Outside 49: I don’t remember what it looks like either

[Deathkeeper]

[A Brisk Afternoon Jog - Day 2, Morning]

G'nichi nods as they enter to the lady. He's trying to look as casual as possible, even knowing that he's a massive dragon-man with weaponry wearing exercise clothes.
"I hope you had a pleasant night. Are we the first ones up, or is everyone busy?" he asks the lady as he finds himself a seat. His tail and sword get in the way as expected but he makes do.

[Chaotic Bob]

[A Brisk Afternoon Jog - Day 2, Morning]

Mari's gregariousness and G'nichi's politeness are each taken equally in stride. Sumiye smiles tiredly in their direction, before pointing at a bench near her.
"I...slept at all, I guess. Jeb is already up and fetching the others. Said to tell anyone who got here on their own to stay put; you know how he is."

"Drat, no breakfast then."
There is a rather excessively dramatic sigh from the young woman before she plops herself down onto a bench.
Then, for G'nichi's benefit:
"Jeb's the old guy in charge."

Sumiye does make a small expression of disapproval here.

[Shadowcaller]

[Walk in the Woods - Thariza]

There is a longer pause before the voice replies this time. "We will accept these terms if you can convince your dragon friend to not tag along. Her violent tendencies makes us nervous and we cannot allow this facility to sustain any more damage."

"Still pretty sure it's trying to trick you. But if you want to go alone, I guess I can wait here. Unless we're still gonna wait around for me, uh, alternative version? I could go and look for her. Might be pretty rad to see what she looks like." A beat. "What does she look like? If I go look for her, that'd be good to know."

[Deathkeeper]

[A Brisk Afternoon Jog - Day 2, Morning]

Mari's gregariousness and G'nichi's politeness are each taken equally in stride. Sumiye smiles tiredly in their direction, before pointing at a bench near her.
"I...slept at all, I guess. Jeb is already up and fetching the others. Said to tell anyone who got here on their own to stay put; you know how he is."

"Drat, no breakfast then."
There is a rather excessively dramatic sigh from the young woman before she plops herself down onto a bench.
Then, for G'nichi's benefit:
"Jeb's the old guy in charge."

Sumiye does make a small expression of disapproval here.

[A Brisk Afternoon Jog - Day 2, Morning]

G'nichi does his best to look more tolerant of the delay than Mari. Even though given his size he does require a decent amount of food. That's certainly been as much of a change to his mindset as being able to digest dairy. He also has a small hankering for silver right around now, but he wouldn't eat anything so precious from people already going through so much. Maybe if they make it through this they'll have some bronze lying around, though.
"That's quite alright. I can wait." he takes the chakram and tries to get a good feel for its balance. He can't actually use it with this game as it's arranged mind you, but it's something to keep his mind occupied. There's nothing right about this town. Even at his experience level he wants to do nothing more than run out and smack this forest god on the head with his sword. He wishes someone would just explain what's going on.

[Chaotic Bob]

[A Brisk Afternoon Jog - Day 2, Morning]

There's some quiet small talk between Sumiye and Mari about her classes recently (evidently the biology of mystical creatures 202 course is pretty dry), but there's not a lot of excitement here for a little bit.
Plenty of time to mess with his chakram, which seems to have an actively adjusting balance. Probably part of that whole "intelligent weapon" thing, but it almost feels like the weight/density of its metal is adjusting itself depending on the angles he's holding it at. Not something that seems like it would lend itself to ease of understanding, but he gets the pretty clear impression its intended to help ensure any of his movements have the optimal amount of force and direction behind them.

Pretty neat, really.

But this time passes as the door is pushed open again and a crowd of people shuffle in.
It looks like everyone from yesterday, with a couple additions. Most of the group quietly filters in and takes seats, with most of them looking rather pale and stricken. One of the new additions is a small, very young little boy in dirty clothes, who is clinging to the side of Lady Eiko and looking mostly confused.
The muscular guy, Fudo, has a rather blank expression on his face and makes a beeline for the sink off to the side. There is blood on his hands and boots.

Lastly enters an older, athletically-built man in hunter's garb, with a longsword at his hip. He has a furious expression in his eyes, but is calmly removing a pair of bloody gloves from his hands.
His gaze travels over everyone in the room, clearly counting, and lingers for quite awhile on G'nichi.
"Lost two. The librarians. Should do the banquet immediately."

