RP:Last Leg: The Final Approach to the Valley

From HollowWiki

Background

This is part of the Anders' Expedition story arc.


After a dull but tiring period of watchful walking and strained conversation, the group reaches the section of Xalious where they would be forced to part from flat and dry roads. A descent into dark places was an appropriate, if unpleasant, step for an expedition let by a necromancer. Morale lowers with the rapid drop in altitude and temperature.


In the Xalious Mountains


Below the narrow bridge, the waterways are dark and uninviting. Only fish or the foolhardy would normally dare the pitch black and waterlogged warren of river-carved passageways and caverns deep within Xalious.



Players:
Anders - Leader
Cornelius - Dandy
Veriun - Guide and Advisor
Taikahn - Eccentric Disco Lizard
NPC's:
Anathras - Magican
Archibald Smith - archaeologist and anthropologist.
Bob - Knight
Cutty Stabber - Rogue and Treassure seeker
Mechator - Mechanical pet
Methras the eagle eye - Ranger
Reginald Swertzein - Outcast warrior
...and Phil


Cliff Notes for Cliffhangers

Veriun arrived at the cliff with the bridge perhaps thirty hours march from the north land campsite. A slight wind grabbing his coat and cloak in the evening hour. Before them lay the last leg before the lost lands. It had been an event less but tiring journey to come this far. The land was not the most well travelled nor well kept. And now they were here. A general silence over the party, all of them.. or maybe most of then, more like, too busy focusing on the journey to waste energy on words. Occupied with movement and contemplation. But now the avian made a brief pause, turning towards the group. "This is as far as the wagon goes. From here on, we carry what we need. Leave the rest." At this the warrior spoke up with a voice filled with annoyed sarcasm "Great. More labour. And climbing and swimming soon enough, huh?"

Anders nods, and turns for the two zombies and the rest of the group. "Bob, Phil, grab the bare necessities. We'll add any additional supplies necessary as we see what the others can carry.." He then looks at the agitated warrior. "Calm yourself. Remember the treasures that await us at the end of this journey.." Bob merely nods, grabbing a rather big pack of supplies without any hesitation, whilst the other zombie repeatedly throws uncertain gazes over the edge of the cliff, and mutters to himself. "always cliffs.. why does it have to be bloody cliffs? why can't it ever be someplace nice an close to the ground..?" He grunts slightly as he picks up a load for himself to carry.

Taikahn decided to make himself useful and hauled a sack out of the wagon. Then, almost immediately getting distracted, he set the sack down and peered underneath the cart's chassis, looking at the axle and framework and any possible suspension system it might have. "Hm. Not really anything there, is there?" he asked nobody in particular, and shrugged and picked up the sack again, slinging it over one shoulder. "Veriun, is there anything this cart is made of beneath the surface that's reworkable?" Mechator was still following Corny, and appeared to be napping on his shoulder.

Archibald, as ever, had been the noisy one out. His stream of questions had at first been dammed, as it were, by the infrequent responses to his enquiries. However, never one to shun his own learned conversation, he had kept up a running dialogue with himself as he mused over correlations between gualon and gamorg cultures. Cornelius had simply been strolling along, keeping a weather eye out for ambushes or a scholarly misstep from Archibald while marvelling at Mechator's design and construction. When the point of departure from the wagon is reached, dandy and scholar both remove their packs from the wagon, The dandy also takes an additional pack of rations and hooked a couple of spare water skins to it. Cornelius, hearing Reginald and Phil's complaints, chuckles and comments "Why, anyone would have thought you believed this was going to be a walk in the park, my dear fellows! Think of it as... character building."

Veriun gave Taikahn a simple response: "There is a metal pole. One could arguably turn it into... a metal pole." before he walked over and collected his share of the burden, Joined in doing so by the human and the now unusually silent elves who seemed to have nothing to say, sing or laugh at for the moment. Cutty was trying out packs to find one possible to carry with her stature while Reginald turned around and faced the dandy "Just because I knew it would be hard doesn't mean I don't mind it." He responded sourly while Veriun started at the bridge, wasting no time.

Anders follows Veriun, carrying a minor pack himself. He is followed by both of the zombies, Phil who is desperately trying not to look down as they cross the bridge. "well. I don't mind it being hard.." he accidentally looks down "I just HATE the bleeding heights.."

Taikahn thought about that and looked again. "Hm, yes." Once more he set his sack down. Pulling a small string on his hat that flipped one of the flaps down and spinning it so that he could see, he pulled a small hand tool from a row of several hidden there and began working on removing one of the wheels. "Any metal is usable metal, and since we're not taking it along..." Mechator would have rolled his eyes if A) he'd been paying any attention or B) was able to do that in the first place.

Cornelius hefts his two packs with a grin at Reginald, giving Mechator a chance to find a more comfortable position, then approaches the Preklek to murmur "I say old bean, before you start dismantling that wagon, please do keep in mind we may need it intact on the way back, wot". Archibald finishes strapping himself into his own oversized behemoth of a pack, and, having mentally caught up with the surrounding conversation, mutters in response to Reginald's earlier comment "There always has to be water. Swamps, rivers, lakes, rainstorms, humidity. Yeauch! That's why I prefer the nameless desert. Clothing never gets soaked. I hate soaked socks. Such a nuisance." Both Archibald and Cornelius will not be long in following Veriun's lead, making their way towards the bridge.

