Valerick, annoyed with himself for slipping, plants both feet in a wide, stable stance, and tries to remain rigid and keep from sliding. "Do not worry, I will not drop you," He says, to deaf ears, as the little creature already went over the edge. He carefully held the rope as Tram descended, ready to snap his hands shut should the little one slip and need an anchor. Valerick looked back to the door he had been intending to open a moment ago, the only possible path to safety now. He returned his attention to Tram's lifeline.

"Siegfried," he said.
Upon confirming the other man's attention he continued. "I may need a hand keeping stable when I pull them back up. They look like they weigh little enough but this ground is treacherously slippery."

"Seigfried" the shout was not responded to. Seigfried just stood there, staring at the man he had met only moments before. He shifted a bit, with the tree, in an attempt to avoid more branches to the face, but he hadn't quite decided to press forward or turn back. It looked as if his newfound allies needed him everywhere. The storm poured in on him through the trees. He may well need a new set of clothes soon.

Meanwhile, Valerick lowered the gnome into the pit. The rope was steady and smooth the whole way down. The gnome reached the bottom to see that his ally was still breathing, and not bleeding severely. He grasped him and shouted to Valerick to raise him. Valerick hoisted the two of them, steadily from the pit. They reached the surface and breathed a sigh of relief. This must be the first success they'd had this evening.

Tram looks down at Riaharan, "Well, he's alive, that's a start." He gives a look around, "Not a good place to be wounded, but could be worse. This isn't exactly my field of expertise. I'm not much of a medic. What we need is a..." Tram looks up to Valerick. "Hey, didn't you say you were a priest? Like maybe a healer..." Tram forms a bit of a smile hoping for the right response.

Siegfried stared in utter disbelief. What in the world was going on outside to cause such force. It was clear this was dangerous. He fought his way back into the cave, trying his best not to take another shot to the face. He disabled his attuned senses for the return trip less he be sickened by the smell of blood.

"Roy is dead." He stated calmly, a bit oblivious to the situation with the pit and his climbing set.

"He was impaled by debris from the storm outside. What's worse is that we are essentially trapped for a while. We must go onward deeper into this cave to avoid a similar fate..."

After the elf was lifted out of the pit, the warrior returned from the trees bearing the news of death. The young gnome turned to the strange looking creature who had helped in lifting.

"Hey, didn't you say you were a priest? Like maybe a healer..."

The Maenid just smiled and leaned down to the unconscious elf. He spoke softly and touched the elf's chest, to which he responded by opening his eyes and looking up at his rescuers (conscious and at 1hp).

((Since you didn't post, I only spent a cure minor. I traded it for your 'create water' spell as you have PLENTY of water nearby at the moment))

"What happened?" he says slowley "I don't remember, all I remember is hanging onto a door."

"You don't remember anything?" Tram asks looking down to Riaharan. "Well, for one thing, I lent you 20 gold," he says with a smile. "But in any event, we need to move on before any more of us get injured. I'm going to try that door." Tram climbs back down into the hole, then back up to the ledge by the door. Once there, he plans to first listen to hear if there are any noises from the other side, then scan to see if the door has any more nasty traps on it. "I'd keep that rope handy just in case. Did you say Roy's dead? That would probably bother me if I knew him."


(I'm gonna take 10 on the climb checks, and 20 on the traps, and if time allows, 20 on the listen check.)

Tram decided to take action, while the other three waited, motionless, practically breathless with anticipation. The little gnome was surprisingly skilled as he made his way down into the the pit. He climbed back up the other side without incident...until he got to the door handle. He tried to stand in the ledge, but was unable to find sure footing on the ledge, and slipped.

It was only a small error in his balance, but it was enough with the wet floor to drop him into the pit. He was quick though, as the others saw, when he reached out and grasped the door handle. Whether it was the sweat on his hands, or maybe the handle was wet from Riaharan's attempts to open it, but no matter the cause, he was unable to hold onto it and fell into the pit of water, which, though filling slowly with water, still would've been very painful to fall into. Fortunately, Tram was skilled in such matters, and he rolled on his landing, to stand in the pit, looking up at his comrades.

So, the others watched, for the third time, someone fall helplessly into this pit. It was causing some anxiety among the group, but was certainly still their best chance to get out of this nasty place.