[Deathkeeper]

[A Brisk Afternoon Jog - Day 2, Morning]

G'nichi blinks. This...can't be everyone, can it? With all the rules this sick game seems to be following, with spirit blessings and 'demon' killers, he had assumed it would be quite the group. But they kept saying demons plural, so he expected there to be more than one killer. With two victims, that lines up. But why are his adventures so lethal to librarians?
So...is there really only around ten people? With a third of them children? If they don't find the culprit everyone will be dead in under five days. And while he's never had such a grisly interpretation of 'process of elimination' that doesn't make their chances very good at all of escaping some pretty heavy tragedy.
He eyes the blood. It must have been truly grisly. He once again wishes he could take a sword to this problem. Hm. A lie forms in his head. His dream still lingers in his mind.
"Where did you find them?" he asks quietly, trying to keep things confidential enough to everyone in the room doesn't hear him asking.

[Chaotic Bob]

[A Brisk Afternoon Jog - Day 2, Morning]

Jeb there looks fully prepared to entirely ignore G'nichi, that anger in his eyes only sharpening at the question, but it looks like Mari heard it too and raises an eyebrow at him.
She seems less horrified than the others, but leaning more towards nervous.

But really, it seems to be the worried look that Sumiye is sending Fudo's way that seems to get Jeb to actually cough up some information.
"Up by the graveyard. Broke the rules and didn't shelter. Foolish outsiders."

That last comment was made with a look directly at G'nichi, before he raps a fist on the door and points out the door.
"Five minutes, gather yourselves at the shrine. Lady Eiko, get it ready."

That priestess woman pauses where she's at, then gives a slight bow and shuffles out of the room. The little boy scurries after her.

"Remember what I said, G'nichi."
Mari mutters under her breath, before she bounces up out of the chair to go check in on Yuu and Hana.

There's a lot of self-gathering through out the room, as people pull themselves out of their heads and prepare to move on. The sense of confused fear is thick.

Hmm. Kind of right about the outsider thing, not very helpful.

[Deathkeeper]

[A Brisk Afternoon Jog - Day 2, Morning]

Hm. So it didn't have anything to do with his dream. If it was a warning, whatever it was hasn't happened yet. Still, this is the answer G'nichi expected and he opens his mouth only to blink and start again.
"I'm sorry; that was foolish of me. I'm not used to this sort of thing happening where I can't run after the problem." Yes, he's just a big dumb dragon out on a quest with no sense and no sapient weapons to watch his back. You suspect nothing.
I'm not so sure. If I can't use you two walking out in the dark is foolhardy. But I haven't yet pieced together what's going on with the washing-up and the dreams. He's not leaving any of this to just superstition. People are dying.
Our hero takes a moment to help anyone with any loads they're carrying. He wants to head out to where everyone else is, but he wants to do these people a little common courtesy. It'll go a long way when at least one local already seems to want him dead. The man is likely a very good actor if he's faking it. G'nichi finds it hard to believe any of the small children would be chosen as they would likely also be poor actors to cover the act. Mari doesn't seem as likely to faint and it really would be just his luck to have the only person nice to him be the one he has to confront, isn't it?
G'nichi continues only resolving more that he wants to punch this forest deity in the face.

[Morty]

[Walk in the Woods - Thariza]

Thariza considers this for a while. Does she need Ambrosia here? No, Ambrosia has done enough for her and she needs to confront this creature on her own.

"I'll go. You can look or wait for the... other you. When we separated, she looked like a human, pale, with long hair and small horns. Wearing armor. She's also a dragon sometimes, purple and with feathers. So look out for either of those."

[Chaotic Bob]

[A Brisk Afternoon Jog - Day 2, Morning]

Ugh. I just wanted an easy monster slam. Hate this kind of thing.
The sword whines a bit, which is responded to with some amusement from the chakram.

While there aren't much in the ways of loads here, the chakram sees what G'nichi is going for and nudges him towards the older woman, Kawa.
She still seems pretty scattered by the current events, so if he felt like offering to help her on her way to the shrine...well, it certainly wouldn't go amiss.

Sumiye is over there doing something similar with Fudo, while everyone else is more or less filtering out as a group.
Waiting until everyone else is out, Jeb brings up the rear. He isn't shy about the impression that this is entirely so he can keep everyone in his line of sight.

The shrine is, thankfully, right next to the dining building, being the only other building of notable appearance in this village. So this is a trek of mere moments.
Past the little fence, into the building, everyone filters...

Inside is a wide, square room, with wooden floor and walls. It's currently wide open, but that seems to be due to all the chairs being pushed off to the side far corners. There is a closed door to the far right corner and a little altar of sorts in the center of the far wall. Very simple wooden thing, with the likeness of a great sprawling oak tree placed on top.

