"About the only thing I could do is see if they were magical."
Locke is also too preoccupied with the cave art to notice the silver disks until Raven and Analise begin discussing them.
"Hmmm," he emits when Analise is finished as if to suggest he had never seen their like before.
Looking around, Locke says cautiously, "Debris does not typically pile itself up. I imagine we will be encountering the sentient life which could be our opposition soon. Please be alert."
"Yeah Numeria uses silver disks like that for currency! I wonder if that's why they were stacked?" Allen agrees with Raven.
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Hmmm... I wonder... I bet Wicket and Rav would love that!... Just need to find the parts...
Rywy absently thinks of Val while magically scanning the pile of silverdisks and surrounding area.
4714.Arodus.19 12:20:00PM.
The tunnel to the South is smooth, clear and slightly downwards, it also seems a lot cooler than the rest of the area. The East tunnel is sloped up and is filled with detritus and seems difficult to walk through.
Jack examines the passageways, and moves southerly , unless the party stops him to investigate the more difficult passageway.
Content to follow where the others lead, Raven falls in behind Jack, one hand on her crossbow and an arrow already set in the groove.
Locke studies the means in which Jack chooses their next direction. Locke has never been very successful at tracking or using the environment for survival, and he wants to learn how to do so as quickly as he can.
Jack pauses long enough for Rywokit to search the rubble, trying to keep the party together. Then he proceeds to the south.
Will go to the South with the rest of the party.
Allen moves along with the group, looking around at the interior of the cave. He will help if anyone wants to search through anything, but mostly he's just trying to have fun exploring.
Jack moves to the southern ledge, investigating the area.
Locke cautiously moves up with his short sword ready. He tries to ascertain if anything of interest or concern may be near Jack and Rywokit as they investigate their direction of travel.
4714.Arodus.19 12:22:00PM
The temperature drops noticeably in this passageway, and a rime of white frost lines the walls and floor leading into the cavern beyond. What seems to be a light layer of brown dust carpets the cave floor beyond — a body of some sort sits slumped against the eastern wall.
The passage ends at a 10-foot-high ledge that drops down into this cavern. The cold emanates from below, it is somewhat refreshing with the heat in the rest of the cavern.
The “dust” on the floor of this cave is a large patch of brown mold. This does significant non-lethal cold damage, per round you are in it. You cannot die from the cold damage directly, and most victims die of starvation or lack of water. Fire and heat cause it to grow as it absorbs heat for sustenance.
"Brown mold feeds on warmth, drawing heat from anything around it. It normally comes in patches 5 feet in diameter, and the temperature is always cold in a 30-foot radius around it. Fire brought within 5 feet of brown mold causes the mold to instantly double in size. Cold damage, such as from a cone of cold, instantly destroys it."
Rywokit does what he can to help others figure stuff out, by straining his mind to come up with anything he might have heard of like this before, and quietly mentioning it, in the hopes it might spark a memory.
Jack thinks for a moment, waving his hand at the mold as if trying to accomplish some unknown arcane task. With a sigh to himself, he addresses the party.
"Poor soul. Do any of the spell casters have a cold-spell to remove the mold and check to see if the body might be Bane?"
"And don't take a torch down there! The mold loves fire."
Locke kneels down a good foot away from where the mold begins and examines the brown "dust" Jack has indicated as dangerous. "Fascinating. This fungus' ability to feed on heat energy begs the question how it survives at all without a direct source of abundant warmth. Perhaps the diminishing of the Torch has actually caused this to recede, and if we had been present here before it stopped this patch would have been much more significant."
Locke stands and turns to Jack.
"I imagine if there is no way past this without directly treading upon this mold, we should simply investigate the other passage. As to the other concern to determine the body's identity, I believe you yourself suggested the procurement of a rope. If anyone here is dexterous enough, we should be able to use the rope to tangle the body and bring it to us without having to expose ourselves to the mold beyond what may be present on the body. The use of tools and weapons for prodding and examining the person should be sufficient to prevent contamination hopefully."
" I can actually provide the cold energy to negate this, if that is what it takes." Rywokit tells them. "It does not require any limited resources on my part. This is the most basic of magic."
Wicket casts the spell several times in succession at the brown dust.
4714.Arodus.19 12:24:00PM
Rywokit hits some of the moldy areas with rays of frost, the area around the center of the blast seems to become less threatening, as the mold seems to shrivel up and crumbles. This effect took about a minute.
Analise goes over to check the body to see if it's Khonnir.
Jack cringes a little as the short wooden man proclaims the cantrip as the most basic of magic.
"Does anyone have something a little stronger?" he asks, "Not to belittle your effort friend. Just that speed is of essence here."
" No offense taken, Jack." Rywy assures him. "As I said, it is only the most basic. My apologies I have nothing stronger in cold."
"Even if it takes a while, it's still faster than any other method," Allen goes to help Analise inspect the body.
