Meddlin Manor - Blackhill Catacombs

[Viper 9000]

Once part of Meddlin Manor and its sprawling gardens, this area like much of the manor itself has fallen into disrepair and been overgrown with lichen and other plant life. Where there was once colorful plant life now only the hardiest plants cling to life subsisting of black and white colors and earning the hillside the new name of Blackhill.

With the withering of the manor and its surrounding property, other beasts and creatures have come to call this area home...  

[Viper 9000]

RESERVED

Previously from "The Devilish Damsel"

MischievousRP

"Aye." Jareth grumbled, giving Viper a nod. "Best to be making our way before all this talk of treasure maps draws us any unwanted attention."
He rose from his seat, quicker than would seem possible after being so nearly catatonic moments before, and turned toward the pregnant orc. He handed her the map and went to turn away, but caught himself. From within his shirt he produced a small leather pouch that jingled lightly. It made a metallic clunk when he placed it snugly between her breasts, pressed together by her arms as they were.
"For the good time." he said with a wink, then he grabbed his cloak and headed for the door.

Meyaira Firespring

"Ohh. I see" Thai listened to Viper's answers and sobered up a bit. A place where dead people were buried sounded kind of scary. He was wondering why the maintained tombs were protected. Maybe to stop people stealing stuff from them. Yeah, that was the obvious answer. Not because the dead came back to life or anything. Nope. That couldn't possibly happen. He just has an overactive imagination, plus he heard too many stories from the villager's scary tales. Nevertheless, Thai quickly went over all the spelled songs he knew, picking which ones he thought would be useful if they got into any trouble.

"Okay. Well, I'll take your word for it. But if you ever need help, I'll do what I can" He smiled at Viper when she said she had a few more months left and that exercise would do her good. In Thai's village, pregnant women were always treated like queens so they weren't expected to go on treasure hunts. Orcs, or ogres and the like must be tougher than humans when it came to things like this.

Thai wondered what sort of treasure they might find. Hopefully nothing cursed. But maybe his goddess could find something like that useful to use against the god who tricked her. Hmm.

He watched Jareth stand up and followed after him to the door, letting Viper go through first before following the two. Thai brought up a good question as they walked out of the brothel and into the streets. "So, do we need to grab any supplies or weapons first? I already have my bard songs. I think Summon Monster 1, Protection from Alignment, and Hard Shell would be useful spells to put on just before we enter the tomb. Plus we might need rope, water, torches, things like that"

Viper 9000

Grumbling under her breath, the pregnant orc pulled the coin purse free of her boobs and tossed it behind the counter where on the girls or Rulk would find it later. Before following her two companions outside, Viper scooped up a well-used backpack that was lurking near the door. "Already ahead of you there." patting the backpack as she answered Thai, "Got some ropes, a couple hooks, some caltrops, some ball bearings, handful of torches..." Viper continued rattling off random equipment that a seasoned adventurer might carry.

"If you'd like a dagger or something for yourself I carry plenty of spares Thai."

Meyaira Firespring

Thai looked relieved that Viper actually had everything they'd need already. "Oh good. That should save time having to visit the marketplace. We can just go straight to the crypts".

He took a small dagger from Viper and put it in his vest pocket. "Thanks. I have my bard songs but this might come in useful anyway" he smiled. "Let's go then" He headed with them towards the crypts and started to hum a soft tune as they walked. He was always making up new songs and it was something he'd been working on for the past week or so.

 

[MischievousRP]

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Meyaira Firespring

Viper 9000

((Just gonna, y'know... Get us started over here! I imagine Viper reserved that post above to give the official details for where we came from, so I'll leave that to her.))


Jareth slowly pushed open the heavy iron door at the entrance to the crypts beneath Meddelin Manor. The marble surrounding the door was stained and crumbling, the door itself webbed with rust. The entryway may have once been beautiful but now it was in terrible disrepair, groaning and screeching in protest to being opened after so many decades of stagnation.
The room beyond was a spacious hallway of marble lined with ornate braziers and statues of figures long-dead. Having been sheltered beneath the earth kept the stone within somewhat preserved, but the walls still showed signs of buckling and some of the statues had seen better days. Another doorway, this one barred by an iron gate, stood directly across the from the entrance and lead deeper into the burial site.
Jareth stepped into the room and swung a torch across his path, casting an orange glow around just long enough to see that it was clear of any immediate danger. His footsteps echoed off of the walls as he made his way further in. He approached one of the braziers and touched his torch to the charred remains in its bowl. It flared to life and brought steady light to the room.
"Alright, it's clear." he said over his shoulder, moving to another brazier and lighting it in similar fashion.  

