Bold may act Elkin Surprise Round
Ivar , Vedia, James, Crystal, Elkin
JAZVIT the Gremlin (-2 AC until its turn)
Augar, Xander
Elkin's eyes stay locked on the gremlin as a laugh begins rising in his throat. This is a full on belly laugh, brought on by the absurdity of this tiny little creature appearing as if to challenge their whole group.
The witch's gaze focuses, an intensity at odds with the light joviality of his laugh driving at the gremlin, attacking its essential prowess. Nelen's eyes grow large from atop Elkin's shoulder, calmly studying the little critter.
"This thing is no threat to us. We should capture it alive; it might know something that could help us."
Crystal gives a heaving sigh as she whips about her earthbreaker "No worry, Vedia, it won't be touching anyone!"
As she rushes past Elkin in a charge on the gremlin she nods "I'll try to not kill this one!"
Her brilliant aura having never left yet, it still shines rather bright as she races forward with a curved smile- there was nothing she loved more than to prove herself before her peers.
How else was she to recruit for her tribe, if not by making a name for herself?
"I can't... I am a Destined of Gorum... My future is in steel..."
"Feel the power of the Blackhill Tribe!"
Crystal attempts to crack the creature in its ribs, hoping to knock it down to the ground with a single swing.
Javit the gremlin feels himself a little disoriented by the stare and laugh of the witch and deep down knows he is going to be less effective.
He is further disoriented when a blond woman smacks him solidly in the ribs knocking the wind from his chest. He only has a moment to contemplate this as his vision become black and his last conscious thought is These are monsters, must.. protect... tribe..... as he pitches face down in front of the group.
Combat Over
Searching is body you find little of use except for a finely made small size short sword.
"Too bad those items are to small to be able to help us with anything. Hows our new gremlin friend?" Xandar says looking at Augar.
James picks up the sword and looks it over. "Fine piece of steel. Anyone interested?"
If not, he will put it to use, but if anyone wants it, it's theirs.
"So I agree, we might want to finish our task before long, but I am here to find Khonnir first and foremost, so I am going to check out these doors before we go looking further."
The doors are constructed of the same metal that was used in the stature in the town hall. As you examin it becomes clear there is no mechanism to open them form this side. Breaking though them would prove to be a great challenge as well.
Searching the area you find a small cave to the south that was clearly this Gremlins den. The items that he has left there are just junk.
The gremlin himself remains unconscious.
"Well, shall we take our little friend here back to the shadow-people? Or should we wake him up and see what he can tell us about our friends."
"Hmm. I would like to avoid handling him over to someone who might torture him for infomations. Best to talk with him first I think."
Walking up to the door, Ivar inspects it carefully.
"Does anyone know Undercommon? No point in waking it up if we can't actually speak to it?"
The door is solidly secured, you can only figure it is form the inside. From the way it is in the rock it is hard to tell how it got here as the walls seem to extend into the rock possible indicative of a larger structure that is hidden.
Elkin ponders Vedia's question for a moment. "I don't know Undercommon specifically, but all languages share some elements with other languages, and I do know a few. There's a chance I could figure out enough to be useful, on the fly."
"But he seemed to speak some common before, maybe he knows enough to communicate with us? He wanted to protect his tribe before Crystal blew all the air out his lungs." Xandar says looking deep in thought
@Xander - That was his internal monologue, no quotes and italics maybe I should have set it off better.
"And perhaps we should decide now what to do with him after? We just gonna let Crystal beat him again?"
Elkin speaks up. "Well, it was my suggestion to take it alive; I suppose it's my responsibility to see it through. Alone, it's really just a nuisance to us. I imagine when we present it with the alternative of the Skulks, it will likely agree that leaving here is probably best."
He looks at the unconscious form lying on the ground, before stepping to the door. He runs his hands over the amazing metal. "Fey are tricky, I'd love to know if they'd found a way inside."
He turns back towards the helpless gremlin. "Let's wake it up; see what it knows."
Crystal gives a small giggle as she spins her earthbreaker "I did promise I wouldn't kill it.... But if it tries anything... I'll be sure to put it down...."
Crystal continues to stand guard, seeing as that seems to be a rather good place for her to be as she releases her bloodrage aura. She gives a fatigued sigh as she wobbles slightly "Wooh, things like that.... They really take my breath away..." She wipes sweat off her brow, standing at the ready for a decision on the gremlin.
Upon Elkin prompting for someone to wake it up, she attempts to do so-
[ooc]Assuming we forget my last post.[ooc]
"I doubt it will understand us, my knowledge says they only speak undercommon, but then again a particularly intelligent gremlin might be able to learn to speak taldan also." Xandar says directed towards Elkin
The little red gremlins eyes fling open first blinking and then glaring, as he struggles with his bonds.
"Koj tuag! Ropes tsis!."
You die! Ropes fail!
Javit strains again against the bonds, relaxes and mumbles two words, that almost sound like someone casting a spell, and vanishes leaving empty ropes on the floor.