4714.Arodus.19 12:25:00PM
As Analise and Allen run ahead to check the body, they both feel the heat draining from their bodies. As they reach the body, they both fall unconscious from the cold damage.
A voice then calls out behind you,"We wish to parley with you?"
You can barely see a humanoid creature the same color as the walls standing behind the group.
" Okay, but, uh, wait just a minute!" Wicket says as he quickly runs over and drags the two of them out of the cold.
Jack turns to address the faceless voice. "I believe we're reasonable people, but I cannot seem to identify who or what wishes to parley with us. Step out, it is safe."
"How nice," Raven says, turning to look for who- or whatever spoke. "I concur with my colleague; if you have peaceful intentions, you are safe to show yourself."
"As a showing of good faith, I'll tell you how to better rescue your friends from the mold. Come up along the path up here to our cavern, on the south west side is another access to that cave without the steep drop off." the voice says. You hear the slight movement of a person stepping forward and can possibly just make out someone standing at the edge of your light.
"And once you're done rescuing your friends, our leader would like to have a word with you, but she requests only two of you to meet with her. The others will stay with your frozen friends and me. Do we have an agreement?"
You can barely see a humanoid creature the same color as the walls standing at the edge of the light.
Lazur peers to the edge of the light but can't see much more.
Looking at the group he says, "That sounds reasonable to me. Who wants to go with me?"
" Very well, Lazur. I can confirm that there is a tunnel over here. I will tie the rope to them, then go with you and assist you, as I am unable to effectively remove them myself."
Jack considers Lazur for a moment. "Good plan, Lazur. Except why don't you and Locke retrieve our friends and the body."
"Ryowiket, you and I should parley with their leader. I'd send Allen and Analise, as they both seem more comfortable in group settings... but unfortunately that is not an option."
"Take us to your leader."
Locke watches impassively as Analise and Allen boldly stride out across the mold despite the information given. He affects the raised eyebrow he has learned is appropriate when humanoids do surprising things despite the circumstances. As the mold leeches the heat from their bodies rather visibly as both the woman and the halfling's pallor becomes pale and bluish, Locke exchanges a glance with Raven.
"Interesting. I admit, that certainly wasn't what I was expecting them to do. Perhaps they made some assumptions regarding their ability to generate the energy required to counter the sapping effect of the mold. Hmm," Locke muses aloud. "No matter, as they will certainly require assistance now, I believe we should make use of the rope notion I suggested..."
As Rywokit moves across the mold to their unconscious comrades, Locke reevaluates his plan, but before he can speak, a voice behind them interrupts. Seeing nothing, Locke begins paying more attention to the responses of his comrades to better triangulate a possible location of the new party based on the angles people's heads move in reaction to the sound. He remains quiet as the others address the voice and make decisions to which he has no objection at this stage.
Locke nods cautiously at Jack's words and gestures for the others to approach for some semi-discrete discussion. Locke explains his thinking, "Unless I am mistaken, our stealthy friend has suggested we rescue our friends, and then have you depart rather than separating while still uncertain as to the state of our comrades. This seems wiser in the event that other beings or creatures close by are not as willing to avoid hostility."
Locke waits for the other four's opinions all the while trying to focus on the vague outline seen previously.
"Yes lets see about rescuing your companions, if you'd follow me up this path, I will go first as to prevent my companions from attacking you. While your friends are in little danger from the mold, unless they spend a couple of days down there, let us hurry and recover them via the hook and rope method you suggested."
As any of you with a light source approaches you can all make out the smooth-skinned, hairless humanoid with penetrating eyes and skin that shifts and changes to mimic her surroundings.
You are seeing a Skulk. They have a special ability:
Chameleon Skin (Ex): A skulk’s racial bonus to Stealth comes from his ability to change the color of his skin to match his surroundings, even complex or regular patterns like bricks and mortar. A skulk loses this conditional bonus if he is wearing armor, or if he wears any clothing that covers more than one-quarter of his body, as skulks can only change their own flesh, not things they carry.
"You are right, Locke. Let's follow this creature around to the easier access and regain our allies."
Stowing his heavy pick, Jack approaches the figure with a nod.
"What a fascinating being you are," Raven says, as she approaches the chameleon-like creature, her eyes widening and narrowing rhythmically as she tries to make sense of its dimensions. "Is this effect magical in nature, or is it a natural ability?"
4714.Arodus.19 12:35:00PM
After answering Raven's question with a curious look,"You mean my stealthiness? Yes we are naturally gifted with the ability to blend into our environment, the origins of this ability are lost to time and is usually a discussion for philosophers." she leads you through the clogged passage into a larger open area.
The ceiling of this vast chamber rises nearly thirty feet overhead. A five-foot-wide ledge runs along the western wall, 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.
