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As you approach the next chamber, you notice a distinct change in the environment. Countless bones jut from the clay walls of this chamber. Grinning skulls peer down over the ends of femurs and ulnas sticking out at odd angles. Most of the bones are from animals—some as large as stags and bears—but some are undeniably human.
A harsh voice barks a taunt in Draconic, followed by the whistling sound of a projectile. "You kill weak guards - now face true strength of Children of Stone!"
As the javelin whistles past, you get your first clear view into the room. Standing prominently among the bone decor is an imposing female troglodyte, towering above the guards. Fresh blood stains her warhammer. Tribal scars and trophies adorn her body.
Zarena enters the room, staying out of the doorway so others can get through as well.
She lofts a ball of acid at the blue guard.
She chokes because she is nervous and tries to pull herself together.
As a challenge is roared out, presenting what might be the deadliest challenge they have faced since entering the caverns, Saélihn utters a proximal chant in the ancient druidic tongue, reaching down to touch Ghost as she channels primal power into her companion, his fangs hardening and lengthening.
Ghosts races forward, making a beeline toward one of the challenger's guards.
Gronilda advances herself, stepping over the bed of bones and frowns "I guess these are your victims, and you plan to add Phaendar's bones to this pile with your alliance with the Ironfang Legion, isn't it?"
She starts to pray for Erastil's intervention "Now then, you should know we came to stop you!"
As she finishes the spell a radiant column of light descends over the troglodytes striking on the leader and the blue trog.
Someone's keeping macabre hunting trophies.
Lizzie double moves to next to Gronilda, drawing her dagger.
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Saélihn imbues Ghost's fangs with magic, then sends her wolf rushing for the scaled guard. He grabs the troglodyte guard's ankle between his magically-enhanced jaws and with a powerful jerk of his head, yanks the creature to the ground.
The room then floods with an intense blast of radiant light.
... and the leader screams in anger as her vision goes dark and the light of Erastil stings at her evil flesh.
As the party moves into the room, the stench of the troglodyte warrior becomes overpowering, and they start to feel ill.
Handiss and her guard stumble in the direction they last saw their nearest targets...
But both are thoroughly disoriented from their lack of vision, and instead move towards the walls. Yellow tries to get to his feet and swings at Ghost.
Gronilda just endures the pestilent scent thanks to her hardy dwarven nature, then moves forward protecting Zarena and to silently slice with her axe at the lost blue trog.
Meanwhile, Pawnies starts to feel sick as the dog just follows Gronilda into the cavern.
Grym moves forward and hurls his Hammer at Handiss
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Zarena starts to feel like she is going to retch from the stench (or is it just nerves?), but she attempts to push through and throw a ball of acid at the leader anyway.
(sickened)
Releasing his opponent's leg, Ghost makes a hacking noise, shaking his head as the sickening stench fills his sensitive nose.
As the creature stands, he attempts to bring him down again, snapping at him despite the sickening stink, and easily sidestepping the attack with the club.
Determined, the wolf continues to press the attack, though clearly affected by the smell.
Taking a step forward for better positioning, Saélihn sends an arrow streaking into the hanber, aiming for Handiss as she starggers around blindly.
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Gronilda's battleaxe whistles through the air, missing the blue trog by a few inches. Zarena gestures and summons up a glob of corrosive acid that splatters against the Handiss' shoulder with a hiss.
With Handiss distracted from the pain, Grymwold uses the opportunity to throw his hammer and at her face. Meanwhile, Ghost lunges forward but snaps at empty air and Saélihn's follow up fails to find its mark.
Unable to get to the blinded blue, Lizzie decides to go help Shadow.
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Lizzie moves up and whiffs her attack.
The blinded troglodyte, sensing a presence nearby, turns toward Gronilda. He swings his club wildly and by sheer luck, the weapon finds its mark, crashing into Gronilda's chest with unexpected force.
Meanwhile, the yellow-scaled guard's attack cuts through empty air. Not liking the odds, he turns and barks something urgently in Draconic to Handiss Over here, master! Handiss, the last vestiges of blindness fading from her eyes, shambles toward his voice like a zombie searching for brains. As her vision clears completely, rage fills her face. She holds her head high and releases an intense battlecry that causes fragments of the bone decorations to rattle loose from the walls and scatter everywhere.
"Ouch!" Gronilda shouts in pain from the lucky hit, but tries not to panic under the huge bruise that leaves her in not such good condition. Gathering her strength, she steps forward and slashes once more at the trog.
Grym moves towards Handiss leading with a vertical slash of his blade
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Zarena is still struggling not to throw up, but throws a ball of acid at the leader anyway.