It appears Javit's could access something like Dimension Door.
James chuckles as he shakes his head. "Well, that solves that, it seems..."
Checking the area carefully to see if the gremlins had a stash of anything, he suggests we explore the tunnels around what might be this metal wall. "Unless you want to go back and talk to your skulking friends? Maybe they can tell us something?"
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"Disappearing enemies are not wise, they know our numbers and strenghts as well as how we fight, now the little devil will return with numbers who are better prepared. That is if it is as intelligent as you say" Augar says as he looks to the metal wall.
" I say we seek out the entry way as I see it more prudent for our enemy to come to us"
Focusing his thoughts, Ivar slowly sweeps the area where the gremlin had been with his sixth sense, a gift from Trudd the Mighty.
"Appear to be some sort of teleport, but I can't get specifics. He can be everywhere so we just have to keep our eyes a little extra open.
The little gremlin is clearly evil but not in an area that you could detect form where you are. Of course he may of simply fled, gremlins are not known for bravery.
James you search comes up with nothing other then throw off junk. Move out a bit in our search you do find a trap in the little offshoot cave to the NE. but it is clear there is nothing else in that area either.
"I think we maybe should return to the Skulks and tell them we took care of the gremlins through one fled. And then set out to find the dors Khonnir found and look for him."
Vedia shrugs. "I should know what that spell was, but it escapes me at the moment." She grins mischievously. "Of course we could just not mention the one that got away to our friends." Vedia jokes.
Crystal gives a light sigh as she smacks her earthbreaker to the floor "Well..." She walks towards Elkin and gives him a playful pat on the cheek "Next time... I'm going to kill it."
Turning to the rest of them she gives a nod to Augar as she continues with a fatigued stature and breath "I agree.... As fun as it would be to mislead the skulks... I would hate for their own tribe to get ambushed. Especially if it was from us provoking the gremlins..."
Returning to the skulks cavern
The ceiling of this vast chamber rises nearly thirty feet overhead. A five-foot-wide ledge runs along the western wall (the side you entered though), sloping down to the cave floor ten feet below. Four ramshackle huts made of what appear to be strips of metal, hides, and some sort of fibrous plant matter sit in the cave, while to the south yawns a dark pit.On the far, east side, of the room you can just make out a pair of large metal wall.
Sef is standing by the huts talking quietly with one of the other skulks who goes into the hut as you arrive. There is a third skulk sitting by the hole in the floor of the cavern working with some sticks and rope, he rises and backs to the wall when you enter. The fourth is no place to be seen.
There is more light now and you can see the metal wall on the east side of the cavern much clearer. A smooth wall of dark gray metal bisects the cavern here, its expanse pitted and scorched but quite solid looking. A strange, circular opening pierces the wall five feet off the ground, allowing access to some sort of hallway on the other side.
Sef greets you wearily.
"You are back... so did you surface folks eliminate one of my problems?"
Elkin steps forward, looking a bit sheepish. "We did, though one did escape us. It was my fault; I thought we could capture and learn from it, but it was able to teleport away." He continues to address the skulk as his eyes wander to the opening in the metal wall. "We'd be happy to share what we've learned of its capabilities, so you can best prepare to defend against it should it return. It's just as likely that it simply ran, though."
Sef sneers, her vainer of civility slipping for a moment.
"And that is what I get for trusting surface dwellers. They will be back but it will be some time. Tell me what you learned. I will fulfill my promise to you and while you prove unable to finish a promise is a promise."
Sef honors her promise to give you the treasures she mentioned-a pouch containing 49 silverdisks and five strange cards made of a flexible, smooth material.These five cards each bear a brown stripe.
Sef explains she recently looted them from the rubble just inside the wall. She confesses that she doesn't know what they are, but the purple-haired lady asked them for any such cards when she first passed through. At the time, the skulks had none, but the fact that she was looking for some is enough to convince Sef that the cards have value.
“You did not do a good job but still I want you surface folk to leave us be. Feel free to take what you need of this as well.”
This includes.
Studded leather armor x3.
A masterwork buckler.
A rapier.
A masterwork sap.
A sunrod.
Masterwork thieves' tools x2.
"I apologuise we misshandled that one gremlin, but the rest of the nest lies dead and should work as a deterrent. We will leave this place and go look for our missing exploration party." Xandar says giving a deep bow as an apology.
After the speech he moves over to the loot and gets himself that buckler to replace his old one. "I'll just take this if the rest of you don't mind."
Vedia takes a look at what Sef offers. "Thank you. Xander mentioned you had another problem. Something about not being able to get home. I'm not sure we can help right now, but I'd like to understand the problem."
“I will explain and I guess I said I would tell you what I know as well. You should know, we were here first, your people invaded us.”
[u] Information from Sef combined with what you have already been told. [/u]
There have been five expeditions so far into the caves that you and the town are aware of.
