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

[untethered]

[ standing near the edge of the ravine as he is, allows gold to notice a sturdy knotted rope tied to one of the leaning pillars. it hangs down into the darkness below and is in relatively good condition. there are also weathered hand and footholds carved into the cliff face. ]

[undealt]

[Oh hey. Brilliant. Mooning over Belle pays off. Gold bends down slightly to tug on the rope a bit.] This looks like our way in.

[uncurse]

Great. Let's get going. [ she approaches readily. let's be honest gold climbing down first seems like a world of bad decision, all disabilities considered. hook might be able to climb a beanstalk with, well, a hook, but he doesn't have to cringe every time he puts weight on it and this looks a lot like there will be rockclimbing involved. she actually shifts her gaze to gold, concern masked but still apparent. ] You gonna be okay climbing this thing?

[untethered]

[ belle turns on her flashlight, sweeping it down over the side. it's impossible to see the bottom of the rope. ] It still seems sturdier than those handholds...

[bittersweeter]

[ chewing her chocolate thoughtfully, lila glances down while the adults are talking. shrugging her bag off her shoulders, she stows the candy and pulls out the grappling hook -- so handy -- before the bag gets set on her shoulders again. ] I should go first. I have experience descending ropes into bad decisions. And I weigh the least, if its going to support anyone then it's going to hold me. While I'm going down you can set up the grappling hook with a secondary line. Just in case. [ she glances up and tugs her leather gloves a little more snugly. (diplomacy 32) ] Besides, I spent three years as a cat -- I always land on my feet.

[uncurse]

[ when emma looks at her, she sees determination, and she realizes one very clear fact: it's not going to do her any good to try and talk lila out of this. so she sighs and nods, hands on her hips. ]

All right. Let's do it. Lila first. Then Gold and Belle. Hook and I will bring up the rear.

[bittersweeter]

[ that's pretty much all it takes for lila to get to it. it isn't like she is going to listen to anyone else. (maybe belle.) making sure her bag is secure, she holds out the grappling hook to... well, hook. he's a pirate, they're good at knots, so she assumes that he'll be able to manage. her other hand digs a glow stick from her pocket, snapping it against her leg and hooking it to the belt of her coat so she'll be able to see and still use her hands, which prompts her to look at the other members of the party. ] Anyone else need one?

[untethered]

I'll take one. And... do be careful. Those warnings were rather... violent.

[uncurse]

[ emma will hold her hand out for one as well, nodding. ]

[undealt]

[Milah snorts and begins climbing down her own way (climb 13). She's a pretty resourceful crocodile. Gold meanwhile, shifts his weight to his better leg and slides his cane through his bag so he can snap one of his own lightsticks.] In that case, I wouldn't waste any time on mercy.

[SHOOT TO KILL, EVERYONE.]

[bittersweeter]

[ she passes one each to belle and emma and crouches down to grasp the rope and start her descent. though she laughs a bit at what gold says. ]

Won't be a problem.

[ and down she goes, weeeeeee. (climb 18) ]

[untethered]

[ the rope descends about 50 feet before Lila hits a ledge, landing next to milah. The sandy ledge overlooks a subterranean gulf of more darkness to the west. Via the glow of her light stick, she can see that the ledge is wide but rough sand, rocky debris, and the bones of small animals cover it. A roughly hewn stairway zigs and tags down the side of the ledge, descending into darkness.

No sooner does she make all this out, then sudden hissing noises issue from behind her. Large teeth flash in the darkness as two huge hairy things low to the ground dart out on either side of her, gnashing their teeth. She has just enough warning from the noise to take a step back or lift her legs while holding onto the rope, and avoids getting bit. ]

[bittersweeter]

[ the first thing out of lila's mouth as she hurriedly steps back is a shriek, but she quickly gets ahold of herself (will save 16). ]

Yeah, we've got a welcoming committee!

[unhand]

[Yeah screw this waiting around thing. Hook moves fastest, dropping the grapple gun and hurrying down the rope. He's not particularly graceful at it (climb 3) but he manages to make his way to the bottom.]

[undealt]

[MILAH DOES NOT LIKE THIS. She moves behind Lila and snaps at one of the beasts (atk nat 20, dmg 16.]

[untethered]

[ yeahhh boi, milah bites into one of the things... and feasts on three foot long dire rat. that one is very dead. ]

[bittersweeter]

[ lila manages to pull her gun out and skitter back another step, bringing it up to bear but she can't get a shot off yet. ] Welcoming committee in the shape of R.O.U.Ses!

[uncurse]

[ emma's quick to slide down the rope, speedy but controlled (climb 14), and she pulls her gun once she reaches the bottom. ]

[undealt]

[Gold awkwardly slides down the rope (climb 11) and bitterly regrets deciding it was a great idea to go spelunking with a bum ankle, because eesh. Close quarters means no setting things on fire right now and Milah's got this, so he stands near the rope and waits for Belle.]

They certainly wasted no time.

[untethered]

[ The rat has so many tasty options in front of it now as Gold, Hook, and Emma all land right in front of it. Gold looks the gimpiest so it tries to take a chomp out of him. But crit fails. And bites his cane instead, breaking his front teeth off. Yep.

Belle tries to climb down the rope too fast and nearly slides off it entirely, just managing to catch herself about 30 feet down it, eyes wide. (climb check... 2) Clinging to the rope for dear life and not seeing much room down below to land, she instead takes her flashlight off her belt and starts turning it rapidly on and off to try to distract the thing (Trick 11), but it doesn't react because it's too busy bemoaning its lost front teeth.

A third rat darts out and tries to bite Hook in the leg (atk 12), but he easily has time to avoid it. ]

[unhand]

[Hook slides his weapon free of his sheathe as he moves his leg away, then slashes his hook across the thing's back (atk 17, dmg 5) before coming in to stab at it with his rapier (atk 15, dmg 6).]

I think their warnings may have been a bit overstated.

[undealt]

[Milah could go for the rat by her master, but there's two humans over there and she's hungry, so excuse her while she chomps up the dying rat near Hook.

Thanks, Milah.]

[bittersweeter]

[ now that her gun is free, lila edges around milah's afternoon snack, aims and fires at one of the remaining rats. (atk 25, dmg 11) ]

[undealt]

[Well, now that the beast is dead, Gold, worried not one bit about the teeth marks on his cane, stands under the rope and looks up.] Are you all right, Belle?

[Yeah, that's where his priorities are rn.]

[untethered]

Yes, I just... I just slipped. [ to prove as much, she climbs down the rest of the rope easily (climb 17), to land right beside him with a small smile that melts when she sees milah happily munching on the rats. ] They probably just ... live down here.