The Barren Path... (DM Wayne) Thursday May 23rd, 2024 12:12:33 AM
Armalad notices the unceasing sameness-with-variation of caverns and tunnels makes her long for a forest… any forest…
Stohp gets in ‘the mapping zone,’ ‘embracing the drudgery’ as her bureaucratic mentors repeatedly taught her, to fine success!
Bartomus missed food, the Ring of Sustenance handling his usual needs. Freed of the drudgery of eating multiple times a day he found he missed it more than expected. His fellow Shields occasionally had stories to share he hadn’t heard before, but Dolgrin being new, everything Dolgrin had to say also tended to be new… and also Stock-ish… or Dwarf-ish… but still new. The sameness-with-variation of caverns and tunnels makes him long for the plains of his youth with open sky… any plains, maybe… the stray battle in the tunnel was brief and unchallenging for the Shields, so within a few nights he had fully healed himself from the Acid of the Vemeraks.
Delia, like Stohp, re-enters ‘the zone.’ Regretting being surprised by recent foes (the Zygomind didn’t move, but had its undead slaves bring food to it, so no Zygomind tracks, and the Vemeraks were expert climbers who apparently could and liked to climb on walls and other non-standard surfaces to look for tracks… and rocks don’t hold tracks long, or at all, mostly)… Delia begins Communing with Nature each morning as the Shields prepare to leave, her senses reaching out perhaps a quarter-mile (some 1,400 feet), getting a general feel of the next area, its terrain, and whether any notable belligerents were present. She watches the group more, concerned that those unused to lengthy UnderWold expeditions might suffer deterioration of health… or of mind…
(OOC – On these lengthy travels, Delia notes the particular mix of limestone sections and volcanic obsidian sections and even the occasional pocket of lava (Dolgrin seems to know which routes keep the group a great distance from lava-filled areas). As for powerful unnatural creatures, the ‘power’ is on the low end, amounting to the Shields slaying a pod of carrion crawlers or similar ‘trivial threat’ every 3 to 7 days, depending. The ‘general feel’ is ‘natural caverns’ with occasional beautiful variation via stalactites, stalagmites, and other natural formations, and ‘a maze of tiny, twisty passages, all alike.’)
Zanderallen resumes his place, guarding the rear. The weeks underground begin to wear on him, but Delia notices and offers words of encouragement… and also reminders to replace some armor straps as they wear out, pointing at his Bag of Holding. No real bathing down here… all of us must stink as high as Domi’s Realm… yet I must have gotten used to it… all of us must have… I wonder how many dirty clothes each of us has in our own Bag of Holding? I’ve lost count… He reminds himself to pray to Domi more often, hoping to strengthen his mind enough that Delia stops treating him like a flower slowly dying without daily sunlight…
Stock forces himself to continuously march ahead of the Shields where possible… when the group hasn’t stopped for key mapping. The lantern is so annoying now… what must it be like for Dolgrin and his team of scribes, traveling and mapping with Darkvision alone, rarely risking actual light and attracting Aberrations… He keeps himself entertained by humming while he picks rocks for his collection, thankful for his Bag of Holding…
Dolgrin, at Bartomus’ prompting, shares many stories he considers not-too-important but which are, at least, new to Bartomus and often all the Shields. (Some stories are cultural, known to Stock) After a few days, perhaps his mood lightened by no longer being in a room where some of his fellow scribes may have been eviscerated by the vile Vemeraks, he sometimes talks about the individual scribes on each of the two expeditions – he didn’t know them too well, but had professional camaraderie, and so shares what he knows.
Delia, with help from her friends, efficiently leads the group back to The Fork, retracing their steps with nary a wrong tunnel, in two and a half days, impressing Dolgrin, who had bet on three full days.
The second half of the day the group leaves The Fork behind and reaches the many-cave chamber, taking their third sleep in a nearby ‘travel cave’ Dolgrin reveals.
Waking from the third sleep, the group gathers around Dolgrin as he flips his journal to older pages, pointing out key tunnels and landmarks, in a particular order, to Delia, Stock, and Stohp. After a lengthy list he repeats just the first three items, “enough to keep us navigating for a few days at least.”
Delia and Stohp take notes, then each scrunches their face, a bit annoyed – the route is not as fully annotated as what the group recorded for The Fork. Dolgrin explains that for Mountainhome security, only key navigational chambers and landmarks are recorded, in the correct order, so that if the accursed Drow were ever to capture a scribe’s journal there would still be opportunities to surprise the invaders. “The cost, of course, is that the fully-annotated maps are only within Mountainhome and every scribe must commit the most useful details to memory, preferably by traveling and seeing the landmarks, not by reciting specific names, in case divinations are used during interrogation or Speak With Dead. ‘The Flowing Curtains with the Funny Shape’ is not nearly as useful to an invader as the precise jargon for it in Dwarven. If you look at these later pages, they’re in full detail because they cover areas relatively far from Mountainhome and its close tunnels.”
Having gotten as much as they’re going to get out of Dolgrin that day, the group heads on, Delia and Stock still in the lead, and in The Night Below, but watchful for the key visual clues Dolgrin provided, even if they had to wait for Dolgrin to arrive at a set of ‘Flowing Curtains with the Funny Shape’ to find out if they were the Curtains in question…
For the first few to several hours (two or three Light spells?), Stock is able to help quickly find landmarks because every Mountainhome Dwarf spends some time getting used to the nearby tunnels in case they have to be conscripted into an invasion defense force, but this familiarity soon evaporates as Stock realized his years in the Carpentry Guild Chamber cost him some intimate cavern knowledge… no matter, we’re traveling between one to four weeks Dolgrin said, so pretty much no one but a scribe is going to be familiar with any tunnel more than a day or two out, tops!
The next three sleeps are a bit harder than just retracing steps, but Dolgrin’s personal knowledge keeps Delia and Stock, and thus the group, on course.
As the group ‘camps’ in another ‘travel cave,’ that ‘night’ Dolgrin says, “We’re making good time… great time, in fact! So, time to talk more about where we’re going. The ‘Monarch’s Veils’ can be used to refer to the location, but really it’s a beautiful formation in a much larger cavern, so the scrolls at Mountainhome tell me. It’s been a while since any of us explored it since huge open caverns aren’t exactly rare, just maybe uncommon, though numerous.
The proper name for the chamber is ‘Drapery Cavern’ but the ‘Monarch’s Veils’ is the only truly unusual feature of it… except for its height.
While there are more than several chambers in the Scab as high as the clue describes, one of the mountains in the Scab is mostly hollow up to one-third of its above-ground height, requiring a Journey down towards the Center of the Wold of perhaps half a mile and then taking a branching tunnel that doubles back up until, still hundreds of feet below the Wold’s surface, the tunnel opens into a vast cavern matching the description of the clues.”
Dolgrin pauses, drinking some water, and then continues, “ When Clan Mountainheart explorers first discovered the chamber a very, very long time ago, even by dwarven standards, they checked for metals and stones worth mining and finding none in the lower 600 feet of the 1,000-foot-high cavern they marked it a ‘dead cave’ for mining. It’s possible there’s a hidden surface entrance but if it came out say 700 feet above the cavern floor, one misstep and you’d be dead! So, this is the only place I know of that fits the clues, and it should be much safer to come in the bottom and work our way up, just in case the crown was hidden at some elevation or another.”
