RP:Inspecting the Sewers

From HollowWiki

Part of the Rynvale New Dawn Arc


LOCATION: Rynvale sewers, Ominous Glow


This area of the sewer system is considerably brighter than further north, as an odd, eerie aura seems to emanate from a particular part of the wall nearby to you. Upon further inspection you find what appears to be a troll's head thrusting out of the slime-caked brickwork, his ugly features heavily twisted in an enraged snarl. You stumble backwards in fright, but after a moment of silence you realize it is merely a figure of sorts jutting out from the wall, and the end of a pipe spills dirty water from the creature's mouth. The troll bust is crafted purely from green glass and lit from behind by the last remaining shafts of light, which have permeated the sewer via the pipe. However, there is something malevolent about this part of the tunnel - perhaps you should return to the north, unless you dare venture further into the depths by way of east and west. Southward, the tunnel suddenly dips into a steeper passage from which the heavy and constant drip of water can be heard.

Arien adjusted the gas mask on her face as she stepped into the space where it was obvious Lirithen had made his stand. It had simply been an abundance of caution and some wariness of the chaotic elements still hidden beneath the city that had prompted the care, but now, she was more than glad that she had insisted upon the apparatus. While the Naga had returned to remove their dead, the fermin and rats had not been nearly so civilized, and bodies lay strewn, some seared to a crisp by the fireball that had devastated the area, others, unfortunately, not so cooked had begun to swell with the effects of decomposition.Damp dripped from the walls into blood and mud on the ground beneath, and at least two of the exits to the tunnels deeper within had caved in with the force of the blast. Behind the mask, flame brows furrowed. "We need these bodies moved..or burned, they'll pose a health hazard. And the passageways will need to be reopened. Workers won't be able to service deeper along the tunnels otherwise."She picked her way through the debris. " What the hell happened down here Liri? I didn't think we'd given you incendiaries to work with.." The elf could feel Rho at her back, likewise making careful assessment as the threesome made their inspection.

His husky breathing was heard behind his custom fitted helm, wheezing softly with each step taken. In the confines of metal and protective clothes, he spoke out, "Burned... they should be eradicated from the sewers." Despite the unique animalistic appearance that he shared with the anthro rats, he had little to no sympathy for this shared trait. They were rats, clear and simple. Pests. Grey eyes behind armored visor narrowed at the grizzly sights of blood stained stone, the stench of filth and gore would be suffocating to him were it not for his own gas mask. "...we will need quite a number of workers, or a few mages... to clear the paths in the sewers."

“You didn't,” Lirithen replied in his usual jovial tone, casting a decidedly apathetic gaze over the carnage. He'd help create it, seen it all before. “I stole them, and you be damn glad I had. If I hadn't had the charges we would have been overrun. Jaize would have lost her entire platoon, I would be dead, and consequently unable to save the Lady Valiana so she would be dead too, and we mustn't forget the possibility the Fermin horde will have perused the force into the streets and intervened with the assault on the Govenor's mansion. You'd of all been overrun and either killed or captured,” emerald eyes shot a poisonous glare at the paladin, if she dare voice a reprimand, “so you be damn grateful I had the foresight and nerve to take what I wasn't already supplied with.” Lirithen was without a gas mask, having found further use for the Sacred Winds. They circulated around his face, filtering the air before he could breathe it and driving away the unbearable stench. "Can't say for sure where the Fermin are holed up... Though they came from the east and the west tunnels further down." A hand gestured forward into the sewer before retreating to the elf's pocket.

Arien turned baleful stare towards her childhood friend, not that he would see it through the contraption that covered her face. Her voice when she spoke was brittle with sarcasm and muffled by the mask. " You stole them.. you utilized ordinence in combat that was not cleared by the Round, and that could have cost more lives in allied losses than we were likely to encumber." Her head canted, still directed his way as she stepped over a body to approach the caved in rubble pile at the mouth of the northern tunnel access. " I suppose I should ask if it is you who has been reported by Larket as planting explosives around the city for its defense then.." The elf was not amused. Officers who took it upon themselves to improvise in the face of direct orders were more risk than asset. She sighed quietly. "Just let me know, at lest, next time Liri-so we can be prepared." she murmured quietly. She would spare him the discipline deserved because he had been right. The ordinence may well have saved the night. Turning to inspect the pile of rubble before her, the elf would direct her next comment to wolfen warder. " Actually, I have been offered the aid of whomever it is that lives within these tunnels to assist with the clean up Rho, though I have some concern about dealing with an unknown, especially if it is the Fermin. They seem to wish to work anonymously." The elf applied pressure to the stacked stone, testing its resistance. "I cannot tell how deeply the cave in goes. Is it likely to have been confined to the mouth of the tunnel, given where the devices were placed? Or are we talking about clearing out miles of debris by hand?" The governor winced for the thought. Pale fingers found and brushed over the scrap of parchment that had been left for her at the mansion construction site. Who -were- the mysterious Painted Ones that had made contact and offered to take on so overwhelming a task? She was not comfortable in handing over too taxing a job. It might leave her, and the city, too deeply in debt to its mysterious benefactors.

