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You are two days north of Highhelm, deep in the Five Kings Mountains, where you are seeking a hidden cavern spoken of in an ancient journal that your group recently came across. It was difficult to decipher, given its age, and you were only able to achieve a partial translation; something about an entrance in this region and a "magical prison."
As you climb the mountain, rocks and debris slow your ascent. Numerous tracks of different creatures ascend the hillside. The climb levels off as you get closer to the cave mouth. You see a man the size of a galleon lying on the ground at the cave opening. As you get closer, you can see that death has taken him. Despite his obviously decomposed state, he does not exude the odor of decay. A gargantuan halberd lays beside him and he wears a chain shirt over his chemise.
There are no obvious wounds or signs of a struggle. Who was he, and how did he die?
as an attempt to figure out how he died.
I'm also searching his body taking 10
Seeing the archer move directly to searching the body, Agromite goes to the other side of the behemoth and does the same.
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Agromite, you find that the giant wears a belt pouch that is nearly twice as large as you are! With some effort, you manage to open the buckle and a sheaf of giant papers spill out, threatening to bury you! The papers are covered in scribbles in an unknown language.
Glade Wolf, you find that his pockets are full of the same. You are unable to discern what killed him.
Well, if we can't read the writing, we should take the note with us, and maybe someone else can.
Nevermind, if we can't read it, we leave it here in the room, it is too heavy.
Shae continues to slog up the path with his head down. When he reaches the cave, he looks up. With a loud exhale, he lets his heavy pack fall to the ground with a thud. He then uses it as a stool to sit for a moment.
"Finally. I thought we'd never get here. I was beginning to second guess my decision to bring so much equipment, but I didn't want us to get all the way up here in the middle of nowhere and not have something we needed," he says to anyone who will listen.
After a few moments of rest, he gets up and walks towards the fallen body. "Now what have we here? A guard maybe? But was he keeping things from entering or exiting?"
Cast Guidance on self
"Ahh, I can tell great times await us; never before has a dwarf complained about climbing a mountain," Grumthar chuckles as Shae sighs relief and sits down.
"Nevertheless friends, we should be cautious. Something brought down this giant."
Grumthar will take a look at the papers in case he recognizes the language.
Following that up, Grumthar will curiously check around the area for anything else of interest.
Shae furls his brow at the half-orc as he prepares to pick his pack back up. "You will all thank me later that I came prepared, not like we were going for a walk in the park. Now that I've done all the hard work getting this stuff up here, anyone else want to give me a hand?
He hands Grumthar the crowbar. "Thanks, every little bit helps."
"Well, it looks like we have seen all that there is to see out here. Unless there is something I missed, we might as well go into the cave. Everyone ready?" Before entering, Shae stops and says a quick prayer to Bolka.
Grumthar takes the crowbar with ambivalence and stuffs it in his pack, and responds, "Hah, I've been caving all my life and haven't needed one. Maybe this cave is more than it seems though judging by our friend on the ground." After a moment of reflection, he adds, "I am sure you will prove to be right master Oakenshield. We will likely need every tool we can spare."
"I am always ready for a new cave." Noticeably giddy and humming a tune of festivity, Grumthar moves toward the cave entrance casually peering inside.
Finally, these last few weeks always above ground have been like torture.
Einar following after Grumthar, looks at the giant, then at the pile of papers covering the gnome, laughing a little he then says to Shae Oakenshield
"ven you are done sitting on the pack Liliputaner, I vill carry it for you, Ja?"
looking at the group and then the cave he asks
"Shall ve go into the Höhle, Freunde's?"
when Shae gets up Einar will tie his bag to the pack and put it on, following whoever has a light into the cave.
Glade will be in the back.
"Well, I will see just fine in the dark, but what is the plan to make light for the hum-ies? I can make these little lights like a torch or even a rough looking Grumthar shaped light. Both will only last for a short time, but I can send them forward to scout and summon them as many times as needed."
Grumthar casts Dancing Lights twice, showing off both the 4 lantern and humanoid options, and sends them off into the cave about 50 ft (if they can go that far).
Agromite's face breaks into a big smile as he discovers something, only to quickly change once he realized how worthless it is.
"Well, THAT was disappointing, wasn't it?" He looks to the cave entrance. "Let's hope things start getting more interesting inside?"
With a mischievous smirk the gnome reaches into one of his many pouches and pulls out a dull grey stone. With a casual flick of his wrist he sends it into the air but instead of falling it begins to spin through the air, orbiting around his head and emitting a dull glow. "Shall we?"
Helping the Dwarf will make the team feel at ease, and if we get separated or something goes wrong I will have all the survival gear, this is a win-win
Einar shifts the backpack on his shoulders, ready to go into the cave, looks curiously at the gnome,
” Freunde I know not vat could be more interesting zan a gigant dead for no offensichtlich reason, but if you are willing to lead into zee dunkle Höhle, Einar vill follow you, ja?”
