This is most definitely not one of the half-orcs. "I'm Tanlen; traveler, story collector, and apparently now a cave explorer. Pleased to meet you."
"I've been in a lot of caves, but not this one...New caves are always fun to explore. Hmm I normally don't find Doors in caves. We should take a closer look, Grampa did say it was deadly..."
Perception:
He looks for any tracks too
Survival:
"What brings you to this cave Tanlen?"
"Hey, nice to have a meet and greet, but could we do it a little farther away from these doors. The sooner we can start on a path the sooner we can be done." Glawng prepares to compare notes with his other brethern that have been examining the area.
I know about dungeons too...tho they are normally attached to building not in a cave
Knowledge Dungeoneering:
"Well, once we've determined it's safe to open the doors, we need to decide how to proceed. Do we all go together or do we split up. I for one don't want to travel in such a large group in cramped quarters.
[Anna replies]
"Well each option has its strengths and weaknesses."
[she puts her right index finger on her chin and puts on a thinking face and continues]
"As one large group we could overcome more challenges, but we could all die in one spot."
"While, if we split into two groups it means that if one group parishes, All is not lost, and could be assisted or helped by the other team later, but at the same time the challenges could become harder."
[she pauses for a second and continues]
"I for one will go with the saying "Don't put all your eggs in one basket" as it offers a few more benefits."
[she puts her right hand to her right hip]
"Now we should decide on the teams, and as an extra thought on marching formation and order for each team."
"I also think we should split up. For one thing staying together would be a bigger strain on resources. It would also make this more competitive, which would be fun."
Glawng was listening closely to the conversations between the half-elf and Gromor. “Don’t put all of your eggs in one basket He had heard Grand say that before and there was some truth to it. It would be much more difficult to sneak and hide down hallways with a large band of half breeds coming down the halls. He was pretty confident that Jangis and he could pull it off with a smaller band. Splitting up because it was more fun as Gromor had say was probably not the best reason, and Glawng doubted that they would need any more competition other than the trials ahead of them.
“Splitting up would probably be best. Never know what we may meet. It would be difficult to move quick if needed with a very large band.”
He again looked over the assembled group. Obviously the Halfling was adopted, but who were these half-elves. Maybe they are related on the human side. I cannot imagine that the elder would allow non-family members along for such a quest. Of course I can note imagine he would let such run the clan either. They must have a purpose
Now which door to pick, and why?
Jamroar speaks up for just a moment while he studies the doors.
"Anna and I probably need to be in the middle of any marching order just so that we aren't ambushed and instantly killed from behind."
[Anna replies]
"that would be a smart move, now we should cover both a single file formation and a 2 by 3 formation given the number here."
"The single file for narrow passages and the 2 by 3 for wider corridors."
[Anna uses the light to find a sandy spot on the floor and draws while saying]
"A good 2 by 3 formation would look like this Attackers or those with a knack for traps in the front, Casters or healers in the middle and either attackers or healers in the back."
[drawing with her right hand.]
/|\
*| A-A
*| C-C
*| ?-?
[and continues]
"The reason for having attackers in the back is in case something attacks from behind."
Growing impatient, Dric is momentarily distracted by anothe half-elf appearing. Not one to be put off for long, he goes to the left door and pulls/pushes at it so it will open, traps be damned.
"Since when was a Ghawn afraid of traps?"
Jangis turns to Grandma.
"I'll join you. I always thought you'd be better than Gramps at this anyway. Hey, Baby Bro, whaddya think?"
" I'm with you Jangis. But I don't want to follow that halfling. He is showing he has 1/2 the size and a 1/4 the brain of an orc. Recklessness will make this a short outting. I'm in it for the long haul."
Growing impatient, Dric is momentarily distracted by anothe half-elf appearing. Not one to be put off for long, he goes to the 1d20 left door and pulls/pushes at it so it will open, traps be damned.
"Since when was a Ghawn afraid of traps?"
"I'm with you Dric, its time for action!"
Following Dric Gromor says, "Well since some one has finally done something, I believe that we can finally move on."
Unimpressed by Dric's impulsiveness Zierka decides to go the other direction.
I will go with the group that goes right. I will take the rear. I can handle myself should an attack come from behind
Grandma studied both doors, and then shrugged. Wordlessly, she opened the other door.
"Odds are either door is just as bad," she said as she grasped the door handle.
Dhrek ponders a door OK we are splitting up...ok what door?
"I pick left." and heads through the left door
Tanlen looks at the two doors, then moves to follow Dhrek while in conversation. "I'm here to get the family stories. I think we're related, hard as that may be to believe." As Dhrek heads through the door he stops, then looks over at Anna with a smile and nods towards the door he's about to go through "Have you decided which door to take yet? I certainly would like to hear your story as well."
"Wait up little brother!" Groltsch calls out after Dric. "Don't think that I am going to let you get all the glory in there."
