"Not sure what these potions are, any ideas Ash? Or anyone else?"
Hearing the others talking about unidentified potions, Zaniah turned and gave them a quick, 3 round look.
Point. "Cure light wounds."
Point. "Lesser Restoration."
Back to keeping an eye out.
"One sees them all the time in the clinic."
"Well done. Let me know if you need me to carry anything."
With a slight bow of his head, Sebastion pushed on ahead. He moved up slowly to where the passage narrowed and peered ahead. He wasn't really trying to be stealthy. The sound of his metal armor clinked louder than he could muffle but he could at least look around the corner before stepping out into the opening.
With a pair of nods, Ash confirmed Zaniah's report on the potions before following Sebastian onward through he caves.
Oleksandar continues on through the passage after Ash and Sebastian.
Minor Artifact
SLOT none(held in hand)
CL 19th
WEIGHT —
AURA strong(varies)
Scale of Disguise
Three times per day as a standard action, a scale can be used to cast alter self. While disguised, the target gains a +4 bonus on all Bluff checks made against evil creatures.
Scale of Cloudwalking
Three times per day as a standard action, the scale can be used to cast levitate. A pillar of roiling clouds rises below the levitating object or creature, growing and shrinking with the target’s altitude. This pillar is 5 feet in diameter (regardless of the target’s size) and provides concealment (20% miss chance) to any creature or object wholly contained within.
Scale of Resistance
Three times per day as a standard action, the scale can be used to cast resist elements—but only against electricity or cold.
Scale of Sacred Weaponry
Three times per day as a standard action, the scale can be used to cast align weapon, but only to make a weapon lawful or good. Unlike a normal align weapon spell, this effect can be cast on an unarmed strike or natural weapon.
SPECIAL ABILITY
Each scale can be used by expending a use of mythic power instead of one of the three charges per day. This enables the bearer to use a scale more than three times per day if they have mythic power to spend.
Masterwork Backpack
10 days of trail rations
a flint and steel
a set of caltrops
two flasks of oil
a bundle of 12 arrows
potion of cure light wounds
potion of lesser restoration
The Civilians(including Horgus, Anevia and Aravashnial) have been left behind, guarded by 3 of Marcus Spatz' men in the safety of the original cavern you fell into. The soldies found 2 possible exits and taking charge due to his rank of Guard Captain, Marcus took 3 other of his men to investigate the north passage. Seeing your usefulness in fighting the giant maggots, he commanded you 4 to investigate the southern passage.
You walked through the narrow passage, squeezing in some places and almost 15ft. wide in other, for about 10 minutes. The terrain is uneven and difficult due to the earthquake. Soon you found a cliff face in your way but it was climbed thanks to Oleksandar's magical ladder. You then spotted a backpack that had fallen when the rift had opened and snagged on a rock out of reach. Ash got the bag loose and you found a number of useful resources, food being the most precious for a group of so many if you are stuck down here for an extended time.
You are about to push on when Zaniah and Oleksandar spot a swarm of bats that are angry at being disturbed, first by the earthquake and now by your noise and light. They descend on Ash.
Oleksandar exclaims in a gutteral language as he notices the bats before they descend, weaving a barrier around the group before they manage to reach anyone.
He then steps next to Ash, the bats apparent target, and readies his Warhammer to strike when the bats break through the barrier and descend the final distance.
Zaniah immediately puts down a bless, to give everyone else those lovely +1's to attack rolls.
"Irksome..."
Oleksandar stands next to Ash as the bats descend, swarming around the 2 of them, passing straight through the barrier, biting and scratching and drawing blood to scare away the intruders. Oleksandar's warhammer does almost nothing, killing several bats against the hundreds in the swarm
Ash managed to keep his cool as the swarm descends. His eyes narrowed
He swatted bats away from his face as h walked out of the swarm just far enough to turn and launch a cone of fire right over his allies heads.
Cursing his poor eyesight, Sebastion wasn't sure what to do. He considered stepping forward to try and protect Ash, but he wasn't sure that would do any good. He feared the bats would just envelope both of them but he didn't know what else to do and he refused to just stand by and watch. With gritted teeth, he banged his longsword on his shield a few times before stepping forward and trying to hack into a few.
