Ford grabbed his bow and knocked an arrow into place. "Ah, Jil? Perhaps not the best idea..." Even so, he had his bow ready, keeping his distance, but within range of Jil, ready to fire if anything should rear up and attack.
Jil walks a little along the coast of the rather big lake to see what the thing is you see in the distance. As you walk along, shielding your eyes from the sun, all you can see for now is that there is something darker on top of the sand over to the east, You can't quite make out what.
You CAN tell it is not moving however.
Jilhanna looks at the object again.
"Just gonna take a quick look," she says as she continues toward the object.
Ford keeps his bow trained and ready. "Alright... just be careful. I just have a bad feeling about this." He said, keeping within range and ready to shoot if anything attacked.
As you get a bit closer you see bunch stones that were laid down on the beach in a circle, with scorch marks in the middle. Next to it is a collapsed tent, half buried in sand.
Anton walks behind Jilhanna, ready to protect her if necessary
Hasn't been used in months, it looks like. Wonder if he was part of their party?
Goldi makes her way closer, catching up with Jil and Truffles. looking around the first thing she notices that this is a campsite, this has been here unused fr as long as the body has been here. something isn't right.
looking to Truffles, Snif around boy, look for anything unusual.
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Truffles looks at you thinking... Huh? Then he goes... Ooh water, I'm thirsty! And he goes and laps up some water from the lake.
Truffles looks at you thinking... Huh? Then he goes... Ooh water, I'm thirsty! And he goes and laps up some water from the lake.
Jilhanna looks around, but sees nothing of interest.
"Alright, I guess there's nothing more to learn."
Jilhanna turns back to the path they were following originally.
"Time for dinner. And then some sleep."
You all head back south towards the crypt of the everflame. It's still quite a trek.
As you press on, the woods look more and more untouched by human civilization, the trees here are old and gnarly, and the path becomes narrow and barely recognisable as a path.
As you are walking, the weather turns.. It starts as a few droplets, and then turns into a steady and cold rain.
"
The trail leads ever deeper into the Fangwood, through a twisting maze of trees and confusing ravines. As it tops a small rise, a broad valley spreads out before it, the opposite side of which looks like a writhing serpent. Yet between the two lies a steep hill sloping down into the valley. A cold rain starts to fall, making the ground slick and treacherous.
"
Ahead of you is a steep descent into the valley where the crypt is. Wet uneven ground, thorny bushes, slippery loose shale all the way down.
"This looks treacherous!"
Jilhanna takes a rope out of her backpack, ties some knots for handholds, and looks around for a tree limb to tie it to.
"You guys can use this rope so you're less likely to fall. I'll untie it and climb down last."
Using the rope will definitely help with climbing down safely.
Goldi rolls her eyes at Truffles, and after he drinks, she nudges him along to catch up with the others.
proceeding on goldi spends time keeping Truffles on the path. And from rolling in the mud too much.
at one point she simply shrugs and rolls in the mud with Truffles.
eventually reaching the hill, we could just slide down, except for those trees and stuff in the way. we could use a rope. she says as Jil pulls out a rope.
Truffles can't climb, maybe we can tie a rope around him to lower him down. or, I wonder if there is another path though.
"Goldi, do you have some rope? I'll bet we can fashion a sling for Truffles using a tent and some ropes to lower him down. "
Anton digs around in his backpack and finds the pup tent that was part of the town supplies.
"Jil, if we could tie a rope at the ends of the diagonals of this bit of tarp, we could lower him down first, and then the rest of us could use your knotted rope for safety."
Goldi: At least within as far as you can see, the way down to the crypt is all a treacherous slope down.
Goldi looks through her pack, pulling out all sorts of nick-knacks. nope, nope, nope, sorry, no rope.she says looking rather disappointed.
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Additional Gear
"Here, let me look."
Jilhanna reaches for Goldi's backpack, and starts removing things and stacking them beside her on the ground.
She holds up the coil of rope, triumphant.
"This rope!"
Leaving it aside, she neatly repacks Goldi's things into the pack.
"Good find, Jil." Ford said with a nod, before looking for a tree to tie it around. "I'm thinking we should let the heavier folks head down first. We'll need someone to untie the rope once most of us are down. Though we'll also need someone strong enough to help lower Truffles down... Let's get him and Goldi down first. Then, perhaps Aisling, Anton, Jil, and I'll bring up the rear. I can help support the rest of us."
Let me know what the plan is, the better the plan, the lower the roll DCs.
"I think we should let Goldi climb down using the knotted rope. When she's down, we can make a sling with the tent and lower Truffles.
"She can keep an eye on him while everyone else climbs down using the knotted rope.
Finally, I can untie the rope and come down the slope on my own. I'm not very likely to fall, since I'm pretty nimble."
" That sounds good to me. I'll help wrangle the ropes while we lower Truffles, and then head down myself."
Anton peers down the sides of the ravine.
"I think we need people to keep a lookout while we're doing this. The person going down the cliff is pretty vulnerable.
For that matter, so is the last person left up here."
Ford considered the suggestions, before nodding. "Not a bad idea... you guys want to find a tree to tie this around, while I get the tent out and set it up for Truffles?" Ford asked, before digging out the tent and fashioning it into a sling for the boar.
Jilhanna finishes tying the knotted rope to a sturdy tree.
"Ok, Goldi, I think its safe for you to climb down this rope. As soon as you get down, we'll lower Truffles too.
Aisling and Anton can follow, then Ford. I'll go last."