Dolgrin drinks some more water, burps, and finishes, “ the way you talk about this dragon crown, I wonder if its aura is powerful enough to be detected through solid rock. It’s possible that if it’s there, especially in the upper part of the cave, some powerful spell-caster might detect its presence from outside and try to get it before you. I only hope that the weeks of effort to gain these two clues didn’t put us behind in the race with your foes… I think with Domi’s blessing we’ll make it there in less than two weeks since the Vemerak lair.”
The group falls asleep with much to ponder, their minds racing with wild speculations…
The next morning the group gets underway, their ‘cave march’ reduced to a routine, as though they were some sort of ‘cave legionnaires’!
(OOC
Shields Your posts should offer travel vignettes, and perhaps some of those wild speculations born of Dolgrin’s ramblings!
Delia same Commune with Nature results… at least for the next 1,400 feet… no ‘powerful unnatural creatures’ in a 1,400 feet radius from the ‘travel cave.’
Delia Roll fourteen (14) Survival checks with +12 for the auto-assists from the group, and we’ll see how many the group actually ‘needs’…
Elapsed Time: Total of twenty-two (22) sleeps since The Fork and the Mossy Path, and twenty-three (23) sleeps since entering Wind Tunnels.)
Armalad (Hugh) HP 134/134 AC 25 / Touch 19/ Flat 18 CMD 27 d20+13=17 ; d20+11=30 ; d20+27=44 ; Thursday May 23rd, 2024 1:00:56 AM
Armalad thinks back to what she knows as the party makes their way through the caves and Dolgrim gives them information about the formation and the history of Clan Mountainheart and finally Dolgrim's thought about the Crown's Aura possibly being detected through solid rock.
She adds whatever she knows to the conversation as the topic comes up. While she isn't particularly comfortable about her caving knowledge of the curtain, she feels surprisingly confident on the topic of Dwarven History and as usual her knowledge of matters arcana is superior.
As they travel through the caves Armalad asks Joker, "Do you know how to tell the difference between a stalagmite and a stalactite?"
"Stalagmites might touch the ceiling and Stalactites have to hold tight to the ceiling or risk falling to the floor." She says to her familiar
"I'll file that a way for the next trivia night at a tavern we go to." Joker says
Stohp (Mitch) HP: 147/147AC: 27/15/23 CMD: 26 (+4 vs grapple,+6 disarm, trip) Thursday May 23rd, 2024 8:23:20 AM
Stohp stays fairly well focused on the tasks at hand while their moving but she does enjoy Dolgrin's tales during breaks. It's an entire world down here, one that's interesting to explore and learn about.
Delia (Hannah) HP: 124/124; AC 29/21/23; CMD 44 d20+39=49 ; d20+39=59 ; d20+39=47 ; d20+39=55 ; d20+39=46 ; d20+39=43 ; d20+39=48 ; d20+39=52 ; d20+39=47 ; d20+39=40 ; d20+39=41 ; d20+39=41 ; d20+39=54 ; d20+39=51 ; Thursday May 23rd, 2024 11:46:32 AM
Delia shrugs at Dolgrin, "Well, if we hadn't spent those weeks of effort we'd have had no idea where to look, so no point in worrying about it and they'd definitely beat us. But we should make sure we're ready for a fight as soon as we get to that cavern. Could be Karkasan's forces, could be something the crown's magic attracted, could be something that just likes that cave."
She continues to cast Commune with Nature at the start of every day's journey and moves confidently within the quarter mile her magic scouted out. Once they start to hit the edge of that, she falls back into her standard cautious movement.
During their nights of rest, she will check and repack her kit and arrows. Very precisely and in the exact same way every time they stop. Despite her outward calm and the fact that she is magically sustained with only 2 hours of sleep and no food, she misses the routine of eating and the mental quiet of sleep. Those extra six hours at night seem to get longer with each stop.
Stock (JonM) HP: 244/265; AC: 34/31/17; DR 4/-; CMD: 41; Rage: 5/44 used Thursday May 23rd, 2024 2:03:34 PM
Stock mixes it up a little, now that the Shields are three weeks in, actually taking position at the party’s rear and letting others follow Delia. It gives him a chance to observe the others ahead of him and once again remind him of the fortunate he has been to end up with this group.
Bartomus(Rod) HP:144/144 AC 21; (150/150) 1/5 Glv +16 2d8+2 Slng +14 CMD 11 Melee 12/7/2;Perc+16;Heal+11 Thursday May 23rd, 2024 3:45:56 PM
Bartomus was rather impressed with Dolgrin's explanations about how maps were kept and how traditions of scholars had developed the means of navigating the underground world that the Shields were exploring. Then the night where Dolgrin shared the information that could be the source of the crown, Bartomus nodded in appreciation and understanding.
They continued onward the next "day" and Bartomus thought about the fact that entire different worlds were active in the Wold with each having a layer that they called their own. These caverns were associated with a group of different peoples, the lake with another, the plains with another, etc., etc. He found the thoughts that this triggered a wonderful addition to the explorations.
He did ask Dolgrin about the different peoples that the dwarves had encountered in this realm. He also asked about whether this hollow mountain that Dolgrin might thought as being their ultimate desitnation had any associated use or activities by other peoples.
Zanderallen (Zachary H) 226/226 AC: 36 DR:5/Evil T: 15 FF: 35 CMD: 35 LoH 13/14 SE 6/6 Thursday May 23rd, 2024 5:02:34 PM
Zanderallen appreciates Stock taking over read guard duty. It would take forever to work the crick out of his neck from constantly looking over his shoulder the past few weeks. That line of thinking starting him thinking about the maintenance that would be due to his armor after this much constant use. It would give him a good excuse to spend some time with the Smith family though, cleaning and repairing his armor at their family forge. His mind then wanders to other companions he'd had along the way, wishing them well in their current endeavors, had to be better than stuck in these endless caves.
The Monarch's Path... (DM Wayne) Sunday May 26th, 2024 8:00:45 PM
Armalad ponders Dolgrin’s speculations deeply. Later, in a quiet moment, she informs Joker that StalaGmites come out of the Ground and StalaCtites come out of the Ceiling, an easy mnemonic. Following, Armalad wonders if Largon’s Dragon Crown were a powerful enough artifact that, even near the surface but not in a direct line of sight with the surface, its arcane aura might still be detected… …the Star Mages Guild didn’t exactly have a shelf of artifacts to practice Detecting Magic on, and the one time they brought out a really powerful item it was so we could all experience being blinded by a magical aura nearly as intense as looking up at the Sun! … I miss the Sun! From time to time she uses her knowledge of Dwarven history to pry additional tiny caving facts out of Dolgrin. After a while… hmm… if certain rock types were to reflect magical radiation instead of just absorbing it and blocking it, and enough of those minerals lined a cave or three, and the Crown was only a cave or three from the surface… maybe… we should probably pick up our pace, if we can… who knows what agents Karkasan controls?
Stohp finds the UnderWold has grown on her – not that she’d live the rest of her life down here, but she’d found it so interesting to study… and mapping it so unlike on the surface no matter how much the terrain varied in shape and elevation!
Delia brushes off Dolgrin’s timing concerns – at least the group had a specific, and hopefully attainable, goal! She continues her new daily routine, happy to have at least some idea of dangers and terrain for a portion of each day. This ring is useful… but without being in a home base these extra waking hours can be… boring.
Stock gives Zanderallen some relief at rear guard, providing Darkvision coverage there as well. In the quiet moments he feels ever more at ease with these, his boon companions.
Bartomus kept busy by listening to Dolgrin’s explanations, mentally comparing and contrasting them with the Nature of the surface world – so much to learn down here! He questioned Dolgrin on some of the finer details of their destination and who else lived in the Underwold besides Dwarves.
