Audience with Chief Sternbough (DM Wayne) Sunday March 3rd, 2024 12:26:57 AM
Armalad and Joker summon their concentration and listen. They are soon able to pick out Dolgrin’s footsteps on the cobblestone floor of the throne room, easy enough. Will it be harder on the featureless rock floors of Mountainhome? They will soon find out, but for now they head for the exit the phantom steps zig-zag towards…
Stohp likewise hears the robed dwarf’s footsteps in the throne room, and is amazed at how easy it is.
Delia and Hawky likewise are able to follow the footsteps.
Zanderallen considered the deep details their hosts provided on their mission. Thanking the Chief properly, Zanderallen too is soon following Dolgrin though with some effort… easier to follow Delia.
Bartomus took one last visual tour of the astonishing artistry on display in the throne room even as his mind and ears worked to locate Dolgrin, which they did… barely! As he followed the others he resolved to ask Stock more questions about the carvings.
Stock listens for Dolgrin and is able to follow him with his ears though as the Chief noted, there was only one exit to get to the provisioners quickly!
Four or five tunnels later Dolgrin becomes visible again and he and Stock lead the Shields to double-doors that Dolgrin opens and then into a larger cavern with the feel of a light breeze from the archway opposite the entrance. A fresh breeze – this connects outside! The cavern ceiling rises high, farther than darkvision can see, and even with the heatless everburning torches on the cavern walls low-light vision cannot even see that sixty feet.
Ahead of the Shields lie a couple-dozen open-air stalls with some vendors offering fresh foods and drinks and some offering packaged provisions like the so-called ‘iron rations’ but also many dry goods are here – clothing for a variety of climes, climbing gear, artisan’s tools, and so forth.
Dolgrin turns to the Shields, “Shields, you seem very well-provisioned, and we wouldn’t be surprised if you had magical bags capable of carrying more than you appear to have, but it’s possible that the information we just provided might cause you to realize you’d forgotten something, whether it’s another one hundred, or one thousand, feet of rope, more rations, and so on. You won’t find any enchanted items here, but as the old dwarven poet once wrote, ‘for want of a nail the pony was lost; for want of a pony the paladin was lost; for want of a paladin the battle was lost; for want of a victory the kingdom was lost.’ If there’s any ‘nail’ you forgot to buy at the Float, this is your… our last opportunity to do so before taking rothe-drawn wagons to the Entrance. No, we don’t have horses here – flat land without the rocky debris of past avalanches is few and far between – even with horseshoes the terrain would be too difficult. Other areas of the scab have enough of that terrain, but here instead of war ponies we have some war goats but (looks at Bartomus, Stohp, and Zanderallen and his full plate) they just can’t take some of you so wagons it is – we’ll be walking miles or tens of miles underground so don’t get proud about walking now because that’s all we’ll be doing for possibly a very long time.
Now, on with any shopping you want to do, and then we’ll head out the far entrance to the Trading Caves and the wagons.”
(OOC – at the Provisioners, the Shields can buy anything in the Equipment Chapter (non-magical weapons, armor, dry goods, food, etc.) in the Corebook, food adjusted for the local ‘cattle’ (rothe) and different vegetables, etc. Yes, alchemical items are all available.)
The dwarven merchants are generally matter-of-fact and easy to deal with.
Shields, indicate what, if anything, you purchase here and then finish your post by following Dolgrin out the far exit.
Stock (JonM) HP: 265/265; AC: 31/28/17; Per: +27; Surv: +16; SM: +16 Sunday March 3rd, 2024 3:11:25 PM
Stock shakes the cobwebs out of his head. "...this whole thing has been a weird experience..." He checks his ioun stone and assured it is still floating up there somewhere, he passes on more provisions.
"I'm ready, Dolgrin...and I wouldn't be surprised if the rest of the Shields were too. We tried to prepare before leaving the Float."
Stohp (Mitch) HP: 147/147AC: 27/15/23 CMD: 26 (+4 vs grapple,+6 disarm, trip) Sunday March 3rd, 2024 9:12:20 PM
Stohp already has 250 feet of rope, but you know what it's cheap she she'll buy another 750 cause why not.
Armalad (Hugh) HP 121/134 AC 25 / Touch 19/ Flat 18 CMD 27 Monday March 4th, 2024 5:12:28 AM
Armalad has 10 days of trail rations but wonders if that is enough. "Do you think I should get a month's worth of trail rations just in case?"
If the party seems to be in agreement she will buy the extra rations.
Stock (JonM) HP: 265/265; AC: 31/28/17; Per: +27; Surv: +16; SM: +16 d20+16=17 ; d20+4=8 ; Monday March 4th, 2024 7:39:43 AM
Stock knows the horrors that haunt the dwarves minds yet he is still annoyed by his Chief’s challenge. He is just not used to this. Still he gives it a shot.
”Stohp is the glue that keeps us together. While not powerful in the traditional sense, she is an implacable foe. Big Z is the shield of the Silver Shields. He protects us and leads us. Bart is our wise councilor. Nature bends to his very whim. Delia’s bow is the silent murderer among us. Armalad lis equal parts genius and nimble footed. She has forgotten more facts than I will ever learn. And I am the hammer…well make that a flail…of the Silver Shields. Point me in a direction and get out of the way.”
——- sense motive 17, Stock is distracted Diplomacy 8
Bartomus(Rod) HP: 144/144 AC 21; (150/150) Glv +16 2d8+2 Slng +14 CMD 11 Melee 12/7/2;Perc+16;Heal+11 Monday March 4th, 2024 1:56:03 PM
Bartomus pulled out the rolled-up bag of holding and offered to have the extra provisions stored in it if needed. He gave Armalad a nod in agreement to the question about rations.
"Yea, I am going to grab more as well. He walked about the stalls and picked up ten of the dwarven rations, ten trail rations, some cheeses (three 2# wheels), potatoes, turnips, and a bag of nuts. He paid fifteen gold for the lot of things and arranged them in the bag of holding based upon what the others might want to store.
Sheet updated to reflect purchases in the Catacombs and these here.
Delia (Hannah) HP: 124/124; AC 29/21/23; CMD 44 Monday March 4th, 2024 2:36:30 PM
Delia will buy a ton more arrows and supplies to repair arrows, just to ensure that she (and Armalad if needed) never run out of ammo.
(OOC: I know there are crafting rules somewhere. I'll look them up after work for crafting material costs)
Zanderallen (Zachary H) 226/226 AC: 34 T: 15 FF: 33 CMD: 35 LoH 14/14 SE 6/6 Monday March 4th, 2024 6:04:42 PM
Zanderallen stops in to grab a few small supplies. Being surrounding by dwarven speakers has been an excellent crash course on solidifying his handle on the language. As he haggles with the merchants he wonders if he'll have a scab accent to his dwarven, or if it's still so egregiously human that no other accent will come through.
Having finished his shopping he joins back up at the wagons, "I'm ready to get trekking." ======================= Purchases - 7 pints of oil - Bullseye Lantern - 450 ft of rope - Climber's Kit - Miner's Pick x3 - Shovel x3
Total cost: 116 gp 7 sp All goes in the bag of holding type 4 with all the iron rations
The Entrance (DM Wayne) Monday March 4th, 2024 11:23:17 PM
Stock clears his mind and informs Dolgrin that he needs no more than what the Shields already prepared for.
Stohp increases her rope supply to a full one thousand feet.
Armalad wonders aloud whether she should buy extra rations, given the Chief and scribes mentioning the Shields’ mission could take weeks or even months, and then she recalls that Stohp and others bought several months worth. Still, one more month couldn’t hurt with all the magical bags amongst the Shields…
Bartomus offered magical bag storage for the extra goods some Shields were purchasing. Next he selected some dwarf-style food and rations similar to those he’d had in the banquet hall. Variety is the spice of life!
Delia loads up on arrows and crafting/repair supplies, offloading much amongst the Shields’ magic bags.
Zanderallen too considers and then selects a variety of equipment, focusing more on light sources, rope, and digging and climbing gear, exercising his Dwarven much more than he’d expected but it was exhilarating and helped him see the world with more empathy, considering two cultures instead of one before acting… He reflected on his purchases – two ropes of climbing are nice, but the Shields might need more than two ropes at the same time to hear the dwarves describe caves that twist and loop in all three dimensions! As with the rest, he informs Dolgrin that the Shields are ready to embark upon the wagon train!
Dolgrin leads the abundantly-supplied Shields into the opposite tunnel, some fifteen feet wide and just seven feet tall – no easy journey for giants or ogres… or Taurs, but Stohp and Bartomus only have to stoop a little. This tunnel’s stone has been polished and treated but is otherwise natural. Every several feet there’s some inscribed writing in Dwarven and apparently translations in Common – advertisements for particular vendors in the Provisioners’ room. After a five-minute brisk walk (at average dwarf-speed) the tunnel exits into a cave some twenty feet in height and perhaps two hundred feet in width, with daylight coming in the entrance which is about twenty feet wide and eight feet high – just enough for a Taur without bumping their head.
