1.1 - In Search of Sanity - Prison of the Mind

Favoring his wounded arm and keeping it clear of possible objects and filth to cause him more pain and injury, Grim wanders about the available space until it becomes clear that they are all going to be climbing up through the chute. He waits patiently, as the man in chainmail offers to go first.

Elias uses what handhold that he can as he makes his way up the chute.

Elias uses the narrowness of the chute to his advantage and climbs near to the top of the 15ft section when his foot finds a slick spot in the material. Before he knows it, he's barreling downwards towards the pile of corpses. The decayed flesh welcomes him eagerly as both a softer landing than otherwise would have been there, but also one he will not soon forget - the force of his body strikes the pile, causing one particularly ripe corpse to split and spill some sort of foul liquid, splashing onto his face.

Eager to get out of the basement and hunt down the woman who escaped them, Razhel wasted no time following up the body chute, after Elias clears the tunnel to the top.

Elias gags as he tries to wipe the foul liquid off his face. More embarrassed than anything, he uses the bottom of his tabard to clean his face.

Once he's in the room at the top of the chute, Elias draws his longsword and checks the room. It looks clear for the most part, come on up.

Elias sees nothing of note. He stands in a small, non-descript room. It is rather cold, but not uncomfortably so. He can hear the sound of driving rain outside the walls.

"Up is always better," he said before he attempted the climb.

Grim gives the climb a go not wishing to stay a moment longer in the stench of this horrific cellar.

After the search for loot, he gives the chute a go, seeing the others have little trouble.
"Here goes nothing."

Everyone manages to climb up after Elias in far less dramatic fashion than the paladin. All of you are standing now at the top of the chute, in a small, dank room. A heavy metal hatch is pulled open over the chute. There is a wooden door, closed, at the south end of the small room. Between the door and hatch, the floor is covered in long, bloody wear marks - undoubtedly from the many bodies that had been deposited prior to your awakening below. The sound of driving rain can be heard on the other side of the walls, but otherwise you hear nothing.

As horrific as this place was, the sound of the rain calmed him for some reason. Was it because he was closer now to outside, to the sky? He took strength from that as he tried to avoid the blood trails.

Elias is surprised by the calming effects of the rain. The memory of the last few minutes slowly floats away as he stands there listening. Taking a moment to simply e joy the noise, Elias approaches the door andcslowly opens it a crack. Looking through the crack, Elias checks to see if it's safe.

Razhel glances to Elias. "So? What do you see out there?" She asks, as the flexes her fingers and readies for another fight, which is surely to come.

Grim is ready to leave the confines of the small room. "Well then, let's be about it man." He says toward Elias, who is peeking through the crack of the door.

Elias peers through the crack in the doorway. As he nears, his nose catches the scent of fresh, open air - a welcome thing, considering from whence they came. Beyond are trampled flowerbeds, smeared and squashed across a muddy courtyard. On all sides, stark gray walls climb toward a narrow gap of sunless sky. The rain, as you could previously hear, is coming down hard. While it looks rather uncomfortable outside, you see no presence of immediate danger.

There is a door to your west and in the southeast appears to be the crumbled remains of the upper section of the destroyed stairway from the cellar.

A sudden crash of thunder echoes through the air.

Elias breathes in deep as he catches the scent of fresh air. Doing a quick check of the area, he looks over his shoulder at the others. It appears to be an empty courtyard. There's a door on the western side, that looks to be the only way out of it. I'll go slow at first, to make sure that it is safe.

Elias then opens the door and steps out into the rain. Enjoying the smell and feel of the rain hitting him, Elias let's it cleanse him of the Horrors from below. Moving cautiously Elias makes his way over to the western door.

Unflinching at the sight of rain, Grim loads up his crossbow and steps out into the courtyard to cover Elias and others. "We should keep our eyes peeled. We know there's at least one psycho on the loose out here somewhere." He says looking around.

Razhel rushes out into the rain and breathes in the fresh air. She moves aside to let others pass, turning her face toward the failing rain and crackin gher knuckles under the wraps bound around the palms of her hands.