Zanderallen, freed of rear guard duty for a while, sometimes finds his thoughts wandering… past adventuring companions, proper maintenance and repair of his armor’s joints and straps, and even hammering out dents from giant skeletal claws… he was fully dedicated to their mission to thwart Karkasan and protect The Float, but… I hope those on the surface are doing well… I want to be done with these caves for a very long while… all of our skins so pale with no sunlight for weeks… have to ease back into it when we get back… might burn instead of tan!
Dolgrin continues to share tidbits and stories, sometimes when prompted and sometimes spontaneously.
Delia continues to lead the group expertly, though every few days one of the group steps up with a key observation to help all take the right paths across a perhaps uncountable number of forks and many-cave chambers! No wonder Dolgrin says that normally the minimum caving expedition is at least eight Dwarves, and often many more – a sprained ankle here or there, six to eight carrion crawlers attack, and so forth… not to mention getting lost if a stray rock scratch isn’t spotted by first lifting away a small boulder to find the Dwarven rune!
Two weeks pass quickly, but it still seems interminable… over one month in the UnderWold! We’d best find that Crown soon… how much of the surface could Karkasan’s forces cover in a month, not having to worry about mapping this tunnel and that chamber every waking five or ten minutes???
On the thirty-seventh night, as the group rests in another ‘travel cave,’ Dolgrin says, “I didn’t want to say anything before, but we’ve made good time – almost to the day when I estimated two weeks… two weeks ago! We should be there either tomorrow or the next day at the latest, based on the pace and type of Dwarven navigation runes we’ve found.
I seem to recall this area has more very-large chambers than most… that is, more chambers more than one hundred feet wide and one hundred feet long and ceilings that vary, but often fifty to one hundred feet tall or more… Drapery Cavern will be more impressive than most, if not all, of these, but we’ll definitely feel less cramped more often and you Shields can adopt larger fighting formations more often than the tunnels and these twenty-foot-square chambers have allowed! Best get some rest now though, for who knows what we’ll find tomorrow?”
The group arises on the thirty-eighth ‘day’ since entering the Tunnels and follows their usual routine.
Delia casts Commune With Nature. She pauses, seemly stymied.
Dolgrin asks, “Delia, what’s wrong? The terrain should be more of the same… are there powerful foes ahead?”
Delia learns: Highlight to display spoiler: { Everything is usual in the next quarter mile… to the sides and behind the group. On the path ahead, towards the end of the 1,400-foot range of the spell there is the start of a large… lake/pond/body of brackish water… that is not a swamp. It is in a chamber that was broken open from the top by natural forces and the chamber is now exposed to the sky and all the surface weather that comes and goes. The ‘lake’ is very large, and is twice as long as it is wide. The spell doesn’t do arithmetic, but caps at what Delia would call a ‘gut estimate.’ One extraordinarily sizable and powerful foe roams the lake and the connecting Tunnels. The water is deep, unsafe to drink (for Delia/any humanoid), and there is no easy path across for those who walk (as Delia/any humanoid does). }
(OOC
DM recommends Delia post first, to have the opportunity to communicate what she learned as she sees fit.
Elapsed Time: Total of thirty-six (36) sleeps since The Fork and the Mossy Path, and thirty-seven (37) sleeps since entering Wind Tunnels.)
Delia (Hannah) HP: 124/124; AC 29/21/23; CMD 44 Sunday May 26th, 2024 9:18:43 PM
Delia holds up a hand, shushing Dolgrin as she keeps her eyes closed for a few more moments, still concentrating.
"Quarter mile out. Underground lake. Creature in lake." Her eyes open and she looks over to Armalad, "Very big creature. Can you make more people than you fly?"
If asked for more details, she elaborates on her vague comments.
Armalad (Hugh) HP 134/134 AC 25 / Touch 19/ Flat 18 CMD 27 Monday May 27th, 2024 1:10:59 AM
(OOC: Assuming Armalad didn't prepare her spells for the day till after Delia was done communing with nature)
If the above assumption is correct, Armalad says, "I have 10 3rd level spell slots thanks to my ring of wizardry and my fly spells last for 12 minutes. I could change my repertoire for today so as to have 7 Fly spells with which to cover the whole group aside from Hawky and Joker who can both fly under their own power."
Stohp (Mitch) HP: 147/147AC: 27/15/23 CMD: 26 (+4 vs grapple,+6 disarm, trip) Monday May 27th, 2024 12:36:56 PM
Stohp ponders. "Do we even have to go that direction? If there's something dangerous there in the lake we can probably just go around if there's a route that does so."
Zanderallen (Zachary H) 226/226 AC: 36 DR:5/Evil T: 15 FF: 35 CMD: 35 LoH 13/14 SE 6/6 Monday May 27th, 2024 3:35:39 PM
Zanderallen wakes up, somewhat stiff and sore as he has each of the previous 36 mornings. Using Domi's power he eases his fatigue, pushing it back to a dull ache that had been slowly building after the first couple weeks. He wondered how long his body would allow him to circumvent natural process with magical healing. Maybe after Karkasan was defeated he could take Pepper to those hot springs she had heard about and restore his body. He shakes his head to dispel some wandering thoughts, they were nearing their objective, he had to stay focused.
He is soon snapped back to the current situation when Delia makes her report. "A great watcher in the water you say, the power of the crown may have drawn in here. Dolgrin, is there another way around? I fear even if there is we will find the creature may have taken the crown. I would prepare for a fight. Good thing we're already experienced in underwater combat if necessary."
"Lake, Big Lake." Bartomus said with a touch of amusement. "I can fly or climb the walls as an elemental. Delia, you get a sense of the type of lake monster? Long neck or long fingers?"
He stood up, stretched, and then looked at Dolgrin.
"Any legends about the lake you all have?"
The Monarch's Path... (DM Wayne) Monday May 27th, 2024 11:36:26 PM
Delia works to compile her thoughts and gives key, but minimal, information.
Armalad suggests some spell strategy.
Stohp asks whether the group could just take an alternate path.
Zanderallen goes through his morning routine, once more thanking Domi for keeping him from developing health issues from sleeping in his full plate for over a month! He asks whether there’s a bypass tunnel… but then wonders if the creature is guarding the Crown!
Bartomus considers his repertoire of elemental forms for dealing with a lake monster in an underground lake. He asks questions about the type of creature, and the lake.
Dolgrin says, “A lake???
There shouldn’t be one… the last we knew, but our records are generally years or tens of years old, supplemented when a group of scribes returns every now and again.
Other routes… probably… but it could take days, or even a week – it’s not like the surface where you can just lay down gravel and make a new road – whatever eruptions formed the Wind Tunnels or storms on the surface changed or created limestone formations… we have what we have.
I’m not saying there’s not some side branch past expeditions missed mapping, but… I don’t know, and that pains me to say because this is my life’s work – knowing the tunnels and the threats and the routes…
But no one scribe can know all the routes.
If we want an alternate route… if there is one… it’s time to go into slow-mapping again… it’s just that there’s no guarantee that the other branches will go where we want them to go.
And… it’s been over a month, but still the clock is ticking on Karkasan, the Crown, and the Float – we’ve been gone long enough that if Karkasan was able to raise an army to conquer the Float, he, or it, might have already done so and we would be none the wiser.
I’m only one, but I’m with Zanderallen on this one, sorry Stohp – whatever the lake creature is, you seem well-equipped enough to handle any threat.
Delia – did your Commune give you any sense of bypass tunnels?
Stock – you’ve been quiet. What say you?”