The center of the floor has mats (one for every person) arranged in a circle, ringed around a small assortment of candles and a pitcher of what looks to be wine.

Lady Eiko (and clutching behind her, the small boy) is currently kneeling in the circle and lighting said candles.
As everyone filters in, she gestures to the cushions around her.
"Everyone, please take a position."

[Deathkeeper]

[A Brisk Afternoon Jog - Day 2, Morning]

Well if you could let me know why you thought there would be monsters here and what they were instead of being cryptic maybe we could figure out what's going on.
G'nichi still isn't sure if this is the work of an actual god or just a cruel being with some magic. But if it's commanding spirits to give out blessings this is more than cheap tricks and lies.
G'nichi gently guides the old woman to her seat before sitting down himself. He tries not to take up too much space.
"I am sorry that I must trouble you for an explanation, Lady Eiko. I do not know the traditions of this banquet." he says politely as he adjusts his glasses. He probably should have taken them off if he wants to look like your average dumb adventurer but he also really doesn't want to walk into things. He has enough trouble getting used to his huge feet.

[Chaotic Bob]

[A Brisk Afternoon Jog - Day 2, Banquet]

Hey, I just detected something bad in the woods and thought it would be fine. Like a troll. Or an angry dryad. Who would have a whole conspiracy mess in the forest?
The sword protests these accusations of crypticness.
Really, it's just an innocent bystander here, too dumb for such things.

Or at least that last part.

Lady Eiko pauses in her lighting of the last candle, before politely smiling at G'nichi and finishing her task.
"You are forgiven. An explanation is probably needed for most of those here...though this is only a banquet in name, I fear, than in definition."
Which is probably evident by the lack of a huge amount of food here.
"Once everyone is seated..."

She takes up a place standing behind the mat further from the door, watching as everyone else filters in.

Over the course of a minute or so, everyone places themselves down in the circle.
Going clockwise starting from Lady Eiko:
Lady Eiko (priestess), that little boy (???), Nemeth (silent elf), Kawa (old lady), G'nichi (our hero), Yuu (energetic boy), Hana (punk girl), Mari (friendly), Fudo (grouchy muscular guy), Atsushi (Sumiye's son/food helper), Sumiye (food lady), Jeb (grouchy leader guy), then back to Lady Eiko.

"Alright, hurry up with the intro. We should get this over with."
Jeb immediately puts his foot down, as everyone takes their positions.

Obligingly, from her position as the last person standing up, Lady Eiko bows her head.
"As you wish. Although I'm sure everyone now knows the broad strokes of our situation, I will...start from the beginning for the benefit of anyone who may not.

Lord Shinomo, the guardian of our forest, has placed upon some of us a trial. Demons have escaped their prisons and now lurk amongst us-"
"Two of us."
"-um, two demons lurk amongst us."
The priestess stumbles over the interruption, while Jeb rather impatiently stares at her.
"Each night, they will consume another of our number, and each morning it is our duty to determine and remove one of theirs. That is why we are here, at this Banquet, to pass judgement by divine mandate."

She pauses here, staring into the flames of the candles flickering in the middle of the circle.
"Some of us are special, blessed in the night just as the demons performed their infiltration. A snake, who may pray for nightly guidance and see the the blessing or curse of another. A raven who will taste of the dead for the same. A spider who will shield the life and dreams of their focus. And lastly, twin monkeys aware of each other from the start. These are the gifts given to us as aid in our survival.
None may commit violence beyond the two appointed times, or else see judgement passed upon themselves. We must use the blessed and our own minds to defeat the cursed, nothing more.
Are there questions?"

[Deathkeeper]

[A Brisk Afternoon Jog - Day 2, Banquet]

G'nichi decides that 'are you aware your god is literally making you play a children's game for your lives' is not a valid question given the fact that someone is going to die in the next hour apparently. He hopes that Fudo or Jeb who found the bodies was this Raven because otherwise they might have blown one of their hints.
He's also very glad he didn't get that blessing. He's not sure he could resort to tasting a corpse even to save lives.
But yes, this means that 12 to 2, they could all be dead within the week. Wonderful.
"Question: are the cursed actually possessed or merely given a role like everyone else?" he finds himself saying, unable to contain himself.

[Chaotic Bob]

[A Brisk Afternoon Jog - Day 2, Banquet]

For better or worse, it is likely that no one here is familiar with the game G'nichi may be thinking of.
Maybe Mari?

