Jokum will stick out an arm to make sure no one moves past him into the cavern. Those look recently fallen...this cave better be stable.
Now that several party members carry lit torches, Tess is about to put out her lights; she stops suddenly as if struck by a thought, and peers down the eastern passage as the rest go on.
"Suppose there's something else on this side?" she murmurs distractedly, and against her better judgement, pushes her lights further into the passage. She walks slowly over to the mouth of the tunnel, glancing back surreptitiously to see if she's noticed.
Examining where the lights go:
torn bedroll(-)
three candle stubs(-)
bent fishhook(-)
10 feet of badly frayed hemp rope(-)
copper brooch depicting a bat (Xavian)
Peering into the new chamber the sylph is alert for any hidden foes.
above quite well and is in no real danger of collapse.
Xaivan will simply follow Pollux since he seems to have an idea of what he is doing and where he wants to go. He'll take a look around as well.
Considering the implications of the phrase Curiosity killed the cat as if for the first time, Tess makes a quick note on her slate to connect the tunnel back to their previous location. She then turns and walks quickly to rejoin the group.
"I, ah... Sorua ran behind into the other tunnel and I went to retrieve him, and I saw a backpack strap hanging above me- um, above him- from a cliff. Assuming none of us are missing any straps, there's someone else that fell from the festival running around in the darkness." She shuffles her feet uncertainly, uncomfortable with the fib, and tries to play it off as fear of the unknown wanderer. "So maybe we ought to ask questions before we shoot anything if we can't see what it is?"
Hey, that backpack might have something useful in it! We should go get it. Xaivan suddenly realizes how that might sound and quickly adds, And someone might need our help!
Tess grins at the halfling's sudden.... Heroism. "I'm afraid it was only the strap of a backpack. Someone must've fallen, their backpack got caught by the strap, and the rest tore away with the person."
And suddenly Karthak finds himself alone in the cavern:"Where are you going! Damnation! Don't split with no good reason like that!!!"
Jokum sighs as the halfling and the girl enthuse over the backpack strap. "Brother Ironbreaker, Pollux," he calls. "Let's investigate this other mystery--there doesn't seem to be anything in here of particular interest, and the cavern doesn't seem liable to collapse at a moment's notice. Not if it withstood the previous cave-in, anyway," he mutters to himself.
So where did you see this backpack... umm, the strap? Xaivan will let Tess lead the way if they party is indeed heading in that direction.
"We are losing time! Valuable time!" grumbles the dwarf while reluctantly following Jokum towards the rest of the group
When they arrive, Jokum stares glumly up at the backpack.
"So...anyone have any bright ideas on how to get that down?" he asks. "I could shoot it...but I doubt it would do much good. Is anyone a decent climber?"
"I'll do it, it's not so high that I even have to worry about falling."
Ce-Eshna, nimbly climbs the broken stone but the rock is slick and she makes little progress.
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Pollux watches Ce-Eshna try and fail. He reaches into his hair and scratches, as if untangling a curl, his eyes focusing on the backpack. "It does seem like you'd be able to grab it if you had six or so feet extra height. Here..." he walks under the ledge, bends down and cups his hands for her to step in. "I don't know if you have any experience leading cheers, but this shouldn't be too difficult either way." he smiles at her reassuringly.
Grinning slightly she cocks her head, "Throwing an air-born creature to make it airborne? Good plan!"
Karthak shakes his head vigorously at his companions:"Really? All this delay just for a backpack?"
"I for one am inclined to get it down. Who knows how long we'll be here--that bag could contain food, water, any number of useful things," Jokum tells the dwarf, as he watches Ce-Eshna scramble up the rock.
Curb your impatience. It won't take hours to retrieve the pack. Comb your beard if you need to pass the time.
With the skillful help of Pollux, Ce-Eshna is able to retrieve the pack.
Treasure: The pack itself is a masterwork backpack that contains 10 days of trail rations, a flint and steel, a set of caltrops, two flasks of oil, a bundle of 12 arrows, a potion of cure light wounds, and a potion of lesser restoration.
Aha! A good find indeed! Xaivan's eyes grow a bit wider once he sees the items inside. Catching himself, he then states, We should look to see if the previous owner of this pack is around here somewhere.
Tess grins widely as item after item is removed from the backpack. "Oh wow! I like the stuff in this tunnel much better!"
When the potions are revealed, her eyes go wide and she takes them for a moment, examining them closely. "I've never actually seen potions before. They... They feel powerful!" She rifles through her backpack to pull out her journal and scribbles a few notes about the potions, then, realizing there's nothing else to keep them in the cavern, stuffs the notebook back in her backpack sheepishly.
Once the equipment is gathered up, Tess and Sorua continue with the group, standing near Aravashnial. "Um... Despite the circumstances, how are you feeling? Do you know anything else interesting about these caverns?"
