Searching the Sewers (ATTN: Sunshine, Jayant, Arnold, Konstantin)

Arnold spins to face opening of the right corridor.

"Something is coming. Does everyone hear that?"

He takes a step toward the mouth of the corridor, readying himself for whatever might come around the bend.

Bella looks down the corridor and nods to Arnold. "Yes, I hear that." She says in a bare whisper. "I will go in and have a look, be ready just in case."

She closes her eyes and concentrates, then seems to fade and disolve into a shadow, literally, before moving off down the darkened tunnel.

(Spends 1 Vitae for Shadow Form)

2009-05-23 15:32:13 Bella rolls 12 to Wits + Subterfuge + Obtenebration (10 Again) 9, 9, 5, 1, 4, 6, 8, 6, 6, 10, 10, 10, 7, 2, 10, 1 7 successes

Konstantin's eyes widen as Bella demonstrates some strange ability he's never witnessed before. He's impressed, but stays focused on the situation at hand. He watches both corridors, his gaze darting back and forth between them.

Sunshine smiles as he sees Bella shift into a being of shadow, then wills the blood into his muscles to strengthen them. He gets a wicked grin, shifting position into a predatory crouch, and prowls closer to Jayant.

"May the Mother watch over us." He whispers to his Brother, the grin growing wider as he nods to Jayant.

"If it's perfectly alright with you, Miss Orchid, I'm going to disappear until we've gotten a better look at our... guests. You may not be able to see me, but I'll be here. Rest assured."

Arnold steps back into a shadow and seems to fade into it. His massive size seeming to melt into a particularly dark portion of the tunnel.

Spoiler:

Sunshine looks to Belle with a smile, "I as well will do the same, Lance."

Spoiler:

Konstantin says nothing, but nods in approval of his two companions using the power of their blood to render themselves unseen. Konstantin appreciates the strategic advantages of a surprise attack. "These are worthy warriors indeed," he thinks to himself. "It is good to be in the company of ones like this."

Matthew cautiously approaches the group, carrying his halberd. He is closely followed by Dave and Grip-of-Steel, who is carrying a torch.

That's odd. I could've sworn I heard more than two voices. "Who are you, and what are you doing down here?" Matthew's tone of voice is suspicious, although not quite hostile.

Grip-of-Steel hold the torch and looks around, wanting to make sure that this is not some kind of a trap. He keeps his mouth shut and follows the situation, ready to follow Matthew's lead if something goes wrong.

Konstantin stands firm and silent, eyes darting back and forth between the newcomers and occasionally glancing down the other corridor. He maintains a ready but not aggressive stance, prepared to either receive or launch an attack if necessary.

Arnold raises an eyebrow inquisitively, looking the party of newcomers over with curiosity. One's carrying a type of poleaxe and the other a torch.

Did they dig their way out of a time warp to get here?

He glances at Konstantin

I guess I can't say much for my comrades either in that department. I wonder if they know what a cellphone is.

His eyes fall back to the one carrying the halberd. He would be the one to watch. Even in these cramped quarters he could still cause some damage with that thing. If it came to it then he would be the first to go.

~~Sunshine~~

Sunshine watches the group warily, ready to spring to attack as soon as he gets the oppurtunity, if it is needed...

Matthew shakes his head. "Oh, please. No one simply strolls around down here for the fun of it. Our 'fine selves' are trying to find the source of the city's recent rat infestation. What do you expect to accomplish down here?"

"Rat infestation?" Konstantin points to the halberd carried by one man. "You must be seeking very large rats."

Konstantin appreciates the large weapon, but is somewhat more concerned about the torch. He has no worry about warriors such as those he is with handling men with mundane weapons, but he knows well that when fire enters the mix, things can become very unpredictable - and downright deadly - among his kind.

Grip-of-Steel had mentioned Beshilu claiming people, but Matthew couldn't imagine the results being quite as talkative as the group here --- at least, judging by the sounds that had filtered down the passageways earlier. That still doesn't tell him what they are, but it's clear that if this encounter is to have any chance to become any less hostile, he needs to take the first step.

"There were more rat sightings within a recent two-month span than within the previous five years. That doesn't sound like ordinary rats to me -- much more likely that the sightings were caused by the creatures that we are trying to hunt. And yes, they can get quite large. They also cause other problems."

Matthew remains in place, making no move toward the other tunnel. "You have yet to answer my question. What are you looking for here?"

Slippery bugger. Can we be sure they haven't been claimed? "I can understand it, yes, but I'm sure you will also understand why I don't feel comfortable showing my back to two complete unknowns, especially when I heard distinctly more than two voices on my way here."

While the others banter back and forth, Konstantin takes a step toward the other corridor, looking back down there and cocking his head to listen. "If these men heard us, perhaps something down there did the same, or hears this talking now."

Grip-of-Steel follows the somewhat tense situation with the torch in his hand. He ain't sure how long the torch is going to last and this encounter does not bring them any closer to the Beshilu. Matthew has to decide and the young elodoth is ready to follow.

