He then sleeps the sleep of the just.
Unless something interesting happens, Dyrant leaves to go get sleep.
There is much to do tomorrow...and this collar is chaffing me. Now I know how Cog feels.
Once back on the streets, Dyrant will remove the collar.
"That was worse than the trip to the Monkey Inn...but I survived," Dyrant mutters under breath as he walks home...alone.
After conferring with the Doctor, Atol gets a few hours sleep before rising the next day eager to be on the trail.
That water level isn't going down on its own. We'd better get those wands back today!
Eating a hearty breakfast, he waits for the others to gather in the morning.
In the morning, Dr. Toffitt will get up and prepare his daily complement of alchemical elixirs.
On his way to the group's house, he drops in on Carts. "How did last night go? I regret that I couldn't tarry and celebrate with you after your shift. Things are afoot with the wands. If everything goes well, I hope to be back this evening. Shall I drop by?"
At the House of the Five, Toffitt offers his greetings to his comrades. "I feel confident that my contact's information is honest. Time will tell whether it's true. I suggest we depart this afternoon, after we've taken a bit of time to equip ourselves. Finneas, here are two shielding elixirs."
If he has time, Dr. Toffitt will brew five flasks of his swimming elixir .
After breakfast, Dyrant needs only swing by Skie's to pick up his Pearl before being ready to go.
Dyrant will give Cog the Blessing of St. Cuthbert.
Cog needs it most if he was there when Glim took Skie home last night. Not sure how that night ended...
Finneas carefully dons his gear and checks it several times.
"I'm ready to set out when the rest of the Cauldron Five are. We need to find these wands as quickly as possible. Are we forgetting anything?"
Dyrant stops for his pearl--possibly catching Glimmil on his way out of Skie's still in his party clothes. Toffitt brews a few potions. Atol eats and then unpacks and repacks his Glimmil-sized backpack. Finneas shines up his armor and takes off the last bits of costume stuck to it.
The party eventually exits the northeast gate of the city and wanders down the road. There are numerous game trails and foot paths off the main road, but a few hundred yards down the road you find the one you're looking for. You follow it a few hundred yards and see a lava tube cave ahead. The cave is 6' in diameter. No one is seen about.
"Are you sure this is it, Doctor?" Dyrant looks around skeptically. "I'm not one to doubt your sources, but is it possible that you got sold an old treasure map? Or tricked by a Stormblade lackey?"
Dyrant looks around for tracks.
Survival
"Maybe we should watch the hole for a bit to see if people are coming in and out?"
Dyrant finds lots of boot tracks. Some were made within the last day and others much older. Nothing new since this morning's rain.
"He believed the information to be accurate."
Toffitt gets ready to imbibe his curative draught. "Let's go in and make sure he's right."
Boot prints, good. Maybe the Doctor didn't get swindled. We'll see.
"Hrmph," Dyrant says as he examines the footprints leading to the cave.
"Atol, eat now. We may not get a good chance for a while. Glim, uh..." Dyrant looks at the gnome who hasn't stopped smiling all day. "Uhm, Glim..." Dyrant's voice wilts in face of the smile on Glim's face. "Ah nothing. Try to stay focused."
Good for him. He should enjoy this moment.
Dyrant casts Mage Armor before entering.
Finneas stares into the darkness.
"Since I'm slower and can see in the dark, I should go first this time? Please?"
"By all means, Lord Nabthatoron."
Glimmil scratches his head and tries to sort out the events of last night while he observes the cave's entrance.
[i}Praise be Garl that I didn't accidentally say Ellywinkle last night by mistake![/i]
Glimmil wonders what Skie is doing at this particular moment but his focus is promptly restored when Cog begins panting loudly at his side and Dyrant's urging.
"Perhaps we should watch it for a while? Obviously the worst plan would be a frontal charge directly into a cave."
Yeah, a frontal charge into a cave. Garl knows what might be waiting inside. Sure, the entrance area might only have like four or five guards, but surely it could accidentally alert half an army of defenders within if we charged in.
Glimmil reaches to tug on his imaginary mustache in contemplation.
