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Round 2
Effects inspire courage +1
- Red -
- Green -
- Janira -
- Kim -
- Felli -
- Lyran -
- Delric -
- Tera -
Felli continues to struggle with the critters crawling up under his clothing, across his eyeballs and into his eardrums. Lyran runs over to their guide and grabs a flask off her backpack. Tera bravely puts herself in danger to keep Felli from dying.
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Round 3
Effects inspire courage +1
- Red -
- Green -
- Janira -
- Felli -
- Lyran -
- Delric -
- Kim -
- Tera -
Delric retreats to safety, and Kim lobs a flask of fire at the swarm on cue. As the spiders rush over everybody's bodies, Janira stumbles over to Delric, vomits on the ground, then points to one of the wands tucked in her belt.
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Seeing Janira point to one of her wands, Delric takes the wand creasing his brow as he examines it looking for clue as to it's function or command word, "Delightful, What am I to do with this wand. It would have been ever so helpful if when you inspected our gear you had demonstrated your own for us. I think our best course is the retreat away from these swarms."
Delric shifts away from Janira and cast Dancing lights {link} causing one faintly glowing, vaguely humanoid shape to appear between the two swarms, hoping it will draw their attention.
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Round 4
Effects inspire courage +1
- Green -
- Janira -
- Felli -
- Delric -
- Kim -
- Lyran -
- Tera -
Delric grabs Janira's wand, then tries to distract the swarms with a vaguely humanoid ball of light, while Felli and Kim struggle horribly. Lyran finally disperses the first swarm though, and Tera resists the worst of the bites.
Janira finally gets control of her stomach and shouts, "It shoots a cone of fire. The command word is Flammarae!" Then she hands an acid flask to Delric.
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- Delric - 6 damage
- Felli - 8 damage
- Kim - 5 damage, 1 Strength damage
- Lyran - 7 damage, 1 Strength damage
- Tera - 3 damage
Felli finally escapes the swarm, and just in time, as huge flames erupt from Delric's wand, dispersing the remaining spiders with a sickening stench of burning toxic venom.
"Oh my! Oh no!" Janira rushes around healing wounds. "That was a tough fight, but you all showed amazing courage!"
Several hours pass uneventfully, but then you start running into problems: first a recent landslide that blocks the trail, then a shortcut overgrown since a month ago. ”I’m afraid we’ll need to find a different path. If we don’t get there by dusk, we may have to wait a whole month for another chance! Is anybody well trained at tracking or navigating the wilderness?”
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Delric returns the wand to Janira, "Thank you for it's use and the healing, both were mostly timely."
Coming to the landslide after hours of marching, Delric grumbles, "Delightful, first spiders and now the rocks are actively trying to delay us. Well it can't be too hard to get around, let's try this way." choosing a direction mostly at random, the half-elf uses his Kukri to cut a path through the undergrowth.
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"Thank you for your aid miss Janira. It is clear that you have learnt a lot in your time with the Pathfinder Society. I only hope i can learn as much as you and apply this knowledge in further missions."
Lyran follows silently behind Delric trusting in his confidence while silently cursing himself for spending more time on bow practice than working on his spellbook training.
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- Delric - 1 damage
- Kim - 1 Strength damage
- Lyran - 1 Strength damage
- Tera - 3 damage
Delric finds an old, dried out stream bed that quickly takes you higher into the mounts, and from there it is an easy task to backtrack downhill.
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If you roll 24 or higher, you may ask for more information.
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 you.
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.
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Janira is going to be moving faster than the creature. She just cast Expeditious Retreat. We should do what she says and finish our mission to explore the cavern. I for one don't want to wait a month to finish this." Janira before you go just in case." Tera channels Positive Energy before Janira gets too far away, and then she slips into the cave.
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- potion of barkskin
- potion of cure light wounds (2)
- potion of feather step
- potion of vanish
- scroll of entangle
- scroll of gust of wind
- scroll of identify
- scroll of mage armor (CL 6)
- scroll of obscuring mist
- wand of burning hands (CL 3, 3 charges)
- wand of cure light wounds (CL 3, 8 charges)
- holy water
- smokestick
- tanglefoot bag
- thunderstone
- antitoxin
- sunrod (2)
The caves are damp and slippery, and usually about 7 feet wide and high. Some tunnels are tighter or more spacious though. The walls are covered with patches of blue-green luminescent fungi that provide dim light.
