Carson brings up the rear, just before the two gnomes who were taking care of their tracks.
The Minotaur Skeleton shambles up to Uran, attempting to hit him with his greataxe
The second skeleton simply waits, analyzing the battle
From behind the front line Lanezra wields his halberd at a skeleton in melee that has already taken damage.
Uran grunts in pain as the ax connects. He quickly whips around and attempts to bash the skeleton.
Attack-melee:
Damage:
Carson rushes forward, interposing himself between the undead and the non-combatives. He raises the broken shaft of the banner and brings it down on one of the horned minotaur skeletons.
bludgeoning
Sen shoots the nearest skeleton, cursing her delinquencyin replacing her sling quickly.
Piercing
Lanezra's halberd connects with the skeleton. It severs a leg, and the skeleton falls to the floor.
Sen's crossbow hits the Minotaur skeleton, as well as Carson's broken banner and Uran's attack.
The other four Minotaurs shamble up to the party. One of them swings its mighty axe at Carson, its bones creaking as it does so.
Another one, seeing the wounded Uran, shambles up and chops down with his weapon
The last two run at Sen. One attempts to gore her with their horns, while the other chops with it's great axe
The other two skeletons see something in the distance. One quickly shambles off, while the other tries to crawl
"See, Carson -- I'm already putting to use your good advice, taking advantage of an opportune moment in combat to strike a blow for Oghma!"
Death Save:
Lanezra attacks and kills the crawling skeleton, just as several derro attack the other skeletons! These derro do not seem to be attacking you, but it looks like they will once they are done with the skeletons! Jimjar runs over to Uran, while Topsy run's to Sen. They both attempt to stabalize them.
Both Uran and Sen manage to survive! Jimjar grabs Uran, while Eldeth does so with Sen, and they make a beeline for the pathway. They gesture for Lanezra, Stool, and Carson to follow them.
Carson nods at Jimjar and Eldeth as they move down the passage. Turning to Lanzera, he sais, "We need to fall back. Those minotaurs nearly brained me, and with two of our number down, we'll not survive the derro. You and I need to keep between them," he points the broken banner pole/mace at the skeletons and derro, "and the rest of us." He begins to retreat, sidestepping to keep his shield and one eye on the other combatants.
Lanezra holds and retreats the line from a step behind Carson -- understanding that if a Derro gets too close to him his halberd is useless. He pays attention to Carson's lead and defends the departure.
__(This allows me a degree of relative safety but denies me an Opportunity Attack if any enemies advance upon us.)
.
I wish I could follow and observe the Derro; I've studied them briefly but never seen them up close.
Do the Derro wear any Holy Symbols, heraldry or any kind of tattoos or uniform gear that would help me identify whom they serve or anything else (even if one of them is a commander)?
Stool quickly runs after the rest of the party. He looks terrified. Jimjar and Eldeth continue to carry Uran and Sen for about 10 minutes, all while moving at a fast pace. Soon, you come across a large cave, where Jimjar gestures for everyone to stop. Turning to Carson, he speaks. You are a cleric, right. Can you heal them? If not, we can wait, and they will heal naturally
.
Lanezra stands guard at the mouth of the cave while Carson heals the wounded and everyone catches their breath.
Carson kneels next to his two unconscious companions, touching each of them on their foreheads and chests with his open hands. He speaks a brief word in a clear, beautiful language, and the two look better, but still unconsious. "They are stablized for now, thanks to your quick thinking." He looks at Jimjar and Topsy. "There is only so much grace Helm provides me. Filling our waterskins and assuring the oh-so-tasty mushrooms are fit to eat was the extent of that today. Until we rest, I am unable to heal them by divine grace. If we think this place is safe to rest for a short time, I can tend their wounds and pray that they ar enot too grievously injured."
The derro with the staff is a derros savant, a derro with an affinity for arcane magic
Yes, we should rest here. Two of us must keep watch at a time
The priest nods, "I agree, we must be vigilant. If their wounds are not too grievous, they may regain consciousness on their own."
Anything happen over the next several hours?
Jimjar, Eldeth, Lanezra, Stool, Carson, and Topsy and Turvy spend about 8 hours standing guard, with about 1 hour of guard time for each of them. Nothing comes out of the darkness. Both Uran and Sen regain their consciousness and you keep moving. Soon, you come across a river or stream of some sort. Jimjar says The darklake..
Carson looks over the wounded to determine their health, and if they require more healing. After they pack and get underway after resting, he moves up next to Lanzera. "You fought well. You have a strong arm and a strong heart. I misjudged you at first. Oghma has gained a strong follower." Moving up to Sen, he hands her the bow. "While the crossbow may help with your disguise as a drow, I think the time for disguises has passed. Now is the time for survival. You will need this. If we get in a situation like that again, fall back behind Lanzera and I, if possible."
Upon reaching the water, he moves up to Jimjar. "Being underground has confused my senses. I don't even know what direction we're heading. What do you know about this "Darklake"?
Sen accepts her bow and quiver. Thank you. She also retrieves any of her gear that the others had been carrying in order to assist her disguise.