Veriun was not far off, moving at a slow pace to allow the others' catching up. Which they do. All except Cutty who was occupied trying to 'mount' Taikahn. Standing on his hat somehow and pointing forwards: "Onwards, Alien lizard! FOR GLORY!!"

Anders walks on, keeping the pace of Veriun. Phil seems to be eager to get off the narrow bridge, and mutters irritatedly at the slow pace of the three ahead of him. "Do we really need ta' walk so dam' slow? Can't we just get over this floggin' bridge already?!" Anders looks at his agitated companion over his shoulder. "It is Veriun who sets the pace. If you know the place to which we are going, feel free to take the lead."

Taikahn reversed his actions upon hearing Cornelius' suggestion, removed the gnome from his hat with one arm and nestled her in the crook of his arm much like one would carry a child, and then picked up his sack again and followed, a bit disappointed but certain that there would be more opportunity for scavenging later. Mechator was trying to nap and starting shooting various irritated glances in the directions of the nearest and/or loudest complainer, letting out a small grinding noise and watching his paw, setting off a small spark between two claws for fun.

Cornelius grimaces as the spark between Mechator's paws grounds itself in the nearest conductive surface - his gorget. He murmurs under his breath in a genteel whisper as he walks along "First warning, dear kitten. Do that again, and you'll be napping until Taikahn can put you back together again. Do we have an understanding?" Archibald trots forward to keep apace with Veriun, starting up a new vein of possibly one-sided scholarly discussion on the differences between Armantium and Schezerade.

Veriun raised the pace now that everyone was on his trail, leaving the bridge behind him in little time and continuing along the cliff which keeps getting ever slimmer and slowly being bombarded with the sound of a river far below as he proceeds. As he walks he answers Archibald: "The difference is simple: One is new. One is old." stating the simple fact as if it was all that needed consideration on the matter. The gnome flailing much like the child she was being treated at beneath the preklek's arm.

Anders stays a few steps behind the avian and the scholar, keeping the raised pace just as easily. The necromancer keeps one gloved hand towards the cliff as he walks, but beyond that he looks undaunted by the height. The zombie, Phil, on the other hand looks daunted, indeed. He keeps an shoulder towards the cliffside, and mutters curses at the deity that created the laws of gravity. Bob looks all the more untroubled, and trots calmly along the path, whistling a slight tune.

A Roc scampered into view from the east. The Roc scampered off to the east.

Taikahn smirked at the flailing gnome held securely in his elbow. "Hey, you wanted a ride, didn't you?" He also didn't appear to care very much about the height, even having a bit of spring to his step. Although his eyes were on the cliffs--he was searching for hints of ore deposits. Something to make something out of--he'd noticed that just about everyone else was carrying a weapon and since he didn't have one of his own with him he was a tad bit concerned for his safety. Mechator listened to the words, understood the tone, and immediately leaped from Cornelius' shoulder and bounded up onto Taikahn's pant leg, where he decided to bury himself in a pocket.

Archibald's goggles mostly hide the first sign of irritation the young man has displayed in what has been a gruelling journey thus far - all that escapes is a slight twitch and a veneer of annoyance as he says "Thank you, incumbent professor of the obvious. I appreciate the weight of wisdom and tenure behind that scintillating observation: but what changed between old and new? What lessons were learned and applied in the construction of the new city and its infrastructure? Such questions are a vital subject for publication, as a lesson for other nations and cultures reaching the point of collapse, if only as a guide for the rough trail between collapse and reconstruction. I'm hardly asking for hidden secrets here, simply an architectural and sociological evaluation of how the homunculus-driven decline of Armantium advised the renewal of Avian culture in a new city." Cornelius stifles a chuckle, and continues his sure-footed tread along the cliff as Mechator returns to Taikahn. As a shadow passes overhead, he looks up to see the silhouette of a large Roc pass over, a smaller bird in its wake. He rolls his eyes slightly, and double-checks the grappling hook is properly sashed from shoulder to hip for ease of rapid removal and deployment. Otherwise, he simply follows Veriun, back straight under the burden of two packs, and breathing regulated to reinforce his endurance and stamina for the hike.

Veriun merely smiled at the youth's annoyance, in a manner if he had just preformed a test on the scholar. Giving no answer to the extensive reply as he, at least seemingly, occupied himself with spying the cliff edge for a specific spot while the sound of the river beneath grew ever louder. The elves looked up as the birds passed and Reginald let out a "Sheesh.." at Archibald's behaviour while Cutty stopped battering Taikahn and indeed seemed to enjoy the ride.

Anders doesn't change much as they proceed along the road. The necromancer seems to pay little attention to the exchange between the avian and the scholar, perhaps the constant academic 'exchange' has already subsided into the background noise form the necromancer's perspective. Instead, he too follow the roc with his gaze as the majestic bird makes a pass above their heads. He does not comment on it, as he recognizes what must be the comparably minuscule parrot in tow of the huge bird. Bob, too, gazes at the two as they pass, but Phil seems too busy staring at the path just in front of his feet to note the odd pair.

Taikahn glanced up as the birds passed and marvelled at the sheer scale of the roc. "...imagine the musculature," he said, watching its wings sweep. "It must weigh -tons-! The fact that it can even get itself off the ground without jet propulsion is astonishingWAH--" This last syllable exploded from him because his foot slipped from the cliffside because he hadn't been paying any attention as to where he was going. His left arm--the one carrying Cutty--flung itself outwards while tightening his hand's grip on her, and however much she weighed was enough to counterbalance him back onto the trail. "...my apologies," he said, once he was sure he had his footing again.