The man's description seems a little fishy, but then again, Matthew had never paid much attention in physics. Matthew probably wasn't going to get him to talk anyway. With a sigh, he begins to head down the tunnel he had pointed out, watching the two apparent humans warily.

Bella follows the group, wondering who these people were to be demanding any answers from them at all. She decided not to voice her thoughts yet, however. Spooking these new comers who just seemed to be waiting to have any excuse to pounce on something would probably not be a good idea.




As the groups head down the tunnel, they realize the floor is sloping down and they are moving more forward and down now then just forward. After a little while, the floor levels out again and the tunnel opens up into a large cavern with three tunnels leading from it. On straight ahead, one to the left and one to the right.

Arnold follows the group down the tunnel, his discipline masking his heavy footfalls from all but his own ears. When they come to the tunnels divide he waits to see what the strangers have to say, unable to voice his own opinion to his colleagues at pain of revealing himself.

Matthew looks down each tunnel in turn, looking for any details that might indicate one fork is more favorable than the others.

Spoiler:

Konstantin notices the apparent leader of this other band examine the three tunnels as he does the same. Crouching, he looks carefully for any carvings like the ones he'd noticed earlier.

Spoiler:

Grip-of-Steel follows Matthew and stays quiet. He guards Matthew's back while he checks the tunnels. He does not like the other group very much, but so far they have not seemed to be threatening, so he hopes they are able to proceed without any kind of confrontation. Shadow Seekers have much more important things to do, than to argue with a couple of weirdoes in the sewer.

Dave follows Matthew and does not say anything. doing his best to guard the others backs. He does not know what to make of the other group they don't seam very forthcoming with information but then neither were we.

As the two groups merge into one and reach the end of the tunnel and look down into the three tunnels ahead they see all of them look pretty much identical other than the direction they head all of them are dimly lit and sloping downward.

You can see about four feet down the tunnel but then it turns dark and you can not make anything out all that is left for you to do is pick a direction and head down the tunnel.

[center}~~Narration~~[/center]

Konstantin does notice there are more carvings on the walls of the tunnel as he looks down the right corridor. He also sees more rat bodies on the ground and something else that seems to be lying among the rats.

Other then those few differences, each corridor seems very much like the one before.

Konstantin puts a finger to his lips and points with his Bowie knife to the right tunnel. He takes a couple slow steps forward, attempting to be silent, and gestures with his knife to the carvings, and then to the rats. With the fingers of his left hand, he makes a crawling motion, trying to indicate rats, then turns that hand over and holds it still, fingers upward, attempting to indicate dead rats. Finally he points at the unknown thing lying among the dead rats, glances back at the others and shrugs, trying to show he doesn't know what it is. He slowly steps right to the mouth of the tunnel to try to figure out what the unknown thing is.

Spoiler:

~~Sunshine~~

Sunshine watched the tense talk between the two parties, hoping that he wouldn't have to use his claws. When the two groups finally broke off he followed his fellows, keeping in step with the others so as not to make his footfalls heard.

"Well that wasn't awkward..." He thinks to himself as he trudges along with his companions.

Matthew takes note of Konstantin's gestures. More rats? But what is he pointing at? Hoping to get a closer look for himself, he quietly follows him to the mouth of the tunnel. This would be so much easier in Urhan.

Spoiler:

Upon closer inspection those looking at the other dark lumps realize they are the bodies of ravens and crows scattered among the rat bodies. Moving further down the tunnel, the group also notices there is a much brighter space up ahead of them about thirty feet away.

As they move past, Konstantin crouches and looks at some of the dead rats and birds, trying to determine how they died. He turns some over with the tip of his knife, looking for any sign of injury or other means of death.

Spoiler:

Arnold is, of course, still there. Even if nobody knows it. He is fairly certain that they're on the right track to find, well, something. After all these birds didn't fly down here to die. He would want to say something in regards to such, but he feels confident that his allies would be smart enough to figure that out at least.

KJonstantin can see the obvious death of the rat. It has quite prominent puncture marks on one side and as he clooks closer at the others he can see their throats were torn out. However, the bodies are bloodless.

The birds are an all together different mystery, though, as they have no outward signs of trauma.

Konstantin points out the specifics of the rats' deaths to Jayant, Arnold and others paying attention, though doing so quietly. He points with his knife to the puncture marks on the rats, and their dessication, and pops and points to his own fangs, also notes the torn-open throats of others.

He points to the birds, then shakes his head and shrugs. Without knowing Arnold's thoughts, he echoes their sentiment, pointing to the birds and then skyward, then down to the ground and around the tunnel, again shrugging to indicate he has no idea why they'd be down here.

He lifts one of the birds and forces his lungs to suck in air, so he can try to see if he catches any scent other than dead bird and sewer and so forth.

Konstantin does not smell anything out of the ordinary, other then the seweage around him.

As the group stands in the tunnel, a voice is heard echoing down the tunnel.

"I can hear your movements. I know you are there. Why don't you just come forward and join my little party? As I have already summoned another of my kind to come and purge this city of it's filth, there is little you can do against me."