Stone crashes down, and Shimo, Bram, Kaelen, and Wulf plunge into black water. The fall ends in a cold cistern chamber, knee-deep and reeking of rot.
Their lantern-lightless world is all slick brick, hanging roots, and drowned echoes. Above them, boots hammer across the floorboards, close enough to rattle dust from the arch.
Bram
Keep low. This water runs through the old channels. It will take us to the sump stairs if we are lucky.
Shimo steadies himself in the waist-deep dark, one hand on the wall. The tunnel ahead splits around a crumbling support, with a rusted ladder barely visible in the murk.
Kaelen
I hear them above. If they pry open that panel, we are done for.
Wulf
Then move. Quiet feet, no splashing. Bram, lead.
Bram points toward the narrower tunnel and starts forward. The water swirls around their legs as the group slips into the cistern's lower passage, away from the blocked rubble and toward a new route upward.
“Follow Bram with Kaelen, Wulf and Drek as quietly as we can and also keeping an eye out for any surprise that may come from the water or anywhere”
SUCCESS (Fair Stealth, rolled +1)
The water takes Shimo's careful weight without a splash. Bram's narrow route opens ahead, and the others follow in his wake, their silhouettes barely shifting in the black.
A submerged stone catches one boot, but Shimo steadies against the wall before the ripple spreads. Beneath the surface, pale roots brush past, harmless but unnerving.
Bram
There. The sump stairs. Keep close, and do not touch the old chain.
The passage bends around the crumbling support. Bram reaches the stairs first, and Kaelen and Wulf gather behind him instead of vanishing into separate tunnels.
Kaelen
No voices above. Drek's warning about the hall's weak points may still save us, if this stair comes up where I think it does.
At the foot of the stairs, the group regains its formation. Bram keeps one hand near the key at his belt, hesitating beside a half-shut panel as water begins to tug toward a dark side channel.
Wulf
The stair is our way up, but that current is drawing something through the lower channel. Bram, which route do we take?
✓ Quest Accepted
Reach the upper hall with the group intact
“I also ask Bram on which way to lead since he has the current info for the layout. Along with try to motivate our group that we have done well thus far and that we can keep up this momentum to strengthen our resolve. In hopes to keep our pace and vigilance up I these series of random events that's befallen us”
SUCCESS (Great Diplomacy, rolled -1)
Shimo
Shimo asks Bram to choose the route, trusting his knowledge of the cistern's layout. He urges the group to keep their pace and vigilance, reminding them that they have already overcome every setback together.
The words carry softly through the waterlogged chamber, but they reach each companion. The current still tugs at their legs, and no one loses sight of the others.
Bram
The lower channel feeds the old settling pit. We take the stairs. The panel opens onto the upper hall, beside a blind angle in the masonry.
Kaelen
Then we rise together. I will watch the landing, and Drek's warning will tell us where not to stand.
Wulf
Good. No splitting up in the dark. Bram leads, Shimo keeps us moving, and I guard the rear.
Bram's hesitation ends. He draws the key, eases the half-shut panel wider, and points to the stair while the others close ranks around him. The group has its route, but the water suddenly surges harder through the lower channel.
“Warn the group of the current getting stronger so be careful to not get swept away. Whilst I also do the same and make sure to be in reach in case someone needs help to steady them selves while making the route”
SUCCESS (Great Perception, rolled -2)
Shimo
The current is strengthening. Keep one hand on the stone, and stay close enough to catch the person ahead of you.
Shimo moves with the warning, placing himself within reach of the stair and panel. He braces one hand against the masonry while the water presses hard around his knees.
Wulf
Understood. I have the rear. No one drifts.
A sudden pull twists Shimo's footing. He catches Wulf's forearm before Wulf loses the stair, but his own palm scrapes sharply across rough stone.
Kaelen
Good catch. Keep your grip low. The channel is trying to take our legs.
The group regains its close formation, each person anchored to the next or to the masonry. The open panel shudders as another surge rushes past, and the dark stair waits above them.
“Warn the group of the current getting stronger so be careful to not get swept away. Whilst I also do the same and make sure to be in reach in case someone needs help to steady them selves while making the route”
SUCCESS (Good Agility, rolled -1)
Shimo
Keep close. The current is strengthening, so use the wall and reach for the person ahead if they slip.
Therefore, Shimo adjusts his footing and stays within arm's reach of Wulf and Bram, guiding the group's spacing without blocking the submerged stairs.
Bram
Then we move together. The panel stays open until we are all through.
Bram shifts higher onto the first submerged step. His shoulder catches the half-shut panel, holding it from swinging closed as the water streams past.
Wulf
I can feel the stones giving way beneath the silt. Shimo, take Bram's arm while I secure the rear.
Wulf plants both feet against the stair below. Shimo reaches across the narrow gap and steadies Bram as the guide tests the next step.
Kaelen
There is a fork above the panel. Choose quickly when you see it, or this water will choose for us.