"Perhaps that is karma speaking - the death of a companion, and a companion he was - is always an occasion for mourning."

Siegfried turns to the others, latching his spear in it's normal resting place on his back.

"Someone help him up. My rope is still around here somewhere. I have some skill at this myself - I shall try my luck."

(OOC: Come on down, I'm the next contestant on fwa-BAM. Going the side path)

Valerick watches the little creature plunge into the pit silently. Still holding Tram's rope he conceeds to rescue the latest faller.

"Siegfried, I think this is getting to be a dangerous game. I want to try the other door before anyone else falls to their death. If we find nothing, you can try the pit then."

Valelrick grew more anxious of the storm, powerful enough to crush them behind a tree potentially, and at the very least, enough to drown them.

(Upon successfully pulling Tram up, Valerick will move to the other door and open it if no one else has tried or is trying)

"Get that rope away from me!" The gnome says angrily as he grabs the rope and throws it back. "I'm going again, if I die then I deserve it." Tram climbs back up to the ledge, checks for traps, listens for danger, and opens the door.


(I'm taking 10 on EVERYTHING! Please see my post in Q&A)

Valerick is unperturbed by Tram's remarks, knowing that anger will cause the tongue to turn devil to the mind. He gathers the rope in a coil around his arm, ready to use it anyway if needed.
Despite his earlier plans, he waits on Tram before trying the other door, though he does step aside, waiting upon an out come of any sort.

Tram struggled in the filling pit. For his size, it was approaching his knees. He was upset with his failure, and his frustration must have made things significantly more difficult. He clawed at the wall of the pit, but couldn't seem to find a foothold. When he studied the wall more carefully, he was able to climb the side of the wall and approach the door. Unfortunately, his balance failed him again, he reached out for the door handle, but missed, fell splashing into the pit, unable to roll out of his fall...

Rather, that's what would have happened. Fortunately for Tram, his failure to climb the wall allowed Siegfried the time to get ahead of him. Siegfried found the wall beside the door much easier to traverse than the wall next to the pit, which was strange as it was much smoother. It must have been the lack of water running down it. He stepped onto the ledge with ease and turned the door handle, stepping in without any apparent difficulty (you nailed those rolls).

In any case, this meant that the door was open for Tram, who crawled up into the room behind Siegfried. The two entered a room, that even Valerick could see as a well lit hallway. The hallway was fifteen feet wide and twenty-five feet deep, with no torch hanging from the wall. It took an immediate right turn and headed down past the field of view of most humans, but the gnome could see rather clearly around the corner. The hallway pushed the edge of his vision, but he could see a turn about 60 feet away. He did not see whether it was a right turn or a fork in the hallway, but there was definitely a turn down there, because the right wall ended. It was dark, and the floor was very wet.

"Thanks for getting that door, Siegfried," Tram says as he climbs into the hallway. He crouches down and takes a few breaths then looks down that hallway. "Can you see that? The hallway seems to take a turn about sixty feet down." Tram stands back up, draws his bow, and steps forward. "I don't like this, there's no torches. Look, I'm pretty good at spotting dangers other might miss, so if you want, I'll go first and take a look. By the way, so what happened to Roy? Are you sure he's dead?"

Upon seeing the success of his two remaining teamates in getting across the pit, Valerick turns to see exactly what happened while he was rescuing the elf. He sees the tree, completely blocking off the entire other side of the cave, much against any hopes he may have had to find a path. He remembers something Siegfried said about Roy dying.

Having perhaps the most religious background (and even then, not too much) Valerick Damasti bows his head for the deceaced teamate.

"Nature's Whim and Wrath has brough tragedy to this man's life. May he rest in death." Not knowing what more to say, Valerick remains bowed for another second, then turns his attention to the only door.

Valerick draws back from the door and gap 10ft (if possible) and readies himself for what he will attempt to do. He starts running and leaps over the pit across to the other side, knowing full well that he is not probably going to land on his feet, or even in a comfortable position.

(First priority is to stay standing on the way to the door, then next priority is to make it all the way across. Again, he expects a bit of a rough landing and tries to brace himself for such. Maenads love that kind of stuff, for pretty much the same reason why they prefer heavier clothing.)
Going to take 10 whenever possible, but if a roll of 10 would be insufficient, I'll risk a die roll ^-^