The cave floor is subdivided into large square lots, marked by boundary stones with thick chalk marks of a variety of colors – the dwarves, or someone, must have a master alchemist to get chalk to be some of those colors! But for its location in a cavern, these Trading Caves appear to be akin to an open-air market where the owner rents stall space to vendors by the day. Today looks to be a light day, with maybe twenty percent of the marked squares being occupied by traders, and in some locations several squares have been bundled together for a trade caravan or three of rothe-drawn wagons. All but one of the trade caravans’ workers wear clan vests with different colors and symbols than those you’ve seen constantly here in Clan Mountainheart.
Dolgrin leads the Shields to the Mountainheart caravan of wagons. “Alright Shields, the Chief had three more wagons added to this caravan to carry the six… seven… eight… however many of you there are,” he pauses, having eyed Joker and Hawky, and continues, “These passenger wagons could take two Taurs each but best not to make just one pair of rothe work too hard. Perhaps if Stohp and a smaller Shield took the first passenger wagon, Bartomus and a smaller Shield the second wagon, and I and two other Shields take the third wagon… that would spread the work amongst the rothe. Naturally, if you have some tactical wagon-riding order then split up as you like – I only ask that Stohp and Bartomus are not together on the same wagon.”
Perhaps slight smiles spread among the Shields at the thought of “wagon-riding order” but none would know as Dolgrin was already aboard the third passenger wagon, having signaled the caravan leaders that departure was as soon as everyone embarked. The Shields were at once aboard the wagons, Dolgrin gave a sharp whistle, and the steady pace of the rothe began, the big wagon wheels giving them needed traction to pull their loads.
As the hours go by, the Shields reflect on what Dolgrin has told them about the trip – only twelve miles as the crow flies, but the constant hills and valleys, steep ascents and descents, wear on the rothe. Perhaps once every four hours one of the rothe suffers a minor leg or foot injury which a dwarven priest of Domi is quick to heal. A minor inconvenience with magic at hand but Dolgrin was not kidding about the rough terrain – it takes essentially the whole day, about ten hours, to cross eight miles of this unforgiving terrain. In the distance to the left or right, clearer areas can be seen just a few miles away but the Shields are clearly on the shortest path to the East Wind Tunnel Entrance, so says Delia, looking at certain key maps in the Shields’ collection from time to time.
The caravan arrives at a cave, but Dolgrin informs the Shields that it’s merely a large cavern with the entrance expanded to accommodate a wagon’s width so that a caravan can safely rest for the night, not because the Dwarves care, but because the rothe can only work so many hours a day. As Dolgrin finishes explaining, the dwarven priest is seen again, this time creating water into a dozen buckets or so which the rothe happily lap from. Rothe workers then tend to any remaining injuries, provide food, clean some of the dirt that coated their hairy bodies along the route. Dolgrin informs the Shields that they’ll be at the Entrance the next day by early afternoon and if they want to get started caving then spellcasters should be ready to kill on sight any Aberrant Horror that shows itself.
The cave has plenty of room for the Shields’ bedrolls and so the night passes uneventfully, though the Shields’ minds race with anticipation.
Morning brings a light trail meal to break the fast of night, and the caravan is once more outside and assembled within about an hour of the dawn’s early light. The bumpy ride resumes and at times the Shields might think this wagon trip more dangerous than the Wind Tunnels themselves but if they do, they do not show it on their faces, stalwart and experienced warriors that they have become.
Indeed, by perhaps an hour after high noon the caravan approaches closely to an impressive mountain. Keen eyes amongst the Shields are the first to spot the rock outcropping apparently hiding a cave entrance underneath it. Soon the caravan comes to a stop and the caravan leaders alone disembark and head under the outcropping. Dolgrin asks the Shields to wait several minutes.
Patience is rewarded as the leaders return along with a few other dwarves armed and armored for war. The leaders direct their workers to begin taking supplies in to the Entrance and then call Dolgrin to bring his group inside. This is it!
Soon the Shields are inside a large cave some one hundred feet wide by eighty feet deep and sixty feet high or more (magical light sconces radiate up only thirty feet and those with elven or dwarven vision hit their limit before they see any ceiling. At the back wall, a large arrangement of boulders formed into a standalone wall blocks the Shields’ view of something, though those with enhanced vision think Highlight to display spoiler: {that’s a metal gate, I can just barely notice the reflection of the stray light that makes it through the thin gaps between the boulders! The slight glow… magical runes?!?}.
Dolgrin and one of the armored dwarves step away for a private conversation, which remains private because the other armored dwarves appear to make a point of having loud ‘small talk’ with the caravan leaders about the shipment, counting the food crates, and so forth. The keener Shield eyes note Dolgrin’s flash of a shiny ring signet ring??? to the armored dwarf during an apparent heated point in their conversation. After a few minutes the armored dwarf appears to concede the point and their conversation concludes. Dolgrin and the armored dwarf walk back over to the Shields.
The armored dwarf, older, salt and pepper hair, beard, braids, etc., skips any introduction entirely and, looking over the motley crew comprising the Shields, says, “I didn’t know so many outsiders had a death wish! (pauses on looking at Stock, then shakes his head) Well, no matter. Dolgrin proved you have clearance from the Chief to my satisfaction and that’s good enough for our brigade. We’ll need about twenty minutes to unlock the gate. Dolgrin, have them wait over there. You too.” The armored dwarf then walked straight into no, through! a cave wall without mussing his beard at all.
Dolgrin says, “Shields, ‘rocks are about to get real’ as some of us say, he glances at the wall the dwarf walked through so if you have any last-minute strategizing, or just want to ask me questions now that we’re here, you’ve got a bit of time.”
Back against the far wall, a few armored dwarves (did ‘Pepper’ say they had a brigade? Just how many dwarves are stationed here?!?) point some sort of wands or rods or sticks or something at the top left boulder in the arrangement and it begins slowly floating through the air and coming down to the floor safely over the course of about two minutes. Right, three-by-three arrangement, 2 minutes each, 2 minutes to set up, 20 minutes… Part of what must be a massive gate, some fifty feet tall, is now visible to all.
[OOC - Shields, your posts, at a minimum, should have your comments with Dolgrin while you wait for the gate to be reached, but please feel free to cover anything you did during the day-and-a-half wagon journey as well through rough, rocky, steep terrain with the wagons often bouncing off of ‘small’ rocks…]
Armalad (Hugh) HP 121/134 AC 25 / Touch 19/ Flat 18 CMD 27 Tuesday March 5th, 2024 2:46:04 AM
Armalad and Joker make small talk as the Rothe Wagons slowly cover the distance to the gate. Armalad asks if the journey is so difficult on the Rothe why there was no effort to create a sort of mechanized land barge the Rothe's could like stay in a single place either near the gate or the opposite terminus and essentially walk in a circle turning a large wheel or crank that had a chain attached to the mechanized land barge that would pull the barges one way or another based on the direction the Rothe walked.
Stohp (Mitch) HP: 147/147AC: 27/15/23 CMD: 26 (+4 vs grapple,+6 disarm, trip) Tuesday March 5th, 2024 8:09:18 AM
Stohp will ride with Stock on the trip if possible. She's curious about the local carpentry and his experiences growing up. The dwarves are clearly extremely skilled.
Once at their destination she waits in the designated area calmly. For all of the dangers and uncertainties of their journey it lacks the sheer malovolence and dread the woods near their home project at any and all who dare approach so she finds it surprisingly easy to keep calm and wait to see what comes.
Delia (Hannah) HP: 124/124; AC 29/21/23; CMD 44 Tuesday March 5th, 2024 9:29:03 AM
Delia will climb into the wagon with Bart. She lets Hawky range about in the air as much as he wishes while they're still on the surface. As for herself, she'd triple check and repack her equipment, not that much mundane packing is needed for a Handy Haversack, but old habits die hard. She also checks each arrow she currently has and purchased, making any adjustments or repairs.
When they stop for the night, she would assist in rubbing down the Rothe. As they rest, she'll cast Speak With Animals and have a nice chat with them too. As they prepare to enter the caves, she'll cast Darkvision and Longstrider on herself, waiting patiently for the way to be clear.
Stock (JonM) HP: 265/265; AC: 31/28/17; Per: +27; Surv: +16; SM: +16 Tuesday March 5th, 2024 9:31:14 AM
Stock spends the ride talking with Stohp about dwarves carpentry and in particular usage of some of the tougher giant mushroom stalks found underground as a wood replacement as well as discussing alternate wagon suspension designs that would make the ride through the mountains a bit easier on his backside.
