You hear from Below "Don't come down! Black Tentacles!"
Alaric shouts "Don't come down! Black Tentacles!" casts black tentacles at the skeleton and moves away.
Reflex save
Friend Martin, we need to go down!
Hascya tumbles back, away from his foes and towards the stairs.
Acrobatics
He then runs to the ladder hole and jumps down, entering a rage as he does.
Ring of Feather Fall will prevent falling damage.
Seeing the flames roll into the house, Martin trys to open a path for Hascya
(also bash attacks)
Shield Atk1:
Dmg1:
If the skeleton falls, Martin will then move through the dinning (taking an AOO) towards the back of the house, and the ladder.
Martin bashes the nearest skeleton with his shield, shattering it into many pieces. He then runs into the dining room to work his way around towards the ladder leading to the basement . Hascya dashes away from the remaining skeleton and the ball of flame, and upon reaching the stairs, he leaps down the ladder to the basement.
Upon realizing that the skeletal mage has followed him into the cellar, Alaric dashes deeper into the cellar. He conjures a mass of writhing, flailing black tentacles that fill nearly the entire cellar. The skeletal mage is caught and pummeled by the tentacles. As Hascya drops to the floor of the cellar and enters a rage, he too is caught and pummeled by the tentacles .
The skeletal mage struggles within the seething mass of tentacles, and manages to free himself from their clutches. He dashes through the cellar and into the tunnel, moving past Alaric as he goes.
Up on the main floor, the remaining skeletal soldier moves to cut Martin off at the doorway, swinging its axe viciously at the paladin from around a doorframe. Due perhaps to its overzealous swing, or perhaps to the doorway, or to sheer bad luck, the skeleton catches its shield on the swing. This impact rips the shield loose, and it clatters noisily to the ground.
The fire spreads, and you hear Ankou howling from the porch as the smoke begins to pour forth.
Ugh, let's see if I can get out of this.
CMB
So, that's a nope.
Alaric wills Castiel to fly down to him and leave the upper floor. Alaric, seeing little else to do chases after the spellcaster to see what else there is down there before the skeleton can destroy it.
Alaric, before doing this, dismisses black tentacles. Regretting that he only got one turn out of the 4th level spell.
Hascya moves and attacks the skeleton mage. (40-foot move speed FTW)
He's not using the flat of his blade, because he is too angry for that s@#+.
Attack
Fumble confirm
Fumble deck
Hascya spends his swift action crying softly to himself. Twohey flies away to find a less incompetent witch to mentor.
Martin looks to see how far the fire has spread,
Percp. Check:
Martin is going to attempt overrun the skeleton,
(the skeleton can choose to step to the side, otherwise it's my CMB vs it's CMD. Eitherway, as I do not have the improved overrun feat, I provoke and AOO. If it doesn't move aside and If I beat it's CMD, i move through it's space.By 5 or more, and it's knocked prone.)
Overun Attemp:
If succesful Martin is going to move to the trapped door, and start down.
In the battle within the flaming house, Martin rushed past the skeletal soldier to get downstairs while Alaric dismissed his black tentacles spell, which allowed Hascya to close in and engage the fleeing skeletal spellcaster. After a running battle between Hascya, Martin and the caster, Martin finally bashed it through the apparent wall at the back of the tunnel. The tunnel led from the cellar of the burning house into the sewers running beneath Silverkeep. After destroying the remaining skeletons and looting the bone ring worn by the spellcaster (while Alaric picked up one skeletal soldier’s battleaxe), the party examined their new surroundings.
The tunnel they had entered was a major sewer. Smaller tunnels routed sewage into the main channel. The “wall” they accessed the sewer through was illusory. A caved-in section of the sewer just above them blocked the flow of sewage, but the blockage appeared fragile and temporary at best. Opting for haste, Martin urged the party to continue the pursuit of the “glowing man.”