Cornelius grins as he contemplates gnome propulsion, and starts to keep a closer lookout for the less secure parts of the cliff, in case Taikahn needs advance warning in the future. Archibald, in the meanwhile, has pulled from a pocket a strange contraption, looking like a pair of solid-metal, strangely angled, goggles - which he wraps around his left wrist, metal cylinders facing the same direction as his palm. Once it is secured, he retrieves a small leatherbound notepad, and bamboo-encased quill of some kind. Holding the notepad in his left hand, he flicks open one of the metal canisters, which reveals ink, and dips the quill in it before flicking it closed again. He starts writing notes rapidly in a strangely eccentric form of shorthand. Somehow, despite this, his step remains assured, and he follows the cliff-path closely.

Veriun keeps going onwards at the same pace until he suddenly turns and takes the one step onto the edge, peering down. He then looks back at the expedition behind him. "Prepare to climb. ..and swim." he says in a simple tone and jumps off the edge, disappearing into the mist below followed by a brief silence broken by Reginald's comment:"Uh...Woah?" ...not counting Cutty's excited squeals of "Again!" of course. Anathras walked up to the edge and peered down, perhaps trying to spot the avian.

Anders looks down for a moment before starting to climb. Phil looks towards the edge with a stumped expression. "No, no no no no. I am not climbin' down there.." Bob puts an hand on his shoulder. "sometimes we don't get to choose." He proceeds to push Phil somewhat, making him stagger towards the rim. The zombie falls, and while in the air he grabs a conveniently protruding rock. "Bloody hells! When I get down from here I'm kicking yer behind!" P: "well, get down first, and we'll see if you will manage that." The knight then starts the decent himself. After descending a few meters, Phil looks at the knight. "How did you know I'd manage to stop the fall?" Bob chuckles slightly. "I didn't."

Taikahn peered over the edge. "Hm." He looked at Cutty. "Well, Veriun just jumped. I say we ought to be able to do the same, what about you?" He set her down and removed his hat, opening a small compartment on one side and removing a rod about a foot long covered in cloth of some kind. He set it on the ground next to him and reached into another couple of pockets, pulling out a vial of a clear liquid and a vial of a powder of some kind. Then he poured the powder into the liquid and shook it up. Then he put the empty vial away, set the vial with the mixed substances next to the rod, and picked up said rod. He flicked it with a snap of his wrist and it extended and unfolded into a rather large dome shape. He picked up the vial, slid it into a small socket near the top of the dome and uncorked it. There was suddenly a small burst of flame--a tiny bit, but it created a significant amount of heat. He picked up the sack, would make some kind of attempt to grab the gnome and then step off the edge, using the hot air gathered underneath the umbrella to slow his fall. It'd still be very fast, of course, but far more survivable than just falling to terminal velocity. Taikahn also put his hat back on before he jumped. *nods*

Archibald waits until last, using the weight of his pack as an excuse, explaining his weight would be a danger to the others. Cornelius ties the end of his grappling cord around himself into a complicated harness, fingers working the knots as deftly as a sailor's, until he is satisfied. He removes his boots and hooks them to his belt securely and then, grasping the grappling hook in his left hand, he begins a methodical descent, feet seeking out the foot holds, right hand and grapple seeking spots with which to hold his weight. At times he moves slowly, inching to the side before moving, at other times dropping like a spider who has released control over its web only to stop his descent with a well-placed hand-and-hook while his toes seek out new footholds. In this fashion he proceeds downwards at a reasonable pace. As for Archibald, when the others are out of sight, he removes a glove, and reaches into a side-pocket of his pack to retrieve a small case. Out of it he plucks two rings, one mounted with an aquamarine, one with a small fragment of rare elerium - placing them on his fingers he murmurs an arcane phrase which causes the elerium to glow. He conceals this, and the other ring with a glove, and proceeds to step off the edge to descend at a comfortable pace. Should there be no ledge to land on, he would bring his hand to his mouth, murmur another word, and land securely on the water as if it were solid ground.


Wet Feet and Waterways

Veriun stood on the water as well. Wrapped in the swirling mist of the waters-stream. Seemingly unbothered by its quick paced flow while Reginald and the brothers either stood on ledge perhaps a meter above the water or stood in the knee-high water (having descended with the others), looking around in attempts to gain an better understanding of the surroundings.

Anders stands in the knee-high water, and seems to be struggling somewhat to keep his foothold on the slippery rocks. Phil descends into the stream as well, now much more at home than he was while climbing. "ah, this is much better." He sounds satisfied as his boots are submerged in the water. Bob does not seem as satisfied. "..I guess I'll have to oil in my armour at the next rest.." he mutters, not approving what the liquid would do to his armour if left to its business.

Veriun stopped outside the final hurdle between the expedition and their goal. The Gaping opening in the cliffs by the river, like a maw of the mountains drinking from the rushing water. It was dark inside, seeing as the opening lay in the shadow of the chasm. The river was deeper here, and moved much more quickly, it was almost a rushing stream. And in it, clutching or leaning against stones disrupting the flow stood the adventurers, all most likely in a rather sour mood. The avian guide squatted on a small ledge at the side of rim of the caverns opening, peering inside. "It seems we've made it to the final gauntlet. From here on is truly uncharted ground." he said, raising his voice above the roar of the water.

