Ashley thinks she catches a glimpse of something, and on a hunch, asks Marion to put out her torch. Marion obliges, plunging the cave into darkness save for Samir's tech. And little bit of light seeping through one of the rough walls. Ashley and Vilus both spot it right away. A small crack, opened up by the most recent blast between their tunnel and another one nearby. Ashley can hear the gravelly voice from before shouting out orders.
"Alright, let's go, let's go. Clear the path! Loosh, start getting the next charge set up. Bannar, I don't like the look of these walls. Let's get the friction-anchored dowels set up before anything starts to shift. And hurry up with the pit props and roof ties! I want to be ready to blast again in 15!"
Various voices shout "Sir!" in response to the commands, and the hustle of activity continues.
“I think we better agree on a story of why we are here. Perhaps one that doesn’t immediately involve unbelievable giant flying monsters in an underground chasm. Maybe we were just lost exploring a tunnel, that is true in any case.” Malachi tucks his rat ear necklace away into an inside pocket of his coat and brushes his hair forward to cover the mark on his forehead.
He looks over at Joren “Should we let them blast open the crack further, or stop them by letting them know we are here? I am not sure we want to be that close to the next blast but you seem to know stone better than I.”
Joren doesn't like the idea of another mining charge going off so close. Especially if the foreman fears instability.
"They may be blasting right on top of us next. Bringing the tunnel down on us if it is not damaging us. I think perhaps a partial truth? We were exploring caverns near the Shield Pass foothill area and a cave-in was trapping us (true, in fact, when the Crawler was trying to escape Malachi'sDissonant Whispers). Traveling underground for multiple days now. All true. If someone can be tracking how close we are getting to 15 minutes, we can be trying to widen the crack that Ashley is seeing. If it is getting close, Vilus, you Shatter it with your magic - that should be getting their attention."
Jorenstarts trying to widen the crack with the pick axe, assuming help from at least one other party member.
Athletics at advantage: 22 (or 19 based on first die if no help)
"Rest of you start yelling or projecting your voices with magic so they are can be hearing us?"
"and if it's them? Those cultist weirdos? We'll be in for a fight, It's an awkward situation either way. Let me try something..." With that Vilus tries to look through the crack to see if he can spot any of the workers, pressing his face up against the cave wall as much as possible.
(Perception 4, damn.)
As he pulls away he shakes his head, "won't work, light is coming in but I can't personally see through properly. Oh! we could play victims, scream help and get them to open this up safely... I'm open for other suggestions."
"That was sounding like how miners talk. None of the cultists were doing their own work as these men are. They used the rat-men for 'lllabor' as they were saying. Not guaranteeing the miners will be friendly with certainty, so we will be fighting if we must. But I am thinking not."
"Worst comes to worst, I can be sending my echo through and swap to be seeing for myself."
Vilus nods, in understanding as he pulls out his crowbar once more "Ok, just miners, we'll get out regardless, I'll give you a hand... Cave in at the foothills, lost trying to get out, right? we've got this!" As he starts helping Joren out widening this gap, he glances back to Ashley and Samir. "If it comes to a fight, remember they have explosives! They'll want to keep their stock away from fire, we can use that to our advantage." He gives them a wink as he continues working.
With a vigour renewed by the possibility of getting free, Joren begins smashing through the wall with the pick axe. Vilus follows up, using the crowbar to pry rocks away from crumbling sections, and clearing the rubble away from the wall. Soon enough, confusion takes the people on the other side.
"What's that sound?"
"Guys, I think there's something coming through!"
"Gloazworms?!"
"No, sounds like someone with a pickaxe. There! That crack."
"Step aside, step aside." Joren clears away enough rock to get a clear view of the owner of the gravelly voice pushing to the front of a crowd of about ten dusty, sweaty onlookers. The man looks either like a tall dwarf or a short human, with a bushy jet black beard contrasted with his waxed and curled moustache, and it's clear that this man holds the authority in the group. "As a foreman of the Hardrock-Berg Smiths, I demand you announce yourself, and then here's how things are going to go. My people are going to finish clearing your path, and you are going to step out nice and slow with your hands up so we can have a chat whilst we figure out where we go from here. Loosh!"
