Round 4
1) Foxglove moves to hex 0911.
2) Swarm moves to cover hexes 0115, 0215, 0314, 04114; swarm attacks Harad hp, Harad now 29 hp; fails, takes , Str now 11; ; saves, is not nauseated.
Round 4 after swarm actions
3) Alk's actions, Alk no longer nauseated.
4) Harad's actions
Alkcloses his eyes to concentrate, then kisses his signet ring, which glows softly as he does so. The knowledge of his failed spell returns to him, and he once again tries to cast summon monster II.
Round 4
3) Alk uses is bonded item to recall summon monster II which he begins casting (small fire elemental will appear in hex 0414, if he completes the spell).
4) Harad calls out "I'll stay here to keep the swarm in the fire while you try and finish it." Swarm takes hp, now has taken 6 hp damage
End of Round 4
Round 5
1) Foxglove's actions
2) Swarm's actions
3) Alk's actions (small fire elemental appears in hex 0414 if not interupted.
4) Harad's actions
Foxglove steels herself, ready to distract the swarm away from Alk if needed. But happy that Harad sacrifices himself so she doesn't have to - yet.
How does he do that so nonchalantly? They are practically eating him and he just stands there. That monk discipline thing is pretty impressive!
Round 5
1) Foxglove readies an action to move to hex 0613 to try and stop swarm if it tries to move toward Alk.
2) Swarm attacks Harad hp, Harad now at 23 hp; saves; saves.
3) Alk's spell finishes; small fire elemental appears in 0414, begins to attack swarm; slam useless against swarm but does hp, damage now at 9 hp so far; swarm begins to break up, individual spiders scurry up walls and floor to disappear into small cracks, but the majority of the individuals seem to be heading for the branch they came from.
4) Harad sees that the spiders disappear into many small cracks in the burrow wall, many more cracks than in the main burrow.
End or Round 5 and End of Combat
The burrow becomes quite except for the burning oil (has 1 more round) and the hissing crackle of the elemental (which has 2 more rounds of existence).
Harad can see (after the individual spiders disappear into the cracks) the body of a gnome at the back of the branch, as well as two small piles of bones closer to the entrance. Harad says "How badly is everyone hurt?"
Alk replies to Harad, "Ach, I'm fine, bu' I used quite a bi' of my spells there. Did the trick though, so I can' complain." As he cannot speak Ignan he cannot direct the fire elemental further, so Alk dismisses it (a standard action) and moves to 0613, waiting for the oil fire to die down before joining Harad at the end of the tunnel.
"How badly is everyone hurt?"
"I'm fine. It may be too late for that gnome though. Do you have any skill at healing?"
She hurries over to the gnome and lifts him up, checking for any sign of life.
There is a 30% chance that the torch has gone out , so torch is still burning. It is the only light in the burrow. Assuming that Foxglove waits for the oil fire to die down as Alk does, Foxglove can pick up the torch and move to stand in the entrance of the burrow branch. Alk can move up to 1314 next to Harad.
Foxglove at branch entrance
Foxglove can see that the gnome certainly looks dead. He is partially eaten and there is a large cocoon (broken open) in his stomach. There are also two other body remains to her left and right that look to have been animals. From where you are that is about all you see.
Alk peeks around the bend to look into the small alcove. He winces as he sees the state the spiders left the body in, and says, "Ah think she's gone on ta the Boneyard already, lass. Looks like she was taken a while ago." He searches the alcove as well.
"yuck! It almost looks like.. Harad, do some spiders lay their eggs inside their victims?"
She ponders the implications.
"Maybe it's the wrong gnome? The camp just outside didn't look long abandoned. Or maybe they just eat very fast?"
She quickly searches the gnome for identifying signs (and, you know, valuables).
"The burrow goes further in, maybe there's another chamber? We really should take a look, but I want to pick up some more oil and another torch before doing that. Oh.. and my blade."
