GM Corwyn's Jade Regent (2) (Inactive)

Game Master corwyn42

"I thought you said Cordwin couldn't carry a tune in a bucket?"

Caladorn sniffs but says nothing, unwilling to admit that the song was "almost" as good as that of an elven bard...

You return to the Churlwood Forest and begin to look for signs of the Weatherly couple.

Your travel is slow based on the time spent searching. Occasionally Shalelu stops to climb a tree and look from a higher vantage point.

"I see signs of a struggle this way." she cries while pointing to the south.

The direction is off the trail you followed on the way to Roderic's Cove and not that far from where you were ambushed.

Sorry, I should be more diligent about this,

"Well sister, let's see what we can find..."

Filona wishes she had a special hat to wear while investigating the disappearing of the couple. She says "I'm ready. Let's go!" She readies her crossbow, even though it doesn't do much.

You follow in the direction of Shalelu's indication and after approximately 200 feet you spot the corpses of two dead horses. In addition you find some torn clothing and a well made, very fashionable shoe.

Further investigation of the area results in another two bodies located. These appear to be men of arms, although they have been stripped of their armor, their clothing shows signs similar to the guards at the Weatherly estate.

Filona places her hand over the dead guards' brows for a few moments before taking a look around.

Survival, untrained: 1d20 ⇒ 14

Filona does a fair job checking the site, but eventually she is distracted by a butterfly.

"I thought you said Cordwin couldn't carry a tune in a bucket?"

He can't but he would appreciate it!

Gundar will also look around for tracks.

Survival: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10

Caladorn will attempt to help the others as they search for tracks

Aid Another, Survival: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (4) + 0 = 4

He will also give the site a good one over (together with Galaditar), looking for other clues:

Perception, Caladorn: 1d20 + 2 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 2 + 3 + 2 = 15
2 ranks+3trained +2 racial
Perception, Galaditar: 1d20 + 2 + 3 + 4 ⇒ (13) + 2 + 3 + 4 = 22
2 ranks+3trained +4 racial

Edit: Hopefully either Posh or Shalelu will be able to help carry along the plot here... because Caladorn surely isn't going to.

Shalelu descends the tree she had climbed and joins the group as they discover the dead bodies.

Survival: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (6) + 10 = 16

She grabs a leaf from a bush and points out a drop of blood "Let's see if Walnut can follow the scent." The ranger brings the leaf in front of the giant weasel's nose.

"No time like the present to start working on your tracking boy, try and follow this scent." Posh says to Walnut.

Between Walnut's nose and Shalelu's eyes, you follow the trail of blood and the floral scent from what you can only assume is a woman's perfume. You expect to reach the end of the trail quickly, but the search continues for several miles. As you follow the trail the sounds of chirps and hoots get louder. It is as if there is a huge flock of birds and other creatures of the forest up ahead.

As you emerge from the forest, at its edge you spot an enormous tree-like growth hundreds of feet in height. At its center is what appears to be several tree trunks twisted together. The trunks are surrounded by arm-deep shell of vines. Numerous birds scatter and fly away as you approach.

Caladorn exclaims "What the heck is that? I've never seen such a tree, I never heard of such a tree, not here in Varisia..."

Knowledge (untrained): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (19) + 4 = 23 (upper bounded at DC 10 because untrained)
+4 int

I don't know what that tree-thing is from the description, but it has to be famous... And if not, someone needs to make a K Nature check (or maybe K Geography)

Filona gapes at the sight of the tree. She immediately tries to recollect what she has learned about nature.

Knowledge nature: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9

Afterwards, she tries talking to one of the birds.

Using speak with small animals racial

"Hi, little guy! Did you see a couple of people go through here?"

The bird circles Filona's head as it replies "There is a cave in the mountains ahead. I saw a group of goblins take two people in there. Many, bad, foul creatures!"

It flies away adding "Follow me, I will lead you to the cave entrance."

Filona follows the bird and tells the others "Come, our couple has been dragged by goblins apparently, my bird friend will take us there. Hey wait, what's your name?"

Caladorn asks : "Can the bird tell us how long ago?"

Filona relays Caladorn's question to her new friend.

"My mate calls me Lily Swallowtail. We've been living here in this tree for all our lives. You are the first one to ever talk with us. The bad, smelly creatures try to catch us and use us in a scary game they play. If they catch us, they throw rocks at one of us who is tied and can't fly away. Evil, foul things they are. Oh, the bright light in the sky has come and gone twice since they took them into the cave. You should hurry if you want to find them alive. Nasty creatures, bad, evil things."

The swallowtail flies slightly faster towards a small mountain range ahead. You follow her for about 30 minutes before you reach an entrance. The cave is dark and damp, you think it descends but you need more light to be certain.

"Thank you Lily Swallowtail! Look for me if you ever want a friend to play with, or if you need help with anything!", Filona says waving a goodbye to the bird. She looks to the others and says "They've been dragged into that cave. We should... Give these goblins a good smack on the head. They play some cruel games with the birds here." She seems sad as she comments on the games.

Gundar will peer into the cave to see what he can see with his darkvision.

The tunnel goes straight ahead for about 30 feet descending slightly before it curves to the right.

Unless someone has light sources, I can take point. Gundar says as he starts to walk into the cave.