Dolgrin finishes his morning routine and signals he’s ready to go, whatever the Shields decide – through the lake monster or ‘rolling the bones’ that a (somewhat near) bypass tunnel exists.
Delia Highlight to display spoiler: {Your Commune did not give you a sense of bypass tunnels… because the start of the lake, a substantial start, was just within the range of your Commune – with the spell range shrunk by being underground (1,400-foot radius) you think you’d need to cast it again once the group was a lot closer to the lake so that you could Commune the size of the lake and, presuming it is not longer than your range (!), sense the tunnels beyond the lake and to the sides.}
Which approach do the Shields agree to take – Zanderallen’s plow-through, or Stohp’s “map until we find a bypass tunnel?”
(OOC
Elapsed Time: Total of thirty-six (36) sleeps since The Fork and the Mossy Path, and thirty-seven (37) sleeps since entering Wind Tunnels.)
Stohp (Mitch) HP: 147/147AC: 27/15/23 CMD: 26 (+4 vs grapple,+6 disarm, trip) Tuesday May 28th, 2024 7:45:34 AM
For some reason Stohp had thought the lake would already be mapped, but it sounds like they don't even know where the lake is, or how many tunnels it fills. She'll point this out to the group and retract her plan. "Fumbling around down here hoping things connect up will take too much time. Lets figure out where this lake is, then consult our charts. If there's a way around it already charted, great, if not we'll have to figure some way of navigating it. It's not like we brought a boat or anything."
Stock (JonM) HP: 244/265; AC: 34/31/17; DR 4/-; CMD: 41; Rage: 5/44 used Tuesday May 28th, 2024 9:05:04 AM ”I second the thought on flying over the lake. I have a couple of flying potions remaining that can be used as well. And if Dolgrin doesn’t think we can avoid the lake then who are we to argue…”
Delia (Hannah) HP: 124/124; AC 29/21/23; CMD 44 Tuesday May 28th, 2024 1:47:18 PM "The lake was on the edge of my spell, so no. I don't know of any detours. And I don't have another prepared today. Waiting until tomorrow would be faster than flailing about in the cave system, but no guarantee that we'll find a way around. "All I know about the Creature is big, powerful, and underwater when I cast the spell. Lots of weird, aquatic or semi-aquatic creatures it could be. "Dolgrin - the lake is from a hole broken to the surface. It'd take a while for a lake that large to form, but it's at least a little bit new. Armalad - when we're over the lake, could you use magic to Locate Object or something at the crown? Just to make sure we aren't flying over it?" Delia finishes her rapid fire questions and answers and is ready to head towards the lake and see if this creature is a guardian of the crown or just some large critter.
Zanderallen (Zachary H) 226/226 AC: 36 DR:5/Evil T: 15 FF: 35 CMD: 35 LoH 13/14 SE 6/6 Tuesday May 28th, 2024 4:39:17 PM "Like an old childhood rhyme, something about can't go around it, got to go through it. Flying seems like our best option. But let's get moving, we can make a final assessment once we reach the shore. Maybe the creature is sleeping peacefully at the bottom and we can quietly fly over the top." Zander chuckles at how easy that sounds, knowing it's never that easy. But it was nice to dream that it could be.
Bartomus(Rod) HP:144/144 AC 21; (150/150) 1/5 Glv +16 2d8+2 Slng +14 CMD 11 Melee 12/7/2;Perc+16;Heal+11 Tuesday May 28th, 2024 7:05:38 PM "Agreed." Bartomus said in response to Zander's proposal. "We can figure out options once we know what we are seeing. Maybe it just needs a nice word and hug, right Z?"
Bartomus chuckled and then got in the regular order and followed after the others. He did ask after a bit of walking if there was a way that a creature could have found the lake and simply made it its home/
The Monarch's Path... (DM Wayne) Tuesday May 28th, 2024 11:12:25 PM
Stohp agrees that, the lake being a new(?) variable, the group should deal with it since they need that passage.
Stock agrees with dealing with the lake.
Delia adds a few details, but not that change the situation. She does confirm that the lake is new… and open to the surface!
Zanderallen hopes for flying over, but prepares for the worst.
Bartomus likewise agreed. He wondered aloud whether the creature had recently made the lake its home, transient or permanent.
Armalad privately strategizes with Joker on spell selection.
Dolgrin says, “Alright then, onward!”
Within a few hours of waking, the group conquers some lengthy switchbacks and then begins to smell… swamp? Delia corrects them, “Nature said ‘brackish, smelly water unfit for me, or any human, to drink. Let me scout…”
Delia departs your vision and hearing, but the brackish scent is strong. As you mill about, Stock, Bartomus, and Dolgrin note they can see just the beginning of the lake, about the first foot of water, at Darkvision’s edge.
Armalad notes, though extremely dim, perhaps due to cloud cover (?), the distance beyond does seem open to the sky, but the clouds, or something, keeps her from being able to see the end of the lake… and really she can’t see any more of the water than the dwarves… for now.
Delia’s eyes only Highlight to display spoiler: {The lake! The… brackish lake. The water… opaque. The smell – ugh! The sky… cloudy… night(!) – have we slept around the clock without knowing it, over thirty sleeps in the UnderWold??? I thought it was late morning! No stars visible… no Moon’s glare beyond the clouds – must be New Moon… or the Moon hasn’t risen yet? What time is it on the surface???
The lake extends farther than Delia’s Darkvision, and without the stars or the moon, her distance vision is stymied. How far does this lake extend???
Delia, do you report back, or explore further now that you stand at water’s edge?
You know the rest of the group is about sixty feet back, and maybe Stock or Bartomus has you at their Darkvision’s edge… if you choose to be seen.}
Shields other than Delia – what do you do?
(OOC
Elapsed Time: Total of thirty-six (36) sleeps since The Fork and the Mossy Path, and thirty-seven (37) sleeps since entering Wind Tunnels.)
Armalad (Hugh) HP 134/134 AC 25 / Touch 19/ Flat 18 CMD 27 Tuesday May 28th, 2024 11:18:17 PM
Armalad says, "I already changed my spells around in order to deal with the lake allowing us all to hopefully fly over it if it is 14,400 feet or less. I guess we could always try to have the Taurs carry some of us smaller people and then I could renew it on them if the lake looks longer plus we have the potions. I like the plan of headed towards the lake then consult the documentation to see if we can bypass and if we can't we can just fly over the lake."
Stohp (Mitch) HP: 147/147AC: 27/15/23 CMD: 26 (+4 vs grapple,+6 disarm, trip) Wednesday May 29th, 2024 7:04:24 AM
Now that they've confirmed the lakes location Stohp will consult the charts and see if they're lucky enough to have a path around already charted. She rather doubts they'll be that lucky but you never know.
Bartomus(Rod) HP:144/144 AC 21; (150/150) 1/5 Glv +16 2d8+2 Slng +14 CMD 11 Melee 12/7/2;Perc+16;Heal+11 Wednesday May 29th, 2024 9:40:26 AM
Bartomus stood near the lake and looked out at the brackish water.
"If we are going to be here a bit, I might be able to learn more about the creature that is in the water. But, we would need to be here for a bit and not instantly pissing whatever is down in the water. Communing with nature takes time."
If the party agrees, will cast commune with nature and focusing on what might be in the water and the creature in it. 1700 feet coverage in the cavern. 10 minutes to complete.
