14c. Bookworm (Ivy)

[jp1885]

[40] = 40
DEX 50 1d100: [ 40 ] = 40

Ivy manages to flex her arm towards her pocket and, by painfully twisting her wrist, eases out the firearm.

She attempts to press the muzzle against one of her captors and pulls the trigger.

[Philulhu]

Roll to see if Ivy hits. It’s at point-blank range but there’s the complication she’s being dragged along so let’s just go for a standard roll.

[jp1885]

[64] = 64
Handgun 20 1d100: [ 64 ] = 64

Ivy handles the pistol clumsily. All she can do is hope that the shot will alert Alex, ricochet usefully or startle her captors enough to weaken their grip.

[Philulhu]

The creatures carrying Ivy screeched with shock and fear as the retort from her shot echoed in the tunnel. They dropped her immediately and scampered away as fast as they could!

We’ll hold there temporarily to see if Alex hears the shot. He’s a little bit behind you - my investigator timeline spreadsheet is currently earning its money!

[jp1885]

No worries mate.

[Philulhu]

Picking herself up, Ivy found herself in a rough stone passage, eerily lit by some yellow-green lichen on the walls.

[jp1885]

"Well Ripley, that's that then..." mutters Ivy. "Now where am I?"

She studies her surroundings, trying to get her bearings and looking for any tracks that might lead her back to the kitchen.

[Philulhu]

Navigation roll required.

[jp1885]

[89] = 89
Navigate 10 1d100: [ 89 ] = 89

Ivy soon realises that she is hopelessly lost. Perhaps it’s best to shout for help (saving the remaining bullets for when the ape creatures come back).

“HELLO? ANYBODY?”

[Philulhu]

Make a Listen roll please.

[jp1885]

[37] = 37
Listen 50 1d100: [ 37 ] = 37

What do Ivy’s keen(ish) ears pick up?

[Philulhu]

Ivy thought she could hear shouting from further down the tunnel but couldn’t make out any words.

[jp1885]

Does the shouting sound human, or ape-creature grunting?

[Philulhu]

It sounded human. Possibly more than one voice.

[jp1885]

Ivy heads towards the sound of the voices. Perhaps Alex has brought reinforcements, or the fellow with the rifle has taken Winscott hostage down here, but either way, human voices are preferable to simian ones!

[Philulhu]

The passageway unmistakably sloped downwards as Ivy moved onwards. It was natural in places; in others it bore tool marks of the people - if indeed they were people - who had worked to extend the tunnnel deeper into the earth. Sometimes the floor was dry; in other areas it was wet as water seeped through the rock and ran in rivulets down the rock and across the floor, where it splashed under her feet.

[jp1885]

Keeping Alex’s pistol handy, Ivy continues downwards: better to head deeper into the tunnels and make human contact than get lost searching for a way out and run into the ape creatures again.

Every so often, when the earth is the right consistency, she draws an arrow, pointing in the direction she’s heading, alongside the sigil ‘IR’, in case she, or indeed Alex, reach the spot.

Additionally, she will call out a sharp, loud ‘hello!’ every now and then, figuring the ape men might be startled by the noise, but human beings not.

[Philulhu]

The corridor sloped downwards and Ivy walked for some minutes, although she couldn’t be sure how many.

After walking for a few minutes more, she noticed that the corridor was no longer as dark as previously. From somewhere ahead, an unearthly glow cast ungodly shadows upon the walls…

[jp1885]

Ivy stops shouting, just in case whatever’s casting the light ahead is… well, unwholesome…

Pistol held tightly, she creeps forward, hoping to peer quietly ahead before she steps into the light.

[Philulhu]

As Ivy emerged from the tunnel, she found that it was opening out into a large cavern. She had been aware of the tunnel moving downwards but realised how far she had descended as she gazed upon the columns that stretched from the floor to the ceiling over 100 feet above her head.

Eerie light bathed the room, seemingly emanating from lichen that grew freely about the place. On the walls, interspersed with patches of lichen, intricate carvings were etched, although some the more precise details were lost to the mists of time.

A successful history or archeology roll here would be useful.