Captured! (Online Adventure)

[Haku]

The sounds of cracking boards, with the occasional curse word, can be heard coming from the floor. Shortly after, a hand can be seen pulling pieces of wood and dirt down, widening the opening. There's a moment of silence before the figure pulls himself completely out, rolling to one side of the hole he was so recently confined to. He lays there a moment, not to catch his breath but to control the seething rage that fueled his ascent. His kind doesn't do well with confinement, and to allow himself to be captured and imprisoned is a failure almost as terrible as the loss of his Oracle. He slowly rises to his feet, black and white orbs surveying those present.

"Anyone care to explain what the hell that was all about?"

There's no malice in his voice, no anger, no rage. He's learned well the tricks of masking one's true emotions, to the point where even he questions if he can truly feel anything besides cold, calculating rage

[potentiallydead]

A Guthrie in red and white striped trousers and a lemon yellow vest sits up, rubbing a lump on the side of his head.

"What in seven hells? Who hit me?"

He peers around slowly.

"And who are all of WHAT IS THAT?!"

The Guthrie drags himself to his feet and walks over to the giant stone beast, curiosity beaming from his face.

[Kaylan Chargeender]

**OOG what PC/player is this *points to last post*
ALSO...I will likely only be able to post after work during the week(and maybe not at all this coming weekend due to the trip to GR) so my responses will be infrequent and long (as I try to respond as Kaylan to the flurry of post from the gang)...sorry in advance. OOG**



**Kaylan moves to help Mahto free the others. The Dwarven knight chuckles at Mahto’s jest, and shoots the mariner a quick grin. The dwarf glances at the mining tool in the old salts hand and then nods to him with an exaggerated look of concern…**

Well you do know well how dainty and frail I am…I have long sought the protection of a big strong sailor man like yourself. Also, be sure you….PICK…your battles while using that as a weapon. As for the shield, by your leave I would keep it strapped to my arm out of habit and as a way to protect the others…which is also a habit I dare say.

**Kaylan’s voice get a nit louder as he barks a jab over his shoulder at Cicero**

As for you and I drinking together again Cicero...I would agree…I’ve never seen anyone get other captured with his own drunkenness…you will have to tell me your secret some day; and the only reason my ass might be red is from it being on this frigid floor too long.

I agree with Mahto and Cicero….to a point…we must endeavor to get these captives free…and out items are the surest way to ensure we reach that goal…

**While Kaylan works to remove chains from those willing, and searches the area for any other useful tool; he can be seen always keeping a wary eye on the creature chained to the far wall. When finished, Kaylan walks over to Laruel and tilts his head as the elf speaks. By the time Laruel finishes speaking on the timing of the Depraved inspections, Kaylan face is a thoughtful scowl**

Well then we have just over two and a half hours before our jailors check on us it seems, and if they want items made of this steel…its coming with us.

**When the first collar falls to fragments, Kaylan lets out a small cheer. **

Huzzah and well done Korvalis, good thinking! Now at least Pinkies has a chance to be of SOME use…As for Kami, She will wish to tend her own wounds …don’t take it personally.

**Kaylan shoots the magus a wink, then turns and takes a few steps in Kami’s direction and scans her for obvious wounds before speaking to her**

How did you get snagged anyhow?

**As the ruckus from Gondowon’s unveiling grows, Kaylan shakes his head and chuckles to himself as the craftsman is freed**

The only other person who could arrive in such a state and leave me UN surprised is Nell…

**His face scrunches into a pensive scowl and he starts to slowly and intensely scan the caver**

Now that it’s mentioned…I’m more surprised she DIDN’T get dragged into this…

**The noise from the burrowing figure, making effort to dig itself free, draws attention quickly from the dwarven knight and his flows into a ready posture; he then takes several large and quick strides to close the gap of the between himself and the new arrival. When it is revealed to be Paer'An', a sigh of confusion and amusement hisses from the dwarfs lips. **

I would say our captors have met too many valkyn’vi to even think about trusting one enough to let it roam free in the general labor pool?

**The old warrior turns part way to inspect the guthrie. **

We have been captured….. our captors I would imagine…..we are your fellow captives…and I am Kaylan; as for the creature…. if not for the fact its half again larger than any I have seen…I would say it’s a gargoyle. I cant say I am sure, as I have only ever seen a handful taller than your average human, and then only a hand span or three. My guess is that some wizard had his experimental way with that one, and welcome to the party.

Sooo…tunnel first?

