With the cacophonious fall of the tree and the scattering of animals to masses of legs emerge from the rotten timber. Without hesitation Aetherys loses a vial of alchemists fire missing her mark she still manages to catch a portion of the swarm (S1 2 damage).
The swarm moves towards the group but unable to closes the distance merely 5 feet from the group.
Tori misses her mark too targeting the same swarm (s1 4 damage). Tessara hits her mark and finishes of the remaining spiders (s1 dead).
Wayne targets the second mass missing his mark, 3 damage and Marika retreats retrieving a scroll from her belongings.
The Second swarm moves closer and is on top of the group.
F Human (Varisian) Fighter 7 - HP 59/60 - AC 21/T: 16/FF: 16 - Perception +1 - Fort: +7, Ref: +8, Will: +4 (+2 vs. fear) - CMB: +9, CMD: 24 - Speed: 30 - Init. +7 - Sense Motive: +1
"That's all I got guys, unless one of you have extras. I don't think my arrows or sword are going to do much." Tori says glumly, then retreats back 30 ft from the swarm.
Female Human Sorcerer (Air)(Seeker) 1(HP 7/7, AC 16, touch 12, flat-footed 14, CMD 11, CMB -1, F+1, R+2, W+2, Init +2, Per +5 (6 for traps), SM +0)
Marika chants the words on the scroll, fumbling through while pointing her hand out.
Burning Hands. If needed, moving back up to be in range, preferably of both swarms but definitely Swarm 1 if that's not possible. 1d4 ⇒ 1Damage, +1 if Havoc counts (not really sure if reading from a scroll does, but I know wands and staves don't.
Seeing her efforts didn't contribute much to the eradiaction of the swarm, the Qadiran elf retrieves a Vermin repellent from her bag and applies it on her skin.
Vermin Repellent (UE):
Vermin Repellent
Price 5 gp; Weight —
This vile-smelling white paste keeps vermin at bay if spread on your skin. Normal-sized (Fine) vermin avoid you. Swarms of vermin must make a successful DC 15 Fortitude saving throw in order to enter your square. Vermin repellent has no adverse effect on vermin of Small size or larger, though if an attacking vermin has a choice of targets that are respectively covered and not covered in repellent, it usually chooses the creatures without repellent. Once applied, vermin repellent remains effective for 4 hours or until you spend 1 round washing it off.
Vermin repellent counts as a strong scent, allowing creatures with the scent ability to detect it at a greater range (see the Universal Monster Rules in the Bestiary).
| Witch 12 | AC 15 (19 w/Mage Armor) T 14 FF 12 | HP 86/86 (14 temp HP)| F+12,R+11,W+13 | Evasion | Init +3 | Perc +18 | Lowlight Vision | +2 to recover from continuous effects such as such as ongoing poison damage, daily saving throws against disease, a hold person spell, or lingering damage from an attack |
If the last swarm is still up, Tess casts her own Burning Hands,
Tori retreats, wayne retreats, autherys uses vermin repellent
Marika hits the swarm with a burning hands (4 damage)
Kageko hits it with an alchemist fire (7 damage)
and Tessara finishes the swarm off before they can reach her group
F Human (Varisian) Fighter 7 - HP 59/60 - AC 21/T: 16/FF: 16 - Perception +1 - Fort: +7, Ref: +8, Will: +4 (+2 vs. fear) - CMB: +9, CMD: 24 - Speed: 30 - Init. +7 - Sense Motive: +1
Walking back up with the rest of the group, Tori looks around at the remains of the swarms, pinching her nose to cut off the smell of smoldering vermin and repellent.
"Well, that was strange. Did you have problems with these things last time you were here, Janira?"
I don't think this is very unusual. After all, we were warned about the possibility swarms may plague this area. Shall we continue? We'd better not rest too long if we want to get there tonight.
Female Human Ninja 1 (HP 9/9, AC 16, touch 13, flat-footed 13, CMD 15/12, CMB +2, F+1, R+5, W+0, Init +3, Per +4, SM +4)
Kageko dusts off her hands and gives Wayne one last reproachful look.
"Silly superstition or no, might it be possible -- for my piece of mind if no other reason -- to not complain out loud about the lack of action or difficulty from here on in?"
| Witch 12 | AC 15 (19 w/Mage Armor) T 14 FF 12 | HP 86/86 (14 temp HP)| F+12,R+11,W+13 | Evasion | Init +3 | Perc +18 | Lowlight Vision | +2 to recover from continuous effects such as such as ongoing poison damage, daily saving throws against disease, a hold person spell, or lingering damage from an attack |
"I agree. Let's keep going. Where's there are two swarms, there could easily be three..."
Janeria says Don't get away from the cities too much do you Troi? Eh, spider swarms are quite common place. Everyone alright?
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 I saw 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’d 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,”[b] she continues, pulling off her backpack, [b]“and head deeper into the caves. Finish your mission. I’ll lead it away from the caves, lose it in the forest, and join you as soon as I can. Now go! GO!” She heaves her backpack into the cave, casts a spell, and darts off toward the minotaur before turning to lure it away.
Aetherys reacts as if she wanted to protest, but thinks twice and accepts the halfling's order. Grasping the bag, she enters the cave without a second thought. Quick, inside the cave! Let us not allow Janira's choice be in vain. I for one have complete faith in her abilities to elude that enormous creatures, halflings have a knack for it.