Goldi was actually a little dumbfounded, not realizing what she had. at first she was a little angry at Jil for making her look stupid, but then she realized, yeah guess I was pretty stupid
She packs everything back up, Ok, So I'll go first, then Truffles.
turning to Truffles, Now you be a good boy and let them lower you on the rope. she says with a smile and a big hug.
After watching Goldi descend to the floor of the valley, Anton helped Ford lower Truffles down the steep incline. They pulled the sling back up, and Anton untied the ropse, and stowed the tent in his backpack again.
"Looks like it's my turn," he said as he grabbed the knotted rope and carefully made his way to the bottom
Ford made sure to hold onto the ropes, letting the others descend. Once everyone is safely down, Ford nods, before holding the rope and stepping down. "Alright... I'm on the way down. Stay safe, Jill." he said, before starting downwards...
Goldi is the first to start climbing down. The slope turns out to be very treacherous indeed as she slips early on, but somehow manages to stay upright holding onto the rope. After that Goldi pays a little more attention where she puts her feet and climbs down without further issues.
Truffles is nice and well-behaved in his sling, if looking a bit wild-eyed. He makes it down in one piece without any issues.
Aisling disregards the rope fully and simply walks down easily.
Anton follows, going carefully. And lucky for him, as he has his feet getting from under him as well somewhere in the earliest part. He manages to hold onto the rope however, and slowly makes his way to the bottom.
And then... Ford starts going down, his fairly heavy armour being no help in this endeavour at all. Not even far down yet, he steps on a bunch of wet leaves that promptly start sliding!
Ford blinked as he felt his footing give way, before starting his impromptu rapid descent down the hill.
Luckily for you that rapid descent is quickly halted by a tree. You smack into it rather hard.
That'll leave a bruise...
After that you get hold of the rope again, and climb further down, without further mishaps.
Jilhanna, after having taken the rope everyone used, comes down as well, and falls when a stone somewhere in the middle of the slope she steps on suddenly gives way! Just like Ford before her, she slides down a ways and smacks into a big boulder.
After that treacherous descent you move on towards the crypt. About an hour later , you arrive at the crypt.
An archway of stone is set into the side of a small hill at the bottom of the valley. Moss has overgrown many of the details,
but one is still quite clear. The keystone of the arch is carved
with a flame symbol with a stylized rune in the middle. Beyond
the archway is a darkened tunnel that leads to a pair of massive
wooden doors, one of which is slightly ajar.
A pair of horses and a trio of ponies lie slaughtered next to
the archway, each corpse still tied to a post set into the ground
nearby. A swarm of flies hangs lazily in the air above them.
Now what?
"These poor horses have been dead at least a couple days. Looks like something with sharp claws got to them. "
"What in Deadeye's quiver did this?" Ford said, observing the sudden gruesome scene. Was this... part of the test? This seemed a little bit wasteful to be scaring a couple of fresh faces... something about this was horribly wrong. Studying the gruesome scene, something caught his attention... was... was that..?
"There's a body underneath this horse! Gimme a hand!" Ford said, kneeling down and steadying his footing to push the body up and see wo this horse crushed.
You manage to wrestle the horse aside. What's under the horse is not a fresh corpse. Not at all even, it's a fleshless skeleton. Furthermore, those bones look like they are decades old.
Anton looks at the skeleton. How did an old skeleton get under a horse that's only been killed recently?
Anton turns to inspect the exit from the tomb and the partially open door.
Ford folds his arms and thinks... how odd? How did this skeleton end up underneath a freshly slain horse?
A torch goes off in his head as he looks around d in the nearby trees for any animals. Birds, squirrels, anything. Perhaps one of the local creatures had seen something that could help them! "Goldi, I might need your help with this..."
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Goldi was rather saddened at the loss of the horses/ponies, she always loved ponies. she considered ponies her friends and we all know Friendship is magic.
Truffles keep guard on those doors ordering truffles to watch for trouble from the doors.
going to Ford, What ya got in mind? she asks but soon discovers what he has in mind.
If there is an animal nearby, she will use her wild empathy ability to try and convince it that she is friendly.
Jilhanna moves toward the entrance and looks around for signs of recent activity or traps
"Those horses haven't been here that long. Whoever brought them is probably still inside the tomb."
I wonder if they're alive or dead?
As he looks around for animals, Ford pointed at Anton. "Aisling has a point... but wasting such good animals one a trick seems wasteful. Anton, check the area for magical energy, see what comes up."
"Me?"
Anton blinks his eyes, and seems to come back from somewhere else.
"Oh, yeah. Magic"
He looks around, then steps toward the horses. Taking his time, and concentrating carefully he looks first at the skeleton, then at the symbol over the tomb door, and finally looks at the door that is ajar.
Anton: The entry doors into the Crypt look like they are made of sturdy oaken planks, they look heavy. From the one that is slightly ajar, you can see that they are very thick indeed. Inside though, it is pitch black and you cannot see anything through the tiny gap between them.
There are in fact some wild creatures around. A crow was pecking at the pony closest to the entrance, and flew of to sit in a tree nearby, eyeing you all, and that gorgeous meat. As you were approaching, you also chased of a pair of rats that were doing the same thing with the horse. They are hiding under a bush nearby.
The crow seems to be doubting to come back as Goldi is enticing it to... Then it flies over and lands on the ground close to Goldilocks, looking at her with some weird avian intelligence almost seeming to ask, What now?