At the cave he lets out a low grunt at the presumption that he’s an “outsider” but lets it go for now. His kin are a bit more xenophobic than he remembered. He then says to Dolgrin, ”Have you been through this gate before?”
Zanderallen (Zachary H) 226/226 AC: 34 T: 15 FF: 33 CMD: 35 LoH 14/14 SE 6/6 Tuesday March 5th, 2024 4:20:10 PM
Zanderallen gets in the rear wagon. He spends time chatting with Dolgrin and trying to strike up a conversation with the dwarven priests of Domi, curious about how they practice their devotion. When the first animal is injured he expresses concern and offers to share the burden of healing the animals with the power Domi grants him.
Up early the next morning he asks for aid in getting his plate armor on. He takes extra care in arming himself, he planned on being inside this armor for quite some time. He had a plan for sleeping. Fully armed and equipped he completes his morning ritual and loads back into the wagon.
Arriving at the entry gate he whistles at the sheer scale of the gateway. As Grumpy stares them down he stares right back, completely unbowed by the dwarf's hostility. He thinks about confronting the rude fellow but writes him off as a soldier just trying to do his job. When rocks starts flying around he makes sure he's got room to back up if needed. "This is quite the gate Dolgrin. Has anything ever made it through?"
Bartomus(Rod) HP: 144/144 AC 21; (150/150) Glv +16 2d8+2 Slng +14 CMD 11 Melee 12/7/2;Perc+16;Heal+11 Tuesday March 5th, 2024 8:18:58 PM
Bartomus bounced about with Delia and her hawk. He shared with her things about the Shields and his past, hoping to learn a bit more about her now that they were sharing a wagon together. It was a rough ride. No other way to describe it. Bouncing off of small rocks, which were anything but small, only added to the experience.
When they camped for the night, Bartomus curled up and didn't worry about rations as he had his Ioun stone on for the campaign. Morning meditations focused on spells dealing with stone, damage, and healing. Then they got back into the wagons and rode the last bit to the keep with its massive gate. He shared Zander's impressions adding a whistle of his own.
"Dolgrin, what are the type of creatures that have you the most concerned beyond that gate?" Bartomus asked. He figured a bit of additional information might be advantageous.
The Entrance (DM Wayne) Wednesday March 6th, 2024 12:14:16 AM
Armalad and Joker pass the wagon ride with idle chatter. She suggests a large rothe-powered machine could move people and cargo faster.
Stohp and Stock ride together, as Stohp sneak attacks him with a barrage of questions on dwarven carpentry and his pre-Shields life in Mountainhome. At the Entrance, she finds it easy to calmly wait for the uncovering of the Gate. There may be uncountable Aberrant Horrors beyond the Gate, but unlike the Crying Wood, the Tunnels themselves aren’t out to get the Shields… she hopes…
Delia rides with Bartomus. She busies herself with tending to her gear and Hawky, and also spends time helping the animal workers with the rothe. Delia casts Speak with Animals and checks on how they’re feeling. The rothe are no smarter than cattle, but as the priest of Domi heals various bruises, cuts, and scrapes from the journey, and they eat their dinner and drink their water, they have no complaints, though it’s also clear that this is the only life they know, pulling wagons, being fed and watered, and healed of the wounds of the road.
Stock falls into answering all of Stohp’s questions, at ease in the ‘shop talk.’ Like Armalad, he too muses about his own ideas to improve the wagon transport. At the Entrance he thinks at first ‘Pepper’ has lumped him in with the ‘outsider’ tag, and then wonders whether ‘Pepper’ merely thinks Stock, too, has a death wish. Do I? Nahhh… The xenophobia barely concealed beneath the surface felt new… but then, he’d never been to the Entrance, and maybe even back in Mountainheart he hadn’t noticed it because he was rarely around non-dwarves… which had led him to find his own path on the Float and… were they always this way? Did I ever think that way? No, I always wanted more than Mountainhome was giving me… and they… so much to look back on with eyes ten years older… Stock turns to Dolgrin, asking if Dolgrin has been through this Gate before. Dolgrin nods, knowingly, closing his eyes as he does so as if to relive the memories better… after a moment he opens his eyes, a distant look in them.
Zanderallen gets in the rear wagon with Dolgrin, talking with Dolgrin and also the priest of Domi stationed at the reins ahead of him. Dolgrin is not laconic, but neither is he verbose. For one so learned, he seems balanced in conversation. The priest is happy to share with Zanderallen, who learns that living in a natural desert (as all caves are) and making it into not just a home, but a place a clan can thrive, seems to have given these dwarves, including the priest, a sharper readiness to dispatch threats to their survival yet also equally ready to be hospitable to… most guests. Clan Mountainheart appears rule-bound and tradition-bound, from the tying of certain professions to certain sexes to never forgetting, or forgiving, the atrocities of the Drow beneath the Scab lest the edge that enables Clan Mountainheart to survive in these rugged caves be lost! Domi doesn’t want you to be so consumed with fear and hatred… it’s a wonder you still receive spells… perhaps forgiveness from Domi as you take good care of your clan and build a more balanced society. Will there one day be the right opportunity to broach the subject that worship of Domi can include empathy? Zanderallen decides to demonstrate empathy by doing, offering to help the priest with healing the rothe, an offer accepted with a wide smile by the priest! The rest in the travel cave was welcome, and the next day, with some assistance from the priest, he was armored up and in the wagon again. At the Entrance, the size of the Gate impresses him, and its craftsdwarfship too! He stares back at the uncaring ‘Pepper’s’ words, restraining himself from eye-rolling. Once other dwarves begin moving the boulders he makes sure to be out of the way! Zanderallen inquires of Dolgrin whether anything has ever made it through. Dolgrin replies, with a wince, “We… learned ways to improve this Gate after the Drow invasion of the West Gate. More and better magical protections, the stack of boulders just in case the Drow invested in Anti-Magic Shell or brought disenchanter beasts or rust monsters or the like.”
Bartomus inwardly chuckled at the wagon bounces keeping he and Delia in sync as though choreographed! She was her usual quiet self so he kept up the conversation for both of them. Whatever she may have said in reply must have been kept from the rest of the Shields by the routine ‘music’ of wagon wheels and rocks. At the travel cave, Bartomus went straight to sleep, relying on his Ioun Stone for sustenance. In the morning he considered their destination and adjusted his spells. On arriving at the Entrance, he echoed Zanderallen in response to the sight of the 50’ tall Gate, going above the 30’ of bright light, but even in the dimness above the shadowy height of it still gave pause. Bartomus turned to Dolgrin and asked for more specifics on these ‘Aberrant Horrors’ Dolgrin, the Chief, and others frequently spoke of.
As the boulders continue to be moved out of the way, Dolgrin replies to Bartomus, opening with a loud exhale and then inhale of breath, “There are so many we know of, yet it seems any time we send an expedition we find yet more unknown-to-us. You Shields seem to have strong enough weapons and magical accoutrements to be ready for the stupid or the non-intelligent Horrors. What we fear most is when the intelligent horrors show up. Any dwarven explorer trained in Clan Mountainheart knows the seismic signature of a purple worm or is ready with a magic or adamantine axe against a xorn phasing through the cave wall to eat all of your metallic gear… it’s when something with that level of power has the cunning of a sociopath and the infinite patience of being ageless that worries even the toughest dwarf warrior… and more than one such has been lost on “honor” expeditions taken alone, thinking that might and enchanted gear alone could conquer all threats… If you want to prepare then think about how to fight purple worms and carrion crawlers and thoqqua and the rest, but then imagine a pod of any of them, eight or sixteen of them, lying in ambush in a specially-modified tunnel…”
As Dolgrin finishes his monologue, the last few boulders are rolled away from the Gate. Indeed, it is even more impressive now, with all its glowing runes showing, than when just the hint of glowing runes was obscured by countless tons of boulders in front of it.
‘Pepper,’ standing alongside the Shields, perhaps even has a tiny look of admiration in his eyes for the Gate, though he has seen it far more than they. A thick and opaque curtain falls into place from beyond the 60’ sight limit above. Dwarves stand guard while occasional flashes of light come out of the space between the curtain and the Gate. Security precautions for the magical protections are serious, it seems, especially if command words or other easy tools can be used to temporarily disable them. An ominous and lengthy rumbling, with concurrent screeches of stone on metal, is heard!
Dolgrin says, “Start casting your Darkvision and other hours-long spells you use for exploration now. Once the Gate opens, we’ll have to move fast!”
After a few minutes the curtain rises once more, and darkness lies beyond, the East Wind Tunnel Entrance now open to all, Shields, dwarves… and any nearby Aberrant Horrors!
