A) MENDI, TWO ELVES, ELRIC, GAIGIN AND TAK

They reached a small fork in the main tunnel and Elric brought tempest around to see what was down the cave. A few feet ahead of them, the sand still fell from the top. The sand and rocks blocked the narrow hallway completely and nothing was seen or heard from the other side.

Gaigin prods the pile of sand with the tip of his spear, cursing silently. Not much hope of breaking through there... Shaking his head slightly, Gaigin peers off down the forked passageway.

"Not much bloody choice, by the looks of it. We'll have to take this side-passage and hope we can find Koreth and the others somewhere in this damned maze. If ye see anything that looks like a discolored section o' wall, watch yerself...that’s how these buggers're trappin us," Gaigin snorts, and spits again. "Looks like we'll be fightin' like rats in a snake-hole after all. Tak, take point. Elric, you’re second, with me 'n Mendi next in line. Migdalia, you're in the center, and Liron, you got rear guard. Not much else we kin' do to prepare. Who knows what these crafty buggers've got up their sleeves next."

Elric moves in behind Tak, his color pale in the soft light of Tempest. "This maze o' tunnels is wearing my nerves thin. As I suspect they where meant to, we must be sure of ourselves and not act rashly"

The party continues on ahead of the main hole but keeping to a single file nonetheless. They travel about 300 more meters before coming to another dead-end. The opening is much larger than the other they have seen and the passage widens a bit before being collapsed by what seems a ton of rocks and sand. The dust had pretty much settled and the smell of sulfur was heavy in the air. Liron saunters over, " The paths is blocked again and we have nowhere to go except to try and clear our way through one of the two cave-ins or get out of the hole the way we came." Migdalia silently gather around and adds her own sad tale, "That is if it’s still open by now."

The heroes poke the pile of rocks and sand with their spears and swords and fathom that it would take many days to clear a path through this one. Liron looks excitedly towards the mind mender and spell casters, "This is not my area of expertise at all but can’t you do anything either to clear this or find a way around it." He slaps Mendi in the back, "You said you could contact Ptellac, can’t you contact your other friends and find where they are?"

When Mendi is about to answer, the heroes hear another cave-in, this one much smaller than before from somewhere in the tunnels they had just traversed. Migdalia’s heart skips a beat, "That may have been our exit out of here, the bugs just gonna let us starve here in these here tunnels…"

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B) AYRUS, KORETH AND RAYNE

Rayne and Ayrus coughed and gagged at the dust raised. When the dust settled, the scene was heart wrenching, the only exit from the room was blocked by large rocks and sand; so thick was the blockage that no light shone through the other side. Rayne's glow-worm flickered a couple times and the mul realized that dust must also be getting to it. She puts it inside the bag and the lighting provided is diminished but still usable. The three heroes finish searching the room trying to look for an exit but none are found. The so many times cursed sunlight would be a welcome sight compared to having to die from lack of air in this smelly hole…

Koreth coughed, the dust still settling around him from the collapse of the chamber. He looked around, but

there were no unblocked entrances. Cursing to himself, he looked to his two companions.

"Blood and bloody ashes!" the noble warrior cursed "Kank brained fool scrabs.... Well, looks like we will have to try and clear a way the way we came from."

He brushes some of the dust off of his tunic, glancing around the rim of the pit for any activity. <At least that kank brained fool of a sorcerer is dead!> he thinks <May he spend eternity boiling in a sulfur pit!>

"Or we could wait," he adds "the scrabs probably are not about to leave a big old gouge in their nest like this...."

Aryus felt his heart and spirit drop like a rock off a windy cliff. He and his companions were now trapped, covered in dust, and possibly die of suffocation in this earth-laden room. Suffocation, the worst end curse for an air cleric.

"Come my friends, we cannot die here. I will not pass from this world without another breath of fresh air or a gust of cool wind upon my face." At Koreth's suggestion that they wait here for rescue, Aryus recoiled in disgust. "No, that would not be a good option. The scrubs might dig us out but we'd become prisoners nonetheless. And who knows how long we can wait there, I feel my lungs already crying for air."

"That was a jest!" Koreth growls "do you really think I want to wait like some lump of cheese in a bloody larder for those elf loving bugs to come and dig me out! <You would think my tone of voice would have given him a clue!> he fumes <Naive bloody fool!> The noble warrior stalks off to the blocked entrance, and begins to clear away the rocks. Somehow Ayrus' comment had struck a nerve. He channeled his growing anger into moving rock, muttering dwarven curses the whole time.