Looking around, trying to orient herself, Sen feels out of place. Caves really aren't her favorite, and the amount of time she's spent down here is starting to get to her.
Knowledge Nature:
With his speciality being the underdark, what does Uran know of the Darklake?
Other than a few bruises and scars, Sen and Uran need no healing
You know that the darklake is a network of underground canals, filled with an assortment of underwater monstrosities. You remember from you'r days as a guide that it is remarkably hard to travel the darklake with out a Kua-toa guide
We'l need a craft in order to navigate these waters. It's the only way we'l get to Blidingstone Jimar says
Uran begins to examine the lake's edge for any tracks.
Lanezra helps Uran investigate for tracks -- and sign of Kua-Toa activity:
Investigate:
Sen is also looking around for tracks, clues to their precise location according to her (very skewed and unreliable) internal map, a craft to use to cross the water, and anything else potentially useful.
All three of you find some evidence that the Kua-Toa were there some time ago, and heading in to the east. Stool also manages to find a giant Zurkhwood mushroom, the cap of which he claims can be hollowed out to form a raft.
You spend the rest of the day hollowing out the mushroom cap. Soon, you start to get tired, and decide to rest. You take turns on guard shift, but since there are many of you, you still are rested by the time the sun comes up. You see nothing during your guard shifts, but hear the sound of various underwater creatures
You have a vision of Oghma, holding his own holy symbol, and beckoning you to go to the Kua-Toa city of Sloopdilmonpolp.
You have a vision of Helm, holding his own holy symbol, and beckoning you to go to the Kua-Toa city of Sloopdilmonpolp.
At what is probably morning on the surface world, you decide to set your little craft out onto the Darklake!
You row for several hours, taking turns paddling, when you come across a small boat filled with Kuo-Toa! They immediately begin rowing toward you, lidless eyes unnerving and filled with malice!
"Any point in attempting dialog with these fish-folk?....
I'd love to attempt a gambit pretending to be an oracle or soothsayer from Blipdoolpoolp sent to the Kua-Toa."
Be my guest, Sen replies. Fighting should never be the first option.
"Be careful. The fish-folk do not take to strangers readily, and can take exception to almost anything."
The 9 Kuo-Toa advance upon your boat, nets in hand!
Lanezra already got a 20
Seeing the kuo-toa approach with hets in hand, Carson readies his weapon, but keeps it out of sight. "Lanzera, if you are going to try and make peaceful contact with them, now would be a good time. Does anyone know if they have the equivalent of 'waving a white flag' to signify truce?"
.... (What do I know about Kuo-Toa?)
.... (What do I know about Blipdoolpoolp?)
Lanezra holds up his hands in a gesture he thinks is used in Kuo-Toa society, and speaks in a gurgling yet loud voice in Chondathan:
"Blipdoolpoolp"
"Boom!"
"Blipdoolpoolp"
"Yay!"
"Blipdoolpoolp"
Then Lanezra whispers out of the corner of his mouth, "Er, Uran, you're gonna have to translate Undercommon if they pause long enough to talk."
Nothing comes to mind about the Kuo-Toa. However, you remember that Blipdoolpoolp, also known as the Sea Mother, is currently having a religious feud with the sea father
At the very mention of the name Blipdoolpoolp, the Kuo-Toa begin to row faster than before
Uran calls out to the Kuo-Toa in under common.
"Hail to the Sea Mother, Blipdoolpoolp, and her followers. We are pilgrims travelling to the holy city of Sloopdilmonpolp. We represent a number of races of the underdark, including the deep gnomes, dark elves and mushroom people. "
"Er, mention we hate the Sea Father."
and out of the other corner of his mouth,....
"Hey Carson, Oghma gave me a vision while I slept to come here; we'll see what happens."
.
.
.
.
Carson stands and watches the Kuo-toa, attempting to determine if they bear any paraphrenalia which would indicate their religeous sect. "Interesting. I had the same dream. Either the mushrooms we ate for dinner didn't agree with either of us, or we're supposed to go to this fish-folk city."
I guess you can spend a set number of hours learning to new language during down-time, like you can learn new skills or gain experience with new weapons
Carson notices that the Kuo-Toa all bear holy symbols, though to which god he is not certain.
"psst, Translate, and keep all the nonsense words."
As Lanezra speaks before the fish-for-brains monsters, he stares up at the cavern ceiling or down into the depths of the black water. He keeps a deep, slow voice trying to sound like a wise whale or kraken or something. He doesn't make eye contact with any of the Kua-Toa and he often licks his fingers to moisten and even saturate his eyebrows.
"Blipdoolpoolp Great Mother, ubah, ubah, gurgle.
...."See the light; blech blah bla; Kill the Drow and their urlba Demons!
...."Drown Deep Father Dead Sink bottom Nadir.
...."Step into the Light, Carol Ann, gurgle bleh.
...."Blipdoolpoolp want a Balloon; They All Float Down Here.
"Take us to your leader. Take us to your Shrine to Blipdoolpoolp.
....We kill Drow!"