Zaniah takes a couple of steps forward, trying to make the bats have to choose between Ash or herself. As she walked, her hand went to her belt and took a flask of acid off to toss at the swarm.
That idiot CO of hers had questioned her bringing acid flasks with her to a festival. She made a mental note to rub his nose in it later.
Ash's fire burns away a large chunk of the swarm and another portion of them are burnt by Zaniah's acid flask. Sebastion's sword and Oleksandar's warhammer are nigh useless, swatting only a few bats out of scores. Many still remain and swarm angrily around Oleksandar still.
Ash was a bit surprised at the resilience and perseverance of the swarm. He was loath to spend additional arcane resources on vermin, but the rest of the group seemed ill equipped to handle the bats.
He dipped his hands into a pouch retrieving a pinch of powder. Another blast of fire erupted from his hands.
Again Ash shoots flame and crisps many of the bats. Having lost many of their number, the few remaining bats disperse and flee to find a dark crevice to hide in.
The passage keeps going, the difficult terrain slowing you considerably. Behind almost every little crack or crevice some bug, vermin or spider scurries away from your torchlight.
After another 10 minutes you come to a fork in the passage. One way leads north-west and the other leads east. Before you can decide which way you should go, you can hear noise coming from the north-east path. A few seconds later you see light come round a corner and 4 humanoid figures surrounding it. They freeze when they see you. "Who's there? Identify yourselves. We are armed and we will defend ourselves." The voice sounds exactly like Marcus the Guard Captain.
"Zaniah Riverthorn, crusader, Order of the Flaming Lance. We are also armed and will defend ourselves."
Just to be safe, her gun is pointed down the corridor towards the figures.
"I recommend parley, instead. It would be a waste to kill an ally."
"Weapons down men." You can hear the sound of swords being sheathed. They walk forward slowly. "Stand down. I am Guard Captain Marcus. It seems our paths have converged. Luckily there seems to be another way and we are not trapped down here forever." You can see it is him and the three men he took with him to investigate the other passage. Both passages have come together and now there is only 1 way forward.
"What did you find? Was your path easy? or have obstructions? This way will be slow, especially with the children and elderly we have. We found an old campsite. There are intelligent creatures down here. Best to assume they are hostile and proceed with caution. I thought you may have been some of them." He commands answers and information from you.
"Define Intelligent creatures."
"I would assume he means 'civilization of some sort which lives underground.' Setting that aside..."
Zaniah spins her gun on a finger and holsters it.
"Our path involved a great deal of difficult terrain, including a cliff which would need to be scaled by anyone attempting to escape. It is not a useful branch for our current objectives."
"Indeed Marcus, it seems that your path was the easier of the two. We saw no sign of anyone living down here, but that doesn't mean they didn't see us. We had a couple of scraps with the local wildlife, and that would have alerted anyone to out presence. We must be careful."
"Intelligent enough. See for yourselves." One of Marcus' men speaks and tosses a dirty sack for one of you to catch. Inside are 3 candles, a bent fishhook, flint and steel, tindertwigs, string, 10ft. of frayed rope and a copper brooch depicting a bat with purple eyes perched on a mushroom.
Both of the bat's eyes are tiny amethysts, making the brooch worth 200gp.
"They abandoned the campsite when the earthquake happened. We may catch up to them. What exactly they are I don't know but there we also found a torn bedroll sized for you or me." Marcus says. "You 4 go back down this passage and get everyone moving. I and my men will continue scouting forward slowly." He indicates to take the north-west path which will lead back to the civilians. "There were also some scavengers at the campsite. Giant cockroaches which we fought off. Be careful in case they have returned."
"So in conclusion, we are to continue down this passage until such time as we return to the civilians, and properly neutralize any hostiles which we come across along the way." She doesn't know the first thing about jewelry, and while she takes a look into the sack, she quickly hands it off to one of the others to take a look at.
"It should be simple enough. I take it we are to escort them to the campsite you discovered?"
"Bring them to the campsite and let them rest. It should be a safe place. Then follow this new path east to find me before we advance further."
"Sounds good." Ash said, turning to head down the tunnel back toward the civilians. He could tell there was no way of convincing Marcus that he really should be the one herding civilians, and not them. He focused on the job, letting his magical globes of dancing light show them the way.
Oleksandar sighs, knowing Marcus's obstinate nature but also knowing that he has to try regardless.
