Ereworn Under The Shadow

"That was a good idea Barn!" Jack states after seeing the tree idea. "Now you can go down too!"

He nods at other Jack and motions for him to show us what to do.

Jack will go in the back last.

The Recluse finishes his casting and moves to the well, prepared to descend to the mud. He gives a quick look around the clearing, an inspection of the well walls above the surface, then peers into the depths where, perhaps, the last light from the torch still illuminates the bottom.

He goes as quickly as possible, knowing that the spell won’t last forever. However, he doesn’t sacrifice speed over safety. He knows a fall from this height would put him out of commission and on a trip to visit his ancestors. 

Securing the rope to the willow as best he can with a more permanent knot, Barn tries to push away the nagging image of a capering Ned, having misdirected the party down the well, sauntering up and gleefully untying the knot, leaving them stuck at the bottom without an easy way out.

Shouldering his halberd, the big man puts an armored leg over the edge of the well, volunteering to go first once Reg concludes his magic and Smiling Jack finishes describing the suspect mud at the bottom and the loose stone in the wall, possibly leading to a concealed passage.

Reg lowers down into the well, finding nothing that shows up as special to his sorcerous senses, he extends his senses and can still find nothing.....he ascends so that Barn can lead the way past the stone....

( Nothing magical within 30')

Barn descends first pushing on the stone forcefully it falls inwards into a dark space, lighting a torch and peering within he sees a long mossy tunnel about 5' high and wide......some 15' long ending at a roughly made wooden door.

Smiling Jack looks around, "how should we proceed and in what order?  I assume the1st down will be on there own for a bit...until the others catch up?  ...should Caelan stay behind and guard the top up here?"

Caelan nods agreement over acting as rearguard.

With his weight still on the rope, having heard of the treacherous mud at the bottom, Barn gingerly tests his weight on the floor of the tunnel, gradually putting more and more of his armored bulk into the passageway, stooping down uncomfortably to fit under the low ceiling.

If all this passes without mishap, the big man calls in a low voice to the others to join him, advancing towards the wooden door.  Desperately, he tries to look in all directions for any hazards, tripwires, hidden pits, weapons mounted in alcoves, but it is impossible for him in this posture.

Barn's Perception:  5

Once at least one more of his companions joins just behind him, Barn hands them the lit torch so he has both hands free.

Smiling Jack would be next, into the passage.  Jack accepts the torch and looks for traps,  hazards, tripwires, hidden pits, weapons mounted in....

Perception 7   

Jack keeps eyes on the rear, no backstabbery!

Ardwynn mutters a curse or six under her breath as she works her way down the rope.  "There has to be a better way to go up and down a rope without a backpack that weighs half as much as I do..."  

Athletics: 5

She hisses as she slips and gains rope burns on her hands.   MORE cursing ensues....

The number disappeared.  It came back: Perception 7   

Eventually the entire group, sans Caelan, finds themselves in the tunnel.....

Barn is moved further and further toward the door as each one enters, behind him Smiling Jack, Ardwynn, Reg and last of all Jack.

Reg-

Barn finds himself up against the wooden door, luckily there don't seem to have been any traps in the tunnel.....

Barn is beginning to feel claustrophobic.  Sweat runs down his skin beneath his chain mail.  Why did Ned have to be in some cramped crawlspace?

"Someone b-better at it than me want to give this d-door a once over before I open it or... or k-kick it down?"

The trapper tenses as the group moves toward the door. “I have a bad feeling about this.” He says quietly.

”I am unsure what, or where…but something…magically powerful…is close.”

His words are a whisper, and he struggles to find them. His speech is stuttered, but not like Barn’s. There is clearly grave concern as he appears at a loss to describe what he is feeling. 

Smiling Jack grabs his lockpick and shimmies & dances around barn to get to the door.  He looks for any traps along the door, then tries to open the door to see if it is unlocked, if unlocked, he opens the door, if locked, he picks the lock, then tries the door again.

Rolled in game log:

Preception 13

Sleight of hand 15

Strength to move/open door 19 or athletics would be 21 per the same dice roll

"If that doesn't work, you could like use your own lock pick Barn - you know the big one that looks like an axe." Jack chuckles.

Smiling Jack checks the door over carefully finding no sign of trick or trap and then reaches out and pushes lightly on it, the door swings open easily the torchlight spilling through to illuminate the chamber beyond.

Gnarled roots of trees protrude like ghastly monsters extending claws into the room. There are several dark holes throughout the room that could
be tight crawlways that lead away into pitch darkness from this room.

The room is stuffed full of items that have gone missing from the village and surrounding farms over the years that a number of the companions recognise: old rocking chairs, iron utensils,
battered chests, an assortment of clothes, rotten bits of food, mirrors, and even a wooden table. A tattered quilt serving as a curtain partitions this area from the next. At the sound of the door opening, shrill cries for help can be heard coming from behind the curtain.

Reg-

.)

Jack goes to the curtain and opens it to see what is on the other side and determine the source.