Star clasps Emma's hands between his own. They are soft, almost padded, though the fur which also graces them ticked a little. "You must come with us Emma!" he enthuses. "This story is for us all, in some ways especially for you, I think. Who among us here needs it more? Here," he reaches into his pack and pulls out a candle. Waving a hand over it he whispers "Tall when young, short when old, a glowing life measured in hours." The candle flickers into life, and a little light is shed in the dark. He hands it to Emma. "It isn't much, but at least you won't fall. And you will see us leading the way." He smiles, and makes his own way downward.

Star's slitted pupils widen in adjustment to the dark outside the little bubble of light from the candle. The dark held no worries for one who had spent his life thus far in the depths of the jungle, the only light at night being whatever the moon managed to shed through the thick foliage above them.

Quote from WhiteByakko >>

“Hmm.” Vice muses Kal says he could see just fine in the dark. Thinking about it he murmurs to himself, “That’d be pretty handy.”

“Hey, Star,” Vice says, his voice lowering to a conspiratorial whisper, “Do you have -“ He raises both hands and wiggles the fingers as if they are holding and manipulating small balls of light in the air. “- you know, that thing?”

"I am sorry, I do not have..." Star copies Vice's gesture. "As you can see, I have given a little light to Emma. I know some other magics which would create light, but..." he smiles widely, "It is not meant for finding your way. It is more like hunting magic, so that your prey will not be able to hide."

Over her shoulder, Juniper notes the flicker of candlelight and breathes a sigh of relief. Apex hunters move alone at night. But other creatures rely on shared senses. Many pairs of eyes and ears, not just one pair, and a flock survives.

Juniper can feel the heat of Vice’s body behind her in the cool dark stairway. Reassuring. She leads the group downwards.

At the next landing, the young druid holds up her arm to signal a halt. Her white cotton sleeve hangs like a ghost in midair, for her sepia complexion in this darkness barely reflects a single iota of light.

She peers into the graying darkness, listens, parses the air’s smell, feels the temperature. Looks to Vice and the others for any sign of alarm.

(Hoping a group check can be made with advantage through judicious use of the Help action?)

"Uh, sure." All Emma said was that she cannot see without light, and asked whether the others prefer to go without it. Now, given light, she'll follow. She doesn't want to stay alone up there, either. "Thank you, for the light." But she really hoped Star was wrong about her part in this 'story'. Nothing good could come of it, he just doesn't know it yet.

Emma follows the others, close or a short distance behind to keep them out of the light, whichever they find favourable.

With Emma following the rest from behind, Lancelot follows on her heels

Vice leans in towards the group and whispers. "We probably need to move forward a little more to see better," he suggests, after a minute of tense silence with no movement or sound from below.

With practiced ease, he steps forward quietly, his footfalls lightly touch the dusty steps as he descends into the basement to see what’s ahead of them.

Perception: 17 

Stealth: 20 

Juniper allows Vice to squeeze past her, then follows close on his heels, her glance pleading with the others to stay near.

The group descends the tight spiral staircase into the dark, dusty basement. Down here, the air is stale, even bitter. At the bottom of the stairs, an archway leads to a tunnel of carved earth and cold stone. The tunnel forks left and right, both leading into darkness. And then? Floating out from that utter blackness, from the nighted depths? Chanting. Ethereal chanting by a score of souls, chanting that echoes off of every stone and corner of this wretched place, rising and falling in intonation, the words too distant, too faint to discern, but eerie and incessant. The chanting caresses you like an old lover, too far gone to be touched but too close to be forgotten.

Vice's heart races as he hears the chanting. He feels Juniper coming down the stairs beside him and asks quietly, "Do you hear that?"

Vice takes a deep breath and scans the tunnels, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword. He knows that they need to be careful, but the chanting is drawing him in like a moth to a flame. He takes another step forward, then stops himself, his mind racing with possibilities. But no matter what he chooses to do, he knows that they need to choose quickly before they become trapped in this dark, eerie place forever.

After a moment's pause, he decides to take action. "Stay here," he says to the group, his voice barely above a whisper. "I'll go check it out." Then quietly, he creeps forward towards the direction of the chanting. If he couldn't tell which tunnel the sound is coming from, he chooses the left one, knowing that time is of the essence.

Perception: 18

Stealth: 13

"Of course." Star nods sagely, agreeing with Vice. However the second the half-elf is out of sight he turns to the others. "We should see how he is getting on," and follows Vice down the tunnel.

Perception: 17

Stealth: 18

“No,” Juniper whispers to Vice. She keeps pace with him, silently, looking specifically down any branching passageways for an exit back to the surface as she goes. She motions for the others to follow and is glad to see Star keeping up.

(Kindly let me know if I should re-roll stealth / perception.)

Despite his best efforts, Vice cannot determine which direction the sound of the chanting is coming from. However, taking the left path brings him to another path on the right, whilst the tunnel continues a short way before it turns left. Star and Juniper follow him close behind in this narrow tunnels.

Vice feels someone behind him and turns around to see Juniper and Star following him. He lets out a sigh, putting his hand on his forehead in frustration, feeling the weight of responsibility on his shoulders.

He turns to face Juniper and Star, and raises one finger to his ear, shaking his head slightly, indicating that he can't pinpoint the source of the chanting. His lambent grey eyes scans the dark, foreboding tunnels. As he ponders their next move, Vice makes a small gesture with his forefinger and middle finger, making a figure of a little person walking on two legs. He points down the tunnel that turns to the left, hoping to convey his desire to continue in that direction.

Momentarily confused by the others' actions - thinking Vice wanted to go alone - Emma lags behind. She doesn't want to get separated though, so she quickly follows. She'll tag just behind the rest until something happens.

Juniper cocks an eyebrow at Vice’s dramatics. “Frustrating when no one listens to you, isn’t it?,” she whispers flatly. 

She nods in assent to his hand gestures and keeps close behind him, gesturing to the others to stay together and mouthing to them, “Please.”

"I thought we were trying to be stealthy," Vice whispers back. His gaze meets Juniper’s in the darkness, a faint smile playing at the corners of his lips. “And I always listen to you.” He adds. A hint of mischief dances in his eyes, but also something more serious and true. He beckons with his hand for others to follow, and continues towards the tunnel that turns to the left.

Kal rolls his eyes as first one, then another of his allies follow after Vice, but, not wanting to be left alone, he follows behind Emma to stay with the group.

Vice heads down the left passageway. Here Vice finds two crypts hewn from the earth. One crypt is open with a blank stone slab leaning against a nearby wall. The crypt is empty. The other crypt is also empty, but the nearby stone slab bares the name "Walter Durst".

“Except for the part where I said, ‘let’s stay together,’” Juniper says. Her lips are almost touching Vice’s ear, the wispy exhalation of breath the merest of whispers, more imagined than felt. She follows close behind, turning and cajoling the others with silent pleas to keep together.

Vice can feel the warmth of Juniper's breath on his ear and a shiver runs down his spine. It takes all of his self-control to keep his focus on the task at hand, rather than getting lost in the sensation of her nearness. “Correction,” he whispers back, his eyes twinkling with amusement. “I listen to you, I just don’t always do what you say.”

The flicker of a smile tugs at the corner of his lips, but it quickly disappears it as they approach the crypt. The gravity of their task weighs heavily on him as he takes in the sight of the tomb. Walter Burst. He was just a baby. He looks back to others, his mind races with questions as he scans the area for any clues or leads.

Perception: 22