Anders clutches a rock with all his strength as he gazes down the opening. Phil seems to be less stressed as to clutching his rock. "Oi, Veriun-whatever, are we supposed to swim through 'ere?" he points at the rushing stream that would swallow them all should their grasps slip. "You know there's probably tons of sharp rocks an' stuff along this stream? I prefer to have my limbs attached to my body, you know, and swimming here seems somethin' like... Counterproductive to my goals." Bob, trying to keep himself above the surface as the stream fills his armour with rushing water, trying to pull him down into it's... Inhospitable grasp gazes at the Avian as well, seemingly awaits said person's verdict.

Taikahn was actually in a somewhat chipper mood at the moment, despite the circumstances. It was better than, say, fighting a ykhari-mnan. Good story, someone should ask him about it sometime. Where was I? Oh yes. Taik was carrying the double load of a sack of supplies and--unless she'd decided to venture elsewhere--Cutty, and would most likely be explaining some previous adventure of his to her. Whether or not she believed it was of no concern to him. Anyhow, when Veriun stopped, Taik stopped and wrapped an arm around a stone for support. "Uncharted? Splendid! Means we'll have to improvise." He'd have rubbed his hands together if they weren't busy.

Even Cornelius looks less-than-impressed with the scenario playing out before him. With a sigh, he realises the foolhardiness of proceeding without sturdy footwear and sits on the ledge to pull his boots back on, sans socks, while the group plan the next step. Archibald, by contrast, has a wide grin spread across his face. He is, in fact, almost bouncing with excitement on top of the river - its surface depressing like silk on a bed with each shift of weight. Cornelius grimaces at the river as his boots are firmly laced up, proceeds to likewise secure the openings of his satchel after retrieving a ball of twine, and calls out to the adventurous academic "Archibald old bean: I'll cut you a deal. I'll carry your waterskins if you carry this satchel. In addition, if we reach daylight, I'll share my brandy with you. Do we have an accord?" Archibald thinks on it at length, before saying "A cup of brandy each night hereonafter, and you have yourself a deal!" With an inward sigh Cornelius nods in agreement, and Archibald trots over to make the exchange of heavy waterskins for the dandy's satchel. Cornelius then uses the twine to hook his and Archibald's waterskins to his grappling-hook harness. The extra buoyancy, he expects, will make navigating the dark waters beyond slightly less fraught with drowning, especially given his attire. Certainly, he knew his stamina was about to be tested like never before.

Veriun turned and smiled briefly at the sour adventurers, addressing Phil specifically. "If you put your feet down, Phil. You'll notice this is actually quite a shallow spot." he says before turning and leaning forwards into the dark, and starts adding onto his sentence but is interrupted by Methras before he can say anything that could be considered a word "We're not supposed to dive from there and hope we aren't splattered I hope?" asks the elf. To which Veriun chuckles. "By all means. You're welcome to do that." he says and holds up a hand towards the gnome as she starts flailing as if to immediately attempt the method. "I'd rather suggested walking along the ledge below me and find a way to lower ourselves down into the stream before attempting to swim the entire distance without knowing our heading."

The zombie tries to put his feet down. "I'd be damned.." is his exclamation as his feet reach solid ground. Bob seems quite flustered himself as he uses the bottom to stand up. "Well, now things got simpler." he says as water leaks out of every opening in the armour. The necromancer uses his armoured companion as support as they make way towards the ledge mentioned by the avian. The zombie looks around the adventurers sourly. "Don't judge me." he says, before heading up to join his master. The knight seems intent to play the whole thing off as nothing, and the Necromancer seems unbothered.

Taikahn made his way forward, trying to get around Anders, and eventually made it close to the ledge. Setting the squirming Cutty down next to Veriun, he leaned forward and tried to look over and see what was below. "Hmm. Bit of a drop there."

Archibald, still standing on the water close to Cornelius, says to the dandy "Umm... There's a small lantern sitting at the top of my pack. Would you please take it out and get it all set up for me? I really don't want to be wandering through there in absolute darkness. I might hit my head on something, and that would be absolutely horrid." Cornelius, if only for the sake of his satchel, proceeds to oblige the scholar, carefully extracting the lantern before asking "Where's the oil and flint?" Archibald directs the dandy to one of the side-pockets commenting "Don't forget the wick. This is a lantern I designed myself" Cornelius locates an oilskin with a screw-on cap, a small length of strongly-scented chord, and flint. He proceeds to decant some oil into the lantern's reservoir before deftly striking flint to sending sparks to ignite the chemically-treated wick. In short time the lantern has a flame dancing in it, at which point Archibald retrieves the lantern from the dandy with a "Thank you". The scholar then takes the small oilskin and, tilting the lantern slightly, screws the oilskin into a circular aperture on the lantern's side. With a cheery "I'm all set!", Archibald sends the lantern light to play below the drop off, and jumps down, the water once again behaving like any courteous footpath would. Cornelius sighs, and hops into the shallow part of the stream, already imagining the wrinkles the leather of his boots will get when drying out. He watches as Archibald steps up next to Taikahn with the lantern and jumps "Well. One cannot fault his ...enthusiasm." Cornelius manages to layer that last word with many layers of sardonic inflection.

