"Of all the things I thought I'd need down here, a fishing pole is not among them."
Hanging just above the sludge, cradling his musket, Bramble's eyes widen as he sees the creature erupt from the muck.
"Up," he calls out, "Up would be good and up FAST would be bestest!"
Kieran and Anevia, what are your plans? We have two players after you about to hoist our friend out of the muck. The fish itself is slow and sluggish so you should be able to hoist him up.
Kieran scrambles to the edge and fires down at the fish, hoping to draw its attention away from Bramble long enough for him to be hoisted up.
I lean over the edge and fire a crossbow bolt at the fish...
Attack:
Damage:
"Perhaps dangle Bram at a safe height above the water and let him fire at the fish?"
"We need a plan to progress further. Once we have Bram safely back up, I suggest the following: First, let's make sure that grate is the only way forward. Second, kill the fish and any other problem critters in the pool of slime. Third, figure out a way to open the grate. As to the second item, any other suggestions besides dangling Bram above the pool and letting him fire from a safe height?"
The crossbow bolt goes wide and sinks into the sludge.
Anevia's bolt however hits its mark and the fish begins bleeding viscous green blood.
The sanguine liquid splashes quite far and...
...sprays across Brambleburn, lightly stinging as the acid melts into his flesh.
===
Meanwhile, Brambleburn is hoisted up safely out of reach and the wounded angler dives back into the morass.
End of combat.
"Any other suggestions besides mine?"
"Well, that sure was something," Kieran says as she loads a fresh bolt into her crossbow. "The fish has acid for blood! That can't be healthy. Is Bramble all right?"
She turns to Orvan. "Well, I sure hope it's gone. If I was a giant, acid-filled fish, I wouldn't fight us. That's me, though. If you're ready to climb down and tackle that grate, though, I support!" She switches on the safety latch on her crossbow and hooks it onto her belt, drawing instead a strange device that looks almost like Bramble's firearm, though with a far more unwieldy design. "If it pops up again, maybe I'll give him a taste of my baby here. This little guy won't miss."
"So now that the rope is fastened to the door, Orvan is gong to descend, rather than Bram? Seems reasonable to me. Orvan, hopefully you have a ranged weapon of some sort so you can toss a copper coin into the water from above then fire at our aquatic acquaintance when it appears. I'd suggest wrapping the rope around your torso, so that you'll have your hands free if necessary. And if that fish has acidic blood we won't have to season it with vinegar when we eat it for lunch."
Orvan, let me know if you see any locks on the grate...
I load another bolt into my crossbow.
Orvan descends the rope quite easily and reaches the sludge. The grate lies just about 15 ft. away from your current position.
No sign of the anglerfish.
"Orvan, can you let us know if the grate is above the sludge so that we can get to it without having to swim in the sludge? Also, can the grate be opened or is it removable?"
The grate is halfway into the sludge, and it is not currently open.
Strangways adds rubber hip waders to his shopping list.
"If the passage beyond the grate is the only way forward, then I suppose that's the way we have to go, but first we have to find some way to open the grate."
The grate is not locked, completely rusted through and if you were to give it a swift kick... would probably give way.
You can see another pipe-like tunnel continuing beyond it.
"Well it seems our path is clear. I'll wait for one or two others to go ahead before carefully climbing down the rope."
I put away my crossbow and climb down the rope to assist Orvan...
Climb:
Acrobatics (in case I slip):
I will follow Anevia down the rope, looping it around my arm a few times to reduce risk of falling.
and if this fails, then
and if this fails too, and I'm still high enough to take major damage from a fall, I will use my arcane bond ring to activate Feather Fall
Kieran looks down over the ledge and turns green.
"...ugh. Y'all please don't let me kill myself doing this, all right? If I'm gonna die down here, I'd rather it not be by slipping and falling from a stupid rope..."
With the rope, the Climb DC down is only 5, easily attainable.
Orvan pushes the grate open and the passageway before him opens up. For the sake of haste, I assume we all move forward down the pipe.
As you do, the pipe winds up in a large circular room. Stairs lead up out of the sludge onto a stone floor.
The room is solid and rather warm. Heating must be coming down from the vast array of pipes and vents lining the ceiling.
There is a large table in the middle of the room, with wooden chairs surrounding it.
A large lever of some kind rests near the stairs back into the sludge.
Lighting comes from lamps around the walls.
There are two doors, a large iron door to the north and a wooden one to the east.
The staircase coming out of the sludge is to the south.
Strangways looks around the room for anything dangerous.
"I would think someone calling herself an 'Artificer' would be well situated to figure out what that lever does. Any ideas, Kieran?"
I look around the room, to see if I notice anything interesting or unusual concerning its contents or construction:
Knowledge (dungeoneering):
Perception
In spite of her immense discomfort at the slime squelching in her boots, Kieran grins at Strangways' comment. "Is that a challenge, fella?" She cracks her knuckles, gives her goggles a wipe, and takes a long, hard look at the lever.
The lever is still easily determined to function a metal plate which moves over to seal the sludge pit, sealing off the room.
"Well then, wooden door or iron door? At least we have a table and chairs, should we be inclined to have a leisurely discussion of our options."
"Yeah, but why is there a table and chairs here? Did that anglerfish like to pull up a seat and roll dice with his buddies in here? Something tells me we need to be real careful from hereon." Kieran huffs worriedly as she takes a stroll around the room. "At least it's slime-free. Other than what we've tracked in, I guess."
"Perhaps someone more mechanically inclined could check if the doors are locked. That might help clarify our options."
I check the two doors for locks and traps...
Iron Door:
Perception -
Disable Device -
Wood Door:
Perception -
Disable Device -
No traps can be found on either of the doors. The wooden one is slightly ajar and you can spot what appears to be a dormitory of some sort through the slim wooden crack.
I carefully open the wooden door and step inside the room, continuing to look about for traps or hazards...
Perception:
Strangways will wait for Anevia to report back. If there's nothing worth pursuing in there, then he will advise the group that the iron door is clearly the only available option.
No traps are detected (and I apologize for the long absence). The room is well furnished and appears to be a dormitory as mentioned previously. A row of six bunkbeds dot the room, each well made.
It appears that this area, coupled with the previous room could serve as a home base or resting area.
There is a wooden chest in front of each of the six beds.
"Might I recommend that someone inspect those chests? Someone with more facility with locks and traps than I have?"
I inspect the chests for traps and locks. If any are trapped or locked, I will attempt to disarm the traps and unlock the chests.
Perception:
Disable Device:
Strangways...how about casting detect magic about this room...
An excellent idea, Anevia, I'll do that."
"Yeah, well, this certainly looks nice, but before we go kicking our feet up in here, let's make sure these beds aren't, say, portals to hell or something. Let me know if you need help, Anevia. I've got my lockpicking set, too."
As she rambles, Kieran snoops around the room, looking for anything that might have been missed.
Nothing detects as magical and the chests are easily unlocked.
Masterwork Dagger
Masterwork Rapier
Masterwork Scale Mail
Masterwork Shortsword
Potion of Eagle's Splendor
Potion of Resistance
Potion of Stabilize