Down Within The Dark Tunnels(Kidnapped Abbot TP)

The tunnels are ancient, dank, dark and very old, they are also oppressive, there is something about all that earth pressing down on them from above that is disturbing. It just isn't natural and there are tumbled stones and sprays of rock and dirt blocking off tunnels and exits. The party from the abbey are tooled up with weapons, lanterns and are gathered in the first real stone tunnel that branches off from the tunnel the vermin dug.

Lee is leading the way, sword drawn, peering into the darkness. The air is stale, dead. No beast had clearly been here in a *very* long time, yet somehow, despite hundreds of seasons and upheavals of the earth, the place remained, such as it was. "Oy, wot is this place, an' where are we? Any beast got an idea?" He asks, somewhat rhetorically. "The stones are ancient... I'd say as old as the Abbey, or older, even, wot do ye think, mates?"

Anomen looks around as he follows "I have no clue, maybe something about it is in de abbey records maybe, but we can worry about looking that up later. Either way should be careful down here."

DoraRose has calmed down, and now, as she looks around the tunnel, is wishing that she had left her axe behind. It's a bit big to be wielded down here. She scratches her cheek under her helmet as she says, "I think....I've read about Mossflower before Redwall was built. There was an old castle here, called Kotir. Martin and the woodlanders flooded it, then demolished it. I read that is was rediscovered during the time of Abbess Tansy and the Champion Arven. Could....this possibly...." She gently touches the wall, eyes wide with wonder.

Whilst DoraRose is distracting everyone with wide eyed wonder and historical facts the Vermin are on the move, three martens step out of a side tunnel ahead and let loose a flight of arrows. They scream hideous war cries and immediately reload their bows, preparing to fire again.

Lee continues peering into the gloom. "Kotir, ye say? Name rings a bell. I read about it, a little, but didn't realize it was right 'ere, under our feet. 'Ow much is there? Why ain't I ever been told? This is somethin' I shoulda known about as a potential liability to Abbey defense, DoraRose. As has been so clearly demonstrated today, there is *obviously* another way in..." His thoughts are rudely interrupted, however, as the martens make a sudden appearance. He immediately ducks, but not before arrow grazes his left shoulder, drawing blood. "Duck!" he shouts, as the enemy ready another round. The otter doesn't heed his own order, however, as he charges forward, sword at the ready to try and cut down the martens where they stand, before they can shoot.

Anomen quickly ducks as an arrow sails over his head. He has with him some throwing daggers and his sling as he selects a rock and quickly twirls the sling and releases a rock towards one of the martens as they peek around the corner.

DoraRose hollers and brings up her axe to shield her face as she ducks out of the way. Grunting as an arrow grazes her right thigh, she hides and loads a stone in her sling, hollering at the otter, "It wasn't my fault! I thought you knew! Hey!" She lobs off a rock, then, after wrapping the sling around her axe haft, she charges forward so the Head Guard isn't fighting alone and goes to kill one of the martens.

Two of the martens get arrows off again, one at Anomen, one at Dora, the third one goes down under the hastily thrown sling stone, ducking out of the way and then Lee is upon him. He grunts and tries to batter the otter off with his bow but he is no match for the ferocity of the sword wielding otter and goes down. The other two draw swords, one of them leaps toward Dora and Anomen the other tries to stab Lee.

Anomen barely sidesteps an arrow as it clinks off the wall and frowns, he then gets out one of the 4 throwing daggers he has and flicks it at the marten coming at him and Dorarose, course he will need to use let one of the other 3 daggers as a regular dagger.

Lee is well aware of the marten, and he swings his blade with the intent of disarming the beast, but not kill. He wants to question the vermin, perhaps get an idea which way to go in this dump. A better idea than wandering around and getting lost, surely. "Surrender, now, an' I'll consider lettin' ye live, fool." He presses the tip of his sword to the marten's throat, just knicking him enough to draw blood. "If ye don't, then I'll relieve yer head of yer shoulders."

DoraRose swings at the marten headed her and the squirrel's way, aiming to kill him. Her axe is a bit unwieldy, and she is seriously regretting bringing it. But then again, she had no idea what she was walking into, exactly, so how was she supposed to know?

The marten fighting Lee bats the sword away from his throat before it can nip him, he is not so easily disarmed or stopped. He is a skilled warrior, he knows what to do with that sword and sets about trying to stab Lee. "The Under-martens never surrender water dog, die!" Agnomen’s thrown knife has hit the marten in the shoulder but it is still coming though it is forced to engage Dora Rose as she is in the way first and again he proves to be a formidable warrior, he knows how to use that sword. They are strange characters, they have dark leather armor on and their fur has been dusted and stained with soil and grim to make them dark. Dora's axe is not the sort of weapon to be using in these dark confined tunnels and he starts to beat her back with the use of his smaller, smarter sword.

Anomen ears flatten on his head and he goes to stab the one attacking Dorarose and stab the marten in the back, and looks to where the other martens came from, but in edging closer in the dark he most likely gets a little too close as he looks back to Dora and Lee...his back to any possible vermin.

Lee would be the first to admit he underestimated the martens. They're better trained, better organized, and more prepared than he initially assumed. "Ye don't surrender, eh? Then I guess ye better kiss yer 'ead goodbye, sir." The otter is fighting in close quarters, however, so he cannot easily dodge the marten's blade. Good thing he wore his mail under his shirt. The vermin's blade hits metal, and Lee makes sure to take advantage of the moment and his opponent's brief surprise, as he now attempts to slash the marten's gut if possible.