Alk discovers in his search the following:
1) the gnome body had on it 23 gp, a masterwork dagger, (2) potion of cure light wounds, (1) potion of pass without trace (1) vial anti-toxin, an unfinished letter to a merchant in Daggermark.
2) The skeletons to the left and right of the entrance also seem to have the remnants of a spider egg casing.
Harad tries to examines the body for time of death . He says, "This gnome died less than a day ago. This is in all likelyhood our missing gnome." Harad examines the biote marks on the body , and he says "The spider egg seems to have the same gnawing as the body. There is a partially eaten baby spider in the burst casing. It does not look like the spiders in the swarm. My guess is that the swarm feed on this body after the trapdoor spider placed it here with its egg. They all seemed to flee this branch through the many cracks in the walls. I think that this gnome was a victim twice, once by the trapdoor spider and again by the spider swarm. I do agree that we should explore the rest of the burrow, but a little more carefully this time. I have lost some strength to the spider poison and I will need some healing soon."
Foxglove looks a bit sheepish
"Oh.. so the big one isn't the mother of the million little ones? I mean, that's great, imagine a million big trapdoor spiders. How could I even think..."
But the embarrassment doesn't last long.
"Harad, maybe those potions... Or the herbs he left outside. Shame we were too late though. Wow, you got stung everywhere, I bet you regret wearing that loose robe. I so looking forward to taking my clothes off once we're done here."
Suddenly she notices the letter Alk found: "Say, what's in that letter? Anything interesting?"
Alk opens up the letter Foxglove mentions, glancing over it as he says, "Looks like it was meant fer Daggermark, some merchan' there she was keepin' in touch with. No' someone we can send her effects to, as there ain' much to send, but certainly someone who should be informed of her fate." Alk makes a decision; if their group's going to continue exploring the burrow he thinks he should heal some of the bites sustained by the spider swarm. He takes a potion of cure light wounds from his pack and drinks it.
The potion really does the trick, and almost all the bites on Alk's legs magically disappear. Alk says to Harad, "Do ye need to recover? Ye spent a lot o' time in tha' swarm o' critters." He offers his second potion of cure light wounds to Harad. To Foxglove he says , "If ye also need healing one of these potions migh' do the trick."
Alk uses spellcraft to try and identify the potions , but does not succeed. As he does not have detect magic memorized today, he can not even tell if the potions are magic rather than simple liquids.
Alk reads the contents of the letter. The gnomish honorific used for whom the letter seems to be written indicates a merchant of high repute, but not a gnome.
"Tragshi, I am grateful for your suggestion of looking for aconite by the aroma of its night blossom. I have indeed found a number of aconite plants, but I will have to return to Alejia's Crossing to arrange for the proper tools for the safe collection of the roots. I hope to return to Daggermark with the roots within a fortnight but first I must complete my current collection contract. I will include a sample of the aconite leaves to verify my find." The letter ends without signature.
Assuming you read it to the party, Harad says "I know of this aconite. Its roots are uses to make a powerful poison that is difficult to cure and robs these who eat it of health and agility while making them nauseous. This gnome may not be a poisoner but I believe that she was collecting this for someone who is."
Harad says to Alk "Since the cost of the potion was more than the money I loaned you, it may not make for a suitable exchange. I thank you but I have my own potions."
"Daggermark, eh? Famous for poisons. I mean infamous. Anyway dirty and dishonorable stuff, if you're even thinking of this as a business opportunity I'm going to leave you right here and now!"
She strikes a dramatic pose for a second, then grimaces
"The poison peddler poisoned by a spider. Poetic justice indeed."
She accepts a potion from Alk, but puts it in her bandoleer rather than drinking it.
"Thanks, friend. The scratches will heal in a few days, but it may come in handy if there's unspeakable horrors around the next bend."
