"If there is still someone about, this will make it harder to revive the beast." Justinius says, stabbing the creature at the base of its neck.
"Shall we proceed with finding out where this trail goes?"
Aldern watches with some interest while Justinius climbs up atop the worm and sinks his shortsword into what is most likely some manner of spine. The creature gives one short twitch and returns to lying motionless. "I'm certainly not going to try to cut open something this long and this armored," he announces, "so, unless one of you wants to start in on it, I think we heed Justinius' words and get back to moving... just as soon as I finish with this..."
The surprising nobleman drops half a dozen of the worm's long pointed teeth into his bag and then finishes removing a tower shield sized purple armor plate from the beast. Once it's lashed securely to his pack he asks, "So, how do we all get over or around this thing?"
"Victoria, would you be so kind as to give us a lift to the other end of this thing?" Justinius asks the still large, flying yeti.
"I believe you could take 2 of us at a time and recomend taking Avaria and Graverattler first, then Aldern, and lastly, Jim and I."
"Such a shame. It's a beautiful creature," Avaria mused as she approached the beast after Justinius ensured the wyrm was quite dead. "I suppose I could try to climb over or squeeze by. A slender figure comes in handy from time to time."
Avaria has many issues, but apparently self confidence isn't one of them.
She takes a look around at her possible routes, ones that don't involve being manhandled by a Hellknight, trying to figure her chances.
"I can move m'self - see y'all down the way!"
Jim backs up, then makes a running leap down the length of the worm into the pass.
After not recieving any signs of life from the hovering yeti, Justinius reads his fly scroll and follows Jim.
"Graverattler, would you care for a lift?" he asks, before floating over the wyrms corpse.
Graverattler shakes her head. "Not that I don't appreciate the offer, but I prefer wings when I fly."
Graverattler pauses a moment to heal some of her wounds before leaping effortlessly onto the worm's back and proceeds to move up the valley. She uses her wand to heal as she goes, figuring she is twice as fast as most of the rest of the group anyway.
Cure Serious Wounds
Acrobatics to jump:
CLW Wand
CLW Wand
CLW Wand
CLW Wand
CLW Wand
As she gets towards the end of the worm, she recasts detect magic as a precaution. She waits for the others to catch up if necessary. "Let's not rush ahead too far, Justinius" she cautions the exuberant youth.
Justinius happily times his flight to stay with Graverattler.
While everyone else jumps or flies off, Victoria reaches out one hand to Aldern and waits for Avaria to make a decision before flying off.
As Rimy Jim heads back down towards the ground he is startled to discover that the worm is longer than his jump...
Avaria looks up to Victoria who was offering a hand and sighs before extending her own to reach up and hold on.
She'd never forgive herself for accepting aid from a Hellknight.
Rimy Jim's impressive jump comes up short. He lands hard on the uneven tail end of the worm and tumbles ass over end off it's backside. As if by magic, he rights himself as he falls to ground and lands on his feet .
Avaria, recalling the painfully slow progress she made on her own through the sleet begrudgingly accepts the Hellknight's help. Grabbing her with one huge hairy hand and Aldern with the other, the silent warrior flies over the worm.
Once everyone is reunited, it's easy to follow the worm's path. In fact, the valley stays a mere ten feet wide and the intrepid adventures can't help but follow it as they continue moving. After about twenty minutes of walking through the valley they can see through the snow what looks like a dead end coming up before them.
Justinius' eyes scan ahead, searching for hazards and clues on the path.
When the dead end appears before them, Graverattler stops for a moment. "Tupu uaua kaha, niho, me te maikuku whakakoi." she mutters, casting another preparatory spell while scratching the ground with her claws. "This time, we stick together. It feels like whatever summoned the storm might be holed in the beast's lair, so cautious..."
"Gravarattler, I could use one or two taps with that wand, if you can spare them."
Once we reach the dead end, Justinius warns the others about the trap.
There is an alarm trap at the end of this ravine. I will attempt to disarm it."
With everyone else's patience, Justinius is easily able to disarm the simple magical ward.
"Thank you, Graverattler. That will do nicely."
After the trap is dismantled, Justinius begins to search for an entrence to the lair.
Avaria grumbles a thank you to Victoria when she drops her on the other side of the now dead serpent and walks with the others along the narrow ravine. She keeps flicking bits of ice and snow off herself. She'd be lucky if she didn't catch a deathly chill in this horrific weather.
At the dead end she pauses, glancing around at the natural wall.
"What now...?" she asked, not really expecting an answer.
As Justinius disables an alarm that had apparently put in place, Avaria became suspicious of the apparent dead end.
"Might it be an illusion?"
With the trap disabled, she moves to help Justinius with the search for an entrance.
Graverattler sniffs at the air, seeing if she can smell anything unusual beyond what she sees. Perception (scent)
Best damn boots I've ever had!
After landing on his feet, Jim casually walks ahead a short distance to wait for the others. Once they've regrouped, he trudges on through the valley, seemingly oblivious to the cold and the snow as the latter piles up on his shoulders and tricorn. Zenovia has returned to her sheath, but as always, Jim rests his right hand on her pommel.
