The Mission

"I doubt we have time to muck about and If we need to leave before we get caught, it'll be faster with the rope. Let's toss it down and get moving."

As usual, all the good options forgot to tag along on the trip. Swann considered the current situation, between the one guard truck missing and the daylight fading, speed was their best option now.

After approximately twenty yards down the shaft suddenly breaks through the roof of a larger chamber. The floor of the chamber lies 5 yards below, the rope reaches the floor.if you weren't using a rope, climbing back up you'd have to climb the walls, then traverse the ceiling for several yards, then make the turn up into the shaft up. Very difficult.

The belay is only safe for one person to use the rope at a time. From the bottom, the first down would think that it might be safe, and highly prudent, at this point to use illumination, if not you will be operating in pitch darkness,

---

From the opening in the ceiling, you can see down into the chamber below. It must once have been vaguely circular and at least forty yards across but half of the chamber has collapsed, leaving a semi-circular room with a high, vaulted ceiling supported by eight stone pillars. Rubble and debris cover the floor in heaps, fallen from cracks in the ceiling. Shadows dance in the room almost independent of any light source and a deep chill penetrates your body as you breach the ceiling. From this vantage you can make out the figure of a huge man, perhaps a statue, slumped on its knees, head raised towards the roof. Surrounding the figure, partially concealed by fallen stones are the crushed and shattered bodies of something not human. Chitinous shell-like structures and claws can just be made out amongst the detritus but from here it is difficult to make out the shape or form that these creatures would have taken. The air is heavy, and the chamber is silent but from a partially collapsed passageway exiting the chamber to the north comes a faint hammering, as if of stone on stone.

Sabine waits her turns to descend into the darkness, a lump forming in her throat as she thinks about the climb. She's not a weak or clumsy woman, but this kind of physical test is not the kind of thing she's ever undertaken. Well -- in England there had been training grounds and obstacle courses and the like, along with a barking Sergeant who seemed to hate himself as much as he hated his trainees -- but it was nothing like this.

"I'll go next," she says quietly to the others, pulling on a pair of gloves as the first of their number starts his descent.

"You gonna be okay?" Dan senses Sabines nervousness and offers some reassurance.

"You'll be fine. I'll keep an eye on you from up here and come down after your feet touch down."

Dan was in fine shape and the rope shouldn't prove to be much of a challenge.

He watches the woman climb down then calls down after her, "How's it look?"

As soon as the rope goes slack he climbs down himself.

Last to make the climb, Irish checks their tracks once more before committing to the rope. With a resigned sigh, he readies himself and starts down.

Once his feet hit flat stone, he looks about. With a whistle, he asks:

"What’s all this then?"

The starts to walk around the room, approaching the insectoid corpse.

"Christ. What are we walking into down here? Hope everyone cleaned their weapons last night!"

At the bottom, after giving Dan a nod before descending, Sabine is double-checking her SMLE. The husk-like remains bother the woman, reminder her of certain... things... in the book. The one Father Cartier wanted secreted away, and that the Black Sun was willing to do anything -- anything -- to find.

She shivers as she shoulders her pack and approaches the statue with her light and rifle...

Once everyone is down, Swann crosses himself at the creatures. It looks like someone succeeded in crossing the line once before. At least they were stopped, hopefully, we'll be as lucky.

"Dan, Irish, check that corridor. Let's see if we're good to move out. Sabine, let's not spend to much time on that statue. I know it might be helpful, but we can't afford to study this scene for long."

"Those villagers climb that every day?" Irish says, incredulous. "On whatever rations the Germans give them? Maybe down, but no way they make it back up." he says, sure of himself.

"There’s another way out of here. God as my witness!" as if the idea needed supernatural backing!

He nods when Swann says he should check the tunnel. He arms himself; sword in one hand, pistol in the other. He creeps forward, listening fist and then looking!

The huge figure at the centre of the chamber is the body of a man, long dead but remarkably well preserved. His skin is yellowed with the texture of old parchment, but the body has not rotted and remains unsupported in a kneeling position. He wears blackened plate armour on his upper body, that looks as though it has been scorched by fire, supplemented by leather trousers and shirt. The figure’s mouth is open as if screaming at the sky, and the eyes, whilst clouded and dull, occasionally seem to flash with a faint blue glow from within. The man’s arms are at his sides, one hand clenched into a fist. The right hand is missing, leaving only a ragged stump. There are no obvious wounds or damage to the corpse, except for the missing hand, which appears to have occurred postmortem.

There are four of the non-human bodies arranged in a circle around the larger corpse. The bodies are preserved, but not as well as the human figure, and they clearly died as a result of violence. Arms have been severed, shells have cracks and slash marks upon them and each of them is partially crushed beneath fallen rubble.

Sabine nods without looking at Swann as she walks a slow circle around what she thought was a statue...

"I can check the corridor in a minute," Dan says to Swann, "But first, what the hell is all this? I'm inclined to agree with you Irish. There has to be another way out."

Dan circles the tableau, frowning and drumming his fingers on his belt.

None of you are able to identify the weird non-human remains. However, a search of the rest of the chamber will reveal three further bodies. Two are the remains of men in Nachtwölfe uniformsone of whom had been decapitated. The last body is a human male who looks like a local worker.

I would like two separate rolls from each of you, please:
1) to learn more about the causes of deaths of the three bodies, a Reason + Medicine test with a difficulty of 2
2) It's a creepy place: roll Will + Resilience test with a difficulty of 2

However as you try and get better angles, Sister Sabine attracts attention. The hammering noise from the corridor will cease, to be replaced by a metallic scraping. Seconds later a hunched human in miner’s clothing emerges, staggering through the doorway dragging an enormous sword behind him. The man stares around the room wide-eyed, mouth open. He utters something incoherent in slurred Romanian. He charges the nearest agent (Sabine!), swinging the massive sword around in a wide arc as he does so.

Sabine may act first. After her action, the miner will go, unless someone spends 2 Momentum from the pool to act before him.

Everyone should make the above requested rolls right away.

Status Table
Momentum: 2
Threat: 15

"Oh shit. More bodies ...."

Dan determined that one on the Nazis was killed by several gunshots to the chest and that the other has been decapitated. The last body is a human male who looks like a local worker, who was bludgeoned to death.

"Christ on a bike! Say something to him in Romanian, Gregg!

Friend! Friend!" Irish tosses out, though in English!

Sabine paces the room slowly, taken her time to inspect the bodies when the terrible discoveries are made. "I do not understand," she's saying about the dead villager and the dead Germans -- when the sword-wielding maniac spouting Romanian appears and charges her.

"Arrêt!" the ex-nun fairly shouts, wrestling with her rifle. She's not trying to shoot the man, but rather wield the weapon defensively, holding it like a quarterstaff. Should he rain blows on her with his sword, she hopes to defect them with the wood and steel of her Lee Enfield.

The mad Romanian swings his ancient sword, clearly trying for a killing blow. Each of the rest of you can go in whatever order you post.