Marcus regards the uncovered statue with surprise, "Uh... Oh my!"
He opens his senses once more to see if the taint of evil is present.
Marcus senses a slight taint about the whip, but nothing from the statue.
Before deciding on the best course of action, Ari takes a few seconds to see if she can identify what the statue is.
Ranek sighs as Bolkvar leaps in to attack the golem. "You know, running away was a perfectly acceptable solution."
Ranek will attempt to identify the creature and hopefully it's weaknesses before doing anything.
"I have a feeling the adventures we're trying to find had the same thought Ranek..." replied Marcus. Noting Bolkvar's actions, he noted, "We're somewhat committed now. I've no clue what that statue is but I do know I mislike that whip, it's tainted somehow..."
"Oh sure!" Bolkvar yelled as he closed the distance. "Run?! Eh, long-legs?" His fist crashed into the golem. "An' then what?!" He brought his other fist into the creature's face, and followed up with a kick to it's chest. "Let it wander around?" He brought his fist back for another punch. "Destroy it now before it frees itself!"
A scowl crosses the dwarven cleric's face as he unlatyches his warhammer from his belt and strikes the possible construct.
Ranek and Ariyana believe this creature is some kind of magical construct, much more likely to be a proper golem than the undead thing from before. That would make it a being worked from mighty Art known to few who still live. They suspect it to be one of the lesser sorts, though, not the kind that are immune to most Art outright save a few spells which might hinder or heal them. However, using lightning upon it is likely unwise. Such blasting might be reflected or taken in as healing.
Or we could have backtracked to the altar room like I wanted to. We didn't have to try digging past the collapsed room. Dwarves. As stubborn as the stone they live in - and almost as stupid. Ranek doesn't bother arguing out loud with Bolkvar, knowing it will do no good at this point. Instead, he says, "This creature is a magical construct, closer to a proper golem then the bone creatures from before. It will likely be resistant to some of the damage from our weapons. It is a lesser kind, though, so it should be susceptible to most Art. Do not use lightning on it, as that may strengthen it or reflect back upon you."
Ranek pulled out his wand and activated it, creating a floating shield before him.
He then used some of his arcane power to enhance his weapon.
Ranek moved in close to the golem, taking up a flanking position with Bolkvar and struck with his blade.
Ranek again struck at the golem, trying to assist in killing it before it could free itself.
Aldon flanks with Ranek and Bolkvar tryng to stop the creature from extricating itself from the rubble.
Unarmed Strike - Damage
Unarmed Strike - Damage
Unarmed Strike - Damage
Hakon will move into a flanking position as well and strikes out with his sword
With what she knows about golems, Ari decides to use her adamantine arrows on the construct. If it had thick plating, perhaps the hard metal would be able to pierce its outer shell.
After enhancing her bow, Ari releases a volley of arrows at the thing.
Knowing this was a golem they where facing, Marcus whispered a quick prayer to Torm the True. Knowledge blossomed in his mind as tactics and techniques for dealing with such foes where reveled to him!
The company descends on the golem in a fury. It scarcely lurches free from the rubble before being cut down, hacked to pieces, and shattered into so much badly corroded copper.
Thurvek checks behind the group to see if the sounds of melee alerted anyone to their location.
Ari relaxes a bit as the golem stops moving. Perhaps Ilmater is watching over them even now in this deep, dark mine.
After retrieving her fired arrows, Ari says, "Well that went well. Should we double-back to the other room or keep digging?"
Marcus wasn't so sure, "Let's keep digging for a bit? I reckon the adventures collapsed the ceiling on the Golem to escape from it, maybe we'll uncover a passageway..."
He starts dragging rocks away from the collapsed area.
The dwarven cleric laments under his breath.
"Damn. Wish I thought to pack my pick for this venture."
Ranek sighs, sheathing his sword, and begins helping move rocks, although he wasn’t particularly useful for it.
Hakon digs in to the boulders
The din of battle drew no new threats. Some hours of digging revealed only more tumbled rocks and dirt for some time, until the company came to another series of mine tunnels in worse repair than those they had yet seen.
Barra looks expectantly at the shorter members of the party. "Well? Safe or no?"
"You have eyes, boy", Thurvek said grimly. "Use them. Of course, it's not safe. The question is: if those children are in that mess, are they in any condition to be rescued? Oh Clanggedin, please don't let them be in there." A shadow of remorse passes over the dwarven cleric's face.
"If we're going to proceed, we should - as always - proceed cautiously. I'm beginning to wonder if the adventurers lured the golem here to collapse the tunnel on it because the tunnel was already unstable. If so, they're not likely to be further this way. We may want to consider going the other way now. But let me check something first," Ari says before walking over toward the newly revealed series of tunnels. She falls to one knee and examines the ground for signs the adventurers continued on this way.
Breathing heavily, sweaty and dirty from the exertion, Ranek casts a cantrip to locate magical auras and looks for the whip the golem was reaching for.
Breathing heavily, sweaty and dirty from the exertion, Ranek casts a cantrip to locate magical auras and looks for the whip the golem was reaching for.
Ariyana doesn't find any tracks just past the rubble that would suggest recent passage.
Bolkvar and Thurvek are reasonably sure that the immediate area beyond the collapsed section is sound, but past that they become much less confident. It's not likely to fall down on them all at once, but their own excavation did just disturb the site and it doesn't seem to be in the best repair. Blasting magic would be a serious risk, at least.