‘Pepper’ says, “All right you lot, get on with it! We aren’t to keep it open any longer than absolutely necessary! Dolgrin will tell you how to signal us from the other side once the Gate is back in place, but our brigade could die for nothing if you don’t go through NOW so we can close the Gate!”
Dolgrin turns to the Shields and says, “Come on! Start running in your two-abreast marching order with me in the center! We’ll adjust once we’re inside!”
[OOC – Shields, in your post, describe any hours-long buff spells you’d throw up, such as Darkvision, and then move on to your portion of the Heroic Montage that is the Shields fearlessly running and leaping into the Unknown of the Tunnels so the dwarves can close the Gate behind you!]
Armalad (Hugh) HP 134/134 AC 25 / Touch 19/ Flat 18 CMD 27 Wednesday March 6th, 2024 1:48:25 AM
Armalad casts Mage Armor on her and Joker and light on an arrow she carries. Since Shrunken item lasts for days and she hasn't had a need to unshrink her barrel presumably a previous casting of Shrunken item is still in effect.
Once the spells are out of the way Armalad and Joker sprint with the others taking positions between the middle and the rear so that they are towards the back but not in the vanguard.
Joker flies as nimbly as his mephit wings will take him while Armalad gracefully runs elf she is, her blonde hair flowing behind her as she does so
Stohp (Mitch) HP: 147/147AC: 27/15/23 CMD: 26 (+4 vs grapple,+6 disarm, trip) Wednesday March 6th, 2024 8:45:50 AM
Stohp had expected to have to rush in after all the talk of underground horrors so she's ready when the time comes. The problem is not outrunning her shorter legged comrades really, she's pretty fast on her feet.
Bartomus(Rod) HP: 144/144 AC 21; (150/150) Glv +16 2d8+2 Slng +14 CMD 11 Melee 12/7/2;Perc+16;Heal+11 Wednesday March 6th, 2024 9:40:47 AM
Bartomus follows behind Dolgrin and makes it clear that his vision is limited to that of an elf in the dark. The light from the arrow Armalad should be adequate for the 60' of vision needed. If not, then Bartomus would ask Dolgrin if a sunstone would be wise to use once on the other side of the gate.
He moves behind the dwarf guide in the order and proceeds through the gate into the cavern beyond.
Stock (JonM) HP: 265/265; AC: 31/28/17; Per: +27; Surv: +16; SM: +16 Wednesday March 6th, 2024 10:54:30 AM
Stock shares a traditional Dwarven goodbye with the guards, silently holding up a single fist as he jogs to the front of the Shields’ procession.
Delia (Hannah) HP: 124/124; AC 29/21/23; CMD 44 d20+45=50 ; d20+33=48 ; Wednesday March 6th, 2024 11:34:30 AM
Delia chatted openly with Bart about her time spent as a town guard, then bouncing around as a scout/hunter/mercenary outside of the Float before Happy connected her with the Shields. As she spent most of the time the Shields were active outside of the Float, she's very interested to hear about their adventures straight from the source, instead of 7 steps down the gossip grapevine.
She casts Darkvision and Longstrider on herself and is waiting calmly for the call to head into the deep. When it comes, she takes the lead before fading into the shadows beyond the gate. She holds position inside, listening for any signs of danger. Hawky takes off to fly above the rest of the Shields as they head inside.
Stealth: 50 (hide in plain sight underground) Perception: 48 (50 v aberrations)
Zanderallen (Zachary H) 226/226 AC: 34 T: 15 FF: 33 CMD: 35 LoH 14/14 SE 6/6 Wednesday March 6th, 2024 3:42:47 PM
Zander may be naive but he has gained enough wisdom over the years to know better than to think he could "fix" the hatred. Maybe someday when the Wold was a quieter place he could return and share a better way to live. After coming to that conclusion he pushes such worries to the back of his mind, the tunnels were enough to focus on right now. At Dolgrin's words he intones a few words and blesses Stohp with Delay poison, "Since you're liable to try and wrangle something down here this will keep their venom from harming you, well for as long as the magic lasts."
As the final preparations are being made Zander takes a last minute check of his gear, adjusting straps, making sure his bull's eye lantern is readily accessible, and generally adjusting the weight to be comfortable. He hangs back to take the rear, motioning everyone forward, "Eyes up, feet forward, let's show these dwarves how the Float handles business." =================== Delay Poison on Stohp - 14 hours Stohp is immune to all effects of poison, which will all be suffered when the spell ends
The Entrance (DM Wayne) Thursday March 7th, 2024 12:00:02 AM
Armalad pauses only to cast Mage Armor on herself and Joker, and Light on an arrow, and then she and Joker take positions towards the rear guard in formation.
Stohp impatiently taps a hoof for a dozen seconds as the casters prepare and then all are sprinting as Stohp takes her position near the front.
Bartomus notes that, in Taur form, he still needs light to see, as he too dashes into position near Dolgrin who says “a sunrod is too inflexible – you’re a Druid, can’t you shift into a form that has Darkvision? If not then you should cast a Light orison, or use a torch or lantern you can extinguish – those are the most we should risk outside of a pitched battle.”
Stock respectfully bids the guards adieu in the most dwarven way and then is at the head of the Shields’ formation, like lightning, though Delia was with him all the way before vanishing into the shadows! Wait… is that new? She can turn invisible now???
As the Gate opened, Delia reflected on how Bartomus’ openness and easy conversational style got her to open up about her past careers from town guard to mercenary before Happy introduced her to the Shields. In a pure Delia move, she reversed the conversation ‘grip’ and had gotten Bartomus to take the lion’s share of the discussion, relating the Shields’ adventures before she joined. Already she was both being educated, and also able to rest – this talky talky stuff is harder than slaying Aberrant Horrors in the Underwold! She immediately began casting Darkvision and Longstrider on herself before Dolgrin was halfway done explaining… this was it! And then she was alongside the deceptively fast Stock… and then she was One With The Shadows despite Stock looking straight at her when she did it! This is going to be fun! At once her adrenaline filled her and her senses were on high alert for Aberrant Horrors! Hawky repeated a relatively small circle above the Shields, his sharp eyes doing what they could when the “horizon” was the pure black of the Night Below…
Zanderallen daydreamed of a more peaceful future where he could help Clan Mountainheart disentangle their past from the greater present he knew Domi desired to share with them. Then the Gate, in all its awe-inspiring craftsdwarfship, opened, Dolgrin gave his sage advice, and cast Delay Poison on Stohp, explaining what he’d done. Several seconds later Armalad’s spells were done and the Shields raced forward as one! He took the rear guard, as usual, the better to defend the spellcasters and Dolgrin from ambushes, and gave a brief Heroic Speech spurring the Shields onward!
The rumbling and screeching of the closing Gate is impossible to ignore just tens of feet away, but soon enough it ceases. The only light, at the moment, is Armalad’s arrow. Though the Gate has fully closed, and is no doubt being magically re-sealed, still… the faintest of breezes comes from ahead. Those of elven or dwarven eyes can see that soon after the fifty-foot height of the Gate the ceiling begins sloping downward. As the group gets underway, within one hundred feet or so the ceiling is soon down to about twenty feet high and the tunnel width, staying at thirty feet wide for another hundred feet beyond that, slims quickly down to fifteen feet wide at which time the ceiling angles down again to just ten feet wide. Limestone surrounds, nothing treated, painted, or worked. The Tunnel frequently varies in height and width over the next several hours but never too small for a ‘Taur.
Several hours… and we still haven’t seen a full-size branching tunnel? How many miles have we walked already, slowed by the tunnel twisting down at an angle, and then up, to one side and then to the other? So lifeless, or is it? Was that a tiny white scorpion that crawled into a slight crack in the cave? Are we stomping its food so now it’ll starve to death? Such an alien place… and Dolgrin just tells us to make the best of it, even though the twists and turns mean we’re walking at a child’s pace! How long to The Fork anyways, Dolgrin? And what if we get ambushed by something crawling out of the occasional two-foot wide holes we see in the ceiling? And how did lava form all these unusual wind tunnel shapes and patterns anyways?
In the trackless night below, Dolgrin maintains his answer, “as long as it takes…” and then Dolgrin suddenly whispers to Stohp and Bartomus, both adjacent to him, “we’re about to be attacked. Whisper to the others and ready your weapons!” Dolgrin’s words spread quickly among the Shields, though Delia is in the shadows as scout and does not hear, but then, she does not need to.
The Silver Shields’ noses become instantly aware of a familiar smell, a recent smell, varied though it is with the slight smell of rock and dirt. Carrion Crawlers!
A pitched battle ensues, but the eight near-mindless Carrion Crawlers face the Silver Shields! Dolgrin twists another magic ring and falls into the rock below, but not too far, his eyes and a portion of his face peering up at the battle. Still, instinctively the Shields shift formation to protect Dolgrin and set about vanquishing these Aberrant Horrors who are neither strong enough nor smart enough to present any real challenge to stalwart warriors like the Silver Shields!
