Ch. 14c. Together Again (all)

[jp1885]

Ivy pauses, tutting in irritation.

“What the devil got into all of you?” she asks Jerry. “Which way shall we go? To the right?”

[Philulhu]

William is still insane for now and determined to leave. The only obvious exit from the cavern is straight across the cavern from where you entered so that’s where you’ll want to head next. I’ll let you describe how you encounter any obstacles or creatures that get in your way.

[Mr. Handy]

William keeps running, heading for the exit at the far end of the cavern, avoiding the ape creatures if he can.

[Silver Priest]

"You fool," Alex mutters in frustration, then--reluctantly-- follows. If any of the apes go to attack William, he will shoot.

[Bullfrog]

"Right, lady, right!" Jerry replies, too hurried to argue against Ivy's suggestion; he still had bullets in his gun and a firebomb in his coat pocket, and unless those horrible monsters or apes gave him no other choice, he would not be retreating to the surface yet. Besides, if he left Lawrence's friends to die, how would he learn the truth?

[Philulhu]

CON rolls:

Alex (18) 1d20
William (11) 1d201d20

1d6

William raced across the cavern, sending the creatures squealing as they scampered out of the way to avoid him. With Alex close behind, he plunged into the tunnel beyond, quickly finding himself at another fork, where he turned right and ran into a dark and fetid chamber that stank of filth and odour. In corners, he could see movement as the degenerate ape-like creatures shifted warily, protecting their young, looking as if they were preparing to attack…

A long passageway lead off to the right which Ivy and Jerry quickly ran down until they reached a fork. Both passageways were dark but the left was silent, whereas from the right, a faint crying noise could be heard.

[jp1885]

Ivy jerks her head towards the sound of crying.

“That could be William,” she whispers. “Let’s go that way.”

[Mr. Handy]

Spoiler:

Who is more foolish, the fool, or the fool who follows him?

William runs onward, trying to find a way out of this place. If there is no other exit from this chamber, he turns around and tries the other fork.

[Silver Priest]

Alex continues to trail after William--reluctantly. His gun is out and primed to fire.

[Bullfrog]

"Or it could be something else." Jerry rushes through the passage on the right with his gun raised, hoping he could catch whatever lay on the other end of the tunnel by surprise.

[jp1885]

Tutting at the man’s hotheadedness but keen not to get left behind, Ivy follows.

[Philulhu]

Ivy and Jerry could feel them temperature change as the entered the cavern at the end of the right fork, like a steam bath but with a dank, musky smell. As they progressed into the cavern, they could see a humid mist descending from the ceiling curling around a number of translucent yellow pods that hung like stalactites.

One of the pods appeared to have burst open like an over-ripe fruit but the others were intact. As their lights played over the surfaces of the pods, they realised that something living was within - some abhorrent serpent creatures which looked to have taken the form of man…

OOC:   SAN check please (0/1d6).

Alex (18) 1d20
William (11) 1d20

Degenerate 1d100
Damage (1d3-1) 1d6 (That’s 1 point of damage. You’re welcome to try to dodge but would need to match the attacking creatures extreme success).

Spotting an opening on the left, William ran through the chamber and out the other side. He stumbled as he did so, almost falling into on of the malodorous nests that lay in his path. The female ape-creature protecting her young snarled and sharp claws ripped through William’s trouser leg…

OOC:   How will Alex respond?

[Bullfrog]

Sanity 49: 1d100

"Christ almighty..."
All things considered, Jerry reacts to this unusual sight with uncharacteristic calmness, inspecting the creatures as his headlamp shines over them. At least these things weren't awake and trying to murder him, although it looked like one of the serpents must have escaped its... Bed? That was just another thing in this subterranean hell that probably wanted him dead.
"Wrong way. Let's take the other fork, or better yet, leave this god-damned cave while we still can."

[Silver Priest]

Seeing the creature was only trying to protect its own hideous family, Alex hesitates. He will fire only if it continues to chase William and attempts to do him harm. Otherwise, he will try to follow William further on, trying to give as wide a berth to the creature as possible. If he draws its ire and it comes towards him, he will fire.

[Mr. Handy]

William takes the hit and keeps running.

Dodge roll (22% / 5 = 4.5% skill) to avoid getting hit:
d%

[jp1885]

[88] = 88
SAN 69 1d100: [ 88 ] = 88
SAN loss
1d6: [ 2 ] = 2
SAN to 67

“Oh dear Lord, they’re still alive!”
Tearing her horrified gaze from the open pod, Ivy readily agrees with Jerry’s assessment.
“Y-yes, we should go. One of them is on the loose…”

[Philulhu]

CON rolls:

Alex (18) 1d20
William (11) 1d20

His leg stinging, William ran past the ‘nest’ and down the tunnel with Alex following doggedly behind. They found themselves in another room of ‘nests’, but this time the intent of the inhabitants seemed more aggressive from the start…

Ivy and Jerry retreated back down the corridor to the fork, where the crying noise could be heard from the other passage.

[Mr. Handy]

William keeps running, though he is starting to get winded.

[Silver Priest]

Puffing, Alex realizes he can't catch up to William, and he appears unwilling to listen to reason. Now they were in another room of these creatures, and the lawyer was charging ahead once again. By the time Alex could catch him they would both be hopelessly lost and in hostile territory. Not to mention Ivy and their other new companion were somewhere down here, and the further away from them he got the least likely he would find them once again.If he kept chasing after William all of them may very well die.

So, he couldn't. Because sometimes you could not save everyone.

Stopping in his tracks, Alex reluctantly turns away from William and starts to retrace his steps as he tries to quickly hurry out of this place. He holds his gun in front of him for protection, ready to fire if he needs to. Hopefully the lawyer would come to his senses, but he couldn't risk saving him if it meant killing them all.But he knows that chances are good that he just signed William's death warrant, and that will be yet another sin he will have to try and live with.

[jp1885]

Still somewhat shaken, Ivy leads Jerry towards to sobbing sound. No wonder whoever it was was crying!