As the party rushed through the sewer, they heard the blockage give in and the sound of “water” rushing towards them. Martin and Hascya attempted to brace themselves in side channels, away from the onrushing flash flood of sewage. Martin succeeded in this endeavor, but Hascya lost his grip and was washed back into the main channel. Alaric, meanwhile, attempted to outrun the cascade of sewage. He succeeded for a while, keeping just barely ahead of the rushing “waters,” until something used a polearm to trip him from behind another illusory wall. Stuck in the main channel, he braced himself against the impact of the water and managed to hold for a time, but he was eventually washed over the waterfall at the end of the sewer. Hascya, burned, bruised, and battered, was washed through the invisible wall through which Alaric had been tripped. As he passed out from his injuries, he saw a shadow-wreathed figure with red eyes wielding a large polearm as it pushed him back into the main channel. He, too, washed over the drop-off at the end of the sewer.
Upon landing in the sewage below, Alaric saw Hascya’s unconscious body floating in the sewage. He pulled the barbarian onto some floating rubble and treated the man’s wounds, stabilizing him. Looking around, he saw that he was in a large chamber filled with sewage, deep enough to have broken his and Hascya’s falls. A side passageway led elsewhere, and the sewage in this chamber gently flowed down an even bigger passageway. As he looked around, he felt something brush against his leg several times. Then it bit him. Seeing an eyestalk of some sort rising from the muck, he put the creature to sleep. A second creature then proceeded to grab him with its tentacles and began to crush him. Shortly before it could kill him, however, Alaric was able to put this creature to sleep as well. As he treaded water on the surface, cackling like a madman, Martin (who had remained braced in a side passageway until the torrent of sewage had passed) arrived at the end of the walkway in the main sewer tunnel. Peering into the darkness, he saw Hascya floating unconscious and Alaric having apparently gone off the deep end. Martin flatly refused to climb down with them to finish off the monsters, forcing Alaric to try to coup de grace one with the battleaxe he had previously looted. He failed to kill the sleeping creature, and it started trying to klll him once again. Only then did Martin come to Alaric’s aid, engaging the awakened beast in combat. After slaying the creature, Martin carried Hascya over to the side chamber and up the ramshackle ladder out of the sewer while Alaric searched for loot before following.
At the top of the ladder, the party found itself in a crudely-dug passageway. After a heated argument, a raspy voice challenged them from further down the passageway. Upon investigating, the party encountered a tribe of wererats squatting in the tunnels. The chieftain, a wererat called Grazz, demanded tribute of food and shiny things from the party in exchange for his peoples' assistance, but his ratling advisor, Kareth, offered an alternate plan: the wererat tribe had been displaced from their regular lair beneath the city by a group of "nasty cultists." If the party destroyed the cultists, they could get out through there. The wererats allowed the party to rest in their camp for the night, but Alaric and Hascya, having sent their familiars away before exploring the sewers, were unable to prepare spells after resting.
A wererat showed the party to the entrance of a tunnel that would take them to the cultists: the false wall in the sewer through which the creature with the polearm had struck. After the wererat withdraw, Martin ventured through the illusory wall. The shadowy, red-eyed figure within immediately struck at him with its polearm. Resisting the urge to flee, Martin closed in and began to harm it, only to discover that his holy smites were being resisted. Hascya ventured into the fray momentarily before fleeing in terror. Alaric attempted to lay a hex on the creature, but found the creature impervious to his efforts. Suddenly, the creature appeared behind Alaric and felled him with a single blow of its weapon. Martin and the creature battled, with Martin clearly holding the upper hand against the being. Seriously damaged and having yet to land a blow on the paladin, the creature vanished into thin air. As Martin stabilized Alaric and Hascya returned, the party heard a struggle from below the waterfall, and upon investigating the party saw the creature in combat with the remaining sewer beast below. Deciding not to interfere, Martin and Hascya revived Alaric and the three tentatively explored past the false wall. They rounded a corner and saw some barrels set up in an obviously defensive position, and decided that returning when in better shape would be a better decision.
The party's thoughts then turned to escape. They backtracked up the sewer, and examined the trapdoor they had entered through. Despite their best efforts, they were unable to budge it. Their best alternative was to continue up the sewer. After slogging uphill for a considerable while, they noticed that the water was becoming cleaner. Eventually, they reached daylight. Martin cut through the grating with the adamantine dagger the party had found embedded in one of the sewer monster's skin. The party emerged from the sewers and into a public park around midday. They headed straight for the large fountain in its center, where they proceeded to bathe and rinse off some of the muck. People all around fled the "sewer folk," and a young guardsman came over to tell them off only to be shouted down by Martin and company, who demanded that the guard fetch them a carriage from the palace.