Delia (Hannah) HP: 124/124; AC 29/21/23; CMD 44 d20+33=41 ; d20+27=35 ; Wednesday May 29th, 2024 1:19:39 PM
Delia pauses at the edge of the lake, listening for any odd sounds. She will remain there for about a minute, not actively trying to hide, but instinctually fading into the shadows as she stands still. She will then examine the edge of the lake for any traces that look like a large creature getting in or out of the water. Scrapes, worn spots, anything out of place.
When she returns, she agrees with Bart's plan to take stock of the lake with his commune with nature magic. Ten minutes is a small price to pay for safely acquiring more knowledge.
"If this lake extends past Bart's Commune... well, who knows how far it could go. Or if there's unsubmerged land on the other side. We can send Hawky or Joker if Bart's spell doesn't find us the edge, but that would take an unknown amount of time to find it."
Perception: 41 Survival: 35 (39 v aberration or undead)
Zanderallen (Zachary H) 226/226 AC: 36 DR:5/Evil T: 15 FF: 35 CMD: 35 LoH 13/14 SE 6/6 Wednesday May 29th, 2024 4:20:37 PM "Start your communing Bart. We will refrain from skipping stones. We need more information. And I'll wait to light my lantern until you finish." Zanderallen stands well back from the edge of the water, standing guard as Bart begins his ritual.
Armalad (Hugh) HP 134/134 AC 25 / Touch 19/ Flat 18 CMD 27 Wednesday May 29th, 2024 5:23:20 PM
Armalad is ready to cast fly spells should the lake prove to not be too long or if they can figure out a buddy plan where Taurs can carry smaller folks using multiple castings.
The Monarch's Path... (DM Wayne) Wednesday May 29th, 2024 10:43:09 PM
Armalad adds more color to the “fly over” strategy.
Stohp works with Dolgrin to get an idea of what side tunnels, if any, might have survived the introduction of the lake… and however much of a cave ceiling had to fall to open up the area to the surface!
Bartomus advanced to the lake’s edge in elemental form, his Darkvision enabling him to see much more than his normal sight – lots of cloud cover, it seemed… no stars visible. The brackish smell of the water was more intense up close. He asks for 10 minutes to Commune with Nature and determine any nearby bypass tunnels, and see if Nature will tell him more about the creature Delia discussed earlier.
Delia listened carefully at lake’s edge, before Bartomus’s arrival, fading into the shadows as she did so. She looked for tracks at the water’s edge, hoping some wet paw or claw had left marks in the water-soluble limestone. Thank Domi this was a limestone area instead of volcanic obsidian! Then Bartomus ambles up in rocky form, also surveying the lake, or as far as Darkvision allows. After a moment she taps his shoulder with a ‘shhh’ finger over her mouth and the two walk back to the group. Bartomus relates his plan to Commune With Nature and Delia agrees.
Zanderallen agrees as well, urging all to avoid lights and loudness until Bartomus has done his work.
Armalad informs all that she’s ready to cast Fly spells once Bartomus knows more about the size of the lake and the routes around and/or beyond.
Conscious of how loud spellcasting is, the group takes advantage of the switchbacks that led here and from only 150 feet back from the water, lest the Creature be awakened by 10 minutes of spellcasting, and Bartomus begins his spell around a 150-degree curve. The group adapts their formation to be ready for a random encounter during the spellcasting… Wise Bartomus first steps within the Tunnel Wall, and his spellcasting is simply not heard outside of it! The group breathes a sigh of relief that 10 minutes of echoing spellcasting won’t bring a random encounter after all!
Some 11 minutes later, Bartomus exits the wall, his rocky “hands” grinding with anticipation, and he begins explaining what he’s learned, “The lake is a bit over 250 feet long in its longest dimension – it’s a kind of rectangle shape, and it has one other opening back into the UnderWold, straight across to the catty-corner. On the cavern walls, it’s a bit larger than 200 feet by 125 feet, plus or minus. One extraordinarily sizable and powerful foe roams the lake, and its territory includes the connecting Tunnels. At the end of my spell, Nature told me it was then somewhat near our shore, within 50 to 100 feet, and underwater, but also that it is frequently moving. I think if we rush in right now, even with flying, it may notice us. If we wait… then it could be anywhere in the lake, or even exit the far tunnel – we’d know right away if it exited on this side. Oh… Nature has never noticed it climb, only walk, run, or swim. I’m thinking ‘extraordinarily sizable’ means it weighs too much to climb. I’m thinking… Giant Alligator? Dragon? Too many things in the Wold that are very large and at home on both land and water…
Nature said there was a Great Shaking long ago, and then the top came down… and then a big river diverted, filled the lake, and then itself was cut off in a Small Shake… and then a long time later the extraordinarily sizable and powerful foe traveled down the limestone wall but never went up and out again.
Nature said before the Great Shake there were many kinds of moving creatures eating and killing each other, but this sizable foe… now it is alive, and there are almost no other creatures in or around the lake. The foe is, now, always agitated… hungry?
Bypass tunnels… no easy ones – the Great Shake collapsed the others. I could, slowly, make a new cross-tunnel in this elemental form, but the Chief and his Scribes asked us not to do that kind of thing unless we had to save our lives. That’s what I learned from Nature here, able to ‘sense’ around and past the lake.
Oh… smiles… across the lake and going the full 1,700-foot distance from here, so about 1,500 feet past the lake through more switchback caves, there’s a really huge cavern I could only sense the edge of, but the edge wall of the cavern, and the empty space just beyond…. Well, the wall went up over 600 or 700 feet before I hit the full spell distance – Dolgrin, any chance that’s Drapery Cavern?”
Dolgrin says, “Hmmm… checks the scrolls and journals Stohp already has out that sounds about right – there are a lot of those big tall caverns here as I mentioned earlier, but even 600 or 700 feet would be more than any of them!
Well, Shields, if we’re crossing the lake, then sounds like it’s time for battle spells and such. If we’re going elsewhere, we’d best get going, though it sounds like Bartomus would have to tunnel and I’ll be standing safely out of Chief Sternbough’s sight when you file your report. He grins”
Shields, what do you do?
(OOC
Elapsed Time: Total of thirty-six (36) sleeps since The Fork and the Mossy Path, and thirty-seven (37) sleeps since entering Wind Tunnels.)
Bartomus(Rod) HP:144/144 AC 21; (150/150) 1/5 Glv +16 2d8+2 Slng +14 CMD 11 Melee 12/7/2;Perc+16;Heal+11 d20+16=28 ; Wednesday May 29th, 2024 10:56:20 PM "So, we have a choice, find away over and avoid what ever it is," Bartomus said having processed what he relayed about what he was able to discover. "Or, wait here in the shadows and hope for the very best. Part of me feels a bit sorry for the thing, trapped here, without much of anything. But, it's also a choice it made. I guess it doesn't need to worry about there being a bigger fish."
Bartomus trails off and looks at the others. He looked about the cavern as best he could to get a sense of where the creature might have crawled down the wall into the lake. That could be of importance if they needed to get out of the caverns and back to the Great Dwarven Keep.
Stohp (Mitch) HP: 147/147AC: 27/15/23 CMD: 26 (+4 vs grapple,+6 disarm, trip) Thursday May 30th, 2024 8:02:03 AM "If it's that close it may have already noticed us. Lets cast our flying spells and get in the air and hopefully out of it's reach." Stohp advises.
Delia (Hannah) HP: 124/124; AC 29/21/23; CMD 44 Thursday May 30th, 2024 2:26:21 PM "If it's as hungry as Bart says and it noticed us, I think we'd already know. But if we avoid it here, there's a chance that we get into a fight on the other side and it notices us then. Or it follows us as we fly over and goes hunting on the other shore when we land and who knows what else is over there too. It looks to me like we can disturb it over here so it can't surprise us later, or we try to sneak above it. If everyone sneaking doesn't work, I can try to lead it off and then sneak back."
