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512

Barr:

The water's rising, so quick and cold.
This is an unlikely place to drown.

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  • Does the water smell bad?

  • hold your breath?

  • ... any visible way out, buddy? Maybe you can swim out?

  • Where are you?
    Where is the water coming from?

  • If the water is rising quickly, then it's a very likely place to drown.

513

Barr:

The black's closing all around us.
My eight buddies and I were mining down here when we hit a chamber full of water. We managed to get a warning out to the other workers, but there wasn't time for us to make it to the exit.
This is the highest point we could reach. It's still flooding.

I don't know how long the nine of us are going to last.

  • Just how big is this chamber?

  • Well, looks like your options are pretty limited then. You can try to swim out through the flooded rooms ahead. How deep underground are you? The water's got to end at some point.

  • Any of you know a gobbo by the name of Finesse?

  • No. Fuck that.
    We're getting you out of here.
    Okay, okay, think... We need some way to drain the water...
    We need a hole! A great big giant hole! Another cavern! YESSSsss
    Quick, how much of the cave's layout do you know?
    And what tools, if any, do we have?

514

Barr:

No. Fuck that.
We're getting you out of here.
Okay, okay, think... We need some way to drain the water...
We need a hole! A great big giant hole! Another cavern! YESSSsss
Quick, how much of the cave's layout do you know?
And what tools, if any, do we have?

We've got some rope, some picks and shovels, and some rations and lanterns, though the last two are ruined by waterlogging.

Well, looks like your options are pretty limited then. You can try to swim out through the flooded rooms ahead. How deep underground are you? The water's got to end at some point.

We're some 24-stories down.

  • Ohohoh yes!
    Do you have any idea which direction the nearest non-flooded cave is?
    Better yet how much of the entire cave system's layout do you remember?

515

Barr:

Do you have any idea which direction the nearest non-flooded cave is?

We're in it.
I don't know if there's another until almost to the surface.
And even if there is, if we breach another chamber going up, we're going to release the air bubble trapped in here, which is the only thing keeping us all alive right now.

  • Is it flowing?

  • Is it flowing?

  • Okay... okay...
    We can't put the water anywhere else...
    Maybe we could stop the flow! Where's the water coming from?

  • Poke your head underwater; are you able to see anything of interest?

516

Barr:

The water's flowing from beneath us, rising slowly. Or it was, until it started to level out. It's hard to tell if it's still rising. If it is, it's slow, and it means there's probably some tiny crevice in this chamber releasing our air.

I poke my head underwater, but I can't see anything. It's pitch black.
I wouldn't expect to find anything other than maybe an old cart or some more tools.

517

Barr:

And of course, this would be the day I didn't kiss my wife goodbye.

  • Did you bring anything with you on the way up..

  • Pray together.

  • Ah-ha!
    Alright now we're cooking.
    Find that crack.
    EVERYBODY look look look as hard as you can and find it.
    And as soon as you do we need to plug it. Completely and as close to air-tight as possible.
    Rope might work but you'll probably have to use something that fits better like... cloth or something.
    One of you is gonna have to lose some clothing I think.

518

Barr:

Pray together.

We're all fairly religious men.
We hold our heads up high, and Kalley struggles hard to breathe.

We offer a shared prayer, each of us huddling together. We ask God to open his arms for the nine souls He'll receive.

  • No no no. Come on.
    You've still got a chance. You just need to plug the hole the air is escaping out of and it will buy you enough time to think of a proper way out!

  • Well, I don't see any way out of this, you best get to drownin.

  • Hold on to your religion. Your god will be merciful. Fear no death or pain, for release is nearby.
    Try to encourage everyone to continue their prayers and remain calm.

  • Yeah I see no hope here. Just drown. It's better that way.

  • You best get ta drownin'

  • Just die already. Inhale water and drown.

519

Barr:

Ah-ha!
Alright now we're cooking.
Find that crack.
EVERYBODY look look look as hard as you can and find it.
And as soon as you do we need to plug it. Completely and as close to air-tight as possible.
Rope might work but you'll probably have to use something that fits better like... cloth or something.
One of you is gonna have to lose some clothing I think.

No no no. Come on.
You've still got a chance. You just need to plug the hole the air is escaping out of and it will buy you enough time to think of a proper way out!

The cavern is wide. It's also nearly impossible to see anything. The hole could be a thin, rigid crack leaking air. I wouldn't even know how to begin searching for something like that, I could brush my hand right over it and never know. Unless you have any ideas, whoever you are.
Even then, the air's going to get stale soon.

Lynch says he has an idea, and asks for my rope.

  • Just close your eyes and let it happen.

  • Give ROPE to LYNCH.

  • let him have the rope, and ask what he is going to do.

  • Well, give it to him.

  • How can we hang ourselves with the rope if we don't have anything to hang ourselves on?

520

Barr:

Lynch says we should lash ourselves together with the rope, so that in death, we'll all be found.

