Magnu123 |
After breathing a sigh of relief, the group move to the bodies. Teriwynth notes the lines of temporal magic floating above the body of the cheetah and Edelle and Casvian come up closer to where the man beast fell, but they cannot find it. Searching even for tracks reveals nothing. The body appears to have vanished mysteriously. It is too dark now to see, but Casvian looks out into the night. "Where did you go?" He mumbles to himself.
Teriwyth |
...so...bump?
Sorry, Is there anything more I can gather from the temporal aura around the bodies themselves or just that these have them as well as the ones from before.
Teriwyth sits in quiet contemplation, favoring his left side he limps over and examines the corpses of other, similar animals before finally examining the big guy.
Knowledge Nature, examining the bodies to see if they are truly animals or perhaps magical constructs of some kind. 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (19) + 5 = 24
Magnu123 |
Teriwynth finds very similar auras permeating all of the cats. The largest cat from the rooftop has since reduced in size and evident ferocity, but a lingering aura shows you that there were a number of other spells in effect upon it. Mostly these spells were transmutations of the other subschools. Likely just some buffs for combat, he thinks.
Edelle leads an advancement into the darkness, with her lit stone held aloft to guide them. The darkness is now quite nearly complete in the night. The stars shine down upon you, but provide little practical light. They seem cold and distant, like crystals of ice forming on a great dark veil.
perception checks to go into the caves and any other actions if you want to do anything else.
Magnu123 |
Edelle pauses at the lip of a natual causeway. Casvian confirms from the tracks that this is where the animals came from. He also notes a mixture of other animals that have recently passed through this narrow. Cloven hooves, shod horses, and several canine tracks are noted, but obvious in their absence are humanoid footprints. The rest of the group catches up at this point before heading further into the cave.
Magnu123 |
There is no magical presence as you advance through the cavern. As you travel through, you come to an enclosed grotto. You hear the braying of startled horses as you come out. The creatures circle around toward the back of the grotto and stand opposite you, as though looking to challenge you from moving further.
Teriwyth |
There is no magical presence as you advance through the cavern. As you travel through, you come to an enclosed grotto. You hear the braying of startled horses as you come out. The creatures circle around toward the back of the grotto and stand opposite you, as though looking to challenge you from moving further.
"So is anyone good with animals?"
Unless we drop into combat I guess I'm just gonna keep my detect magic up, taking a break every couple minutes to rest and rub my eyes
Magnu123 |
Casvian can tell that these animals have been trained to guard this area. He is frankly quite impressed, knowing that horses frighten easily by their nature and it would require a skilled trainer to teach them to fight independently. Casvian then approaches the beasts, making himself seem as large as possible and begins slapping his sides with his hands and making a yipping noise, which disperses the horses.
Magnu123 |
You move across the open area and back into the darkness. The roof overhead is overgrown with withered vines. The further you move into this cave, the more litter covers the floor. Bones and bits of fur and feather, rotting chunks of plant, and a brown-black goop that is too far gone to tell. The area however is veiled with a sickly sweet smell that seems unnatural. Like someone has sprayed potent perfumes into an outhouse to mask the true nature of the smell.
You come around a bend and the piles of refuse grow here, making it difficult to walk through. The trash is almost knee deep in places, and you can see the bubbling of the heap as rats, mice and other vermin trample through it. On the far side of this pile is a light source coming from a larger room with a high roof. You can hear vaguely humanoid noised coming from that room, but the sound of the rats makes it hard to hear. As you begun to trudge through the pile, the rats begin to run across your bodies. They gradually get more aggressive as you continue until finally Alric gets fed up and crushes one against his fist. The resulting squeal causes the rest of the rats to start biting and digging in with their claws.
Initiative, fortitude saves, and actions, map will be up soon.
Teriwyth |
Initiative: 1d20 ⇒ 9
Fortitude: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (10) + 4 = 14
Teriwyth lets out a groan of frustration and inhales a sharp breath before beginning to recite the tale of the ratcatcher.