About ten minutes later, a squad of six mounted mithral guards rides into the park. At the head of the group is a blonde elven woman, also wearing a mithral guard breastplate and cloak, although her gear is more ornate than that of the other guards. Trailing the group is a carriage with the arms of Silverkeep emblazoned on the side. At a wave from the woman, the guards fan out and encircle the fountain, and while they keep their weapons sheathed, you see hands resting warily on hilts. The woman rides up to the side of the fountain and looks you over before asking, "What happened? Did you find the ringleader?"
Knowledge (Nobility):
"Hey knife ears! Could you stop playing in your father's armor and direct us to his offices? Please tell me you are adopted and I don't have to work with another one of you cravens. But even you should know enough not to play in his armor! You could get yourself hurt."
Alaric pauses and adopts a tone as though he is speaking with a small child "Playing knight is for the boys. But all that is besides the point. Could you tell us where he is right now? We need to tell him that we followed the spellcaster and what we found. Does he have a shower near his offices where we could properly clean?"
Diplomacy:
I think I've seen this take on diplomacy before...
"I am the commander of the Mithral Guard," the woman says, calmly. "You will report to me. Now."
Martin will punch Alaric in the face
atk:
dmg (non-lethal):
"That is no way to address the commander of the Mithral guard!! I'm sorry my lady"
Straightening up and saluting, Martin goes through the events in the house and the sewers, relaying their encounter with the sewage creatures and the were rats. ().
"I'm sorry commander, but after yesterday's earlier events, we we're too thinly stretched to continue our pursuit safely. If you let us catch our breathes for a couple hours, we can continue our hunt."
"Otyughs and a wererat tribe? I suppose they're only to be expected down there." She pauses for a moment, before saying "You should know that our interrogation of the cultists you captured last night has turned up very little. The captives with red eyes transformed into undead creatures and attacked their guards and fellow prisoners by teleporting from shadow to shadow. All told, fifteen of the twenty captives lie slain, along with eight guards. Everyone slain promptly rose from the dead once more as a wight. The situation is not yet contained: two of the undead escaped, including the former mithral guard. Be wary - they will probably come after you. You should be relatively safe during the day, as the benighted are severely weakened when in areas of bright light. At night, keep the area well-lit. Anyway, rest up and resupply if you need to, but the sooner you can deal with this cult, the better. The carriage will take you wherever you want within the city."
These creatures have been called both "benighted" and "beshadowed." "Benighted" is the older term preferred by scholars, whereas "beshadowed" is a more vernacular term.
Knw. Religion:
HP: 6/57
Alaric upon being knocked to the ground seems far more interested in the insult he has paid to the commander than the violence paid to him by Martin. "What?! She's the commander? Oh my! I am so sorry about that." He says shocked and embarrassed.
Alaric stands, somewhat sheepishly, as he listens to Martin recount the trials and travails they had faced.
His eyes light up and fill with concern as the commander explains more about the undead situation. "Martin, Hascya, after we recover which do you think we should deal with? Try to help the city control the undead situation or continue trying to track down the spellcaster who is the likely culprit of this situation and that is, presumably, still down in the sewers?"
"Returning to the sewers seems the best use of your talents," the commander interjects. "You know where to look for this cult, whereas the escaped undead could be anywhere. Additionally, the ringleader you captured last night remains in custody. I plan to interrogate him myself this afternoon. If there is nothing else, I should get back to the palace." She and her retinue will ride off, leaving the carriage and its driver behind, unless you have anything else to say to her.
"Thank you commander. We will continue the hunt shortly."
Martin steps into the carriage, waiting for alaric and hascya to follow.
Hascya will follow. He's holding Twohey, and the two are "conversing" softly. He looks up, and addresses Martin.
Let us not forget, Friend Wolf-Martin, that we have faced wights before. It cannot be a coincidence that this village is now faced with the same threat as Westwend. Someone has brought the wight-seed here, as they did there. If we do not stop them, we will be forced to bring Nerissa here, and your king would not be happy.
