The Once & Future KingMaker

Game Master Aest

"Wish I'd prepared a spell of light," Asta says, shaking her head. "Alas, I came ready for violence and healing, instead."

"Aaawww, what's the matter Torod? Don't get jealous just 'cause Andrei here knows how to talk to a lady."

Turning to Asta, Valeria replies, "Well, that's the sort of thing we were expecting to run into out here. At any rate, lets go before his spell wears out. Maybe this is a back entrance to the mite lair."

Valeria then leads in keeping the edge of the light from the holy symbol ahead of them.

The cave is big enough to accomodate the entire party plus horses and possibly even a few more.

Near the back an old pickaxe leans against the wall.

knowledge dungeoneering or profession miner checks might be in order.

Would Knowledge: Geography work? 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (14) + 6 = 20
Profession: Miner 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (20) + 3 = 23

Smiling, Andrei just takes the compliment with a grin. Stepping forward he examines the pickaxe and the wall, tapping his chin in thought.

Knowledge (dungeoneering) 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 17

The cave wall directly across from the entrance sparkles slightly—a vein of gold!

Indeed, this cave could be transformed into a healthy gold
mine with the proper time and equipment—

Unless the owner of the pickaxe returns.......

"He may talk sweet, but old Torod will make you rich. What you say to that, girlie?"

"She might say that men who offer girls money instead of nice words right off the bat are usually dirty old lechers who favour Calistria over Shelyn," Asta says in a tart tone of voice.

Valeria laughs at Asta's retort, and says, "Yeah, that's pretty much it."

Waiting until the nature of the cave is revealed publicly to comment further.

Raising a hand to his mouth as if to cough, Andrei instead hides the smile starting to appear on his face. Coughing slightly and his face turning red, Andrei looks down briefly to avoid the glances from Asta and Valeria. "Ah, what I think Torod was trying to say is that this cave bears the hallmarks of a gold vein. Focusing on the walls Andrei points to the stone. See the quartz with flecks here and here? Given the right equipment and manpower this could be a healthy mine.

Torod turns to Valeria, "I didn't offer you money. Not that I wouldn't, just that I didn't. Calistria has her place as much as Shelyn does." Before responding to Asta, "What I offered her, and you, and even him," indicating Andrei, "Is a chance to become partners in a gold mine."

Her eyes briefly alight with excitement, her face suddenly takes a serious turn, and she says solemnly, "Money's not everything, and like anything else it can be taken away. Just look at this pick axe, it's not seen use in a long time, so something must have done away with the previous owner. We can put this to good use but I'm sure Restov will have plans for this once they get word of it's location."

She then turns and walks out of the cave, standing next to her horse with her eyes closed, listening to it's breathing as she lets the sun's warmth calm her down. Why is everything that people say making me think of them? This is getting ridiculous!

Coughing into his hand, Andrei looks at the other three in turn. Perhaps we don't tell Restov. It's not like they have done a lot of us, now is it?

Asta's eyes grow a little colder. "That would be inappropriate," she says.

"Not to mention," she adds after a moment, "Restov already has refineries and a mint, making the process of turning this raw ore into actual money that much simpler. If we can establish a legal claim on this deposit and make legal arrangements to retain the freehold, we can derive a tidy profit from a government contract on a regular basis. Restov would be required to provide the labour to dig out the ore and transport it back to their national borders and refineries. Granted, we might be called upon to provide security, but with the kind of profit we can make here, we should have no trouble acquiring some trustworthy help. We might even recruit some of the other groups patrolling these lands.

One alternative would be for us to dig up a sufficient amount of ore to set up an independent operation, which would be fraught with considerable financial risks. Given the tariffs on the transport of gold, we would lose a considerable sum on transport into areas that have the skilled craftsmen necessary to refine the ore and turn it into baubles that people would be willing to buy - and we would have no guarantee of a return on that sort of investment, especially if local authorities decide to hamper or tax the sale of such items.

A third alternative, the criminal element, is unthinkable. We would need to found or hook up with a smuggling ring to circumvene border security just to get our materials to the people capable of refining the material; then we would need to make black market deals to circumvene the offices of the exchequer and the market authorities that check the provenance of items of value; all of this, as well as the need to acquire miners who keep their mouths shut, adds up to a vast amount of people capable of betraying us to the authorities and ruining our reputations for the rest of our lives. Not to mention the fact that the profits of such low dealings would be tenuous at best; initial high profits would be offset by the need for bribes, regular payments to criminal guilds and such. Crime. Does not. Pay."

Did I mention Asta is Lawful? ^^;

Heading nearly perfectly South from the mine you can see
Looming over all the hills in the northern Kamelands,
a graying hulk of a sycamore tree clings precariously to
its last years of life. The 100-foot-tall tree is a well-known
landmark and is visible for miles around.

This must be the tree where the mites lair.

Unlike the previous leg of the journey, Valeria rides in silence between the mine and the tree, alongside Asta.

As the tree looms in the distance, she tries to put the troubling thoughts of her past aside and steel herself for what lay ahead.

Focus Val. You'll get your shot at revenge one day. If your lucky, the bastards that did this to you are somewhere here in the Greenbelt, working for the Stag Lord. But for now, you've got a pest problem to deal with...

"Let's leave the horses back there while we approach the mite lair."

So are we walking right up to the tree or hanging back and watching the area?

"Croft," Asta says, and she shrugs her shoulder. The raven rises, cawing in protest.
"Wait for him to return," the Winter Witch says, eyeing the tree with mistrust. She mutters something under her breath and continues to glare.

Detect Magic plus Perception 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (18) + 3 = 21.

