As the beasts are a little too close to his allies, Taleck opts to draw a javelin rather than one of his explosives. He hurls the weapon at the creature with the cyan plumage.
Cyan went down before Taleck's attack, so I changed that one to attack orange instead.
In a maelstrom of bites, steel, spells and explosive alchemical concoctions, you take one of the creatures down and badly hurt the other. In a desperate attempt, it decides to flee the area and go back to hunting weasels and mice.
Retreat with a double move, no AoO this time.
Janira puts her crossbow back on her belt, still breathing heavily from excitement.
"Well... A nice little warmup, I suppose. Everyone okay, or should we keep moving?"
Heal:1d20 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5 I'm going to assume the creature is dead with that miserable check. :-P
Licking the remains from his lips as his snout sucks back into his face and his tail coils back up into his body. Utara looks around to the rest of the group, once back in his human form.
"That wasn't too bad." he announces, kneeling beside the fallen creature. He proceeds to place a hand on its head as he whispers, "May your sacrifice please the Prince of Darkness and your contracts be fulfilled."
Standing back up, he turns to the halfling. "So, shall we continue to this cave of yours?"
Female Halfling Cavalier (1) Init+2 HP 12/12 AC 17 T12 FF 15 Fort+4 Ref+2 Wil+1
Certainly not. Woodland creatures are to be respected. We have to fend of their attacks, maybe, or to kill only what we can eat, but we are not a wandering slaughterhouse!
HP 55/55; AC 14, T 14, FF 10; CMD 16; Init +4, Perc +1; F +6, R+9, W+8
"Alas, friend Ulfen, our minder has chastised us for our impertinence. We are suitably chastened. Let us continue in a contrite fashion." Minmaximus answers in a deadpan delivery.
"Although I'm assuming respecting lesser creatures is a Halfling trait, she does have a point in her other babble. We kill to eat. Just know an Ulfen man can eat a lot. Bring on more beasts! Perhaps someone should start a fire. This is a scrawny beast, but I'm sure there is some meat on it. We can tell the tale of our victory by the fire as we make cook this meager meal and hope that the other beast does return."
"Come now, people! We had breakfast, second breakfast, and elevenses already!"
She looks around the group for a moment.
"I did anyway.", she coughs out quietly. "But let's move on, then. Time's wasting!"
Aaaaand since you are moving through a dense forest, I will require a Survival check from you so that you don't travel in circles. I suggest everyone who has ranks in it rolls, so that you beat the DC. Or you can aid. Up to you, but each of you only gets one shot.
Female Aasimar Unchained Summoner 1|HP 9/9|AC: 16/T:14/FF:12|Perception +0, Darkvision 60'|F:+1/R:+4/W:+2; +2 vs death effects|CMB:-1|CMD: 13|Speed 30|Init. +4
Aid Survival:1d20 ⇒ 14
Aurora starts to discuss the various plants she sees along the way, most of it is probably relegated to trivia, but some bits, like a particular flower always blooming in the direction of the morning sun, proves to be useful.
HP 55/55; AC 14, T 14, FF 10; CMD 16; Init +4, Perc +1; F +6, R+9, W+8
I have nothing. NOTHING!
Survival against all odds:1d20 ⇒ 5
Minmaximus stares off into the distance. "I believe we ought to go that way." He states as he points back towards Absalom. "It's the only logical path."
You can use the Survival skill to avoid getting lost or avoid natural hazards and you make a Survival check whenever the situation calls for one.
Retry?
To avoid getting lost or avoid natural hazards, you make a Survival check whenever the situation calls for one. Retries to avoid getting lost in a specific situation or to avoid a specific natural hazard are not allowed. For finding tracks, you can retry a failed check after 1 hour (outdoors) or 10 minutes (indoors) of searching.
That being said, you will be delayed 1 hour, but can give it another go. So go ahead.
"You all know nothing. I'm done fallowing the likes of you. I'll not die lost in a forest! My axe is going this way to the mountains if it is a mountain cave we seek."
Brynjar goes stomping off through the woods in the direction he picks.
After your first failed attempt to find a proper path, Brynjar's instincts kick in, and he finds a semi-cleared path through the forest. You need to make some cuts here and there, but other than that, the party keeps a rather brisk pace.
"How did we miss this earlier?", Janira remarks. "It's so obvious now that we are on the path..."