Alaric follows along into the carriage as well.
"She would likely burn Silverkeep to the ground if she believed that the wights could not be contained. Hascya makes a good point. Since the warlock that we tracked to the sewers was the only spellcaster at the gathering we broke up, it is probable that he knows more than a little bit about the...how did you put it? Wight-seeds? I rather like that term-He likely knows about the wight-seeds that were scattered throughout the crowd."
Alaric looks out the carriage window for a moment. "if neither of you mind I think I will make it a little easier for Castiel to find me. I imagine he has become somewhat worried during our sewage excursions." Assuming there are no objections Alaric casts dancing lights placing a single glowing orb high above them to follow the carriage and for Castiel to track.
The fellow driving the carriage slides open a window into the passenger compartment and asks, "Where to?"
You notice that martin is startled by the implications of Hascya's words.
" I don't think what happened in Westwind could happen here. No way...."
martin looks a little pensive, but then shakes his head and seem to snap out of it.
" Well, lets worry about the right now. First, lets get to a nearby inn. I want a warm bath, to clean myself up. Also, we'll send a messenger to the smithy. The executioner's armor should have been repainted while we we're down there. I think before we make any more excursions down into the sewers we should take some precautions. This means loading up on some medicinal potions, and maybe one of you buying a wand to heal our wounds. I'd certainly pitch some money into that cause. If you let me know what to look for, I can go out into the market, and buy it while your regaining your rest, and memorizing your spells."
"I think it would be best if we were ready to go back down again by this evening. After the market, I'll take an hour nap, but should be fresh to go after that."
Once at the inn Martin will send a messenger to the smithy, telling them to bring the armor (martin will pay the agreed upon price, probably a few gold for messenger + paint job). He will then take a bath, and go to the market.
Alaric is almost nodding off as he speaks, so tired from the last few days. "That sounds perfect. A wand of cure light wounds would likely serve our purposes. Oh and I should let you both know that I took the liberty of learning a new spell recently. It allows me to teleport myself and anyone I am touching a distance aways. I figured it would be useful for me to know this as a handy escape route. But if we need to get out of a bad situation, we need to all be touching for it to work or we will leave someone behind. Just thought I should let you know before we get in a situation where we need it."
Alaric will also take a little time during the day to purchase some scrolls.
The carriage takes you to the same inn you met at yesterday, and then departs for the palace. The innkeeper shakes his head as if to say "adventurers," and points you to a back room with a large wooden bathtub.
Martin, when you return from shopping, the messenger has brought your armor to the inn. It is no longer black, but is instead a dull, dark grey. The messenger shakes his head and says, "The smith said that some magic in the armor kept interfering with his attempts to paint and polish it. He did say that he's only charging you half for his time, though."
[ooc] Still determining shopping list[
Updated my AC/ states with my new armor/ooc]
Alaric purchases a few things. Scroll of sickening ray, scroll of burning hands, scroll of zone of truth, and a wand of cure light wounds (which cost 750, I assumed that Martin would accept 250 of the cost in my gold count, let me know if Hascya wants to help split the cost).
The scrolls have been added to the spells that castiel knows.
I second the bath. I smell like a lemur just come out of winter-sleep. And if your healers can tend our wounds before we go into battle again, we would be--like the hawk in the old story--at our best.
I guess our characters are to exhausted to do much more than collapse into a few hours of fitful unconsciousness.
Agreed. We all sleep. Alaric, upon waking, inquires about the wight infestation to find if it has spread further.
You spend the afternoon running errands and recuperating at the inn. Shortly before dusk, the inn grows increasingly busy as people from around the city make their way there to dine, drink, and share stories. The swarthy human bartender laughs with a pair of gnomes standing on barstools. One of the gnomes is a crusty-looking fellow with gray hair and a short beard. He is wearing a nondescript gray shirt with tan pants and boots. He has a number of colored phials and pouches on his belt, along with a small dagger. The other gnome is a cheerful woman with cherry-red hair. She, too, wears plain clothing, although hers is cleaner. She has a bunch of vials and potions on her belt, along with a short sword. About a dozen armed and armored dwarves can be heard singing upstairs. Their melodic voices carry down, singing about how much a friend of their hates their mirth.