"Yes sir?" A balding orc with blackened finger tips steps up beside the foreman, wiping his brow with a filthy rag.
"Grab the cart on the end, and send word to the marshal."
"Yes sir!" Loosh huffs and takes off at a jog. A moment later the metal squeal of a mine cart taking off rings through the tunnel while a couple of the other miners nervously approach the widened crack and start to chip away.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
As the miners finish clearing the path of rubble and stone, Malachi steps forward with his hands up as instructed. “Thank the stars above!” A quiver of fear mixed with relief fills his voice. He looks back at the others “We are saved at last!”
He looks back at the grizzled foreman with his arms thrown wide “I could hug you! We have been wandering these tunnels for days since the cave-in. I had almost given up hope. Where are we anyway? Who are you all?” He takes in the group of miners surrounding them, looking for details of their equipment, tools and any weapons or threats. Perception (Passive: 14) : 6.
Samir stays quiet, simply watching and doing his best to appear dirty, disheveled, and exhausted, none of which is exactly a stretch in his current state.
Joren remains stoic, an easy pose for him to strike. But he is taken aback by Malachi's performance, bolstered by so much of it being true of course.
Glad I am feeling that this half-elf is our ally. At least I am thinking he is our ally? I would never be knowing, truly. An accomplished liar...
Keeping his hands away from his greatsword, Joren does not summon his echo and listens to the mining foreman. He looks around for anything out of place. That would indicate that this is not what it seems - an above-board mining operation. Hoping it wouldn't look too different here, so far west.
As they break through to the miners, Ashley stumbles forward trying to keep her hands in the air but as soon as she is out of the tunnel they were in, she bursts in to tears. She instead uses her hands to cover her face as her body starts wracking in sobs. The flame in her hair is almost out with the sorrow and relief that she feels after the whole ordeal. Barely being able to stand she leans against the cave wall for support. As she hears that the foreman sent one out to get help, she worries what that might entail.
Joren and Malachi look around at the miners now surrounding them in a semi-circle. Malachi takes in their equipment and sees pickaxes, chisels, waterskins, and the odd simple dagger here and there that look useful for little more than cutting rope and picking teeth. The miners are all covered in sweat and grime, the ones with the pick axes more so.
Joren sees much the same, and though some of the terminology they'd used was new to him, it carried the impression of expertise and professionalism. Then he looks at the faces around him. An assortment of the burlier races are present: Dwarves, orcs, goliaths, and some tough looking humans. There is a grimy gnome to the side with a clipboard, but even he has a wide neck and thick, corded forearms. One thing all the faces have in common, however, is uncertainty, concern, and perhaps a little bit of fear (though some of the men present seem a bit softened by the pretty woman crying before them).
More than a few of them are openly staring at Joren and Marion's armour and weapons as they nervously shift from foot to foot, adjusting their grips on pick axes and the like, and it's at this point that Joren and the others suddenly become a little more conscious of their damaged and bloodied appearance, with not all of the blood being human.
With everyone out of the tunnel, the gnome to the side glances at the foreman and says, "Sir?" The foreman nods without taking his eyes off his unexpected guests, and the gnome squeaks, "Alright, let's get that tunnel sealed off. Go, go, go." Two of the minors edge around the party with large stones in hand, aiming to start blocking off the side tunnel.
"Know you where you are?" The foreman growls, staring intently.
(If you lie to him about anything at this point, make a deception roll, and if you want to speak like Malachi did in technical truths, you can make deception or persuasion)
"this is west, correct? We should be somewhere west of the first wood.. that's all we know but some information on our whereabouts and possibly some water would go a long way, if you have it to spare that is ..." Vilus pipes up, after stowing his crowbar he enters the blasted out mine proper and takes a seat, trying to appear as non threatening as possible.
Joren stays quiet. He doubts the miners' fears would be allayed by a Khirian Echo Knight's growls, with what Joren can only assume to be his own eastern accent and phrasing. Though he had thought Tensmith was north, not west of the First Wood? Maybe northwest. Wouldn't Talmouth have been west?