"Captain, I know that we have had our differences but I believe that you, as recognised and respected guards, would fare better in escorting the citizens, while we expendable nobodies would be more useful in scouting ahead."
Sheathing his sword, Sebastion reached out and accepted the bag from Zaniah. He took a quick glance at the contents before adding it into his own pack.
As the others began discussing orders, he simply stood at attention, his hand back on the hilt of his blade. He looked at the Captain as he spoke and nodded, but when Oleksandar spoke up, he was swayed.
"He has a point Captain. You and your men are more respected and carry authority."
Marcus frowns and walks right up in Oleksandar's face. "I gave orders soldier. Now if a single one of those civilians don't make it back to the surface and you do, I will see to it that you never set foot in Kenabres a free man ever again." To Sebastion he says, "Be lucky your uncle is Horgus Gwerm, boy." He turns to Zaniah as well. "I gave you charge of this group, crusader. Keep them in line or none of us will make it to the surface."
He turns back to his 3 men and has them mark the wall with chalk in the direction they will go.
Zaniah manages to hold her lidded gaze quite well as he turns and walks away, cataloguing a few interesting things in her mind for later recollection, should she need them. Marcus hates Oleksander, that much was obvious. And they knew each other somehow. Interesting, and probably related. Perhaps that...
Well, not yet. She turned to walk the corridor, speaking aloud in her same monotone, quieter than usual, as if talking to herself.
”Order of the Flaming Lance general deployment guidelines, Section 7: Emergency procedures, Subsection 3: Conflict resolution, Points 1-3, inclusive. A crusader shall always respect the orders of legitimate authority, so long as it is considered above his/her own. In the event that such an order clearly runs counter to the best interests of the crusader and/or others who are involved in an emergency situation, the crusader is to exercise his/her best judgment in order to best protect the property and livelihood of those involved. In the event an authority figure proves to be willfully negligent, morally corrupt, or grossly incompetent, the crusader, at their option, may temporarily relieve the authority figure of their duties until such time as order may be restored.”
She pauses, gives her companions a slight nod, and continues to walk.
”Forgive my tendency to mumble. For now, we have work to do and time is at a premium.”
I will guard the honor of my fellows, both in thought and in deed, and I will have faith in them.
"As you command Captain." Sebastion saluted the man before placing his hand on Oleksander's shoulder.
"Come my friend. We have our orders" he said before returning his hand to the hilt of his sword. He turned to follow Zaniah and fell in line, nodding as he moved.
Truth be told, Sebastion thought as little of the Captain as everyone else appeared to, but he held his tongue. The man would not be swayed by words, only action. Besides, he outranked Sebastion and Sebastion had pledged his life to service. He would follow the orders to the best of his abilities, even if the orders had been given by a fool.
"That fool is going to get himself and his men killed," Ash sighed.
He tossed Array into the air again and let the little floating construct scout ahead for them.
Oleksandar nods, and allows himself to be led back towards the civilians.
It only takes you about 10 minutes before you come across the campsite that Marcus mentioned. A torn bedroll lies next to the cold remains of a fire. There is fallen rubble partially covering the fire and bedroll. There is also a piece of torn cloth pinned by a larger rock. Someone was possibly sleeping here when the quake happened.
It seems there was a little skirmish. Marcus and his men fought and killed 3 giant cockroaches the size of small dogs. You don't remember seeing any wounds on any of his men either.
The campsite seems safe, and a good place to rest for a bit once the people start moving. The rest of the way back to the large cavern you dropped into takes another 20 minutes and you find everyone waiting. Several adults are looking after the children, near them are the elderly and surrounding them are the rest of the adults and Marcus' men. Aravashnial is with the elderly and Horgus and Anevia are close by.
"Everyone up!" Ash called out, getting the attention of the civilians. "We found a site to make camp!"
"Zania, you have the best range of all of us, why don't you take rear guard for the column. Oleksander, how do you feel about being in the middle with the wounded and the children, where that barrier of yours would be the most useful. Sebastian can take point and set the pace. I'll act as a runner to keep the column lit up and deliver messages. Oh, speaking of which- Message."
"Now you can talk to me over considerable distance, in case you see something ahead."
"The blind leading the blind..." Her expression is inscrutable.
