PrP Bottom of the Well

[Scourge]

The hound stands directly below the well entrance in what seems to be some sort of hollow, looking up at the Changelings. Below it’s feet are a good couple inches of muck but the wind beast floats just above the surface. Sand escapes it’s form, slowly being replaced by the mist the hangs on the muddy surface, turning it from brown to greenish grey. Flecks of sludge occasionally get pulled in, making it look like the thing is wearing dirty socks on its gaseous legs.

It looks up at the Changelings above it, tail whirl winding behind it as it waits for them.

[Liam Gelt]

Liam puts his massive limbs to work, lowering himself down into the newly opened well like some kind of great ape. Well, here we are then. Time to be heroes.
He lands amidst the muck and turns to Wind Puppy, giving the creature a reassuring grin. "Okay little guy, we're here. I guess now we follow your lead." He calls up to Worm and Eleanor. "Take care, it's a lot dirtier down here." The Goblin likely wouldn't mind, but he didn't want the Fairest to be caught off guard. He stands ready to brace the descent of his comrades, trusting for the moment that his canine companion would provide surveillance until more martially-minded folks reached the floor.

[Scourge]

Climbing down, the giant can feel when he enters the dog's 'body'. It pushes him up, tries to support his descent, until the giant's foot sinks into the mud and takes over its responsibility. After which it walks a short ways off down the hall and stops. Gusting and bristling as it looks around where they've landed.

When Liam reaches the bottom, he sees that it opens up after a short hallway. Water slowly dripples down the halls gradual slope into the room beyond. Its walls are made of packed damp slick earth. A lattice of triangular pvc pipe forms the room into a dome like a large children's climbing feature. The floor is high in the center and sinks along the edges, allowing water to stagnate up to six inches deep along the sides before it flows out the circular room's two exits, small doorless halls ninety degrees to the right and left of the entrance.

In the small time it takes to see the room, or with possible occasional glances, two features stand out. A pile of small wooden blocks in the rooms center and long pale hinged shapes in the water. Ashen, white, bloated, bloodless.

There were arms floating in the water.

[Titania]

She looks at the well, the she exchanges a perplexed look with Worm.
Are they really going to dive down there? To think she loved these shoes.
She sighs, but you can't really resist a moral call, can you?
And so, she slowly and carefully lowers herself down the hole.

[Colonel Worm]

Worm catches Titania's look and shrugs with a grin. "Once more, into the soup," he says, motioning with his arm as if to add After you.

While she climbs down, Worm hooks the sheath of each knife to either side of his waist band. Feels good to be armed. Feels right.

Colonel's turn. He doesn't think twice about it. Just burns a little glamour to loosen up the joints and descends.

Worm splashes down next to his comrades and immediately unsheathes both knives and pushes forward, keeping low and slow, taking point if they'll let him. He moves after the wind-dog and into the macabre chamber. "Nice decor," the goblin quips. Can't help himself. How else do you deal with a sight like this?

He takes a step or two onto the raised hummock in the middle of the room. White-within-white eyes scan the space, taking in the detail, looking for anything out of the ordinary. Well, more out of the ordinary than a bunch of severed arms.

Wassup? 1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-06-29 07:29:39	Colonel Worm rolls 5 to Wits + Composure (10 Again)	5, 4, 5, 6, 8	1 success

Last thread, Worm asked Titania to take the first aid kit. If she did, awesome! If not, Worm will sling the thing over his own shoulder.

[Liam Gelt]

His feet hit the ground and Liam gives an appreciative nod to Wind Puppy. Glad I don't have to worry about tripping over you. He reaches out to aid Eleanor's descent, doing his best to bring her to the ground with as little splash as possible. Worm's catlike entrance into the well almost takes him by surprise. "Nice! You've got some serious reflexes." It was clear the Goblin was in his element in the dark, dangerous space, so he let Worm move in front as they advanced down the hallway and into the main chamber.
The next room looks to Liam like a twisted nest, and the size of it did his Ogreish imagination no favors. Then he sees the strange, oblong objects in the water and something just clicks. Arms.