Before any lake crossing or monster baiting, Delia will cast Barkskin on herself and Zanderallen (+5 nat armor bonus for 140 min)
Zanderallen (Zachary H) 226/226 AC: 36 DR:5/Evil T: 15 FF: 35 CMD: 35 LoH 13/14 SE 6/6 Thursday May 30th, 2024 3:55:18 PM
Zanderallen grimaces as Bart explains the situation. He would rather avoid the creature if possible but if it was hungry that was probably as far as the discussion was going to get. Some nice juicy humanoid snacks. Before they begin their flight he calls Domi's spirit into his blade, preparing for the worst. ========== Divine Bond - Speed and Flaming Burst - 16 minutes
Stock (JonM) HP: 244/265; AC: 34/31/17; DR 4/-; CMD: 41; Rage: 5/44 used Thursday May 30th, 2024 5:31:48 PM
Stock listens quietly to the tactical situation. “Let’s fly over the lake. No need to go out looking for a fight with a primordial beast if we can avoid it. And let’s hope that it can’t fly. That would be a surprise to find out that it was a swimmer and a flier”
Stock grabs a potion of heroism from hos pack and waits to drink it until the party fly over the lake.
Armalad (Hugh) HP 134/134 AC 25 / Touch 19/ Flat 18 CMD 27 Thursday May 30th, 2024 5:48:45 PM
Armalad asks, "Who all needs flying? I have up to 7 castings. Let me know and I'll cast."
She then prepares to cast on herself and the others so that they can fly over the lake and move forward hopefully bypassing the creatures.
The Monarch's Path... (DM Wayne) Friday May 31st, 2024 12:08:22 AM
Bartomus lays it out as he sees it. He then tries to look around the cavern, but then remembers it’s over 200 feet long and over 125 feet wide and his Darkvision can only see 60 feet, and it’s too dark and cloudy for normal vision to see at a distance, and he’s not presently standing at water’s edge.
Stohp suggests it might have already noticed the group from their initial forays and recommends the Flight strategy.
Delia thinks it hasn’t noticed the group yet – the last intelligence was that it was underwater. She lays out the good and bad of sneaking past vs just attracting it and killing it. Taking advantage of the group being 150 feet from the water’s edge and around a corner, she casts two Barkskin spells (herself and Zanderallen).
Zanderallen considers the options and prepares for the Flight strategy, praying Domi’s power into his blade.
Stock recommends the group just get the Flys cast and get going, and bypass the creature. He puts a potion in a quick-release loop on his belt.
Dolgrin nods in agreement with Stock’s assertiveness.
Armalad asks for Fly requirements. As she receives them she begins casting, in parallel with Delia’s castings of Barkskin.
(OOC – Presuming no one is drinking a Fly potion, sounds safe for Armalad to mark off seven (7) Flys – Shields + Dolgrin, with Joker and Hawky already fliers. Anyone who has Celestial Armor or some other Fly source, please note it in your next post so Armalad can save a spell.)
The Flying Shields adopt a single-file formation with Delia in the lead. Few of the group, if any, are skilled in using Fly to its fullest effect, but they need only enter the cavern, go straight up to 100 feet or so up as quickly as possible, and then make their way across.
One wrinkle is that only those with Darkvision can see (Delia, Stock, Dolgrin, Bartomus), Light sources covered for stealth, but enough have Darkvision to hold the hand of a partner and fly in pairs once inside.
The limestone walls go up 50 or 60 feet, and at 100 feet from the water the Darkvision Shields can just keep the walls within sight, knowing they need to reach the catty-corner tunnel back into the UnderWold.
The first part of the journey goes well, flying over the rocky cave floor from 150 feet back from the water seems to have helped the group avoid alerting the creature, whatever it is, if it was still on their side of the lake.
After about 30 seconds, the group is 100 feet over what they expect was the halfway point of the lake when the clouds part slightly… and slightly is just enough starlight for Armalad, holding onto a Darkvision partner, to look down with her low-light vision and take in, however dimly, the overall size of the lake.
Armalad only – Perception DC 30 Highlight to display spoiler: {Were those three things fish heads… or snake heads… or dragon heads… wait, only one creature per the Commune… ugh… Hydra… and a water-breather… or crocodile-style one that can hold their breath… the heads went back underwater… yes, Fly was definitely the right choice here! Hope it doesn’t go wandering with us to Drapery Cavern! Also, glimpses of a nearby mountain or two, but the clouds are so stingy with the size of the hole allowing starlight through that the glimpses could be a mirage of the very poor light conditions.}
The tunnel to the lake was 15 feet wide, and likewise the tunnel at the other end of the lake is also 15 feet wide.
There is some anticipation of the unknown as the group reaches the far wall, and, taking a forlorn look at the above-ground darkness and the clouds covering (now) virtually all of the stars, the group silently follows the far wall straight down and then, not touching the ground, keeps on flying down the tunnel, this time slow enough for Delia to scout. The group resume vertical orientation in case of battle, but no sense stepping on the stone until they have to do so.
That moment, stepping on stone, comes sooner than hoped, but Bartomus did say his spell noted a large chamber some 1,500 feet past the lake or so, and thus it’s a noticeable two hours (and an end to Flys and Barkskins; Stock didn’t need his potion) of exploring and light mapping until the group reaches the entrance of what Dolgrin says, “This may be it up ahead… feel that breeze? That’s a whole lot of empty space with at least one connecting tunnel somewhere in the chamber ahead. Those of us with Darkvision can just see the tunnel opening up ahead… Delia has the best view again; let’s wait for her report.”
Delia only Highlight to display spoiler: {Delia, you may look at the map link I emailed you, again. There is no light source in sight. The Map Legend is down in row 37, so you may have to scroll, but it gives your guesstimates of ceiling height both in the entry tunnel and in the chamber. You are so skilled in cave survival (Dungeoneering) that you notice all the air currents only possible if the chamber is taller than even those 500-foot-tall chambers near the Vemerak and Zygomind lairs. This place must be huge… gargantuan… a… Colossal Cavern… If this isn’t Drapery Cavern, you don’t know where else to find it! It’s been a long day… the long walk from the travel cave to the lake, and then a few hours more to Drapery Cavern… how big is this place? How long will it take to search? Dare we risk shining around Zanderallen’s lantern? So many questions… Time to go back to the group, pull them back some more distance, and plot in whispers!}
(OOC
DM recommends Delia post first, to have the opportunity to communicate what she learned as she sees fit.
Elapsed Time: Total of thirty-six (36) sleeps since The Fork and the Mossy Path, and thirty-seven (37) sleeps since entering Wind Tunnels.)
Delia (Hannah) HP: 124/124; AC 29/21/23; CMD 44 d20+33=38 ; Friday May 31st, 2024 9:36:05 AM OOC (oh that's my bad on barkskin running out. I read the post wrong and thought drapery cavern was right on the other side of the lake, not right on the edge of the spell. Oh well.)
Delia sniffs the air, Yep. That's one big cave, she thinks to herself. She listens for any out of place skittering, chittering, or any other noise of concern. Once satisfied there is nothing to hear, she creeps back to the group and reports what she saw. "This is the largest cavern we've found so far. Gotta be it. Do we kick down the door, lights blazing or try a quieter approach?"