After the battle, Dolgrin “walks” up out of the rock as though stairs were available to him. “Well done, Shields. You’ll have many more combats like this before we’re even close to completing our mission so clean up, step over the corpses, and leave them for the occasional wandering Gelatinous Cube… I don’t know if Armalad prepared Prestidigitation, but I did.”
Dolgrin casts the cantrip and sets about thoroughly getting Crawler Slime off the Shields, even Hawky and Joker, splattered a little as the Shields went about their work.
Then the group resumes formation and presses onward, yawns starting among a Shield or two… Oh, right, a half-day’s wagon ride, maybe more than a half-day walking, a battle… time flies so fast when you can’t even notice it passing!
The group then arrives at a spacious cavern with several exits around the walls, many cave formations of the stalagmite/stalactite variety, the constant drip of water from somewhere above vision’s limit then hitting stalactites on the way down and then the stalactites “reaching down” to stalagmites “reaching up,” drips of water carrying bits of limestone from above to below, creating fragile but beautiful limestone ‘pillars’ where they meet. The number of visible exits, and presumably the number of exits beyond sight, threaten to give the Shields pause. This is what the Chief meant about spending weeks, months, or years trying to find the path without help – who knows how many miles each tunnel goes, or if it slims to just one foot wide for a mile and then opens up again to the chamber of the Crown!
Dolgrin says, “This isn’t the Fork, but we’re not far from it. It’s time to rest, though, and our Clan set up one, just one, travel cave as a protected base for our expeditions. Look down at our entrance. See this rock? (pushes hand-size rock to the side) That’s dwarven carved in the floor for ‘exit.’ (replaces rock) See the tunnel straight ahead of our entrance? Count three more tunnels to the right. We’re taking that one about five minutes at my walking speed and then you stronger Shields help me move some big rubble to expose the entrance to where we’ll sleep. Whoever your map-maker is, our ‘safe house’ is a great place to finish up today’s map without getting ambushed!”
The group heads down the selected tunnel, and five minutes later big Shield muscles move a number of sizable rocks and the group enters the ‘travel cave,’ replacing almost all the heavy rocks but leaving a crack or two for air, fresh or not.
Dolgrin finishes with, “As you nod off, be thinking about whether you want to take the barren path or the mossy path at the Fork. That’s where our knowledge ends because of the lost expeditions. Whatever killed our kin must like that kind of environment, whether barren or mossy. Either path could take us to their corpses within half a day, several days, or weeks. We don’t know how far each path goes, so prepare for some wild caving and maybe having to use magic or druid shapes or something to fit Taurs through the tight spots! Safe sleep, Shields.” And with that, Dolgrin nods off to sleep.
[OOC – for each Shield, at a minimum include in your post your most Heroic Moment during the carrion crawler battle as the Shields trivially slay all eight of them, and otherwise post as normal your reactions to the lengthy caving thus far, Dolgrin, and the wild caving coming soon!]
Armalad (Hugh) HP 134/134 AC 25 / Touch 19/ Flat 18 CMD 27 d20+13=32 ; Thursday March 7th, 2024 3:44:40 AM
Armalad has no trouble contributing to the one sided carrion crawler battle sneak attacking the second creature in a line of 4 of them with an arrow imbued with a lightning bolt that caused the line of electricity to arc between all 4 creatures.
Armalad wonders how long it will take them to find Larrion's Crown and what might await them in the future.
Hearing that whatever killed the Dwarven expedition likes Barren or Mossy cave regions she wonders if she knows of anything like that. (knowledge - dungeoneering 32) and shares with the others what might be out there.
Stohp (Mitch) HP: 147/147AC: 27/15/23 CMD: 26 (+4 vs grapple,+6 disarm, trip) Thursday March 7th, 2024 7:33:56 AM
Once underground Stohp is fairly careful of where she's stepping. You don't want to fall through the floor because it can't carry your 800 lbs. In the attack she does what she usually does - trip up enemies and grapple key targets to support the rest of the party. Travel through the caves quickly becomes tiring for her, not used to traveling with so few ways to track the time and distance.
Bartomus(Rod) HP: 144/144 AC 21; (150/150) Glv +16 2d8+2 Slng +14 CMD 11 Melee 12/7/2;Perc+16;Heal+11 Thursday March 7th, 2024 9:49:11 AM
He started to process the day when they settled in for the night, which was ever present and always right there beyond the light of the arrow or the cantrip he would touch off casting it to the tip of his glave.
The sudden attack of the carrion crawlers had been a battle royal with the Shields. Dolgrin's warning mere seconds before the vile creatures attached was the thing that gave them the upper hand. For Bartomus, he traded his glave for the large stone hands of a stone elemental and smashing one of the creatures that had been peppered with arrows. The team had worked together as well as they always had. He smiled as he realized that.
He drifted off to sleep having munched on part of a cheese wheel, nuts, and a part of one of the mushroom rounds he picked up in the dwarven market. Sleep found him quickly.
"Dolgrin, what are the type of creatures that have you the most concerned beyond that gate?" Bartomus asked. He figured a bit of additional information might be advantageous.
Bartomus(Rod) HP: 144/144 AC 21; (150/150) Glv +16 2d8+2 Slng +14 CMD 11 Melee 12/7/2;Perc+16;Heal+11 Thursday March 7th, 2024 9:58:55 AM ignore last paragraph apparently it didn't get written over in the text screen I was using.
Zanderallen (Zachary H) 226/226 AC: 34 T: 15 FF: 33 CMD: 35 LoH 14/14 SE 6/6 Thursday March 7th, 2024 12:31:08 PM
Zanderallen trudges along, sometimes having to strain to see in the gloom on the edge of the light provided from Armalad's arrow but never enough to risk expanding their visibility. He thinks back to his early years on the Float. These tunnels reminded him of the alleyways he grew up in. Except here there was no edge, no opening you could get to where you could look out and see the lake. Just darkness and stone.
As the warning passes down the ranks he snaps the fingers of his right hand, suddenly gripping his sword as it pops out of his new glove. He turns to face the two crawlers that emerge behind the party, willing the flames of his blade to ignite as he cuts them down.
When they arrive at the resting spot he moves to the front to help move stones. Once everyone is in he helps pull them back into place.
"I'm glad Dolgrin and Stock are here to tell time. Do dwarves just have a strong internal clock? How do you keep track of the passing of days? Also, we need to figure out watches. This cave may be safe but soon we'll be camping exposed. My vote would be the mossy path. I believe that was path where scribes had seen undead. That reeks of ancient places and artifacts to me"
As Zanderallen beds down he taps at the ioun stone floating around his head. It seemed to be working, he hadn't eaten anything since that morning and felt none of the weakness of hunger. But his stomach still felt empty. He sighs and resigns himself to the feeling before adjusting his plate armor as much as able for a night's sleep.
Delia (Hannah) HP: 124/124; AC 29/21/23; CMD 44 Thursday March 7th, 2024 2:20:50 PM
Delia stalks through the tunnels ahead of the Shields, flitting from shadow to shadow by pure habit at this point. In larger tunnels, Hawky will fly for a short distance, otherwise, he will perch on various other Shields, letting his human range ahead.
As the Crawlers emerge from the tunnels, she slams arrow after arrow into them, slicing off tentacles, eye stalks, and going down the gullet with arrows expertly placed in weak spots. She recovers as many as she is able, broken or otherwise.
When they were setting watches, she holds up her hand, "With this new ring (of sustenance), I only need a couple hours of sleep. So as long as I get that little bit of rest, I can stand watch the rest of the night."
Stock (JonM) HP: 265/265; AC: 31/28/17; Per: +27; Surv: +16; SM: +16 Thursday March 7th, 2024 9:24:29 PM
Stock feels at ease in the cave despite the sense of impending conflict. He relishes the short, sweet fight with the carrion crawlers, at one point bodily picking up a beast and throwing it toward Zanderallen, timed just right so that the paladin followed through the beast with his sword splitting the crawler in 2.
At the stopping point, he exercises his strength at moving heavy objects and has the cave cleared in no time.