4 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-06-29 11:36:23	Liam Gelt rolls 5 to Resist Terror/Disgust (Resolve + Composure) (10 Again)	8, 10, 9, 10, 4, 6, 7	4 successes

Liam was by no means an unkind man. He thrived when people were happy and safe and cared for, and didn't like causing trouble if he could help it. But something about this dark, damp, gruesome place pushed the disgust and bile down into his stomach and hardened his resolve. They were in a monster's lair now, and the monster's reckoning was about to hit it hard.
He lets Worm roam several paces ahead, keeping abreast with Titania. "Watch your step, Eleanor." Now with a Princess to protect, Liam begins scanning the cavern in earnest for potential threats. Though he does gravitate towards the pile of wooden blocks in the center.

3 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-06-29 11:29:11	Liam Gelt rolls 5 to Scan the Room for Danger (Wits + Composure) (10 Again)	1, 10, 8, 5, 1, 10, 2	3 successes

[Scourge]

Once everyone is down, the wind dog enters the room, taking off into the air to check the ceiling and begin thoroughly investigating.

Back on the ground, the Changeling’s eyes start to adjust just in time for the gate to close, sending them into a dark gloom. Slowly, a dim sickly ambient glow rises around them. There doesn’t seem to be any real source but the way the mist scatters the light, it’s almost like the ground fog itself is creating the yellow light.

There’s a squelching sound as Titania sets down her first step. As if the muck was taking a perverse joy in ruining her foot wear.

In the center of the room, Colonel looks around but nothing that he didn’t already notice stands out. At least till he looks down at the little pile of play cubes. They seem normal, but he happens to notice that all of have the same letter.

Liam steels his wooden heart against the horror in front of him, focusing instead on looking for possible danger. While the initial surroundings seem clear of movement, like a crocodile he sees what lies just under the surface of the grotesque but still scene. Some of the arms aren’t floating. Above the elbow they actually look like they are planted into the Hedge soil and their muscles look tensed despite be necrotized. Worse, he sees traces of marks made by fingers on the ground leading down the left passage.

[Titania]

She replies with an apologetic look, mindful to not sully her dress.
The first thing she notices is the glowing light. Strange that for once she isn't the source.
This train of thought utterly derails, washed away by the disgustingly wet sound.

3 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-06-29 17:51:16	Titania rolls 5 to Wits + Composure - 1 (10 Again)	4, 3, 8, 9, 8	3 successes

[Colonel Worm]

Liam's compliment draws a wink from Worm, "Just your average Goblin, big guy."

Then the lights go down. And come up again. Well, not really. It's more like an unearthly gloaming. More than the arms (he's seen his fair share of severed limbs), it's the eerie, yellow glow that gets to him.

He kneels next to the blocks, stirring them with one of his blades. P P P P P, they read. "All P's," he announces, as if the information is important. Resists the urge to make a pee pee joke. People get sensitive when they're surrounded by an arm garden.

Standing, Worm looks up at the crude dome's strut-work, then right and left. "So, we've got a choice here. One of you two have a coin to flip? Or maybe the Hurricane Hound has a suggestion?" He glances in what he thinks is the wind-dog's direction.

[Liam Gelt]

Liam can't help but envy Wind Puppy as he begins floating above them, standing in what amounted to marsh muck and dead body parts. Or maybe dead bodies? Something was off about some of the arms. Like they're growing out...or maybe sucked in? Liam realizes that of all the things he'd expected to find down here, quicksand wasn't one of them. "Careful! Some of these...bodies look like they're submerged in the ground. There might be quicksand or something." He looks to Eleanor with an apologetic grimace. "If you really want, I could probably carry you." Nothing against the Fairest, but Worm looked like he'd had much more experience with getting out of tight spots. Plus, all things considered, he might actually weigh less than both of them with how spindly he was.
Though the blocks all having the same letter doesn't seem too relevant, Worm's question of direction snaps him into alertness again. "There are markings down that passageway." Pointing to the left. "Either someone was dragged down there or something left tracks." He racks his brain for ideas of pre-existing knuckle-draggers that lived in swamps or damp places. Even if this was clearly the work of some Lost or Hedge-Beast, most tended not to stray too far from Earth biology. "Whatever did this is probably bunks down there."

2 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-06-29 22:30:58	Liam Gelt rolls 4 to What Beast Did This? (Int + Science + Specialization: Zoology) (10 Again)	8, 1, 1, 10, 5	2 successes