By contrast, a trio of off-duty silver guards drink quietly at a corner table. The three human men sit drinking at a table in the southwest corner. They have only recently arrived here, and appear to be preparing for some serious drinking this evening. One has a longsword and a shield, another has a longbow, and the third has a greatsword.
A group of wide-eyed youths sit at a center table. There are six young men and women seated around this table. They wear rough armor and carry worn weapons. One of the young men complains loudly of how those giant rats they fought yesterday were no real challenge, while another suggests they look for a tribe of goblins that were seen near a forest fire. A young woman suggests they tend to their wounds before rushing off into more danger, pointing to her own bandaged arm as evidence. The second young woman is pestering another young man to share his life's story, saying "Come on! We barely know each other!" The sixth member of the group, a burly young man, rushes around the bar, asking anyone and everyone if they have any problems that need solving.
A lively "duel" has begun between a halfling man and a half-elven woman. Standing atop their table, the halfling thrusts a drinking straw at the sitting woman, who parries with her own straw. The two continue on like this, laughing, until the halfling manages to disarm the woman, flicking her straw across the tavern and through the opening doorway, where it bounces off the helm of an arriving mithral guard. The guard looks taken aback for a moment, but continues into the tavern after a moment. With him is Miles Greywater, the ringleader of the cult you captured last night. He is armed with a shortsword and carries a scroll case and a crossbow slung on his back. Oddly, he looks like he's accompanying the guard on equal terms. The guard looks around for you and approaches. He hands a sealed letter to you, saying "The commander instructed me to give this to you. He's been cleared, and will help you as you pursue the cult. Good luck." He turns and leaves, while Miles remains, looking sheepish. "I am truly sorry for my actions while I was under the cultist's spell," he says. "If it means anything, I want to help you take out this cult as much as you do."
The gnomes at the bar have been keeping an eye on your comings and goings.
Martin returns, to the tavern after a day of shopping, giving Hascya his share of the treasure, and tossing the wand to Alaric. You notice that he is wearing a new shield large black steal shield, engraved with a wolf's mouth on the front, rimmed with silver inlays.
On the back of the shield you notice an inlay-ed silver text which reads, "To Martin, a dearest son, for his new office in the Mithral guard."
Selling:
Jeweled Dagger, +1 Breastplate, +2 steel shield (old shield)
Shopping trip includes:
Lion Shield (ultimate equipment)
Daylight Pellets (MIC- 156) Pellets
Counterstrike Bracers (MIC-90)
Gold remaining: 149
Martin snarls when he first sees Miles, and snatches the letter from the guardsman. Reading through the letter, (which takes Martin some time) you can see Martin tense, and then relax, finally looking up at Miles. "Coaxed into all this nonsense eh? Well, I sure hope that's true for both our sakes. Well, if we're going to be using you then we better get started. Where would you suggesting starting our search? We can go back down into the sewers, but maybe you have a better idea?"
"They never took me to their main base. I went between three disused barracks in which they housed their fake guards, and a big house overlooking the docks. The group in the warehouse consisted of everyone from the docks barracks, and I recognized the men who attacked in the street last night as being from the market quarter. There is a third barracks in Gaoltown, beneath the old prison. It sounds like you burned the house down, so the prison might be a good place to start," Miles says. "There were about a dozen soldiers at each base, and a group of skeletons at the house. I never went into the cellblocks at the prison. It's possible that more people were down there. I didn't know about a base in the sewers. If you think that's the main base, it could be worthwhile to go there and try to take out the leaders first."
After spending the afternoon resting from their earlier endeavors and shopping to stock up on supplies, the party discussed two recent developments: the arrival of Miles and the discovery of the King's signet ring in Hascya's belt pouch. The former they grudgingly agreed to take with them, while the latter they examined more closely. As it turned out, the ring could be used to create an arcane mark with an older version of the seal of Silverkeep, as well as granting the wearer protection from divination spells . After some brief speculation as to why the king would want to hide from detection magic, Martin attempted to hide the king's signet ring on his person , but not before Hascya turned one of the inn's napkins into a legal document.
