scotland ♔ yet how the wind revives us here

[untethered]

♬ Presentiment - Manami Kiyota

WHO || Belle, Gold, Emma, Hook, Lila [closed]
WHAT || Several Knights take a secret journey to try to help Amara...
WHERE || Oakhurst, Scotland
WHEN || January 15th, 2014 [forward dated]
HOW || Actionspam

It's probably a very good thing that Gold sweet-talked them a car in the nearby tiny Scottish village of Oakhurst, because it is freezing cold out and snow blankets almost everything around. Walking the seven miles up the Old Road to the ruins would be a bitch and a half.

Instead, they comfortably drove past rocky downs, near stands of old-growth oak covered in snow, and past two farms that looked abandoned. No other travelers were visible on the lonely road, which finally curves, passing east of a narrow ravine. Belle signals for them to pull over here, where, at the road's closest approach to the cleft, several broken pillars jut from the earth where the ravine widens and opens into something akin to more of a deep, but narrow, cavern. Two of the pillars stand straight, but most of them lean against the sloped earth. Others are broken and several have apparently fallen into the darkness-shrouded depths. A few similar pillars are visible on the opposite side of the ravine.

Comments

[uncurse]

[ emma is the fucking terminator right now because she just wants to get in, get this stupid apple, break amara's curse and get her dad back, so she surges into the room and steps forward to try and get a look at the space beyond, disregarding the fountain and the side door. ]

[untethered]

[ belle slows to take a look at the fountain while gold's light spell still has the area illuminated. meepo pauses, impatiently waiting for the others. ] It's beautiful, isn't it?

[ while up ahead, emma passes another door on her left, and winds up in a section of hallway containing six cell doors, three on either side of her, all slightly ajar. the hallway keeps going, but out of cells b, c, and e, three more dire rats scurry out to surround emma. all of them succeed in biting her (atks 21, 19, and 13, 8 dmg total), so she will have to make two fortitude saves. that's what you get for being the terminator, emma...

rat c nips at her again (atk 21, dmg 1).]

[uncurse]

[ with fort saves of 16, 17, 13 and 14, emma isn't feeling any effects from the rat bites, but she does draw her weapon and fire off a shot at rat A, more out of surprise at the assault than anything planned. it finds its target, though (attack 25, dmg 10). ] We've got more rats!

[unhand]

Swan! [Hook moves fast, rushing to Emma's side in a heartbeat. He draws his sword and with a furious growl of rage, stabs it into rat c's side (nat 19 (24 total), dmg 28).]

[untethered]

[ hook skewers the rat dead, as rat a nips at emma but misses (atk 13). meepo draws a light crossbow and takes a shot (atk 21, 14 dmg), killing that rat too. ]

[bittersweeter]

[ while hook is being all manly and heroic, lila draws her gun calmly and aims at the remaining rat. (atk 26, dmg 12) it's funny because she's shot a rat before to save someone she loved.

except, you know, that rat was an fbi agent and this one is an actual rat, same thing. ]

[untethered]

[ and that'll pop the last one. emma is saved! belle, however, looks wary now. ]

Rats this size usually have rather large nests... We'd better be careful not to stumble into the middle of one. [ she pulls out a potion, and quietly holds it up towards emma, if she wants one. ]

[uncurse]

Thanks. [ it's really directed at all three of them, but her eyes flicker briefly up to meet hook's before she turns towards the other women. she takes the potion from belle reluctantly, but she doesn't drink it yet. better to figure out where they're at. ] How many of these did you bring? [ her intent is all too obvious: if there aren't many left, she'll be fine. whatever damage the rats did likely pales in comparison to what's going to happen if this dragon-capture goes pear-shaped. ]

[untethered]

Sixteen. Fifteen now, since we've already used one.

[unhand]

You'll need your strength, Swan.

[Hook tries to make it sound all strategic, but mostly he's just fretting. This is certainly not the last of the danger they'll be facing. He doesn't want her fighting injured.]

[uncurse]

I think I can handle a couple of rat bites. [ she stuffs the potion into her pocket, just in case, but she'll hold off for now. } We don't know how deep this thing goes. [ she gestures back towards the door behind them. ] Anyone try those? [ while she was distracted being eaten alive by rats because she's 900% too gung-ho. ]

[untethered]

[ belle steps closer towards the door across from the fountain, and anyone who makes a spot check of 18+ can see her shiver. ] There's more Draconic on this one.

It reads Tana aman heka men... Something like 'channel good, open the way.'

I think... I think the door requires divine energies to open. Holy energies.

[bittersweeter]

Man, where is Jesus when you need him. Anyone here secretly divine? [ she sees nothing, as she's looking at a different door of her own (d maybe). spot 17. ]

[untethered]

[ opening cell door d reveals a small dire rat nest that's currently empty. the matted nest of rock, hair, and fungus contains small, shiny bits, including 12 silver pieces, 2 gold pieces, and four fancy gems. ]

[bittersweeter]

[ ooh, pretty. lila is just going to... grab those gems like a little magpie. ] Hey Hook, found some treasure for you.

[uncurse]

Think we're out of luck on that one. [ nobody here is divine, ok, and if being the product of true love counts, nobody told emma so it's really not occurring to her. well, that's a lie. with her wis check of 18, it's occurring to her, and she's choosing to belligerently ignore it in favor of entering another cell (b - search 11). ]

[unhand]

Did you, now? [Hook perks up, turning away from his hovering over Emma to go over to Lila. Look, he likes shiny things. Maybe he'll make one of them into a new earring or a ring or sth.] Those are some fairly well-off rats.

[untethered]

[ another nest in here, this one with 9 more silver pieces, 1 gold piece, and 3 gems. ]

We could still try to open it... or there's another door up on the left here.

[uncurse]

What kind of energies? [ she doesn't move from the cell she's crouched in as she calls to belle for clarification. some precious metals and stones aren't exactly helping them any, so it's bothering her in the back of her mind that she should try. ] Like a spell or something?

[untethered]

[ belle nods ] Cleric magic, is I think what it's referring to. They can channel raw positive energy.

[unhand]

[Meanwhile, Hook does a quick scan of the rest of the big room to see if there's anything else that's valuable helpful to the mission (search 7).]

[uncurse]

If any of us had that, we wouldn't be handing potions around. [ but she exits the cell and approaches belle anyway. on her way she'll toss the swag she got from her rat nest to hook since he's just ... casually looking around and hoping to find something shiny. loser. she sizes up the door once she's back in the main room. ] What do you think? [ the offer is open to both belle and gold, since hook and lila are seemingly ... distracted. ]

[unhand]

[SHE GAVE HIM TREASURE SHE MUST LIKE HIM. He stashes it with Lila's and follows her to the door.]

Pouring a potion on it wouldn't do any good, would it?

[Besides wasting a perfectly good potion.]

[untethered]

We could try to disable the lock, but... it might not open without the spell anyway. Or... has anyone tried that other door? Just around the corner there? Before the cells.

[undealt]

[Gold and his stupid spellcraft nerdery is here to save the day... or ruin it. While everyone else is talking about treasure, he's examining the door.] This one is a dead end- almost literally, I should think. [He prods it with his cane.] It responds to the sort of spells clerics use on the undead. Try to force your way through it without it, and... Well, you'd be dealing with something a bit worse than rats, I think.

[(spellcraft 26) ALAS HIS SPOT CHECK TO NOTICE BELLE SHIVERING SUCKED royally. He didn't even try, Belle. :c He feels the chill she must have felt, though, so at least he knows why...]