Veriun turned and jumped, soon dangling in one hand from the rim of the opening the others had positioned themselves on, peering down before following Archibald and letting go, allowing himself to fall the distance onto the ledge he'd spotted. Kneeling there in the darkness he looked around for something, ignoring the scholar who would most likely be close by. Unless the youngling had dropped all the way onto the water surface even further below. Up at the surface, The gnome leapt out of taikahns hands and followed the two others. The two elves and the unusually silent warriors doing the same after short hesitation. "Hey, it's darn dark down here..." echoed Reginald's voice after an unusually heavy 'THUMP

Anders quickly follows the others, descending the distance to the ledge with a swift jump. As he lands, he makes little, or really, no sound over the water crashing down nearby. The clattering as the plate-clad knight repeats the process is more loud, and the thud as the zombie follows suit, likewise.

Taikahn was, he supposed, last or next-to-last to descend, and since the others seemed to have jumped with very little difficulty he figured it would be alright if he followed suit. So, he did. And, with a thump that was probably just as loud as some of the more heavily armoured people in the party, flattened himself against a wall to avoid accidentally pushing anybody off.

Archibald almost squawks an unintelligible word into his hand when the drop is longer than expected, the enchanted elerium ring activating in time to slow him -just- enough to let him land safely on the water below with an 'oomph!' and a fair amount of stumbling as he staggers around trying to regain his balance. He is aided when his lantern plays across the rocky wall underneath the ledge, and the youth is soon to use it, via impact of shoulder, to bring himself into more stable footing. Cornelius, taking the route of caution, makes his way to the ledge almost in step with Taikahn, still looking at the waterway as one would some enraged bear or unwanted aunt. A cast of Archibald's lantern a moment later as he staggers around illuminates the positions of the group on the ledge above. Picking a clear spot, Cornelius steps off with a twist, hands hooking on the ledge's edge before silently dropping down. Cornelius was glad to note that his boots, whether Waterlogged or not, still managed to absorb the sounds they made with the habitual hunger of their enchantment.

Veriun peered down onto the water as if he could see the surface without the help of a lantern. The others were not so lucky. The Elves were silently conversing in their own language while Reginald exclaimed: "I can't see anything!". Cutty? Nobody knows. In this darkness a gnome rogue was easily forgotten and much more difficult to spot then to forget. Soon, however, the avian started scaling down the wall in a slow and calculated pace while speaking to the others. "Cornelius. There are some quite convenient rock formations above and to the right. I suggest making good use of your grapple-hook." his voice echoing somewhat in the dark well-like cavern

Anders takes a slight step forwards, gazing over the edge of the ledge. "If I may, I will make a passage for us." The necromancer looks to Veriun briefly, before starting to gesticulate and mutter in some arcane language, casting some sort of spell. After a minute or two, he stops, and from beneath his robe, bones, shaped like an elongated spine, whereas the rib-bones follow the sides of the segmented thing in moderate spacing. The bone-construct keeps flowing out of the darkness of the necromancer's robes until the end of it has reached the bottom of the drop, ending just above the water's surface down below. With a few more muttered words, the end of the spine curls up around the rocks previously mentioned by Veriun as to give the ladder a strong fastening. The necromancer looks around his party. "The path is clear." A tingle in the voice of the necromancer hints at a cheerfulness as he begins the climb downwards, using the ribs as hand and footholds. He is followed by Bob, beneath whose weight the bones creak, but do not break. The structure seems enchanted somewhat, as to grant it further sturdiness. The last of the three down is Phil, who seems none too thrilled to be descending a chasm once more. "Why is it always heights..?" He mutters while carefully climbing down.


Lizards and Ladders

Taikahn was... well, very creeped out by the ladder and was highly reluctant to use it at first. He edged close, squatted near it and slowly reached out to poke at it, jerking his hand back on contact in case it tried to bite. He did the same thing again, and then tried to put his hands on it to climb down but couldn't quite bring himself to do such. "Ah, Cornelius," he edged away from the ladder with a shudder, "You wouldn't mind sharing that grappling hook of yours, would you?"

On stable footing again, Archibald had been roaming the cavernous area below the ledge, searching for likely exits. In the time it takes Anders to construct his ladder, Archibald had found a few tunnels leading out of the cavern, but something about them did not fill the scholar with optimism. In the meanwhile, Cornelius had been about to latch onto the ladder when Taikahn's words brought him to a pause. "I say old bean, this is a perfectly serviceable ladder." The dandy points at the plate-armoured and pack-laden figure of Bob while continuing "I mean, if it can hold that kind of weight, it's decidedly stronger that your regular ladder." A thought occurs to Cornelius "In fact, my dear fellow, I rather believe it would be quite ill-mannered of me to reject the use of such a graciously offered and convenient method of descent to the waters below." With that well-meaning but utterly unhelpful statement, Cornelius takes the easy way down, utterly unsqueamish in the use of the necromantically designed ladder. As the majority of the group gradually descends the ladder, Archibald approaches them, strangely constructed lantern at the ready. "I have a horrible feeling there really is going to be some swimming involved. The exit tunnels are rather full of dreadfully wet stuff."