The party decided to investigate Miles's lead on the prison. Upon arriving at the derelict fortification, the party hatched a plan: Alaric would go in alone under the pretense of being a lost old man and scout out the defenses, including whether there were any sentries posted or what was up with the guard dog Miles had heard while there. The rest of the party would hide on the other side of the fortress from the gate and come running should Alaric call for help. Alaric entered the prison grounds and called out to see if anyone was there. When he came close to the burnt-out shell of a keep, a blood-curdling howl sounded from the ruin and a horse-sized shadowy beast leapt forth, sinking its teeth into Alaric as it bore him to the ground. Failing to escape its clutches, Alaric loosed an indistinct cry for help. It took the party a while to arrive, during which time the beast continued to maul the frail man. The party eventually arrived, and Martin and Ankou shredded the shadow-wreathed beast. During the fight, the beast raked its tail across Hascya's brow, scarring and nearly blinding the ashlander.
After healing their wounds, the party pressed into the prison via the cellar entrance. They proceeded to blitz through the labyrinthine hallways as Martin led the way with his shield and sword. Alaric used his slumber hex to knock out a number of the corrupt guards, and Hascya managed to take a couple down as well. After Martin finished bashing the guards into submission, Hascya and he proceeded down into the remaining cell block, from which they heard shrieking. Alaric and Miles were left behind to restrain the surviving (but asleep) guards.
Descending the stairs, Hascya and Martin saw a long, dimly-lit cell block with a few people locked in cells. Three fresh corpses lay in the center aisle at the feet of a hulking, shadowy figure with red eyes and a greatsword. As soon as Hascya descended the stairs, the shadowy figure charged him, inflicting a devastating blow and slicing the Ashlander open. Furious at this vicious display, Martin began to do battle with the foe. Each inflicted vicious blows on the other, but in the end Martin stood victorious. No sooner had the shadow-wreathed figure fallen than the fresh corpses in the room's center began to rise as wights. Tearfully, for he believed Hascya slain, Martin moved to battle the newly-risen dead. Alaric entered the cell block about this time, and stabilized and healed Hascya, who rejoined the fight just as a single wight remained. Ignoring the wight for a moment, Martin pulled Hascya into a tearful hug. They then beat the unliving crap out of the wight.
After bandying about a few heals, the party told the captive people that they were safer in the cells for the time being and pressed deeper, descending into a cylindrical cell block. The abandoned area appeared to have a single rough tunnel exit, but Alaric's detection magic revealed the presence of two illusory effect: one on the tunnel, and another on a section of wall in an opposite cell. Choosing to examine the opposite cell, the party discovered that it was another false wall. The party ventured into the tunnel that had been revealed, but upon realizing how lengthy it was, they backtracked to the prison. They collected the magical items of loot and Sent Miles to bring reinforcements from the city guard, and then they investigated the apparent exit from the cylindrical section of the prison. It turns out that the obvious exit had been but an illusion in which an incorporeal spirit hid. Vanquishing the beast with his new magical gauntlet, Martin led the party down the actual tunnel.
After nearly an hour's trek through the old tunnel, the party emerged into an old temple-like structure. Despite hearing chanting echo through the hallways, Hascya decided to prod one of the stationary skeletons in an alcove with his mace. Predictably, it became animate and struck back. The party fought the skeletons and pressed into the temple, pausing briefly to examine a long-dried, dust-covered fountain. All they deduced from it was that it was an object of an ancient, foreign religion. Following the chanting, they ventured into the main hallway, at the end of which they saw a large, vaulted chamber. In the center of the chamber was an altar with fresh corpses lying in front of it, a twitching, smoking corpse atop it, and a shadow-wreathed skeletal figure chanting behind it. In front of the altar was the warlock the party faced in the warehouse the previous day.