(sickened)
Easily dodging the attack from the guard, Ghost turns to bite the newly arrived savage leader.
As the battle rages on, Saélihn calls upon Erastil to enhance her bow with his divine might.
She missed once, but Lizzie just keeps jabbing her dagger at the troglodyte.
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Lizzie just barely misses again.
Handiss lunges forward with a savage roar, her warhammer arcing overhead in a deadly swing toward Grymwold. The weapon crashes down, connecting with the dwarf's shoulder and biting deep into his flesh underneath. Handiss then pivots and snaps her reptilian jaws at Grymwold's face, but Grym recovers fast enough to avoid the bite.
The remaining guard unleashes a barrage at Ghost, but its club, claw, and bite all miss as the agile wolf nimbly dodges each attack.
"Oh, bad! He has recovered from the light!" a bit of alarmed, Gronilda comes to help the team, she enlarges as she steps forward, lunging with her giant arm to strike on the far yellow trog before cleaving back on their boss.
ooof the blow knocks the wind outta Grym. With a growl he seeks to return the favor
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Nimbly avoiding the guard's attacks, Ghost waits for an opening, quickly darting in to bite his enemy and pull him to the ground again.
Saélihn targets the raging hammer-wielding lizard-woman, helping her dwarven companions in the quest to bring her down.
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Gronilda cuts down the remaining troglodyte guard, but Handiss leaps over the strike as it continues through. Her moment of escape proves to be brief, as Grymwold, Ghost, and Saélihn all team up to take down the troglodyte. Caught between their attacks, she falters just as Saélihn's arrow streaks across the chamber, burying itself deep in the her throat.
Handiss staggers backward before her eyes dull and she crashes heavily to the stone floor.
Zarena breathes a sigh of relief and sits down until the nausea passes.
after the last foe falls, Grym looks up at Big Gron Nice spell that was. Wouldn't like to have faced many more swings from that one Grym says pointing at Handiss
Gronilda breathes relieved as the troglodites finally fall to the ground "We were lucky the spell caught up. Those ones were strong. The fact the light harmed them also indicates they were evil ones"
Kneeling to check the fallen boss, she profits to see if he has anything of use.
Then looking around, she adds "It seems the cave goes deeper here. Don't know if we are capable to keep exploring here"
Lizzie had sheathed the dagger when fighting ended.
"Further down? Then i hope we've had the worst, not walking into a whole tribe waiting together in a cavern."
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We have to consider the possibility of a whole tribe down there, but if we want to move OUR tribe into these caves we need to make it secure. Question is do we bring our people here now or continue the exploration? I think we should continue here He then looks at the gash in his shoulder
But I'd like to get this shoulder healed up first. Should we use one of the wands?
Confirmation that they were evil is welcome. I admit that I was feeling conflicted about turning them out of their home. I still feel bad that we couldn't find a way to negotiate, but that does help.
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"Regretfully we have no wands for healing" Gronilda puts her hands on Grymwold softly and prays for some healing. The positive energy washes the party, healing everyone in the process "We only have a couple of backup heals remaining, and we should keep them for if we are ambushed while recovering. That is the reason I think we need to rest"
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"If there are others below, restring would leave us vulnerable to them regrouping and attacking us at night." Saélihn points out. "But we should definitely clear this place fully before bringing the others here, and possibly putting them in danger. I agree that we should keep going."
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With the battle won, the party gets a look at whatever Handiss might have carried, as well as in the general area.
Aside from her , which glows with a faint evocation aura, Handiss also wears a and a , which has no aura but is likely of some value.
In addition to the bones, many other trophies line the walls, including a .
Ahead from the bone chamber, the corridor here slopes down at irregular angles and reeks of dampness. The walls are jagged and covered with sharp stone barbs. Mossy growths spread across the floor and walls, old bones lying pale against the dark moss.
The winding tunnel leads down until it abruptly ends in a wide pit descending what seems to be 40 feet from where you stand. Rungs have been carved into the side of the pit, making it possible to climb up and down as a ladder would be used.
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Grym gives the pit a thorough inspection. On second thought. We can easily hold this position against any enemies who try to come up from the lower level of this pit. Yes we'll have to set watch, but I think it's best if we hold here and replenish our spellcasting and Channeling abilities.
Zarena sorts through the items, noting which ones are magical, and attempts to identify those ones.
Gronilda takes sit by Zarena when Grymwold proposes to camp here "Let me have a sight at those scrolls. The warhammer might do me good use. I used many of those in the Goblinblood Wars"
"Were you involved in the wars Zarena?" she inquiries as they check the items together "Is there where you acquired your magic training?"