"Have you a means for walking through the cave's walls? Certainly we could wait, but we then risk having her men call the alarm and close of passage if we are seen."
Atol stops chewing on a piece of licorice to takes out his cudgel, and prepares to follow Finneas into the darkness.
"Should I cast light on Cog like I always do when it gets dark?" chew "Or should I wait?"
"We're not going to sneak up on them Atol, might as well make sure everybody can see where they're going. Remember to hit them with your club and not the licorice."
Dr. Toffitt makes a mental note. Must learn to add properties to licorice that cause it to give Atol darkvision.
Dyrant casts Mage Armor from a scroll and is ready to go down.
"After you, Finn," Dyrant says, obviously eager to find those wands.
Finneas nods at the group and then heads down, sword drawn.
The lava tube is consistently 6' in diameter. After the first curve there are a smattering of lit torch sconces and continual light spells. The lava tube continues on for several hundred yards before it opens up to a cavern. The air is warm, humid, stale, and nasty smelling.
The lava tube suddenly ends at a small ledge overlooking a vast cavern. A small pile of wooden planks is stacked on the edge of the ledge. Nearly a hundred feet below, the waters of a lake filled with dimly glowing green algae lap against cave walls encrusted with pallid fungi. A small stone building is built into the side of the ledge wall, and a pair of heavy ropes descends from a winch on the building's side, dangling across the lake to a similar winch attached to a wooden structure on the lake's far shore. Suspended on these ropes is a rickety wood-and-iron cage mounted on a system of pulleys. The lake's phosphorescence just barely illuminates the vast cavern, and you can see what appear to be the partially melted ruins of several buildings protruding from a sparkling wall of volcanic rock along the far wall of the cave. Several of these buildings have small doorways at ground level, but you see no windows in the ominous dark facades. The air here is thick, warm, and excessively humid.
Atol looks the cave over.
"Wow."
He pauses for a moment trying to drink it all in. He wonders what sort of creature might live in such a dwelling? Are the doors particularly small - like for halflings and the like? Or even smaller?
After a moment agape, he reforms the line and prepares to enter the building on this side of the lake for a look see. He waits for the others to line up however - he doesn't go blundering in himself.
Dyrant waits near Atol.
Who built this place?
Knowledge: Dungeoneering
Knowledge: History
Knowledge: Local
An underlake. How interesting. I wonder if this place floods as well and that's why they borrowed the wands?
Toffitt looks out over the dim expanse with some trepidation. "A single point of access, probably loud enough to telegraph our presence. No doubt the winch system is secure, but hard to say whether they would cut it if they detected intruders. Although I think not. That winch must be their easiest point of access. Hrm... Well played on the villainess' part..."
"I might suggest we carry a rope between us. If there's a trap or ambush, it may prevent us from falling to our deaths."
He tries to recall what he might have heard of this place before getting out his wand and preparing to enter the building.
Glimmil pats his brow in the humid air and prays to Garl that his footwear will not be infested with any vicious fungi, remembering back to the outbreak several years back that severely dented the Cobwaddle's cobbling business.
Upon spotting the pulley structure, Glimmil becomes quite excited.
"Wow! A ride! They put a ride in here!"
I simply must install a similar ride into New Jzadirune. Perhaps this one can be transported there? We'll need to dig out an underground lake like this one, too!
Glimmil licks his lips and looks up at Finneas.
"Can Cog and I go first?" he asks the large half-orc, hoping desperately to be given permission.
Dr. Toffitt gets out his silk rope and threads it out to his fellows. He edges his way forward to the door of the building, and examines its latching mechanism for any unwanted springs, levers or spikes."Dyrant, any magic here?"
"You and Cog can go first Glimmil but let's search this building first."
How do they get the cage back up?
Finneas peers out over the lake at the buildings down below before making his way to the building at the top.
The building on the ledge and beach along with the winch system that connects them appears "modern". Dryant recognizes the ruins below.
