A Dangerous Path - Concluded
Josnavaarin throws a flask of oil at the fiery swarm of mosquitoes, but the oil fails to hit any of the flying creatures, instead splashing near them.
Not to be outdone this time, Ruinor sends a jet of flame out. The flames bake the rest of the mosquitoes, and any suriviving insects scatter, effectively ending the swarm.
End of Combat
After the quick combat ends, Janira offers to spend a moment tending to any wounds, but sees that Maximilian has already helped the injured Orovan. "Very good, Max!" she says with a raised eyebrow at the skald. "We need to get a move on quick, if we are going to reach the cave by nightfall."
AS you move through the thick woods, you find the trail blocked by fallen trees, shortcuts overgrown, and dead end trails. Your skill at woodcraft is tested to see if you can find a quick enough path through the woods to get to your destination on time.
With Orovan's aid, the party finds a quicker path through the built-up woods, and is soon hustling along towards the Kortos Mounts.
Several hours later, 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 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 before whatever it is spots us!" As if she's 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 ti in the forest, and join you as soon as I can. Now go! GO!" She heaves the backpack into the cave, casts a spell, and darts off toward the minotaur before turning to lure it away.
The crack in the rock is only 5 ft wide, and appears to lead back into the cave for as far as you can see in the darkness.
"The rest of you, RUN!" cries Janira over her shoulder. You see her doing battle with the minotaur slowly leading it away from your location. Soon she is lost to view, blocked by trees and dense undergrowth. The cacophony of the chase fades and the sounds of the forest slowly return to normal.
The cave entrance is only about 5' wide, and the narrow tunnel twists and turns for several hundred feet before slowly opening to a wider passage. The cave here is damp and slippery, which reduces any Acrobatics check inside the cavern by -2, unless otherwise noted. A luminescent blue-green fungus grows on the walls in various patches, providing dim light (20% miss chance).
Ahead, a large hole spans the cave's width and stretches 10' down the path. At the bottom of the 20' deep pit, which seems to be covered with spikes, lies a small bundle of cloth. The passage here is roughly 10' wide, and 10' high. No stalactites or other natural protrusions are above the pit. There are also few handholds on the walls around the pit.
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Aarion glances around while considering the the local environment. This forest is quite accommodating in comparison to the thick foliage of the Mwangi.
With little time to react to the Minotaur, Aarion presses through the narrow entrance and follows the group into the cave. "I wonder why our escort didn't just come through this tiny hole. That big oaf couldn't have possible fit through the small crack."
"We should've brought rope." Orovan says as he nods to himself.
Aarion glances around while considering the the local environment. This forest is quite accommodating in comparison to the thick foliage of the Mwangi.
With little time to react to the Minotaur, Aarion presses through the narrow entrance and follows the group into the cave. "I wonder why our escort didn't just come through this tiny hole. That big oaf couldn't have possible fit through the small crack."
Stopping before the pit to see what tools are available, Aarion finds a potion of barkskin, 2 potions of CLW, a potion of vanish, a scroll of entangle, a scroll of gust of wind, a scroll of identify, a scroll of mage armor, a scroll of obscuring mist, a wand of burning hands (CL3, 4 charges), a wand of CLW (CL3, 8 charges), flask of acid, 2 alchemist's fire, a vial of holy water, a smokestick, a tanglefoot bag, a thunderstone, a dose of antitoxin, and 2 sunrods.
There does not appear to be an great places to secure the rope, but it can be held by the rest of you as one descends. Orovan takes some time to know the rope before trying the descent.
The half-orc lowers himself gently to the ground, as the rest of the group plays out slack in the rope. Avoiding the nasty iron spikes at the bottom, ORovan is soon able to set foot in the bottom of the pit. The pit appears to be about 20' deep, but is a 10' square. The sides are very smooth which would make normal climb out very difficult.
The bundle of cloth seen at the bottom of the pit appears to be a grey-brown cloak, patterned to camouflaged well in the woods outside the cave.
