Terrdi, day 64 of Autumn, 555

Today we had a very quick trip to the Pitch caves, and we were setting up inside PC1 within an hour of setting out from the Meadow.

Since the Southwest pit seemed quiet and several folks had requested it, we stopped to let more pathfinders reach Giayl's Guide. Of course, as soon as they started toward the Ruined Library, more Noids appeared near it, but these were killed quickly and everyone who wanted to train made it to the book and out safely.

Otherwise we advanced steadily toward our immediate goal of PC5. Things went slowly luring out PC4 today because it was congested, but we had no major problems.

However, many webbers were trappedby the Zu wall in PC4, making it slow going for many folks to cross the bridge to reach PC5. Some folks had to stay outside rodding webs for everyone to finally make it. Because ofg this delay, and because it was so web-littered, no Zu wall was plabnted outside PC5 and several Pitch Noids wandered in while we were setting up to teleport. These were dealt with each time, but it was messy. Thankfully these came in only one at a time!

During setup, we realized someone had miscounted the number folks on the trip. We thought we had exactly 26 along today. When we started setting up cross-shares for the teleport, however, we found we had one extra exile. One Mystic can teleport 26 total here, and no more.

Sor agreed to leave, and went back to town via Purgatory pendant.

Callia then teleported the rest of the group together to PC6 without incident. There, we found only 3 Crimson Noids in the Landing Zone after the runners left. These were dealt with fairly speedily, and we recovered for the return of the lured Noids. With a god start, we were able to slowly clear PC6. Just as we were starting to lure out PC7 and advance, more Noids appeared in PC6. After some regrouping we finally moved into PC7.

In PC7, it took quite some time to whittle down the numbers of Noids enough that we could move toward the exit to PC8, but we kept at it until the way was clear. While waiting for lured Noids from PC8, two Pitch Noids and then several Olive Noids appeared in our midst. It was a tense moment, but these were put down and we moved on into PC8.

After thinning the herd in PC8, we were once again faced with the challenge of entering PC9 through a blind path. A runner team entered and tried to run Noids away from the entry. CJ parker broke free and drew a number of Noids with her, but when she called in the Zu planting team, they were massacred by the Crimson Noids that had been sitting right at the entry area waiting for them. CJ couldn't see that not all the Noids had followed her.

Once the Crimson Noids noticed the group outside that path, they simply refused to move, and we were stuck once again. Some folks were rescued by daring chain runs, but others were lost in their place. Once again, we entered a stalemate phase. Finally, after almost 4 hours, the remainder of the group sadly teleported home, and the fallens all departed.

I think we have proven we can reach PC8 reliably now, and have workable strategies in place for every step of the way out there. The entry into PC6 is pretty dicey, and much depends on luck. It seems PC9 is like that too, but maybe more-so, since the Noids sense us standing outside in PC8 and congregate right at the entry if we let them. The challenge facing us now is to determine how to not let them notice us there, and force a clean entry into that cave. If we can get inside in a controlled way, we can beat it; I'm sure of it!

Click here to go back the Foothill trip index.

Click here to go back to Azriel's Main scroll.