1. A band of Halfing adventurers. - Sef has no knowledge of them so doesn't mention them.
2. A band of local thugs. - They and the Skulks fought,the Skulks just winning. You've found the body of one of them (Parda).
3. Khonnir Baine's first expedition. - They fought the Skulks and slew the previous leader of the tribe. Finding the repair drone just inside the door in the metal wall, they then took it back to Torch.
4. A band of adventurers dedicated to the Goddess Brigh entered the caves. - The Skulks hid and let them pass, now too low in numbers to fight.
5. Khonnir Baine's second expedition, from which he has not returned. - Again the Skulks avoided conflict.
The Skulks were led here from the Darklands by their previous leader, a Sorcerer whom they both feared and loved. They clashed now and then with the Gremlins to the north. Always driving them off for a time.
Sef reveals some interesting information about recent visitors to the caves, particularly the detail that a purple-haired woman and a group of humans, orcs, and ratfolk were, in fact, the first visitors to the caves, and that the woman met with Sefs predecessor and arranged a significant payment in return for an agreement-the skulks would attack and kill any and all others who passed through the caves. The purple-haired woman and her followers then went north through the gremlin caves (temporarily scattering the gremlins) and have not returned.
Sef and the skulks have spent some time scavenging rubble from beyond the closer hatch into the habitat module. She can sketch out the first few chambers [color=red] (on tactical map) [/color] for them and can describe the strange desert that lies beyond this area, but neither she nor any of the surviving skulks have gone far into that region— she claims the place is haunted by four-armed skeletons, which have inspired a healthy fear in the skulks.
The Skulks were led here from the Darklands by their previous leader, a Sorcerer whom they both feared and loved. They clashed now and then with the Gremlins to the north. Always driving them off for a time.
Sorry I left out that the sorcerer levitated them up and down the hole in the floor.
Elkin glances briefly at the goods offered by the skulks. He picks up the sap with some amount of interest. He grips it awkwardly, and attempts a couple of graceless swings. Shaking his head, he returns it to the pile. Nope, not for me.
He returns his attention to Sef's story, allowing it to draw his interest away from the metal wall and over to the hole in the floor.
"If the sorcerer is gone, how do you get up and down the hole now? What's down there?"
Ivar turns one of the cards over in his hand, trying to divine what it might be.
"If we can find a few scrolls, I'd be happy to cast Levitate for you. We do want to help return you to your home." Vedia keeps glancing at the metal wall, and the hole. It's clear she wants to explore.
"Indeed we like to offer any help we can, sadly at the moment we are in no position to do anything about it. Do you by any chance know how deep the hole goes? I mean a scroll og levitate would allow us to move one u down about 600 feet before it stops working." Xandar says agreeing with Vedia.
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"You must do what you believe best for your people. Torag teaches that too defend and protect your people first, temper your diplomacy with verve and respect and to destory your enemies with the same passion as hammering out steel. if you hold onto that you will be a great leader to your people." Augar said his deep tremble with passion.
He then begins to speak a prayer to Torag to bless the leader and her people.He then pulled free of the ancient dwarven prayer and smiled.
Sef to Vedia "I... thank you."
Sef is clearly puzzled by both the words of the group and the prayer.
"I did not expect surface folk... well never mind."
Sef explains that the hole is two deep to climb and would take multiple ropes tied together so they have been trapped. The hole is very deep and leads to the Darklands . She doesn't know the details of the spell used but it sounds like a simple levitate spell. They helped the purple haired woman both out of fear of the size of her group and in the hope that she would save them. Finally, she says they will keep this area secure to the best of their abilities but will not move further in out of fear of the four-armed skeletons.
"Do any of you know about his purple haired woman?" Vedia asks her group. She tries to think if that person sounds familiar to her.
"I'm sorry to say no, I've only been in torch a very short time and most of that was spent being nursed back to health." Xandar says wishing he knew more of what to expect down here. "But maybe we should go ahead and maybe learn of her ourselves."
Crystal ponders the problem the Skulks are having for a few moments before sighing "Couldn't you simply build a ladder down the hole? Or create foot holds? A rope is exhausting to climb... but a ladder would at least allow you to return. As for the four armed ones..."
Crystal wipes a small sweat from her forehead as she brandishes her earthbreaker "They won't survive my hammer.... Hmmm.... I wonder if I should name it...."
Vedia racks her brain but produces little. No one in town matches that description, it must be someone who came in just for this and was subtle about their arrival.
Elkin begins eyeing the opening in the wall of strange metal again.
"Do we have enough time to explore and still return through the water? Or should we go back first and renew our water breathing first?
By the time you get moving onward you will have about 60 minutes of spell time left. Unmolested it will only take you 15 or so minutes to get out of the cave from where you are, including the swim.
Sef listens to the large blond woman's ideas. She explains that the idea of cutting handholds would be difficult and most likely more would fall to their deaths. Also creating easy access to the underdark is forbidden, they would not be welcomed back.