Well, hang it. Dora grits her teeth and retreats a few steps. Dropping her axe, she draws her sword, still backpedaling, and trying to protect herself as she goes. The with a roar she goes to do a flurry of slashes and jabs with her bastard sword, showing that she, too, is very well versed in the art of war and very skilled. She's trying to kill him, there is no doubt about that.

Anomen doesn't so much get grabbed as have a part of the corridor give way beneath him. He drops  out of sight into the dark with a yelp into the floor below this one! Lost for now in the darkness of the stone.

The marten lee is attacking goes down, that slash at his gut getting in past his guard and slicing him open. He goes down, Dora-Rose's assailant however goes down as she switches weapons but not before he cuts her good and proper along one arm.

Lee whirls around, panting. "Is ev'rybeast alright? Dora? Anomen? John?" He doesn't realize two of those beasts are no longer present. He specifically asked for every beast to stay together, what's so hard to understand about that? "Are we all okay? These beasts are better prepared than I was expectin'."

The Martens are down; Dora and Lee have successfully cut down the three who attacked them. However Anomen is gone, he fell through a hole in the floor that opened up. It's about this time that Chud and Zarok catch up, they were delayed at the entrance, the party are not very far into the ruins. It is dank and musty and dark but there is little in the tunnel to indicate where the vermin went....

DoraRose growls dangerously as her arm gets cut, then stands over her fallen enemy, glowering at the Head Guard. "I going to blame you for this..." she says grumpily, gesturing at the blood coursing down her left arm and right thigh. She looks sadly at Nightsong. "My axe needs to go back above ground somehow......I refuse to leave it down here....."

The sounds of echoing paw steps herald Chud and Zarok's arrival, Zarok immediately makes a beeline for DoraRose. Then he pauses, tasting the air, and suddenly looks even more distressed. He scratches in the dirt frantically and digs up a piece of purple cloth. "Benar..." He whispers morosely. He wishes he could close his eyes but all he can do is film them over. His sharp senses, especially his sense of smell, make the room perfectly visible in one way or another to him, while Chud is relying on a lantern carried in his free paw.

Lee gestures to his own bleeding shoulder. "Ye think I ain't got me own trouble?" He tears a strip from his shirt and presses it to the bleeding. "Blasted arrow. Heavens, where'd Anomen an' John go? Guess we lost John further back, but is that hole where Anomen was standin'?"

For now there is silence, the dark tunnels are empty, dank, quiet... but Zarok's discovery at least shows the vermin brought the Abbot and the others this way.

DoraRose ignores her bleeding wounds (the flow of the blood is slowing, thankfully) and peers down the hole. "Aye, it is. I hope he's alright." She spots the otter and the lizard and sighs. "Stay away from the hole, please, Zarok. Don't want you falling in, too." She starts cleaning her sword on the dead marten, her axe lying nearby. "I wish I had left it in the gatehouse..." she grumbles, glaring at poor, lonely-looking Nightsong.

"I can carry it, miz," Chud offers to DoraRose. Zarok sniffs around some more, his nose twitching in a way that would be comical under other circumstances. Too many smells right not for the lizard to really get an idea of what direction anything's in. Maybe if he focuses a bit more.

.

As they are examining the hole three Marten's hurry past below, talking quietly to each other, they are carrying a large basket with the three missing dibbuns in it. They seem to be heading.. somewhere but haven't seen the hole or the lights above as they hurry past.

Lee carefully kneels at the edge of the hole, remaining quiet as the vermin run past. "Oy, we 'ave ta get down there... But be careful, mates, the last thing we need is ta bring this whole place crashin' down on our 'eads, unnerstand?"

DoraRose nods, then whispers to the Camp Willow otter after the mustelids have gone past, "How fast do you think you can put it up above ground and give it to my brother, Emyuil? It's practically useless to me down here, 'tis so big and clunky." She sounds very sad as she says this.

Chud whispers in reply, "Don't wanna hold you up, can you carry it on your back?" When the mustelids went by, Zarok had gone totally lizard-still, like a rock, and now he relaxes again. "I lead," he says matter-of-factly.

Lee peers over at DoraRose sharply. "Just *leave* it 'ere, we're goin' back out this way. Benar is in danger, remember?"

The Martens disappear around a corner and a handy rope from the equipment they brought allows Zarok to make a way down into the tunnel below. There is no sign of Anomen but voices can be heard talking quietly about the "Under Kings plan"

DoraRose listens to the Camp Willow otter's suggestion and covers her eyes with a paw. "Oh, why didn't I think of that? This is going to be a long day.....I'm sorry...." She then glowers at the Head Guard. "I'm not leaving it behind to get stolen. It's been in my family for generations." She grabs it and straps it to her back with a long length of rope, then she goes to follow the lizard down the rope and silently follow him wherever he goes. Hopefully she won't get lost.

Chud slides down the rope quickly, silently, like a snake, while Zarok clambers down head-first into the gloom, his eyes glittering unnaturally from the otter's lantern. Occasionally he pauses to taste the air, or listen for vibrations in the soil, but he overall keeps a steady pace as he descends into the dark.

Lee descends the rope lastly, keeping an eye for any movement behind their group. This could be a long trek in the dark...who knows what else lurks in the black depths.

Deeper into the darkness the party move toward the voices ahead, the martens in the dark discussing what they are discussing, their voices muffled, tangled, but the Abbey beasts are somewhere down here. Just even poor Zarok cannot pinpoint their place exactly due to the muffled nature and echoes of the tunnel. There is a lot of fortress down here to explore but at least they are on the right floor now.