If she does, she's not finding it funny. There's a sort of focused expression on her face, as she waits for the answer to G'nichi's question.
Everyone looks interested, except for Jeb. He continues to just look impatient.

Lady Eiko looks like she hasn't actually considered that question before, with a momentary perplexed expression before resuming her usual tranquility.
"I would assume that they are possessed. What else would convince someone to kill their neighbors? I would imagine it doesn't really matter, one way or the other though..."

"Hold on, it would matter. If it was just a role, they could...not do it. Then we could not do this. Right? No one has to die."
Mari interrupts into the conversation here, quite eager to avoid murder. Something most of the group here looks to be of similar mind on.
Jeb looks unmoved.
"There are already two dead."

[Deathkeeper]

[A Brisk Afternoon Jog - Day 2, Banquet]

G'nichi takes a deep breath.
"Well, considering that this 'trial' follows the exact same rules as the games I would play in middle school, only now made lethal, I will answer that statement with one of my own: I assume you have gathered us here to vote on who we suspect using the clues we have gathered, slaying one after the group has reached some consensus? Is that it? Would that not be the 'blessed' ones killing your neighbor?" He folds his arms.
"Two died last night, when the roles were being assigned. For all we know they were killed because they broke your god's rules and not because the 'demons' were supposed to strike at all." G'nichi pauses.
"I won't tell any of you what to do, or what I think of this god of yours. But I will say that I know none of you and this is not my village. I will cast no vote to execute anyone present. This is a cruel and twisted game and I wish as little part in it as I can. If simply telling everyone present to not vote at all and stall out this game would work, I'd do it in a heartbeat."

[Chaotic Bob]

[A Brisk Afternoon Jog - Day 2, Banquet]

"It's not entirely equal like that, uh...G'nichi?"
The young man who helps Sumiye with the food, Atsushi, cautiously interjects here. He glances at Mari for confirmation on the name, who frowns but nods.
"Theoretically, this Banquet is entirely to preserve our lives, not out of spite or hatred for our fellows. If the demons are allowed to run unopposed we just die. Though, to Mari's point, if the demons do nothing and then we likewise do nothing, there is no loss of any life here. Jeb, you yourself said the two died because they broke the rules, so technically there's been no murder yet.
So...to G'nichi and Mari's point, and as a gesture of trusting logic, I would propose we hold off on any condemnations here, via vote or otherwise. If the demons, whoever you are, continue to not hurt anyone, we can likewise do nothing in the mornings. Just wait out the fog. It has to end eventually, right?"

He speaks with a clearly rational bent, thinking through his words as he says then and ticking offs fingers on one hand with each point he's making.

Not that Jeb seems particularly interested.
"Dumb plan. You're just giving them a free night to do what they please, when we could start nipping this in the bud now. It's probably those two, with their push to stop this."
A finger is pointed right at G'nichi.

Herein is a presented a problem. As .the elder, Jeb's word is by default weighted pretty heavily. However, Mari and G'nichi's call to avoid violence resonates with most everyone here. On top of that, Sumiye and the kids seemed to swayed by Atsushi's logic (though the former may be biased, as his mother).
The group appears immediately divided.

[Deathkeeper]

[A Brisk Afternoon Jog - Day 2, Banquet]

G'nichi's anger flares and his eyes lock on Jeb. "Sir." he booms.
"Since we woke up you have done nothing but rush these proceedings. Proceedings which, I should not have to remind you, are intended to end with you killing one of your own. Someone of your maturity should not be breathing down the community's neck rushing them into committing a murder. A murder which let's be honest, we have nothing to go on. Two outsiders are dead because they broke the rules. The roles were divvied up minutes before we woke up which was under an hour ago.
Even if we wanted to go after someone, we have nothing to go on. What happened in the last half hour? We got ready and gathered, you two showed up covered in blood and announced two dead, then we walked here and sat down, I told people murder is wrong, and you are now claiming that I am clearly evil because...I told everyone murder is wrong?
That's nothing! Are you honestly suggesting someone ought to die for a blind guess? Your odds of blindly selecting two out of over ten are not good. Especially not when missing is a dead innocent." G'nichi cuts quite the figure, golden eyes glaring from behind those spectacles and on top that massive frame. His tail thumps against the floor for effect.

[Rebonack]

[Steelbite Canyon]

Magdalene is doing her best to keep herself propped up, but she's not doing a particularly great job. When Atreyu asks her to spare the cultist leader she gives him a look like he's an idiot. "Fine."

