"Thanks Jairus!" Kethra will perch up on a tree to watch the camp from there.

(My passive perception is 12.)

All of your watches are uneventful.

You make it back to Red Larch before night falls, and the trip back is just as uneventful and boring.  As you finally reach the closest buildings of Red Larch, however, a tremor shakes the ground.  People look about nervously, and 4 children playing in an old cart stop and huddle down in it.  As the townspeople and you watch in horror, a sinkhole opens up below the cart.  They disappear from sight, shrieking for help.

A distraught woman runs out of a nearby house and sprints to the edge of the hole, which crumbles away, spilling her in as well. More people run from other homes. Calls of “A rope, a rope!” and “Get a ladder!” fill the air.

As you get close enough to see inside the sinkhole, you see a dark chamber, about thirty feet below the level of the ground. It looks larger than the hole and extends into darkness on all sides. A heap of loose earth is piled in the middle. The children who first fell in are sitting on the mound of earth, coughing in the dust and sobbing with fright. “My boy, my boy!” a worried parent shouts, peeping over the edge. “Somebody do something!”

More townsfolk hurry up from all sides, staying clear of the edge. Among them are a few town elders, who pull people away from the edge and order the others to stay back. “Leave it to us!” says one of the elders. “We will tend to this matter! The children won’t be harmed by being down there a little while, but no one must go down there. Keep back!”

Jairus approaches the elders.  "Dang, this is a nasty sinkhole you got here.  You want me and the crew here -" he gestures with a thumb towards his party members "-to try an' climb down there and fetch 'em out?"

One of them turns his attention away from corralling the villagers, and goggles at Jairus.

"You?  Fetch em . . .are ye mad?"

He seems to remember himself.

"Absolutely not!  No strangers must go down there.  The Delvers must not be disturbed!"

"The 'delvers'?  What in the hells is the delvers, exactly?  And why's they more important to you then a buncha tykes that look all scared down there?" Jairus asks. "Seems mad to be worrying more about some diggin' folk then about them kids, to me. Ain't my village, though, and they ain't my kids."  

The elder (a grey bearded human man) draws himself up haughtily.

"The Delvers are none of your business, that's what they are.  Those secrets aren't for outsiders to know.  The stones must not be moved!"

Jairus is torn.  He was raised around secrets, an insular community of two, where he was often told similarly to act without questioning.   He has a reasonable sense of empathy that his training with the Zhentarim did not condition him away from, enough that he does not wish to simply leave the children to rot in the ground, but he also has a poorly understood, idealized notion of adventure and heroism.  No one is offering a reward here - to the contrary, they are telling them to back off.  His ideals are based on half understood concepts, with no real moral framework or ethos guiding them.  His own personal neutrality leaves him ethically paralyzed in this scenario, unsure whether to act or step away from the situation.  He looks to his three companions, making it clear on his face that he is lost, without certainty as to what action, if any, to take.  "What do y'all think?  Step away and leave these folks to their own business?"

Symon

From the rabble gawking at the sudden sinkhole, a new stranger steps for.  The man is of average height, with tan skin and a lean, almost gaunt build.  Most distinctly, his eyes and hair are dancing flame, dancing as if buffeted by a persistent wind.  He wears a suit of scale mail and has the trappings of a mercenary or soldier about him - obviously not a local to Red Larch.  He ignores the protests of the elders and their followers as he moves up next to the two humans in the outsider gang.

"If you're not all willing to defy the locals and challenge these 'delvers,' I will assist those that are,"  He states calmly to the eldest human outsider, who he had not yet learned was Tyde.  He knew he was inserting himself into some sort of group dynamic, but a crisis was no time for niceties and protocol.  His voice is smooth and warm with an occasional unexpected lilt.  "My name is Symon."

He untethers his crossbow and loads a bolt.  He then pricks his free hand and slides his blood along the body of the weapon, causing the limbs to burst into flame.  He levels the weapon and takes aim into the pit, trying to cover the children and distraught mother.  He did not trust the cowards that seemed to be in charge of this town.

((Crimson rite applied, losing 1 hit points.  Old ending to the post below because I misread the earlier post.))

(Note, the hole is 30 feet deep.  So he probably would have enough rope.)

"I am sorry to have to defy you elders."  Rubin says as he steps forward.  "I cannot allow children to be left down there when this whole area might fall in and bury them alive."  He makes sure his voice is loud enough for the crowd to hear.  "None of these people want to lose a child today, due to you elders keeping us from acting.  I also doubt if you will be elders of this town for much longer if anything happens to those children due to your blocking our attempt to rescue them." With that said Rubin would also pull forth a rope, tie it off and toss the end over the edge.  He is prepared to start climbing down

(Are you approaching the edge of the pit?)

The elder's face whitens at the sight of the flaming crossbow.

"You . . .you . . .you'll pay for this indiscretion!  The Delvers will be angry!"

He storms off, continuing to mutter about "Delvers" and "stones" and "bloody outsiders."

rubin does head towards the pit, but only after tieing his rope to something so he can climb down it into the pit.

((Yep, Symon stepped up to the edge of the pit but did not descend yet.))

(Symon, I'll need a Dex save to avoid falling into the pit as the edges crumble underneath you.)

(Rubin is safe because of his rope.)

((Dex Save: 24))

Symon steps back with ease as the edge crumbles underfoot.  Rubin, are you trying to go all the way down to the bottom of the pit?

As Jairus was torn on the issue, his comrades example tips him towards intervention. “Yeah, ok. If y’all are goin’ down there to help those kids, count me in.” He will help with securing the rope for the first climber. 

Quote from LordShadowthorn >>

More townsfolk hurry up from all sides, staying clear of the edge. Among them are a few town elders, who pull people away from the edge and order the others to stay back. “Leave it to us!” says one of the elders. “We will tend to this matter! The children won’t be harmed by being down there a little while, but no one must go down there. Keep back!”

 A cloaked girl emerges from a dark alley and stops one of the elders (not the one who stormed off). "What do you mean by 'Delvers'? Will the children really be all right?"

Quote from LordShadowthorn >>

Symon steps back with ease as the edge crumbles underfoot.  Rubin, are you trying to go all the way down to the bottom of the pit?

 OOC: If possible Jairus is attempting the Help action on Rubin’s efforts to climb down. 

Children were nature's way of starting a new. Davian could not let harm come to them. Ignoring the elders directive he jumps out towards the middle of the hole. Suspended midair for what seemed like minutes, the swirling smoke envelopes him. A midnight black panther emerges from the other side and falls into the void. Landing gracefully the feline sits next to the children, bowing to them and purring. Hoping they will climb on he will stay prone as long as it takes.