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]

[ belle takes an almost unconscious step beside gold, looking a bit incredulous. ] Do we really think splitting up is wise, when we've no idea what to expect? That might be exactly what they're waiting for, before laying an ambush.

[bittersweeter]

[ she pulls herself up with emma's help and rolls her eyes at the men, muttering in annoyance: ] Wasn't someone supposed to look into "any nasty surprises to greet us"? [ looking at you, gold.

but she moves toward belle because she is on team not spilt up, using the pain in her arm as a focus. ] Why don't we open both and see if either has stairs leading deeper into the ruins. Barring that, whichever one is more infested with death should suffice. [ and then quieter, though she's not under the impression she won't be heard, ] Belle, do you have a mini potion, for small stuff?

[untethered]

Unfortunately the 'small stuff' kind of potion is just about all I could get us... but I did bring quite a few of them. [ she reaches into her backpack and pulls out a vial, that clinks against many others. the liquid inside is a bright phosphorescent blue. drinking it cures 1d8+5 hit points. ]

[bittersweeter]

[ well, lila does love her brightly colored drinks. she takes it gratefully and after stowing her gun, drinks it like a shot. (+ 10 hp, yay! ) ] Thanks.

[undealt]

[WOW RUDE, LILA. It's not like anyone who has gone down here has ever made it back up. The important thing is he tried.

So off Lila's suggestion:]

I believe that's reasonable. [He turns to Hook and gestures to the door on the far end.] Captain, since you're so confident, would you like the honors?

[He doesn't wait for a reply before he walks back over to the door he was investigating before and pulls it open. (spot 19)]

[unhand]

[Well, the last door he opened shot a needle into his neck, so he's not exactly eager to go next, but he doesn't particularly want the rest of his team (besides Gold) to get hurt, and he is pretty bloody confident he doesn't need Gold to get anything done, so he heads over. First, though, he examines the door pretty thoroughly for any traps (spot 20). He's learning!]

[untethered]

[ not a trap in sight! it's just a door, hook. a harmless, harmless door.

meanwhile gold can make out a hall beyond his opened door. the light from his glow stick stretches eerily across the floor for about five feet, but beyond that is darkness.

nothing jumps out and eats his face.]

[unhand]

[Hook shoves the door open, turning back to the girls as he does.]

Someone give me one of those electric torches, if you don't mind.

[Without it, he sure can't see much (spot 9).]

[bittersweeter]

[ lila grabs hers and hands it over. IT'S BRIGHT PINK, ENJOY THAT, HOOK. ]

[unhand]

[LOOK IT PROBABLY GOES WELL WITH HIS JEWELRY LIKE HE EVEN GIVES A SHIT ABOUT A BRIGHT PINK FLASHLIGHT. He nods in thanks and shines it into the hall (spot 17).]

[undealt]

[Gold pockets his glowstick, because that shit ain't gonna work and casts a Light spell. AW YEAH. (spot... 12) I told you it would be worse. I GUESS HE WAS FUCKING BLINDED THERE FOR A SECOND.]

[untethered]

[ a long hallway about 8 feet across stretches out in front of hook. at the end of the flashlight's beam, there's a door to the right, and the hall seems to stretch on past where hook can see. there's a more ornate door to the left across from it, but the decorations will require a closer look.

meanwhile, gold finds himself in a wider hallway, the masonry walls of which are in poor repair. he can't see the far end of the room yet, but the opposite wall is within his glow bubble, and he'd see that that wall is in a slightly better state. a stone door is over there too. ]

[unhand]

More bloody doors down here.

[Hook glances back at the rest of them.]

Looks promising though. We ought to try it.

[undealt]

There's one down here as well. [He's curious about what's barely visible beyond his light's reach and ventures further into the hall, towards the door at the end, glancing around (spot 22)]

[bittersweeter]

[ while gold is moving further into his hallway, lila peeks around hook, taking stock of the doors (spot 22). she puts her hand, bare mind you, on his arm and nudges him slightly, like move over. ] Let me past, I wanna check out that door.

[untethered]

[ as gold gets closer that way, he'd see that the southern wall is actually completely collapsed, and rubble from that giant pile outside leaks through the big hole there. the door on the western wall features a stylistically carved rearing dragon in stone relief upon it, with a single keyhole in its mouth.

lila notices a stone relief-carving on the door on the south side of her and hook's hallway as well. it appears to be a dragonlike fish swimming in an aquatic setting.

just then there's a rustling amid the rubble in the collapsed wall of gold's room... and a dire rat skitters out towards him, trying to chomp him but easily avoidable. ]

[undealt]

[WHAT THE FUCK RAT. Gold takes a swing at the thing with his cane (atk 16, dmg 11)]

[untethered]

[ RAT GO SQUISH ]

[uncurse]

Hey! Everything okay in there?! [ your cane swinging is not heartening, gold. ]

[unhand]

[Man, Hook doesn't even care about any cane swinging Gold can ~apparently~ take care of himself.]

This one seems promising. Come on.

[Or don't. He's ok with Gold just hanging out and getting eaten by rats.]

[bittersweeter]

Hey Belle, do you know anything about, um, dragonfish? [ she pulls her light stick off her belt to see the carving a little better. ] Actually are goblins known for their stonemansonry? I thought they were supposed to be kind of dim, not artistic, trap-making, skeletor-controlling dicks.

[uncurse]

[ emma will cast a lingering, tight look of concern down the second hallway where gold is, but surge past hook with lila all the same. she arches a doubtful eyebrow. ]

We're not here for an archaeological dig, who cares about the masonry?

[bittersweeter]

Because we keep expecting to be attacked by goblins because this is where they live, but what if the traps came with it and they're not goblin made? Do you want to keep underestimating them?

[untethered]

[ belle moves into hook's hallway too, to take a better look at the door. ] I don't think the goblins built this citadel at all. In fact, if those skeletal guards we found in the tower are any sign, this was once controlled by Shadowkind humans in the other world. The goblins must have moved in - either before or after it wound up here.

[undealt]

But it's best we be prepared for anything, regardless. [annnd here's gold.] There's another door down there but it might be locked. [he didn't check because he just got assaulted by a rat and you're all talking out here.]