Perception: 38 (42 v aberrations or undead)
Stock (JonM) HP: 244/265; AC: 34/31/17; DR 4/-; CMD: 41; Rage: 5/44 used Friday May 31st, 2024 10:39:15 AM
“I say we scope it out quietly first.” Sensing surprise or maybe lacking the self confidence to try something out of the norm for him, he says.
“What? Just because I am who I am doesn’t mean I can’t learn to try things differently. Besides, it’s not like I will want to sneak through the fight once it starts…”
Stock (JonM) HP: 265/265; AC: 34/31/17; DR 4/-; CMD: 41; Rage: 0/44 used d20+17=29 ; d20+27=43 ; Friday May 31st, 2024 10:44:26 AM
“Delia and I can move ahead and see what’s what.”
If Stock doesn’t hear any objections, he slowly makes his way forward, beckoning her to follow.
======== Stealth 29 Perception 43
Zanderallen (Zachary H) 226/226 AC: 36 DR:5/Evil T: 15 FF: 35 CMD: 35 LoH 13/14 SE 6/6 Friday May 31st, 2024 3:08:58 PM
Zanderallen has to concentrate on not holding his breath as they fly across the lake. He trusts Stock to lead him true but he can't help continuously glancing down into the inky blackness below him. Somewhere down there was the lake, and somewhere in that lake was a very large, very hungry creature. He breathes a sigh of relief when they are back on solid ground well past the lake. He listens to Delia's report carefully.
"I'm in agreement. You and Stock search it out first. We'll stay inside the tunnel, listening for yells if something goes wrong. Once you've done an initial sweep we'll bring light and start the real search. I wonder if we're close enough for a Locate Object spell to reach the crown?"
Stohp (Mitch) HP: 147/147AC: 27/15/23 CMD: 26 (+4 vs grapple,+6 disarm, trip) d20+23=25 ; Friday May 31st, 2024 7:42:36 PM
Stohp will hang back and keep an ear out for the lake monster noticing them and coming after them. (perception 25)
(OOC - edited by DM Wayne - only Armalad has low-light vision - that was not a perception roll for the entire party. Stohp did not have any chance to see what Armalad may have seen.)
Bartomus(Rod) HP:144/144 AC 21; (150/150) 1/5 Glv +16 2d8+2 Slng +14 CMD 11 Melee 12/7/2;Perc+16;Heal+11 d20+16=29 ; Friday May 31st, 2024 11:18:35 PM "Sounds like a good plan, Bartomus said and took a moment to enjoy his usual self after being a rock elemental for a while. He looked about and got a sense to where they now were at in the caverns.
[I]Assuming he had to chaste into taur form for the flying segment. Perception 29[/l]
Armalad (Hugh) HP 134/134 AC 25 / Touch 19/ Flat 18 CMD 27 d20+22=30 ; Friday May 31st, 2024 11:49:10 PM
Perception: 30
Armalad agrees to hide out with the others and says quietly, "Good News. Apparently by flying we bypassed either a water breathing or crocodile breath holding hydra."
The Monarch's Path... (DM Wayne) Sunday June 2nd, 2024 12:05:49 AM
Delia uses all her senses like lethal weapons to evaluate the first part of the cavern by Darkvision, and to some extent, all of the cavern by feeling subtle air pressure changes on her skin. Gathering her perceptions, processing them, she silently returns to the group at the agreed-upon “don’t alert the inhabitants, if any” distance. She asks whether stealth or kicking down the door, as it were, is the order of the day.
Stock suggests stealth. Seeing jaws drop at that suggestion from him, he explains his reasoning. Then he suggests he and Delia sneak ahead.
Zanderallen, brought out of his daydreaming on the lake passage by air, agrees with Stock. He also asks, “Are we close enough for Locate Object to find the Crown?”
Stohp takes rear position, listening for any chance the lake monster noticed the group flying, and followed them through the Tunnels.
Bartomus agreed with the stealth plan also. He smiled at the brief respite from being an earth elemental, but without that form he was blind as a bat as they flew in hand-hold formation across the lake. Still… as the group prepared to sneak their way in, he returned to earth elemental form, once more gaining Darkvision, and then shifted into the ground itself, acting a bit like a crocodile hiding in water, with the eyes-part of an earth elemental barely poking above the ground.
Armalad agrees to the stealth plan also. She then shares what she believes she saw in the lake, during a brief moment the clouds slightly broke and allowed some starlight to fall upon the lake. Hydra… or parts of one…
Dolgrin shudders at the mention of the word Hydra as though he suddenly was forced to re-live a painful experience.
Dolgrin says, “Stealth it is, then! But, first we need a plan to explore – probably can’t map as we go, but… we don’t yet know how long and wide this cavern is, exactly how many other tunnels connect... that lake made some of my maps obsolete, and a quake might have changed things here too. The Monarch’s Veil is a bit over 500 feet up along some wall or another, know it by its beauty as a stalagmite/stalactite grouping kind of melts together into perhaps the most beautiful such curtain you’ve ever seen….
And Drapery Cavern may go up six… seven hundred… a full thousand feet?
Covering the ground is easy, but, Armalad, how many Fly spells do you have left? Stock, how many Fly potions do you have left? How fast can Bartomus and Delia climb a cavern wall? Do either of you slow down for Stock to climb a rope?
I have ideas… but they’re all worthless if we face any opposition in here – who wants to be climbing chained Ropes of Climbing up 120 or 400 or more feet, be attacked, lose your grip, and fall to your death?
What if a full Karkasan force comes in from some surface tunnel above, and spots you climbing at 440 feet when they’re at 500 feet and about to take the crown, and they push boulders on you, or cast Rock to Mud?
I don’t have any of those answers – the expeditions I went on we always had combat commanders to make those plans and tell me where I had to be and when.
Stealthily scouting Drapery Cavern is to going to be painfully tedious, and maybe dangerous too… so… what’s the combat plan to protect the climbers, and what’s the combat plan to protect those searching the ground level?
…
Also… who prepared Locate Object, and how many do you have ready?”
What do you do?
(OOC
Elapsed Time: Total of thirty-six (36) sleeps since The Fork and the Mossy Path, and thirty-seven (37) sleeps since entering Wind Tunnels.)
Armalad (Hugh) HP 134/134 AC 25 / Touch 19/ Flat 18 CMD 27 Sunday June 2nd, 2024 9:22:16 PM
Armalad says, "I don't have any locate object prepared, nor is the spell in my spellbook".
She says, "If we are climbing and stuff is dropped on us I have a ring of feather fall so I don't think I'll fall to my doom but I'm not sure about anyone else."
Stock (JonM) HP: 265/265; AC: 34/31/17; DR 4/-; CMD: 41; Rage: 0/44 used Monday June 3rd, 2024 7:40:36 AM
“I have 2 flying potions but we will just have to see if they will be needed. And if Armalad does not have Locate Object, then we are doing this the old fashioned way; ever since Dorbin and Micah retired, we Shields have not been terribly magic focused. So when we get to the cavern, Delia and I will start at ground level to scout ahead; you all follow about 2 minutes behind us walking slowly. We will make our way clockwise about the chamber. If it comes to flying and climbing, like my cousin thinks, we will come up with a new plan.”
Stohp (Mitch) HP: 147/147AC: 27/15/23 CMD: 26 (+4 vs grapple,+6 disarm, trip) Monday June 3rd, 2024 8:03:01 AM
Stohp shrugs. "Lets get in there and see if we face immediate resistance. No plan we can make accounts for all of the possibilities so once we've scouted out a bit, seen if the enemy's already there waiting on us, we can maybe make some light and get a better idea what we're dealing with."