I'm back. And we absolutely should bring some light, and I too am happy to be on point, so I can charge things!

Filona casts Dancing Lights for 1 minute.

"Slow your roll folks. Are all of us(Koya, Ameiko, Shalelu, Sandru in particular) going in or are some of us going to stay here and watch the horses?"

"Well, I want to go in, this is an adventure! Let's rescue these people."

"I'll stay with the caravan. I don't feel comfortable leaving it unattended so far off the normal caravan routes."

"As much as I am loving this adventure, I am not as spry as I used to be. I'll stay out here with Sandru."

"Kidnapping goblins, of course I'm in. You had me at goblins." and you hear Shalelu laugh, which is a rare display of emotion from her.

You descend down into the cave and make a right turn after 30 feet. The tunnel continues for another 50 feet before it opens into another cavern. You have entered the cavern from the west. There are multiple openings two to the north, one to the south and another to the southeast.

There are pieces of broken wooden chairs and tables scattered around the cavern. A pool of murky water lies against the eastern wall. The room is otherwise empty.

Filona's Dancing Lights winks out shortly after you arrive.

Your characters are on the latest map image. If you do not have darkvision, you will need some light source as Filona's spell has expired.

Gundar will look to see if he can spot any recent footprints to determine where to head next.

Survival: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (17) + 4 = 21

Gundar sees dirt and prints all over the place, but he does notice what seems to be the most recent ones using the tunnels heading north.

Looks like they went north! Gundar says pointing to the north tunnel. He will then follow Posh into the tunnel.

Filona comments failing to be discrete "Does anyone have a torch?" She follows Gundar holding his arm.

"Can one of you not create more light?"

Do none of us have light as a cantrip again?

"Does everyone remember the discussion we had outside the cave in the marsh? I take point. Talky and clanky people stay back. If I start screaming, you come a running. We use my message cantrip to communicate.
However, none of that matters without some light sources. We cannot explore this cave without lights. Maybe we can improvise some torches from the forest outside. "

Ameiko pipes up "I can create magical light, but it may be a good idea to light a torch in case we get split up."

She draws her rapier and after casting her spell it begins to glow radiating a soft blue light.

There are two tunnels that lead to the north and you can see that there are multiple choices to take as they split and twist.

You also see more of a room to the southeast.

Filona says "I think we should stick together. It's safer. How about we go southeast?"

"Filona, you are right, we should stick together. Ameiko is also right, a torch or two as backup would be a good idea. Five minutes of scrounging will not make a difference for our bandit captives at this point. In the forest outside, I am sure Shalelu will be able to scrounge us a torch or two quickly."

"These will provide us with extra light without the possibility of spreading fire." Shalelu responds as she grabs two sunrods from her backpack. "Who would like her carry one? I prefer to keep my bow ready - in case it is needed."

"I can stick one in Walnut's bridle maybe, but I need both of my hands in case we get into a fight."

"I can stick one in a boot as a backup plan, but I'm not scouting carrying a shoot me sign..."

Southeast sounds good to me! Gundar says nodding in agreement.

The room has several carcasses of small animals scattered around the ground. In the far corner is a wooden bucket. The smell of offal assaults your nose.

Everyone make a Fortitude save DC 10 to avoid being sickened.

Fort Save, Caladorn: 1d20 + 1 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (9) + 1 + 1 + 1 = 12
+1 con +1 Trait +1 resistance

Perception, Caladorn: 1d20 + 2 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 2 + 3 + 2 = 16
2 rank +3 trained +2 racial

Perception, Galaditar: 1d20 + 2 + 3 + 4 ⇒ (15) + 2 + 3 + 4 = 24
2 rank +3 trained +4 racial

Before we head off exploring, Caladorn uses his Message cantrip to establish a link with each of the others, so he can whisper back and forth to them.

As in the previous post, spoilered under "Assuming...", Caladorn will be sneaking ahead of the party, using the previous rolls.

***

Caladorn whispers to warn the others "There's some sort of a web dangling from the ceiling". Without entering the room, he crouches and cranes his neck to see upwards, both he and Galaditar looking to spot the web-weaver...

Perception, Caladorn: 1d20 + 2 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 + 3 + 2 = 8
2 rank +3 trained +2 racial

Perception, Galaditar: 1d20 + 2 + 3 + 4 ⇒ (13) + 2 + 3 + 4 = 22
2 rank +3 trained +4 racial

Fort: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12

Filona twitches her nose and looks at Caladorn curious, then tries to find the web he mentioned. She wonders why they are being so stealthy, then she remembers that goblins are known to be very good at hiding. She thinks of saying something to draw any goblins out, but can't think of anything. In the end, she is too afraid to do anything, so she just holds on to her crossbow and looks to the others hoping they will step forward.

Caladorn's wasp flits carefully along the room's entrance looking up at the cave's upper most reaches. It notices a rather large spider hiding in the cracks in the ceiling.

Galaditar stealth: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (5) + 15 = 20
Spider perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 4 = 20

It notices the familiar flitting along the room's edge and launches a bit of webbing at it.

Web attack: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (12) + 5 = 17

Galaditar narrowly dodges the silken strands as it quickly flies back to Caladorn.

If that's a touch attack, that should hit...