[Isho]

The monster was vaguely sure someone was talking about it. The elven runes on it's skin burned with a electric hue in the dim light. The beast held his claws up and opened and closed them slowly.

It put it's head againt the cold stone and sniffed.

"I smell meat." he said with with a voice that sounded like steel being shattered.

[GM-Brad]

As Sir Joriel exams both the chasm and the tunnel, they seem equally mysterious. Both extend for quite a ways into darkness, and it's hard to tell what lies ahead. Intuition (Recall) tells you either is better than here, but little more.

"The tunnel then?," says Laurel. "What say you? We need to find the others held captive and at least try to free them." With Khorvalis's assistance, the rest of the prisoners here eventually come round to the idea of escape too. They will come with you.

When Paer'An bursts forth from the ground, Laurel steps back in alarm. "Ah! The Depraved are known for burying alive those they find especially troublesome for weeks at a time with nothing but moss for sustenance. They call it 'Solitary Confinement.' I've been there....I've never seen anyone crawl out of it on their own, however!" He turns to Gondowon. "The coffin, though, is new. An interesting, um...technique for infiltration. It's true the Depraved often raid graves for supplies, perhaps looking for more ancient artifacts, so the idea in theory was sound..."

Identify Magic Item on the shield tells you nothing more. It appears to be just an ordinary shield made of some strange metal.

[Zydana]

As Kaylan looks over the Valkin'Vi, he would first notice the large puncture wound on her abdomen as she's tending to it. She has a similar wound on her left leg and right arm, but not as severe. The side of her face is spotted in minor scratches and dirt.

When Kaylan inquires about her capture, she only responds with her normal look of sadness, melded with a bit of disappointment, but then turns her attention back to addressing her wounds.

Gondowon's noisy .. uhh.. entrance momentarily gets her attention. She watches the display for a moment, but then returns to her healing.

Paer'An's entrance also gets her attention. She watches him pull himself from the pit and when she realizes who it is, she almost manages a smile. She takes a shard of her broken collar before pulling herself up to a standing position for the first time since her capture. She begins walking over to where Paer'An is laying. Hearing Kaylan's comment about Valkin'Vi to Paer'An, she stops dead and glares coldly at the dwarf for a moment. She continues to make her way to the other Valkin'Vi to look him over for any injuries he may have received and offers assistance.

[Mahto Snowbringer]

"We might as well rot if we do not move now." Mahto walks over to the tunnel door, "I have heard no compelling arguments for chasm, and IF Lord Kaylan's guess is right our weapons might through this tunnel, and past this door. So grab a pick and let's move."

Mahto turns with a start and starts walking toward the door, hoping others would follow in suit.

[Morgause]

As the group collects itself, a muffled sound emanates from somewhere in the cavern... it sounds like a voice, a weak voice... a feminine voice.

The flickering light of Khorvalis' orbs of fire illuminate something in a far off corner.

It looks like a faint shimmer of light... a crystal perhaps.

If you approach closer, you see a pile of icy rubble. It's obvious that one of the cave walls has recently collapsed. Trickling from the ice and stones is a small stream of liquid... it's blood.

Another flicker. A mote of light glinting from within the rubble. You can barely make it out. It looks like a faintly glowing sapphire.

A voice is heard beneath the fallen stones. You can barely make out intelligible speech. It sounds like the Valkin'vi tongue... and crying interspersed with faint breaths, as if someone was holding on to the last moments of life.

It hears you.

"Please... help me..."

Paer'an's scream fills the cavern as he is freed from his prison. The sapphire glows brighter for a brief moment then all but fades to black. The figure beneath the rubble struggles to move, but can only let out a feeble cry.

"I'm here... Lightning Rider..."

"Paer'an... I knew you would come."

The voice sighs... then there is a chilling silence.

[SirJoriel]

"Let's take the tunnel then, and be quick. Honestly I'll only protect those who are armed. The rests are most likely going to die," Cicero says with little malice to his voice. "Come now, let's go, no time to waste."

Cicero creeps down the tunnel and finds a rock to sit on just out of sight to watch for the depraved. Silently he crouches down and begins meditating again. This time to regenerate wounds in case the situation gets dire.

[Gondowon T. Falbor]

After standing in silence for what seems like an eternity, Gondowon finally responds to Zandron's query with a start. "What? Dringing? Yez, I thoughd I said that. Duzzn' madder, I'm shure some'n has a way t'sopur me ub."