This, of course, immediately results in Fido firing another entropy blast at the druid. This time, however, Magdalene manages to lurch awkwardly into the projectile's path.

Now, see, there's a problem.

Normally with her soul connected to her body her magic is constantly repairing herself. But with her soul severed as it is her magic is no longer healing any harm that she would be sustaining. At least not to the degree that it should be. Short of it? Her poor body gets shredded by the gaze of the void.

Whoops!

That just leaves the ghostly wendigo spirit that was inhabiting her naked to the world, rapidly destabilizing as she's pulled toward Sylvanas. She is, however, still coherent enough to be pretty upset about all this.

"You little (blossom)! We try to spare you and this is what we get? (Flower) you!" the wraith hisses as she tries to drive her icy talons into Fido's chest and rip his heart out. The temperature around her is rapidly dropping, enough so that breathing too deeply would make someone's lungs ache. "I'm going to eat your heart you (flowering) piece of (rose)!"

Goodness Magdalene.

Language!


[Found a Fortress]

June is definitely successful since the subject of illumination is dropped.

The levers seem QUITE sturdy. They're made of that same silvery white metal that seems to be exceptionally tough. One could probably tie a rope onto the thing. Or one of the pipes, certainly. Definitely don't want to try flying down there. Oh no! These shafts don't provide nearly enough room to maneuver.

Pepper, in spite of everything, seems to be enjoying herself.

"I've got oodles of extra rope so long deep spooky pits aren't any big deal! Good thing the hatch is near the wall. Scaling with a wall to walk down is WAY easier than just dangling over nothing," Pepper says as she peers down the shaft.

So! Sounds like this is just a matter of taking action.

Choose something to tie the rope to and get to climbing!


[iDungeon]

Into door number three!

Inside is a triggered trap.

Spikes jut up out of the floor around a pedestal, pinning a skeleton to the ceiling. Clutched in the skeleton's hand is a key.

"Oof. Bad luck there, guy," Jeany mutters, grimacing at the grizzly sight.

[Deathkeeper]

[iDungeon]

Linus reaches up and takes the key.
"Well, I suppose we have to backtrack, now. None of these doors had the way forward." Or the next sword-gem!
The pair will have to go back to the last fork in the path and take the other. This means they'll have to go down the other smelly dungeon path.

[5a Violista]

[Found Fortress]

June walks back, looking for a good place to tie it to. If they're going to climb down one-by-one, then...Pepper? seems like she'd be the heaviest. Plus her armor, maybe. It seems to be able to fly sometimes, though, so...maybe the armor doesn't have to be counted.

She grabs onto a pipe and yanks on it, to check if it's sturdy enough to hold someone's weight.

"Hey, you know any good knots?" she asks Spako. "I think this pipe is sturdy enough." Probably a better choice than the levers, she thinks, because then the rope would be at a better angle and probably not slide around as much.


After they have the rope all dealt with and climbing order (and anything else) sorted out, June starts her descent. Climbing down a rope is pretty easy.

[Deathkeeper]

[Found Fortress]

Spako nods. "Sure do. Can't have a spelljammer without knowing how to tie a knot." he says, as if that explains things. He'll let Pepper figure out what she's doing after June, though. He's light and he can just turn into a bird in a pinch anyway, right? So it's best if he goes last since he has a backup plan.

[Rebonack]

[iDungeon]

"This branch was probably just for collecting keys," Jeany suggests as they head back to the great big chess themed room. Coming through the northern door, there are still three other obvious exits. The doorway on the southern end of the room, the door closest to them on the eastern wall, and the far door on the eastern wall (which they had originally come through). There's also that great big fancy tapestry hanging between the two eastern doors that DEFINITELY doesn't have a secret passage behind it.

Of course...

Our heroes had moved around using knight-style patterns before.

Though they don't know for sure whether doing anything else would trigger a trap.

Maybe it wouldn't?

Maybe the chess theme is just to psyche them out.

Which way next, Linus?


[Found a Fortress]

Turns out the pipe is a great place to tie the rope.

Which means?

Now it's time to descend!

June goes first, Pepper waiting up at the top for her to reach the bottom. No reason to put too much weight on the rope, right?

So. Descending.

It's pretty dark in the elevator shaft, illuminated just by June's armor. She can hear some worrying honking in the far distance. That, and the sound of leathery wings as she disturbs some bats. Though as she moves closer toward the floor she may notice something odd. The silvery metal walls give way to smooth stone as she reaches some kind of cavern, now dangling over empty air. The cave is illuminated by ample glowing fungus lining the walls. An underground stream runs through the cavern with a stone bridge arcing above it. At the far end of the room looms a stone dais with a sarcophagus sitting atop it in front of a huge stone wall covered in angular glyphs.