[Kasumi Roseglimmer]

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MischievousRP

Viper 9000

Thai followed Viper and Jareth into the catacombs. They were quiet enough once the doors had been forced open and made an awful cacophony, so he assumed they had successfully not wakened the dead.

He wandered around looking at everything and touching the stone and old things lying around. He looked around and saw a skeleton falling out of it's shelf in the crypts "I wonder who this was" he poked at the skull gently and the skull rolled towards him. Thai yelped and jumped back out of the way.

He stayed a bit closer to Viper and Jareth, staying in the areas that were lighted and shooting glances into the dark places they hadn't explored yet. "How many people did they bury down here? The family this belongs to must have been huge"  

[Viper 9000]

Meyaira Firespring

MischievousRP

"Hundreds, maybe even thousands." Viper answered, the torchlight reflecting off the surface of her belly. Being an orc, she had no trouble seeing in the dark but light made it easier to pick out traps or collapsing areas of tunnel. "Catacombs like these could have been leased out to distant relatives, close family friends, political allies, all sorts of people."

Enjoying the thrill of the adventure coursing through her veins again, Viper padded forward, her pregnant bulk barely making a sound as she moved. With practiced ease, she approached the secondary gate and began inspecting it and the surrounding area. "Lock mechanics was broken ages ago, probably only being held in place by rust. Whatever makes this its home doesn't come and go from this entrance."  

[Kasumi Roseglimmer]

Viper 9000

MischievousRP

Thai's eyes widened. "That's a heck of a lot of people" he muttered. "Springfog is a lot bigger than where I came from" he scratched the back of his neck.His tail swished a little. He felt uncomfortable being around this many dead bodies.

"Um. Y'know...I heard rumours about the mansion up on the hill. The locals were saying it's haunted, but also that there's treasure" he grinned. "Wonder what kinda treasure rich bums like them had?" Thai snickered. "Bum bum bums!" he sang. "Bet they had fancy toilet paper"

As they approached the second gate, Thai looked confused. "Why have two gates? It looks rusted shut, what a pain in the a**" he complained, loudly and yet with a smile. He was playfully complaining. Because silence down here was just creepy and made his skin crawl. He looked at Viper. "What makes it's home down here, you think? Zombies? Ohman, I hate zombies! They smell so BAD"  

[MischievousRP]

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Meyaira Firespring

Viper 9000

Jareth finished lighting the braziers, the room now glowing in the firelight. He then walked over to join the others by the second gate. Giving it a once over, he nodded at Viper.
"If there's anything down here, you're right; it doesn't use this entrance. But that doesn't mean there couldn't be traps or some other means of defense. Better safe than sorry. Stay close, and keep quiet...or zombies may be least of your worries." he said, a wary eye on Thai.
With a grunt of effort, he grabbed the rusty gate and lifted it out of its hinges, setting it aside. The hall on the other side was still one of marble and stone, but it was more narrow and less decorated. The smell of earth and decay grew stronger as they moved further in. Another stone threshold opened up into a spacious cavern with stone walkways ascending and descending all around a murky waterfall that spilled over into darkness. Other doorways like the one they'd entered from spotted the walls along the walkways, each with different names on them, some of a single person and some of entire families. Planters and statues may have once graced the area, but they'd long-since fallen into ruin. Likewise, several of the walkways and tombs themselves had fallen into similar states of decadence. Nonetheless, this was obviously a nexus for all of the tombs and catacombs.  

[Viper 9000]

Meyaira Firespring

MischievousRP

(This is totally turning into the Ruins from Darkest Dungeon in my head xD)

"To have held such swath of land and maintain an estate of this size at one point or another, there was bound to have treasure everywhere. In the eyes of statues... art pieces decorating the walls, hell the walls and ceilings could have been covered in gold for all we know. But whatever befell the Meddelin family, it came swiftly and showed no mercy." Viper answered. Having lived in the area for almost five years now she had learned some of the local history, which she was happy to share with Thai. "Looters were just as fast if not faster than whatever removed the Meddelin family..." The pregnant orc's words trailed off as she began picturing the crazy amount of wealth this place could have contained.

"Most large crypts like these are protected against necromancy spells but those wards are probably hundreds of years old so they could have failed. Best keep things quite and as little noise as possible." Viper whispered, following in Jareth's footsteps and they moved deeper inwards.  

[angelmage99]

Kit had heard that some folks had come into the catacombs and as a member of the scared order he had a duty to make sure that they were fine as it was his job. The man climbed down into the dungeon and looked around When he reached the landing he listen. He may be about to find them through hearing them. walls echoed and that would help. He also leaned down to see where the dust had moved before starting to follow their trail.