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

[unhand]

Darkness it is, then. [He looks over at Lila.] Still have that torch, love?

[uncurse]

[ he may be talking to lila, but emma will be getting her flashlight out now, as well. she heads back to where the rift tears down the hallway, peering down it in either direction. ] What do you think - flip a coin?

[bittersweeter]

[ lila looks at hook and shines the flashlight beam in his face. yep. she's got it. ] You seriously need to work on packing your own shit.

[unhand]

[He ain't bothered. He points down the left rift with his hook.] Let's try that one. [No reason. They just need to try something.]

[uncurse]

Just so we're clear, if we run into more of those tree monsters, or goblins, or ogres, or whatever the hell else down here? It's on you. [ that's what you get for picking the direction. but emma will shine her flashlight down that way and begin the hike. ]

[untethered]

[ it looks as if the rift narrows out ahead as they make their way down it, coming to a dead end further on... but it widens to their left, creating a stone antechamber. small one foot diameter holes riddle the node. a fiery light shines out of one such node. ]

A dead end. [ let's hope that's not an ironic foreshadow-y choice of words ]

[uncurse]

Maybe. [ she'll take a quick look around the antechamber, careful to dodge the flames, and search around to make sure they're not missing anything (search 17). ]

[untethered]

[ as Emma gets closer to one of those holes, something comes flying out of it towards her, but she's able to jerk back in time and it lands on the ground. It resembles a large (1 foot diameter, 4 feet long) worm, with segments plated with hard, stony, brown rock. Its topmost segment is longer, is conical shaped, and bears two eyes. Blunt, short, spike-like lumps protrude from each point of its hexagonal segments. Steam comes from each of these lumps. The top, conical segment glows with orange heat. ]

[unhand]

[Hook moves forward, drawing his sword and stabbing his sword between two segments (atk nat 20, dmg 12).]

Well? It's not a tree monster.

[uncurse]

I'll be filing this one under "whatever the hell else." [ you're not off the hook. aha. she takes a five foot step away from it, drawing her gun and firing off a shot at the worm (atk 19, penetration dmg 17). ]

[bittersweeter]

[ lila pulls her gun to fire, but it seems super duper dead so she doesn't. ] So not that direction then.

[unhand]

Unless it's protecting the tree. [Hook cautiously approaches the holes again, keeping his sword drawn and readying a fucking action. (spot 15)]

[uncurse]

You think a four-foot worm is protecting our apple tree? [ emma's incredulity is barely masked. she shakes her head, and turns back to nod to lila. ] Let's head back the other way.

[undealt]

[You don't have to tell Gold twice. He falls into step beside Belle and after a second of observing Hook and Emma, dryly remarks:]

This is turning out to be quite the honeymoon for those two.

[unhand]

[Hook rolls his eyes because IT WAS POSSIBLE YOU DON'T KNOW HIS LIFE then starts on back, unaware of any commentary Gold may be having.]

Would have been bloody embarrassing if I was right and we missed it.

[HE IS JUST SAYING.]

[uncurse]

[ ahahahaha emma definitely heard gold's commentary, and her shoulders hunch a little, tension building in her neck as a result of the observation, her body filling in the denial that she won't voice (because it'd only draw attention to the remark). ]

Yeah. Embarrassing. I can imagine.

[untethered]

I don't really think this would be anyone's destination of choice. [ it's murmured back to him, quietly, hoping that emma doesn't hear, because she gets the feeling hook doesn't give a fuq what anyone thinks about them. anyways, the tunnel starts to narrow out down this way as if it's going to dead end again... but suddenly it opens up into a small empty room, where the wall seems to have caved in on the side they emerge from to create the opening that allows them access. one door lies closed across the small expanse of the room. ]

[uncurse]

[ emma goes for the door handle as they reach the room, then stops short and pulls her hand back. she points to it decisively. ] Last time I tried to open something, I got poisoned. You try. [ it's vaguely directed at gold and hook because she likes lila and belle too much tbh. and erky is here out of the goodness of his heart he doesn't deserve poison. i 100% rolled to determine if emma learned from her horrible luck. ]

[unhand]

[Hook gives her a smirk that's half-amused by her caution (though he can't deny it's well-earned) and half annoyed. Well, maybe only an eighth annoyed. He's happy to open the door first.

So he's... gonna do try and do that. But first, looking for trap things! (spot 20)]

[untethered]

[ trap free! beyond the door, two rows of dragon-carved marble columns march the length of a long hall, though most are completely smothered in luminescent fungus. the cobbled floor is cracked and stained with much use, and it holds many small wooden tables. table contents include mortars and pestles, and bowls. five other doors lead off this hall, that are partly ajar, and a listen check of 10+ can hear sounds audible from all of them. far to the left, is another door that anyone with a navigate check of 17+ can guess probably leads back to the room they slept in. ]

[uncurse]

[ with a listen of 18, emma gets distracted by the sounds coming from those five doors. she tries to approach without standing in the path of the doorway in case someone is ... looking down it from whatever is on the other side. better not to lose the surprise (hide 20 total). ]

[undealt]

[Gold's apparently over whatever partial deafness overtook him while he was asleep (listen 19), so good news everyone.]

Grand. We haven't had a fight in a full five minutes. [He is going to be rolling in experience points. Maybe hellfire will happen.]

[bittersweeter]

[ lila hears nothing i guess, rocking another dismal listen check. to make up for gold getting his shit together. anypoodle, since she's running this selective hearing thing into the ground, she peers at the tables, picking up a mortar and pestle and sniffing it delicately, swirling the pestle around the bottom of the bowl. as one does. ]

[sternshield]

[ the bowls contain mashed leaves, fungus of a variety of types, bark, and powdered roots. erky hushes them all, speaking in a whisper and gesturing for them all to do so: ] Maybe we can avoid some of them. Which way do we think it likely we should go?

[uncurse]

Let's check here first. [ with her navigate of 6 she has no idea where the door to the far left leads, but she can figure out that the doors that are alongside them are safe and small, given that they walked past the space. ] There might be something we can use. [ like ... fire. idk. so she'll gesture to the two doors immediately to their left (probably d&e?). ]