The kopru is an eel-like man-sized creature with a humanoid upper body and has a smooth head, large unblinking eyes, and a tentacled, sphincteral mouth that has led many scholars to propose that koprus might somehow be related to mind flayers. It has two arms that ends in vicious webbed, clawed hands, and has a sinuous lower body that splits into three fluke-like, prehensile tails, each capped with a sharp hook. Kopru skin is a light tan at the creature's hatching, which gradually turns to olive in adulthood, and then later fades to a sickly brown in old age.
Dr. Toffitt gets out his silk rope and threads it out to his fellows. He edges his way forward to the door of the building, and examines its latching mechanism for any unwanted springs, levers or spikes."Dyrant, any magic here?"
The doctor does not notice any traps, but does hear human voices inside. He can't make out what they're saying though.
Whispering, the doctor says, "Looks like we're not alone." He draws his blade and wand of shield, readying himself to storm in.
Glimmil watches as Toffitt draws his blade and wand and reflexively unstraps his hook-hammer and shield in preparation.
"Maybe anyone inside, we could explain to them we need the wands back, or else they'll be in trouble... they might listen, right?"
Glimmil appears hopeful.
Kopru? Kopru? Really? I thought they were fantasies to scare orphans into brushing their tooth. Kyson looks at the half-orc, Finn while he thinks this.
* * *
Dyrant checks the Blessing of St. Cuthbert on Cog and his own mage armor, and satisfied that it remains intact, approachs the door and knocks.
"Excuse me! Excuse me! We have urgent news for Triel! Can we find her within? How do we get down?"
There is rustling within the building.
Initiative
Atol
Dyrant
Finneas
Finneas Bonus roll
Glimmil
Toffitt
Occupants
Initiative
Finneas = 22+
Glimmil = 12
Toffitt = 22
Dyrant = 15
Occupants = 14
Atol = 11
Round 1 (Everyone, but Atol)
Round 1, Init 15
Dyrant shakes his head, tries to open the door (move action), and then (unlocked or not) backs away from the door.
"They could have earned redemption and the mercy of the Cudgel, sadly, they choose another path."
Dyrant bows for Finn and Glim to enter the spot he just left.
Locked
Round 1 Init 22+
HP = 31/31
AC = 20/11/20 (22/11/22 w/ Shield)
Weapon Equipped = Mwk Cold Iron Greatsword
Speed = 20'
Oracle Spells Left (CL 4, +7 melee touch, +4 ranged touch):
2 4/4 Resist Energy*, Cure Moderate Wounds*, Fog Cloud
1 7/7 Divine Favor*, Shield of Faith*, Remove Fear*, Enlarge Person*, Cure Light Wounds*
0 (at will) Purify Food and Drink*, Create Water, Stabilize, Ghost Sound*, Detect Magic, Mage Hand, Light, Spark*
* Allows save DC = 12 + Spell Level
Status Effects = None
Finneas shrugs at Dyrant's attempts at parlay and proceeds to attempt a door opening.
Finneas bashes in the wood door. It reveals a small 10'x15' room with a door on the opposite side of the room. To his right are the workings for the rope winch system.
Revised Initiative
Finneas = 22+ - Bashed in door. Move action left.
Toffitt = 22
Dyrant = 15
Occupants = 14
Glimmil = 12
Atol = 11
The room is dominated by a large winch. There is a tiny one-foot-square circular window set into the southern wall. There is a stone cube affixed to the wall next to the window (AU-18).
Round 1, Init 22 {>AV18}
Dr. Toffitt uses his wand to erect a force barrier, and tumbles into the room.
AC 22 (13 touch)
HP 31/31
Fort +6 Reflex +6 Will +2
Weapon Equipped Dueling Blade
Shield Equipped Buckler
Mutagen unused (+4 Dex, +2 AC, -2 Wis, 30 minute duration)
Controlled Rage 5 of 5 rounds used
Elixirs
- Shield > Finneas (use sparingly big fella)
- empty slot
- empty slot
- empty slot
Where'd they go?
The opposite door opens and a man looks at the splintered door. "You don't belong here!" He then fails to tumble past Finneas and Toffitt as he heads towards the gears past them.
Another man waits behind the first