and combat are also, two very different things. Maybe they teach things differently here in the temples of Chiteng than they do in our temples of Vihar."
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suushih
Level 3 Conjurer
Do?olnar Pretast?ta
Posts: 51
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Post by suushih on Mar 12, 2009 10:25:17 GMT -6
murder! ... ignoble except within the context of Noble Action ... said in the wrong place, he would soon feel a sharpened stake ripping through his bowels ... not his place to say this ... he would certainly be at home in Haida Pakala!
"Either lower a light or lower someone who does not weigh too much with a light."
Reaching into his large sack, he pulls out 50' of rope. Is there a post nearby where he can secure it? Otherwise, we will need to use humans to anchor it. Regardless, he wants to use cloth on the edge of the hole to avoid fraying the rope.
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Post by trineshhissanmarin on Mar 12, 2009 11:47:09 GMT -6
"We should lower Do'olnar and a lantern far enough for him to use his Clairvoyance. Teregash is wounded enough that he cannot do much lifting, pulling, or fighting. If he does, he will open his wounds and go to Chiteng before the Weaver of the Skeins of Destiny has planned. If there is promise of further access, then we must get a ladder from the merchant Hritsekkash, and come back tomorrow or the next day."
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edsan
Level 5 Thaumaturgist
MUTANT LORD
Posts: 309
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Post by edsan on Mar 12, 2009 11:59:01 GMT -6
With 50ft of rope to spare and Hrahyaosh' Rope and Net Maker skill you have no problem securing the rope. It falls down to touch the floor of the pit and looks secure. Now you have only to decide who will go down first from all the volunteers. OOC: I'm playing Teregash to the hilt, in case you hadn't noticed. OCC: and you are doing a fine job.
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Post by spudcld on Mar 12, 2009 12:15:17 GMT -6
Hrahyosh will help any way he can. He can work the rope or secure it along with someone else.
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suushih
Level 3 Conjurer
Do?olnar Pretast?ta
Posts: 51
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Post by suushih on Mar 12, 2009 12:46:55 GMT -6
Do'olnar sighs. "Right then. Lower me. Stop when I tell you."
With a lantern, hopefully the warriors will lower him in a sling until he can see the ground below. There, he listens.
If he hears nothing, he will lean out to hold his lantern down so that it illuminates the passage below from the ceiling. He will then use his feet to brace himself against the walls of the shoot, hold the rope firmly, and lean down to look.
His reasoning is that the dlaqo would have likely cleared the passage below ... IF there was anything to clear ... and that the passage below is for smuggling. In either case, this seems low risk.
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Post by noisms on Mar 12, 2009 19:12:34 GMT -6
Hrahyosh looks a bit insulted and says. "You are welcome to go, but there is no cause to insult me or my skills. Murder and combat are also, two very different things. Maybe they teach things differently here in the temples of Chiteng than they do in our temples of Vihar." "Maybe so," Teregash mutters. "The aim of combat is to kill, and that is murder, is it not? My people do not pretend there is a difference."
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Mar 12, 2009 19:49:34 GMT -6
Issa leans over the hole as she watches Do'olnar being lowered into the space below. "Might want to keep that opinion to yourself," she says to Teregash. "Just in case the locals have different feelings about it."
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edsan
Level 5 Thaumaturgist
MUTANT LORD
Posts: 309
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Post by edsan on Mar 12, 2009 22:08:40 GMT -6
Like bait dangling at the end of a fisherman's hook the brave sorcerer-priest of Mretten is lowered into the pit.
Hanging mid-way he can clearly see the the side passage on the bottom. It was not made by the dlaqo beetle unless those creatures have learned to excavate arched passageways supported by stone. The tunnel seems to be wide enough for two persons to walk side by side but Do'olnar cannot see where it leads from his position.
He can discern however, several dark splotches both on the collapsed painted wood structure that lies on the floor and the entry to the passage.
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suushih
Level 3 Conjurer
Do?olnar Pretast?ta
Posts: 51
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Post by suushih on Mar 12, 2009 23:38:07 GMT -6
Does the passage head towards the river or bay, which might confirm that it was a tunnel used for smuggling in years long past? The dark stains would seem to be the slave's blood, unless you tell me that they look less like splotches. The dlaqo must have found its way into the tunnel somehow. This would seem to suggest ...
