Atheryin: Fall of Thyros

[VirtualWeasel]

The metal, although not reacting to the flames at first, slowly began to heat with Sárone's flames. It was an extremely slow process though—several minutes passed before the grate actually reached a decently hot state.
Not much exhausting magic was at work here, and the Tallin hardly felt drained from it.
"Go on then, Jarvah. Have a good whack at it." Faolan finally spoke up, gesturing to Baldric to make the strike. "Oh, but please... Try to do it quietly."

[Baloth-Kul]

Baldric scoffed. "Quietly..." The Jarvah winded up with his warhammer, and put all his weight behind striking the hot grate. He would continue to hit it with heavy blows until either the grate fell or he did.

[The SheoDovah]

Saroné ignored the Jarvah as he focused on the grate and a few minutes later, he stepped away from the Grate. "I don't think quiet and him goes together. But they would make an interesting couple if they did get along." He watched as the Jarvah assaulted the grate.

[POMC S117]

The metal, already weakened by Saroné's concentrated magic, began to bulge. The bars pushed downwards, into the hole, as the grate quaked at its hinges. Scrapings of rusted metal could be seen, cascading down into the abyss, and a distant plop could be heard, faint and vague, as a slime-covered bolt fell from its place and struck water far below. At last, the grate broke off, with a dying, lethargic groan, and scraped down the hole a few inches, before it rested in the gaps between stone. Faolan reached down and pulled the grate out, clearing the way for them to descend. The soldier turned to the Jarvah.

"Well, then, go ahead. Lead the way."

[Baloth-Kul]

"Hmph." Baldric lowered his hammer and made his way into the stinking pit.

[Sav]

Odhran was the first to follow Baldric into the pit ahead. "Could be worse." He commented as he made his way down, trying his best to mentally prepare himself for what was ahead.

[Derp53]

Gingerly stepping down into the muck, Aneira winced following behind Odhran "This better be a profitable venture, I'm going to smell like the Tallin if we stay in this tunnel longer than necessary."

[The SheoDovah]

"How you wound me, Templar lass." Saroné followed the pair and wished that he knew of a spell to keep the muck from touching the bottom of his robes. "If everything goes to [&@%!], do we have a plan for that or do we just soil our drawers?"

[VirtualWeasel]

The drainage tunnel was a small, sullen hole in the walls of the castle, clearly cut through after the structure was built. With uneven walls and ceilings, it still remained rather tight—six feet high at its tallest parts, some areas nearly five and a half feet in height and single file width. Faolan planted his foot in then brook of waste water, and proceeded behind the others.
"I know it's not ideal, just bear with me here." Even the battle-hardened soldier himself couldn't bear the stench and texture of the waters they trudged through, but pushed on. "Soon we'll come across a drainage grate above our heads that's, uh, believed to be in the fort's larder. We can break in there without being heard, as long as the cooks didn't decide to make an early breakfast. From there, we can go on to the kitchen, then the court hall." Faolan paused for a moment, bending down under a low, uneven part of the tunnel ceiling. Nearly knocking his head on a jutting brick, he shouted up to Baldric. "[&@%!] tunnels! I'd imagine you're crawling on all fours up there, Jarvah!"

[Baloth-Kul]

Baldric was cursing, less than silently this time, as he awkwardly crouch-walked his way through the tunnel. "Damn near, godsdamnit." His plate scraped against the walls here and there, scraping off sludge and foulness that would take a lot of patience to clean off his armour later. "Even if we don't find anyone on our way there, I'm going to kill -someone- for this effort."

[Derp53]

Once again sympathizing with Baldric, Aneira focused on making sure her feet landed on the floor and not a pothole "At least that armor is yours Baldric, the Blacksmith back in Tohra is going to freak out when he see's what happened to the chainmail he loaned."

[The SheoDovah]

"Cheer up, Jarvah. At least you have armour, which will be easy to clean. If i trip, i will have to set fire to these maginifcent robes of mine. They are a right pain in the arse to clean as it is. He was following the others and noticed how low the ceiling was. "This won't be good for my back." He carefully lowered his head to avoid scrapping it along the ceiling. "If we get spotted, i'm burning the castle down!" He had enough of the stench and he hoped that their exit would require something less dirty.

[VirtualWeasel]

As the group trudged on, forward through the uneven tunnel was a dim light, radiating down from the ceiling. On their approach, Faolan immediately identified it.
"That's our larder drain grate. Looks a bit tight, but I think we can make it through." Faolan looked up at the grate inquisitively, and then peered through its holes into the dark larder. "Looks clear. The thing's heavy, but not bolted down. Someone come help me lift this thing, will you?"

[Baloth-Kul]

"I'll do it." Baldric moved under the grate and lifted his arms up to open it himself.

[VirtualWeasel]

After lifting the grate with Baldric's help, the two shimmied a bit to slide it over onto the larder's floor. Once the grate was out of the way, Faolan crouched down halfway and held his gauntlet-covered hands out.
"I'd imagine you can climb up yourself, Jarvah, but for the more... vertically impaired among us, I can boost you up. Just stay quiet when we get up there, and take immediate cover. Cooks could walk in at any moment."

[Baloth-Kul]

Baldric hauled himself up into the larder, and likewise, offered a gauntlet up to those still in the tunnel.

[The SheoDovah]

Saroné jumped up and grabbed the Jarvah's hand. He would find a place to hide once he had been hauled up by the red giant.

[Baloth-Kul]

As Baldric considered dropping the Tallin, or maybe breaking his arm, he sighed and pulled him up into the larder.

[Derp53]

Watching the tallin climb up, Aneira began climbing up next, able to climb up herself but willing to let Baldric pull her up if he wanted.

[Baloth-Kul]

Baldric reached down, grabbed Aneira by the forearm, and hauled her up, too.

[Derp53]

"Thanks Baldric." Aneira as she dusted off the tunic over her chainmail

[VirtualWeasel]

The larder was a cold, dark hole in the ground, with smoothed stone walls on every side. A thick smell of raw meats cut the air, and an array of meats were strung from rickety hooks nailed to the ceiling. There were crude wooden stairs hammered into the walls, leading up to a heavy iron and wood trapdoor, considerably newer than the rest of the wooden constructs in the larder. Occasionally, footsteps could be heard above them. Faolan walked to the trapdoor, up the creaking stairs, motioning to the others to stay down in the larder. He lifted the trapdoor slightly, and peered into the kitchen. After scanning the area for several minutes, he eased it shut and whispered down to the others.
"Two cooks, going in and out of the kitchen. We can get past them if we time it right."

[Baloth-Kul]

Baldric creaked his way up the stairs to Faolan. "I'll go last," he whispered, "since I'm the most...noticeable. Better the others are ahead, even if I get spotted. Might be able to take the cooks out, if we need to, if the others have already made it in."

[Derp53]

Aneira silently tip toed up and tapped Faolan's shoulder, sword drawn "I can sneak by, where do I need to go?"

[VirtualWeasel]

Faolan lifted the trapdoor and peeked out once more. As he scanned the room, the two cooks sped back and forth between stations with no consistent rhythm. Spotting a few dark undersides of tables, the Thyrid continued looking for better spots, until finally his eyes fell upon an open storage closet, with very little stored in it. The closet laid on the kitchen's directly leftmost wall from the trapdoor.
"We could probably fit two in there... It's at least a better vantage point. Head for the closet first, and the Jarvah can follow you after. I'll take one of the tables on the right side. On my cue..." Faolan lifted the trapdoor further once the cooks had left the room momentarily.
"GO!"