'Why do I always have to be the one to fly into dangerous areas and look around?' Croft grumbles to himself as he rises to a higher altitude and circles the area around the tree, his dark eyes taking everything in.

'Oh, right: I work with flightless monkeys, and the boss won't be able to fly until she learns how to. I wish she was ready to learn, but she isn't. Her powers are coming along nicely, though, if I do say so myself. I wish I had an eyeball to snack on. That or some cheese. Cheese is the best thing humans ever invented, other than weapons to kill each other with so we ravens can eat the eyes of their dead.'

Despite his inner rambling, the raven keeps his eyes out for any danger, or just anything interesting for his mistress, before he flies back to her.

Perception 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (12) + 3 = 15. Croft maintains a goodly height so he'll be out of likely bowshot.

The area is quiet with no sign of the mites anywhere.

It is nearly lunch time.

Croft soon returns, and Asta relays his report to the rest of the group.

"I could eat a bite before we set to," she says. "Little point in fighting on an empty stomach, and the scent of food might draw some of them out, which would be convenient."

Torod keeps Strawberry close, "No reason to put yourself in danger when the bird can be made to do it." For her part, Strawberry gives her regal approval by lounging while Croft works.

Valeria dismounts and prepares some of their food stores for their meal. Once everyone has eaten, she recollects her combat gear and prepares for what is to come with a few practice swings of her sword.

The tree remains still except for a nice breeze in the higher branches, you also note that the tree is upwind from you so it is unlikely you have been smelled thus far.

Carrying on then....

The tree is much larger than you expected with a tangle of massive roots running around it, even if you all joined hands you could not fully engulf the tree, nor even cover a quarter of the massive circumference.

At first glance you do not even see a way into a lair or that there is even a lair here.

"Make the cat sniff out the entrance," Asta says to Torod. "If she can."

The pale Ulfen girl is hanging back a reasonable distance, her raven sitting very still on her shoulders while they both eye the tree suspiciously.

A wise suggestion Asta. Andrei remarks, eyeing the tree warily.

"Hear that Strawberry? They want you to earn your keep." Torod and Strawberry look for a concealed entrance.

Perception 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (17) + 6 = 23 scent
Stealth 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (6) + 13 = 19

Hidden amid the ancient tree’s roots a hidden entrance, which consists of a root-lined shaft that drops 10 feet down to the middle of a 40-foot tunnel that runs east-west.

Left or Right?

Ceiling height is rarely over 5 feet high, with much of the upper foot a tangle of roots and thin stalactites.

FYI- Medium creatures in these caves are forced
to stoop over or adjust the swing of their weapons, and
suffer a –2 penalty on all attack rolls made within the
lair as a result.

Valeria, shield and sword in hand, moves to the intersection and listens carefully to see if she can hear anything from either direction.

Perception:1d20 + 3 ⇒ (9) + 3 = 12

Asta taps Torod on the shoulder and points to Strawberry Deathstrike, then to her nose.

Valeria does not notice any difference between the two directions.

Light sources?

Not me, but I'll be casting and maintaining Detect Magic.

"Would one of you gentlemen be so kind as to light a torch?"

Torod casts Light on his shield. Strawberry takes the lead. She goes down the left passage ready for anything.
Stealth 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (18) + 13 = 31
Perception 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 6 = 7 Low-Light Vision, Scent

But Torod is more than willing to allow Valeria to go ahead of him.

With the new source of light, Valeria follows along behind the feline, keeping an eye out for traps.

Perception:1d20 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9

The wet-looking floor of this large cavern is crisscrossed by
several shallow trenches, each containing trickles of putridlooking
fluid. Six foul mounds of compost and dung lie heaped
about the room, each studded with small spherical eggs.

A single mite is moving around buckets of indescribable wastes.

Asta beckons the others to stop and whispers: "Do we attack or try diplomacy? I think I might be able to communicate with the Mites."

"I think its a stupid idea, but give it a try if you want to. I'll be ready to clean up the mess."

You do become aware of the odor, similar to a cross between a butcher shop and the middens at Oleg's.

"You can try to talk if you think they will listen. I'll be ready to help should anythin' go wrong."

As Asta moves forward to try communication, from the far side of the chamber (where the mite was headed with the bucket) two giant centipedes rear their heads. The mite seeing the impatience carries the bucket of slop even faster.

"Let's wait until those have been fed," Asta mutters as she fades back among the others.

A very wise suggestion. Andrei intones looking at thee centipedes. Although I'm not sure why I should be surprised at the existence of vermin within this burrow due to the symbiotic existence that seems to exist between mites and various bugs. Ugh, did we bring any anti-toxin?

Torod stands quietly with a smug look just waiting for the chance to say 'I told you so'.

The mite dumps the bucket and the centipedes begin to feed upon it from a crude trough, though you are certain they would eat directly from the ground the mites built a trough, the centipedes are in a pen (though you are certain the bugs could leave the area with no problems).....

"Nab it the instant it gets within range, but don't kill it," Asta whispers. "We don't want it to make a ruckus or run away."

Valeria shudders at the idea of actually taking a hold of this thing, but sheaths her sword and sets her shield aside, and quietly moves up to a position to snatch the creature.

Stealth: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (11) - 1 = 10
Grapple: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (9) + 4 = 13

Valeria approaches the mite making a fair amount of noise as the creature picks up another bucket of slop, as she attempts to grab the slippery little mite, it drops the fetid chunky bucket of slop onto her feet and it attempts to flee across the room......

"AYEEEEE!"

Valeria mutters a few choice words and tears off after the critter, attempting again to restrain it and cover its mouth.

Grapple: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8

Forgot -2 penalty the first time, if it applies to combat maneuvers... If not add 2 more to my roll.