Chronicles of the Silver Rose Company

Game Master Patrick Curtin

"Right". Justin nods in agreement.

"I'll take one side, opposite of Merle. We can catch them in a crossfire." He adds with a grin.

Ekuur stands back a bit from the doorway, and gets ready to cast spiritual weapon. He makes the suggestion to the others, quietly, "I can also cast a silence spell, if you think it will help. I have the feeling it is known we are here, though. I can also augment us all with a prayer to the Sacred Flame. Unfortunately, with Isaac gone, he would not be included."

Nari stands near Merle, her bow at the ready, clearing her mind so as not to outright panic. The moments before a battle were always the hardest. Once the crisis was upon her she could act, but waiting for it was torture. Her hands shook slightly as she fought to master her terror.

*sigh* "Oh well, so much for a little alone time," Bethany mutters under her breath, redrawing her Sabre and moving over to stand near the others.

Merle stands next to Nari with a scroll of fireball at the ready looking mildly annoyed at being kept up

Seph seeing Nari is nervous climbs on her shoulder and Mews trying to build her confidence.

Sorry folks, RL kicking me ATM. Will try and pick up threads soon..

No worries DM! RL (work) can be a pain, but it pays the bills so we can get our quality PbP time! ;)

"Hold off on the Silence spell my friend, we don't want to handicap our own casting ability. And I think you can hold off on your blessing as well. At least until Isaac returns. If he comes running, it's probably a safe bet that we'll need it!" Justin whispers with a grin.

"If we get time," Karrin whispers across to the others, "I'll go fun sized. That'll let me control the hallway."

Karrin taps her belt in case the others don't know what she's talking about.

Justin smirks and shakes his head slightly.

"'Fun size'? Is that what they call it these days?" He murmurs, still grinning.

"Well it's fun for me," Karrin says, face perfectly straight.

Justin's teeth flash in the dark, his grin says it all. He's seen what passes for 'fun' to the honorable tiefling. He digs a couple of pieces of mystic flotsam from his pockets, and organizes his spells in his mind, waiting for Isaac to return,...

Perception: 1d20+14

Isaac holds up a closed fist in a 'halt' gesture.
"Listen, close.", he whispers,"More rust monsters down there. And I heard someone rattlin' their bonebox. I'll scout ahead, get the others ready."

The ranger creeps further down the minshaft.
Stealth: 1d20+11

Issac:

DM DICE (nothing to see here...move along)

Issac:

Dungeon Monkey:

Issac:

The party sees Issac emerge from the narrow tunnel.

Isaac, seeing the party ready for some bloody murder, motions them to lower their weapons.
"Here's the Dark of it, cutters. Reckon we got at least three or so more Rust Monsters down there behind a wooden gate. Two fey, I reckon Spriggans from their graffiti, are keepin' the beasts down there. We stumbled on somethin' here and I tumble to getting lanned to the Dark of it."
He looks to Tiandra.
"You've foot the bill for the jaunt, Tiandra; what say you?"

Tiandra frowns in thought.

"Well, we have not stopped to search things out yet, perhaps we would be hasty in heading down some narrow tunnel. What did you hear from the spriggans?"

"They sent up those three we dealt with. I reckon they got the notion to sniff us out personal-like soon. Mayhap we just wait for them. They didn't rattle their boneboxes enough for me to get the Dark o' why they're here in the first place."

Tiandra ponders

"Perhaps they inhabit this place. The rust monsters as pets seems a little involved for just casual wanderers no?"

She frowns

"Of course, since there seems to be travel around here, mayhap they are theives attempting to steal from us. Perhaps we should wait here as you suggest, but I would advise having some post watch outside in case they attempt to flank us."

Karrin chops at a small imaginary enemy.

"Do we go back to camping or do we deal with this problem now?" Karrin asks everyone, "personally I'd say take care of the problem while it's small, otherwise there could be all sorts of things living down here that could be brought into it."

"Don't want them crawling out in the night and eating our kit. Let's deal with them now."

"We must destroy them. We cannot allow such evil to continue existing. By the Sacred Flame, which lights the smelters and forges of iron, I will do so."

Justin rolls his eyes at Ekuur's pontification, but nods in agreement.

"Right. As I said, I don't know that most civilizations would think of rust monsters as evil, although I can see why your world would. But they are a D@mn nuisance. And what, exactly, would spriggans be doing in an abandoned mine anyway?!? THAT causes me more personal concern than the rusters. I say we see exactly what a wood sprite is doing in a bleak abandoned mine, herding rust-monsters. The question is whether we advance, or wait and draw them out?"

"I don't want anything creeping up in the middle of the night to eat me, so I say we deal with them now."

Nari smiles a little at Seph as the others debate what to do. His encouragement seems to have stopped the shaking, and she waits for the rest to make a decision about what they do next.

"Couldent we just collapse the tunnel?" Merle suggests

"We could. But then your natural curiosity would go unassuaged. Not to mention my OWN 'burning' desire for things to make sense!" Justin smirks.

"Heh, I think I feel a fireball comin'" Drazek grins at Justin as he stand beside Bethany.

OK, so dealing with the issue seems to be the way to go??

As the group ponders what to do, they hear a throat being cleared from the front entrance of the cave. An voice seemingly from nowhere calls out:

"Yeh cutters wouldn't be interested in a parley, would yeh?"

"We're always willing to parley," Karrin says, "even though we're way better at melee. We like the peaceful solution where ever possible."

