"I say, let's get going. but we should stop short before we get there to rest and try to arrive in the morning. By the time we get there, if we were to walk all day long, it would be dark."
Kuthona 20, 4707; 40 degree high 28 degree low, light breeze
The group grabs their stuff and heads out. It is a cold morning and the light breeze makes it worse so everyone is grateful to get on the road and get moving to warm up. Although the entire trip is along an old wagon trail it is still a challenging walk because it is a constant uphill climb. At about a half hour before sunset you find a good camping spot. You opt for a pit fire to cut down on visibility. Once prepared you cook up dinner while some setup tents. As soon as the sun sets the temperature feels as if it plummets. You decide to sleep three or four to a tent for body heat leaving one or two on guard.
It seems I do not have any decent camping gear on my character sheet, just an Inquisitor's Kit. Thought I took care of that. Can we assume the group has camping gear (like tents) and just subtract 50 gp from the party funds rather than make us track it?
Yes, I think that quite fair. Assume you have the basic gear needed for the environment. Even so, equipment of the times was not great so any magic supplemental you may have would make the weather much easier to tolerate.
Kizzy has he continual flame bullseye lantern, a light spell, and will use prestidigitation to clean people and mounts; flavor cooking; but nothing to help keep warm.
"I think it would be best if we doused the lights and let the fire burn out for the night. I'm a little hyped up so would you all mind if I took the first watch?"
"No objections. I'll take the split shift if needed, as I can see a little in the dark."
The group makes it through the night. Everyone groans inwardly if not outwardly about having to get out of their warm nests of blankets and fellow adventurers. Getting dressed in your cold weather gear it's not so bad but warm food would be great. Alas, building a fire is not high on anyone's plans so it is hard tack and beef jerky that adds being cold to their hardness. Everyone's water has frozen overnight so it will likely take a couple hours after sunrise before you can slake your thirst. Tear down in the cold takes longer as well. The gloves slow movement and make otherwise simple adjustments more difficult. Finally, all is packed and everyone is ready to move. It is perhaps 20 minutes until sunrise. Vale can take you to the caves that are occupied by the shocker lizards or to the cliff face below the eagle aerie or he can take you straight to the fort if you wish to view the actual defenses.
"Where to first? I'd like to get a look at the fortress personally, myself. Nothing like actually seeing something. Then we scale the cliffs as planned?"
I agree, the song of the fort is another dirge for the fallen, we should learn as much from the song as we can, so the next act of teh symphony changes.
"Sure, Runt." Forest says grumpily. The sooner they can be rid of the ogres and the stupid snake lady, the better.
The gray clouds are looking ominous and by the time you finish camp breakdown and hike the last couple of miles to Fort Rannick it has gotten night level dark, heavy rains have started and lightning is flashing everywhere. The deluge quickly soaks you and the survivalists in the group (anyone with 5 ranks of Survival) start getting concerned about the cold and wet combined. As you get closer to the fort you find numerous body parts, and partial skeletons hanging in the trees. Finally reaching the edge of the forest before the fort you peer out at it.
A thunderbolt shakes the stone and earth underfoot, its low growl echoing through the valley. Talons of lightning claw at the sky, casting pale light on the mountainside below. The lightning storm reveals a grim fortress of dark gray stone standing sentinel over the valley, huddled desperately at the base of two sheer cliffsides. Crumbling, fifteen-foot- high walls ring the citadel, the stone pitted and cratered from hurled boulders and ogre hooks. Like the face of a veteran with decades of winters under his belt, the fort’s craters, cracks, and scars are testament to its battle-weary history. A stone keep, a stubborn shadow against the mountainside, rises from behind the worn walls, a single tower jutting up from its ramparts like an ugly broken tooth. Nearby, a rushing curtain of white water cascades downs the mountainside into a large pool of water just outside the fort’s walls.
Four ogres stand guard outside the southern gate. There is a light in an old tower inside the fort where you can make out three shadowy figures.
"If it wasn't for the moat it would a simple matter to sneak inside, though Ogres can see in the dark, can't they. Well, no way we are climbing in this weather. A cave sounds almost inviting."
"We should get indoors one way or another," says Isabella. "This is going to turn into a flood in the lowlands, and it won't be much better up here in the low mountains."
I can send the Kree, the raven, to scout out the fort before we go to the caves.
Vale points to the west of the gate you see before you where you can just make out the dark figures of ogres, "Just to the west of the gate is a waterfall behind which is the opening to the cave system. Once inside we could work our way around to the north part of the courtyard or we could go deeper and deal with the shocker lizards. There's a pond below the cave entrance. It's usually not that hard to climb up from the pond but in this weather I'm sure it will be a bit more difficult." When the lightning flashes you can make out the waterfall he mentioned but cannot see any sign of a cave.
Kizzy stares out into the darkness between lightning flashes.
The water will be cold. If the cave is any kind of climb up, it will be difficult in the wet and cold and we will need to get warm soon after we enter, or we will likely freeze. There is little I have that helps with climbing or swimming, but it should be far enough away that we can sneak in if we are careful. What role shall I play in this exciting scene?
"We should be fine, I guess, with the climbing spell. Right, Zherxikas?"
"I can give us some brief resistance to cold, but maybe we can just warm up conventionally when we reach the top? Set a small campfire and dry off?"
Yes, the spider climb should help. But I do not have anything to protect us from getting wet. I can make Forest able to fly, and that might be easier for him to pull us through than trying to climb in the slippery conditions.
Campfire inside, seems like maybe a bad idea.