Joren isn't sure and probably wouldn't be sure even if he was at his best, which he most certainly is not. Unobtrusively, he moves to stand next to Ashley by the wall in solidarity. Shoulder touching shoulder so she knows he's there.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
“Where we are? I am ready to call it paradise after the last few days.” Malachi exclaims with only a little exaggeration. “We were heading towards Talmouth when we started exploring the tunnel” He looks at Vilus and the others “So much for shortcuts.”
Malachi turns back to the foreman “But I don’t imagine we are there. It is hard to keep track, the cave passages twist and turn. Where are we? Can you help us to the surface? Fresh air and sunlight at last!” He pauses for a moment “Who is the marshal you called for, can they help us?”
Ashley, happy for Joren's company, briefly rests her head on his shoulder. But when Malachi mentions fresh air and sunlight, she pulls herself away from the wall and looking at the foreman with pleading eyes, "Yes, please?? I can't stay down here a minute longer, please take us to the surface, we'll answer anything you want."
The foreman looks at each of you in turn, brow still weighed down by skepticism. He side eyes Vilus before Malachi takes his attention. "You're a fair way norther than your goliath friend seems to think. Tensmith, to be precise. And to be more precise, you're not supposed to be here. This place is meant to be locked down tighter'n the ass of a dwarf at sea: Nothing out or in." One or two of the miners seem to cringe at the crass analogy. He continues, "So you being here gives us a two-fold issue of how to deal with you. Thankfully, we're going to leave that issue to the marshal and her people once they arrive."
The miners filling the side tunnel with rocks finish up their work and step back. Another two rush over, each with a large metal bucket. Together, they lift one bucket and pour some water out into the other. A swirl of white dust swirls up from inside, and then one miner starts mixing with a large stick while the other runs to retrieve a couple of large taping knives. A minute later, they both start using the taping knives to scoop out large clumps of a grey mud-like substance which they begin smearing in the cracks between the rocks blocking the hole the party had come through.
The foreman stops talking and starts pacing silently, clearly just waiting for the marshal to arrive and take this problem off his hands. In the lull, Samir gets a chance to look around. At the end of the tunnel the miners had been working on, he sees what had been causing the explosions. Rather than a simple set-up using some crude explosive, or simple pick axes, they seem to be using some kind of sophisticated rig: A large metal frame the same shape and just about the same size as the tunnel, with a smaller concentric frame sitting inside. At regular intervals all around the metal frames, cylindrical contraptions are secured, pointing in the direction they are tunneling. Each cylinder has some kind of wire or fuse trailing off behind it, connecting with the others and running off back down the tunnel and out of sight. Samir sees that the frame is currently secured in place by thick metal stakes driven deep into sides of the tunnel. It is unlike any mining technique Samir has ever encountered in his studies, and he finds it fascinating.
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Ashley thinks she catches a glimpse of something, and on a hunch, asks Marion to put out her torch. Marion obliges, plunging the cave into darkness save for Samir's tech. And little bit of light seeping through one of the rough walls. Ashley and Vilus both spot it right away. A small crack, opened up by the most recent blast between their tunnel and another one nearby. Ashley can hear the gravelly voice from before shouting out orders.
"Alright, let's go, let's go. Clear the path! Loosh, start getting the next charge set up. Bannar, I don't like the look of these walls. Let's get the friction-anchored dowels set up before anything starts to shift. And hurry up with the pit props and roof ties! I want to be ready to blast again in 15!"
Various voices shout "Sir!" in response to the commands, and the hustle of activity continues.
“I think we better agree on a story of why we are here. Perhaps one that doesn’t immediately involve unbelievable giant flying monsters in an underground chasm. Maybe we were just lost exploring a tunnel, that is true in any case.” Malachi tucks his rat ear necklace away into an inside pocket of his coat and brushes his hair forward to cover the mark on his forehead.
He looks over at Joren “Should we let them blast open the crack further, or stop them by letting them know we are here? I am not sure we want to be that close to the next blast but you seem to know stone better than I.”
"Perhaps we should let them know we are here. I worry that another blast could be... dangerous."
Samir had ducked away at the last blast, covering his head. His hands brush nervously at his coat now, sending up a small puff of dust as he does so.
"A simple story, I think would be best? Just exploring and we got lost."
Joren doesn't like the idea of another mining charge going off so close. Especially if the foreman fears instability.