Foxglove:
Foxglove knows that Daggermark is ruled by two guilds: the Assassin's Guild (run by Lady Janna Smilos) and the Poisoner's Guild (run by Tragshi the Herbalist). Lady Smilos is a descendant of Galtan nobility. Tragshi is an elderly half-elf with golden-tan skin who hails from lands far to the east and wanders the city with dozens of venomous snakes crawling about her person.
Daggermark itself was founded 300 years ago by the tattered remnants of the assassin army of the destroyed city-state of Yenchabur from deep inside the interior of Casmaron. The Assassin's guild teaches the methods of those Yenchabur warriors/assassins.
The Assassins’ guild has declared that student assassins needed work to practice their art. As such Daggermark citizens could now, for a fair price, hire one of these students to “send a message” to anyone. There are two rules: you could only hire a student assassin once per year from the guild, and you can't target a member of the Daggermark military for assassination.
The two guilds are responsible for the formation of the Outlaw Council which officially codified the Six River Freedoms (which had already held informal sway for generations).
Alk says to the others with a grimace, "We should bury 'er an' the bones once we're ou' of here. First, though, we need to see wha' else there is in this hole."
He motions to the vials of liquid on the woman and says, "I don' know wha' those are; best not to drink from the poisoner's vials though." With that he dusts himself off, indicating with his body movements that he's prepared to continue the exploration.
Foxglove nods, "I'm ready ...in 2 minutes."
If the others wait, she runs back to the mounts and fetches 3 bottles of spare lamp oil from her saddlebags. Two she secures to her bandolier, the other she prepares with a short fuse (for throwing).
Armed with torch and oil, she declares "Ready. Let's clear this hole out."
She's waiting for Alk to go first unless he indicates otherwise.
Foxgolove finds the cat asleep on top of the Carrot's saddlepack. Harad goes with Foxglove to fetch a second torch from his pack. He pauses to drink a potion from his belt pouch ( , Harad now at 37 hp). He then goes to his backpack and removes a second porch. "This is in case our other torch begins to burn out."
Foxglove and Harad reenter the burrow and join Alk.
Ready to Explore
She lights Harad's torch with her own. "And this is in case I drop my torch to draw a weapon. Torches are cheap, I'll make it up to you."
She stays 10' behind Alk. Just enough space that he can jump back without crashing into us. And that we don't walk into the same trap. He doesn't need the torch close anyway.
She whispers to Alk "Be careful. Spiderwebs are hard to see in the dark, and danger may lurk above as well as below. If there is something else down here, it's something those spiders couldn't or wouldn't eat"
Alk replies back, "The dark is no impediment fer a dwarf. But yeh, I'll be careful." He stays on alert and stealths forward, moving at half speed. He advances with his shortsword in one hand and his wand of magic missile in the other.
The party advances toward the end of the burrow: Alk first, Foxglove 10' behind Alk, Harad 5' behind Foxglove.
End of Burrow
Perception checks:
When Alk reaches the end of the burrow, it appears that a trapdoor plug has been used to seal the passage. It looks like the plug that sealed the branch. Harad says "I have not seen any more plugs which might hide other branches"
Alk examines the plug ( ) and does not see anything unusual or suspicious.
Alk stage whispers to the others, "Another plug. We should go ge' the shovels again."
Harad says "I'm closest" and goes back to retrieve the shovels. When he returns he moves past Foxglove and hands one to Alk. "It might be a squeeze but we can both work on loosening the plug." Harad wedges his torch in the roots of the burrow wall and they both begin to dig.
Strength Checks:
Their first attempt does not loosen the plug.
Strength Checks:
Harad can loosen one of the 4 sides.
Strength Checks:
Alk loosens another side.
Strength Checks:
Harad loosens a third side
Strength Checks:
Harad loosens the final side and pries the plug back. A short burrow passage is revealed with what appears to be another skeleton in hex 1210.
Passage Revealed
"Good work boys!" Foxglove gives the men an encouraging smile.
This is more like it. Looking at fit guys working instead of digging around in the mud myself.