Plan? Give Forest flight, Sneak to the waterfall, go through pond, pull others up into cave? Anything for heat or getting dry?
"Well, let's do this. Get into that cave and see what we can do about getting warm. I doubt there sill be any wood in there so carry what you'll need."
"Yea, sneak into the cave. That pond might be a problem but if we have spider climb active we should be able to scamper along the walls just over the water level, Won't get wet until we get to the waterfall. I'll summon a few water elementals to keep the guards turned in the other direction. Forest, if you can cast a fly spell on me, I should be able to catch up with you all while they are distracted by my elementals."
Runt casts a false life on herself for HP.
Let's get out of this into that cave, I can spider climb up should we decide to go that route. Camil offers between shivers.
Waterfall goes over not out if the opening, the cave entrance is 10’ above the pool, and it is about 5’-6’ wide. The cave entrance is recessed so you would typically have a good chance of getting wet even though the water falls about two feet from the cliff face. With the torrential downpour there is no way to get into the cave without getting wetter though everyone is already soaked through by the rain itself. It did warm up as the rain clouds began to brew but not much. It is currently about 36 degrees.
"If we're going to bring our own tinder and fuel, we'll need a waterproof container for it," says Isabella. "Otherwise it'll get soaked as we go through the waterfall. If someone in town has an alchemically-treated piece of cloth, we can wrap up some wood. Otherwise, we'll have to put it into jars and seal it up with wax or clay, then break open the jars when we reach our destination."
Runt will collect some dry wood and load up before the plan is enacted.
Everyone agree to the plan?
1) Whoever can, grabs some wood for a fire.
2) The party waits out of sight and gets a spider climb cast on them.
3) Run casts a tongues spell and a summons, I'm actually thinking earth elemental. She instructs them to cause a commotion around the corner of the wall from the guards, tossing rocks around and such, but staying out of sight until they turn their backs on them. Them make more noise. she can do that from a distance without risk of being spotted and earth elementals can earth glide up to the wall.
4) Party scampers along the wall until they get inside.
5) Runt catches up, hopefully with a fly spell, but if not she will burn her scroll of expeditious retreat.
6) Light a fire and get comfortable and dry.
I'm in.
Kizzy has a Handy Haversack… extra dimensional space for wood and other need to stay dry items.
Do we need a distraction though? Why alert the guards at all; they probably haven’t seen anything in weeks and have no real inclination to be looking in a rainstorm. Why not slip by them totally unnoticed?
I guess it depends on the scale of the map. It looks like the ogres are only 50' away. Even in rain, a squad of climbers like us is going to be obvious, and these buggers have see just fine at night. Now, if someone has a fog cloud spell, that would be a different story.
Note that it is raining heavily, plenty of wood, none of it dry. I believe Zherxikas has the fly spell so as long as he is game with casting it then Runt is good in that department. The waterfall is 85' from the nearest guard. Your main concern would be lightning that brightens the night. As you put it, a party scampering along the wall may stand out on a grey wall when the night turns bluish-white.
The plan works well works well using up a summons, a fly spell, and a spider climb. Inside the cave you find the immediate entrance is wet and catching the spray from the water so you move a little deeper int the cave to get away from the spray. You have wet wood, wet clothes, and the other supplies you came with.
Seemingly untouched by the cold , Isabella says, "We need to get a fire started somehow, just a small one, enough to dry out without choking ourselves on the smoke."
Kizzy pulls the still damp fire wood and a flint and steel from her haversack.
Alright woodsy people - any tricks for getting wet wood to light
"Hey Zherxikas, you have a spell that can dry wood. Would a prestidigitation work? If not, I have some torches, not to mention alchemist's fire, and if we can get a blaze started the wetness won't matter much. Or, even better, I can summon a Magmin or fire elemental."
First she tries some mundane ways of starting a fire but the wood is impossible.
"You know what warms me up? Killing ogres."
I know of it, but I don't have it at hand. I do have a scroll here that causes a massive arc of fire, but not sure that it would really dry the wood that well.
"Anyone have lamp oil?"
I can cast prestidigitation; but never though of using it to dry firewood… Kizzy casts the spell to see if it dries out the wood.
Camil holds up a trio of tindertwigs, hopeful that they aren't all too soaked to use...
"No lamp oil here. Give it a try Kizzy. Tindertwigs will help."
Kizzy uses prestidigitation to dry the tindertwigs, her fingers growing cold and numb, her lips a blue tint as she can barely speak the words to finish her spells.
After the fire is started and the party restored to warmth, Runt will confer with the group. "Shall we explore our tunnel system now?"
Looks around and realizes most of the party cannot see in the darkness, "do you wish to stumble blind? else I can cast magical light on a sword, shield or other device"
Light, I got! Kizzy says as she pulls a bullseye lantern from her backpack. Continual flame. But the more light sources, the better. she adds, giving Zherxikas a nod to cast the light spell too.
Camil pulls out some tindertwigs, which are great for getting a fire started, and Kizzy finds that the prestidigitation works very well for drying out the wood. It takes a few passes to get the best effect as it removes water from the outside and then a bit deeper each time. Before long, they have a nice little fire, back from direct observation to the outside. Kizzy finds she can use prestidigitation to pull the water out of everyone's clothing as well. This goes a long way to warming up everyone and the fire tops them off.
After a half-hour or so, everyone is feeling dry and ready for whatever may come next. There is only one exit leading deeper into the caves. Vale says this tunnel leads to the secret armory, from there you can work your way around to the north side of the fort and get inside. The shocker lizards live in lower tunnels and must have some way getting into the lower areas of the fort because they are sometimes found down there.