"They may be blasting right on top of us next. Bringing the tunnel down on us if it is not damaging us. I think perhaps a partial truth? We were exploring caverns near the Shield Pass foothill area and a cave-in was trapping us (true, in fact, when the Crawler was trying to escape Malachi's Dissonant Whispers). Traveling underground for multiple days now. All true. If someone can be tracking how close we are getting to 15 minutes, we can be trying to widen the crack that Ashley is seeing. If it is getting close, Vilus, you Shatter it with your magic - that should be getting their attention."
Joren starts trying to widen the crack with the pick axe, assuming help from at least one other party member.
Athletics at advantage: 22 (or 19 based on first die if no help)
"Rest of you start yelling or projecting your voices with magic so they are can be hearing us?"
Barn(Paladin1): Damian_May's Ereworn Under the Shadow | Lyra(Warlock2/Bard4): VitusW's Silverwood Forest | Nivi(Rogue5): Erik_Soong's Netherdeep
Joren(Fighter6): NotDrizzt's Simple Request | Quyen(Adept1, ba5ic): ConstancePhokas' Nentir Vale (Discord) | Seri(Druid1): Hunter_Orien's Saltmarsh
Xarian(Fighter3): Luna_Dust's Marks on the Map | Ophelia(Sorcerer2): BillM's Icewind Dale | Shin(Wizard1): Culuril's Strixhaven
"and if it's them? Those cultist weirdos? We'll be in for a fight, It's an awkward situation either way. Let me try something..." With that Vilus tries to look through the crack to see if he can spot any of the workers, pressing his face up against the cave wall as much as possible.
(Perception 4, damn.)
As he pulls away he shakes his head, "won't work, light is coming in but I can't personally see through properly. Oh! we could play victims, scream help and get them to open this up safely... I'm open for other suggestions."
Joren shakes his head.
"That was sounding like how miners talk. None of the cultists were doing their own work as these men are. They used the rat-men for 'lllabor' as they were saying. Not guaranteeing the miners will be friendly with certainty, so we will be fighting if we must. But I am thinking not."
"Worst comes to worst, I can be sending my echo through and swap to be seeing for myself."
Barn(Paladin1): Damian_May's Ereworn Under the Shadow | Lyra(Warlock2/Bard4): VitusW's Silverwood Forest | Nivi(Rogue5): Erik_Soong's Netherdeep
Joren(Fighter6): NotDrizzt's Simple Request | Quyen(Adept1, ba5ic): ConstancePhokas' Nentir Vale (Discord) | Seri(Druid1): Hunter_Orien's Saltmarsh
Xarian(Fighter3): Luna_Dust's Marks on the Map | Ophelia(Sorcerer2): BillM's Icewind Dale | Shin(Wizard1): Culuril's Strixhaven
Vilus nods, in understanding as he pulls out his crowbar once more "Ok, just miners, we'll get out regardless, I'll give you a hand... Cave in at the foothills, lost trying to get out, right? we've got this!" As he starts helping Joren out widening this gap, he glances back to Ashley and Samir. "If it comes to a fight, remember they have explosives! They'll want to keep their stock away from fire, we can use that to our advantage." He gives them a wink as he continues working.
With a vigour renewed by the possibility of getting free, Joren begins smashing through the wall with the pick axe. Vilus follows up, using the crowbar to pry rocks away from crumbling sections, and clearing the rubble away from the wall. Soon enough, confusion takes the people on the other side.
"What's that sound?"
"Guys, I think there's something coming through!"
"Gloazworms?!"
"No, sounds like someone with a pickaxe. There! That crack."
"Step aside, step aside." Joren clears away enough rock to get a clear view of the owner of the gravelly voice pushing to the front of a crowd of about ten dusty, sweaty onlookers. The man looks either like a tall dwarf or a short human, with a bushy jet black beard contrasted with his waxed and curled moustache, and it's clear that this man holds the authority in the group. "As a foreman of the Hardrock-Berg Smiths, I demand you announce yourself, and then here's how things are going to go. My people are going to finish clearing your path, and you are going to step out nice and slow with your hands up so we can have a chat whilst we figure out where we go from here. Loosh!"