The Entrance (DM Wayne) Thursday March 7th, 2024 10:44:54 PM
Armalad’s Lightning Arrow made the Crawlers flicker between looking normal-colored and reverse-colored, back and forth until serious amounts of Crawler flesh are charred! Afterwards she muses about just how long it may take to find Largon’s Dragon Crown and what Horrors they will have to face. As the group is settling down for the night, her mind latches onto the extra details Dolgrin suggests about the two paths… but there are so many Horrors out there that the barren path might host demons, earth elementals, or something else that simply doesn’t care about lack of a regular ecosystem… and the mossy path… well, there are far worse plant monsters out there than a Woldian Flytrap! The Shields’ recent plant battles were underwater so, barring an underwater lake (and Armalad knew such a lake could be gigantic… or tiny…) perhaps… Fey, hostile land plants, yellow musk creeper, olive slime… endless options there too. She muses aloud on some possibilities for each path but has to admit that an environment alone doesn’t narrow it down enough… though maybe if the Shields go Mossy then Bartomus should load up on plant control spells and she should load up on fire spells… and if the Shields go Barren… probably a wide variety of damaging spells to be ready for anything since Aberrant Horrors are so wildly different from each other… although earth elementals tend to hate Air Spells like Lightning Bolt… and how would the Shields defend against Rock to Mud or similar spells… similarly to fighting the druidess, she supposes… Armalad goes through the list of demon and devil immunities and resistances again as she blathers on about what spells she might prepare after trancing…
Stohp is cautious about selecting places for her hooves to fall, well aware that a solid-looking layer of rock, especially obsidian, could be thin and shatter under her hoof mid-battle! Thankful for Zanderallen’s Delay Poison, Stohp wades in without fear, holding back Crawlers that might otherwise reach for Armalad or Bartomus, or any Shield unaware. Arrival at the ‘travel cave’ is welcome news for her – no sun, no moon, no stars, how do the dwarves live like this?
Bartomus, laying down to rest, reflected on the first day… half-day… in the Tunnels. The significance of the increasing stench of the Crawlers had escaped his notice so he was thankful for Dolgrin whispering the alarm! A spinning glaive, even with a Light orison, didn’t seem the best choice when Crawlers descended from above, likely from Crawler-wide holes in the ceiling beyond their sight, so he immediately shifted into earth elemental form, shifting his hands to stone and simply crushed a Crawler to death that had been half-fried by Armalad’s arrow-bolt! Soon the crawlers were down, and then he waited for the prestidigitation from Dolgrin so none of the Crawler slime would affect his flesh when he shifted back. Hmm… side benefit of being an earth elemental – no blood, no flesh, don’t care about Crawler paralysis slime! He was proud of his friends… his team – they all had done what was necessary with no more than a shout from Dolgrin, and truth be told, he thought he might have heard Delia’s bowstring loose before Dolgrin warned them, wherever Delia had been hiding! Drifting back to the present, Bartomus munched on some snacks. His Ioun Stone technically made it unnecessary, but after such a slimy battle he felt the need for some comfort food. After he finished and began drifting off to sleep he realized, suddenly, that when he’d shifted to elemental form his glaive had merged with his new form as usual… and his Light was no longer visible! The battle had been fought solely from Armalad’s arrow-light and the dimness beyond… and Zanderallen’s flaming sword of course!
Zanderallen trudged along, reflecting on how similar, and yet so different, the Tunnels were from the Float – no risk of sunburn… but no Turtle Lake… the air was not as fresh… what if they went so deep there was no air, and they all died, gasping for breath? (Shakes head to rid himself of the sudden doom-thought!). The travel was so monotonous… except when it wasn’t! As the whispered warning spread through the Shields at once Zanderallen was in command, moving to occupy space and deny Crawlers, as many as he could, access to the Shields’ spellcasters! Out of the corner of his eye he caught Dolgrin ‘falling’ into the stone – good, one less to worry about for the battle! His sword was chopping and burning this way and that, having instinctively summoned it from his new glove! Soon Crawlers lay scorched and split at his feet! Later, at the ‘travel cave,’ he is first to move up to help Dolgrin with uncovering their refuge. As everyone settles in for the Night Below, he asks Dolgrin and Stock how one tracks time down here – an internal clock, something else? He also asks about setting watches. When the discussion turns to which path to take, Zanderallen votes for the mossy path. As the Shields begin to rest, Zanderallen falls asleep to thoughts of how weird it was to have an empty stomach and yet not be hungry…
Delia was One With The Night Below, flitting from darkness to darkness for there were few shadows beyond the reach of Armalad’s light-arrow. Hawky occasionally flew, but, his vision restricted, he spent the bulk of the time perched on a Shield’s shoulder. The increasingly familiar stench put her on alert, and as she was armed with Darkvision she’d seen the threat when Dolgrin did and was moving to deliver a warning (not wanting her shout to echo down the Tunnels and announce their presence to even more Horrors!) when Dolgrin moved slightly and suddenly the Shields had adopted combat readiness! Good! The Crawlers may have had excellent ‘noses’ but they missed her and would pay for it! Volleys of arrows struck home again and again and by the time there was quiet… Crawler parts lay strewn across the tunnel, one arrow having gone in the back of a Crawler’s head and come out its slimy tentacled mouth and others looked like they’d asked for acupuncture! Later, in the ‘travel cave,’ regarding watches she informed the rest that her new purchase enabled her to sleep for only two hours per night.
Stock felt as relaxed in the Tunnels as Zanderallen did in the Float. During the battle, his raging muscles pounding, he grapples, lifts, and hurls a Crawler at Zanderallen, saying “catch” in a low voice designed not to echo, honed from decades of growing up in Mountainhome. Zanderallen caught the hint, formed blazing sword, and cut the final Crawler in half mid-air, posing as it fell to the ground in pieces. Too bad it didn’t explode after all that… Later, at the ‘travel cave,’ he is right there with Zanderallen and Dolgrin, a big reason the Shields were quickly ensconced in their refuge.
Before the Shields fall asleep, Dolgrin addresses Zanderallen’s questions, “The Tunnels… are timeless. Well, not really, but the only thing we can track is how often we sleep… and how long a lantern burns. Conveniently, one pint of oil lasts six hours. Also, if one knows precisely how long one’s Light cantrip or orison lasts, that’s another good measure. Now, I can’t say for certain, but I think Armalad’s Light cantrip lasts about two hours, plus or minus 10 or 20 minutes, and that’s a convenient amount of time to measure watches in without burning lantern fuel. Bartomus’s Light orison wasn’t synchronized with Armalad’s, but it seemed to last around three hours, plus or minus, again. That’s also a useful amount of time to set watches. Armalad is an elf, and probably doesn’t need as much sleep as the rest of us, so… Bartomus could cast Light before falling asleep and when his spell runs out then Armalad could cast hers three times more and when her third spell ends, everyone should be awake, have eaten, and be ready to go. In past dwarven expeditions we’d rely on lamps and six hours per pint of oil to count the watches. If your spellcasters would all prefer to wake up in the ‘morning’ then others can do the pint of oil trick, though I don’t know if you brought enough oil in your magic bags. Pick a strategy and stick to it. So long as no one tries to catnap in the middle of the ‘day’ then we count ‘days’ by number of sleeps since the expedition started. Today is day zero. Tomorrow ‘morning’ we’ve been traveling for ‘one sleep.’ The next ‘morning’ it’ll be ‘two sleeps’ and so on. I suggest adding a hash mark to a journal page marked ‘time log’ every time we ‘get ready in the morning’ for the ‘day’s travel.’
Finally – always have a plan ready before you reach the decision tree. I heard Zanderallen’s vote, but I suggest you all sleep on it and then while we’re getting ready here tomorrow, eating or not, choose the path unanimously and then when we’re at the Fork we’ll simply take the path you selected without stopping.”
With that, everyone gets as much rest as they need – perhaps the ‘travel cave’ is just off the beaten path, perhaps the group is merely fortunate, but though Delia and other light sleepers stand watch much of the night, nothing makes its presence known. Bartomus is able to make his morning meditations, adjusting his spells as he sees fit, as are the other spellcasters.
As the ‘morning’ finishes up, the Shields deeply consider the choice of which path to take.
Dolgrin waits patiently for the Shields to come to a decision.
[OOC – feel free to negotiate the choice in posts, or if the Shields are antsy for action, come to an agreement in email and then have a Shield announce the choice to Dolgrin in the next post. Next DM post is Saturday night, so you have a bit of time.
TIME - 1 Sleep.]
Armalad (Hugh) HP 134/134 AC 25 / Touch 19/ Flat 18 CMD 27 Friday March 8th, 2024 4:48:18 AM
Joker says, "I don't need to sleep and have darkvision also I can cast acid arrow once an hour so my suggestion is to not bother the casters unless we are under attack. I'll cast acid arrow and then when it comes back I know an hour has passed. Once I cast 8 acid arrows we will know it has been 8 hours. Is there somewhere I can use this acid without damaging something important?"
