"Take a look around for signs of activity. We may have missed something before or there may be new activity." Morgan says.
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You climb the sides of the ravine and approach the mouth of the cave. Skulls are lined along the walls of the corridor. After a mere 20 feet, a stout wooden door blocks entrance into the cave. Several skulls are affixed to the to highlight a warning written in the Common tongue: "Come in! We'd like to have you for dinner!" A quick test of the door reveals that while not locked, it is barred from the other side.
I'm ok with that. I don't particularly want to be had for dinner.
"Ha, Neil. Never fear, friend. I at least have other plans. And I imagineI could convince any would be captors not to eat you: you're a stingy fellow..."
"It sounds like a good idea, Ya'Bo," Sand agrees. "After all, we would not want to run into any surprises in case we have to withdraw into one of them."
Let's go to that cave, Neil says, headed to Cave B.
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Twenty feet into this cave is an east/west intersection. The north wall is decorated with humanoid heads and skulls in various stages of decay, placed in niches which checker the wall at various heights to the left and right. Sounds of activity can be heard from the west, but all is quiet to the east.
Map updated!
"And here I thought it was simply a trick of the light," the elven warrior mage says as he tries to take a better look.
Yeah, Neil says, fully believing it changed. I bet they're playing tricks. Lastly little critters. Let's scour them from the land.
Neil heads east as he suggests murdering all the goblins or kobolds or whateverthehellisinthere.
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"...or we could convince them to stop, Neil. You always jump right to smite, ya know?"
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Finished with his rituals - the sun now peaking over the Eastern horizon - Theo gathers his things and heads out to do some light resupplying before he has to meet up with his companions. After about half an hour of shop hopping, Theo is content with his haul and decides to head for the group's rendezvous point. As he makes his way through the Keep, he now walks with the aid of a plain-looking staff. He is disappointed, though not particularly surprised, to have found little in the way of arcane supplies. The staff being his only real boon. And even that is more of a silver lining than an outright blessing.
The staff is crafted well enough but is clearly not designed to be a casting aid. However, as luck would have it, it is carved from a wood very common in casting staffs. This staff can channel Arcane power, it just lacks a point-of-contact with the Weave. Something Theo, a servant of the Weave incarnate, is specially equipped to provide.
Once outside the Keep's walls, Theo finds a large stone visible from the group's meeting place. He takes the holy symbol from around his neck, and places it on the rock. With a quick gesture, Theo engulfs the stone in flame. A few seconds later Theo's medallion is glowing red. Theo quells the flames, and presses the head of the staff onto the incandescent metal. The wood ignites almost instantly. Theo waits a moment before finally dousing the flames and prying the metal free with an arrow head.
Theo holds his work up to the light and is pleased to find a clean brand. He gives the staff a light flourish, and smiles when he hears a lion's roar in the distance.
"Perfect."
"An odd trick. Not something that's going to send would-be intruders running. Random scavengers might not even notice."
Theo goes in for a more thorough, more hands-on look. He focuses in on one of the heads he believes to have changed. Doing his best not to blink or look away. Once within reach Theo holds his staff up to the wall, bathing his chosen head in a cool, blue light. He gives the head a once-over, and a light tap with the staff before reaching out and picking it up.
"Are the faces being masked with an illusion? Or maybe the heads are being literally moved around, conjured and banished at random intervals. Or are they changing shape? Maybe this whole place is an illusion. Perhaps the inconsistencies with these heads is just our minds telling us something is amiss."
Theo chides himself a bit for his final musing "No. A single Charm isn't taking a full party of casters and Elves. At least, not one cast by anyone here in the Borderlands. Right?"
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No magic is detected. The head that seems to have switched is that of a goblin, though you could have sworn that it was an orc, previously. When Theo removes it from the shelf, it comes away easily, but he does notice that the space behind the goblin head is merely a neutral cloth, unlike the rest of the display, which has a solid stone backing.
Theo props his still glowing staff against the wall, and begins turning the head this way and that in the light.
