let us find shelter and warmth before anything
Irisse, can we travel away to warmer spot lower down the mountain and come back at the warmest part of the day to explore
“We can use the carpet to fly down and try to find a warmer spot if that is what everyone wants.”
Well, do we have an idea of what time it is? Are we already here at the warmest part of the day?
If it's near sunset (the spell was ending), I think I agree with Weed.
'Let's give it a try'
The party thinks they have 2-3 hours of daylight left, but time may run a little differently in the high mountains and the conditions will continue to deteriorate as the sun recedes. You also think you could survive a night with the gear you purchased but it would be difficult (some FORT saves etc.).
perhaps we can search methodically until its becomes colder then leave and return during the times its warmer and continue
Search for an entrance or signs of a structure for an hour then head down if nothing found.
Dar, maybe see if your bow can help somehow.
Describe where/how you search and give me some rolls.
Search the crevasse.
Dar Detects evil near the crevasse. He reaches out with his mind toward the bow, searching for the voice from before for guidance.
Join Irisse in the search of the crevasse
Sorry, forgot to include a perception roll:
The party moves to the edges of the crevasse and after some careful searching finds a massive set of carved stone stairs that descend one edge of the enormous crack for about 1/4 mile, ending in a large flat area in front of a spacious cave opening. Turran sees what looks like the opening to a smaller cave about 700' before the larger cave opening.
Dardanius does not detect any evil within 60' of where the party stands.
There is maybe 30 minutes of light left, and the winds begin to pick up as the temperature drops, significantly obstructing your vision.
Where are we in relation to each of the 2 caves? Distance?
Do we think the caves would offer good shelter from the weather?
You are at the top of the stairs, on the edge of the chasm. The stairs lead down into the rift with the large cave opening about 1/4 mile away; the smaller cave opening is along the stairs 700' or so before the larger cave opening.
Your guess is the caves offer much better shelter from the weather than the stairs or top of the icy plateau.
Head down to the smaller cave opening.
agreed,,,smaller cave
Everyone advancing down the stairs make a DC 13 REF save due to the ice and winds.
Dar takes point and goes down the stairs with the party:
Pending Weed's REF save, the party makes its way down the massive, carved stone stairs and arrives at the entrance of the first, smaller cave. As you descend, the temperature drops precipitously and light becomes late dusk at best. In addition, winds whip up from the bottom of the chasm making the journey all the more nerve wracking.
The entrance to the cave is maybe 9' tall and you can see a natural tunnel running about 20' (more or less straight) into darkness.
Dar ~Detects Evil~. If none is detected, he will light a torch and walk into the tunnel.
How wide is tunnel? Does Dar notice anything else?
Detecting no evil within sight Dardanius works at the torch for a few moments, fighting the winds, before it catches with a sputter revealing a tunnel that moves forward about 40' before bending to the left and descending.
Irissë will cast light on her shield.
If it looks safe proceed down the tunnel.
Dar...let me lead....we need your prowess with a bow.....
if agreed.....weed will move forward....checking for traps along the way....
The party advances 40' to the descending bend with no issue. It looks like the sloping cave passageway opens up ahead into a larger natural grotto.
Check out grotto.
Detect magic.
The grotto looks like it is the result of the small stream that runs through it, slowly wearing away the surrounding rock. There is a multitude of fungi and other plant growth in the area, as well as both stalagmites and stalactites. There don't appear to be any other exits from this natural cave unless you decide to swim the stream. No magic detected.
Doesn't appear to be any exits doesn't always mean there aren't
Dar ~Detects Evil~ and looks around with Turran.
Is the temp in here more reasonable?
weed feels how cold the water is and tries to determine its depth
Still no evil detected. The temperature in this area is significantly warmer than the entrance or outside. The water in the stream provides some ambient warmth, keeping the area at about 40F vs. close to 0F elsewhere.
Turran and Weed notice that where the stream exits the room through lower section of the room appears to have some non-natural stonework at the top of the water, almost as if someone sealed up a larger opening that the water may have carved. The craft of the stonework seems rudimentary at best and designed more to block the opening than conceal anything.
Shall we camp here for the night and wait for morning? Or should we risk opening the stonework?
Let’s open it up.
weed examines the stonework closer....
Engineering checks can only be made if you are trained/have ranks in it.
Weed notices that cut stones are actually well crafted, it's how they are placed and assembled that is shoddy. Almost as if the stones were carved by massive hands and tools but put in place by much smaller creatures with far less skill.
does it seem if stones were removed that the water flow would increase
Weed doesn't think so.
Are the stones small enough for us to move? Are they just stacked or is there some sort of mortar?
They are crudely stacked,no mortar or fasteners. You think it's unlikely that you could move them completely out of the way, but there is a chance that maybe you could move them enough to create an opening?
Dar offers that they could try to push one of the higher stones through to the other side.
How high up do the stones go? Is there one to push at the 5' level that has no stones above it?
Alternatively: is the stacking crude enough that there are gaps to pass rope through so that we could pull the stones?
perhaps we can tie a rope to one of us and go through the opening....or use our ethereal powers