With a roar, Hans rages, and charges the uninjured wolf!
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Before Janira can react, the combined force of the group decimates the wolves. Hans buries his greatsword into the wolf cutting it in half. Kisuke's rapid fire shurikens takes the remaining wolf down finishing the work Akashi started.
Janira speaks up Well that was exciting! It looks like everybody is ok, but we really need to hurry to get to the cave before darkness. Its going to be rough going, so get ready to move. We can take a few moments to rest up if you need it. Also, anyone see where Kisuke ran off to?
"Well, that was certainly a bracing bit of exercise! Sorry, I did not see where Kisuke went. I do agree, though, that we should try to get to the cave before dark..."
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Over the next few hours Akashi leads the group deeper into the forest. The pace is hard, and, a few times Akashi almost heads into some tricky situations. But, Tovar ,despite being out of his element, hits his stride out in this forest. He's able to prevent Akashi and the rest of the group from getting bogged down in the deeper undergrowth.
The dense forest opens to a wide clearing at the base of a sheer cliff. Thick vines cover the surface of the cliff stretching 30 feet overhead. Here! The cave entrance is behind those vines, Janira says with a broad smile as she walks to the cliff’s face. She pulls back several layers of vegetation to reveal a narrow crack in the cliff’s surface. This is where I saw the gillmen enter. As she motions toward the aperture, the surrounding woods come alive with the sound of small animals fleeing some unseen danger and a large creature crashing through the undergrowth. The halfling worriedly remarks, Quick, take cover Tovar, Akashi, and Hans before whatever it is spots us! As if she’d summoned the creature with her words, a massive horned monstrosity emerges from the trees. Standing eight feet tall on a pair of cloven hooves and wielding a tremendous axe, the bull-headed creature roars with unbridled anger when it spots the group. Wisely assessing that a minotaur is beyond her charges’ capabilities, Janira screams, A minotaur! There’s little chance we can stand against it. Take this bag, she continues, pulling off her backpack, and head deeper into the caves. Finish your mission. I’ll lead it away from the caves, lose it in the forest, and join you as soon as I can. Now go! GO! She heaves her backpack into the cave, casts a spell, and darts off toward the minotaur before turning to lure it away.
Hans glances reluctantly after Janira, but nonetheless follows the others into the cave, drawing his sword as he does so...
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As you move into the cave, Jinara's voice gets smaller as she spouts bits of pathfinder lore to draw the Minotaur's attention. The cave is dark. Inside the bag you find, a potion of barkskin, potions of cure light wounds x 2,potion of feather step, potion of vanish, scroll of entangle, scroll of gust of wind, scroll of identify, scroll of mage armor (CL 6), scroll of obscuring mist, wand of burning hands (CL 3rd, 4 charges), wand of cure light wounds (CL 3rd,8 charges), acid, alchemist’s fire (2), holy water, smokestick, tanglefoot bag, thunderstone. All the potions are neatly labeled, and, the wands have nice neat labels with tick marks to indicate the number of charges used.
The cave stretches on ahead of you into the darkness. Its afternoon outside and quiet. What do you do next?
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She is quite well prepared for this trip, isn't she? Well, I can use a couple of these things.
Tovar will take the Scroll of Obscuring Mist and the Wand of CLW. He will pick up one vial of alchemist's fire and the tanglefoot bag, unless anyone else has strong feelings otherwise.
Tovar will then follow the rest of the party deeper into the cave.
"Sounds fine to me. All I request is that that healing wand is used on me, if I need it."
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The cave walls are about ten feet apart. The walls are cold, wet, and covered in various molds, slimes, and other things. Nothing is harmful, but its not overly pleasant. The air becomes colder and it get darker as you move deeper in the cave.
As you move deeper you encounter an open pit trap. Its maw spans all the way across the cave floor and 10 feet into the distance. What would you like to do now?
Hans peers into the pit trap to confirm that there are no hostiles in it...
...then hammers a piton into the ground, and tosses a rope into the pit.
"If everyone climbs down, I will jump across to the other side, and then let the rope down on the other side for you, so that you can get back up."
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With a running start, Hitomi easily leaps the pit. She then uncoils her rope, checks the knot on the grappling hook, throws the rope into the pit and anchors the hook in a likely spot. "Just a simple matter of climbing now," the ninja says, her wide grin unseen as she tries to find a good place to hide.
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Tovar as you climb into the pit you see a twisted body in the pit. Its weathered and past the state of smelling. All the cloth on the body is rotten except one exceptional green cloak. Akashi sees this as she descends into the pit.
Kisuki easily makes the jump. ON the other side around a slight bend in the tunnel, you see a 15x3 foot wooden plank. It is weather treated and extremely sturdy.
Hans shrugs.
"Ah, well, I *thought* that I was being helpful; never mind..."
He then crosses the plank, and lets down the rope for Tovar to climb back up.
Hans nods to Kisuke, before commenting dryly, "I was not expecting everyone to be quite so acrobatic..."
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The tunnels continue on, leading deeper beneath the Kortos Mounts until they eventually open into a large cavern. What must have once been beautifully carved reliefs and inscriptions have since weathered heavily, their features dulled and softened to the point that it is hard to distinguish what each once depicted. A wide tunnel exits the cavern on its far side, and blue-burning torches line the passageway’s walls.
Hans nods.
"Agreed. We should make notes about whatever we find; you never know what might be useful..."