Gondowon begins looking around the room in confusion. There were so many things happening all at once to pay attention to that he couldn't focus at all. A large, stony creature sniffing the floor. A man popping out of the ground. A bleeding Kami, a scared bunch of prisoners, a house at the bottom of a chasm? Gondowon shakes his head, finally putting forth honest effort to sober himself. He can hear the vague beginnings of a general plan come from Mahto's mouth. "Ummm... yes. That. Cave. Door. My stuff, OUR stuff, sorry..."

The sage begins trudging towards the tunnel, when he makes out another sound among the confusion. He blinks, thinking it's some kind of drunken hallucination. Then he hears it again. A voice. He spies a glint of sapphire in the corner. He hears the voice again, and grabs a nearby pickaxe,

quickly trying to remember how to hit things precisely, so even a simple pickaxe could be deadly.

---

Begins mimicking Critical Strike

He approaches the icy rubble and strains his ears in an attempt to make out the voice again, but he is met with nothing but silence.

His eyes, however, are met with a stream of blood.

Gondowon's eyes widen, and he rushes to the rubble, quickly pulling away whatever he can. When he reaches a point where his hands aren't sufficient, he hefts the pickaxe and begins striking the ice with it. He grimaces and clutches his head as the alcohol in his body screams at him for partaking in such vigorous motion, but he steels himself against the ache and nausea and continues, yelling to the others for assistance.

"Evreeone, I think there's some'n here!" he shouts, again holding his pounding head as too much noise occurs all at once, "Please, I don't think I can do this on my own!"

[potentiallydead]

[[Kerwin]]

The Guthrie grins up at the monstrous gargoyle.

"Yer quite large! And ya speak Common! Oooh! That was very interesting with the letters on your skin!"

The Guthrie is distracted by the emergence of another Valky'vi, this one from the ice.

"It's a right nest of Valkyn'vi, isn't it? Oh! Did you see that big chasm? I wonder how deep it is. Hey! There's something down there. Like a building! And it stinks! What's making it stink, do you think?"

He picks up some pebbles and begins tossing them out into the gap.

"...one........two......three.......four........five..."

[Haku]

He stands there, silent and unmoving as the voices wash over him. Even Kaylan's jibe goes unanswered as he surveys those present. When Kami approaches, she'll notice the minor cuts and bruises from his climb begin to heal on their own. Checking her over and making sure she's more or less whole, he finally starts moving. The Witcheater draws his attention, but only for a moment as this isn't the first time they've met.

"Especially troublesome... This isn't the first time I've heard that used to describe me"

He says it quietly, barely over a whisper. The resignation is evident, but so is the anger

"If it was the Depraved who put me in that hole, they're about to learn how troublesome I can be."

The shifting rubble draws his attention, and he positions himself between the source of the noise and Kami. When he hears Morgause's voice he quickly moves to help Gondowan free her. That is, until he notices the guthrie chucking pebbles into the chasm. Moving as fast as possible, he closes the distance between them and grabs his arm before he can throw anything else

"Throw one more rock down there and you'll soon be following it. I don't want unnecessary attention, especially since we currently have the element of surprise"

It come's out not as a threat, but a promise.

[Phinkis]

"Thank you Khorvalis," He then turns to Kaylan, "Unfortunately I still won't be much help unless we can find our things. I have all my spells memorized but without components I can't cast them."
Phinkis heads over to the small pile of things the other captors have found and starts digging through it for anything else that may be useful.
When Gondowon shouts for help Phinkis scoops up a pick and hurries over. The mage looks surprisingly comfortable with the pick in his hand. Before he strikes the head of the pick glows for a second(enchant weapon).
"Not sure if this will help down here but it seems to help mine the jade steel in my mine."

[potentiallydead]

The Guthrie seems momentarily startled by the hand gripping his wrist.

"What are...? Oh! Hi there! I don't think we have to worry about the element of surprise since I'm pretty certain they know we're here since they put us in here and chained us and did you see the gargoyle? Isn't it incredible? And there's a building down in the chasm and I wager we could climb down there using those metal rungs over there and you have a very strong grip Mr. errr what was your name again? I don't think we've been introduced. I'm Fibble Underfoot!"

Fibble extends his free hand toward the Valkyn'vi.

[GM-Brad]

Wanted to post the next scene tonight, but got a little busy, and it's not quite ready yet. Just wanted to let you know I should post it tomorrow. Continue roleplaying introductions until then. And don't worry, Brian, if you can't post this weekend; I have a nice workaround should it be necessary for Kaylan to be 'distracted'.