Stone Men In Water Street

[Bjorn]

Snarling to himself, Bjorn rolls to his feet, getting Shinmyouken ready, and like Victor, strains his senses.

[Brian]

After a tense moment of silence: nothing.

Waiting, just to be certain, a minute longer: ...nothing.

And longer still ... the faint, breathy hiss as another rush of cold wind sweeps by your ankles.

[Bjorn]

Well, Bjorn writes, somewhat ashamedly, at least we can be pretty sure there's something down here.  Shall we keep going?

[Brian]

Sounds like a plan, Victor agrees, managing to get through the strings and only causing one to ring.  Rez has a little less luck, making more noise than you ... but apparently not enough to do anything.  Now that you're closer to the 'cotton-candy' cobwebs, you can see that they are, in fact, that hollywood/special effects cobweb junk, and not real cob-webs.

Mysterious.  Victor looks extremely wary.  This is very strange, he thinks.

[Bjorn]

Yes, Bjorn agrees, and worrisome.  Someone or something is down here.  They're very clever, and have quite a few resources -- how easy is it to come by fake webs that realistic? --, but not incredibly high-tech.  That makes it unlikely to be the Cabal or Pax Arcana, I think.  They've also be down here for a while.

And either they're asleep, or setting a trap.

Any ideas on the wind?

[Brian]

Victor considers this for a while, cautiously sweeping aside a curtain of 'web' after checking to make sure it's not attached to any bells or trip wires or anything of the sort.  Well, he sends across Bjorn.net, as I recall, this is a feature of natural caverns.

He pauses, and you vaguely remember something of the sort yourself, but the details don't seem right.

Though, he adds, it was traditionally a single 'breath' in every morning and out every evening, as the temperature changes, and the air inside is a different pressure, thus ... well.  I'm not certain if that applies.  It seems to me much more certain that the cold air is sinking past us, than the warmer air is rising past us.  Then, too, unless I'm mistaken, our course is level, not inclined.

Another pause, as he raises a lantern, peering past a few more curtains of 'webbing'.  An underwater lake, perhaps?  That could ... no.  I can't imagine....  Perhaps there is an exit lower in the mines, in the hills?  I'm not certain.

[Bjorn]

Or it's a ventilation system, drawing air down.  I think it's best to assume it's not a natural phenomenon, at least for the time being.

So.  Shall we proceed?

With that, Bjorn starts making his way deeper into the tunnel, carefully moving around the webs.

[Brian]

'Carefully' is a good word.  After nearly pulling on a cobweb-cotton-rigging connected to another selection of bells (and managing to instead get past it silently), you take even more caution.  This serves you well, when, about forty meters beyond the original bell-point (would it even be audible from this distance?) you encounter a grenade strapped to a cross-beam with wire and bolts, the pin tangled in thin wires that run down through the 'webbing'.

On the other hand, this seems to be the last of the fake cobwebbing.

From here, the tunnel opens up, and you can see lanterns hung from the wall without the benefit of restoration.  Most of their glass has collapsed from age.

[Bjorn]

Unfriendly bastard, isn't he? Bjorn says, stopping to examine the grenade.  Probably a safe bet that either he doesn't have to leave the mine very often, or he's got another way in and out.  Even if he was willing to risk his own life and limb to a booby-trap, if this thing ever gets triggered, this tunnel might end up getting sealed off.

Examining the webs surrounding the grenade carefully, Bjorn tries to determine if he can cut the strings free of the pin without setting anything else off.  He ignores the strapping, though, as he has no desire to take the grenade with him.

[Brian]

Cutting the wires is unlikely; they're fairly thick gauge.  You could try to sever them with your sword, but whoever tangled them through the pin did so clumsily; you can quickly untangle them and leave the grenade there.

Interesting, Victor muses, rubbing a finger over the iron strap holding the grenade in place.  This has been here for some time.

[Bjorn]

Working the wires free of the pin, Bjorn comments, Definitely looks that way.  Which, I must admit, intrigue me.

Stepping back away from the grenade, he adds, So, shall we see what there is to see?

With that, he continues on down the mineshaft.

[Brian]

You reach a junction, and a wider area.  To your left, is a much abused and ominous looking shaft, in the ancient, legitimate sense of the word.  The cold air seems to be pulled into this dark hole in the ground that you can't see to the bottom of.

Beyond that, the path appears to curve around, possible back towards the other blocked off section near the opening of the mine ... though someone has stripped out the ancient elevator and machinery, reassembling them into a generator, which is idle, and coated generously with dust, and what looks like a small shed inside the mine.  No light or sounds of life emerge from within.  The shed spans the width of the far corridor, as opposed to the elevator-less mineshaft of unknown depth.  It's made from plywood, and looks like it hasn't aged as well as the tools laying around further up in the mine, despite the fact that it's probably older.

[Bjorn]

Carefully, Bjorn moves over towards the shed, watching the ground for any suspcicious irregularities.  People who like to strap grenades to support beams often develop compulsive booby-trapping habits.

[Brian]

You check the railings to see if someone put wires or what looks like pressure plates on them.

They seem clear.

No way to tell about opening the door of the windowless shed, however.

[Bjorn]

I can't imagine the shed is trapped.  On the other hand, if I was a really paranoid bastard, I'd set up a fake house in order to exploit exactly that way of thinking.  Anybody have any thoughts, or should I just go up and knock?