Nodding at the arrows, "I'll split these with anyone else who needs them."
Xaivan raises his hand. Can never have too many.
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"Well that went about as expected." Pollux says, catching Ce-Eshna on her way down. He takes a moment to set her back on her feet, admiring her windswept hair. "That was brilliant." As the bag is handed off to Xaivan he finds a good rock on the ground and lights it once again.
Pollux turns to Karthak. "We're going to be moving at a moseying pace either way considering the injured; so we may as well be smart about it and find whatever we can to help us along the way. My back is bare so I'll carry the backpack. Unfortunately when I left the inn this morning I did not think I'd be in some forsaken hole in the ground so I did not think to bring all of my supplies."
Jokum raises his hand. "I'll take some arrows as well. Good job with the climb."
Studying the rest, he adds, "I have some rations in my pack--we could split them up, or pool everything together and store it in one place. Might be easier to track that way. Ce-Eshna, since you're our rearguard, why don't you take the caltrops? Someone in the middle should take the oil--could make a handy torch, or even a bomb in a pinch."
Handing out the arrows and taking the caltrops she tosses the backpack to Tess and Pollux to deal with the rest.
Tess hands the backpack to Pollux, slipping the potions into her own bag.
As you finish digging through the backpack a chill runs down Pollux's spine. As the group begins to make their way back down the passage, a white serpent lashes out from the rocks. Its fangs biting deep in Pollux's ankle.
frequency 1/round for 6 rounds; effect 1d2
Con; cure 1 save.
Ce-Eshna draws her kurki and dives at the little beast
"See what happens when you get distracted?" scoffs Karthak while slashing at the serpent with his axe
Tess shrieks in surprise when the snake bites Pollux. She steadies herself and stamps her foot in frustration. "Okay, enough's enough! I am so sick of us getting pounced on by creepy crawly things!" She casts an icy glare at the reptile, and suddenly feels her anger manifesting in her gaze.
The girl is dumbfounded by this sudden power- What- what was that? I didn't know I could do that!- but attempts to nonchalantly play it off as a spell she cast.
She reaches for one of her daggers as she tries to identify the power she called upon.
As it wont survive those hits and Xaivan is near the bottom i'll just wrap this up.
Tesseract Tess feels a flash of power as she shouts.
Snake The serpent lashes forward continuing its relentless assault.
Ce-Eshna Her blade cuts deep,
AneviaIs caught off guard by the sudden appearance of the snake,
realizing that there's little she can do she waits.
Pollux Grows pale and steps away from the snake drawing his spear.
Karthakputs an end to the serpent's life.
Tess stows her dagger absently, mind preoccupied with what had just happened, when she notices the blanched look on the young cleric's face.
"You look awful, Pastor Wardroxian!" the girl exclaims, her mismatched cheeks going pale as well. She helps him sit down for a moment and presses her hand to his burning forehead.
"Poisons are nasty..." she murmurs sympathetically, examining the bite wound. She applies a bandage and wraps the puncture mark itself. "Lie back and be still while you try to fight it off. That's the best we can do without antivenom."
Jokum takes the head again. "Back to the other passage, then." I'll have to keep an eye on him; he'll be weaker in this state, not as much help to the pack. We can't afford too many more injuries, or we'll never get out of here.
Still scoffing, Karthak nods:"An no more delays. If we want to stop we warn before doing it. Start wandering down here and we might never find the way back up!", that said the dwarf follows, right behind Jokum
Fort Save : 1d20 + 4 - 1 ⇒ (8) + 4 - 1 = 11
Now Tess heal check applies for your save against the combined poison but as you've taken another two your at a -2.
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"For all your bellyaching one would think you were the snakebit one, Brother Ironbreaker." he says, getting his composure back. He pauses and gags for a moment, as if he's about to vomit. He opens his mouth to continue, but doesn't in case more than words start pouring out. He continues to move through the passage in silence, gesturing for the other injured members of the party to follow.
Walking and without tourning, like he was talking to himself Karthak says loudly:"The point is we need to work togheter. To cohordinate. What happened is a clear display of how things will go if we do not. But I trust you learned your lesson. Bitten once, bitten twice, there's no third bite... as they say"
Ug, some crusaders can be so touchy... Grinning slightly, "You going to be ok Pollux? Can't have you falling down the next time I need a toss in the air!" Still keeping to the back she splits her attention somewhat now so she can better cover those at the front as well.
Aprox 12:45pm
After traveling the winding route for about 1,900 feet (at a speed of 15 feet through the rough cavern passages, this takes about 25 minutes to navigate), you reach the tunnel's end at a junction. To the north, a 5-footwide opening in the wall leads into a cave filled with soft but nasty-looking green light-the tunnel itself continues south.