Einar will follow along behind Agromite, club in hand.
"It may be good to at least grab one page of the journal", Grumthar mentions as he moves over and folds up a random page. "We may one day be able to decipher it and if not it could make good tinder."
Grumthar then falls in line at the back just in front of Glade Wolf.
Glade travels along Light spells, you guys rock
Agromite glances back as the party forms up for travel. "Normally I use this ioun torch for working locks and things. Once we're ready to go inside I'll let one of you sword-swinging types take it so I can scout ahead unnoticed."
Maybe its the light of the torch, but you can almost see a reddish glint in his eyes as he grins widely again.
I'll be up front, may as well use the ioun stone
Einar puts his hand out to the gnome,
"I vill carry your doodad, vor uou if you vish, Ja?"
may as well get started, no point standing here
Einar then point to the cave, hefting the pack and begins to move forward, saying
Ve may as well get undervay,
he walks into the cave looking around as he goes stopping in the cave and kneeling looks at the small tracks and then at the debris in the corners.
I wonder what kind of footprints these are
after looking around he points to the cave and says to Agromite
" do you vant to go in die Höhle? Or do you vant to stay mit der gruppe?
"Hrrmmph. Even more curious, the titanic man didn't come from in here. Lots of trash and cramped? I wonder if a pack of gobbos could have brought such a thing down?"
to id the exact kinds of footprints and such.
to see if there are any secrets before I get to the back of the cave that gets to the tunnel.
Gods, these tall folk talk funny!
Agromite gladly hands the stone over to Einar, giving him a quick lesson on how to snag it and reactivate it. Then he draws his shortsword, puts a finger to his lips in an exaggerated call for quiet before stalking toward the narrow tunnel entrance.
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The footprints are those of a variety of creatures. The tunnel winds into the mountain, its ceiling some 6 ft. high and 5 ft. wide at the widest. After about 100 ft. or so, the tunnel opens into a larger room, cut from stone and built, rather than dug. It is obvious something lives here.
You exit the dark and, yes, dank, narrow passageway onto a worked stone floor. Looking about, you see that you have entered a large square chamber hewn completely from stone. You notice two iron doors, one to your side and the other in front of you. Otherwise, there are no features of interest in the stone.
Two large iron doors? Curious, why would someone do that at the back of a ratty cave?
"This cave is more than it would seem. We may have stumbled onto some sort of stronghold, or perhaps this prison we've heard about. Though, the rumors said it was a magical prison. Hrmpf, doesn't seem much magical about iron doors," Gurmthar says with a gruff smile.
"Lets see what may be unseen," Grumthar commands. With a quick wave of the hand he casts , concentrating specifically on the two doors but also peering around the room for any magical auras.
Grumthar will let the group know of any auras before suggesting that Agromite check the two doors out.
better to make an informed decision I guess
Einar stands patiently, twirling his club, waiting for the sorcerer and thief to determine what Iron door they will open first.
"Ja, mein Freund, patience is gut, ve vill vait for mehr Informationen"
"Well, no reason to believe either is a better choice. Agromite, take us through the left door."
Shae prepares to enter the door with his shield and battleaxe ready. "Well, this is what we came here for. Let's go."
I am going to get old just waiting here, if the thief is nervous, I am not
Einar, wearing Agromite ioun stone for light, tired of waiting and watching, the prompting from Shae enough to convince him, walks up to the left iron door holding his club in hand, opens the cold iron door and it looks in
Glade goes through as well, following behind everyone.
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As you push the door, the edge disappears into a blackness that lies just beyond. You allow the door to open completely and watch as more and more of it is swallowed up in the barrier until only it's hinges are visible. Peering cautiously into the darkness for signs of movement, you see nothing. Even your ears can detect only the breathing of your fellow adventurers. The dark space reveals nothing of what lies beyond.
Einar looks curiously into the room then back to the group, then back into the room, he steps away from the door and scratches his head
well that just wrong
”vell, that is most curious, ve shall see if za verdammt light vork behind die rechte Tür, Ja?”
He goes to the door on the right side opening it and sees if the light shines in there.
really the light doesn't work at all
Einar mumbles under his breath and walking back to the left door slowly steps into the doorway, carefully placing his foot on the floor, then stepping into the room keeping his left had on the wall and his club in his right hand, he slowly walks along the wall, about four paces.
"I vill go into za verdammt room and zee if I can find another door vay, Ja"
Grumthar growls, "This does not bode well friends. Let's try one more thing before stepping through."
Grumthar sticks his mace into the darkness up to the hilt and then attempts to remove it.
Grumthar growls, "This does not bode well friends. Let's try one more thing before stepping through."
Grumthar sticks his mace into the darkness up to the hilt and then attempts to remove it.
Seeing Einar blindly step into the dark room alone, Grumthar follows.
"Good luck," Shae says as he carefully watches Einar step into the doorway. "Can you still hear me?" he yells after Einar disappears.