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 Posted: Sun May 30, 2010 11:10 am
The trapdoor came open easily, as the rusty lock had been broken and the chains that had previously bound it shut were unraveled around it. A set of stairs led down from it to the floor of the room below, which was half-covered by a rumpled blue rug. It looked like someone had pulled it aside.
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Posted: Sun May 30, 2010 11:49 am
(Since Marsh is unavailable this weekend, we'll be dragging her character along with us, lmao. She gave us permission!)
Tony helped Ian with the door, as asked, and was surprised when it opened so easily. He looked down at the stairs, able to see because of the torch Ian was holding. He spotted the blue rug, thinking back to the one in the Warden's office. Taking a breath, he moved to head down the stairs first, Abigail gripping his hand and not letting go. So she had to follow after him, and he went slowly.
Once they were all down the stairs, Tony looked around in wonder. He smiled at Abigail, patting her hand comfortingly.
"Let me take a look at this for a moment," he said, disengaging from her grip, but letting her stay close. They were all a bit distracted by looking around, anyway, it seemed. Tony knelt where the rug might have covered, checking with his hands to see if it had been moved for a purpose, or if someone had just kicked it up while passing through.
He didn't call Ian over, lest the boy had something more interesting to look at with his torch light, leaving him to possibly find a way out, or something that might be useful to them.
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Posted: Sun May 30, 2010 2:20 pm
Ian stumbled a bit as the trapdoor came open a lot more easily than expected, but retained his footing. Blushing a little for having nearly tripped anyway, he held the torch out over the opening and waited for Abigail and Mister Darrow to precede him down. Then he picked his way carefully down the stairs ... and stopped halfway.
"Shall we leave this open?" he inquired, making a circular gesture with one index finger to indicate the opening that the trapdoor had covered. Then the boy grinned sheepishly and admitted, "I think I might feel better with it open, myself."
From his spot higher up on the stairs, he could see the rumpled rug, and ruefully thought of all the times he had tripped over the edges of rugs all over his house. Ian descended the stairs to the bottom and joined the other two in examining the furnishing; he rubbed his foot a little on the floor (the gesture habitual for cleaning off the bottom of his shoe, in spite of the fact that he doubted his foot would get any cleaner in doing so, and then nudged the carpet to try to get it to lie flatter. Did it bear the same golden lions as the rug they had found in Sir Benedictus's tomb?
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Posted: Sun May 30, 2010 4:22 pm
The carpet lay next to an open door, which led to a closed-off block of cells, it seemed. Of most interest was what Tony and Ian quickly noticed: the rug had been pulled aside to reveal a blasted-through hole in the floor, surrounded by scorch marks.
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Posted: Sun May 30, 2010 4:36 pm
Tony's hand found the hole and he looked down in wonder. Ian drew close enough then to help him see that he was stooping rather close to a hole. "Oh dear!" He said, flopping back. He got up quickly enough, though, examining the hole.
"It looks like something... blasted a whole through the floor," he took a moment to decide that. If it had been blasted from under the floor there wouldn't be so many scorch marks on this side, and probably a lot more sharps of wood and evidence of the blast.
"I wonder..." he tilted his head, not finishing the thought as he peered down the hole. He motioned for Ian to come closer and cast some light down, "do you think someone else tried to escape this way?"
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Posted: Sun May 30, 2010 5:15 pm
Cold air drifted up from the hole, as did -- distant voices? But no, perhaps it was just a trick of Tony's imagination.
Holding a light closer to it, it appeared to be the beginning of a tunnel, about a five-foot drop leading to a horizontal crawl into the darkness. Nothing more could be said without venturing into it.
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Posted: Sun May 30, 2010 6:44 pm
The boy's brows drew together and he brushed his fringe back away from his face a little as he leaned to peer cautiously down the hole when they uncovered it. "Maybe," he agreed, holding the torch out to try to shed more light down the hole.
Between the faint tendrils of chill air from the hole and the faint suggestion of voices along with it, gooseflesh ran up Ian's arms, and he withdrew momentarily, shivering.
"The air is moving, though, so that might mean a way out," he murmured, a small smile appearing on his face a moment later. "Let's head down, then. I can go first and light the way." It was natural for the light to go first, he thought, but once the words were spoken, he realized how ... uncharacteristically brave? they sounded.
Ian crouched and rested his free hand on the floor to sit down, dangling his legs down the hole. Then he turned to look up at Mister Darrow and Abigail, and asked, "Can you hold this for a moment just till I climb down?" and offered the torch. The bottom was clear - he could see that much - but beyond that he could not really tell what the tunnel was like. Hopefully he would not have to crawl.
Suddenly, Ian felt as though the drop beneath his dangling feet was a thousand feet instead of five. He was not sure he wanted to go. Was it safe? Had he really heard voices? Were they friendly, if so? Where would the tunnel lead? Were there zombies in it? Or more dead bodies? He sniffed the air, knowing that he would be more than able to recognize the scent of decaying flesh after the other bodies they had discovered. But was this the way out?
But ... there was only one way to find out for sure. Ian had always admired the bravery of the legendary warriors in the stories he loved. Now was his chance. He slipped his bum off of the stones to drop down into the hole, then looked up to Mister Darrow for the torch. His outstretched fingers trembled slightly; Ian took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. Be brave.
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Posted: Sun May 30, 2010 7:12 pm
Tony looked at Ian, surprised by the suggestion. But at this point he was feeling bolder, wanting to find a way out of there. He nodded, then paused, going still and motioning for quiet. Had he heard voices?
No, it was probably his imagination. Or maybe their own voices echoing.
The promise of fresh air was glorious, and he was very excited to, hopefully, be on the way to some place where there wasn't a dead body waiting for them. He was almost forgetting what air that didn't have the pungent aroma of a decaying corpse on it smelled like. Or tasted like, when it came down to it.
"Of course, and be careful," he said, taking the torch and keeping the area lit. Once Ian was down and moved out of the way, he made to follow, "I'll go next," he told Abigail, "and then I'll help you down, okay? You hold this."
He handed her the torch, then dropped down into the hole. Being six foot tall was sometimes a blessing, sometimes a curse. He wasn't sure which it was just yet at the moment, but he managed to help Abigail down easy enough. He took the torch back and made to meet Ian.
"Onward, I suppose? And then out." he said, hoping for some good luck.
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Posted: Sun May 30, 2010 7:58 pm
The tunnel had been carved into the featureless stone and was cold and damp and dark. Nevertheless, it led on.
[Congratulations! Your characters have completed the puzzle part of Introduction Stage. Feel free to write them venturing onward through the featureless, cold black tunnel, which at various points is cramped enough that they have to crawl and features several-foot drops -- however, Stage 1 should be beginning tomorrow, so you may just want to wait for that. Happy spelunking!]
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