Harad has lost the 'effortless' looks. The potion healed the wounds but I guess it didn't suck out the poison.
When the plug is removed, she peeks through the hole.
"I think we found the back door. Or at least a second hunting spot."
When they look at the skeleton, she does an imitation of Harads accent and manners:
"This one appears to be thoroughly dead for more than a day. The cause of death appears to be being eaten by a huge spider."
Alk stands in place for a few moments after the plug drops, looking ahead for any signs of danger.
If he sees nothing immediately worrying, he'll continue on ahead. Though Foxglove can't see it as his head is turned the other way, Alk gives a slightly pained smile at her comment. He thinks to himself, The dead ain' nothin' to joke about, lassie, though he keeps the comment to himself.
Alk sees nothing ahead that he feels is dangerous. The skeleton seems picked clean and there appears to be a broken cocoon where the skeleton's stomach would have been. However, he can not see any spider body in the cocoon.
Harad takes the torch from the wall and enters the chamber (hex 1309). He bends down to examine the skeleton.
Examining the Skeleton
"There are two arrowheads embedded in these bones, one in the left shoulder and one in the left ankle. Neither of these would have been immediately fatal. There is a spider cocoon in the abdominal cavity, but I see no sign of a spider. Foxglove is right in that this person has been dead more than a day, ( ) but I can not tell just for how long. The flesh is gone from the bones, but the connective ligaments are mostly intact."
Harad examines the objects around the skeleton.
"There are two rusty daggers, some rotted leather and cloth that may have been clothing, a roll of leather still in good shape containing many small tools (, and a rotted leather pouch containing 30 gp and a very nice looking jeweled broach. This is not my field but maybe you two can tell something about it." He passes the broach back to Alk, who is closest.
Apprase Check DC20:
Alk can determine that this broach is fine mithril wire (50 gp for wire) holding a topaz (350 gp), 3 garnets (90 gp each), and 3 Jet (90 gp) each (total 940 gp).
While they examine the broach, Harad lifts his torch and examines the end of the burrow ( ). He sees that the burrow slopes up to what appears to be another trap door like the one they found at the other end of the burrow. "The trapdoor ahead seems to be disturbed."
"Disturbed? What do you mean? Someone tried to dig through from the outside, or that something escaped from the inside while we were fighting the swarm? Empty cocoon... could there be another spider living here?"
She chuckles lightly to herself at Harad's reaction to her joke, but pays some attention to what he says
"Wait... embedded? So he had two arrows in his body when he ran into the spider? Wow, that sucks! Is the disturbance recent or could it be that whoever fired those arrows at him tried to get in here? Say, if he'd taken something they wanted back. Anyway, it's long enough ago that the clothes have rotted"
She takes a close look the arrowheads.
Looks like we found ourselves a burglar, but who shot him? Bandits, soldiers or did he steal from his adventurer friends? He died without pulling out the arrows, but Harad says the wounds weren't fatal. Must have been the spider - or poisoned arrows.
The bag of tools obviously interest her, and they way she inspects them reveals familiarity. She offers them to Alk: "Do you need tools like this? If not, I'm sure I could find a buyer" She makes sure no valuables are left behind, and makes a note on who carries it
"I suggest we exit the way we came and bury the corpses unless you think this is a crypt good enough. We should check on the disturbed trapdoor just to be safe, but I'd rather do that from above."
Alk strokes his beard thoughtfully as Foxglove offers him the tools, then shrugs and says, "Ah've not learned to use such tools. My line of work deals less with locks and traps an' more with sneaking and moving."
He declines the tools.
Alk takes a moment to collect his thoughts then casts detect magic, perusing the various items from this new corpse to try and identify any with magic.
Alk agrees with Foxglove's plan. Emerging from the trapdoor here would single someone out and put them in a vulnerable position.