Armalad says, "After those encounters with the plant creatures I'm rather plant creatured out. Let's say we take the dry path as there is more variability as to what could be lurking there plus if we go the mossy path wouldn't the moss provide easier cover for ambushes? Just in case I'm keeping the spells ready to cast Greater Teleport. Worst case scenario perhaps we can figure a way to hole up somewhere and buy time for Joker and I to be ready and we aim for the surface outside of your mountain hold but not on the mountain itself like last time now that we've been here. I honestly hope we don't need it but it probably isn't a bad idea to have this in mind as a contingency in case everything goes sideways"
Stohp (Mitch) HP: 147/147AC: 27/15/23 CMD: 26 (+4 vs grapple,+6 disarm, trip) Friday March 8th, 2024 6:48:36 AM
As far as Stohp can tell there's no guarantee either path will lead where they need to go, so she has no real opinion on which they should take. Now that they're down here she's a bit worried they have no real way to narrow down the location of their goal at all and they might just end up wandering here accomplishing nothing. Hopefully they can find the previous expedition and they'll have more details.
Bartomus(Rod) HP: 144/144 AC 21; (150/150) Glv +16 2d8+2 Slng +14 CMD 11 Melee 12/7/2;Perc+16;Heal+11 Friday March 8th, 2024 10:01:47 AM
Bartomus woke and looked over at the moonrod that he had left near his kit. It gave him a bit of light that worked with regular vision. Yep, he thought to himself, still in the cave and will be for a long while.
He took a moment and then found a portion of the carved-out cave that served as a resting stop where he could undertake his morning meditations. He made note of the advice that Dolgrin had given about starting the light the party would need in coordination with Armalad. When he was done thoughts and guidance of healing, light, water, and spells that would be needed in the next marching session they were about to get underway.
When the others were packing up, he found himself staring at the two options they had.
"Moss means water and probably slick walls and such." Bartomus said and then thought a bit more. "Willing to go with Armalad's choice. Either way we are moving forward at least for now. As to using the acid, any chance you could use it to make a mark on the wall as to which way we are traveling?"
Delia (Hannah) HP: 124/124; AC 29/21/23; CMD 44 Friday March 8th, 2024 10:54:08 AM
Delia recasts Longstrider on herself just before they set out and Darkvision on herself whenever it ran out in the night. She spends her extra 6 hours of wakefulness filling out her rough map and repairing the arrows she used against the crawlers, relying on her ears more than her eyes to alert her to the things that go bump in the night here.
She thinks on their options as she feeds Hawky scraps of jerky, he has an ioun stone and doesn't need to eat, but once he started snapping at it she took the hint that he would not tolerate the empty belly feeling as well as the rest of them. "So, our options were barren with dwarf-driders and earthquakes, or glowing moss and undead and weird mind magic. Wandering undead and a call to join make me think ancient relic more than miscellaneous monsters. So I vote mossy path."
She pulls out a piece of writing charcoal and looks at Bartomus, "I could mark the walls, but I don't know if that could lead something else to us or the surface."
Zanderallen (Zachary H) 226/226 AC: 34 T: 15 FF: 33 CMD: 35 LoH 13/14 SE 6/6 Friday March 8th, 2024 5:25:02 PM
Zanderallen rests and rises feeling a little sore in the joints from sleeping in his plate armor. He summons his healing power and feels the aches drop away with a gentle warmth. Doing some quick exercises to shake the rest of the feeling he awaits the vote of the group, "Maybe we should be asking which way the expedition likely took. Would they risk their own twisted kin, or the mind magic of the undead? I feel scribes would feel better equipped to deal with undead and keep my vote on the mossy path." ================= Penalty for Sleeping in Heavy armor: Fatigued Lay on Hands used with Mercy (Fatigued) 13 out of 14 Lay on Hands remaining (marked on header)
The Fork (DM Wayne) Saturday March 9th, 2024 11:54:22 PM
Armalad offers her own solution to watches and timekeeping. She votes in favor of the barren path, and then details a ‘plan B.’ Armalad then sets about her watches.
Stohp observes neither path has a guarantee, only a hint that they, of thousands and thousands of tunnels, may hold the Crown… or just the next clue… She hopes that the previous expedition, or at least their remains and notes, can be found so the expedition is not a wild turtle hunt!
Bartomus woke to the reality of still being in a cave, who knows how far beneath the surface? Was a mountain above them, or just ground-level? He made his way to a suitable spot to meditate. Even these caves are part of Nature… Listening to the debate on which path to take, he too settled on the barren path.
Delia fills out her rough map before the thief known as Sleep steals away any memories – thankfully she’d done this kind of mapping before, though long ago, and had written the map legend first thing as to what symbols indicated vertical climbs and descents. Then she moves on to repairing arrows, those that weren’t too damaged by the Crawlers’ slime or saliva! Finally she gets in her 2 hours of rest and upon waking and meditating recasts her usual spells. She thought about the path choice while ‘feeding’ Hawky and then made her thoughts known – she voted for mossy path.
Zanderallen rose with the knowledge that he’d made a bad choice, and would be making it night after night for a long time. He sat up and laid hands on himself, dispelling the fatigue from poor sleep. Zanderallen reiterates that he thinks better clues from the expedition will be found on the mossy path.
Stock got up silently and readied himself for the day. He hadn’t spoken a word.
Dolgrin said, “Stock, your team so far has 2 votes for the mossy path, and 2 votes for the barren path. What say you?”
Stock seems deep in thought, then looks back and forth between the two camps of Shields. “Let’s get to the Fork so we can see some of each path for ourselves. I’ll know rightaway then, no delay. Let’s get moving.” And with that Stock quickly works to pull away the rocks from the entrance.
Dolgrin shrugs, and then helps Stock. Zanderallen shakes his head and then helps with the rocks too.
Soon the group is on their way. The tunnels definitely get wilder – in just the next two hours or so, the Shields break out the ropes of climbing for some vertical traverses multiple times, sometimes one right after the other! The group knows it was two hours because Armalad renewed her Light arrow just a few minutes ago.
Something new – small patches of bioluminescent mushrooms appear from time to time. A patch is no more illumination than a candle’s brightness, but it’s a welcome reminder that though it be strange, life still finds a way to go on, even deep in the Night Below…
Perhaps fifteen or twenty-five minutes later, Dolgrin notes in a low voice “We’ve made it to The Fork. It looks like our tunnel just widened to cavern-size, now some one hundred feet across with us in the center and a dividing wall ahead, but this is the split. Each smaller tunnel will, soon enough, start going its own direction. If the divider is ‘North’ then each tunnel turns to the ‘Northwest’ and ‘Northeast’ but shimmies like a snake. You can see from here that there’s some of those ‘Crawler ‘ambush tunnels’ up in the ceiling, just one foot by two feet – maybe there’s no Crawlers there but keep your nose sniffing!
We’ve been able to skip searching side tunnels thus far because we had to reach this point, but now comes the ‘weeks or months’ part of the expedition – every time there’s a side tunnel that dwarves or larger can fit through, then we have to check it out, map it in full, and then retrace our path back to the original path we chose, whether barren or mossy.
My knowledge is about to end. On either path I know enough from the Archives to cover perhaps the next two or three hours along the that path, but in my experience tunnels like these probably will take several days just to reach the end of that path, not counting exploring the side tunnels. We won’t know until we get going. Speaking of which…
Stock – do you vote mossy path and send us that way, or do you vote barren path and tie the vote? If you can’t decide then I have a gold piece here, ready to flip to decide the path so we don’t dilly-dally.”
(OOC – In anticipation of path exploration beginning, let’s get some Survival die rolls out of the way for how well the group maps and explores the seemingly uncountable number of side tunnels a dwarf could fit through!
I checked – Delia, in her Favored Terrain, is clearly the main roller.
Delia – please roll five (5) Survival checks and note all sums in an OOC line in your post. Everyone else – Aid Another action. IF you can Take 10 and get a 10 or higher, note ‘Aid Another – Take 10 = 15 (or whatever)’ in an OOC line. ELSE IF you’ve got a -1 or worse Survival bonus, then roll 1d20+Survival 5 times and report your totals in an OOC line.
This represents up to five (5) days of exploring and mapping, should the DM need to use that many – each path is of unknown length after all!
After you’ve all posted and we know where we’re going then Monday night’s DM post will send you on your way!
Elapsed Time - 1 sleep)
Armalad (Hugh) HP 134/134 AC 25 / Touch 19/ Flat 18 CMD 27 d20+22=35 ; d20+20=38 ; Monday March 11th, 2024 2:17:54 AM
(OOC: Aid Another + Take 10 - Armalad: 10, 10, 10, 10, 10) (OOC: Aid Another + Take 10 - Joker: 10,10,10,10,10)
Although Joker and Armalad only know the basics of Survival it is still enough to help Delia out where they can.
They also continue to keep an eye out for any threats.