"Yes sir?" A balding orc with blackened finger tips steps up beside the foreman, wiping his brow with a filthy rag.
"Grab the cart on the end, and send word to the marshal."
"Yes sir!" Loosh huffs and takes off at a jog. A moment later the metal squeal of a mine cart taking off rings through the tunnel while a couple of the other miners nervously approach the widened crack and start to chip away.
As the miners finish clearing the path of rubble and stone, Malachi steps forward with his hands up as instructed. “Thank the stars above!” A quiver of fear mixed with relief fills his voice. He looks back at the others “We are saved at last!”
He looks back at the grizzled foreman with his arms thrown wide “I could hug you! We have been wandering these tunnels for days since the cave-in. I had almost given up hope. Where are we anyway? Who are you all?” He takes in the group of miners surrounding them, looking for details of their equipment, tools and any weapons or threats. Perception (Passive: 14) : 6.
.
Samir stays quiet, simply watching and doing his best to appear dirty, disheveled, and exhausted, none of which is exactly a stretch in his current state.
Joren remains stoic, an easy pose for him to strike. But he is taken aback by Malachi's performance, bolstered by so much of it being true of course.
Glad I am feeling that this half-elf is our ally. At least I am thinking he is our ally? I would never be knowing, truly. An accomplished liar...
Keeping his hands away from his greatsword, Joren does not summon his echo and listens to the mining foreman. He looks around for anything out of place. That would indicate that this is not what it seems - an above-board mining operation. Hoping it wouldn't look too different here, so far west.
Perception: 19 (Joren has the same bonus to Insight as Perception in case that is more applicable.)
He does file one question away in his head for later from what one of the miners had said. What is a 'gloazworm'?
Barn(Paladin1): Damian_May's Ereworn Under the Shadow | Lyra(Warlock2/Bard4): VitusW's Silverwood Forest | Nivi(Rogue5): Erik_Soong's Netherdeep
Joren(Fighter6): NotDrizzt's Simple Request | Quyen(Adept1, ba5ic): ConstancePhokas' Nentir Vale (Discord) | Seri(Druid1): Hunter_Orien's Saltmarsh
Xarian(Fighter3): Luna_Dust's Marks on the Map | Ophelia(Sorcerer2): BillM's Icewind Dale | Shin(Wizard1): Culuril's Strixhaven
As they break through to the miners, Ashley stumbles forward trying to keep her hands in the air but as soon as she is out of the tunnel they were in, she bursts in to tears. She instead uses her hands to cover her face as her body starts wracking in sobs. The flame in her hair is almost out with the sorrow and relief that she feels after the whole ordeal. Barely being able to stand she leans against the cave wall for support. As she hears that the foreman sent one out to get help, she worries what that might entail.
Joren and Malachi look around at the miners now surrounding them in a semi-circle. Malachi takes in their equipment and sees pickaxes, chisels, waterskins, and the odd simple dagger here and there that look useful for little more than cutting rope and picking teeth. The miners are all covered in sweat and grime, the ones with the pick axes more so.
Joren sees much the same, and though some of the terminology they'd used was new to him, it carried the impression of expertise and professionalism. Then he looks at the faces around him. An assortment of the burlier races are present: Dwarves, orcs, goliaths, and some tough looking humans. There is a grimy gnome to the side with a clipboard, but even he has a wide neck and thick, corded forearms. One thing all the faces have in common, however, is uncertainty, concern, and perhaps a little bit of fear (though some of the men present seem a bit softened by the pretty woman crying before them).
More than a few of them are openly staring at Joren and Marion's armour and weapons as they nervously shift from foot to foot, adjusting their grips on pick axes and the like, and it's at this point that Joren and the others suddenly become a little more conscious of their damaged and bloodied appearance, with not all of the blood being human.
With everyone out of the tunnel, the gnome to the side glances at the foreman and says, "Sir?" The foreman nods without taking his eyes off his unexpected guests, and the gnome squeaks, "Alright, let's get that tunnel sealed off. Go, go, go." Two of the minors edge around the party with large stones in hand, aiming to start blocking off the side tunnel.
"Know you where you are?" The foreman growls, staring intently.