Time for the Pied Piper, Facinate DC 12 Willsave
Edelle Flexhorn |
mmmm google docs map goodness :) I think for movement we should write into the map where we believe we end up, it'll let everyone understand what we are trying to do better
Initiative: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (7) + 9 = 16
Fort: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (11) + 6 = 17
Knowing she can't effectively fight such creatures Edelle moves quickly out of the trash and on towards the light. She reaches F20
Magnu123 |
Round 1
17-Rats
17-Casvian
16-Edelle
10-Alric
9-Teriwynth
The rats claw, bite, and scratch at each of you, their dirty claws stinging even after the initial injury 4 damage each
Casvian searches his memory for any useful information. He recalls clearing out a bee hive using fire and smoke. His mentor told him that swarms disperse easily when they are attacked en masse. He also recalls that rats are filthy creatures that carry disease.
Edelle and Alric move out of the swarm, picking rats off of them as they go.
Teriwynth attempts to distract the rats with the power of his voice, and to his surprise, it works. The rats quell and after a moment, the biting stops and they sit docile, looking at you and sniffing the air.
In the larger chamber that Alric and Edelle have approached, they can see the top of what looks like a gigantic rose bud. The sounds of chanting has stopped, and before you stands Kronos, looking bemused. He appears different now. More energetic, perhaps younger as well. His eyes do not have the same ebony gloss as you are used to seeing.
Teriwyth |
Teriwyth continues his tale ...four rats already hung from the nails securing the collar, and Godrun the Pieman would pay a copper for each pair... The tone of the tale changes abrubtly, whilst still being told in an epic way Teriwyth says "And while his skill was great he could not enthrall all of the rats and it did them best to make their way from such a place that put the Ratcatcher ill at ease... From there he continues with the tale.
Maintaining the story as a free Teriwyth is going to move into the room, continuing to belt such epic verses all the while using gestures to motion his companions further into the cavern where they aren't swimming in a sea of rats.
Kronos, |
There is a pause before he speaks. Alric's initial suspicion is put at ease by this pause, something about him seems more trustworthy.
"Indeed. I did not think you would arrive here before morning light. It is no matter, however. Come in and stand over here, I will show you something important"
He gestures toward a clear area of the cavern.
Edelle Flexhorn |
Where did he gesture to?
Ignoring where Kronos pointed to, Edelle walks 15' further straight towards him, saying:
"Cheap theatrics aren't going to impress us, we aren't children. As my master always said: If you want someone to learn you need to tell them 3 times. First explain what your going to tell them, then tell them and lastly remind them of what you just told them."
Kronos, |
He gestured generally to his right, G or H 17, or 18 ish.
"You speak about how you are not a child, yet you cling to the teachings of your master. You must develop you own ideas. No one will defend you when it comes to the end. The only teachings of value are those you learn from your own experience. Now come over here and I shall teach you a real lesson. "
Teriwyth |
Others?
Are we still in rounds?
Teriwyth continues his tale, serenading the rats until the point where he can inch his way past and out of the rodent infested trash heap. Walking past he comes upon the situation at hand. Composing himself, brushing off the lingering bits of refuse and straighting his tunic Teriwyth extends a courteous nod towards the man before glancing over his companions.
Detect Magic, first inspecting his companions for anything standing out, lingering bits of temporal magic perhaps and then finally the fellow.
Magnu123 |
We are still in rounds, yes. Please pick squares to go into. Kronos is still pointing for you to gather around G/H 17/18.
Teriwynth continues to distract the rats and he and Casvian make their way into the main chamber. They are confronted by Kronos and they see the large flower across from them the size of an elephant. Kronos smiles with half a mouth as these two enter the room. The three boys note that Edelle is upset with Kronos, but they can't tell why. A reasonable assumption would be that she is defensive about her master, and is just in disagreement with his strange philosophy.
The rat swarm no longer senses a threat in their territory, and so they disperse. Teriwynth begins to cast his spell on his turn. In front of him, he notes some powerful magic auras (turn 1).
Kronos, |
Kronos relents in the debate to respond to your question "When one reaches a certain level of understanding about the nature of the world, the limitations of the body become only a matter of perception."
Edelle remembers these words, or something similar, from her master as well. There is an eerie similarity.