"Alright," Val says before giving you a wave off, "if the six of you are staying here, I should probably set up some extra sleeping accomodations... I wasn't expecting a party of six!"
She coughs before continuing, "Well, I wish you six luck! Please come back," she looks at her adoptive brothers, "you two." Concern is evidently present in her voice, and she doesn't seem to make an attempt to hide it.
Grezzag swings his axe a couple more times to break off the robot's more dangerous looking appendages. He then reaches down and yanks off a piece of metal to add to his collection.
"Nice t' meet you." he nods to Val as he stands up. "If this is the only one up here, we'd better get looking underneath."
Seeing Val, Khoran gets an abstracted look on his face and says "I remember you, you were about this high last time I saw you", he gestures 3 feet off the ground, and continues "I'll try to bring back your little brothers with most of their pieces still attached. However, do you have any idea why that robot got up. Usually one that's down stays that way, until someone starts mucking with it..."
Hekau looks terribly awkward trying to hug Val, but does not feel any awkwardness. He merely tries to emulate the behavior that he has seen from Zelvin.
He waits as Zelvin explains the situation.
"I shall endeavor to return, Val. And I will make Zelvin's survival a priority."
As Grezzag dismantles the robot and takes pieces, he notes, "Khonnir Baine had sought to examine the robot. That examination will be more difficult with pieces missing. It is possible that his existing notes on the robot are sufficient for him to not need that piece." To Hekau, the robot is still clearly "Khonnir Baine's object of study" rather than "defeated enemy."
Penka is very grateful that Grezzag's actions were so decisive. He inadvertently covers for her own freezing up completely at the sight of the robot by putting it down so quickly. It would have been very embarrassing. She swears to herself she will do better should something similar happen in the future.
She also hugs Val. Penka can barely imagine how terrible things must be for her right now. But, she also questions her briefly by asking Val to recount what happened immediately before the robot became active. There might be some valuable insight about what not to do going forward.
"Can you tell me, step by step, about anything you did involving that robot recently?"
Val shakes her head after she receives the hug from Penka, sighing, "We didn't do anything, it just kind of... turned on. It was probably only temporarily incapacitated and not permanently like me and Khonnir thought."
She turns to the ancient shaman, a bit worried, but clearly realizing this is intended to be light-hearted, before saying "Mostly? ... And no, we have no idea why the robot got up, we're trying to understand the thing, and it just suddenly got up even though it's been a few days by this point!"
Changing the topic back to accomodations, she sighs before saying "Once you six leave to the caves, I'll get the accomodations set up. Good luck down there!"
"Thanks, Val," says Zelvin breezily. "If we don't come back, you can have my stuff in my room, though I doubt it'll fetch much in town. Some of the designs for my arcane gun might come in handy, I reckon, if you found someone interested in that sort of thing." He looks at the others. "We all ready to go? I haven't been to the temple in a while but I'd hazard I still know the way."
"If there's a decent length of chain here, we should borrow it, to have a lifeline back out of the pool. Also, would there be a sunrod or two around the shop that we could grab?"
"As I said, I will prepare Light. If that is not sufficient I believe you can buy a Sunrod in town, perhaps at the General Store. I am certain you can buy rope there as well, as well as chain, although chain is significantly more expensive."
" I... don't think there's any chain here, sadly. If none of you have rope, you could go to the General Store if need be," you hear Val say as she converses lightly with the group.
"The more pieces it's in, less chance it'll get up again." Grezzag says. "If this bit ends up bein' important, I spose he can look at it when we get him back."
--
"Yeah, I got some rope. If we tie it to a tree or somethin' near the edge of the water we should be able to use it to help pull ourselves out if we need to."
"I have some rope as well, but we'll need something heavy to act as a weight to sink the wet end. Grab a piece of the robot perhaps..."
Penka doesn't have any rope, but she does have a suggestion.
"If we tie all our rope together it should be long enough to go all the way through to the other side. If a strong swimmer among us went first with the rope, we could tie off both ends. Everyone else can use the rope to pull through rather than free swim. It would be faster, and there would be little chance of getting turned around in the dark."
"That sounds like a good plan to get in and back out. But if there is trouble waiting at the other end, our swimming friend simply has to turn around and get out - he'll have no help coming... Who's the best swimmer? It's not me."