Petroglyphs periodically decorate the walls, mostly with marine animals and spiraling shapes. The deeper you travel, the more of these wall paintings that you find.
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Taking a breather, Delric looks in Janira’s Backpack giving out a whistle, ”Take a look at this stuff. Janira is well prepared. To save time, I would suggest the following division, based on who can use what and where their abilities lie.”
The Magus divides the items out into five piles one in front of each person, "If you have any objections or suggested changes then express them, if you are in favor of the division then say Aye!”
Delric: melee magus
potion of barkskin
scroll of gust of wind
scroll of identify
wand of burning hands (CL 3, 3 charges)
Lyran: Range fighter
potion of cure light wound
tanglefoot bag
Tera: Oracle & best UMD
potion of feather step
scroll of entangle
scroll of mage armor (CL 6)
wand of cure light wounds (CL 3, 8 charges)
holy water
antitoxin
Felli: range rouge
potion of vanish
potion of cure light wound
smokestick
thunderstone
A sunrod
Kim: Mesmerist magic
scroll of obscuring mist
A sunrod
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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. At the bottom of the pit lies a small bundle of cloth, floating in dirty water. The corners of the pit are rounded, and the tunnel walls don’t look easy to climb either.
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- Kim - 5 nonlethal damage, 1 Strength damage
- Lyran - 5 nonlethal damage, 1 Strength damage
- Tera - 5 nonlethal damage, 2 damage
- Fell - 5 nonlethal damage
- Delric - 5 nonlethal damage
These parables are slightly different than those that appear in the known version of the History and Future of Humanity, suggesting that these might represent an earlier version of the work.
Even though Aroden disappeared over a century ago, these caves store a hint of his divine magic (like a wand with a single charge left) that can impart a minor blessing to those who perform a short series of rituals based on the parables.
The ground suddenly begins to shake, throwing people into the walls and down to the ground. After a few seconds of stillness, everyone starts to stand up and brush off the debris, thinking the quake is over--then the ceiling collapses.
About 50 ft. after the pit, the tunnel curves and you find a plank big enough to span the pit. The tunnels continue on, leading deeper beneath the Kortos Mounts until they eventually open into a large cavern. What must have once been beautifully carved reliefs and inscriptions have since weathered heavily, their features dulled and softened to the point that it is hard to distinguish what each once depicted. A wide tunnel exits the cavern on its far side, and blue-burning torches line the passageway’s walls.
The carvings here are different in style from the petroglyphs found elsewhere. It seems like there might have been a dozen carvings at some point, but only four are still decipherable. As best you can tell, they are images from the History and Future of Humanity, the principle holy text of Aroden.
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Delric quick reflexes enable him to jump across the pit in time.
Later at the dozen carvings, Delric sees some similarities to Azlanti language which he speaks. "These are depictions of the Tailor, Fisherman, Hunter, and thief. They seem to hint that these caves store a bit of his divine magic (like a wand with a single charge left) that can impart a minor blessing to those who perform a short series of rituals based on the parables." Delric explains in more detail the carvings.
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The soft light of the surrounding fungus mixes with the flickering glow of the nearby torches to reveal a grand chamber. A large pool of water along the chamber’s southern edge reflects the blue and green radiance to illuminate the massive stalactites that cling to the ceiling overhead. Two other tunnels branch off from this area, leading to the east and west.
Rising up from the pool is a column of rock with steeply sloped sides and a flat top, as if someone had sawn off the top of a massive stalagmite. A miniature city carved from this same stone occupies nearly the entire surface. Tiny trinkets such as ancient coins, polished semiprecious stones, and ornately braided loops of string are scattered throughout the diorama, and pale cave frogs clamber atop it. The smooth cavern floor is covered in gravel and pebbles along the edge of the pool, and several foot-long centipedes prowl among the gravel in their search for prey.
This cavern is not unoccupied though. A lone gillmen kneels in the water, seeming thoughtful and unaware of your presence.
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Tera amazes herself by making the jump. "It's amazing how fast one can move when a ceiling is about to come down on you." she mummers to herself. "I guess we're not going back that way. I hope there's another exit."
"The tailor. Very interesting. It's a cloth wrapping around the city like a moat of protection. What a lovely sentiment."
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Felli scans the drawings on the walls and takes notes of them, but doesn't comprehend much. Archeology not really is strong point.
Upon entering the larger chamber, he marvels at the center of the room but keeps a weary eye on the gillman. But doesn't think a lone gillman poses much threat. He lets Kim approach and begin parley.