The wolf turned his attention to the elven male with head tilted at his admission. He snorted softly but added nothing to Arien's berating. The battle was done and they were now to rebuild Rynvale. Leaving the two argue or set aside the incident, he wandered towards one of the cave ins. A paw was tentatively placed before he would look back towards the elves, or rather, Arien, in specific. "The cave-in only hinders an already present blockage... There is garbage and filth just past the rubble," he remarked huskily behind his helmet. Rhocielle had frequented the sewers at length when he was merely scouting the island, and at a glance he was able to tell just how deep the rubble pile was by how much space was left. The debris itself was perhaps only several feet deep, the mountain of garbage behind it acting as further structural support. As for the filth itself, he had no idea as to how deep it ran. "...Hrm, the other tunnels are the same as well, some worse than others... Even without the explosives Lirithen borrowed, it is still quite a bit to have work crews dig through. We still don't know if this is all of the Fermin, or they might have secret passages through the rubble. Maybe the mountains of garbage are their own handmade barricades..." As disgusting as the thought was to build a wall of filth to prevent the enemy from entering their homes, it suited the Fermin mentality.

“Oh, blah, blah, blah,” Lirithen cut above Arien's verbal reprimand, pale hands diving into the pockets of his armoured coat. An ear twitched at the accusation, and his expression turned from nonchalant to sour. “I am not as careless as you may think, high born,” came the sharp, curt reply, the ranger having slipped unconsciously into his native musical tongue. Venomous tone was at odds with the elven language, the soft lilting words somehow seeming to sharpen his angered vocals, “or does it fit, perhaps, that a wood elf would dive upon the first opportunity to bring your native city crumbling from within?!” Eyes widened hysterically, seething breaths slipping through gnashed teeth, “I have a duty to the Order, a duty to the people of Hollow. I took the explosives because I knew I would need them. I would -not- seek to compromise the clan, or Rynvale, by using such controversial devices beyond the necessary need.” He took further offence at her statement, aimed primarily at Rhocielle, and snorted. Accursed high elf. “Well, if you don't need me here,” the ranger declared airily as he spun on an enchanted heel, “I will see to... the Lady Valiana.” His tempered steps echoed down the sewer tunnels, muttered curses flowing in his wake. The Lady's seemingly endless sleep was wearing thin upon his nerves.

Arien watched the high strung exit of the wood elf. She had not expected that he would take gently her reprimand, his nature being as stubborn and proud as any that she knew. Retort was bitten on her tongue as his evident concern for the still comatose draconian was displayed in every line of his being as he disappeared towards the sewer exit. A soft sigh escaped as she turned back towards the wolf, her expression shadowed with sorrow and worry as she addressed the unthinkable. " What do we do if she does not awaken Rho? What will we do if we lose Val?" her question was almost lost in the covering that was the gas mask. As if to banish even the thought of something so fearful from her mind, Arien turned again to careful assessment of the multi-directional web of tunnels that spread out before her-at least in the places where cave ins did not present blockages, hiding her face from the wolfen male and his possibly painfully honest reply. " The system will be impossible to maintain, without a constant and ever vigilant presence I think. It will not be the most pleasant of jobs, but I think we should open an Inspection Station down here, and keep it manned," she murmured. " Perhaps one of these, Painted Ones, will be up to the task. If they are fermin, as we suspect, it will not matter that so much time must be spent occupying a post below ground." Her eyes sought his masked face again; he looked almost alien in his gear. " Perhaps, when we have cleaned out the worst of the build up, it will become clearer how much room we really have to work with. The station should be near the surface exit, I think." As she spoke, the elf had unconsciously begun to take steps towards that exit, following perhaps, in the wake of her childhood friend. She hoped she had been succesful in redirecting his response to her spoken out loud thought about Valiana.

Rhocielle grunted softly at the departure of the overly stressed elven male. Within the confines of his helm, his ears flicked lightly. There was nothing to be done about it, however. As attention was brought back by Arien's words, he merely replied, "...I do not know -because we will not lose her, elf." Gauntlet paw reached out in the darkness to rest upon her arm, clawed digits tracing down its length until taking hold of her hand. No further word was given to the grim thoughts once Arien shifted the conversation back towards their official business. "If they are Fermin... they would be the best choice. I do not trust them. They are... rats," he said, but ended his statement with a grunt. "...They are greedy and ravenous creatures. -but, I can believe they can be bought off with food and aid. Greedy and ravenous, and also self-preserving." Slowly he accompanied her towards the surface exit at her remark of the station's placement. His voice echoed faintly as the pair disappeared into a tunnel, "...aye, and easier to make contact with your appointed... Painted One if he is to be found at the station."

Within minutes the pair had disappeared along the tunnel's length, lost to the glow of the pool of natural light that yet managed to penetrate the sewers at the base of the ladder that led above ground. Behind them, in what might appear to be an empty space, the soft scratching an scurrying of clawed feet would be the only indicator that the entire meeting had been observed and overheard, by the Painted Ones.