In the southwest corner is the opening to the cave with the mold and your unconscious companions. Locke and Jack, with the aid of the skulk are able to drag the bodies of their companions into the cavern as well as the body they found in the mold.
There are two male skulks armed and ready to attack hiding near the huts. They seem to be waiting for either a signal from the female helping you, or for you to start causing trouble.
This is Gerrol and remembers the popular rogue recently asked a weaponsmith’s daughter named Emelia Otterbie to marry him. Emelia would undoubtedly want to know of Gerrol’s fate.
There are strange ribbons and filaments of rust-colored fibers growing along his spine, throat, and chest.
You recognize the growth on the body as Russet Mold.
This hazardous fungus can be found in dark, wet areas, and often grows in great abundance at the heart of a vegepygmy lair. When a creature approaches within 5 feet of a patch of russet mold, the fungus releases a cloud of spores in a 5-foot radius burst. Everyone in the area must make a DC 15 Fortitude save or the spores quickly take root in their victims, inflicting 2 points of Constitution damage per round. A new Fortitude save can be attempted each round to halt the growth. Although immunity to disease won't protect against russet mold spores, the growth can be halted by remove disease and similar effects. Exposure to sunlight also halts the spores' growth. Plants are immune to russet mold spores.
After 24 hours, a fully grown vegepygmy bursts from the body of any creature slain by russet mold, provided the creature was Small or larger. For each size category larger than Small, the body produces one additional vegepygmy.
A patch of russet mold is unharmed by all effects save for acid, alcohol, or remove disease (or a similar magical effect, such as heal), all of which can kill a single patch of russet mold on contact. Sunlight doesn't kill the mold, but does render it dormant and harmless as long as the sunlight persists.
Raven saunters over to the corpse and starts to examine it.
"Observe here, here and here," she says, indicating the filaments of rust-coloured fibers along the spine, throat and chest. "An oddity, yes?"
"Thank you... what do we call you? I am known as Jack. How long have you been living down here?" Jack asks as he begins the task of retrieving his friends.
Jack stands over the unconscious forms of his allies. "Anyone know how to wake them up?" he asks of anyone in the area, including the stealthy friend.
He looks over the mold growing over the body with a defeated shrug. "Emelia will be saddened. Still, this mold looks different than the cold stuff in the cave."
He responds to Raven: "Oddity indeed. Know what it is, or where it came from? Perhaps our friends know?"
"You can call me Luepel. We've been here for several months. We came from below." replies Luepel, indicating the pit on the south side of the room. She pauses for a while, suddenly releasing you meant to include her in questions about the molds,"I do not know what that stuff is, but it might explain why he died so swiftly in the brown mold, it usually takes several days for it cause death, and we're fairly sure he passed within an hour of entering the cold."
"Luepel. Well met." Jack says to the figure.
He makes small talk while he waits for the party to revive the unconscious folk.
"Down below? How extensive is this cave structure?"
"Luepel, nice to meet you. I am Lazur. Is your friend over there going to join us?" says Lazur as he nods toward another skulk standing by the huts.
"I do not believe so." says Luepel.
After a few moments while you finish getting Allen and Analise comfortable, Luepel begins to move off to the north towards another cave opening. "Your friends should come around in a while. The two of you, that are coming with me to discuss an arrangement with our leader, please follow me. The rest of you wait here with my friend and don't cause any trouble."
Jack starts to head out with Luepel, waiting for the party's second. He looks at Rywokit with expectation.
Luepel leads Jack and Locke, through the passage to the north. After a couple of yards you find youselves in a cramped cave filled with metal junk covering almost every inch of ground. The precarious pile rises up in a heaplike hut to the northwest. Standing outside the hut, waiting for you, is another woman that is nearly invisible against the background.
"Greetings, uplanders. I am Sef, current leader of the skulks in this hellish place. You are probably looking for an explanation as to our presence here. This is a long story, and I will be willing to share it with you at some point in the future." Taking a breath, she continues,"I will give you the quick version. We came from the Darklands below, looking for scavenged materials, there is much in this region of the world. We were working here with our much larger group, when a strange woman came through the tunnels and payed my superior much to prevent anyone coming after her group. Several groups have come after and managed to kill my boss, and many of our friends. We few that are left are currently trapped here, as our former leader had the only means of traversing the hole to get here."
Luepel seems to be fidgeting a bit, and is impatient for some reason.
She doesn't like to admit weakness in front of potential enemies.
Sef continues the story, with a stern glance at Luepel,"We no longer wish conflict with the uplanders and want nothing to do with your conflicts. However, we are being driven crazy by a colony of gremlins that make their home in the caves to the north of here. If you will clean out the filthy nest, we would give you the payment we received from the purple haired woman and some of the equipment we've scavenged since our arrival."
Lazure tries to make his unconscious friends as comfortable as possible.
"Can anyone help to bring them around? Some healing maybe?"