(If you lie to him about anything at this point, make a deception roll, and if you want to speak like Malachi did in technical truths, you can make deception or persuasion)
"this is west, correct? We should be somewhere west of the first wood.. that's all we know but some information on our whereabouts and possibly some water would go a long way, if you have it to spare that is ..." Vilus pipes up, after stowing his crowbar he enters the blasted out mine proper and takes a seat, trying to appear as non threatening as possible.
Joren stays quiet. He doubts the miners' fears would be allayed by a Khirian Echo Knight's growls, with what Joren can only assume to be his own eastern accent and phrasing. Though he had thought Tensmith was north, not west of the First Wood? Maybe northwest. Wouldn't Talmouth have been west?
Joren isn't sure and probably wouldn't be sure even if he was at his best, which he most certainly is not. Unobtrusively, he moves to stand next to Ashley by the wall in solidarity. Shoulder touching shoulder so she knows he's there.
Barn(Paladin1): Damian_May's Ereworn Under the Shadow | Lyra(Warlock2/Bard4): VitusW's Silverwood Forest | Nivi(Rogue5): Erik_Soong's Netherdeep
Joren(Fighter6): NotDrizzt's Simple Request | Quyen(Adept1, ba5ic): ConstancePhokas' Nentir Vale (Discord) | Seri(Druid1): Hunter_Orien's Saltmarsh
Xarian(Fighter3): Luna_Dust's Marks on the Map | Ophelia(Sorcerer2): BillM's Icewind Dale | Shin(Wizard1): Culuril's Strixhaven
(Vilus, can you make me a deception or persuasion?)
The roll is a 12.
“Where we are? I am ready to call it paradise after the last few days.” Malachi exclaims with only a little exaggeration. “We were heading towards Talmouth when we started exploring the tunnel” He looks at Vilus and the others “So much for shortcuts.”
Malachi turns back to the foreman “But I don’t imagine we are there. It is hard to keep track, the cave passages twist and turn. Where are we? Can you help us to the surface? Fresh air and sunlight at last!” He pauses for a moment “Who is the marshal you called for, can they help us?”
Persuasion: 10.
Insight on the foreman's responses: 21.
.
Ashley, happy for Joren's company, briefly rests her head on his shoulder. But when Malachi mentions fresh air and sunlight, she pulls herself away from the wall and looking at the foreman with pleading eyes, "Yes, please?? I can't stay down here a minute longer, please take us to the surface, we'll answer anything you want."
The foreman looks at each of you in turn, brow still weighed down by skepticism. He side eyes Vilus before Malachi takes his attention. "You're a fair way norther than your goliath friend seems to think. Tensmith, to be precise. And to be more precise, you're not supposed to be here. This place is meant to be locked down tighter'n the ass of a dwarf at sea: Nothing out or in." One or two of the miners seem to cringe at the crass analogy. He continues, "So you being here gives us a two-fold issue of how to deal with you. Thankfully, we're going to leave that issue to the marshal and her people once they arrive."
The miners filling the side tunnel with rocks finish up their work and step back. Another two rush over, each with a large metal bucket. Together, they lift one bucket and pour some water out into the other. A swirl of white dust swirls up from inside, and then one miner starts mixing with a large stick while the other runs to retrieve a couple of large taping knives. A minute later, they both start using the taping knives to scoop out large clumps of a grey mud-like substance which they begin smearing in the cracks between the rocks blocking the hole the party had come through.
The foreman stops talking and starts pacing silently, clearly just waiting for the marshal to arrive and take this problem off his hands. In the lull, Samir gets a chance to look around. At the end of the tunnel the miners had been working on, he sees what had been causing the explosions. Rather than a simple set-up using some crude explosive, or simple pick axes, they seem to be using some kind of sophisticated rig: A large metal frame the same shape and just about the same size as the tunnel, with a smaller concentric frame sitting inside. At regular intervals all around the metal frames, cylindrical contraptions are secured, pointing in the direction they are tunneling. Each cylinder has some kind of wire or fuse trailing off behind it, connecting with the others and running off back down the tunnel and out of sight. Samir sees that the frame is currently secured in place by thick metal stakes driven deep into sides of the tunnel. It is unlike any mining technique Samir has ever encountered in his studies, and he finds it fascinating.