The party prepares to invade the last unexplored cavern in the complex. Using intelligence gathered by Kat, the party forms a plan of attack. Isador and Eloriand plan to take the left flank as they enter the widening cave, with Kat setting up on the south end to get a clear shot of the reptilians. The rest of the party plans to wait in the cavern out of sight until the fighting starts.
The forward team delves into the shadows to take their positions. The team enters the opening cave, Eloriand and Isador break north while Kat breaks south to angle a shot. As Kat moves forward, she stops suddenly, almost as if by instinct. Looking down, she sees a tell tale tripwire almost resting against her left shin. A Trap! She quickly looks toward Isador and Eloriand who, thankfully, did not cross the danger zone of the trap. As the pair heads north, however, Eloriand unwittingly passes underneath an abnormally bright patch of glowing blue fungi. He blots out the light for just a moment, but a moment is all it takes for one of the lizard creatures to notice him. The little fiend chirps to his partner. They both remove something from their belt.
Initiative
Initiative order
- Eloriand
- Kat
- Havelock
- Isador
- Caoilte
- Kobold 1
- Kobold 2
The battle begins!
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Kat hisses quietly and backs up a step. Izzy and Eloriand are mostly out of the danger zone but Caoilte and Havelockk might charge straight through it. She follows the wire to one of its points of origin. The red hesitates for a moment then makes her decision.
She looses an arrow at the far kobold before calling out Tripwire by the stream, straight from the entrance. Avoid the bend in the flow and you should avoid it.
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well, no time like now and I rush foward to where I identify the closet Kobold and hurl a pilum at him.
Errgh!! I grunt as I let the weapon release out of my hands..my hand following through to grasp and draw the gladius out of it scabbard as I watch the weapon sail on its dealy course to the neastest most western kobold
The kobolds squawk in terror as the the away team is able to fire before the little dragonlings can loose their slings from their belts. Eloriand and Isador step from the shadow to launch arrows at the nearest enemy. The arrows hit home plugging the closest kobold in the neck and head, causing the dungeon denizen to gurgle and tip over. Meanwhile, Kat maintains her balance like a trained ballet dancer, avoids springing the trap, and gets of a shot of her own. She strikes the farthest kobold in the heart, freezing it in place before in unceremoniously topples to the cave floor. Havelock runs into the cave and hurls a javelin. The dart flies and thuds squarely into the kobold hit by Kat.
The party re-groups in the center of the cave. A cursory search of the area reveals nothing of value. Kat scouts the rest of the cavern and sees no other caves or passages of value. Satisfied that the cave complex has now been cleared of hostiles, the party returns to the main chamber where the miniature city and mysterious wall reliefs await.
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I smile at the brilliant efficiency of our task as dispersing the creatures...neat..clean...deadly
I have no joy in killing...but a the same time..it needed to be done and they most certainly would have done us harm or called others to do us harm. I think we have to be missing something...we should carefully look around their chamber after we go back to the main chamber and observe what might be going on...The slip mentioned that gillmen were entering and not coming back.....maybe it through that back entrance...or maybe they go someplace else...but this place has a purpose...you just don't animate skeletons and have kobold running loose that is not their lair.
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So, what exactly have we found?
A 'hidden' entrance that happens to be in the territory of a minotaur which led directly to an ill-concealed water-filled pit trap that seems to have been abandoned since it was created. Said trap also held a glyph covered cloak right in the middle of it. Shortly thereafter we found more petroglyphs and reliefs right before we found she nods in the direction of the gillman that guy; who happens to be the only gillman in the area and claims to be deaf and intent on worshiping whatever that mini-city represents.
Not to mention that he just happened to try and lead us straight into the arms of the undead. Undead that just happen to be in the same room as someone with a note claiming to be raising an undead army and has a neat little necklace that has a porous stone as it's focal point. While I am far from being an expert of any kind on necromancy, I am fairly certain that one does not dabble in the art just enough to raise skeletons, usually such an endeavor ends up leading towards the pursuit of lichdom... which requires a phylactery. Though this is pure speculation on my part.