Veriun descended from his climbing soon after the others, seeing as a ladder is undoubtedly quicker. Standing on the water not unlike Archibald. The gnome was with him as well. Although not standing on the water, as she had no such trick. "Using creepy ladders is cheating!" she exclaimed disappointedly as the others followed Cornelius in descending. Reginald commenting: "Well. This is probably the most creepy ladder I've ever climbed." with a retort from Anathras: "Oh don't worry about that. Worry about weather it'll hold for all of us hanging onto it while doubting weather it's a good idea to jump into the water just yet." Meanwhile, the avian, with Cutty on his shoulders, walked past Archibald and up to the far wall near one of the tunnels. "Give me some time and I should find the quickest route with enough places to regain breath for us to make it to the other side." he said as he placed a titanium clad hand towards the rough stone wall. "Hopefully" he added with a sarcastic smile.

Anders drops down into the water, floating easily as his robes restrain the air from flowing out of them. Quite convenient, as it becomes a sort of buoyancy device, allowing the necromancer to stay afloat without any issue. The knight, on the other hand, sinks alike a stone when he drops down, disappearing beneath the surface, leaving nothing but a ripple to show where he went down. Phil, on the other hand, swims with ease after he took the final lounge to fall into the water. It might not be a long fall, not at all, the ladder ends where the surface of the water begins, and a tiny part was submerged as the small waves caused by the knight's splashy disappearance spreads.

Taikahn grumbled, "Could have just said 'yes, I do mind'," at Cornelius' rather (to him) condescending statement, and peered closer to the edge again, looking down at the water and watching the knight disappear below the water. He ran through all his alternatives in his head--he was not going to use that ladder! No way. Just... no. "How deep is the water?" he called down. "Is it deep enough to dive in?"

Cornelius grins at Taikahn's grumbling, then continues his descent. No matter how stiff his upper lip, the dandy was not looking forward to getting soaked and cold. As he climbs down the bonecrafted ladder he mutters "After this, my dear chaps, I'm moving to a bally desert. I am -done- with the cold. This on-and-off relationship is over between us." With that he slips into the frigid water, drawing breath and gritting his teeth against the discomfort. "Well, this is just bloody jolly, isn't it. Such fun. Let's get a hurry-on, eh? I'd like out of this light-forsaken place as soon as I possibly can." Kicking strongly, Cornelius treads water, assisted by the waterskins strapped to his grappling-hook harness in keeping his head and shoulders above water where his cuirass would normally have weighed him down torturously. Archibald looks around as he tries to recall the other commands for his aquamarine ring. In response to Cornelius he comments "Deserts have their charms I suppose, but there's too much sand. Far too much sand. It gets in everything, you know. Shoes. Socks. Stew. Ugh, I can feel the gritty breakfast gruel grating against my teeth just thinking about it. No, I think I'll be looking for a jungle trek myself next." The goggles conceal the gleam in his eyes as he says excitedly "I heard there's a captain based out of Cenril who knows a way to Selen Island. I would just -love- to explore the buildings there."

Veriun stood perfectly still. Said nothing. Did nothing. Even Cutty seemed to be a statue. Meanwhile, the others dropped into the waters as well. Except the elven mage who remained on the ladder, his hand stretched out at the water while chanting arcane verses. Soon, the was a small patch of ice stretching out from the wall closest to the Ladder, Which the elf stepped onto. Followed by his brother. "Magic has it's uses, huh?" said one of them, hard to tell who with the low lighting, especially with their similar voices.

Anders floats easily in the water as if unbothered by the chilly water. "Jungles are nice, yes, if you do not mind the insects." He floats on, gazing at Veriun to see what way they are supposed to go, waiting for the avian to show the way, which he will (eventually) do. He then gazes up at the Preklek. "You can dive, yes, but I would discourage any needless acrobatics. We do not need to be hit by a otherwise perfectly performed dive to get our share of danger, soon enough." He lastly turns to the mage. "Can you possibly heat up the water somewhat? Some of this party will freeze to death if left out in the cold water." His voice neutral, as always.

Taikahn got an answer to his question and nodded, standing up. "Needless acrobatics. Right. I'll make it as simple as possible." He looked down over the edge and pondered the way to minimize his impact and decided for the standard headfirst dive with the fingers pointed over the head. And this he did, with a small exclamation in his own preklek language, plummeting into the water and aiming away from anybody, trying to make as small an impact as possible but he -did- weigh about three-twenty...

A clever trick, the icy path, but not everyone in the group is a fan. Cornelius, still treading water, would glare at the elf mage if he could see him "Brilliant idea, that. Add more deuced ice to the frigid bloody water." He is somewhat mollified by the common sense displayed by the necromancer, but has added this to his continually overlooked list of 'situations which would never have happened but for my own recklessness'. Archibald, meanwhile, continues on his theme at Anders' perceived prompt "Oh yes, insects aplenty, all part of the challenge of course, but I heard rumours that the island is still inhabited! One of the old sailors I was speaking with swore black and blue that he'd seen a tribe of what might have been primitive gnomes. And yet there are apparently buildings! A lost civilisation perhaps. Oh yes, Selen Island is definitely on my list of research vacation spots." A splash then, as Preklek is introduced to cold water, and a sputtering comes from Cornelius as he gets caught by a spray of icy water "Really now, could you not have used the deuced ladder? It was -right there-. Dash it all, this day just gets worse and bloody worse."


Having a swimmingly good time of it

Veriun spoke before the elves had any chance of answering, the others, as he straightened up a bit and proceeded walking back to the 'centre' of the water surface. "I've found the way. Needless to say it is not an easy one. But, it is not as hard as the others. "Follow me. I will leave lights." He added as he turned towards the far wall and then abruptly fell, still straight, trough the surface and down into the depths. He only sank a second or two before he started swimming towards an opening in the cliff of said wall, followed by Cutty, then Reginald. The elves' ice dissipated as they let themselves sink down to follow. The avian did indeed leave lights. As he proceeded into the tunnel he started leaving a trail of strange burning lights in the roof of the tunnel with regular distance interval.