"I ain't too bad in the water. But if we've got magic goin' in we can all take our time and make sure there's nothing that's gonna jump us."
As the six of you head down to the temple of Joram Kyte, you make small talk about how the six of you are going to make it down and back up from the lake and its caves. Once you finally arrive, however, Joram is prepared and ready to cast water breathing on the lot of you immediately, with the Lesser Rod of Extend Metamagic in his hand, prepared to cast and extend. As he casts Water Breathing on the party, he lets you know that it should last for up to 4 hours, give or take a few minutes, and sends you on your way, not before warning you about the waters themselves, though.
If you have questions for Joram Kyte, separate them from the rest of your response, and I'll do similar for Kyte's response.
As you go into the pond, along with the rope being set up by Grezzag, I'll need a Fortitude save due to the sickening water, and a Swim check from Zelvin. If you don't want to / can't take 10, I'll also need a Swim Check.
"Thank you, Master Kyte."
Hekau proceeds to the lake. He reads his scroll of Mage Armor. He hands his spellbooks, journal, ink, and remaining scrolls to Zelvin to place in the waterproof bags. He then starts swimming, carrying one end of a rope. His plan is to just pull Zelvin through once he gets to the other side.
The foulness of the water does not bother Hekau.
"Howdy, Mister Jorram," says Zelvin, suddenly uncomfortable that he hasn't attended any services in a while. "Awfully grateful you're helpin' us out like this. Uh, praise Brigh."
Zelvin places his and Hekau's damageable items inside his waterproof bags (and anyone else's), and casts mage armor on himself. He clings to the rope and tries to propel himself forward like his half-brother does.
Grezzag regards the waters suspiciously as he secures his equipment and ties one end of the rope outside. When everything is prepared he dives into the water to make his way through the underwater tunnel.
Khoran hands Zelvin his scrollcase, spell component pouch, rations and healer's kit for storage in the waterproof bag. Then he whispers a couplet of quick prayers to the spirits and submerges himself in the pond...
+2 con+1 guidance
+1 str +1 guidance -2 acp
When her turns comes to receive his spell, she thanks Jorram and asks him to pray for them.
Penka is willing to take any turn going into the water to get to the cave, as long as it's not first.
Alyn stands awkwardly through the visit to the temple, quietly thanking Kyte for the Water Breathing before they all leave.
She reluctantly hands her pistol, loose bullets, and torches to Zelvin; taking a few deep breaths to steel herself, she heads into the pond.
As the six of you head down to the caves, with the rope tied to a tree trailing behind you, you notice the water seems sickening, but none of you are all too bothered by it for it to impact your health and safety.
Dampness hangs in the air of this cave, condensing into heavy moisture on the slick, stone walls. The calm, dark waters wind around to the east up north, along a stony, soot-scarred beach. A five-foot-high ledge sporting several stalagmites rises to the east, beyond which a low-ceilinged cave beckons. However, as you enter the cave, you realize that there are lights already in the cave, no need for Hekau's light or sunrods to lead the way into the dark. The lights, however, have bug-like eyes, and are looking right at you.
Turn order: Alyn, Grezzag, Penka, Khoran, Hekau, FB3, Zelvin, FB1, FB2
Alyn, Grezzag, Penka, Khoran, and Hekau, you're up in the turn order, what will you do? Also, I'd like you to put your tokens on the map
1 rank +3 trained +2 int
Khoran, you know these are giant fire beetles: Although nocturnal, the fire beetle lacks darkvision—it relies on its own glowing glands for illumination. Caged fire beetles are a popular source of long-lasting illumination among eccentrics and miners, and their glands remain active a few days after death, as well.
Hekau draws his club and readies to strike the first beetle that comes within reach.
"Giant fire beetles. Not very dangerous. If we take the glands behind their eyes, they'll serve as lights for a couple of days..."
With that, Khoran charges forward with his longspear...
+1 str +1 flagbearer +2 charge
+1 str +1 flagbearer
+1 str +1 flagbearer
+1 str +1 flagbearer
+1 str +1 flagbearer +2 charge
X3 crit, +1*2 str +1*2 flagbearer
Grezzag climbs up on to the bank, and starts to brush excess water off himself and wring it out of his clothes.
But he stops as the fire beetles reveal themselves. He draws his axe and moves over to the nearest one, striking it with a powerful slice.