Content with his findings, Theo reaches to return the head to its resting place. As he does, he notices something out of place about this particular alcove. All the others are backed with the same stone as the cave walls but this one boasts a cloth backing. "Hmm. Ornamental or functional, I wonder?"
Theo pulls an arrow from his quiver. At his whim, the head of the arrow begins to glow with the same blue light that illuminates his staff. He pokes at the cloth lining of the alcove. Gently at first, cautious of traps and well-hidden curses, then with a bit more force.
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The head is real, that of a goblin and reasonably fresh. The other heads range in various stages of decomposition from fresh to nearly skeletal.
When Theo pokes the cloth, it parts to reveal a hidden alcove, just large enough to accommodate a person who could then stick their head through the cloth to make it seem like one of the others.
Fire works well, Neil suggests.
Morgan heaves his hammer around. "Don't get surrounded and kill them before they kill you."
Ore laughs at the responses before taking up a more serious pose, and assuming a defensive posture that couldn't be more different from the casual one he'd had just a moment ago.
"Hmm, Through there? I'm not sure I would fit."
"Hmm, Through there? I'm not sure I would fit."
"I think Ya'Bo simply means to borrow your "keys", if you catch my meaning." Theo says, making a show of sizing up Morgan's massive frame against that of the door.
"While I'm sure our friend would have no problem getting this door...unstuck. I'm not sure it is our best course of action." Theo turns his attention to the heads once more. "This little ploy has robbed us of the element of surprise. We are almost certainly walking into a trap. They are laying in wait, ready to RE-act to our incursion. If we want to get ahead of this, we need to force them into taking PRO-active measures. Long and short of it, we need to draw them out to us, and not play into their prep and home-field advantages."
*Cue Planning Montage*
Let's go this way, Neil says, pointing to the left.
"I am curious how well grease and fire mix," Isandril remarks as he gets into a better position and, a few arcane syllables later, a fan of flames originating from his outstretched hands enguls the first two orcs and -possibly- the grease covering the floor.
Ha! There ya are! Neil declares, forming a ball of radiant fire in his hands and throwing it at an orc.
Seeing Ya'Bo's spell cover the cave floor, Theo stays his magic...for now.
Morgan quickly channels a spell before surging to meet the Orcs in battle.
Ore rushes to the far side of the Orcs, hustling between their legs and darting around their attacks with uncanny reflexes- it's almost as if he's dodging before they can attack!
Arriving around the back end of the orcs just before (hopefully) Ya'Bo greases the ground, he aims a kick at the knees of an orc!
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Sensing what is to come, Ore moves like lightning, ducking beneath and coming up behind the orcs. Ya'Bo greases the floor under them and three of the orcs find themselves prone! Ore swiftly kicks at the knee of the remaining orc, but it somehow manages to dodge the blow and keep its footing.
Isandril adds his own magical touch to the fray, blasting the orcs with a magical fan of flames. The orcs howl in agony as their skin sizzles and burns. The flames ignite the grease, causing it to flare up as well as well.
Neil conjures a ball of flame and hurls it at an orc, causing it to yowl even louder than before. There is little doubt that the ruckus has alerted everything in the cavern if they had not been alerted previously. Morgan moves forward, slamming his weapon home against one of the fallen orcs and putting it out of its misery.
The orcs try to find their footing, the one nearest Ore actually managing to rise long enough to make an attack against the halfling. Sadly, the blow misses and the orc is thrown off balance, falling again into the sizzling oil. The orc that had remained standing also tries to hit Ore, only to miss and be thrown prone again for its effort as well! The remaining orc, though unable to stand, attacks Morgan from the prone position but the sad effort goes harmlessly wide.
/
Neil guffaws.
Bwahaha! I ain't seen nothin so funny in all m'life! He seems to take great amusement at the orcs slipping in the grease, despite the horror of them also being on fire.
Still, though, he joins in some more, throwing another ball of fire upon them.
Morgan continues to hammer the fumbling Orcs.
Mimicking Ya'Bo, Sand also lets loose with the familiar fire spell.