The zombie nods. "Aye, got it boss." The zombie swims over to his master easily, upon which Anders grabs a hold of his companion's shoulders before letting the air flow out from beneath his robes, removing his buoyancy completely. Phil dives, following the others into the cave. Down below the surface, below even the cave through which they are supposed to travel, a shadow moves towards the lights. Illuminated slightly by the lights left by Veriun, a firmly submerged Bob does his best to climb into the elevated tunnel, and to simply stroll along the bottom of it along with his swimming companions.

Taikahn felt the cold water upon entry and surfaced as swiftly as possible to keep as much of it off of him as possible, suddenly realizing something. "Guys, I need to get out of this water. Now. I've no internal body heat system, in these temperatures I could go into shock." He seemed fine for now, but his voice had a fearful and urgent edge to it.

Taikahn would find, despite his expectations, that his temperature remained stable even in the frigid water as a voice sounded in his mind as it had so many times before "No, you will not."

Cornelius ceases his complaints for a moment to mutter "Oh of course. -underwater-. How did I not see this coming?" With a sigh, then an intake of breath, he stops treading water, letting the weight of his cuirass drag him and the waterbottles below the surface. Aided somewhat by the buoyancy of those bottles, he laboriously swims after Veriun. Archibald again waits until the very last, whispering yet another command to the aquamarine ring concealed beneath his glove, and then to the elerium ring. A hazy outline appears around the archaeologist as he starts to gently sink into the water. It was at about this point that Taikahn resurfaced. "Oh dear. Um. Did you want me to grab one of the elves, see if their magics can keep you warm?" Not waiting for a response, based on the urgency of the situation, Archibald hurries after the mage, Anathras. The Mage would receive a tap on the shoulder, have his head dragged within an inch of the youth's face to find two things: a small area of fresh air, and a franticly rambling stream of words from the young scholar "The preklek, Taikahn, freezing to death, hurry on over and magic him or something, set the water on fire or heat it up around him or something useful" A slight shove from the youth with a better point of leverage "get going NOW!"

Veriun took surface temporarily as he lead on, the reason he'd chosen this way becoming obvious: sufficient points where breath could be refreshed. Such as this one. A roughly two metre stretch where the tunnel had it's own surface. About two heads height between the water and the roof of the ascension of the tunnel. Cutty happily exclaimed "Ah! Cheating!" as her head popped out of the water. Meanwhile, Anathras looked confused between Taikahn and Archibald "uh... something's already heating him.." said the elf with a look that clearly states his opinion of the scholars.. powerful.. reaction.

Anders resurfaces smoothly after Cutty and the others. The Necromancer, and his undead companions, seemed to suffer none from the swim, and the zombie swam rather effortlessly in the water, being the only of the three to actually swim. Bob is standing on the floor of the tunnel, some distance below them. Anders gazes at Anathras, "If the preklek is having exceeding trouble with the cold water, do try to aid him if you can. I cannot do anything for him to preserve him from the cold." He is then carried onwards through the submerged tunnel by Phil, continuing in the trail of the avian. Bob also continues his pleasant stroll on the bottom of the cave.

Taikahn found himself, as he searched for some way to get out of the water, decidedly not going into shock. The little message from Veriun supported his theory that something was going on, and as such he relaxed considerably and followed the group with a cheerful, "Never mind, I seem to be fine. Carry on!" Mechator had himself sealed in a waterproof pocket and was not coming out. ...so why did I mention him? Probably for the record that yes, I haven't forgotten about him.

Cornelius continues following the group through water which still seems abominably cold. The dandy keeps his thoughts to himself, saving his energy for the swimming. Archibald, on the other hand, was peeved. Very peeved. Positively miffed. It was Anathras who would bear the brunt of his discontentment first as a spray of ice-cold water is sent in the direction of the elf's face. To dodge that spray would largely require being submerged in the same cold water "You call this bloody warm? Idiot!" He then stalks over to Taikahn, glares at him through his goggles, and says "Next time you have hysterics and mistake yourself for a common lizard in snowdrift, I shall slap you ever so hard, do you hear me?" The archaeologist then stalks off in pursuit of Veriun, a disgruntled silence hazing about him. For a party which had put up with endless streams of questions from scholar to avian, that might count as quite the silver lining.

Veriun dove again and continued down into the depths heading further down the tunnel where the water strangely gets warmer the further down they proceed. Although it is still not especially warm. Not at all. The others follow the lights silently, choosing not to voice their inner torment. Anathras looked confusedly after the scholar, but then took off after him. Wasting no more time.

Anders keeps on following the avian, not showing any reaction to the odd temperature change. Indeed, there are a few explanations as to why the water would get warmer. Volcanic activity and magic, just to name a couple, but the zombie, the necromancer and the probably undead knight (whose neglect of breathing would confirm that status, if anyone was yet wondering) do not seem to bother much with the cold water growing slightly less cold, if they even notice it.

Taikahn sent a bit of a glare Archibald's way as he powered his way through the water after the others, relieved that it was starting to grow a little warmer. He really had thought he was going to go into shock, and despite being mistaken about that he didn't really appreciate being yelled at. He remained silent as he followed, still towards the back of everyone.