Penka pulls out the mace stuck through her belt. She doesn't think rushing out to find a bug to swat would be a good idea, so she waits to see what happens to the closer ones before moving.
Alyn freezes in the middle of wringing out her hair, looking over the rest of the party at the glowing bugs. She tugs her machete from its sheath, readying herself for combat and wishing her pistol was waterproof.
As Hekau, Alyn, and Penka prepare their weapons, Khoran and Grezzag stab and slice at the two fire beetles closest to them, seeing their unconscious bodies slump to the ground as they are skewered and sliced by the weapons. With two vermin out-of-operation, you notice that one is still standing in front of the six of you.
Turn Order: Zelvin, FB1, FB2, Alyn, Grezzag, Penka, Khoran, Hekau, FB3.
Zelvin does nothing for now, hoping the others will deal with the threat and he can distribute items from his waterproof bags once they are dispatched.
As the third beetle attempts to rush over to the right of Grezzag in an attempt to bite at his ankle, you witness as it falls unconscious to the ground, Hekau's club striking it; its luminous glands still glow behind its eyes. With all three of the beetles either dead or unconscious, you may take the time to retrieve your items from the waterproof bag.
To the west of you is a 5-foot ledge that you could attempt to clamor up, if you so desire, with the height of the tunnels averaging 7ft overall. Scorch-marks and small, harmless patches of mold are littered all over this portion of the cavern.
(untrained)
+4 wis
"You know, something we probably should have settled before we got down here. Who's our scout, who's taking point? Also looks like our choice is between swimming and climbing. Given we have water breathing, perhaps we should swim while we can?
Zelvin scratches his neck uncomfortably as he adjusts his items. "Those of us with firearms are at a big disadvantage in the water, spell or no. Can we take a look up here first, and see if it's a dead end? We should also keep an eye out for signs of Mr. Khonnir's passing this way, maybe we can figure out which way he went when he was here, or folks from the other groups." He shrugs. "I've gone caving before, but never down here. I reckon I might not be the best at the fore of the group. What do you think, Grezzag? You want to go in front? We'll all be right behind."
Grezzag nods. "Yeah, I can go up front." he replies.
"You reckon any of the other groups ran into the beetles?" he asks, looking around the cavern. "I can't see any bodies or anything."
"It would be good to know if we knew which way any of the other groups went." he adds. "I'll check up here." He clambers up onto the ledge and peers down the rocky passage.
Hekau looks at the scorch marks. Can he tell what made them? Mundane torches, magical fire, technological items, or something else?
Penka waits. She figures it's a good idea to check both ways before making a decision on which to choose.
Khoran looks around at the lack of affirmative replies, clearly unimpressed, and then taps the necklace of decorative stones around his neck a couple of times, muttering "Hey, wake up. No you can't keep being lazy." The stones shiver a bit, and he continues "I know you don't like it, but the job still needs doing. So get up and earn your damn keep, ya lazy pile of rocks!" The necklace floats up over his head, revealing there is no string holding the stones together and then assembles itself into a floating swarm of stones.
Flattening itself against the wall of the cavern for cover, the swarm slips silently past Grezzag, down the rocky passage....
+2 dex +8 size
+2 wis
Grezzag climbs his way up to the ledge, where the tunnel is a few feet total higher than the cavern you had just exited from. Shortly following suit, Khoran's Ioun Wyrd familiar flies its way up to the same rough location
A collection of stalactites and stalagmites choke this low-ceilinged cavern, making it difficult to squeeze between them. Matching stalactites close in from the five-foot-high ceiling, giving the impression of a maw of needlelike teeth bearing down on one another. A dead half-orc sprawls on the ground near the cave’s eastern entrance.
As Khoran's familiar empathically sends a feeling of safety to him; so he clambers up the ledge and joins Grezzag (again with a quick request that the spirits aid him, ).
+1 str +1 guidance -2 acp
Once up there, he takes in the scene. Although no more experienced with the locals than his familiar, , he examines the body with care (and another whispered prayer, ):
1 rank +3 trained +3 wis +1 guidance
Khoran, you realize with your knowledge that this dead half-orc in front of you was stabbed, multiple times in fact, leading to her death. The weapon was presumably a dagger, something similar that functions like a dagger, or a makeshift dagger.