I'll tell ye, Zenovia, I was keen on meetin' a real dragon and puttin' it t' the test.
When the end of the valley is reached, Jim stands back and lets the others scour the area, but pays attention to how they go about it. "It musta come out o' somewhere; methinks either 'Rattlecat 'r meself would've noticed the signs o' that thing havin' turned itself 'round in 'ere."
Justinius tells the others about the illusion and casts Blade Tutors Spirit. Then he presses through the wall into the cave.
"Nicely done..." Avaria mumbles as she runs a finger along the surface of the illusion. "Justinius is right, wall isn't even really there."
Avaria pokes her head through to take a peek after Justinius has passed through, conjuring up a set of dancing lights to add some illumination.
Graverattler lets out a low, incoherent growl before loping forward. She couldn't smell whoever put up the storm and the illusion. That was .. bothersome.
"I'm no expert, but I know purple worms are normally 'bout as smart as a dead fish - where's all this magic come from?"
Jim tilts his head and squints at the area indicated by Justinius and Avaria, then begins walking forward cautiously as the pair begin to disappear behind the apparent end of the slim valley.
Once the illusion is uncovered it doesn't take long for everyone to successfully pass through it. On the other side, the cave air is heavy with fog and the hunting party can barely see one another. As Justinius and Graverattler move forward to make room for the others moving in, a mouth opens up on a large stone in front of them. "You are trespassing. Leave now and I will not pursue you. If you continue I will have no choice but to defend myself."
"Well, Foxglove, it looks like we killed somebody's pet. D'ye want to do a proper job of it 'n rob 'is 'ouse as well?"
"Lord Foxglove is no thief," Aldern states with a bit less indignation than might have been expected. The Hellknight tenses up and seems to look toward Justinius through the fog as the conversation takes this new turn. It's hard to tell if Aldern is speaking to the crusty pirate or to her as he continues, "The Sandpoint Mecantile League hasn't issued any land rights in Nettlewood, and Magnimar certainly hasn't titled any land out this far... so whoever lives here has no legal rights to restrain us..."
"You stand accused of not only aiding a beast known for hostility toward civilization, but of harassing and outright attacking us durring our persuit of the creature. You may reveal yourself and plead your case before the athorities, or we will flush you out of your dark hole, like a rat in a grain silo, and see Justice done upon you. You have until I find you to make your decision."
Justinius bellows down the tunnel.
[ooc]Proceed forward a single move or until there is a change in terrain or I notice something of interest.
"Blah blah blah. Dark sorcerers hiding in caves behind monsters and flashy parlor tricks. Maybe a coven of hags is behind this. Probably boiling children as we speak. Still, they have attacked us. We should investigate what they are hiding for, and insure they cause no further harm to travelers to these woods." Graverattler follows after Justinius, lest he get in over his head.
Avaria stops in her tracks as the voice booms through the cave, the tip of her slightly elongated ear twitching slightly.
"Seems like it might be some sort of magic mouth spell. I've seen them before, though I've never used one myself. But..." she trails off, brows furrowed in thought before she continues.
"When you combine that with the illusion on the door and this damned fog, well, you've got yourself the makings of a potential guards and wards spell. Again, not one I personally find appealing, but I certainly know a few recluses who make good use of them."
She moves forward in line behind the others, maintaining her dancing lights as they proceed.
Once Justinius realizes the spell can be used to hide passages unless they are 'interacted with', he will slow his progress to a speed that allows him to search the walls on both sides of the cave.
Jim smirks as his employer and companions explain their justifications. ”All sounds good t’ me!”
Jim attempts to stay adjacent to Justinius in the fog. Seems like ‘e’s always the first t’ find trouble. And most everything else.
Pushing ahead slowly, Justinius and Rimy Jim lead the party deeper into the cave. Seconds turn into minutes as they grope their way along the walls, feeling through the fog for illusions. Behind them Graverattler, in the form of a sabretooth tiger, sniffs the air for any signs of danger, or of the cave's resident. Avaria and Aldern follow her holding bows that don't promise to be very useful under the current conditions, with Victoria covering the rear in case anything emerges from the fog behind them.
After two painfully slow minutes they finally come to something of significance- a 'T' intersection. Before they can discuss which way to head, though, a mouth opens up on the wall in front of them and bellows, "". A split second later a lightning bolt cracks down from the cave ceiling, right where... ... Justinius is standing.
,
"Getting close now, I think!" Justinius yells
"I'll check this one and yell if I see him!"
Justinius takes off down the left passage, activating boots of speed, and double moves down the hall for 180' or until he encounters another split of someone who doesnt belong to his group.
Trying to move down the middle of the cave, Justinius scans as best as possible.
Graverattler growls. "That boy is going to get himself or us killed." but follows quickly after him.
We're all bound t' get lost in this pea soup; better make sure they can 'ear me.
"There's them that's smarter, 'n more fair, 'n more fit 'n trim,
But there's none alive can be as loud as ol' Rimy Jim."
Thus bolstered, he heads in the direction that Justinius disappeared in, calling back over his shoulder "Sounds like we're 'eaded this way, folks!"