"Very well. The plan has merit. Let us make it so."
"Agreed, I will take the middle."
[B]"Array will be his eyes,"[/ooc] Ash smiled.
It takes almost 10 minutes to get everyone ready to move with the elderly and children in the middle, the adults in front and behind them and you spaced to best protect them. Rough Marching order, we'll change it if you want
"There are so many of us. Have you found the surface? If we have to go far it will be slow going. Anything truly dangerous down here will be able to pick us off. There is no way to hide our presence." Aravashniel asks Ash.
"I appreciate the healing. My leg will heal correctly over time thanks to your setting. I may not be able to move fast but if things come to a fight my bow will be ready." Anevia says to Crusader Zaniah.
"Ah, you are back my boy. I have managed to keep everyone calm but they are restless to get back to the surface. Tell me you have found a way? Why has the Guard Captain not returned with you? I pray he has not fallen to whatever creatures dwell down here." Horgus confides to Sebastion and stays near the front with him.
The trail of survivors stretches as you finally start moving. At the tightest points you must pass one at a time, helping the elderly through. What took you 20 minutes to walk takes around 2 hours but finally you reach the campsite safely and get everyone calmed to rest.
"We haven't found the surface yet. You're right through. Protecting this group will be hard. That's why we have a vanguard. My hope is that if there's trouble we will be able to keep the fighting away from the non-combatants." Ash replied to Aravashniel. "My worry is that Captain Marcus isn't really up to the task he's chosen."
"Yes, thank you uncle. Not yet, but the Guard Captain and his men continue to look for an exit. We have found a cavern big enough to house everyone for a while. We are going to rest there. Guard Captain's orders. Do not fret uncle. We will find a way out and we will keep these people safe. Now, take your rest and gather your strength. Please try to help the others rest too. Your leadership and guidance is a boon to everyone right now."
Oleksandar overhears Ash and the old man's conversation, and leans over to whisper.
"You're not wrong there. I've know our good Captain most of my life and he's more concerned with his authority and appearance than actually doing a good job. It's going to be down to us to protect these people."
Ash sighed, frustrated to have his concerns supported by Oleksander's experiences also. "That was my assessment as well."
Once the caravan got itself organized and started moving, Ash made sure that the Message link connected himself and Sebastion. Array hovered just ahead of the half-blind soldier acting as a beacon and a scout. Ash's floating orbs of light split up and hovered above the column of refugees helping to light their way.
Ash himself walked quickly back and forth along the column, checking in with everyone as they went and helping where he could.
When they reached the campsite he immediately set himself to the task of getting their camp organized. "Sebastian, can you help me get them into a "circle the wagons" formation? Non-coms in the middle, able bodied to the outside. We need to dig a latrine trench against the wall there too."
He left Zaniah and Oleksander to keep watch. They seemed to have the best eyes of the four of them.
Once the refugees were settled he gathered his four compatriots for a talk about their situation.
"In the short term, we need to be concerned about food. I happened to have some rations in my pack when we fell down here because I'd just arrived in town. A few others have scattered sundries, but no one is going to eat well tonight, and by tomorrow there will be a lot of growling stomachs. There's also the issue of not having bedrolls or blankets to help people keep warm on the cold stone. We should expect to a lot of discomfort, which will lead to frayed nerves tomorrow. Building a fire is possible, but may attract attention. Any suggestions?"
"Though I was blinded by the Storm King's whip, I am not useless here. I have prepared spells that I can use with some directional aid." Aravashniel tells Ash.
When the camp formation is settled and everyone is comfortable, more or less, Anevia opts to be on the outside, her shortbow always ready. Aravashniel sits with the elderly and Horgus Gwerm takes charge of camp logistics and making sure food is shared equally. "It was midday when we fell. Judging time is difficult down here in the dark, but I would guess it is getting near sunset soon. Here looks safe to let everyone sleep. Many are exhausted already from the shock of the fall and the difficult trek, especially the older folk. I have given everyone a rationed meal but we only have enough for one more meal each tomorrow. Unless we make it to the surface soon or find something edible down here..." Horgus shares with you when the camp is settled. "If the captain doesn't return soon with information, perhaps someone should go looking for them."
"Good to know," Ash replied to his mentor's note. "What spells do you have prepared?"