Cornelius is relieved by the change in temperature. Complaining about freezing one's masculine bits off was one thing. Actual risk of the aforementioned occurring was another thing, and Cornelius had been concerned about the possibility. Archibald at that point was cultivating a sulk with all the skill and tenacity afforded to a human only recently come out of adolescence. No doubt, later on in his career, he would look back on this moment and use it as an example of the difference between academic intelligence and emotional intelligence. At the present time, however, all he can think about is gagged mages and lizard popsicles, and these thoughts were giving him a grim sort of pleasure.

Veriun proceeded down into the depths for quite some time, pushing the lung capacity of moth of the members of the party. Then he rather suddenly stops and takes against the tunnel floor and shoots up into an offshoot in the tunnel towards the next pocket of air in the form of a small pressurized cave full of air. Almost like a small checkpoint or sanctuary from the cold tunnels.

Anders barely stops within the cave, just waiting for the others to arrive before continuing in the trail of Veriun. Unless any of the members show any open signs of distress, no words are spoken as the journey is continued.

Cornelius finds the going hard, given the encumbering nature of his equipment, but a supreme effort of athleticism eventually sees the dandy clamber into the cave. He gives Anders a curt nod before taking the opportunity to replenish his depleted stamina with slow, deep breaths. Archibald follows very soon after, muttering something unintelligible to himself as he does. Cornelius, once recovered, continues on at an even and stoic pace.

Taikahn entered the cave pretty much after everyone else, and as such it was likely fairly crowded in there. Having a different metabolism than the others--okay granted, the undead were way better off than he--meant that he didn't need to breathe quite as often, and so the tunnel was only a little of a strain on his lungs. For once, he didn't feel like talking, rather just following and seeing what could come next.

Veriun kept on going silently. Down again with the group after him not unlike a chain of people. Proceeded through the tunnel, making use of a total of four more air pockets before finally coming to a elevation in the tunnel which, as the group emerged from the water, connected to what seemed to be a rather large underground cave hall with stalagmites and stalactites connecting to each other like natural pillars. Veriun proceeded to walk a few steps over the cold wet floor, leaving small puddles wherever he stepped. "It seems we made it, then." he said in a matter-of-fact tone of voice, his words echoing solemnly in the hall.

Anders emerges from the water, releasing his grip of Phil's shoulders calmly. The necromancer walks onto the dry ground soaking wet, his robes hanging tight around his impossibly skinny body. Phil shakes like a dog, sending water flying everywhere, before walking fully out of the water, and then he removes his boots, and empty them onto the ground, sending a surge of water clashing to the ground for each of the boots he empties. Bob exits the water next, walking up the elevation with water leaking through every orifice in the armour. Anders starts to twist the cloth of his cloak to force out some of the water. "Indeed we did."

Cornelius emerges exhausted, soaked and bedraggled. He spends a few moments breathing heavily beneath his cuirass, feeling as if every muscle in his body is burning. Nonetheless, he manages a half-hearted "Jolly good show..." Archibald emerges quite unwinded, murmurs something into his hands, then wanders around the cave, looking at the stalagmites and trying to gauge the age of the cave to keep himself occupied.

Taikahn emerged just as wet as the others, and hadn't any way of drying himself off. Fortunately, his clothes were made of a material that dried rather swiftly, but for the moment he was entirely soaked. He moved over to one side and began going through the toolkit in his hat, making sure nothing was damaged from the water.

Veriun turned to face the others while Anathras conjured up a fire on the ground to dry up quicker and Cutty busied herself running around it in circles frenetically. "the valley is just ahead through the cave." he says and points. "a rather straight path." he says and then returns his hands to his pockets. "your choice from here on." he says to Anders. Passing over the lead to the expedition host.

Anders walks over to the fire, each step accompanied by a wet schploff-sound. "First we dry off. It would serve us no good if many of our party were disabled by disease or freeze to death. Those of you who can freeze to death, I would suggest you remove as much of your wet clothes as possible. As your clothes dry, your body heat will escape easily as long as you are wet. And stay close to the flames. If you have any dry cloth to drape yourselves in, I would also suggest that you do so." He looks around. "As soon as you are all ready, we will proceed onto the true adventure into the valley."

Cornelius wanders over to the fire, and warms his hands by it "Well, I imagine the hard part is yet to come, wot?" After a moment he calls over to the roaming archaeologist "Archibald old bean, my satchel if you'd be so kind?" Cornelius retrieves the satchel from Archibald, and hands the scholar his waterskins back. Without further ado or embarrassment the dandy gets about the business of disrobing down to trousers alone. The leather of them would be best dried slowly while being worn to preserve their fit. In the brief period of time it takes to locate a fresh shirt, a vast collection of scars could be seen on the dandy's chest and arms. Knife cuts, sword wounds, claw marks, and the bite of diverse other weaponry have left numerous livid white marks on the Vailkrinni duellist's pale flesh. These are quickly covered once again by a fresh shirt of linen. He then fetches from his satchel a silver flask and tumbler, and lives up to the other part of his agreement with Archibald "Drink up, old bean. Looks like you could use a brandy to perk up your mood." Strangely enough, the promise of quality brandy was enough to shake Archibald out of his gloom, and he eagerly accepts the tumbler. Later, Cornelius would pour himself a measure as well.