Aryus approaches the blocked off entrance and tries to figure out how much rock is there blocking the way off. <Looks to heavy to lift, even with Rayne's strength.> Aryus thought to himself, <but maybe...>

Aryus turns to Koreth and Rayne, "Come give me a hand with these rocks. Let's try to remove as much as possible with our own hands. The rest, I may have a spell that will help us out."

The mul coughs the dust from her lungs and peers about as the air settles. Realizing they are trapped, the air begins to feel a little more stale, and precious. Digging seems to be their only option.

Ayrus' optimism gives Rayne's spirits a bit of a lift, but it wavers at Koreth's anger. Approaching her friend as he begins to dig at the cave-in, Rayne starts slowly to help by removing some rocks and pushing aside dirt. As the pair labor away, Rayne finally speaks. "Why did Ayrus anger ye so? Ye should not be so hard on our young friend, his . . . unique outlook on life can be so uplifting and refreshing." The mul pauses and sees that her words do not seem to reach the angry noble man. "It is not my place to say, I am sorry, I just wish to know what is wrong and if I may help." With a weak grin, the mul returns to her work. Her grin widens, "At least there're no bugs to be squashin' while we're diggin' our way through.

"That elf boy," Koreth huffs as he tosses another rock behind him "his acid tongue has been slowly eating away at my patience!" He wipes sweat off of his brow, his breath becoming labored from effort. "One more cynical comment comes out of his mouth, blood and bloody ashes! I'll shove my fist so far down his throat...." The noble warrior pushes aside another large rock, almost hitting his own toes with it. "Bloody ashes! He's gotten under my skin worse than a klar flea!" Coughing, the dust beginning to take its toll on Koreth. He pounds his chest with a fist, shakes his head and grasps another chunk of solidified dirt. "Aye, no bugs in this tomb...."

"Don't let the kid get to ye. 'E's young and full of spirit, it may be misguided at times, but it's spirit all the same. I guess I've just gotten use to seein' all different kinds 'o people. I can admire someone who doesn't let the hard times destroy who they are. Marteu taught me that's a strength - to survive through anything with yerself intact." The mul grunts as she lifts a rather large chunk of rock away from the opening they are trying to dig out. In the dim light of the worm's glow you could see that her bald head is covered with droplets of sweat. One drop slips loose, following the swirl of her tattoo on her head, down her forehead and drips to the floor where her tattoo ends above her left eyebrow. Her breath was more labored now and she removes her armor so she can maneuver better. The air felt cooler against her bare skin, and she was able to work faster with simply her modest (barely) leather coverings on. "Meself, I find life a little easier to handle if I simply ignore someone when their getting' on me nerves." She gives Koreth her usual smirk and a teasing wink. "Though don't get me wrong, me temper is not one to deal with, just ask our favorite elf trader!" With a chuckle the mul pats the pouch holding the worm and gets back to work, surprised at feeling so relaxed and jovial in such a situation. <that warlock must be rubbin' off on me> Rayne sombers somewhat as she thinks of Elric. <sure hope I see 'im again>

The trio continued to work for many minutes and some of the rocks and sand did indeed clear from the entrance. After Koreth and Rayne push away a particularly large rock, they both jump back into the room as another minor cave-in takes place. The sand and rocks again covered the entrance and all their hard work seemed wasted. Koreth curses loudly as he takes a look at the roof along the entrance. "The roof is open, the only reason no more sand and rocks is coming down is because they are being held up by the pile at this entrance. If we continue to clear the pile away, more will continue to fall." The dust had started to form small rivulets on their torsos as sweat dripped freely from their hard work." Ayrus slowly starts to panic at the thought of dying of suffocation and exclaims, "We have to think of another way out or we’ll run out of air soon." Koreth had a comment that never left his mouth as his brow creases in thought…

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OUT OF CHARACTER

HEALTH STATUS

Remember the scale:

Healthy (H) 100% hitpoints remaining

Slightly Wounded (SiW) 75% to 100% hitpoints remaining

Wounded (W) 50% to 75% hitpoints remaining

Seriously Wounded (SeW) 25% to 50% hitpoints remaining

Mortally Wounded (MW) 0% to 25% hitpoints remaining

Gaigin (SiW), (W)

Elric (SiW), (W)

Rayne (SiW), (MW)

Ayrus (H), (W)

Mendi (SiW), (MW)

Koreth (SiW), (SiW)

Female elf (H)

Tak (SiW), (SiW)

Male elf (SiW)

GENERAL

Questions, comments, and suggestions please.

L8r,

Fabian