Delia (Hannah) HP: 124/124; AC 29/21/23; CMD 44 Monday June 3rd, 2024 1:11:00 PM
Delia nods to Stock's plan. "We do have Hawky for scouting once we're done with the floor perimeter, but he'd need a light source. If anyone has Daylight, we could cast it on something and have him carry it and be a little sunbeam for us. Until then, Stock and I can see what we can see from the ground."
She'll pass off Hawky to Zanderallen with instructions to stay with and listen to him. Hawky will give Z a once over, then settle on his shoulder with a little bird huff.
Zanderallen (Zachary H) 226/226 AC: 36 DR:5/Evil T: 15 FF: 35 CMD: 35 LoH 13/14 SE 6/6 Monday June 3rd, 2024 3:44:16 PM "Sounds like a plan. Floor perimeter first for safety, then light it up and look for the Monarch's Veil. I have my bull's eye lantern and a daylight spell prepared." Zanderallen settles awkwardly at first into having Hawky perched on his shoulder. After a couple angry screeches from Hawky as the bird nearly slides off the smooth metal of his shoulder plate Zanderallen pulls out a piece of thick cloth and securely fastens it over his armor to give Hawky a firm perch on his broad shoulder.
Bartomus(Rod) HP:144/144 AC 21; (150/150) 1/5 Glv +16 2d8+2 Slng +14 CMD 11 Melee 12/7/2;Perc+16;Heal+11 d20+16=28 ; Monday June 3rd, 2024 4:24:26 PM "I can climb like this, Dolgrin," Bartomus added and pointed to his rocky alter self. "But, can also change into an air elemental and use that form to scout the area as well. May actually give a bit more speed to the area being covered."
Bartomus shrugged and followed the others as he glided through the stone into the larger cavern.
Perception/tremor sense - 28
Armalad (Hugh) HP 134/134 AC 25 / Touch 19/ Flat 18 CMD 27 Monday June 3rd, 2024 10:41:02 PM
Armalad says "I don't have any more fly spells as we used them all crossing the lake either."
The Monarch's Path... (DM Wayne) Monday June 3rd, 2024 11:08:51 PM
Armalad says that she doesn’t know Locate Object.
Stock counts two flying potions. He lays out a traditional scouting strategy.
Stohp suggests a small amount of initial scouting, and then shining lights around to see a bit more.
Delia agrees with Stock. She suggests having Hawky be a flying light again.
Zanderallen agrees with Delia’s expansion of the scouting plan, adding Hawky-light afterwards.
Bartomus agreed he could climb walls as an earth elemental, but offered being an air elemental instead to quickly fly and scout.
Dolgrin says, “Bartomus… air elemental… if you’d still have Darkvision in that form it might be useful, but remember the scale – we haven’t confirmed the current length and width of the Cavern, let alone the height.
Delia, the Hawky-light can be good, but remember how long it took him to fly in circles up to 500 feet? It’ll be like that again, at a minimum… and I hope your eyes are sharp because a person is not quite as small as an ant to the eye when the person is standing 500 feet away, or more… fortunately the Monarch’s Veil is probably in the range of ten feet wide by ten feet tall, plus or minus a few or more feet in either direction.
It's too bad our Darkvision tops out at 60 feet… would be nice if we had a way for at least one person to see the place fully without using light.
Well, best get moving then since basically everyone’s agreed to Stock’s plan.”
With that, Delia and Stock fall into the clockwise scouting routine, with Bartomus and Dolgrin using their Darkvision to guide the rest of the group at a pace two minutes behind Delia and Stock.
Everyone – please roll ten (10) Perception checks. DC hidden. These represent rolls over time as people make the circuit around the Cavern floor.
What do you do?
(OOC
Elapsed Time: Total of thirty-six (36) sleeps since The Fork and the Mossy Path, and thirty-seven (37) sleeps since entering Wind Tunnels.)
Bartomus(Rod) HP:144/144 AC 21; (150/150) 1/5 Glv +16 2d8+2 Slng +14 CMD 11 Melee 12/7/2;Perc+16;Heal+11 d20+16=24 ; d20+16=18 ; d20+16=24 ; d20+16=32 ; d20+16=30 ; d20+16=23 ; d20+16=36 ; d20+16=32 ; d20+16=31 ; d20+16=21 ; Monday June 3rd, 2024 11:19:23 PM "Dark vision is part of that creature type, Dolgrin. Gotta see in storms and such." Bartomus changed into a huge creature of the air with wings and moon-light eyes. He took a second to get his feel for this new form and then stretched out his wings and moved aloft.
movement is 100' and the form has dark vision Perception rolls 24 18 24 32 30 23 36 32 31 21
Stohp (Mitch) HP: 147/147AC: 27/15/23 CMD: 26 (+4 vs grapple,+6 disarm, trip) d20+23=36 ; d20+23=38 ; d20+23=26 ; d20+23=41 ; d20+23=39 ; d20+23=38 ; d20+23=27 ; d20+23=26 ; d20+23=28 ; d20+23=40 ; Tuesday June 4th, 2024 4:56:09 AM
Stohp moves slowly, making little noise and listening hard for signs of creatures here that are not the party. 36 38 26 41 39 38 27 26 28 40
Zanderallen (Zachary H) 226/226 AC: 36 DR:5/Evil T: 15 FF: 35 CMD: 35 LoH 13/14 SE 6/6 d20+10=12 ; d20+10=27 ; d20+10=26 ; d20+10=25 ; d20+10=11 ; d20+10=24 ; d20+10=22 ; d20+10=12 ; d20+10=16 ; d20+10=23 ; Tuesday June 4th, 2024 3:51:39 PM
Zanderallen follows along slowly, trying to make as little noise and light as possible. He keeps his ears wide open. -------- Perception Checks 12 27 26 25 11 24 22 12 16 23
Delia (Hannah) HP: 124/124; AC 29/21/23; CMD 44 d20+40=59 ; d20+33=39 ; d20+33=40 ; d20+33=42 ; d20+33=44 ; d20+33=38 ; d20+33=49 ; d20+33=38 ; d20+33=46 ; d20+33=38 ; d20+33=52 ; Tuesday June 4th, 2024 4:52:11 PM
Hawky gives Zander a disparaging look as he fails to get traction on the metal. He shuffles over to Z's backpack/cloak, digging his talons in there and thrusting his head forward to be right by Z's ear.
Delia hids a grin at her bird's antics and says to Dolgrin as she melts into the shadows next to Stock, "That's what Hawky's eyeballs would be for. And my spyglass."
=================== Stealth: 59 (with movement penalties, hide the plain sight)
Hakwy will aid Z for automatic +2 on checks. If he sees anything he will (gently) beak Z's ear. Perceptions: 1-39 2-40 3-42 4-44 5-38 6-49 7-38 8-46 9-38 10-52
Armalad (Hugh) HP 134/134 AC 25 / Touch 19/ Flat 18 CMD 27 d20+24=25 ; d20+24=31 ; d20+24=27 ; d20+24=44 ; d20+24=26 ; d20+24=31 ; d20+24=36 ; d20+24=26 ; d20+24=41 ; d3=3 ; d20+24=27 ; d20+20=28 ; d20+20=32 ; d20+20=27 ; d20+20=25 ; d20+20=32 ; d20+20=35 ; d20+20=27 ; d20+20=29 ; d20+20=29 ; d20+20=23 ; Tuesday June 4th, 2024 8:53:40 PM
Armalad keeps Joker within arm's length to benefit from alertness. She casts light on an arrow as she searches.
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