"Did you make it to the bottom?" Pepper calls out from on high, her voice echoing through the cavernous space.

[Ashen Lilies]

[City Out of Time]

Electra seems about to make a comment, but pauses and narrows her eyes. Instinctively, her right hand falls to the grip of one of her fusion bolt casters. She doesn't draw it yet, but her stance is suddenly low, like a coiled snake ready to strike.

"Did that skeleton's head just move?" She asks quietly, taking a couple of steps to put herself in between it and Cass. Her movement seems less intentional than instinctual, though.

[City Out of Time

"I think so..." says Cass, similarly stepping back, a little behind Electra, while reaching a hand behind her back. "Generally, I don't think that's supposed to happen."

[Morty]

[City Out of Time]

The skeleton's head does not move again. It simply stares at the pair with its dead, empty eyes. The door to the shelf will open easily enough, revealing a scattering of books and notes. They're all written in the same ancient language, but all seem to concern fey.

In a central place of the shelf, protected by a pane of glass, is a small book. A booklet, really. It was hand-written without much care, but every page of the booklet contains a drawing and some commentary. A black bird with haunting, bright eyes. A tree, smoking and blistering, but without any fire. A regal-looking woman, whose beautiful body and face are underscored by pitch-black eyes and claws on her hands. A slim, androgynous masked figure with horns and wings, grasping a hunting knife. A scarecrow-like shape with its cruel, jeering face crudely painted on a sack covering a wooden log.

On the last page, all these pictures and their names are arranged in a circle, its center empty.

"Name..." The sound seems to be coming from the giant skeleton. It's a whisper, carried through centuries through sheer, desperate determination. "Find... name... under titles. We... could not... in time."

[Deathkeeper]

iDungeon

Linus considers their options. They came out of the east door, and the other east door is probably from the other path they didn’t take on the way and-
”Hey you think that tapestry is worth anything? It looks kinda big and nice and we’re already selling old books and papers.”
This is why you don’t give adventurers infinite holding capacity. The kleptomania sets in immediately.

[Rebonack]

[iDungeon]

If you aren't stealing everything that isn't nailed to the floor (and packing a prybar for everything that is) then can you really call yourself an adventurer?

The tapestry is probably worth describing. It depicts a tall tower with a glowing sphere above its apex. Maybe it's supposed to represent the moon? Or an eye?

Or maybe something else...

"It looks pretty fancy," Jeanette admits. "There are guys who pay good money for just about anything that can be pulled out of ruins like these."

Jeanette begins knight-stepping toward the tapestry for a closer look.

Will Linus follow her?

"Looks like it's set on hooks at the top," Jeanette observes. "You wanna grab the other side so it doesn't flop on the floor?"

Wouldn't want it to get damp after all.

[Deathkeeper]

iDungeon

Linus follows Jeanie the way they moved before (only in reverse!). With a nod he takes hold of the other side of the tapestry.
"Okay. On three, then?" On a count of three they should be able to try and push the tapestry up off the hooks so they can properly roll it up.
Easy!

[Nova_Eclipse]

[City Out of Time]

Electra waits and watches carefully for a few moments, before gesturing towards the shelf, being careful to keep herself between Cass and the skeleton.

"What do you make of it?" She asks quietly, before the whisper filters through. She raises a skeptical eyebrow and glances at Cass after it passes. "....Any idea what that's about?"

[5a Violista]

[Found a Fortress]

June reaches the bottom!
"Yeah!" she calls back. "At the bottom! Some kind of altar or something. Can hear a clown, far away!"

She had debated whether to keep quiet so that the clown would have no chance of hearing them, or speaking up describing the situation. June decided it would be better they were prepared, and that was worth the risk that she would get overheard by the clown.

She moves away from the rope - both to not get in the way (and in case they knock a rock down) and to make sure they don't get ambushed as they get to the bottom.
So, she waits for them by wandering towards the stone bridge. It looks like the perfect ambush spot, so she needs to check it out in case there's an ambush waiting for them.

[Deathkeeper]

[Found a Fortress]

Spako nods."You can go next, Pepper." As previously mentioned, Spako should have an easier time getting down so he wants to go last.
And to be honest, he's really curious to see how the heck someone as weird-shaped as Pepper plans on climbing down a rope.