She will set her space for resting afterwards, and she will be happy to take first watch or last one, which she will do with Pawnies. The trusty dog sits by her and watches the pit with caution.
No, I just learned a little from my aunt and kind of ... worked out the rest. I don't have any formal training, but just kind of have a knack for it, if that makes sense.
When Zarena sees Gronhilda getting ready to rest, she also gets ready, volunteering to take first watch.
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Grymwold peers down from 40 feet above the pit. The chamber below is vast, and he can see n large, insect-like statue in the center of it, and the floor is mirrorlike marble. It's hard to get a better look at the rest of the room from above.
Gronilda and Zarena look over the magical goods, attempting to determine their properties. The warhammer is a , and the scrolls are .
After moving the corpses somewhere else, you find space in the bone cavern to layout bedrolls and rest. Besides, these caves will eventually be home to Phanedar's refugees, may as well get used to it now. Hopefully, the stench can be eliminated before everyone moves in.
Your rest isn't quite over yet, when some strange things start happening...
You dream of a vast underground chamber where insect-like creatures with four arms carve strange symbols into stone. An ancient one notices you, and reveals visions of a black crystal key that can create fortresses from stone.
Before the dream fades, the creature points to a blue metal door with a wheel of symbols at its center. It indicates three symbols in sequence: a rock, a metal bar, and a crying face.
In a dream, the Fangwood transforms into pillars of stone around you. Ghost growls in anger as strange insect-like creatures with four arms approach. Their bodies resemble massive insects, bodies covered in a hard exoskeleton... yet they move with purpose, carving symbols into stone walls and conducting what appears to be strange rituals involving crystals and stone.
Without speaking, one guides you through twisting passages to a chamber with a stone sarcophagus.
It points to a blue metal door with a wheel of symbols and indicates three in sequence: a rock, a metal bar, and a crying face. As the dream fades, you glimpse a black crystal key with eight dark shards and one red one.
About halfway through your watch, you hear something strange. A faint scraping sound comes from the direction of the pit.
Peering carefully in that direction, you spot movement - a troglodyte's head emerges from the pit entrance and sniffs the air. This one wears crude bone jewelry and its skin bears markings in blue clay. It sniffs and listens quietly for about one minute, before retreating back down the rungs into the pit.
I'm going to observe silently for now, since I want to let people get as much sleep as possible before we face the next battle. If they aren't attacking, then I am going to let people sleep. However, I will move closer to the person who has the next watch and be ready to wake that person early or give the alarm if needed. If nothing else happens before my watch is over, then I will explain to the next person what happened.
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After the troglodyte leaves back down into the pit, nothing more happens.
Once its Lizzie's turn to watch, Zarena lets her know about the troglodyte sighting. Nothing more happens on Lizzie's watch, and a few more hours pass without incident. Eventually, the party awakens refreshed, with some muscle tightness from sleeping on the hard cave ground.
Gronilda is praying to Erastil when the group finishes the breakfast "The smell was horrible, but we can make things better overtime"
She looks down at the pit "Maybe we can set a rope for extra safety. What do you think?"
The dwarf casts a light spell on a little stone and throws it down to see properly the ground bellow.
There was a trog that came up, looked around, and then went back down in the night. So, they know we are up here.
But yes, I think a rope is a good idea for safety.
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Gronilda's stone lands with a clatter on the smooth marble floor below. The light reveals a vast chamber with walls of smooth masonry stones meeting a mirrorlike marble floor. The southern wall appears partially collapsed, with tons of stone and rubble blocking what was once a passage out of the room.
In the center of the chamber stands a strange statue. A twisting, insectile form resembling a beetle-like god. Around the walls, you can make out alcoves containing reliefs that depict reptilian forms gathered around a step pyramid. Purple gems are embedded in these reliefs, forming starburst patterns.
The floor is pretty striking, in that unlike the dusty, bone covered floor of the upper room, this floor appears oddly pristine and reflective.
I had a WIERD dream last night
Grym proceeds to detail his dream:
You dream of a vast underground chamber where insect-like creatures with four arms carve strange symbols into stone. An ancient one notices you, and reveals visions of a black crystal key that can create fortresses from stone.
Before the dream fades, the creature points to a blue metal door with a wheel of symbols at its center. It indicates three symbols in sequence: a rock, a metal bar, and a crying face.
Zharis climbs down carefully, in their normal marching order.
Wow, that is kind of a strange dream, and oddly specific. We should keep an eye out... if you see anything that is similar to your dream, let us know.