"Please bring me up," he called.
After he is pulled up, he pulled the cloth from across his nose and mouth, recounting what he saw.
"This tunnel may well represent a risk to Hritsekkash hiFshur and his clan. If you are all agreeable, I would like to propose assuring him that his warehouse will be safe from the menaces of the tsuru'um. This effort would surely warrant hazard payment as well as compensation for our not further discussing what we have found with the authorities. We may all profit from this handsomely. What think you all of this proposal?"
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Post by trineshhissanmarin on Mar 13, 2009 2:07:31 GMT -6
"The idea of payment is a most excellent and agreeable one. Let us gather up the body of the dlaqo and such pieces of the trapdoor as we can and return to Hritsekkash hiFshur and his people with proof of what we have found and done, collect the agreed on payment he offered us and tell him, what we are willing to do for further payment. Teregash needs a day of rest and sorcerous healing if we can afford it to allow his wounds to heal. Also, we may need to buy further supplies of our own, We should consider amongst ourselves how we can get out of this pit if, after we explore the tunnel and seal it, he behaves like a typical Salarvyani and leaves us down here to die."
OOC- Trinesh is in love with the sound of his own voice. Plus as a follower of the Doomed Prince of the Blue Room, he believes wealth and knowledge both are power which is important, but staying alive to exercise that power is more important. Also, he does not trust the Salarvyani or most people in general not to stick you in the back when it is to their advantage.
OOC- Told you he loves the sound of his own voice. ;D
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sham
Level 6 Magician
Posts: 385
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Post by sham on Mar 13, 2009 7:15:54 GMT -6
Hredarru is not insulted whatsoever by the words of Teregash. He has heard far worse before, from much more dangerous men. It is no surprise that the brawny axe-man doesn't distinguish between melee and murder. Friends such as this, who see in black and white, make excellent bodyguards companions.
--------------------------
Hredarru, listening to Do'olnar's proposal, assumes that the sorcerer is guessing that the tunnel suggests our employer is involved in smuggling. That in fact he was aware of the hole all along, but the dlaqo needed to be disposed of by sell-swords such as us. Interesting.
"We have fulfilled our mission, and kaitars await us." Eyeing the wounded, Hredarru continues, "I agree that we should consider looking after our companions yonder and claim our gold now, before we earn 500 and not 700 kaitars. Let us use this knowledge and return to this hole with a new contract."
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Post by makofan on Mar 13, 2009 7:32:02 GMT -6
Ouippo nods. "Some kaitars would allow me to buy some protective armor, useful for close quarters fighting"
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Post by noisms on Mar 13, 2009 7:38:38 GMT -6
"I care not for money, as long as I have food in my belly," says Teregash. Then, in a low voice, he continues. "What say you one or two of us goes out and informs that weakling Salarvyani of the predicament and arranges for more payment, while the rest of us wait in ambush silently should somebody emerge once again from this hole?"
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Post by spudcld on Mar 13, 2009 9:29:47 GMT -6
Hrayosh smiles at the idea: "Agreed Teregash. I at least, will stay with you and let someone else bandy words with the Salarvyani. We can even discuss (quietly) the vagaries between killing and murder while we make sure that nothing makes use of this entrance, eh?"
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Post by trineshhissanmarin on Mar 13, 2009 10:56:05 GMT -6
"Let us all stay together. If there are people using this tunnel to steal from the warehouse, there would probably be enough of them to dispose of 2-3 of us, especially if some are wounded. "
"Do'olnar did you notice anything that looked like ladder hooks or that otherwise showed people climbed up and down here?"
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edsan
Level 5 Thaumaturgist
MUTANT LORD
Posts: 309
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Post by edsan on Mar 13, 2009 12:32:08 GMT -6
OCC: Do'olnar noticed nothing of the sort.
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suushih
Level 3 Conjurer
Do?olnar Pretast?ta
Posts: 51
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Post by suushih on Mar 13, 2009 14:21:34 GMT -6
"Trinesh, with the dlaqo probably burrowing into that tunnel below, there would be little alive nearby. I saw no evidence of a ladder and all of the wood seemed quite old ... certainly rotting. It just took someone standing at the wrong place."