Alk strokes his beard thoughtfully as Foxglove offers him the tools, then shrugs and says, "Ah've not learned to use such tools. My line of work deals less with locks and traps an' more with sneaking and moving." He declines the tools.
But he immediately recognized what they are for, just as I suspected. The way he moved in the dark was... talented.
"And what exactly is your line of work? You're not a typical wizard, nor like any scout I know."
Alk grins and says, "Oh, it's somethin' that anyone in tha' world coul' do; I jus' buy an' sell goods, sometimes move goods from one place to the other. My trainin' in the art of stealth and the art of magic 'as certainly served me on tha road; these parts seem ta 'ave more bandits than anywhere else in tha world, which earns me a tidy markup fer me resales."
Ah, a smuggler!
"I see. You get the goods past those that may want to stop it, and to those that want to pay for it. You make it sound easy and dull, but I don't believe that! If we are lucky enough to have a less interesting day on the road tomorrow, we can trade stories around the campfire. But first we need to secure the area!"
She idly scratches her chest, covered with scratches and spider bites, and adds "and after I want a bandage and clean clothes."
Dirtied by mud, blood and spider goo, and with thorns stuck in her hair and cloak, she looks quite different from when you first saw her.
She offers to help Alk carry the dead bodies (Harad is poisoned after all, and this isn't digging). After exiting the hole (assuming nothing surprising happens) she confers with the others:
"Let's check on the other entrance - quietly. I'll circle around the left, Harad around the right and Alk in the middle since he's the slowest runner. Yell if anything spots you, and we'll come running."
Burrow Back Door
The party splits up and approaches the area under the tree canopy and takes up positions: Alk (hex 1508), Foxglove (hex 1213), Harad (hex 0908). The tree undergrowth contains many flowering bushes in yellow and pink. Tuffs of taller grass, some small evergreens, and clumps of flowers are scattered in and beyond the flowering shrubs. There are a few larger evergreens to the north.
Perception Check DC15:
Foxglove and Harad can see the trapdoor among tuffs of tall grass behind the yellow flowering bushes. One corner of the trapdoor appears to be dislodged.
Alk draws his bow and readies it, alert for danger.
Harad motions to Foxglove to stay where she is, then approaches the trapdoor.
Harad says, "it looks like a small creature came out of the burrow through the gap in the trapdoor. From the way the grass has grown up around the door, I think that this happened several months ago. Natural decay and insects could account for the condition of the skeleton. I do not think that there is any more danger from this lair."
"When we started this journey I expected we might be burying the dead, just not this soon. Let us bury these poor unfortunates and continue our journey."
Alk agrees with Harad, saying nothing but grabbing a shovel and getting to work.
Foxglove grabs another shovel, giving Harad a stern look:
"I'll dig - this time. You need to get that poison out of your system. If the gnome dealt with roots poisonous to even touch, he must have had some antidote." or at least gloves..."Or maybe you can make one yourself from his herbs."
"To bad it's not possible to just will it out of your system. If it were, you'd be the type to do it. But just stoically ignoring the pain doesn't work - I saw you down there, you're weakened!"
To Alk:
"Um.. do gnomes bury their dead like humans do? We should say a few words too, and drink a toast to their memory - and our survival"
But just what do you say when burying an unknown gnome poisonmonger and a long-dead burglar? 'He died like he lived' - Alk wouldn't like that. 'Desna guide you' sounds a bit too much like 'better luck next time'. If they expect me to speak, I'll need that drink first.
The burials are uneventful and the party prepares to resume their journey.
"I do not recognize any of the plants around here that could be aconite", Harad says as they repack their equipment. He repacks the gnome herbalist equipment and asks Foxglove, "Can you find room on Carrot for deceased's pack?"
Hex 1406 after Trapdoor Spider
It is 9:00 am when the party returns to the road and continues their progress south. The have a fairly clear view of grass covered hills about a quarter mile to the east. South (Hex 1307) they can see that the road passes between two sets of hill through a stand of trees.
Perception Check DC30:
As the party approaches the gap between the two hills they can see that the hills to the west are green and covered with grass and small shrubs and bushes. The hills to the east seem barron rock with minimal brush and tufts of grass. The trees between the hills are bare of leaves looking as if they are all dead.
Perception Check DC25:
Harad calls a halt as the party enters hex 1307-2314.
"I see a cabin of sorts on the hilside to our east. There is someing about it that just doesn't look right."
Alk comments, "Aye, somethin' 'bout this whole place don' look righ'. Looks like everythin' just dies after a point." Alk motions to the west toward the approximate line where the dead trees start. "This don' look like one bi' o' good."
Foxglove pets the Cat: "What do you think? Do you sense anything bad?"
To the party: "We could always go around, I suppose. On the west side. But... this is very curious..."
She quickly checks all the various knives and daggers, looks for a path with enough natural cover, and starts sneaking towards the cabin for a closer look.
"If I die, give Carrot to Purella.", a few seconds later, to Alk: "Umm.. you don't happen to have any protection spells against evil, do you?"
But she doesn't stop.
, (+canny observer/trapsense)
When Foxglove stops and asks about protection spells against evil, Alk steps up to her and casts an invisibility on her. He says, "It'll last only a couple minutes, so be quick abou' it." Alk then waves to the air where he last saw Foxglove and moves back toward Harad. He keeps watch over the animals while Foxglove is scouting.
"What... ooooh... nice"
She draws her wand of message and tries to activate it while moving, pointing it at Alk.
fail
success, now linked with Alk
In the first two rounds she has moved 60', each round after she moves another 60' towards the cabin. If she comes within 100' of the cabin without noticing anything amiss, she'll slow down to normal stealth speed
Alk hears Foxglove's voice whispering in her ear "Alk, can you hear me?"
Two rounds brings Foxglove to 2414-1209, behind the dead tree in the middle of 1307-2414. Foxglove can see about 100' ahead that there is an old fieldstone cabin on a small flat area 20 feet up the slope of the hill. The hill behind it may be 150' tall at its highest point, some 500' south of where you are. The northern end of this hill is much lower and about 200' north of you. The cabin is covered in dead vines with a scraggly thorn bush hiding the left portion of the cabin while an apparent rock slide has covered/crushed the right side. The condition of the cabin would make it difficult to notice from the road through the dead trees. The hill is mostly barren with only a few brushes and clumps of grass.
Foxglove can see that there is (or rather was) a door to the cabin between the thorn bush and the rock slide. She can see that it is not only open but broken, with a small piece of the door hanging from a hinge. She does not detect any movement.
Alk continues to hear her voice in his ear:
Cabin is covered in dead vines and partially crushed by a rock slide. The door is broken - violently. No sign of life. But with all the plants dead, life may not be what we are looking for.
Landslides, dead plants... is this the aftermath of a battle between druids?
She moves straight eastwards, planning to sneak up to the cabin from the north. The urgency to get there before the spell runs out wins over her caution .
She picks up a pebble from the ground. In case I need to make a sound - elsewhere.
to Alk: "I'm approaching it from the north in a few seconds. I'll keep you updated".
a few seconds later: "This is a two-way line, you know ...I think."
Harad goes to Alk and says' "I think that trying to hide your casting of that spell would have been useless. If we are being watched, there would be no easy way to keep them from seeing that someone has gone invisible. We should be ready to come to her aid quickly."
Party while Foxglove investigates cabin
Realizing what Foxglove did, though not quite sure how she did it, Alk points vaguely towards the cabin and whispers back to her, "Ah see. Be careful, now; whatever kinda danger's in the area is prob'ly in tha' cabin. Don' whisper back 'til you're sure the area's clear."
He then speaks to Harad, telling him, "Ah thin' she's almost in; she can speak to me with a spell. You can prob'ly get there quicker 'en me if somethin's wrong, bu' I'm ready to run."