Round 48 Transcript

As Varrika readjusts her aim, the crossbow bolt narrowly misses the skeleton's skull, striking its shoulder instead. The undead creature stumbles back, releasing Halie's wrist from its grasp. Halie struggles against the skeleton, her eyes wide with fear, as Varrika fires another bolt, striking the skeleton in the chest. The stone floor shudders beneath their feet, and an ominous rumble grows louder. The ward responds with a fresh pulse, indicating danger. The nearest sign of danger is the approaching undead horde, now visible beyond the tower's entrance. Seraphine yells for Jeane's location, her voice echoing through the hidden chamber, as Merrin fumbles with the tinderbox to create flame. The glowing runes on the walls pulse with an eerie light, illuminating the dark environment.

I'm here, Varrika, but I can't see anything in this damn pit! Halie calls out, her voice echoing off stone walls. Jeane? Answer me! Are you hurt? She lowers herself to the edge, peering down with a torch held high. There's too much shadow, not enough light. Someone fetch another torch—three of them—and we'll make this hellhole brighter than a festival market.

I crouch at the edge of the pit, peering into the darkness. "Jeane!" I shout, my gravel voice echoing off the stone walls. "Are you hurt? Can you hear me?"

My heart pounds as I strain to catch any sound from below. The air feels thick with ancient magic, sending a shiver down my spine. I ready my crossbow, scanning the shadows for any sign of movement. Seraphine's voice rings out behind me. "Varrika, get that rope ready! We need to get Halie and Jeane out of there now."

I nod sharply, my fingers working deftly to untangle the coils at my belt. "On it," I mutter, more to myself than to her. The pit yawns before me, a gaping maw leading god-knows where. But Jeane is down there, and that's all that matters. I take a deep breath, steeling myself for whatever horrors might lurk in the darkness below. "Halie, Merrin, stay alert," I call over my shoulder. "We've no idea what else this cursed tower might throw at us."

With practiced motions, I secure one end of the rope around a sturdy-looking stone column. The other I hold taut in my hands, ready to lower down into the pit. "Jeane?" I try again, my voice a hushed urgency in the gloom. "Talk to me, girl. We're coming for you."

I hear voices shouting above—Varrika and Seraphine, I think—but the words are muffled by stone and distance. The air here is cold, thin. Jeane: My head aches from the pressure change when I'd fallen through. Is anyone there? Can you see an opening anywhere in this damn pit? The torchlight flickers weakly across smooth walls that curve downward into darkness. Something shifted under me just now—stone grinding against stone, or... something else moving. I can hear heavy tread sounds getting closer.

I'm trapped at the bottom of a shaft maybe ten feet deep, with no visible exits except the hole far above where I fell through. My mace is useless in tight quarters like this; my crossbow is still up there with my companions. Anyone? Merrin! Seraphine! Varrika—you're up there somewhere, right? The runes on these walls stopped pulsing after I landed—the ward that warned of danger seems broken or distracted by something bigger now. Whatever made those noises earlier is getting closer.

I try to cast Detect Magic but the spell fizzles—I'm too oxygen-deprived to focus properly. Shit. The cold air makes my teeth chatter and my fingers tingle. If you're up there, get a rope down here fast—there's something moving beneath me in this darkness. Heavy breathing echoes around me now, and not my own. I back myself against the wall opposite where I landed, drawing my mace one-handed while fumbling with the other for a spell component that might work even without proper concentration. Come on... come on... The stone floor shifts again under my boots, and whatever's making those tread sounds is definitely climbing toward the surface above. My companions are up there—Halie was grappled by a skeleton last I saw—and they don't know what's coming.

I need to warn them, or at least create noise to distract whatever it is so they can escape before it reaches the top.