Then we have the hidden passage which led to a very wide opening that is much more suitable for an entrance, and hey, is... or at least was... protected by troupe of undead. If I remember correctly, only the one who creates such things, or has the ability to dominate them, can pass by without risk of provocation.
On the other side we have a couple of kobolds whom appeared to be guarding something, especially with that nice little tripwire trap by the stream, but there was absolutely nothing of interest; no obvious reason for them to be in the area at all.
Which brings us back here. With she nods yet again in the direction of the pool that guy and his city.
She sighs in frustration, Janira had one scroll of identification in her bag and it looks like we might need to use it; but on what item? The cloak? The necklace? One of the wands we were unable to figure out?
What do you guys think?
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Well I am happy to do my best in seeing specifically what these items do..that said...in order to study and use the proper arcane magics...I do need to study and recall the proper arcane sequences...so..like I said earlier....I need to study and rest...otherwise I say we engage out friend "Gilly"...politely at first and thne after that perhaps we should apply some "enhanced interrogation techniques"....maybe a scratch on the hieroglyphics....toss a stone in his pool..Izzy singing the blues....to disrupt his train of thought...just a thought......course, I do not wish to give anyone the slightest inclination that I am too physically tired to continue to press on ....and time is critical for whatever midnight festival "Gilly might be planning.....and Kat..yeah, I agree "Gilly" ain't the innocent monk that he is leading us to believe and he is at least complacent in letting us walk into something to cause our immediate demise...or best case...what might be controlling him,
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Oh I think this should be me....lay all the items on the ground here in front of me...now lets have a look at this scroll now shall we...
I looked at the scroll going over the writings....and then to be sure I was not going to to fail..I recite and then cast the cantrip "read magic" and then...I execute the instructions on the scroll...concentrating first on the cloak..and then to the wondrous items from Janira's pack, wands first after that mysterious cloak
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Isador nods in agreement with Caoilte.
The Gillman seems to be lost in his own little world and, if the note from the dead guy is to be believed, he is an unwilling victim to whomever is taking them for undead subjects.
The full moon has to be nearing its zenith, should we just wait an hour to see if anything happens?
I am still confused about the kobolds though. As Red pointed out, why trap the stream or guard an empty room. Maybe Eloriand and Red can have another look after Havelockk identifies this stuff; one of the items may offer us a clue or advantage in our search.
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Kat shrugs I am just speculating with that we have found so far. For all we know that guy is just delusional and someone is taking advantage of his faith and pretending to be some all powerful deity and he fell for it. He could have accidentally made his shrine near where an undead army was being raise, but...
It just doesn't add it. We are missing a rather large piece of the puzzle and that guy and this room seem to be a part of that missing piece. Hopefully identifying the items we have found will help.
And Havelockk she gives a slight grin, don't forget the necklace.
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That doesn’t make sense? I’ll tell you what doesn’t make sense; the fact that them little half-pints stood and fought rather than run away or surrender. They were outnumbered, beat before they thought about it and died where they stood. And for what? He leans toward the center of the group and whispers. I think there might be something hidden back there. Turns to Eloriand How’sat for making sense?
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I concur with the decision to re-search the room after Havelockk performs his magic.
Isador glances back towards the kneeling Gillman.
I can't vouch for the creature but when we had an opportunity to speak earlier I was pretty confident that he was telling us the truth, at least as he knows it.
and as for the half-pints.. we did not offer them much of a chance to do anything other than die. Our first volley killed them before they could even ready their weapons.
The party makes their way back to the main cave. As they enter the larger cave opening, they find the gillman standing at the edge of the pool. His hands folded, he smiles to the party. The pilgrim waves the party over, and Caoilte tentatively approaches the gillman cautiously, but without fear.