He looks over at the elfy latecomer "So you want some stories do you? Have I got stories for you. Let me tell you about the one about when Dherk discovered his first bee hive, oh man that was a good one." Groltsch starts to head through the door, looking back at the elfy one. "You coming or what?"
Jamroar nods silently as he hears Anna lay out a plan for the marching order.
By Nethys, who knew it took this long to magically examine a couple of doors!
"Are you lot coming or not?" Grandma asked as she held the door open.
[anna speaks up]
"Since all the Ghawn women, are taking right. I shall go right myself."
[Anna heads to the right door]
to sum up.
No traps found.
No tracks found.
You do detect magic, Overwhelming Aura of evocation.
******************
As you push the door, the edge dissappears into a blackness that lies just beyond. You allow the door to open completely and watch as more and more of it is swallowed up in the barrier until only its hinges are visible. Peering cautionsly into the darkness for signs of movement, you see nothing. Even your ears and noses can only dectect the breating of your fellow adventurers. The dark space reveals nothing of what lies beyond.
"Let's see what is on the other side!"
Tanlen watches Anna go through the other door and shrugs. Ah well, maybe we'll run into each other again later, he thinks to himself.
He then turns back to the solid darkness that's already swallowed many of the band, and steps through.
Jamroar finally finishes his spell as most everyone else is leaving. He turns and follows Anna and Grandma through their door.
"I didn't find anything horrible, just a great deal of evocation magic. I don't see any fires, so it's probably a wall spell of some kind. Maybe the whole place was made with magic."
Grandma studied the wall for the briefest of moments.
"Are we Ghawns or field mice?" she growled, stepping into the portal.
"There are no traps or tricks located here on these doors," Glawng says right before Jamroar, Anna, and now Grandma moved through the doorway. Well, it might have been right after they walked through. He felt a bit chagrined that his family did not wait for his expertise to be completed. Glawng was on the outside looking in again. As the youngest he often felt that his opinions were under valued.
They’ll need me, I’m sure of it. This adventure will prove my worth. More than likely it will be me sitting in the elder seat by the time this is done He thought to himself.
With that he readjusted his pack, checked his supplies and weapons, and headed through the doorway behind Grandma.
Jangis sticks his axe head in far enough and down to ensure that there is ground on the other side. When satisfied, he takes the lead.
[Anna steps through cautiously, and nervously saying]
"Well, here I go."
Zierka waits for all others to enter, and takes her position as rear guard and enters the blackness.
Groltsch let out a laugh "Looks like it was a good thing we split up then."
He approaches the wounded orcs offering whatever assistance he can.
"What or who did this to you? It is something that we may soon face ourselves and I for one wish to be prepared or do you have no care for your fellow orc?"
Approaching the wounded orcs, Tanlen shines his light down on them. He fails to connect the spears with the coughing, although he can certainly tell the orc is not looking good. He addresses one of the more intact orcs (in orcish), probably the one with the crutch: "Where did you come from?"
As the other group approaches, Anna gets a rather worried looking smile, but otherwise Tanlen is focusing on the orcs.
[As Anna approaches, she sees the smile and it causes more worry, but seeing the other group and Tanlen has put her more at ease, than worrying]
[Anna checks on the orcs, using her cestus as a light]
Grandma rolled her eyes at the orcs huddled in the corner, but had to admit that they might prove to be useful allies.
"Out of the way," she said, pushing the other Ghawns out of the way. Kneeling she inspected the orcs to see whether they had any obvious wounds.
"Perhaps we got off on the wrong foot," she continued, as she looked the orcs over, "We are the Ghawn family, and we are here to conquer this cave."
Seeing Grandma taking care of the orc, Dhrek steps back and lets her take care of them
as grandma ghawn approaches, her forward advance is suddenly arrested. given the way she jerked, it looked as if she walked into something.
i set it up so that you can put yourself into any square where you want to.
[Anna sees Grandma's jerk and walks over to her]
"What? Grandma!"
Jangis rushes by Grandma's side, making sure she is safe from whatever she bumped into.
"What? Grandma!"
Jangis rushes by Grandma's side, making sure she is safe from whatever she bumped into.
reaching out, you feel an invisible barrier with little holes at regular 1 inch intervals.
death is awaits you all. we came down here seeking fortune; there were 15 of us. now there are us 4...the orc standing up says.
Dhrek reaches out to touch the invisible barrier. What is this, nothing I've ever seen in a cave before
"We are the Ghawns, we will over come this cave...What is this barrier?"
Also going up to the barrier, and feeling it, Gromor says"I'm also curious about this barrier, and also who put it up."
Rulgha will examine the invisible wall if possible
"Let's see how strong this little wall is."
Groltsch pulls out his warhammer, walks up to where the barrier is and takes a mighty swing at it.
Grandma grunts as she walks into the invisible barrier, but shakes off those who come to her aid. Annoyed, she takes a step back and taps the wall with her quarterstaff.
"Rulgha. Have you ever seen anything like this before?"