"It may solve two. The children may well have been carried in by the other creatures that left tracks.
If the creature that moved that plate by itself is here. Do we pursue now or tomorrow when we are at our full strength?"
”The younglings are probably dead by now, but if we wait till tomorrow the chance becomes all the greater. We should press on now.”
Thurvek stands proud. "I still have plenty of fight and healing arts within me this day! We shall either find the children safe or give their souls the vengeance they deserve!"
Ari nods in agreement with the dwarves. "Agreed. We should press forward. If there's even the slightest chance the children are still alive, we have to look today."
"Let's go, then. And keep a wary eye out."
Marcus didn't need to rest, he carries on forwards though the opening.
Aldon nods and files in staying towards the rear middle of the party.
[dice=Knowledge]d20+10
Ari glances over at the statuette Hakon pointed at. She studies it for a moment to see if it looks familiar.
Then she looks back at the far end of the chamber and says, "There's a rough opening that carries on. If there's nothing else in this chamber, we should keep moving."
Ariyana believes the statuette detailed enough to have been made by someone who knew what dragons looked like from experience. It's too small to say for sure, but she also thinks it might have been modeled on a particular individual. It doesn't look very much like a copper dragon to her, though.
The company pressed on, across the square chamber and into a larve cave. Rotting wooden pillars stretched out above. Puddles of foul water covered the floor. Small stalactites hung from the ceiling, fifteen feet above. The only movement came from scurrying beetles.
"I don't like the look of those support beams", grunted Thurvek.
Bolkvar looked over at them. "Let me see if this place is safe enough for us..."
Ari figuratively scratches her head at the statuette. Who or what made it, who could say? Perhaps the answer lay further inside the mine.
Keeping her dancing lights in front of the group, Ari pressed forward with the others. She had to hope they hadn't missed enemies lurking in the dark.
Aldon concentrates to gain Psionic Focus.
Concentration
With his focus expanded he peers around the room.
Perception
Entering the room, Ranek also nervously considers the support beams. He doesn't know much about mines, but he hopes they're stable.
Bolkvar thinks that the support beams are mostly sound, but all the moisture here doesn't encourage him and some have clearly seen much better days. Probably enough remain to keep the ceiling up, but a battle here would be a bad idea. Especially with slaying spells.
Ariyana swept her dancing lights about, showing supports reaching off to either direction and far ahead. They came to a end at irregular intervals, matching walls that bore the marks of many picks. In the north there seemed to be something before a passage leading further in, but the state of her lights and the distance made it impossible for her to tell more than that it looked a bit like a small pile of rocks set just in the way.
"Well, this place is pleasant. Lets not spend any more time down here than we have to." Whispered Barra, striding forwards.
”Aye. Careful up north. Nay tellin’ what it might be. I’ll go check it out. Everyone follow behind, but nay too close. I wouldnae put it behind these fookers to trap the place. Especially with this ceilin’.”
Hakon follows with a nod. Bolkvar, my eyes can see what many cannot. Let me assist what I can.
"There's something ahead, but I can't make out what it is exactly. It sort of looks like a small pile of rocks set in the way. Be on your guard lest something take us by surprise."
Ari draws her bow string as her companions approach the rocks. She positions herself so she has a clear line of sight should something jump out to attack.
The company pressed forward. At the chamber's end, they found that the odd stones were a pile of three severed heads. Beetles crawled over them until the adventurers drew near, at which point the dispersed and the heads all began to scream as one. The din echoed through the cavern.
Ari nearly loosed an arrow at the terrible screeching that came from the heads.
What madness or witchery caused those things to scream?
"With an alarm like that, our enemies are surely further within. We should move swiftly. If they have the children, they might try to use them against us if we don't hurry."
Casting a spell to detect magic auras, Ranek studies the screaming heads.
"Indeed. I suspect this to be some sort of foul necromancy. There are much graver issues facing the town than we may have suspected."
Bolkvar motions to Thurvek. ”Shut ‘em up.”
Thurvek steps forward, holy symbol in hand.
"By the Lord of the Twin Axes, shut yer traps!"
Ariyana and Ranek believe that some form of necromancy has been worked upon the heads, though they don't seem conventionally animate. Disrupting the spell would probably silence them.
Thurvek channels his god and the screams die in an instant.
Hakon grabs his sword and readies his shield. This is not good. Whatever chance at surprise we had, is gone.
"Indeed though we may still be able to lay a trap for whatever decides to come and investigate".
"Indeed though we may still be able to lay a trap for whatever decides to come and investigate".
”Well then. One way in, with a party waitin’ for us. Would be rude to keep ‘em waitin.”
"Indeed. Let's move."
Ari lets most of the others head in before her, but is careful to keep her dancing lights active and in front of the party lest something take them by surprise from the shadows.
With a low growl, Thurvek handles his battleaxe and takes rear guard.
Aldon shrugs and moves forward with the party retaining his place i the middle rear.
Marcus prayed, "May Lord Torm light the way." and his armor started to glow softly. He observed, "No use pretending we're not here after that racket..."
Moving to the fore, Marcus tried to keep alert to follow the tracks and keep alert for any surprises however his eyes where having a hard time adjusting to the manifold shadows in this subterranean environment.
Hakon grimly readies himself and takes position towards the front. He nods to Bolkvar and Marcus and presses forward.
The company had to walk only a few moments before the tunnel's support timbers passed by and they could see that it both continued onward and branched out to east and west. The air near to the side passages felt damper than that of the main tunnel.
Ari examines the pathway underneath her dancing lights to see if she can ascertain the best path for the group.
"Whether we go east or west, we should go together. We still don't know exactly what we'll be facing."
From the back, Thurvek grunts in agreement.
"Agreed. Splitting up means courting disaster, I'm sure," Ranek says from the middle of the group, as he attempts to listen for sounds coming from any of the passages.
Noticing Ariyana bending down to study the tracks, Marcus does what he can to help,"Aye we should all follow the tracks, look they seem to go this way?
While the others search the ground for tracks, Barra uses his elven (well, half-elven) eyes to peer down the flanking corridors in hopes of seeing the glint of light on water.
The tracks continued forward. To the east the distant sound of flowing water reached out to greet them. To the west, Barra caught the glint of light on something wet.
"The tracks continue forward. We can check out the diverging paths later. We should continue straight."
While Ari is set on her path, she waits for the others' acquiescence, knowing it is best for someone else to take the lead.
”Aye then.” Bolkvar strides forward.
"Very well. Let's watch our backs, though. Something could come from behind to cut us off."
"Sounds about right. Oh, this is fun." Barra steps forwards as well.
"The tracks continue forward. We can check out the diverging paths later. We should continue straight."
While Ari is set on her path, she waits for the others' acquiescence, knowing it is best for someone else to take the lead.
On closer inspection, Ari realizes that the tracks actually go all three ways.
"Uh... guys, we have a problem. The tracks don't just continue forward. They go all three ways. Since they do, I think we should be thorough and check out all three paths. Left to right sound good?"
"Left to right. A very straight-forward sweep. Let's go."