"Whoever created this probably lowered a ladder down into the hole. They would never leave a permanent means of ascending into their warehouse because they might then have been robbed. The tunnel below is old and was created to serve the private needs of this Salarvyani clan. He will be interested in where it leads. For all he knows, it could be a hidden storeroom with untapped riches."
A dawning ugly awareness crosses Do'olnar's face ...
"I would bet that it was the knowledge of this passage that sent the initial slaves to investigate this far corner in the first place."
"Having disposed of the menace within, I could easily see us emerging into the waiting arms of well-paid city guards. Hritsekkash hiFshur needs simply say that we broke into his warehouse and killed his slaves. Lacking the means of buying our way out of this situation, we could be disposed of while the Salarvyani takes the contents of this warehouse untroubled. It is probably why they hired nakome in the first place."
Do'olnar pondered the evil elegance of it. Pursing his lips.
"THAT's why he was willing to pay so much. Bribing the guards will be vastly cheaper than paying us!"
"Yes, the more I think on it, that is what I believe awaits us. It is worthy of a Salarvyani."
"I can look outside though with clairvoyance. Does anyone want to bet a hlash that I find our benefactor now accompanied by guards?"
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Post by trineshhissanmarin on Mar 13, 2009 21:07:45 GMT -6
"But Do'olnar, might not the bronze reinforcements on the doors interfere with your spell? Tis best to be by the wall and cast from there. If there are guards and betrayal awaiting us, I will have a most pleasant surprise for any that follow us back into the warehouse. Once we get some distance ahead, I will bring forth my pleasant surprise to entertain and distract them."
"Can we prepare any traps as we return to the doors in case we are pursued by guards back here? Delicately balanced crates propped up that if we have to flee back we can cause to fall on them perhaps?"
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edsan
Level 5 Thaumaturgist
MUTANT LORD
Posts: 309
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Post by edsan on Mar 13, 2009 21:29:36 GMT -6
OCC: Ahem...we're running EPT here, not S&G or Gardasiyal. Check the rules. Metal does not interfere with sorcery.
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Post by trineshhissanmarin on Mar 13, 2009 21:35:26 GMT -6
OCC: It has been so long that I forgot metal came up in S&G.
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suushih
Level 3 Conjurer
Do?olnar Pretast?ta
Posts: 51
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Post by suushih on Mar 14, 2009 11:45:22 GMT -6
Seeing the looks on the faces of his companions, he said, "No takers on my bet?"
"This is one bet that I really hope I'm going to lose."
Moving to a corner where he has the best opportunity to see the area outside of the door and hiFshur's tent area, he'll cast clairvoyance.
OOC: Yes, I appreciate that the tent is out of range. The hope is that by looking in the right direction, he'll detect any set-up.
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Post by trineshhissanmarin on Mar 14, 2009 12:31:35 GMT -6
"If our worst fears are proven true, let us prepare some traps along the way back to the pit before we signal to leave the warehouse. We will need time to get down and into the tunnel."
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edsan
Level 5 Thaumaturgist
MUTANT LORD
Posts: 309
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Post by edsan on Mar 14, 2009 14:59:40 GMT -6
Do'olnar extends his visual perception beyond the limits of his physical body and takes a look at the outside of the warehouse. This is what he sees:
- The "twins" are still in their location by the stairs playing a game of kevuk-dice.
- The Livyani servant Timhuvaz stands nearby, pacing slowly to and fro and looking somewhat worried.
- The fat Addatheng is talking with a trio of men dressed as warriors as they walk toward where Do'olnar think the tent is. The trio is clearly Salarvyani and from the color and insignia they carry might be from the same clan as Hritsekkash.
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suushih
Level 3 Conjurer
Do?olnar Pretast?ta
Posts: 51
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Post by suushih on Mar 14, 2009 15:35:01 GMT -6
Returning to the group, he tells everyone what he saw.
"If Fshur had warriors at his disposal, why were they not utilized instead of us? Do we brave the tsuru'um to exit on our own terms? We could easily get lost, but I ...well, I've already expressed my concerns. You warriors will now have to bear the brunt of the risk. Choose our path."
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