  • Punch him in the face to conserve air.

  • Seems reasonable.

  • That's... actually a very good idea. Do it.

  • Facepunch sounds like a great plan. Let's do that.

  • Come on! Come on!
    THINK!
    Okay... if the air is going OUT, then it must be escaping to somewhere with no water!
    Yes!
    We don't need to PLUG it we need to make it BIGGER.
    We can follow the air to freedom!

    But that still doesn't help us find the hole...
    Hm...

  • Punching things is the best way out of anything. Do it.

521

Barr:

Come on! Come on!
THINK!
Okay... if the air is going OUT, then it must be escaping to somewhere with no water!
Yes!
We don't need to PLUG it we need to make it BIGGER.
We can follow the air to freedom!

But that still doesn't help us find the hole...
Hm...

If we widen the hole, the air will just escape faster, the water level will shoot up, and we'll drown in an instant.

Brennan makes his peace and prays for a miracle.
The rest of us do the same.

Whoever you are, please, take care of my family.
Tell me wife Alel I love her.
Look after my little girl, Finnie.

  • We will. Do not worry.
    Leave all your earthly problems behind. It is time to rest, child.

  • You goblins are pretty freaking dumb if you think that's how physics work.

  • FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

  • That's not how liquid physics work, you know. You will suffocate on CO2 before you drown, if the water ever gets there, that is.

  • Widen the hole and swim through it, whats the worst that could happen. you could DROWN? You're already GOING to drown. HOLD OUT HOPE YOU...GOBLINS

  • But... but...
    ;_;

    ...We will. We'll look after her. I promise.

  • Damnit, don't just stand there! Who cares if you're about to die! That's no reason to give up! Thats all the more reason to fight ever harder! Take that pick and swing it! What's the worst that can happen? You've only ever truly lost if you give up! FIGHT! Yours is the drill that will pierce the heavens!

  • Shit yourselves in consternation.

  • Shit yourselves in consternation.

  • Shit yourselves in consternation.

  • Shit yourselves in consternation.

  • Pray for a swift death

522

Barr:

Nine in the mine, trapped down below.

  • Start fucking like rabbits.

  • Well now it's a good time to try that gay sex you've been hearing about.

    It's not like anyone will care at this point.

523

Barr:

Down, down, down in the...

...ground?

  • Wait... did the water just go... down?!

    YES
    LIVE GOD DAMN YOU
    LIVE

524

Barr:

There are bubbles coming up from below.
It's clean, fresh air. Forcing down the water level.

  • Touch penis.

  • Sit there and frown.

  • Hot damn! Is the water level still going down?

  • Quickly pull pants back up. Pretend nothing happened.

  • You might live.

    Stay aware! Something else may go wrong!

  • ... good!

    Investigate their source? Though I guess you can't see underwater.

    Well, inform the others.

525

Barr:

The water level continues to drop. After another two hours, the chamber is clear enough to breathe comfortably and stand. The water is shallow.

  • Also, escape?

  • So are the passages traversable now?

  • Brilliant!
    Wonderful!
    Beautiful!
    Now...
    We're getting you out.

    Assess surroundings.
    Exits? Holes? Things?

  • Have an orgy in celebration of good fortune

526

Barr:

Brennan is the one to notice a rope in the corner of the chamber, where the water is deepest. Where it connects to the main tunnel.
There's some kind of floater on the end. Really catches the eye.

I wonder who could've sent it.
Maybe I should follow it?

  • DO EET.

  • Ohhhh! A rescue crew!
    Yes! Follow it!

527

Barr:

We all go together or not at all. Linked together, we grab to the rope and give a tug, and it pulls us upwards, through the blackness.
The water is cold and dark around us, a torrent flowing around us with all the rush of a storm.

I don't know how far it is to the surface. My lungs burn. The rope continues to pull, drawing my weak bones with it.

  • KEEP ON HOLDING

    YOU'LL MAKE IT

    THINK OF YOUR FAMILY

    LIVE FOR THEM

  • :D
    Hold on tight!
    As tight as the tightest tight that ever tighted a tight!

528

Barr:

I don't know quite what happens next
But suddenly, it's over
The sun is so bright it's blinding
A man stands over me
A man sent by god to save us
He says his name is Malto

  • :3
    You're safe now. Everyone is safe.

529

Barr:

My friends and I are all rescued. The man who led the operation was the Baron Malto. We thanked him with our deepest sincerity and he told us to return to our families, which we were all too happy to do.

Our ordeal is behind us.

I return to my wife and daughter. Little Finnie is crying. She thought she would never see me again.
I thought the same.

530

Barr:

To remember the day the kindness of strangers reunited us as a family, I tie a small band around little Finnie's ear.

Our savior asked nothing in return. He was content to see us alive and well.
Someday I hope my family can return the favor Baron Malto has so graciously and selflessly bestowed upon us.

531

Barr:

If there's any justice in this world, the Maltos will live long and well.