Perception - Armalad - 35 Perception - Joker - 38
Stohp (Mitch) HP: 147/147AC: 27/15/23 CMD: 26 (+4 vs grapple,+6 disarm, trip) d20=15 ; d20+23=38 ; d20+23=42 ; d20+23=33 ; d20+23=31 ; Monday March 11th, 2024 9:35:51 AM
Stohp has a +0 so can take ten. From her position near the front of the party she can keep an eye out, or more likely an ear since she has no darkvision and can't see past the range of our lights. Perception for each day is 38, 38, 42, 33, 31.
Stock (JonM) HP: 265/265; AC: 31/28/17; Per: +27; Surv: +16; SM: +16 Monday March 11th, 2024 9:53:32 AM
Stock gestures to follow the mossy path. The dwarf in him is comfortable here…but he knows the dangers as well.
Take 10 on survival for 24
Zanderallen (Zachary H) 226/226 AC: 34 T: 15 FF: 33 CMD: 35 LoH 13/14 SE 6/6 Monday March 11th, 2024 2:07:24 PM
Zanderallen nods as Stock breaks the tie and sends them on their route. He follows along in the back, just on the edge of the light. He may be out of his element but he always had a knack for mapping back alleys in the Fence and uses that skill to aid in charting the tunnels. He offers his bullseye lantern if they ever need to look ahead as it dimly lights much further than dark vision (120ft) if the information is worth the risk. ====================== Survival with Take 10: 11 successful aid another
Bartomus(Rod) HP: 144/144 AC 21; (150/150) Glv +16 2d8+2 Slng +14 CMD 11 Melee 12/7/2;Perc+16;Heal+11 d20+16=28 ; d20+16=21 ; Monday March 11th, 2024 5:24:28 PM Survival, which Bart has an +11 and will take a 10+11 for a total of 21,21, 21, 21 and 21
Bartomus would utilize his light orison when the light went out from Armalad's arrow. He continued down the moss covered path with the others once Stock registered his choice and breaking the tie that had existed up to that point.
He tried to highlight things he caught sight of while also keeping a lookout for changes in the tunnel they were traversing.
Perception 28 and 21
Delia (Hannah) HP: 124/124; AC 29/21/23; CMD 44 d20+27=46 ; d20+27=36 ; d20+27=35 ; d20+27=43 ; d20+27=29 ; Monday March 11th, 2024 6:36:54 PM
While normally relatively quiet, the rest of the Shields see Delia shift into a state of intensity they haven't seen before as they look to her skills to keep them as safe as she can. She relaxes momentarily each evening while all of them are awake, but lapses but into heightened focused during the times she is the only one awake.
Hawky returns to his perch on her shoulder, falling into their normal scouting rhythms and practices.
=========== Anything aberration or undead bonuses apply to: +4
Hawky Take 10 succeeds on Aid Another for 14. Delia Survival Day 1: 46 Day 2: 36 Day 3: 35 Day 4: 43 Day 5: 29
The Fork (DM Wayne) Monday March 11th, 2024 10:31:42 PM
Stock raises his right hand, thumb upraised. Everyone holds their breath for a moment… and then Stock thumbs towards the mossy path! All nod in assent, and at once Delia is ahead, in the shadows, and the rest move into the two-abreast formation automatically. Stock’s mind ponders over how he feels so at ease in the Tunnels, with their rocky ‘home-ness,’ yet is also on high alert as if a monster lurked in every dark room, in his closet, and under his bed itself!
The group as a whole contributes to Delia’s efforts and watches out for ‘the forest’ while Delia investigates individual ‘trees’ to ensure both that her ‘relational map’ of the tunnels’ directions and distances is accurate, and that no one sets off a cave-in, falls into a two-hundred-foot-deep pit, or worse!
Armalad and Joker also watch out for more mobile dangers.
Stohp does likewise.
Zanderallen nodded when Stock thumbed towards the mossy path, taking his rear-guard position at the edge of Armalad’s light arrow, whether it glowed from Armalad’s spell or Bartomus’s! He began to mentally treat the side tunnels akin to the Float’s alleys, though what alley ever went straight up or straight down!?! Zanderallen reminded the group of his bullseye lantern’s range in case gaining intelligence was worth the trade-off in risk…
Bartomus traded off with Armalad on keeping the arrow lit. He too assumed his formation position once the path was declared. While not a caving professional like Delia or Stock, he was no slouch, and when he saw distinctive landmarks he pointed them out, to aid in Delia’s mapping.
Delia was already in the Night Ahead as the group behind her resumed their formation. She was silently thankful for her connection with nature enabling her to see in the dark like a dwarf and to swiftly traverse rocky floors and walls as though she were Stock running the city streets! In the dark, Delia felt more comfortable openly assuming an aspect of herself that she did not often display: the animal. She moved through the Tunnels like a tiger in the jungle, or a lion in the veldt, starlight shining down from clear skies illuminating their prey… And if she could do this… could the Drow be rangers? Could there be one Drow ranger who could equal or best her, spotting her in the dark from outside her vision range? She mentally throttled down the what ifs that tried to break her focus, and continued on – she had to be the best – everyone was depending on her!
Dolgrin spoke little, but deftly guided the Shields to map the first three side tunnels, and then shook his head, speaking in a whisper, “That’s it. It’s everyone’s job to map and guide now, following Delia and Stock’s leads. I’ll speak only as necessary, for ambushes, or anything I think is a key landmark to map.” Dolgrin continued to make notes in his own journal, and when Delia would stop in from time to time they’d compare notes, silently writing in each other’s journal necessary annotations, and quickly and silently checking with the rest for anything they’d spotted. The two journals, detailing tunnels’ twists and turns in any of six or more directions, started to become incomprehensible to the untrained eye – Delia and Dolgrin were trained, Stock was taught for decades as a child and an adult, the linguistics training of Armalad and Stohp enabled them to keep up, and Bartomus and Zanderallen each think they follow the increasingly complex map legend from knowledge of nature or of the Float’s back alleys, but it is clear to the Taur and human that the journals will make a great contribution to the Clan’s Royal Archives… but will need some translation aids for those without the necessary background!
The first day of mapping was a breeze – relatively few side tunnels, occasional small patches of bioluminescent mushrooms, and lots of the strange moss that didn’t seem to need sunlight to grow… was it using the mushrooms’ light for sustenance? No, there’s not enough mushroom light! Hmm…. The path got rougher, however, and the group guessed they’d advanced perhaps one mile of zig-zag tunnel. At least the side tunnels this first day tended not to shrink to below-dwarf-size until their endpoint. Had they maybe walked another two miles just following side tunnels and coming back out? How long had it taken to make all the journal notes and ensure they weren’t checking the same side tunnel twice? A grudging respect for cave-mapping expeditions began to grow upon the those Shields unfamiliar with the process…
The second day was mind-numbing – the group had advanced only one half of a mile because of the high number of Tunnels! Delia and Dolgrin talked about lava flows and leaks at the bottom of mountain lakes fed by snowmelt and… blah blah blah it’s taking so long! Can’t we just map the next one? Karkasan might own the Float by now! Delia and Dolgrin’s journals began to have pages that referenced other pages for ahead-back and left-right tunnels, and yet more pages for up-down tunnels… Dear Domi, can anyone read what they’re writing??? It was then that everyone pitching in paid off – Delia and Dolgrin were puzzling over how best to note a complex five-directional nexus when Joker said, “Hey… I thought I counted six tunnels there – do you have the ceiling one?” Candles went on behind Delia and Dolgrin’s eyes and they quickly came to an agreement on marking a six-directional nexus with both up and down tunnels. Delia was lost in focus, but Dolgrin muttered, “Thanks!” in a low voice.
The third day was like the second, but the group made three-quarters of a mile of progress. This time it was Zanderallen who gave Delia and Dolgrin a mapping idea based on his experience with switchback alleys on the Float – one of the side tunnels had an unusual configuration of switchbacks and three- or four- tunnel intersections and thus the tunnel map legend got a new symbol. For doing ‘nothing’ but walking and observing, this cave-mapping was mentally and physically exhausting in a way that most of the Shields had never experienced – when the yawns started, everyone was relieved! As she had done the other nights, Delia found two or three ‘rest cave’ candidates, ones that dead-ended quickly, preferably around a curve, with no exit caves! The bedrolls made sleeping on rocky floors just bearable, but Zanderallen, for one, was very happy he was dispelling his fatigue each morning!
As the group made preparations for their watches, Dolgrin quipped, “Well, you’re all doing better than I hoped for on this mapping thing. After you make sure the Float’s safe, you’re all welcome to come back and hire on for future mapping expeditions!”
(OOC – a brief respite for the Shields – a chance to muse aloud, talk to Dolgrin if you want, change spells, etc. but otherwise next DM post will move through more mapping days.
Delia two (2) more Survival rolls please. (Everyone else is fine – I know all of you can auto-assist.)
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