F Human (Varisian) Fighter 7 - HP 59/60 - AC 21/T: 16/FF: 16 - Perception +1 - Fort: +7, Ref: +8, Will: +4 (+2 vs. fear) - CMB: +9, CMD: 24 - Speed: 30 - Init. +7 - Sense Motive: +1
"Don't camp in these woods, got it."
When the minotaur appears, Tori swiftly moves into the cave with no comment or hesitation. Once inside she asks, "Anyone got some light or is it torch time?"
| Witch 12 | AC 15 (19 w/Mage Armor) T 14 FF 12 | HP 86/86 (14 temp HP)| F+12,R+11,W+13 | Evasion | Init +3 | Perc +18 | Lowlight Vision | +2 to recover from continuous effects such as such as ongoing poison damage, daily saving throws against disease, a hold person spell, or lingering damage from an attack |
Tess wordlessly nods, and heads deeper into the caves. Once she sees the beast head in a different direction she asks the others to open the bag. "It's always good to know exactly what tools you have, before you might need them."
potion of barkskin, potions of cure light wounds (2), potion of feather stepAPG, potion of vanishAPG, scroll of entangle, scroll of gust of wind, scroll of identify, scroll of mage armor (CL 6), scroll of obscuring mist, wand of burning hands (CL 3rd, 4 charges), wand of cure light wounds (CL 3rd, 8 charges), acid, alchemist’s fire (2), holy water, smokestick, tanglefoot bags (2), thunderstone;
| Witch 12 | AC 15 (19 w/Mage Armor) T 14 FF 12 | HP 86/86 (14 temp HP)| F+12,R+11,W+13 | Evasion | Init +3 | Perc +18 | Lowlight Vision | +2 to recover from continuous effects such as such as ongoing poison damage, daily saving throws against disease, a hold person spell, or lingering damage from an attack |
"Alright, who can use what? I can use the wand to keep us healed. A warrior should take the Barkskin and CLW potions."
F Human (Varisian) Fighter 7 - HP 59/60 - AC 21/T: 16/FF: 16 - Perception +1 - Fort: +7, Ref: +8, Will: +4 (+2 vs. fear) - CMB: +9, CMD: 24 - Speed: 30 - Init. +7 - Sense Motive: +1
As the contents of the bag are displayed, "I do most of my fighting on the back line, but I'll take one of the alchemist fires in case we run into one of those swarms again. I don't think I know your combat abilities well enough to make any judgments on who should take what."
Female Human Sorcerer (Air)(Seeker) 1(HP 7/7, AC 16, touch 12, flat-footed 14, CMD 11, CMB -1, F+1, R+2, W+2, Init +2, Per +5 (6 for traps), SM +0)
Marika looks over the take with only a slight frown. "Well, I could probably get some use out of the wand. It's a bit better than the scrolls I brought along, and more convenient to keep a grip on. Still prefer my own magic."
Female Human Sorcerer (Air)(Seeker) 1(HP 7/7, AC 16, touch 12, flat-footed 14, CMD 11, CMB -1, F+1, R+2, W+2, Init +2, Per +5 (6 for traps), SM +0)
You also can't use it without spending at least a full round on it when that happens if you're planning on normal spellcasting. And provoking. Which, when Burning Hands is a good idea, you do not want to do because it normally means you're surrounded. Especially since you provoke twice unless you also move. (Yes, you do, you can only provoke once with a given action, but draw and use is two separate ones.) Marika's capable of moving without provoking a great deal of the time with her acrobatics score and can keep the wand in-hand since she doesn't make use of weapons normally.
The narrow tunnel twists and turns for several hundred feet before slowly opening to a wider passage. A large hole spans the cave’s width and stretches ten feet down the path. At the bottom of the pit lies a small bundle of cloth.
| Witch 12 | AC 15 (19 w/Mage Armor) T 14 FF 12 | HP 86/86 (14 temp HP)| F+12,R+11,W+13 | Evasion | Init +3 | Perc +18 | Lowlight Vision | +2 to recover from continuous effects such as such as ongoing poison damage, daily saving throws against disease, a hold person spell, or lingering damage from an attack |
Is the magus our main front liner? If so, he needs the potion of Barkskin too.
Tess takes the wand and the scroll of Mage Armor that went unclaimed, she reads the scroll, using its magic. "This scroll will protect me for about six hours. Should be plenty of time to explore this place by then."
She will then cast detect magic as she looks at the cloth from a distance.
The bundle of cloth at the bottom of the pit is actually a cloak of resistance +1, the lost property of another pilgrim.
Assuming you continue on...
The tunnels continue on, leading deeper beneath the Kortos Mounts until they eventually open 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.
| Witch 12 | AC 15 (19 w/Mage Armor) T 14 FF 12 | HP 86/86 (14 temp HP)| F+12,R+11,W+13 | Evasion | Init +3 | Perc +18 | Lowlight Vision | +2 to recover from continuous effects such as such as ongoing poison damage, daily saving throws against disease, a hold person spell, or lingering damage from an attack |
Tess will pick up the magical cloak and hand it to the gunslinger. "You went down and got it, would you like to wear it? It'll keep you safer."
Any knowledge rolls that might help with the weathered reliefs?
The carvings here are different in style from the petroglyphs found elsewhere in the caves, and they date back to long before the gillmen explored this area. Scattered throughout the cave are inscriptions from the History and Future of Humanity, the principle holy text of Aroden, and images that depict these passages. The carvings focus on parables that feature Aroden’s 12 guises, meant to illustrate his hopes for humanity: the artist, beggar, craftsman, farmer, fisherman, hunter, merchant, scholar, shepherd, soldier, tailor, and thief.