Hello again traveller. Though I have been deep into my observations here, I have noticed, and appreciated, your groups respect of this place. It is very sacred to me and my people. Though I am unable to hear the world around me, I certainly can feel it. I felt the conflict. May I ask what you have found here? Caoilte explains what the party found in the eastern and western caverns and shows the gillman the note he found on the dead assumed necromancer. The Gillman nods once and a look of deep sorrow crosses his face. I see. This explains much. We have known there was danger here, but our beliefs compelled us to return here. You and your group likely saved my life, as I am certain I would have been the next corpse soldier in this pathetic army. The Gillman bows his head deeply to Caoilte. My apologies warrior, I have been less than courteous to all of you but you certainly understand my caution. My name is Uori. Though I am certain our reasons for being here are different, in appreciation of your efforts, I will share with you what I know of this place. This cave was once sacred to Aroden, your now dead god of humanity. Long ago, his presence here was powerful and the images and paintings you see represented the tenets of his faith and beliefs. His power here was strong, but it has faded since his passing. I suspect that his presence here will fade completely relatively soon. As a further token of my good faith, I offer you this. Uori presents Caoilte with a wand, which Caoilte accepts.It is a wand that will provide you divine protection when you need it. Now, let me tell you what I know of these reliefs.
Uori leads the party to the few paintings that still retain some image quality. As the group, aided by Uori takes a harder look at the paintings, Kat sees something she had missed before. Taking her hand to brush away a thick layer of dust and dirt, she is able to reveal much more of three of the readable reliefs. After consulting with Uori, Kat and the party discuss what the three reliefs they can make out represent.
The first relief depicts a man holding a long pole of some sort with a crudely drawn hoe at one end. The figure holds the pole to the ground, and four lines like furrows in the ground are drawn next to him. Uori beleives this to represent farming and Aroden's belief that humanity will make the world fertile.
The second relief depicts a man hauling a net with a multitude of fish caught in its weave. The man marches to a City, one that looks like the miniature city in this cave and, the party can now see with near certainty, appears to be the City of Absalom.
The third relief depicts a man stabbing what appears to be a spear into a giant serpentine like creature, then a second frame showing the man carrying the now slain beast through the city.
Uori smiles and bows his head again to the party. I hope this helps you in your quest noble souls. I must return to my observations now, so please excuse me. I am certain that you all will continue to treat this place with the reverence that I do. Uori excuses himself and returns to his previous place at the pool. He kneels and again begins his prayer ritual.
As the party examines the reliefs, Eloriand speaks to Kat about his suspicions regarding the kobalds. Kat, drawing on her knowledge of dungeon denizens, expresses her belief that the pair was an advanced scouting party, likely searching for a new lair. The scouts failure to return would likely make the larger force reluctant to return to the cave, believing the scouts encountered a deadly force making the area inhospitable for a lair.
The party also tries to identify the various items they have gathered to this point. Unfortunately, Havelock's arcane training did not include how to cast or work the spell of identity. Each of the party members skilled with "tricking" magical things into working are unable to trigger the scrolls magic. For now, the items discovered remain a mystery. Perhaps the mages back at the Grand Lodge will have better luck.
aid kat
aid party
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...so the crux of it was that it's a religious pilgrimage that just happened to be a tempting place for an aspiring necromancer and group of kobolds....
Yeah... I call anticlimactic
She shakes her head. If you guys would prefer to go out the 'back' way after picking up our Halfling guide, I am going to go retrieve my rope from over the pit. Maybe we can see if we can find that 'taur lair and see if Caoilte's theory about a bull-hoard is on the mark.
See using a scroll rules. In essence, must meet three requirements:
- proper type
- spell must be on class spell list
- must have requisite ability score.
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Hey Isadore, you have been taking notes for the party, maybe we should add these reliefs to our notes collection. A crude layout of this cavern and various areas we have discovered might be helpful too. Don't forget to mark the secret door location.
I'm ok if the group would like to look for the minotaur lair. I feel like we should retrieve the Halfling first or at least inform her of our plans.
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Well thank you very much Uori. Caoilte turns to the party and mouths "What am I supposed to do with this?" A wand huh? That's very kind of you. Sure you don't need it?
Caoilte turns back to the party. Well if Uori is satisfied with us having this gift I suppose we ought to go find our halfling guide, and tell her what Uori told us about the place.
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Isador smiles when Uori offers his gift to Caoilte.
Well, we are certainly honored by your gift. Caoilte, I will hold it for save keeping.. we would not want anything bad to happen to such a treasure.
He then turns to Eloriand as he pats the satchel on his side.
I have been keeping notes and a few rough sketches. When we go back to Janira's resting spot, I will complete my drawings and record our findings.
oh.. Red, while we did not actually pass through it, the nearest town on our way here was Diobel. If I recall correctly, it is just a small port town without a lot of trade but I am sure they have several taverns that we may wish to patronize.
so lets go find Janira and check for that Minotaur lair... who knows, he may have enough to fund our entire expedition.
The party discusses their next move. Isador and Eloriand attempt to copy the reliefs that the group was able to decipher into their Pathfinder journals. Caoilte and Havelock retrieve Janira, who wakes from a restful slumber upon their approach. They explain their findings to Janira, and show her the reliefs that were legible. Janira, feeling much better, listens to the party patiently, her arms crossed with one hand resting on her chin. When the party concludes their summary, they discuss the options of remaining in the cave, tracking the minotaur to its lair or heading to Diobel for some R and R. Janira smiles and nods a few times as the party lays out their options.
Well done future Pathfinders. Not only have you proven yourselves on the battlefield, but also as competent explorers. As for the minotaur, I do not believe you would be able to track him in any efficient way, but thats probably for the best. I suspect that you would not find a lair per se but rather a village. The minotaurs here are grouped into tribes, so we would likely find a bevy of hostile horn heads to contend with. I don't know about you folks, but one bullman was more than enough to contend with. Not sure we would fare too well against a whole tribe.
I appreciate the desire to hit the cups as soon as possible, but that should wait until we are able to return to the Pig's Paunch back in Absalom. Master Shaine is desperate for our report, and we should not delay our return. I suggest we remain here for the night and head for Absalom at first light. While we are here, you folks should be able to finish your observations and actions here for your final report. That is my suggestion, of course, but the decision lays in your hand. This is your Confirmation after all, and it is going well thus far.
Janira gives the party a wide grin, pats Eloriand on the shoulder and heads off to make camp near the main cave entrance.
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Kat shrugs then asks nobody in particular Perhaps we should have her use that scroll to identify those items, or at least tell us what those wands are. I doubt she would bring a scroll she was unable to use with her, though there is a slight possibility that it was there to be available in case someone could use it.
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Isador shakes his head slowly.
Well, I guess we are done here.
I think that I will find a nice spot to nap by the cave entrance before we have to run all the way back to Absalom.
He looks at the party and then waits until Janira is out of earshot before speaking in a hushed tone.
I am not sure about you all but I was thinking that the Pathfinder Society was going to offer more adventure and possible treasures than this...
If I pass the confirmation process, I hope that our next mission is a little more like the ones we normally hear from Pathfinders who are telling tales over a mug of ale.
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No fire huh? If that mino has a tribe around we’d be best off being a little less notable. Wake me when it’s my turn to watch. Caoilte shakes out his bedroll. Pulls his chain shirt off, Easy their Kat,… and you too Izzy. I’m leaving my padding on. lays his shield and axe near him and proceeds to get some sleep.
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The red gives a wink, It will be a challenge, Caoilte, but I should be able to restrain myself. I do not know how, but I shall manage.
Yes, this would definitely be the time for surprises. Or nothing at all, but better to be unnecessarily prepared than sorry.
So, Havelockk will take first watch, Caoilte I presume will take third along with Izzy. I personally have no preference and am willing to take the mid watch though I would again recommend having an archer with someone who doesn't mind getting up close and personal.
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Eloriand responds to Kat, I can help with the mid watch as that assignment is usually not as desirable.
Eloriand begins to strip off his armor, but keeps his bow and sword close at hand. He digs through his pack and makes a quick meal of trail rations before trying to get some sleep before going on watch.