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Ruinor is too busy looking through all the scrolls in Janira's bag to notice what is going on with the pit. He turns around with a few scrolls and a wand in his hand and looks startled to see Jos on the other side of the pit.
"How did you get over there? And what happened to Orovan? I didn't hear a scream, so I assume he didn't fall in. Anyway, since I'm the only one who can use these, why don't I hold onto them in case we need them. Silverback and Max, there are some scrolls here that I think you can use, and there are some potions and equipment that the rest of you might want. I'm sure Janira won't mind and we can always give it back to her if we don't use it."
Once he puts the new items in his backpack, he waits until Jos finds a way for the rest of the group to cross the pit.
Jos eyes the hole backs up and then runs to jump over the hole.
[dice=jump]1d20 + 10
In the bottom of the pit, Orovan sees no traps on or around the bundle of cloth. It appears there are several bones lying there around it as well, signs that the previous owner, was unfortunate.
Orovan is soon joined in the bottom of the pit by Aarion, and they both look up to see Josnavaarin leap over the top, topple precariously on the edge for a second, then regain his balance on the other side.
Scouting forward, Josnavaarin sees a 5' wide, and 10' long plank down the hall just a few feet, which if pulled into place, would make the pit easy to cross.
The rest of the group starts sorting out the items that were in Janira's pack for future use.
After a bit of scrambling, all the group is across the pit, either the hard way or the easy way.
The cloak radiates magic, but Ruinor's limited experience does not allow him to identify the aura.
The tunnel continues on, leading even deeper beneath the Kortos Mounts, until it eventually opens 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.The carvings here are different in style from the petroglyphs found elsewhere in the caves.
The panels you can read all appear to be pictorial representation of parables from the History and Future of Humanity, the principle holy text of Aroden. The panels and associated words seem to vary slightly from the more commonly known parables, indicating perhaps that they are from an older version of the work.
Panel 1 - The Craftsman This panel depicts a craftsman creating shoes, pots, jewelry, and other movable goods reflecting Aroden's delight at seeing his people express their ingenuity in creating new things from raw materials.
Panel 2 - The Farmer This panel depicts a farmer plowing 4 lines in a field, retelling Aroden's prophecy that humankind would prepare the rocky earth for planting and over generations wear the rocks down into fertile soil.
Panel 3 - The Fisherman The fisherman is depicted hauling in an enormous catch of small fish to take back to Absalom, illustrating Aroden's declaration that a great host of creatures could accomplish a great task, whether that be taming the wilds or feeding a nation.
Panel 4 - The Tailor This panel depicts a man sewing together a long cloth featuring many patterns that wraps around a city like a moat, referencing Aroden's proclamation that the fate of all peoples is woven together, it shall be humanity's greatest strength.
After looking at the panels for several minutes and making notes of what they say, the Pathfinder initiates set out down the cavern corridor lined by the blue torches. On closer inspectino they appear to be everburning torches.
The short tunnel leads to another wide cavern. The soft light of the surrounding fungus mixes with the flickering glow of the nearby torches to reveal a grand chamber. A large pool of water along the chamber’s southern edge reflects the blue and green radiance to illuminate the massive stalactites that cling to the ceiling overhead. Two other tunnels branch off from this area, leading to the east and west.
Rising up from the pool is a column of rock with steeply sloped sides and a flat top, as if someone had sawn off the top of a massive stalagmite. A miniature city carved from this same stone occupies nearly the entire surface. Tiny trinkets such as ancient coins, polished semiprecious stones, and ornately braided loops of string are scattered throughout the diorama, and pale cave frogs clamber atop it. The smooth cavern floor is
covered in gravel and pebbles along the edge of the pool, and several foot-long centipedes prowl among the gravel in their search for prey.
The ceiling in this chamber is 20' overhead, and is crowded by dozens of stalactites some measuring as long as 10' from base to tip.
Kneeling in the water is a lone gillman, dressed in a long mottled robe. He seems to be deep in thought or concentration and has not turned to see you yet, even though you are making significant noise as you approach.