"I don't see any tracks just past the rubble that would suggest someone recently passed through here. I don't think the adventurers went this way, or if they did, they're probably buried in the rubble somewhere like this golem was. We should go back the other way."
"We could always check this last", voiced Thurvek.
Ranek closes his eyes and takes a couple of calming breaths. That's what I wanted to do in the first place, you bearded buffoon!
"Right, let us backtrack to the altar room and explore that path. Shall we?"
"Aye then lets get to it." Marcus was a little disappointed, it was seeming increasingly unlikely they'd find anyone alive. Still if nothing else it was their solemn duty to cleanse the evil which was infesting these mines, so he wouldn't waver...
Marcus started walking cautiously back towards the altar room, and onto the path beyond, keeping alert for any surprises.
"Indeed, backtracking would be the wisest course of action".
"I agree."
Ranek closes his eyes and takes a couple of calming breaths. That's what I wanted to do in the first place, you bearded buffoon!
"Right, let us backtrack to the altar room and explore that path. Shall we?"
The company made their way back to the chamber with the great dragon altar, the shattered glass opposite it, the odd blank spot in the carvings just above that glass, and the great bowl full of magical flame.
To the north they found a tangled mass of tunnels, winding about and doubling back on themselves in increasingly poor repair and adorned in chief with a stench that made eyes burn and blessed the afflicted with pounding headaches.
Feeling drained from the day’s excursion, both magically and physically, Bolkvar trudged on. He paused to examine the tunnels, to see how safe they would be to enter.
[dice=K Engineering on stability of tunnels]1d20+11
Feeling drained from the day’s excursion, both magically and physically, Bolkvar trudged on. He paused to examine the tunnels, to see how safe they would be to enter.
[dice=Knowledge Nature to tell what the stench is]1d20+11
Bolkvar believes these tunnels are mostly natural and sound, but also that they would quickly turn into a maze.
He would know the reek from anywhere. Nothing stinks like troglodytes, reptilian creatures of the Underdark. Some humans believe them accursed men and women, driven from the sunlit lands for a past sin. Dwarven lore holds that they are an ancient race from the dawn times, now dwindled to only a faint breath of their past might. Few are to be found so far north, but Bolkvar's read that they're more common in the distant South. They're known for their love of the flesh of thinking beings. The stench comes from an oil that oozes about their scales, sapping the strength even from dwarves. A long trog doesn't present much threat, but their scales shift to match the stone about and that makes them cunning ambushers for those who don't know the smell. Its presence here means they're near, or that the air in the tunnels hasn't moved in a long time and might have gone bad. That no one feels weakened by the stink argues for the latter.
With some tredipation, Bolkvar shared this with the party.
”...this makes me wonder where these lead. I don’t see why the goblin and trolls would be workin’ with trogs, but there are worse fates. Like bein’ lost down here. Can anyone make a mage-mark so we can retrace our steps, or have any chalk?”
"I do, one moment." Barra rummages about in his bag for a moment before pulling out a thick stick of chalk. He steps up to the wall and draws a long-tailed arrow pointing back the way they came. "That do?"
Ari takes a few moments to get used to the smell of the tunnels. It's impossible to actually do. She'll just have to live with it.
When Barra produces chalk, Ari nods at the half-elf and says, "Just be sure to keep marking it as we go along. I'm guessing it'll be easy to get lost in there, so we'll need a clear way back."
After casting dancing lights once more, Ari bends down on one knee to look for tracks into the tunnels.
Ranek shakes his head. "I did not prepare such a spell this day - I planned for other contingencies."
As he adapts to the smell in the tunnel, he looks to Ari to see if she can find any tracks to follow.
”Perfect, Barra. We’ll leave ye in charge of the marks. With that, we’ll be able to find our way out. Let’s move. And remember! Be wary of Trog ambushes.”
Thurvek grunts his approval as he continues his watch for flank attacks as the group progresses.
Marcus studies the entrance to the tunnels, looking to see if there are any tracks or signs of passage...
Marcus studies the entrance to the tunnels, looking to see if there are any tracks or signs of passage...
[dice=Perception]1d20+6
[Dice=Survival]1d20+7
The company set off into the winding caverns. If not for Barra's marks, they'd have lost themselves several times with all the doubling back and rising and falling tunnels. After some time they come upon what looks to have once been a den of some sort, complete with rotting skins and a few long-dead, but still reeking, troglodyte corpses. Further exploration, almost an hour of it, brought them out to the sunlight again. The cave, drifted with snow and adorned with old droppings, opened into a thick copse of trees. The din of falling water came from somewhere not far off.
Through it all, they found not a track but their own.
Hakon stepped to the fore, drawing his blade and shield. "Interesting."
Ranek blinked in the brightness of the sunlight a couple of times. After so long spent underground, it was nice to see the sun again and feel the air on their face. And yet, they had found no trace of the children.
"I don't think we saw any sign of the children in there. Was there some other part of the mine we didn't search we could go and check?"
Trying to put a brave face on it Marcus replied, "Well we did excavate some tunnels... If not there we must have missed something, perhaps there was a side passage round a blind corner, or maybe there was more to that well than meets the eye?"
A grim expression crossed Thurvek's face. "We still haven't fully explored the delapidated tunnels where the golem was buried." The dwarven cleric kneels downs, grabbing some dirt and rubbing it into his hands, making a silent prayer for aid.