Martin charged into the fray, and Alaric conjured up black tentacles throughout the room as the warlock raised the corpses as skeletons and animated those in alcoves throughout the complex and disappeared. The battle turned increasingly frantic as the party attempted to disrupt the ritual. Alaric failed twice to dispel the ritual before being forced to dismiss his black tentacles spell to allow his allies to move freely through the chamber. Martin flung a daylight pellet into the chamber before charging into the mass of tentacles, only to be paralyzed by the ritual caster's magic. Hascya defended himself and Hascya against the encroaching skeletons for a time before edging into the chamber with Hascya. Fortunately, the ritual to raise the corpse upon the altar faild as the shadowy caster was weakened by the party's efforts and the bright light suffused throughout the room. Eventually, the warlock reappeared by the fountain and the skeleton appeared alongside him before conjuring a wall to seal the party within the chamber. Hascya determined that the new wall was actually real by ramming face first into it. Battered and bloody, the party finished off the remaining skeletons, and Alaric teleported them to the entrance of the old temple. The shadow-wreatehd skeletal caster and the warlock were nowhere to be seen, but their examinations revealed a secret chamber hidden just off of the main hallway, inside which was a desk covered in old books and notes, along with a locked chest. Leaving the chest for later, Martin swept the papers from the desk and into his bag. Alaric and Hascya, meanwhile, noticed that the fountain contained bloodstains. Acting quickly, Hascya cut his palm and let it bleed into the fountain. A shadowy rift opened in front of them, and the party rushed through it.
Through the rift, the party finds itself in a vast cavern amid the ruins of a small building. Shadowy hills stretch as far as the eye could see, and a silvery river flowed in the distance. The foes are nowhere to be seen, and the rift closes behind you.
Alaric sees what he can surmise around the surrounding environment or the tracks of those they seek.
Knowledge (Survival):
Craft(Diplomacy)
detect evil
The lands around you look to be grassy hills, and you stand amid the rubble of a small stone building. A river winds gently through the landscape, its silvery waters tranquil. The entire area, however, is grayed and muted. The grasses growing on the hills are a translucent gray, and the earth black. This area is contained within a high-ceilinged cavern.
Additionally, because of its close connection to the material plane, the shadow plane can be used by powerful spellcasters to travel between locations on the material plane via secret routes that are far swifter than those found on the material plane. Additionally, time moves differently here than on the material plane: a few hours in this realm are but minutes on the material plane.
Recent footprints lead to a nearby hillcrest, where blood lies spilled. The footprints end here.
Well, I can has survival. Let's track these bastards.
Castiel's Check on Knowledge (Planes):
"It would appear that we will have another undead to face. I suspect that our acquaintance the cowardly warlock has been changed into a form less likely to run or hide in the future by the other spellcaster."
"But I am concerned. It would seem that more time has passed on this side than our own. These tracks and blood are hours old, yet we found the portal to this side in minutes at most. The only thing I can assume is that time here moves more quickly than our side."
"Unfortunately tracking them will be difficult as the tracks end and I suspect they used a spell to go somewhere in this realm. Castiel could you tell me if this world has a "north"?"
There are no further footprints to follow.
Castiel indicates which direction is north. The bloodied hilltop is southwest of the ruin where you entered this realm.
They went to the river. If only Twohey were here to track them... He rounds on Alaric. Sorcerer! Do you have any way to send a message back to Silverkeep? In the meantime, I will scout for our quarry. If I shoot lights into the sky, come to my aid, yes?
With that, he wades across the river, and looks for signs of blood or whatever on the other side.
Hascya swims into the river, disappearing briefly as the waters churn suddenly. He then emerges on the same bank he started from.
Knowledge (Planes):
Before Hascya leave Alaric says "My apologies Hascya, I do not have a way to communicate with the outside world. More importantly with the time difference being as large as it is, it might take days if not weeks for someone to help us even if we could get a message through. I fear that we are on our own for the forseeable future. Don't worry I will come to your aid should I see lights or hear screams."
Then when Hascya returns:
"What happened Hascya? Were you turned back by the water?"
Martin scans the waterline, looking for signs of the skeleton's retreat.
Surv:
"Well, we should probably hunt for them. Unless you have another plan for getting out of here. Let's follow the river front, we'll likely run into some form of settlement. Although, as to who we will meet there is anyone's guess."
Do you want to follow the river upstream or downstream?
Alaric flies low up and down the river on the other bank looking for footprints.
Perception: