She nods.
Finally he gets it
"Very good everyone. Congratulations on your first battle together." Janira smiles as she looks all of you over. "It's good to see that none of you got hurt, but we should gather our things and continue on. We need to push on and reach the caves by nightfall, else I fear that any Gillmen that are present there may leave before we arrive. So quickly all."
With that, Janira hefts her pack and continues on.
But as the party continues on through the wilderness, you find your path blocked by fallen objects, shortcuts are overgrown with vegetation, and other minor delays continue to cost you time.
Working together, you manage to find new paths that avoid many of the dangers and obstacles of the forest, gaining you back some of the time that you lost.
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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 the group.
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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Heading the advice of the experienced pathfinder and trusting that she knows what she is doing..and that she will be able to get herself out of trouble Lysassa moves quickly (for an old woman) first to the bagpack left behind then to the cave entrance.
Assuming there's nothing in there that is a danger to us, Lysassa sits down to recover her breath and looks through the bagpack. Afterall..if it was important enough for Janira to leave behind for us it might contain something we will need in here.
potion of barkskin, potions 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 3rd, 4 charges), wand of cure light wounds (CL 3rd, 8 charges), acid, alchemist’s fire (2), holy water, smokestick, tanglefoot bags, thunderstone, antitoxin, sunrods (2)
The cave entrance is only 5 feet wide and extends 20 feet into the rock before widening into a broader tunnel. This cave system stretches deep below the foothills of the Kortos Mounts, water drips from stalactites and you can hear the sounds of rushing water, possibly underground streams.
The caves’ walls are patterned with blue-green luminescent fungi that provide dim light. Petroglyphs—most depicting marine animals or spiral shapes—periodically decorate the tunnels’ walls.
The narrow tunnel twists and turns for several hundred feet before slowly opening to a wider passage. The tunnel here is 10 feet wide and 10 feet tall with a ceiling mostly devoid of stalactites. A large hole spans the cave’s width and stretches ten feet down the path. Through the dim light of the fungus you can see a bundle at the bottom of the pit.
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"She came well prepared. Let's make sure we are as well."
Lysassa distributes the items they have found to the persons who can use them (or will have the most use out of them.)
Potion of barkskin to Oster?
Potion of cure light wounds to Oster
Potion of cure light wounds 2 to Aldrea
Potion of feather step ?
Potion of vanish ?
Scroll of entangle and obscuring mist to Hargev
Scroll of gust of wind, identify, mage armor to Lysassa
Wand of burning hands to Lysassa
Wand of cure light wounds to Hargev
Acid for Hagrev
Alchemist fire along with tanglefoot bag fire to Aldrea
Alchemist fire, holy water and 1 sunrod to Oster.
Smonekstick, thunderstone, antitoxin and 1 sunrod (with the bag everything came in) for Lysassa.
Lysassa then makes some more notes in her journal, starting with a simple map of the cave and scratching down some of the petroglyphs next to it.
"There seems to be a bundle at the bottom of this pit..anyone feel like climbing down there to get a better look?"
Lysassa looks at the younger people.
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I will go get it. Your plan for the halfling's gear is good as well. If Vanish does what it says, I think it should go to Hargev to scout with if need be. What does Feather Step do?
I'll start tying knots into my rope, then look for something to secure it to before climbing down into the pit to retrieve the bundle.
Once down, I'll have a look around the bottom of the pit for anything less obvious than the bundle.
I'll grab the bundle, and anything else of interest, and climb back up.
The pit is 20 feet deep, and you can find a rock outcropping useable to tie your rope off with.
Oster ties off the rope and quickly clambers down. At the bottom of the pit you don't see anything other than the bundle, which upon closer inspection appears to be an old cloak.
Climbing back up the pit seems a bit tougher, but Oster still does it with little problem.
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"Thank you for the cloak Oster."
"It's a happy stick Hargev, if you say the right word , for this stick that is <insert word here> it will make the wounds of whomever you touch next close and they will feel better. Just be careful when you use it, it can run out of being happy..and then it won't work anymore. "
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Aldrea sighs. Then inspects her gear again. A gun that doesnt work or black powder that is defective is pretty much useless. And in turn, reduces her effectiveness
Enough waiting. Lets get this thing going. I am not planning on staying here the whole time
With that, she gets up and starts to move forward
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Hargev looks down at Akela, "No, you are right she knows what she is doing, and I am needed here. We have already spent too much time down here, and it would take me and Akela time to track her down and I'm not sure what the two of us could do against that beast. May the man in the clouds look over her" He reaches out his hand and scratches Akela behind the ear.
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Well, in that case, I'll cut off enough of my rope so that everyone can climb down the knotted length, and then climb up the other side before lowering more knotted rope. If anyone is unable to climb that unaided, I'll go back to the bottom of the pit to give them a boost (aid another). I'm fairly confident that Oster can succeed at all the required Climb checks by just taking 10. (Except maybe the one to climb out of the far side of the pit with no rope. I'm willing to roll until I make it if it's a DC 16 or more.)
Oster makes his way once again down into the pit before climbing back up the other side and lowering some rope to help others climb up the other side.
Continuing down the tunnel about 30 feet you find a wooden plank, 3 foot wide, resting against the cavern wall.
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 area a different style than the petroglyphs found elsewhere in the caves, and they definitely date back to earlier than the petroglyphs as well.
Akela makes a running jump across the pit.
and lands in the bottom of the pit.
Akela runs up to make the jump over the pit, only to have a small section of the floor next to the pit give out under him just as he gets to the edge, dumping him to the bottom of the pit.
, , , ,
Looking around the cave there is nothing else beyond the faded carvings and the entrance to another cave further along. You also notice that the blue-burning torches, do not give off any heat.
Studying the carvings you realize that they are inscriptions from the History and Future of Humanity, the principle holy text of Aroden, and images that depict these passages. The carvings focus on parables that feature Aroden’s 12 guises, meant to illustrate his hopes for humanity: the artist, beggar, craftsman, farmer, fisherman, hunter, merchant, scholar, shepherd, soldier, tailor, and thief. But only 4 of the parables are fully decipherable, the artist, hunter, merchant, and scholar.
You also realize that the sections of the holy text depicted 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.
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"Hmm...these drawings are inscriptions from the History and Future of Humanity, the principle holy text of Aroden, and images that depict these passages. The carvings focus on parables that feature Aroden’s 12 guises, meant to illustrate his hopes for humanity: the artist, beggar, craftsman, farmer, fisherman, hunter, merchant, scholar, shepherd, soldier, tailor, and thief. But only 4 of the parables are fully decipherable, the artist, hunter, merchant, and scholar. The sections of the holy text depicted 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. ..that's a little odd."