" 'course we would tumble to it finer if yeh wanted teh parley before settin' yer sodding rust monsters on us."

" 'course we would tumble to it finer if yeh wanted teh parley before settin' yer sodding rust monsters on us."

A faint note of anger colors the invisible speaker

"Well, I don't know how yeh deal with trespassers in yer kip, cutter, but we find rock lobsters work well in scaring off unwanted guests. If yeh want, I'll apologize, an' give yeh leave to park in our cave for the rest of the evening. We don't wants no trouble."

Isaac looks ready to argue the point further, but he bites his tongue and takes a deep breath.

"Fine, cutter. You promise three times that yeh won't set yer guard crustaceans at us and we'll promise three times that we won't go further into yer kip and we'll sod off in the morning. Deal?"

"Why three times?" Bethany whispers up to Drazek.

"How can you deal with such loathsome creatures?" remarks Ekuur. Unfortunately, it isn't clear whether he's speaking to the invisible speaker, or to Isaac ...

"Why three times?" Bethany whispers up to Drazek.

"Sort of a law of magical nature." Justin whispers in reply, oblivious to the fact that the question wasn't directed at him.

"Doesn't affect humanoids,... so much, BUT Spriggans and their ilk are inherently magical. Saying something three times is an almost unbreakable bond. But there are loopholes, you have to be very careful HOW they promise something. Promising that they won't set the Rusters on us doesn't prevent them from attacking us themselves, for instance,... Oh Isaac?" Justin holds up a finger and steps up next to the ranger.

Justin whispers into the ranger's pointy ears, and then steps back.

Just pointing out that perhaps he should promise not to attack us in any way, not just with the monsters. ;)

"The number three binds 'em like he said. Fey're weird like that."

Whilst the others talk Merle spends the time tryin to get a better idea where the invisable man is in case things go wrong.

Perception (listening)

1d20 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10

Seph at Merle's request listens as well

Perception (listening)

1d20 + 6 ⇒ (14) + 6 = 20

"Fine, cutter. You promise three times that yeh won't set yer guard crustaceans at us and we'll promise three times that we won't go further into yer kip and we'll sod off in the morning. Deal?"

The disembodied voice sounds out

"Deal. I, Twiddleshink of the Deep Delver tribe swear thrice and thrice times thrice no one of my tribe will attack, harm, or molest anyone sleeping in our entry cave, as long as they also swear not go snooping down our tunnels."

Seph:

"And I, Isaac Crowley of the Silver Rose Company swear thrice and thrice times thrice no one of my company shall trespass in the tunnels of the Deep Delver tribe for so long as you abide by your promise."

"It looks like we have an agreement, Ser Twiddleshink."

Seph relays the information to Merle

"It looks like we have an agreement, Ser Twiddleshink."

The invisible voice sounds a bit friendlier.

"That we do! Enjoy the hospitality of our foyer. I will leave you to your rest and give you advice for free. Ware the god-brain's zombies if you are coming to this land to go spelunking. For that matter, ware the god-brain if you go spelunking in these parts."

Nari shuddered as she remembered the mental presence they had thankfully fled from.

Justin nods his head with a smile.

"Thank you Master Twiddleshink. Your generosity and advice are greatly appreciated." Justin places his material components back into his pocket and steps away from the tunnel entrance. He glances at Karrin and Isaac, and adds,

"As long as your here, would you care to join us?" He asks, gesturing towards the fire. "I'm afraid I only have travel rations, but I will gladly share them with you. I would be most grateful if you could share your knowledge of the local landscape with us. Perhaps you can even help us find who we're looking for?"

don't forget that Ekuur is creating food each day, and some is able to be saved with his purify food and drink cantrip. So unless I'm out of commission, we don't need to resort to trail rations.

Ekuur begrudgingly lowers his weapon, and ends his spell preparations. For the rest of the evening, he's in an obviously foul mood and speaks to no one.

"As long as your here, would you care to join us?" He asks, gesturing towards the fire. "I'm afraid I only have travel rations, but I will gladly share them with you. I would be most grateful if you could share your knowledge of the local landscape with us. Perhaps you can even help us find who we're looking for?"

The voice speaks

"I'll break bread with you, since that will seal the bargain."

A small grey figure materializes at the cave mouth. About the size of a hobbit, the spriggan Twiddleshink approaches their fire.

"Well met, travellers. At least now."

Nari put away her bow and shrank back into the corner hoping to go unnoticed by the strange new creature.

Seeing the Spriggan, Justin relaxes and smiles. Let's face it, it's hard to be scared of something the size of a hobbit! ;) He goes back over to his pack and pulls out his share of the leftovers from Ekuur's magical meal, then makes his way to the ire and sits down cross-legged next to it. He offers the spriggan the chance to pick his portion first, then takes a bite and chews thoughtfully.

"SO master Twiddleshink, other than the 'god-brain-zombies', what else is there to be wary of in the area?" He asks to start the conversation off.

He hopes to get around to asking if they know where the lizards we are looking for are hiding out.

Karrin's eyes go big at the sight of the ultra cute little fey. Karrin does her best to avoid picking the little guy up and hugging him and squeezing him and naming him George.

Karrin's eyes go big at the sight of the ultra cute little fey. Karrin does her best to avoid picking the little guy up and hugging him and squeezing him and naming him George.

LoL! Thx Karrin, I needed that! :)