CH. 2: Bear in Mine

[JadedDM]

Neither Haahqae or Darga can find any sign of traps, despite Coroccoco's warning.

"The pipsqueak is right, there are no traps here," Bear says. "Unless...the demons set up traps?"

Coroccoco appears disquieted. "I do not know how I know...I just...had a sudden flash of insight, it would seem."

[mgbevan]

Gregeddin imagined a less refined and cultured person would express a strong distaste by spitting, what would his mother say. His jaw stayed clamped shut.
Lies and deceit or religious lunacy. He couldn't decide. He remained fixed on Bear.

"What word?" he calls down the tunnel.

[HorizonsDream]

"All right, for the time being, let's pick a different path. Those that can should check for traps in the other tunnels just to be safe."

[Haahque]

"Why not set off the trap? If the demons are willing to trap a tunnel, I bet they don't want anyone to get in it."

[mgbevan]

"Rope tied to something heavy, throw it into the tunnel then drag it back, snag up wires or hidden plates if they're there." Gregeddin offered bluntly.

He hoped the suspicion wasn't too pronounced in his voice, and the darkness may help becloud his scowling features... Then he remembered he was holding a torch.

[djhyland]

Darga wordlessly slips off his pack, pulls out a coil of rope, and refastens the closure. After tying the rope to the pack, he heaves it as far as he can down the suspicious tunnel and carefully reels it back in. Assuming that it does not trigger any traps on the first try, he'll heave it back down a handful of times more, trying to cover the entire width of the passageway in his investigation.

[NoTrammeling]

Coroccoco puts a hand to her head, looking deeply troubled indeed. Though when she notices what Darga is trying to do, and fully comprehends its implications, she quickly puts some twenty feet between herself and the adventurous Aghar. "No animal could set such a device. Either it's a remnant from some attempt on the beast's life, or we've something else entirely to mitigate."

[JadedDM]

Darga's attempt proves fruitful. When he drags his pack back, it seems to catch on something for only a moment. Suddenly, the seemingly stable wall to the left collapses, caving in that particular tunnel. Had anyone been standing there at the time, they would have surely been buried completely.

[djhyland]

Darga pulls on the rope to retrieve his pack (and if necessary, ventures down the tunnel to push rubble aside to assist the recovery). Nodding to Coroccoco, he says, "I'm glad ya knew something was wrong. I didn't see nothing there." Once he has his pack again, he peers carefully down the other passages, looking especially for mechanisms that might trigger rockfalls like the one he just set off.

(OOC: Darga's attempting to find traps. His roll is 57, so he's most likely unsuccessful. His dwarven ability to find stonework traps may also work here; he got a roll of 4, so no luck there either.)

If he can't find any traps from afar, Darga will repeat his exploration via rope and pack, lobbing it down the two other unexplored tunnels a few times each.

Assuming that he doesn't trigger any other traps, Darga will say, "I think th' gnome has tha right of it. I say we see what that trap was keepin' safe."

[Haahque]

Despite Haahqae's seeming complete trust in there being a trap as Coroccoco had mentioned, he still jumps a bit when the wall comes crashing down.

"And thus the heroes ventured forth, outsmarting the deadly gauntlet of traps in the mine. I should write a song to go with my act someday" He mutters, moving to assist Darga pull his pack safe and to peer down the tunnel behind it.

[HorizonsDream]

"I'm not sure how you are going to see what the trap was hiding considering it caused a cave in," Kendra points out.

[djhyland]

(OOC: Is the tunnel completely collapsed, or is there a way to pick through the rubble and continue past it?)

[JadedDM]

Darga cannot find any further traps, so decides to use his pack to test out the other two passages. Sure enough, he triggers a similar cave-in in the northern tunnel this way, leaving only the western tunnel clear (and the southern tunnel, from which they came from).

Both the northern and eastern tunnels are completely caved-in. The only way through them now would be to dig through them, which would likely take hours.

[djhyland]

Darga reels his pack in for the last time, then turns to his companions. "Looks like there's no choice anymore," he says.

[Haahque]

"Oh they have something to hide in that tunnel too? Yep no choice, except on how to split our forces." Haahqae looks around for shovels and pickaxes. "Here, I'll work on clearing this side with Darga and Coroccoco, the rest of you can dig out the other side. First person to find out what they're hiding wins!"

Haahqae takes a couple of small rocks and flings them aside. Hmm, bet the three of us can get though here in five minutes.