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,", she continues, pulling off her backpack, "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.
"Good luck my speedy halfling ally." Taleck says under his breath, mostly to himself.
He then dashes for the cave and shouts to the other pathfinder initiates. "Come on everyone, we have a task to complete. Janira has bought us some time so we shouldn't waste it."
HP 55/55; AC 14, T 14, FF 10; CMD 16; Init +4, Perc +1; F +6, R+9, W+8
Minmaximus' eyes go wide when he sees the bullish foe. "She bought herself as lunch. Those things are not to be trifled with. Still, I'm not comfortable with simple abandoning her to her doom. There's more of us, shouldn't we at least aid her?"
Startled by the sudden appearance, Utara jumps as the short woman casts her spell. Watching Janira run off with unexpected speed, he turns towards the cave.
"Though I am in agreement with you Brynjar, we were hired to inspected these caves. With time working against us, we must, sadly, forgo the preferred option and complete our contractual obligation."
Without another word, Utara shoulders the halflings abandoned pack and shuffles into the cavern. Over his shoulder, he calls to the others "Coming or not? MY! This pack is heavy!"
Once inside the cave, he sets the pack down and begins looking through the contents.
"She has spells and cunning on her side. I don't think we could catch up with her even if we tried!" says Taleck with laugh that sounds a little forced.
The cave's humid atmosphere hits you immediately after entering. The noise from outside of the cave ceasees soon, and you hear droplets of water hit the ground every few seconds. They create a slippery, reflective surface underneath your feet. The tunnel is illuminated by a blue-green fungus that clings to the cave walls - it is clear, that it thrives in this environment, and you have no problems seeing minutae details and textures of the individual walls.
Survival 15:
There are footprints in the soil, and they were made only recently. Some web-toed bipedal moved through here not even a day ago.
In the distance of the cave, you can hear a quiet rumble of water slowly hurling one rock into another and carving its path deeper and deeper into the mountain. An underground river, perhaps?
Soon after starting your descent, carvings start appearing on the walls, and becoming more frequent as you progress further. They are mostly aquatic animals, but other various shapes appear as well, spirals more frequently than anything else. As you progress deeper underground, the width of the tunnel varies. With a few rare exceptions, you have no problems passing through, however. A rare slip here and there but otherwise a very soothing journey. Compared to the minotaur outside, at least.
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. The hole is about 20 ft deep, but almost empty otherwise. A small bundle of cloth lies at the bottom. Given the conditions it is in, it looks surprisingly clean. A few feet beyond the hole, the tunnel twists to the right.
Kn Dungeoneering or Survival 10:
This hole is clearly not natural. The edges see way too smooth for that.
Kn Dungeoneering or Survival 15:
It also seems to be at least a year old, perhaps even more.
Janira's backpack:
Janira's backpack contains her gear neatly stored. Most of it are vials and scrollcases, but other interesting items are in various compartments.
All vials and scroll-cases are labeled.
Potion of Barkskin
2x Potions of Cure Light Wounds
Potion of Feather Step
Potion of Vanish
Scroll of Entangle
Scroll of Gust of Wind
Scroll of Identify
Scroll of Mage Armor
Scroll of Obscuring Mist
HP 55/55; AC 14, T 14, FF 10; CMD 16; Init +4, Perc +1; F +6, R+9, W+8
Minmaximus shrugs, and mentally ticks off the halfling as dead and gone, and follows the others.
Knowledge:1d20 + 4 ⇒ (10) + 4 = 14
Min begins ransacking the rucksack, and take careful note of the wand of burning hands and the scrolls. He holds aloft the wand. "Anyone care if I make use of this?"
Female Aasimar Unchained Summoner 1|HP 9/9|AC: 16/T:14/FF:12|Perception +0, Darkvision 60'|F:+1/R:+4/W:+2; +2 vs death effects|CMB:-1|CMD: 13|Speed 30|Init. +4
Survival:1d20 ⇒ 3
Survival:1d20 ⇒ 19
It appears this hole was dug over a year ago and dug on purpose. I could perhaps send Blossom down to have a look at whatever is at the bottom. Or I could send her away for a few moments and send something else down there to have a look.
"Cave dwellers are such strange folk. Why would you dig a hole in a hole. Never trust someone who digs holes I say. You won't find Ulfen raiders digging holes. No glory in that...and it isn't good for your boat."
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