Chapter 3: Vikings : Notes in the Dark!

[DSIGFUSS]

ooc- You hadn’t searched the whole room yet… It was too damned dark yo!

Alrik walks across the chamber to the wooden door on the east side wall and Torvog follows still humming the four bar tune. As he walks away from the music behind the ringless locked door, he passes through the center of the chamber, stepping over the large Rune of Tyr. Alrik hears flapping to the North and notes the doorless opening to the chamber.

The door to the East is plain with only one rune etched onto it’s wooden face. The Rune of Tyr. Alrik tries the door and it opens with little effort. A staircase winds down into darkness.

ooc- what is everyone else doing?

[mikc]

Noting the activity in the hall, Weoulf casts one last cursory glance over the "fire trough" and decides there`s nothing more to be found here.

"Didn`t singe your whiskers, did you, Berger? Be careful not to fart or we`ll have an extra torch to take with us!"

Weoulf heads down the steps away from the pedestal and over toward the newly-discovered door in the east wall.

[Henrik]

Orm walks to the newly discovered eastern door, following anyone brave enough to go through it.

[imme]

Osvauld shrugs and goes over to the other door ... the one that will actually open. "Someone follow me with a torch. I'll go first." He draws his sword and cautiously begins to descend.

[Piano man]

Alrik pauses and looks at the other door. Let's check out this one while I think about what the runes said, but I'd like to go back to the other door eventually. I think if it's that hard to get into there must be something worth seeing behind it.

[mikc]

"Well," says Weoulf, "before we hang around here like a bunch of old women waiting for Ragnarok, why don`t we just go in?"

So saying, he follows Osvauld, "I`m with you; at least two men here aren`t afraid!"

There is a hint of false bravado in all this; those who know Weoulf will be able to tell that he`s pretty spooked beneath his flippant manner.

[G-Dizzle]

"I'm with ya!" Berger belches out and follows Osvauld and Weoulf.

[Piano man]

Alrik waves his hand in front of his nose trying to disperse the smell of Berger's belch. Dam that could peel paint. He follows the group into the room bow in hand ready for anything that might be waiting.

[DSIGFUSS]

The door leads down a short hall. The walls are smooth and seemed carved from the rock. The floor is tiled with slates of marble and quartz and sparkles in the light of Osvauld's makeshift torch. As he walks, he passes torches on the walls. The hallway quickly turns and the party looks down a steep stone staircase. The sacred rune of Tyr is scatted all around the wall of the staircase, scratched deep into the stone and painted in all the colors of the world.

[mikc]

Weoulf takes one of the torches from the wall and lights it from Osvauld`s brand.

"Shall we?" he asks the other viking, indicating the stairs with a nod of his head.

[Henrik]

Orm lights a torch of its own from Weoulf's torch. "I'm ready to follow you. Orm pulls out his sword while holding the torch in the left hand. It's better to be armed in a strange place like this.

[imme]

Osvauld grins. "Onward."

[DSIGFUSS]

The party of Vikings moves cautiously down the stairs, Osvauld in the lead followed closely by Orm, Weoulf, Sigfurd, Alrik, Torvog and then Berger, stumbling in his fresh drunken splendor. The runes of Tyr nearly cover the walls. As they desend the number of runes lessens until the walls are plain rock leaving only a long dark winding stare in front of them. Still, the simple, yet elegant, four rift song reaches them from high above.

Berger, lagging behind a few lengths of stair hears flapping from above.

Torvog groans as they continue..



For fucks sake Osvauld! These stairs surely lead to Hel.

Sigfurd turns back to Alrik.



That song... Does it not remind you of something bard?

[Piano man]

Alrik nods deep in thought. It does, but I can't quite put my finger on it yet. Let's keep walking and I'll think some more.

[imme]

For fucks sake Osvauld! These stairs surely lead to Hel.

"Then we're in for a good adventure, aren't we?" Osvauld continues down the stairs.

[Piano man]

Alrik approaches Osvauld. I believe I've figured out how to open that other door when we get back. It's actually quite simple. I'm surprised that neither of us thought of it earlier. Everywhere we go there are symbols of Tyr, and I know things about the ruins of Tyr. There is a four line verse that we could recite that would match up with music we heard. I bet that would open it. It is, if I see in a tree, a corpse from a halter hanging, such spells I write, and paint in runes, that the being descends and speaks.

[Henrik]

"But this place is this a temple of Tyr or the home of Tyr himself? And why is it located here, whereever here is?"

[DSIGFUSS]

Sigfurd looks up the stairs and then looks down the long winding staircase.

Their's no end in sight Osvauld! If this does lead to Hel, it will be one Hell of climb out!

He smiles and looks playfully to Weoulf.

Do you think the Skraelings have found the gods Orm? Do you really think Tyr lies in these halls?

Torvog's eyes follow Sigfurd's up the stairs they just climbed. There must have travelled at least a thousand steps.

There must be a bottom.. I ain't climbing back up for Fuck's sake!

Berger stops to catch his wind as the group discusses rests. He rests with one hand on his knee and vomits on the stone stairs.

[Henrik]

"I thought you were a man who could hold his drink" Orm says to Berger. "A bottomless set of stairs now that would be interesting. Let's press on" Orm says and takes the lead. His old bones ache but he tries not to think of it.

[G-Dizzle]

Berger wipes his mouth with the back of his hand and grins drunkenly.

"Jusht gettin rid of any leftover food to make more room in my belly for the mead, me boysh, thash all. It'sh an old Roman trick." He slurs contentedly.

Then he continues descending the stairs, slipping a bit as he steps on his own vomit.
He begins swatting at the air around his head, as if there were flying creatures swarming around him.
"For fuck'sh shake!" he exclaims. "I think there'sh bats."